Five hundred years ago, on 29 August 1526, the Battle of Mohács changed the political map of Central Europe. The forces of the Kingdom of Hungary, led by the young King Louis II, faced the much larger Ottoman army of Sultan Suleiman the Magnificent. In only a few hours, the Hungarian army suffered a devastating defeat, and Louis II died while fleeing the battlefield.
The loss, together with the succession crisis following the King's death, led to the partition of Hungary between the Ottoman and Habsburg spheres of influence. As often in history, it was not a single moment, but a process: the division emerged only after another fifteen years of warfare; however, in Hungary Mohács came to represent national catastrophe: the end of an independent medieval kingdom and the beginning of centuries of domination and partition. In Hungarian, the expression "Több is veszett Mohácsnál" ("More was lost at Mohács") became a way of saying that things have been much worse before.
The Battle of Mohács thus became a turning point not only in Hungarian history, but in the centuries-long struggle between the Ottoman and Habsburg empires for control of Central Europe. You can find several collections on the battle in Archives Portal Europe here
Székely Bertalan,Lajos holttestének megtalálása (The discovery of the body of Louis II), 1860
