List of sieges

This is a dynamic list and may never be able to satisfy particular standards for completeness. You can help by editing the page to add missing items, with references to reliable sources.

A chronological list of sieges follows.

Ancient

Before 1000 BC

10th century BC

9th century BC

8th century BC

7th century BC

6th century BC

5th century BC

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

2nd century BC

1st century BC

1st century A.D. to 5th century

1st century

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

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.
  • Siege of Rome (1001) – Byzantine conquest of Bulgaria
  • Siege of Voden (1001)
  • Siege of Taq (1002)
  • Siege of Vidin (1002) – Byzantine conquest of Bulgaria
  • Siege of Pernik (1003) – Byzantine conquest of Bulgaria
  • Siege of Auxerre (1003)
  • Siege of Ammerthal (1003)
  • Siege of Creussen (1003)
  • Siege of Pavia (1004)
  • Siege of Bhatiya (1004-5)
  • Siege of Multan (1005–1006)
  • Siege of Valenciennes (1006–1007)
  • Siege of Nairn (1009)
  • Siege of Bari (1010–1011)
  • Siege of Montbazon (1011)
  • Siege of Lebusa (1012)
  • Siege of Makrievo (1014) – Byzantine conquest of Bulgaria
  • Siege of Montbazon (1015)
  • Siege of Pernik (1016) – Byzantine conquest of Bulgaria
  • Siege of Uflach (1016)
  • Siege of Tours (1016)
  • Siege of Glogau (1017)
  • Siege of Niemcza (1017)
  • Siege of Montboyau (1021)
  • Siege of Capua (1024–1026)
  • Siege of Pavia (1026)
  • Siege of Montboyau (1026)
  • Siege of Saumur (1026)
  • Siege of Somnath (1026)
  • Siege of Amboise (1027)
  • Siege of Le Lude (1027)
  • Siege of Saumur (1027)
  • Siege of Bautzen (1029)
  • Siege of Azaz (1030)
  • Siege of Edessa (1031)
  • Siege of Bautzen (1031)
  • Siege of Sens (1032)
  • Siege of Sarsawa (1033)
  • Siege of Kiev (1036)
  • Siege of Milan (1037) by the emperor Conrad II
  • Siege of Hansi (1037–1038)
  • Siege of Langeais (1038)
  • Siege of Messina (1038)
  • Siege of Germond (1039)
  • Siege of Montgomery (1039)
  • Siege of Zaranj (1040)
  • Siege of Syracuse (1040)
  • Siege of Tours (1042–1043)
  • Siege of Bari (1043) – Norman conquest of Southern Italy
  • Siege of Isfahan (1050–1051)
  • Siege of Taq (1051)
  • Siege of Alençon (1051)
  • Siege of Domfront (1051)
  • Siege of Arques (1052)
  • Siege of Pozsony (1052) by Henrik III., Holy Roman Emperor
  • Siege of Medina (1053–54) by the Byzantines
  • Siege of Benevento (1054) – Norman conquest of Southern Italy
  • Siege of Manzikert (1054) – Byzantine–Seljuq wars
  • Siege of Reggio (1057) – Norman conquest of Southern Italy
  • Siege of Capua (1057–1058) – Norman conquest of Southern Italy
  • Siege of Thimert (1058–1060)
  • Siege of Aquino (1058) – Norman conquest of Southern Italy
  • Siege of Galeria (1059)
  • Siege of Cariati (1059) – Byzantine–Norman wars
  • Siege of Reggio (1059–1060) – Byzantine–Norman wars
  • Siege of Melfi (1061) – Byzantine–Norman wars
  • Siege of Messina (1061) – Norman conquest of Southern Italy
  • Siege of Enna (1061) – Norman conquest of Southern Italy
  • Siege of Capua (1062) – Norman conquest of Southern Italy
  • Siege of Kuriyagawa (1062) – Former Nine Years' War
  • Siege of Troina (1062–1063) – Norman conquest of Southern Italy
  • Siege of Cerami (1063) – Norman conquest of Southern Italy
  • Siege of Graus (1063)
  • Siege of Ani (1064) – Seljuq conquest of Byzantine Armenia
  • Siege of Barbastro (1064) – Reconquista
  • Siege of Palermo (1064) – Norman conquest of Southern Italy
  • Siege of Valencia (1065), a siege during the reign of Ferdinand I of León and Castile
  • Siege of Exeter (1068)
  • Siege of Bari (1068–1071) – Norman conquest of Southern Italy
  • Siege of Iconium (1069) – Byzantine–Seljuq wars
  • Siege of Brindisi (1070) – Norman conquest of Southern Italy
