The Habsburg–Ottoman war of 1540–1547 was a conflict between the

Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire (), also called the Turkish Empire, was an empire, imperial realm that controlled much of Southeast Europe, West Asia, and North Africa from the 14th to early 20th centuries; it also controlled parts of southeastern Centr ...

and the

Habsburg monarchy The Habsburg monarchy, also known as Habsburg Empire, or Habsburg Realm (), was the collection of empires, kingdoms, duchies, counties and other polities (composite monarchy) that were ruled by the House of Habsburg. From the 18th century it is ...

supported by their

vassal A vassal or liege subject is a person regarded as having a mutual obligation to a lord or monarch, in the context of the feudal system in medieval Europe. While the subordinate party is called a vassal, the dominant party is called a suzerain ...

s. The war ended in Ottoman victory in 1547 after signing the peace of Edirne.

Background

The

, under the reign of

Sultan Sultan (; ', ) 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 came to be use ...

Suleiman the Magnificent Suleiman I (; , ; 6 November 14946 September 1566), commonly known as Suleiman the Magnificent in the Western world and as Suleiman the Lawgiver () in his own realm, was the List of sultans of the Ottoman Empire, Ottoman sultan between 1520 a ...

, had emerged as a formidable force stretching across

Asia Asia ( , ) is the largest continent in the world by both land area and population. It covers an area of more than 44 million square kilometres, about 30% of Earth's total land area and 8% of Earth's total surface area. The continent, which ...

Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent after Asia. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 20% of Earth's land area and 6% of its total surfac ...

, and

Europe Europe is a continent located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and Asia to the east ...

. With a military prowess that struck fear into the hearts of its adversaries, the Ottomans set their sights on expanding deeper into

Central Europe Central Europe is a geographical region of Europe between Eastern Europe, Eastern, Southern Europe, Southern, Western Europe, Western and Northern Europe, Northern Europe. Central Europe is known for its cultural diversity; however, countries in ...

. In contrast, the

Habsburg Monarchy The Habsburg monarchy, also known as Habsburg Empire, or Habsburg Realm (), was the collection of empires, kingdoms, duchies, counties and other polities (composite monarchy) that were ruled by the House of Habsburg. From the 18th century it is ...

, led by

Emperor The word ''emperor'' (from , via ) can mean the male ruler of an empire. ''Empress'', the female equivalent, may indicate an emperor's wife (empress consort), mother/grandmother (empress dowager/grand empress dowager), or a woman who rules ...

Charles V Charles V may refer to: Kings and Emperors * Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor (1500–1558) * Charles V of Naples (1661–1700), better known as Charles II of Spain * Charles V of France (1338–1380), called the Wise Others * Charles V, Duke ...

, stood as a sprawling conglomerate of territories, with the Kingdom of Hungary becoming the crucible of imperial competition. Religious fault lines further fueled the conflict, as the Ottoman Empire, a

Sunni Sunni Islam is the largest branch of Islam and the largest religious denomination in the world. It holds that Muhammad did not appoint any successor and that his closest companion Abu Bakr () rightfully succeeded him as the caliph of the Mu ...

Islamic power, clashed with the predominantly

Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

Habsburgs. 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 ...

, a diverse region home to various religious and ethnic groups, became the epicenter of this religious and geopolitical tug-of-war.

War

The initial stages of the war were marked by a series of skirmishes and border conflicts, with both empires jockeying for strategic advantage. The Battle of Güns in 1537 set the stage, as Ottoman forces, led by

Grand Vizier Grand vizier (; ; ) was the title of the effective head of government of many sovereign states in the Islamic world. It was first held by officials in the later Abbasid Caliphate. It was then held in the Ottoman Empire, the Mughal Empire, the Soko ...

Rüstem Pasha Rüstem Pasha (; ; 1505 – 10 July 1561) was an Ottoman statesman who served as Grand Vizier to Sultan Süleyman the Magnificent. Rüstem Pasha is also known as Damat Rüstem Pasha (the epithet ''damat'' meaning 'son-in-law') as a result of ...

, clashed with the

Habsburgs The House of Habsburg (; ), also known as the House of Austria, was one of the most powerful dynasties in the history of Europe and Western civilization. They were best known for their inbreeding and for ruling vast realms throughout Europe d ...

