Battle of Cedynia - The Battle in Modern Literature

The Battle in Modern Literature

The battle was assessed by Rafał Korbal in his 1997 book "Słynne bitwy w historii Polski" (Famous battles in Polish history). Korbal's assessment is as follows:

The sources of information on the actual battle operations are at best scarce. The numbers of the fighting parties are unknown, apart from folk tales of the Ursidae cavalry. However, the military readiness, ability to field soldiers and the rank of opponents indicate that there could not have been more than 4,000 men on each side. Margrave Odo was supported by the Saxon count Siegfried of Walbeck, father of the medieval chronicler Thietmar of Merseburg. The German forces most likely fielded more heavy cavalry, while the Polish side's advantages came from the use of quite mobile infantry, well-suited to fighting in uneven terrain, as well as archers.

The duke of the Polans wanted to avoid a long campaign on his territory and stopped the enemy on his borders. The fight was on one of the fords crossing the Oder river opposite the later town of Oderberg, just north of Frankfurt (Oder). The location had been chosen carefully. The only other available pass was next to a high hill, covered with trees and replete with swamps. Further down the Oder was the settlement of Cidini.

The Polish duke, with a part of his forces (likely to have been most of the horsemen), headed for the river in order to defend the passage while leaving the rest of army under command of his brother Czcibor, in the hills not far from Cedynia. During the initial phase of the battle, Odo broke through Oder and pursued Mieszko, who fled to Cedynia, luring Odo into a trap. While Odo's forces were preparing to assault the town, Czcibor's army attacked them from the hills on their flanks. Soon after, another strike came from the fortifications and the margrave's soldiers were surrounded and getting overrun. The battle turned into a slaughter, Siegfried and Odo escaped.