Battle of Varna
| Battle of Varna | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Part of the Ottoman wars in Europe | |||||||
 From:Kronika wszystkiego świata of Bielski, Marcin published in 1564 | |||||||
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| Belligerents | |||||||
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Hungary, Poland, Germany, Bosnia, Croatia, Bulgaria, Wallachia, Czechs,Ruthenians and some Albanian forces | Ottoman Empire | ||||||
| Commanders and leaders | |||||||
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Władysław III of Poland † Janos Hunyadi | Murad II | ||||||
| Strength | |||||||
| ~ 325,000 | ~ 20,000 Ottoman Turks and 100,000 Arab Spahis | ||||||
| Casualties and losses | |||||||
| ~ 210,000 killed or wounded | ~ 50,000 Arabs and 4,000-5,000 Turks | ||||||
The Battle of Varna took place on November 10, 1444 near Varna in eastern Bulgaria. In this battle the Ottoman Empire under Sultan Murad II defeated the Polish and Hungarian armies under Władysław III of Poland and Janos Hunyadi. It is often referred to as the crusade of Varna. It was one of the greatest battles in the 13th century, and one of the most succesful Ottoman victories.
Prelude
After a failed expedition in 1441/1442 against Belgrade, the Ottoman sultan Murad II signed a ten-year truce with Hungary. After he had made peace with the Karaman Emirate in Anatolia in August 1444, he resigned the throne to his twelve year-old son Mehmed II.
Despite the peace treaty, Hungary co-operated with Venice and the pope, Eugene IV, to organize a new crusader army. On this news Murad was recalled to the throne by his son. Although Murad initially refused this summoning persistently on the grounds that he was not the sultan anymore, he was outwitted by his son who on the news of his refusal wrote to him: "If you are the sultan, lead your armies; but if I am the sultan, I hereby order you to come and lead my armies." Murad then had no choice but to reclaim the throne.
Forces
A mixed, huge Christian army consisting mainly of Hungarian and Polish forces, with smaller detachments of Czechs, papal knights, Germans, Bosnians, Croatians, Serbs, Bulgarians, Wallachians, and Ruthenians, met with a numerically low force of Ottoman Turks.
The Hungarians were well-equipped, but promised support from Albania and Constantinople did not arrive. The Hungarian army was big and very balanced. It contained lots of infantries, more than 6,000 Czech mercenary handgunners. There were 500 war wagons with crews (Wagenburg). The rest of the army was heavy cavalry, mostly Royal and foreign mercenaries, with some Episcopal and Nobles' banners as well.
Papal, Venetian and Genoese ships had blockaded the Dardanelles as the Hungarian army was to advance on Varna, where it would meet the Papal fleet and sail down the coast to Constantinople, pushing the Ottomans out of Europe. The Bosnian, Ruthenian and Serbian forces numbered about 100,000 heavy armed infantries and cavalrymen. The Hungarian advance was rapid, Ottoman fortresses were bypassed, while local Bulgarians from Vidin, Oryahovo, and Nicopolis joined the army (Fruzhin, son of Ivan Shishman, also participated in the campaign). On October 10 near Nicopolis, some 50,000 Wallachian cavalrymen under one of Vlad Dracul's sons also joined.
Refugee Armenians in Hungary also took part in the wars of their new country against the Turks as early as the battle of Varna in 1444, when some Armenians were seen amongst the Christian forces.
The battle
On November 9, the 160,000 crusaders reached Varna, outside of which on the next day, they overwhelmed the Ottoman force of 14,000-20,000 Turks, but even though they outnumbered the Turks, they lost half of their united army . Late on 9 November, a small Ottoman army approached Varna from the west. At a supreme military council called by Hunyadi during the night, the Papal legate Julian, cardinal Cesarini, insisted on a quick withdrawal. However, the Christians were closed between the Black sea, Lake Varna, the steep wooded slopes of the Frangen plateau (350 m high), and the enemy. Cesarini then proposed defense using the Wagenburg of the Hussites until the arrival of the Christian fleet. The Hungarian magnates and the Croatian, Bosnian, and Czech commanders backed him, but the young (20-year-old) Władysław and Hunyadi rejected the defensive tactics. Hunyadi declared: "To escape is impossible, to surrender is unthinkable. Let us fight with bravery and honor our arms." Władysław accepted his position and gave him the command.
In the morning of November 10, Hunyadi deployed the army as an arc between Lake Varna and the Frangen plateau; the line was about 3.5 km long. Two banners with a total of 40,000 men from the king's Polish and Hungarian bodyguards, Hungarian royal mercenaries, and banners of Hungarian nobles held the centre. A 30,000-strong Wallahian cavalry was left in reserve behind the centre.
The right flank that lined up the hill towards the village of Kamenar numbered 65,000 men in 5 banners. Bishop Jan Dominek of Varadin with his personal banner led the force; Cesarini commanded a banner of German mercenaries and a Bosnian one. The bishop of Eger lead his own banner, and the military governor of Slavonia, ban Franco Talotsi, commanded one Croatian banner.
