In the year 899, an invading Magyar army ravaged the northern
Italian countryside between Verona and Aquileia taking much plunder and
prisoners. King Berengar I of Italy assembled and army to meet the invaders prompting
them to hastily withdraw from the Adda River to regroup north of the Brenta. Once
there, the Magyars began a series of negotiations promising to return plunder
and prisoners but this was rebuffed by King Berengar. Whether the negotiations
were indeed meant or merely designed as a ploy to gain time is not known as on
the morning of the 24th of September, the Magyars crossed the Brenta
and caught the Italian Lombard army off their guard. The battle ended in a
disaster for Berengar I and opened the door for more Magyar incursions resulting
in the burning of Feltre, Vercelli, Modena and the monastery at Nonantola, the
attack on Venice however was without success. Why the Magyar invaded Italy
leaves some historians to speculate they may have been invited by King Arnulf
of Carinthia as part of his plan to undermine Italian affairs, but none no with
any certainty.
The
Battlefield.
The exact location of the battle site which took place
on 24 September is not precisely known. Our only reference of the battle is
given by Luidprand of Cremona as having taken place along the River Brenta
north of Padua. Tracing the course of the Brenta River from its headwater at
Trentino it passes 170 km of arable plain to empty into the Adriatic Sea. Along
its route are many possible locations for a battle site. The battle of Brenta was
predominately a cavalry action and therefore the selection of a battle site
would most likely to have taken place with a minimum of bad and rough going
terrain.
For our purposes, the battlefield should certainly have
two plough, a wood and possibly a small hamlet. After many test games, we opted
to have the river present but placed this near the Magyar board edge. Its
presence would not hamper the deployment of troops, but would serve as danger
to fleeing troops. By the date of 24 September crops will have been harvested, however
rainfall could still turn plough into rough ground on a die cast of ‘1’.
The Armies.
The
Magyar
The Magyar host should follow army list Book III/30b
giving them eleven mounted units with an option to replace a light horse with
foot skirmishers (Ps) for the twelfth element.
The
Italian Lombard
According to one modern author (Frediani) Berengar
commands a heterogeneous army. We interpreted this as an Italian Lombard force with
two allied contingents, both of which are taken from the same Italian Lombard
list. These are represented as 1 x knight and 1 x foot element and the total
number of knights must not exceed the original list for the Italian Lombard. The
allied contingents may not make a group move with the Royal troops which
simulate the dissention among the nobles which occurred on the day of battle (Luidprand).
Setup.
The Italian Lombard
To suggest the element of surprise by the Magyar, the
deployment area for the Italian Lombard is slightly reduced. The Italian Lombard
cavalry deploy 4BW from the centre line and the Lombard infantry are placed
within 1BW of the camp with two of the seven foot elements deploying inside the
camp. This represents the rapid
deployment of cavalry to cover the slower moving columns of Lombard infantry.
The Magyar
The Magyar forces now deploy 6BW from the Lombard cavalry,
essentially placing them 1BW closer to the centre line.
Recommended
reading:
La Storia del Mundo in 1001 battaglie, Andrea
Frediani.
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