The Battle of Zernest was fought on 11 August 1690, near the town of Zernest in southeastern

Transylvania Transylvania ( ro, Ardeal or ; hu, Erdély; german: Siebenbürgen) is a historical and cultural region in Central Europe, encompassing central Romania. To the east and south its natural border is the Carpathian Mountains, and to the west the Ap ...

(today

Zărnești Zărnești (; german: link=no, Molkendorf, Zernescht; hu, Zernest) is a town in Brașov County, Transylvania, Romania, with a population of 21,681. It administers one village, Tohanu Nou (''Neu-Tohan''; ''Újtohán''). It is located near the ...

, in

Romania Romania ( ; ro, România ) is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern, and Southeast Europe, Southeastern Europe. It borders Bulgaria to the south, Ukraine to the north, Hungary to the west, S ...

), between the allied forces of Transylvania and the

Holy Roman Empire The Holy Roman Empire was a Polity, political entity in Western Europe, Western, Central Europe, Central, and Southern Europe that developed during the Early Middle Ages and continued until its Dissolution of the Holy Roman Empire, dissolution i ...

, and the allied forces of the

Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire, * ; is an archaic version. The definite article forms and were synonymous * and el, Оθωμανική Αυτοκρατορία, Othōmanikē Avtokratoria, label=none * info page on book at Martin Luther University) ...

, Tatar allies,

Wallachia Wallachia or Walachia (; ro, Țara Românească, lit=The Romanian Land' or 'The Romanian Country, ; archaic: ', Romanian Cyrillic alphabet: ) is a historical and geographical region of Romania. It is situated north of the Lower Danube and so ...

ns, and Hungarian Kurucs.

The Battle

Imre Thököly Imre is a Hungarian masculine first name, which is also in Estonian use, where the corresponding name day is 10 April. It has been suggested that it relates to the name Emeric, Emmerich or Heinrich. Its English equivalents are Emery and Henry. ...

aspired to proclaim himself

Prince of Transylvania The Prince of Transylvania ( hu, erdélyi fejedelem, german: Fürst von Siebenbürgen, la, princeps Transsylvaniae, ro, principele TransilvanieiFallenbüchl 1988, p. 77.) was the head of state of the Principality of Transylvania from the last d ...

; allied with the Turks, he had campaigned unsuccessfully in 1686 and 1688 to win the Transylvanian crown. In 1690 he launched another campaign. The

Sultan Sultan (; ar, سلطان ', ) 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 ...

gave him command of a 16,000-men (mostly Ottomans, Tatars, and some Kurucs) army with which he penetrated into Transylvania. He was later joined by Wallachian

Voivode Voivode (, also spelled ''voievod'', ''voevod'', ''voivoda'', ''vojvoda'' or ''wojewoda'') is a title denoting a military leader or warlord in Central, Southeastern and Eastern Europe since the Early Middle Ages. It primarily referred to the me ...

Constantin Brâncoveanu Constantin Brâncoveanu (; 1654 – August 15, 1714) was Prince of Wallachia between 1688 and 1714. Biography Ascension A descendant of the Craiovești boyar family and heir through his grandfather Preda of a considerable part of Matei Ba ...

with a few thousand troops. Brâncoveanu was the true master-mind of the campaign and managed to pass the Ottoman army through the Carpathians on barely known mountain-passes and so bypassing the Bran Pass which was defended and fortified by the Imperial army. Donat Heissler was as such forced to give battle near the city of Zărnești. In the battle fought near this city, the combined Ottoman army decisively defeated the united Habsburg–Transylvanian army and captured Donat Heissler. Transylvanian count

Mihály Teleki Mihály () is a Hungarian masculine given name, It is a cognate of the English Michael and may refer to: * Mihály András (1917–1993), Hungarian cellist, composer, and academic teacher * Mihály Apafi (1632–1690), Hungarian Prince of Transyl ...

was killed in action. Following this victory, a Diet called in Kereszténysziget elected

Prince of Transylvania. Nevertheless, he could only maintain his position against the Habsburg armies with the utmost difficulty. In 1691 he quit Transylvania altogether.

Effect

Though Imre Thököly's reign was short-lived, it forced the Imperial army to move troops from

Serbia Serbia (, ; Serbian language, Serbian: , , ), officially the Republic of Serbia (Serbian language, Serbian: , , ), is a landlocked country in Southeast Europe, Southeastern and Central Europe, situated at the crossroads of the Pannonian Bas ...

to take back Transylvania, as from Transylvania, Hungary and the Imperial supply and communication lines could have been attacked. This movement of troops made it possible for the Ottomans to push the Holy League's army back across the

Danube The Danube ( ; ) is a river that was once a long-standing frontier of the Roman Empire and today connects 10 European countries, running through their territories or being a border. Originating in Germany, the Danube flows southeast for , pa ...

and even recapture the

Banat Banat (, ; hu, Bánság; sr, Банат, Banat) is a geographical and historical region that straddles Central and Eastern Europe and which is currently divided among three countries: the eastern part lies in western Romania (the counties of T ...

. As a result, a stable front was made on the Danube river and on the

Carpathian Mountains The Carpathian Mountains or Carpathians () are a range of mountains forming an arc across Central Europe. Roughly long, it is the third-longest European mountain range after the Urals at and the Scandinavian Mountains at . The range stretches ...

Sources

Enciclopedia RomanieiTudorduic Transsylvanica
{{DEFAULTSORT:Batocina Zernest Zernest Zernest Zernest 1690 in Europe History of Transylvania (1683–1848) 1690 in the Ottoman Empire Zernest Zărnești