| Siege of Esztergom | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Part of theOttoman–Habsburg War of 1540–1547 | |||||||
 Siege of Esztergom in 1543, bySebastian Vrancks. | |||||||
| |||||||
| Belligerents | |||||||
| Holy Roman Empire | Ottoman Empire Supported by: Kingdom of France | ||||||
| Commanders and leaders | |||||||
| Suleiman the Magnificent Şehzade Mehmed Hadim Suleiman Pasha | |||||||
| Strength | |||||||
| Artillery unit | |||||||
Thesiege of Esztergom occurred between 25 July and 10 August 1543, when theOttomanarmy, led by SultanSuleiman the Magnificent, besieged the city ofEsztergom in modernHungary. The city was captured by the Ottomans after two weeks.[1]
The siege was part of a struggle between theHabsburgs and the Ottomans following the death of the ruler of Hungary,John Zápolya, on 20 July 1540.[2] This is part of the "Age of castle wars" in Hungarian history.[3] Suleiman had captured the cities ofBuda andPest in 1541, giving him a powerful control over central Hungary.[4] The Province (Beylerbeylik) of Buda was created in this occasion.[2]
As part of theFranco-Ottoman alliance, French troops were supplied to this Ottoman campaign in Hungary: a French artillery unit was dispatched in 1543-1544 and attached to theOttoman Army.[5][6][7] Meanwhile, in theMediterranean Sea, Suleiman had sent hisfleet admiralHayreddin Barbarossa to cooperate with the French, leading to thesiege of Nice.[2]
The Siege of Esztergom followed the failed attempt byFerdinand I of Austria to recaptureBuda in 1542.[8] It would be followed in turn by the capture of the Hungarian coronation city ofSzékesfehérvár in September 1543.[1] Other cities that were captured during this campaign areSiklós andSzeged in order to better protectBuda.[8] However, Suleiman refrained from moving further on toVienna this time, apparently because he had no news of the campaigns of his French allies in western Europe and in the Mediterranean.[9]
After the successful Ottoman campaign, a first truce of one year was signed with Charles V in 1545, through the intermediary ofFrancis I of France. Suleiman himself was interested in ending the hostilities, as he had a campaign going on in Persia as well, theOttoman–Safavid War (1532–1555).[2] Two years later, Ferdinand andCharles V recognized total Ottoman control of Hungary in the1547 Treaty of Adrianople,[10] and Ferdinand even agreed to pay a yearlytribute of 30,000 gold florins for theirHabsburg possessions in northern and western Hungary.[2][8]
Following these conquests, centralHungary was to remain under Ottoman control until 1686.
