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Siege of Szigetvár

Coordinates: 46°03′03″N 17°47′49″E / 46.05083°N 17.79694°E / 46.05083; 17.79694
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Siege of Szigetvár
Battle of Szigeth
Part of the Ottoman–Habsburg wars
Ottoman wars in Europe
Ottoman–Habsburg War of 1565–1568

Nikola IV Zrinski's charge from the fortress of Szigetvár (painting by Johann Peter Krafft, 1825)
Date6 August 1566 – 8 September 1566 (1 month and 2 days)
Location
Szigetvár, Kingdom of Hungary
46°03′03″N 17°47′49″E / 46.05083°N 17.79694°E / 46.05083; 17.79694
Result Ottoman victory[1][2]
Territorial
changes		 Ottomans capture Szigetvár and place it under their Budin Eyalet
Belligerents
Commanders and leaders
Nikola IV Zrinski † Suleiman I #[a]
Sokollu Mehmed Pasha
Strength

2,300[3] – 3,000[4] Croats and Hungarians[5][b]

  • 600 able-bodied men by the end of the siege[6]

100,000[7][8][c]

  • 80,000 Ottomans
  • 12,000 – 15,000 Tatars
  • 300 cannons[9]
Casualties and losses
  • Zrinski is killed in the final battle.
  • Almost entire garrison wiped out. 2,300 – 3,000 killed in combat.
    		•

    Heavy

    • Suleiman dies in his tent before the final assault.
    • 20,000[4] – 30,000[10][11] total killed and dead from sickness.

    The siege of Szigetvár or the Battle of Szigeth (pronunciation: [ˈsiɡɛtvaːr] Hungarian: Szigetvár ostroma; Croatian: Bitka kod Sigeta, Sigetska bitka; Turkish: Zigetvar Kuşatması) was an Ottoman siege of the fortress of Szigetvár in the Kingdom of Hungary. The fort had blocked Sultan Suleiman's line of advance towards Vienna in 1566.[12] The battle was fought between the defending forces of the Habsburg monarchy under the leadership of Nikola IV Zrinski, the former Ban of Croatia, and the invading Ottoman army under the nominal command of Sultan Suleiman the Magnificent.[12]

    After the Battle of Mohács in 1526, which resulted in the end of the independent Kingdom of Hungary, Ferdinand I was elected King by the nobles of both Hungary and Croatia.[13] This was followed by a series of conflicts with the Habsburgs and their allies fighting against the Ottoman Empire. During the Little War in Hungary, both sides exhausted themselves after sustaining heavy casualties. The Ottoman campaign in Hungary ceased until the offensive against Szigetvár.[14]

    In January 1566, Suleiman resumed his offensive campaign.[15] The Siege of Szigetvár was fought from 5 August to 8 September 1566 and it resulted in an Pyrrhic Ottoman victory,[16][17] as there were heavy losses on both sides. Both commanders died during the battle – Zrinski in the final charge and Suleiman in his tent from natural causes.[6][d] More than 20,000 Ottomans had fallen during the attacks, and almost all of Zrinski's 2,300-man garrison was killed, with most of the final 600 men killed on the last day.[4] Although the Ottomans were victorious, the siege stopped the proposed Ottoman push towards Vienna that year. Vienna was not threatened again until the Battle of Vienna in 1683.[6]

    The importance of the battle was considered so great that the French clergyman and statesman Cardinal Richelieu was reported to have described it as "the battle that saved (Western) civilization".[3] The battle is still famous in Croatia and Hungary and inspired both the Hungarian epic poem The Siege of Sziget and the Croatian opera Nikola Šubić Zrinski.[18]

    Background

    See also: Ottoman–Habsburg War (1565–1568), Habsburg–Ottoman wars in Hungary (1526–1568), and Ottoman–Habsburg wars
    Artistic impression of Szigetvár by Daniel Meinser [fr] and Eberhard Kieser, 1625

    A peace agreement between the Habsburgs and the Ottomans was in effect until 1552, when Suleiman decided to attack Eger. The Siege of Eger proved futile, and the Habsburg victory reversed a period of territorial losses in Hungary. Their retention of Eger gave the Austrians good reason to believe that Hungary was still contested ground and that the Ottoman campaign in Hungary had also ended, until its revival in 1566.[19]

