Crusade of Varna 1444 The Ottoman Empire becomes a Superpower

At the start of the 15th century, the Ottoman Sultanate was in full expansion. Taking advantage of the smaller kingdoms and beyliks in Balkans and Anatolia, plus considering the disunity of these kingdoms, the Ottoman dynasty expanded quickly and attacked exactly where the instability existed in every direction possible. Having fairly tolerant behavior towards the Christian subjects, the Ottoman administrations created a form of stability in the new conquered lands. Additionally, when some Christian kingdoms organized together into crusader armies, the Ottomans resisted and defeated these armies by taking advantage of their disunity and being blessed with gifted and powerful rulers. The critical points were had been defeated, history in the Balkans and Anatolia would have been completely different. But the Ottoman victories in the Battle of Kosovo, Nicopolis and others in the Balkans secured the Turkish hegemony over these lands. With stability increased, local people started to fight for the Sultanate, while the focus was on the expansion in Anatolia as well. 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, the Ottomans returned to their earlier objective of controlling all lands south of the Danube. The Hungarian Kingdom was the most powerful in the region and a true rival for the Ottomans, having the ability to gather a powerful Christian army. Together with other smaller states, a successful campaign in the Balkans was very possible, but internal stability should be the foundation to have these kind of campaigns. Fortunately for the Ottomans, the Kingdom of Hungary fell into crisis after the death of King Sigismund in 1437. His son-in-law and successor King Albert died after just two years in 1439, leaving his widow Elizabeth with an unborn child, Ladislas. Not having a king, the Hungarian nobleman then called the young King Vladislav III of Poland to the throne of Hungary, expecting his defense against the Ottomans. After his Hungarian coronation, he never went back to his homeland again, assuming rule of the Hungarian Kingdom next to the influential nobleman John Hunyadi. In 1432, Sultan Murad II began raiding into Transylvania and after the death of Sigismund in 1437, the attacks intensified, with the Ottomans occupying Serbia. At the end of 1439, Sultan Murad succeeded in making Serbia an Ottoman province. Durad Brankovic, 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. By the end of 1442, the new King Vladislav had secured his status in Hungary and rejected an Ottoman proposal of peace in exchange for Belgrade. The Roman Catholic Church had long been advocating for a crusade against the Ottomans, and with the end of both the Hungarian Civil War and nearly a 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 and 1442. In 1441, he defeated a raid led by Ishak Pasha of Smeddarevo. He nearly annihilated Mesut Bey's army in Transylvania on the 22nd of March 1442, and in September, he defeated the revenge attack by Şehabeddin Pasha, governor-general of Rumelia. Brankovic, hoping to liberate Serbia, also lent his support. In 1441, the Holy Roman Empire and Poland joined the Serbian-Hungarian coalition. On the 1st of 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. With an army of 40,000 men, mostly Magyars, the young monarch with Hunyadi commanding under him took Nis and Sofia, but was defeated at the Battle of Zlatitsa. Between June and August 1444, negotiations for peace were carried out. The crusaders were not entirely interested in Serbia was to be released as a buffer state between the two powers. Having peace at his borders, Sultan Murad wanted to retire and on the throne was put his son, Mehmed II. Mehmed was young and inexperienced, a fact that was in favor of the crusaders. Having enemies in the Balkans and in Anatolia, a combined Christian army that was preparing for war and an unexperienced new sultan, the Ottomans were in a dangerous position. Throughout history, during wars and conflicts, a new king or ruler that did not have the necessary experience in battles and often overconfident in his abilities, was frequently a liability for his forces. Usually, the young princes wanted power and fame, and this was Mehmed's chance to prove he was a gifted ruler, but he chose to be more intelligent and left his ego aside. Seeing the danger, he recognized his lack of experience, looked back to his retired father, Murad II. It is not known for sure if this was purely his choice or if he was influenced by his advisors considering that he was just 12 years old, but he recalled Murad to the throne to lead the army into battle, but Murad refused. Angry of this, knowing that his father had long since retired to a contemplative life in southwestern Anatolia, Mehmed II wrote, If you are the sultan, come and lead your armies. If I am the sultan, I hereby order you to come and lead my armies. It was only after receiving this letter that Murad II agreed to lead the Ottoman army. The number of troops is not exactly known, but it is believed the Ottomans were more numerous than the Crusaders. The mixed Papal army was mostly composed of Hungarian, Polish, Bohemian, whose combined armies numbered around 16,000, and Wallachian with around 7,000 forces with smaller detachments of Czechs, Papal Knights, Germans, Teutonic Knights, Bosnians, Croatians, Bulgarians, Lithuanians and Ruthenians and other few Christians. Papal, Venetian and Genoese ships under Alvise Loredan had blockaded the Dardanelles as the Hungarian army was to advance on Varna, where it would meet the Papal fleet and sail down the coast to Constantinople, pushing the Ottomans out of Europe. The Hungarian advance was rapid. Ottoman fortresses were bypassed, while local Bulgarians from Vidin, Oriehovo and Nicopolis joined the army. On October 10th, around 7,000 Wallachian troops, mostly cavalrymen under Murka II, the older brother of the famous Vlad the Impaler, also joined. Late on November 9th, a large Ottoman army of around 30 to 40,000 men