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Many people have the same type of interest in battles fought during the Scottish Wars of Independence, those that took place during the Hundred Years' War, and all kinds of crusading efforts throughout the medieval period. Alongside the best-known battles are numerous little-known skirmishes and conflicts. No less full of carnage and heroism, these fights and their overall impact on life and death during the Middle Ages have been overlooked.
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We all love a good medieval epic
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Tales of knights and wars fought with swords and ornately ornamented armor
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Now that's a spicy medieval ball. But while some of the battles of yore
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have been enshrined into immortality thanks to Hollywood, most of these battles have faded into obscurity
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And we're here to give them their moment in the sun. So today, we're pulling up a chair
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to some of the biggest medieval battles you've never heard of. Now, get ready for medieval combat
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Put yourself back in 1241 CE. During a conflict between the Mongol Empire and the Kingdom of Hungary
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the Battle of Mohi took place, and was one of the most epic and bloody battles the globe has ever seen
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In case you're not familiar with this area, the main players in the battle were Batu Khan and Subutai
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who were leading the Mongol army, and King Bela IV, who was commanding roughly 70,000 Hungarians
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The Mongols used a combined cavalry and infantry in their strategic assaults
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and were now attempting to capture Hungary after successfully defeating the forces of Poland at
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Legnica, sort of like the board game Risk. The Mongols attacked the Hungarian forces on the
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morning of April 11, 1241. They encircled the Hungarians, leaving them only one path to retreat
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And when the Hungarians tried to, the Mongols used it as a means to spring a trap
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slaughtering close to 60,000 men. Sort of like the board game Mousetrap
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Mongolia defeated Hungary so definitively that they began to march on Vienna almost immediately
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But that city's domination was suddenly stopped by the shocking death of Ogedei
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the successor to Genghis Khan. This unexpected development caused Batu and Subutai
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to shift their attention elsewhere. Sort of like the board game, uh, sorry
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Get back to us on that one. Taking place on what we now refer to as Turkey, the 1071 CE Battle of Manzikert saw the Seljuk
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Turks clashing with the Byzantine Empire. Led by Sultan Alp Arslan, the Seljuk Turks fought Emperor Romanos IV Diogenes and his
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army of close to 60,000 troops, many of whom were paid mercenaries
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How much are you charging to fight in a massive war? Whatever it is, it ain't enough
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Anyway it seemed that Romanos was going to dominate the Turks as he marched his army toward Manzikert However in a fatal strategic blunder he split up his army Didn this guy ever watch a Scooby Never split up
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Romanos decided he would lead half of his troops straight toward the city, while his subordinate general, Iosif Tarhaniotes
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would lead the other half in a flanking maneuver around the rear of the city, theoretically creating a surprise attack
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Tragically for Romanos, this did not transpire, and Tarhaniottis and his half of the army deserted
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Many of the mercenaries who had initially worked for Romanos defected and joined the Turks
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Don't think there's a scooby-doo about that. On August 26th, 1071, while attempting to chase down Sultan Arslan
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Byzantine forces launched an attack and Romanos was captured. Most of his elite fighters also perished in this altercation
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The victory of the Seljuk Turks over the Byzantine Empire had massive ramifications for the Middle East
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While Romanos was later released, The Byzantine military lost between 2,000 and 8,000 men, not counting the mercenaries that defected
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The empire lost prestige and stability, opening Anatolia up to the Seljuks and Muslim rule
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And this one battle is often seen as a precursor to the Crusades, and that you have heard of
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Another epic battle that has seemingly been lost to time is the Battle of Fontenoy from 841 CE
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After the passing of Louis the Pious in 840 CE, his children went to war over his lands
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Louis, the son of Charlemagne, had divided his territory among his three sons
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Charles the Bald got the West, Louis the German got the East, and Lothaire I got what you can only call the Middle
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the worst seat on the drive down to Disney World. Lothaire I, already feeling like Daddy's favorite given his title
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faced an alliance from his brothers. So Loter went to his nephew, Pippin II, and asked him for help, because Pippins are great at assistance
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Sometimes. These four family members met at Fontenois on June 25, 841, for a battle unlike any other
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The historical chronicle known as the Enale Fouldensis describes the events as
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bloodshed on both sides that was so great that the present age remembers no such carnage among Frankish people before
