First King Andrew II of Hungary (1205–1235) considered to employ the Teutonic Knights both to defend the remote province of his kingdom and to stimulate the conversion of the pagan Cumans. For this purpose, he granted the knights the Burzenland (Barcaság, Bârsei) region of Transylvania in 1211. The Cumans only became receptive to the idea of conversion after 1223. Suffering a severe defeat in the battle on the river Kalka by the Mongols in that year, they had to take into consideration the threat of a new Mongol invasion thereafter.