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80-601: The first mentioning of Frauenkirchen was in 1324 as "Szent Maria". During the Siege of Vienna (1529) and the Battle of Vienna , the village and the church were destroyed by Ottoman forces. Under Paul I, Prince Esterházy , reconstruction of the village would begin. Around the basilica built from 1695 to 1702, as well as the Franciscan Monastery in the city, the mostly German speaking town would gradually develop into

160-474: A pincer movement , and in the center the Hungarian heavy knights and infantry were repulsed and suffered heavy casualties, especially from the well-positioned Ottoman cannons and well-armed and trained Janissary musketeers. The Hungarians could not hold their positions, and those who did not flee were surrounded and killed or captured. Nearly the entire Hungarian royal army was destroyed in about two hours on

240-510: A breakdown of communication between Louis and his brother-in-law, Archduke Ferdinand. Ferdinand was unaware of the urgency of the situation. To make the matter worse, Louis and the Hungarian court failed to inform him that they had decided to fight a decisive battle on the plain of Mohács (this decision was made on 26 August, one day before Ferdinand's departure: in a conference in Louis's camp in Bata,

320-497: A decision on whether to remain or abandon the siege. The Sultan convened an official council on 12 October to deliberate the matter. It was decided to attempt one final, major assault on Vienna, an "all or nothing" gamble. The assault was launched on 14 October, but despite extra rewards being offered to the troops, it was beaten back, with the defenders' arquebuses and long pikes proving decisive. The following day, with supplies running low and winter approaching, Suleiman called off

400-693: A defensive position. The question was who could force the other to start the attack on the battlefield, that is, to attack positions that could then be defended with cannons and arquebuses. The currently known division of the Hungarian army by arms includes: 3,000 armoured knights from the Hungarian noble banderiums , the king's bodyguard (1,000 armoured knights), 4,500 light cavalry (mainly hussars of Serbian origin), 6,700 mainly Hungarian infantry, 5,300 papal infantry (mainly German Landsknechte , but Italian and Spanish contingents were also represented in smaller numbers) and 1,500 Polish infantry, with an unknown number of artillerymen. Available data do not allow

480-661: A detailed reconstruction of the rest of the army. The geography of the area meant that the Hungarians could not know the Ottomans' ultimate goal until the latter crossed the Balkan Mountains , and when they did, the Transylvanian and Croatian forces were farther from Buda than the Ottomans were. Contemporary historical records, though sparse, indicate that Louis preferred a plan of retreat, in effect ceding

560-612: A funeral monument for the German commander Nicholas, Count of Salm , head of the mercenary relief force dispatched to Vienna, as a token of appreciation of his efforts. Nicholas survived the initial siege attempt, but had been injured during the last Ottoman assault and died on May 4, 1530. The Renaissance sarcophagus is now on display in the baptistery of the Votivkirche cathedral in Vienna. Ferdinand's son, Maximilian II , later built

640-508: A law against the export of Hungarian-made arquebuses for the Ottoman Empire. Contrary to popular belief, the Hungarian infantry was so well equipped with arquebuses that, it had an unusually high firepower in a comparison with contemporary Western European standards. Both armies faced a tactical challenge, namely that they could not move their firepower very well. As a result, they were only able to use it effectively if they fired from

720-654: A politically united people. The resulting degradation of order paved the way for Ottoman pre-eminence. King Louis II of Hungary married Mary of Habsburg in 1522. The Ottomans saw this Jagiellonian–Habsburg marital alliance as a threat to their power in the Balkans and worked to break it. After Suleiman I came to power in Constantinople in 1520, the High Porte made the Hungarians at least one and possibly two offers of peace. For unclear reasons, Louis refused. It

800-438: A second siege of Vienna in 1683. In August 1526, Sultan Suleiman I decisively defeated the forces of King Louis II of Hungary at the Battle of Mohács , paving the way for the Ottomans to gain control of south-eastern Hungary; the childless King Louis died, possibly drowning when he attempted to escape the battlefield. His brother-in-law, Archduke Ferdinand I of Austria , brother of Holy Roman Emperor Charles V , claimed

