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| Hungarian–Ottoman Wars | |||||||
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| Part of theOttoman wars in Europe | |||||||
 Clockwise, From top left: TheBattle of Hermannstadt, TheBattle of Varna, TheBattle of Kosovo, TheSiege of Belgrade, TheBattle of Breadfield, TheBattle of Mohács | |||||||
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TheHungarian–Ottoman wars (Hungarian: magyar–török háborúk,Turkish: Macaristan-Osmanlı Savaşları) were a series of battles between theOttoman Empire and the medievalKingdom of Hungary. Following theByzantine Civil War, the Ottomancapture of Gallipoli, and the inconclusiveBattle of Kosovo in 1389, the Ottoman Empire was poised to conquer the entirety of theBalkans. It also sought and expressed desire to expand further north intoCentral Europe, beginning with the Hungarian lands.
Since 1360s Hungary confronted with the Ottoman Empire. The Kingdom of Hungary led several crusades, campaigns and carried out several defence battles and sieges against the Ottomans. Hungary bore the brunt of theOttoman wars in Europe during the 15th century and successfully halted the Ottoman advance. The Ottomans won a significant victory at theBattle of Varna in 1444, but suffered a defeat at the 1456Siege of Belgrade. One notable figure of this period wasVlad the Impaler, who, with limited Hungarian help, resisted Ottoman rule until the Ottomans placed his brother,Radu the Handsome, on the throne ofWallachia. Ottoman success was once again halted at Moldavia due to Hungarian intervention, but the Turks finally succeeded when Moldavia and then Belgrade fell toBayezid II andSuleiman the Magnificent, respectively. In 1526 the Ottomans crushed the Hungarian army at theBattle of Mohács, where KingLouis II of Hungary and more than 20,000 of his soldiers died.[18]
Following this defeat, the eastern region of the Kingdom of Hungary (theEastern Hungarian Kingdom and laterPrincipality of Transylvania) became an Ottomantributary state, constantly engaged incivil war withRoyal Hungary. The war continued with theHabsburgs now asserting primacy in the conflict withSuleiman and his successors. The northern and most of the central parts of Hungary managed to remain free from Ottoman rule, but the Kingdom of Hungary, the most powerful state east of Vienna underMatthias I, was now divided and constantly threatened by Ottoman ambitions in the region.
In the century after the death ofOsman I in 1326, Ottoman rule began to extend over the eastern Mediterranean and the Balkans, slowly at first and later in earnest.Gallipoli was captured in 1354, severing the Byzantine Empire from its continental territories;[19] the important city ofThessaloniki[20] (with a greater population than London at the time) was captured from the Venetians in 1387, and the Turkish victory at theBattle of Kosovo in 1389 effectively marked the end of Serbian power in the region, paving the way for Ottoman expansion into the rest of Europe.[citation needed]
In 1344,Louis I of Hungary, who would rule from 1342–1382 and earn the epithet "the Great", invadedWallachia andMoldavia and established a system of vassalage.[21]
Louis and his 80,000 strong army repelled the SerbianDušan's armies in the duchies ofMačva and principality ofTravunia in 1349. When Emperor Dušan broke intoBosnian territory he was defeated by BosnianStjepan II with the assistance of Louis' troops, and when Dušan made a second attempt he defeated by Louis in 1354, capturing Mačva and Belgrade.[22] The two monarchs signed a peace agreement in 1355.
His latter campaigns in the Balkans were aimed not so much at conquest and subjugation as at drawing the Serbs, Bosnians, Wallachians and Bulgarians into the fold of the Roman Catholic faith and at forming a united front against the Turks. It was relatively easy to subdue the Balkan Orthodox countries by arms, but to convert them was a different matter. Despite Louis' efforts, the peoples of the Balkans remained faithful to the Eastern Orthodox Church and their attitude toward Hungary remained ambiguous. Louis annexedMoldavia in 1352 and established a vassal principality there, before conquering Vidin in 1365. The rulers of Serbia, Walachia, Moldavia, and Bulgaria became his vassals. They regarded powerful Hungary as a potential menace to their national identity. For this reason, Hungary could never regard the Serbs and Wallachians as reliable allies in subsequent wars against the Turks.
