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CHAP. virtue of the sword and the cross. After the passage of the LXVII. Danube, two roads might lead to Constantinople and the Hel

Battle of
Warna,

A. D. 1444,

lespont; the one direct, abrupt, and difficult, through the mountains of Hæmus; the other more tedious and secure, over a level country, and along the shores of the Euxine; in which their flanks, according to the Scythian discipline, might always be covered by a moveable fortification of wagons. The latter was judiciously preferred: the Catholics marched through the plains of Bulgaria, burning, with wanton cruelty, the churches and villages of the Christian natives; and their last station was at Warna, near the seashore; on which the defeat and death of Ladislaus have bestowed a memorable name.25

It was on this fatal spot, that, instead of finding a confederate fleet to second their operations, they were alarmed by the Nov. 10 approach of Amurath himself, who had issued from his Magnesian solitude, and transported the forces of Asia to the defence of Europe. According to some writers, the Greek emperor had been awed, or seduced, to grant the passage of the Bosphorus; and an indelible stain of corruption is fixed on the Genoese, or the pope's nephew, the Catholic admiral, whose mercenary connivance betrayed the guard of the Hellespont. From Adrianople, the sultan advanced by hasty marches, at the head of sixty thousand men; and when the cardinal, and Huniades, had taken a nearer survey of the numbers and order of the Turks, these ardent warriors proposed the tardy and impracticable measure of a retreat. The king alone was resolved to conquer or die; and his resolution had almost been crowned with a glorious and salutary victory. The princes were opposite to each other in the centre; and the Beglerbegs, or generals of Anatolia and Romania, commanded on the right and left against the adverse divisions of the despot and Huniades. The Turkish wings were broken on the first onset: but the advantage was fatal; and the rash victors, in the heat of the pursuit, were carried away far from the annoyance of the enemy or the support of their friends. When Amurath beheld the flight of his squadrons, he despaired of his fortune, and that of the empire: a veteran Janizary seized his horse's bridle; and he had the magnanimity to pardon and reward the soldier who dared to perceive the terror, and arrest the flight, of his sovereign. A copy of the treaty, the monument of Christian perfidy, had been displayed in the front of battle; and it is said, that the sultan in his distress, lifting his eyes and his hands to heaven, implored the protection of the

25 Warna, under the Grecian name of Odessus, was a colony of the Milesians, which they denominated from the hero Ulysses (Cellarius, tom. i. p. 374, d'Anville, tom. i. p. 312.) According to Arrian's Periplus of the Euxine (p. 24, 25, in the 1st volume of Hudson's Geographers,) it was situate 1740 stadia, or furlongs, from the mouth of the Danube, 2140 from Byzantium, and 360 te the north of a ridge or promontory of mount Hæmus, which advances into the sea.

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God of truth; and called on the prophet Jesus himself to CHAP. avenge the impious mockery of his name and religion. With LXVII. inferior numbers and disordered ranks, the king of Hungary rushed forwards in the confidence of victory, till his career was stopped by the impenetrable phalanx of the Janizaries. If we may credit the Ottoman annals, his horse was pierced by the javelin of Amurath; he fell among the spears of the in- Death of fantry; and a Turkish soldier proclaimed with a loud voice, Ladislaus. "Hungarians, behold the head of your king!" The death of Ladislaus was the signal of their defeat. On his return from an intemperate pursuit, Huniades deplored his error and the public loss; he strove to rescue the royal body, till he was overwhelmed by the tumultuous crowd of the victors and vanquished; and the last efforts of his courage and conduct were exerted to save the remnant of his Walachian cavalry. Ten thousand Christians were slain in the disastrous battle of Warna: the loss of the Turks, more considerable in numbers, bore a smaller proportion to their total strength; yet the philosophic sultan was not ashamed to confess, that his ruin must be the consequence of a second and similar victory. At his command a column was erected on the spot where Ladislaus had fallen; but the modest inscription, instead of accusing the rashness, recorded the valour, and bewailed the misfortune, of the Hungarian youth.28

Before I lose sight of the field of Warna, I am tempted to The cards pause on the character and story of two principal actors, the' nal Julian. cardinal Julian and John Huniades. Julian Cæsarini was born of a noble family of Rome: his studies had embraced both the Latin and Greek learning, both the sciences of divinity and law; and his versatile genius was equally adapted to the schools, the camp, and the court. No sooner had he been invested with the Roman purple, than he was sent into

26 Some Christian writers affirm, that he drew from his bosom the host or wafer on which the treaty had not been sworn. The Moslems suppose, with more simplicity, an appeal to God and his prophet Jesus, which is likewise insinuated by Callimachus (l. iii. p. 516, Spondan. A. D. 1444, No. 8.)

A crític will always distrust these spolia opima of a victorious general, so difficult for valour to obtain, so easy for flattery to invent (Cantemir, p. 90, 91.) Callimachus (1. iii. p. 517,) more simply and probably affirms, supervenientibus Janizaris, telorum multitudine, non tain confessus est, quam obrutus.

