Siege of Várpalota (1593)

Siege of Várpalota (1593)
	Part of the Long Turkish War
	; Siege of Várpalota; Siege of Veszprém in the top left (1593)
Date	October 1593
Location	Várpalota, Military Frontier, Habsburg monarchy47°11′50″N 18°8′22″E / 47.19722°N 18.13944°E
Result	Ottoman victory
Territorial; changes	Ottomans capture Várpalota
Belligerents
Ottoman Empire	Habsburg monarchy
Commanders and leaders
Sinan Pasha; Mehmed Pasha	Péter Ormándy
Strength
Tens of thousands	200
Casualties and losses
Unknown	194 killed
	class=notpageimage\| Location within Europe Siege of Várpalota (1593) (Hungary)

The siege of Várpalota^[a]^[b] was a military siege undertaken by the Ottoman Empire in October 1593 against the city of Várpalota, situated on the Military Frontier and under Habsburg rule. The Ottoman forces were led by Koca Sinan Pasha whilst the Habsburg garrison was commanded by Péter Ormándy. The siege was the second major engagement of the Long Turkish War, and resulted in the Ottomans capturing the city after two days.^[2]

Background

After a prolonged war against Safavid Iran from which the Ottomans emerged victorious, they turned their eyes to Central Europe. Skirmishes across the Military Frontier between the Ottoman and Holy Roman empires was commonplace; akinjis and uskoks were the main culprits.^[3] Emperor Rudolf II was also failing to pay 30,000 Hungarian ducats as annual tributes to Sultan Murad III, one of the provisions of the 1568 Treaty of Adrianople.^[4] These combined factors greatly strained relations, and with the culmination of the Battle of Sisak, the Ottomans responded by waging war against the Habsburg monarchy on 29 July 1593. Thus, the Ottoman Empire was dragged into another decades-long conflict which was to be known as the Long Turkish War.^[5]

Prelude

By October 1593, Koca Sinan Pasha amassed a force numbering tens of thousands.^[6] The pasha marched to the Military Frontier alongside his son, Mehmed Pasha, Beylerbey of Greece. After reaching İstolni Belgrad (under Ottoman control since 1543),^[7] he moved onto Veszprém which he captured within a few days. Remaining two days in the city, he advanced towards Várpalota with his son.^[8]

Siege

Having reached the city, Sinan Pasha offered Péter Ormándy, the commander of the 200-strong garrison, to surrender. Ormándy, who had been the commander of the city since 1584, declined. This prompted the pasha to bring forth the cannons and fire at the city, while also threatening Ormándy that he would forcibly pit hundreds of Christian captives, including the commander and mayor of Veszprém (György Hofkirchen and Ferdinánd Samarjay, respectively) against him if he insisted in defending the city. With the bastions of the city severely damaged and to avoid battling with his Christian brethren, Ormándy negotiated a surrender after two days.^[9] Although the pasha agreed to the terms of the surrendering (allowing the defenders to leave unscathed), when Ottoman troops entered the city they killed all the defenders other than six people (Péter Ormándy, the captain of the castle; Ormándy’s deputy, and four other castellans).^[10]

Aftermath

Péter Ormándy escaped to Győr, where he was imprisoned for surrendering Várpalota without much resistance. Nothing is known of his fate.^[10]

Sinan Pasha, on the other hand, remained in Várpalota for a few days and suggested dividing his forces into two for wintering; one force stationed between Buda and Pest, the other at Segedin. However, the Janissaries objected to this proposal, in which case the pasha decided to head to Belgrad (which was safe from the Habsburgs) for wintering. In early November, Sinan Pasha allowed Ottoman vassal Prince Sigismund Báthory to dismiss his forces at Varad with the precondition of raising 60,000 men in Transylvania by spring of 1594 to aid Sultan Murad III’s upcoming campaign against the Habsburg monarchy.^[10]

Notes

^ Also known as the Siege of Palota or the Siege of Tata.
^ Turkish: Polata Kuşatması; German: Belagerung von Burgschloß; Hungarian: Palota ostroma

