Siege of Belgrade (1456)

Battle during the Ottoman-Hungarian Wars

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Siege of Belgrade (Nándorfehérvár)

Part of the Ottoman wars in Europe
Ottoman-Hungarian Wars

Ottoman miniature of the siege of Belgrade, 1456
| Date| 4–22 July 1456

|

Location|

Nándorfehérvár, (1427–1521) in Kingdom of Hungary (present-day Belgrade, Serbia)

Result|  Hungarian victory
Belligerents
Kingdom of Hungary
Serbian Despotate|  Ottoman Empire
Commanders and leaders

* John Hunyadi
* Michael Szilágyi
* John of Capistrano
* Đurađ Branković

|  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]
200 vessels[11]
300 cannons (22 giant one), 7 siege engines (2 mortars)[4]
Casualties and losses
Unknown|  13,000 men[12]
200 galleys[3]
300 cannons[3]

* v
* t
* e

Hungarian–Ottoman Wars

Hungarian–Ottoman War (1366–67)
Hungarian–Ottoman War (1375–77)
Hungarian–Ottoman War (1389–96)

* (Nicopolis)

Hungarian–Ottoman War (1415–19)
War of the South Danube (1420–32)

* (Golubac)

Hungarian–Ottoman War (1437–42)

* (Belgrade
* Hermannstadt)

Crusade of Varna (1443–44)

* (Nish
* Zlatitsa
* Kunovica
* Várna)

* Kosovo (1448)
* Kruševac (1454)
* Belgrade (1456)
* Užice (1458)
* Smederevo (1459)
* Jajce (1464)
* Zvornik (1464)
* Vaslui (1475)
* Serbia Expedition (1477)
* Breadfield (1479)
* Otranto (1480–81)
* Krbava Field (1493)

Hungarian–Ottoman War (1521–26)

* Belgrade (1521)

Šabac (1521)
* Mohács (1526)

Ottoman–Habsburg wars

* v
* t
* e

Medieval Serbian–Ottoman Wars

* Stephaniana
* Demotika
* Sırpsındığı
* Samokov
* Maritsa
* Dubravnica
* Savra
* Pločnik
* Kosovo Field
* Tripolje
* Vitosha Pass
* Smederevo
* Belgrade
* 1st Novo Brdo
* Varna
* Niš
* Zlatica
* Kunovica
* Leskovac
* Kruševac
* Ostrovic
* Trepča
* 2nd Novo Brdo
* Belgrade
* Smederevo
* Breadfield

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 defeating their land forces outside Belgrade on 21–22 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.

## Background

[edit]

The Ottoman Empire, under the leadership of Sultan Mehmed II, had recently achieved a significant victory by capturing Constantinople in 1453, making it the new capital of the Ottoman Empire, thereby ending the Byzantine Empire.[13] The Ottomans became more ambitious in their expansionist aims, seeking to extend their influence further into Europe. They considered Belgrade, a strategically positioned fortress city at the confluence of the Danube and Sava river, as a crucial gateway for their advance northward. The Ottoman Empire's expansionist ambitions posed a significant challenge to the stability and security of European states, leading to a united effort to resist further Ottoman encroachment.[13] In 1452 former gubernátor John Hunyadi surrendered the regency to King Ladislas V, who came of age, and became Count of Besztercze and captain general of Hungary.[14]

## Prelude

[edit]

John Hunyadi, Regent-Governor of the Kingdom of Hungary (1446–1453)

At the end of 1455, after receiving news of an imminent Ottoman attack, Hunyadi began preparations for the fortification of the Danube, informing the papal legate that he was ready to contribute, at his own expenses, 7,000 men in the fight against the Ottomans and asking for military assistance.[15] Hunyadi then armed the Belgrade fortress with 5,000 mercenaries that he placed under the command of his brother-in-law Mihály Szilágyi[16] and his own eldest son László.[14] Belgrade inhabitants came to help transporting the war machines.[16] Hunyadi then proceeded to form a relief army of 12,000.[13] In April 1456 general mobilisation was decreed following a Diet between the king and the noblemen.[16]

An Italian Franciscan friar allied to Hunyadi, Giovanni da Capistrano, sent as an inquisitor to Hungary to eliminate or convert so-called heretics, (non-Catholics)[17] started preaching a crusade to attract peasants and local countryside landlords to join the defence of Europe.[18] The crusaders numbering about 25,000 included an inexperienced peasant force of about 18,000 some of them carrying only clubs and slings. The recruits came under Hunyadi's banner, the core of which consisted of smaller bands of seasoned mercenaries and a few groups of minor knights. All in all, Hunyadi managed to build a force of 25–30,000 men.[13]

As the Ottoman army neared Belgrade, it passed through Sofia and proceeded towards the Danube, traversing the valley of Moravia. On 18 of June, it encountered a Serbian Army of approximately 9,000 soldiers, dispatched to halt the Ottoman progress. The smaller Serbian forces were utterly devastated and defeated by the advancing Ottoman troops; towards the end of the month the Ottomans appeared near Belgrade.[19]

