Battle of Schellenberg
Szekler hand over the head of Cardinal Andreas Báthory to Michael the Brave after the battle, historical painting by Theodor Aman (1831-1891)
| date | October 28, 1599 |
|---|---|
| place | Schellenberg , Transylvania , today Romania |
| output | Michael the Brave victory |
| Parties to the conflict | |
|---|---|
| Commander | |
|
Michael the Brave |
Kaspar Kornis |
| Troop strength | |
| up to 40,000 men | up to 30,000 men |
| losses | |
|
200 to 1,000 men |
1,200-1,500 men |
Sissek - Călugăreni - Mezőkeresztes - Schellenberg - Mirăslău - Guruslău
The Battle of Schellenberg took place on October 28, 1599 in Transylvania between Hermannstadt ( Sibiu ) and Schellenberg ( Șelimbăr ). The troops of the Wallachian voivode Michael the Brave, who was allied with the Habsburg Emperor Rudolf II at that time, and the Hungarian cardinal Andreas Báthory, who was allied with Poland-Lithuania and the Ottomans , faced each other. It ended with a victory for Michael, which enabled him to occupy Transylvania. He was made Prince of Transylvania and shortly afterwards was able to gain control of the Principality of Moldova , but was expelled from Transylvania the next year. The short-term personal union between Hungarian Wallachia, Transylvania and Moldova under Michael the Brave later became a myth of national Romanian historiography.
prehistory
Since the first Turkish siege of Vienna in 1529, Habsburg Austria was in constant conflict with the Ottoman Empire, which was only temporarily interrupted by armistices. The 3rd Austrian Turkish War (also known as the Long Turkish War ) had broken out since 1593 , in which the formally independent Principality of Transylvania was to become the plaything of the great powers and a theater of war. This had been ruled since 1581 by the Hungarian Prince Sigismund Báthory , who came to power with the help of his uncle Stephan Báthory , King of Poland-Lithuania . After the first acts of war between Austria and the Ottomans in Hungary were relatively undecided, Rudolf II launched a diplomatic offensive in which he initially succeeded in retaining Sigismund Báthory in the House of Habsburg in 1594 by marrying Maria Christina of Inner Austria . In Wallachia to the south, Michael Pătraşcu originally came to power in 1593 with Ottoman support. The following year, however, the latter concluded an alliance with Transylvania and thus indirectly also with Habsburg and rose against Ottoman suzerainty. In 1594 he refused to pay tribute and expelled the Ottoman tax collectors. On August 13, 1595 he was able to beat an army under the Grand Vizier Koca Sinan Pasha in the Battle of Călugăreni. With the support of troops of Sigismund Báthory, the Ottomans were defeated again on October 29, 1595 at Giurgiu on the Danube, whereupon they had to withdraw from Wallachia. The following year Michael carried out forays south of the Danube and plundered Ottoman areas in what is now Bulgaria .
Sultan Mehmed III. responded to this threatening situation and personally took command. He led an Ottoman army towards Hungary to cut ties between the Habsburgs and Transylvania and Wallachia. This was also achieved at the end of 1596 with a victory in the Battle of Mezőkeresztes . The beleaguered Sigismund then agreed at court in Prague in 1597 to renounce Transylvania in favor of the emperor. In exchange he received the Silesian duchies of Opole and Ratibor . In 1598 the emperor sent his military governors István Szuhay, Miklós Istvánffy and Bartholomeus Pezzen to Transylvania and the Partium , while Sigismund went to Silesia.
In the Hungarian nobility of Transylvania, however, the pro-Turkish tendencies increased due to the military situation and so Sigismund revoked his decision a short time later and appointed his cousin, the cardinal and prince-bishop of Warmia, Andreas Báthory, as his successor. This was supported by the Moldovan voivode Ieremia Movilă and could count on the support of the Ottomans. As a result, the Habsburg diplomacy threatened a disaster, since the imperial troops were blocked in Hungary and could not intervene in Transylvania.
Michael, the gospodar of Wallachia, had already concluded an agreement with the ambassadors of Rudolf on July 9, 1598 in Târgovişte and was thus able to strengthen his position. When, in April 1599, the parliament in Cluj actually installed Andreas Báthory as the new prince, he saw the opportunity to intervene in the power struggle for Transylvania. With financial support from the emperor, he set his mercenary army on the move in the direction of Transylvania.
