Background: why Central Europe
By 1240 the western Mongol army, led by Batu and guided by the veteran general Subutai, had overrun most of the Russian principalities, including Kyiv. The Mongols were now close to the eastern edge of Latin Christendom. Hungary mattered for another reason. Its grasslands, the Great Plain, were the westernmost extension of the steppe, and a large group of Cuman nomads, who had been pushed out of the steppe by the Mongols, had taken refuge there. Mongol sources suggest that the Hungarian king, Bela IV, was seen as sheltering enemies. Whatever the exact motive, Hungary was an obvious target.
Europe’s rulers knew something of the danger. Refugees and envoys had brought warnings, but the kingdoms of the region were divided, and the dispute between the pope and the Holy Roman Empire left little room for common action.
The 1241 campaign
In early 1241 the Mongols advanced in several columns, a pattern typical of their campaigns. A northern force moved into Poland, sacking cities such as Krakow and defeating Polish forces. Another force under the Mongol commander Baidar and others went on into Silesia. On about April 9, 1241, near Legnica (Liegnitz), they met an army led by Henry II the Pious, Duke of Silesia, which included Polish knights and some foreign contingents, including Teutonic Knights. Henry’s army was defeated, and Henry himself was killed. Later tradition made much of the event, and legends about it grew up. Despite the defeat, the Mongols did not stay in Poland, and moved south to rejoin the main body.
The southern forces, led by Batu and Subutai, crossed the Carpathians into Hungary. King Bela IV had gathered his troops and camped near the Sajo River. In April 1241, at the battle usually called Mohi, the Mongols attacked at night and by surprise, and under pressure, the Hungarians were encircled and routed. Historians debate details such as the size of the armies and the precise tactics, but the result was a major disaster for the Kingdom of Hungary. The king escaped, and fled westward and then south to the Adriatic coast.
A year on the Hungarian plain
The Mongols spent the rest of 1241 and early 1242 in Hungary. They crossed the Danube over the winter ice, according to the sources, and raided far, reaching toward the Adriatic and into Austria. Fortified places had varying fortunes. Many towns and villages were destroyed or abandoned, and many people died or were carried off. Some castles and walled sites on hills held out, which later shaped royal policy. Estimates of the share of the Hungarian population that was lost differ widely among scholars, and a precise figure cannot be given. Some older figures are very high; more cautious modern views emphasize regional variation.
The sudden withdrawal
In the spring of 1242 the Mongols left Hungary and went back eastward through the Balkans toward the steppe. To contemporaries this looked like deliverance. Explanations have been argued ever since:
- Death of the great khan. The traditional explanation is that news came that Ogedei had died, late in 1241, and that the Chingisid princes were expected to return for the election of a new khan. This is plausible, but the timing is awkward, since the decision to withdraw may have been made earlier, and not every prince had to go back.
- Logistics. The Great Plain could support only a limited number of horses. After a year of campaigning, the grazing may have been depleted, and the army needed to rest and recover.
- Fortifications and resistance. Stone castles and walled towns proved hard to take without long sieges, and the Mongols had suffered losses.
- Politics. Rivalries within the family of Genghis Khan, including tensions between Batu and some other princes, may have encouraged an early return.
Most historians see a mixture of these factors rather than a single cause. It is also worth remembering that the Mongols generally preferred to hold the steppe and rule settled lands indirectly. The Hungarian Plain may have been seen as a natural frontier of their zone, and the invasion may not have been intended as the start of a permanent occupation.
Aftermath
The invasion shaped both kingdoms. In Hungary, Bela IV returned to a devastated country. He is often remembered as a second founder of the state. He encouraged resettlement, brought in new colonists, and promoted the building of stone fortifications, a policy that changed the landscape of the kingdom. Later in the century the Mongols threatened again, and a force raided in 1285 but was repelled.
Poland recovered more slowly from the loss of its Silesian duke, and the lands were already splintered among several Piast princes. Western rulers took the lesson that the Mongols were a real threat, and some tried diplomacy. In the following years popes and kings, including Louis IX of France, sent envoys eastward to learn about the Mongols, to seek alliances against Muslim powers, or to gain converts. These efforts produced reports and travel accounts, but little in the way of lasting agreements.
Europe’s experience of the Mongols was therefore brief compared with that of Asia or Russia. Western chroniclers wrote of “Tartars”, sometimes connecting the name with Tartarus, the classical underworld, which tells us how frightening the episode seemed. In the long run, though, the effects were more local than continental, and the more lasting Mongol influence on the region came through the Golden Horde, whose power on the steppe lay to the east.