The Battle of Brenta was fought between the cavalry of the Kingdom of Italy under King Berengar I, and the Hungarians hired by the East Francian king Arnulf of Carinthia, at an unidentified location in northern Italian Peninsula along the river Brenta on 24 September 899. It was one of the earliest battles of the Hungarian invasions of Europe. The result was a crushing defeat for Berengar I, allowing the Magyars (Hungarians) to continue west and sack large areas of Italy. The Hungarian invaders burned many cities, including Feltre, Vercelli, Modena, and monasteries like the monastery in Nonantola.
Arnulf of Carinthia died in December 899. As a result, the Hungarians, whom he had hired against the Italian king, left the kingdom the following year with all their plunder, but not before concluding peace with Berengar, who gave them many hostages and gifts. On their way home, the Hungarians attempted an improvised amphibious assault of Venice across the Adriatic Sea, a unique achievement for an exclusively land army in pre-modern times, succeeding in sacking some outlying portions of Venice, only to be repulsed with significant casualties by Venetian ships.
In some historians' opinion the returning army had a role also in the conquest of Pannonia, as part of the Hungarian conquest of the Carpathian Basin from the Bavarians in late 900.
Sources Many contemporary sources mention this battle, including the Chronicon of Regino of Prüm, the Annales Fuldenses, the Chronicon Sagornini of John the Deacon, Catalogus abbatum nonantulorum, etc. The most important source is Antapodosis, seu rerum per Europam gestarum, written by Liutprand of Cremona, which gives the most detailed description of the battle and the events which led to it.The Complete Works of Luidprand of Cremona. Transl by Paolo Squatriti. The Catholic University of America Press, Washington D.C., 2007
Background
At the end of the 9th century the Carolingian Empire of Charlemagne had been divided into the kingdoms of West Francia, East Francia, and Italy, led by Carolingian kings who often fought for supremacy. Arnulf of Carinthia, the son of the East Francian king Carloman, who became German king in 887, wanted to recreate the Carolingian Empire and so undertook an Italian campaign, claiming the title King of Italy in 894. In 896 he was crowned as Holy Roman Emperor in Rome by the pope. His most important ally in Italy was Berengar of Friuli, who was himself a great-grandson of Charlemagne. After 898, however, Berengar began to consider himself more worthy for the title of emperor, believing himself to be a truer Carolingian than Arnulf, since the latter was an illegitimate son of Carloman.
Berengar had become king of Italy in 887, but soon lost control of most of his lands to Guy III of Spoleto, who proclaimed himself king of Italy and emperor. Berengar was saved by the intervention of Arnulf of Carinthia in 894; they together defeated Guy of Spoleto, who died shortly after. However, after Arnulf was crowned King of Italy and Emperor, he named his illegitimate son Ratold sub-king of Italy. Ratold and Berengar agreed to divide Italy between themselves, but soon after they started to fight for supremacy. When Ratold died unexpectedly, Berengar remained as sole rule, and started to aspire to the title of emperor. Aware of this, Arnulf, very ill, could not go personally to campaign in Italy, but concluded an alliance with the leaders of the Hungarians, who had in 895-896 occupied the Eastern parts of the Carpathian Basin, convincing them to send an army to attack Berengar. Arnulf was accused by his enemies of having concluded the alliance with the Hungarians by cutting a dog and a wolf in two, in a pagan way. This was how these nomadic peoples made alliances, with the parties swearing to keep the alliance and cursing themselves to die like the animals they had cut in half if they broke their oath.Bóna István 2000 p. 30-31 This shows that Arnulf was aware of the Hungarian threat to the eastern provinces of his realm, especially the March of Pannonia. So the alliance seems to have had two purposes: to punish Berengar, and to divert the Hungarians from invading PannoniaKristó Gyula: Levedi törzsszövetségétől Szent István Államáig; Magvető Könyvkiadó, Budapest, 1980, p. 207 so at least for a while he could be assured that they would not attack him. He may have hoped that these two dangerous neighbors would weaken each other.
Prelude Hungarian armies had entered Italy before. Military intelligence was one of the most important features of nomadic warfare.Göckenjan, Hansgerd: Felderítők és kémek. Tanulmány a nomád hadviselés stratégiájáról és taktikájáról (Scouts and spies. A study about the strategy and tactics of the nomadic warfare). In: Nomád népvándorlások, magyar honfoglalás; Balassi Kiadó, Budapest, 2001, p. 57-63 (about the Hungarian intelligence: p. 61-63) Starting a war without knowing the enemy's power, number of soldiers, will to fight, etc., was unimaginable in the nomadic societies. This is why in late October 898 they sent a lightly armored, quick moving small unit on reconnaissance, crossing Pannonia on their way to Northern ItalyBóna István 2000 p. 31 before arriving in Friuli. They camped three days with their tents near the river Brenta, sending their scouts in small groups to reconnoiter the land, its wealth, the number and the fighting spirit of the enemy troops, the routes of attack and retreat, the places which could be chosen as battlefields, where the most spoils were to be found, and the cities and the defensive works.Göckenjan, Hansgerd. 2001, p. 63 It is certain that the place of the future battle was chosen during this minor incursion. The exact size of the reconnaissance force is not known, but according to Marco Polo, in the Mongolian Empire such reconnaissance units were composed of 200 riders, implying that the Hungarian force comprised about 100 to 200 riders.Göckenjan, Hansgerd. 2001, p. 60 After three days the small groups they sent in every direction, returned, analyzed the information they gained, then returned home.