In the spring of 1365, Louis headed a campaign against theBulgarianTsardom of Vidin and its rulerIvan Sratsimir. He seized the city ofVidin on 2 May 1365; theregion was under Hungarian rule until 1369.[23]
In 1366 Byzantine EmperorJohn V visited Hungary to beg for help against the Ottoman Turks, who were in increasing conflict with the Balkan vassal states.[24]
TheBattle of Nicopolis (25 September 1396) is thought to be the first military encounter between Hungary and the Ottoman Empire, where a broad coalition force of Christian monarchs and European military commanders including theKnights Hospitaller was comprehensively annihilated by the Ottoman army under the capable command of their 4th Sultan,Bayezid the Thunderbolt .[25]
Despite these successes the Ottomans were dealt a major setback when atAnkara in 1402Tamerlane of theTimurid Empire defeated and captured the Ottoman SultanBayezid the Thunderbolt (so named for the speed of his crushing victories against his Christian opponents, most notably atNicopolis). After a decade of internecine battles,Mehmed I emerged victorious and reestablished the Ottoman Empire and Byzantine Emperor accepted its vassalship and agreed to pay tribute.
By the 1380s Ottomans acquainted firearms as they faced enemies already in possession of firearms like the Byzantines, Venetians and the Hungarians.[26] The earliest type of Turkishhand cannons are called as "Şakaloz", which word came from the Hungarian hand cannon "Szakállas puska" in the 15th century.[27]
Murad II, the successor to Mehmed I, proved to be a worthy successor to his father, who had completed the restoration of their realm following the end of theOttoman interregnum, and proceeded to conquer new territories both in the balkans and anatolia and adding them to the resurgent Ottoman empire . In 1422, no longer professing suzerainty to the Byzantines, helaid siege to Constantinople, which narrowly avoided becoming an Ottoman conquest. However he had managed to capture lands surrounding Constantinople.[citation needed]
With Byzantium no longer a threat, Murad II began his war against his Christian opponents, attacking Macedonia and capturing Thessalonika from the Venetians in 1430. Between 1435 and 1436 the Ottomans made a show of strength in Albania, but the country survived due to intervention from the Kingdom of Hungary, whose borders now neared those of the Ottoman Empire.[citation needed]
In the 1440s and 1450s, the Hungarian military leaderJohn Hunyadi became the key architect of campaigns against the Ottoman Empire. In 1441 he scored a pitched battlevictory at Smederevo overIshak Bey. The following year, he annihilated an Ottoman force invading Transylvania atSibiu.[citation needed]
In the year of 1442, John Hunyadi won four victories against the Ottomans, two of which were decisive.[28] In March 1442, Hunyadi defeated Mezid Bey and the raiding Ottoman army at theBattle of Szeben in the south part of theKingdom of Hungary inTransylvania.[29] In September 1442, Hunyadi defeated a large Ottoman army ofBeylerbeyŞehabeddin, the Provincial Governor ofRumelia. This was the first time that a European army defeated such a large Ottoman force, composed not only of raiders, but of the provincial cavalry led by their ownsanjak beys (governors) and accompanied by the formidablejanissaries.[30]
Following this victory, Wallachia again accepted the suzerainty of the Kingdom of Hungary.[citation needed] With the help of knights from western Europe, Hunyadi succeeded in capturingNis on November 3, 1443, defeating another Turkish army as they crossed the Balkan Mountains and then taking another victory on Christmas Day. Because supplies for the Crusader army were low, Hunyadi concluded a ten-year peace treaty with Murad II, presumably on Hunyadi's terms, for it was the triumphant Hungarian that enteredBuda in February 1444. Ten years was the maximum time permitted by Islamic law for a treaty with an "infidel". The peace was short lived, as CardinalJulian Cesarini incited the Hungarians to break the treaty and attack the Turks once more. However, much of the Crusader armies' strength had been reduced due to the loss (by defection) of Serbia, Albania and the Byzantine Empire.
The Crusader army attacked across the Danube. Murad, upon hearing of the Christian breach of the treaty, is said to have mounted the broken treaty on his standard and said the words, "Christ, if you are God as your followers claim, punish them for their perfidy".[citation needed] The two armies met on November 10, 1444 nearVarna in easternBulgaria. Accounts vary as to how many troops were present but the Crusaders may have been 30,000 strong whilst the Ottoman forces were two to three times larger. Nonetheless, Hunyadi's successful defense wagons held the line untilKing Ladislas led a charge to his death against the Turkish lines. His head was mounted on a spear where all the defeated Crusaders could see it. Few Crusaders survived the battle, although Hunyadi did escape with his life.
The Hungarians recovered their strength after Varna and Hunyadi was able to lead another expedition down the Danube. Turkish counter-attacks saw this "crusade" driven back. After Murad dealt with the Greeks at the Peloponesse and others who had fought him at Varna, he turned his attention to Albania, whose leader, once an Ottoman hostage, was now a popular resistance leader. Hunyadi could not refuse an offer to fight the Turks and in 1448 an army of some 24,000 Hungarians marched south into Serbia. At theSecond Battle of Kosovo Murad scored another victory against the Hungarians. This time, Hunyadi had had enough and was unable to campaign against the Ottoman Sultan. Murad II passed on his powers to his successor,Mehmed II. Thanks to such victories, the Ottoman forces were able tocapture Constantinople in 1453 with only the Italians offering minimal support to the Byzantines.
