List of sieges

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Portal

The 1453 Siege of Constantinople (painted 1499)

A siege is a prolonged military assault and blockade on a city or fortress with the intent of conquering by force or attrition. What follows is a chronological list of sieges.

Military sieges

Ancient

• Siege of Megiddo (c. 1457 BC)
• Siege of Dapur (c. 1296 BC)
• Siege of Troy (c. 1200 BC)
• Siege of Gezer (10th century BC)
• Sack of Jerusalem (925 BC) by Egyptian pharaoh Shoshenq I
• Siege of Gezer (c.733 BC)
• Siege of Hermopolis (c. 715 BC)
• Siege of Lachish (c. 715 BC)
• Siege of Jerusalem (701 BC) – the Assyrian siege of Sennacherib
• Siege of Jerusalem (597 BC) by Nebuchadnezzar II
• Siege of Jerusalem (587 BC) by Nebuchadnezzar II
• Siege of Sardis (547 BC)
• Siege of Naxos (499 BC) Part of the Ionian Revolt and the Greco-Persian Wars
• Siege of Eretria (490 BC) - Part of the Persian invasion and the Greco-Persian Wars
• Siege of Syracuse (415 BC) – the Athenian siege
• Siege of Syracuse (397 BC)
• Siege of Miletus (334 BC)
• Siege of Halicarnassus (334 BC)
• Siege of Tyre (332 BC) by Alexander the Great
• Siege of Gaza (332 BC)
• Siege of Cyropolis (329 BC)
• Siege of the Sogdian Rock (327 BC)
• Siege of Neapolis (c. 327 BC)
• Siege of Rhodes (305 BC) by Demetrius Poliorcetes
• Siege of Lilybaeum (278 BC) - Part of the Pyrrhic War
• Siege of Agrigentum (261 BC) - Part of the First Punic War
• Siege of Aspis (255 BC) - Part of the First Punic War
• Siege of Drepana (249-241 BC) - Part of the First Punic War
• Siege of Saguntum (218 BC) – casus belli for the Second Punic War
• Siege of Syracuse (214–212 BC) – the Roman siege
• Siege of Carthage (149–146 BC) by Scipio Aemilianus Africanus
• Siege of Numantia (134–133 BC) by Scipio Aemilianus Africanus
• Siege of Cyzicus (73 BC)
• Siege of Jerusalem (63 BC) by Pompey the Great
• Siege of Alesia (52 BC)
• Siege of Alexandria (47 BC)
• Siege of Jerusalem (37 BC) by Herod the Great
• Siege of Yodfat (67 AD)
• Siege of Jerusalem (70 AD) – the Roman siege of Titus
• Siege of Masada (72-73 or 73-74 AD)
• Siege of Byzantium (193 AD–196 AD) by Septimius Severus forces.
• Siege of Singara (344)
• Siege of Autun (356)
• Siege of Senonae (356)
• Siege of Amida (359 AD)
• Siege of Rome (410)
• Siege of Aquileia (452) by Attila
• Siege of Rome (455)

