Mongol invasion of Europe
Encyclopedia
The resumption of the Mongol invasion of Europe, during which the Mongols attacked medieval Rus' principalities and the powers of Poland and Hungary, was marked by the Mongol invasion of Rus'
starting in 21 December 1237. The European invasion, indicated by the start of the Mongol invasion of Rus' marked by the Battle of the Kalka River
(1223) which was fought between the scout forces of just the two Mongolian generals Subutai
and Jebe
, whose reconnaissance unit met in battle with the combined force of several Rus' princes.
The invasion, reinforced by the breakup of Kievan Rus'
in the 12th century, had incalculable ramifications on the history of Eastern Europe, including the division of the East Slavic people into three separate nations and the rise of the Grand Duchy of Moscow
.
After fifteen years of peace, the Rus' invasion was followed by Batu Khan
's full-scale invasion of Rus' and points east during 1237 to 1240, which ended with a Mongol succession crisis. An alternative presents the European campaign as a pretense to keep the Europeans off balance and out of the Middle East.
and Vladimir
. The Mongols then invaded the Kingdom of Hungary
(in the Battle of Mohi
) and fragmented Poland (in the Battle of Legnica
). The former invasion commanded by Batu Khan, Genghis Khan
's grandson, and the latter a diversion commanded by Kadan
, another grandson of Genghis Khan; both invasions were masterminded by Subutai.
Since the 13th century, historians have debated macrohistorical importance of the Mongols' Eastern European campaigns. Most military historians believe they were essentially diversion
s, meant to frighten the Western
powers to keep them out of the Mongol affairs in the east of Europe, specifically in Rus`. For the Mongols, the European invasions were only a third theater of operations, after the Middle East and Song China.
Ogedei Khan ordered Batu Khan to conquer Russia in 1235. The main force headed by the Jochi
's sons, and their cousins, Mongke Khan
and Güyük Khan
, arrived at Ryazan
in December 1237. Ryazan refused to surrender, and the Mongols sacked it and then stormed Suzdalia. Many Rus' armies were defeated: Grand Prince Yuri was killed on the Sit River
(March 4, 1238). Major cities such as Vladimir
, Torzhok
, and Kozelsk
were captured.
Afterward, the Mongols turned their attention to the steppe, crushing the Kypchaks and the Alans
and sacking Crimea
. Batu reappeared in Russia in 1239, sacking Pereyaslavl
and Chernihiv
. Most of the Russian princes fled when it became clear resistance was futile. The Mongols sacked Kiev
on December 6, 1240 and conquered Galich
and Volodymyr-Volynskyi
. Batu sent a small detachment to probe the Poles
before passing on to Central Europe. One column was routed by the Poles while the other defeated the Polish army and returned.
The Mongols had acquired Chinese gunpowder, which they deployed in battle during the invasion of Europe to great success.
, Duke of Silesia in the battle of Legnica
. A second army crossed the Carpathian mountains
and a third followed the Danube
. The armies re-grouped and crushed Hungary in 1241, defeating the Hungarian army at the Battle of Mohi
on April 11, 1241. The devastating Mongol invasion killed half of Hungary's then-population. The armies swept the plains of Hungary over the summer and in the spring of 1242, regained impetus and extended their control into Austria and Dalmatia
and Moravia
. The Great Khan had, however, died in December 1241, and on hearing the news, all the "Princes of the Blood" of Genghis Khan went back to Mongolia to elect the new Khan.
After sacking Kiev
, Batu Khan sent a smaller group of Mongols to Poland, destroying Lublin
and defeating an inferior Polish army. Other elements—not part of the main Mongol force—saw difficulty near the Polish-Galich border. The Mongols suffered serious casualties at Olomouc
in Moravia
, in a fight with a numerically superior pan-European army in terrain disadvantageous for the use of cavalry. As for Poland, the Mongols were just passing through and the efforts of king Wenceslas amounted to little in Mongol strategic considerations.
The Tatars then reached Polaniec on the Czarna Hańcza, where they set up camp. There, the Voivode attacked them with the remaining Cracovian knights, which were few in number, but determined to conquer or die. Surprise gave the Poles an initial advantage and they managed to kill many Mongol soldiers. When the invaders realized the actual numerical weakness of the Poles
, they regrouped, broke through the Polish ranks and defeated them. During the fighting, many Polish prisoners of war found ways to escape and hide in the nearby woods. The Polish defeat was partly influenced by that the initially successful Polish knights were distracted by looting.
The attack on Europe was planned and executed by Subutai, who achieved perhaps his most lasting fame with his victories there. Having devastated the various Russian principalities, he sent spies into Poland, Hungary, and as far as Austria, in preparation for an attack into the heartland of Europe. Having a clear picture of the European kingdoms, he prepared an attack nominally commanded by Batu Khan and two other familial-related princes. Batu Khan, son of Jochi
, was the overall leader, but Subutai was the strategist and commander in the field, and as such, was present in both the northern and southern campaigns against Russian principalities. He also commanded the central column that moved against Hungary. While Kadan
's northern force won the Battle of Legnica
and Güyük's
army triumphed in Transylvania
, Subutai was waiting for them on the Hungarian plain. The newly reunited army then withdrew to the Sajo River where they inflicted a decisive defeat on King Béla IV of Hungary
at the Battle of Mohi. Again, Subutai masterminded the operation, and it would prove one of his greatest victories.
(descendants of the Magyars) was based upon light cavalry.
An interesting fact is that the former tactics of the Hungarian army were similar to those of the Mongols, but had been largely forgotten by 1241.
One of the major light cavalry
tactics was to suddenly rush the enemy position. However, if the enemy held (or reformed), light cavalry was insufficient to achieve a victory. Another significant tactic was to feign retreat, in which the light cavalry would attack the enemy and then withdraw, apparently fleeing. The enemy would ideally pursue and become disorganized, leaving themselves open to attack by units hidden in reserve. The light cavalry would then reform and attack the flanks or rear of the enemy forces. The Hungarians stopped using these tactics during the 11th century.
In the late 11th century, the majority of the Hungarian army consisted of mounted sergeants (heavy knights) and infantry
. The Hungarian allies, some of whom still utilized the light cavalry combat style, included the Cumans
, who had settled down in Hungary not long before the Mongol invasion. They were tasked with providing the light cavalry force in the Hungarian army. However tension erupted when Mongol troops first broke into Hungary: The Hungarians, frustrated by their own helplessness, took revenge on the Cumans, whom they accused of being Mongol spies
. After a bloody fight the Hungarians killed Kuthen (the Cuman Leader) and his bodyguard
s; the remaining Cumans fled to the Balkans. After the Mongol invasion, Béla IV of Hungary
recalled the Cumans to Hungary to repopulate settlements devastated by war. The nomadic Cumans subsequently settled throughout the Great Hungarian Plain
.
Around 1241, the Kingdom of Hungary
was much like any other feudal kingdom of Europe: although the throne was still inherited by Árpád
's successors, the king's authority and power was greatly curtailed. Rich magnates cared less about the national security of the whole kingdom than about petty feudal quarrels with their fellow landlords. The Golden Bull of 1222
issued by King Andrew II
authorized magnates to rebel against the king in some circumstances, and made the him only 'primus inter pares'—first among equals. Bela IV tried to restore the king's former authority and power, without much success.
The Hungarians had first learned about the Mongol threat in 1229, when King Andrew granted asylum to some fleeing Russian boyars. Some Magyars, left behind during the main migration to the Pannonian basin, still lived on the banks of the upper Volga. In 1237 a Dominican friar
, Julianus
, set off on an expedition to lead them back, and was sent back to King Béla with a letter from Batu Khan. In this letter, Khan called upon the Hungarian king to surrender his kingdom unconditionally to the Tatar forces or face complete destruction. Béla did not reply, and two more messages were later delivered to Hungary. The first, in 1239, was sent by the defeated Cuman
tribes, who asked for and received asylum in Hungary. The second was sent in February 1241 by the defeated Polish princes.
Only then did King Béla call upon his magnates to join his army in defense of the country. He also asked the papacy and the Western European rulers for help. Foreign help came in the form of a small knight-detachment under the leadership of Frederick, Prince of Austria, but it was too small to change the outcome of the campaign. The majority of the Hungarian magnates also did not realize the urgency of the matter. Some may have hoped that a defeat of the royal army would force Béla to discontinue his centralization efforts and thus strengthen their own power.
Although the Mongol danger was real and imminent, Hungary was not prepared to deal with it; in the minds of a people who had lived free from nomadic invasions for the last few hundred years, an invasion seemed impossible, and Hungary was no longer a predominantly soldier population. Only rich nobles were trained as heavy-armored cavalry. The Hungarians had long since forgotten the light-cavalry strategy and tactics of their ancestors, which, ironically, were similar to those now used by the Mongols and their ancestors, the Huns
.
The Hungarian army (some 60,000 on the eve of the Battle of Muhi) was made up of individual knights with tactical knowledge, discipline, and talented commanders. Because his army was not experienced in nomadic warfare, King Béla welcomed the Cuman King Kuthen (also known as Kotony) and his fighters. However, the Cuman invitation proved detrimental as Batu Khan justified his invasion of Hungary as Béla giving asylum to the Cumans, a group Batu Khan regarded as rebels and traitors to the Mongol Empire
. After rumors began to circulate in Hungary that the Cumans were agents of the Mongols, some hot-headed Hungarians attacked the Cuman camp and killed Kotony. This lead the enraged Cumans to ride south, looting, ravaging the countryside, and slaughtering the unsuspecting Magyar population. The Austrian troops retreated Austria shortly thereafter to "enlist more Western help." The Hungarians now stood alone in the defense of their country.
The Hungarian army arrived and encamped at the Hernád river on April 10, 1241 without having been directly challenged by the Mongols. The Mongols began their attack the next night; quickly it was clear the Hungarians were lost. While the king escaped with the help of his bodyguard, the remaining Hungarian army was mercilessly killed by the Mongols or drowned in the river as they attempted escape. The Mongols now systematically occupied the Great Hungarian Plain
s, the slopes of the northern Carpathian Mountains
, and Transylvania
. Where they found local resistance, they ruthlessly killed the population. Where the locale offered no resistance, they forced the men into servitude in the Mongol army. Still, tens of thousands avoided Mongol domination by taking refuge behind the walls of the few existing fortresses or by hiding in the forests or large marshes along the rivers. The Mongols, instead of leaving the defenseless and helpless people and continuing their campaign through Pannonia
to Western Europe, spent the entire summer and fall securing and pacifying the occupied territories. Then during the winter, contrary to the traditional strategy of nomadic armies which started campaigns only in spring-time, they crossed the Danube
and continued their systematic occupation, including Pannonia
. They eventually reached the Austrian borders and the Adriatic shores in Dalmatia
. At this time, Croatia was part of Hungary, since it was conquered by the Kingdom of Hungary in 1091. The Mongols appointed a darughachi
in Hungary and minted coins in the name of Khagan. According to Michael Prawdin
, the country of Béla was assigned to Orda by Batu as an appanage
.