## Siege

[edit]

### Preparation

[edit]

The Siege of Belgrade (Chronica Hungarorum, 1488)

Before Hunyadi could assemble his forces, the army of Mehmed II (160,000 men in early accounts, 60–70,000 according to newer research) arrived at Belgrade. The siege began on 4 July 1456. The Ottomans began bombarding the walls of the city.[19]

Szilágyi could rely on a force of only 5,000–7,000 men in the castle. Mehmed set up his siege on the neck of the headland and started heavily bombarding the city's walls on June 29. He arrayed his men in three sections: The Rumelian corps had the majority of his 300 cannons, while his fleet of 200 river war vessels had the rest of them. The Rumelians were arrayed on the right wing and the Anatolian corps were arrayed on the left. In the middle were the personal guards of the Sultan, the Janissaries, and his command post. The Anatolian corps and the Janissaries were both heavy infantry troops. Mehmed posted his river vessels mainly to the northwest of the city to patrol the marshes and ensure that the fortress was not reinforced. They also kept an eye on the Sava river to the southwest to avoid the infantry from being outflanked by Hunyadi's army. The zone from the Danube eastwards was guarded by the Sipahi, the Sultan's feudal heavy cavalry corps, to avoid being outflanked on the right.

Part of Belgrade Fortress from the 17th century

When Hunyadi was informed of this, he was in the south of Hungary recruiting additional light cavalry troops for the army, with which he would intend to lift the siege. Although relatively few, his fellow nobles were willing to provide manpower, and the peasants were more than willing to do so. Capistrano, the Friar sent to Hungary by the Vatican both to find heretics and to preach a crusade against the Ottomans, managed to raise a large, albeit poorly trained and equipped, peasant army, with which he advanced towards Belgrade. Capistrano and Hunyadi travelled together though commanding the army separately. Both of them had gathered around 40,000–50,000 troops altogether.

The outnumbered defenders relied mainly on the strength of the formidable castle of Belgrade, which was at the time one of the best engineered in the Balkans. Belgrade had been designated as the capital of the Serbian Despotate by Stefan Lazarević 53 years prior. The fortress was located on a hill and designed in an elaborate form with three lines of defence: the inner castle with the palace, a huge upper town with the main military camps, four gates and a double wall, as well as the lower town with the cathedral in the urban centre and a port at the Danube. This building endeavour was one of the most elaborate military architecture achievements of the Middle Ages as it also benefitted from the natural obstacle of the rivers being at the junction of the Danube and the Sava.[19] On 2 July Capistrano arrived at Belgrade.[20]

### Naval battle

[edit]

Fortress of Belgrade as it looked in the Middle Ages. The lower and upper town with the palace are visible.

Hunyadi established his camp in the vicinity of the Zemun fortress, while the Ottoman fleet encircled Belgrade along the Danube to put a stop to the provisioning of the city[19] Hunyadi's primary objective was to secure the river passage to support and supply the besieged garrison. To achieve this, he commanded the assembly of all ships on the Danube and communicated with Szilágyi, instructing him to be prepared to launch an attack on the Ottoman fleet from a strategic position. Szilágyi readied around forty vessels, crewed by Serbians from the city.[19] The Ottoman Naval Flotilla was made of 60 galleys and around 150 lesser vessels.

On July 14, 1456, after 5 hours of battle started on the river, Hunyadi broke the naval blockade sinking three large Ottoman galleys and capturing four large vessels and 20 smaller ones. By destroying the Sultan's fleet, Hunyadi was able to transport his troops and much-needed food into the city. The fort's defence was also reinforced.

### Ottoman assault

[edit]

Sandor Wagner's The Self Sacrifice of Titusz Dugovics (1859) (a mythical Hungarian soldier who made a heroic act of self-sacrifice during the siege)

After a week of heavy bombardment, the walls of the fortress were breached in several places. On July 21 Mehmed ordered an all-out assault that began at sundown and continued all night. The besieging army flooded the city and then started its assault on the fort. As this was the most crucial moment of the siege, Hunyadi ordered the defenders to throw tarred wood and other flammable material, and then set it afire. Soon a wall of flames separated the Janissaries fighting in the city from their fellow soldiers trying to breach through the gaps into the upper town. The battle between the encircled Janissaries and Szilágyi's soldiers inside the upper town was turning in favour of the Christians, and the Hungarians managed to beat off the fierce assault from outside the walls. The Janissaries remaining inside the city were thus massacred while the Ottoman troops trying to breach the upper town suffered heavy losses.