Medieval

• Siege of Ravenna (490-493) - Ostrogothic conquest of Italy
• Siege of Rome (537–538) - part of the Gothic War
• Siege of Verona (541) - part of the Gothic War
• Siege of Naples (543) - part of the Gothic War
• Siege of Rome (546-547) - part of the Gothic War
• Siege of Rome (549–550) - part of the Gothic War
• Siege of Phasis (555–556) - part of the Lazic War
• Siege of Pavia (569-572) - Lombard conquest of Italy
• Siege of Caesarea (614)
• Siege of Jerusalem (614) by Shahrbaraz (Sassanid general)
• The First Siege of Constantinople by Avars and Sassanid Persians in 626
• The Siege of Derbent (627)
• The Siege of Tbilisi (628)
• Siege of Exeter (c.630)
• Siege of Ta'if (630)
• Siege of Damascus (634)
• Siege of Emesa (635)
• Siege of Jerusalem (637) by Khalid ibn al-Walid (Rashidun general)
• Siege of Ctesiphon (637)
• Siege of Aleppo (637)
• Siege of Marash (638)
• Siege of Alexandria (641)
• Siege of Herat (643 CE)
• Siege of Ansi fortress (645)
• First Arab Siege of Constantinople in 674–678
• Siege of Tyana (707–708)
• Second Arab Siege of Constantinople in 717–718
• Siege of Nicaea (727)
• Siege of Pavia (773–774) - Lombard kingdom conquered by Charlemagne
• Siege of Trsat (799)
• Siege of Serdica (809)
• Siege of Baghdad (812–813)
• Siege of Adrianople (813)
• Siege of Syracuse (827–828) by the Aghlabids
• Siege and sack of Amorium (838)
• Siege of Syracuse (868) by the Aghlabids
• Siege of Malta (869-870) by the Aghlabids
• Siege of Syracuse (877–878) by the Aghlabids
• Siege of Paris (885–886)
• Siege of Thessalonica (904)
• Siege of Chartres (911)
• Siege of Kiev (968)
• Siege of Dorostolon (971)
• Siege of Graus (Spring 1063)
• Siege of Bari (1068–1071) - Norman conquest of Southern Italy
• Siege of Palermo (1071–1072) - Norman conquest of Southern Italy
• Siege of Nicaea (1097) – part of the First Crusade
• Siege of Antioch (1097–1098) – part of the First Crusade
• Siege of Capua (1098)
• Siege of Ma'arra (1098) – part of the First Crusade
• Siege of Jerusalem (1099) – part of the First Crusade
• Siege of Tripoli (1102-1109)
• Siege of Weinsberg (1140)
• Siege of Edessa (1144)
• Siege of Lisbon (1147)
• Siege of Damascus (1148)
• Siege of Crema (1159–1160) - part of the wars between Holy Roman Emperor Frederick I and the Northern Italy cities
• Siege of Sanjō Palace (1160) – the main action of the Heiji Rebellion took place in Kyoto
• Siege of Milan (1161–1162) - part of the wars between Holy Roman Emperor Frederick I and the Northern Italy cities
• Siege of Wexford (1169) - the first major clash of the Norman invasion of Ireland
• Siege of Alessandria (1174–1175) - part of the wars between Holy Roman Emperor Frederick I and the Lombard League
• Siege of Nara (1180) – during Genpei War
• Siege of Kerak (1183)
• Siege of Lovech (1187)
• Siege of Jerusalem (1187)
• Siege of Tyre (1187)
• Siege of Acre (1189–1191)
• Siege of Varna (1201)
• Siege of Zara (1202) – part of the Fourth Crusade
• Siege of Constantinople (1203) – part of the Fourth Crusade
• Siege of Constantinople (1204) – part of the Fourth Crusade
• Siege of Antalya (1207)
• Siege of Zhongdu (1215) – Genghis Khan conquers Zhongdu, now Beijing
• Siege of Damietta (1218)
• Siege of Constantinople (1235) – a joint Bulgarian-Nicaean siege on the capital of the Latin Empire.
• Siege of Bilär (1236) – Batu Khan conquers the city of Bilär.
• Siege of Kiev (1240) – Mongol conquest of Kiev.
• Siege of Montségur (1243-1244)
• Siege of Jerusalem (1244) by the Khwarezmians
• Siege of Parma (1247–1248) - part of the wars between Holy Roman Emperor Frederick II and the Lombard League
• Siege of Damietta (1249)
• Siege of Baghdad (1258)
• Siege of Xiangyang (1267–1273) – Mongol conquest of the city of Xiangyang in the invasion of the Southern Song.
• Siege of Antioch (1268)
• Siege of Ruad (1302-1303)
• Siege of Gibraltar (1309) – first siege of Gibraltar, by Juan Alfonso de Guzman el Bueno in the Reconquista
• Siege of Florence (1312)
• Siege of Gibraltar (1316) – second siege of Gibraltar, by the Nasrid caid Yahya in the Reconquista
• Siege of Padua (1319-1320), by Cangrande I della Scala, lord of Verona
• Siege of Bursa (1326) by Ottoman Turks
• Siege of Nicaea (1328–1331) – part of the Byzantine-Ottoman wars
• Siege of Kamakura (1333) – end of Ashikaga shogunate.
• Third Siege of Gibraltar (1333) – third siege of Gibraltar, by a Marinids army, led by Abd al-Malik in the Reconquista
• Forth Siege of Gibraltar (1333) – fourth siege of Gibraltar, by King Alfonso XI of Castile in the Reconquista
• Siege of Nicomedia – part of the Byzantine-Ottoman Wars
• Siege of Caffa (1346)
• Siege of Calais (1346–1347) – Hundred Years' War
• Siege of Gibraltar (1349–1350) – fifth siege of Gibraltar, by Alfonso XI in the Reconquista
• Siege of Limoges (1370)
• Siege of Gibraltar (1374) – sixth siege of Gibraltar, by the Nasrid in the Reconquista
• Siege of Philadelphia (1378-1390)
• Siege of Sofia (1382 or 1385)
• Siege of Ypres (1383)
• Siege of Lisbon (1384)
• Siege of Tarnovo (1393)
• Siege of Marienburg (1410) – in the aftermath of the Battle of Grunwald
• Siege of Rouen (1418) – reopening of the Hundred Years War
• Siege of Sarai (1420)
• Siege of Constantinople (1422) – first siege of Constantinople, by the Murad II
• Siege of Thessalonica (1422–1430)
• Siege of Orléans (1429)
• Siege of La Charité (1429)
• Siege of Gaeta (1435)
• Siege of Gibraltar (1436) – seventh siege of Gibraltar, by the count of Niebla in the Reconquista
• Siege of Svetigrad (1448)
• Siege of Constantinople (1453) – second siege of Constantinople by the Mehmed II

