Know Mohacs

Dear Folk,

Today, August 29, marks the anniversary of a battle which lasted only few hours. In it was lost a king, a country, and the objective of the winner. August 29,1526 was the battle of Mohacs. This was the critical battle that sealed the fate of Hungary, which had been the "Shield of Christianity" against the Ottoman menace for over 200 years.

Louis II, King of Hungary and of Bohemia was born July 1, 1506 to Vladislas II. Louis was a sickly youth but he was smart. Vladislas only had one son and to make sure that he would succeed to the throne, Vlad had Louis crowed king of Hungary in 1508 and king of Bohemia in 1509. He was made king-in-fact at the tender age of 9 upon the death of his father He was declared of age to rule on December 11, 1521 (at fifteen!) and got married the next January to Maria of Austria.

Okay, he was fifteen, a newlywed and king of two countries. Party on! That was exactly what he and his new bride did. Pretty soon folks in Hungary and Bohemia said that maybe the young king need not worry himself with affairs of state while he was on his honeymoon (or even longer.)

Four years later, in the summer of 1526, the countries need every leader they could get. They had visitors: the Ottoman Turks, lead by Suleyman the Magnificent.

When Suleyman acceded to the throne in 1520, the Ottoman Empire, extending over three continents, was larger than any European state. Twelve to thirteen million inhabitants would be a conservative estimate of its population. As a comparison, the population of Hungary was around four million at the time. The Ottoman Turks had conquered Gallipoli, Constantinople, all of the Byzantine world, Egypt, and even the Mamluks. Understand that these were smart, careful planning, kick butt dudes. Every year their empire expanded and maintained. They had already taken a large part of what is now Romania and Bulgaria and made them vassal states.

Now as strange as it might seem, Suleyman had no desire to conquer Hungary. He set the Danube and Sava rivers as the boundaries of his tremendous empire, and did not intend to advance beyond them What he did want is that Hungary stay Ottoman-friendly and not buddy up with the Habsburgs (or Hapsburgs). In essence, Hungary would be a nice buffer state to keep those pesky Holy Roman Emperors away from what Suleyman considered his territory. The Danube was a fine natural boundary. Hungary, no offense, would be more trouble than it was worth to conquer and hold. All Suleyman wanted was for the Hungarians to play nice.

The Hungarians were in no mood to cuddle with the Moslems. The Turks had been raiding, raping, pillaging and generally being very annoying along the border. Hungary was going broke. It was like being bitten to death by Chihuahuas. Defense was expensive and sapping. No big help from anyone seemed forthcoming. And when the hammer came down, as all Hungarians seemed to believe was coming, Hungary would hardly be a gnat on the Turkish windshield. Add finally to that, you have to realize that these folks did consider themselves the "shield of Christianity." Play nice? Eat my steel!

Further complicating matters was that Maria of Austria, Queen of Hungary, was a Habsburg and sister to Ferdinand Habsburg, King of Austria, and Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor. See how Louis was squeezed? Here is his snuggle-bunny and her folks all saying hold the fort. Suleyman saying keep away from them Habsburgs or we will whack you. Louis was just a teenager in love.

Suleyman took his troops north and regretfully took charge. The exact number of Turkish troops varies from account to account. Some list it at one million. Most are more inclined to say 70,000 to 80,000 combat-ready troops with extras handling the wagons and camels. Some of the best of the lot were called Janissaries.

Small aside, Janissaries were a standing Ottoman Turkish army, originally organized by Murad I. They were troops made up of captured infidels (lots of Christians), converted to Islam and then given impressive training. This was before Navy Seals but you get the idea. Special laws that cut them off from civil society regulated the daily lives of Janissaries. They were elite, hard to beat.

Louis got the word that the Turks were coming. He sounded the alarm and started off calling for 1/2 the peasants to enlist (as opposed to the normal 1/5). Later he had a bloody sword passed around as a signal that every man Jack of them should turn out. Cool symbol! He even said that the lepers should enlist but keep to their own unit. So it was do or be done to for the Hungarians.

The battle field chosen by the Hungarians was across a river the Turks had to cross. It was a large field pretty much devoid of trees and shrubs but had some gullies in it. Louis and his generals set up at the end of the field while across from them was a sort of a terrace. It would be something which the Turks would have to descend to get to the Hungarians. The slope was steep and slippery. It had been raining for days before. The terrace also dropped off into a bog on the Hungarians' left.. Louis and company had figured that Suleyman's troops would be straggling into position well behind the terrace and would come piecemeal into the jaws of the Hungarian forces.

Brings us to a point: how many Hungarians did Louis II command? Again, even the witnesses had no idea. There were serfs and peasants, knights, infantry, cavalry, bishops, nobles, cannon. You name it, they were out there. Best estimates say Louis had about 30,000 to 50,000 combat forces there. They were hot to fight.

The first of Suleyman's troops, the Army of Rumelia, arrived hot and tired, came down the slope on the Hungarians' right side. Louis' general, Tomori, sent King Louis' bodyguard to scout out the situation. When word came back that these folks were setting up tents, Tomori had the cavalry troops charge the right flank. They soon had routed the Moslems. In fact, part of that troop made it close to Suleyman himself. However, Suleyman's main force led by the great Ibrahim, arrived soon after. They had with them the Janissaries and the Janissaries had guns.

The center force was led by King Louis. They got off to a late start due to a mix-up in communications. The cavalry and infantry arrived just in time to be overwhelmed by the fleeing right flank. The Janissaries were coming down the slippery slope and doing it quicker than seemed possible. Actually, Suleyman's engineers had laid down special ramps to help them get down there and fight.

The left flank held back until it was much too late. Most of the Hungarians around Louis stayed and died. Louis was spirited off of the battle field but was thrown in the stream when his horse reared. Louis drowned in his armour. The battle lasted from about 2 PM until 6 PM.

The estimated losses on the Hungarian side were about 20,000 to 50,000 including Tomori. Suleyman beheaded the surviving prisoners. The bodies they piled in mass graves. The Moslems searched the battlefield in hopes that Louis was still alive. After all, with whom would Suleyman sign a peace treaty?

After the battle, Hungary was without a king. Louis and Maria did not have any kids. The Diet (Parliament) voted for Ferdinand I to be king. The nobles wanted Janos Zapolya. Well, nothing for it except to have a war to decide it. They skirmished for over 2 years until the country was divided. Zapolya was king of a section which was in the Ottoman Empire and Ferdinand was a good Christian Habsburg king.

Suleyman went back home taking more than 100,000 captives with him. The victor of the Battle of Mohacs really did not get what he wanted. Hungary was not a country anymore and he was smack up against the Holy Roman Empire. Poor Hungary really wouldn't be a country again until some more unpleasantness in 1848.

The Hungarians beat up themselves and Louis' memory about this battle. I say they were courageous folk who stood their ground even when it was obvious they were going to get whacked. They were heroes who had no time to wait for reinforcements. If you want to read more about this, may I suggest a free book online which you can download: The Fall Of The Medieval Kingdom Of Hungary: Mohacs 1526 - Buda 1541 by Geza Perjes. Click here

What have we learned from this? You take in slaves, convert them, and train them with weapons, they can be a powerful force? Yep, remember the Mamluks! Sometimes even winning leaves you feeling empty inside? Communication is the key to battle success? How about treat engineers well and they can really help you? I live by that one myself.

As always keep my name and sig attached when you send these on to your Janissaries in the field. Do check the Archives for new and old columns.

Searching the battlefield for kings,
J. Ellsworth Weaver

SCA – Sir Balthazar of Endor
AS – Polyphemus Theognis
TRV – Sebastian Yeats