At least 20%-40% of the population died, by slaughter or epidemic. But while the Mongols claimed control of Hungary, they could not occupy fortified cities such as Fehérvár
, Esztergom
, Veszprém
, Tihany
, Győr
, Pannonhalma
, Moson
, Sopron
, Vasvár
, Újhely, Zala
, Lockenhaus
, Bratislava
, Nitra
, Komárom
, Fiľakovo
and Abaújvár
. Learning from this lesson, fortresses came to play a significant role in Hungary. King Béla IV rebuilt the country and invested in fortifications. Facing a shortage of money, he welcomed the settlement of Jewish families, investors, and tradesmen, granting them citizenship rights. The King also welcomed tens of thousands of Kun (Cumans) who had fled the country before the invasion. Chinese fire arrow
s were deployed by Mongols against Budapest in December 25, 1241, which they overran.
During the spring of 1242, Ögedei Khan
died at the age of fifty-six after a binge of drinking during a hunting trip. Batu Khan, who was one of the contenders to the imperial throne, returned at once with his armies to Asia, leaving the whole of Eastern Europe depopulated and in ruins (before withdrawal, Batu Khan ordered wholesale execution of prisoners). But because of his withdrawal, Western Europe escaped unscathed.
Some Hungarian historians claim that Hungary's long resistance against the Mongols actually saved Western Europe, though many Western European historians reject this interpretation. They point out that the Mongols evacuated Hungary of their own free will, and that Western Europe avoided Mongol attacks due to the sudden death of Ögedei Khan, not by the endeavor of the Hungarians. Other European and American historians have questioned whether the Mongols would have been able to, or even wished to, continue their invasion into Europe west of the Hungarian plain at all, given the logistical situation in Europe and their need to keep large number of horses in the field to retain their strategic mobility.
The Mongolian invasion taught the Magyars a simple lesson: although the Mongols had destroyed the countryside, the forts and fortified cities had survived. To improve their defense capabilities for the future, they had to build forts, not only on the borders but also inside the country. During the remaining decades of the 13th century and throughout the 14th century, the kings donated more and more royal land to the magnates with the condition that they build forts and ensure their defenses.
During the Middle Ages, the Kingdom of Croatia
was in a personal union
with the Kingdom of Hungary, with Béla IV as a king.
When routed on the banks of the Sajo River in 1241 by the Tartars and Mongols, Bela IV fled to today's Zagreb
in Croatia
. The poorly-fortified Zagreb was unable to resist the invasion and was destroyed, its cathedral
burned by Mongols. In preparation for a second invasion, Gradec
was granted a royal charter or Golden Bull of 1242
by King Bela IV, after which citizens of Zagreb engaged in building defensive walls and towers around their settlement.
The Mongols' pursuit of Béla IV continued from Zagreb through Pannonia
to Dalmatia
. While in pursuit, the Mongols under the leadership of Kadan
(Qadan) suffered a major defeat at Klis Fortress
in Croatia in March 1242. The Mongols pursued Béla IV from town to town in Dalmatia, while Croatian nobility
and Dalmatian towns such as Trogir
and Rab
helped Béla IV to escape. After their defeat against the Croatian soldiers, the Mongols retreated and Béla IV was awarded Croatian towns and nobility. Only the town of Split
did not aid Béla IV in his escape from the Mongols. Some historians claim that the mountainous terrain of Croatian Dalmatia was fatal for the Mongols because of the great losses they suffered from Croat ambushes set up in mountain passes. Most historians claim that the death of Ögedei Khan
was the primary reason for retreat. In any case, though much of Croatia was plundered and destroyed, long-term occupation was unsuccessful.
Saint Margaret
(January 27, 1242 – January 18, 1271), a daughter of Béla IV and Maria Laskarina
, was born in Klis Fortress during the Mongol invasion of Hungary-Croatia in 1242.
The 1241 Mongol invasion first affected Moldavia
and Wallachia
(situated east of the Carpathians
) and then Transylvania
(then part of the Kingdom of Hungary
). Tens of thousands of Romanians lost their lives defending their territories from the Golden Horde
. Crops and goods plundered from Romanian settlements seem to have been a primary supply source for the Golden Horde. The invaders killed up to half of the population and burned down most of their settlements, thus destroying much of the cultural and economic records from that period. Neither Romanians nor the army of Hungary offered much resistance against the Mongols. The swiftness of the invasion took many by surprise and forced them to retreat and hide in forests and the enclosed valleys of the Carpathians. In the end, however, the main target of the invasion was the Kingdom of Hungary.
The Mongols destroyed an army of Germans, French, and Poles numbering 30,000 at the Battle of Legnica
, slaughtering nearly 25,000. After that, other German cities quickly capitulated.
A later fabricated legend arose in Europe about a nonexistent Berthold Schwarz
who consorted with Satan, claimed that he invented the gun, whilst it was the Mongols who spread it to Europe in reality.
. The territory of Western Europe, with more forests and with many castles along with many opportunities for the European heavy cavalry (better and heavier at mêlée than the Mongol heavy cavalry) to counter-attack.
Some historians believe that the reason for Batu's stopping at the Mohi River, was that he never intended to advance further. He had made the Russian conquest safe for the years to come, and when the Great Khan died and he rushed back to Mongolia to put in his claim for power, it ended his westward expansion. Subutai's recall at the same time left the Mongol armies without their spiritual head and primary strategist. Batu Khan was not able to resume his plans for conquest to the "Great Sea" (the Atlantic Ocean) until 1255, after the turmoil after Ögedei's death had finally subsided with the election of Möngke Khan
as Great Khan. He was not capable nor interested in launching an invasion on Western Europe.
. The Mongol Empire was ruled by a regency under Ögedei's widow Töregene Khatun
, whose only goal was to secure the Great Khanate for her son, Güyük. There was so much bitterness between the two branches of the family that Güyük died in 1248 on his way to confront Batu to force him to accept his authority. He also had problems in his last years with the Principality of Halych-Volhynia, whose ruler, Danylo of Halych, adopted a politic of confronting the Golden Horde and defeated some Mongol assaults in 1254. He was only defeated in 1259, under the Berke's rule. Batu Khan was unable to turn his army west until 1255, after Möngke had become Great Khan in 1251, and he had repaired his relations with the Great Khanate. However, as he prepared to finish the invasion of Europe, he died. His son did not live long enough to implement his father and Subutai's plan to invade Europe, and with his death, Batu's younger brother Berke
became Khan of the Kipchak Khanate. Berke was not interested in invading Europe as much as halting his cousin Hulagu Khan
from destroying the Holy Land
. Berke had converted to Islam
and watched with horror as his cousin destroyed the Abbasid Caliph, the spiritual head of Islam as far as Berke was concerned. The Mamluk
s of Egypt, learning through spies that Berke was both a Muslim and not fond of his cousin, appealed to him for help and were careful to nourish their ties to him and his Khanate.
Both entities were Turkic
in origin. Most of the Mamluks were of Turkic descent and Berke's Khanate was almost totally Turkic also. Jochi, Genghis Khan's oldest son, was of disputed parentage and only received 4,000 Mongol warriors to start his Khanate. His nearly 500,000 warriors were virtually all Turkic people who had submitted to the Mongols. Thus, the Khanate was Turkic in culture and had more in common with their brother Muslim Turkic Mamluks than with the Mongol shamanist Hulagu and his horde. Thus, when Hulagu Khan began to mass his army for war against the Mamluk-controlled Holy Land, they swiftly appealed to Berke Khan who sent armies against his cousin and forced him to defend his domains in the north.
Hulagu returned to his lands by 1262, but instead of being able to avenge his defeats, had to turn north to face Berke Khan, suffering severe defeat in an attempted invasion north of the Caucasus in 1263, after Berke Khan had lured him north and away from the Holy Land. Thus, the Kipchak Khanate never invaded Europe; keeping watch to the south and east instead. Berke only sent troops into Europe twice, in two relatively light raids in 1259 and 1265, simply to collect booty he needed to pay for his wars against Hulagu from 1262-65.
, under the leadership of Berke, attacked Poland after raiding Lithuania. This attack was commanded by general Burundai
with young princes Nogai
and Talabuga
. Lublin
, Sieradz
, Sandomierz
, Zawichost
, Kraków
, and Bytom
were ravaged and plundered. Berke had no intention of occupying or conquering Poland. After this raid the Pope Alexander IV
tried without success to organize a crusade against the Tatars.
An unsuccessful raid followed in 1287, led by Talabuga
and Nogai Khan. Lublin, Mazovia
, Sandomierz and Sieradz
were successful raided, but they were defeated at Kraków, although this city too was devastated. This raid consisted of less than one tumen, since the Golden Horde's armies were tied down in a new conflict which the Il-Khanate initiated in 1284. The force sent was not sufficient to meet the full Polish army, nor did it have any siege engineers or equipment to breach city walls. It raided a few caravans, burned a few small towns, and fled when the Polish army was mustered.
, a famous general of Batu, also successfully raided the Kingdom of Lithuania
during the campaign of 1259. There were other raids against Lithuania in 1275 and 1277, as the Lithuanians were emerging as a rival to Mongol power in the Russian states, but this time they were catastrophically defeated and did not recover from the loss for the next forty years.
. In the winter of 1265 Nogai Khan
led a Mongol raid of two tumens (20,000 soldiers) against the territories of Bulgaria
and Byzantine Eastern Thrace. In the spring of 1265 he defeated the armies of Michael VIII Palaeologus. Instead of fighting, most of the Byzantines fled. After this Thrace was plundered by Nogai's army, and the Byzantine emperor made an alliance with the Golden Horde
, giving his daughter Euphrosyne
in marriage to Nogai. Michael also sent much valuable fabric to Golden Horde as tributary. Also during Uzbeg Khan
reign Thrace suffered raids in 1324 and 1337.