### Final battle

[edit]

Siege of Belgrade (in Hungarian: Nándorfehérvár) 1456. Hünername 1584

The next day, by some accounts, the peasant crusaders started a spontaneous action, and forced Capistrano and Hunyadi to make use of the situation. Despite Hunyadi's orders to the defenders not to try to loot the Ottoman positions, some of the units crept out from demolished ramparts, took up positions across from the Ottoman line, and began harassing enemy soldiers. Ottoman Sipahis tried without success to disperse the harassing force. At once, more defenders joined those outside the wall. What began as an isolated incident quickly escalated into a full-scale battle.

John of Capistrano at first tried to order his men back inside the walls, but soon found himself surrounded by about 2,000 peasant levymen. He then began leading them toward the Ottoman lines, crying, "The Lord who made the beginning will take care of the finish!" Capistrano led his crusaders to the Ottoman rear across the Sava river. At the same time, Hunyadi started a desperate charge out of the fort to take the cannon positions in the Ottoman encampment.

Taken by surprise at this strange turn of events and, as some chroniclers say, seemingly paralysed by some inexplicable fear, the Ottomans took flight.[21] The Sultan's bodyguard of about 5,000 Janissaries tried desperately to stop the panic and recapture the camp, but by that time Hunyadi's army had also joined the unplanned battle, and the Ottoman efforts became hopeless. The Sultan himself advanced into the fight and killed a knight in single combat, but then took an arrow in the thigh and was rendered unconscious. After the battle, the Hungarian raiders were ordered to spend the night behind the walls of the fortress and to be on the alert for a possible renewal of the battle, but the Ottoman counterattack never came.

Under cover of darkness the Ottomans retreated in haste, bearing their wounded in 140 wagons. They withdrew to Constantinople.

## Aftermath

[edit]

However, the Hungarians paid dearly for this victory. Plague broke out in the camp, from which John Hunyadi himself died three weeks later in Zimony, Hungary (later Zemun, Serbia) on 11 August 1456.[14] He was buried in the Cathedral of Gyulafehérvár (now Alba Iulia), the capital of Transylvania.

As the design of the fortress had proved its merits during the siege, some additional reinforcements were made by the Hungarians. The weaker eastern walls, where the Ottomans broke through into the upper town were reinforced by the Zindan Gate and the heavy Nebojša Tower. This was the last of the great modifications to the fortress until 1521, when Mehmed's great-grandson Suleiman eventually captured it.

## Noon bell

[edit]

Gothic fresco of the siege of Belgrade from 1468, in a church in Olomouc (Czech Republic). Probably the oldest depiction of the battle; shows Giovanni da Capistrano and John Hunyadi.

Pope Callixtus III ordered the bells of every European church to be rung every day at noon, as a call for believers to pray for the defenders of the city.[22][23] The practice of the noon bell is traditionally attributed to the international commemoration of the victory at Belgrade and to the order of Pope Callixtus III, since in many countries (like England and the Spanish kingdoms) news of the victory arrived before the order, and the ringing of the church bells at noon was thus transformed into a commemoration of the victory.[24][25][26] The Pope did not withdraw the order, and Catholic and the older Protestant churches still ring the noon bell to this day.[23][25][26][27]

As he had previously ordered all Catholic kingdoms to pray for the victory of the defenders of Belgrade, the Pope celebrated the victory by making an enactment to commemorate the day. This led to the legend that the noon bell ritual undertaken in Catholic and old Protestant churches, enacted by the Pope before the battle, was founded to commemorate the victory.[28] The day of the victory, July 22, has been a memorial day in Hungary ever since.[29]

This custom still exists also among Protestant and Orthodox congregations. In the history of the University of Oxford, the victory was welcomed with the ringing of bells and great celebrations in England. Hunyadi sent a special courier, Erasmus Fullar, among others to Oxford with the news of the victory.[30]

## Legacy

[edit]

Stone in the Kalemegdan Park, in Belgrade, with engraved inscription on the place where Christian forces under command of John Hunyadi won the battle against the Ottomans in 1456.

The victory stopped the Ottoman advance towards Europe for 70 years, though they made other incursions such as the taking of Otranto between 1480 and 1481; and the raid of Croatia and Styria in 1493. Belgrade would continue to protect Hungary from Ottoman attacks until the fort fell to the Ottomans in 1521.

After the siege of Belgrade stopped the advance of Mehmed II towards Central Europe, Serbia and Bosnia were absorbed into the Empire. Wallachia, the Crimean Khanate, and eventually Moldavia were merely converted into vassal states due to the strong military resistance to Mehmed's attempts of conquest. There were several reasons of why the Sultan did not directly attack Hungary and why he gave up the idea of advancing in that direction after his unsuccessful siege of Belgrade. The mishap at Belgrade indicated that the Empire could not expand further until Serbia and Bosnia were transformed into a secure base of operations. Furthermore, the significant political and military power of Hungary under Matthias Corvinus in the region surely influenced this hesitation too. Moreover, Mehmed was also distracted in his attempts to suppress insubordination from his Moldovan and Wallachian vassals.

