Crusade of Varna

{{Short description|1443–44 European defeat by the Ottomans}} {{Infobox military conflict | partof = the Hungarian–Ottoman Wars and the Crusades | conflict = Crusade of Varna | image = Battle of Varna 1444.PNG | image_size = 350px | caption = King Władysław III of Poland in the Battle of Varna, by Jan Matejko | date = October 1443 – November 1444 | place = Southern Europe (Balkans) | result = Ottoman victory | combatant1 = {{flagicon image|Flag_of_Vladislaus_I_of_Hungary.svg}} Kingdom of Hungary {{flagicon image|Flag_of_Croatia_(Early_16th_century–1526).svg}} Kingdom of Croatia {{flagicon image|Banner_of_the_Kingdom_of_Poland.svg}} Kingdom of Poland {{flagicon image|Flag_of_the_Serbian_Despotate.svg}} Serbian Despotate {{flagicon|Wallachia}} Principality of Wallachia '''supported by''': {{flagicon image|Flag of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania (1410–1403).svg}} Grand Duchy of Lithuania {{flagicon|Duchy of Burgundy}} Duchy of Burgundy {{flagicon|Republic of Venice}} Republic of Venice {{flagicon|Byzantine Empire}} Byzantine Empire {{flagicon image|Flag_of_the_Papal_States_(pre_1808).svg}} Papal States | combatant2 = {{flagicon|Ottoman Empire|1299}} Ottoman Empire | commander1 = {{flagicon image|Banner_of_the_Kingdom_of_Poland.svg}} Władysław III{{MIA}}<ref>Besala, Jerzy (2006). Małżeństwa królewskie. Jagiellonowie (in Polish). Bellona Muza. pp. 77–78. ISBN 83-7495-099-4.</ref><ref>{{cite book|surname1=Jaczynowski|first1=Lech|title=Supposed Gravesites of Władysław III of Varna|date=2017|isbn=9788374555265|page=188|publisher=Wydawnictwo im. Stanisława Podobińskiego Akademii im. Jana Długosza |url=http://dlibra.bg.ajd.czest.pl:8080/Content/4173/14.pdf|access-date=21 December 2017}}</ref> {{flagicon image|Flag_of_Vladislaus_I_of_Hungary.svg}} John Hunyadi {{flagicon image|Flag_of_the_Serbian_Despotate.svg}} Đurađ Branković {{flagicon|Wallachia}} Mircea II {{flagicon image|Flag_of_the_Papal_States_(pre_1808).svg}} Julian Cesarini{{KIA}} | commander2 = {{flagicon|Ottoman Empire|1299}} Murad II {{flagicon|Ottoman Empire|1299}} Mehmed II|||| }} {{Campaignbox Ottoman-Hungarian War}} {{Campaignbox Polish-Ottoman Wars}} {{Serbian-Ottoman Wars (Medieval)}} {{Campaignbox Crusades}} The '''Crusade of Varna''' was an unsuccessful military campaign mounted by several European leaders to check the expansion of the Ottoman Empire into Central Europe, specifically the Balkans between 1443 and 1444. It was called by Pope Eugene IV on 1 January 1443 and led by King Władysław III of Poland, John Hunyadi, Voivode of Transylvania, and Duke Philip the Good of Burgundy.

The Crusade of Varna culminated in a decisive Ottoman victory over the crusader alliance at the Battle of Varna on 10 November 1444, during which Władysław disappeared and the expedition's papal legate Julian Cesarini was killed.

==Background== [[File:Anti-Ottoman Campaigns of John Hunyadi.svg|alt=Ottoman Campaigns of John Hunyadi, 1440–1456|left|thumb|Anti-Ottoman Campaigns of John Hunyadi, 1440–1456]]

