Between 899 and 970, the researchers count 47 (38 to West and 9 to East)[1] raids in different parts of Europe. From these campaigns only 8 were unsuccessful and the others ended with success.[2]
The Hungarians took possession of theCarpathian Basin (corresponding to the laterKingdom of Hungary) in a planned manner, with a long period of settlement between 862–895, and launched a number of campaigns both westward into formerFrancia and southward into theByzantine Empire. The westward raids were stopped only with the Magyar defeat at theBattle of Lechfeld in 955, which led to the revival of theHoly Roman Empire in 962, producing a new political order in Western Europe. The raids into Byzantine territories continued throughout the 10th century, until the eventual Christianisation of the Magyars and the establishment of the ChristianKingdom of Hungary in 1000.
The first supposed reference to the Hungarians in war is in the 9th century: in 811, the Hungarians (Magyars) were in alliance withKrum of Bulgaria against EmperorNikephoros I possibly at theBattle of Pliska in the Haemus Mountains (Balkan Mountains).[5]Georgius Monachus' work mentions that around 837 theBulgarian Empire sought an alliance with the Hungarians.[5][6]Constantine Porphyrogenitus wrote in his workOn Administering the Empire that theKhagan and theBek of theKhazars asked theEmperor Theophilos to have the fortress ofSarkel built for them.[6] This record is thought to refer to the Hungarians on the basis that the new fortress must have become necessary because of the appearance of a new enemy of the Khazars, and no other people could have been the Khazars’ enemy at that time.[6] In the 10th century,Ahmad ibn Rustah wrote that "earlier, the Khazars entrenched themselves against the attacks of the Magyars and other peoples".[6]
In 860–861, Hungarians attackedSaint Cyril's convoy, but the meeting is said to have ended peacefully.[5] (Saint Cyril was traveling to the Khagan at (or near)Chersonesos Taurica, which had been captured by the Khazars.)
Muslim geographers recorded that the Magyars regularly attacked the neighboringEast Slavic tribes in this period, and took captives to sell to the Byzantine Empire atKerch.[7][8] There are descriptions of Hungarian raids into the eastern Carolingian Empire in 862.[9]
In 881, the Hungarians and the Kabars invaded East Francia and fought two battles, the former (Ungari) atWenia (probablyVienna)[9] and the latter (Cowari) atCulmite (possibly Kulmberg or Kollmitz inAustria).[10] In 892, according to theAnnales Fuldenses, KingArnulf of East Francia invadedGreat Moravia, and the Magyars joined his troops.[6][9] After 893, Magyar warriors were conveyed across the Danube by the Byzantine fleet and defeated the Bulgarians in three battles (at the Danube,Silistra, andPreslav).[8] In 894, the Magyars invadedPannonia in alliance with KingSvatopluk I ofMoravia.[6][9]
Around 896,[11] probably under the leadership ofÁrpád, the Hungarians (Magyars) crossed the Carpathians and entered theCarpathian Basin (the plains ofHungary, approximately).
In 899, these Magyars defeatedBerengar's army in theBattle of Brenta River and invaded the northern regions of Italy. They pillaged the countryside aroundTreviso,Vicenza,Verona,Brescia,Bergamo andMilan,[8] defeatingBraslav, Duke of Lower Pannonia. In 901, they attacked Italy again.[12] In 902, they led a campaign against northern Moravia and defeated the Moravians, whose country was annihilated.[8] In almost every year of the 10th century, they conducted raids against theCatholic west andByzantine east. However, in 905, the Magyars and King Berengar formed anamicitia, and fifteen years passed without Hungarian troops entering Italy.[13]
In 926, they ravagedSwabia and Alsace, campaigned through present-dayLuxembourg, and reached as far as theAtlantic Ocean.[13] In 927, Peter, brother of Pope John X, called on the Magyars to rule Italy.[13] They marched into Rome and imposed large tribute payments onTuscany and Tarento.[13][16] In 933, a substantial Magyar army appeared inSaxony (the pact with the Saxons having expired) butwas defeated by Henry I at Merseburg.[13] Magyar attacks continued against Upper Burgundy (in 935) and against Saxony (in 936).[13] In 937, they raided France as far west asReims,Lotharingia, Swabia,Franconia, theDuchy of Burgundy[18] and Italy as far asOtranto in the south.[13] They attacked Bulgaria and the Byzantine Empire, reaching the walls of Constantinople. The Byzantines paid them a “tax” for 15 years.[19] In 938, the Magyars repeatedly attacked Saxony.[13] In 940, they ravaged the region of Rome.[13] In 942,Hungarian raids on Spain, particularly inCatalonia,[20] took place, according toIbn Hayyan's work.[21] In 947,Bulcsú, a chieftain ofTaksony, led a raid into Italy[22] as far asApulia, and KingBerengar II of Italy had to buy peace by paying a large amount of money to him and his followers.