With Hunyadi's victory at Belgrade, both Vlad III the Impaler and Stephen III of Moldavia came to power in their own domains, and Hunyadi himself went to great lengths to have his son Matthias placed on the Hungarian throne. While fierce resistance and Hunyadi's effective leadership ensured that the daring and ambitious Sultan Mehmed would only get as far into Europe as the Balkans, the Sultan had already managed to transform the Ottoman Empire into what would become one of the most feared powers in Europe (as well as in Asia) for centuries. Most of Hungary was eventually conquered in 1526 at the Battle of Mohács. Ottoman Muslim expansion into Europe continued with menacing success until the siege of Vienna in 1529, although Ottoman power in Europe remained strong and still threatening to Central Europe at times until the Battle of Vienna in 1683.

## Literature and art

[edit]

Battle of Nándorfehérvár, Hungarian painting from the 19th century. In the middle, Giovanni da Capistrano with the cross in his hand.

It is claimed that, after the defeat and while he and his army were retreating into Bulgaria, this sound defeat as well as the ensuing loss of no less than 24,000 of his best soldiers, angered Mehmed in such a manner that, in an uncontrollable fit of fury, he wounded a number of his generals with his own sword, just prior to their executions.[31] The Sultan later came into conflict with Stephen III of Moldavia, resulting in an even worse defeat at Battle of Vaslui and later a pyrrhic victory at the Battle of Valea Albă.

An English poet and playwright Hannah Brand wrote five-act tragedy about the battle and siege of Belgrade, which was first performed in 1791.[32] A fictional account from the viewpoint of a Christian mercenary is Christian Cameron, Tom Swan and the Siege of Belgrade from 2014 to 2015.[33]

## References

[edit]

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. ^ Kenneth M. Setton (1984). The Papacy and the Levant, 1204–1571, Vol. 3: The Sixteenth Century to the Reign of Julius III. American Philosophical Society. p. 174\. ISBN 978-0-87169-161-3.
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. ^ Kenneth M. Setton (1984). The Papacy and the Levant, 1204–1571, Vol. 3: The Sixteenth Century to the Reign of Julius III. American Philosophical Society. p. 175\. ISBN 978-0-87169-161-3.
12. ^ Norman Housley (1992). The Later Crusades, 1274–1580: From Lyons to Alcazar (1st ed.). Oxford University Press. p. 104\. ISBN 978-0-19-822136-4.
13. ^ a b c d Rogers, C.J.; Caferro, W.; Reid, S. (2010). The Oxford Encyclopedia of Medieval Warfare and Military Technology. Oxford University Press. p. 2-PA45. ISBN 978-0-19-533403-6.
14. ^ a b c Tucker, S.C. (2009). A Global Chronology of Conflict: From the Ancient World to the Modern Middle East [6 volumes]: From the Ancient World to the Modern Middle East. ABC-CLIO. ISBN 978-1-85109-672-5.
15. ^ Muresanu & Treptow 2018, p. 211.
16. ^ a b c Muresanu & Treptow 2018, p. 214.
17. ^ Housley, N. (2012). Crusading and the Ottoman Threat, 1453–1505. OUP Oxford. p. 30\. ISBN 978-0-19-922705-1.
18. ^ Muresanu & Treptow 2018, p. 213.
19. ^ a b c d e Muresanu & Treptow 2018, p. 218.
20. ^ Muresanu & Treptow 2018, p. 219.
21. ^ Friedrich W.D. Brie (2012). The Brut; Or, the Chronicles of England. Hardpress. p. 524\. ISBN 978-1-4077-7342-1.
22. ^ Thomas Henry Dyer (1861). The history of modern Europe: From the fall of Constantinople. J. Murray. p. 85. "Noon bell belgrade."
23. ^ a b István Lázár: Hungary: A Brief History (see in Chapter 6)
24. ^ Kerny, Terézia (2008). "The Renaissance – Four Times Over. Exhibitions Commemorating Matthias's Accession to the Throne". The Hungarian Quarterly. Budapest, Hungary: Society of the Hungarian Quarterly. pp. 79–90. "On July 22, 1456, John Hunyadi won a decisive victory at Belgrade over the armies of Sultan Mehmed II. Hunyadi's feat—carried out with a small standing army combined with peasants rallied to fight the infidel by the Franciscan friar St John of Capistrano—had the effect of putting an end to Ottoman attempts on Hungary and Western Europe for the next seventy years. The bells ringing at noon throughout Christendom are, to this day, a daily commemoration of John Hunyadi's victory."
25. ^ a b "John Hunyadi: Hungary in American History Textbooks".
26. ^ a b "Welcome to nginx eaa1a9e1db47ffcca16305566a6efba4!185.15.56.1". nq.oxfordjournals.org. Archived from the original on July 17, 2012. Retrieved February 3, 2022.
27. ^ Kerny, Terézia (2008). "The Renaissance – Four Times Over. Exhibitions Commemorating Matthias's Accession to the Throne". The Hungarian Quarterly. Budapest, Hungary: Society of the Hungarian Quarterly. pp. 79–90. "On July 22, 1456, John Hunyadi won a decisive victory at Belgrade over the armies of Sultan Mehmed II. Hunyadi's feat—carried out with a small standing army combined with peasants rallied to fight the infidel by the Franciscan friar St John of Capistrano—had the effect of putting an end to Ottoman attempts on Hungary and Western Europe for the next seventy years, and is considered to have been one of the most momentous victories in Hungarian military history. The bells ringing at noon throughout Christendom are, to this day, a daily commemoration of John Hunyadi's victory."
28. ^ "Hunyadi and the noon bell ritual". Daily News Hungary. November 9, 2015.
29. ^ Anniversary of 1456 victory over Ottomans becomes memorial day politics.hu
30. ^ Imre Lukinich: A History of Hungary in Biographical Sketches (p. 109.) [ISBN missing]
31. ^ Radu R Florescu; Raymond T. McNally (1989). Dracula, Prince of Many Faces: His Life and His Times. Little, Brown. p. 80. ISBN 978-0-316-28655-8.
32. ^ Hüttler, Michael (2013). "Theatre and Cultural Memory: The siege of Belgrade on Stage". Open Access Research Journal for Theatre, Music, Arts. 2 (1/2): 1–13.
33. ^ "The Siege of Belgrade 1456, or why is history so complicated?". christiancameronauthor.com. March 25, 2015. Retrieved August 24, 2020.