Course of the battle
In October 1599, the Wallachian army of Michael the Brave arrived in Transylvania. Marching through Kronstadt , Tartlau , Zeiden and Fogarasch , they finally reached Talmesch on October 25th . On his side were now Serbian, Hungarian, Saxon and Cossack mercenaries, as well as Szekler troops , who rejected the rule of the Báthory family and switched sides shortly before the upcoming battle. On October 26th, Michael's army united with the departments of commandant Radu Buzescu and the Ban Udrea and advanced to Westendorf ( Rum .: Veştem ), south of Schellenberg. In total, Michael's army numbered around 40,000 people, including women and children of Wallachian boyars who, for fear of incursions by the Tartars , brought their families with them during their absence. These remained in the camp, which is why the actual troop strength is estimated at around 16,000 men. Báthory's army had meanwhile rushed to meet them and camped outside the city walls of Sibiu . The commanders in chief were the Hungarian Kaspar Kornis and Moses Székely, who made preparations for the battle only hesitantly, as parts of his Szekler compatriots had defected to the army of the Wallachian voivode.
On the morning of October 28, 1599, the battle finally broke out, which was opened at nine o'clock by artillery fire. The army of Báthory was surprised in the middle of the military preparations and was strategically located between the Zibin River and the city, with the ice ponds in the back, roughly where the city district hospital is today. Michael's 18 cannons caused heavy damage, but Bárthory's artillery, which was numerically superior with around 40 to 50 cannons, was able to quickly counter the fire. Then Michael started with the Serbian Haiduken under Baba Novac the attack on the left flank of the cardinal, whereby his commander Stephan Lazar was fatally wounded. However, Kaspar Kornis's troops were able to repel the attack by the Serbs. Michael now directed the attack on the center of the cardinal and sent his Hungarian and Szekler mercenary troops under Georg Makó forward. These were able to widen the broken gaps in the enemy ranks and thus support Baba Novac on the left flank, as well as resist the attacks from the center and the right flank of the Cardinal under Moses Székely. Taking advantage of this situation, Michael sent further troops, consisting of Serbian, Cossack and Moldovan squadrons, against the center of the enemy. He also sent the troops of Aga Lecca into battle. The front line of Kaspar Kornis was then broken and the fate of the battle turned increasingly in favor of Michael.
Around three o'clock in the afternoon, Andreas Báthory's army faced the enemy without command and was attacked from both flanks. Then more and more disorder spread and the army began to break up. The Saxons in Sibiu, who had been watching the battle carefully from the battlements of the fortification walls, rescued 350 fleeing Saxon mercenaries from the cardinal's army by pulling them with ropes over the walls inside the fortification. The cardinal's other troops fled and withdrew from the battlefield.
In the evening Michael the Brave gave the order to pursue the enemy troops in order to prevent a possible re-formation.
consequences
The battle was costly for both sides. Báthory's army numbered around 3,000 dead and 1,000 wounded and prisoners, and many dead and wounded were also to be mourned on the part of Michael the Brave. However, Michael's troops immediately pursued Bárthory's fleeing army without attacking Sibiu, which was not involved in the battle, while the bodies remained on the battlefield. These were later buried by the Saxon residents of the city.
In Csíkszentdomokos (Rum .: Sândominic, Harghita), Cardinal Andreas Báthory, who fled to Poland, was arrested and beheaded by Szeklern people under Peter Ördeg on October 31 (according to other sources on November 3). In the meantime Michael marched with his troops to Weißenburg . At the end of the month, the Transylvanian state parliament convened there approved the installation of Michael as the new prince of Transylvania. Emperor Rudolf II tried to maintain the formal dependence of Transylvania on Hungary and therefore only sent Michael an appointment as governor of Transylvania . However, he was initially able to consolidate his position of power by restoring the ancestral rights that had been withdrawn by the Báthorys from 1576 to the Szeklern, who had supported him in the fight, and by releasing numerous serfs from bondage to their Hungarian feudal lords. He won the favor of the Transylvanian Romanians through the recognition of the Orthodox Church, whose priests were freed from the status of serfdom. Furthermore, the Transylvanian villages were asked to let the sheep herds of Wallachian shepherds graze on fallow fields. Otherwise, however, Michael tried to win the support of the Hungarian nobility in Transylvania and only put a few Wallachian boyars in certain key positions. He appointed Ban Mihalcea as his deputy in the event of his absence from Transylvania.
The Transylvanian Saxons were divided towards the new prince. While Saxon troops from Burzenland had supported him in the fight against Andreas Báthory, the Saxons around Sibiu complained about the cruelty of the mercenaries in his service. They occupied the Saxon fortified church in Großau , for example, and murdered the local pastor Mathias Heintzius in the sacristy on November 16. Saxons on county soil , on the other hand, benefited from the exemption from certain duties towards their Hungarian feudal lords, which Michael the Brave granted them.
In May 1600 Michael used his new power and marched with his army in the Moldova and expelled the Polish-friendly voivod Jeremias Movila there. Michael the Brave was now Gospodar of Wallachia, Prince of Transylvania and Voivode of Moldova at the same time. This fact is referred to in the national Romanian historiography as the "First Union" of the Romanian countries.