880-408: A tactical challenge, namely that they could not move their firepower very well. As a result, they were only able to use them effectively if they fired from a defensive position. The question was who could force the other to start the attack on the battlefield, that is, to attack positions that could then be defended with cannons and arquebuses. Only half of the jannisaries used arquebuses and muskets,

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960-561: A trading centre from the late 17th century. Since 1897, Frauenkirchen would be connected to the Austro-Hungarian railway network with the Neusiedler Seebahn. After 1898, the Hungarian name Fertőboldogasszony (or simply "Boldogasszony") would be forcefully used due to Magyarization policies. The community of Frauenkirchen, like the rest of Burgenland, belonged to Hungary (German-West Hungary) until 1920/21. After

1040-418: A variety of European mercenaries, namely German Landsknecht pikemen and professional Spanish harquebusiers , sent by Charles V , who was Holy Roman Emperor and King of Spain. Queen Mary of Hungary, who was the sister of Charles V, in addition to 1,000 German Landsknechts under Count Niklas Salm, sent a contingent of 700–800 Spanish harquebusiers . Only 250 Spanish survived. The Spanish were under

1120-868: Is SPÖ 14, ÖVP 6, FPÖ 0, Grüne 0, and other lists 3, as of 2008. This Burgenland location article is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . This Hungarian history article is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . This Austrian history article is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . This article related to Jewish history is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . Siege of Vienna (1529) [REDACTED] Holy Roman Empire [REDACTED] Ottoman Empire Vassal states : ≈ 120,000–125,000 Unknown, with presumably high civilian fatalities Mediterranean Ottoman–Habsburg War (1540–1547) Ottoman–Habsburg War (1551–1562) Habsburg–Transylvanian War (1556–1567) Ottoman–Habsburg War (1565–1568) The siege of Vienna , in 1529,

1200-624: Is possible that Louis was well aware of Hungary's situation (especially after the Ottomans defeated Persia in the Battle of Chaldiran (1514) and the Polish-Ottoman peace from 1525) and believed that war was a better option than peace. Even in peacetime, the Ottomans raided Hungarian lands and conquered small territories (with border castles), but a final battle still offered Louis a glimmer of hope. Accordingly, another Ottoman–Hungarian war ensued, and in June 1526 an Ottoman expedition advanced up

1280-403: Is said to have lamented: "I came indeed in arms against him; but it was not my wish that he should be thus cut off before he scarcely tasted the sweets of life and royalty." The result was catastrophic for the Hungarians, with their lines advancing into withering fire and flank attacks, and falling into the same trap that John Hunyadi had so often used successfully against the Ottomans. Beside

1360-529: The Castle of Neugebaeude on the spot where Suleiman is said to have pitched his tent during the siege. Notes Bibliography 48°12′30″N 16°22′23″E  /  48.2083°N 16.3731°E  / 48.2083; 16.3731 Battle of Moh%C3%A1cs Ottoman victory Ottoman Empire Mediterranean The Battle of Mohács ( Hungarian: [ˈmohaːt͡ʃ] ; Hungarian : mohácsi csata , Turkish : Mohaç Muharebesi or Mohaç Savaşı)

1440-504: The Croatian count Christoph Frankopan , numbering around 5,000 men. The Ottomans deployed the largest field artillery of the era, comprising some 300 cannons, while the Hungarians had only 85 cannons, though even this number was greater than other contemporary Western European armies deployed on the battlefields during the major conflicts of Western European powers. The number of regular professional paid soldiers ( Kapıkulu ) employed by

1520-508: The Danube . In the early 1500s, Vladislav II (ruled 1490–1516), Louis II and Croatian nobles repeatedly asked Holy Roman Emperor Maximilian I for help, but during Maximilian's reign, assistance for Hungary remained a plan. After the first chain of fortresses fell however, assessing the threat to his own provinces, Archduke Ferdinand (later Holy Roman Emperor Ferdinand I ) made a significant effort to help his brother-in-law. When Nándorfehérvár

