Siege of Eger
Part of the Ottoman wars in Europe and Ottoman-Habsburg wars
Women of Eger by Bertalan Székely
Date 1552 Location Eger, Northern Hungary Result Hungarian Victory
Combatants
Ottoman Empire	Hungarian defenders
Commanders
Ahmed Pasha and Ali Pasha	István Dobó
Strength
Between 150,000 and 200,000[1]	Approx 2,100, including civilians[2]

The 1552 Siege of Eger occurred during the 16th Century Ottoman Wars in Europe It was a major Austrian victory after a series of crushing defeats at the hands of Turkish forces and checked the Ottoman expansion into central and eastern Europe. However, it remained a small encounter in a war that the Hungarians under the Habsburg dynasty were struggling to maintain. The wars of the Ottoman Empire in Europe marked the better part of the history of southeastern Europe, notably, giving infamy to the Balkans. ... Combatants Habsburg Dynasty including: Habsburg Spain Holy Roman Empire Kingdom of Hungary Austrian Empire Non-Habsburg Allies: Tsardom of Russia Holy League Allies: Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth Republic of Venice Ottoman Turks Barbary States (Under Ottoman Protection) Crimean Khanate The Ottoman-Habsburg wars refers to the conflicts between the Ottoman Empire... Image File history File links Size of this preview: 465 × 599 pixelsFull resolution (776 × 1000 pixel, file size: 131 KB, MIME type: image/jpeg) Women of Eger by Bertalan Székely 1867 Oil on canvas, 226,5 x 176,5 cm Hungarian National Gallery, Budapest File historyClick on a date... Bertalan Szekely (May 8, 1835 - August 21, 1910) as a Hungarian Romantic painter of historical themes. ... Events April - War between Henry II of France and Emperor Charles V. Henry invades Lorraine and captures Toul, Metz, and Verdun. ... Eger - Dobó square and the castle. ... “Ottoman” redirects here. ... This article is about the Hungarian ethnic group. ... Baron István Dobó de Ruszka (c. ... Combatants Habsburg Dynasty including: Habsburg Spain Holy Roman Empire Kingdom of Hungary Austrian Empire Non-Habsburg Allies: Tsardom of Russia Holy League Allies: Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth Republic of Venice Ottoman Turks Barbary States (Under Ottoman Protection) Crimean Khanate The Ottoman-Habsburg wars refers to the conflicts between the Ottoman Empire... This article explains the more well known Battle of Mohacs of 1526. ... Combatants Austria Ottoman Turks Commanders Ferdinand I, Holy Roman Emperor John Szapolyai Strength Unknown Unknown Casualties unknown unknown Following the Battle of Mohacs the Ottomans were forced to withdraw as events elsewhere in their now massive Empire required the Sultans attention[1] Seizing upon their absence was Ferdinand I... Combatants Austria Ottoman Turks Commanders Ferdinand I, Holy Roman Emperor John Szapolyai Suleiman the Magnificent Strength Unknown, 16,000 reserve troops in Vienna[1] Over 120,000 soldiers[2] Casualties Unknown Unknown Following Ferdinand Is daring assault on Ottoman Hungary, Suleiman launched a campaign to take the Austrian capital... // Combatants Austria with Bohemian, German & Spanish mercenaries Ottoman Empire Commanders Nicholas, Graf von Salm Suleiman I Strength over 16,000 [1] 120,000 [1] Casualties Unknown Unknown The Siege of Vienna of 1529, as distinct from the Battle of Vienna in 1683, was the Ottoman Empires first attempt to... Combatants Austria Ottoman Turks Commanders Ferdinand I, Holy Roman Emperor Captain Nikola JuriÅ¡ić John Szapolyai Suleiman the Magnificent Strength Unknown Over 120,000 soldiers[1] Casualties Unknown, heavy Unknown, heavy The Little War is a name[2] given to a series of conflicts between the Habsburgs and their allies... Combatants Austria Ottoman Turks Commanders Ferdinand I, Holy Roman Emperor Captain Nikola JuriÅ¡ić John Szapolyai Suleiman the Magnificent Strength Unknown Over 120,000 soldiers[1] Casualties Unknown, heavy Unknown, heavy The Little War is a name[2] given to a series of conflicts between the Habsburgs and their