Having conquered by the beginning of the 1240s a vast expanse from the Sea of Japan to the Danube, the Mongols came close to central Europe. They were ready to go further, but their progress suddenly stopped.
First to the North
The first western campaign of the Mongols was carried out during the lifetime of Genghis Khan. It is crowned with a victory over the united Russian-Polovtsian army in the Battle of Kalka in 1223. But the subsequent defeat of the weakened Mongol army from the Volga Bulgaria for some time postpones the expansion of the empire to the West.
In 1227 the Great Khan dies, but his cause continues to live. The Persian historian Rashid-ad-Din has the following words: "in pursuance of the decree given by Genghis Khan in the name of Jochi (eldest son), he entrusted the conquest of the Northern countries to members of his house."
Since 1234, the third son of Genghis Khan, Ogedei, carefully plans a new campaign, and in 1236, a huge army, according to some estimates, reaches 150 thousand people, advances to the West.
It is headed by Batu (Batu), but the real command is entrusted to one of the best Mongol commanders - Subedei.
Once the rivers are icebound, the Mongolian cavalry begins its movement towards the Russian cities. Ryazan, Suzdal, Rostov, Moscow, Yaroslavl capitulate one after another. Kozelsk holds out longer than others, but it is also destined to fall under the onslaught of countless Asian hordes.
To Europe via Kyiv
Genghis Khan planned to take one of the richest and most beautiful cities of Russia back in 1223. What the Great Khan did not succeed in, his sons did. Kyiv was besieged in September 1240, but only in December the defenders of the city faltered. After the conquest Kyiv principality nothing was holding back the Mongol army from invading Europe.
The formal goal of the campaign in Europe was Hungary, and the task was the destruction of the Polovtsian Khan Kotyan, who was hiding there with his horde. According to the chronicler, Batu "for the thirtieth time" offered the Hungarian king Bela IV to expel the Polovtsians defeated by the Mongols from their lands, but every time the desperate monarch ignored this proposal.
According to some modern historians, the pursuit of the Polovtsian Khan prompted Batu and Subedei to decide to conquer Europe, or at least some of its part.
However, the medieval chronicler Yvon of Narbonne attributed much more extensive plans to the Mongols:
“They invent that they are leaving their homeland in order to transfer to themselves the kings-sorcerers, whose relics Cologne is famous for; then, to put an end to the greed and pride of the Romans, who in ancient times oppressed them; then, to conquer only the barbarian and Hyperborean peoples; sometimes out of fear of the Teutons, in order to humble them; then, to learn military science from the Gauls; something to capture fertile lands that can feed their multitude; sometimes because of the pilgrimage to St. James, whose final destination is Galicia.
"Devils from Hell"
The main blows of the Horde troops in Europe fell on Poland and Hungary. On the days of Palm Week in 1241, the “devils from the underworld” (as the Europeans called the Mongols) almost simultaneously find themselves at the walls of Krakow and Budapest.
It is interesting that the tactics successfully tried in the battle of Kalka helped the Mongols to defeat the strong European armies.
The retreating Mongol troops gradually lured the attacking side deep into the rear, stretching it and dividing it into parts. As soon as the right moment came, the main Mongol forces destroyed scattered detachments. An important role in the victories of the Horde was played by the "despicable bow", so underestimated by European armies.
Thus, the 100,000-strong Hungarian-Croatian army was almost completely destroyed, and the color of the Polish-German chivalry was partially exterminated. Now it seemed that nothing would save Europe from the Mongol conquest.
fading strength
The Kyiv thousand-man Dmitra, who was captured by Batu, warned the khan about crossing the Galicia-Volyn lands: “Do not linger in this land for a long time, it’s time for you to go to the Ugrians. But if you delay, O strong land, they will gather against you and will not let you into their land.”
Batu's troops managed to pass the Carpathians almost painlessly, but the captive governor was right in another way. The Mongols, gradually losing their strength, had to act extremely quickly in such distant and alien lands.
According to the Russian historian S. Smirnov, Russia during the western campaign of Batu could put up to 600 thousand militias and professional soldiers. But each of the principalities opposing the invasion, which decided to fight alone, fell.
The same applied to the European armies, which, many times outnumbering the troops of Batu, were unable to consolidate at the right time.
But by the summer of 1241, Europe began to wake up. King Frederick II of Germany and Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire, in his encyclical, appealed to "open the eyes of spiritual and bodily" and "become a bulwark of Christianity against a ferocious enemy."
However, the Germans themselves were in no hurry to resist the Mongols, since at that time Frederick II, who was in conflict with the papacy, led his army to Rome.
Nevertheless, the appeal of the German king was heard. By autumn, the Mongols repeatedly tried to overcome the bridgehead on the southern bank of the Danube and transfer military operations to the territory of the Holy Roman Empire, but all failed. 8 miles from Vienna, having met with the combined Czech-Austrian army, they were forced to retreat back.
harsh lands
According to most domestic historians, the Mongol army thoroughly weakened its resources during the seizure of Russian lands: its ranks thinned by about a third, and therefore to conquer Western Europe it was not ready. But there were other factors as well.
Back in early 1238, when trying to capture Veliky Novgorod, Batu's troops were stopped on the outskirts of the city by no means by a strong enemy, but by a spring thaw - the Mongol cavalry thoroughly got stuck in the swampy area. But nature saved not only the merchant capital of Russia, but also many cities of Eastern Europe.
Impenetrable forests, wide rivers and mountain ranges often put the Mongols in a difficult position, forcing them to make tedious many kilometers detours. Where did the unprecedented speed of movement on the steppe impassability go! People and horses were seriously tired, and moreover, they were starving, not getting enough food for a long time.
death after death
Despite serious problems, with the onset of December frosts, the Mongol army was seriously going to move deep into Europe. But the unforeseen happened: on December 11, 1241, Khan Ogedei died, which opened a direct path to the Horde throne of Guyuk, the implacable enemy of Batu. The commander turned the main forces home.
A struggle for power begins between Batu and Guyuk, ending in the death (or death) of the latter in 1248. Batu ruled for a short time, having died in 1255, Sartak and Ulagchi also quickly passed away (probably poisoned). New Khan Berke in the coming Time of Troubles more concerned about the stability of power and tranquility within the empire.
On the eve of Europe, the "black death" swept over - a plague that reached the Golden Horde along the caravan routes. The Mongols will not be up to Europe for a long time. Their later western campaigns will no longer have the scope that they acquired under Batu.
The head of the Mongol Empire was the son of the "heavenly warrior" Ogedei. For several years the Mongols were busy with wars in Korea and North China. In 1234, the North Chinese "Golden Empire" fell. Then it was time to deploy all the military power of the steppes to the West...
In 1235, the great Khan Ogedei convened a kurultai (congress) of the Mongolian nobility, at which it was decided to start a new campaign. This enterprise was given special significance: it was about the fulfillment of the precepts of Genghis Khan. First, it was necessary to move from the steppes beyond the Ural River to the Lower Volga region and the Polovtsian steppe, then to the Volga Bulgaria and Russia. In the distant future, it was supposed to conquer the "land of the Franks" - Western Europe.
