Story Highlights
- Historical event:
- 27 September 1529
- Despite the fact that the Ottoman army was several times numerous than the Christian forces, the Siege of Vienna was a failure.
On this day in 1529, the troops of Suleiman the Magnificent, the ruler of the Ottoman Empire, began the Siege of Vienna.
Suleiman came to Vienna with his army. He was 34 years old, and nine years before that, he had begun to rule the Ottoman Empire. Suleiman’s army consisted of hundreds of thousands of people. At the time, his empire stretched from Vienna to Persia.
Despite the fact that the Ottoman army was larger than the Christian forces, the Turks didn’t conquer Vienna. It seems that a major obstacle to the Ottomans was the rainy season, which prevented digging under the Viennese defensive walls. Snow fell, relatively early for that time of year. After 18 days of siege, the Sultan’s troops withdrew.
Thus, Suleiman the Magnificent tried to conquer Vienna, but failed. In 1532, the Ottoman troops were stopped at Kiseg (Kőszeg) by the troops of Nikola Jurišić. In 1566, the sultan was stopped at Siget by Nikola Zrinski (Suleiman died at the age of 71).
