Why was Kozelsk called ‘The evil city’?
In the Spring of 1238, the army of Batu Khan approached the walls of Kozelsk. The invaders were rubbing their hands in anticipation of easy prey: in two weeks, they dealt with Torzhok, took Ryazan in six days, Vladimir – in four. What was some city of Kozelsk to them, where a 12-year-old prince Vasily ruled?
The Mongols were unpleasantly surprised when, neither in a week nor in two weeks, would this city submit to them. The residents fought, realizing that there was nowhere to expect help and they themselves – a handful against an army of many thousands, would not last long. But, even when the Mongols managed to break through the wall of the fortress with the help of siege weapons, the desperate Kozelsk people fought them hand-to-hand – and the invaders retreated. Moreover, they managed to sneak into the enemy camp. The desperate warriors destroyed the siege machines and killed 4,000 Mongols. None of the citizens of Kozelsk, however, returned from this battle.
The city itself fell only seven weeks later, when additional Mongol troops approached it. Batu Khan was enraged: his troops were supposed to take Kozelsk without hindrance and move on, but, instead, they were stuck. In retaliation, he ordered the destruction of the town. The invaders killed everyone who remained in the fortress, sparing neither the elderly nor infants. And the young prince, as the chronicles say, literally drowned in blood. Batu Khan forbade the use of the city’s name – for the steadfastness of its inhabitants, he nicknamed Kozelsk “the evil city”.
