550TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE BATTLE OF BELGRADE

Date of issue: 9 May 2006

“In 1435 Sultan Mehmed II occupied Constantinople, thereby bringing the thousand-year-old Byzantine empire to an end. Inevitably, it was not long before the Turkish army began to move against Hungary, but the reinforcement of the country’s frontier remained only notional. Despite news of the Sultan’s preparations that continually arrived from March 1456 onwards, assembling the country’s armies was delayed until after the harvest in August. The imminent danger spurred two men into action: Hunyadi, the former Governor of Hungary, began to gather his private army and the Franciscan friar János Kapisztrán recruited crusaders in the country’s most threatened southern counties. At the end of June, Mehmed II’s well-equipped, almost 100,000 strong army surrounded Belgrade, which was guarded by a force of 7,000 led by Hunyadi’s brother-in-law Mihály Szilágyi. On 14 July, ten days after the siege began, Hunyadi set the Turkish fleet on the Danube ablaze in a bloody battle and entered the besieged castle. On 21 July the Sultan ordered Belgrade, reduced to ruins by continuous bombardment, to be stormed. However, the assault was beaten back. The next day the crusaders’ army entered the fray, which proved decisive. In the bloody carnage the Turks suffered heavy losses and during the night fled leaving all their equipment behind…” (Source: Chronicle of the Magyars)

object.A36F8DBE-0AA0-4980-9195-9EEF38C54E77.ivy

The stamp design shows a detail of the bronze statue of János Hunyadi in Heroes Square in Budapest, made by Ede Margó in 1906. The design of the background is reminiscent of a woodcut. The first day cover, matching the statue on the stamp, shows a detail of a bronze relief by György Zala, while the postmark has a bell motif.

Order code:
2006150010011/stamp
2006150060012/FDC

Perforated size: 45 x 35 mm
Number of copies: 300,000 in sheets of 50 stamps
Date of issue: 9 May 2006
Printed by Állami Nyomda Nyrt.
Face value: HUF 120
Designed by Attila Elekes