Siege of Belgrade (1521) facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Siege of Belgrade
Part of the Ottoman wars in Europe and Ottoman-Hungarian Wars
Date 25 June – 29 August 1521 Location Nándorfehérvár, Kingdom of Hungary (present-day Belgrade, Serbia) Result Ottoman victory
Belligerents
Ottoman Empire	Kingdom of Hungary
Commanders and leaders
Suleiman I Gazi Husrev Bey Piri Mehmed Ahmed Pasha Mustafa Pasha	Mihály Móré Balázs Oláh Petar Ovčarević
Strength
100,000

The Siege of Belgrade in 1521 was a big battle. It happened when the Ottoman Empire attacked the city of Belgrade. At that time, Belgrade was an important fortress for the Kingdom of Hungary. This attack was part of a series of wars between the Ottomans and the Hungarians. The Ottoman Empire was growing very quickly towards the west. Their leader, Suleiman the Magnificent, started this military campaign in May 1521. The Hungarian kingdom was not strong enough to fight back effectively.

Why the Siege Happened

At first, no one, not even Sultan Suleiman, knew exactly where the army would attack. One of his commanders, Hain Ahmed Pasha, suggested attacking a town called Šabac first. After that, he wanted to cross the Sava River and attack Buda, which was the capital of Hungary.

Another commander, Piri Mehmed Pasha, disagreed. He thought it was important to capture Belgrade first. He worried that if they attacked Buda without taking Belgrade, the Hungarians could trap them. Sultan Suleiman liked Ahmed's plan more. But he also let Piri Mehmed try to capture Belgrade with a smaller part of the army.

So, Sultan Suleiman conquered Šabac. Meanwhile, Piri Mehmed captured the Zemun fortress.

The Battle for Belgrade

After taking Šabac, Sultan Suleiman told Piri Mehmed to stop attacking Belgrade. He wanted Piri Mehmed to join the main army. The Sultan was planning to build a bridge to cross the Sava River.

However, Piri Mehmed did not stop his attack on Belgrade. He had already captured Zemun and was close to taking Belgrade. The Sultan's plan to cross the Sava River did not work well. The river flooded, making it impossible to build the bridge.

Soon, the Sultan and his main army joined Piri Mehmed. Together, they continued the attack on Belgrade. The city was finally captured on August 24, 1521. In Šabac, all the defenders lost their lives. But in Belgrade, about 70 out of 700 defenders survived. Sultan Suleiman decided to spare their lives. However, most of the Serbian people living in Belgrade were moved to Constantinople, the Ottoman capital.

The fall of Belgrade showed that the Hungarian government was too weak to stop the Ottoman Empire. The Ottomans continued to expand their power. This was clearly seen in the Battle of Mohács in 1526, where Hungary suffered a major defeat. After Hungary's defeat, the Habsburg monarchy became the main power fighting against the Ottomans in Europe. Belgrade would not be ruled by a Christian power again until 1688. That's when Maximilian II Emanuel, Elector of Bavaria captured it for Austria.

After the Battle

When Sultan Selim I died in 1520, his son Suleiman became the new leader of the Ottoman Empire. At the same time, the Kingdom of Hungary was in a very difficult situation. The Hungarian noble families were divided and argued a lot. There was no strong central government to unite them and defend the country.

King Louis II of Hungary was also facing many problems. The lower nobles often disagreed with the higher nobles and the king's court. John Zápolya, a very rich and powerful leader from Transylvania, openly opposed King Louis II. The group that supported John Zápolya was always fighting with the king's court.

King Louis II himself was not very powerful. He was often controlled by his ambitious advisors. Sometimes, he didn't even have enough money for himself. Because of these problems, Hungary could not strengthen its defenses along its southern border. They also couldn't start any military campaigns to protect their land.