allies... Combatants Austria Ottoman Turks Commanders Ferdinand I, Holy Roman Emperor Captain Nikola JuriÅ¡ić John Szapolyai Suleiman the Magnificent Strength Unknown Over 120,000 soldiers[1] Casualties Unknown, heavy Unknown, heavy The Little War is a name[2] given to a series of conflicts between the Habsburgs and their allies... The naval Battle of Preveza took place on 28 September 1538 near Preveza in northwest Greece and was an important victory for an Ottoman fleet commanded by Khair ad Din (Barbarossa) over a Spanish-Venetian fleet commanded by the great Genoese admiral Andrea Doria fleet despite the allies having a... Combatants Austria Ottoman Turks Commanders Ferdinand I, Holy Roman Emperor Captain Nikola JuriÅ¡ić John Szapolyai Suleiman the Magnificent Strength Unknown Over 120,000 soldiers[1] Casualties Unknown, heavy Unknown, heavy The Little War is a name[2] given to a series of conflicts between the Habsburgs and their allies... The Battle of Szigetvar was a monumental battle in the small fort of Szigetvár in Hungary in 1566 between the defending forces of the Kingdom of Hungary under the leadership of Croatian ban Miklós Zrinyi, and the invading army of the Ottoman Empire under Sultan Suleiman the Magnificent. ... // Combatants Holy League: Spain  Republic of Venice Papal States Republic of Genoa Duchy of Savoy Knights of Malta Ottoman Empire Commanders Don John of Austria Ali Pasha † Strength 206 galleys, 6 galleasses 230 galleys, 56 galliots Casualties 8,000 dead or wounded, 12 galleys lost 20,000 dead or wounded... For other conflicts called the Long War, see Long War. ... Combatants Ottoman Empire [1] Habsburg Austria Transylvania Commanders Mehmed III Archduke Maximilian Sigismund of Transylvania Strength ~150,000 at least 43 cannon ~50,000 including ~5,000 cavalry 97 cannon Casualties Unknown ~ 30,000 [1] The Battle of Keresztes or Battle of Mezokeresztes (MezÅ‘keresztes) took place on October 24... // Combatants Austria, Holy Roman Empire, League of the Rhine, France Ottoman Empire Commanders Raimondo Montecuccoli, Leopold Wilhelm of Baden-Baden, Count Coligny Ahmed Köprülü Strength ~ 40,000 including Imperial and French troops [1] ~ 60,000 Casualties Minimal 10,000 The Battle of Saint Gotthard (Hungarian: ) was fought on... // For siege of Vienna in 1529 see Siege of Vienna Combatants Holy League: Poland-Lithuania, Austria, Saxony, Bavaria, Franconia, Swabia Ottoman Empire, Khanate of Crimea, Transylvania, Wallachia, Moldavia Commanders John III Sobieski, Charles V of Lorraine Kara Mustafa Pasha Strength 70,000 138,000 Casualties 4,000 killed 15,000... Combatants Austria, Croatia, Hungary, Bavaria Ottoman Empire Commanders Duke of Lorraine Maximilian II Emanuel Süleyman PaÅŸa† (Grand Vizier) Strength 60,000[1] 40,000 Mameluk slaves, 40,000 Balkan mercenaries and 800 Ottoman Turks Casualties 15,000-18,000 killed or wounded ~40,000 killed or wounded The... Combatants Holy Roman Empire (Austria and Baden) Ottoman Empire Commanders Louis William of Baden Mustafa Köprülü Strength 30,000 55,000 Casualties Unknown Unknown The Battle of Slankamen was fought on August 19, 1691 near Slankamen (Salankamen), northwest of Belgrade, between Ottoman and Austrian and German forces. ... Combatants Austria Ottoman Empire Commanders Prince Eugene of Savoy Sultan Mustafa II Strength 34,000 infantry, 16,000 cavalry, 60 guns above 80,000 Casualties 500 (2) 30,000 (2) The Battle of Zenta or Battle of Senta, fought on September 11, 1697 just south of modern Serbian town of... Combatants Austria Ottoman Empire Commanders Prince Eugene of Savoy Damad Ali † Strength cca 90,000 120,000-190,000 Casualties 5,000 10,000-30,000 The Battle of Petrovaradin was a decisive victory for Austrian forces in the war between Austria and the Ottoman Empire (1716–1718), at Petrovaradin... The wars of the Ottoman Empire in Europe marked the better part of the history of southeastern Europe, notably, giving infamy to the Balkans. ... For other uses, see Europe (disambiguation). ...

