Following the hard-fought but decisive Mongol victory at the Battle of Mohi, Batu Khan pillaged the lands of the Kingdom of Hungary, with particular focus on soft targets such as small villages and towns.

It was the last city to be looted and destroyed by Batu Khan before he sent a reconnaissance party against the Holy Roman Empire and later withdrew all of the Mongol forces from central Europe back to Russia.

Following the Mongol conquest of the Kievan Rus states, the Cumans fled from their former lands and appealed to King Béla IV of Hungary for refuge, which he accepted on the condition they provide him military service.

Béla was unable to secure military support from any other European states, bar Moravia, Bohemia, and the Polish duchies, which the Mongols dealt with separately.

Rogerius states that when the Hungarians and foreigners in the city realized it was going to fall, they torched their houses along with huge amounts of dyed fabrics and any other valuable commodities.

While the rest of the city was sacked, the citadel held, with the garrison commanded by the Aragonese knight Simon (also spelled "Simeone"), an ispán of Spanish origin.

Any valuable plunder he could have taken in exchange for his significant losses was either destroyed or sent to the citadel, which held all the city's remaining wealth in the "high upper castle."

[10] Attempts by other Mongol forces to assault other Hungarian stone fortifications met with similarly dismal results, despite their success in pillaging the rest of the country before their withdrawal.

[11] While small in scope, the siege of Esztergom proved an immensely influential event for King Béla IV, who interpreted the engagement as a ringing endorsement of stone fortifications, crossbowmen, and a defensive, scorched earth strategy in the face of Mongol invasions.