Battle of Pressburg
| Battle of Pozsony | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Part of the Hungarian Conquest | |||||||
|
|||||||
| Belligerents | |||||||
| East Francia | Magyar tribes | ||||||
| Commanders and leaders | |||||||
| Louis the Child Luitpold, Margrave of Bavaria † |
Árpád | ||||||
| Strength | |||||||
| c. 100,000 | c. 35,000 | ||||||
| Casualties and losses | |||||||
| Heavy, among other losses: Archbishop Theotmar, 3 bishops and 35 counts | Not significant | ||||||
Battle of Pressburg,[1] or Battle of Bratislava (Slovak) or Battle of Pozsony (Hungarian) refers to a battle fought on July 4, 907, during which the Bavarian army was defeated by the Hungarians.[1]
Contents |
[edit] The battle
Margrave Luitpold of Bavaria built up his army and attempted to score a decisive victory against the Hungarians, who already formed an important state in Europe. The German army supposedly included more than 100,000 soldiers,[citation needed] which is almost certainly an exaggeration typical of the time. Árpád's army the Hungarian was only around 30-35,000.[citation needed] Few medieval armies are known to have exceeded 10,000. The German army, consisting of three battle groups, was crushed and a large part of Luitpold's army was destroyed. The German casualties included the Margrave, Archbishop Theotmar, three bishops and 35 counts.[2]
[edit] Location
The precise location of this battle is not known.[3] The only contemporary source mentioning a location of the battle are the Annales Iuvavenses maximi (Annals of Salzburg); however, the reliability of these annals is questionable, as they survive only in fragments copied in the 12th century.[4] They state that the battle took place in the vicinity of Brezalauspurc, the castle of Duke Brazlavo, located west of Lake Balaton.[5] Some interpretations equal Brezalauspurc with modern-day Bratislava or east of Vienna[6] while others claim that it was Urbs Paludarum - Brazlavo's burg near Lake Balaton in Pannonia.[7]
[edit] Aftermath
After the Battle, the Hungarians reoccupied present-day eastern Austria up to the River Enns, began pillaging the surrounding regions. The Hungarian threat to Germany persisted until 955 when Otto I the Great won a decisive victory at the Battle of Lechfeld, which brought internal stability to German lands. However after the battle (907) Germans could not attack Hungary for 100 years[citation needed].
[edit] Notes and references
- ^ a b "Bavaria". Encyclopædia Britannica. Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.. 2008. http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/56538/Bavaria/648/History#tab=active~checked%2Citems~checked&title=Bavaria%20%3A%3A%20History.%20--%20Britannica%20Online%20Encyclopedia. Retrieved 2008-06-23.
- ^ Eurasian studies yearbook, Volume 78, Volume 78, Eurolingua, 2006, p. 27
- ^ Burghardt, Andrew Frank (1962). Borderland: a historical and geographical study of Burgenland, Austria. University of Wisconsin Press, original from the University of California. pp. 60.
- ^ Timothy Reuter, Germany in the Early Middle Ages 800–1056 (New York: Longman, 1991), 138–139.
- ^ Bowlus, Charles R. (2006). The battle of Lechfeld and its aftermath, August 955: the end of the age of .... pp. 83. http://books.google.com/books?id=0XBtVwukIogC&printsec=frontcover&dq=The+battle+of+Lechfeld+and+its+aftermath&hl=en&ei=O5rlS8fgMZSd-Ab0t5npAw&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=book-preview-link&resnum=1&ved=0CDEQuwUwAA#v=onepage&q=brezalauspurc&f=false.
- ^ Bowlus, Charles R. (2006). The battle of Lechfeld and its aftermath, August 955: the end of the age of migrations in the Latin West. Ashgate Publishing Ltd. pp. 223. ISBN 9780754654704.
- ^ Bowlus, Charles R. (1995). Franks, Moravians, and Magyars: The Struggle for the Middle Danube, 788-907. pp. 258-9.
[edit] External links