, led by

Nikola Šubić Zrinski Nikola IV Zrinski or Miklós IV Zrínyi (, ; 1507/1508 – 7 September 1566), also commonly known as Nikola Šubić Zrinski (), was a Croatian- Hungarian nobleman and general, Ban of Croatia from 1542 until 1556, royal master of the treasury ...

. These early engagements highlighted the intricate dance of military tactics, with Ottoman

artillery Artillery consists of ranged weapons that launch Ammunition, munitions far beyond the range and power of infantry firearms. Early artillery development focused on the ability to breach defensive walls and fortifications during sieges, and l ...

and

Janissary A janissary (, , ) was a member of the elite infantry units that formed the Ottoman sultan's household troops. They were the first modern standing army, and perhaps the first infantry force in the world to be equipped with firearms, adopted dur ...

infantry confronting

Habsburg The House of Habsburg (; ), also known as the House of Austria, was one of the most powerful dynasties in the history of Europe and Western civilization. They were best known for their inbreeding and for ruling vast realms throughout Europe d ...

Landsknechts The (singular: , ), also rendered as Landsknechts or Lansquenets, were German mercenaries used in pike and shot formations during the early modern period. Consisting predominantly of pikemen and supporting foot soldiers, their front line was f ...

and innovative

infantry Infantry, or infantryman are a type of soldier who specialize in ground combat, typically fighting dismounted. Historically the term was used to describe foot soldiers, i.e. those who march and fight on foot. In modern usage, the term broadl ...

formations.

Fall of Buda

The army of

occupied the castle of

Buda Buda (, ) is the part of Budapest, the capital city of Hungary, that lies on the western bank of the Danube. Historically, “Buda” referred only to the royal walled city on Castle Hill (), which was constructed by Béla IV between 1247 and ...

on 29 August 1541.Garnier, p.200 In fact, the Turks had decided to seize the capital of Hungary because King

John Zápolya John Zápolya or Szapolyai (; ; ; ; 1487 – 22 July 1540), was King of Hungary (as John I) from 1526 to 1540. His rule was disputed by Archduke Ferdinand I, Holy Roman Emperor, Ferdinand I, who also claimed the title King of Hungary. He wa ...

died and his newborn son, János Zsigmond was under the care of Queen Isabela who was attempting to side with the Habsburgs. Suleiman didn’t trust her and after defeating the

army that was besieging Buda, he marched into the castle in order to oppose the Habsburgs’ future attacks. The Siege of Esztergom followed the failed attempt by

Ferdinand I of Austria Ferdinand I ( 19 April 1793 – 29 June 1875) was Emperor of Austria from March 1835 until his abdication in December 1848. He was also King of Hungary, King of Croatia, Croatia and King of Bohemia, Bohemia (as Ferdinand V), King of Lombardy– ...

to recapture

in 1542 However, Suleiman refrained from moving further on to

Vienna Vienna ( ; ; ) is the capital city, capital, List of largest cities in Austria, most populous city, and one of Federal states of Austria, nine federal states of Austria. It is Austria's primate city, with just over two million inhabitants. ...

this time, apparently because he had no news of the campaigns of his French allies in western Europe and in the Mediterranean.İpçioğlu, Mehmet
"Kanuni Süleyman'ın Estergon (Esztergom) Seferi 1543."
Osmanlı Araştırmaları 10, no. 10 (1990).

Fall of Székesfehérvár

In April 1543 Suleiman launched another campaign in Hungary, bringing back Bran and other forts so that much of Hungary was under Ottoman control. As part of a

Franco-Ottoman alliance The Franco-Ottoman alliance, also known as the Franco-Turkish alliance, was an alliance established in 1536 between Francis I of France, Francis I, King of France and Suleiman the Magnificent, Suleiman I of the Ottoman Empire. The strategic and s ...

, French troops were supplied to the Ottomans in Hungary; a French artillery unit was dispatched in 1543–1544 and attached to the

Ottoman Army The Military of the Ottoman Empire () was the armed forces of the Ottoman Empire. It was founded in 1299 and dissolved in 1922. Army The Military of the Ottoman Empire can be divided in five main periods. The foundation era covers the years ...

