Suleiman takes Belgrade and Rhodes, opening the road into Europe
In his first two years as sultan, Suleiman clears the two fortresses that had blocked Ottoman expansion into Hungary and the Aegean.
Quick facts
- Sultan
- Suleiman I (r. 1520-1566)
- Belgrade taken
- 1521
- Rhodes surrendered
- Late 1522/early 1523
- Defenders of Rhodes
- Knights Hospitaller
What happened
Suleiman I, who succeeded his father Selim I in 1520, moved immediately against two fortresses that had resisted earlier Ottoman sieges. In 1521 his forces took Belgrade from the Hungarians, removing the main defensive barrier protecting the Kingdom of Hungary. The following year Ottoman forces besieged Rhodes, held by the Knights Hospitaller who had used the island to raid Ottoman and Muslim pilgrim shipping in the eastern Mediterranean; after a defense World History Encyclopedia calls courageous and daring against overwhelming numbers, the Knights surrendered and the island came under Ottoman control by early 1523.
Why it matters
Belgrade's fall removed the fortress that had stopped Ottoman armies from reaching the Hungarian plain, setting up the campaign that would destroy the Hungarian field army at Mohacs four years later. Rhodes gave the Ottomans secure control of shipping lanes between Anatolia and Egypt that the Knights Hospitaller had disrupted for over two centuries.
How we know
World History Encyclopedia's biography of Suleiman the Magnificent lists both conquests in its year-by-year chronology of his reign, and its separate overview of Ottoman battles and conquests describes the Rhodes siege in more narrative detail.
Sources
- World History Encyclopedia. Suleiman the Magnificent · Reputable sourceworldhistory.org · The domain "worldhistory.org" is on our Reputable source registry. · Link is live and its text matches the event's key terms (Jul 2026)
- World History Encyclopedia. Battles & Conquests Of The Ottoman Empire (1299-1683) · Reputable sourceworldhistory.org · The domain "worldhistory.org" is on our Reputable source registry. · Link is live and its text matches the event's key terms (Jul 2026)
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