### Bibliography

[edit]

* 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. ISBN 978-0-521-29163-7.
* Andrew Ayton; Leslie Price (1998). 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.
* John Julius Norwich (1982). A History of Venice. Lecture Notes in Mathematics 1358. New York: Alfred B. Knopf. ISBN 0-679-72197-5.
* Norman Housley (1992). The Later Crusades, 1274–1580: From Lyons to Alcazar. Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-822136-4.
* Thomas Henry Dyer (1861). The history of modern Europe: From the fall of Constantinople. J. Murray. p. 85. "Noon bell belgrade."
* Setton, Kenneth M. (1984). The Papacy and the Levant (1204–1571), Volume III: The Sixteenth Century to the Reign of Julius III. Philadelphia: The American Philosophical Society. ISBN 0-87169-161-2.
* Andrić, Stanko (2016). "Saint John Capistran and Despot George Branković: An Impossible Compromise". Byzantinoslavica. 74 (1–2): 202–227.
* Peter R. Biasiotto (1943). History of the Development of the Devotion to the Holy Name.
* Muresanu, C.; Treptow, L. (2018). John Hunyadi: Defender of Christendom. Histria Books. ISBN 978-1-59211-115-2.
* Visy, Zsolt (2024). Visy, Zsolt: A déli harangszó Magyarországon és a nagyvilágban – The Noon Bellin Hungary and the world. Professzorok Batthyány Köre – GeniaNet kiadó. ISBN 978-615-5687-08-2.

## Further reading

[edit]

* Mixson, J.D. (2022). The Crusade of 1456: Texts and Documentation in Translation. University of Toronto Press. ISBN 978-1-4875-2393-0.

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Siege of Belgrade (1456).

* v
* t
* e

Major sieges involving the Ottoman Empire by century

13th-14th|

* 1285 Kulaca Hisar
* 1326 Bursa
* 1328–1331 Nicaea
* 1333–1337 Nicomedia
* 1360s Adrianople
* 1385 Sofia
* 1393 Tarnovo
* 1394–1402 Constantinople

15th|

* 1411 Constantinople
* 1422 Constantinople
* 1422–1430 Thessalonica
* 1428 Golubac
* 1440 Belgrade
* 1440–41 Novo Brdo
* 1448 Svetigrad
* 1450 Krujë
* 1453 Constantinople
* 1455 Berat
* 1456 Belgrade
* 1461 Trebizond
* 1462 Mytilene
* 1463 Jajce
* 1464 Jajce
* 1466–67 Krujë
* 1467 Krujë
* 1470 Negroponte
* 1474 Scutari
* 1477–78 Krujë
* 1478–79 Scutari
* 1480 Rhodes
* 1481 Otranto
* 1484 Chilia

16th|

* 1500 Cephalonia
* 1517 Cairo
* 1521 Belgrade
* 1522 Knin
* 1522 Rhodes
* 1529 Peñón of Algiers
* 1529 Vienna
* 1531 Diu
* 1532 Güns (Kőszeg)
* 1532 Maribor
* 1533–34 Coron
* 1534 Tunis
* 1534 Baghdad
* 1537 Klis
* 1537 Corfu
* 1538 Diu
* 1539 Castelnuovo
* 1541 Buda
* 1543 Nice
* 1543 Esztergom
* 1548 Aden
* 1548 Van
* 1551 Tripoli
* 1552 Muscat
* 1552 Hormuz
* 1552 Temesvár
* 1552 Eger
* 1556 Oran
* 1559 Bahrain
* 1563 Oran
* 1565 Malta
* 1566 Szigetvar
* 1570–71 Famagusta
* 1574 Tunis
* 1578 Gvozdansko
* 1592 Bihać
* 1593 Sisak
* 1596 Eger

