Hungarian invasions of Europe
The Hungarian invasions of Europe (Hungarian: kalandozások, German: Ungarneinfälle) took place in the 9th and 10th centuries, the period of transition in the history of Europe in the Early Middle Ages, when the territory of the former Carolingian Empire was threatened by invasion from multiple hostile forces, the Magyars (Hungarians) from the east, the Viking expansion from the north, and the Arabs from the south.[1][2]
The Hungarians took possession of the Carpathian Basin (corresponding to the later Kingdom of Hungary) in a pre-planned manner, with a long move-in between 862–895, and launched a number of campaigns both westward into former Francia and southward into the Byzantine Empire. The westward raids were stopped only with the Magyar defeat of the Battle of Lechfeld in 955, which led to the establishment of the Holy Roman Empire in 962, a new political order in Western Europe. The raids into Byzantine territories continued throughout the 10th century, until the eventual Christianisation of the Magyars and the establishment of the Christian Kingdom of Hungary in 1000 or 1001.
Aftermath[edit]
The Hungarians were the last invading people to establish a permanent presence in Central Europe.[74] Paul K. Davis writes, the "Magyar defeat (at the Battle of Lechfeld) ended more than 90 years of their pillaging western Europe and convinced survivors to settle down, creating the basis for the state of Hungary."[76] In the following centuries, the Hungarians adopted western European forms of feudal military organization, including the predominant use of heavily armored cavalry.[74]