The Battle of Varna was fought on 10 November 1444 between the Ottoman army under the command of Murad II and a Crusader army led by King Władysław of Hungary, which was aiming at Edirne. The king was killed in the battle, and the Crusaders suffered a heavy defeat. According to the TDV Encyclopedia of Islam, this battle determined and secured the future of the Ottomans in the Balkans.
Quick Summary
- Murad II came to the throne on 25 June 1421, at the age of seventeen.
- In 1444 he left the throne to his young son Mehmed II.
- When the Crusader army advanced, he returned to lead the army.
- The Battle of Varna ended in an Ottoman victory on 10 November 1444; the Hungarian king was killed.
- The Second Battle of Kosovo (17–20 October 1448) consolidated Ottoman supremacy in the Balkans.
Contents
- Who was Murad II?
- Developments before the battle
- The abdication
- The course of the battle
- After the battle
- Significance of the battle
- Frequently asked questions
Who Was Murad II?
According to the TDV Encyclopedia of Islam, Murad II was born in Amasya in June 1404 and was the son of Mehmed Çelebi. When he came to the throne on 25 June 1421 after his father’s death, he was seventeen years old. According to the encyclopedia, as the eldest son he had four brothers and seven sisters; his brother Mustafa was twelve. At that time affairs of state were run by Bayezid Pasha, the grand vizier and beylerbeyi of Rumelia. We described the recovery after the Interregnum in our article on how Mehmed Çelebi reunited the state.
The first years of the reign were spent in struggles for the throne. According to the encyclopedia, in January 1422 his uncle Düzme Mustafa crossed into Anatolia by way of Gallipoli with 12,000 sipahis and 5,000 infantry. The help of the Genoese was an important factor in Murad II’s success. Mustafa was captured and executed in Edirne; according to another account, he managed to escape.
In June 1422 the sultan besieged Istanbul, but the siege, which lasted more than fifty days, produced no result. According to the encyclopedia, his thirteen-year-old brother Küçük Mustafa meanwhile besieged Bursa with the support of the beys of Karaman and Germiyan. This revolt was also suppressed. According to the encyclopedia, in February 1430 the sultan marched on Thessaloniki, then in Venetian hands, and took the city.
According to the encyclopedia, the devshirme system also became law in the reign of Murad II, and the Janissary corps acquired a regular source of recruits. We discussed this system in our article What is the devshirme system?
What Happened Before the Battle of Varna?
According to the TDV Encyclopedia of Islam, the union of the Orthodox and Catholic churches was agreed in Florence in 1439. In the same talks agreement was also reached on driving the Turks out of Europe and aiding Byzantium. Murad II’s unsuccessful siege of Belgrade in 1440 accelerated preparations for a crusade.
According to the encyclopedia, in September 1442 János Hunyadi, voivode of Transylvania, halted the attack of Şehabeddin Şahin Pasha, the beylerbeyi of Rumelia. In 1443–1444 Hunyadi crossed the Danube and entered Ottoman territory. Murad II was able to stop him only with difficulty at the Zlatitsa Pass between Sofia and Plovdiv. In the Christian world these successes were seen as a sign that the Turks would be driven out of the Balkans. According to the encyclopedia, a campaign was also made into Karamanid territory in 1443, but the sultan, mindful of the situation in Rumelia, made peace with the Karamanid ruler.
In a difficult position, the sultan began peace negotiations. According to the encyclopedia, an agreement was concluded in Edirne on 12 June 1444, and the Serbian Despotate was returned to Branković. The agreement was confirmed when the Hungarian king took an oath at Szeged. However, it was rendered void through the influence of the papal legate, Cardinal Cesarini, and of Byzantium. According to the encyclopedia, on 4 August 1444 the king announced that he would set out on crusade.
According to the encyclopedia, the papacy had also prepared a Crusader fleet by this time. Eight of the ships were fitted out with the support of the pope, five with that of Venice, four of Burgundy and two of Ragusa. The fleet was to prevent Ottoman troops from crossing the Straits and to link up with the Hungarian army on the Danube.
Why Did Murad II Abdicate?
According to the encyclopedia, Murad II was facing many difficulties at once in this period. He had been forced to retreat before the Hungarians and was at odds with the frontier beys. The death in Amasya of his beloved eldest son, Alaeddin Ali Çelebi, also shook him deeply. Believing that his agreements with Karaman and the Hungarians had secured peace, he left the throne to his young son Mehmed II.
The sultan withdrew to Manisa. Events, however, did not unfold as he had hoped. The Crusader army’s advance despite the peace caused great alarm in Edirne. Murad II then had to take command of the army.
How Was the Battle of Varna Won?
According to the encyclopedia, Gallipoli was in the hands of the Crusader fleet. For this reason, at the end of October, Murad II hired Genoese merchant ships and crossed into Rumelia by way of the Bosphorus. Leaving his son Mehmed in Edirne, he marched north with the forces he had gathered. According to the encyclopedia, the sultan had an army of about 40,000 men.
