TRENDEFRARAtlas of the Sultans · Wars, battles and treaties
Siege · 1543
When King Francis I of France asked the Ottomans for help against Charles V, Barbaros Hayreddin Pasha sailed with the fleet into the western Mediterranean. According to the TDV encyclopedia, after striking Italian coasts such as Messina, Reggio and Ostia he reached Marseille on 20 July 1543 and was received with ceremony. When the French fleet was ready it was decided to take Nice, belonging to the Duchy of Savoy; the town was taken on 20 August, but as the siege of the citadel dragged on it was ended, and the Turkish fleet wintered at Toulon. Returning to Istanbul after Francis made terms with Charles V, Barbaros freed Turgut Reis, a captive at Genoa, on the way. It was Barbaros's last great campaign.
| Date | 20 August 1543 (capture of the town) |
|---|---|
| Location | Nice, Duchy of Savoy |
| Result | The town was taken, the citadel held; the fleet wintered at Toulon |
| Belligerents | Ottoman Empire | Duchy of Savoy |
|---|---|---|
| Commanders | Barbaros Hayreddin Pasha |
Took place during the reign of Suleiman I (1520–1566). Suleiman I
Open the reign of Suleiman I on the mapBy the atlas's calculation the Ottoman lands covered about 3,633,000 km² in 1543; at the start of Suleiman I's reign they measured 3,034,000 km², at its end 5,127,000 km².
During Suleiman I (1520–1566) the atlas records 20 regions gained and 1 region lost.
Regions gained: Belgrade–Šabac (1521), Rhodes and the Dodecanese (1522), Eastern Slavonia and Syrmia (Osijek–Vukovar) (1526), Lika–Krbava (1527), Baghdad–Basra (1534), Požega (central Slavonia) (1537), Kars–Ardahan–Artvin (1537), Yemen–Asir (1538), and 12 more.
Regions lost: Kars–Ardahan–Artvin (1565).
With a reign of forty-six years he ruled longer than any other sultan. He brought the state to its military, legal and cultural peak; yet the executions of his sons Mustafa and Bayezid are the gravest instances of violence within the dynasty.
Areas are land area computed from the atlas's region data; see Method and sources.
Source: TDV Encyclopedia of Islam, “BARBAROS HAYREDDİN PAŞA” (Turkish); text written for the atlas.
Cite as: Atlas of the Sultans, “Siege of Nice (1543): Date, Commanders and Outcome”, https://padisahlaratlasi.com/en/events/siege-of-nice/ (last updated 12 November 2026). Corrections