Opinions expressed by Forbes Contributors are their own. They were also masters at cavalry invasions and siege warfare, which threatened many of the principalities the Mongols hoped to capture. Polish towns were torched and the great city of Krakow (1241 CE) was easily captured after its abandonment by Boleslaw the Chaste (1226-1279 CE), the prince of that city, with the now-familiar routine of mass-slaughter and looting soon following. 1260 Both Ariq Boke and Kublai, grandsons of Genghis Khan, declared Great Khans. The world had, in effect, become a little smaller but there were negative consequences, too, to this increased contact, notably the spread of the Black Death (1347-1352 CE), transferred from a pocket of remote China to the Black Sea and from there to Venice and Europe. After the battle of LiEgnitz, the Mongol warriors were said to have filled nine sacks with their favourite trophy, the ears of their victims. Cartwright, Mark. The new khan was faced with two major problems at the outset of his reign: first, the imperial treasury was empty and riches were badly needed to keep the Mongol army loyal, and second, the Mongols had defeated many armies and deposed just as many rulers but they had very little in the way of a state apparatus, bureaucracy or government which would allow them to effectively rule these conquered territories. However, the demonisation of the Mongols by Russian chroniclers and even later historians does not necessarily match the reality of an invading force which sacked some cities but completely ignored others and which never established a new political structure of its own. The city was given a reprieve when, in 1241 CE, the Mongol commanders received news that a large Polish army was gathering under the command of Henry the Pious, the Duke of Silesia (r. 1238-1241 CE). Westerners in the form of ambassadors, Papal emissaries, missionaries, and travellers like Marco Polo (1254-1324 CE) all saw for themselves the world of East Asia and brought back an equal mix of useful ideas and tall tales. Ancient History Encyclopedia Limited is a non-profit company registered in the United Kingdom. His son, Ogodei Khan (1229-1241) completed the conquest of northern China then sent his forces West to attack Russia, leading to the capture of Kiev in 1240. At the same time as Poland was suffering, Hungary also found itself a Mongol target. Their stocky but nimble horses were a weapon in themselves and capable of surviving harsh temperatures. Grand Duke Yuri II fled the city, leaving his wife and sons to face the attack. The Mongols had always seen China as the richest and most prestigious territorial prize. Ryazan refused to surrender, and the Mongols sacked it and then stormed through other Russian cities, including Vladimir Suzdal in the north, and Pereyaslav and Chernihiv in the south. The Mongol army rode to meet them on 9 April, promptly employed their tried-and-tested false retreat tactic, then attacked again under a smoke cover provided by burning the reeds thereabouts. The Mongol empire built by Genghis Khan and his descendants extended from China to Russia. At Wahlstatt near Liegnitz (Legnica), this army included Poles, Germans, and Teutonic knights amongst other heavy cavalry. Henry was killed and his head paraded on a spike, and the battle of Liegnitz became a highpoint in the invasion campaign; it was also the most westerly point reached. It took a number of months for the Mongol army to subdue various power centers in Hungary. The horror of Ryazan would be repeated again and again as the Mongols showed no mercy, and the Russian princes, beset by long-standing rivalries, could not work together even in this great emergency. The duke’s army was defeated and he himself was killed at the battle of Sit river. Where the locale offered no resistance, they forced the men into servitude in the Mongol army. I have an MA in Science Journalism from City University London and I'm a member of the Royal Institution. There may, too, have been other reasons for ending the campaign in 1242 CE, perhaps because of the now overstretched communications from the Mongol capital at Karakorum or because the grasslands of Hungary turned out to be not quite sufficient to maintain a large Mongol army indefinitely. Despite the battle of Kalka in 1222 CE, the westerners still had no idea what they were dealing with, as the Novgorodian chronicler famously wrote: "They turned back from the river Dnieper, and we know not whence they came and whither they went." Having gathered his army together, Grand Duke Yuri then returned to try and relieve the city, but it had already fallen on 7 February to the Mongol battering rams and catapults, its cathedral torched. They not only brought ferocious mobility to warfare but they were, thanks to their flexibility, quickly adept at other types of battle, too, like siege warfare and the use of gunpowder missiles and catapults, all very far from traditional nomadic warfare. Some cities, such as Novgorod in the north, were not attacked due to the dense march and forest land surrounding it. "The Mongol Invasion of Europe." With the Mongol invasion of Europe, the world had become a lot more violent and just that bit smaller. While the Mongol armies were fighting in Hungary and Croatia, they also pushed their forces into Austria, Dalmatia, and Moravia. Whether the retreat saved Europe from Islamic conquest, thus preventing the destruction of both Christendom and Western Civilisation, is unknowable. “Coronation of Ögedei” 1229, by Rashid al-Din. Neither the Russians or the major European powers could organise themselves sufficiently to adequately meet the five-pronged attack the Mongols had launched or deal with their swift cavalry, incendiary-firing catapults and terror tactics. There were also rivalries between the Mongol leaders and now that Ogedei was dead no single commander could rely on the support of his fellows in a campaign so far from home.