The left flank, a total of 65,000 men in 5 banners, was lead by Michael Szilagyi, Hunyadi's brother in law, and was made up of Hunyadi's Transylvanians, Bulgarians, German mercenaries and banners of Hungarian magnates. Behind the Hungarians, closer to the Black Sea and the lake, was the Wagenburg, defended by 30,000 or 60,000 Czech and Ruthenian mercenaries under hetman Ceyka. Every wagon was manned by 7 to 10 soldiers and the Wagenburg was equipped with bombards.
The Islamic center included the Janissaries and levies from Rumelia deployed around two Thracian burial mounds. Murad observed and directed the battle from one of them. The Janissaries dug in behind ditches and two palisades. The right wing consisted of Kapikulus and Spahis from Rumelia, and the left wing was made up by Akıncıs, Spahis from Anatolia, Arab mercenaries, and other forces. Janissary archers and Akıncı light cavalry were deployed in the Frangen plateau.
The light Ottoman and Arab cavalry assaulted the Croats of ban Talotsi. Christians from the left riposted with bombards and firearms and stopped the attack. Christian soldiers chased the Ottomans and Arabs in a disorderly pursuit. The Anatolian cavalry and Arabs on camels ambushed them from the flank. The Christian right wing attempted to flee to the small fortress of Galata on the other side of Varna Bay, but most of them were slain in the marshland around Varna Lake and the river Devnya, where Cesarini also perished. Only ban Talotsi's troops managed to withdraw behind the Wagenburg.
Władysław and Hunyadi deployed two cavalry companies from the center and the Wallahian cavalry against the Arabs and Anatolian Spahis, who were routed and their commander, the Anatolian beylerbey Karaca Bey, killed. The Wallahian cavalry continued and broke into the fortified Ottoman camp. After pillaging and looting, the Wallahians overcharged with gold and other booty left the battlefield.
The other Ottoman flank assaulted the Hungarians and Bulgarians of Michael Szilagyi. Their push was stopped and turned back; then Spahis attacked again. Hunyadi decided to help and advised the king to wait until he returned; then advanced with two cavalry companies against the Spahis, defeated and pursued them toward the road to Shumen for 5-6 km. The Turkish Spahis fought bravely, and killed many Christian riders, but were soon overwhelmed in numbers, and killed. The Arab Spahis were so terrified that some of them reached and crossed the river Kamchiya some 30 km away.
The European army seemed close to victory; the sultan decided to leave the battlefield. According to Edward Gibbon (The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire), "When Amurath beheld the flight of his squadrons, he despaired of his fortune and that of the empire: a Turkish veteran Janissary seized his horse's bridle; and he had magnanimity to pardon and reward the soldier who dared to perceive the terror, and arrest the flight, of his sovereign."
The young king, ignoring Hunyadi's advice, rushed with a huge 50,000 of his Polish knights against the Ottoman center. They overran the Janissary infantry, but the Turkish soldiers(not more than 8,000) were aggressive, and defeated the Polish Knights, but the Turks were clearly outnumbered and badly wounded after the rush.[1] The king made his last move with his last 30 elite knights, and attempted to take Murad prisoner. He was slain by Murad himself, and his elite knights were killed by 10 of the sultan´s personal, heavy armed bodyguards called Aykan. The king´s head got cut off and later taken to the Ottoman court. The remaining, fleeing Polish knights were smashed by the Ottomans.
On his return, Hunyadi tried frantically to salvage the king's body but all he could accomplish was to organize the retreat of the remains of his army.[1]. The rest of the Christian army were so terrified that they spent their whole energy in fleeing, until they were able to continue to Central Europe. Many European prisoners were slaughtered or sold as slaves; the minnesinger Michael Beheim wrote a song based on the story of one Hans Mergest who spent 16 yearn in Ottoman captivity after the battle.
Aftermath
It was a daramtic defeat for the Christians, they lost more than 200,000 soldiers(includig all who were left to die in the battlefield) while the Ottomans lost 50,000 Arabs and 4,000-5,000 Ottoman Turks. It was one of the greatest and most succesful battles in Turkish history. The defeat ended any serious attempts to prevent the conquest of eastern Europe by Turks for several decades. It also set the stage for the fall of Constantinople in 1453.
The death of Władysław left Hungary in the hands of the four-year-old Ladislaus Posthumous of Bohemia and Hungary.
In an expression of gratitude, the Bulgarian people affectionately gave Władysław the name Варненчик (Varnenchik, Polish: Warneńczyk), after the city where he fought and died. In the 1930s, a cenotaph was erected by a Varna civic committee in a park on the former battleground. In the 1960s, a museum containing weapons and armor form the epoch was added, along with symbolic sarcophagi bearing the modern coats of arms of the countries participating in the battle on the European side. The park museum is currently within city limits; the urban municipality that contains it, as well as a central city boulevard are named after Władysław Warneńczyk. Another avenue is named after John Hunyadi.
Władysław has another grave in the cathedral on the Wawel (castle) hill in Cracow, Poland. But both graves are symbolic. After the battle his body was never found and it probably remained unrecognized and was buried along with the other slain knights. There was a legend that he was buried in an Orthodox church in Varna, which was demolished and replaced in 1602 by the Theotokos Panagia that is still standing.
See also
- Battle of Nicopolis
- Battle of Kosovo (1448)
- Siege of Varna
- William H.Guttenberg; History becomes alive
References
http://www.besthistorysites.net/Medieval/Ottomans/Battle/Varna.shtml