Battle of Vas[]
| Battle of Vas | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Part of Second Imperial Civil War | |||||||||
| |||||||||
| Belligerents | |||||||||
 Kingdom of Hungary
|
 Manuel Angelos Imperial Forces
| ||||||||
| Commanders and leaders | |||||||||
| Stephen V, King of Hungary † Crown Prince Ladislau † Duke Béla Macsó † Henry I Koszégy † |
Emperor-in-Exile Manuel Angelos Crown Prince Andreas Angelos General Pierre Valle | ||||||||
| Units involved | |||||||||
| Army of King Stephen II | Imperial Exile Army | ||||||||
| Strength | |||||||||
| 25,000 cavalry and infantry | 40,000 infantry and cavalry 50,000 in reserve | ||||||||
| Casualties and losses | |||||||||
| All killed or wounded | 3,000 killed or wounded | ||||||||
| 8,000 civilians enslaved | |||||||||
| Second Imperial Civil War |
|---|
| Battle of Vas • Siege of Beograd • Invasion of Bosnia • First Kosovo • Ambush of Skopia • Siege of Sofia Battle of Adrianople • Siege of Thessaloniky • Second Battle of Kosovo • Liberation of Beograd • Last Stand of Manuel Angelos • Aftermath |
Background[]
At end of 1269, just two years after First Imperial Civil War, Manuel Angelos, his son and their allies met with Hungarian King Stephen V to negotiate alliance against Romanos Angelos-Premysloides. Most of time, negotiation occurred well and both sides agreed with conditions, but negotiations collapsed when one of Catholic Bishops called Stephen wife, queen Elizabeth the Cuman, "Pagan prostitute...", as this enraged Stephen and his 7-year old son Ladislau, they broke all negotiations and declared war on Manuel Angelos. However, as they were also enemies of Romanos Angelos-Premysloides, they are not in conflict considered as Romanos allies and whole conflict between Hungarians and Angeloides Army happened in just one battle - Battle of Vas in western Hungary.
Battle[]
Battle, contrary to most Medieval conditions and rules, started very ferocious, with Cuman raid on Manuel encapments. However, Manuel and his commanders expected this and left encampement before raid. When Cumans and Hungarians captured empty encampment, Manuel Army attacked them from all sides, encirceled them and annihilate most of army, include many nobles and commanders.
Aftermath[]
Until battle of Vas, Emperor Romanos and Imperial Intelligence underestimated power and determination of Manuel Angelos and his exile army and allies.
For Hungary, battle was historical catastrophe, as it ignited long and bloody civil war between "League", commonwealth of magnates and oligarchs and various branches of Árpad dynasty. For next seven years, Hungary was devastated by war and battles and lost third of population.