. Nogai lead an army that ravaged Transylvania
with success: Cities like Reghin, Braşov
and Bistriţa
were plundered and ravaged. However Talabuga, who led the main army in Northern Hungary, was stopped by the heavy snow of the Carpathians
and the invading force was defeated near Pest by the royal army of Ladislaus IV and ambushed by the Székely
in the return. As with later invasions, it was repelled handily, the Mongols losing much of their invading force. The outcome could not have contrasted more sharply with the 1241 invasion, mostly due to the reforms of Béla IV
, which included advances in military tactics and, most importantly, the widespread building of stone castles, both responses to the defeat of the Hungarian Kingdom in 1241.
In 1293 a large Mongol-Bulgarian alliance raided into Serbia, where Serbian king Stefan Uroš II Milutin
defeated them. However, the Serbian king acknowledged Nogai's supremacy and sent his son as hostage to prevent further hostility when Nogai threatened to lead punitive expedition himself.
Rus' (region)
Rus' is an ethno-cultural region in Eastern Europe inhabited by Eastern Slavs. Historically, it comprises the northern part of Ukraine, the north-western part of Russia, Belarus and some eastern parts of Poland and Slovakia.The name comes from Old East Slavic , and remains the same in modern...
starting in 21 December 1237. The European invasion, indicated by the start of the Mongol invasion of Rus' marked by the Battle of the Kalka River
Battle of the Kalka River
The Battle of the Kalka River took place on May 31, 1223, between the Mongol Empire and Kiev, Galich, and several other Rus' principalities and the Cumans, under the command of Mstislav the Bold and Mstislav III of Kiev...
(1223) which was fought between the scout forces of just the two Mongolian generals Subutai
Subutai
Subutai was the primary military strategist and general of Genghis Khan and Ögedei Khan...
and Jebe
Jebe
Chepe Noyan was one of the prominent Noyans of Genghis Khan. His clan was Besud, which belonged to the Taichud tribe, which was at the time of Genghis Khan under Targudai Khiriltug's leadership....
, whose reconnaissance unit met in battle with the combined force of several Rus' princes.
The invasion, reinforced by the breakup of Kievan Rus'
Kievan Rus'
Kievan Rus was a medieval polity in Eastern Europe, from the late 9th to the mid 13th century, when it disintegrated under the pressure of the Mongol invasion of 1237–1240....
in the 12th century, had incalculable ramifications on the history of Eastern Europe, including the division of the East Slavic people into three separate nations and the rise of the Grand Duchy of Moscow
Grand Duchy of Moscow
The Grand Duchy of Moscow or Grand Principality of Moscow, also known in English simply as Muscovy , was a late medieval Rus' principality centered on Moscow, and the predecessor state of the early modern Tsardom of Russia....
.
After fifteen years of peace, the Rus' invasion was followed by Batu Khan
Batu Khan
Batu Khan was a Mongol ruler and founder of the Ulus of Jochi , the sub-khanate of the Mongol Empire. Batu was a son of Jochi and grandson of Genghis Khan. His ulus was the chief state of the Golden Horde , which ruled Rus and the Caucasus for around 250 years, after also destroying the armies...
's full-scale invasion of Rus' and points east during 1237 to 1240, which ended with a Mongol succession crisis. An alternative presents the European campaign as a pretense to keep the Europeans off balance and out of the Middle East.
Overview
The Mongol invasions of Europe, under the leadership of Subutai, centered on the destruction of East Slavic principalities, such as KievKievan Rus'
Kievan Rus was a medieval polity in Eastern Europe, from the late 9th to the mid 13th century, when it disintegrated under the pressure of the Mongol invasion of 1237–1240....
and Vladimir
Vladimir-Suzdal
The Vladimir-Suzdal Principality or Vladimir-Suzdal Rus’ was one of the major principalities which succeeded Kievan Rus' in the late 12th century and lasted until the late 14th century. For a long time the Principality was a vassal of the Mongolian Golden Horde...
. The Mongols then invaded the Kingdom of Hungary
Kingdom of Hungary
The Kingdom of Hungary comprised present-day Hungary, Slovakia and Croatia , Transylvania , Carpatho Ruthenia , Vojvodina , Burgenland , and other smaller territories surrounding present-day Hungary's borders...
(in the Battle of Mohi
Battle of Mohi
The Battle of Mohi , or Battle of the Sajó River, was the main battle between the Mongol Empire and the Kingdom of Hungary during the Mongol invasion of Europe. It took place at Muhi, Southwest of the Sajó River. After the invasion, Hungary lay in ruins. Nearly half of the inhabited places had...
) and fragmented Poland (in the Battle of Legnica
Battle of Legnica
The Battle of Legnica , also known as the Battle of Liegnitz or Battle of Wahlstatt , was a battle between the Mongol Empire and the combined defending forces of European fighters that took place at Legnickie Pole near the city of Legnica in Silesia on 9 April 1241.A combined force of Poles,...
). The former invasion commanded by Batu Khan, Genghis Khan
Genghis Khan
Genghis Khan , born Temujin and occasionally known by his temple name Taizu , was the founder and Great Khan of the Mongol Empire, which became the largest contiguous empire in history after his death....
's grandson, and the latter a diversion commanded by Kadan
Kadan
Kadaň , is a city in the Ústí nad Labem Region of the Czech Republic.The city lies on the banks of the river Ohře. Although it is situated in an industrial part of the Czech Republic there is no major industry within the city and people usually work in offices or have to commute. There are two...
, another grandson of Genghis Khan; both invasions were masterminded by Subutai.
Since the 13th century, historians have debated macrohistorical importance of the Mongols' Eastern European campaigns. Most military historians believe they were essentially diversion
Feint
Feint is a French term that entered English from the discipline of fencing. Feints are maneuvers designed to distract or mislead, done by giving the impression that a certain maneuver will take place, while in fact another, or even none, will...
s, meant to frighten the Western
Western world
The Western world, also known as the West and the Occident , is a term referring to the countries of Western Europe , the countries of the Americas, as well all countries of Northern and Central Europe, Australia and New Zealand...
powers to keep them out of the Mongol affairs in the east of Europe, specifically in Rus`. For the Mongols, the European invasions were only a third theater of operations, after the Middle East and Song China.
Invasions and conquest of Rus' lands
Jochi
Jochi was the eldest of the Mongol chieftain Genghis Khan's four sons by his principal wife Börte. An accomplished military leader, he participated in his father's conquest of Central Asia, along with his brothers and uncles.-Early life:...
's sons, and their cousins, Mongke Khan
Möngke Khan
Möngke Khan , born Möngke, , was the fourth Great Khan of the Mongol Empire from July 1, 1251 – August 11, 1259. He was the first Great Khan from the Toluid line, and made significant reforms to improve the administration of the Empire during his reign...
and Güyük Khan
Güyük Khan
Güyük was the third Great Khan of the Mongol Empire. As the eldest son of Ögedei Khan and a grandson of Genghis Khan, he reigned from 1246 to 1248...
, arrived at Ryazan
Ryazan
Ryazan is a city and the administrative center of Ryazan Oblast, Russia. It is located on the Oka River southeast of Moscow. Population: The strategic bomber base Dyagilevo is just west of the city, and the air base of Alexandrovo is to the southeast as is the Ryazan Turlatovo Airport...
in December 1237. Ryazan refused to surrender, and the Mongols sacked it and then stormed Suzdalia. Many Rus' armies were defeated: Grand Prince Yuri was killed on the Sit River
Battle of the Sit River
The Battle of the Sit River was fought in the northern part of the present-day Yaroslavl Oblast of Russia on March 4, 1238 between the Mongol Hordes of Batu Khan and the Rus' people under Grand Prince Yuri II of Vladimir-Suzdal during the Mongol invasion of Rus...
(March 4, 1238). Major cities such as Vladimir
Vladimir
Vladimir is a city and the administrative center of Vladimir Oblast, Russia, located on the Klyazma River, to the east of Moscow along the M7 motorway. Population:...
, Torzhok
Torzhok
Torzhok is a town in Tver Oblast, Russia, famous for its folk craft of goldwork embroidery. Population: Torzhok has twenty-two large and medium-sized industrial enterprises. Two of them are especially significant...
, and Kozelsk
Kozelsk
Kozelsk is a town in Kaluga Oblast, Russia, located on the Zhizdra River , southwest of Kaluga. Population: -History:The town of Kozelsk was first mentioned in a chronicle under the year of 1146 as a part of Principality of Chernigov...
were captured.
Afterward, the Mongols turned their attention to the steppe, crushing the Kypchaks and the Alans
Alans
The Alans, or the Alani, occasionally termed Alauni or Halani, were a group of Sarmatian tribes, nomadic pastoralists of the 1st millennium AD who spoke an Eastern Iranian language which derived from Scytho-Sarmatian and which in turn evolved into modern Ossetian.-Name:The various forms of Alan —...
and sacking Crimea
Crimea
Crimea , or the Autonomous Republic of Crimea , is a sub-national unit, an autonomous republic, of Ukraine. It is located on the northern coast of the Black Sea, occupying a peninsula of the same name...
. Batu reappeared in Russia in 1239, sacking Pereyaslavl
Pereyaslavl
Pereyaslavl can refer to:* Pereslavl-Zalessky - a town in the Yaroslavl Oblast in Russia * Pereyaslavl Ryazansky - renamed Ryazan in 1778...
and Chernihiv
Chernihiv
Chernihiv or Chernigov is a historic city in northern Ukraine. It is the administrative center of the Chernihiv Oblast , as well as of the surrounding Chernihivskyi Raion within the oblast...
. Most of the Russian princes fled when it became clear resistance was futile. The Mongols sacked Kiev
Siege of Kiev (1240)
The Siege of Kiev by the Mongols took place between November 28th and December 6th, 1240, resulting in a Mongol victory. It was a heavy moral and military blow to Halych-Volhynia and allowed Batu Khan to proceed westward into Europe.- Background :...
on December 6, 1240 and conquered Galich
Galich
Galich may refer to:*Alexander Ivanovich Galich , Russian philosopher and Latin scholar*Alexander Galich , Russian dissident bard*Galich, Russia, a town in Kostroma Oblast, Russia...
and Volodymyr-Volynskyi
Volodymyr-Volynskyi
Volodymyr-Volynsky is a city located in Volyn Oblast, in north-western Ukraine. Serving as the administrative centre of the Volodymyr-Volynsky District, the city itself is also designated as a separate raion within the oblast...
