The other September 11th
In the middle 16th century, Europe was working through the ramifications of the Protestant Reformation and the social and political turmoil that resulted from that watershed event. On top of this, Eastern Europe was under threat from the expanding Ottoman Empire. The Kingdom of Hungary fought some pitched battles against the Ottoman armies of Sultan Suleiman the Magnificent, and the Hungarians were soundly defeated in a series of battles. It was during these battles that the King of Hungary was killed without a clear successor.
Facing turmoil from within the Kingdom and threats from the Ottomans, fate found Baron Istvan Dobo de Ruszka – a man we will call Dobo – in command of Eger Castle in northern Hungary, the strategic gateway into central Europe. Political turmoil and previous military defeats kept reinforcements from arriving and Dobo ended up facing the entire combined Ottoman armies, numbering over 60,000 trained soldiers with over 150 siege cannons. Dobo had roughly 1,500 men defending the castle with less than two dozen medium and small pieces of artillery. There were also a number of women and children who had taken refuge within the castle walls. Dobo’s defenders included some trained soldiers and many peasants recruited from the surrounding villages. The castle was as well-stocked as Dobo could make it to withstand a siege.
It was on September 11th, 1552, when Suleiman appeared before the castle at Eger and presented his demand for unconditional surrender to Eger Castle. Dobo read the letter to his men, who answered him enthusiastically that they would never surrender. They then prayed in the manner of Hezekiah in 2 Kings 19 when surrounded by the Assyrians, saying “We expect aid from God only, and not from men.” Dobo answered with a nighttime surprise raid to steal supplies from the Turks. Sulieman replied with a full 18 days of cannon fire, with all 120 guns hurling 50-pound balls into the fort and its walls. They then tried a full assault on the castle and were repulsed. More cannon fire was absorbed and more assaults were repulsed by the highly-motivated Hungarians under Dobo’s leadership. At one point, Ottoman cannon fire hit the magazine of the fort and tons of gunpowder exploded, blowing a hole in the castle wall. The Hungarians stood in the gap and repulsed the attack on the breach in the walls. They were able to rebuild and reinforce the wall while under fire. The Hungarians then took to manufacturing their own gunpowder in the basement of the castle.
Dobo and his little army withstood the siege for 38 days. On the 39th day, the exhausted Hungarians withstood yet another major assault. The defenders were down to 700 men and were beginning to fall back when the women sheltered in the castle rushed forward. Some took weapons from fallen soldiers and fought hand-to-hand on the battlements. Other women poured boiling oil on the heads of the attackers. The Ottomans lost over 8,000 soldiers that day alone and retreated in humiliation.
All in all, during the siege, over 12,000 cannon balls landed within the walls of Eger Castle. Over half of the soldiers in the castle were wounded or killed. However, their reliance on God’s protection and their own courage kept Hungary in Christian hands for another generation.
Christian History Institute (via e-mail)
https://military.wikia.org/wiki/Siege_of_Eger_(1552)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Istv%C3%A1n_Dob%C3%B3
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