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A chronological list of sieges follows.

Military sieges

A military siege is a prolonged military assault and blockade on a city or fortress with the intent of conquering by force or attrition.

Ancient

Before 1000 BC

10th century BC

9th century BC

8th century BC

7th century BC

6th century BC

5th century BCE

4th century BC

A naval action during the siege of Tyre (332 BC), by Andre Castaigne (1898–1899)
Siege of Rhodes (305 BC) (1882 illustration).

3rd century BC

Archimedes Directing the Defenses of Syracuse (213-212 BC), by Thomas Ralph Spence

(1895)

The Decline of the Carthaginian Empire (149–146 BC) by J. M. W. Turner, oil on canvas (1817)

2nd century BC

1st century BC

C. E. until 6th century

1st century

The Siege and Destruction of Jerusalem by the Romans Under the Command of Titus, A.D. 70 by David Roberts, 1850

2nd century

3rd century

4th century

The walls of Amida, besieged 359 AD

5th century

Medieval

6th century

Totila razes the walls of Florence: 14th century illustration from Giovanni Villani's Nuova Cronica
The capture of Pavia by the Lombard King, Alboin: Siege of Pavia, 572 AD

7th century

The Siege of Constantinople by the combined Sassanid, Avar, and Slavic forces in 626. A 1537 depiction on the murals of the Moldovița Monastery, Romania

8th century

Greek fire, used by the Byzantine navy to destroy the Arab fleets at the 717–718 Siege of Constantinople. Illustration from a 12th-century illuminated manuscript (Madrid Skylitzes)
Carolingian-era siege warfare. Illustration of Psalm 60 from the Golden Psalter of St. Gallen, c. 890.

9th century

Count Odo defends Paris against the Normans (885-886) by Jean-Victor Schnetz. Oil on canvas (1834–1836)

10th century

Fall of Antioch to the Byzantines under Michael Bourtzes on 28 October 969. Chronicle of John Skylitzes, 12th century illustration.
Depiction of the siege of Chandax (960-961) from the history of John Skylitzes

11th century

Siege of Valenciennes in 1006, illustration (1885).
The Byzantine army of George Maniakes defends the towers of Edessa against an Arab counterattack (1031). Illustration from the chronicle of John Skylitzes
Prince Bohemond of Taranto scales the walls of Antioch in 1098. 19th century engraving by Gustave Doré.
Taking of Jerusalem by the Crusaders, 15 July 1099 by Émile Signol. Oil on canvas, 1850.

12th century

Siege of Lisbon (1147) by Alfredo Roque Gameiro (1917)
Siege of Naples in 1191 by the forces of Holy Roman Emperor Henry VI, Peter of Eboli, Liber ad honorem Augusti, Palermo, 1196

13th century

The Entry of the Crusaders into Constantinople (1204) Eugène Delacroix. Oil on canvas, 1840
Crusaders attack the tower of Damietta (1218). A 1625 painting by Cornelis Claesz van Wieringen.
16th century illustration of the Mongol sack of Kiev in 1240.
The Mongols besieged the "fortified mountain" of Gerdkuh for 17 years.
The Mongol army besieging Baghdad in 1258.
The Siege of Acre. The Hospitalier Master Mathieu de Clermont defending the walls in 1291 by Dominique Papety. 1840.

14th century

Siege of Calais (1346–1347)

15th century

Joan of Arc at the Siege of Orléans (1429) by Jules Eugène Lenepveu, painted 1886–1890
Fall of Constantinople (1453)

Early modern

15th century

Siege of Krujë in 1466. Woodcut by Jost Amman, from Philipp Lonicer, Chronicorum Turcicorum, Frankfurt 1578
The Surrender of Granada (1492)

16th century

The Last Days of Tenochtitlan—Conquest of Mexico (1521) by William de Leftwich Dodge, 1899.
Sack of Rome of 1527 by Johannes Lingelbach, 17th century.
Battle of Tunis 1535 Attack on Goletta. Frans Hogenberg after Jan Cornelisz Vermeyen, 16th century.
Ottoman depiction of the siege of Nice (1543) by Matrakçı Nasuh.
Attack on Tripoli by the Ottomans (1551)
The Siege of Calais, 9 January 1558, by François-Édouard Picot, 1838.
The siege of Malta—Arrival of the Turkish fleet (1565) by Matteo Pérez de Alesio, 16th century
Spanish troops storming the city of Maastricht, 1579
During the Cologne War (1583–89), Ferdinand of Bavaria successfully besieged the medieval fortress of Godesberg; during a month-long siege, his sappers dug tunnels under the feldspar of the mountain and laid gunpowder and a 1500-pound bomb. The result was a spectacular explosion that sent chunks of the ramparts, the walls, the gates, and drawbridges into the air. His 500 men still could not take the fortress until they scaled the interior latrine system and climbed the mountain to enter through a hole in the chapel roof.
Henry IV of France before Amiens (1597), Anonymous
Joseon and Ming dynasty soldiers assault the Japanese-built fortress at Ulsan (1598)
Siege of Zaltbommel by the Spanish in 1599 by Hugo Grotius