According to the encyclopedia, the Hungarian army consisted of 15,000 horsemen and slightly fewer infantry, and carried about 2,000 wagons. Vlad Dracul, prince of Wallachia, joined Hunyadi with 4,000 soldiers. As the army advanced through Bulgarian lands it attacked even Christian villages and destroyed churches. The Crusaders took Shumen, reached the Black Sea coast and began to wait for the fleet. The two armies faced each other on the morning of 10 November 1444.
According to the encyclopedia, Karaca Bey, beylerbeyi of Anatolia, was on the right wing of the Ottoman army and Şehabeddin Şahin Pasha, beylerbeyi of Rumelia, on the left. Murad II was in the centre with the kapıkulu troops, the Janissaries and the azabs. The two armies watched each other for about three hours, and the first move came from the Ottoman side.
At the start of the battle the Hungarians gained the upper hand, and Karaca Bey, beylerbeyi of Anatolia, fell in the fighting. According to the encyclopedia, very few Janissaries remained at the sultan’s side, but Murad II did not leave the field. This determination changed the course of the battle. The Hungarian king attacked the centre, where the sultan stood, with 500 horsemen. When his horse fell into a ditch, he was killed by the Janissaries who surrounded him.
The king’s death caused panic in the Hungarian army. According to the encyclopedia, Hunyadi withdrew towards Wallachia, while Cardinal Cesarini died of wounds received during the flight. Some 7,000–8,000 Hungarians died on the battlefield; Ottoman losses were close to this figure. Among the beys who fell were Fenarizade Hasan Pasha as well as Karaca Bey. The victory was announced to neighbouring Islamic states in letters of victory known as fetihname.
What Happened After the Battle?
According to the encyclopedia, after the victory Murad II returned to Manisa, and the revenues of the provinces of Aydın, Menteşe and Saruhan were assigned to him. However, because of the disorder in Edirne, the grand vizier Çandarlı Halil Pasha secretly called him back to the throne. Murad II set out from Manisa on 5 May 1446 and soon afterwards took the throne again. In the same year he campaigned in the Morea; the walls of the Hexamilion were captured and demolished on 10 December 1446.
In the summer of 1448 the sultan recaptured the fortress of Kocacık in Albania. According to the encyclopedia, four years after the Battle of Varna Hunyadi went on the offensive again. The two armies met at Kosovo, and on 17–20 October 1448, after a hard three-day battle, the Hungarians were defeated. This time too Hunyadi was able to withdraw under the protection of wagons equipped with firearms. With this victory Ottoman supremacy in the Balkans was consolidated.
Murad II fell ill after the wedding of his son Mehmed in Edirne and died on 3 February 1451. According to the encyclopedia, he was forty-eight years old when he died. Among the most important works of the period are the Üç Şerefeli Mosque in Edirne and the Ergene Bridge (Uzunköprü). According to the encyclopedia, the Üç Şerefeli Mosque is the first example of the great mosque type of the imperial period.
The Significance of the Battle of Varna
According to the TDV Encyclopedia of Islam, some Western historians attribute the Ottoman victory to numerical superiority. The king’s reckless attack and death also played an important part in the defeat. The encyclopedia draws attention to the positive effect that Murad II’s refusal to leave his position had on the regrouping of the cavalry. Whether the Ottoman army used a feigned retreat is disputed.
According to the encyclopedia, after the Battle of Varna the victory was announced in letters of victory to Shahrukh, to İbrahim Bey of Karaman and to the Mamluk sultan Jaqmaq. These letters bear the tughra of Mehmed II, who was then on the throne. The letters state clearly that the Crusaders’ real target was Edirne.
The Battle of Varna largely ended the Crusaders’ hopes of driving the Ottomans out of the Balkans. This victory also opened the way to the conquest of Istanbul nine years later. We discussed the general framework of the period in our article on the characteristics of the Ottoman rise period.
Frequently Asked Questions
When was the Battle of Varna fought?
The battle was fought on 10 November 1444 on the Black Sea coast of present-day Bulgaria.
Who won the Battle of Varna?
The Ottomans won. King Władysław of Hungary was killed in the battle, and Hunyadi withdrew.
Why did Murad II abdicate?
The death of his son Alaeddin, the difficulties against the Hungarians and the belief that peace had been secured all played a part.
When was the Second Battle of Kosovo?
The battle was fought on 17–20 October 1448 and ended in an Ottoman victory.
Conclusion
The Battle of Varna was a turning point in the reign of Murad II and in Ottoman policy in the Balkans. This victory, won by a sultan who had given up the throne and returned to lead the army, broke up the Crusader alliance. The victory at the Second Battle of Kosovo four years later consolidated this result. In this way Murad II left his son Mehmed the Conqueror a strong state in the Balkans. In this respect the Battle of Varna is also an important link in the process that led to the conquest of Istanbul.
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