TheBattle of Lechfeld in 955, in which the Magyars lost approximately 5,000 warriors, finally checked their expansion, although raids on the Byzantine Empire continued until 970. (Lechfeld is south ofAugsburg in present-day southern Germany.)
Between 899 and 970, according to the contemporary sources, the researchers count 45 (according to Nagy Kálmán) or 47 (according to Szabados György 38 to West and 9 to East)[23] raids in different parts of Europe. From these campaigns only 8 (17.5%) were unsuccessful (901, 913, 933, 943, 948, 951, 955, 970) and 37 ended with success (82.5%).[24]
The Hungarian campaign of 894The military events of the Hungarian conquest in 894–895
811: The Hungarians were in alliance withKrum of Bulgaria against EmperorNikephoros I at theBattle of Pliska in the Haemus Mountains (Balkan Mountains).[5]
839: The Hungarians, who then lived east of the Carpathians, inEtelköz, fought in the Lower Danube at the request of theFirst Bulgarian Empire against Byzantine insurgents.[25]
861:Saint Cyril was attacked in Crimea by Hungarians "screaming like wolves", but seeing him praying, they became peaceful.[26]
c. 870: al-Djayhani andAhmad ibn Rustah wrote that the Hungarian tribes attacked the Slavs who lived near their borders, winning many small battles, and took many of them toKerch in Crimea to sell to the Byzantines as slaves.[27]
881: Hungarian troops, helping theMoravians, fought two battles against the Germans.[26]
In alliance withSvatopluk I of Moravia, the Hungarians attacked the East Francian province of Pannonia. Svatopluk died during this war.[30]
The Bulgarians, led bySimeon I of Bulgaria, attacked the Byzantines, who asked for Hungarian help. A Hungarian army, led byLiüntika, defeated the Bulgarian army in three battles (at the Danube,Silistra andPreslav),[8] and forced Simeon to retreat toSilistra.[31]
The Hungarian campaign in Italy, with the Battle of Brenta, then the campaign which resulted the capture of Dunántúl
900: Hungarians conqueredPannonia, after their proposal of alliance to the East Francians was rejected. This was another step in the Hungarian Conquest.[34]
April 11 or 18: The Magyar army from Carinthia was defeated by Margrave Ratold atLaibach.[35]
902: The Hungarians conquered the eastern parts of Great Moravia, completing theHungarian Conquest of the Carpathian Basin, and began forcing the Slavs west and north of this region to pay tribute to them.[36]
903: A Hungarian force raiding in Bavaria was defeated near the riverFischa.[36]
904
The Hungarian political and military leaderKurszán (kende,gyula orhorka) was invited to a feast and then assassinated by the Bavarians.[36]
early summer: Hungarian armies march toLombardy.[36]
905
King Berengar of Italy made alliance with the Hungarians against his enemy,Louis of Provence, who had declared himself emperor of Italy.
early summer: The Magyars defeatLouis of Provence, who is then blinded by Berengar.[37]
The Hungarian campaign in Saxony of 906
906: Two successive Hungarian armies devastated theDuchy of Saxony. The Magyars were asked to come by the Slavic tribe ofDalamancians, which had been threatened by Saxon attacks.[37]
907
July 4–6: An East Francian army led byLuitpold, Margrave of Bavaria, which aimed to expel the Hungarians from the Carpathian Basin, was annihilated by the Hungarian army in theBattle of Pressburg. Luitpold,Dietmar I, Archbishop of Salzburg, Prince Sieghard, 19 counts, 2 bishops, and 3 abbots were killed in the battle, along with most of their soldiers.[36] This battle is considered the conclusion of the Hungarian Conquest.[38]
July–August: The Hungarians assailed Bavaria, causing great destruction and occupying many towns. Returning home, they defeated a Bavarian army atLengenfeld. The Hungarian-Bavarian border was then fixed on theEnns river.[39]
The Hungarian campaign of 910, which resulted the Hungarian victories from Augsburg and Rednitz
910
June 12: The Hungarians crushed the army of the German kingLouis the Child, led by Count Gozbert of Alemannia, in thefirst Battle of Augsburg. Gozbert and Managolt, count of Alemannia, were killed in the battle.
