Warmatrix

Hungarians pursue Bulgarians, from Byzantine history

The Magyars were one of three peoples that attacked Medieval Europe, the others being the Vikings and the muslims. They raided far and wide, but after several defeats settled down and established the kingdom of Hungary.
Originally the Magyars were one of many nomadic tribes that lived on the central Asian steppes. In the early Middle Ages they started to move westward, pulled by the lure of rich lands and pushed by other nomadic tribes. During the 9th century CE they started attacking the Slavs in eastern Europe, reaching Austria in 881 CE. In 892 CE they invaded Moravia and two years later Pannonia. When the Byzantines allied with Bulgars and Pechenegs the Magyars were forced further westward. They crossed the Carpathians in earnest and started to conquer the Carpathian basin, where they established the principality of Hungary in 896 CE. The young principality was contested and the Hungarians had to fight for several years to keep it. The conquest is generally considered to have been completed in in 907 CE, with the Battle of Pressburg.
Geographically the Magyars had made the transition from nomadic steppe tribes to European state, but in most other aspects they had not yet done so. They practiced a mix of nomadic herding and sedentary agriculture. Profits from the normal economy were supplemented by money obtained from raids. The mobility of their horsemen allowed to attack far and wide. They struck against Byzantium, Italy, Germany, but also reached the Atlantic coast in Francia and Iberia. Like all steppe nomads, in battle they mainly practiced horse archery. Tactically, they used their mobility to make swift attacks, feigned retreats and ambushes, defeating many armies.
The raids continued on and off for about 150 years, though resistance gradually stiffened. In 955 the Germans under Otto I scored a decisive victory, establishing the Holy Roman Empire. The Magyars continued to raid other territories for a while, but at the Battle of Arcadiopolis in 970 the Byzantines inflicted the final defeat.
Raiding no longer feasible, Hungary became a christian kingdom in 1000 CE with the coronation of Stephen I, who redistributed land, laid the basis for a legal system and generally made Hungary a stable state. Like other European states, Hungarians made heavily armored knights the core of their army, though they retained a strong light cavalry force for centuries. The Hungarian kingdom served as a buffer between Europe and other nomadic tribes from the east. It suffered greatly from the latter when the mightiest of all, the Mongols, came once again to the west.