Historical Background

The Turkish Sultan, Suleiman the Magnificent, commenced his expansion of the empire in 1520 after the reign of Selim I. He began assaults against Hungarian and Austrian influenced territories, invading Hungarian soil in 1526. The Hungarian Army was crushed at the Battle of Mohacs and the way was paved open to attack the Danube Basin. The battle also brought about the death of the King of Hungary and Bohemia, Louis II, leading to a disputed claim for the throne. The Austrian Emperor Ferdinand I succeeded to the Bohemian throne but was challenged to the Hungarian throne by the pretender John Zápolya whose claim was backed by nobles and the Sultan. The power struggle continued beyond John's death in 1540 when his son, John II Sigismund Zápolya succeeded to the throne. It was not resolved until he renounced the throne in 1563 when he was succeeded by Maximilian I. Sultan (Arabic: سلطان) is an Islamic title, with several historical meanings. ... Suleiman I (Ottoman Turkish: Sulaymān, Turkish: ; formally Kanuni Sultan Süleyman in Turkish) (November 6, 1494 – September 5/6, 1566), was the tenth and longest‐serving Sultan of the Ottoman Empire, reigning from 1520 to 1566. ... Year 1520 (MDXX) was a leap year starting on Sunday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. ... Selim I (Ottoman: سليم الأول, Turkish:) (also known as the Grim or the Brave, Yavuz in Turkish, the long name is Yavuz Sultan Selim)(October 10, 1465 – September 22, 1520) was the Sultan of the Ottoman Empire from 1512 to 1520. ... January 14 - Treaty of Madrid. ... // Ancient and medieval military The Hungarian tribes of Árpád vezér who came to settle in the Carpathian Basin were noted for their fearsome horse-mounted warriors, who conducted frequent looting campaigns throughout much of Western Europe (once as far as Spain), terrorizing the entire population with their long... This article explains the more well known Battle of Mohacs of 1526. ... For other uses, see Monarch (disambiguation). ... Flag of Bohemia Bohemia (Czech: ; German: ) is a historical region in central Europe, occupying the western and middle thirds of the Czech Republic. ... Louis II of Hungary and Bohemia. ... An emperor is a (male) monarch, usually the sovereign ruler of an empire or another type of imperial realm. ... Emperor Ferdinand Ferdinand I Karl Leopold Joseph Franz Marchlin Emperor of Austria King of Hungary and Bohemia (April 19, 1793 – June 29, 1875) succeeded his father (Franz II Holy Roman Emperor/Franz I of Austria) as Emperor and King in 1835 and was forced to abdicate in 1848. ... John I Zápolya (Hungarian: ; Croatian: ) or John Szapolyai (Hungarian: ) (2 February 1487 – July 22, 1540) was a voivode of Transylvania and, along with Archduke Ferdinand I, a claimant to the throne of the Kingdom of Hungary between 1526 and 1540. ... Year 1540 was a leap year starting on Thursday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. ... John II Sigismund Zápolya (Hungarian: Zápolya/Szapolyai János Zsigmond, Croatian: Ivan Žigmund Zapolja) (18 July 1440, Buda, Hungary - 14 March 1471, Gyulafehervar, Hungary) was the son of John Zápolya and Isabella JagieÅ‚Å‚o. ... Events February 1 - Sarsa Dengel succeeds his father Menas as Emperor of Ethiopia February 18 - The Duke of Guise is assassinated while besieging Orléans March - Peace of Amboise. ... Maximilian I, Emperor of Mexico Maximilian I, Holy Roman Emperor Maximilian I, Duke of Bavaria Maximilian I of Bavaria This is a disambiguation page — a navigational aid which lists other pages that might otherwise share the same title. ...

The Ottomans met resistance during the Siege of Kőszeg in 1532, where a force of 800 men^{[citation needed]} under Miklós Jurisich managed to hold back the Ottoman armies. However this only delayed their campaign by 25 days, and they continued to close in on Buda, finally occupying the capital in 1541. Buda became the seat of Turkish rule in the area, with the Turkish supported John II governing the occupied territories. Events May 16 - Sir Thomas More resigns as Lord Chancellor of England. ... Buda (German: Ofen, Croatian: Budim, Slovak: Budín, Serbian: Будим or Budim, Turkish: Budin) is the western part of the Hungarian capital Budapest on the right bank of the Danube. ... Events The first official translation of the entire Bible in Swedish February 12 - Pedro de Valdivia founds Santiago de Chile. ...

