TRENDEAtlas of the Sultans · Wars, battles and treaties
Battle · 1444
The Battle of Varna took place on 10 November 1444 near Varna in what is today eastern Bulgaria. The Ottoman army under Sultan Murad II (who did not actually rule the sultanate at the time) defeated the Crusaders commanded by King Władysław III of Poland and Hungary, John Hunyadi (acting as commander of the combined Christian forces) and Mircea II of Wallachia. It was the final battle of the unsuccessful Crusade of Varna, a last-ditch effort to prevent further Ottoman expansion into the Balkans.
| Date | November 10, 1444 |
|---|---|
| Location | Near Varna, Ottoman state, Present-day Bulgaria, |
| Result | Ottoman victory |
| Belligerents | Ottoman state | Kingdom of Hungary Kingdom of Croatia Kingdom of Poland Principality of Wallachia Teutonic Order |
|---|---|---|
| Commanders | Murad II Mehmed II Şehabeddin Pasha Karaca Pasha Karaca Bey † | Władysław III (MIA) John Hunyadi Michael Szilágyi Stephen III Báthory † Simon Rozgonyi † John de Dominis † Franko Talovac Mircea II Julian Cesarini † Jan Čapek Fruzhin |
| Strength | 50,000–60,000 40,000–50,000 Anatolian troops 10,000 Rumelian troops | 20,000 6,000 Hungarians 5,000 troops by Hunyadi 4,000 Polish cavalry 4,000 Wallachian cavalry 1,000 Crusaders recruited by Cesarini 44,000–55,000 30,000 Hungarian and Polish troops (15,000 cavalry, 15,000 infantry) 4,000–10,000 Wallachian troops 10,000–15,000 troops- Lithuanians, Croats, Moldavians, Serbs, Bosnians, Bulgarians, Teutonic Knights and Papal troops |
| Casualties | Minimal or heavy Up to 7,000 killed (Ottoman sources) | Heavy, about half the army 40,000–51,000 killed or captured (Ottoman sources) |
Hunyadi reached the Danube but was captured by Vlad Dracul in Wallachia and imprisoned as insurance in case of Ottoman retaliation or for a high ransom. He was released in exchange for a large amount of money when Hungarian nobles loyal to Hunyadi began to threaten Vlad Dracul with a campaign against him. Another version of the story is that he was mistakenly captured by Wallachian border guards, who didn't recognize him, and released by Vlad Dracul once they met face to face. After the death of Władysław III, Hunyadi became one of the most important and powerful members of the Hungarian nobility, becoming the Governor of Hungary on 5 June 1446. He was later made a Duke by the Pope in 1447.
Took place during the reign of Mehmed II (1444–1446). Mehmed II
Open the reign of Mehmed II on the mapText: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0), adapted for the atlas.