Siege of Vienna (1485)

For the battle of Vienna in 1945, see Vienna Offensive. For the battle of Vienna in 1683 that marked the beginning of the political hegemony of the Habsburg dynasty, see Battle of Vienna. For the 1529 Ottoman invasion, see Siege of Vienna.
Siege of Vienna
Part of Austrian-Hungarian War (1477-1488)

Matthias marching into Vienna
Date29 January 1485 – 1 June 1485
LocationVienna, Lower Austria, Holy Roman Empire
Result City surrender, Hungarian Victory
Belligerents
 Holy Roman Empire Kingdom of Hungary
Commanders and leaders
Hanns von Wulfestorff[1]
Caspar von Lamberg[c]
Bartholomeus von Starhemberg[c]
Andreas Gall[c]
Ladislaus Prager[c]
Alexander Schiffer[c]
Tiburtius von Linzendorf[c]
Leonhard Fruhmann[c]
Johann Karrer[c]		 Matthias Corvinus[d]
Peter Geréb de Vingard [d]
Stephen Zápolya[d]
Stephen V Báthory[2]
Laurence of Ilok[d]
Units involved
Imperial Army Black Army of Hungary
Strength

2,000 foot soldiers
1,000 cavalry[3]
20,000 civilians[4]

Reinforcements:
200 cavalry
300 fusiliers
60 archers[a]

 10,000 foot soldiers
18,000 cavalry[5]

The Siege of Vienna was a decisive siege of the Austrian–Hungarian War in 1485. It was a consequence of the ongoing conflict between Frederick III and Matthias Corvinus. The fall of Vienna meant its merging to Hungary from 1485 to 1490. Matthias Corvinus also moved his royal court to the newly occupied city.

The siege

Vienna in 1493

In the year 1483–84 Vienna was already being cut off from the Holy Roman Empire due to the fact that all of its concentric defensive rings have fallen, i.e. Korneuburg, Bruck, Hainburg, and later Kaiserebersdorf. One of the most important battles was Battle of Leitzersdorf, which made the next year's siege possible.[6] The city was ravaged by famine although Emperor Frederick III did succeed in providing some vital supplies with a breakthrough of sixteen vessels on the Danube to the city. On 15 January, Matthias called on the city to surrender, but Captain von Wulfestorff refused to do so in hopes that an Imperial relief would be forthcoming. The blockade was fully in place the moment Matthias attacked Kaiserebersdorf. It was there where he became the target of an assassination attempt when a cannonball nearly killed him. He suspected treachery was involved, as the aim was too precise from a long distance—only one who knew the whereabouts of the King would have been able to fire it in such a way. He accused Jaroslav von Boskowitz und Černahora, the brother of his mercenary Captain Tobias von Boskowitz and Černahora, of having been bribed to turn his back on the king. Without any chance to clear himself, Jaroslav was summarily decapitated.[7] These latest turn of events angered his brother Tobias to the point that he ended up returning to the service of Frederick and was placed in charge of his campaigns to try and reconquer his lost lands after the death of Matthias in 1490. After Kaiserebersdorf was captured in mid-1485 the fate of Vienna was sealed.

Matthias placed his armies on the Hundsmühle flour mills and in Gumpeudorf along the south of the Wien River.[b]The King had previously brought in seventeen siege guns to Austria[8] and with it he ordered the constant firing of barrage into the city. At the same time, he also ordered the construction of two siege towers (one of which was later burnt by the resisting Viennese militia).[1] Matthias made his incursion into Leopoldstadt in 15 May,[7] which made the final assault imminent. The Viennese people realized this and negotiated to deliver the inner city to the Hungarian King. Their only condition was that their citizen privileges be preserved along with a guarantee of safe passage. On 1 June, at the head of a military parade, Matthias entered the downtown fort in triumph.[8]

Aftermath

In the Salzburg manifest Frederick ordered the Austrian States to refuse Matthias' demand for the assembly of an Imperial Congress. He also put forward that soon to be Emperor Maximilian I would come to an aid. According to tradition this is the origin of A.E.I.O.U. a said to be secret message to all Austrian provinces. At the end of the Matthias' campaign Hungary controlled all of Upper Austria as well and remained under his control to his death in 1490.[8]