As Liutprand of Cremona mentions, after returning home, the Hungarians used the winter to prepare equipment and train their youth.The Complete Works of Luidprand of Cremona, p. 80. In 899, a Hungarian army entered Italy. Historians do not agree about the route they took. Gyula Kristó argues that they bypassed Pannonia and went westwards, following the courses of the rivers Sava and Drava and entering Italy near Aquileia, on the road named after them, Strata Hungarorum, due to the fact that they used it so often during the next decades and centuries.Kristó Gyula: Levedi törzsszövetségétől Szent István Államáig; Magvető Könyvkiadó, Budapest, 1980, p. 208 According to István Bóna, the Hungarian army, with the permission of Arnulf, crossed Pannonia, then headed towards Italy on the ancient road Via Gemina, which linked the ancient cities Celeia, Ljubljana and Aquileia, arrived in Italy. Historians also differ about the time of the year in which the Hungarian army reached Italy. According to Kristó, basing on the account of Liutprand, they arrived in February–March.Kristó Gyula 1980, p. 208 Bóna believes, according to the account of Catalogus abbatum nonantulorum that they arrived in August 899.
On entering Italy, the Hungarians passed the strong walls of Aquileia without attacking it, then scattered in smaller groups, attacking the surroundings of Treviso, Vicenza, Verona, Brescia, Bergamo, Milan, Pavia, destroying Feltre, with one group reaching the Great St Bernard Pass. Usually the Hungarian nomadic warriors did not attack castles and big cities surrounded by walls, because they were not skilled in sieges and had no siege machinery, so they plundered and burned monasteries, gathering spoils along the way.
As Liutprand of Cremona mentions, hearing of the appearance of the Hungarians in his kingdom, Berengar I was very surprised that this army from a nation he had never heard of had appeared so suddenly. He sent envoys and letters into every corner of his country ordering his subjects to send their troops to him to fight the Hungarians.The Complete Works of Luidprand of Cremona, p. 80-81. "Therefore, he ordered to come together as one all the Italians, the Tuscans, the Volscians, the Camerinans, the Spoletans, some in writing, some through messengers, and an army three times bigger than the Hungarians' was formed." After all his troops had gathered, his army was about three times the size of the Hungarians'. According to Chronicon Sagornini of John the Deacon, the Italian army had 15,000 men,Chronicon Sagornini of John the Deacon. In Györffy György: A magyarok elődeiről és a honfoglalásról; Osiris Kiadó, Budapest, 2002 p. 205 so we can infer that the Hungarians numbered about 5,000. This number could be exaggerated, as medieval chroniclers often did with the size of armies, but there is no reason not to accept the claim that the Italians were three times more numerous than the Hungarians, as contemporary chroniclers generally exaggerated the size of enemy armies relative to theirs. Convinced of his superiority, Berengar allegedly caroused with some of his friends in a town instead of attacking the Hungarian army immediately.The Complete Works of Luidprand of Cremona, p. 81. "And when king Berengar saw so many troops around him, puffed up by the spirit of pride, and attributing the [coming] triumph over his enemies more to his numbers than to God, he gave vent to licence, staying alone with some companions in a certain small town." This gave time to the Hungarian troops, scattered to plunder every corner of the Italian kingdom, to retreat towards a gathering place, one not precisely specified, on the bank of the river Brenta, which was probably chosen from the beginning to be the place of the battle.Tarján Tamás, 899. szeptember 24. A kalandozó magyarok győzelme Berengár fölött, Rubicon Seeing this, King Berengar thought that they were frightened by the number of his troops and started to pursue them, thinking he had already won. His cavalry even managed to surprise a Hungarian group, forcing it to cross the River Adda in haste, causing the drowning of many of them.The Complete Works of Luidprand of Cremona, p. 81 But generally the retreat was a success, as the Hungarians' light armor and weapons allowed their cavalry to move more quickly than the more heavily equipped Carolingian Italian cavalry. (Magyar commoners, who usually carried out the pillaging raids, wore only leather armor; only elites had lamellar armour, and their weapons were always composite bows; their melee weapons were sabres, and rarely battle axes or maces. U. Kőhalmi Katalin: A steppék nomádja lóháton, fegyverben; Akadémiai Kiadó, Budapest, 1972, p. 184-195) The Hungarians retreated along the old Roman Via Postumia.