Siege of Belgrade (1456)

This article is about the 1456 siege of Belgrade. For other uses, see Siege of Belgrade.

Siege of Belgrade (Nándorfehérvár)
Part of the Ottoman wars in Europe
Ottoman-Hungarian Wars

Ottoman miniature of the siege of Belgrade, 1456
Date4–22 July 1456
Location
Nándorfehérvár, (1427–1521) in Kingdom of Hungary (present-day Belgrade, Serbia)
Result Hungarian and Serbian victory
Belligerents
Kingdom of Hungary
Serbian Despotate		 Ottoman Empire
Commanders and leaders
 Mehmed II (WIA)
Zagan Pasha
Mahmud Pasha
Karaca Pasha †
Strength
7,000 Castle defenders of Michael Szilágyi[1][2]
10,000–12,000 Professional army of John Hunyadi (mostly cavalry)[3][1]
A motley army about 30,000–60,000 recruited Crusaders (with only some professional units)[4][5][1]
200 boats (only 1 galley)[2][6]
40 boats from the city[2]
Artillery[2]		 30,000;[7] 60,000;[8] higher estimates of 100,000[9][10]
21–200 vessels[7]
300 cannons (22 large ones), 7 siege engines (2 mortars)[4]
Casualties and losses
Unknown 13,000 men[11]
200 galleys[3]
300 cannons[3]

The siege of Belgrade, or siege of Nándorfehérvár (Hungarian: Nándorfehérvár ostroma or nándorfehérvári diadal, lit. "Triumph of Nándorfehérvár"; Serbian Cyrillic: Опсада Београда, romanized: Opsada Beograda) was a military blockade of Belgrade that occurred 4–22 July 1456 in the aftermath of the fall of Constantinople in 1453 marking the Ottomans' attempts to expand further into Europe. Led by Sultan Mehmed II, the Ottoman forces sought to capture the strategic city of Belgrade (Hungarian: Nándorfehérvár), which was then under Hungarian control and was crucial for maintaining control over the Danube River and the Balkans.

The Hungarian defenders, under the leadership of John Hunyadi, who had garrisoned and strengthened the fortress city at his own expense, put up a determined resistance against the larger Ottoman army. The siege lasted for several weeks, during which both sides suffered heavy losses. The defenders used innovative tactics, including the use of heavy artillery and firearms, to repel the Ottoman assaults. Hunyadi's relief force destroyed a Turkish flotilla on 14 July 1456 before repulsing their large scale assault to capture the city on 21 July. Wounded Mehmed II was compelled to lift the siege and retreat on 22 July 1456. This victory boosted the morale of European Christian forces and was seen as a turning point in their efforts as it provided a crucial buffer and temporarily halted Ottoman expansion in Europe.

John Hunyadi's successful defence of Belgrade earned him widespread acclaim and respect as a military leader though he died of the plague a few weeks later. The Ottomans would continue their expansion in other directions, and the struggle between the Ottoman Empire and European powers persisted for centuries. The battle's significance also extended beyond its immediate aftermath, as it demonstrated the importance of firearms and artillery in warfare, heralding a new era in military technology and tactics.

  1. ^ a b c Tarján M., Tamás. "A nándorfehérvári diadal" [Triumph of Nándorfehérvár]. Rubicon (Hungarian Historical Information Dissemination) (in Hungarian).
  2. ^ a b c d Bánlaky, József. "Az 1456. évi országgyűlés határozatai. Események és intézkedések magyar részről Nándorfehérvár ostromának megkezdéséig." [Resolutions of the Parliament of 1456. Events and Measures on the Hungarian Side Until the Beginning of the Siege of Belgrade.]. A magyar nemzet hadtörténelme [The Military History of the Hungarian Nation] (in Hungarian). Budapest.
  3. ^ a b c Tom R. Kovach (August 1996). "The 1456 Siege of Belgrade". Military History. 13 (3): 34. Retrieved March 6, 2015.
  4. ^ a b Bánlaky, József. "Nándorfehérvár ostroma" [The Siege of Belgrade]. A magyar nemzet hadtörténelme [The Military History of the Hungarian Nation] (in Hungarian). Budapest.
  5. ^ Kenneth M. Setton (1984). The Papacy and the Levant, 1204–1571, Vol. 3: The Sixteenth Century to the Reign of Julius III. p. 177. ISBN 978-0871691613.
  6. ^ Stanford J. Shaw (1976). History of the Ottoman Empire and modern Turkey, Volume 1, Empire of the Gazis: The Rise and Decline of the Ottoman Empire 1280–1808. p. 63. ISBN 978-0521291637.
  7. ^ a b Cite error: The named reference papacy was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  8. ^ André Clot, Mehmed the Conqueror, pp. 102–103
  9. ^ Andrew Ayton; Leslie Price (1998). "The Military Revolution from a Medieval Perspective". The Medieval Military Revolution: State, Society and Military Change in Medieval and Early Modern Society. London: I.B. Tauris. ISBN 1-86064-353-1. Archived from the original on November 12, 2010. Retrieved October 1, 2010.
  10. ^ John Julius Norwich (1982). A History of Venice. Lecture Notes in Mathematics 1358. New York: Alfred B. Knopf. p. 269. ISBN 0-679-72197-5.
  11. ^ Housley 1992, p. 104.