. In August 1543, the Ottoman succeeded in the siege of Esztergom The siege was followed by the capture of the Hungarian coronation city of

Székesfehérvár Székesfehérvár (; ; ; ; Serbian language, Serbian: ''Стони Београд''; ), known colloquially as Fehérvár (), is a city in central Hungary, and the country's ninth-largest city. It is the Regions of Hungary, regional capital of C ...

in September 1543. Other cities that were captured during this campaign were

Siklós Siklós ( sh-Latn-Cyrl, separator=/, Šikloš, Шиклош) is the 4th largest town in Baranya county, Hungary. The Malkocs Bey Mosque was built by the order of the Malkoçoğlu family. Ottoman conquest During Sultân Süleymân's 1543 campa ...

and

Szeged Szeged ( , ; see also #Etymology, other alternative names) is List of cities and towns of Hungary#Largest cities in Hungary, the third largest city of Hungary, the largest city and regional centre of the Southern Great Plain and the county seat ...

, in order to better protect

. However, continuous delay of the push toward the west, because of the siege of these fortresses, meant that the Ottomans could not launch any new offensive against Austria. After the successful Ottoman campaign, a first truce of one year was signed with

in 1545, through the intermediary of

Francis I of France Francis I (; ; 12 September 1494 – 31 March 1547) was King of France from 1515 until his death in 1547. He was the son of Charles, Count of Angoulême, and Louise of Savoy. He succeeded his first cousin once removed and father-in-law Louis&nbs ...

. Suleiman himself was interested in ending the hostilities, as he had a campaign going on in Persia as well, the

Ottoman–Safavid War (1532–1555) The Ottoman–Safavid War of 1532–1555 was one of the many military conflicts fought between the two arch rivals, the Ottoman Empire led by Suleiman the Magnificent, and the Safavid Empire led by Tahmasp I. Ottoman territorial gains were confir ...

. In 1544, Suleiman was called east by another conflict, as war with

Persia Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI) and also known as Persia, is a country in West Asia. It borders Iraq to the west, Turkey, Azerbaijan, and Armenia to the northwest, the Caspian Sea to the north, Turkmenistan to the nort ...

resumed. However, the military superiority of the Turks prevailed even without the sultan. The army of Yahyaoğlu, Mehmed Pasha of

, together with the troops of the other

Beys Bey, also spelled as Baig, Bayg, Beigh, Beig, Bek, Baeg, Begh, or Beg, is a Turkic title for a chieftain, and a royal, aristocratic title traditionally applied to people with special lineages to the leaders or rulers of variously sized areas in ...

, was just enough to carry out further conquests in the further stages of the war. The significant military superiority of the Ottoman army is indicated by the fact that Mehmed conquered Tolna by the end of 1545, which he completed with the complete subjugation of Döbrököz and the capture of

Ozora Ozora is a village in Tolna, Hungary, Tolna, Hungary. It has been notable since the Middle Ages, when Pipo of Ozora built a castle at this site by permission of Sigismund of Hungary in 1416. Artúr Görgei won an important victory in this area a ...

Simontornya Simontornya is a town in Tolna County, Hungary Hungary is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning much of the Pannonian Basin, Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the eas ...

and Tamasi. For Imre Werbőczy, who was in charge of the defense of Tolna, this was an extremely big blow, because as a fierce enemy of the Ottomans, he used all his strength to weaken and hinder the Turkish expansion. With the loss of Tolna, he was deprived of his most important base, so from then on he could not act as effectively against the Turks as he had done before. Among Mehmed Pasha's conquests, the capture of Visegrád and the fall of

Hatvan Hatvan ( German: ''Hottwan)'' is a town in Heves County, Hungary. Hatvan is the Hungarian word for "sixty". It is the county's third most populous town following Eger and Gyöngyös. Etymology Hatvan is the Hungarian word for "sixty". It is a com ...

and Nógrád to the Turks on the other side 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 ...

should be highlighted, the guard of the former fled to

Eger Eger ( , ; ; also known by other #Names and etymology, alternative names) is the county seat of Heves County, and the second largest city in Northern Hungary (after Miskolc). A city with county rights, Eger is best known for Castle of Eger, its ...

after setting fire to the palisade, while Visegrád was given up by Péter Amádé after running out of drinking water. To raise a relief army, the 1544th Army was formed. There was not a single case of fighting in the years. Turkish attacks continued in

Croatia Croatia, officially the Republic of Croatia, is a country in Central Europe, Central and Southeast Europe, on the coast of the Adriatic Sea. It borders Slovenia to the northwest, Hungary to the northeast, Serbia to the east, Bosnia and Herze ...

. After capturing Velika, Bosnian Pasha Ulema defeated the Croatian-German troops coming to relieve him, led by

Nikola Zrinski Nikola () is a given name which, like Nicholas, is a version of the Greek ''Nikolaos'' (Νικόλαος) and it means "the winner of the people". It is common as a masculine given name in the South Slavic countries (Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulg ...

