Page 23 - The Age of Sultan Suleyman the Magnificent

year. Louis II and his entire forces were annihilated within
two hours during the Battle of Mohács on 29 August 1526.
Süleyman installed as king of Hungary John Zápolya, the
ruler of Transylvania who had joined the Ottoman army
against the Habsburgs.
When the sultan returned to Istanbul Ferdinand, the arch-
duke of Austria who claimed to be the rightful heir to the
throne of Hungary, captured Budapest and expelled Zápolya.
Süleyman was forced to march into Hungary and reinstall Zá-
polya. He then continued on to Vienna, the capital of Austria,
and besieged the city for two weeks between 26 September
and 16 October 1529. Because winter was approaching and
his heavy artillery had been late in arriving, Süleyman lifted
the siege and headed home.
The conflict over Hungary was resumed when Ferdinand
and Süleyman could not resolve their differences through
diplomatic channels and the Habsburgs besieged Budapest
again. During the 1532 campaign in Austria Süleyman's most
Fig. 5. Portrait of King Francis I attributed to Jean Clouet (detail), notable conquest was the capture of Guns. The following year
c. 1535 (Paris, Musée du Louvre, 5247) the two rulers signed a treaty, which provided a brief halt in
Habsburg-Ottoman hostilities.
The sultan was then free to devote attention to the prob-
lems in the Mediterranean and in the east. While he was
lois king of France, had been fighting over the crown of the campaigning in Austria, Andrea Doria, a Genoese admiral
Holy Roman Empire. When Charles V was elected emperor who had shifted his alliance from Francis I to Charles V, had
in 1521 war broke out between the two rivals and Europe attacked several Ottoman ports in Algeria and Greece, captur-
became divided. Süleyman used this dispute to his advantage, ing the fortress of Coron in the Morea (Peloponnisos), to the
launched his first western campaign, and marched into Hun- great embarrassment of the Ottomans. Upon returning to
gary, which was allied with the Habsburgs and was causing Istanbul, the sultan summoned to the capital Barbaros Hay-
disturbances in the western provinces. He entered Belgrade reddin Pa§a, a sixty-three-year-old veteran seaman, and re-
on 29 August 1521, securing the Ottoman lands along the quested him to command the naval forces. Under his leader-
Danube River.
The sultan's second campaign was directed against Rhodes,
which was controlled by the Knights of Saint John, who had
settled there in 1308 following their expulsion from Palestine.
The formidable fortress of Rhodes fell on 21 December 1522
after a long and fierce battle that involved both the Ottoman
army and navy. Thus the last Christian stronghold in Anato-
lia was captured and the Aegean Sea was secured.
The spectacular conquests of Belgrade and Rhodes within
the first two years of Süleyman's reign sent shock waves
throughout Europe. Both fortresses had been formerly impen-
etrable to the Ottomans and had withstood previous attacks
by his forefathers. The young sultan proved to be a more able
commander, moving swiftly to remove obstacles to his ulti-
mate control of eastern Europe and the Mediterranean.
Süleyman was soon drawn deeper into European affairs
and formed an alliance with the French; it became the first of
a series of political, commercial, and cultural relations. Fran-
cis I, who had been defeated and imprisoned by Charles V,
sent a letter to Süleyman in 1525, requesting his assistance.
The sultan, quick to realize the benefits of a Franco-Ottoman Fig. 6. Portrait of Archduke Ferdinand, engraving by Bartholemeus Beham,
1531
(Vienna, Ósterreische
Nationalbibliothek,
503.533-B)
dated
alliance, marched into Hungary in the spring of the following
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