The loss of Christian forts at Temesvár and Szolnok in 1552 were blamed on mercenary soldiers within the Hungarian ranks. When the Turks turned their attention to the northern Hungarian town of Eger in the same year few expected the defenders to put up much resistance, particularly as the two great armies of the Turkish lords Ahmed and Ali, which had crushed all opposition previously, united under Eger. Map of Romania showing Timisoara TimiÅŸoara   listen? (Hungarian: Temesvár, German: Temeswar / Temeschburg, Serbian: TemiÅ¡var, Turkish: Tamışvar) is a city in the Banat region of western Romania. ... Aerial photography: Szolnok - Hungary The Catholic Church The Calvinist Church Szolnok (Romanian: ) is the capital of the county of Jász-Nagykun-Szolnok, central Hungary. ... Eger - Dobó square and the castle. ...

Eger was an important stronghold and key to the defence of the remainder of Hungarian soil. North of Eger lay the poorly reinforced city of Kassa (present day Kosice), the centre of an important region of mines and associated mints, which provided the Hungarian Kingdom with large amounts of quality silver and gold coinage. Besides allowing a take-over of that revenue source, fall of Eger would also enable the Ottoman Empire to secure an alternative logistic and troop route for further west-ward military expansion, possibly allowing the Turks to lay sieges on Wien more frequently. Eger - Dobó square and the castle. ... ... Location of Kosice in the Czech Republic Kosice is a small village in the Hradec Králové Region of the Czech Republic. ... Wien is the German language name for Vienna, the city and federal state in Austria. ...

The Fortress

The fortress of Eger is located east of the town on a hillside. It's positioning could have been better - the castle only overlooks the southern and western part of the walled town - however it had the advantage over the Ottoman forces as it provided excellent locations for gun positions. The castle comprised an inner and outer fortress with a gate tower to the south-easy and 6 bastions on the walls- the Earth Bastion and Prison Bastion to the north-west, Sándor Bastion on the north wall, Bolyky Bastion on the north east corner, Bebek Bastion on the eastern corner of the outer fortress and the Dobó Bastion on the western wall. The Varkoch gate sat on the southern wall of the inner fortress whilst a further bastion, Church Bastion, lay at the centre of the wall separating the two parts of the fortress. Fortifications (Latin fortis, strong, and facere, to make) are military constructions designed for defensive warfare. ... Ronda, Spain Main street in Bastrop, Texas, United States, a small town A town is a community of people ranging from a few hundred to several thousands, although it may be applied loosely even to huge metropolitan areas. ...

The fort of Eger was built on the ruins of an earlier stone fort, which replaced an ancient earthen encampment, possibly erected by the Huns. This made Eger's foundations stronger than usual and greatly hindered the work of Ottoman miners. As usual during medieval sieges, both the attackers and the defenders tried to dug tunnels under the walls and plant gunpowder charges to either open gaps into the fortress or destroy the attacker's trenches. None of these attempts were successful during the siege of Eger.

The Siege

The Ottoman army which arrived at Eger consisted of approximately 150,000 persons, some 80,000 of them were trained soldiers of various arms and combat value. The rest included logistics troops, craftsmen, merchants and gipsy caravans who provided repair services and popular entertainment, such as fortune-telling, to the Ottoman troops. Thus, the defenders of Eger were outnumbered about 1 to 50 in hand-to-hand combat. However, many of the Ottomans were worn and tired because of their long journey on foot, which started at the Balkans in the spring of 1552. The Rroma people (pronounced rahma, singular Rrom) along with the closely related Sinti people are commonly known as Gypsies. ... ...

The Ottomans had 16 zarbuzans (very large siege cannons) as well as 150 medium and smaller pieces of artillery and a fleet of two thousand camels, which proved higly useful in collecting and transporting wood to the site to construct temporary siege platforms. The defenders had 6 large and about one dozen smaller cannons and some 300 trench guns with ample supplies of ammunition.

Despite the differences in strength, Eger's strong walls and morals allowed the defenders to survive 5 sieges and continuous cannonfire (excluding the ones stuck in the walls of the stronghold, almost 12,000 cannonballs landed inside in the fortress before the siege ended).