Khan Batu
The command of the troops of the western campaign was entrusted to the grandson of Genghis Khan - Batu.
Mongolian name Batu (in Russian pronunciation - Batu) meant "strong", "solid", "indestructible". Batu was a capable, successful commander. No wonder he was subsequently called Sain Khan, i.e. Happy. Ruthlessly and consistently he went to the goal.
Mongolian army
The march to the West required the joining of the forces of all Mongolian clans. Seven grandsons of Genghis Khan gathered at the headquarters of the commander-in-chief, and each brought with him large military forces. In total, Batu had at his disposal 100-150 thousand horsemen. In addition, during the assault on cities, the Mongols drove forward countless crowds of prisoners who carried earth, logs and stones to overcome the ditches and build an embankment in front of the walls. Most of these prisoners died from the arrows of the fortress defenders. But their bodies created a hill, along which the Mongol warriors then climbed the city walls.
Conquest of Volga Bulgaria
In the autumn of 1236 the Mongols attacked Volga Bulgaria. The Bulgars three times (in 1223, 1229 and 1232) repulsed the raids of the conquerors. However, the numerical superiority of the conquerors was too great. After a fierce battle, the capital of the country, the city of Bulgar, was captured and destroyed. In the spring and summer of 1237, the hordes of Batu completed the devastation of Bulgaria, they also marched across the steppes from the Caspian to the Don, destroying the Polovtsians and other nomadic peoples there. Now they stood on the very threshold of Russia...
The Russian princes, of course, knew about what was happening in the East. Vladimir Prince Yuri Vsevolodovich settled thousands of refugees from the Volga Bulgaria in his border fortresses. Fearing an alliance between the eastern and western enemies of Russia, he intercepted the ambassadors sent by the Khan to the Hungarian king, detained the Catholic monks sent by the Pope to Russia for the purpose of intelligence.
Batu's invasion
Batu's campaign in Europe
Having passed with fire and sword through the Galicia-Volyn principality, Batu moved on to Hungary, the Czech Republic and Poland. On April 11, 1241, in the battle of Shaio, the Mongols defeated the 60,000-strong army of the Hungarian king Bela IV. And two days earlier, another Mongol detachment operating in southwestern Poland destroyed the combined Polish forces at the Battle of Legnica. material from the site
The way to Western Europe was opened. However, in the spring of 1242, Batu suddenly turned his troops back to the East. What made the grandson of Genghis Khan stop the campaign that threatened the existence of the entire European civilization? The answer is obvious. With all the many big and small reasons, the main obstacle that slowed down and stopped the advance of the Mongol army was the heroic resistance of the peoples of Eastern Europe, and in particular the Russian people. Having lost best warriors, Batu simply did not have the strength to move on, to conquer populous and strong countries.
By the mid-thirties, the Mongols felt strong enough to conquer territories west of the Urals. Raid of Jebe and Subudaya in 1220-1224 revealed many weaknesses among the peoples there. The decisive role was played by the fact that after the successful completion of the wars with the Jin in 1234, the Mongols freed up significant military forces.
In 1235, the next congress of the Mongolian aristocracy, the kurultai, took place. Decisions on the military issues discussed at it were reduced to the continuation of the war. There were several theaters of military operations: the war with the Southern Song, which unexpectedly began last year, remained the main object of military expansion, although the Mongols were clearly aware of the difficulties of conquering a state of many millions. Then came Korea, where troops were also sent (although in the military sense, Korea was already defeated in 1231-32). The kurultai sent a considerable force to the Caucasus, for its final conquest.
The western direction was also considered at the kurultai. The question of sending troops to Europe and the Polovtsian steppes was already raised at the kurultai of 1229, but did not receive sufficient support. Now the circumstances have changed and preparations for the campaign began immediately. The number of assembled formations was small - 4,000 Mongol warriors proper. But this small, as it seems, the number of soldiers was balanced by the quality of the command staff.
And the commanders were excellent. It suffices to mention one Subudai, who can rightly be called the best general of the century, who won only victories everywhere. And besides him, the high command included Jebe, who, together with Subudai, did in 1220-1224. a thousand-kilometer raid through numerous enemy kingdoms, a young and talented Burundai .. The number of aristocrats in the army is staggering. In addition to the son of Jochi - Batu (Batu), who formally led the campaign, the Batu brothers - Orda and Sheiban, the sons of Ogedei - Guyuk and Kadan, the sons of Jagatai - Buri and Baydar, the son of Tolui - Munke were appointed to command individual units.
The start of the hike is very dark. The notes of Father Julian inform about the conquest by the Mongols of "Great Hungary, where our Hungarians come from." It is very likely that we are talking about the steppes between the Urals and the Volga. Apparently the mentioned Eastern Hungarians long time constituted a barrier to the Mongol expansion to the west, being partly part of the Volga Bulgaria, they, together with the troops of the latter, defeated the Mongols of Subudai in 1223. Apparently since then their lands have been attacked by the Mongols.
By mid-June 1236, the Mongols had reached the borders of Volga Bulgaria. There they continued the formation of the army, due to the joined daring men from the Kipchak steppes, which undoubtedly greatly expanded. Reinforcements were also expected to arrive from the army operating in the Caucasus, but no information has reached us about their arrival.
In preparation for the jump on Bulgaria, the Mongols actively operated in the surrounding areas. The Volga Hungarians were conquered; Saksin was taken on the lower Volga. But that was just a prelude.
In the autumn of 1237, the Mongols attacked Volga Bulgaria and crushed it. The state was wiped off the face of the earth, writing disappeared, cities (numbering up to 60!) fell, the people partly fled to the forests, partly they were taken in full and moved by a protective wall in front of the army. A similar fate befell the neighboring tribes of the Meryans (Mari), Votyaks, both branches of the Mordvins (Moksa-Mordvins and Erzya-Mordvins), of which the southern ones - Moksa (Burtases), preferred to submit and the northern ones went into the forests and started a desperate guerrilla war. With the subjugation of the mentioned tribes, the Mongol armies entered the Russian borders.
In Russia, as always, there was no unity, although they knew and heard about the Tatars - the roads were full of refugees from the war zone, Grand Duke Georgy Vsevolodovich of Vladimir-Suzdal caught the Tatar messengers to the king of Hungary - everyone knew about the impending attack. But they could not agree on a joint defense.
Meanwhile, the Mongols with three army groups took their starting positions on the borders and entered into negotiations with the Ryazan princes, while waiting until all the countless rivers and streams of North-Eastern Russia freeze - necessary condition for the rapid movement of large cavalry units. Smooth ice cover served as an ideal path for the nomad cavalry, and all Russian cities stood on the river bank. As the ice thickened, the conditions of the Mongols became more and more mocking, until the Ryazanians finally rejected them. The mission of the Ryazan prince Fedor, sent with rich gifts to Batu in order to prevent the attack of the Tatars, failed - all the participants were killed.
