HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

The siege of Esztergom occurred between 25 July and 10 August 1543, when the Ottoman
army An army (from Old French ''armee'', itself derived from the Latin verb ''armāre'', meaning "to arm", and related to the Latin noun ''arma'', meaning "arms" or "weapons"), ground force or land force is a fighting force that fights primarily on ...
, led by Sultan
Suleiman the Magnificent Suleiman I ( ota, سليمان اول, Süleyman-ı Evvel; tr, I. Süleyman; 6 November 14946 September 1566), commonly known as Suleiman the Magnificent in the West and Suleiman the Lawgiver ( ota, قانونى سلطان سليمان, Ḳ ...
, besieged the city of
Esztergom Esztergom ( ; german: Gran; la, Solva or ; sk, Ostrihom, known by alternative names) is a city with county rights in northern Hungary, northwest of the capital Budapest. It lies in Komárom-Esztergom County, on the right bank of the river ...
in modern
Hungary Hungary ( hu, Magyarország ) is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning of the Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the south, Cr ...
. The city was captured by the Ottomans after two weeks.''Slovak history: chronology & lexicon'' Július Bartl p.59
/ref>


Background

The siege was part of a struggle between the
Habsburgs The House of Habsburg (), alternatively spelled Hapsburg in Englishgerman: Haus Habsburg, ; es, Casa de Habsburgo; hu, Habsburg család, it, Casa di Asburgo, nl, Huis van Habsburg, pl, dom Habsburgów, pt, Casa de Habsburgo, la, Domus Hab ...
and the Ottomans following the death of the ruler of Hungary,
John Zápolya John Zápolya or Szapolyai ( hu, Szapolyai/ Zápolya János, hr, Ivan Zapolja, ro, Ioan Zápolya, sk, Ján Zápoľský; 1490/91 – 22 July 1540), was King of Hungary (as John I) from 1526 to 1540. His rule was disputed by Archduke Fer ...
, on 20 July 1540. This is part of the "Age of castle wars" in Hungarian history. Suleiman had captured the cities of
Buda Buda (; german: Ofen, sh-Latn-Cyrl, separator=" / ", Budim, Будим, Czech and sk, Budín, tr, Budin) was the historic capital of the Kingdom of Hungary and since 1873 has been the western part of the Hungarian capital Budapest, on the ...
and Pest in 1541, giving him a powerful control over central Hungary. The Province ('' Beylerbeylik'') of Buda was created in this occasion. As part of the
Franco-Ottoman alliance The Franco-Ottoman Alliance, also known as the Franco-Turkish Alliance, was an alliance established in 1536 between the King of France Francis I and the Sultan of the Ottoman Empire Suleiman I. The strategic and sometimes tactical alliance was o ...
, French troops were supplied to this Ottoman campaign in Hungary: a French artillery unit was dispatched in 1543-1544 and attached to the
Ottoman Army The military of the Ottoman Empire ( tr, Osmanlı İmparatorluğu'nun silahlı kuvvetleri) was the armed forces of the Ottoman Empire. Army The military of the Ottoman Empire can be divided in five main periods. The foundation era covers the ...
.''The Ottoman Empire and early modern Europe'' by Daniel Goffman, p.11

/ref>''Firearms of the Islamic world'', p.38
/ref>''The Cambridge History of Islam'', p.328
/ref> Meanwhile, in the
Mediterranean Sea The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean Basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Western and Southern Europe and Anatolia, on the south by North Africa, and on ...
, Suleiman had sent his fleet admiral
Hayreddin Barbarossa Hayreddin Barbarossa ( ar, خير الدين بربروس, Khayr al-Din Barbarus, original name: Khiḍr; tr, Barbaros Hayrettin Paşa), also known as Hızır Hayrettin Pasha, and simply Hızır Reis (c. 1466/1478 – 4 July 1546), was an O ...
to cooperate with the French, leading to the siege of Nice.


Siege

The Siege of Esztergom followed the failed attempt by
Ferdinand I of Austria en, Ferdinand Charles Leopold Joseph Francis Marcelin , image = Kaiser Ferdinand I.jpg , caption = Portrait by Eduard Edlinger (1843) , succession = Emperor of AustriaKing of Hungary , moretext = ( more...) , cor-type = ...
to recapture
Buda Buda (; german: Ofen, sh-Latn-Cyrl, separator=" / ", Budim, Будим, Czech and sk, Budín, tr, Budin) was the historic capital of the Kingdom of Hungary and since 1873 has been the western part of the Hungarian capital Budapest, on the ...
in 1542.''Ground warfare: an international encyclopedia'' by Stanley Sandler p.38