Citations

^ İnalcık, Halil (2013). The Ottoman Empire: The Classical Age, 1300-1600. Paris: Hachette UK. p. 139. ISBN 9781780226996.
^ Cartledge, Bryan (2011). The Will to Survive: A History of Hungary. New York City: Columbia University Press. p. 100. ISBN 9780231702249.
^ Shaw, Stanford J.; Shaw, Ezel K. (1976). History of the Ottoman Empire and Modern Turkey. Vol. 1. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. p. 184. ISBN 9780521291637.
^ Setton, Kenneth M. (1984). The Papacy and the Levant (1204–1571), Volume IV: The Sixteenth Century from Julius III to Pius V. Philadelphia: The American Philosophical Society. p. 921. ISBN 0-87169-162-0.
^ Imber, Colin (2002). The Ottoman Empire, 1300-1650: The Structure of Power. New York City: Palgrave Macmillan. p. 67. ISBN 9780333613863.
^ Pálffy, Géza (2021). Hungary Between Two Empires 1526–1711. Translated by David R. Evans. Bloomington, Indiana: Indiana University Press. p. 115. doi:10.2307/j.ctv21hrjwj. ISBN 9780253054678.
^ Hegyi, Klára [in Hungarian] (2019). "Ottoman Defence System in Hungary". In Fodor, Pál (ed.). The Battle for Central Europe. Leiden: Brill. pp. 309–319. doi:10.1163/9789004396234_016.
^ Horváth, Jenő (1897). Magyar Hadi Krónika: A Magyar Nemzet Ezeréves Küzdelmeinek Katonai Története [Hungarian War Chronicle: The Military History of the Thousand-Year Struggles of the Hungarian Nation] (PDF) (in Hungarian). Vol. 2. Budapest: Hungarian Academy of Sciences. p. 113.
^ Ágoston, Gábor (2021). The Last Muslim Conquest: The Ottoman Empire and Its Wars in Europe. Princeton, New Jersey: Princeton University Press. p. 251. ISBN 9780691159324.
^ ^a ^b ^c Bánlaky, József [in Hungarian]. "A Magyar Nemzet Hadtörténelme" [The Military History of the Hungarian Nation]. arcanum.com (in Hungarian).

[2] Also known as the Siege of Palota or the Siege of Tata.

[3] Turkish: Polata Kuşatması; German: Belagerung von Burgschloß; Hungarian: Palota ostroma

[1] İnalcık, Halil (2013). The Ottoman Empire: The Classical Age, 1300-1600. Paris: Hachette UK. p. 139. ISBN 9781780226996.

[4] Cartledge, Bryan (2011). The Will to Survive: A History of Hungary. New York City: Columbia University Press. p. 100. ISBN 9780231702249.

[5] Shaw, Stanford J.; Shaw, Ezel K. (1976). History of the Ottoman Empire and Modern Turkey. Vol. 1. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. p. 184. ISBN 9780521291637.

[6] Setton, Kenneth M. (1984). The Papacy and the Levant (1204–1571), Volume IV: The Sixteenth Century from Julius III to Pius V. Philadelphia: The American Philosophical Society. p. 921. ISBN 0-87169-162-0.

[7] Imber, Colin (2002). The Ottoman Empire, 1300-1650: The Structure of Power. New York City: Palgrave Macmillan. p. 67. ISBN 9780333613863.

[8] Pálffy, Géza (2021). Hungary Between Two Empires 1526–1711. Translated by David R. Evans. Bloomington, Indiana: Indiana University Press. p. 115. doi:10.2307/j.ctv21hrjwj. ISBN 9780253054678.

[9] Hegyi, Klára [in Hungarian] (2019). "Ottoman Defence System in Hungary". In Fodor, Pál (ed.). The Battle for Central Europe. Leiden: Brill. pp. 309–319. doi:10.1163/9789004396234_016.

[10] Horváth, Jenő (1897). Magyar Hadi Krónika: A Magyar Nemzet Ezeréves Küzdelmeinek Katonai Története [Hungarian War Chronicle: The Military History of the Thousand-Year Struggles of the Hungarian Nation] (PDF) (in Hungarian). Vol. 2. Budapest: Hungarian Academy of Sciences. p. 113.

[11] Ágoston, Gábor (2021). The Last Muslim Conquest: The Ottoman Empire and Its Wars in Europe. Princeton, New Jersey: Princeton University Press. p. 251. ISBN 9780691159324.

[Bánlaky-12] Bánlaky, József [in Hungarian]. "A Magyar Nemzet Hadtörténelme" [The Military History of the Hungarian Nation]. arcanum.com (in Hungarian).

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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.