911: Hungarian troops crossedBavaria and attackedSwabia andFranconia, plundering the lands from Meinfeld toAargau. After that, they crossed theRhine, and attackedBurgundy for the first time.[42]
912: Hungarians attacked Franconia and Thuringia, hoping to force the new East Francian king,Conrad I of Germany, to pay them tribute.[42]
The Hungarian campaigns from 915 in the Eastern Frankish kingdom and Italy
915: A Hungarian army devastated Swabia, and then Franconia. One of their plundering units attacked theFulda monastery but was repelled. Hungarians burned theAbbey of Corvey and plundered the monastery St.Ida inHerzfeld. In Saxony, the Hungarians plundered Valun and burnedBremen, and after defeating a Saxon army atEresburg, they reached theDanish border.[44]
916: A Hungarian army aidedArnulf, Duke of Bavaria, in his first, unsuccessful invasion to regain his duchy.[44]
The Hungarian campaigns in Europe in 917
917
Western invasions
January 21: The Hungarians sacked and burnedBasel, then invaded theDuchy of Alsace.
Hungarians allegedly helpedSimeon I of Bulgaria to defeat the Byzantines in the greatBattle of Achelous,[46] but their involvement was described by a single 11th-century source,Miracula Sancti Georgii, which is inconsistent with contemporary records.
The Hungarian campaign in Europe of 919–920, which resulted in the Hungarian victories of Püchen against the king of East Francia and of 920 against the Burgundian king from 920 in Italy
919–920
After the election ofHenry the Fowler as the new king of East Francia, a Hungarian army entered Germany, and defeated Henry's forces in theBattle of Püchen, then headed west into Lotharingia and modern France. KingCharles the Simple could not gather enough forces to face them in a battle, forcing him to retreat and allow them to plunder his realm.[46]
In 921 a Hungarian army led by Dursac andBogát entered Northern Italy, annihilating betweenBrescia andVerona, the forces of the Italian supporters ofRudolf II of Burgundy, killing thepalatine Odelrik, and taking captive Gislebert, the count of Bergamo.
This army proceeded into southern Italy, where it wintered, and in January 922 plundered the regions betweenRome andNaples.
February 4: The Magyar army assailedApulia in Southern Italy, ruled by the Byzantines.[48]
The Hungarians campaigns of 924 in Italy, Burgundy, Southern France and Saxony
924
Campaign in Italy and Southern France
Spring:Rudolf II of Burgundy was elected king of Italy inPavia by the Italian insurgents[clarification needed]. EmperorBerengar I of Italy asked the Hungarians for aid; they sent an army led by Szalárd, which burned Pavia and the war galleys on the shores of the Ticino river.
April 7: When emperor Berengar was assassinated in Verona, the Hungarians turned towards Burgundy.Rudolf II of Burgundy andHugh of Arles tried to encircle them in the passes of theAlps, but the Hungarians escaped from the ambush, and attacked Gothia and the outskirts ofNîmes. They returned home because a plague broke out among them.[49]
Campaign in Saxony
Another Hungarian army plundered Saxony. The German kingHenry the Fowler retreated to the castle ofWerla. A Hungarian noble happened to be captured by the Germans, which King Henry used as an opportunity to negotiate peace with the Hungarians, agreeing to pay tribute to thePrincipality of Hungary.[50]
The Hungarian campaign in Europe in 926
926
May 1–8: Hungarian armies entered Swabia, as allies of the new Italian king,Hugh of Italy, besiegedAugsburg,[51] and then occupied theAbbey of Sankt Gallen, where they spared the life of the monkHeribald, whose accounts give a detailed description of their traditions and way of life.[52] From the abbey they sent minor units to reconnoiter and plunder the surroundings, one of which killed SaintWiborada who lived as anchoress in a wood nearby.
