Stephen Turnbull, Mongol Warrior versus European Knight (Osprey, 2023)
‘Europe’s fate is in the balance’ feels like a modern state of affairs with massed tanks on the borders and warplanes clouding the skies, but in the 1240s it was the Mongol hordes that threatened a developing medieval Europe, and only the knights of Eastern Europe stood in their way. In this book, part of Osprey’s Combat series, Stephen Turnbull surveys the armies facing off and the battles they fought in this pivotal campaign.
Turnbull begins with a brief introduction to the war that eastern Europe should have anticipated but tragically did not. The mysterious Mongols of the Far East turned west in 1237 breaking across Rus before pouring into Hungary and the eastern European principalities in 1241. However, Turnbull challenges the common belief that the Mongols were an unstoppable force and only their retirement from Europe saved the day. The knights, he argues, were also not the clumsy oafs we might think they were.
An assessment of the two sides follows. Turnbull considers status, recruitment, motivation, command, control, organisation, weapons, dress, and equipment, highlighting the differences and similarities. Nowhere was the difference more apparent than in tactics, with the European knights’ close order charge set against the fluid Mongol tactics of feigned retreat and envelopment, though Turnbull argues they were better in close combat than previously thought. By the 13th Century, Mongols had also become more adept at siege warfare, as Kyiv found out in December 1240.
Turnbull turns to the Battle of Liegnitz, fought on 9 April 1241, which was a significant Mongol victory. This battle featured a Mongol smokescreen that debilitated the Polish cavalry. Also in 1241, the Mongols defeated the hubristic Hungarians at Muhi. After narrating those two battles, Turnbull moves on to the ensuing sieges in 1242 at Estergom and Székesfehérvár. At Estergom, the knights held out in the citadel, which could not be breached. Then, at Székesfehérvár, the Mongols faced the Knights of St John, who held out seemingly quite easily. The Mongols, however, destroyed many smaller settlements. Then they left. No one is quite sure why, but Hungary was devastated in their wake. In his analysis, Turnbull highlights Hungary’s rebuilding programme while noting that the Mongols were not the invincible force they claimed to be as seen in the subsequent attacks on Hungary that met with little success.
Osprey books can sometimes be a wee bit dry but not this one. Turnbull writes an engaging and insightful narrative mixed with thought provoking arguments, particularly about the Mongols, a subject he knows well. He is helped by his subject matter with this jarring clash of military cultures and the massive stakes involved, and his text is illuminated by Osprey’s customary excellent artwork. For me, the best Osprey books make you want to read more, and this one certainly fits that bill.
