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| Battle of Varna | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Part of theCrusade of Varna and theOttoman wars in Europe | |||||||
 The battle of Varna (1879) byJan Matejko The episode of KingWładysław attack on the Ottoman camp | |||||||
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| Belligerents | |||||||
| Ottoman Empire | Varna Crusaders: | ||||||
| Commanders and leaders | |||||||
| Murad II Prince Mehmed[1] Karaca Pasha Karaja Beg †[2] | Julian Cesarini † Stephen III Báthory † Michael Szilágyi Franko Talovac Jan Čapek of Sány Simon Rozgonyi † John de Dominis † Rafael Herczeg | ||||||
| Strength | |||||||
20,000
44,000–55,000 | |||||||
| Casualties and losses | |||||||
| Heavy[15][16][17] | |||||||
  Battle of Varna (Black Sea) Show map of Black Sea | |||||||
TheBattle of Varna took place on 10 November 1444 nearVarna in what is today easternBulgaria. TheOttoman army under SultanMurad II (who did not actually rule the sultanate at the time) defeated theCrusaders commanded by KingWładysław III of Poland andHungary,John Hunyadi (acting as commander of the combined Christian forces) andMircea II of Wallachia. It was the final battle of the unsuccessfulCrusade of Varna, a last-ditch effort to prevent further Ottoman expansion into the Balkans.[20][21]
The Hungarian Kingdom fell into crisis after the death of KingSigismund in 1437. His son-in-law and successor, KingAlbert, ruled for only two years and died in 1439, leaving his widowElizabeth with an unborn child,Ladislaus the Posthumous. The Hungarian noblemen then called the young KingWładysław III of Poland to the throne of Hungary, expecting his aid in defense against the Ottomans. After his Hungarian coronation, he never went back to his homeland again, assuming rule of the Hungarian Kingdom next to the influential noblemanJohn Hunyadi.
After failed expeditions in 1440–1442 againstBelgrade andTransylvania and the defeats of the Turks during Hunyadi's "long campaign" in 1442–1443, the Ottoman sultanMurad II signed aten-year truce with Hungary. After he had made peace with theKaraman Emirate inAnatolia in August 1444, he resigned the throne to his twelve-year-old sonMehmed II.
Cesarini insisted that the Hungarian King Władysław III should break the treaty, arguing that it was not valid due to the fact that it had been made with infidels.[22] Hungary co-operated withVenice andPope Eugene IV to organize a newcrusader army led by Hunyadi and Władysław III. On receipt of this news,Çandarlı Halil Pasha recalled Murad II against the Christian Coalition, even though Mehmed II did not accept this and wanted to fight himself.[citation needed] As a result, Murad II commanded theOttoman army.
The mixedPapal army was composed mainly of Hungarian, Polish, Bohemian (whose combined armies numbered 16,000) andWallachian (4,000) forces,[7] with smaller detachments ofpapal troops,Teutonic Knights,Bosnians,Croats,Bulgarians,Lithuanians, andRuthenians.[23] Troops fromCroatia andBosnia were led by Croatian noblemanFranko Talovac.[24]
Papal,Venetian and Burgundian ships underAlvise Loredan had blockaded theDardanelles as the Hungarian army was to advance on Varna, while a second flotilla comprising six ships (two Burgundian, two Ragusan and two Byzantine) blockaded the Bosphorus. Both failed, and the main Ottoman force from Asia, including the sultan, crossed the Bosphorus on 18 October 1444.[25] The Hungarian advance was rapid, Ottoman fortresses were bypassed, while local Bulgarians fromVidin,Oryahovo, andNicopolis joined the army (Fruzhin, son ofIvan Shishman, also participated in the campaign with his own guard). On 10 October near Nicopolis, some 7,000[25] Wallachian cavalrymen underMircea II, one ofVlad Dracul's sons, also joined.
Armenian refugees in the Kingdom of Hungary also took part in the wars of their new country against theOttomans as early as the battle of Varna in 1444, when some Armenians were seen amongst the Christian forces.[26]
Late on November 9, a largeOttoman army of around 40,000 or 60,000 men approached Varna from the west. At a supreme military council called by Hunyadi during the night, thepapal legate, cardinalJulian Cesarini, insisted on a quick withdrawal. However, the Christians were caught between theBlack Sea,Lake Varna, the steep wooded slopes of theFranga Plateau (356 m high), and the enemy. Cesarini then proposed a defense using theWagenburg of the Hussites until the arrival of the Christian fleet. The Hungarian magnates and the Croatian and Czech commanders backed him, but the young (20-year-old) Władysław and Hunyadi rejected the defensive tactics. Hunyadi declared: "To escape is impossible, to surrender is unthinkable. Let us fight with bravery and honor our arms." Władysław accepted this position and gave him the command. Andreas del Palatio states that Hunyadi commanded the "Wallachian army" indicating a largeRomanian component in Hunyadi's personal army.[27]
In the morning of 10 November, Hunyadi deployed the army of some 20,000crusaders as an arc between Lake Varna and the Franga plateau; the line was about 3.5 km long. Twobanners with a total of 3,500 men from the king's Polish and Hungarian bodyguards, Hungarian royal mercenaries, and banners of Hungarian nobles held the center. The Wallachian cavalry was left in reserve behind the center.
The right flank that lined up the hill towards the village ofKamenar numbered 6,500 men in 5 banners.Dalmatian John de Dominis, Bishop ofVaradin with his personal banner led the force; Cesarini commanded a banner of German mercenaries and a Bosnian one. TheBishop of EgerSimon Rozgonyi led his own banner, and the military governor ofSlavonia, ban Franko Talovac, commanded one Croatian banner.
