Battle of Șelimbăr

Battle of Şelimbăr

Székelys bring the head of Cardinal Andrew Báthory to Michael the Brave (Theodor Aman)

Date	18 October 1599
Location	Șelimbăr (Sellenberk), Principality of Transylvania, now in Romania
Result	Wallachian victory, Michael the Brave was elected as prince of Transylvania

Belligerents

Wallachia

Székelys
Balkan hajduks
Cossack and Hungarian mercenaries

Principality of Transylvania
Cossack mercenaries

Commanders and leaders

Michael the Brave

Andrew Báthory

Strength

20,000 - 30,000 men
18 cannons

15,000 - 25,000 men

Casualties and losses

200-1,000

1,200-1,500

Wallachia

The Battle of Şelimbăr or Battle of Sellenberk (Hungarian: Sellenberk; German: Schellenberg) took place on 18 October 1599 between the Wallachian army of Michael the Brave (Romanian: Mihai Viteazul) and the Transylvanian-Hungarian army of Andrew Báthory (Hungarian: Báthory András). The battle was fought near the village of Șelimbăr (in Hungarian: Sellenberk) close to Sibiu (in German: Hermannstadt, in Hungarian: Nagyszeben).

Michael the Brave marched into Transylvania to fight against the Ottomans. The neighboring rulers Andrew Báthory in Transylvania and Ieremia Movilă in Moldavia were friendly towards Poland.

In 1598, Michael signed a treaty of peace with the Ottomans, however both sides knew that the issue was far from settled. When Transylvania fell under the influence of Poland, which preserved friendly relations with the Ottomans, a hostile ring closed around Wallachia. Only the Habsburgs were prepared to ally themselves with Michael. The treaty, signed in Prague on 9 June 1598, made Wallachia a vassal state; in exchange, the emperor undertook to cover the cost of providing 5.000 mercenaries to the principality. The voivode wanted to secure a land link to his ally. With Emperor Rudolph's assent, he launched an attack on Transylvania.

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