. Batu sent a small detachment to probe the Poles
Poles
thumb|right|180px|The state flag of [[Poland]] as used by Polish government and diplomatic authoritiesThe Polish people, or Poles , are a nation indigenous to Poland. They are united by the Polish language, which belongs to the historical Lechitic subgroup of West Slavic languages of Central Europe...
before passing on to Central Europe. One column was routed by the Poles while the other defeated the Polish army and returned.
The Mongols had acquired Chinese gunpowder, which they deployed in battle during the invasion of Europe to great success.
Invasion into Central Europe
The Mongols invaded Central Europe with three armies. One army defeated an alliance which included forces from fragmented Poland and members of various Christian military orders, led by Henry II the PiousHenry II the Pious
Henry II the Pious , of the Silesian line of the Piast dynasty was Duke of Silesia at Wrocław and Duke of Kraków and thus High Duke of all Poland as well as Duke of Southern Greater Poland from 1238 until his death. During 1238–1239 he also served as a regent of two other Piast duchies: Sandomierz...
, Duke of Silesia in the battle of Legnica
Battle of Legnica
The Battle of Legnica , also known as the Battle of Liegnitz or Battle of Wahlstatt , was a battle between the Mongol Empire and the combined defending forces of European fighters that took place at Legnickie Pole near the city of Legnica in Silesia on 9 April 1241.A combined force of Poles,...
. A second army crossed the Carpathian mountains
Carpathian Mountains
The Carpathian Mountains or Carpathians are a range of mountains forming an arc roughly long across Central and Eastern Europe, making them the second-longest mountain range in Europe...
and a third followed the Danube
Danube
The Danube is a river in the Central Europe and the Europe's second longest river after the Volga. It is classified as an international waterway....
. The armies re-grouped and crushed Hungary in 1241, defeating the Hungarian army at the Battle of Mohi
Battle of Mohi
The Battle of Mohi , or Battle of the Sajó River, was the main battle between the Mongol Empire and the Kingdom of Hungary during the Mongol invasion of Europe. It took place at Muhi, Southwest of the Sajó River. After the invasion, Hungary lay in ruins. Nearly half of the inhabited places had...
on April 11, 1241. The devastating Mongol invasion killed half of Hungary's then-population. The armies swept the plains of Hungary over the summer and in the spring of 1242, regained impetus and extended their control into Austria and Dalmatia
Dalmatia
Dalmatia is a historical region on the eastern coast of the Adriatic Sea. It stretches from the island of Rab in the northwest to the Bay of Kotor in the southeast. The hinterland, the Dalmatian Zagora, ranges from fifty kilometers in width in the north to just a few kilometers in the south....
and Moravia
Moravia
Moravia is a historical region in Central Europe in the east of the Czech Republic, and one of the former Czech lands, together with Bohemia and Silesia. It takes its name from the Morava River which rises in the northwest of the region...
. The Great Khan had, however, died in December 1241, and on hearing the news, all the "Princes of the Blood" of Genghis Khan went back to Mongolia to elect the new Khan.
Kiev
Kiev or Kyiv is the capital and the largest city of Ukraine, located in the north central part of the country on the Dnieper River. The population as of the 2001 census was 2,611,300. However, higher numbers have been cited in the press....
, Batu Khan sent a smaller group of Mongols to Poland, destroying Lublin
Lublin
Lublin is the ninth largest city in Poland. It is the capital of Lublin Voivodeship with a population of 350,392 . Lublin is also the largest Polish city east of the Vistula river...
and defeating an inferior Polish army. Other elements—not part of the main Mongol force—saw difficulty near the Polish-Galich border. The Mongols suffered serious casualties at Olomouc
Olomouc
Olomouc is a city in Moravia, in the east of the Czech Republic. The city is located on the Morava river and is the ecclesiastical metropolis and historical capital city of Moravia. Nowadays, it is an administrative centre of the Olomouc Region and sixth largest city in the Czech Republic...
in Moravia
Moravia
Moravia is a historical region in Central Europe in the east of the Czech Republic, and one of the former Czech lands, together with Bohemia and Silesia. It takes its name from the Morava River which rises in the northwest of the region...
, in a fight with a numerically superior pan-European army in terrain disadvantageous for the use of cavalry. As for Poland, the Mongols were just passing through and the efforts of king Wenceslas amounted to little in Mongol strategic considerations.
The Tatars then reached Polaniec on the Czarna Hańcza, where they set up camp. There, the Voivode attacked them with the remaining Cracovian knights, which were few in number, but determined to conquer or die. Surprise gave the Poles an initial advantage and they managed to kill many Mongol soldiers. When the invaders realized the actual numerical weakness of the Poles
Poles
thumb|right|180px|The state flag of [[Poland]] as used by Polish government and diplomatic authoritiesThe Polish people, or Poles , are a nation indigenous to Poland. They are united by the Polish language, which belongs to the historical Lechitic subgroup of West Slavic languages of Central Europe...
, they regrouped, broke through the Polish ranks and defeated them. During the fighting, many Polish prisoners of war found ways to escape and hide in the nearby woods. The Polish defeat was partly influenced by that the initially successful Polish knights were distracted by looting.
The attack on Europe was planned and executed by Subutai, who achieved perhaps his most lasting fame with his victories there. Having devastated the various Russian principalities, he sent spies into Poland, Hungary, and as far as Austria, in preparation for an attack into the heartland of Europe. Having a clear picture of the European kingdoms, he prepared an attack nominally commanded by Batu Khan and two other familial-related princes. Batu Khan, son of Jochi
Jochi
Jochi was the eldest of the Mongol chieftain Genghis Khan's four sons by his principal wife Börte. An accomplished military leader, he participated in his father's conquest of Central Asia, along with his brothers and uncles.-Early life:...
, was the overall leader, but Subutai was the strategist and commander in the field, and as such, was present in both the northern and southern campaigns against Russian principalities. He also commanded the central column that moved against Hungary. While Kadan
Kadan
Kadaň , is a city in the Ústí nad Labem Region of the Czech Republic.The city lies on the banks of the river Ohře. Although it is situated in an industrial part of the Czech Republic there is no major industry within the city and people usually work in offices or have to commute. There are two...
's northern force won the Battle of Legnica
Battle of Legnica
The Battle of Legnica , also known as the Battle of Liegnitz or Battle of Wahlstatt , was a battle between the Mongol Empire and the combined defending forces of European fighters that took place at Legnickie Pole near the city of Legnica in Silesia on 9 April 1241.A combined force of Poles,...
and Güyük's
Güyük Khan
Güyük was the third Great Khan of the Mongol Empire. As the eldest son of Ögedei Khan and a grandson of Genghis Khan, he reigned from 1246 to 1248...
army triumphed in Transylvania
Transylvania
Transylvania is a historical region in the central part of Romania. Bounded on the east and south by the Carpathian mountain range, historical Transylvania extended in the west to the Apuseni Mountains; however, the term sometimes encompasses not only Transylvania proper, but also the historical...
, Subutai was waiting for them on the Hungarian plain. The newly reunited army then withdrew to the Sajo River where they inflicted a decisive defeat on King Béla IV of Hungary
Béla IV of Hungary
Béla IV , King of Hungary and of Croatia , duke of Styria 1254–58. One of the most famous kings of Hungary, he distinguished himself through his policy of strengthening of the royal power following the example of his grandfather Bela III, and by the rebuilding Hungary after the catastrophe of the...
at the Battle of Mohi. Again, Subutai masterminded the operation, and it would prove one of his greatest victories.
Invasion of the Kingdom of Hungary
More than 200 years before the Mongol invasion, the Hungarian armyMilitary of Hungary
The Hungarian Defence Force is the national military of Hungary. It currently has two branches, the Hungarian Ground Force and the Hungarian Air Force....
(descendants of the Magyars) was based upon light cavalry.
An interesting fact is that the former tactics of the Hungarian army were similar to those of the Mongols, but had been largely forgotten by 1241.
One of the major light cavalry
Light cavalry
Light cavalry refers to lightly armed and lightly armored troops mounted on horses, as opposed to heavy cavalry, where the riders are heavily armored...
tactics was to suddenly rush the enemy position. However, if the enemy held (or reformed), light cavalry was insufficient to achieve a victory. Another significant tactic was to feign retreat, in which the light cavalry would attack the enemy and then withdraw, apparently fleeing. The enemy would ideally pursue and become disorganized, leaving themselves open to attack by units hidden in reserve. The light cavalry would then reform and attack the flanks or rear of the enemy forces. The Hungarians stopped using these tactics during the 11th century.
In the late 11th century, the majority of the Hungarian army consisted of mounted sergeants (heavy knights) and infantry
Infantry
Infantrymen are soldiers who are specifically trained for the role of fighting on foot to engage the enemy face to face and have historically borne the brunt of the casualties of combat in wars. As the oldest branch of combat arms, they are the backbone of armies...
. The Hungarian allies, some of whom still utilized the light cavalry combat style, included the Cumans
Cumans
The Cumans were Turkic nomadic people comprising the western branch of the Cuman-Kipchak confederation. After Mongol invasion , they decided to seek asylum in Hungary, and subsequently to Bulgaria...
, who had settled down in Hungary not long before the Mongol invasion. They were tasked with providing the light cavalry force in the Hungarian army. However tension erupted when Mongol troops first broke into Hungary: The Hungarians, frustrated by their own helplessness, took revenge on the Cumans, whom they accused of being Mongol spies
Spies
Spies most commonly refers to people who engage in spying, espionage or clandestine operations.Spies may also refer to:- Media and entertainment :* Spies , a jazz fusion band* "Spies" , a song...
. After a bloody fight the Hungarians killed Kuthen (the Cuman Leader) and his bodyguard
Bodyguard
A bodyguard is a type of security operative or government agent who protects a person—usually a famous, wealthy, or politically important figure—from assault, kidnapping, assassination, stalking, loss of confidential information, terrorist attack or other threats.Most important public figures such...
s; the remaining Cumans fled to the Balkans. After the Mongol invasion, Béla IV of Hungary
Béla IV of Hungary
Béla IV , King of Hungary and of Croatia , duke of Styria 1254–58. One of the most famous kings of Hungary, he distinguished himself through his policy of strengthening of the royal power following the example of his grandfather Bela III, and by the rebuilding Hungary after the catastrophe of the...
recalled the Cumans to Hungary to repopulate settlements devastated by war. The nomadic Cumans subsequently settled throughout the Great Hungarian Plain
Great Hungarian Plain
The Great Hungarian Plain is a plain occupying the southern and eastern part of Hungary, some parts of the Eastern Slovak Lowland, southwestern Ukraine, the Transcarpathian Lowland , western Romania , northern Serbia , and eastern Croatia...
