ValeOfShadows on Nostr: November 10th 1444, Varna, Bulgaria In early 1444 Pope Eugene IV called a crusade ...
November 10th 1444, Varna, Bulgaria
In early 1444 Pope Eugene IV called a crusade into the Balkans with the hope of driving the Ottomans out of the Balkans as an attempt to save the Byzantine Empire. The call to crusade was answered by King Władysław III of Poland and John Hunyadi of Hungary. Around September of 1444 Władysław set out with his army toward Constantinople. On the way toward to their intended destination Vlad II Dracul(father of Vlad the Impaler) send his son Mircea II and several thousand Wallachians to join the crusade. At this point Sultan Murad II was aware of the Crusader Army and returned from putting down a rebellion in Anatolia and gathered an Ottoman army to face the Crusaders. By November 4th the Crusaders had reached the city of Varna where they were waiting on Venetian ships to deliver them supplies and some reinforcements. Two days later the Ottoman army arrived.
The Ottomans brought around 50k soldiers with them, while the Crusaders had around 30k mostly Polish and Hungarian soldiers. John Hunyadi deployed the Crusader army in a half-circle in front of Varna, with a wagon fort behind the line to serve as a strong defensive position, should the need arise as well as, that being the area where all of the cannons were positioned. The Ottomans began the battle by advancing their center formation toward the Crusaders and firing volleys of arrows at them. Several hundred Saxon knights unexpectedly charged at the Ottomans running down or routing the light Azap infantry. Ottoman cavalry moved to try and slow down the Saxons, but struggled against the heavily armored knights. The Ottoman right flank then moved in support of the cavalry. Hunyadi ordered the Crusader left flank to meet the Ottomans. The Ottoman left then advanced on the Crusader right and engaged them in battle. During the fighting, the right half of the Crusader right broke and fled back to the wagon fort, the Ottomans then pursued them. Hunyadi noticed this and took a few hundred horsemen and charged the Ottomans. The initial charge wasn't very effective, so Hunyadi pulled back and tried again, this time the charge had more of an impact.
Władysław and his personal retinue then joined the battle on the Crusader right. After fighting for some time the Ottoman left broke, followed by the center then right, despite this the battle was not over yet. The Crusaders regrouped by the wagon fort, at this point Murad had brought up the 10k strong Ottoman Janissaries, which had been held in reserve until now. The Crusaders reformed for battle, the Janissaries advanced toward the Crusader line and began firing arrow volleys at them. This time all of the Crusaders charged the Ottomans and began inflicting serious losses on them. Murad attempted to join the battle with his personal guard, but by the time he arrived, the majority of the Janissaries broke and fled. The Crusaders regrouped and Hunyadi informed Władysław that he had won a great victory here today. The 20 year old Władysław then wanted to finish off the Ottoman Empire once and for all and lead a cavalry charge to Murad's camp. Hunyadi strongly advised Władysław against this as Murad's camp was well defended at the top of a hill, but the Polish king ignored him and gathered thousands of knights and charged at Murad's camp.
The Crusaders charged the camp but as they reached the camp they became bottlenecked at the camp gate and the charge fizzled out and turned into a hard slog against the Ottoman guards. During the fighting Władysław somehow managed to push past the Ottoman guards and enter the camp where he saw Murad. Władysław charged toward him, but just as he was about to reach Murad two of his guards killed Władysław's horse knocking it on top of him crushing him to death. Murad then had Władysław beheaded and mounted his head on a spear and rode toward the Crusaders, which upon seeing the severed head of their king caused them to panic and flee. Hunyadi attempted to gain control of the situation, but it was too late so he ordered a withdraw. The other half of the army still by Varna in the wagon fort, the withdrew upon seeing the Ottoman army assembling outside their camp. Despite the fact that the Ottomans won the Battle of Varna over half of their army died in the battle, which prevented the Ottomans from launching any more attacks in the Balkans for the next several years.
In early 1444 Pope Eugene IV called a crusade into the Balkans with the hope of driving the Ottomans out of the Balkans as an attempt to save the Byzantine Empire. The call to crusade was answered by King Władysław III of Poland and John Hunyadi of Hungary. Around September of 1444 Władysław set out with his army toward Constantinople. On the way toward to their intended destination Vlad II Dracul(father of Vlad the Impaler) send his son Mircea II and several thousand Wallachians to join the crusade. At this point Sultan Murad II was aware of the Crusader Army and returned from putting down a rebellion in Anatolia and gathered an Ottoman army to face the Crusaders. By November 4th the Crusaders had reached the city of Varna where they were waiting on Venetian ships to deliver them supplies and some reinforcements. Two days later the Ottoman army arrived.
The Ottomans brought around 50k soldiers with them, while the Crusaders had around 30k mostly Polish and Hungarian soldiers. John Hunyadi deployed the Crusader army in a half-circle in front of Varna, with a wagon fort behind the line to serve as a strong defensive position, should the need arise as well as, that being the area where all of the cannons were positioned. The Ottomans began the battle by advancing their center formation toward the Crusaders and firing volleys of arrows at them. Several hundred Saxon knights unexpectedly charged at the Ottomans running down or routing the light Azap infantry. Ottoman cavalry moved to try and slow down the Saxons, but struggled against the heavily armored knights. The Ottoman right flank then moved in support of the cavalry. Hunyadi ordered the Crusader left flank to meet the Ottomans. The Ottoman left then advanced on the Crusader right and engaged them in battle. During the fighting, the right half of the Crusader right broke and fled back to the wagon fort, the Ottomans then pursued them. Hunyadi noticed this and took a few hundred horsemen and charged the Ottomans. The initial charge wasn't very effective, so Hunyadi pulled back and tried again, this time the charge had more of an impact.
Władysław and his personal retinue then joined the battle on the Crusader right. After fighting for some time the Ottoman left broke, followed by the center then right, despite this the battle was not over yet. The Crusaders regrouped by the wagon fort, at this point Murad had brought up the 10k strong Ottoman Janissaries, which had been held in reserve until now. The Crusaders reformed for battle, the Janissaries advanced toward the Crusader line and began firing arrow volleys at them. This time all of the Crusaders charged the Ottomans and began inflicting serious losses on them. Murad attempted to join the battle with his personal guard, but by the time he arrived, the majority of the Janissaries broke and fled. The Crusaders regrouped and Hunyadi informed Władysław that he had won a great victory here today. The 20 year old Władysław then wanted to finish off the Ottoman Empire once and for all and lead a cavalry charge to Murad's camp. Hunyadi strongly advised Władysław against this as Murad's camp was well defended at the top of a hill, but the Polish king ignored him and gathered thousands of knights and charged at Murad's camp.
The Crusaders charged the camp but as they reached the camp they became bottlenecked at the camp gate and the charge fizzled out and turned into a hard slog against the Ottoman guards. During the fighting Władysław somehow managed to push past the Ottoman guards and enter the camp where he saw Murad. Władysław charged toward him, but just as he was about to reach Murad two of his guards killed Władysław's horse knocking it on top of him crushing him to death. Murad then had Władysław beheaded and mounted his head on a spear and rode toward the Crusaders, which upon seeing the severed head of their king caused them to panic and flee. Hunyadi attempted to gain control of the situation, but it was too late so he ordered a withdraw. The other half of the army still by Varna in the wagon fort, the withdrew upon seeing the Ottoman army assembling outside their camp. Despite the fact that the Ottomans won the Battle of Varna over half of their army died in the battle, which prevented the Ottomans from launching any more attacks in the Balkans for the next several years.