The History of the World Podcast, written and presented by Chris Hasler. Volume 4, The Medieval World.

Episode 72, The Battle of Legnitsa. Ignitsa. Oh, you know. This episode's battle is the Battle of Legnitza.

It's sometimes referred to by its German name the Battle of Lignitz.

Legniza is a city in modern day Poland and in the west of the country. Its location is about 200 miles south of the Baltic Sea and on the

wider map of Europe it's between the Elba and the Vistula rivers, both of which drain

into that same Baltic Sea.

The river that actually flows through the middle of this region of Europe is called

the Oder River which also empties into the Baltic Sea.

This area of Europe would have likely been settled by Germanic tribes since before the age of

Jesus Christ and was too far away from the Roman Empire's northern frontiers

to be affected by their northward expansion.

We can suggest that the Germanic peoples who were most likely to be living in this area of Europe were the Vandals.

The Vandals were eventually displaced by the Huns in the 5th century where they crossed the Rhine River into Gaul, leaving

the area firmly within Hunic territory.

Hunic domination of Central Europe was not long lasting and they lost their grip

being driven back east and it was likely the Lombards who migrated southwards to occupy the lands vacated by the Vandals

when they left the area.

The Lombards were also a Germanic tribe who took the opportunity to migrate southwards to establish

something more resendlement of a state in the Italian Peninsula.

The next tribes to migrate to the area were actually Slavic and they would have come

from the east to occupy the area since somewhat abandoned by Germanic tribes.

Among those Slavic people who emerged in this area by the 8th century were the Moravians and the Bohemians. So this area has since represented a meeting of

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