1600-485: The High Porte throughout the Ottoman Empire did not exceed 15,000–16,000 men in the first third of the 16th century. During this time Suleiman could raise an army between 50,000–60,000 for campaigns. The Ottomans obtained most of the arquebuses for their janissary army from Hungarian and Venetian gunsmiths. This phenomenon was so widespread and severe, that in 1525 the Hungarian Parliament had to pass

1680-663: The Sava and Drava Rivers. At Mohács the Hungarians numbered some 25,000 to 30,000 soldiers. The only external help was a small contingent of Polish troops (1,500 soldiers and knights) led by the royal captain Lenart Gnoiński (but organized and equipped by the Papal State). The Ottoman army numbered perhaps 50,000, though some contemporary and modern-day historians put the number of the Ottoman troops at 100,000. Most of

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1760-505: The absolutist King Matthias Corvinus in 1490, the Hungarian magnates , who did not want another heavy-handed king, procured the accession of the notoriously weak-willed King Vladislaus of Bohemia , who reigned as King Vladislaus II of Hungary from 1490 to 1516. He was known as King Dobře (or Dobzse in Hungarian orthography), meaning "all right", for his habit of accepting, without question, every petition and document laid before him. The freshly-elected King Vladislaus II donated most of

1840-466: The arquebuses for their janissary army from Hungarian and Venetian gunsmiths. This phenomenon was so widespread and severe, that in 1525 the Hungarian Parliament had to pass a law against the export of Hungarian-made arquebuses for the Ottoman Empire. Contrary to popular belief, the Hungarian infantry was so well equipped with arquebuses that, it had an unusually high firepower in a comparison with contemporary Western European standards. Both armies faced

1920-519: The Balkans. As the first of Suleiman's troops, the Rumelian army, advanced onto the battlefield, they were attacked and routed by Hungarian troops led by Pál Tomori. This attack by the Hungarian right caused considerable chaos among the irregular Ottoman troops, but even as the Hungarian attack pressed forward, the Ottomans rallied with the arrival of Ottoman regulars deployed from the reserves. While

2000-597: The Battle of Bicocca (1522), King Francis I of France tried – unsuccessfully – to ally himself with King Sigismund I of Poland . The Hungarian royal court also rejected the French offer. However, John Zápolya, the Voivode of Transylvania , showed a willingness to cooperate with the French, although the formal treaty was not signed until 1528. King Francis I of France was defeated at the Battle of Pavia on 24 February 1525 by

2080-526: The Battle of Mohács to the Austrians, including Buda , which fell on 8 September. The only resistance came at Pozsony , where the Turkish fleet was bombarded as it sailed up the Danube . As the Ottomans advanced towards Vienna, the city's population organised an ad-hoc resistance formed from local farmers, peasants, and civilians determined to repel the inevitable attack. The defenders were supported by

2160-528: The Diet of Pozsony (modern Bratislava ) on 26 October, Ferdinand was declared king of Royal Hungary due to the agreement between his and Louis's families, cemented by Ferdinand's marriage to Louis's sister Anna and Louis's marriage to Ferdinand's sister Mary . Ferdinand set out to enforce his claim on Hungary and captured Buda in 1527, only to relinquish his hold on it in 1529 when an Ottoman counter-attack stripped Ferdinand of all his territorial gains. In

2240-652: The European princes for help, but only King Henry VIII of England offered aid (which arrived only in 1527 to Queen Mary of Hungary in Pozsony) and the Pope offered 50,000 gold pieces, while neither Charles V nor Ferdinand Habsburg (Archduke of Austria, the Hungarian king's brother-in-law) did anything. The fact is that the Habsburgs' armies were still on the battlefields of Italy. The general apathy that had characterized

2320-595: The Habsburg pressure on France, in 1525 Francis asked Suleiman to make war on the Holy Roman Empire, and the road from Turkey to the Holy Roman Empire led across Hungary. The request of the French king coincided well with the ambitions of Suleiman in Europe and gave him an incentive to attack Hungary in 1526, leading to the Battle of Mohács. At the news of the war, the young King Louis II of Hungary appealed to

