Today 14 March is the anniversary of the battle of Mogyoród in 1074, fought for the control of the Kingdom of Hungary. King Solomon was defeated by his cousins Géza and Ladislaus and Géza became the new King of Hungary!
King Solomon became King of Hungary in 1063 after he entered with a large army from the Holy Roman Empire with the support of German troops to reclaim the throne of his father Andrew I by dethroning his uncle Béla who briefly ruled from 1060 to 1063 after defeating Andrew.
However as the German troops left Béla's sons and Solomon's cousins Géza, Ladislaus and Lampert arrived from Poland with Polish forces. Conflict was somehow prevented but tensions remained between King Solomon and his cousins.
The Kingdom of Hungary was in a difficult situation and needed cooperation, so between 1064 and 1071 Solomon and his cousins put aside their differences and fought together against Bohemians, marauding nomadic tribes and attacked the Byzantine fortress in Syrmia!
However during this campaign against the Byzantines relations soured again and Solomon and Géza began preparing for the inevitable conflict. Solomon was assisted by his brother-in-law King of the Romans Henry IV who sent his German reinforcements from the Holy Roman Empire.
Meanwhile Geza's brother Ladislaus arrived with Moravian Duke Otto I of Olomouc who brought Czech reinforcements. They would fight together against Solomon at Mogyoród on 14 March 1074, decisively defeating him! Géza took possession of almost entire Hungary while Solomon fled.
It's interesting that during this battle of Mogyoród Géza and Ladislaus supposedly changed their banners so that Solomon's army would attack Ladislaus elite Czech troops thinking he was attacking Géza! Ladislaus then launched a devastating counter-attack, breaking Solomon's army!
Chronicles report how after the battle Ladislaus, who would later become King of Hungary himself and also a Catholic saint, "always a man of exceeding piety," cried over "many thousands fallen, even though those who were killed had been his enemies"!
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This is the Mercedes-Benz W125 Rekordwagen made in 1937.
I was always fascinated with this car.
It's crazy how in 1938 this car recorded a speed of 432.7 km/h (268.9 mph). This remained the fastest ever officially timed speed on a public road until broken in 2017.
The record was set by German driver Rudolf Caracciola who drove this car on the Reichs-Autobahn A5 between Frankfurt and Darmstadt on 28 January 1938.
This reflected the obsession with breaking records and showcasing industrial prowess of nations at the time.
The onlookers who observed the spectacle of a car racing at astonishing 432.7 km/h past them also noted the brutal boom of the side spewing exhaust stacks as the silver car hurtled past.
It must have been an incredible spectacle to witness!
Hussite war wagons proved so effective that within 100 years this tactic spread from Bohemia all the way to India!
In 1526 Mughal Emperor Babur employed war wagons to win the First Battle of Panipat.
A short thread on how this style of warfare spread over the world. 🧵
The tactic of "wagenburg" (wagon fort) was adopted in the Hussite Wars (1419-1434) by the Hussites, a religious movement which fought armies of crusader knights from all over Europe.
The use of such war wagons enabled them to withstand the cavalry charges of armored knights.
The purpose of these war wagons was not just to present an obstacle for the cavalry but also to give handgunners protection to fire their weapons at the enemy.
The main weakness of handguns at the time was the long reloading time, during which handgunners were vulnerable.
There was a scene in the movie Lord of the Rings where they light signal fires to warn of an attack.
But this is how the defense system of Habsburg lands actually worked against the Ottoman threat!
A network of bonfires was in place to warn people of incoming Ottoman raids. 🧵
In the Lord of the Rings these are called the Beacon-hills of Gondor.
They are permanently manned stations across the hills where great fireplaces are kept in the state of readiness.
In this manner, people all over the kingdom can be informed of an attack quickly.
People might think this is something that belongs to the fictional world, but in 15-16th centuries the Habsburgs actually established a similar system like this.
The mountainous regions of Carniola and Styria offered many good strategic positions!
In 1927 Benito Mussolini ordered to drain the Lake Nemi south of Rome to recover the wrecks of the Nemi ships, two large pleasure barges built under the reign of the Roman emperor Caligula.
Unfortunately the remains of the ships were destroyed by fire in 1944 during WWII.
It is speculated that Nemi ships were elaborate floating palaces, with mosaic floors, heating and plumbing, baths, galleries and saloons, as well as a large variety of vines and fruit trees, similar to other Caligula's galleys described by Suetonius!
Lake Nemi is a volcanic lake which was popular by wealthy Romans due to clean air and uncontaminated water and cooler temperatures during the hot summer months.