17th|

* 1601 Nagykanizsa
* 1621 Khotyn
* 1638 Baghdad
* 1663 Uyvar
* 1664 Novi Zrin
* 1648–1669 Candia
* 1672 Kamenets
* 1683 Vienna
* 1684 Buda
* 1684 Santa Maura
* 1685 Érsekújvár
* 1686 Buda
* 1686 Pécs
* 1688 Negroponte
* 1688 Belgrade
* 1690 Belgrade
* 1695 Azov
* 1696 Azov

18th|

* 1711 Brăila
* 1715 Nauplia
* 1716 Corfu
* 1716 Temeşvar
* 1717 Belgrade
* 1733 Baghdad
* 1734–35 Ganja
* 1737 Ochakov
* 1739 Belgrade
* 1788 Ochakov
* 1788 Khotin
* 1789 Belgrade
* 1789–90 Izmail
* 1799 El Arish
* 1799 Jaffa
* 1799 Acre

19th|

* 1801 Cairo
* 1806 Belgrade
* 1821 Patras
* 1821–22 Acropolis
* 1821 Tripolitsa
* 1822 Missolonghi
* 1823 Missolonghi
* 1825–26 Missolonghi
* 1826–27 Acropolis
* 1828 Kars
* 1828 Varna
* 1854 Calafat
* 1854 Silistra
* 1854–55 Sevastopol
* 1855 Kars
* 1877 Plevna

20th|

* 1912–13 Scutari
* 1912–13 Adrianople
* 1915 Van
* 1915–16 Kut
* 1916–1919 Medina

Ottoman defeats shown in italics.

* v
* t
* e

Wars and battles involving Serbs

Medieval|

| Serbian–Bulgarian|

* Bulgar–Serb War (839–842)
* Bulgar–Serb War (853)
* Bulgarian–Serbian wars of 917–924
* Bulgarian–Serbian border revolt
* Bulgarian-Serb War (998)
* Bulgarian-Serbian War (1202)
* Bulgarian-Serbian War (1203)
* Bulgarian-Serbian War (1290)
* Bulgarian-Serbian War (1291)
* Bulgarian-Serbian War (1330)
* Battle of Velbazhd

|

Serbian–Ottoman|

* Early skirmishes
* Battle of Gallipoli
* Battle of Stephaniana
* Battle of Demotika in 1352
* Battle of Sırp Sındığı in 1364
* Fall of the Serbian Empire
* Battle of Maritsa in 1371
* Battle of Dubravnica in 1381
* Battle of Savra in 1385
* Battle of Pločnik in 1386
* Battle of Kosovo in 1389
* Serbian Despotate
* Battle of Karanovasa
* Battle of Tripolje in 1402
* Siege of Novo Brdo in 1412
* Battle of Vitosha Pass in 1413
* Battle of Carmorlu
* First Scutari War
* Second Scutari War
* Ottoman invasion of Serbia in 1425
* Ottoman invasion of Serbia in 1427
* Ottoman invasion of Serbia in 1437
* Battle of Trnava (1430)
* Ottoman invasion of Serbia in 1438
* Ottoman invasion of Serbia (1439–1444)
* Crusade of Varna
* Battle of Nish (1443)
* Battle of Zlatitsa in 1443
* Battle of Kunovica in 1444
* Ottoman invasion of Serbia (1454–1455)
* Battle of Kruševac in 1454
* Battle of Leskovac in 1454
* Ottoman invasion of Serbia in 1456
* Siege of Belgrade
* Siege of Smederevo
* Ottoman invasion and conquest of Serbia in 1459
* Battle of Breadfield in 1479
* Ottoman conquest of Zeta in 1499

Serbian–Byzantine|

* Serb Uprising of 1038–1042
* Battle of Bar
* Slav Uprising in Pomoravlje
* Battle of Zvečan (1094)
* Battle of Haram
* Siege of Ras (1127)
* Battle of Tara (1150)
* Byzantine–Hungarian War (1149–1155)
* Siege of Braničevo (1154)
* Battle of Pantina
* Byzantine–Hungarian War (1127–1129)
* Byzantine civil war of 1321–1328
* Serbian invasion of Macedonia led by Syrgiannes Palaiologos (1334)
* Byzantine civil war of 1341–1347

Other|

* Hungarian invasions of Europe
* Magyar–Serb conflict
* Byzantine–Hungarian War (1127–1129)
* Battle of Sirmium
* Battle of Gacko
* Serbian conflict with the Nogai Horde
* Mongol invasion of Bulgaria and Serbia
* Mačva War
* Hungarian–Serbian War (1321-1324)
* War of Hum (1326–1329)
* Serbian civil war of 1331
* Serbian nobility conflict (1369)
* Battle of Rovine
* Battle of Nicopolis
* Battle of Ankara
* Battle of Kosmidion
* Battle of Çamurlu
* Battle of Despotovac
* Siege of Belgrade (1440)
* Battle of Kosovo (1448)
* Fall of Constantinople