2400-454: The Habsburgs. The attack on Vienna led to a rapprochement between Charles V and Pope Clement VII , and contributed to the Pope's coronation of Charles V as Holy Roman Emperor on February 24, 1530. The outcome of the campaign was presented as a success by the Ottomans, who used the opportunity to show off their imperial grandeur by staging elaborate ceremonies for the circumcision of princes Mustafa , Mehmed , and Selim . Ferdinand I erected

2480-461: The Hungarian hand cannon "Szakállas puska" in the 15th century. Hungary had a long tradition of unusually extensive use of handheld firearms ( arquebus ) as early as the 15th century, for example in the famous Black Army of the late ruler King Matthias Corvinus (r. 1458 - 1490). The Hungarians abandoned the use of the bow and crossbow completely in the last decade of the 15th century and switched entirely to firearms. The Ottomans obtained most of

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2560-494: The Hungarian right advanced far enough at one time to place Suleiman in danger from Hungarian bullets that struck his cuirass , the superiority of the Ottoman regulars and the timely charge of the Janissaries overwhelmed the attackers, particularly on the Hungarian left. The Hungarians took serious casualties from the skillfully handled Turkish artillery and musket volleys. The Hungarian army was surrounded by Ottoman cavalry in

2640-450: The Hungarian royal estates, régales , and royalties to the nobility. Thus the king tried to stabilize his new reign and preserve his popularity among the magnates. Given the naive fiscal and land policy of the royal court, the central power began to experience severe financial difficulties, largely due to the enlargement of feudal lands at royal expense. The noble estate of the parliament succeeded in reducing their tax burden by 70–80%, at

2720-692: The Nazis between 1938 and 1945. A Jewish cemetery in the village memorializes the presence of a Jewish community here prior to the Holocaust. Frauenkirchen has been a municipality since 1982 (through VO 5). Mayor Hannes Schmid is a member of the SPÖ , Vice-Mayor Martina Kettner is of the ÖVP , and the Chief Officer is Erika Siebler. The mandate assignments in the Municipal Council (23 seats)

2800-554: The Ottoman Balkan forces registered before this battle were described as Bosnians or Croats. The Hungarian army was arrayed to take advantage of the terrain and hoped to engage the Ottoman army piecemeal. They had the advantage that their troops were well-rested, while the Turks had just completed a strenuous march in scorching summer heat. The earliest type of Turkish hand cannons are called as "Şakaloz", which word came from

2880-546: The Ottoman army incorporated a contingent from Moldavia and renegade Serbian warriors from the army of John Zápolya . Suleiman acted as the commander-in-chief (as well as personally leading his force), and in April he appointed his Grand Vizier (the highest Ottoman minister), a Greek former slave called Ibrahim Pasha , as Serasker , a commander with powers to give orders in the sultan's name. Suleiman launched his campaign on 10 May, 1529 and faced numerous obstacles from

2960-405: The Ottoman force. Instead of going ahead with a second siege attempt, the Ottoman force turned back, laying waste the south-eastern Austrian state of Styria in their retreat. The two Viennese campaigns in essence marked the extreme limit of Ottoman logistical capability to field large armies deep in central Europe at the time. The 1529 campaign produced mixed results. Buda was brought back under

3040-645: The Turks advanced up the Danube River and took Nándorfehérvár (present-day Belgrade , Serbia ) – the strongest Hungarian fortress on the Danube – and Szabács (now Šabac , Serbia). This left most of southern Hungary indefensible. The loss of Nándorfehérvár caused great alarm in Hungary. On October 18, 1523, the Hungarian aristocrats united for the recapture of Belgrade, pledging funds that would support an army of 60,000 troops and 100 cannons—an undertaking that

3120-535: The aftermath of the 1526 Battle of Mohács , which had resulted in the death of Louis II , King of Hungary , and the descent of the kingdom into civil war. Following Louis' death, rival factions within Hungary selected two successors: Archduke Ferdinand I of Austria , supported by the House of Habsburg , and John Zápolya . Zápolya would eventually seek aid from, and become a vassal of the Ottoman Empire, after Ferdinand began to take control of western Hungary, including

