SOCIETY — 129/262 — Cumans
The Cumans (also known as Kunok in Hungary) were a nomadic people belonging to the larger group of Kipchaks (Polovtsians) from the Middle East, who came to Europe in the 13th century, fleeing from the expanding Mongol Empire in the area of the Black Sea. They settled in Hungary with the permission of King Béla IV, where they later acquired their autonomous region called Cumania. Gradually, they assimilated with the local population: adopting Christianity, marrying Hungarians, and fighting alongside Hungarian kings, including in wars against the Bohemian Přemyslids. They last invaded the Czech lands with Sigismund of Luxembourg, who could not afford better mercenaries than the Cumans. Estimates speak of several thousand warriors. Their army's rampage led to the destruction of places like Silver Skalitz, the birthplace of the main character in our game.
TRIVIA
— Sigismund's recruitment of Cuman soldiers for his military campaigns was unlikely due to “not being able to afford better mercenaries”. Just like other steppe tribes, Cumans – prior to their migration to Hungary – had been a largely nomadic people, relying mostly on raids to fulfil their agricultural needs, and as such were skilled military strategists. Their horses were so enduring and agile that the Rus frequently imported them, and during campaigns, the Cumans would only ride them in light armour, allowing for quick attacks, in which they would wear down their enemies from a distance with long-range weapons. Many of their battles were fought and won with a tactic of feigned retreat, in which they would force their opponents to set after them, only to turn around and attack them anew, once their rows had scattered. In his account of the Battle of Beroia in 1122, the Byzantine government official and historian Niketas Choniates writes about this Cuman tactic, describing how, once they had gained the upper hand, the Cumans would eventually;
“draw their swords, release an appalling roar, and fall upon the Romans [Byzantines] quicker than thought. They would seize and massacre those who fought bravely and those who behaved cowardly alike.”
It would also have been almost impossible for Sigismund not to hire Cuman soldiers in a Hungarian army, as by 1403 Cumans had long assimilated with the people of Hungary. In 1240, King Béla of Hungary offered the Cumans land and refuge in exchange for their military aid against the Mongols, and already 32 years later, Hungary saw the first crowning of a king who was himself half-Cuman. Ladislaus IV, also known as László or Ladislaus the Cuman, was the grandson of King Béla, though leaning more towards the culture of his mother, the Cuman princess Elisabeth, insisting on his own kinship to Attila and being excommunicated by the Pope for his continued paganism.
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