Battle of Lențești

Due to increasingly deterring health of Stephen the Great, he entrusted Sima Boldur to command the army of 3,000–5,000 horsemen.^[1][2] The decision to hand military leadership over to Boldur was described by historian Ștefan S. Gorovei [ro] as "a very exceptional case, the only one known as such in the history of medieval Moldavia".^[1]

The fighting took place on at Lențești [ro], near modern-day Chernivtsi.^[1] The Masovian Knights were surrounded and completely annihilated.^[2] According to the Slavo-Moldavian chronicle, this was the course of the battle that resulted in Moldavian victory and decimation of the Masovians: "On Sunday, October 29, they defeated that army, by the mercy of God and with the luck of Prince Stephen. And there was also a great slaughter there that day among the Lesians by the Moldavian weapons and a lot of the Lesian army fell there too, in the place called the village of Lențeștii".^[1]

The battle resulted in Moldavian victory and destruction of the Masovian Knight detachment.^[1][3][4] Polish King John I Albert was forced to continue his retreat, which lasted three days from 26 October after his defeat at the Battle of Cosmin Forest.^[1] However, on 30 October, the Polish army was ambushed by Moldavians, leading to the Battle of Cernăuți and suffering further losses.^[1][4] The Hustyn Chronicle emphasised the immense scale of losses suffered by Poles during their disastrous Moldavian campaign: "in the time of King Albert, the szlachta perished in Poland".^[1]