At the same time, news of an uprising on the Volga reached Batu's camp. The leaders Bayan and Djiku raised the Volga Bulgarians, the Polovtsian prince Bachman - their fellow tribesmen (the Volga Polovtsians). The Alan detachments of the leader Kachir-Ukule arrived to help the rebels. Mongke (Menggu), sent against the rebels, for a long time could not cope with the rebels, who inflicted unexpected and cruel blows on him. Soon the fight moved to the mouth of the Volga. There, on an island off the left bank of the Volga, Möngke tracked down Bachman and defeated his detachments, thus completing the conquest of the Polovtsians who lived east of the Volga.
Rivers have become under ice. And at the same time, huge masses of Tatar troops and crowds concentrated at the source of the Don, on the Ryazan border and near the Volga, in the area of \u200b\u200bmodern Nizhny Novgorod, began to move. The first blow hit Ryazan.
The Ryazanians, whose requests for help were arrogantly rejected by Prince Georgy Vsevolodovich in Vladimir (he had not yet forgotten the wars of 1207 and 1209) and the Chernigov-Seversky princes (they remembered the May day of 1223 to the Ryazanians, when the Ryazanians did not help them on Kalka) remained in alone in front of the hordes of the enemy. Their army, hardened in constant steppe clashes with the Polovtsy, gave the Mongols a battle - and fell to the last man. The Mongols then proceeded to take the cities. Pronsk, Belgorod, Borisov-Glebov, Izheslavets were captured by them without much difficulty and on 12/16/1237 the siege of Ryazan began, which lasted five days, after which the city was left with ashes with the bodies of the dead scattered here and there. Having taken Pereyaslavl-Ryazan, the Mongols advanced into the Vladimir-Suzdal principality.
By the same time - the end of December - the rather controversial fact of the raid of Yevpaty Kolovrat also applies. Ingor Igorevich, who was in Chernigov, one of the princes of Ryazan, having learned about the invasion of the Tatars, gathered 1700 soldiers and put them in charge of the boyar Yevpaty Kolovrat, (probably experienced in military affairs) moved to the Ryazan region. However, when it came to contact with the enemy, the numerical superiority was not on the side of the Chernigovites. A few knights who were wounded and taken prisoner were released by Batu for their bravery.
The Vladimir border fortress Kolomna had a strong garrison and considerable defensive potential. However, the son of the Grand Duke Vsevolod, who was sent to Kolomna to organize defense, desired to fight in the field. The outcome of the battle near Kolomna could have been predicted in advance - most of the Russian soldiers died, and the survivors could not effectively defend the city, taken by the Tatars in the following days.
The fall of Kolomna opened the way for the horsemen of Batu to the ancient capitals - Suzdal and Vladimir, which were attacked from the east, along the Volga, by another group of Mongol armies. The connection of hordes of nomads took place near Vladimir or Suzdal. Along the way, Batu captured Moscow (01/20/1238), to which a direct road led from Kolomna - the frozen bed of the Moscow River. At the news of the capture of Moscow, Grand Duke George left Vladimir to gather troops for the northern volosts to repel the invasion.
On February 2, the Mongols besieged Vladimir. After five days of continuous assault, the city turned into a pile of ruins, separate detachment nomads captured and destroyed Suzdal. The news of the fall of the capitals - the most fortified cities - must be thought to have greatly undermined the morale of the defenders of the rest of the settlements. In that bloody February, the Mongols captured at least 14 cities. Various parts of their armies attacked Rostov, Yaroslavl, Gorodets Volzhsky. These latter were not satisfied with the destruction of Gorodets, devastating everything in their path, they moved further along the Volga, Kostroma and Galich became their victims. The entire interfluve of the Klyazma and the Volga was devastated: Pereyaslavl-Zalessky, Tver, Ksnyatin, Kashin, Yuryev, Volok-Lamsky, Dmitrov were turned into ruins, villages were on fire, the population was saved in masses along the few tracts and roads free from Tatar junctions.
In this chaos, it was difficult to somehow collect information about what was happening, information about the movement of highly mobile Tatar detachments quickly became outdated, and the location of the main forces and Batu's headquarters apparently did not become known to Grand Duke George, who was concentrating troops on the City. The fact that in the current situation it is difficult to keep the location of their units a secret was clear to the prince. And of course, reconnaissance detachments (watchmen) were sent to them every morning. On the morning of March 4, 1238, a guard detachment that went out on a regular reconnaissance stumbled upon some detachments of horsemen. These were the Mongolian regiments of Batu.
In the ensuing battle, the rest of the Russian army quickly joined in, apparently not having time to take combat formations. The massacre on the ice of the City and in the surrounding copses ended in the complete defeat of the Russian squads. The organized resistance of the North-East of Russia was broken.
The next day, March 5, 1238, crowds of Tatars, preceded by a wave of prisoners, persecuted in front of the army, climbed the walls of Torzhok. This ended the two-week (from 02/20/1238) battles for the city, which was added to the long list of cities devastated by the Mongols.
The operations of the Mongols in the Polovtsian steppes from the summer of 1238 to the autumn of 1240, the sources convey guessingly. Plano Carpini reports on the city of Orna inhabited by Christians, besieged by Batu. Realizing the futility of his efforts, Batu dammed the Don and flooded the city. 15. The Polovtsy were defeated. The Polovtsy, who escaped physical extermination, turned into slaves or replenished Batu Khan's armies. Khan Kotyan, one of the strongest Polovtsian khans, without waiting for the total extermination of his subjects, migrated to Hungary to seek asylum there. In 1239, some Mongol army attacked Mordovia, took Murom, Gorokhovets and devastated the areas along the Klyazma, withdrew to the steppes.
In 1239, the first invasion of the Mongol armies took place. The Pereyaslavl and Chernigov principalities were attacked. Pal Pereyaslavl. A ring of siege closed around Cherningov. Mstislav of Tursky came to the aid of Chernigov, but, defeated, he was forced to withdraw from the battle zone. During the siege of Chernigov, the Mongols used throwing machines of great strength. The capture of the city took place on October 18, 1239.
The main events certainly developed in the south. In the autumn of 1240, Batu again threw his rested, replenished, and reorganized army into South Russia. The climax of the campaign was a ten-week siege by the Mongols of Kyiv. They took Kyiv by continuous assault (12/5/1240), which lasted day and night. The townspeople showed miracles of courage, but the numerical and technical superiority of the besiegers did their job. Voevoda Dmitr, left by Daniil Galitsky to defend the city, was pardoned by the Mongols for his unparalleled courage.
It should be noted that the Bolokhovites, as always, took a special position. "Leaving the borders of Russia to the west, the Mongolian governors decided to secure a supply base in the Kiev region, for which they entered into agreements with the boyars of the Bolokhov land; they did not touch the towns and villages there, but obliged the population to supply their army with wheat and millet. After the Mongols left for The campaign Prince Daniel Romanovich, returning to Russia, destroyed and burned the cities of the boyar-traitors; thus, the supply of the Mongol troops was also undermined.