In 1428, while the Ottoman Empire was fighting a war with the Republic of Venice and the Kingdom of Hungary they achieved a temporary peace by establishing the Serbian Despotate as a buffer state. After the war ended in 1430,<ref name="Venice">{{cite web | last = Ganse | first = Alexander | title = History of Warfare | url = http://www.zum.de/whkmla/military/italy/milxvenice.html | date = June 6, 2005 | work = World History at KLMA | access-date = 2007-05-19}}</ref><ref name="bartleby">{{cite encyclopedia | editor = Stearns, Peter N. | encyclopedia = The Encyclopedia of World History: Ancient, Medieval, and Modern | title = 5. Venice | url = http://www.bartleby.com/67/538.html | edition = 6th | date = June 2002 | publisher = Bartleby.com | location = New York | access-date = 2007-05-19 | isbn = 0-395-65237-5 | display-editors = etal | url-status = dead | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20070705062303/http://www.bartleby.com/67/538.html | archive-date = 2007-07-05 }}</ref> the Ottomans returned to their earlier objective of controlling all lands south of the Danube. In 1432, Sultan Murad II began raiding into Transylvania. After King Sigismund died in 1437, the attacks intensified, with the Ottomans occupying Borač in 1438 and Zvornik and Srebrenica in 1439. At the end of 1439, Smederevo capitulated and Murad succeeded in making Serbia an Ottoman province. Đurađ Branković, Despot of Serbia, fled to his estates in Hungary. In 1440, Murad besieged Hungary's main border fortress, Belgrade. After failing to take the fortress, he was forced to return to Anatolia to stop attacks by the Karamanids.<ref name="sugar">{{cite book | last = Sugar | first = Peter | title = Southeastern Europe Under Ottoman Rule, 1354–1804 | type = Reprint | publisher = University of Washington Press | chapter = Chapter 1: The Early History and the Establishment of the Ottomans in Europe | chapter-url = http://coursesa.matrix.msu.edu/~fisher/hst373/readings/sugar.html | year = 1977 | url-status = dead | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20080509053848/http://coursesa.matrix.msu.edu/~fisher/hst373/readings/sugar.html | archive-date = 2008-05-09 }}</ref><ref name="varna">{{cite book | last = Imber | first = Colin | title = The Crusade of Varna, 1443-45 | date = July 2006 | publisher = Ashgate Publishing | isbn = 0-7546-0144-7 | pages = [https://archive.org/details/crusadeofvarna140000imbe/page/9 9–31] | chapter = Introduction | chapter-url = https://books.google.com/books?id=xeuaoghuq3cC&q=battle+of+Zlatitsa&pg=PA17 | type = PDF | url = https://archive.org/details/crusadeofvarna140000imbe/page/9 }}</ref>

Meanwhile, Sigismund's successor Albert had died in October 1439, shortly after signing a law to "restore the ancient laws and customs of the realm". The law restricted the royal authority by requiring the participation of landed nobility in political decisions. Four months after Albert's death, his only son Ladislaus the Posthumous was born while Hungary was in the midst of a civil war over the next monarch. On 17 July 1440, Władysław, king of Poland, was crowned despite continuing disputes.<ref name=1911EB>{{Cite EB1911 |wstitle= Wladislaus |volume= 28 | last= Bain |first= Robert Nisbet |author-link= Robert Nisbet Bain | pages= 765-767 |quote=see para...Wladislaus III. (1424–1444), king of Poland and Hungary, the eldest son of Wladislaus II......|short=1}}</ref> John Hunyadi aided Władysław's cause by pacifying the eastern counties, gaining him the position of Nádor of Transylvania and the corresponding responsibility of protecting Hungary's southern border. By the end of 1442, Władysław had secured his status in Hungary, and rejected an Ottoman proposal of peace in exchange for Belgrade.<ref name=varna/>

The Catholic Church had long been advocating for a crusade against the Ottomans, and with the end of both the Hungarian civil war and a nearly simultaneous one in Byzantium, they were able to begin negotiations and planning realistically. The impetus required to turn the plans into action was provided by Hunyadi between 1441–1442. In 1441, he defeated a raid led by Ishak Pasha of Smederevo.<ref name=sugar/> He nearly annihilated Mezid Bey's army in Transylvania on 22 March 1442, and in September he defeated the revenge attack of Şihabeddin Pasha, governor-general of Rumelia.<ref name=varna/> Branković, hoping to liberate Serbia, also lent his support after Novo Brdo, the last major Serbian city, fell to the Ottomans in 1441.