28 Besides some valuable hints from Æneas Sylvius, which are diligently collected by Spondanus, our best authorities are three historians of the xvth century, Philippus Callimachus (de Rebus a Vladislao Polonorum atque Hungarorum Rege gestis, libri iii. in Bel. Script. Rerum Hungaricarum, tom. i. p. 433-518,) Bonfinius (decad. iii. l. v. p. 460–467,) and Chalcocondyles (1. vii. p. 165-179.) The two first were Italians, but they passed their lives in Poland and Hungary (Fabric. Bibliot. Latin. med. et infinæ Ætatis, tom. i. p. 324. Vossius de Hist. Latin. I. iii. c. 8. 11. Bayle, Dictionnaire, BONFINIUS.) A small tract of Felix Petancius, chancellor of Segnia (ad calcem Cuspiniau. de Cæsaribus, p. 716722,) represents the theatre of the war in the xvth century.

29 M. Lenfant has described the origin (Hist. du Concile de Basle, tom. i. p. 247, &c.) and Bohemian campaign (p. 315, &c.) of cardinal Julian. His services at Basil and Ferrara, and his unfortunate end, are occasionally related by Spondanus, and the continuator of Fleury.

CHAP. Germany to arm the empire against the rebels and heretics of LXVII. Bohemia. The spirit of persecution is unworthy of a Christian; the military profession ill becomes a priest; but the former is excused by the times; and the latter was ennobled by the courage of Julian, who stood dauntless and alone in the disgraceful flight of the German host. As the pope's legate, he opened the council of Basil; but the president soon appeared the most strenuous champion of ecclesiastical freedom; and an opposition of seven years was conducted by his ability and zeal. After promoting the strongest measures against the authority and person of Eugenius, some secret motive of interest or conscience engaged him to desert on a sudden the popular party. The cardinal withdrew himself from Basil to Ferrara; and, in the debates of the Greeks and Latins, the two nations admired the dexterity of his arguments and the depth of his theological erudition. 30 In his Hungarian embassy we have already seen the mischievous effects of his sophistry and eloquence, of which Julian himself was the first victim. cardinal, who performed the duties of a priest and a soldier, was lost in the defeat of Warna. The circumstances of his death are variously related; but it is believed, that a weighty incumbrance of gold impeded his flight, and tempted the cruel avarice of some Christian fugitives.

John Corvinus Huuiades.

The

From an humble, or at least a doubtful origin, the merit of John Huniades promoted him to the command of the. Hungarian armies. His father was a Walachian, his mother a Greek; her unknown race might possibly ascend to the emperors of Constantinople; and the claims of the Walachians, with the surname of Corvinus, from the place of his nativity, might suggest a thin pretence for mingling his blood with the patricians of ancient Rome.31 In his youth he served in the wars of Italy; and was retained, with twelve horsemen, by the bishop of Zagrab: the valour of the white knight was soon conspicuous; he increased his fortunes by a noble and wealthy marriage; and in the defence of the Hungarian borders, he won in the same year three battles against the Turks. By his influence, Ladislaus of Poland obtained the crown of Hungary; and the important service was rewarded by the title and office of Waivod of Transylvania. The first of Julian's crusades added two Turkish laurels on his brow;

30 Syropulus honourably praises the talents of an enemy (p. 117;) TOZUTE τινα είπεν ο Ιωλιανος, πεπλατυσμένως αγαν και λογικώς, και μετ επίσημης και δεινότατες Ρητορικος.

31 See Bonfinius, decad. iii. 1. iv. p. 423. Could the Italian historian pronounce, or the king of Hungary hear, without a blush, the absurd flattery, which confounded the name of a Walachian village with the casual, though glorious, epithet of a single branch of the Valerian family at Rome?

32 Philip de Comines (Memoires, l. vi. c. 13,) from the tradition of the times, mentions him with high encomiums, but under the whimsical name of the Chevalier Blanc de Valaigne (Valachia.) The Greek Chalcocondyles, and the Turkish Annals of Leunclavius, presume to accuse his fidelity or valour.

