Suleiman I's campaign of 1529 was launched by the Ottoman Empire to take the Austrian capital Vienna and thereby strike a decisive blow, allowing the Ottomans to consolidate their hold on Hungary. This was in response to Ferdinand I's daring assault on Ottoman Hungary.
== Campaign == On 22 June 1529, the Moldavian army of voivode Petru Rareș inflicted a heavy defeat on Habsburg forces at the Battle of Feldioara, which strengthened the position of John Szapolyai and the faction of his Hungarian Kingdom. Suleiman's march to Vienna was also an attempt to assist his vassal, John Szapolyai who claimed the throne of Hungary. Suleiman sent his army of 120,000 strong north on the 10 May. His campaign was marked by speedy success, on 8 September, Buda surrendered to the Ottomans and John Szapolyai was installed as King of Hungary. Suleiman then went further taking Esztergom, Tata, Komárom and Győr so that much of Ferdinand I's gains the previous two years were lost. On 27 September, Suleiman reached Vienna.
== Aftermath == The arrival of the Sultan's massive host in Central Europe caused much panic across Europe - Martin Luther, who had believed that the Ottomans were God's punishment against the sins of Christians modified his views and wrote the book the War with the Turks in 1529 urging that "the scourge of God" should be fought with great vigour. However, when Suleiman began besieging Vienna it would prove to be his first and most decisive blunder.
Notes
== Bibliography == Clodfelter, M. (2017). Warfare and Armed Conflicts: A Statistical Encyclopedia of Casualty and Other Figures, 1492-2015 (4th ed.). McFarland. ISBN 978-0786474707. Madden, Thomas F. Crusades the Illustrated History. 1st ed. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan P, 2005 Turnbull, Stephen. The Ottoman Empire 1326 - 1699. New York: Osprey, 2003.
