Battle of Legnica

The Battle of Legnica (bitwa pod Legnicą), also known as the Battle of Liegnitz (Schlacht von Liegnitz) or Battle of Wahlstatt (Schlacht bei Wahlstatt), was a battle between the Mongol Empire and combined European forces that took place at the village of Legnickie Pole (Wahlstatt), approximately southeast of the city of Legnica in the Duchy of Silesia on 9 April 1241. A combined force of Poles and Moravians under the command of Duke Henry II the Pious of Silesia, supported by feudal nobility and a few knights from military orders sent by Pope Gregory IX, attempted to halt the Mongol invasion of Poland. The battle took place two days before the Mongol victory over the Hungarians at the much larger Battle of Mohi. As with many historical battles, the exact details of force composition, tactics, and the actual course of the battle are lacking and sometimes contradictory. The general historical view is that it was a crushing defeat for the Polish and Moravian forces where they suffered heavy casualties. One of the Mongol leaders, Kadan, was frequently confused with Ögedei's grandson Kaidu by medieval chroniclers, and thus Kaidu has often been mistakenly listed as leading the Mongol forces at Legnica. First Mongol invasion of Poland The Mongols considered the Cumans to have submitted to their authority, but the Cumans fled westward and sought asylum within the Kingdom of Hungary. After King Béla IV of Hungary rejected Batu Khan's ultimatum to surrender the Cumans, Subutai began planning the Mongol invasion of Europe. Batu and Subutai were to lead two armies to attack Hungary itself, while a third under Baidar, Orda Khan and Kadan would attack Poland as a diversion to occupy northern European forces which might come to Hungary's aid. Orda's forces devastated northern Poland and the southwestern border of Lithuania.

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Related concepts (21)

Battle of Legnica

Mongol Empire

The Mongol Empire of the 13th and 14th centuries was the largest contiguous land empire in history. Originating in present-day Mongolia in East Asia, the Mongol Empire at its height stretched from the Sea of Japan to parts of Eastern Europe, extending northward into parts of the Arctic; eastward and southward into parts of the Indian subcontinent, attempted invasions of Southeast Asia, and conquered the Iranian Plateau; and westward as far as the Levant and the Carpathian Mountains.

Mongol invasion of Europe

From the 1220s into the 1240s, the Mongols conquered the Turkic states of Volga Bulgaria, Cumania and Iranian state of Alania, and various principalities in Eastern Europe. Following this, they began their invasion into Central Europe by launching a two-pronged invasion of then-fragmented Poland, culminating in the Battle of Legnica (9 April 1241), and the Kingdom of Hungary, culminating in the Battle of Mohi (11 April 1241).