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Battle of Chmielnik

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Battle of Chmielnik
Part of the Mongol invasion of Poland
Date18 March 1241[1][2]
Location
near Chmielnik,
between Kraków and Kielce, Poland
Result Mongol victory
Belligerents
Mongol Empire Kingdom of Poland
Commanders and leaders
Baidar Włodzimierz of Cracow  †
Pakosław of Sandomierz  †
Klemens of Brzeźnica  †
Strength
Unknown Unknown
Casualties and losses
Unknown Heavy

The Battle of Chmielnik was fought on 18 March 1241 near Chmielnik, between Kraków and Kielce, during the first Mongol invasion of Poland. A Mongol force under Baidar defeated a combined Polish army drawn from the Kraków and Sandomierz provinces, commanded by Voivode Włodzimierz of Cracow and other nobles. The destruction of the Polish army left the road to Kraków open. Later in March 1241 the Mongols captured and burned the largely abandoned city.[3][4][5]

Background

[edit]
Further information: First Mongol invasion of Poland

As part of the wider Mongol invasion of Europe, Mongol forces began operating against the Polish duchies in late 1240 and opened their main campaign in early 1241. A detachment advancing from Volodymyr-Volhynskyi crossed the frozen Vistula and on 13 February 1241 defeated Polish forces near Tursko and captured and burned Sandomierz.[1][6][7]

Around this time the Mongol army split: the main column under Baidar advanced through Lesser Poland towards Kraków (Cracow), then the principal city and de facto capital of the fragmented Kingdom of Poland, while detachments under Kadan and Orda Khan operated further north in central Poland.[6][8]

Battle

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Details of the battle were recorded in the chronicles of Jan Długosz.[9] His account also contains the earliest surviving written reference to Chmielnik. At the time of the battle in 1241 the settlement was still a village; it would receive town privileges only in the mid-16th century.[9][10]

Polish forces were commanded by Włodzimierz, voivode (palatine) of Kraków, and Pakosław, voivode of Sandomierz. They represented most of the knightly levies from the Kraków (Seniorate) Province and the Sandomierz Province of fragmented Poland.[9][11] The Mongol force opposing them was commanded by Baidar.[9] The duke of Kraków, Bolesław V the Chaste, withdrew from the area before the engagement and did not take part in the battle; contemporary and later narratives present his departure as damaging the army’s morale and prompting further withdrawals, leaving Włodzimierz and Pakosław with weakened forces.[12]

In the initial phase of the battle the Polish army reportedly gained the upper hand, managing to push back the Mongols. Baidar then employed the classic Mongol tactic of a feigned retreat, drawing the pursuing Polish cavalry out of formation and away from its original positions. When the Polish troops advanced in pursuit, they were struck by Mongol reinforcements held in reserve and were enveloped and routed.[11]

Polish casualties were very heavy. Norman Davies wrote that “at Chmielnik, the assembled nobility of Małopolska perished to a man”.[13] Włodzimierz and Pakosław were killed, as were the castellan of Kraków, Klemens of Brzeźnica, and the castellan of Sandomierz, Jakub Raciborowicz.[9][14]

Aftermath

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Having withdrawn from the fighting, Duke Bolesław V the Chaste escaped south to Moravia.[1][2] The destruction of the Kraków–Sandomierz army at Chmielnik left Lesser Poland virtually undefended. News of the defeat caused panic in the surrounding lands; many inhabitants abandoned Kraków and nearby villages, seeking refuge in Silesia, Bohemia or in forests and marshes.[11][12][15]

When the Mongol forces reached Kraków later in March 1241 they encountered little organised resistance. Those residents who had remained took shelter on Wawel Hill or in fortified churches, while the main part of the town was looted and then set on fire.[11][12] Some modern accounts date the burning of the city to Palm Sunday, 24 March 1241, while others place it a few days later at the end of March.[16][17] After devastating Kraków and parts of Lesser Poland, the Mongol army continued west towards Silesia, where on 9 April 1241 it defeated the forces of Henry II the Pious at the Battle of Legnica.[1][2][18]

In the modern town of Chmielnik there is a monument commemorating the battle.[9]

References

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  1. ^ a b c d Grousset, René (1970). The Empire of the Steppes: A History of Central Asia. Rutgers University Press. p. 266. ISBN 978-0-8135-1304-1. Retrieved 18 March 2021.
  2. ^ a b c Saunders, J. J. (29 March 2001). The History of the Mongol Conquests. University of Pennsylvania Press. p. 85. ISBN 978-0-8122-1766-7. Retrieved 18 March 2021.
  3. ^ "Bitwa pod Chmielnikiem". chmielnik.com (in Polish). Retrieved 8 November 2025.
  4. ^ "Najazd tatarski na Kraków". patriotycznykrakow.pl (in Polish). Retrieved 8 November 2025.
  5. ^ "Battle of Chmielnik, March 1241". HistoryOfWar.org. Retrieved 8 November 2025.
  6. ^ a b Bojko, Krzysztof (2020). "Polska a imperium mongolskie oraz Złota Orda w latach 1241–1502". Perspektywy Kultury (in Polish). 31 (4): 169–205. Retrieved 8 November 2025.
  7. ^ Ramirez, Joe. "Genghis Khan and Maneuver Warfare". Retrieved 8 November 2025.
  8. ^ "Bitwa pod Legnicą". Zintegrowana Platforma Edukacyjna (in Polish). Ministerstwo Edukacji i Nauki. Retrieved 8 November 2025.
  9. ^ a b c d e f (in Polish) Historia Chmielnika (History of Chmielnik) from the town's official pages
  10. ^ (in Polish) Miasto I Gmina Chmielnik W Publikacjach. Bibliografia. Archived October 5, 2011, at the Wayback Machine
  11. ^ a b c d Bitwa pod Leginicą Chwała Oręża Polskiego Nr 3. Rzeczpospolita and Mówią Wieki. Primary author Rafał Jaworski. 12 August 2006, p. 9 (in Polish)
  12. ^ a b c Richard A. Gabriel, Subotai the Valiant, Greenwood Publishing Group, 2004, ISBN 0275975827, Google Print, p. 112
  13. ^ Norman Davies, God's Playground, Columbia University Press, 2005, ISBN 0231128177, Google Print, p. 71
  14. ^ Chwalczewski, Stanisław (1829). Kronika polska ... starosty kobryńskiego etc. (Polnische Chronik, geschrieben im J. 1549.) (in Polish). Gałęczkowski.
  15. ^ "Najazdy tatarskie na Małopolskę w XIII i XIV wieku". portal.strategie.net.pl (in Polish). 4 May 2011. Retrieved 8 November 2025.
  16. ^ "Battle of Legnica (1241)". Encyclopaedia Britannica. Retrieved 8 November 2025.
  17. ^ "Straszni Mongołowie złupili Kraków". Dziennik Polski (in Polish). 2 April 2013. Retrieved 8 November 2025.
  18. ^ "A war of the worlds at Legnica". polishhistory.pl. 2024. Retrieved 8 November 2025.