n 1521 Ottoman Sultan Suleiman I, known to his subjects as “the Lawgiver” and to Europeans as “the Magnificent,” seized Belgrade, and five years later he defeated and killed King Louis II of Hungary at Mohács, thus dividing Hungary and Croatia between the Hapsburg and Ottoman empires. In 1529, however, Suleiman’s attempt on Vienna—the ultimate central European prize—ended in failure. Intermittent but indecisive fighting between the rival empires followed.