After the conquest of the Dnieper region, the path of Batu's armies lay further to the west; Volyn and Galicia were attacked. Kolodyazhin and Kamenets, Vladimir-Volynsky and Galich, Brest and "many other cities" fell. Only erected in places protected by nature, the strongholds - Kremenets and Danilov - withstood. The princes did not even try to lead the resistance - Mikhail Chernigov as well as Daniil Galitsky (his worst enemy) sought salvation in Hungary and then (when the Mongols reached Hungary) in Poland. In the winter of 1240-1241. The Mongols first appeared on the borders of Western Europe.
Approaching the borders of the Hungarian and Polish kingdoms, at a distance of three or four days of travel (about 100-120 km), the Mongols suddenly turned back. Sources explain this maneuver by saying that Batu wanted to preserve forage supplies in the border areas for a subsequent invasion.
The Hungarians did not prepare too hard to repel the invaders. King Bela IV devoted more time to internal problems, such as the integration of the Cumans (the latter, being nomads, had many reasons for clashes with the local, overwhelmingly settled population), or contradictions with the barons, incited against the king by the Duke of Austria Friedrich Babenberg.
For protection eastern borders, by order of the king, the army (commanded by the palatine Dionysius Tomai) was stationed at the so-called. Russian passage (Veretsky pass in the Carpathians). The barriers on the borders were strengthened. It should be added that medieval Hungary was protected from unexpected enemy attacks by a powerful system of border fortified zones and fences. Forest passes in the Carpathians, adjacent to the Galicia-Volyn principality (not always friendly) were especially well fortified.
In early March, Batu began another phase of his venture. The troops moved west, driving tens of thousands of captives in front of them, clearing the way through the axes with axes. Thanks to the recent withdrawal of the nomads, the frontier regions have remained intact to this day, feeding the Mongol troops.
Guyuk, always an enemy of Batu (he suffered mainly from the fact that he was forced to obey a man whom he considered his equal by birth), finally left the troops, recalled to Mongolia.
The Mongols broke into three large army groups, Kaidu and Baydar moved to the Polish border, parts of Bokhetur, Kadan and Buchzhek were sent south, while the main forces broke through to the Veretsky pass. In this army, Batu concentrated the tumens Horde, Biryuya, Burundaya ... In mid-March, his troops broke through the Veretsky pass.
At the same time, an offensive began in Poland. Even during the fighting in Volhynia, in January, the Mongols raided eastern Poland; captured Lublin and Zavikhost, a separate detachment of nomads reached Racibórz. In early February, the raid was repeated. Taking Sandomierz and defeating the Lesser Poland knights near Tursk (02/13/1241), the Mongols withdrew to Russia.
The general offensive began simultaneously with the attack on Hungary - in early March. March 10, 1241 Baydar crossed the Vistula at Sandomierz, capturing the city. From here, Kaidu was sent in the direction of Lenchitsy with the subsequent exit to Krakow, while Baydar himself made a raid to the outskirts of Kielce. Trying to cover Krakow, the governors of Krakow and Sandomierz, Vladislav and Pakoslav fought and suffered a crushing defeat - March 16, 1241 near Khmilnik. The Mongol troops united at Krakow, taking it after a short siege (March 22 or 28).
As part of the protective measures, the Polish princes gathered in the west of the country, in the vicinity of Wroclaw, a national militia. Mieszko Opolsky led the soldiers of Upper Silesia, Lower Silesia was represented by the regiments of Henry II the Pious, Prince of Greater Poland (who therefore exercised supreme leadership). Militias arrived from the south of Greater Poland, and even the Lesser Poland regions devastated by the Tatars put up a certain number of fighters. Foreign contingents also took part in the formation of the troops; somehow: German knights from the metropolis and the Baltic possessions of the Teutonic Order, who sent a strong detachment of soldiers. The Czech squads of Wenceslas I moved to join the Poles.
But the Mongols were already close. Having crossed the Odra (Oder) at Ratibor, they took Wroclaw (2.04.1241), defeating it completely, only the city citadel survived. A week later, a battle broke out near Legnica with the army of Henry the Pious, who did not wait for the Czechs to approach, and the Mongols won a brilliant victory. Bags of severed ears were later delivered to Batu's headquarters. In a letter to French king, Louis the Pious, Master of the Teutonic Order does not hide bitterness: "We inform Your Grace that the Tatars completely ruined and plundered the land of the deceased Duke Henry, they killed him, along with many of his barons; six of our brothers (monks-knights of the Order) died, three knights, two sergeants and 500 soldiers. Only three of our knights, known to us by name, fled."
In the Hungarian direction, events also developed rapidly; Batu's troops seeped through the fortifications of the Veretsky Pass and on March 12, 1241, defeated the Hungarian army of Palatine Dionysius, who was waiting for them behind the notches. The Carpathians are left behind. The endless expanses of the famous Hungarian steppes - Pashtos - spread out before the Mongols.
The news of the crossing of the Veretsky pass by the Mongols reached the royal court a couple of days later. In the midst of the ensuing chaos, Bela IV did not lose his head, like some of his colleagues in other countries, did not take flight, but began to take the necessary measures; cities were fortified, letters were sent asking for help to all neighboring sovereigns, incl. to the Pope and Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire, the famous Frederick II.
And if the pope reacted animatedly to what was happening, forcing European rulers, such as the warlike Louis IX the Pious, who rushed about with the idea of organizing a joint anti-Mongol front, and generally tried in every possible way to inspire the peoples of Western Europe to resist the Mongols, then Emperor Frederick did not show signs of life. Those. he led his life as before, engaged in wars with the Ghibellines in Italy. The problem of organizing a rebuff to the Tatars occupied him the least.
But the Austrians, or rather their duke Friedrich Babenberg, who managed to quarrel with almost all the neighbors, and earned the nickname Grumpy in the annals, vividly responded to the call of King Bela. This husband, who until recently had incited the Hungarian nobility to oppose the crown (it must be said, this one willingly listened to his intrigues), and who suffered considerable damage from the late King Andrew II (Andreas) for this, saw in the Mongol invasion an excellent opportunity to round off his possessions by Hungary. He arrived in Pest "with a few escorts, and also without weapons and knowledge of what was happening."
Troops from all other regions of the state flocked there to Pest (however, he sent his wife and some church hierarchs to the west, to the Austrian border "to await the outcome of events." Cumans-Polovtsians were mobilized, who were given the opportunity to serve their new homeland. Their the detachments that flocked to Pest were habitually led by Khan Kotyan.