3200-447: The aid funds he had brought, arguing that: "if the Hungarians were capable of assembling such an enormous force, then they had no need for the money." The huge 60,000-strong royal army – led by the king, but recruited too late and too slowly – neglected to take food along and bad organization of logistics. Therefore, the army disbanded spontaneously under pressure from hunger and disease without even trying to recapture Belgrade from

3280-553: The approaching danger, did not immediately heed their king's call for troops. Eventually, the Hungarians assembled in three main units: the Transylvanian army under John Zápolya , charged with guarding the passes in the Transylvanian Alps , with between 8,000 and 13,000 men; the main army, led by Louis himself (beside numerous Spanish, German, Czech, and Serbian mercenaries); and another smaller force, commanded by

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3360-499: The battle marked the end of the Jagiellonian dynasty in Hungary and Bohemia, whose dynastic claims passed to the House of Habsburg . During the battle, the Ottomans utilised the firearm kneeling position, the first of its kind , with 200 tüfenks ( muskets ) forming "nine consecutive rows and they fired their weapons row by row" in a "kneeling or standing position without the need for additional support or rest". This method

3440-566: The battlefield. During the retreat, the twenty-year-old king died when he fell backwards off his horse while trying to ride up a steep ravine of the Csele stream. He fell into the stream and, weighed down by his armor, was unable to stand up, and drowned. Suleiman the Magnificent expressed regret at the death of his young adversary. Upon encountering the lifeless body of King Louis, the Sultan

3520-597: The chancellor Stephen Brodarics advised the king to wait for reinforcements from Austria and Bohemia, but a group of impetuous nobles managed to persuade the king to engage in an open, immediate battle on the plains of Mohacs against the numerically superior Ottomans). Ferdinand, facing religious tensions and uprisings in his own lands as well as his brothers' requests for more troops for other theaters, decided to tend to what he thought to be more urgent affairs first. According to Stephen Fischer-Galati, that literature shows that Louis himself seemed to be unable to fully understand

3600-508: The city could withstand a lengthy siege, he blocked the four city gates and reinforced the walls, which in some places were no more than six feet thick, and erected earthen bastions and an inner earthen rampart , levelling buildings where necessary to clear room for defences. The Ottoman army that arrived in late September had been depleted during the long advance into Austrian territory, leaving Suleiman short of camels and heavy artillery. Many of his troops arrived at Vienna in poor health after

3680-410: The city of Buda . The Ottoman attack on Vienna was part of the empire's intervention into the Hungarian conflict, and in the short term sought to secure Zápolya's position. Historians offer conflicting interpretations of the Ottoman's long-term goals, including the motivations behind the choice of Vienna as the campaign's immediate target. Some modern historians suggest that Suleiman's primary objective

3760-465: The command of Marshal Luis de Ávalos , with captains Juan de Salinas, Jaime García de Guzmán, Jorge Manrique, and Cristóbal de Aranda. This elite infantry excelled in the defense of the northern area and with discretion fire prevented the Ottomans from settling in the Danube meadows , near the ramparts, where they could have breached with enough space to work. These elite soldiers also built additional palisades and trap pits that would be essential during

3840-415: The confined space hindered their return to the city. More rain fell on 11 October, and with the Ottomans failing to breach the walls, the prospect of victory began to fade. In addition, Suleiman was facing critical shortages of food, water and other supplies, while casualties, sickness, and desertions began to take their toll. The janissaries began voicing their displeasure at the lack of progress, demanding

3920-416: The control of the Ottoman vassal John Zápolya , strengthening the Ottoman position in Hungary. The campaign left behind a trail of collateral damage in neighbouring Habsburg Hungary and Austria that impaired Ferdinand's capacity to mount a sustained counter-attack. However, Suleiman failed to force Ferdinand to engage him in open battle, and was thus unable to enforce his ideological claim to superiority over

