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Battle of Zawichost

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The Battle of Zawichost of October 14, 1205 was fought between Roman the Great of Halych-Volhynia and Leszek I the White of Lesser Poland. The battle took place on the fields near the town of Zawichost and ended with the defeat and death of Roman the Great after he was ambushed by the Poles.

The border between Lesser Poland and Ruthenia was changing constantly at least since 11th century. As in early Middle Ages the area of what later became Galicia was scarcely populated, it was settled from two general directions: from the east by Ruthenians and by the Poles from the west. Because of that several border regions were changing hands quite frequently. This was true to the lands of Przemyśl, Sanok, Drohiczyn and Włodzimierz Wołyński. The decline of Kievan Ruthenia gave the rulers of Lesser Poland also competing for the area the upper hand. In 1199 an armed campaign led by Leszek the White helped installed Roman the Great on the throne in Włodzimierz. However, the alliance was ended soon afterwards, for unknown reason. In 1205 a large army of the Vladimir-Halych principality led by Roman himself invaded Poland.

Little is known of the battle itself. It is probable that Roman's forces were caught in an ambush in the marshes around Zawichost. There he could not take advantage of the numerical superiority of his forces and the battle ended in his defeat. The defeated Ruthenians could not retreat as they were pushed back to the escarpment of Vistula river, where many of them died - including prince Roman. Although both Leszek I the White and his younger brother Konrad I of Masovia took part in the battle, the commander of the Polish forces was Krystyn, the voivod of Masovia.

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