The siege of Esztergom was a military conflict on August 16, 1685, between the armies of the

Holy Roman Empire The Holy Roman Empire, also known as the Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation after 1512, was a polity in Central and Western Europe, usually headed by the Holy Roman Emperor. It developed in the Early Middle Ages, and lasted for a millennium ...

, particularly Imperial

Austria Austria, formally the Republic of Austria, is a landlocked country in Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine Federal states of Austria, states, of which the capital Vienna is the List of largest cities in Aust ...

n troops, and the

Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire (), also called the Turkish Empire, was an empire, imperial realm that controlled much of Southeast Europe, West Asia, and North Africa from the 14th to early 20th centuries; it also controlled parts of southeastern Centr ...

during the

Great Turkish War The Great Turkish War () or The Last Crusade, also called in Ottoman sources The Disaster Years (), was a series of conflicts between the Ottoman Empire and the Holy League (1684), Holy League consisting of the Holy Roman Empire, Polish–Lith ...

. The siege near today's town of

Esztergom Esztergom (; ; or ; , known by Names of European cities in different languages: E–H#E, alternative names) is a city with county rights in northern Hungary, northwest of the capital Budapest. It lies in Komárom-Esztergom County, on the righ ...

ended in defeat for the

Ottomans Ottoman may refer to: * Osman I, historically known in English as "Ottoman I", founder of the Ottoman Empire * Osman II, historically known in English as "Ottoman II" * Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire (), also called the Turkish Empir ...

Background

The war began in 1683 with an offensive by the Ottoman army against

Vienna Vienna ( ; ; ) is the capital city, capital, List of largest cities in Austria, most populous city, and one of Federal states of Austria, nine federal states of Austria. It is Austria's primate city, with just over two million inhabitants. ...

. After this was defeated in the

on September 12, 1683, the Imperial army and its allied Polish troops began a counteroffensive to conquer Hungary. After the Victory at Párkány, on October 27, 1683,

was forced to surrender after a short siege. The year 1684 was also successful for the Imperial family. In the summer of 1685 they went to the Neuhäusel under their general Charles of Lorraine. In order to distract the Imperial army, the Ottoman army under the Serasker Melek Ibrahim Pashahttps://islamansiklopedisi.org.tr/ibrahim-pasa-melek; Demetrie Kantemir, History of the Ottoman Empire after its growth and decline, Hamburg 1745, p. 504 made his own advance against

. Charles of Lorraine therefore only left an observation corps in front of Neuhäusel and marched with his main army to relieve

.Max von Turek: ''Turkish Wars of the Austrians'', in: Bernhard von Poten (Ed.): ''Hands-on dictionary of the entire military sciences'', Vol. 9, Leipzig/ Bielfeld 1880, p. 194

Siege

When the enemy army approached, the Ottoman Serasker (Minister of War), who commanded the troops, lifted the siege of Esztergom in order to be strong enough for the expected field siege. Since August 11, both armies had been facing each other in battle formation on the left bank of the Danube. Charles of Lorraine finally faked a retreat on August 16 and thus tempted the Ottomans to attack. This was initially directed primarily against the right wing of the Imperials, where Charles of Lorraine himself had to intervene to reorganize his troops. After the center had also repelled an Ottoman attack, Charles of Lorraine gave the order to counterattack. The Regimenters moved forward and only opened fire from a very short distance away. They also brought up cannons, which opened a devastating

grapeshot In artillery, a grapeshot is a type of ammunition that consists of a collection of smaller-caliber round shots packed tightly in a canvas bag and separated from the gunpowder charge by a metal wadding, rather than being a single solid projectile ...

fire against the Ottoman soldiers. After a final offensive push by the Ottomans against the Imperial left wing, commanded by the Bavarian Elector Max Emanuel failed, they began to flee the battlefield. The Imperial forces had to forego persecution because their troops were too exhausted.

Aftermath

After the Ottoman field army was defeated, the cities besieged by the Imperial forces could no longer count on relief. Neuhäusel fell on August 19, soon afterwards also the places Eperies, Kaschau, and

Tokaj Tokaj () is a historical town in Borsod-Abaúj-Zemplén county, Northern Hungary, 54 kilometers from county capital Miskolc. It is the centre of the Tokaj-Hegyalja wine district where Tokaji wine is produced. History The wine-growing area ...

. The

Sultan Sultan (; ', ) is a position with several historical meanings. Originally, it was an Arabic abstract noun meaning "strength", "authority", "rulership", derived from the verbal noun ', meaning "authority" or "power". Later, it came to be use ...

therefore had Emeric Thököly arrested in October and began the first peace negotiations with the emperor, however remained unsuccessful.

References

Sources

NÉGYESI LAJOS AZ 1685. ÉVI TÁTI CSATA
* Bodart, G. (1908) Militär-historisches Kriegs-Lexikon (1618-1905)

* Max von Turek: ''Türkenkriege der Österreicher'', in: Bernhard von Poten (Hrsg.): ''Handwörterbuch der gesamten Militärwissenschaften'', Bd. 9, Velhagen & Klasing, Leipzig/ Bielfeld 1880, S. 187–198. * Paul Wentzcke: ''Feldherr des Kaisers – Leben und Taten Herzog Karls V. von Lothringen'', Koehler & Amelang, Leipzig 1943. {{coord missing, Hungary Battles of the Great Turkish War Sieges involving the Ottoman Empire Sieges involving the Holy Roman Empire Conflicts in 1685 1685 in the Habsburg monarchy 1685 in the Ottoman Empire