    The siege of Tokaj in 1565 by the Imperial Army under the command of Lazarus von Schwendi[20] had angered Suleiman. The latter considered Transylvania to be his realm, and did not consider the peace treaty signed between John Sigismund Zápolya and the Holy Roman Empire to be valid.[21]

    Szigetvár, its commander and bandits in the fort's vicinity had also been previously infuriating for Suleiman. In a letter he had sent to Ferdinand in 1557, he had written "The fortress of Szigetvár... When the haydud and robbers make trouble and commit evil acts, they take refuge in this fortress." Also, in a remark to the diplomat Ogier Ghiselin de Busbecq in the year 1562, Suleiman had said: "'What', said he, 'might make us conclude peace, if those who are in charge of Sigeth will disturb it and continue the war?'"[22]

    A peace treaty between the Ottomans and Habsburgs had been negotiated in 1565 after Ferdinand's death in 1564.[23] Ottoman officials had sent multiple letters to Emperor Maximilian on the following issues: the payment of tribute, Habsburg infiltration in Ottoman territories, the return of the Ottoman emissary Hidayet Ağa, and the potential invalidity of the 1565 treaty if the Habsburgs did not withdraw their forces from Transylvania. These have been listed as some of the reasons for the Ottoman campaign in Hungary.[24][25]

    Suleiman had written to John Sigismund on 7 October 1565 that "he would go to war the following spring, if Maximilian did not send an ambassador with suitable assurances of peace".[26] After the siege of Nagybanya by Schwendi, Suleiman had written to John Sigismund that he would arrive in Hungary with his army in the following spring.[26]

    Logistics and preparation

    Habsburg

    On 18 August 1565, Emperor Maximilian wrote to his brothers that the Habsburgs would have to be prepared for a war.[27]

    Ottoman

    For the siege, soldiers were mobilized from the Hungarian and Balkan provinces administered by the beylerbey of Timișoara. The first royal decrees proclaiming a campaign were dispatched to multiple beylerbeys on 13th[28] or 14th of November 1565.[29]

    Campaign of 1566

    See also: List of campaigns of Suleiman the Magnificent
    Ottoman miniature showing Szigetvár before the siege, 16th century
    A miniature showing the siege of Szigetvár, 16th century
    A miniature showing Ottoman council meeting after the conquest of Szigetvár, 16th century
    A miniature showing the distribution of rewards after the siege, 16th century

    In January 1566, Sultan Suleiman I had ruled the Ottoman Empire for 46 years and went to war, unbeknownst to him, for the last time.[15] He was 72 years old and, although having gout to the extent that he was carried on a litter, he nominally commanded his thirteenth military campaign.[15] On 1 May 1566 the Sultan left Constantinople at the head of one of the largest armies he had ever commanded.[15]

    The fort's defender, Count Nikola IV Zrinski, was one of the largest landholders in the Kingdom of Croatia, a seasoned veteran of border warfare, and a Ban (Croatian royal representative) from 1542 to 1556.[30] In his early life, he had distinguished himself in the Siege of Vienna and pursued a successful military career.[7]

    Suleiman's forces reached Belgrade on 27 June after a forty-nine-day march. Here he met with John II Sigismund Zápolya, whom he had earlier promised to make the ruler of all of Hungary.[31] Learning of Zrinski's success in an attack on a Turkish encampment at Siklós, Suleiman decided to postpone his attack on Eger (German: Erlau) and instead attack Zrinski's fortress at Szigetvár in order to neutralise him.[7][32]

    Siege

    See also: Turbék

    The advanced guard of the Turks arrived on 2 August 1566. The defenders made several successful sorties causing considerable loss to the Turks.[11] The Sultan arrived with the main force on 5 August[11][12] and his big war tent was erected on the Similehov hill, giving him a view of the battle. The Sultan stayed in his camp where he received verbal battle progress reports from Sokollu Mehmed Pasha, his Grand Vizier and the real operational commander of the Ottoman forces.[33]