==Crusade==

===Early fighting=== On 1 January 1443, Pope Eugene IV published a crusading bull. In early May, it was reported "that the Turks were in a bad state and that it would be easy to expel them from Europe". War was proclaimed against Sultan Murad II at the diet of Buda on Palm Sunday 1443, and with an army of 40,000 men, mostly Magyars, the young monarch, with Hunyadi commanding under him, crossed the Danube and took Nish and Sofia.<ref name=1911EB/>

The crusaders, led by Władysław, Hunyadi, and Branković, attacked in mid-October. They correctly expected that Murad would not be able quickly to mobilize his army, which consisted mainly of fief-holding cavalrymen (timariots) who needed to collect the harvest to pay taxes. Hunyadi's experience of winter campaigns from 1441–1442 added to the Hungarians' advantage. They also had better armor, often rendering the Ottoman weapons useless. Murad could not rely on the loyalty of his troops from Rumelia, and had difficulties countering Hungarian tactics.<ref name=varna/>

=== Battle of Nish === {{Main|Battle of Nish (1443)}} In the Battle of Nish the crusaders were victorious and forced Kasim Pasha of Rumelia and his co-commander Turahan Bey to flee to Sofia, Bulgaria to warn Murad of the invasion. However, the two burned all the villages in their path in an attempt to wear down the crusaders with a scorched earth tactic. When they arrived in Sofia, they advised the Sultan to burn the city and retreat to the mountain passes beyond, where the Ottoman's smaller army would not be such a disadvantage.

===Battle of Aleksinac=== After the Battle of Nish, Hunyadi and his men took a rest in a camp near the town of Aleksinac. They were informed by scouts that the Ottomans were trying to attack the king's camp by outflanking Hunyadi. This forced Hunyadi to stand against the Ottomans, who outnumbered his men, which made him doubt his chance of victory. However, he boosted his men’s morale and beat the enemy, killing 2,000 and capturing 4,000 Ottomans in the process.<ref name="Jefferson2012_328_329">{{cite book | last=Jefferson | first=John | title=The Holy Wars of King Wladislas and Sultan Murad: The Ottoman-Christian Conflict, 1438-1444 | series=History of Warfare, Vol. 76 | publisher=Brill | location=Leiden; Boston | date=2012 | isbn=978-90-04-21904-5 | pages=328–329 | url=https://www.scribd.com/document/356363974/The-Holy-Wars-of-King-Wladislas-and-Sultan-Murad | accessdate=2025-09-20 }}</ref>

=== Battle of Zlatitsa === {{Main|Battle of Zlatitsa}}

Shortly after, bitter cold set in, and the next encounter, fought at Zlatitsa Pass on 12 December 1443, was fought in the snow. Until the Battle of Zlatitsa the crusaders did not meet a major Ottoman army, but only town garrisons along their route toward Adrianople.{{sfn|Fine|1994|p=548}} Finally, at Zlatitsa they met strong and well positioned defence forces of the Ottoman army.{{sfn|Fine|1994|p=548}} The crusaders were defeated.

As they marched home, however, they ambushed and defeated a pursuing force in the Battle of Kunovica, where Mahmud Bey, son-in-law of the Sultan and brother of the Grand Vizier Çandarlı Halil Pasha, was taken prisoner.<ref name="varna" /> Four days after this battle the Christian coalition reached Prokuplje. Branković proposed to Władysław and Hunyadi that they stay in Serbian fortified towns during the winter and continue their campaign against the Ottomans in Spring 1444. They rejected his proposal, and retreated.{{Sfn|Jireček|1978|p=367}} By the end of January 1444 forces of Władysław and Hunyadi reached Belgrade,{{CN|date=December 2022}} and in February they arrived at Buda where they were greeted as heroes.{{Sfn|Setton|Hazard|Zacour|1990|p=293}}

While the battle at Zlatitsa Pass had been a defeat, the ambush returned to the crusaders the impression of an overall Christian victory, and they returned triumphant. The King and Church were both anxious to maintain this impression, and gave instructions to spread word of the victories, but contradict anyone who mentioned the loss.<ref name=varna/>

Murad, meanwhile, returned angry and dejected by the unreliability of his forces, and imprisoned Turahan after blaming him for the army's setbacks and Mahmud Bey's capture.<ref name=varna/>

===Peace proposals===

[[File:Crusade of Varna map.png|300px|thumb|right|Map of the crusades of Władysław III of Poland; and Janos Hunyadi]]

Murad is believed to have had the greatest wish for peace. Among other things, his vizier's sister begged him to obtain her husband Mahmud's release, and his wife Mara, daughter of Đurađ Branković, added additional pressure. On 6 March 1444 Mara sent an envoy to Branković; their discussion started the peace negotiations with the Ottoman Empire.<ref name=varna/>