Administrative issues

Matthias deprived Vienna of its staple right, a right that violated the commercial interests of the nearby countries so much, they formed the Visegrád Group to secure a bypass route detouring the city. The city in counterpart enjoyed a tax free status under Matthias rule. He also delegated a member, Stephen Zápolya to the Council of Vienna but left the rest of city fathers intact. He rewarded him the city of Ebenfurth[9] and appointed him as the captain of Vienna and governor of the Austrian provinces incorporated into Hungary.[10] The bishop of Pécs Sigismund Ernust was promoted the vice-governor while Nikolaus Kropatsch took care of the military affairs. The prominent captains received houses in Vienna.[11]

Footnotes

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 István Diós; János Viczián (1993). "Magyar Katolikus Lexikon" [Hungarian Catholic Lexicon]. lexikon.katolikus.hu (in Hungarian). Budapest, Hungary: Szent István Társulat. Retrieved 1 July 2011.
  2. ↑ István Draskóczy (2009). "Középkori magyar történeti kronológia a kombinált vizsga írásbeli részéhez" [Medieval Hungarian chronology for the combined written exam]. http://tortenelemszak.elte.hu - ELTE BTK Történelem Szakos Portál (in Hungarian). Budapest, Hungary: ELTE BTK - ponte.hu Kft. Retrieved 1 July 2011.
  3. ↑ Ignatius Aurelius Fessler (1822). Die geschichten der Ungern und ihrer landsassen [History of Hungary and its territorial changes] (in German). Leipzig, Germany: Johann Friedrich Gleditsch. p. 384. Retrieved 1 July 2011.
  4. ↑ Johannes Sachslehner (2008-06-30). "STEP 05 – a jövőbe vezető út" [STEP 05 – road to future]. wieninternational.at/ Vienna's weekly European journal (in Hungarian). Vienna, Austria: Compress VerlagsgesmbH & Co KG. Retrieved 1 July 2011.
  5. ↑ Andrew Ayton; Leslie Price (1998). "The Military Revolution from a Medieval Perspective". The Medieval Military Revolution: State, Society and Military Change in Medieval and Early Modern Society. London, England: I.B. Tauris. ISBN 1-86064-353-1. Retrieved 1 July 2011.
  6. ↑ http://lexikon.katolikus.hu/B/B%C3%A9cs%20ostroma.html
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 József Bánlaky (1929). "b) Az 1483–1489. évi hadjárat Frigyes császár és egyes birodalmi rendek ellen. Mátyás erőlködései Corvin János trónigényeinek biztosítása érdekében. A király halála." [B. The campaign of 1483–1489 against Frederick and some imperial estates. Struggle of Matthias to secure the throne for John Corvin. The death of the King.]. A magyar nemzet hadtörténelme [Military history of the Hungarian nation] (in Hungarian). Budapest, Hungary: Grill Károly Könyvkiadó vállalata. ISBN 963-86118-7-1. Retrieved 27 June 2011.
  8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 8.2 Charlotte Mary Yonge; Christabel Rose Coleridge; Arthur Innes (1874). "Sketches from Hungarian History". The Monthly packet. London, United Kingdom: J. and C. Mozley.
  9. ↑ Lajos Gerő (1893). "Szapolyai". Pallas Nagylexikon (in Hungarian). Budapest, Hungary: Pallas Irodalmi és Nyomdai Rt. ISBN 963-85923-2-X. Retrieved 1 July 2011.
  10. ↑ Tamás Tarján. "Mátyás király elfoglalja Bécs városát" [King Matthias occupies Vienna]. Rubicon Journal. Budapest, Hungary: Rubicon-Ház Bt. Retrieved 1 July 2011.
  11. ↑ Tamás Fedeles; József Török; Éva Pohánka (2009). "Mátyás szolgálatában" [In service of Matthias]. Ernuszt Zsigmond pécsi püspök (1473-1505) [bishop of Pécs Sigismund Ernust (1473-1505)] (in Hungarian). Szekszárd, Hungary: Schöck Kft. p. 7. ISBN 978-963-06-7663-2.
  12. ↑ Anton Ferdinand von Geissau (1805). Geschichte der Belagerung Wiens durch den König Mathias von Hungarn, in den Jahren 1484 bis 1485 [History of the siege of Vienna by King Matthias of Hungary from 1484 to 1485] (in German). Wien, Austria: Anton Strauss. Retrieved 1 July 2011.
  13. ↑ "Gries, Kies, Ufersand". Aeiou Encyclopedia. Retrieved 1 July 2011.