Battle on the Morava field ( Czech: bitva na Moravském poli , German: Schlacht bei Dürnkrut und Jedenspeigen, Schlacht auf dem Marchfeld ), also the battle of Sukhoi Krut , the battle of Dürnkrut , the battle of Marffeld - the battle that took place between August 26, 78 army under the leadership of King Przemysl Otakar II and the army of the Holy Roman Empire (in alliance with the Hungarian king Laszlo IV ). It was crucial for the history of Central Europe in subsequent centuries.
| Battle of the Moravian Field | |||
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| date | August 26, 1278 | ||
| A place | Dürnkrut or Joedenscheigen , Lower Austria - modern Austria | ||
| Total | Victory of the Habsburg Alliance and the Kingdom of Hungary | ||
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The battle took place on the Moravian field in Lower Austria , northeast of Vienna . Since the battlefield is a smooth landscape without a significant forest presence and due to the fact that about 55 thousand people took part in the battle (including 20 thousand Hungarians and Polovtsy), the battle of Sukhoi Krut is one of the largest battles The Middle Ages and a great example of the use of the linear order of heavy cavalry and equestrian shooters. The Hungarian army included heavy cavalry and Polovtsian horse archers .
Background
The deposition of Emperor Frederick II by Pope Innocent IV in 1245 caused a serious crisis in the Holy Roman Empire ; for the next several decades, several people were chosen as Rex Romanorum , but not one of them was the real ruler of the empire. In conditions of such an interregnum, Przemysl Otakar, the son of Vaclav I , in 1250 captures Austria and Styria , which are without the ruler of the duchy, and proclaims himself the duke in a year.
In 1253, after the death of his father, Przemysl Otakar became king of Bohemia. This reinforcement provokes a response from the King of Hungary, Bela IV, who tried to capture Styria with Austria, but was repelled in 1260 at the Battle of Kressenbrunn. In 1268, Przemysl Otakar II signed an agreement on the inheritance of the Duchy of Carinthia with the last Corutan prince Ulrik III of Spanheim , including Krajina and Istria . From the height of such power, he claims to be the imperial crown, but other princes, suspicious of such rapid growth, were elected emperor Rudolph I of Habsburg in September 1273.
Battle
On August 26, the troops of Przemysl Otakar II near Dunkurth met the combined imperial and Hungarian forces. Those arrived earlier and managed to study the topography of the upcoming battle field. From early morning, the left wing of the advancing Bohemians was drawn into fights with rapidly jumping Polovtsy, which heavily armed knights could not drive away. However, when the main forces of the armies entered the battle, the numerical superiority of the Otakar cavalry began to provide an advantage.
After three hours of battle in the hot sun, the Czech knights began to run out of breath from physical fatigue. At noon, Rudolph brought into battle a fresh cavalry reserve hidden behind the nearby hills. The attack was carried out on the right flank of Przemysl Otakar. Such ambushes at that time were considered dishonest, and the cavalry commander Ulrich von Kapellen apologized to his own warriors for this. The attack was successful, the order of the Bohemians was violated and some of them ran. Przemysl Otakar II correctly assessed the situation and led his own reserve into a counterattack, going into the back of the von Kapellen squad. This maneuver was misunderstood by the other Czech troops as a retreat. The subsequent collapse led to the complete victory of Rudolph with the Allies. The camp of Przemysl Otakar II was captured, and he himself was found killed on the battlefield.
Consequences
Rudolph secured his rights to Austria and Styria, the heart and foundation of the Habsburg house . In Bohemia, Rudolph made an agreement with the nobility and the queen-widow Kunigunda that the Czech throne was inherited by the son of Przemysl Otakar II Vaclav II. In parallel, he reconciled with the Brandenburg Margraves, passing them under the protection of the Czech heir. King Laszlo IV was engaged in the Christianization of his Polovtsian warriors until he was killed in 1290.