Enea Silvio Piccolomini (general) facts for kids

Enea Silvio Piccolomini (also known as Johann Norbert Piccolomini) was a brave general from Siena, Italy. He was born around 1650 in the Papal States. His famous family, the Piccolominis, even had two popes!

Enea Silvio served in the army of Emperor Leopold I of the Habsburg family. He is best known for leading a big military campaign against the Ottomans in 1689. This campaign took place in areas like Bosnia, Macedonia, and Kosovo. He also famously ordered the burning of Skopje, which is now the capital of Republic of North Macedonia. Enea Silvio sadly died from the plague in Skopje on November 9, 1689.

Who Was Enea Silvio Piccolomini?

Enea Silvio Piccolomini belonged to a very old and important noble family. This family had a long history and was quite famous in Italy. Two members of his family became popes: Pius II (who was also named Enea Silvio Piccolomini) and Pius III. Another famous family member was Ottavio Piccolomini, who was a top general.

How Did Enea Silvio Start His Career?

Young noblemen from Siena often traveled to Vienna, the capital of the Habsburg Empire, to find jobs in the army. In February 1660, Enea Silvio also went to Vienna to start his career. His father helped him get an apartment with servants and horses. Enea Silvio then tried to meet important people like Emperor Leopold I and his ministers. He hoped his family's fame would help him.

He finally got a job in a military regiment led by Count Rabassa. Life as a young officer could be tough. In October 1660, the emperor reduced the size of his army. Enea Silvio almost lost his job but was lucky to stay on as a simple soldier in a cavalry unit.

By 1675, Enea Silvio had become a lieutenant-colonel. He fought in some very difficult battles against the French in the Rhineland region, under a general named Montecuccoli.

Even after his important supporter, Empress Claudia Felicitas of Austria, died in 1676, Enea Silvio became very popular at court. In January 1677, he wrote that the emperor and all the ministers in Vienna were celebrating him. He seemed to have many friends and supporters. His last known letter, from November 1681, shows him helping his nephews get positions as pages. He wanted more Piccolominis from Siena to have careers in Germany.

What Was the Balkan Campaign?

After the siege of Vienna (1683), Emperor Leopold I decided to fight back against the Ottoman Empire. This led to a series of wars known as the Great Turkish War. The goal was to take back lands in the Balkans that the Ottomans controlled.

During the Battle of Mohács (1687), Enea Silvio Piccolomini was a lieutenant-general. He led his cavalry regiments in a successful counterattack. They stopped a much larger Ottoman cavalry force, which helped save a part of the Habsburg army.

In 1689, Piccolomini led one of the Austrian campaigns. He marched his army into Kosovo, where he was welcomed by local leaders like Archbishop Pjetër Bogdani. Many Catholic and Muslim Albanians and Serbs joined his army, giving him over 20,000 local fighters.

Piccolomini tried to conquer Ottoman territories in Kosovo, Bosnia, and Macedonia. During this offensive, the city of Skopje was suffering from a serious illness called cholera. To stop the disease from spreading, or perhaps to get revenge for the siege of Vienna, General Piccolomini ordered the city to be burned. This event is known as the Fire of Skopje.

Sadly, Enea Silvio Piccolomini himself caught the plague and died in Skopje. Without their leader, his army was defeated. Many Serbs and Albanians who had joined him had to flee their homes and go into exile, led by Patriarch Arsenije III Crnojević.

See also

• Piccolomini
• Great Turkish War
• Holy League (1684)
• Jovan Monasterlija

Images for kids

• Enea Silvio Piccolomini.jpg

  Enea Silvio Piccolomini