‘Thuggery and genius’: Europe’s violent brush with the Mongol empire of Genghis Khan

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A new exhibition explores how the Continent came much closer to becoming a colony of the biggest empire in history than many realise ...

The end of Europe loomed in the small Polish town of Legnica, three hours southeast of Berlin. It was April 9th, 1241 and a harried, hodgepodge army – Poles, Moravians and even some Knights Templar – lined up outside the town to await the feared invaders.

They had heard whispered tales of the Mongols: their fearless horsemanship and ruthless archery skills. Rumours had reached them that these godless barbarians even ate human flesh. How many of the nervous Poles wondered if they might well be the invaders’ next meal?

When at last the Mongols appeared, all 20,000 of them, they lived up to their fearsome reputation. Hails of arrows rained down on the Europeans, other whistling arrows flew to communicate along the battle-lines, while gunpowder smokescreens confused the European enemy.

The Mongols pretended to retreat before launching a final, lethal push to trounce the European army led by Henry II, Duke of Silesia. He soon became Henry the Headless, as the Mongols paraded around the region for weeks with his skull on a spear.

By now the Mongols were used to victory: in the previous two decades, the so-called “Mongol storm” had raged ever-westward, swallowing up the Khwarazmian empire in modern-day Afghanistan, as well as Persia, Korea, and even defeating the Jin dynasty to take Manchuria in northern China in 1234.

Vast swathes of today’s Russia and Ukraine fell to the Mongols too as they made their way westwards. Now 7,000km from home, they had pushed across the known world at the then dizzying pace of 100km per day. Watching and waiting, many fearful peasants in 13-century Europe saw the Mongols as a biblical force of evil: Gog and Magog and the end of days.

After beheading Henry in Poland, rather than continuing west, the invaders executed part two of their European plan and charged south to rejoin other hordes to defeat a Hungarian army in another battle at Mohi, 180km northeast of Budapest.

Though the Hungarians had more men in the field, the Mongols sliced through the…

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