Siege of Szigetvár 1566
Recorded location from Wikidata; battle sites are often approximate.
Key facts
| Year | 1566 | Wikidata P580 (start time) |
|---|---|---|
| Era | Early modern (1500–1799) | derived from year |
| Location | Hungary | Natural Earth (modern borders) |
| Continent | Europe | Natural Earth |
| War / conflict | Ottoman Wars in Europe, Ottoman–Habsburg Wars | Wikidata P361 |
| Participants | Kingdom of Hungary, Ottoman Empire | Wikidata P710 |
| Coordinates | 46.0508, 17.7969 | Wikidata P625 |
About the battle
The siege of Szigetvár or the Battle of Szigeth (pronunciation: [ˈsiɡɛtvaːr]; Hungarian: Szigetvár ostroma; Croatian: Bitka kod Sigeta, Sigetska bitka; Turkish: Zigetvar Kuşatması) was an Ottoman siege of the fortress of Szigetvár in the Kingdom of Hungary. The fort had blocked Sultan Suleiman's line of advance towards Vienna in 1566. The battle was fought between the defending forces of the Habsburg monarchy under the leadership of Nikola IV Zrinski, the former Ban of Croatia, and the invading Ottoman army under the nominal command of Sultan Suleiman.
In January 1566, Suleiman began his offensive campaign in Hungary. The siege of Szigetvár was fought from 5 August to 8 September 1566 and it resulted in an Ottoman victory. Some historians have viewed the victory as pyrrhic as there were heavy losses on both sides. Both commanders died during the course of the siege – Zrinski during the final charge, and Suleiman in his tent from natural causes. The siege lasted for a total of 33 days.
More than 20,000 Ottomans died during the siege, and almost all of Zrinski's 2,300-man garrison was killed, with most of the final 600 men killed on the last day. Although the Ottomans were victorious, the siege stopped the planned Ottoman push towards Vienna that year.
Text adapted from the Wikipedia article Siege of Szigetvár (revision 1381060888), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Changes: excerpted from the article lead section; shortened by selecting paragraphs and trimming at a sentence boundary; formatting and citations removed. No text added.
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Other battles of the Ottoman Wars in Europe
- Battle of Dubica 1513
- Siege of Knin 1522
- Siege of Rhodes (1522) 1522
- Siege of Eger (1552) 1552
- Siege of Temesvár (1552) 1552
- Battle of Brest (1592) 1592
- Siege of Bihać (1592) 1592
- Battle of Sisak 1593
- Battle of Șelimbăr 1599
- Battle of Petrovaradin 1716
All 35 battles of the Ottoman Wars in Europe →
Browse more: battles in Hungary · Europe · Early modern battles