Foreign rule|

| Habsburgs|

* Jovan Nenad's uprising
* Hungarian campaign of 1527–1528
* Battle of Szőlős
* Battle of Sződfalva
* Battle of Keresztes
* Great Turkish War
* Siege of Belgrade (1688)
* Battle of Batočina
* Battle of Niš (1689)
* Siege of Belgrade (1690)
* Battle of Lugos
* Rákóczi's War of Independence
* Battle of Saint Gotthard (1705)
* Austro-Turkish War (1716–1718)
* Siege of Belgrade (1717)
* Russo-Turkish War (1735–1739)
* Battle of Zsibó
* Battle of Trenčín
* Battle of Petrovaradin
* Battle of Banja Luka
* Austro-Turkish War (1788–1791)

|

Ottomans|

* Long War (Ottoman wars) (1593–1606)
* Banat Uprising (1594)
* Serb Uprising of 1596–1597
* Battle of Mohács (1687)
* Uprising in Vučitrn
* Serb uprising of 1737–1739
* Kočina Krajina Serb rebellion
* Battle of Martinići (1796)
* Battle of Krusi
* Battle of Lopate

Venice|

* Morean War
* Cretan War (1645–1669)
* Great Turkish War
* Battle on Vrtijeljka
* Battle of Slankamen
* Battle of Senta

Russia|

* Serbian Hussar Regiment
* Pruth River Campaign
* War of the Polish Succession
* Russo-Swedish War (1741–1743)
* Seven Years' War

19th century|

| Serbian Revolution|

* First Serbian Uprising
* Vračar
* Rudnik
* Svileuva
* Batočina and Jagodina
* Kragujevac
* Drlupa
* Čokešina
* Šabac
* Požarevac
* Karanovac
* Adakale
* Ivankovac
* Rudnik
* Vrbica
* Mišar
* Deligrad
* Belgrade (1806)
* Liberation of Belgrade
* Loznica
* Malajnica and Štubik
* Čegar
* Jasika
* Prahovo
* Suvodol
* Drina
* Varvarin
* Loznica
* Mačva
* Ravnje
* Hadži Prodan's Revolt
* Second Serbian Uprising
* Ljubić
* Čačak
* Palež
* Požarevac
* Rudnik
* Družetić
* Kragujevac
* Jagodina
* Karanovac
* Batočina
* Užice
* Valjevo
* Batočina

|

Ottoman|

* Montenegrin–Ottoman War (1852–1853)
* Battle of Grahovac
* Battle of Kolašin
* Montenegrin–Ottoman War (1861–1862)
* Montenegrin–Ottoman War (1876–1878)
* Battle of Vučji Do
* Battle of Fundina
* Battles for Plav and Gusinje
* Velika attacks
* Battle of Novšiće
* Battle of Murino

Other|

* Kumanovo uprising
* Adriatic campaign of 1807–1814
* Jančić's rebellion
* Priest Jovica's Rebellion
* Several battles of Hungarian Revolution of 1848
* Battle of Vršac (1849)
* Serbian-Turkish Wars (1876–1878)
* Battle of Vranje
* Siege of Cattaro
* Herzegovina uprising (1852–1862)
* Krivošije uprising (1869)
* Russo-Turkish War (1877–1878)
* AU-BiH War
* Battle of Jajce (1878)
* Battle of Vitez (1878)
* Battle of Sarajevo (1878)
* Serbo-Bulgarian War
* Battle of Pirot
* Battle of Slivnitsa

20th century|

| Macedonian Struggle|

* Fight on Šuplji Kamen
* Fight on Čelopek
* Fight in Tabanovce
* Fight in Velika Hoča
* Fight on Čelopek (1906)
* Battle of Pirot (1913)

|

Balkan Wars|

* First Balkan War
* Battle of Kumanovo
* Battle of Prilep
* Battle of Monastir
* Siege of Scutari
* Siege of Adrianople
* Siege of Odrin (1912–1913)
* Second Balkan War
* Battle of Bregalnica
* Battle of Kalimanci
* Battle of Knjaževac
* Siege of Vidin (1913)
* Ohrid–Debar uprising

World War I|

* Montenegrin campaign
* Battle of Mojkovac
* Battle of Lovćen
* Serbian campaign
* Battle of Cer
* Battle of the Crna Bend (1916)
* Battle of Bazargic
* Battle of Dobro Pole
* Battle of the Drina
* Battle of Florina
* Battle of Kaymakchalan
* Battle of Kolubara
* Kosovo offensive (1915)
* Liberation of Serbia, Albania and Montenegro (1918)
* Battle of Malka Nidzhe
* Macedonian front
* Monastir offensive
* Morava Offensive
* Ovče Pole Offensive
* Vardar offensive
* Srem Offensive
* Toplica Uprising

