Battle of Lechfeld
The Battle of Lechfeld, also known as the Second Battle of Lechfeld, was a series of military engagements over the course of three days from 10–12 August 955 in which the Kingdom of Germany, led by King Otto I the Great, fought the Hungarian army led by Harka Bulcsú and the chieftains Lél and Súr. The traditional view is that with the German victory, further invasions by the Magyars into Latin Europe ended, although it is more accurate to say that the battle resulted in a stalemate between the Hungarians and Germans over the next several decades.
The Hungarians invaded the Duchy of Bavaria in late June or early July 955 with 8,000–10,000 horse archers, infantry, and siege engines, intending to draw the main German army, under Otto I, into battle in the open field and destroy it. The Hungarians laid siege to Augsburg on the river Lech. Otto I advanced to relieve the city with an army of 8,000 heavy cavalry and infantry, divided into eight legions.
As Otto I approached Augsburg on 10 August, a Hungarian surprise attack destroyed the Duchy of Bohemia rearguard legion. The Hungarian force stopped to plunder the German camp and Conrad, Duke of Lorraine led a counter-attack with heavy cavalry, dispersing the Hungarians. Otto I then brought his army into battle against the main Hungarian army that barred his way to Augsburg. The German heavy cavalry defeated the lightly armed and armored Hungarians in close combat, but the latter retreated in good order. Otto I did not pursue, returning to Augsburg for the night and sending out messengers to order all local German forces to hold the river crossings in Eastern Bavaria and so prevent the Hungarians from returning to their homeland. On 11 and 12 August, the Hungarian defeat was transformed into disaster, as heavy rainfall and flooding slowed the retreating Hungarians and allowed German troops to hunt them down and kill them all. The Hungarian leaders were captured, taken to Augsburg, and hanged.
The German victory preserved the Kingdom of Germany and ended nomad incursions into Western Europe. Otto I was proclaimed emperor and father of the fatherland by his army after the victory, and went on to be crowned Holy Roman Emperor in 962 largely on the basis of his strengthened position after the Battle of Lechfeld.
The Second Battle of Lechfeld gave rise to the well-known account of the Horn of Lehel: Lehel, the Hungarian chieftain, slew Conrad, prince of the Germans with his horn.
Historical sources
The most important source is a monograph commissioned by Ulrich of Augsburg, which describes the series of actions from the German point of view. Another source is the chronicler Widukind of Corvey, who provides some important details.Background
In 947, Berthold, Duke of Bavaria, a competent military leader, died and was succeeded by Henry I, brother of King Otto I. Aventinus stated that the Hungarians invaded Bavaria for this reason, but they weren't able to penetrate deep into East Francia. In the following years, the Germans started to threaten Transdanubia, with border clashes erupting along the Enns River. According to Hrotsvitha, Henry brought back much booty and prisoners from the Avars due to these. In 952, Otto put Italy under the protection of the Bavarian army, and westward invasions by the Magyars stopped temporarily. However, 953 saw rebellion in Francia under the leadership of the king's son Liudolf, Duke of Swabia, and son-in-law Conrad, Duke of Lorraine, mainly because of the occupation of Italy. In 954, these men called in the Hungarians, who then plundered the Rhineland and devastated France. The warriors returned from this successful adventure safely through Burgundy and Northern Italy.The year 955 started badly for King Otto. Despite his best efforts, the archbishop of Salzburg joined the enemy. Harold was blinded and exiled to Tyrol, while his wealth was taken by Henry's vassals, but this upset many more Bavarian counts, who took up arms against the king. In spite of the growing of the resistance, Otto gained a shining victory at Mühldorf, proceeding to lay siege to Regensburg. Much of the city had already burned down, however its defenders long endured bombardment by Otto's siege engines before surrendering due to hunger, as no relief arrived. The internal situation hardly improved after Otto's defeat of the rebellion, as the nephews of Prince Hermann of Saxony frequently raided the duchy, allying with Polabian principalities. In early July Otto received Hungarian legates, who claimed to come in peace, but who the Germans suspected were actually assessing the outcome of the rebellion. After a few days, he let them go with some small gifts.
Soon, couriers from Otto I's brother Henry I, Duke of Bavaria, arrived to inform Otto I in Magdeburg of a Hungarian invasion. According to Prince-Bishop Ulrich, "they devastated the land of Noricum from the Danube to the Black Forest, which goes to the mountainous regions". According to Widukind, "he started the march against the enemy like he wouldn't get tired in the previous war, only taking some of the Saxons by him, as the Slavic war threatened them". Saxony was distant from Augsburg and its environs, and considerable time would have elapsed waiting for Saxons' arrival. Ulm was chosen as the place to gather the anti-Hungarian forces. The battle took place six weeks after the first report of an invasion, and historian Hans Delbrück asserts that they could not have possibly made the march in time.