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Ultimately, Fontenois was a victory for Charles and Louis, signaling the end of the Carolingian
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Empire Scholars later noted that the loss of so many members of nobility rendered the empire incapable of expanding the kingdom but also defending its frontiers So zero for two That that for anyone especially a Pippin All of this bloodshed led to a sprawling war that raged for close to two
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years, until in 843, at the Treaty of Verdun, the three brothers signed a treaty that would split
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things evenly, just like their fathers had always wanted. So...heartwarming? Remember that time Norway and Sweden went to war with Denmark and England
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You don't? Well, that's what happened at the Battle of Helion in 1026
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After Canute the Great, whose first name must be read very carefully, became the King of
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England in 1016, he was also proclaimed the King of the Danes in 1019
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By 1026, Norway and Sweden united against Canute in an attempt to combat Danish supremacy
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throughout Scandinavia. The Battle of Heljón was both a land and naval conflict
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Knut's large fleet met rival ships on the open water, ultimately driving the Norwegians and Swedes into retreat
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Instead of pursuing them and crushing them, Knut allowed them to flee. What a mensch
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Scandinavian sources indicated that Knut sailed up the Heljón River and held the land against two princes
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This led directly to him establishing a blockade against Norway that forced the Norwegians to abandon their ships and return home on foot
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The Battle of Grunwald is a chronically under-respected military conflict. Transpiring at 1410, the Teutonic Knights went toe-to-toe with the Kingdom of Poland and the Duchy of Lithuania
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It was like a 99-cent beer night at medieval WrestleMania, a massive chaotic battle that left many in its wake
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When Grandmaster Ulrich von Jungingen led the forces of the Teutonic Knights against the Lithuanians and Polish armies
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the odds of survival were not very high. Jungingham himself gave his life attempting to snuff King
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Władysław Yagewa. This conflict claimed numerous other lives, so many in fact that it's difficult
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to account for the exact toll, and it's considered one of the Middle Ages' largest battles
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After the defeat at Grunewald, the Teutonic Knights fled to Marienburg, but their influence
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in the region was hurt drastically by the military loss. After the peace treaty of 1411
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Then, the knights were forced to pay reparations as well. Geez way to kick a bunch of knights when they down In 1237 Russian prince Alexander Nevsky submitted to Mongol authority in exchange for maintaining
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relative autonomy in the Novgorod Republic. When a Catholic church embarked on the Northern Crusades to combat Orthodox Christianity and
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pagan practices among Scandinavian and Baltic peoples, Nevsky led a coalition of armies
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against the church's military order, the Teutonic Knights. Hey, remember them from a few minutes ago
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On April 5th, 1242, Nevsky attempted to lure said knights across the frozen water of Lake Pipus
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He had about 5,000 men, while the Crusaders, led by Bishop Hermann of Dorpet, led about
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1,000 men. In what is known today as the Battle of the Ice, Russian and Crusading forces fought for
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about two hours on the surface of the frozen lake. Legend has it that after the prolonged battle, the ice ruptured and swallowed a substantial
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number of the crusading forces, and they were subsequently driven back. Now, Nievska is referred
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to as the patron saint of soldiers in the Russian Orthodox Church. Amen
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What better way to close out a video about unsung medieval battles than with a discussion of the
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time the Holy Roman Empire fought the Lombard League in the city of Lignano in northern Italy
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Holy Roman Emperor Frederick Barbarossa attempted to prevent the anti-imperial Lombard League
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from allying with the papacy in 1174. The Lombard League was a unified group of northern Italian cities sympathetic to Catholic causes
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Barbarossa left Germany with a small group of cavalry and marched through the Alps in
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an attempt to weaken the league and minimize its threat to his authority. The two warring factions met at Legnano on May 29th and were more or less evenly matched
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each sporting a company of roughly 2,500 men. However, the Milanese infantry proved too much
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for Barbarossa's men. He was defeated, and numerous Germans were captured in the conflict
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After this crushing loss, Barbarossa signed the Treaty of Anyagni, officially recognizing
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Alexander III as Pope. The Holy Roman Emperor also made peace with the Lombard League when he
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signed the Treaty of Venice in 1177. Ultimately, all of these battles deserve to be remembered
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even though Mel Gibson didn't make a movie out of any of them. Whether the people involved were fighting for land, honor, or religion
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these bitter clashes had lasting consequences beyond the battlefield. Kind of like the board game Monopoly