    Count Zrinski found himself besieged by a hostile army of at least 150,000 soldiers with powerful artillery.[11] Zrinski had assembled a force of around 2,300 Croatian and Hungarian soldiers before the siege.[5] These troops consisted of his personal forces, and those of his friends and allies,[34] primarily Count Gašpar Alapić and lieutenants Miklouš Kobak, Petar Patačić, and Vuk Paprutović.[35] The majority of the defenders were Croatian, with a significant Hungarian contingent represented in both the soldiers and the leadership.[5][34]

    Szigetvár was divided by water into three sections: the old town, the new town, and the castle—each of which was linked to the next by bridges and to the land by causeways.[12] Although it was not built on particularly high ground, the inner castle, which occupied much of the area of today's castle, was not directly accessible to the attackers. This was because two other baileys had to be taken and secured before a final assault on the inner castle could be launched.[12]

    When the Sultan appeared before the fortress, he saw the walls hung with red cloth, as though for a festive reception, and a single cannon was fired once by the defenders to greet the monarch.[36] The siege began on 6 August when Suleiman ordered a general assault on the ramparts,[11] which was repulsed.[11] Despite being undermanned, and greatly outnumbered, the defenders were sent no reinforcements from Vienna by the imperial army.[11]

    After over a month of exhausting and bloody struggle, the few remaining defenders retreated into the old town for their last stand. The Sultan tried to entice Zrinski to surrender, ultimately offering him leadership of Croatia under Ottoman influence.[36][37] Count Zrinski did not reply and continued to fight.[37] Emperor Maximilian and 80,000 soldiers were encamped in the vicinity of Győr but did not attack the Ottomans to take the pressure off Szigetvár.[38]

    The fall of the castle appeared inevitable but the Ottoman high command hesitated. On 6 September, Suleiman died in his tent. His death was kept secret at great effort, with only the Sultan's innermost circle knowing of his demise.[6] This was because the Ottomans feared that their soldiers would give up the battle if they knew that their leader had died, so his death was kept secret for 48 days. A courier was dispatched from the camp with a message for Suleiman's successor, Selim II. The courier may not even have known the content of the message he delivered to distant Asia Minor within a mere eight days.[6]

    Final battle

    The final battle began on 7 September, the day after Suleiman's demise. By this time, the fortress walls had been reduced to rubble by mining them with explosives, and by wood fueled fires at the corners of the walls. In the morning an all-out attack began[4] with fusillades from small arms, Greek fire, and a concentrated cannonade: according to historian Robert William Fraser, more than 10,000 large cannonballs were shot into the fortress during the siege. Soon the castle, the last stronghold within Szigetvár, was set ablaze and cinders fell into the apartments of the count.[4]

    The Ottoman army swarmed through the city, drumming and yelling. Zrinski prepared for a last charge addressing his troops:

    ...Let us go out from this burning place into the open and stand up to our enemies. Who dies – he will be with God. Who dies not – his name will be honoured. I will go first, and what I do, you do. And God is my witness – I will never leave you, my brothers and knights!...

    Zrinski did not allow the final assault to break into the castle.[7] As the Turks were pressing forwards along a narrow bridge, the defenders suddenly flung open the gate and fired a large mortar loaded with broken iron, killing 600 attackers.[7] Zrinski then ordered a charge and led his remaining 600 troops out of the castle.[7] He received two musket wounds in his chest and was killed shortly afterwards by an arrow to the head.[7] Some of his force retired into the castle.[7]

    The Turks took the castle and most of the defenders were slain. A few of the captured defenders were spared by the Janissaries, who had admired their courage,[7] with only seven defenders managing to escape through the Ottoman lines. Zrinski's corpse was beheaded, and it is believed that his head was sent by Mehmed Pasha to either the Budin Pasha, Sokullu Mustafa,[39][40] or to the new Sultan Selim II.[41] However, Zrinski's head was buried by his son Juraj IV Zrinski and the nobles Boldizsár Batthyány, and Ferenc Tahy in September 1566 at the Pauline monastery in Sveta Jelena in Šenkovec, Croatia.[39][40] His body received an honourable burial by a Turk who had been his prisoner and had been treated well by him.[7]

