60
1000–1500
In 1236, Mongol armies invaded
the lands of the Kipchak Turks and
devastated Russia, burning its
principal city, Kiev. The Mongol
commander, Batu, angered by
King Bela IV’s sheltering of Kipchak
refugees. then ordered an attack
on Hungary, A secondary detachment of 20,000 Mongols
under leaders Kadan and Baidar embarked on a diversionary
campaign against Poland. After the Mongols sacked Cracow,
Duke Henry of Silesia marched to face them at Liegnitz (now
Legnica), near Wroclaw, without waiting for a second army of
reinforcements, led by Duke Wenceslas of Bohemia, to join him.
Henry’s peasant levies, bolstered by small detachments
of cavalry, mustered only half of the Mongols’ numbers.
The Mongols drove back his rst assault, so Henry sent his
horsemen to attack. Feigning retreat, the Mongols then cut
o the Polish horsemen by setting res to their rear. Unable
to see, the knights fell into disarray, and the Mongol archers
devastated them with volleys of arrows. Then the Mongol
cavalry charged into the European infantry, causing heavy
casualties, with Duke Henry among the dead. Combined
Liegnitz
1241
◼
MODERN-DAY POLAND
◼
MONGOL EMPIRE VS. POLISH DUCHIES
MONGOL INVASIONS OF EUROPE
Previously an obscure and divided
nomadic people on the east Asian
steppe, the Mongols were united
by Genghis Khan, who was elected
their Great Khan in 1206.
Superior horsemen and archers
with an unusually high level of
military organization, the Mongols
subjugated neighboring states
over the next 50 years, including
Khwarizmia, Persia, China, and the
Abbasid caliphate. The attack on
Europe was only halted by the death
of the Great Khan Ögodei (son of
Ghengis Khan) and feuding among
the Mongol nobility. Such feuds
ultimately broke the Empire into
separate khanates based in China,
Mongolia, Russia, and Persia.
THE MONGOLS
1 Genghis Khan, born Temüjin,
became Khan ( “Universal ruler”)
after uniting the Mongol tribes.
with the defeat of Bela IV’s army at Mohi two days earlier, this
loss left Western Europe vulnerable to the Mongol hordes.
Weeks later, however, Batu’s attention drawn by the death of
the Great Khan Ögodei, the Mongols withdrew eastward, and
they never returned to attack Eastern Europe with such force.
2
TERROR TACTICS
After the battle at
Liegnitz, the Mongols
paraded Duke Henry’s
head on a spike around
town, as depicted in
this illustration from
a 15th-century
manuscript. It was a
typical Mongol gesture,
aimed at terrorizing
the population, and
it put an end to any
further resistance.
In context
1
MOUNTED WARRIORS
This 13th-century Japanese painting,
attributed to Tosa Nagata, portrays the Mongol horsemen
as they may have looked at Liegnitz. Mongol military might
depended entirely on its cavalry. The majority of Mongol
troopers were light cavalry horse archers (as above);
the rest were heavily armored lancers.
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61
LIEGNITZ
◼
1241
2
MONGOL
VICTORY
This
14th-century
illustration shows
the Mongol invaders
(left) and Duke
Henry’s army (right)
battling at Liegnitz.
The European cavalry
were drawn in by a
feigned retreat, a
typical Mongol tactic,
and then cut o
from the infantry,
allowing Batu’s
archers and heavy
cavalry to massacre
the divided enemy.
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