On March 15, 1241, the Mongols, moving on an accelerated march, were only half a day's journey from the Hungarian camp near Pest. From here, Batu released strong tentacles of horse patrols to the enemy army. Despite Bela IV's strict ban on sorties, Ugolin, the archbishop of Kalosh, could not resist, chasing the Mongol riders (03/16/1241). And got ambushed. Ugolin brought back only three or four cavalrymen.
The next day, part of Batu's troops stubbornly stormed the city of Vaizen (Wach), located on the Danube and only half a day's march away from Pest (about 40 km.) And exterminated all the inhabitants. And what about the king? He had to be content with the spectacles of skirmishes near Pest. The hero of the day was Friedrich Babenberg. He showed himself in all his glory - he attacked the Tatar detachment, which, by negligence, approached Pest too close and, showing a personal example of courage, put him to flight.
Even in Bela's camp all was not well. Separate soldier elements, barons and some other nobles, gave vent to the long-accumulating anger against the Polovtsy, who stood in their camps next to the Hungarians. Huge crowds gathered in front of the king's tent, loudly demanding Kotyan's death. After some deliberation, a messenger galloped into the Polovtsian camp with an order - Kotyan to urgently appear in the king's tent. Khan hesitated, hearing the wild howl of the crowd, and this delay was immediately regarded by the soldiers as weakness and an actual admission of their guilt. The fury of the masses poured out; they broke into Kotyan's tent and, having interrupted the guards, hacked to death the elderly khan. There were rumors that Duke Frederick did it himself.
After this bloodshed, an echoing silence reigned in the camp. Now, when the innocence of Kotyan and his subjects was revealed, the barons fell silent. When the news of Kotyan's death spread throughout the area, the surrounding peasants (taking revenge for everything that the Polovtsy caused them, they were not angels at all and caused a corresponding reaction from the rural population) began to exterminate those of the Polovtsy who stopped by or, divided into small detachments, stood in these villages. The Cumans responded adequately and soon columns of smoke from the village conflagrations began to rise to the sky.
Due to continued attacks, the Cumans broke away from the united army. It came to a real battle with the Hungarians: the Polovtsy destroyed the column of Bulzo, the Chanadian archbishop, consisting of women and children (moving to the northern border), and accompanied by a detachment of soldiers who planned to join the all-Hungarian army. According to Rogerius, the bishop was the only surviving Hungarian from the entire column.
The further path of the Cumans lay in the direction of the Border Mark. Having crossed the Danube, most of them moved north, ruining everything in their path. On the border of the Mark, it came to a battle with its inhabitants, who heard about the approach of the nomads and went out to meet them. But the Polovtsy turned out to be clearly stronger than the Germans, with whom the locals were so accustomed to wars, and the Hungarians soon fled. Having occupied Mark, the Polovtsy took revenge on the population, burned more than one village. (Many villages were incinerated somehow, for example: Francavilla, or St. Martin). As the Mongols approached, the Cumans hurriedly left these places, retreating to Bulgaria.
Let's return to the camp of the Hungarian army. Significant changes were taking place there: one of the highest aristocrats convinced Bela IV to finally start moving towards contact with the enemy (who had already managed to take Erlau and Kevesd). During this march there was a quarrel between the Hungarian king and Friedrich Babenberg. The king demanded unquestioning execution of his orders, which could not but infuriate the masterful Austrian. The dispute ended with the departure of Frederick (and his military contingents) from the army.
Military operations gradually spread throughout the rest of the kingdom. In late March - early April, the Mongol detachment captured Eger, cracking down on the population in the usual manner. The reaction of the Hungarians - the bishop of Varadin (modern Oradea in Romania) comes forward to meet the invaders, anticipating an easy victory - he knows about the few enemies and, moreover, recently defeated another Mongol guard (probably operating near Varadin). Nevertheless, he was defeated: the Hungarian horsemen chasing the Tatars, seeing the rows of warriors behind the hill (they were dolls planted by the Mongols on spare horses), decided that they were ambushed and fled. The bishop returned to Varadin "with a few people".
Meanwhile, Bela carefully moved the army forward, to the east, following Batu's army, which was leaving at the same speed. The latter had cause for alarm - the Hungarians significantly outnumbered him, their army was dominated by the famous Hungarian cavalry - the best in Europe. It must be assumed that in those April days, Batu greatly regretted the dispersal of forces: the troops of the Horde and Baydar fought in Poland, Kadan, Buchzhek and Belgutai were just breaking through to Hungary through the mountain passes of the Southern Carpathians. With such a slow synchronous movement, both troops reached the Chaillot River (a tributary of the Tisza) and set up their camps on its different sides.
After reconnaissance, both sides began active operations. Because of the high water, the river did not make it possible to wade it, the Mongols, at some distance from the camp, built (10/09/1241) a pontoon bridge over which rows of soldiers flowed to the western bank at night. They were already waiting there. The day before, a Russian defector appeared to the king and told about the intentions of the Mongols, and now they were met by the iron ranks of the Hungarian men-at-arms. They were not able to wedged the frontal attacks of the nomads, who simply had nowhere to turn around on a small bridgehead. Having inflicted heavy losses on the Mongols, the royal soldiers threw them back to the bridge, which immediately had a stampede. Many Tatar horsemen threw themselves into the water, leaving many corpses in the flooded river.
Confusion reigned on the other side. Huge loss shook the determination of both ordinary soldiers and top military leaders to continue the war. Batu himself, with a drawn sword, rushed to stop the fugitives. In the army, talk began with might and main about the need to stop the campaign and return to the steppes. This possibility was seriously considered by Batu himself. It was at this time that he had a conversation with the old Subudai, brought to us by "Yuan Shi" (the history of the Yuan Dynasty - Thietmar). The latter, apparently having exhausted his arguments, influenced the bewildered khan by personal example: "Lord, if you decide to return, I cannot delay you, but I, for myself, decided not to return ..". That was enough. Batu calmed down and ordered to prepare for further operations.
The jubilant Hungarians returned to their camp, to their tents, placed closely one to one for better protection, and fell into a sound sleep of the victors. Guards were posted at the remains of the bridge.
At this time, their Mongols developed a vigorous activity at the crossing. First of all, they set up as many as 7 throwing machines opposite those guarding the bridge, and drove them away with stones. They then rebuilt the bridge and began to ferry masses of troops. The entire Mongol army crossed the river. When the messengers about this rushed to the royal camp, everyone there slept soundly. While the troops were waking up and, instead of jumping on a horse to line up in combat formations, were engaged in morning toilet, the Mongol horse archers managed to surround the camp and filled the air with the whistle of many arrows.
Only then did the Hungarians rush into battle. But not with a whole army - only parts of the king's brother, Duke Koloman, entered into close combat with the Tatars, while the rest tried to use the "corridor" specially left by the Mongols in order to exterminate as many Hungarians as possible in flight. Gradually, all units of the royal army joined the battle, but there was no organized control of the battle on their part, and more and more soldiers rushed into the coveted "corridor". They did not yet know that further on the "corridor" narrowed and ended with a wall of selected Mongolian horse archers...
