Welcome! This is the Hilarious History channel! In this episode we present you the incredibly adventurous story of the mongol invasion of Hungary. The 13th century brought great changes for the peoples of Eastern Europe. The until then independent states or the smaller nomadic tribes had to face the Mongolian Empire. The Empire formed during the reign of Temüjin, who, having conquered his opponents, unified the Mongol tribes and assumed the name of Genghis, meaning “conqueror of the world”. The Mongol society in the 12th century was characterised by nomadic lifestyle, complemented by fishing and hunting. The clans grouped together into tribes, led by the khan, the head of the most respectable clan. Genghis, in order to eliminate internal discordant tensions, put an end to this structure, and organised a military state composed of squads, companies, regiments and divisions. Then, he immediately ventured into a campaign of conquest, occupying part of North China, broke into India and destroyed the tribes of nomadic Cumans and Alans. Their quick and highly mobile cavalry attacked in a highly organised and disciplined manner. The attacks led by the Mongols was accompanied by threatening the enemy, and exterminating and terrorising the battleworthy male population. Following Genghis Khan’s death in 1227, Ögedei, his son followed him as the ruler. The Empire by then had extended to the Volga River and Eastern Persia. Genghis’ other 3 sons received one Ulus each, i.e. part of the country, but they were accountable to Ögedei, the Great Khan. The Eastern European territories were soon given to Genghis’ grandson, Batu, who immediately set to expanding his territories. Heading west, they first defeated the Cumans, Bulgars and occupied Moscow in 1238. By 1240, they also took Kiev, after which the surrounding Russian princes also yielded to the Mongols and became their regular taxpayers. Batu, from the territories given to him, organised the khanate of the Golden Horde, which his descendants had ruled in stability until the 14th century. As strange as it is, the people of Eastern Europe were little or not concerned by the imminent Mongol danger. They only realised by the mid-1230s that a Mongol Horde is heading towards them. At this time, Hungary was crowning a new king, Béla IV. The new king was determined to carry on with the tradition of the firm hand of the Hungarian kings. Therefore, following his ascent to the throne, he first removed his father’s advisers and replace them with noblemen loyal to him. He began taking back the lands from the noblemen his father had generously given away to them, who did not take kindly to this. The firmness of royal power was also indicated by him prohibiting any nobleman to sit in his presence. And to accentuate this measure further, he even had the chairs of the council of the leading noblemen burned. He also ordered that noblemen may only submit their issues to the royal court via a written request. Until then, they were entitled to approach the king in person and present their various problems. From then on, they had to submit a written request and only majorly important issues were escalated to the king. In 1235 a Dominican friar, Julianus, set off on an expedition with three companions to find the Magyars left behind during the main migration to the Pannonian basin. Only Julianus made it, and he indeed found the Magyars living on the banks of the upper Volga. Although the two peoples had separated more than 500 years before, Julianus was able to converse with them in Hungarian. Julianus heard of the Mongol threat from these Magyars first, and upon returning to Hungary, he duly notified the king and the Pope of his journey and the imminent threat of invasion. In 1237, another Dominican expedition set out to convert the Magyars of the Volga to Christianity. The friars however, could only reach Suzdal as Batu Khan’s armies had in the meantime began to invade Russia and destroyed the Magyars of the Volga along the way. No further traces were ever found of them. In a letter in possession of the Prince of Suzdal, Batu khan writes the following to the Hungarian king: “I” aware you are a rich and powerful king and you rule a large country independently. This makes it difficult to subject yourself to me, yet it would be wise and advisable for you to yield into subservience.” King Béla IV however ignored the message, although he had been informed of the Mongol danger fro other sources by then. In 1239, Prince Kötöny of the Cumans sought refuge from the king as he had lost a battle against the Mongols. The prince promised to convert to Christianity along with his people and to unconditionally cooperate with the king. The was glad to receive them, as he intended to increase the military power of the country and strengthen his internal base of supporters as well. By allowing the Cumans in, the tension between the kings and the noblemen increased further. The Cumans were still nomads at the time and their enormous herds of livestock caused great damage inn agricultural plantations and vineyards. Their wild and rampageous behaviour caused widespread anger. Many were suspicious of them, thinking they may have been sent forward by the Mongols to spy on Hungary’s military power. The king therefore lost the support of the noblemen when he needed it the most. The Mongol threat was only taken seriously after Kiev fell inn 1240; the king then supervised preparations personally. Obstacles and barricades were built at the borders. The Mongol army attacked Eastern Europe from three directions. The right wing targeted Poland and the left wing invaded Europe through Transylvania, while the main army, led by Batu khan, crossed the Verecke Pass headed for the very heart of Hungary. On 12th March, they easily defeated the army of Palatine Denis Tomaj at the Verecke Pass, leaving him with hardly any surviving soldiers. On the 17th, they have occupied and robbed Vác, annihilating the armies of Ugrin Csák, the Archbishop of Kalocsa as well. The Mongol outposts soon reached the borders of Pest. Seeing the quick and successful Mongol conquests, the rage of the people turned towards the Cumans, accusing them of collaborating with the Mongols. The mob lynched Kötöny, and the Cumans separated from the Hungarian army in reaction and left the country, robbing and scorching the settlements along the way. Béla IV had