Chapter 5: Expanding East
(1081-1086)
Looking out over the class the teacher smiled to everybody sitting around the room. Everybody was there and he had arrived on time today. "It is nice to see that everybody is here today."
"Nice for you to show up to," said Jacob Gutlend.
"Young man I would be quiet if I were you. Today you will be learning about the beginning of the collapse of your ancestors powers in the South of Hungary."
This comment got a greatly confused look from the young man. "What are you talking about? My family isn't Hungarian."
"You might not realize it but Gutlend is a Hungarian name. Well I should say it was derived from a Hungarian name. It used to be Guthkeled, however after the Balog family took their holdings in southern Hungary they became known as the landless Guth or Guthlanders. Then over time it became Gutlend as it is today in your family. Many of you are descendants of one of those famillies of Hungary though you might not know it. One of you I'm certain of but that will be discussed later. Now if you have no further interruptions I will continue the class I have for today.
"In the later months of 1082 Prince Geza, Duke of Nyitra and Slovakia passed away. With his death his son Kalamon became the Duke of Nyitra whom Tamas would now serve though he had a greater respect for Geza's second son Mihaly who took over as the Duke of Slovakia and protector of the western territory that bordered Poland. Duke Kalamon recognizing the possible threat of Tamas would name him Master of the Horse to keep him happy and for the other nobility of Nyitra to recognize the highest official outside of Nitra itself.
"With the coming of the next year King Salamon decided to press Prince Laszlo's claim on Birlad in the east. With the capture of this province they would gain an important position. Who here can tell me what that is?"
The students were rather quite and shockingly it was Jacob who answered. "It would give them a closer access to the sea."
"Correct Jacob. This province put them one step closer to the sea and naval trade. Something that Hungary has been without for quiet some time. Now Tamas and Bishop Andras would both join the army of Hungary which numbered in the four thousands. They would not begin their attack in Birlad however because the majority of Volhynian soldiers were in the north. So they began their attack on Peremyshl to try and draw in the enemies armies. This would fail though. Once Peremyshl fell to their control they would then move on to their capitol of Vladimir Volynsky. This would be a long siege.
"While the siege was going on Tamas spoke with Keled Guthkeled, Count of Bacs, about a possible union between their two houses. Tamas' eldest daughter Edit was coming of age as was Keled's eldest son Vid. He was not a strong boy and with a large dowry Tamas was able to get Keled to agree to the union. Keled believed Vid would die before him so his stronger son would inherit his lands and with the addition of such a large dowry he was fine with offering to have any children born of the union to be of the Balog dynasty." Looking over to Jacob the teacher said, "This was your families undoing I'm afraid. However, your family would not be the namesake of their union, Vid's daughter would go on to be Empress of the Byzantine Empire.
"Anyways by March of 1085 the capitol had fallen as well to the Hungarians and they still had seen no real army. They would come across the Volhynian army on their way to Galich. These two armies would meet in the woods near Jaroslav where the Volhynians hoped to make use of their small numbers to harass the enemy in the woods and then slip away before they were hit with a counter attack. These tactics might have worked on a normal army but not against the power of the Hungarian horse and bow. The Volhynians were also unaware that the Hungarians had sent a portion of their infantry around the woods incase of this very occurance. King Salamon used his soldiers to perfection as he kept the Volhynians in front of him and harassed them with volleys of arrows and kept them from spreading out with his cavalry. He pushed them down the road until they came out of the woods and ran straight into a large body of Hungarian infantry. The Volhynians were smashed between the two forces and not a single soldier of theirs would make it off the field of battle alive. The Hungarians however only lost 171 men.
"This would be a commen tactic of King Salamon I. He understood the power of the Hammer and Anvil tactic if use properly. He would use this in one form or another in every battle he fought in. Another commen thing for King Salamon was to kill every man on the field of battle facing him. He did not believe in quarter and if you took up a sword against him then you would not live. The Hungarians at this time were masters of war and it would not be until 1132 that they would lose a war and even longer before they lose a battle. Jast as Hannibal proved in Rome during the Second Punic Wars, you can win all the battles but still lose the war.
"Following this victory they would go on to capture Galich the matter of months. They were high on their first great victory which made them a bit reckless. Though they took the province quickly they would lose nearly 300 men taking it. This was two hundred more then when they had taken the previous two provinces. At this time they decided to move north, but along the way Bishop Andras says they had recieved word that a Volhynian army numbering near two thousand was trying to reclaim Galich while they were marching north. They were believed to be besieging the castle Kovel at this time which defenses had been rebuilt before the Hungarians began their march towards Turov.
"The Volhynians were caught completely by surprise when the Hungarian army was set up around the entire enemy force one morning. They had no where to go as the enemy was in front of them and their former walls behind. Though the Hungarians and Volhynians were more evenly matched the Hungarians had another resounding victory. This happened mostly because the Hungarians on the walls fired arrow after arrow into the enemies that were not engaged directly in the fight. And with their army pressed against the wall with the Hungarian army in front it was pretty simple shooting for those archers. Whenever the Volhynians were preparing a strong counter attack they would be sprayed with arrows from behind and the attack would falter and fail. By the end of the day all the Volhynians would be dead and only a little more then two hundred of the Hungarians would lose their lives in this battle."
"Were the Hungarians really that fierce in those days? I mean if their armies were so powerful why didn't the Hungarians sweep across all of Eastern Europe and then challenge either the Byzantines or the Holy Roman Empire?" asked the young woman who seemed to know more about the subject then all the rest of the class. She was also the student he believed to be a direct decendant of the Balog family.
"They could have if two things didn't happen. The first was that following this war the Volhynians would fall under the control of the Prince's of Novgorod as would the people of Kiev and then a few other provinces in the east. The Princes of Novgorod would be the strongest power in the east with a vast army but it would be Hungary's soldiers that were the most skilled in the east.
"The other major problem was the constant struggle between the Polish and the Holy Roman Empire. For a time Poland possessed all of Silesia, Bohemia, and Mecklenburg. At other times Poland was down to only a few minor provinces before they regained power north of Hungary. Most of the Hungarian Kings tried to avoid these two as they fought back and forth. I hope that answers your question. Now where did I leave off?"
"The Battle of Kovel," came three people.
"Ah yes. The battle was won and the last of the Volhynian soldiers were dealt with. The Hungarians then returned to their march on Turov and they began the attack on the province. During the siege of their main stronghold on the 12th of March 1086 King Salamon rode out with a party of nobles. While he surveyed the siege an archer had a lucky shot and struck the King dead. With his death Salamon's five year old son became King of Hungary.
"With a child sitting on the throne the Hungarian nobles signed a peace treaty with the Volhynians. They would surrender Birland and the Hungarians returned to their homes. Upon his return Tamas and Ince's daughter Sofia both fell ill. Tamas recovered but his niece would not and would die as the 1086 winter set in" After a moments pause the teacher continued, "Well that is a good stopping point for today. I hope you guys have a great weekend and I'll see you on Monday. The upcoming classes we will see the Croation Conflict, the Empress of the Byzantines born, Domotor will become a Count and a Balog marries into the von Habsburg line."