Siege of Nagykanizsa

The April 21, 1521 gift from Holy Roman Emperor Charles V to his brother, Ferdinand I, of his Austrian territories created a Spanish branch of the Habsburgs as well as an Austrian branch who held the kingdoms of Bohemia and Hungary and also the title of Holy Roman Emperor after the death of Charles in 1558.

The decisive defeat by Suleiman the Magnificent of King Louis II of Hungary and Bohemia at the Battle of Mohács in 1526 brought about the fall of the Jagiellon dynasty. Louis, the adopted son of Maximilian I, Holy Roman Emperor, was killed in this battle and died childless at nineteen. Rival kings ruled for a time during the civil war that followed. John Zápolya (Hungarian:János Szapolyai) had not participated in Mohács and therefore was the only Hungarian aristocrat left with an army.[4] The rival claimant was Louis' brother-in-law, Ferdinand I.

After the Ottoman capture in 1541 of central Buda, which eventually merged with nearby Pest to become Budapest, the Kingdom of Hungary broke in three. Royal Hungary in the west came under Habsburg control and the Principality of Transylvania, or Eastern Hungarian Kingdom, became an Ottoman vassal state under János and later his son, who fled to Lippa with his mother after the fall of Buda.

A period known as the fortress wars began. The Habsburgs built 100-120 forts they called the Bastion of Christianity, with the most important at Croatia, Slavonia, Kanizsa, Győr, Bányavidék, and Upper Hungary. A fleet of sloops based in Komárom defended the Danube. The Ottomans also had 100-130 fortresses, at Buda-Pest, Esztergom, and Temesvár.

The Habsburg coalition had 100,000 men and 40 cannons, as well as soldiers from Italy, Spain, Hungary, Croatia, Malta, and Walloon and Italian mercenaries of the Vatican. The Ottoman forces, consisting of only 6,000 Turkish men, 3,000 janissaries, and 100 small cannons, had limited food and weapons, so Tiryaki Hasan Pasha initially ordered his troops to use only their rifles.

Ferdinand ordered an attack, thinking that the Ottomans only had rifles. This mistake led the coalition army into a trap. The 100 cannons caused heavy losses; coalition forces redoubled their efforts and saw even more losses.

Tiryaki Hasan Pasha used psychological warfare, pretending he had enough food and arms to resist coalition attacks for a long time. He also sent messages that the Ottoman army in Belgrade was on its way to lift the siege on Naģykanizsa. All these things were written on notes and placed in the pockets of dead soldiers, lying outside the fortress.

This news angered Ferdinand II even more and resulted in even more and severe attacks on the fortress. To keep its own the morale high and make it seem that the Ottomans were feasting daily, Hasan ordered the military band to play every day.

After two months the Ottoman army had severe food and ammunition shortages. Captain Ahmed Agha said he could make gunpowder if he had supply some needed substances. This allowed the Ottomans to defend the fortress for 2-3 more weeks. After that period the Ottomans nearly ran out all of their supplies.

As winter approached, the Ottomans had to do something or starve or surrender. Desperate, they attacked on the night of 18 November 1601, the 73rd day of the siege, in a surprise attack. Ferdinand II was caught off guard, and thought that Ottoman reinforcements had come. He ordered his exhausted and reduced army to pull back. Following this victory, Sultan Mehmed III promoted Tiryaki Hasan Pasha to the rank of Vizier.

Tiryaki Hasan Pasha was in charge of Hungarian provinces for ten years until his death. Sultan Mehmed III died in 1603. After the reigns of four more sultans, namely Ahmed I, Osman II, Murad IV, and Mehmed IV, the growth period of the Ottoman Empire ended in 1683.