4000-401: The country forced Tomori to lean on his own bishopric revenues when he started to repair and reinforce the second line of Hungary's border defense system. ( Pétervárad would fall to the Turks on July 15, 1526, due to the chronic lack of castle garrisons.) Three years later, an Ottoman army set out from Constantinople on 16 April 1526, led by Suleiman the Magnificent personally. The Danube River

4080-401: The country to Ottoman advances, rather than directly engaging the Ottoman army in open battle. The Hungarian war council – without waiting for reinforcements from Croatia and Transylvania only a few days march away – made a serious tactical error by choosing the battlefield near Mohács, an open but uneven plain with some swampy marshes. Fichtner writes that before the Battle of Mohács, there was

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4160-547: The difficult conditions, were lost in large numbers. Sickness and poor health became common among the janissaries, claiming many lives along the perilous journey. Suleiman arrived in Osijek on 6 August. On the 18th he reached the Mohács plain , to be greeted by a substantial cavalry force led by John Zápolya (which would later accompany Suleiman to Vienna), who paid him homage and helped him recapture several fortresses lost since

4240-410: The digging and mining of tunnels below the city's walls by Ottoman sappers , in one case almost capturing Ibrahim Pasha . The defending forces detected and successfully detonated several mines that had been intended to breach the walls. On 6 October, 8,000 men were dispatched to attack the Ottoman mining operations. They succeeded in destroying many of the tunnels, but they sustained heavy losses when

4320-643: The end of the First World War, the territory of German-West Hungary was given to Austria by the Treaties of St. Germain and Trianon . Since 1921, the town has belonged to the newly founded State of Burgenland . Frauenkirchen was once one of the so-called seven communities ( Siebengemeinden ) of Jews in Burgenland. The Jews of Burgenland (along with the Roma and Sinti) were persecuted and wiped out by

4400-710: The expense of the country's ability to defend itself. Vladislaus became the magnates ' helpless "prisoner"; he could make no decision without their consent. Europe's largest standing mercenary army (the Black Army ) of Matthias Corvinus was dissolved by the aristocracy. The magnates also dismantled the national administration systems and bureaucracy throughout the country. The country's defenses sagged as border-guards and castle garrisons went unpaid, fortresses fell into disrepair, and initiatives to increase taxes to reinforce defenses were stifled. Hungary's international role declined, its political stability shaken; social progress

4480-437: The king, some 1,000 other Hungarian nobles and leaders were also killed. It is generally accepted that more than 14,000 Hungarian soldiers were killed in the initial battle. Suleiman could not believe that this small, suicidal army was all that the once powerful country could muster against him, so he waited at Mohacs for a few days before moving cautiously against Buda. On 31 August, 2,000 Hungarian prisoners were massacred on

4560-595: The most modest parish had to turn to the merchants of Augsburg." The Fugger family controlled the distribution of the Roman Catholic Church's indulgences , which, among other reasons, soon led to an international scandal and then to strong social unrest. After 1517, European public opinion became increasingly preoccupied and divided by the Reformation launched by Martin Luther. The religious upheaval

4640-468: The need for additional support or rest". This method was later adopted by the Chinese , with writer Zhao Shizhen deeming Turkish muskets superior to European ones. Volley fire with matchlocks was also first used in this battle by Janissaries . The Ottomans deployed the largest field artillery of the era, comprising some 300 cannons, while the Hungarians had only 85 cannons, though even this number

4720-488: The newly installed Turkish garrisons. In 1523, Archbishop Pál Tomori , a valiant priest-soldier, was made captain of Southern Hungary. In Europe, especially in Germany, negative trends had started to unfold. The Fuggers, who had taken control of the finances, "by around 1503 had a veritable monopoly of 'favoritism' in Germany, Hungary, Poland and Scandinavia, to the extent that any priest who wanted to get access to even

4800-490: The onset. The spring rains that are characteristic of south-eastern Europe and the Balkans were particularly heavy that year, causing flooding in Bulgaria and rendering parts of the route used by the army barely passable. Many large-calibre cannons and artillery pieces became hopelessly mired or bogged down, leaving Suleiman no choice but to abandon them, while camels brought from the empire's Eastern provinces, not used to

