[2] The French crusader army, led by Louis VII of France, was defeated by the Seljuks of Rum.

The Byzantine emperor, Manuel I Comnenus, feared that the Crusaders would strengthen the Principality of Antioch, which he wanted to restore to his sovereignty, and also would weaken the Byzantine-German alliance against Roger II of Sicily.

The Seljuks waited on the banks of the river Meander, but the Franks forced the passage and marched to Laodicea, which they reached on 6 January, the day of the Epiphany.

King Louis VII was able to escape the fray, leaned against a tree and stood alone against multiple attackers.

[4] After the battle, the army of the king of France, which had suffered heavy losses, barely reached Attaleia on 20 January.