/ref> It would be followed in turn by the capture of the Hungarian coronation city of
Székesfehérvár Székesfehérvár (; german: Stuhlweißenburg ), known colloquially as Fehérvár ("white castle"), is a city in central Hungary, and the country's ninth-largest city. It is the regional capital of Central Transdanubia, and the centre of Fej� ...
in September 1543. Other cities that were captured during this campaign are Siklós and
Szeged Szeged ( , ; see also other alternative names) is the third largest city of Hungary, the largest city and regional centre of the Southern Great Plain and the county seat of Csongrád-Csanád county. The University of Szeged is one of the m ...
in order to better protect
Buda Buda (; german: Ofen, sh-Latn-Cyrl, separator=" / ", Budim, Будим, Czech and sk, Budín, tr, Budin) was the historic capital of the Kingdom of Hungary and since 1873 has been the western part of the Hungarian capital Budapest, on the ...
. However, Suleiman refrained from moving further on to
Vienna en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = W , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...
this time, apparently because he had no news of the campaigns of his French allies in western Europe and in the Mediterranean. After the successful Ottoman campaign, a first truce of one year was signed with Charles V in 1545, through the intermediary of
Francis I of France Francis I (french: François Ier; frm, Francoys; 12 September 1494 – 31 March 1547) was King of France from 1515 until his death in 1547. He was the son of Charles, Count of Angoulême, and Louise of Savoy. He succeeded his first cousin on ...
. Suleiman himself was interested in ending the hostilities, as he had a campaign going on in Persia as well, the
Ottoman–Safavid War (1532–1555) The Ottoman–Safavid War of 1532–1555 was one of the many military conflicts fought between the two arch rivals, the Ottoman Empire led by Suleiman the Magnificent, and the Safavid Empire led by Tahmasp I. Background The war was triggered by ...
.''The Cambridge history of Islam'' by Peter Malcolm Holt p.328
/ref> Two years later, Ferdinand and
Charles V Charles V may refer to: * Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor (1500–1558) * Charles V of Naples (1661–1700), better known as Charles II of Spain * Charles V of France (1338–1380), called the Wise * Charles V, Duke of Lorraine (1643–1690) * Infa ...
recognized total Ottoman control of Hungary in the 1547 Treaty of Adrianople,''Cartography in the traditional Islamic and South Asian societies'' by John Brian Harley p.24

/ref> and Ferdinand even agreed to pay a yearly
tribute A tribute (; from Latin ''tributum'', "contribution") is wealth, often in kind, that a party gives to another as a sign of submission, allegiance or respect. Various ancient states exacted tribute from the rulers of land which the state conq ...
of 30,000 gold florins for their
Habsburg The House of Habsburg (), alternatively spelled Hapsburg in Englishgerman: Haus Habsburg, ; es, Casa de Habsburgo; hu, Habsburg család, it, Casa di Asburgo, nl, Huis van Habsburg, pl, dom Habsburgów, pt, Casa de Habsburgo, la, Domus Hab ...
possessions in northern and western Hungary. Following these conquests, central
Hungary Hungary ( hu, Magyarország ) is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning of the Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the south, Cr ...
was to remain under Ottoman control until 1686.


Gallery

File:Cannon battery at the Siege of Esztergom 1543.jpg, Cannon battery at the siege of Esztergom 1543 (detail). File:Esztergom in 1543 on a Turkish miniature.jpg, Esztergom in 1543 on a Turkish miniature File:Stages and distances to the fortress of Esztergom.jpg, Stages and distances to the fortress of Esztergom (Ottoman print). Estergon seferi harita Esztergom campaign map.png , The campaign route of the Ottoman army.


See also

*
Little War in Hungary Little is a synonym for small size and may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Little'' (album), 1990 debut album of Vic Chesnutt * ''Little'' (film), 2019 American comedy film *The Littles, a series of children's novels by American author John P ...
*
Ottoman wars in Europe A series of military conflicts between the Ottoman Empire and various European states took place from the Late Middle Ages up through the early 20th century. The earliest conflicts began during the Byzantine–Ottoman wars, waged in Anatolia in ...
*
Battle of Párkány The Battle of Párkány ( tr, Ciğerdelen Savaşı) was a battle fought between October 7–9, 1683 in the town of Párkány (today: Štúrovo), in the Ottoman Empire, and the area surrounding it as part of the Polish-Ottoman War and the Great ...


Notes

{{coord missing, Hungary
Esztergom Esztergom ( ; german: Gran; la, Solva or ; sk, Ostrihom, known by alternative names) is a city with county rights in northern Hungary, northwest of the capital Budapest. It lies in Komárom-Esztergom County, on the right bank of the river ...
Esztergom Suleiman the Magnificent Conflicts in 1543 1543 in Hungary 1543 in the Ottoman Empire 1543 in the Habsburg Monarchy