this post was submitted on 02 Jan 2025
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Nah, stirrups predate the Mongol conquests significantly, had already spread over the area they'd conquered, and horse archery was practiced well before the invention of the stirrup anyway.
The Mongols swept over the land because Genghis Khan suddenly said "All of these warring nomadic groups who hate each other? I'M in charge, and I say we're all one, united, harmonious people, the people of the Felt Walls, and everyone else can choose to play nice with us or face our wrath."
Suddenly all the nomads who intermittently were a problem even when they were in fragmented groups are one massive super-nomad polity, and no one seemed to stop and think whether it was a great idea to agitate them like they used to be able to until they'd conquered most of China and Persia.
Once that unity faded with the death of the Great Khan and his immediate successors, the Mongols became less invincible.
Stirrups had been invented before the Mongol invasion, but they were not in widespread use in Europe. The Mongols had other advantages, including tactics, that gave them a decisive advantage.
The other reason that the Mongols became less invincible, of course, is that their enemies learned to use their tactics and equipment.
Europe was at the ass-end of the Mongol conquest, not one of the main theatres.
The stirrup was absolutely in use in Europe by the time of the Mongol Invasion, and had been widespread for some 400 years at that point.