The left flank, a total of 5,000 men in 5 banners, was led byMichael Szilágyi, Hunyadi's brother in law, and was made up of Hunyadi'sTransylvanians, Bulgarians, German mercenaries and banners of Hungarianmagnates. Behind the Hungarians, closer to the Black Sea and the lake, was the Wagenburg, defended by 300 or 600 Czech andRuthenian mercenaries under hetman Ceyka, along with Poles, Lithuanians and Wallachians. Every wagon was crewed with 7 to 10 soldiers and the Wagenburg was equipped withbombards.
The Ottoman center included theJanissaries and levies fromRumelia deployed around twoThracian burial mounds. Murad observed and directed the battle from one of them. The Janissaries dug in behind ditches and two palisades. The right wing consisted ofKapikulus andSipahis fromRumelia, and the left wing was made up byAkıncıs, Sipahis fromAnatolia, and other forces. Janissary archers and Akıncı light cavalry were deployed on the Franga plateau.
The light Ottoman cavalry assaulted the Croats ofban Franco Talotsi.[28] Christians from the left riposted with bombards andfirearms and stopped the attack. Christian soldiers chased the Ottomans in a disorderly pursuit. TheAnatolian cavalry ambushed them from the flank. The Christian right wing attempted to flee to the small fortress of Galata on the other side ofVarna Bay, but most of them were slain in the marshland around Varna Lake and the River Devnya, where Cesarini also met his end. Onlyban Talotsi's troops managed to withdraw behind the Wagenburg.
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The other Ottoman flank assaulted the Hungarians and Bulgarians of Michael Szilagyi. Their push was stopped and turned back; then Sipahis attacked again. Hunyadi decided to help and advised Władysław to wait until he returned; then advanced with two cavalry companies. The young king, ignoring Hunyadi's advice, rushed 500 of his Polish knights against the Ottoman center. They attempted to overrun the Janissary infantry and take Murad prisoner, and almost succeeded, but in front of Murad's tent Władysław's horse either fell into a trap or was stabbed, and according to Turkish account the king was supposedly beheaded by mercenary Kodja Hazar; there is also another Turkish source that says the King was taken prisoner and executed later.[29] Władysław's supposed death at the hands of Hazar was not witnessed by any of his Polish or Hungarian men, and Ottomans did not present his body, leaving uncertainty about his ultimate fate and unconfirmed rumors about his survival; he nevertheless did not return to any of his kingdoms and was assumed to have fallen in battle.[30][31] The remaining coalition cavalry were demoralized and defeated by the Ottomans.
On his return, Hunyadi tried frantically to salvage the king's body, but all he could accomplish was to organize the retreat of the remains of his army; it suffered thousands of casualties in the chaos, and was virtually annihilated. Neither the head nor body of the king were ever found. TheminnesingerMichael Beheim wrote a song based on the story of Hans Mergest, who spent 16 years in Ottoman captivity after the battle.
Hunyadi reached the Danube but was captured byVlad Dracul in Wallachia and imprisoned as insurance in case of Ottoman retaliation or for a high ransom. He was released in exchange for a large amount of money when Hungarian nobles loyal to Hunyadi began to threaten Vlad Dracul with a campaign against him. Another version of the story is that he was mistakenly captured by Wallachian border guards, who didn't recognize him, and released by Vlad Dracul once they met face to face.[22] After the death of Władysław III, Hunyadi became one of the most important and powerful members of the Hungarian nobility, becoming the Governor of Hungary on 5 June 1446. He was later made a Duke by the Pope in 1447.[22]
Hungarian nobles found it hard to believe that both their king and Cesarini had died, leading to spies being sent south of the Danube, but no information was found other than what was already known.[22]
The presumed death of Władysław III left Hungary in the hands of the four-year-oldLadislaus Posthumous of Bohemia and Hungary. He was succeeded in Poland byCasimir IV Jagiellon after a three-year interregnum.[32]
Murad's casualties at Varna were so heavy, it was not until three days later that he realized he was victorious.[33] Nevertheless, the Ottoman victory in Varna, followed by the Ottoman victory in theSecond Battle of Kosovo in 1448, deterred the European states from sending any substantial military assistance to theByzantines during the Ottomansiege of Constantinople in 1453. Hunyadi signed a three-year truce with the Ottoman central government in 1451.
Only theEuropean victory at Belgrade would stop the Ottomans from conquering large parts of Europe. Hungary would be safe for another 70 years after this victory until the Hungarian army was crushed by the Ottomans at theBattle of Mohács in 1526, which would lead to the end of Hungary as an independent united kingdom for almost 400 years.[22]
In the aftermath, the Ottomans had removed a significant opposition to their expansion into central and eastern Europe; subsequent battles forced a large number of Europeans to become Ottoman subjects.
The fallen Polish king was named Ladislaus of Varna (Władysław III Warneńczyk) in memory of the battle.
The Battle of Varna is commemorated on theTomb of the Unknown Soldier, Warsaw, with the inscription "WARNA 10 XI 1444".
TheRise of the Ottomans bookmark of thegrand strategy gameEuropa Universalis IV is intentionally set one day after the battle.[34]
The Hungarian book series aboutJohn Hunyadi was adapted into a televisionminiseries,Rise of the Raven, released in 2025. The series also depicts the Battle of Varna, dramatizing the key events and strategies involved in the conflict.[35]
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