.
Around 1241, the Kingdom of Hungary
Kingdom of Hungary
The Kingdom of Hungary comprised present-day Hungary, Slovakia and Croatia , Transylvania , Carpatho Ruthenia , Vojvodina , Burgenland , and other smaller territories surrounding present-day Hungary's borders...
was much like any other feudal kingdom of Europe: although the throne was still inherited by Árpád
Árpád
Árpád was the second Grand Prince of the Hungarians . Under his rule the Hungarian people settled in the Carpathian basin. The dynasty descending from him ruled the Hungarian tribes and later the Kingdom of Hungary until 1301...
's successors, the king's authority and power was greatly curtailed. Rich magnates cared less about the national security of the whole kingdom than about petty feudal quarrels with their fellow landlords. The Golden Bull of 1222
Golden Bull of 1222
The Golden Bull of 1222 was a golden bull, or edict, issued by King Andrew II of Hungary. The law established the rights of the Hungarian nobility, including the right to disobey the King when he acted contrary to law . The nobles and the church were freed from all taxes and could not be forced to...
issued by King Andrew II
Andrew II of Hungary
Andrew II the Jerosolimitan was King of Hungary and Croatia . He was the younger son of King Béla III of Hungary, who invested him with the government of the Principality of Halych...
authorized magnates to rebel against the king in some circumstances, and made the him only 'primus inter pares'—first among equals. Bela IV tried to restore the king's former authority and power, without much success.
The Hungarians had first learned about the Mongol threat in 1229, when King Andrew granted asylum to some fleeing Russian boyars. Some Magyars, left behind during the main migration to the Pannonian basin, still lived on the banks of the upper Volga. In 1237 a Dominican friar
Dominican Order
The Order of Preachers , after the 15th century more commonly known as the Dominican Order or Dominicans, is a Catholic religious order founded by Saint Dominic and approved by Pope Honorius III on 22 December 1216 in France...
, Julianus
Friar Julian
Friar Julian was one of a group of Hungarian Dominican friars who, in 1235, left Hungary in order to find those Magyars who — according to the chronicles — remained in the eastern homeland. After travelling a great distance, Friar Julian reached the capital of Volga Bulgaria, where he...
, set off on an expedition to lead them back, and was sent back to King Béla with a letter from Batu Khan. In this letter, Khan called upon the Hungarian king to surrender his kingdom unconditionally to the Tatar forces or face complete destruction. Béla did not reply, and two more messages were later delivered to Hungary. The first, in 1239, was sent by the defeated Cuman
Cumans
The Cumans were Turkic nomadic people comprising the western branch of the Cuman-Kipchak confederation. After Mongol invasion , they decided to seek asylum in Hungary, and subsequently to Bulgaria...
tribes, who asked for and received asylum in Hungary. The second was sent in February 1241 by the defeated Polish princes.
Only then did King Béla call upon his magnates to join his army in defense of the country. He also asked the papacy and the Western European rulers for help. Foreign help came in the form of a small knight-detachment under the leadership of Frederick, Prince of Austria, but it was too small to change the outcome of the campaign. The majority of the Hungarian magnates also did not realize the urgency of the matter. Some may have hoped that a defeat of the royal army would force Béla to discontinue his centralization efforts and thus strengthen their own power.
Although the Mongol danger was real and imminent, Hungary was not prepared to deal with it; in the minds of a people who had lived free from nomadic invasions for the last few hundred years, an invasion seemed impossible, and Hungary was no longer a predominantly soldier population. Only rich nobles were trained as heavy-armored cavalry. The Hungarians had long since forgotten the light-cavalry strategy and tactics of their ancestors, which, ironically, were similar to those now used by the Mongols and their ancestors, the Huns
Huns
The Huns were a group of nomadic people who, appearing from east of the Volga River, migrated into Europe c. AD 370 and established the vast Hunnic Empire there. Since de Guignes linked them with the Xiongnu, who had been northern neighbours of China 300 years prior to the emergence of the Huns,...
.
The Hungarian army (some 60,000 on the eve of the Battle of Muhi) was made up of individual knights with tactical knowledge, discipline, and talented commanders. Because his army was not experienced in nomadic warfare, King Béla welcomed the Cuman King Kuthen (also known as Kotony) and his fighters. However, the Cuman invitation proved detrimental as Batu Khan justified his invasion of Hungary as Béla giving asylum to the Cumans, a group Batu Khan regarded as rebels and traitors to the Mongol Empire
Mongol Empire
The Mongol Empire , initially named as Greater Mongol State was a great empire during the 13th and 14th centuries...
. After rumors began to circulate in Hungary that the Cumans were agents of the Mongols, some hot-headed Hungarians attacked the Cuman camp and killed Kotony. This lead the enraged Cumans to ride south, looting, ravaging the countryside, and slaughtering the unsuspecting Magyar population. The Austrian troops retreated Austria shortly thereafter to "enlist more Western help." The Hungarians now stood alone in the defense of their country.
Great Hungarian Plain
The Great Hungarian Plain is a plain occupying the southern and eastern part of Hungary, some parts of the Eastern Slovak Lowland, southwestern Ukraine, the Transcarpathian Lowland , western Romania , northern Serbia , and eastern Croatia...
s, the slopes of the northern Carpathian Mountains
Carpathian Mountains
The Carpathian Mountains or Carpathians are a range of mountains forming an arc roughly long across Central and Eastern Europe, making them the second-longest mountain range in Europe...
, and Transylvania
Transylvania
Transylvania is a historical region in the central part of Romania. Bounded on the east and south by the Carpathian mountain range, historical Transylvania extended in the west to the Apuseni Mountains; however, the term sometimes encompasses not only Transylvania proper, but also the historical...
. Where they found local resistance, they ruthlessly killed the population. Where the locale offered no resistance, they forced the men into servitude in the Mongol army. Still, tens of thousands avoided Mongol domination by taking refuge behind the walls of the few existing fortresses or by hiding in the forests or large marshes along the rivers. The Mongols, instead of leaving the defenseless and helpless people and continuing their campaign through Pannonia
Pannonia
Pannonia was an ancient province of the Roman Empire bounded north and east by the Danube, coterminous westward with Noricum and upper Italy, and southward with Dalmatia and upper Moesia....
to Western Europe, spent the entire summer and fall securing and pacifying the occupied territories. Then during the winter, contrary to the traditional strategy of nomadic armies which started campaigns only in spring-time, they crossed the Danube
Danube
The Danube is a river in the Central Europe and the Europe's second longest river after the Volga. It is classified as an international waterway....
and continued their systematic occupation, including Pannonia
Pannonia
Pannonia was an ancient province of the Roman Empire bounded north and east by the Danube, coterminous westward with Noricum and upper Italy, and southward with Dalmatia and upper Moesia....
. They eventually reached the Austrian borders and the Adriatic shores in Dalmatia
Dalmatia
Dalmatia is a historical region on the eastern coast of the Adriatic Sea. It stretches from the island of Rab in the northwest to the Bay of Kotor in the southeast. The hinterland, the Dalmatian Zagora, ranges from fifty kilometers in width in the north to just a few kilometers in the south....
. At this time, Croatia was part of Hungary, since it was conquered by the Kingdom of Hungary in 1091. The Mongols appointed a darughachi
Darughachi
Darughachi, which originally designated officials in the Mongol Empire in charge of taxes and administration in a certain province, is the plural form of the Mongolian word darugha. They were sometimes referred to as governors...
in Hungary and minted coins in the name of Khagan. According to Michael Prawdin
Michael Prawdin
Michael Prawdin was the pseudonym of Michael Charol , a Russian-German historical writer.Born in the Ukraine, Charol came to Germany after the Russian Revolution. He studied in Germany, and wrote in German. In 1934 he made a plea for the 'factual novel'.Prawdin made himself an international...
, the country of Béla was assigned to Orda by Batu as an appanage
Appanage
An apanage or appanage or is the grant of an estate, titles, offices, or other things of value to the younger male children of a sovereign, who would otherwise have no inheritance under the system of primogeniture...
.
At least 20%-40% of the population died, by slaughter or epidemic. But while the Mongols claimed control of Hungary, they could not occupy fortified cities such as Fehérvár
Fehérvár
The Hungarian placename Fehérvár may refer to:* Székesfehérvár, Hungary, often known simply as "Fehérvár"** Videoton FC Fehérvár, football club from Székesfehérvár* Gyulafehérvár, the Hungarian name of Alba Iulia, Romania...
, Esztergom
Esztergom
Esztergom , is a city in northern Hungary, 46 km north-west of the capital Budapest. It lies in Komárom-Esztergom county, on the right bank of the river Danube, which forms the border with Slovakia there....
, Veszprém
Veszprém
Veszprém is one of the oldest urban areas in Hungary, and a city with county rights. It lies approximately north of the Lake Balaton. It is the administrative center of the county of the same name.-Location:...
, Tihany
Tihany
Tihany is a village on the northern shore of Lake Balaton on the Tihany Peninsula . The whole peninsula is a historical district....
, Győr
Gyor
-Climate:-Main sights:The ancient core of the city is Káptalan Hill at the confluence of three rivers: the Danube, Rába and Rábca. Püspökvár, the residence of Győr’s bishops can be easily recognised by its incomplete tower. Győr’s oldest buildings are the 13th-century dwelling tower and the...
, Pannonhalma
Pannonhalma
Pannonhalma is a town in western Hungary, in Győr-Moson-Sopron county with approximately 4,000 inhabitants. It is about from Győr. Archduke Otto Habsburg's heart is kept at the Pannonhalma Archabbey, while his body was laid at the Capuchin Crypt in the old Imperial capital of Vienna.-History:The...
, Moson
Mosonmagyaróvár
Mosonmagyaróvár is a city in Győr-Moson-Sopron county in northwestern Hungary. It lies close to both the Austrian and Slovakian borders and has a population of 30,200 ....
, Sopron
Sopron
In 1910 Sopron had 33,932 inhabitants . Religions: 64.1% Roman Catholic, 27.8% Lutheran, 6.6% Jewish, 1.2% Calvinist, 0.3% other. In 2001 the city had 56,125 inhabitants...