sought help from European powers in vain; neither the Pope, nor the Holy Roman emperor offered to help as they were engaged in battles fought with one another. When the Cumans deserted the Hungarian army, it became clear the king would have to face the Mongols alone. The decisive battle took place at the village of Muhi. The Hungarians occupied the plains of the area of the confluence of the Sajó and Tisza rivers, which proved to be a grave tactical error, while the Mongols camped on the other side of the river, on a higher point. From here, they could observe the Hungarians well. The Hungarian tents were packed so close together that the tent ropes made any internal movement impossible. And the entire camp was surrounded by wagons. Batu, on seeing this from his higher camp, remarked “they have locked themselves in confined pen like a herd”. The Mongol attack started on the night of 10 April 1241. They wanted to cross the Sajó, but the Hungarians successfully prevented this, routing the Mongol troops. As many were convinced this marked the end of the battle, the camp went to sleep. The main Mongol army then launched the attack, crossed the river and surrounded the Hungarian camp of wagons from all sides. No real battle took place as the Mongols simply shot their arrows on the Hungarian army confined in a small area. The losses were enormous, the entire general staff of the country, the palatine, the judge royal, both archbishops and several ecclesiastical and secular leaders were among the dead. The king miraculously escaped, despite the Mongols hunting for him. He fled west on exchanged horses to seek help there. He first asked Frederick II, Duke of Austria, who, taking advantage of the king’s situation, occupied three western counties of the country. The king continued on to Zagreb and to Trogir in Croatia, from where he wrote one letter after the other to European leaders, asking for help, to no avail. Following the battle, the Mongol army headed for Pest and, joining forces with its left and right wing, gained control over the majority of the country’s territory. Their advance could only be halted by the Danube, but only until January 1242, when they could cross the frozen river. They have scorched Buda, Pécs and Szeged, but they were not able to take fortresses built on high points such as Esztergom or Pannonhalma. They also stormed Trogir, the place of the king’s refuge, but they suddenly ended the offensive in the spring of 1242 and left the country. A number of explanations of this exist. The Mongols habitually did not occupy territories at once where they expanded; the first invasion usually served as preparation for a subsequent conquest. It is also probable that Batu, upon hearing of the death of the great khan Ögedei, wished to be present at the election of his successor and he also aspired to ascend the vacant throne. The Epistle to the Sorrowful Lament upon the Destruction of the Kingdom of Hungary by the Tatars, written by Roger of Torre Maggiore offers a detailed description of the devastation by the Mongol invasion. It is from this source that we know the Mongols raided and scorched all settlements and mercilessly massacred the population wherever they went. The masses of unburied dead soon began to spread epidemics and famine also struck the country. The total loss of population is estimated between 15-50%, the Great Hungarian Plain had been completely devastated, with the Transdanubian regions less affected. The country recovered over a relatively short period, however. This is mostly explained by the fact that king Béla IV seriously revised his pre-invasion policies. He realised he must change his adverse and repulsive attitude towards the noblemen of the country. He donated land generously, tied to the condition of arming a given number of soldiers to a previously agreed standard. He thus built a loyal class of magnates with the help of these donations. The barons grew very powerful as a result and the royal counties established by Stephen I of Hungary gradually began to change into noblemen’s counties. Their management, besides the ispán nominated by the king, now included the leaders elected by the nobility. They were the judges of the nobles. Thus, a unified class of nobility evolved, and a uniform class of serfs as well. An important conclusion drawn from the invasion was that the earthen fortresses built generations before had become obsolete. There were a few stone fortresses in the country, and the Mongols were not able to take these. The king therefore launched a fortress building programme, incentivising the nobility and the church to follow suit. Before the Mongol invasion a total of 10 stone fortresses hardly stood in the country, and at the king’s death, this number rose to over 100. The castles of Visegrád and Buda were also built at this time. The king also had the Verecke Pass fortified. The other type of fortresses built were the cities surrounded by walls, of which only 2-3 existed prior to the Mongol invasion. Béla IV started a dedicated urban planning programme: The municipalities were given privileges: e.g. the right to hold fairs, own local governments and a single annual tax payment. The end of the century saw more than 20 such privileged cities in the country. As the Mongols had exterminated the majority of the population and many others had fled the country, many areas became depopulated. The king wished to repopulate these areas. He settled Jász people, Germans and appeased Cumans here. The Cumans received privileges of nobility, for which they were to provide military service to the king. The king also increased the size of the heavy armoured cavalry, supplemented by nomadic archer light cavalry troops. The efforts of Béla IV to rebuild his devastated country won him the epithet of "second founder of the state”. His grandeur laid in the fact that he was able to learn from his former mistakes. He set to rebuilding the country with flexibility and energy, and greatly contributed to making Hungary the strongest state of the region by the end of the 13th century. If you enjoyed the video, give it a thumbs up, and if you would like to see more exciting stories, Click the Subscribe button, and turn on the notifications too ;) In the comments, write to us: - what was your favourite part of the video, and - what else would you like to see on this channel! See you next week!