Battle of Baia

Battle of Baia
Part of Moldavian-Hungarian Wars
Date 15 December 1467 Location Baia, present-day Romania Result Decisive Moldavian victory;
Belligerents
Moldavia	Kingdom of Hungary
Commanders and leaders
Stephen the Great	Matthias Corvinus
Strength
12,000	40,000; 500 cannons 15,000-20,000 (modern estimate)
Casualties and losses
Unknown, possibly 10,000	4,000

The Battle of Baia (Romanian: Bătălia de la Baia) was fought on 15 December 1467 between the Moldavian Prince, Stephen the Great and Hungarian King, Matthias Corvinus. The battle was the last Hungarian attempt to subdue the independent Moldavia, as previous attempts had ended in failure. Corvinus invaded Moldavia as a consequence of Stephen's annexation of Chilia—a fortress and harbour at the coast of the Black Sea, which at the time was controlled by Hungarian and Wallachian forces, though it had belonged to Moldavia centuries earlier.

The conflict ended with a defeat for the Hungarians. This put an end to all Hungarian claims on Moldavia.

In 1359, Bogdan I of Moldavia rebelled against Hungary and founded an independent Moldavia. However, the Hungarian attempts to seize control over Moldavia did not end there, and in 1429, Sigismund, Holy Roman Emperor, and also King of Hungary, met with Władysław Jagiełło, King of Poland to try to persuade him to launch a common attack on Moldavia and divide the country in two equal parts—Polish and Hungarian. Sigismund argued that the Moldavian nation did not "owe allegiance to anyone, is accustomed to live by theft and brigandage and so is everyone's enemy." He also complained about not receiving any help for his struggle against the Turks. In the Annals of Jan Długosz, the Polish chronicler wrote the following on Władysław’s reply to Sigismund:

Wladislaw replies that it would not be right to wage war on the Wallachians, who confess the Christian faith and have given him and his kingdom obedience and submission; indeed, to do this would be an act of savagery. Though some may live by brigandage, they cannot all be tarred with the same brush, nor can they be blamed for not helping King Sigismund against the Turks, because they had gone with the Poles to the given rendez-vous on the Danube and got there on time, yet had to waste two months waiting there, and then return home. Rather does the blame for this attach to King Sigismund, who failed to turn up at the appointed time. The squabbling continues for several days, at the end of which Wladyslaw stubbornness compels Sigismund to abandon the plan and seek other ventures.

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