The fortress was defended by 2,100 combatants, a mixture of professional soldiers, insurgent peasants and a few dozen women. Among the approximately 1,530 combat ready personnel there were only a handful of mercenaries, soldiers who were complete strangers to Hungary: Dobó hired six cannonmasters from Germany to make the most efficient use of Eger's artillery. The defenders were commanded by István Dobó and his deputy István Mekcsey, who had assumed command in 1549. Another noticeable officer, who was lauded in Hungarian literature and folklore, was Gergely Bornemissza. He commanded a detachment of 250 Austrian musketeers, however it was his skill with explosives that was to make this young officers name. During the siege Bornemissza devised primitive but lethal grenades and powder keg sized bombs to use against the attackers as well as a water-mill wheel packed with gunpowder which he rolled into the Ottoman ranks. His secret lay in the gunpowder not simply blowing up but sparking even more fire. He loaded said weapons with oil, sulfur and flint to shower the enemy with burning missiles. Baron István Dobó de Ruszka (c. ... Events July - Ketts Rebellion Francis Xavier arrives in Japan. ... For other uses of this term, see Musketeer (disambiguation). ... A hand grenade is a hand-held bomb, made to be thrown by a soldier. ... Smokeless powder Gunpowder is a pyrotechnic composition, an explosive mixture that burns rapidly, producing volumes of hot gas which can be used as a propellant in firearms and fireworks. ...

The Turks had expected an easy victory, but the bravery of the castles defenders, as well as Dobó's inspired leadership repelled repeated Turkish assaults. Even when the storage tower containing 24 metric tons of black gunpowder exploded and caused exstensive structural damage the invaders still couldn't find a way into the castle compound. After 39 days of bloody, brutal and intense fighting the remnants of the Ottoman Army withdrew, beaten and humiliated. The defenders' losses amounted to about one third of their ranks, including those killed and permanently maimed in combat. Dobó lost both of his cadets. This article details the military of the Ottoman Empire. ...

According to modern historic research, several external factors contributed the defenders' success. There was significant in-fighting between the two Ottoman leaders, Pasha Ali and Pasha Ahmed. Ahmed was the senior and contributed twice as many troops to the united army, but Ali showed more strategic talent and proved his skill in artillery, making much destruction to the walls with his battery of just four large siege guns. During the siege, the Ottoman army at least twice ran out of gunpowder and cannonballs (which were carved out of marble), limiting Ahmed's use of heavy artillery for at least a week. The end of autumn arrived earlier than usual with heavy rain and freezing night time temperatures. Reduced rice rations and allegations of officers' corruption caused discontent among the Ottoman troops.

After the victory Dobó and his officers resigned, to protest that King Ferdinand refused to contribute any material help to the defence and Gergely Bornemissza took over the fortress's command, before himself being ambushed and hanged by the Ottomans. The fortress of Eger remained defiant to Turkish attacks until 1596 when 7,000 defenders, mostly mercenaries, capitulated meekly against the Turkish forces personally commanded by the Sultan, Mehmed III. It was the beginning of nearly 80 years of Turkish rule in the town. Events February 5 - 26 catholics crucified in Nagasaki, Japan. ... Mehmed III Mehmed III (May 26, 1566 – December 22, 1603) was the sultan of the Ottoman Empire from 1595 until his death. ...

The Siege in Art and Literature

Earliest records of the siege were recorded by the chronicler Sebestyén Tinódi Lantos in 1554 who wrote musical verses of the exploits of the people of Eger. It was not until 19th century that the siege was seized upon by Hungarian writers as the basis of fictional accounts. The first was the poem Eger by Mihály Vörösmarty in 1827. The most famous account was by author Géza Gárdonyi who wrote his popular 1899 historical novel Egri csillagok about the events of this period. It chronicles the events leading up to and including the siege and tells the tale of Bornemissza, as well as Captain Dobó, and his co-commander István Mekcsey. During the 1960's the novel was adapted into a feature-length film, which is still regularly shown on Hungarian TV. Bertalan Székely's painting Az Egri Nők (Women of Eger) depicts the defence of the fortress, especially by the womenfolk, and hangs in the National Art Gallery in Budapest. Tinódi Lantos Sebestyén (Latin: Sebestyén Lantos de Tinód) was a Hungarian writer born in Tinód in 1510. ... Events January 5 - Great fire in Eindhoven, Netherlands. ... The Hungarian poet Vörösmarty Mihály Vörösmarty (December 1, 1800 - November 19, 1855), Hungarian poet, was born at Puszta-Nyék, of a noble Roman Catholic family. ... Year 1827 (MDCCCXXVII) was a common year starting on Monday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian Calendar (or a common year starting on Wednesday of the 12-day slower Julian calendar). ... Géza Gárdonyi (August 3, 1863 – October 30, 1922) was a Hungarian author. ... Year 1899 (MDCCCXCIX) was a common year starting on Sunday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar (or a common year starting on Friday [1] of the 12-day-slower Julian calendar). ... Egri csillagok is a historical novel by the Hungarian writer Géza Gárdonyi. ... Bertalan Szekely (May 8, 1835 - August 21, 1910) as a Hungarian Romantic painter of historical themes. ...

References