Early modern

Monks successfully defended the Troitse-Sergiyeva Lavra against the Poles from September 1609 to January 1611.

• Siege of Belgrade (1456) – part of Ottoman wars in Europe
• Siege of Gibraltar (1462) – eighth siege of Gibraltar, by a Castilian army in the Reconquista
• Siege of Harlech Castle (1461–1468) – part of Wars of the Roses. Longest siege in British history.
• Siege of Gibraltar (1467) – ninth siege of Gibraltar, by the Duke of Medina Sidonia
• Siege of Neuss (1474-1475)
• Siege of Krujë (1478)
• Siege of Rhodes (1480) – first siege of Rhodes
• Siege of Otranto (1480-1481)
• Siege of Hainburg (1482)
• Siege of Utrecht (1483)
• Siege of Vienna (1485)
• Siege of Retz (1486)
• Siege of Wiener Neustadt (1487)
• Siege of Granada (1492)
• Siege of Gibraltar (1506) – tenth siege of Gibraltar, by the Duke of Medina Sidonia
• Siege of Padua (1509) - part of Italian wars
• Siege of Smolensk (1514)
• Siege of Cairo (1517)
• Siege of Tenochtitlan (1521) – fall of the Aztec Empire.
• Siege of Rhodes (1522) – second siege of Rhodes
• Siege of Pavia (1524-1525) - part of Italian wars
• Siege of Kamakura (1526)
• Siege of Algiers (1529)
• Siege of Vienna (1529) – first siege of Vienna
• Siege of Florence (1529–1530) - part of Italian wars
• Siege of Güns (1532)
• Siege of Baghdad (1534) by Ottomans
• Siege of Tunis (1534)
• Siege of Cuzco (1536–1537)
• Siege of Klis (1536–1537)
• Siege of Corfu (1537)
• Siege of Diu (1538)
• Siege of Castelnuovo (1539)
• Siege of Buda (1541)
• Siege of Nice (1543)
• Siege of Esztergom (1543)
• Siege of Van (1547)
• Siege of Aden (1548)
• Siege of Beijing (1550)
• Siege of Tripoli (1551)
• Siege of Muscat (1522)
• Siege of Kazan (1552) – part of Russo-Kazan wars
• Siege of Hormuz (1552-1554)
• Siege of Eger (1552) – part of Ottoman-Habsburg wars
• Siege of Siena (1554–1555) - part of Italian wars
• Siege of Oran (1556)
• Siege of Leith (1560)
• Sieges of Oran and Mers El Kébir (1563)
• Siege of Malta (1565)
• Siege of Szigetvár (1566) – Ottoman siege during which Suleiman the Magnificent died
• Siege of Chartres (1568)
• Turkish siege of Nicosia, Cyprus (1570)
• Turkish siege of Famagusta, Cyprus (1570–1571)
• Siege of Ishiyama Honganji (1570–1580) – longest siege in Japanese history
• Siege of Moscow (1571) – part of Russo-Crimean Wars