The Hungarian army was completely defeated. The masses of the fleeing, pursued by the Tatar light cavalry, filled the road to Pest. The king and his brother, Coloman, with a small retinue, unlike the main crowds of fugitives, moved from the battlefield in detours.
The hasty flight of Bela IV from the blood-drenched banks of Chaillot did not save him from enemy pursuit. Tartar laces hung on the shoulders of a small royal detachment rushing north to the Polish border. In Comoros, he turned to the west and went through Nitra to Pressburg (modern Bratislava) - the western border of his kingdom. Striving for Austria (where he sent the queen ahead of time), he passed the Devin border outpost and ended up in the possessions of Friedrich Babenberg, who went to the border to meet the unfortunate king.
The meeting of both rulers ended unexpectedly - Frederick, realizing that Bela was completely in his power, began to demand compensation for the payments made by him, Frederick, in 1235, to the Hungarian king standing near Vienna. And since the king naturally did not have the corresponding amounts, he had nothing left but to lay three western committees: Mozon (Wieselburg), Sopron (Edelburg) and Lochmand (Lutzmannburg), whose castles Frederick was not slow to take. Having settled with the extortionist, Bela took his wife (who was nearby) and, with all possible speed, left for Hungary, where he began to form an army near Szeged. At the same time, the bishop of Weizen was sent to the pope and the emperor with a letter containing a request for help and a complaint against the Austrian duke.
Frederick of Austria was not satisfied with the occupation of three Hungarian committees. Soon, the counties of Pressburg and Raab were also invaded by his troops. The city of Raab, the center of the county of the same name, was taken by the Austrians. True, not for long - armed detachments of the local population soon captured the city, killing the garrison of Frederick who was in it.
The catastrophe that befell the Hungarians in the general battle near the river. Chaillot (named after the nearby locality, also called the battle of Mohács (Mohi)), basically ceased to exist the Hungarian field army. The only way to achieve a turning point in the course of the war was to keep the Mongols on the left bank of the Danube, and disperse, as well as weaken their forces by defending numerous fortresses. Taking advantage of these circumstances, Bela IV could still gather troops in the western counties and try to turn the wheel of Fortune in his direction. At the same time, it must be taken into account that Batu's army group, numerically not very strong from the very beginning, suffered heavy losses in the battles of Chaillot and now, having reduced offensive operations to a minimum, was waiting for the approach of units operating on the flanks.
On the flanks, things were as follows. The Mongol troops sent around the Carpathians were divided into several parts. One of these armies, led by Kadan, the son of the great Khan Ogedei, having passed into Hungary through the Borgo Pass, occupied Rodna, a large settlement of German miners (31.03.1241), Bystrits (Besterce in Romania) (02.04) and Kolochvar. Having guides from the local population, Kadan, having passed through the mountains and forests, suddenly appeared in front of Varadin. Having quickly taken the city, the Mongols dealt with the population and retreated to a secluded place not far from it, so that the defenders of the citadel and the inhabitants who took refuge in it, believing in the departure of the nomads, went to the ruins of the city. It was then that the Mongols came again. Having cut all those who did not have time to escape, they proceeded to siege the citadel, using throwing machines, and, a little later, took it.
The remaining formations of the Mongols poured into Hungary through the Oytots passes (on the last day of March, taken with battle by Belgutai units) and the Red Tower (Buchzhek regiments). Moving along the mountain range, Belgutai took Kronstadt, moved on and - on the ruins of Hermannstadt (taken by the Mongols on April 11, 1241) joined with Buchzhek. United, they continued their advance to the west, capturing Weissenburg and Arad. Having turned Szeged into ruins, they reached the zone of operations of Kadan, whose troops also did not hesitate - they took Egres, Temesvar, Gyulafehervar, Pereg, not to mention countless small fortified places, such as an island on the river. Fekete Korosh, whose fate is colorfully described by Rogerius.
After the victory at Chaillot, Batu's army slowly began to move towards Pest. There was nowhere to hurry, the Hungarian army was scattered, and in such a way that it was not possible to assemble it in the near future, and the garrisons of cities and fortresses did not pose a direct threat. Pest was taken after three days of fighting, April 29-30.
With the capture of Pest, the Mongols completed the conquest of the Hungarian regions lying east of the Danube. Separate places (such as the village of Pereg, between Arad and Chanad) were still taken by storm, but on the whole hostilities ceased, the Mongols began to establish their administration.
Along with the conquest of Hungary, the operations of the nomadic troops in Poland and the Czech Republic were in full swing. After a brilliant victory at Legnica, they unsuccessfully besieged Legnitz. This was followed by a two-week stay of the Mongols at Odmukhov (perhaps they were engaged in restoring the combat capability of the troops) and their siege of Ratsibuzh. But the stone walls of the city turned out to be stronger than expected, and having removed the siege on 04/16/1241, the Mongols headed for Moravia. Separate small detachments ravaged the German border. One of them managed to advance to Meissen.
The news that the Mongol invasion had passed the German lands was met with relief in Germany. Emperor of the Roman Empire Frederick II Hohenstaufen immediately began a campaign against Rome.
In Moravia, the Mongols faced people's war. The mountain meadows could offer only a limited amount of food for livestock, and small villages (Moravia is still sparsely populated today) for people. The fighting took place in the areas of Opava, Gradishchensky and Olomouc monasteries, Beneshov, Przherov, Litovel, Evicko .. In December, the nomads moved to join Batu, who was preparing to cross the frozen Danube.
From Moravia, part of the Mongols penetrated at the end of April into Slovakia, which was part of the Kingdom of Hungary. Having passed the Grozenkovsky and Yablonovsky passes, they staged a pogrom in this quiet country. The cities of Banska Styavnitsa, Pukanets, Krupina fell; Slovak zhups (territorial unit) Zemilin, Abov, Turna, Gemer up to the Zvolensky forest area were devastated. Pal Yasovsky monastery. But the walls of the cities here were erected to the conscience - Pressburg (Bratislava), Komarno (Komorn), Nitra, Trencin and Beckov withstood. In December 1241, the detachments operating in Slovakia crossed the Danube at Komorn and joined forces with Batu.
In the second half of January 1242, Batu moved his newly united troops over the ice across the Danube. The primary goal of the Mongols was the capture of the Hungarian king Bela, who, after his flight from Austria, spent some time in Szeged. Realizing that the Mongols would not give up the idea of chasing him, the king went to the Adriatic coast and spent the summer and autumn of 1241 there. (Trau Island) near Spalato, moving his family there.
In pursuit of him, the swift Kadan was thrown, while the rest of the army continued city after city to conquer Hungary. After a tense siege, the Gran (Esztergom) was taken - the residence of the Hungarian kings and the most important transit point on the middle Danube. At the same time, almost all the cities of the right-bank Hungary were captured by the nomads, only a few managed to fight back. So Szekesfehervar and the Esztergom citadel were saved. In the region of Chernhade, the Mongols defeated the peasant detachment that was acting against them. The monastery of St. Martin of Pannon (Pannonhalma), but instead of storming the walls, the Mongols quite unexpectedly curtailed all siege preparations and withdrew.
