An Alternative Explanation for the ‘Second Mongol Invasion of Hungary, 1285’: Moving Away from the Domination of Noqai Jack Wilson (The Jackmeister) 2025, Annual of Medieval Studies at CEU

https://www.academia.edu/144543534/An_Alternative_Explanation_for_the_Second_Mongol_Invasion_of_Hungary_1285_Moving_Away_from_the_Domination_of_Noqai?rhid=41970117287&swp=rr-rw-wc-171687231&nav_from=9808edbc-09ef-4006-97aa-89006ae9e517 The first Mongol invasion of Europe and the destructive campaigns across Hungary and Poland in 1241–1242 are thoroughly documented events. While searching for the causes of the withdrawal of Mongol armies in spring 1242 received considerable attention in the scholarship, that was not the end of Mongol contacts with Europe, or even of their attacks on Hungary. Mongol armies returned to the Kingdom of Hungary some forty years later in 1285, and in 1259/60, 1287, and 1293 attacked the Polish duchies. Typically, the scholarship presents these campaigns with the understanding that they were conceived of, organised and led by one man: Noqai (d.1299/1300), a Mongol prince who ruled territory in what is now Romania and Bulgaria. However, as with much of Noqai’s career, I believe this has been overemphasised in the scholarship, and that in the primary sources Noqai, despite his seniority, was not the initiator of the campaign. Here I will offer a reevaluation of Noqai’s role in this operation, and contribute to the ongoing reassessment of the second Mongol attack on Hungary in 1285