page_title: Siege of Wiener Neustadt
section_title: The siege
hierarchical_section_title: Siege of Wiener Neustadt / The siege
caption_attribution_description: Deutsch: Der Reckturm an der Nordwestecke der Wiener Neustädter Stadtmauer English: Reckturm, a tower at the northwestern corner of Wiener Neustadt's defensive wall &#160; This media shows the protected monument with the number 129148 in Austria. (Commons, de, Wikidata)
context_page_description: The Siege of Wiener Neustadt was a siege that lasted 18 months. It was part of the Austro–Hungarian War between Frederick III, Holy Roman Emperor and Matthias Corvinus, King of Hungary. It marked the end of a series of sieges, whereas Hungary then controlled Styria and the Lower Austria.
context_section_description: Wiener Neustadt was a well-defended and equipped fortress town of its time. The town was surrounded by three ditches and a powerful rectangular chain of ashlar stone walls, the suburbs were protected by a wide water ditch against sudden attacks, with four gate exits on drawbridges to the city. At the Ungarthore (English: Hungarian gate) stood the ducal castle with high walls and four stone towers. At the back of the castle laid the Thiergarten enclosed by a deep moat. The surrounding area was swampy and gritty, which complicated the task of the besiegers. The fortifications were provided with arquebuses and machines with a fire range of 2.000 steps.
  After the siege of Vienna King Matthias urged his troops to encircle Wiener Neustadt, which could pose a possible threat to the conquered lands in later times. He sent captains Stephen Zápolya, Ladislaus Kanizsay, Jakob Székely, Wilhelm Tettauer und Stephan Báthory to begin the siege in 1486. They constructed four siege towers. Upon the prediction of his astrologists he joined them on 13 January 1487 after one year of the siege.
  After his arrival Matthias realized the errors made by his captains. He found the ring of siege not tight enough. He pulled the circle closer and several watchtowers were built. He instructed the rotation of the reserves in the siege shifts so he was always able to assault with fresh soldiers. The Black Army was ordered to attack the suburbs of Vienna; they crossed the ditch, set fire in the suburbs and drove the inhabitants away, and a part of his troops rushed to assist in the ongoing tense battle at the trenches around the inner city. The drawbridge collapsed, causing many people falling into the trenches where they drowned, others were killed by Hungarians, who advanced to the gates of the city. The next day the citizens withdrew themselves to the Ungarthore in the cover of the drawbridge in the back suburbs of the outer city. Matthias on the other hand reached the moat in front of the Wienerthore (English: Viennese gate) and moved his heavy guns forward, including six enormous ones previously captured from the Ottomans, and brought siege machines that were made to fill the trenches and called for transport pinnaces to serve as mobile bridges. He ordered the constant shooting of the fortifications,
  and subsequently destroyed six towers including the southwest corner tower. So the garrison of Wiener Neustadt lacked tall buildings to install the long-range firearms, they mounted them to the bell towers of the churches. They were still able to bombard the Hungarian main camp. Despite being a devoted Christian Matthias allowed the shelling of the churches except in case of high risk to conflagrate the town with it. Meanwhile, Johann von Königsberg and Ruprecht von Reichenberg successfully broke through the closures and brought in supplies. Reichenberg even torched two of the siege towers on his way out. After seven months with several break-in, dig-in, and treachery attempts the city deputies came to the royal camp requesting the cessation of hostilities. On the third day of negotiations, on 2 July, Johann Wulfersdorf and King Matthias agreed on the following terms:
  The parties wait until 16 August and there should be peace between him and the inhabitants of the castle and town; to this time an imperial army of at least 3000 man must reach the limits of the city gates without the aid of Wiener Neustadt, and thus the siege is automatically lifted, otherwise on the day set the town and castle passes to the King. The commanders and troops as well as the people who want to leave, are free to do so with all of their possessions up to the capacity of 300 wagons but has to leave the Imperial holdings in place. The King confirms the city on its privileges. He also promises to indemnify and return all goods that were taken or devastated. The parties can not approach each other, any transgressor must be gunned down, without breaking this peace.
  Rumor was it within the city that an imperial army was coming to their liberation, while Matthias knew what an impossi
caption: Tower at the northwestern corner of Wiener Neustadt's defensive wall
exif: {"Image ImageDescription": "", "Image Make": "NIKON", "Image Model": "COOLPIX S210", "Image Orientation": "0", "Image XResolution": "300", "Image YResolution": "300", "Image ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Image Software": "Picasa 3.0", "Image DateTime": "2009:01:03 14:52:55", "Image YCbCrPositioning": "Co-sited", "Image ExifOffset": "246", "Thumbnail Compression": "JPEG (old-style)", "Thumbnail XResolution": "72", "Thumbnail YResolution": "72", "Thumbnail ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormat": "8616", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormatLength": "5558", "EXIF ExposureTime": "1/140", "EXIF FNumber": "23/5", "EXIF ExposureProgram": "Program Normal", "EXIF ISOSpeedRatings": "64", "EXIF ExifVersion": "0220", "EXIF DateTimeOriginal": "2009:01:03 14:52:55", "EXIF DateTimeDigitized": "2009:01:03 14:52:55", "EXIF ComponentsConfiguration": "YCbCr", "EXIF CompressedBitsPerPixel": "4", "EXIF ExposureBiasValue": "0", "EXIF MaxApertureValue": "33/10", "EXIF MeteringMode": "Pattern", "EXIF LightSource": "Unknown", "EXIF Flash": "Flash did not fire, compulsory flash mode", "EXIF FocalLength": "63/10", "EXIF FlashPixVersion": "0100", "EXIF ColorSpace": "Uncalibrated", "EXIF ExifImageWidth": "3169", "EXIF ExifImageLength": "2421", "Interoperability InteroperabilityIndex": "R98", "Interoperability InteroperabilityVersion": "[48, 49, 48, 48]", "EXIF InteroperabilityOffset": "8492", "EXIF FileSource": "Digital Camera", "EXIF SceneType": "Directly Photographed", "EXIF CustomRendered": "Normal", "EXIF ExposureMode": "Auto Exposure", "EXIF WhiteBalance": "Auto", "EXIF DigitalZoomRatio": "0", "EXIF FocalLengthIn35mmFilm": "38", "EXIF SceneCaptureType": "Landscape", "EXIF GainControl": "None", "EXIF Contrast": "Normal", "EXIF Saturation": "Normal", "EXIF Sharpness": "Normal", "EXIF SubjectDistanceRange": "0", "EXIF ImageUniqueID": "5fd170d6506797a0aad548ce35feda5b"}