The Mongol Conquest of Baghdad (1258)

'tis but a scratch: fact and fiction about the Middle Ages - A podcast by Richard Abels

Send us a textLast May, I spoke with Professor Nicholas Morton about the Mongols and their impact upon the medieval Near East. This episode digs deeper into that subject, focusing on the Mongol conquest and destruction of Baghdad in February of 1258. The Mongol sack of Baghdad is notorious for its brutality. Estimates of the number killed range from 90,000 to the 200,000 claimed by the leader of the Mongol army, Hulegu Khan. Much like Alaric's sack of Rome in 410, the Mongol...