The defeat of Hamza, Bey of Fehérvár happened before July 21, 1561, near Szentgrót-Hosszúberek.
The occupation of Hegyesd castle in April, and the victory over Gyulaffy László in May, made Bey Hamza of Fehérvár castle more overconfident. He was about to embark on a bigger enterprise, but the soldiers at the Hungarian Borderland knew it too.
On 21 June, Captain Török Ferenc of Pápa wrote to Palatine Nádasdy Tamás: “I have understood your Grace’s letter, in which your Grace writes that both from Tihany and Sümeg it had been written that the Turk would again assemble.”
Indeed, from Sümeg, Captain Ormány Józsa reported that one of his men from Ráckeve was at Buda with the Pasha just as Hamza arrived and presented the prisoners and severed heads of the battle of Lovas. He understood that their destination was Pápa castle. Captain Thury György of Palota also reported. Thy Grace, watch over them always.”
Hamza asked for two thousand infantry and a thousand horsemen and promised to take Pápa. Either because this was a deception, or because they learned that the Hungarians had gotten wind of the preparations against Pápa, they eventually chose another target. Before 21 July ( Csányi Ákos, the servitor of the Palatine Nádasdy Tamás had already known about the incident on 21 July), the Turks of Fehérvár, reinforced by the Veszprém Turks, attacked the castle of (Zala)Szentgrót.
At Sümegprága, however, the soldiers of Sümeg Castle fired a signal shot, which was answered by cannon fire from Szentgrót. The Turks hesitated and deliberated, but finally, they stuck to their original plan. They attacked Szentgrót, but here the defenders were met with rifle fire, and although they attacked with determination, they were forced to retreat before the gunfire. The surrounding villages were plundered and burned.
However, during their retreat, the soldiers from Sümeg attacked them right before Hosszúberek. The ambush was a complete success, the Turks fled, and about three hundred fell. Many high-ranking Turks, Aghas, Voivodes, and Odabasaks also remained on the battlefield, the number of slaughtered Sipahis could not be determined.
Three out of eight of their flags fell into Hungarian hands. It seems, however, that the Turks massacred most of the prisoners, or so Csányi knew. According to Ormányi, the peasants began looting the booty in the confusion. A lot of gold coins and silver coins (akcse) were found on the fallen Turks, as the Turks intended to buy prisoners at Hegyesd with this money as in Fehérvár, the slaves were very expensive.
The Hungarians also captured Kalmár Imre and Hegedűs Máté, who were in Turkish service and led the Turks of Fehérvár against Szentgrót. Hegedűs had escaped from the service of Gyulaffy László from Tihany. According to Ormányi, he was a ‘good fiddler’ and always ‘fiddled’ in front of the army. The legends of Sümeg managed to get hold of the ruffians. Kálmán Imre was held prisoner in Kehida.
The two informers were tortured to extract the names of the other spies. This list, unfortunately, has not survived. In Pápa, Török Ferenc humiliated the Turkish prisoners with a hanged dog on the day after the battle. Csányi Ákos was concerned about such incidents in the southern outskirts of the castle, especially in Kiskomárom. He also lost several of his servants in the Turkish raid.
Source: Szibler Gábor
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