  • Siege of Palermo (1071–1072) – Norman conquest of Southern Italy
  • Siege of Zamora (1072)
  • Siege of Lüneburg (1072) – Saxon Rebellion
  • Siege of Trani (1073) – Norman conquest of Southern Italy
  • Siege of Amalfi (1073) – Norman conquest of Southern Italy
  • Siege of Heimenburg (1073) – Saxon Rebellion
  • Siege of Asenburg (1073) – Saxon Rebellion
  • Siege of Harzburg (1073) – Saxon Rebellion
  • Siege of Wiganstein (1073) – Saxon Rebellion
  • Siege of Moseburg (1073) – Saxon Rebellion
  • Siege of Sassenstein (1073) – Saxon Rebellion
  • Siege of Spatenburg (1074) – Saxon Rebellion
  • Siege of Vokenroht (1074) – Saxon Rebellion
  • Siege of Naples (1074) – Norman conquest of Southern Italy
  • Siege of Norwich Castle (1075) – Revolt of the Earls
  • Siege of Syracuse (1076) – Norman conquest of Southern Italy
  • Siege of Salerno (1076–1077) – Norman conquest of Southern Italy
  • Siege of Sigmaringen (1077) – Great Saxon Revolt
  • Siege of Würzburg (1077) – Great Saxon Revolt
  • Siege of La Flèche (1077)
  • Siege of Trapani (1077) – Norman conquest of Southern Italy
  • Siege of Naples (1077–78) – Norman conquest of Southern Italy
  • Siege of Tübingen (1078) – Great Saxon Revolt
  • Siege of Taormina (1078) – Norman conquest of Southern Italy
  • Siege of Gerberoi (1080)
  • Siege of La Flèche (1081)
  • Siege of Durazzo (1081) – Byzantine–Norman wars
  • Siege of Rome (1081–1084)
  • Siege of Almenar (1082)
  • Siege of Larissa (1082–1083) – Byzantine–Norman wars
  • Siege of Carpi (1083)
  • Siege of Castel Sant'Angelo (1084)
  • Siege of Augsburg (1084) – Great Saxon Revolt
  • Siege of Burgdorf (1084) – Great Saxon Revolt
  • Siege of Toledo (1085) – Reconquista
  • Siege of Antioch (1085)
  • Siege of Syracuse (1086) – Norman conquest of Southern Italy
  • Siege of Regensburg (1086) – Great Saxon Revolt
  • Siege of Würzburg (1086) – Great Saxon Revolt
  • Siege of Numa (1086) – Gosannen War
  • Siege of Agrigento (1087) – Norman conquest of Southern Italy
  • Siege of Castrogiovanni (1087) – Norman conquest of Southern Italy
  • Siege of Tudela (1087) – Reconquista
  • Siege of Kanazawa (1087) – Gosannen War
  • Siege of Pevensey Castle (1088) – Rebellion of 1088
  • Siege of Rochester Castle (1088) – Rebellion of 1088
  • Siege of Gleichen (1088) – Great Saxon Revolt
  • Siege of Quedlinburg (1088) – Great Saxon Revolt
  • Siege of Butera (1089) – Norman conquest of Southern Italy
  • Siege of Mantua (1090–1091)
  • Siege of Toledo (1090) – Reconquista
  • Siege of Governolo (1090)
  • Siege of Courcy (1091)
  • Siege of Seville (1091)
  • Siege of Alamut (1092) – Nizari–Seljuk conflicts
  • Siege of Dara (1092) – Nizari–Seljuk conflicts
  • Siege of Breval (1092)
  • Siege of Monteveglio (1092)
  • Siege of Valencia (1092–1094) – Reconquista
  • Siege of Huesca (1094) – Reconquista
  • Siege of Chernigov (1094)
  • Siege of Nogara (1094)
  • Siege of Tynemouth Castle (1095)
  • Siege of Morpeth Castle (1095)
  • Siege of Newcastle (1095)
  • Siege of Bamburgh Castle (1095)
  • Siege of Amalfi (1096)
  • Siege of Xerigordos (1096) – part of the People's Crusade
  • Siege of Wieselburg (1096)
  • Siege of Huesca (1096) – Reconquista
  • Siege of Lamasar – Nizari uprising
  • Siege of Nicaea (1097) – part of the First Crusade
  • Siege of Antioch (1097–1098) – part of the First Crusade
  • Siege of Capua (1098)
  • Siege of Jerusalem (1098)
  • Siege of Ma'arra (1098) – part of the First Crusade, known because of acts of cannibalism.
  • Siege of Kållandsö Fort (1099)
  • Siege of Arqa (1099) – part of the First Crusade
  • Siege of Valencia (1099–1102) – Reconquista
  • Siege of Jerusalem (1099) – part of the First Crusade
  • Siege of Mayet (1099)
  • Siege of Latakia (1099)
  • First siege of Arsuf (1099) – Crusades
  • Siege of Haifa (1100) – Crusades
  • Siege of Le Mans (1100)