    Powder magazine explosion

    Before leading the final sortie of the castle garrison, Zrinski ordered a fuse be lit to the powder magazine.[4][e] After cutting down the last of the defenders, the besiegers entered the fortress and fell into the booby trap;[6] thousands perished in the blast when the castle's magazine exploded.[42]

    The Vizier Ibrahim's life was saved by one of Zrinski's house helpers, who warned him of the trap when the Vizier and his troops searched for treasure and interrogated the survivors. While inquiring about the treasure, the helper replied that it had been long expended, but that 3,000 pounds (1,400 kg) of gunpowder was under their feet to which a slow match had been attached.[7] The Vizier and his mounted officers had just enough time to escape but 3,000 Ottoman soldiers died due to the explosion.[5][7][11][43]

    Aftermath

    See also: Treaty of Adrianople (1568)

    Almost all of Zrinski's garrison was wiped out after the final battle.[4] Ottoman casualties were also heavy. Three pashas (nobles), 7,000 Janissaries, and 28,000 other soldiers are said to have perished.[7] Sources vary on the exact number with estimates ranging from 20,000 to 35,000.[4][7][10]

    Ottoman expansion into Hungarian and Croatian lands after the battle of Szigetvár (map at the beginning of 1576)

    After the battle, the Grand Vizier forged bulletins in the Sultan's name, proclaiming victory.[6] His death meant that any advances in Europe were postponed, as the Grand Vizier had to return to Constantinople for the succession of the new Sultan, Selim II.[6][43] Even if Suleiman had lived, his army could not have achieved much in the short period between the fall of Szigetvár and the onset of winter.[44] The prolonged resistance at Szigetvár delayed the Ottoman push towards Vienna.[44]

    Two ambassadors were sent by Emperor Maximilian: the Croatian Antun Vrančić and the Styrian Christoph van Teuffenbach [nl]. They arrived in Istanbul on 26 August 1567 and were well received by Sultan Selim II.[45] An agreement ending the war between the Austrian and Ottoman empires was reached on 17 February 1568, after five months of negotiations with Sokollu Mehmed Pasha.[45] The Treaty of Adrianople was signed on 21 February 1568.[45] Sultan Selim II agreed to an eight-year truce,[8] and the agreement brought 25 years of (relative) peace between the Empires until the Long War began between them. The truce was conditional and Maximilian agreed to pay an annual tribute of 30,000 ducats.[44]

    Artistic depictions

    Head sculptures of Nikola IV Zrinski (left) and Sultan Suleiman (right) at the Hungarian-Turkish Friendship Park in Szigetvár

    The Croatian Renaissance poet and writer Brne Karnarutić, from Zadar, wrote The Conquest of the City of Sziget (Vazetje Sigeta grada) sometime before 1573.[46]

    The battle was also immortalized in the Hungarian epic poem Szigeti Veszedelem ("Peril of Sziget"), written in fifteen parts by Zrinski's great-grandson Nicholas VII of Zrin (also a Ban of Croatia).[18] Petar Zrinski (Hungarian: Zrínyi Péter), the brother of Nikola VII Zrinski, published the Opsida Sigecka (1647–8) in Croatian.[18]

    Another Croatian nobleman warrior-poet, Pavao Ritter Vitezović, wrote about the battle[47] in his poem Odiljenje sigetsko ("The Sziget Farewell"), first published in 1684.[48] Karl Theodor Körner, a German poet, wrote in 1812 a drama titled Zriny about the battle. Ivan Zajc's 1876 opera Nikola Šubić Zrinski is his most famous and popular work in Croatia.[49]

