The Battle of Lechfeld and Its Aftermath, August 955: The End of the Age of Migrations in the Latin WestAshgate Publishing, Ltd., 2006 - 223 pages In August 955, a battle took place that effectively ended the incursions of steppe nomads into Western Europe. The forces of Otto the Great annihilated a huge army of Hungarian mounted archers in an encounter that is generally known as the battle of Lechfeld, a broad plain near Augsburg in southern Germany. Since even after a defeat, these elusive warriors surely could have fled back to the Carpathian Basin to rebuild their strength and resume their raids, the total annihilation of the Hungarian army is mysterious. This book provides the first satisfactory explanation for the decisive nature of Otto's victory. Based on a detailed analysis of all contemporary, and often contradictory, sources, Bowlus provides a step-by-step reconstruction of the battle. This is preceded by chapters analysing the administrative and military reforms in tenth-century Germany, and the strengths and weaknesses of nomadic styles of warfare, in particular their archery, and setting out the historical context in which the battle occurred. factors, not only the limits they imposed on the expansion of the nomadic way of life into Europe, but also the impact the local environment had on the outcome of the battle. |
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agrarii milites Alföld Amper Annales annihilated armed Arnulf arrows attack Augsburg August Avars battle of Lechfeld Bavaria Bishop Ulrich Bohemians Bowlus Byzantine campaign Carantania Carolingian Carpathian Basin commanders composite bows Conrad Conrad the Red Danube defeat defense defense-in-depth duchy Duke Henry East Frankish Ebersberg encounter enemy Enns equestrian exercitus expeditions fighting flank fleeing forest fortifications fortress Franconia Freising Gerhard heavy cavalry Henry's historians horse archers horsemen Hungarian army Ibid Iller infantry invaded invasion Isar Isen kilometers king king's large number Lawrence patronyms leader Lech Leyser Liudolf Liutpoldinger Liutpoldings Magyar army Magyars military missiles mounted archers Otto Otto's army Otto's forces Ottonian pastures protected rear Regensburg region Reindel Res gestae Saxonicae retreat river crossings Roman Salzburg Saxon Saxon monk siege Slavs soldiers St Lawrence church St Lawrence's Day steppe steppe warriors strategy Swabian tactical tenth century terrain territory trained Vegetius victory weapons western Widukind
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Page 198 - Das .Großmährische Reich' - Realität oder Fiktion? Eine Neuinterpretation der Quellen zur Geschichte des mittleren Donauraumes im 9. Jahrhundert, Stuttgart 1995 (Monographien zur Geschichte des Mittelalters, Bd.