. On the Christian side, we know of only one or two successful clashes in the country. One was the battle near Somlóvásárhely, where the cavalry coming from

Győr Győr ( , ; ; names of European cities in different languages: E-H#G, names in other languages) is the main city of northwest Hungary, the capital of Győr-Moson-Sopron County and Western Transdanubia, Western Transdanubia region, and – halfwa ...

drove away the

Tatars Tatars ( )Tatar
in the Collins English Dictionary are a group of Turkic peoples across Eas ...

fighting on the side of the Sultan, and another near Szalka, where the army of the Beg of

Esztergom Esztergom (; ; or ; , known by Names of European cities in different languages: E–H#E, alternative names) is a city with county rights in northern Hungary, northwest of the capital Budapest. It lies in Komárom-Esztergom County, on the righ ...

was defeated by the illustrious armies of

György Thurzó György Thurzó (, ; 2 September 1567 – 24 December 1616) was a prominent Hungarian nobleman and Palatine of Hungary between 1609 and 1616, a position equivalent to a prime minister or viceroy, serving under the rule of the Habsburgs in the ...

.Garnier, p.201

Aftermath

The

sultan Sultan (; ', ) 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 came to be use ...

needed peace on the western front of his empire because he wanted to launch a campaign against the

Persians Persians ( ), or the Persian people (), are an Iranian ethnic group from West Asia that came from an earlier group called the Proto-Iranians, which likely split from the Indo-Iranians in 1800 BCE from either Afghanistan or Central Asia. They ...

. However, Sultan

Suleiman Suleiman (; or dictionary.reference.comsuleiman/ref>) is the Arabic name of the Jewish and Quranic king and Islam, Islamic prophet Solomon (name), Solomon. Suleiman the Magnificent (1494–1566) was the longest-reigning sultan of the Ottoman E ...

demanded a high price for peace with

Ferdinand Ferdinand is a Germanic name composed of the elements "journey, travel", Proto-Germanic , abstract noun from root "to fare, travel" (PIE , "to lead, pass over"), and "courage" or "ready, prepared" related to Old High German "to risk, ventu ...

who had to pay a humiliating sum of 30,000 gold Forints in exchange for governing Western Hungary that the sultan “mercifully ceded him”. It was much higher than the tax paid by Martinuzzi to the

Sublime Porte The Sublime Porte, also known as the Ottoman Porte or High Porte ( or ''Babıali''; ), was a synecdoche or metaphor used to refer collectively to the central government of the Ottoman Empire in Istanbul. It is particularly referred to the buildi ...

. The Treaty of Edirne originally was set for five years but Ferdinand broke it in 1549 when he made a secret treaty with Martinuzzi about taking over

Transylvania Transylvania ( or ; ; or ; Transylvanian Saxon dialect, Transylvanian Saxon: ''Siweberjen'') is a List of historical regions of Central Europe, historical and cultural region in Central Europe, encompassing central Romania. To the east and ...

. The Turks enforced their occupation of

and

Hungary Hungary is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning much of the Pannonian Basin, Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the south, Croatia and ...

, while the

archduke Archduke (feminine: Archduchess; German: ''Erzherzog'', feminine form: ''Erzherzogin'') was the title borne from 1358 by the Habsburg rulers of the Archduchy of Austria, and later by all senior members of that dynasty. It denotes a rank within ...

paid taxes for the rest of the territory. The peace gave Ferdinand some time to establish a defensive line, some kind of border fortress system, because he had no other chance of stopping the Turks.

References

{{reflist Habsburg–Ottoman wars in Hungary (1526–1568) 1540s in the Ottoman Empire 1540s in the Habsburg monarchy Wars involving Hungary Wars involving the Habsburg monarchy Wars involving the Ottoman Empire Wars involving the Holy Roman Empire Wars involving the Papal States Wars involving Moldavia Wars involving the Kingdom of France (987–1792) Wars involving Croatia Wars involving Bohemia Battles involving the Crimean Khanate Military history of the Republic of Ragusa Eastern Hungarian Kingdom Conflicts in 1540 Conflicts in 1541 Conflicts in 1542 Conflicts in 1543 Conflicts in 1544 Conflicts in 1545 Conflicts in 1546 Conflicts in 1547 Ottoman–Spanish conflicts