, Vasvár
Vasvár
Vasvár ), is a town in Vas county, Hungary.-See also:* Peace of Vasvár* Vasvári kistérség...
, Újhely, Zala
Zala
Zala is the name of an administrative county in Hungary. Itlies in south-western Hungary. It is named after the Zala River. It shares borders with Croatia and Slovenia and the Hungarian counties Vas, Veszprém and Somogy. The capital of Zala county is Zalaegerszeg. Its area is 3784 km²...
, Lockenhaus
Lockenhaus
Lockenhaus is a town in the district of Oberpullendorf in Burgenland in Austria.- History :The town was part of Hungary since the foundation of the kingdom in the year 1000. Since 1898 the name Léka had to be used because of the Magyarization by the government in Budapest...
, Bratislava
Bratislava
Bratislava is the capital of Slovakia and, with a population of about 431,000, also the country's largest city. Bratislava is in southwestern Slovakia on both banks of the Danube River. Bordering Austria and Hungary, it is the only national capital that borders two independent countries.Bratislava...
, Nitra
Nitra
Nitra is a city in western Slovakia, situated at the foot of Zobor Mountain in the valley of the river Nitra. With a population of about 83,572, it is the fifth largest city in Slovakia. Nitra is also one of the oldest cities in Slovakia and the country's earliest political and cultural center...
, Komárom
Komárom
Komárom is a city in Hungary on the right bank of the Danube in Komárom-Esztergom county.The city of Komárom was formerly a separate suburban village called...
, Fiľakovo
Filakovo
Fiľakovo is a town in the Banská Bystrica Region of south-central Slovakia. Historically it was part of the Nógrád region.-Geography:...
and Abaújvár
Abaújvár
Abaújvár is a village in Hungary, next to the Slovakian border. It lies northeast of Miskolc.-History:In the 11th century, the village belonged to the Aba clan, one of the most important Hungarian families of the time, and was first mentioned in 1046, but presumably an earth castle stood here...
. Learning from this lesson, fortresses came to play a significant role in Hungary. King Béla IV rebuilt the country and invested in fortifications. Facing a shortage of money, he welcomed the settlement of Jewish families, investors, and tradesmen, granting them citizenship rights. The King also welcomed tens of thousands of Kun (Cumans) who had fled the country before the invasion. Chinese fire arrow
Fire Arrow
Fire arrows are an early form of gun powder rocket which were attached to a stick. The Chinese are credited with the first use of fire arrows in a military application, they may have developed fire arrows from their use of fireworks.- Design :...
s were deployed by Mongols against Budapest in December 25, 1241, which they overran.
During the spring of 1242, Ögedei Khan
Ögedei Khan
Ögedei Khan, born Ögedei was the third son of Genghis Khan and second Great Khan of the Mongol Empire by succeeding his father...
died at the age of fifty-six after a binge of drinking during a hunting trip. Batu Khan, who was one of the contenders to the imperial throne, returned at once with his armies to Asia, leaving the whole of Eastern Europe depopulated and in ruins (before withdrawal, Batu Khan ordered wholesale execution of prisoners). But because of his withdrawal, Western Europe escaped unscathed.
Some Hungarian historians claim that Hungary's long resistance against the Mongols actually saved Western Europe, though many Western European historians reject this interpretation. They point out that the Mongols evacuated Hungary of their own free will, and that Western Europe avoided Mongol attacks due to the sudden death of Ögedei Khan, not by the endeavor of the Hungarians. Other European and American historians have questioned whether the Mongols would have been able to, or even wished to, continue their invasion into Europe west of the Hungarian plain at all, given the logistical situation in Europe and their need to keep large number of horses in the field to retain their strategic mobility.
The Mongolian invasion taught the Magyars a simple lesson: although the Mongols had destroyed the countryside, the forts and fortified cities had survived. To improve their defense capabilities for the future, they had to build forts, not only on the borders but also inside the country. During the remaining decades of the 13th century and throughout the 14th century, the kings donated more and more royal land to the magnates with the condition that they build forts and ensure their defenses.
Invasion of the Kingdom of Croatia
Kingdom of Croatia (medieval)
The Kingdom of Croatia , also known as the Kingdom of the Croats , was a medieval kingdom covering most of what is today Croatia and Bosnia and Herzegovina in the Balkans.Established in 925, it ruled as a sovereign state for almost two centuries...
was in a personal union
Croatia in personal union with Hungary
Kingdom of Croatia after the succession crisis become a part of Kingdom of Hungary and — depending on sources — either was incorporated into Hungary or Croatia existed in a personal union with Hungary....
with the Kingdom of Hungary, with Béla IV as a king.
When routed on the banks of the Sajo River in 1241 by the Tartars and Mongols, Bela IV fled to today's Zagreb
Zagreb
Zagreb is the capital and the largest city of the Republic of Croatia. It is in the northwest of the country, along the Sava river, at the southern slopes of the Medvednica mountain. Zagreb lies at an elevation of approximately above sea level. According to the last official census, Zagreb's city...
in Croatia
Croatia
Croatia , officially the Republic of Croatia , is a unitary democratic parliamentary republic in Europe at the crossroads of the Mitteleuropa, the Balkans, and the Mediterranean. Its capital and largest city is Zagreb. The country is divided into 20 counties and the city of Zagreb. Croatia covers ...
. The poorly-fortified Zagreb was unable to resist the invasion and was destroyed, its cathedral
Cathedral
A cathedral is a Christian church that contains the seat of a bishop...
burned by Mongols. In preparation for a second invasion, Gradec
Gradec, Zagreb
Gradec or Grič is a part of the Zagreb, Croatia, and together with Kaptol it is the mediaeval nucleus of the city. It's situated on the hill of Gornji Grad.- History :Gradec was given a royal charter by King Bela IV in 1242...
was granted a royal charter or Golden Bull of 1242
Golden Bull of 1242
The Golden Bull of 1242 was a golden bull or edict, issued by King Béla IV of Hungary to inhabitants of Gradec during Mongol invasion of Europe. By this golden bull King Bela IV proclaimed a royal free city....
by King Bela IV, after which citizens of Zagreb engaged in building defensive walls and towers around their settlement.
The Mongols' pursuit of Béla IV continued from Zagreb through Pannonia
Pannonia
Pannonia was an ancient province of the Roman Empire bounded north and east by the Danube, coterminous westward with Noricum and upper Italy, and southward with Dalmatia and upper Moesia....
to Dalmatia
Dalmatia
Dalmatia is a historical region on the eastern coast of the Adriatic Sea. It stretches from the island of Rab in the northwest to the Bay of Kotor in the southeast. The hinterland, the Dalmatian Zagora, ranges from fifty kilometers in width in the north to just a few kilometers in the south....
. While in pursuit, the Mongols under the leadership of Kadan
Kadan
Kadaň , is a city in the Ústí nad Labem Region of the Czech Republic.The city lies on the banks of the river Ohře. Although it is situated in an industrial part of the Czech Republic there is no major industry within the city and people usually work in offices or have to commute. There are two...
(Qadan) suffered a major defeat at Klis Fortress
Klis Fortress
The Klis Fortress is a medieval fortress situated above a village bearing the same name, near the city of Split, in central Dalmatia, Croatia. From its origin as a small stronghold built by the ancient Illyrian tribe Dalmatae, becoming a royal castle that was the seat of many Croatian kings, to...
in Croatia in March 1242. The Mongols pursued Béla IV from town to town in Dalmatia, while Croatian nobility
Croatian nobility
Croatian nobility refers to the noble families of Croatia, Slavonia, Dalmatia, Istria, Bosnia and Republic of Ragusa.-General history of Croatian nobility:Croatian nobility titles mostly were granted by the kings of Croatia, later kings of Hungary-Croatia...
and Dalmatian towns such as Trogir
Trogir
Trogir is a historic town and harbour on the Adriatic coast in Split-Dalmatia County, Croatia, with a population of 12,995 and a total municipality population of 13,322 . The historic city of Trogir is situated on a small island between the Croatian mainland and the island of Čiovo...
and Rab
Rab
Rab is an island in Croatia and a town of the same name located just off the northern Croatian coast in the Adriatic Sea.The island is long, has an area of and 9,480 inhabitants . The highest peak is Kamenjak at 408 meters...
helped Béla IV to escape. After their defeat against the Croatian soldiers, the Mongols retreated and Béla IV was awarded Croatian towns and nobility. Only the town of Split
Split (city)
Split is a Mediterranean city on the eastern shores of the Adriatic Sea, centered around the ancient Roman Palace of the Emperor Diocletian and its wide port bay. With a population of 178,192 citizens, and a metropolitan area numbering up to 467,899, Split is by far the largest Dalmatian city and...
did not aid Béla IV in his escape from the Mongols. Some historians claim that the mountainous terrain of Croatian Dalmatia was fatal for the Mongols because of the great losses they suffered from Croat ambushes set up in mountain passes. Most historians claim that the death of Ögedei Khan
Ögedei Khan
Ögedei Khan, born Ögedei was the third son of Genghis Khan and second Great Khan of the Mongol Empire by succeeding his father...
was the primary reason for retreat. In any case, though much of Croatia was plundered and destroyed, long-term occupation was unsuccessful.
Saint Margaret
Saint Margaret of Hungary
Saint Margaret was a nun and the daughter of King Béla IV and Maria Laskarina. She was the niece of Saint Elizabeth of Hungary and the younger sister of Saint Kinga and Blessed Yolanda.-Early life:...
(January 27, 1242 – January 18, 1271), a daughter of Béla IV and Maria Laskarina
Maria Laskarina
Maria Laskarina was a daughter of Theodore I Laskaris and his first wife Anna Angelina.-Life:She was a younger sister of Irene Lascarina, first Empress consort of John III Doukas Vatatzes. Theodore married his eldest daughter to his designated heir in 1212...
, was born in Klis Fortress during the Mongol invasion of Hungary-Croatia in 1242.
Impact on Romanians
Moldavia
Moldavia is a geographic and historical region and former principality in Eastern Europe, corresponding to the territory between the Eastern Carpathians and the Dniester river...
and Wallachia
Wallachia
Wallachia or Walachia is a historical and geographical region of Romania. It is situated north of the Danube and south of the Southern Carpathians...
(situated east of the Carpathians
Carpathian Mountains
The Carpathian Mountains or Carpathians are a range of mountains forming an arc roughly long across Central and Eastern Europe, making them the second-longest mountain range in Europe...
