| Battle of Gorjani (1537) | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Part of theLittle War in Hungary andHundred Years' Croatian–Ottoman War andKatzianer's Campaign | |||||||
 Troop movements during Katzianer's Campaign. | |||||||
| |||||||
| Belligerents | |||||||
| Ottoman Empire | |||||||
| Commanders and leaders | |||||||
Johann Katzianer  Ludwig Lodron † Pavle Bakić † | Semendireli Mehmed Pasha (governor ofBelgrade) | ||||||
| Strength | |||||||
| ~24,000 | 8,000 | ||||||
| Casualties and losses | |||||||
| 20,000 killed[1] | Very little | ||||||
TheBattle of Gorjani (Croatian:Bitka kod Gorjana,German:Schlacht bei Gorjani) orBattle of Đakovo (Hungarian:Diakovári csata) was fought on 9 October 1537 atGorjani, a place in present-daySlavonia (today in easternCroatia), between the towns ofĐakovo andValpovo, as part of theLittle War in Hungary as well as theHundred Years' Croatian–Ottoman War.
After seven years of war and the failedSiege of Vienna in 1529, theTreaty of Konstantiniyye was signed, in whichJohn Zápolya was recognized by the Austrians as King of Hungary as an Ottoman vassal, and the Ottomans recognized Habsburg rule overRoyal Hungary.
This treaty satisfied neither John Zápolya nor Austrian ArchdukeFerdinand, whose armies began to skirmish along the borders. Ferdinand decided to strike a decisive blow in 1537 at John, thereby violating the treaty.
Ferdinand sent an army of 24,000 men (fromAustria,Hungary,Holy Roman Empire,Bohemia,Tyrol, andCroatia) under the command of theCarniolan noblemanJohann Katzianer to takeOsijek.[2]
The siege came to nothing and because of the appearance of the Ottoman cavalry sent by the governor of Belgrade,[2] the army had to withdraw. The Ottoman army reached the Austrians near the swamps ofGorjani, nearĐakovo andValpovo on the Drava river. Katzianer noticed that the Ottoman army was smaller than he had expected, and ordered his fastest units to attack the Ottoman cavalry. The Ottoman cavalry fell back, but only to lure the Austrian cavalry into a trap. The Osijek garrison, as well as the Ottoman cavalry promptly attacked from both sides and the front, killing much of the Austrian cavalry. The Ottomans then launched a counterattack against Katzianer’s now defenseless infantry. The Austrians were severely defeated and Katzianer fled with the remaining cavalry and abandoned his army. The entire force was annihilated.[2]
A reported 20,000 men were killed,[1] including generals Ludwig Lodron andPavle Bakić. Bakić's severed head was taken to Constantinople.
This campaign was a disaster of similar magnitude to that ofMohács and therefore nicknamedthe Austrian Mohacs. The news of the defeat came as a shock inVienna and a newTreaty of Nagyvárad was signed in 1538.
Katzianer was arrested, andNikola Jurišić took his place as the commander of Croatian defence. Some time later, Katzianer escaped the Vienna prison and hid at theZrinski estates, until he lost Zrinski's favor, and was thus executed.[2]
.svg)
_(1868-1918).svg)