    Notes

    1. ^ Died of natural causes during the course of the siege
    2. ^ The only first-hand report of the siege, written in "Podsjedanje i osvojenje Sigeta" by Franjo (Ferenc) Črnko, Zrinski's chamberlain, and one of the survivors of the battle, states that a majority of the defenders were ethnic Croats. Later works, such as the "Vazetje Sigeta grada" (1573) by Brne Karnarutić, the "Szigeti veszedelem" (1647) by Nicholas VII Zrinski and the "Opsida Sigecka" (1647) by Peter Zrinski, also corroborate that Croats made up a majority of the defenders.
    3. ^ The number of 300,000 Ottomans mentioned by some chroniclers is probably overestimated. There is some tendency by some historians to exaggerate these figures to overstate the bravery of the outnumbered defenders of Szigetvár. Even though Suleiman had marched out of Istanbul on 1 May 1566 at the head of one of the largest armies he had ever commanded, the number of his forces was probably closer to 100,000 than to 300,000.
    4. ^ It is generally accepted that Suleiman died in his tent behind the siege lines from natural causes, before the Turks achieved victory. According to George F. Nafziger, Suleiman died of a heart attack when learned of his victory. According to Stephen Turnbull, several contemporary accounts, such as the ones used later by Nicholas VII Zrinski for his epic, attribute Suleiman's death to Zrinski's hand.
    5. ^ According to Francis Lieber, explosion of the powder magazine is somewhat disputable.

    References

    Footnotes

    1. ^ Kohn (2006), p. 47.
    2. ^ Lázár and Tezla (1999), p. 70. Although the Turks won the battle, the outcome can be seen as a "pyrrhic victory", because of heavy Turkish casualties and the death of Sultan Suleiman. Moreover, the battle delayed the Ottoman push for Vienna that year and suspended the Ottoman expansion in Europe.
    3. ^ a b Timothy Hughes Rare & Early Newspapers Archived 9 September 2017 at the Wayback Machine, Item 548456. Retrieved 1 December 2009.
    4. ^ a b c d e f g h Lieber (1845), p. 345.
    5. ^ a b c d Wheatcroft (2009), pp. 59–60.
    6. ^ a b c d e f g h Turnbull (2003), p. 57.
    7. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n Shelton (1867), pp. 82–83.
    8. ^ a b Elliott (2000), p. 117.
    9. ^ "Nikola Subic Zrinski". Archived from the original on 28 November 2019. Retrieved 22 November 2019.
    10. ^ a b Tait (1853), p. 679.
    11. ^ a b c d e f g h Coppée (1864), pp. 562–565.
    12. ^ a b c d e Turnbull (2003), p. 56.
    13. ^ Corvisier and Childs (1994), p. 289
    14. ^ Turnbull (2003), pp. 49–51.
    15. ^ a b c d Turnbull (2003), p. 55.
    16. ^ Kohn, George C., ed. (2006). Dictionary of Wars (Third ed.). Infobase Publishing. p. 47. ISBN 978-0-8160-6577-6.
    17. ^ Lázár, István; Tezla, Albert (1999). An Illustrated History of Hungary (6th ed.). Budapest: Corvina Books. p. 70. ISBN 978-963-13-4887-3.
    18. ^ a b c Cornis-Pope and Neubauer (2004), pp. 518–522.
    19. ^ Turnbull (2003), p. 52.
    20. ^ Zenoi, Domenico (23 May 2024). "RCIN 721042 - View of the siege of Tokay, 1565 (Tokaj, Borsod-Abaúj-Zemplén, Hungary) 48°07ʹ00ʺN  21°25ʹ00ʺE". Military Maps, Royal Collection Trust. Retrieved 12 September 2024.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
    21. ^ Vatin & Römer 2019, pp. 346–347, n. 30.
    22. ^ Vatin & Römer 2019, p. 349.
    23. ^ Vatin & Römer 2019, p. 345.
    24. ^ Vatin & Römer 2019, pp. 350–351, 356.