) and then Transylvania
Transylvania
Transylvania is a historical region in the central part of Romania. Bounded on the east and south by the Carpathian mountain range, historical Transylvania extended in the west to the Apuseni Mountains; however, the term sometimes encompasses not only Transylvania proper, but also the historical...
(then part of the Kingdom of Hungary
Kingdom of Hungary
The Kingdom of Hungary comprised present-day Hungary, Slovakia and Croatia , Transylvania , Carpatho Ruthenia , Vojvodina , Burgenland , and other smaller territories surrounding present-day Hungary's borders...
). Tens of thousands of Romanians lost their lives defending their territories from the Golden Horde
Golden Horde
The Golden Horde was a Mongol and later Turkicized khanate that formed the north-western sector of the Mongol Empire...
. Crops and goods plundered from Romanian settlements seem to have been a primary supply source for the Golden Horde. The invaders killed up to half of the population and burned down most of their settlements, thus destroying much of the cultural and economic records from that period. Neither Romanians nor the army of Hungary offered much resistance against the Mongols. The swiftness of the invasion took many by surprise and forced them to retreat and hide in forests and the enclosed valleys of the Carpathians. In the end, however, the main target of the invasion was the Kingdom of Hungary.
European tactics against Mongols
The traditional European method of warfare of melee combat between knights ended in catastrophe when it was deployed against the Mongol forces. The New Encyclopaedia Britannica, Volume 29 says that "Employed against the Mongol invaders of Europe, knightly warfare failed even more disastrously for the Poles at Legnica and the Hungarians at Mohi in 1241. Feudal Europe was saved from sharing the fate of China and Muscovy not by its tactical prowess but by the unexpected death of the Mongol's supreme ruler, Ogedei, and the subsequent eastward retreat of his armies."The Mongols destroyed an army of Germans, French, and Poles numbering 30,000 at the Battle of Legnica
Battle of Legnica
The Battle of Legnica , also known as the Battle of Liegnitz or Battle of Wahlstatt , was a battle between the Mongol Empire and the combined defending forces of European fighters that took place at Legnickie Pole near the city of Legnica in Silesia on 9 April 1241.A combined force of Poles,...
, slaughtering nearly 25,000. After that, other German cities quickly capitulated.
Mongol Diffusion of Chinese Gunpowder to Europe
Several sources mention Chinese firearms and gunpowder weapons being deployed by the Mongols against European forces at the Battle of Mohi in various forms, including bombs hurled via catapult. Professor Kenneth Warren Chase credits the Mongols for introducing into Europe gunpowder and its associated weaponry.A later fabricated legend arose in Europe about a nonexistent Berthold Schwarz
Berthold Schwarz
Berthold Schwarz is a legendary or semi-legendary German alchemist of the late 14th century, credited with the invention of gunpowder in literature of the 15th and 16th centuries....
who consorted with Satan, claimed that he invented the gun, whilst it was the Mongols who spread it to Europe in reality.
End of the Mongol advance
Some claim that European survival was due to Mongol unwillingness to fight in the more densely populated German principalities, where the wetter weather affected their glue and sinew backed bowsMongol bow
The Mongol bow is a recurved composite bow renowned for its military effectiveness. The old Mongolian bows that were used during the times of Genghis Khan were smaller than the modern weapons used at most Naadam festivals today. Modern Mongolian bows are larger and have string bridges...
. The territory of Western Europe, with more forests and with many castles along with many opportunities for the European heavy cavalry (better and heavier at mêlée than the Mongol heavy cavalry) to counter-attack.
Some historians believe that the reason for Batu's stopping at the Mohi River, was that he never intended to advance further. He had made the Russian conquest safe for the years to come, and when the Great Khan died and he rushed back to Mongolia to put in his claim for power, it ended his westward expansion. Subutai's recall at the same time left the Mongol armies without their spiritual head and primary strategist. Batu Khan was not able to resume his plans for conquest to the "Great Sea" (the Atlantic Ocean) until 1255, after the turmoil after Ögedei's death had finally subsided with the election of Möngke Khan
Möngke Khan
Möngke Khan , born Möngke, , was the fourth Great Khan of the Mongol Empire from July 1, 1251 – August 11, 1259. He was the first Great Khan from the Toluid line, and made significant reforms to improve the administration of the Empire during his reign...
as Great Khan. He was not capable nor interested in launching an invasion on Western Europe.
Mongol infighting
From 1241 to 1248 a state of almost open warfare existed between the son of Jochi, Batu, and the son of Ögedei, GüyükGüyük Khan
Güyük was the third Great Khan of the Mongol Empire. As the eldest son of Ögedei Khan and a grandson of Genghis Khan, he reigned from 1246 to 1248...
. The Mongol Empire was ruled by a regency under Ögedei's widow Töregene Khatun
Töregene Khatun
Töregene Khatun was the Great Khatun and regent of the Mongol Empire from the death of her husband Ögedei Khan in 1241 until the election of her eldest son Güyük Khan in 1246.-Background:...
, whose only goal was to secure the Great Khanate for her son, Güyük. There was so much bitterness between the two branches of the family that Güyük died in 1248 on his way to confront Batu to force him to accept his authority. He also had problems in his last years with the Principality of Halych-Volhynia, whose ruler, Danylo of Halych, adopted a politic of confronting the Golden Horde and defeated some Mongol assaults in 1254. He was only defeated in 1259, under the Berke's rule. Batu Khan was unable to turn his army west until 1255, after Möngke had become Great Khan in 1251, and he had repaired his relations with the Great Khanate. However, as he prepared to finish the invasion of Europe, he died. His son did not live long enough to implement his father and Subutai's plan to invade Europe, and with his death, Batu's younger brother Berke
Berke
Berke Khan was the ruler of the Golden Horde who effectively consolidated the power of the Blue Horde and White Hordes from 1257 to 1266. He succeeded his brother Batu Khan of the Blue Horde and was responsible for the first official establishment of Islam in a khanate of the Mongol Empire...
became Khan of the Kipchak Khanate. Berke was not interested in invading Europe as much as halting his cousin Hulagu Khan
Hulagu Khan
Hulagu Khan, also known as Hülegü, Hulegu , was a Mongol ruler who conquered much of Southwest Asia...
from destroying the Holy Land
Holy Land
The Holy Land is a term which in Judaism refers to the Kingdom of Israel as defined in the Tanakh. For Jews, the Land's identifiction of being Holy is defined in Judaism by its differentiation from other lands by virtue of the practice of Judaism often possible only in the Land of Israel...
. Berke had converted to Islam
Islam
Islam . The most common are and . : Arabic pronunciation varies regionally. The first vowel ranges from ~~. The second vowel ranges from ~~~...
and watched with horror as his cousin destroyed the Abbasid Caliph, the spiritual head of Islam as far as Berke was concerned. The Mamluk
Mamluk
A Mamluk was a soldier of slave origin, who were predominantly Cumans/Kipchaks The "mamluk phenomenon", as David Ayalon dubbed the creation of the specific warrior...
s of Egypt, learning through spies that Berke was both a Muslim and not fond of his cousin, appealed to him for help and were careful to nourish their ties to him and his Khanate.
Both entities were Turkic
Turkic peoples
The Turkic peoples are peoples residing in northern, central and western Asia, southern Siberia and northwestern China and parts of eastern Europe. They speak languages belonging to the Turkic language family. They share, to varying degrees, certain cultural traits and historical backgrounds...
in origin. Most of the Mamluks were of Turkic descent and Berke's Khanate was almost totally Turkic also. Jochi, Genghis Khan's oldest son, was of disputed parentage and only received 4,000 Mongol warriors to start his Khanate. His nearly 500,000 warriors were virtually all Turkic people who had submitted to the Mongols. Thus, the Khanate was Turkic in culture and had more in common with their brother Muslim Turkic Mamluks than with the Mongol shamanist Hulagu and his horde. Thus, when Hulagu Khan began to mass his army for war against the Mamluk-controlled Holy Land, they swiftly appealed to Berke Khan who sent armies against his cousin and forced him to defend his domains in the north.
Hulagu returned to his lands by 1262, but instead of being able to avenge his defeats, had to turn north to face Berke Khan, suffering severe defeat in an attempted invasion north of the Caucasus in 1263, after Berke Khan had lured him north and away from the Holy Land. Thus, the Kipchak Khanate never invaded Europe; keeping watch to the south and east instead. Berke only sent troops into Europe twice, in two relatively light raids in 1259 and 1265, simply to collect booty he needed to pay for his wars against Hulagu from 1262-65.
Against Poland (1259 and 1287)
In 1259, eighteen years after the first attack, two tumens (20,000 men) from the Golden HordeGolden Horde
The Golden Horde was a Mongol and later Turkicized khanate that formed the north-western sector of the Mongol Empire...
, under the leadership of Berke, attacked Poland after raiding Lithuania. This attack was commanded by general Burundai
Burundai
Boroldai or Burundai Боролдай was a notable Mongol general of the mid 13th century. He participated in the Mongol invasion of Russia and Europe in 1236-1242....
with young princes Nogai
Nogai Khan
Nogai , also called Isa Nogai, was a general and de facto ruler of the Golden Horde and a great-great-grandson of Genghis Khan. His grandfather was Baul/Teval Khan, the 7th son of Jochi...
and Talabuga
Talabuga
Talabuga, Tulabuga, Talubuga or Telubuga was the khan of Golden Horde between 1287 and 1291. He was the son of Tartu and great-grandson of Batu Khan.He assumed the power in Golden Horde in 1287 with the help of Nogai Khan, but was dethroned 4 years later by the same, replaced by Tokhta.- European...
. Lublin
Lublin
Lublin is the ninth largest city in Poland. It is the capital of Lublin Voivodeship with a population of 350,392 . Lublin is also the largest Polish city east of the Vistula river...
, Sieradz
Sieradz
Sieradz is a town on the Warta river in central Poland with 44,326 inhabitants . It is situated in the Łódź Voivodship , but was previously the eponymous capital of the Sieradz Voivodship , and historically one of the minor duchies in Greater Poland.It is one of the oldest towns in Poland,...
, Sandomierz
Sandomierz
Sandomierz is a city in south-eastern Poland with 25,714 inhabitants . Situated in the Świętokrzyskie Voivodeship , previously in Tarnobrzeg Voivodeship . It is the capital of Sandomierz County . Sandomierz is known for its Old Town, a major tourist attraction...
, Zawichost
Zawichost
Zawichost is a small town in Sandomierz County, Świętokrzyskie Voivodeship, Poland. It is located by the Vistula River in southern Poland, near Sandomierz....