After May 8: The Magyars besiegedKonstanz, burning its outskirts, then headed West in the direction ofSchaffhausen andBasel. One group was defeated by the locals atSäckingen on the shores of theRhine. However, the main Hungarian army crossed the Rhine intoAlsace with captured ships, and defeated the forces of Count Liutfred. Then, following the Rhine, they proceeded north, looting the area ofVoncq, reached theAtlantic Ocean's shores, then returned home viaReims. On their way home, they renewed the alliance withArnulf, Duke of Bavaria.
July 29: The Hungarians destroyed Oberkirchen.[53]
The Hungarian campaigns of 927 in Italy and the BalkansThe Hungarian influence in 930. The countries with red stripes paid tribute to the Hungarians.
927: ? Hungarian fighters are called by KingHugh of Italy to help Margrave Peter regain his power in Rome, againstPope John X; this succeeded. During and after these events, they plunderedTuscany andApulia, taking many captives, and occupying the cities ofOria andTaranto.[54]
931: A Hungarian army burned the Italian city ofPiacenza.[55]
933
Beginning of March: Because the German kingHenry the Fowler refused to continue to pay tribute to thePrincipality of Hungary, a Magyar army invaded Saxony from the lands of the Slavic tribe ofDalamancians. The Hungarians split into two main groups, but the group which tried to outflank Saxony from the west was defeated by the combined forces ofSaxony andThuringia nearGotha.
March 15: The other army besiegedMerseburg, but was then defeated in theBattle of Riade by Henry the Fowler's army.[55]
The Hungarian campaign of 934 against Bulgaria and the Byzantine empire, which resulted the start of the Byzantine tribute towards the Hungarians
934
West
A Hungarian army raided the environs ofMetz in Lotharingia.[56]
Balkans
War broke out between the Hungarians and thePechenegs, but a peace was concluded after news arrived of aBulgarian invasion of their territories being prepared in the town of W.l.n.d.r (probablyBelgrade). The Hungarians and the Pechenegs decided to attack this town.
April: The Hungarian-Pecheneg army defeated, in theBattle of W.l.n.d.r, the relieving Byzantine-Bulgarian forces, then conquered the city, and plundered it for three days.
May–June: The allies plundered Bulgaria, then headed towardsConstantinople, where they camped for 40 days, sackingThrace and taking many captives. TheByzantine Empire concluded a peace treaty with the Hungarians, ransoming the captives and agreeing to pay tribute to thePrincipality of Hungary.[57]
935: Hungarians raidedAquitaine andBourges. They returned home via Burgundy and Northern Italy, where they plundered the environs ofBrescia.[56]
The Hungarian campaign in Europe from 936–937
936–937
End of 936: The Hungarians, aiming to force the new German king,Otto I, to pay them tribute, attacked Swabia and Franconia, and burned theFulda monastery. They then entered Saxony, but the new king's forces repelled them towards Lotharingia andWest Francia.
February 21, 937: They entered Lotharingia, crossing the Rhine atWorms, and advanced towardsNamur.
The Hungarian influence in 936. The countries with red stripes paid tribute to the Hungarians.
The Hungarians occupied the Abbey of SaintBasolus ofVerzy, which they used as headquarters. They then sent plundering groups to attack the abbeys from Orbay, Saint Macra of Fîmes, the city ofBouvancourt[clarification needed].
March 24: They reached the city ofSens, where they burned the Abbey of Saint Peter.
AtOrléans they fought a French army led by count Ebbes de Déols, who was wounded in the battle and died soon afterwards. After this, the Hungarians, following the course of theLoire, crossed the whole of France to reach the Atlantic Ocean, then returned south-east, plundering nearBourges.
After July 11: The Hungarians entered Burgundy nearDijon, harrying the Monastery ofLuxeuil, then plundered the valley of theRhône, burned the city ofTournus, and occupied the monasteries of SaintDeicolus and Saint Marcell, but failed to take the Monastery of Saint Appollinaris.
