About the alleged battle between Casimir III the Great and Lithuanians near Sochaczew in May 1350
Abstract
Among the war events that happened during Casimir III the Great’s reign historians usually mention the battle that he fought against Lithuanians on 20th May 1350 at Żuków near Sochaczew, in which battle the King defeated the enemy army. Their findings are based on the information from only one source known as Spominki sochaczewskie (The Sochaczew reminiscences). Its reliability is very low, and the details contained in it concerning the battle were probably adopted from a description of an earlier raid carried out by Lithuanians into the Łęczyca district (1294), in which they defeated the Polish army near Sochaczew. The information coming from other sources describing the Polish-Lithuanian war of 1350 does not confirm the data contained in Spominki sochaczewskie, and sometimes is contrary to it. The analysis of it shows that the image of this battle that has been accepted in historiography up till now has to be changed, and the thesis saying that there was a battle of Sochaczew (Żuków), as well as one about the very presence of Lithuanians in Mazovia and in the Łęczyca district in May 1350 has to be rejected. Hence also the thesis formulated by historians that the strengthening of Casimir III the Great’s relations with Mazovia princes that happened at that time resulted from that battle has to be negated.
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