The Battle of Tahtalu/Užice was a land battle that took place between the forces of the Ottoman Empire and the Kingdom of Hungary in 1458.

Background

Following turmoil in the Serbian Despotate after the deaths of the Serbian rulers

Đurađ Branković Đurađ Vuković Branković ( sr-Cyrl, Ђурађ Вуковић Бранковић, ; 1377 – 24 December 1456) served as the Serbian Despot from 1427 to 1456, making him one of the final rulers of medieval Serbia. In 1429, Branković was form ...

on 24 December 1456 and his successor

Lazar Branković Lazar Branković ( sr-cyr, Лазар Бранковић; – 20 February 1458) was Despot of Serbia from 1456 to 1458. He was the third son of Despot Đurađ Branković and his wife, Eirene Kantakouzene. He died without sons, and was succeed ...

(who swore allegiance to

Mehmed II Mehmed II (; , ; 30 March 14323 May 1481), commonly known as Mehmed the Conqueror (; ), was twice the sultan of the Ottoman Empire from August 1444 to September 1446 and then later from February 1451 to May 1481. In Mehmed II's first reign, ...

in 1457) on 20 February 1458, Mehmed decided to send an army under the command of the Grand Vizier Mahmud Pasha to Serbia while he was campaigning in the Peloponnese. Mahmud Pasha added Güzelcehisar, Sivricehisar ( Ostrvica), Böğürdelen (

Šabac Šabac ( sr-Cyrl, Шабац, ) is a List of cities in Serbia, city and the administrative centre of the Mačva District in western Serbia. The traditional centre of the fertile Mačva region, Šabac is located on the right banks of the river ...

), and Rudnik to Ottoman lands. The Ottoman army would continue its conquests and capture Güvercinlik (

Golubac Golubac ( sr-Cyrl, Голубац, ; ) is a village and municipality located in the Braničevo District of eastern Serbia. Situated on the right side of the Danube river, it is bordered by Romania to the east, Veliko Gradište to the west and ...

) in mid-August. Mahmud then conducted a raid north of the

Danube The Danube ( ; see also #Names and etymology, other names) is the List of rivers of Europe#Longest rivers, second-longest river in Europe, after the Volga in Russia. It flows through Central and Southeastern Europe, from the Black Forest sou ...

into the

Kingdom of Hungary The Kingdom of Hungary was a monarchy in Central Europe that existed for nearly a millennium, from 1000 to 1946 and was a key part of the Habsburg monarchy from 1526-1918. The Principality of Hungary emerged as a Christian kingdom upon the Coro ...

. Following this, the Grand Vizier came to

Skopje Skopje ( , ; ; , sq-definite, Shkupi) is the capital and largest city of North Macedonia. It lies in the northern part of the country, in the Skopje Basin, Skopje Valley along the Vardar River, and is the political, economic, and cultura ...

and met with Mehmed II, who had returned from the Peloponnese Expedition.

Battle

During the meeting between Mahmud Pasha and the Sultan, reports were received about a Hungarian army (led by Matthias Corvinus according to some Ottoman sources) assembling near the Danube to launch an offensive on Ottoman lands. The Hungarians waited until the onset of autumn (when a part of the Ottoman forces would annually disband following the end of the summer campaign season) to launch their offensive, a tactic commonly employed by

John Hunyadi John Hunyadi (; ; ; ; ; – 11 August 1456) was a leading Kingdom of Hungary, Hungarian military and political figure during the 15th century, who served as Regent of Hungary, regent of the Kingdom of Hungary (1301–1526), Kingdom of Hungary ...

. The Pasha and Mehmed the Conqueror ensured that some units were kept under arms instead of being disbanded in case the Hungarian army attacked before winter set in after the Ottomans withdrew. During autumn, the Hungarian army under the command of Corvinus crossed the Danube near Belgrade and entered Ottoman lands in

Serbia , image_flag = Flag of Serbia.svg , national_motto = , image_coat = Coat of arms of Serbia.svg , national_anthem = () , image_map = , map_caption = Location of Serbia (gree ...

. The Ottoman troops in the region were ordered to report on the invading army's activities and location. The invaders soon marched on the Ottoman castle of Tahtalu (near Drvengrad) in the Mokra Gora -

Užice Užice ( sr-cyr, Ужице, ) is a List of cities in Serbia, city and the administrative centre of the Zlatibor District in western Serbia. It is located on the banks of the river Đetinja. According to the 2022 census, the city proper has a popu ...

region and began to plunder the surrounding areas. In the course of their plundering, the Hungarian troops spread out over a large area, not expecting the presence of Ottoman troops in the region. This caused them to lose contact with each other, which enabled the local Ottoman forces to ambush them. The Hungarian army suffered heavy casualties and was forced to retreat back to Hungary. Following the victory, during which a significant number of Hungarian troops and commanders had been captured as prisoners, the local Ottoman troops were disbanded as was customary. Mehmed and Veli Mahmud Pasha then returned to

Edirne Edirne (; ), historically known as Orestias, Adrianople, is a city in Turkey, in the northwestern part of the Edirne Province, province of Edirne in Eastern Thrace. Situated from the Greek and from the Bulgarian borders, Edirne was the second c ...

in December 1458.

Aftermath

The Battle of Tahtalu, although not a military engagement directly won by the main Ottoman army, was a significant development in the history of the

Despotate of Serbia The Serbian Despotate () was a medieval Serbian state in the first half of the 15th century. Although the Battle of Kosovo in 1389 is mistakenly considered the end of medieval Serbia, the Despotate, a successor of the Serbian Empire and Moravian ...

, as it paved the way for the Despotate's annexation by the Ottoman Empire the following year. Since Helena, the Despotess of Serbia and the widow of

, did not want the Orthodox Serbian people to be under the command of Catholic Hungarians, she handed Smederevo Castle to the Ottomans in 1459, bringing the Serbian Despotate to an end.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Uzice 1458 1450s in the Ottoman Empire Conflicts in 1458 15th century in the Ottoman Empire Military history of Serbia Battles involving Hungary Battles involving Hungary in the Middle Ages 15th century in Hungary Battles involving the Ottoman Empire Battles of Mehmed II Battles of the Hungarian–Ottoman Wars 1458 in Europe