During the Cologne War (1583–1589), Ferdinand of Bavaria successfully besieged the medieval fortress of Godesberg; during a month-long siege, his sappers dug tunnels under the feldspar of the mountain and laid gunpowder and a 1500 pound bomb. The result was a spectacular explosion that sent chunks of the ramparts, the walls, the gates, and drawbridges into the air. His 500 men still could not take the fortress until they scaled the interior latrine system and climbed the mountain to enter through a hole in the chapel roof.

• Sieges of Nagashima (1571, 1573, 1574)
• Siege of Haarlem (1572)
• Siege of Tunis (1574)
• Siege of Nagashino (1575)
• Siege of Gvozdansko (1578)
• Siege of Pskov (1581–1582)
• Siege of Godesberg (1583)
• Siege of Ypres (1584)
• Siege of Ghent (1584)
• Siege of Bruges (1584)
• Siege of Brussels (1584)
• Siege of Antwerp (1584–1585)
• Second Siege of Neuss (July 1586)
• Siege of Odawara (1590)
• Siege of Jinju (1592)
• Siege of Groenlo (1595)
• Siege of Groenlo (1597)
• Siege of Kinsale (1601–1602)
• Siege of Ostend (1601–1604)
• Siege of Groenlo (1606)
• Siege of Smolensk – (1609–1611) – 20 months
• Siege of Troitse-Sergiyeva Lavra (1609–1611) – 16 months
• Siege of Osaka (1614–1615)
• Siege of Breda (1624–1625)
• Siege of Groenlo (1627)
• Siege of La Rochelle (1627–1628)
• Siege of Mantua (1629–1630)
• Siege of Casale Monferrato (1629–1631)
• Siege of 's-Hertogenbosch (1629)
• Siege of Nuremberg (1632), Thirty Years' War
• Siege of Hara fortress (1637–1638)
• Siege of Azov (1637–1642) – part of Russo-Turkish Wars
• Siege of Baghdad (1638) by Ottomans
• Siege of Turin (1640)
• Siege of Candia (Crete) (1648–1669) –The longest siege in history
• Siege of Drogheda (1649) -Cromwellian conquest of Ireland
• Siege of Wexford (1649)
• Siege of Waterford (1649–1650)
• Siege of Clonmel (1650)
• Cromwell's Siege of Limerick City, Ireland (1651)
• Siege of Galway (1652)
• Siege of Jasna Góra (1656) – during The Deluge
• Siege of Riga (1656) – in the Russo-Swedish War of 1656–1658
• Siege of Copenhagen (1658–1659) Second Northern War, Swedes defeated by Danish and Dutch defenders
• Siege of Lille (1667)
• Siege of Solovetsky Monastery (1668–1676) – eight years

Batteries at the Siege of Québec (1690).

