Battle of Mailberg
| date | May 12, 1082 |
|---|---|
| place | at Mailberg |
| output | Victory of the Bohemians |
| Parties to the conflict | |
|---|---|
| Commander | |
|
|
|
| Troop strength | |
| 8,000 men | 3,500 men |
| losses | |
|
unknown |
unknown |
The Battle of Mailberg took place on May 12, 1082 . Duke Vratislav II invaded Austria with his army, formed from Bavaria , Moravia and Bohemia . During this time it was customary to inflict the greatest possible material damage on the enemy and to plunder the conquered areas. As a result, the main attack was directed at the property of Margrave Leopold II .
At the height of Mailberg he met the army of the Austrian margrave. Both armies met on the plain between Obritz and Mailberg. Leopold was probably supported by the Formbachers and Haderichen , whose lands were also in the conquered areas and who were also related to the Babenbergers . A necrological note also reports on the participation of the vassals and ministers of the St. Florian monastery , who belonged to the diocese of Passau and who have been involved since the reign of Otto III. were exempt from all services and obligations towards the margrave.
Wenzel Hajek von Libotschan , who lived in the 16th century, estimated the numerical strength of the armies on both sides as follows: on the Bohemian side 6,000 Bohemians, 2,000 Regensburg mercenaries. Thomas Pesina von Cechorod estimates in Mars Moravius the strength of Leopold II's army at 3,000 men on foot and 500 on horseback.
According to the historian Cosmas of Prague , Margrave Leopold had his troops organized in a wedge shape, while Vratislav is said to have chosen a parallel line-up: the Moravians were on the left wing, the Bohemians in the middle and the heavily armored Bavarians on the right wing.
The battle was announced by a horn signal. Throwing and javelin throwers began the fight, followed on both sides by swordtails who hit each other. Vratislav had his riders dismounted and continued to fight on foot, presumably because Leopold used peasant fighters. Incidentally, sword fighting on horseback was considered unchivalrous at the time.
The consequences
Duke Vratislav and his allies achieved a complete victory. According to Cosmas, the losses on the Bohemian side were said to have been small, while the Austrians were killed or captured while fleeing. At that time prisoners had to be ransomed for a ransom. Only a very few, among them the margrave, managed to escape. In 1899, numerous human and horse bones were found during construction work in Mailberg, which could be linked to the event.
As a result, the northern regions of Lower Austria were devastated and a famine broke out, which further decimated the population.
The Moravian border was pushed forward to the forest ridge, on the slope of which was Mailberg, with which the Přemyslids quickly regained the area that they had lost under Břetislav I in 1041.
After Leopold II's death, his daughter Gerbirg, also called Gerberga, married Vratislav's second son, Bořivoj II , in Znojmo in 1100. This put an end to the events of Mailberg, so that the consequences of the battle were not lasting.