This strange behavior of theirs was explained by the death of the Supreme Khan Ogedei and the need for Batu (and all the Mongol princes who were in the army) to participate in the selection of a new khan. This title was undoubtedly claimed first of all by Batu himself, to his great displeasure. cousin- Guyuk. That is why Batu sent out the same order to all the Mongol armies operating in Europe - to turn east and join the main army.
After marching to the Adriatic coast, Kadan began by laying siege to Zagreb, where he assumed the King of Hungary was hiding (who actually stayed there briefly in 1241). Taking it, he rushed south on the trail of the king, who at one time moved along the coast. So Kadan arrived in the vicinity of Spalato much earlier than expected. The assault on the castle of Klis (9 km from Spalato), one of the previous residences of Bela IV, which had almost ended in success, was immediately stopped as soon as Kadan learned about the real whereabouts of the king. A lightning raid - and the Mongol horsemen stand on the shore of the strait that separates the island with the city standing on it from the coast. All crossing facilities here were destroyed in advance and Kadan had no choice but to throw himself into the sea, trying to reach the walls of Trau on horseback.
Realizing the futility of his efforts, he tried to "save face." The exiled truce shouted to the defenders of Trau an offer to surrender, without waiting for the Mongols to pass to the island. Unfortunately for Kadan, the inhabitants of Trau were not as impressionable as the Hungarian king, who had already prepared the ship for flight.
It was not possible to take the city quickly. At the same time, it is clear that Kadan was given a clear order to capture the king at any cost. Withdrawing to Croatia and Dalmatia, Kadan spent the whole month of March in the mountains dominating the coast "descending down to the cities five or six times." In the end, even his boundless patience ran out. Bela IV was clearly not going to leave his island fortifications, and time was running out - the distance to Batu's main forces was getting longer and longer. After long and heavy reflections, the Mongol prince spat on everything.
He once again went to Thrau, and carefully examined all the possibilities of the crossing. Finding them equal to zero, he headed south to Bosnia and Serbia. Having reached Ragusa, Kadan tried to take the city but, according to Tamas Spalatsky, "could inflict only minor damage." Continuing to march along the coast, the Mongols completely destroyed the cities of Kotor, Svach and Drivasto. These places became the most extreme frontier of the Mongols' advance to the west. From here, the Mongols turned east and soon reached the borders of Bulgaria and the Polovtsian steppes. The Great Western Campaign was over.
Catholic Europe was also not prepared to meet the hordes of Batu, although information about their approach had been received for a long time. It was known about the invasion of Russia in 1223; at the same time, the Georgian queen Rusudan wrote about the Mongols to the pope. King Bela IV sent Dominican and Franciscan missions for reconnaissance; of these, the mission of the Dominican Julian is especially famous. Yes, and the great khan himself wrote to the Hungarian king, demanding submission, warning him to accept the Polovtsy and reproaching that many khan's embassies did not return from Hungary.
Emperor Frederick II in a letter to the English King Henry III accused Bela of carelessness. Frederick II himself also received a letter from the khan demanding obedience and allegedly replied, not without irony, that, being a connoisseur of birds, he could become a khan's falconer. However, then there were rumors, which the pope also believed, about a secret agreement between the emperor and the khan - it would be very interesting to determine the authenticity of these rumors.
conquest Mongolian troops Russia, their invasion of Poland, Hungary and other lands caused panic in Europe. In the chronicle of the monastery of St. Panteleon (Cologne) we read: “Significant fear of this barbarian people seized distant countries, not only France, but also Burgundy and Spain, to which the name of the Tatars was hitherto unknown.”
The French chronicle notes that the fear of the Mongols in France led to a complete stagnation of trade; English chronicler Matthew of Paris reports that England's trade with the continent was interrupted for a while, and in Germany there was even a prayer: "Lord, deliver us from the fury of the Tatars."
The appeal of Bela IV for help to both the empire and the papacy gave rise to a correspondence between statesmen, the analysis of which revealed its complete uselessness. Of these letters, the message of Emperor Frederick II to the kings of England and France is especially known. The emperor of Hungary did not help, the pope limited himself to calls, the papal armed forces, due to their insignificance, could not be counted at all. The closest neighbors of Hungary - Venice and Austria did not help Bela IV. Moreover, the Venetian chronicler Andrei Dandolo wrote: “Only taking into account the Christian faith, the Venetians did not harm the king then, although they could do a lot against him.”
The countries of Europe will long remember the horror they experienced, the very name of the Mongols for a long time, until the beginning of the XIV century, will cause fear, however justified (in Hungary, the population halved from military operations and their immediate consequences (famine, disease). Despite numerous Mongol campaigns in the following decades against Poland, Hungary and Bulgaria, an invasion of this size would never happen again.
Sources and literature
1. Grekov Yakubovsky Golden Horde and her fall.
2. Der Mongolensturm/Ungarns Geschichtsschreiber 3. Koln 1985
3. Karamzin N.M. History of Russian Goverment. vols.2-3 M.1991
4. Karamzin N.M. History of Russian Goverment. vol.4 M.1991
5. Die ungarische Bilderchronik. Budapest. 1961.
6. Pashuto V.T. Foreign policy ancient Russia. M.1968
At the beginning of 1241, the first reliable news reached the peoples of Europe that the wild Tatars, who had come out of the depths of Asia and had passed through the whole Russian land with fire and sword, are now marching on them. A terrible anxiety gripped the whole of Europe. This fear was so great that many kings and dukes, countries and cities were paralyzed and could not take any measures to repel the common enemy.
For a quarter of a century, disturbing rumors about the formation of a centralized Mongol state headed by Genghis Khan, about the conquests of the Mongol khans, as a result of which China, Khorezm and other countries ceased to exist, reached the Europeans in fragments. But, in particular, they were worried about the news of the war of the Mongols against the Polovtsians and Russian principalities. All this testified that a terrible and cruel enemy was not far off. Some European monarchs, whose possessions were in close proximity to the theater of operations, sent their scouts to the Mongols. Their information was clear and precise: the Mongols would not stop there, but would try to invade Europe. But no one took it seriously. Everyone wanted to believe that the war would pass him by. And in vain. Eight centuries ago, the ancestors of the Mongols - the legendary Huns - led by their king Attila, nicknamed the Scourge of God, made the whole of Europe tremble.
The most informed (due to circumstances) of the European monarchs was, of course, the Hungarian king Bela IV. In his letters, Batu Khan repeatedly demanded from him an expression of humility, tithes in everything and the expulsion of the Polovtsy, otherwise threatening a military invasion. That is why Bela sent numerous Franciscan and Dominican monks to the east, to the Volga, in order to obtain the necessary information "first hand". One of the monks, Julian, managed to collect extensive and fairly reliable information about the Mongols, which, unfortunately, was not properly evaluated. All the attention of the careless and arrogant Bela was riveted to strengthening the alliance with the Polovtsy and the fight against the separatism of the feudal lords, who were secretly and openly supported by the Austrian Duke Friedrich Babenberg.