4880-408: The other half still belonged to the traditional archery. The Ottomans have no numerical superiority regarding to handheld firearms during the battle of Mohács. During the battle, the Ottomans utilised the firearm kneeling position, the first of its kind , with 200 tüfenks ( muskets ) forming "nine consecutive rows and they fired their weapons row by row" in a "kneeling or standing position without

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4960-606: The seriousness or immediacy of the Turkish threat. It was possible that Louis based his confidence on the assurances of John Zápolya and his supporters, who promised to help. Magnates who feared Habsburg interference desired a total Hungarian effort to either contain (militarily or diplomatically) or reach a truce with the Porte. The Ottomans had advanced toward Mohács almost unopposed. While Louis waited in Buda, they had besieged several towns ( Petervarad , Ujlak , and Eszek ), and crossed

5040-504: The siege and ordered a withdrawal to Constantinople. With unusually heavy snowfall, conditions deteriorated. The Ottoman retreat was hampered by muddy roads along which their horses and camels struggled to pass. Pursuing Austrian horsemen took many stragglers prisoner, although there was no Austrian counter-attack. The Ottomans reached Buda on 26 October, Belgrade on 10 November and their destination, Constantinople, on 16 December. Some historians speculate that Suleiman's final assault

5120-494: The siege. The Hofmeister of Austria , Wilhelm von Roggendorf , assumed charge of the defensive garrison, with operational command entrusted to a seventy-year-old German mercenary named Nicholas, Count of Salm , who had distinguished himself at the Battle of Pavia in 1525. Salm arrived in Vienna as head of the mercenary relief force and set about fortifying the three-hundred-year-old walls surrounding St. Stephen's Cathedral , near which he established his headquarters. To ensure

5200-619: The spring of 1529, Suleiman mustered a large army in Ottoman Bulgaria , with the aim of securing control over all of Hungary at his new borders by Ferdinand I and the Holy Roman Empire . Estimates of Suleiman's army vary widely from 120,000 to more than 300,000 men, as mentioned by various chroniclers. As well as numerous units of Sipahi , the elite mounted force of the Ottoman cavalry , and thousands of janissaries ,

5280-487: The tribulations of the long march through the worst of the wet season. Of those fit to fight, a third were Sipahis , ill-suited for siege warfare. Three richly dressed Austrian prisoners were dispatched as emissaries by the Sultan to negotiate the city's surrender; Salm sent three richly dressed Muslims back without a response. As the Ottoman army settled into position, the Austrian garrison launched sorties to disrupt

5360-555: The troops of the Habsburg Holy Roman Emperor, Charles V . After several months in prison, Francis I was forced to sign the Treaty of Madrid . In a watershed moment in European diplomacy, Francis formed a formal Franco-Ottoman alliance with Sultan Suleiman the Magnificent as an ally against Charles V. The French-Ottoman strategic, and sometimes tactical, alliance lasted for about three centuries. To relieve

5440-489: The unified leadership that the ban had held until that time. Alfred Kohler opines that the coordination effort attempted by Ferdinand, Mary and Louis failed because the young Hungarian king showed a lack of vigour, which was also recognized by Hungarian nobles. Mary, on the other hand, was much more decisive and vigorous, but the non-Hungarian advisors she relied on created distrust. The Hungarians had long opposed Ottoman expansion in southeastern Europe, but in 1521

5520-579: The vacant Hungarian throne. Ferdinand won recognition only in western Hungary; a noble called John Zápolya , from a power-base in Transylvania , challenged him for the crown and was recognised as king by Suleiman in return for accepting vassal status within the Ottoman Empire. Thus Hungary became divided into three zones: Royal Hungary , Ottoman Hungary and the Principality of Transylvania , an arrangement which persisted until 1700. Following

5600-408: Was an extremely important transport route for the Ottoman army in the region, so it was clear to everyone that the Ottoman army would follow the line of the Danube. For about 400 km (250 mi) along the banks of the Danube between Pétervárad and Buda there was no single Hungarian fortification, town, or even a village of any sort. The Hungarian nobles, who still did not realize the magnitude of

