In 1096 Tatikios defended Constantinople from peasant crusaders who attacked the city after their arrival. In 1097 Tzitas, commanding 2000 peltasts, was sent by Alexius to Nicaea to assist the Crusaders in their siege of the city. The Frankish chronicler Albert of Aix says that Tatikios acted as an envoy between the Turks and the crusaders, but according to the more reliable Anna Comnena, he was working with Boutoumites to negotiate the surrender of the city without the Crusaders' knowledge. This caused a deep rift between the Latins and Greeks.