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April 1241Reputable source · 2 sourcesWell documented

Legnica and Mohi, Then a Sudden Withdrawal

Mongol armies crush Polish and Hungarian forces in the same week, then vanish when Ogedei dies

On the timeline · around April 1241 · The Pax Mongolica, Mongke, and the Push SouthOgedei, the Golden Horde, and EuropeThe Pax Mongolica, Mongke, and the Push SouthLegnica and Mohi, Then a Sudden Withdrawal12381240124212441246

Quick facts

Legnica
9 April 1241; Henry the Pious killed
Mohi
10-11 April 1241, Sajo river, Hungary
Mongol commander at Mohi
Subutai
Withdrawal cause
Ogedei Khan's death, 11 December 1241

What happened

From Kyiv the Mongol army split, one wing driving into Poland and Bohemia, the other into Hungary. At Legnica (called Liegnitz, near Wahlstatt) on 9 April 1241, a Mongol force met an army of Poles, Germans, and Teutonic Knights under Henry the Pious, Duke of Silesia. The Mongols used their standard false-retreat tactic, then attacked again under cover of smoke from burning reeds; Henry was killed and his head paraded on a spike. Two days later, on 10 to 11 April, a separate Mongol army under Subutai crushed the main Hungarian army at the Battle of Mohi on the Sajo river, crossing a pontoon bridge and a swamp to outflank the Hungarians while catapults bombarded them from the opposite bank. Despite these victories, the invasion stopped in its tracks that same spring: word finally reached the army that Ogedei Khan had died on 11 December 1241, and the senior commanders, including Batu, needed to return to take part in choosing his successor.

Why it matters

Legnica and Mohi proved the Mongols could defeat Western Europe's heaviest cavalry and best-organized armies just as thoroughly as they had defeated the Rus, and Legnica marked the furthest west a Mongol army ever fought. Yet the withdrawal shows how completely Mongol military strategy remained subordinate to steppe succession politics: a change of khan back in Mongolia could halt a European conquest already in progress.

How we know

Both battles and the timing of the withdrawal relative to Ogedei's death are documented in the World History Encyclopedia's article on the Mongol invasion of Europe.

Sources

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Legnica and Mohi, Then a Sudden Withdrawal · The Mongol Empire · SourcedStory