August 29th, 1526 - The Battle of Mohacs

Conflict: Ottoman-Hungarian Wars

Combatants: Hungarian vs. Turks

Location: Hungary

Outcome: Ottoman victory

In 1526, Sulieman I (the Magnificent) invaded Europe with an army of 100,000 Ottoman Turks. The Hungarian King Louis II assembled and army of 20,000 Hungarians, Bohemians, and Poles before hurrying to the Danube to meet the invaders. At Mohacs on August 29th, Louis' vastly outnumbered forces attacked the Ottomans were brutally repulsed by artillery and well deployed soldiers. The following day the Ottomans assaulted the battered Europeans leaving 10,000 dead including Louis himself.

Battle of Mohacs 1526 by Bertalan Székely

Points of Interest:

• Seven bishops were also killed in the Battle of Mohacs along with hundreds of nobles.

• After the defeat at Mohacs, Hungary devolved into a civil war between the Ottoman-appointed John Zapolya and Ferdinand I of the Holy Roman Empire.

King Louis II of Hungary by unknown artist

Suleiman the Magnificent by Cristofano dell'Altissimo

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Sources:

Dupuy, Trevor N., Johnson, Curt, & Bongard, David L. (1992). The Harper's Encyclopedia of Military Biography. New York: Castle Books (HarperCollins).

Dupuy, R. Ernest & Dupuy, Trevor N. (1993). The Harper's Encyclopedia of Military History. New York: HarperCollins.

Eggenberger, David (1985). An Encyclopedia of Battles: Accounts of Over 1,560 Battles from 1479 B.C. to the Present. New York: Dover Publications, Inc.