August: Continuing their campaign, the Hungarians entered Lombardy from the West, whereHugh of Italy asked them to go to Southern Italy to help the Byzantines. The Hungarians plundered the surroundings ofCapua, and installed their camp inCampania. They sent smaller groups to plunder the regions ofNaples,Benevento,Sarno,Nola andMontecassino. TheAbbey of Montecassino gave them objects valued at 200 Byzantinehyperpyrons to ransom the captives.[58]
Autumn: One Hungarian group returning home was ambushed in theAbruzzo Mountains by local forces, and lost its plunder.[59]
938
End of July: The Hungarians attacked Thuringia and Saxony, and made camp at theBode, north of theHarz mountains, sending raiding parties in every direction. One party was defeated atWolfenbüttel, and its leader killed; another was misled by Slavic guides on the marshes ofDrömling, ambushed, and destroyed by the Germans at Belxa.
After 31 August: Hearing of these defeats, the main Hungarian army, camped at the Bode river, withdrew to Carpathia.[60]
940 April: The Hungarian auxiliary troops helpingHugh of Italy in his campaign against Rome were victorious atLateran against the Roman nobles, but are then defeated by the Longobards.[60]
The Hungarian campaign in Italy, Burgundy, Southern France and Spain in 942
942
Spring: A Hungarian army entered Italy, where King Hugh paid them 10bushels of gold to invade theCaliphate of Córdoba.
Middle of June: They arrived inCatalonia, plundered the region, then entered the northern territories of the Caliphate of Córdoba.
June 26: The Hungarians captured Yahya ibn Muhammad ibn al Tawil, the ruler ofBarbastro, and held him captive 33 days, until ransom was paid.
July: The Hungarians ran low on food and water in an arid region of Spain, killed their Italian guide, and returned towards Italy. Five Hungarian soldiers were taken prisoner by the Cordobans and became bodyguards of the caliph.[61]
The Hungarians plundered the region ofLatium and defeated a sortie against them from Rome.[62]
943
Balkans
Allied with the Kievan Rus, a Hungarian army invaded theByzantine Empire. EmperorRomanos I Lekapenos bought peace, and agreed to pay a yearly tribute to the Hungarians.[63]
947: A Hungarian army, led by princeTaksony, campaigned in Italy, moving southwards along the eastern coast of the peninsula. It besiegedLarino and reachedOtranto, plundering Apulia for 3 months.[64]
Spring: Hungarians, crossing through Lombardia, plundered Aquitania.
November 20: The returning Hungarians were defeated by the Germans, who in the meanwhile had conquered the Kingdom of Italy.[65]
The Hungarian campaign in Europe of 954
954
German princes rebelled againstOtto I, and allied with the Hungarians, who in February sent an army led byBulcsú to aid them. The Magyar army plundered the domains of Otto's allies in Bavaria, Swabia, and Frankonia.
The Hungarians plundered the regions ofHesbaye and Carbonaria in today'sBelgium, plundered and burned the Monastery of Saint Lambert ofHainaut, plundered the monastery ofMoorsel, and sacked the cities ofGembloux andTournai.
April 2: They besieged theLobbes Abbey, but the monks successfully defended the monastery. However, the Hungarians burned the church of Saint Paul, and took with them the treasures of the abbey.
April 6–10: The Hungarians besieged the city ofCambrai and burned its outskirts, but were unable to conquer the city. One of Bulcsú's relatives was killed by the defenders, who refused to return his body to the Hungarians, who responded by killing all of their captives and burning the monastery ofSaint Géry, near Cambrai.
After April 6: The Hungarians crossed the French border, plundering the lands aroundLaon,Reims, Chalon,Metz,Gorze. After that, they returned home via Burgundy and Northern Italy.[69]
The Hungarian campaign in the German kingdom from 955
955
Middle of July: Called by the Bavarian and Saxonian rebels, a Hungarian army led by Bulcsú,Lehel,Sur, andTaksony burst into Germany, plundering Bavaria, then entered Swabia and burned many monasteries.
Beginning of August: The Hungarians began besiegingAugsburg.
August 10: The German army ofOtto I defeated the main Hungarian army and puts it to flight at theBattle of Lechfeld. Despite the victory, the German losses were heavy, among them many nobles:Conrad, Duke of Lorraine, Count Dietpald, Ulrich count of Aargau, the Bavarian count Berthold, etc.[71]
August 10–11: The Germans captured Bulcsú,Lehel, and Sur. Many Hungarians were slain in flight by the Germans.
