October 28: Mihai Viteazul wins the battle of Șelimbăr. On his way to Alba Iulia, he was enthusiastically received by the population
The battle of Șelimbăr (German Schellenberg) took place on October 18 (sv) / October 28 (sn) 1599 and took place between the army of Wallachia led by Mihai Viteazul and the army of Transylvania led by Cardinal Andrei Báthory. The battle ended with the clear victory of the army led by Mihai Viteazul, who thus opened his way to the fortress of Alba Iulia, where he made the first union of Transylvania with Wallachia.
Even if the alliance (from May 27, 1595) of the voivode Mihai with Sigismund Báthory was clear, the latter giving him on January 6, 1597 the castle and the Buia domain, consisting of 14 communes, all in Sibiu county, Sona domain in Alba county and the right to build in Bălgrad (Alba Iulia), near the fortress, a monastery, which was built that year, the relations between the two have deteriorated over time.
In 1597 there were significant changes in Transylvania. Sigismund Báthory paid a visit to Emperor Rudolf II in Prague. A bilateral treaty was concluded, under which Báthory ceded to the Transylvanian Empire in exchange for the duchies of Oppeln (Opole) and Ratibor (Racibórz) in Silesia. The exchange gave Austria the opportunity to expand its influence over Christians in the Ottoman Empire.
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The situation determined Mih
and the Brave to reflect on the alliance with Báthory and to decide to conclude in his turn a more favorable treaty with the emperor of Germany, on June 9, 1598 at the Dealu Monastery. The preamble of the treaty provided that Michael recognized the suzerainty of the Habsburgs over Wallachia, the emperor committing himself to keep at his expense 5,000 mercenaries to Michael, the voivode remaining lord for life and with hereditary right in his family.
The customs and autonomy of the country were to remain intact, unchanged, no tribute was to be paid, and Romanian messengers were to be received at the imperial court with all honors. Sigismund Báthory, changeable and undecided, realized that the Silesian duchies did not do as much as Transylvania and, in August 1598, he returned to his old rule, after which he expelled the representatives of Emperor Rudolf.
Returning to Transylvania, Sigismund Báthory called his cousin Andrei Báthory, who was a cardinal, from Poland. He ceded to him the throne of the principality of Transylvania, and the Diet of Transylvania recognized the cardinal in April 1599 as prince.
Sigismund Báthory’s change was completely unfavorable to Michael, Andrei Báthory being the enemy of Rudolf II, the emperor no longer having rights in Transylvania. Taking security measures towards the Danube and Moldova, Mihai started the advance towards Transylvania. In a few days, Mihai obtained the support of the Saxons from Brasov.
The march from Prejmer continued, through Codlea, Făgăraș and the villages from Făgăraș County, reaching Tălmaciu on October 15/25. His army, complete with the secondary group led by Radu Buzescu and Banul Udrea, advanced towards Sibiu, setting up camp at Vestem on October 16/26. Hoping to delay the battle, in order to receive reinforcements, Cardinal Báthory set up camp north of the city of Sibiu, on the left bank of the Cibin. On October 18/28, in the morning, Mihai Viteazul advanced towards Sibiu.
Andrei Báthory, overwhelmed and taken by surprise by Mihai’s military preparations, was forced to place his army (about 16,000 men) in an unfavorable place, between the Lazarett and Exerzierplatz areas, with the Cibin ponds behind, used to defend the fortress. Sibiu, on the south and east sides.
The battle began at nine o’clock with an intense exchange of artillery fire. Mihai’s 18 guns, although dominantly placed, initially had a wrong shot. The cardinal’s artillery, numerically superior (about 40-50 guns) retaliated very strongly. At the end of the artillery training, a nobleman of Romanian origin, Daniel Zalaschi, sided with Mihai’s army, making known the position of the enemy device.
Mihai Viteazul’s attack on the left flank, Baba Novac’s group trying to split the cardinal’s army. Ștefan Lazăr, the commander of the cardinal’s flank, fell in the collision. Gáspár Kornis, the lieutenant commander of the cardinal’s army, managed to repel Baba Novac. Mihai resumed the attack with the central part of his army, made up of Hungarian and Szekler mercenaries under the command of Gheorghe Makó.
They entered the enemy’s device, widening the flanks of the breach and acting both in support of Baba Novac and against Moise Székely, succeeding in repelling the right and center of the Transylvanian army. Taking advantage of the success, the Romanian voivode strengthened his troops in the center with squadrons of Serbs, Cossacks and Moldovans and also hired Agca Lecca in battle. The first line of Gáspár Komis was pierced, the fate of the battle leaning on the side of Michael the Brave.
At around 3 pm, the army of Cardinal Prince Andrei Báthory, left without a commander and attacked from the flank, became disorganized and confused. The disaster was almost total. The Saxon defenders of the Sibiu fortress, carefully watching the battle from the battlements, saved 350 Saxon soldiers who were part of the cardinal’s army, pulling them with ropes, over the walls, inside the fortress.
The balance of the battle was impressive: more than 3,000 people fell from the ranks of the Transylvanian army, and another 1,000 were wounded and taken prisoner. The losses of Mihai Viteazul’s army were also great, the bodies of the fallen, from both camps, being gathered by the inhabitants of Sibiu and deposited in a common grave. The burial place is still called “Mihai’s Mound”.
In the evening, Mihai Viteazul ordered the pursuit of the soldiers, to prevent them from regrouping and creating problems. Cardinal Báthory fled to Moldova, but on the way, in the mountains, he was captured by Szeklers, who beheaded him on October 31. The cardinal’s head was taken to Michael the Brave.
After the battle of Șelimbăr, through all the localities of Sibiu, through which the Romanian ruler passed on his way to Alba Iulia, the population received him with enthusiasm.
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