The battle is so named because it took place near the city of Varna. This battle is also very important in terms of strengthening the Ottoman presence in the Balkans. Another factor that makes the battle important is that in this battle, which took place on the land between two mountains, different war tactics of equal powers came to the fore. The main reason for the war was the desire of the Christian forces led by the Hungarians, supported and encouraged by the papacy and Byzantium, to expel the Turks from the Balkans and then advance to Edirne to eliminate the Turkish threat.
After Murad II ascended to the throne and solved the problems of the Fatret Period, a new process was slowly beginning in the Balkans as a result of his orientation towards the Danube River line from the 1420s onwards and the aggressive actions of the Ottoman end lords. Although the border line had remained tense and active since the Battle of Niğbolu, the efforts of the two states to dominate the Serbian Despotate and the Wallachian Voivodeship caused the fuse to ignite.
In 1439, as Murad II entered Serbia, efforts to unite the Christian world under the leadership of the papacy and take action against the Turks gained momentum. In the same year, as a result of the meetings between the Orthodox and Catholics in Florence, it was decided to unite the churches and to expel the Turks from Europe and help Byzantium. In 1440, Murad II's failed siege of Belgrade and the subsequent Hungarian military campaign against the Ottomans were greeted with great joy in the Crusader world.
Meanwhile, Vladislav, who had succeeded Albert II on the Hungarian throne after his death in 1439, was also the Polish king. The Hungarians mobilized against the Ottomans, who had failed in front of Belgrade. Janos Hunyadi, voivode of Erdel and count of Tımışvar, who was appointed commander-in-chief of Southern Hungary and Belgrade, prevented an Ottoman attack in September 1442 under the command of Şehabeddin Şahin Pasha, Beylerbeyi of Rumelia. Immediately afterwards, in 1443-44, he crossed the Danube and entered Ottoman territory. The Hungarian force, which defeated the Ottoman troops encountered here as well, was only stopped by Murad II at the Zlatitsa (Izlâdi) Pass. This struggle and advance of the Hungarians was greeted with great joy in the Christian world and interpreted as the beginning of the Ottoman expulsion from the Balkans. Murad II found the solution to this difficult situation by initiating peace negotiations. With the mediation of the Serbian Despot Curac Brankovic, a truce was signed in Segedin.
The Treaty of Segedin, which was doubtful whether it was a real truce or a peace, and which the Hungarian king had ratified with an oath, was invalidated by the intervention of the Pope's representative Cardinal Cesarini and the Byzantine emperor. For by this time the Papacy had completed its preparations for the Crusade and an allied fleet was on its way to the Dardanelles to meet the army on the ground and prevent the Ottoman troops from crossing the straits. Despite an interim agreement, on August 4, 1444, the Hungarian king, under the guidance of Cardinal Cesarini, issued a declaration of war. The army was mainly composed of Hungarians. It would later be joined by Serbian, Wallachian, Croatian and Bosnian troops.
During these developments, Murad II was going through a difficult period due to the troubles caused by the retreat against the Hungarians, the sorrow of losing his eldest son Alaeddin and his dispute with the edge begs. Thinking that the agreements he had made with the Hungarians and the Karamanids had brought calm, he decided to abdicate and left his throne to his younger son Mehmed II. But contrary to all this, events did not develop as he expected. The mobilization of the Christian army despite the peace between them caused great alarm. Murad II, who had to lead the army, was informed that Gallipoli was being held by the Christian navy and crossed the Bosphorus through Genoese merchant ships in late October. Moving to Edirne, Murad II left his son Mehmed in guard here and moved towards Varna with his army.
The Hungarian forces consisted of some 15,000 horsemen and fewer than that number of infantry. The army crossed the Danube on October 3, first to Orşova and then to Vidin. In addition, the army had about 2,000 wagons. Most of these wagons were loaded with ammunition, supplies and goods. Some of them were manned by soldiers with rifles. Vlad Dracula, Prince of Wallachia, also joined Hunyadi's forces at Nigbolu with some 4,000 men. The Hungarians and their allies began to advance into Bulgarian territory. During this advance, they destroyed and looted everything in their path. Among the villages destroyed and looted were Christian villages. The same Hungarian army reached Shumnu and easily captured it, destroying the Ottoman troops inside. They did not linger long with the resistance they encountered in Pravadi and turned their attention to the Petrich Fortress. They captured Petrich Fortress and reached Varna directly. Here they set up camp and started to wait for the Crusader fleet. On the Ottoman side, Murad II arrived in Yanbolu with an army of 40,000 men.