    25. ^ Tracy 2019, pp. 359–360.
    26. ^ a b Tracy 2019, p. 374.
    27. ^ Tracy 2019, p. 371.
    28. ^ Tracy 2019, p. 359.
    29. ^ Vatin & Römer 2019, p. 348.
    30. ^ Krokar Slide Set #27, image 42
    31. ^ Turnbull (2003), pp. 55–56.
    32. ^ Setton (1991), pp. 845–846.
    33. ^ Sakaoğlu (1999), pp. 140–141.
    34. ^ a b Perok (1861), pp. 46–48.
    35. ^ Etnografija Hrvata u Mađarskoj. Mikszáth Kiadó. 2003. p. 29. Archived from the original on 7 April 2022. Retrieved 3 July 2020. Gašpar Alapić (maď. Alapi Gáspár): bliski rodak Nikole Zrinskog, suprug njegove sestre, tj. bio je šogor (šurjak) Zrinskog, zamjenik kapetana Sigeta, koji je preživjeo opsadu i zauzeće Sigeta ... Mikloš Kobak (maď. Kobak Miklós), Petar Patačić (maď. Patatics Péter, vjerojatno zbog lošeg prijepisa Budine), Vuk Paprutović (maď. Papratovics Farkas, vjerojatno zbog lošeg prijepisa Budine) bili su poručnici, odnosno vojvode Nikole Zrinskog.
    36. ^ a b Roworth (1840), p. 53.
    37. ^ a b Pardoe (1842), p. 84.
    38. ^ Paul Lendvai; (2004) The Hungarians: A Thousand Years of Victory in Defeat p. 94-100 Princeton University Press, ISBN 0691119694
    39. ^ a b Hrvoje Petrić (2017). "Nikola IV. Šubić Zrinski: O 450. obljetnici njegove pogibije i proglašenju 2016. "Godinom Nikole Šubića Zrinskog"" [Nikola IV. Šubić Zrinski: About 450th anniversary of his death and proclaiming of 2016 the year of Nikola Šubić Zrinski]. Hrvatska revija (in Croatian) (3). Zagreb: Matica hrvatska: 29–33. Archived from the original on 24 June 2022. Retrieved 3 July 2020.
    40. ^ a b Walton, Jeremy F. (2019). "Sanitizing Szigetvár: On the post-imperial fashioning of nationalist memory". History and Anthropology. 30 (4). Routledge: 434–447. doi:10.1080/02757206.2019.1612388. hdl:21.11116/0000-0003-AC84-6.
    41. ^ Sakaoğlu, Necdet (2001). Bu Mülkün Sultanları: 36 Osmanlı Padişahi. Oğlak Yayıncılık ve Reklamcılık. p. 141. ISBN 978-975-329-299-3.
    42. ^ Dupuy (1970), p. 501.
    43. ^ a b Nafziger & Walton (2003), p. 105
    44. ^ a b c Elliott (2000), p. 118.
    45. ^ a b c Setton (1984), pp. 921–922.
    46. ^ Karnarutić (1866), pp. 1–83.
    47. ^ Anzulovic (2000), pp. 57–58.
    48. ^ Anzulovic 2000, p. 57–58.
    49. ^ Rockwell, John (29 April 1986). "Opera: Zajc's 'Nikola Subic Zrinski'". The New York Times. Archived from the original on 3 January 2022. Retrieved 3 December 2009.

    Bibliography

    Further reading

    • Barabás, Samu, ed. (1898). Codex Epistolaris et Diplomaticus Comitis Nicolai de Zrinio. Zrínyi Miklós a Szigetvári hős életére vonatkozó levelek és okiratok: 1535-1565, Volume 29.
    • Barabás, Samu, ed. (1899). Codex Epistolaris et Diplomaticus Comitis Nicolai de Zrinio. Zrínyi Miklós a Szigetvári hős életére vonatkozó levelek és okiratok: 1566-1567, Volume 30.
    • Fraser, Robert William (1854). Turkey, ancient and modern: a history of the Ottoman Empire from the period of its establishment to the present time. A. & C. Black.
    • Isthuanffio (Istvánffy), Nicolao (Miklós) (1724). Regni Hungarici historia: post obitum gloriosissimi Mathiæ Corvini regis XXXIV. quo apostolicum hoc regnum Turcarum potissimùm armis barbarè invasum, libris XXXIV: Rerum in Pannonia, Dalmatia, Transylvania, Moldavia, Bosnia, Illyrico, cæterisque confiniis integrum ultra sæculum, ab anno 1490. pp.288-304.
    • Mesić, Matija (1866). Život Nikole Zrinjskoga Sigetskoga junaka,
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