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and in the public distress the fatal errors of Warna were for- CHAP. gotten. During the absence and minority of Ladislaus of LXVII. Austria, the titular king, Huniades was elected supreme captain and governor of Hungary; and if envy at first was silenced by terror, a reign of twelve years supposes the arts of policy as well as of war. Yet the idea of a consummate general is not delineated in his campaigns; the white knight fought with the hand rather than the head, as the chief of desultory barbarians, who attack without fear and fly without shame; and his military life is composed of a romantic alternative of victories and escapes. By the Turks, who employed his name to frighten their perverse children, he was corruptly denominated Jancus Lain, or the Wicked: their hatred is the proof of their esteem; the kingdom which he guarded was inaccessible to their arms and they felt him most daring and formidable, when they fondly believed the captain and his country irrecoverably lost. Instead of confining himself to a defensive war, four years after the defeat of Warna he again penetrated into the heart of Bulgaria; and in the plain of Cossova sustained, till the third day, the shock of the Ottoman army, four times more numerous than his own. As he fled alone through the woods of Walachia, the hero was surprised by two robbers; but while they disputed a gold chain that hung at his neck, he recovered his sword, slew the one, terrified the other, and, after new perils of captivity or death, consoled by his presence. an afflicted kingdom. But the last and most glorious action of his life was the defence of Belgrade against the powers of Mahomet the second in person. After a siege of forty days, Ilis defence the Turks who had already entered the town, were compelled and death, to retreat; and the joyful nations celebrated Huniades and A. D. 1456, Belgrade as the bulwarks of Christendom. About a month Sept. 4. after this great deliverance, the champion expired; and his most splendid epitaph is the regret of the Ottoman prince, who sighed that he could no longer hope for revenge against the single antagonist who had triumphed over his arms. On the first vacancy of the throne, Matthias Corvinus, a youth of eighteen years of age, was elected and crowned by the grateful Hungarians. His reign was prosperous and long: Matthias aspired to the glory of a conqueror and a saint; but his purest merit is the encouragement of learning; and the Latin orators and historians, who were invited from Italy by the son, have shed the lustre of their eloquence on the father's character.34

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33 See Bonfinius (decad. iii. 1. viii. p. 492,) and Spondanus (A. D. 1456, No. 1 -7.) Huniades shared the glory of the defence of Belgrade with Capistran, a Franciscan friar; and in their respective narratives, neither the saint nor the hero condescend to take notice of his rival's merit.

34 See Bonfinius, decad. iii. 1. viii.-decad. iv. 1. viii. The observations of Spondanus on the life and character of Matthias Corvinus, are curious and criVOL. VI.

25

of Belgrade

July 22,

education

beg, prince

-1413, &c.

37

CHAP. In the list of heroes, John Huniades and Scanderbeg aré LXVII. commonly associated :35 and they are both entitled to our notice, since their occupation of the Ottoman arms delayed the Birth and ruin of the Greek empire. John Castriot, the father of Scanof Scander- derbeg, 36 was the hereditary prince of a small district of Epiof Albania, rus or Albania, between the mountains and the Adriatic sea. AD140. Unable to contend with the sultan's power, Castriot submitted to the hard conditions of peace and tribute: he delivered his four sons as the pledges of his fidelity; and the Christian youths, after receiving the mark of circumcision, were instructed in the Mahometan religion, and trained in the arms and arts of Turkish policy. The three elder brothers were confounded in the crowd of slaves; and the poison to which their deaths are ascribed, cannot be verified or disproved by any positive evidence. Yet the suspicion is in a great measure removed by the kind and paternal treatment of George Castriot, the fourth brother, who, from his tender youth, displayed the strength and spirit of a soldier. The successive overthrow of a Tartar and two Persians, who carried a proud defiance to the Turkish court, recommended him to the favour of Amurath, and his Turkish appellation of Scanderbeg (Iskender Reg,) or the lord Alexander, is an indelible memorial of his glory and servitude. His father's principality was reduced into a province; but the loss was compensated by the rank and title of Sanjak, a command of five thousand horse, and the prospect of the first dignities of the empire. He served with honour in the wars of Europe and Asia; and we may smile at the art or credulity of the historian, who supposes, that in every encounter he spared the Christians, while he fell with a thundering arm on his Mussulman foes. The glory of Huniades is without reproach; he fought in the defence of his religion and country; but the enemies who applaud the patriot, have branded his rival with the name of traitor and apostate. In

tical (A. D. 1464, No. 1, 1475, No. 6, 1476, No 14-16, 1490, No. 4, 5.) Italian fame was the object of his vanity. His actions are celebrated in the Epitome Rerum Hungaricarum (p. 322-412,) of Peter Ranzanus, a Silician. His wise and facetious sayings are registered by Galestus Martius of Narni (523—568 :) and we have a particular narrative of his wedding and coronation. These three tracts are all contained in the first vol. of Bell's Scriptores Rerum Hungaricarum.

35 They are ranked by Sir William Temple, in his pleasing Essay on Heroic Virtue (Works, vol. iii. p. 385,) among the seven chiefs who have deserved, without wearing, a royal crown; Belisarius, Narses, Gonsalvo of Cordova, William First prince of Orange, Alexander duke of Parma, John Huniades, and George Castriot, or Scanderbeg.

S6 I could wish for some simple, authentic memoirs of a friend of Scanderbeg, which would introduce me to the man, the time, and the place. In the old national history of Marinus Barletius, a priest of Scodra (de Vitâ, Moribus, et Rebus gestis, Georgii Castrioti, &c. libri xiii. p. 367. Argentorat. 1537, in fol.) his gaudy and cumbersome robes are stuck with many false jewels. See likewise Chalcocondyles, 1. vii. p. 185, l. viii. p. 229.

37 His circumcision, education, &c. are marked by Marinus with brevity and reluctance (1. i. p. 6, 7.)

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