TRENDEFRARAtlas of the Sultans · Wars, battles and treaties
Battle · 1664
The capture of Érsekújvár caused great alarm in Europe; according to the TDV, besides the Papacy, Spain, Saxony and Brandenburg, King Louis XIV of France sent 5,000 volunteers, and these forces gathered under the supreme command of Montecuccoli. In 1664 Fazıl Ahmed Pasha took fortresses and palisades such as Komran, Zalaegerszeg, Egervár, Kemendvár and Zrinyivár and reached the Rába river, intending to take Győr. Meanwhile the Austrian siege of Kanizsa had also failed. The two armies met at Saint Gotthard at the end of July. The battle that began on the morning of 1 August 1664 went mostly against the Turks, but according to the TDV the Ottoman forces were not utterly routed as claimed: Ottoman sources treat it as a minor clash, while Western sources exaggerate it as the destruction of the army. Eight days later (9–10 August) Fazıl Ahmed Pasha signed the Peace of Vasvár.
| Date | 1 August 1664 |
|---|---|
| Location | Saint Gotthard (Szentgotthárd), on the Rába |
| Result | Went against the Ottomans but was no complete rout; the Peace of Vasvár followed |
| Belligerents | Ottoman Empire | Habsburg Monarchy |
|---|---|---|
| Commanders | Köprülüzade Fazıl Ahmed Pasha | Raimondo Montecuccoli |
Took place during the reign of Mehmed IV (1648–1687). Mehmed IV
Open the reign of Mehmed IV on the mapBy the atlas's calculation the Ottoman lands covered about 5,112,000 km² in 1664; at the start of Mehmed IV's reign they measured 5,106,000 km², at its end 4,835,000 km².
During Mehmed IV (1648–1687) the atlas records 3 regions gained and 7 regions lost.
Regions gained: Nové Zámky (Uyvar) (1663), Crete (1669), Podolia (Kamianets) (1672).
Regions lost: Lahsa (Eastern Arabia–Qatar) (1672), Nové Zámky (Uyvar) (1685), Buda (central Hungary) (1686), Transylvania and Partium (1687), Eastern Slavonia and Syrmia (Osijek–Vukovar) (1687), Western Slavonia (Virovitica–Čazma) (1687), Morea (Peloponnese) (1687).
His reign saw both the empire's last great expansion and its heaviest reversal. The state, revived under the Köprülü viziers, lost Hungary and Transylvania within four years of the second siege of Vienna.
Areas are land area computed from the atlas's region data; see Method and sources.
Source: TDV Encyclopedia of Islam, “KÖPRÜLÜZÂDE FÂZIL AHMED PAŞA” (Turkish); text written for the atlas.
Cite as: Atlas of the Sultans, “Battle of Saint Gotthard (1664): Date, Commanders and Outcome”, https://padisahlaratlasi.com/en/events/battle-of-saint-gotthard-1664/ (last updated 12 November 2026). Corrections