5680-410: Was an unprecedentedly huge and costly military force by contemporary European standards. The opinion of the papal legate in the Hungarian royal court, January of 1524 I note that by raising an army of 60,000, the Hungarian government effectively scored an 'own goal', losing numerous financial supporters from Western Europe. Even the papal legate, by the end of January 1524, denied the disbursement of

5760-418: Was being besieged, he summoned his estates and proposed sending troops to Hungary. In the end, 2,000 German infantry troops were sent. From 1522 to the 1526 defeat at Mohács, field troops from Austria frequently arrived but were not placed into fortresses at the border as regular garrisons yet. Even though this military aid purportedly strengthened this area of the border, it had the undesired effect of dissolving

5840-773: Was compounded by the German Peasants' War of 1524–1526, which mobilised considerable forces and, in addition to the material damage, caused more than 100,000 deaths. Between 1521 and 1526, the Western European powers were preoccupied with the current episode of the Italian wars (which lasted from 1494 to 1559, with minor interruptions). France first sought allies in Eastern Europe against Holy Roman Emperor Charles V. French envoy Antonio Rincon visited Poland and Hungary several times between 1522 and 1525. After

5920-477: Was deadlocked. The arrival of Protestantism further worsened internal relations in the country. In 1514, the weakened and old King Vladislaus II faced a major peasant rebellion led by György Dózsa , which was ruthlessly crushed by the nobles , led by John Zápolya . After the Dózsa Rebellion, the brutal suppression of the peasants greatly aided the 1526 Turkish invasion as the Hungarians were no longer

6000-597: Was fought on 29 August 1526 near Mohács , Kingdom of Hungary , between the forces of the Kingdom of Hungary and its allies, led by Louis II , and those of the Ottoman Empire , led by Suleiman the Magnificent . The Ottoman victory led to the partition of Hungary for several centuries between the Ottoman Empire, the Habsburg monarchy , and the Principality of Transylvania . Further, the death of Louis II as he fled

6080-475: Was greater than other contemporary Western European armies deployed on the battlefields during the major conflicts of Western European powers. The Hungarian deployment for battle consisted of two lines. The first had a center of mercenary infantry and artillery and the majority of the cavalry on either flank. The second was a mix of levy infantry and cavalry. The rest of the Ottoman force consisted of feudal Timarli cavalry and conscripted levies from Rumelia and

6160-406: Was later adopted by the Chinese , with writer Zhao Shizhen deeming Turkish muskets superior to European ones. Volley fire with matchlocks was also first used in this battle by Janissaries . It has been argumented that the size of the Ottoman army was the main reason for the defeat of the well-armed Hungarian army, which could not withstand an enemy three times its size. After the death of

6240-649: Was not necessarily intended to take the city but to cause as much damage as possible and weaken it for a later attack, a tactic he had employed at Buda in 1526. Suleiman would lead another campaign against Vienna in 1532, but it never truly materialised as his force was stalled by the Croatian Captain Nikola Jurišić during the siege of Güns (Kőszeg). Nikola Jurišić with only 700–800 Croatian soldiers managed to delay his force until winter closed in. Charles V, now largely aware of Vienna's vulnerability and weakened state, assembled 80,000 troops to confront

6320-524: Was the first attempt by the Ottoman Empire to capture the city of Vienna in the Archduchy of Austria , part of the Holy Roman Empire . Suleiman the Magnificent , sultan of the Ottomans, attacked the city with over 100,000 men, while the defenders, led by Niklas Graf Salm , numbered no more than 21,000. Nevertheless, Vienna was able to survive the siege, which ultimately lasted just over two weeks, from 27 September to 15 October, 1529. The siege came in

6400-443: Was to assert Ottoman control over all of Hungary, including the western part (known as Royal Hungary ) that was then still under Habsburg control. Some scholars suggest Suleiman intended to use Hungary as a staging ground for further invasion of Europe. The failure of the siege of Vienna marked the beginning of 150 years of bitter military tension between the Habsburgs and Ottomans, punctuated by reciprocal attacks, and culminating in

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