Shortly thereafter, however, the situation should change fundamentally. The Hungarian nobility in Transylvania felt humiliated by the loss of power and the Saxons complained about the looting and destruction of Michael's underpaid Soldateska. The emperor in Prague feared the new power of the Wallachian prince and sent his general Giorgio Basta from Hungary , who defeated Michael's troops on September 18, 1600 at Mirăslău (Hungarian: Miriszló ). However, this prompted Sigismund Báthory to re-enter the fight with Polish support. A Polish army under Jan Zamoyski marched into Moldova, defeated Michael the Brave with the support of the Turks and Tatar troops on October 20 in the Battle of Bucov (Prahova County) and on November 25 in the Battle of Argeş. Jeremias Movila was reinstated as Voivode of Moldova, and Radu Mihnea as Gospodar of Wallachia. Michael the Brave had now lost all three principalities in a very short time.
Due to the renewed threat from Sigismund Báthory, however, Emperor Rudolf II changed his attitude towards Michael. He had fled to the court in Vienna and Prague in the winter of 1600 and on January 12, 1601, he again formed an alliance with the Kaiser in Prague and received financial support for recruiting new troops. Together with the imperial general Basta, he defeated the troops of Sigismund Báthorys on August 3, 1601 in the battle of Guruslau (Hungarian: Magyargoroszló ; Roman : Guruslău , Sălaj district) the following summer . The distrust between Basta and Michael was not meant to be removed. When rumors arose that Michael could now alliance with the Turks to consolidate his personal rule, Basta sent a delegation of German, Walloon and Italian soldiers to the Michaels camp near Thorenburg (Hungarian: Torda ; Rum .: Turda ) Assassinated August 1601.
The dead of the Battle of Schellenberg were buried in an artificial hill that can still be seen and lies between the Sibiu city district Hipodrom and the town of Schellenberg. In Romanian it is called " Movila lui Mihai " (Michaels hill), but incorrectly sometimes also " Movila turcului " (Turkish hill). The obelisk erected in 1932 on the outskirts of Schellenberg commemorates the Romanian victims of the First World War.
The personalities involved
The pro-Turkish alliance of the Báthories
Cardinal Andreas Báthory, Prince of Transylvania
Sigismund Báthory
Jeremias Movila, Voivode of Moldova
Mehmed III, Sultan of the Ottoman Empire
The anti-Turkish alliance of Michael the Brave
Michael the Brave, Gospodar of Wallachia
Baba Novac, Serbian Haiduken leader
Rudolf II of Habsburg, Holy Roman Emperor, King of Hungary
Individual evidence
- ^ Mathias Bernath, Felix von Schroeder, Gerda Bartl: Biographisches Lexikon zur Geschichte Südosteuropas, Volume 3 ; Oldenbourg Wissenschaftsverlag, 1979; ISBN 978-3-486-48991-0 (p. 188 ff.)
- ↑ Magyar Elektronikus Könyvtár: Zsigmond Báthori, Michael the Brave, and Giorgio Basta (English)
- ↑ Magyar Elektronikus Könyvtár: The change in Turkish politics and its consequences
- ↑ Primăria Șelimbăr: History ( page no longer available , search in web archives ) Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. (English)
- ↑ Johann Christian von Engel: History of the Ungrian Empire ; Camesinasche Buchhandlung, 1814, p. 278
- ↑ Magyar Elektronikus Könyvtár: The Change in Turkish Policy and its Consequences from " Brief History of Transylvania " from the Institute for History of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences, 1989
- ↑ Magyar Elektronikus Könyvtár: Zsigmond Báthori, Michael the Brave, and Giorgio Basta (English)
- ↑ landler.com: Data on the history of the Evangelical Church Community in Großau ( Memento of the original from April 17, 2007 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ retrobibliothek.de: Basta (from Meyers Konversationslexikon, 1885-1892)
- ^ Hungary yearbook 1982–1983: The rule of Mihai the Brave in Transylvania , Tudor Pop, Bern (PDF; 1.5 MB)
- ↑ Alpen-Adria-Universität Klagenfurt: Mihai Viteazul ( Memento of the original from December 12, 2010 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link has been inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ Monitorul de Sibiu: Hipodrom, cartierul-metropola ( Memento of the original from May 11, 2009 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , by Laura Catuneanu, October 9, 2008 (Romanian)
- ↑ Monitorul de Sibiu: Pe urmele lui Mihai Viteazul, cu blocuri si mall-uri ( page no longer available , search in web archives ) Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , by Maria Adam, November 19, 2008 (Romanian)
Coordinates: 45 ° 46 '29.7 " N , 24 ° 10' 23.9" E