August 15: Bulcsú, Lehel, and Sur were hanged in Regensburg,[72] ending the Hungarian invasions of western Europe.
The Hungarian campaign in the Balkans from 968
958 April–May: Because in 957 the Byzantines ceased the payment of tribute, a Hungarian army, led byApor, invaded the empire and plundered its territories as far as Constantinople, but on its return, was defeated by the Byzantines in a night attack.[73]
961: A Hungarian army invadedThrace andMacedonia, but was defeated in another night attack.[73]
968: A Hungarian force invades the Byzantine Empire, and splits into two groups. NearThessaloniki, one group of 300 men takes 500 Greek captives, bringing them back to Hungary. The other group of 200 men was ambushed by the Byzantines, who took 40 of them captive. Some became bodyguards of emperorNikephoros II Phokas.[75]
970:Sviatoslav I of Kiev invaded the Byzantine Empire with Hungarian auxiliary troops. The Byzantines defeated Sviatoslav's army in theBattle of Arcadiopolis.[76] This concluded the Hungarian invasions of Europe.
Their army used mostly highly mobile light cavalry.[77] Attacking without warning, they quickly plundered the countryside and departed before any defensive force could be organized.[77] If forced to fight, they would harass their enemies with arrows, then suddenly retreat, tempting their opponents to break ranks and pursue, after which the Hungarians would turn to fight them singly.[77] This tactic is formally known as afeigned retreat.
The Hungarians were the last invading people to establish a permanent presence in Central Europe.[77]Paul K. Davis writes, the "Magyar defeat (at theBattle of Lechfeld) ended more than 90 years of their pillaging western Europe and convinced survivors to settle down, creating the basis for the state ofHungary."[96] In the following centuries, the Hungarians adopted western European forms of feudal military organization, including the predominant use of heavily armored cavalry.[77]
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^Szabados, György (August 2005)."Vereség háttér nélkül? Augsburg, 955" [Defeat without background? Augsburg, 955].Hitel – irodalmi, művészeti és társadalmi folyóirat [literary, artistic and social journal] (in Hungarian) (8).
^abcdefTóth, Sándor László (1998).Levediától a Kárpát-medencéig(From Levedia to the Carpathian Basin). Szeged: Szegedi Középkorász Műhely.ISBN963-482-175-8.
^Elter, I. (1981) Remarks on Ibn Hayyan's report on the Magyar raids on Spain, Magyar Nyelv 77, p. 413-419
^The Hungarians' Prehistory, their Conquest of Hungary, and their Raids to the West to 955, Laszlo Makkai,A History of Hungary, ed. Peter F. Sugar, Péter Hanák,Tibor Frank, (Indiana University Press, 1990), 13.
^Nagy Kálmán: A honfoglalás korának hadtörténete; Heraldika Kiadó, Budapest, 2007, p. 168
^Bóna, István (2000).A magyarok és Európa a 9-10. században("The Hungarians and Europe in the 9th-10th centuries") (in Hungarian). Budapest: História - MTA Történettudományi Intézete. p. 11.ISBN963-8312-67-X.
^Baják László: A fejedelmek kora. A korai magyar történet időrendi vázlata. II. rész. 900-1000("The Era of the Princes. The chronological sketch of the early Hungarian history. II. part. 900-1000"); ÓMT, Budapest, (2000). p. 8–9
^Die Ungarn und die Abtei Sankt Gallen (in German). Akten des wissenschaftlichen Kolloquiums an der Universität Eötvös Loránd Budapest vom 21. März 1998 anlässlich der Ausstellung «Die Kultur der Abtei Sankt Gallen» im Ungarischen Nationalmuseum (21.3.–30.4.1998). Ungarisch Historischer Verein Zürich, Stiftsarchiv Sankt Gallen, Sankt Gallen/Budapest 1999.
^Ballan, Mohammad (2010). Fraxinetum: An Islamic Frontier State in Tenth-Century Provence. Comitatus: A Journal of Medieval and Renaissance Studies, Volume 41, 2010, p. 31.
_painter_The_Hungarian_at_Kiev_(1896-99).jpg)
