Battle of Lechfeld
King Otto I relieved Augsburg and crushed a great Magyar army on the plain of the Lech; the Hungarian raids into Western Europe came to an end, and Otto’s prestige opened his way to the imperial crown.
- Date
- 10–12 August 955exact date · duration: 2 daysDate in the Julian calendar
- Place
- Lechfeld near Augsburgapproximate locationtoday: Augsburg, Bavaria, Germany · Western and Central Europe
- Participants
- East Francia, Otto I the Great, Magyars (Hungarians)
- Threads
- Early medieval Europe (500–1000)
- Also known as
- Battle of Augsburg; Битва на реке Лех; Битва при Аугсбурге; Second Battle of Lechfeld
In the summer of 955 a Magyar army invaded Bavaria and besieged Augsburg, defended by Bishop Ulrich. Otto I hurried south with eight legions of Bavarians, Swabians, Franconians, Saxons and Bohemians. On 10 August the Magyars struck his rearguard, but Conrad the Red, the former Duke of Lotharingia, drove them off, and the heavy German cavalry then defeated the main Hungarian force in close combat; Conrad was killed. In the following two days swollen rivers and German garrisons at the crossings turned the Magyar retreat into a catastrophe, and their leaders Bulcsú, Lél and Súr were captured and hanged.
According to Widukind of Corvey, the victorious army acclaimed Otto “father of the fatherland and emperor”. The Magyars ceased their western raids and settled down in the Carpathian Basin, where their Christian kingdom was founded in 1000.
Connections
Consequences
- Imperial coronation of Otto I2 February 962 · Western and Central EuropeThe victory over the pagan Magyars made Otto the saviour of Latin Christendom
Related events
- Hungarian conquest of the Carpathian Basinbetween 894 and 895 – 907 · Western and Central EuropeThe end of half a century of Magyar raids from the Carpathian Basin
- Coronation of Stephen I of Hungarybetween 25 December 1000 and 1 January 1001 · Western and Central EuropeWithin half a century the Magyar raiders became a Christian kingdom
Same participants
- Sviatoslav’s invasion of Bulgariabetween 967 and 968 – July 971 · Balkans and Anatoliavia Magyars (Hungarians)
Adjacent events in the thread
- First Althing at Þingvellir930 · Western and Central Europe
Meanwhile in the world
Other regions, within 25 years of this event
Eastern Europe
- Constantine VII describes the Rus’ route to Constantinoplebetween 948 and 952
- Olga’s revenge on the Drevlians945–946
- Drevlian uprising and death of Igor945
- Sviatoslav’s campaign against the Khazars964 – between 968 and 969
- Gnezdovo inscriptionbetween 925 and 960
+ 4 events
Balkans and Anatolia
- Olga’s visit to Constantinople and her baptism9 September – 18 October 957
- Rus’–Byzantine Treaty of 944between 944 and 945
- Igor’s campaigns against Byzantium11 June 941 – 944
- Sviatoslav’s invasion of Bulgariabetween 967 and 968 – July 971
- Siege of Dorostolon23 April 971 – July 971
The same period
Sources
- Wikipedia (English): Battle of Lechfeld
- Wikipedia (Russian): Битва на реке Лех
- Bowlus C. R. The Battle of Lechfeld and its Aftermath, August 955: The End of the Age of Migrations in the Latin West. — Aldershot: Ashgate, 2006.
- Wikidata: Q273069