Battle of Varna The Battle of Varna took place on November 10 , 1444 near Varna in eastern Bulgaria . The Ottoman Army under Sultan Murad II defeated the Hungarian and Polish armies commanded by Władysław III of Poland ( also King of Hungary ) and John Hunyadi . It was the final battle of the Crusade of Varna . Background . The Hungarian Kingdom fell in a crisis after the death of King Sigismund in 1437 . His son - in - law and successor , King Albert , ruled for only two years and died in 1439 , leaving his widow Elizabeth with an unborn child , Ladislaus the Posthumous . The Hungarian noblemen then called the young King Władysław III of Poland to the throne of Hungary accepting its defense against the Ottomans . After his Hungarian coronation , he never went back to his homeland again , assuming the rule in the Hungarian Kingdom next to the influential nobleman John Hunyadi . After failed expeditions in 1440 – 2 against Belgrade and Transylvania , and the defeats of the " long campaign " of Count John Hunyadi in 1442 – 3 , the Ottoman sultan Murad II signed a ten - year truce with Hungary . After he had made peace with the Karaman Emirate in Anatolia in August 1444 , he resigned the throne to his twelve year - old son Mehmed II . Anticipating a new Ottoman invasion , encouraged by the young and inexperienced new Ottoman sultan , Hungary co - operated with Venice and Pope Eugene IV to organize a new crusade r army led by John Hunyadi and Władysław III . On receipt of this news , Mehmet II understood that he was too young and inexperienced to successfully fight the coalition . Murad II was recalled to the throne by his son to lead the army into battle . Murad II refused . Angry at his father , who had long since retired to a contemplative life in southwestern Anatolia , Mehmed II wrote , " If you are the Sultan , come and lead your armies . If I am the Sultan I hereby order you to come and lead my armies . " It was only after receiving this letter that Murad II led the Ottoman army . Preparations . A mixed Papal army consisting mainly of Hungarian , Polish , Bohemian ( whose combined armies numbered 15 , 000 ) and Wallachia n ( 7 , 000 ) forces , with smaller detachments of Czechs , Papal knights , Teutonic Knights , Bosnians , Croatians , Bulgarians , Lithuanians and Ruthenians ( Ukrainians ) . Papal , Venetian and Genoese ships had blockaded the Dardanelles as the Hungarian army was to advance on Varna , where it would meet the Papal fleet and sail down the coast to Constantinople , pushing the Ottomans out of Europe . The Hungarian advance was rapid , Ottoman fortresses were bypassed , while local Bulgarians from Vidin , Oryahovo , and Nicopolis joined the army ( Fruzhin , son of Ivan Shishman , also participated in the campaign with his own guard ) . On October 10 near Nicopolis , some 7 , 000 Wallachian cavalrymen under Mircea II , one of Vlad Dracul ' s sons , also joined . Armenian refugees in the Kingdom of Hungary also took part in the wars of their new country against the Ottomans as early as the battle of Varna in 1444 , when some Armenians were seen amongst the Christian forces . Deployment . Late on November 9 , a large Ottoman army of around 50 , 000 men approached Varna from the west . At a supreme military council called by Hunyadi during the night , the Papal legate , cardinal Julian Cesarini , insisted on a quick withdrawal . However , the Christians were caught between the Black Sea , Lake Varna , the steep wooded slopes of the Franga plateau ( 356 m high ) , and the enemy . Cesarini then proposed a defense using the Wagenburg of the Hussite s until the arrival of the Christian fleet . The Hungarian magnates and the Croatian and Czech commanders backed him , but the young ( 20 - year - old ) Władysław and Hunyadi rejected the defensive tactics . Hunyadi declared : " To escape is impossible , to surrender is unthinkable . Let us fight with bravery and honor our arms . " Władysław accepted this position and gave him the command . Andreas del Palatio states that Hunyadi commanded the " Wallachian army " indicating a large Romanian component in Hunyadi ' s personal army . In the morning of November 10 , Hunyadi deployed the army of some 20 , 000 - 30 , 000 crusaders as an arc between Lake Varna and the Franga plateau ; the line was about 3 . 5 km long . Two banners with a total of 3 , 500 men from the king ' s Polish and Hungarian bodyguards , Hungarian royal mercenaries , and banners of Hungarian nobles held the center . The Wallachian cavalry was left in reserve behind the center . The right flank that lined up the hill towards the village of Kamenar numbered 6 , 500 men in 5 banners . Bishop Jan Dominek of Varadin with his personal banner led the force ; Cesarini commanded a banner of German mercenaries and a Bosnian one . The Bishop of Eger led his own banner , and the military governor of Slavonia , ban Franco Talotsi , commanded one Croatian banner . The left flank , a total of 5 , 000 men in 5 banners , was led by Michael Szilágyi , Hunyadi ' s brother in law , and was made up of Hunyadi ' s Transylvanians , Bulgarians , German mercenaries and banners of Hungarian magnates . Behind the Hungarians , closer to the Black Sea and the lake , was the Wagenburg , defended by 300 or 600 Czech and Ruthenian mercenaries under hetman Ceyka , along with Poles , Lithuanians and Wallachians . Every wagon was manned by 7 to 10 soldiers and the Wagenburg was equipped with bombards . The Ottoman center included the Janissaries and levies from Rumelia deployed around two Thracian burial mounds . Murad observed and directed the battle from one of them . The Janissaries dug in behind ditches and two palisades . The right wing consisted of Kapikulus and Sipahis from Rumelia , and the left wing was made up by Akıncı s , Sipahis from Anatolia , and other forces . Janissary archers and Akıncı light cavalry were deployed on the Franga plateau . Battle . The light Ottoman cavalry assaulted the Croats of ban Talotsi . Christians from the left riposted with bombards and firearms and stopped the attack . Christian soldiers chased the Ottomans in a disorderly pursuit . The Anatolian cavalry ambushed them from the flank . The Christian right wing attempted to flee to the small fortress of Galata on the other side of Varna Bay , but most of them were slain in the marshland around Varna Lake and the river Devnya , where Cesarini also met his end . Only ban Talotsi ' s troops managed to withdraw behind the Wagenburg . The other Ottoman flank assaulted the Hungarians and Bulgarians of Michael Szilagyi . Their push was stopped and turned back ; then Sipahis attacked again . Hunyadi decided to help and advised Władysław to wait until he returned ; then advanced with two cavalry companies . The young king , ignoring Hunyadi ' s advice , rushed 500 of his Polish knights against the Ottoman center . They attempted to overrun the Janissary infantry and take Murad prisoner , and almost succeeded . But Władysław had fallen in a pitfall in front of Murad ' s tent and was slain by the Janissary bodyguards , his head was cut off and later taken to the Ottoman court . The remaining Polish cavalry was smashed by the Ottomans . On his return , Hunyadi tried frantically to salvage the king ' s body but all he could accomplish was to organize the retreat of the remains of his army . It suffered thousands of casualties , and was virtually annihilated . Many European prisoners were slaughtered or sold as slaves ; the minnesinger Michael Beheim wrote a song based on the story of one Hans Mergest who spent 16 years in Ottoman captivity after the battle . Aftermath . The death of Władysław left Hungary in the hands of the four - year - old Ladislaus Posthumous of Bohemia and Hungary . The defeat also set the stage for the fall of Constantinople in 1453 . Legacy . In the aftermath , the Ottomans had removed a significant opposition to their expansion into central and eastern Europe ; subsequent battles forced a large number of Europeans to become Ottoman subjects .