On 24 April 1444, Władysław sent a letter to Murad, stating that his ambassador, Stojka Gisdanić, was travelling to Edirne with full powers to negotiate on his behalf. He asked that, once an agreement was reached, Murad send his own ambassadors with the treaty and his sworn oath to Hungary, at which point Władysław could also swear.<ref name=varna/>

That same day, Władysław held a Diet at Buda, where he swore before Cardinal Julian Cesarini to lead a new expedition against the Ottomans in the summer. The strongest remaining supporter of Ladislaus the Posthumous' claim for the throne also agreed to a truce, thus removing the danger of another civil war.<ref name=varna/>

Between June and August 1444, negotiations for a treaty were carried out, first in Edirne, and then in Szeged. The crusaders were not entirely interested in peace, however, especially with Cesarini pushing for the crusade's continuation. The Cardinal eventually found a solution that would allow for both the continuation of fighting and the ratification of the treaty, and on 15 August 1444 the Peace of Szeged was sworn into effect.<ref name=varna/>

===Final stage=== Shortly after all the short-term requirements of the treaty were fulfilled, the Hungarians and their allies resumed the crusade. King Władysław gathered an army composed mostly of Hungarian regular troops, and forces from Poland, Transylvania, Croatia, Bosnia, heavy cavalry units from western Europe, and mercenaries from eastern Europe.{{sfn|Pogăciaș|2015|p=331}} The combined armies numbered 16,000, and were joined by 4,000 Wallachians in the area of Nicopolis.{{sfn|Setton|1978|pp=89–90}} Murad, who had retired shortly after the treaty was completed, was called back to lead the Ottoman army. On 10 November 1444, the two armies clashed at the Battle of Varna (near the Black Sea fortress of Varna, Bulgaria). The Ottomans won a decisive victory despite heavy losses, while the crusaders lost King Władysław and over 15,000 men.<ref name=1911EB/><ref name="liptai">Ervin Liptai, ''Magyarország hadtörténete'', {{ISBN|963-326-337-9}}</ref>{{page needed|date=November 2011}}<ref name="csaba">Csaba Csorba-János Estók-Konrád Salamon, ''Magyarország képes története'', {{ISBN|963-548-961-7}}</ref>{{page needed|date=November 2011}}

The King's ultimate fate is unknown; according to the three Turkish chroniclers he was beheaded by Ottoman mercenary, however Murad II's memorandum says the King was taken prisoner and executed later.<ref name="jaczynowski">{{cite book|surname1=Jaczynowski|first1=Lech|title=Supposed Gravesites of Władysław III of Varna|date=2017|isbn=9788374555265|pp=192-193|publisher=Wydawnictwo im. Stanisława Podobińskiego Akademii im. Jana Długosza |url=http://dlibra.bg.ajd.czest.pl:8080/Content/4173/14.pdf|access-date=21 December 2017}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Święch |first=Zbigniew |title=Klątwy, mikroby i uczeni. Tom 3, część 1: Ostatni Krzyżowiec Europy. Oddychający sarkofag – astralne życie Warneńczyka? |publisher=Wydawnictwo Wawelskie |year=1995 |isbn=83-85347-09-7 |language=pl|pages=85, 91}}</ref> The fallen monarch's body was never found nor presented by Ottomans, and his supposed death at the hands of the Janissary was not witnessed by any of his Polish or Hungarian men, leaving uncertainty about his ultimate fate and unconfirmed rumors about his survival; Władysław was eventually assumed to had been killed in the battle, as he did not return to any of his kingdoms.<ref>{{cite book|surname1=Jaczynowski|first1=Lech|title=Supposed Gravesites of Władysław III of Varna|date=2017|isbn=9788374555265|pp=188, 192-193, 198|publisher=Wydawnictwo im. Stanisława Podobińskiego Akademii im. Jana Długosza |url=http://dlibra.bg.ajd.czest.pl:8080/Content/4173/14.pdf|access-date=21 December 2017}}</ref><ref>Besala, Jerzy (2006). ''Małżeństwa królewskie. Jagiellonowie'' (in Polish). Bellona Muza. pp. 77–78. ISBN 83-7495-099-4.</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Święch |first=Zbigniew |title=Klątwy, mikroby i uczeni. Tom 3, część 1: Ostatni Krzyżowiec Europy. Oddychający sarkofag – astralne życie Warneńczyka? |publisher=Wydawnictwo Wawelskie |year=1995 |isbn=83-85347-09-7 |language=pl|chapter=Drugie życie Warneńczyka?}}</ref>

==Aftermath== Many of the Crusaders were crippled by frostbite, many more died in smaller follow-up battles, and many Europeans were captured. Hungary fell back into civil war until Hunyadi was elected Regent for the infant Ladislaus in June 1446. Branković retained control over Serbia.

