TRENDEFRARAtlas of the Sultans · Wars, battles and treaties
Siege · 1456
Mehmed II knew that keeping Serbia firmly dependent required taking Belgrade from the Hungarians. According to the TDV encyclopedia, he had to withdraw from Belgrade, which he besieged in 1456, despite his personal heroism: he threw himself into the fight to prevent a rout and was wounded in the forehead. The failure raised crusading hopes in the West: Pope Callixtus III sent his fleet to the Aegean, and his successor Pius II summoned Europe's rulers to a crusading congress at Mantua. Belgrade was taken only in 1521, by Suleiman.
| Date | Summer 1456 |
|---|---|
| Location | Belgrade |
| Result | The siege failed; Mehmed II was wounded |
| Belligerents | Ottoman state | Kingdom of Hungary |
|---|---|---|
| Commanders | Mehmed II | John Hunyadi |
Took place during the reign of Mehmed II (1451–1481). Mehmed II
The atlas records this territorial change for the year:
By the atlas's calculation the Ottoman lands covered about 737,000 km² in 1456; at the start of Mehmed II's reign they measured 664,000 km², at its end 1,140,000 km².
During Mehmed II (1451–1481) the atlas records 13 regions gained and 0 regions lost.
Regions gained: Istanbul and the Straits (1453), Moldavia (1455), Athens–Central Greece (1456), Morea (Peloponnese) (1460), Trabzon (Pontus) (1461), Kastamonu–Sinop (Candar) (1461), Aegean Islands (Lesbos–Lemnos–Samos) (1462), Bosnia (1463), and 5 more.
The conquest of Constantinople (1453) ended the Eastern Roman Empire (Byzantium), turned the Ottoman state into an empire and moved the centre of the state permanently to Istanbul. By eliminating most of the independent states in the Balkans and Anatolia he consolidated the borders between the Danube and the Euphrates; his first reign was in 1444–1446.
Areas are land area computed from the atlas's region data; see Method and sources.
Source: TDV Encyclopedia of Islam, “MEHMED II” (Turkish); text written for the atlas.
Cite as: Atlas of the Sultans, “Siege of Belgrade (1456): Date, Commanders and Outcome”, https://padisahlaratlasi.com/en/events/siege-of-belgrade-1456/ (last updated 12 November 2026). Corrections