approached Varna from the west. At a supreme military council called by Hunyadi during the night, the Papal Legate, Cardinal Julian Cesarini insisted on a quick withdrawal. However, the Christians were caught between the Black Sea, Lake Varna, the steep wooded slopes of Franga Plateau and the enemy. Cesarini then proposed a defense until the arrival of the Christian fleet. The Hungarian magnates and the Croatian and Czech commanders backed him, but the young 20-year-old Vladislav and Hunyadi rejected the defensive tactics. Hunyadi declared, to escape is impossible, to surrender is unthinkable, let us fight with bravery and honor our arms. Vladislav accepted this position and gave him the command. Andreas del Palacio states that Hunyadi commanded the Wallachian army, indicating a large Romanian component in Hunyadi's personal army. In the morning of November 10th, Hunyadi deployed the army. Two banners from the king's Polish and Hungarian bodyguards, Hungarian royal mercenaries and banners of Hungarian nobles held the center, composing the hard core of the formation. Meanwhile, the Wallachian cavalry was left in reserve behind the center. The right flank was composed of five banners. Bishop Jan Dominik of Varadin with his personal banner led the force. Cesarini commanded a banner of German mercenaries and a Bosnian one. The Bishop of Eger led his own banner. And the military governor of Slavonia, Banfranco Toloci commanded one Croatian banner. The left flank, composed of five banners, was led by Michael Szilagyi, Hunyadi's brother-in-law and was made up of Hunyadi's Transylvanians, Bulgarians, German mercenaries and banners of Hungarian magnates. Behind the Hungarians, closer to the Black Sea and the lake was the Wagenburg, defended by 300 or 600 Czech and Ruthenian mercenaries under Hetman Sejka along with Poles, Lithuanians and Wallachians. Every wagon was manned by 7 to 10 soldiers and Wagenburg was equipped with The Ottoman center included the Janissaries and levies from Rumelia deployed around two Thracian burial mounds. Murad observed and directed the battle from one of them. The Janissaries dug in behind ditches and two palisades. The right wing consisted of Kapikulus and Sipahis from Rumelia, and the left wing was made up by Akhanjis, Sipahis from Anatolia and other forces. Janissary archers and Akhanjis light cavalry were deployed on the Franga plateau. The light Ottoman cavalry from the left flank assaulted the Croats of Banfranco-Taloci. Christians from the left reposited with bombards and firearms and stopped the attack. Seeing this, the Christian soldiers chased the in a disorderly pursuit, pushing them more to the Ottoman camp. But even having a good momentum, this was a bad choice. Being unorganized and getting away from the main core of the battle, the Crusaders were attacked from the flank of the Ottoman cavalry. Even though they fought bravely, the lack of a good strategy on the Christian right flank proved to be fatal and the troops retreated in disarray. The Christian right wing attempted to flee to the small fortress of Galata on the other side of Varna Bay, but most of them were slain in the marshland around Varna Lake and the river Devnya, where Cesarani also met his end. Only Ban-Taloci's troops managed to withdraw behind the Vangaberg. Seeing this initial success, the Ottoman right flank was sent to battle to catch the Crusaders by surprise and to give the final blow. The Ottoman flank attacked rapidly and made contact with the Hungarians and Bulgarians of Michael Szilagyi. Their push was stopped and turned back. Then Ottoman Sipahis attacked again. Hunyadi, who had been an experienced officer and who had known the Ottomans, decided to help and advised Vladislav to wait until he returned then advance the two cavalry companies. The idea was to go together after the success on the left flank. Hunyadi pushed with his troops and this seems like a success from which the Crusaders could have won the battle and continued with their march. The battle had reached a critical point. At these moments in ancient and medieval battles, any decision could move the balance from one side to the other. But the young and inexperienced King Vladislav, ignoring Hunyadi's advice, overconfident in his powers, rushed with 500 of his Polish knights against the Ottoman corps. They probably attempted to overrun the Janissary infantry and take Murad prisoner. The push was hard and almost succeeded, but because he did not wait for Hunyadi, his troops were overwhelmed and in front of Murad's tent, Vladislav fell into a trap. The 20-year-old King of Poland and Hungary fell off his horse and then was slain in the clash and beheaded. Seeing this, the cavalry troops were demoralized and slowly defeated by the Ottomans. On his return from its flank, Hunyadi tried desperately to push into the Ottoman corps in a last attempt to save the battle and the King's body. Even being a very experienced officer and fighting bravely, there was nothing to be done. All he could do shortly after was to organize the retreat of the remains of his army. Most of the Crusader army was killed. And even worse, the new King of Hungary, who could have led new campaigns leading the Polish, Lithuanians and Hungarians against the Ottomans, perished in battle. It wasn't just a defeat, but it created more crisis and instability in Hungary and more disunity among the Christians. By doing so, the Ottomans continued their expansion in Greece and Anatolia, becoming even stronger and capturing the final piece of what was left from ancient Rome, the city of Constantinople. The capture of Constantinople was not just important economically speaking for the Ottomans, it symbolized the end of an era, the disunity and betrayal among Christians and the mistakes of some overconfident rulers and leaders in key battles that could have had a different outcome. Additionally, the Ottomans proved to be smarter and more united in the 14th and 15th centuries and all these reasons created the base for further expansion in the next centuries.