Meanwhile, the Ottoman issue had again become acute, and, after thefall of Constantinople in 1453,SultanMehmed II was rallying his resources to subjugate Hungary. His immediate objective was Nándorfehérvár (today Belgrade). Nándorfehérvár was a major castle-fortress, and a gatekeeper of south Hungary. The fall of this stronghold would have opened a clear way to the heart of Central Europe. Hunyadi arrived at theSiege of Belgrade at the end of 1455, after settling differences with his domestic enemies. At his own expense, he restocked the supplies and arms of the fortress, leaving a strong garrison there under the command of his brother-in-lawMihály Szilágyi and his own eldest sonHunyadi László. He proceeded to form a relief army, and assembled a fleet of two hundred ships. His main ally was theFranciscanfriar,Giovanni da Capistrano, whose fiery oratory drew a largecrusade made up mostly of peasants. Although relatively ill-armed (most were armed with farm equipment, such asscythes andpitchforks) they flocked to Hunyadi and his small corps of seasonedmercenaries andcavalry.
On July 14, 1456 theflotilla assembled by Hunyadi destroyed the Ottoman fleet. On July 21, Szilágyi's forces in the fortress repulsed a fierce assault by theRumelian army, and Hunyadi pursued the retreating forces into their camp, taking advantage of the Turkish army's confused flight from the city. After fierce but brief fighting, the camp was captured, and Mehmet raised the siege and returned toConstantinople. With his flight began a 70-year period of relative peace on Hungary's southeastern border.
However, plague broke out in Hunyadi's camp three weeks after the lifting of the siege, and he died on August 11. He was buried inside the (Roman Catholic)Cathedral ofAlba Iulia (Gyulafehérvár), next to his younger brother John. Sultan Mehmet II paid him tribute: "Although he was my enemy I feel grief over his death, because the world has never seen such a man."[citation needed]
During the battle,Pope Callixtus III had ordered the bells of every European church to be rung every day at noon, as a call for believers to pray for the defenders of Belgrade. However, in many countries (like England and the Spanish kingdoms), news of the victory arrived before the order, and the ringing of the church bells at noon thus transformed into a commemoration of the victory. The pope never withdrew the order, and many Catholic and older Protestant churches still ring the noon bell to this day.[citation needed]
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Hunyadi's sonMatthias Corvinus was crowned king inBuda in 1458 at the age of 15. In 1471 Matthias renewed theSerbian Despotate in south Hungary underVuk Grgurević for the protection of the borders against the Ottomans. In 1479 an Ottoman army, on its return home from ravaging Transylvania, was annihilated at Szászváros (modernOrăştie, 13 October 1479) in theBattle of Breadfield. The following year Matthias recaptured Jajce, drove the Ottomans from northern Serbia and instituted two new militarybanats, Jajce and Srebernik, from reconquered Bosnian territory. In 1480 an Ottoman fleetseized Otranto in the Kingdom of Naples. At the earnest solicitation of the pope Matthias sent the Hungarian general,Magyar Balázs, to recover the fortress, which surrendered on 10 May 1481. Again in 1488, Matthias tookAncona under his protection for a while, occupying it with a Hungarian garrison.
Mehmed II's post-Constantinople troubles escalated further when theprincipality ofWallachia under CountVlad III Dracul rebelled against the Ottoman Empire and declared the King of Hungary as hissuzerain. The main drive for these actions was Vlad's return to his homeland after being in exile as a hostage of the Ottoman sultan. In 1461, five years after his return, Vlad initiated war with the Turks when he impaled the Turkish ambassadors demanding tribute from him and took the fortress ofGiurgiu. Vlad then began a bloody assault across the Danube to the Black Sea, destroying as many of the ports as he could to prevent Ottoman naval attacks.
Ottoman attempts to subdue Vlad militarily proved a failure, but his cruelty, which had terrorized his enemies, proved to be his undoing. When Mehmed offered the populace the choice of Vlad or his brotherRadu, the populace chose Radu and soon Vlad was again an exile on the run. An attempt to return a few years afterwards ended in his death in battle.[33]
Mehmed's army seems to have spent itself in Wallachia for the campaign against theMoldavians was shorter and yielded poorer results. In 1475 Mehmed ordered an invasion of Moldavia. Again, the Ottomans often took possession of the field but Moldavian hit-and-run tactics proved effective against the Turks. Poor roads further slowed the Ottomans untilStephen the Great was able to concentrate his forces at Vaslui. An Ottoman offensive was held in check and then finally driven from the field on 10 January 1475.