The Ottoman victory in Varna, followed by their victory in the Second Battle of Kosovo in 1448, deterred the European states from sending substantial military assistance to the Byzantines during the Ottoman conquest of Constantinople in 1453. Although Pius II officially declared a three-year crusade at the Council of Mantua to recapture Constantinople from the Ottomans, the leaders who promised 80,000 soldiers to it reneged on their commitment.<ref name=madden>{{cite book | last = Madden | first = Thomas F. | title = The New Concise History of the Crusades |date=2006 | publisher = Rowman & Littlefield | isbn = 978-0-7425-3823-8 | page = 202 | chapter = 9 }}</ref> The Ottoman Empire was free, for several decades, from any further serious attempts to push it out of Europe.<ref name=varna/>

Only the European victory at Belgrade would stop the Ottomans from conquering large parts of Europe. Hungary would be safe for another 70 years after this victory until the Hungarian army was crushed by the Ottomans at the Battle of Mohács in 1526, which would lead to the end of Hungary as an independent united kingdom for almost 400 years.<ref name="Modern Warfare">{{cite journal |last1=Pogãciaş |first1=Andrei |title=The Campaign of Varna, 1444: An Example of How to Lose a Victory |journal=Medieval Warfare |date=2011 |volume=1 |issue=2 |pages=43–48}}</ref>

==In popular culture== The end of the Crusade of Varna serves as the starting point for the grand strategy video game ''Europa Universalis IV'' by Paradox Development Studio, one day after the Battle of Varna, on 11 November 1444.

==Footnotes== {{reflist}}

==References== {{Refbegin|2}} * {{cite book|last1=Fine|first1=John V. A.|author-link1=John V. A. Fine Jr. |title=The Late Medieval Balkans: A Critical Survey from the Late Twelfth Century to the Ottoman Conquest|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=LvVbRrH1QBgC&pg=PA548|year=1994|publisher=University of Michigan Press|isbn=0-472-08260-4}} * {{cite book |last=Jireček |first=Konstantin |author-link=Konstantin Jireček |title=Istorija Srba |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=vMwJAQAAIAAJ |year=1978 |publisher=Slovo ljubve}} *{{cite book|last=Pogăciaș|first=Andrei|editor-last=Sabaté|editor-first=Flocel|year=2015|title=Life and Religion in the Middle Ages|chapter=John Hunyadi and the Late Crusade|publisher=Cambridge Scholars Publishing|isbn=9781443881654|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=N37WCgAAQBAJ}} * {{The Papacy and the Levant|volume=2}} * {{cite book |last1=Setton |first1=Kenneth M. |author-link1=Kenneth M. Setton |last2=Hazard |first2=Harry W. |last3=Zacour |first3=Norman P. |title=A History of the Crusades: The Impact of the Crusades on Europe |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=TKaPrQPFIAMC&pg=PA293 |year=1990 |publisher=Univ of Wisconsin Press |isbn=978-0-299-10744-4}} {{Refend}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Crusade of Varna 1443-1444}} Category:Conflicts in 1443 Category:Conflicts in 1444 Category:Crusade of Varna Category:15th-century crusades Category:15th century in Hungary Category:15th century in Bulgaria Category:History of Varna, Bulgaria Category:1443 in Europe Category:1444 in Europe Category:1440s in the Ottoman Empire Category:Hungarian–Ottoman wars Category:Wars involving the Papal States Category:Wars involving medieval Croatia Category:Wars involving medieval Serbian states Category:Wars involving the Grand Duchy of Lithuania Category:Polish–Ottoman wars Category:Wars involving Hungary Category:Wars involving the Teutonic Order Category:Wars involving Bohemia Category:Wars involving Bosnia and Herzegovina Category:Wars involving Wallachia Category:Military campaigns involving Croatia Category:Military campaigns involving Poland Category:Serbian Despotate