Siege of Belgrade (1456)

Siege of Belgrade (Nándorfehérvár)
Part of the Ottoman wars in Europe Ottoman-Hungarian Wars
Ottoman miniature of the siege of Belgrade 1456
Date July 4–22, 1456 Location Nándorfehérvár, Kingdom of Hungary (present-day Belgrade, Serbia) Result Decisive Hungarian victory
Belligerents
Kingdom of Hungary Crusader peasant and local gentry recruits	Ottoman Empire
Commanders and leaders
John Hunyadi John of Capistrano Michael Szilágyi	Sultan Mehmed the Conqueror Grand Vizier Zagan Pasha
Strength
About 4,000 well-armed and effective troops A motley army of some 60,000 (mostly crusader peasants and citizens of Belgrade) 200 boats	30,000; higher estimates of 100,000 200 vessels
Casualties and losses
Unknown	13,000 men 200 galleys 300 cannons

The Siege of Belgrade, or Battle of Belgrade or Siege of Nándorfehérvár. occurred from July 4–22, 1456. After the fall of Constantinople in 1453, the Ottoman Sultan Mehmed II rallied his resources in order to subjugate the Kingdom of Hungary. His immediate objective was the border fort of the town of Belgrade (in old Hungarian Nándorfehérvár). John Hunyadi, the Voivode of Transylvania, who had fought many battles against the Turks in the previous two decades, prepared the defenses of the fortress.

The siege eventually escalated into a major battle, during which Hunyadi led a sudden counterattack that overran the Ottoman camp, ultimately compelling the wounded Mehmed II to lift the siege and retreat. The battle had significant consequences, as it stabilized the southern frontiers of the Kingdom of Hungary for more than half a century and thus considerably delaying the Ottoman advance in Europe.

The Pope celebrated the victory as well, as he previously ordered all Catholic kingdoms to pray for the victory of the defenders of Belgrade. This led to the noon bell ritual that is still undertaken in Catholic and old Protestant churches nowadays. The day of the victory, 22 July, has been a memorial day in Hungary ever since.

At the end of 1455, John Hunyadi began preparations for the defence of Belgrade. At his own expense, he provisioned and armed the fortress with a strong garrison under the command of his brother-in-law Mihály Szilágyi and his own eldest son László. Hunyadi then proceeded to form a relief army and an additional fleet of two hundred corvettes. The barons feared Hunyadi's growing power more than the Ottoman threat and left him entirely to his own devices.

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