The Ottomans returned in 1476, this time assisted by their allies from Crimea, the Tartars and their newly conquered Vassal of Wallachia. Stephen knew that he did not have the resources to defend his people and evacuated them to the mountains. After a failed attack on the Ottoman vanguard Stephen seemed on the brink of defeat when King Matthias Corvinus of Hungary offered assistance. The Ottomans withdrew when the Hungarians began moving in and fighting did not resume until 1484.
The early reign ofBayezid II included a small civil war against his brother Jem, who escaped to the west. There European leaders entertained ideas of installing a pro-Western sultan while sending a crusade to the Balkans. Consequently, Bayezid did not incite any serious wars with his Christian opponents until his brother's death in 1495. In the meantime Bayezid signed a ten-year peace with Hungary in 1484, although this did not prevent a defeat of an Ottoman army at Villach in 1493. Between 1484 and 1486 Bayezid campaigned annually against Moldavia in an attempt to subdue it and link up with Crimea, his Muslim vassal and ally. Despite two defeats in 1485 and 1486 Moldavia was subjugated. As Bayezid's reign drew to a close he was entangled in a civil war between his sons Ahmed and Selim. Eventually Selim took the throne in 1512 and for the next eight years continued minor conquests in the west, although his main achievement was the conquest of theMamluke Sultanate. It would be Selim's successor, Suleiman who would continue the war against Hungary.
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Suleiman the Magnificent resumed the war against Hungary by attacking the city ofBelgrade, the same settlement that had defied Mehmed II over half a century earlier. Despite strong resistance, the city fell to Suleiman. In 1522 Suleiman took his army to a strategically successfulsiege of Rhodes, allowing the Knights Hospital to evacuate for the fort.
When Suleiman launched an invasion in 1526 the Grand Vizier constructed a great bridge ahead of the Sultan allowing his army to march into Hungary. Despite eighty days of marching and taking five days to cross theDanube River, the Ottomans met no resistance from the Hungarians. The original plan of Hungarian KingLouis II had been to send a vanguard to hold the Danube where the Ottomans were expected to cross, yet the nobles of the Kingdom refused to follow the King's deputy in battle, claiming that they did so out of zealous allegiance to the King (and would therefore only follow him). Consequently, when King Louis II took the field his army of 36,000 men seemed to be doomed to fail against the Ottomans' 80,000.[34] At Mohács the plains of Hungary allowed the heavier Christian knights to launch an effective charge. As the Hungarian knights brushed aside first theAkinjis and then theSipahis, the Ottoman cavalry regrouped and flanked the Knights inflicting a moderate number of casualties. The Sultan then placed his Janissaries and cannon into position chained up as an effective line. The Hungarian cavalry took serious casualties from the skilfully handled Turkish artillery. With the cavalry annihilated, the infantry suffered immense casualties as the weight of numbers of the Ottomans and their skill in battle took their toll. When Suleiman the Magnificent found the body of Louis II he is said to have been saddened by his untimely death.
John Zápolya, who had been instructed by Louis II to raid the enemy's supply lines, arrived at the battle too late and fled the scene. Suleiman, however, was not ready to annex the Kingdom completely into the Ottoman realm and in that power gap, Zapolya was chosen by Hungarian electorate as their ruler. Meanwhile, at the Diet of Bratislava Archduke Ferdinand of Austria was declared King of Hungary. The surviving nobles of Hungary now had to choose between pledging allegiance to a native vassal of Suleiman and a Christian "foreigner".
Zápolya would rule Hungary until his death in 1540. Following his demise, Hungary was split into three parts. The north-west (present-day Slovakia, western Transdanubia and Burgenland, western Croatia and parts of north-eastern present-day Hungary) remained under Habsburg rule; although initially independent, later it became a part of the Habsburg Monarchy under the informal name Royal Hungary. The Habsburg Emperors would from then on be also crowned as Kings of Hungary.
The eastern part of the kingdom (Partium and Transylvania) became at first an independent principality, but gradually was brought under Turkish rule as a vassal state of the Ottoman Empire. The remaining central area (most of present-day Hungary), including the capital of Buda, became aprovince of the Ottoman Empire. Thesiege of Buda, part of theLittle War in Hungary, was one of the most important Ottoman victories over the Habsburg forces in Hungary.
In 1552, Suleiman's forces laidsiege of Eger, located in the northern part of the Kingdom of Hungary, but the defenders led byIstván Dobó repelled the attacks and defended theEger Castle.[35]