, Kraków
Kraków
Kraków also Krakow, or Cracow , is the second largest and one of the oldest cities in Poland. Situated on the Vistula River in the Lesser Poland region, the city dates back to the 7th century. Kraków has traditionally been one of the leading centres of Polish academic, cultural, and artistic life...
, and Bytom
Bytom
Bytom is a city in Silesia in southern Poland, near Katowice. The central-western district of the Upper Silesian Metropolitan Union - metropolis with the population of 2 millions. Bytom is located in the Silesian Highlands, on the Bytomka river .The city belongs to the Silesian Voivodeship since...
were ravaged and plundered. Berke had no intention of occupying or conquering Poland. After this raid the Pope Alexander IV
Pope Alexander IV
Pope Alexander IV was Pope from 1254 until his death.Born as Rinaldo di Jenne, in Jenne , he was, on his mother's side, a member of the de' Conti di Segni family, the counts of Segni, like Pope Innocent III and Pope Gregory IX...
tried without success to organize a crusade against the Tatars.
An unsuccessful raid followed in 1287, led by Talabuga
Talabuga
Talabuga, Tulabuga, Talubuga or Telubuga was the khan of Golden Horde between 1287 and 1291. He was the son of Tartu and great-grandson of Batu Khan.He assumed the power in Golden Horde in 1287 with the help of Nogai Khan, but was dethroned 4 years later by the same, replaced by Tokhta.- European...
and Nogai Khan. Lublin, Mazovia
Mazovia
Mazovia or Masovia is a geographical, historical and cultural region in east-central Poland. It is also a voivodeship in Poland.Its historic capital is Płock, which was the medieval residence of first Dukes of Masovia...
, Sandomierz and Sieradz
Sieradz
Sieradz is a town on the Warta river in central Poland with 44,326 inhabitants . It is situated in the Łódź Voivodship , but was previously the eponymous capital of the Sieradz Voivodship , and historically one of the minor duchies in Greater Poland.It is one of the oldest towns in Poland,...
were successful raided, but they were defeated at Kraków, although this city too was devastated. This raid consisted of less than one tumen, since the Golden Horde's armies were tied down in a new conflict which the Il-Khanate initiated in 1284. The force sent was not sufficient to meet the full Polish army, nor did it have any siege engineers or equipment to breach city walls. It raided a few caravans, burned a few small towns, and fled when the Polish army was mustered.
Against Lithuania (1259, 1275 and 1277)
The Mongols under BurundaiBurundai
Boroldai or Burundai Боролдай was a notable Mongol general of the mid 13th century. He participated in the Mongol invasion of Russia and Europe in 1236-1242....
, a famous general of Batu, also successfully raided the Kingdom of Lithuania
Kingdom of Lithuania
The Kingdom of Lithuania was a Lithuanian monarchy which existed from 1251 to roughly 1263. King Mindaugas was the first and only crowned king of Lithuania. The status of a kingdom was lost after Mindaugas' assassination in 1263. Other monarchs of Lithuania are referred to as Grand Dukes, even...
during the campaign of 1259. There were other raids against Lithuania in 1275 and 1277, as the Lithuanians were emerging as a rival to Mongol power in the Russian states, but this time they were catastrophically defeated and did not recover from the loss for the next forty years.
Against Byzantine Thrace (1265, 1324 and 1337)
During the reign of Berke there was also a raid against ThraceThrace
Thrace is a historical and geographic area in southeast Europe. As a geographical concept, Thrace designates a region bounded by the Balkan Mountains on the north, Rhodope Mountains and the Aegean Sea on the south, and by the Black Sea and the Sea of Marmara on the east...
. In the winter of 1265 Nogai Khan
Nogai Khan
Nogai , also called Isa Nogai, was a general and de facto ruler of the Golden Horde and a great-great-grandson of Genghis Khan. His grandfather was Baul/Teval Khan, the 7th son of Jochi...
led a Mongol raid of two tumens (20,000 soldiers) against the territories of Bulgaria
Bulgaria
Bulgaria , officially the Republic of Bulgaria , is a parliamentary democracy within a unitary constitutional republic in Southeast Europe. The country borders Romania to the north, Serbia and Macedonia to the west, Greece and Turkey to the south, as well as the Black Sea to the east...
and Byzantine Eastern Thrace. In the spring of 1265 he defeated the armies of Michael VIII Palaeologus. Instead of fighting, most of the Byzantines fled. After this Thrace was plundered by Nogai's army, and the Byzantine emperor made an alliance with the Golden Horde
Golden Horde
The Golden Horde was a Mongol and later Turkicized khanate that formed the north-western sector of the Mongol Empire...
, giving his daughter Euphrosyne
Euphrosyne
Euphrosyne is a Greek female name; Phroso or Froso is its more common derivative. Euphrosyne may refer to:* 31 Euphrosyne, one of the largest main belt asteroids* Boloria euphrosyne, a butterfly* Euphrosyne , a genus of flowering plants...
in marriage to Nogai. Michael also sent much valuable fabric to Golden Horde as tributary. Also during Uzbeg Khan
Uzbeg Khan
Sultan Mohammed Öz-Beg, better known as Uzbeg or Ozbeg , was the longest-reigning khan of the Golden Horde, under whose rule the state reached its zenith...
reign Thrace suffered raids in 1324 and 1337.
Against Bulgaria (1241, 1242, 1271, 1274, 1280 and 1285)
After the death of Khan Ogedei,Batu decided to return from Hungary to Mongolia.Part of his army invade Bulgaria,but was defeated by Bulgarian army under Tsar Ivan Asen II.The successors of Tsar Ivan Asen II - the regency of Kaliman Asen I desided to pay tax to the Golden Horde.In 1271 Nogai Khan led a successful raid against the country, which was a vassal of the Golden Horde until the early 14th century.Bulgaria was again raided by the Tatars in 1274, 1280 and 1285.In 1278 and 1279 Tsar Ivailo lead the Bulgarian army and many times defeat the Tatars.However, the next Bulgarian tsar accepted suzerainty of Khan Tokhta (Toqta); Mongol control loosened after Nogai and Chaka's deaths.Against the Kingdom of Hungary (1280s)
In the mid-1280s Nogai Khan led an invasion of Hungary alongside TalabugaTalabuga
Talabuga, Tulabuga, Talubuga or Telubuga was the khan of Golden Horde between 1287 and 1291. He was the son of Tartu and great-grandson of Batu Khan.He assumed the power in Golden Horde in 1287 with the help of Nogai Khan, but was dethroned 4 years later by the same, replaced by Tokhta.- European...
. Nogai lead an army that ravaged Transylvania
Transylvania
Transylvania is a historical region in the central part of Romania. Bounded on the east and south by the Carpathian mountain range, historical Transylvania extended in the west to the Apuseni Mountains; however, the term sometimes encompasses not only Transylvania proper, but also the historical...
with success: Cities like Reghin, Braşov
Brasov
Brașov is a city in Romania and the capital of Brașov County.According to the last Romanian census, from 2002, there were 284,596 people living within the city of Brașov, making it the 8th most populated city in Romania....
and Bistriţa
Bistrita
Bistrița is the capital city of Bistriţa-Năsăud County, Transylvania, Romania. It is situated on the Bistriţa River. The city has a population of approximately 80,000 inhabitants, and it administers six villages: Ghinda, Sărata, Sigmir, Slătiniţa, Unirea and Viişoara.-History:The earliest sign of...
were plundered and ravaged. However Talabuga, who led the main army in Northern Hungary, was stopped by the heavy snow of the Carpathians
Carpathian Mountains
The Carpathian Mountains or Carpathians are a range of mountains forming an arc roughly long across Central and Eastern Europe, making them the second-longest mountain range in Europe...
and the invading force was defeated near Pest by the royal army of Ladislaus IV and ambushed by the Székely
Székely
The Székelys or Székely , sometimes also referred to as Szeklers , are a subgroup of the Hungarian people living mostly in the Székely Land, an ethno-cultural region in eastern Transylvania, Romania...
in the return. As with later invasions, it was repelled handily, the Mongols losing much of their invading force. The outcome could not have contrasted more sharply with the 1241 invasion, mostly due to the reforms of Béla IV
Béla IV of Hungary
Béla IV , King of Hungary and of Croatia , duke of Styria 1254–58. One of the most famous kings of Hungary, he distinguished himself through his policy of strengthening of the royal power following the example of his grandfather Bela III, and by the rebuilding Hungary after the catastrophe of the...
, which included advances in military tactics and, most importantly, the widespread building of stone castles, both responses to the defeat of the Hungarian Kingdom in 1241.
Against Serbia (1293)
Stefan Uroš II Milutin of Serbia
Stefan Uroš II Milutin was a king of Serbia , and member of the House of Nemanjić.-Early:...
defeated them. However, the Serbian king acknowledged Nogai's supremacy and sent his son as hostage to prevent further hostility when Nogai threatened to lead punitive expedition himself.
See also
- Tatar invasionsTatar invasionsThe Mongol invasion of Europe from the east took place over the course of three centuries, from the Middle Ages to the early modern period.The terms Tatars or Tartars are applied to nomadic Turkic peoples who, themselves, were conquered by Mongols and incorporated into their horde...
- Mongol invasionsMongol invasionsMongol invasions progressed throughout the 13th century, resulting in the vast Mongol Empire which covered much of Asia and Eastern Europe by 1300....
- Mongol military tactics and organizationMongol military tactics and organizationThe Mongol military tactics and organization helped the Mongol Empire to conquer nearly all of continental Asia, the Middle East and parts of eastern Europe. In many ways, it can be regarded as the first "modern" military system....
- Franco-Mongol allianceFranco-Mongol allianceFranco-Mongol relations were established in the 13th century, as attempts were made towards forming a Franco-Mongol alliance between the Christian Crusaders and the Mongol Empire against various Muslim empires. Such an alliance would have seemed a logical choice: the Mongols were sympathetic to...
- Rogerius of ApuliaRogerius of ApuliaRogerius of Apulia was a medieval Roman Catholic monk and chronicler, born in Torremaggiore, Apulia...
- Romania in the Early Middle AgesRomania in the Early Middle AgesThe Early Middle Ages in Romania spans the period from the withdrawal of the Roman administration from the province of Dacia in the 271–275 AD, thenceforward modern Romania's territories were to be crisscrossed by migrating populations for almost 1,000 years...