• Siege of Groningen (1672)
• Siege of Kamenets (1672)
• Siege of Maastricht (1673)
• Siege of Vienna (1683) – second siege of Vienna
• Siege of Derry (1689)
• Siege of Québec City (1690) – first siege of Québec City
• Williamite Siege of Limerick City, Ireland (1690–1691)
• Siege of Athlone (1691)
• Siege of Cuneo (1691)
• Siege of Gibraltar (1704) – eleventh siege of Gibraltar, by Sir George Rooke's Anglo-Dutch fleet

The Defeat of the Floating Batteries at Gibraltar, September 1782

• Siege of Gibraltar (1704–1705) – twelfth siege of Gibraltar, by a Spanish-French army)
• Siege of Verrua Savoia (1704–1705), during the War of the Spanish Succession
• Siege of Turin (1706), during the War of the Spanish Succession
• Siege of Gaeta (1707), during the War of the Spanish Succession
• Siege of Lille (1708)
• Siege of Barcelona (1714), during the War of the Spanish Succession
• Siege of Gibraltar (1727) – thirteenth siege of Gibraltar, by a Spanish army
• Siege of Danzig (1734)
• Siege of Gaeta (1734)
• Siege of Belgrade (1739)
• Siege of Cartagena de Indias (1741) – by Edward Vernon in the War of Jenkins' Ear
• Siege of Prague (1742), during the War of the Austrian Succession
• Siege of Cuneo (1744), during the War of the Austrian Succession
• Siege of Brussels (1746), during the War of the Austrian Succession
• Siege of Prague (1757), during the Seven Years' War
• Siege of Olomouc (1758) – by Frederick the Great in the Seven Years' War
• Siege of Québec City (1759) – second siege of Québec City
• Siege of Kolberg (1761)
• Siege of Havana (1762) British fleet headed by George Keppel, 3rd Earl of Albemarle lays siege to Spanish controlled Havana for a month.
• Siege of Boston (1775–1776)
• Siege of Gibraltar (1779–1783) – fourteenth siege of Gibraltar, by a Spanish-French army in the American Revolutionary War
• Siege of Yorktown (1781)
• Siege of Mantua (1796–1797) – First Coalition, French besieging
• Siege of Mantua (1799) – Second Coalition, French defending
• Siege of Seringapatam (1799)

Modern

American soldiers scale the walls of Beijing to relieve the Siege of the Legations, August 1900