The two armies faced each other in the morning hours of November 10, 1444. The Hungarian military delegation's plan, based on their previous battle experience, was to charge against the Ottoman troops because of the previous success of the riflemen and, if this failed, to retreat back to the line of wagons and disorganize the Ottoman army with cannon and musketry. Wagons and cannons were placed in the rear ranks of the army, with the king in the center with Hungarian and Polish soldiers. The line stretching from the marshy area towards Varna was held with troops. The side closest to the city was open, so the strongest troops were deployed there. The Hungarians led by Franco Talloci, followed by the Bishop of Eger Simon Rozgonyi, the bishop of Slovenia and the crusaders of Cardinal Cesari. Hunyadi did not place the 4,000 Wallachian troops under his command anywhere to allow them free movement. On the Ottoman side, the sultan's right flanked by Karaca Bey, the Beylerbeyi of Anatolia, Süleyman Bey with the soldiers of Edirne, Fenarizade Hasan Pasha and Evrenosoğlu Isa. On his left were the horsemen of the Beylerbeyi of Rumelia, Şehabeddin Şahin Pasha, and the foot soldiers of Davud Bey and the troops of Ferizbeyoğlu. Murad II was marching in the rear with his captains, janissaries and azaps lined up in seven ranks.
After the two armies faced each other, they checked each other for a while. The first attack came from the Ottoman side. A group of 6,000 sipahi began harassing the Hungarians on the right flank with arrow shots. Faced with this movement, Franco Talloci gave the order to attack. This attack was directly on the Anatolian column and the Hungarians gained a great superiority. Then, in the Rumelia column, Şehabeddin Pasha's horsemen met Hunyadi's attack. Pretending to retreat, Davud Bey suddenly turned back and destroyed the troops of the bishop of Nagyvarad. However, the Anatolian column collapsed and Karaca Bey lost his life there. The Rumelia troops also began to disintegrate. Upon these, Murad II mobilized his own troops, but he was not successful. Murad II, who was left with a small number of janissaries, started to favor retreat, but he remained on the battlefield with the encouragement of Dayı Karaca Bey. After this move, the course of the war suddenly changed. At this very moment, the Hungarian king attacked directly towards Murad II with 500 men. But he could not break through the well-defended Ottoman camp. Unable to see the ditch near the camp, the Hungarian king fell into it and was killed by the Ottoman soldiers surrounding him. This death of the king caused a panic in the Hungarian army. The retreating Ottoman troops regrouped and attacked. Although the fleeing Hungarian forces took refuge behind the wagons in the rear, the result did not change. Hunyadi, who received the news of the king's death, retreated to Wallachia as the situation worsened. During the retreat, Cardinal Cesari also lost his life. On the Ottoman side were the Anatolian Beylerbeyi Karaca Bey, Fenarizade Hasan Pasha, Vardar Kadi Bedreddin and Su Sheikh.
Immediately after the war, conquest reports were written to neighboring Islamic countries announcing the victory. According to a rumor, the severed head of the Hungarian King Vladislav was sent to Edirne and Bursa as a token of victory, and from there it was sent as a gift to the Sultan of Egypt.
The Battle of Varna was instrumental in learning Hungarian war tactics and the Ottoman army, which had recently gained much experience, was especially cautious against operations using chariots. However, it is not said that the Hungarians used their chariots very effectively in this battle. Only in the face of the Ottoman attack, cannon and musket shots were fired from behind the chariots. Some Western historians have cited the Ottoman superiority in numbers as the main reason for winning the war. In addition to this numerical superiority, they say that the reckless attack of the Hungarian king Vladislav was the most important reason for the loss of the war.
It is disputed whether the Ottomans first retreated and then attacked on purpose. The sources do not say that this was done on purpose. In addition, Hunyadi probably deployed his army accordingly as he knew the Turks well. The fact that the Sipahis started the battle with arrow shots confirms this, but according to eyewitness accounts, this is highly unlikely. Another point to note is that the cavalry units that had been disrupted re-formed ranks behind the sultan, which can be considered as a war tactic based on foot soldiers rather than a deliberate retreat.
When we look at the political gains of the war, this victory not only restored Murad II's confidence in domestic politics, but also shattered the Christian belief that the Ottomans would be expelled from Europe. Western historians of the period wrote of this defeat as a punishment from God. It is an accepted belief that God punished the Ottomans for breaking the agreement on the Bible made at Segedin. With this defeat, Byzantium's hopes were largely dashed. Hunyadi was the only one who did not lose hope after the defeat. He would soon regroup his army and begin preparations for a new campaign around the Danube River.
References
FERİDUN EMECEN, "VARNA MUHAREBESİ", TDV İslâm Ansiklopedisi, https://islamansiklopedisi.org.tr/varna-muharebesi (20.11.2024).
Aşıkpaşazade, Tarih
Neşri, Cihannuma
İsmail Hakkı Uzunçarşılı*,* Osmanlı Tarihi I. Cilt.
Halil İnalcık, Fatih Devri Üzerinde Tetkikler ve Vesikalar
Comments