Battle of Lake Hód
[2] The king's decision caused social, economic and political tension and the settlement of masses of nomadic Cumans in the plains along the river Tisza gave rise to many conflicts between them and the local villagers.
After Stephen's victory in the civil war, significant number of Cumans intended to leave Hungary amid looting and plunder, however, they were important militarily to the royal authority.
[13] According to the king's donation letter to Thomas Talpas in 1288, the Hungarian army crossed the Southern Carpathians in order to bring back the "secretly defected Cumans from the borderlands of the Tartars".
Late 19th-century historiography – Károly Szabó and Gyula Pauler – considered the Cuman's incursion and the Battle of Lake Hód took place in early August 1280, based on a royal charter – contains that a certain castle warrior Denis is granted nobility because of his participation – which later proved to be a forgery.
[17] Historians István Gyárfás and Károly Szabó considered the place of the battle was a settlement [locus] called Hód instead of a lake [lacus].
A year and a half later, in the spring of 1282, the Cumans led by a certain Oldamir (also Oldomerus or Oldamur) invaded the kingdom, but the monarch repelled their attack at the Lake Hód.
[25] Historian Gyula Kristó considered the battle took place in the summer of 1280 (although he mentioned the other theory),[26] while his frequent scientific opponent György Györffy narrated the event under the year 1282.
In a response to the adoption of the Cuman laws, they rebelled against the royal power and devastated the region between the area of rivers Tisza, Maros and Körös (for instance, they stormed Egres Abbey, Hájszentlőrinc Chapter and Sövényvár Castle).
Ladislaus IV gathered his army consisted of nobles from Northeast Hungary and Transylvania, and marched from Várad (today Oradea, Romania) to the area, where he defeated them at the Lake Hód in late October or early November 1280.
[28] Several historians – e.g. Gyula Kristó, András Pálóczi Horváth and Rózsa Zsótér – accepted Blazovich's argument and considered the battle took place in the autumn of 1280.
[29][30][31] Zsótér claimed the battle occurred around 16 or 17 August 1280 or – if the year 1282 is correct – between around September and October 1282 based on the data of King Ladislaus' itinerary, when the monarch resided in Szeged.
[31] In contrast, other historians continued to support Karácsonyi's interpretation and considered 1282 as the year of the clash, for instance, László Solymosi, András Borosy, György Székely and Jenő Szűcs.
[34] Zsoldos provided the following reconstruction after separating the events for 1280 and 1282, respectively: Ladislaus gathered an army around October possibly near Várad and chased the outgoing Cumans as far as Szalánkemén in the autumn of 1280 (he issued his charter there on 11 November) and also crossed the border at the Carpathians.
[40] Tamás Kádár, who compiled the itinerary of Ladislaus IV, inserted the supposed date of the Battle of Lake Hód sometime between September and October 1282, in accordance with Zsoldos' interpretation.
[...] A most fierce battle was joined between the two armies, but by divine clemency a sudden and unexpected shower of rain drove in the faces of the pagans, and the downpour was so heavy that they who had put their hope in bows and arrows became, as in the words of the prophet, as dung for the earth.
[44] According to Attila Zsoldos, the monarch was informed on the Cuman revolt, when held a general assembly near Patak Castle (today ruins near Sátoraljaújhely) in July 1282, after capturing the fort from the forces of the rebellious lord Finta Aba.
Zsoldos claimed the devastation of the region between the rivers Tisza and Maros took place in the 1282 invasion: for instance, they attacked and burnt the monastery at Egres, where a large amount of royal treasury was kept.
[18] In response to the Cuman attack, Ladislaus IV instantly summoned a royal army joined by nobles, knights and castle warriors in Northeast Hungary, mostly from Sáros, Ung and Zólyom counties.
[41][45] Several young noblemen, who subsequently became powerful and important barons of the realm by the turn of the 13th and 14th centuries, had participated in the battle, for instance Roland Borsa – the Illuminated Chronicle refers to him as a "brave warrior", who "hurled himself with his spear upon the Cumans with impetuous courage and to his great renown smote them and struck them down in great numbers" –,[43] Amadeus Aba, Stephen Ákos, Roland Rátót and plausibly Dominic Rátót.
[30] According to Jenő Szűcs, the territory between the rivers Maros and Körös, in addition to Temesköz (Banat) ceased to be Cuman-inhabited areas following the battle.
At the same time, the Cumans appear less and less in contemporary sources as a separate entity, which indicate their complete social, linguistic and cultural assimilation to the Hungarian nation despite their surviving privileged territory called Kunság until the late 19th century.