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 siege 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 Storming of the Teocalli by Cortez and His Troops (Emanuel Leutze, 1848)
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.
Attack on Tripoli by the Ottomans (1551)
The Siege of Calais, 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)
Fall of Ayutthaya, Siam, 7 April 1767
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 Tippoo Sultaun (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 besieging Veracruz 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
Civilians and ruins following the Siege of Gaza City, 2025

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. ↑ "Behind Israel's New Battle Plan". Time. 25 July 2006. Archived from the original on 21 September 2006. Retrieved 19 December 2023.
  3. ↑ "Desperate survivors use truce to flee for safety". www.theguardian.com. 1 August 2006. Retrieved 19 December 2023.
  4. ↑ "Zawiyah in Rebel Hands, But Under Siege". News24. 5 March 2011.
  5. ↑ "Rebels besiege Qadhafi's hometown". www.politico.com. 25 September 2011. Retrieved 20 November 2023.
  6. ↑ "Siege Watch". Archived from the original on 30 September 2018. Retrieved 29 September 2018.
  7. ↑ "Libyan forces cut off ISIS in Sirte by capturing city's main port". Rudaw. 11 June 2016. Retrieved 4 October 2023.
  8. ↑ "Dozens killed in besieged Mozambique gas town". Reuters. 28 March 2021. Retrieved 18 July 2023.
  9. ↑ "Malian, foreign soldiers allegedly killed hundreds in town siege -rights group". Reuters. 5 April 2022. Retrieved 18 July 2023.
  10. ↑ "Sudanese army breaks SPLM-N siege on Dilling, South Kordofan". Sudan Tribune. 30 July 2024. Retrieved 29 August 2024.
  11. ↑ "Karenni Rebels Capture Two Strategic Myanmar Junta Battalions". Irrawady. 4 July 2025. Retrieved 19 July 2025.
  12. ↑ "Essential supplies running out as RSF paramilitary encircles Darfur's largest city". the Guardian. 2 May 2024. Retrieved 3 May 2024.
  13. ↑ "Rifle Fire Audible in Lashio as Rebels Encircle Myanmar Junta Stronghold". The Irrawady. 4 July 2024. Retrieved 8 January 2025.
  14. ↑ "Palestine's UN envoy says 'genocide within genocide' going on in north Gaza". Al Jazeera. 13 October 2024. Retrieved 15 October 2024.
  15. ↑ "Arakan Army captures two more bases in Ann, drawing nearer to Myanmar military's regional headquarters". Myanmar Now. 8 November 2024. Retrieved 4 January 2025.
  16. ↑ "Chin Rebels Rout Myanmar Junta From Falam After Five-Month Battle". The Irrawaddy. 8 April 2025. Retrieved 6 December 2025.