• Siege of Hameln (1806)
• Siege of Copenhagen (1807) Bombarded by British fleet and by ground forces commanded by Arthur Wellesley
• First and Second sieges of Zaragoza (1808–1809) – Peninsular War
• Siege of Gerona (1809) – Peninsular War
• First Siege of Ciudad Rodrigo (1810) – Peninsular War by the French Marshal Michel Ney
• Second Siege of Ciudad Rodrigo (1812) – Peninsular War by Arthur Wellesley
• Siege of Badajoz (1812) – Peninsular War
• First, Second and Third Sieges of Missolonghi (1822, 1823, 1825—1826)
• Siege of the Alamo (1836)
• Siege of Montevideo (1843–1851)
• Siege of Veracruz (1847) – First U.S. amphibious landing
• Siege of Peschiera del Garda (1848) - Italian Risorgimento
• Siege of Osoppo (1848) - Italian Risorgimento
• Siege of Venice (1849) - Italian Risorgimento
• Siege of Rome (1849) - Italian Risorgimento
• Siege of Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky (1854)
• Siege of Sevastopol (1854–1855) – Crimean War
• Siege of Taganrog (1855) – Crimean War
• Siege of Kars (1855) – Crimean War
• Siege of Cawnpore (1857) – The Indian Mutiny
• Siege of Lucknow (1857) – The Indian Mutiny
• Siege of Medina Fort (1857) – Toucouleurs besiege French for 97 days
• Siege of Ancona (1860) - Italian Risorgimento
• Siege of Messina (1860-1861) - Italian Risorgimento
• Siege of Civitella del Tronto (1860-1861) - Italian Risorgimento
• Siege of Gaeta (1860-1861) - Italian Risorgimento
• Siege of Fort Sumter (1861) - Beginning of the Civil War, by Confederates, but was also later besieged later in the War by Union soldiers.
• Siege of Vicksburg (1863) — Union army besieged a Confederate city in the American Civil War.
• Siege of Port Hudson (1863) – Union Army surrounded Confederate river stronghold for 48 days.
• Siege of Petersburg (1864—1865)
• Siege of Fort Ampola (1866) - Italian Risorgimento
• Siege of Hakodate (1869)
• Capture of Rome (1870) - Italian Risorgimento
• Siege of Paris and the Paris Commune (1870–1871)
• Siege of Cartagena (1873–1874)
• Siege of Plevna (1877–1878) – Russo-Turkish War (1877–1878)
• Siege of Khartoum (1884–1885)
• Siege of Macallè (1895–1896) - First Italo-Ethiopian War
• Siege of Baler (1898–1899) – Philippine Revolution
• Siege of Mafeking (1899–1900) – Second Boer War
• Siege of Kimberley (1899–1900) – Second Boer War
• Siege of Ladysmith (1899–1900) – Second Boer War
• Siege of the Legations (1900) - Boxer Rebellion
• Siege of Port Arthur (1904–1905)
• Siege of Adrianople (1913) – First Balkan War
• Siege of Antwerp (1914) – World War I
• Siege of Maubeuge (1914) – World War I
• Battle of Jerusalem (1917) - World War I
• Siege of Alcazar (1936) – Second Spanish Republic militias besieged the Alcazar of Toledo in the Spanish Civil War
• Siege of Gijon (1936) – Spanish Civil War
• Siege of Oviedo (1936) – Spanish Civil War
• Siege of Madrid (1936—1939) – Spanish Civil War
• Siege of Malta (1940–1943) – World War II
• Siege of Tobruk (1941) – World War II
• Siege of Odessa (1941) – World War II
• Siege of Sevastopol (1941–1942) – World War II
• Siege of Leningrad (1941–1944) – also known as the 900-Day Siege, probably the most gruesome in history, World War II.
• Siege of Stalingrad (1942–1943) – World War II
• Siege of Budapest (1944–1945)
• Siege of Breslau (1945) – World War II
• Siege of Jerusalem (1947–1948) – 1948 Arab-Israeli War – Palestinian Arabs laid siege to the Jewish quarters of Jerusalem, but were driven back. Siege was resumed in May by regular Jordanian and Egyptian forces. Ended in armistice.
• Siege of Changchun (1948) – Chinese Civil War
• Berlin blockade (1948–1949) – No military action, but the tactic to starve a city by cutting her supply lines is a feature of a siege. The famous Berlin Air Lift supplied the city with food, coal, medical supplies and other goods for nearly a year.
• Siege of Dien Bien Phu (1954) – Vietnamese Viet Minh forces besieged French forces, effecting a final defeat on France's colonial occupation.
• Siege of Erenköy (1964) – Turkish Cypriots holding out against attacking Greek and Greek Cypriot forces.
• Encirclement of Jerusalem (1967) - Six-Day War
• Siege of Beirut (1982)
• Siege of Vukovar (1991) – Croatian War of Independence
• Siege of Dubrovnik (1991–1992) – Croatian War of Independence
• Siege of Sarajevo (1992–1996) – Bosnian War
• Siege of Bihać (1992–1995) – Bosnian War
• Siege of Monrovia (2003) – Second Liberian Civil War
• CIMIC-House (2006) – Iraq War
• Siege of Nahr el-Bared (2007) – Lebanon
• Siege of Gaza (2007–current) Palestinian Occupied Territory
• Siege of Misrata (2011) - 2011 Libyan civil war

Police sieges

• Siege of Sidney Street (1911)
• Attica Siege (1971)
• Munich Olympic Massacre (1972)
• Wounded Knee Siege (1973)
• Norrmalmstorg robbery (1973) famous for the Stockholm syndrome
• Spaghetti House siege (1975)
• Balcombe Street Siege (1975)
• MOVE Siege (1978)
• Iranian Embassy Siege (1980)
• Palace of Justice siege (1985)
• Ruby Ridge Siege (1992)
• Waco Siege (1993)
• Montana Freemen Siege (1996)
• Japanese embassy hostage crisis (1996–1997)
• Republic of Texas Embassy Siege (1997)
• Moscow theater hostage crisis (2002)
• Beslan hostage crisis (2004)
• Siege of Complexo do Alemão's slums, major urban conflict in Rio de Janeiro (2010)