Bell Work #1: Warriors on Horseback
The Mongols were tough warriors who lived in the saddle and were
considered the most skilled riders in the world.
Read the Italian traveler Marco Polo’s description of Mongol battle tactics.
Then, write a few sentences in response to the questions that follow.
They keep hovering about the enemy, discharging their arrow first from
one side and then from the other. . . . Their horses are so well broken-in
to quick changes of movement, that upon the signal given, they
instantly turn in any direction, and by these rapid maneuvers many
victories have been obtained.
—Marco Polo, A Description of the World
Key Questions:
● What have you heard about the Mongols?
● If you were seeing Mongol horsemen for the first time, how do you think
you would have felt about such warriors?
● How do you think an attacking army of such horsemen would affect their
enemies?
● How do you think the Mongol horsemen learned to shoot arrows on
horseback and trained their horses so well?