17th century

Siege of Ostend (1601-4) by Peter Snayers, oil on canvas.
Monks successfully defended the Troitse-Sergiyeva Lavra against the Poles from September 1609 to January 1611.
The Summer Battle of Osaka Castle (1614–15), 17th century Japanese painting
The Surrender of Breda (1625) by Diego Velázquez.
Cardinal Richelieu at the Siege of La Rochelle (1627–1628) by Henri-Paul Motte, 1881.
The Capture of Rheinfelden (1634) by Vincenzo Carducci.
Siege of Kraków, 8 October 1655. View from 1697 by the German historian Samuel Pufendorf.
The assault of Copenhagen on the night between 10 and 11 February 1659 by Daniel Vertangen, 1659.
Musketeers of the Guard entering the citadel of Valenciennes (1676-77).
Reoccupation of Buda Castle in 1686. Gyula Benczúr (1896), oil on canvas
Siege of Belgrade, 1688 by Adlerschwung
Siege of Namur 1692, by Jean-Baptiste Martin, 1693.
Siege of Namur (1695) by Jan van Huchtenburg.

18th century

Tapestry depicting the 1702 victory of Archduke Joseph of Austria at Landau, woven for Leopold, Duke of Lorraine, between 1710 and 1718.
Siege of Toruń in 1703.
View of Gibraltar in 1704
Prussian infantry breaks the French lines during the relief of Turin in 1706
Siege of Lille in 1708
Depiction of the siege of Barcelona: The assault on the main body of the Place (1714) by Jacques Rigaud
Austrian land and naval bombardment puts Belgrade in flames during the siege of 1717.
British attack on Cartagena de Indias (1741) by Luis Fernández Gordillo. Oil on canvas, Naval Museum of Madrid
Conquest and pillage of Bergen-op-Zoom by the French in 1747.
Siege of Louisbourg (1758): British burning of the warship Prudent and the capturing of the Bienfaisant.
The Capture of Havana, 1762: Storming of Morro Castle, 30 July by Dominic Serres, oil on canvas (1770–1775)
The Defeat of the Floating Batteries at Gibraltar, September 1782
Spanish grenadiers pour into Fort George (Pensacola, Florida) (1781)
Siege of Belgrade in 1789 by the Habsburg army
Siege of Lille (1792) by Louis Joseph Watteau
The capitulation of Mantua on 2 February 1797, Hippolyte Lecomte, 1812
The Last Effort and Fall of Tipu Sultan (1799) by Henry Singleton

Modern military sieges

19th century

Siege of Gdańsk by French forces in 1807
Assault on the walls of Zaragoza by January Suchodolski
The Siege of Burgos (1812) by François Joseph Heim.
American troops landing in Veracruz (1847) during the Mexican–American War
Siege of Kars, 1839
A barricade on Rue Voltaire, after its capture by the regular army during the Bloody Week of Commune of Paris (1871)
American soldiers scale the walls of Beijing to relieve the Siege of the Legations, August 1900

20th century

A casemate at Maubeuge, destroyed by German bombardment, 7 September 1914
Anti-aircraft fire near St. Isaac's Cathedral during the defense of Leningrad in 1941.
Damaged buildings following the siege of Sarajevo, 1996

21st century

Coalition airstrike targeting Islamic State positions during the Siege of Kobanî, October 2014
Burning buildings during the Siege of Mariupol, 2022

Police sieges

A police siege is a standoff between law enforcement officers and armed criminals, suspects, or protesters.

Other

References

  1. ^ Daftary, Farhad (1992). The Isma'ilis: Their History and Doctrines. Cambridge University Press. p. 429. ISBN 978-0-521-42974-0.
  2. ^ "Siege Watch". Archived from the original on 30 September 2018. Retrieved 29 September 2018.
  3. ^ "Dozens killed in besieged Mozambique gas town". Reuters. 28 March 2021. Retrieved 18 July 2023.
  4. ^ "Malian, foreign soldiers allegedly killed hundreds in town siege -rights group". Reuters. 5 April 2022. Retrieved 18 July 2023.
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