The King ordered his troops to concentrate on the Danube, in the vicinity of Neuburg and Ingolstadt. He did this to march on the Hungarian line of communications and catch them in their rear while they were raiding northeast of Augsburg. It was also a central point of concentration for all the contingents that were assembling. Strategically, therefore, this was the best location for Otto I to concentrate his forces before making the final descent upon the Hungarians.
There were other troops that had an influence on the course of the battle. On previous occasions, in 932 and 954 for example, there had been Hungarian incursions that had invaded the German lands to the south of the Danube, and then retreated back to their native country via Lotharingia, to the West Frankish Kingdom and finally, through Italy. That is to say, a wide sweeping U-turn that initially started westward, then progressed to the south, and then finally to the east back to their homeland; and thus escaping retribution in German territory. The King was aware of the escape of these Hungarians on the above-mentioned occasions, and was determined to trap them. He therefore ordered his brother, Archbishop Bruno, to keep the Lotharingian forces in Lotharingia. With a powerful force of knights pressing them from the west, and an equally strong force of knights chasing them from the east, the Hungarians would be unable to escape.
Located south of Augsburg, the Lechfeld is the flood plain that lies along the river Lech. The battle appears as the second Battle of Augsburg in Hungarian historiography. The first Battle of Lechfeld happened in the same area forty-five years earlier.
Prelude
Gerhard writes that the Hungarian forces advanced across the Lech to the river Iller and ravaged the lands in between. They then withdrew from the Iller and placed Augsburg, a border city of Swabia, under siege. Augsburg had been heavily damaged during a rebellion against Otto I in 954. The city was defended by Bishop Ulrich. He ordered his contingent of soldiers not to fight the Hungarians in the open, but to reinforce the main south gate of the fortress instead. He motivated them with the 23rd Psalm. While this defense was going on, the King was raising an army to march south. Simon of Kéza mentions that the Hungarians harassed Augsburg with attacks all day and night. That would seem to indicate that before the real siege they wished to take the city by sudden onslaughts.After it had become apparent that this tactic wouldn't work, a major action took place on 8 August at the eastern gate, into which the Magyars tried to storm in large numbers, suspecting that it would be more weakly defended because of its limited accessibility. Ulrich led his professional milites out into the field to engage the enemy in close combat. Ulrich writes of himself that he was unarmed, wearing only a stola while mounted on a warhorse, and all the arrows and stones bypassed him. According to him, the Hungarians could have entered the gates at any time; however, they lost their commander during the attack, and withdrew to their camp, taking the body. At first the defenders thought that the Hungarians were victorious and resuming the siege, only to realize that they were going back to the other side of the Lech.
During the night, the defenders took positions in all the towers of the city, and the Hungarians completely surrounded it with siege engines and infantry, who were driven forward by the whips of the Hungarian leaders. Next day, when the fights had scarcely started, they were informed by the traitor Berchtold of Risinesburg that Otto I had deployed his troops nearby. The siege was suspended, and the Hungarian leaders withdrew to hold a war council. As the Hungarians departed, Count Dietpald of Dillingen used the opportunity to lead soldiers to Otto I's camp during the night.
Opposing forces
According to Widukind, Otto I had at his disposal eight legiones that included three from Bavaria, two from Swabia, one from Franconia under Duke Conrad and one well-trained legion from Bohemia, under a prince of an unknown name, son of Boleslaus I. The eighth division, commanded by Otto I, and slightly larger than the others, included Saxons, Thuringians, and the King's personal guard, the legio regia. The King's contingent consisted of hand-picked troops. A late Roman legion had 1,000 men, so Otto I's army may have numbered 7,000–9,000 troops. Augsburg was defended by professional milites.The Hungarians, also known as the Magyars, had a very different structure and fighting style than the Ottonian military. The Magyars preferred fighting at a distance with mounted archers over fighting in close combat with melee weapons, furthermore, the Magyars wore much lighter armor than Otto I's men. While there is some debate as to the number of mounted archers included in the Magyar forces, historians believe there was anywhere between 8,000–10,000 mounted archers. While this fighting style was effective, especially during raids against small villages and small military forces, historians have pointed out some weaknesses. One such weakness is the difficulty that came with raising horses that were suited for battle. Not only do horses require a large area to graze, but training them to be comfortable in battle takes a significant amount of time. This weakness was the biggest factor that limited the number of mounted archers available for the Hungarians. Another weakness is the fact that the bows used by the Magyars proved ineffective during inclement weather like rain. Without the ability to play to their strength, the Magyars would be forced to rely on melee combat, which was another weakness for them.