At the beginning of the alarming year 1241, news of the Mongols reached not only Eastern, but also Central Europe. The Thuringian Landgrave Heinrich Raspe wrote to the Duke of Brabant, warning of the Mongol danger, which was becoming more and more clear-cut.
Europe in the thirteenth century. there was no centralized monarchy: the states were divided into kingdoms and duchies, which were only at enmity with each other. The largest state in Europe
- The Holy Roman Empire of the German nation - was a set of small kingdoms, electors and duchies.
On the eve of the Mongol invasion, Europe was divided into two warring camps: the Guelphs, supporters of the Pope, and the Ghibellines, adherents of the German Emperor Frederick II of Hohenstaufen. “Therefore, the Mongols tried to use the conflict between these two forces for their political purposes. In particular, Batu Khan wrote in his letter to Frederick II: “I am going to take your place.” Friedrich wrote in response: “I know falconry well and am ready to become your falconer.”
But the Mongols, open and direct Mongols, untrained in ambiguous words, took the emperor's answer literally. In fact, Frederick, not being able to cross arms with the Mongols on the battlefield, decided to mock Batu Khan in order to somehow cheer himself up.
By the time of the Mongol invasion, the centuries-old conflict between the papal tiara and the imperial crown had reached its climax. Every emperor, like every pope, aspired to become the master of all of Europe. This desire did not bypass both Friedrich and Gregory. The representative of the Hohenstaufen dynasty, who was considered one of the most educated people of that time, in his book “Three scammers: Moses, Christ and Mohammed” not only criticized the founders of the faith, but also directly wrote that only a fool is able to believe that a virgin can give birth to a child . For this essay, the pope once again, for the third time, put the curse of the Catholic Church on the blasphemer.
The invasion of the Mongol hordes made Pope Gregory IX look around him differently. Putting personal ambitions aside, he suggested that Frederick, as a secular sovereign, lead the crusader army and move against the Mongols. Along with this, Gregory promised to take under his direct patronage all those who go on a crusade and forgive their sins. But dad did not go further than appeals.
Yes, and Friedrich, completely forgetting the warlike traditions of his ancestors, decided to seek happiness not in battle, but in flight. Having taken refuge in Sicily, he wrote to the English king:
"Thus fear and trembling arose among us, prompted by the fury of these swift invaders."
Gregory followed the most august example. Leaving the palace, where the vicars of Christ had lived for more than a thousand years, the pope fled to Lyon. It is difficult to describe the horror that gripped Europe. Kings and dukes, at the approach of the Mongols, were ready to abandon their subjects to the mercy of fate and flee somewhere far away.
There is a trend that interprets the Mongol invasion of Europe as Batu Khan's desire to punish the Hungarian king Bela and punish the Polovtsy. However, we have no right to disregard the testament of Genghis Khan, according to which the Mongols "should subjugate the whole earth and should not have peace with any people, if they were not first subdued."
Yes, and the monk Julian warned his king Bela:
The Tatars are conferring day and night on how to pass and capture the kingdom of the Christian Hungarians. For they, they say, have the intention to go to the conquest of Rome and beyond.
The victorious Mongol army of Batu Khan entered Europe in several directions. The nine-tailed black banner of Genghis Khan, Sulde, fluttered in the wind. The Mongols believed that the spirit of the Holy Warrior lives in the banner, which brings victory, therefore they sacredly honored and cherished it.
The essence of Subedei Baathur's plan, as always, was simple: he intended to defeat the European kingdoms one by one, preventing them from uniting forces. Two tumens of troops under the command of Genghisid Baydar Khan had the goal of invading Poland and Silesia and defeating the army of King Henry. Another chiigisid - Hadan - was supposed to capture Hungary from the south, cutting it off from the southern kingdoms and going to connect with the main forces. Batu the Magnificent himself, at the head of the main forces, headed straight for the heart of Hungary - Buda and Pest. The most important goal of Batu Khan was the elimination of Bela and the entire Kingdom of Hungary, which not only gave shelter to the Polovtsian Khan Kotyan and his 40 thousand tents, but also treacherously destroyed the Mongol embassies.
“Now I would like to emphasize the following: after the assassination Mongolian ambassadors and merchants by the Khorezmians, because of which the war began in Central Asia, the Mongols could generally stop sending parliamentarians to the enemy. Even a modern person would not condemn them for this. But the Mongols with enviable persistence continue to send ambassadors to every fortress, although the latter were killed in the cities of Balkh and Kozelsk, before the battle on the river. Kalka, etc. This time the Mongol ambassadors were killed by the Hungarians. What does it say? Great Mongols of the 13th century. persistently sought to establish new civilized rules for the conduct of international affairs in the wild world of that time. After all, only thanks to these rules, the arrivals of ambassadors P. Carpini, G. Rubruk and traveler M. Polo with their brothers, who comfortably moved along the safe communications of the Mongol Empire, became possible
Yes, no doubt, the grandson of Genghis Khan acted as the punisher. But he intended to begin the conquest of all of Europe as soon as he created a convenient foothold in its eastern part.
Poland was the first of the European kingdoms to experience the power of the Mongol weapons. Now the Europeans have the opportunity to get to know the steppes better: what are these notorious Mongols?
The Polish monarch Bolesław III, who had died before the Mongol invasion, divided his kingdom among four heirs. However, since then, strife has torn apart the once glorious and strong Poland, which has lost centralized power. King Boleslaw IV, who inherited his father's throne but had no real power, ruled in Lesser Poland with Krakow as its capital and Sandomierz as its largest city. His uncle Konrad Mazovsky was the sovereign of modern Warsaw and its environs. Henry II got Greater Poland (the cities of Gosh, Poznan and Kalisz and nearby territories) and Silesia with its capital in Wroclaw. His brother Mieczysław, or Mieszko, ruled over two counties - Lower Silesia, or Oppole, and Ratibar.
Being unable to unite to repulse the enemy, the Poles, nevertheless, killed the Mongol ambassadors who arrived to them, demanding, as usual, expressions of humility. In January 1241, the corps of Baidar and Kaidu invaded Poland, crossed the Vistula and captured Lublin and Zavikhost , and one of the flying detachments with a fight reached Racibórz. A month later, the Mongols directed their attack on Sandomierz, which was taken and plundered, and on February 13, near Tursk, the Lesser Poland knights were defeated. But these raids were only reconnaissance.
In the early spring of 1241, the invasion of the entire Mongol army into Europe began. On March 12, at the head of the main forces, Batu Khan crossed the border of the Kingdom of Hungary. Thus, the Mongolian tumens invaded the territory of Hungary, Poland and Silesia (Shlensk), creating a threat to Dalmatia, Moravia, Croatia and even Germany and Italy.
