In the Battle of Melitene in 1100, a Crusader force led by Bohemond I of Antioch was defeated by Danishmend Turks commanded by Malik Ghazi Gumushtekin.

After acquiring the Principality of Antioch

Principality of Antioch

The Principality of Antioch, including parts of modern-day Turkey and Syria, was one of the crusader states created during the First Crusade.-Foundation:...

 in 1098, Bohemond allied himself with the Armenians of Cilicia

Armenian Kingdom of Cilicia

The Armenian Kingdom of Cilicia , also known as the Cilician Armenia, Kingdom of Cilician Armenia or New Armenia, was an independent principality formed during the High Middle Ages by Armenian refugees fleeing the Seljuk invasion of Armenia...

. When Gabriel of Melitene

Gabriel of Melitene

Gabriel of Melitene was the ruler of Melitene . Along with Thoros of Edessa, Gabriel was a former officer of Philaretos Brachamios. Philaretos had installed Gabriel as the ruler of Melitene. Following the death of Philaretos in 1086 Melitene became completely independent of Byzantine control with...

 and his Armenian garrison came under attack from the Danishmend state to their north, Bohemond marched to their relief with a Frankish force.

Malik Ghazi's Danishmends ambushed the expedition and "most of the Crusaders were killed." Bohemond was captured along with Richard of Salerno

Richard of Salerno

Richard of Salerno , who is not to be confused with his homonym cousin Richard of Hauteville, was a participant in the First Crusade and regent of the County of Edessa from 1104 to 1108....

. Among the dead were the Armenian bishops of Marash and Antioch

Antioch

Antioch on the Orontes was an ancient city on the eastern side of the Orontes River. It is near the modern city of Antakya, Turkey.Founded near the end of the 4th century BC by Seleucus I Nicator, one of Alexander the Great's generals, Antioch eventually rivaled Alexandria as the chief city of the...

. Bohemond was held for ransom until 1103, and his rescue became the object of one column of the ill-fated Crusade of 1101

Crusade of 1101

The Crusade of 1101 was a minor crusade of three separate movements, organized in 1100 and 1101 in the successful aftermath of the First Crusade. It is also called the Crusade of the Faint-Hearted due to the number of participants who joined this crusade after having turned back from the First...

.

This battle ended the string of victories enjoyed by the participants of the First Crusade

First Crusade

The First Crusade was a military expedition by Western Christianity to regain the Holy Lands taken in the Muslim conquest of the Levant, ultimately resulting in the recapture of Jerusalem...

. Baldwin, Count of Edessa

County of Edessa

The County of Edessa was one of the Crusader states in the 12th century, based around Edessa, a city with an ancient history and an early tradition of Christianity....

 and later king of Jerusalem, successfully relieved Melitene

Malatya

Malatya ) is a city in southeastern Turkey and the capital of its eponymous province.-Overview:The city site has been occupied for thousands of years. The Assyrians called the city Meliddu. Following Roman expansion into the east, the city was renamed in Latin as Melitene...

afterward. However, the Danishmends seized the town in 1101.