| Moldavian campaign | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Part ofPolish–Ottoman War (1485–1503) | |||||||||
| |||||||||
| Belligerents | |||||||||
 Kingdom of Poland |  Ottoman Empire Moldavia | ||||||||
| Commanders and leaders | |||||||||
| John I Albert | Bayezid II Stephen the Great | ||||||||
| Strength | |||||||||
| 80,000 men[3][4] | Unknown | ||||||||
| Casualties and losses | |||||||||
| Heavy | Unknown | ||||||||
TheMoldavian campaign or thePolish–Ottoman War of 1497–1499[5][6][7] was an unsuccessful war led byJohn Albert of Poland against the Moldavians, supported by theirOttomansuzerains. John Albert set out with an army of 80,000 men with the objectives of deposingStephen the Great ofMoldavia and replacing him withSigismund Jagiellon, reconquering the fortresses on the northernBlack Sea coast and taking control ofCrimea and theDanube Delta.[3][8]
John I Albert was elected due to his advocacy for an offensive policy against the Ottomans, and he made an alliance with Venice and Hungary for a joint effort against them.[2]Stephen the Great ofMoldavia refused to join the alliance fearing that Moldavia would be the main scene of any Polish–Ottoman war.[2] Albert's efforts to displace him led to a quarrel with Ladislas of Hungary who considered Stephen as his vassal. This broke up their recent alliance and as a result, Albert planned on achieving his objectives without any foreign help.[2] After some years of preparation, Albert sent an envoy toIstanbul asking for peace butBayazid II rejected this and both sides were ready for war by 1497.[3]
Albert was able to raise an army of 80,000 men and 200 cannons, in the summer of 1497 he set out planning to reconquer the fortresses on the northern Black Sea coast and take control ofCrimea and theDanube Delta, while Stephen the Great of Moldavia was able to secure Ottoman support.[4][3][2] The Polish offensive began in the month of June in 1497, but the Moldavians, supported by the Ottomans, crossed intoBukovina and decisively defeated the Poles atValea Cosminului (Battle of the Cosmin Forest) and then proceeded to raid into Polish territory as far asLwów.[9][2][1] Albert's campaign was disastrous and his objectives had failed, so he made peace with the Moldavians and Ottomans in 1499 and recognised Ottoman control of the Black Sea.[2][10][11]
As a result of this campaign, theCrimean Tatars were now left with a major empire including the entire steppe north of the Crimea from theDniester to theVolga under the suzerainty of the Ottoman sultan.[2]
After thebattle of the Cosmin Forest, John I Albert hastily returned to Poland (suffering another major defeat on the way where 5,000 Polish soldiers were killed inBukovina) and built theKraków Barbican, fearing an attack by theOttoman Empire after his successive defeats. The walls of Kraków were strengthened and additional fortifications were built to defend the city in case of a Turkish invasion.[12][13]