Interwar|

* Carinthia War
* Uprising in Drenica
* Christmas Uprising
* Allied intervention in the Russian Civil War
* Albanian-Yugoslav Border War (1921)
* Drenica-Junik Uprising

World War II|

* Invasion of Yugoslavia
* Uprising in Serbia (1941)
* Uprising in Montenegro (1941)
* June 1941 uprising in eastern Herzegovina
* Battle of Novi Pazar
* Battle of Pljevlja
* Battle of Kozara
* Battle of Loznica (1941)
* Battle of Livno
* Battle of Neretva
* Battle of the Sutjeska
* Raid on Drvar
* Battle of Knin
* Battle of Mostar
* Battle of Lijevče Field
* 1942 Montenegro offensive
* Bihać Operation
* Battle of Batina
* Belgrade Offensive
* Capture of Banja Koviljača
* Case Black
* Case White
* Operation Draufgänger
* Kozara Offensive
* Battle of Kupres (1942)
* Battle of Višegrad
* Mostar operation
* Nagykanizsa–Körmend Offensive
* Niš operation
* Battle of Odžak
* Capture of Olovo (1941)
* Operation Alfa
* Operation Delphin
* Operation Kopaonik
* Operation Kugelblitz
* Operation Mihailovic
* Operation Southeast Croatia
* Operation Trio
* Operation Uzice
* Battle of Poljana
* Operation Prijedor
* Siege of Rogatica (1941)
* Operation Rösselsprung (1944)
* Kosovo Operation (1944)
* Operation Spring Awakening
* Srb uprising
* Stratsin-Kumanovo operation
* Syrmian Front
* Battle of Zvornik
* Battle of Sarajevo (1945)
* Battle of Zelengora

Croatian War|

* Pakrac clash
* Plitvice Lakes incident
* Battle of Borovo Selo
* Operation Stinger
* 1991 Yugoslav campaign in Croatia
* Battle of Osijek
* Battle of Vukovar
* Battle of Gospić
* Battle of Šibenik
* Battle of Zadar
* Battle of Kusonje
* Battle of the Barracks
* Siege of Varaždin Barracks
* Siege of Bjelovar Barracks
* Battle of the Dalmatian Channels
* Siege of Dubrovnik
* Operation Otkos 10
* Operation Orkan 91
* Operation Whirlwind
* Operation Baranja
* Operation Jackal
* Battle of the Miljevci Plateau
* Operation Tiger
* Operation Maslenica
* Operation Medak Pocket
* Operation Winter '94
* Operation Flash
* Operation Summer '95
* Operation Storm

Bosnian War|

* Battle of Bosanski Brod
* Battle of Kupres
* Siege of Sarajevo
* Siege of Srebrenica
* Siege of Goražde
* Siege of Doboj
* Operation Jackal
* Siege of Bihać (1992–95)
* Operation Vrbas '92
* Operation Corridor 92
* Operation Bura
* Kravica attack
* Siege of Mostar
* Operation Irma
* Operation Bøllebank
* Operation Tiger
* Battle of Kupres
* Operation Amanda
* Operation Spider
* Operation Winter '94
* Battle of Vlašić
* Operation Leap 1
* Battle of Orašje
* Operation Leap 2
* Operation Summer '95
* Battle of Vrbanja Bridge
* Battle of Vozuća
* Operation Miracle
* Operation Mistral 2
* Operation Sana
* Operation Una
* Operation Southern Move
* NATO intervention in Bosnia and Herzegovina
* 1995 Pale air strikes
* Operation Deny Flight
* Operation Deliberate Force
* Operation Maritime Monitor

Kosovo War|

* Insurgency in Kosovo
* Albanian–Yugoslav border incident (December 1998)
* Albania–Yugoslav border incident (April 1999)
* April 23, 1998, Albanian–Yugoslav border ambush
* Attack on Orahovac
* Attack on Prekaz
* Battle of Lođa
* Battle of Oraovica
* Battle of Belaćevac Mine
* Battle of Podujevo
* December 14, 1998, Albanian–Yugoslav border ambush
* Battle of Glođane
* July 18, 1998, Albanian–Yugoslav border clashes
* Battle of Junik
* Battle of Košare
* Insurgency in the Preševo Valley
* Prizren incident (1999)
* NATO bombing of Yugoslavia
* Dubrava Prison bombings and executions
* 1999 F-117A shootdown

21st century|

| Peacekeeping|

* Central African Republic
* Cyprus
* DR Congo
* Ivory Coast
* Lebanon
* Liberia
* Mali
* Somalia

|

Authority control databases: National |

* United States

|

*[WIA]: Wounded in action
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*[t]: Discuss this template
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*[lit.]: literal translation