Full Description
In July 1456, a massive Turkish army settled in before Belgrade, an ancient city at the confluence of the Danube and Sava rivers. The army's leader was the twenty-four-year-old Ottoman sultan Mehmed II, "the Conqueror," who sought to take one of the most strategically important fortifications in southeastern Europe. Three weeks later, Mehmed's army was driven from Belgrade by a Hungarian warlord and his army, along with a ragtag force of ill-equipped crusaders.
In The Crusade of 1456, James D. Mixson gathers together the key primary sources for understanding the events that led to the siege of Belgrade. These newly translated sources challenge readers with their variety: papal decrees, letters, liturgies, and chronicles from Latin, Byzantine, and Ottoman perspectives. An accessible introduction, timelines, and maps help to illuminate this fascinating yet previously neglected story.
Contents
Introduction
Historical Frames: Political and Military Developments
Sources in Scholarly Context: The Middle Ages, the Crusades, and the Problem of "Lateness"
Framing the Sources: Selection, Structure, and Significance
Part One: Preparations for Crusade, 1453-1456
1. Pope Nicholas V, Etsi Ecclesia Christi
2. Aeneas Silvius Piccolomini, Constantinopolitana Clades
3. Correspondence of 1455-1456
4. Liturgy for Taking the Cross
5. A Pope's Call to Prayer
6. Pope Callixtus III, Omnipotentis dei misericordia
Part Two: The Earliest Accounts
7. John of Capistrano to Pope Callixtus III
8. John of Capistrano to Pope Callixtus III
9. John Hunyadi to Denis Szécsi, Archbishop of Esztergom
10. John Hunyadi to Ladislaus Garai, Palatine of Hungary
11. John Hunyadi to King Ladislaus Posthumous
12. John of Tagliacozzo to James of the Marches
13. John of Capistrano to Pope Callixtus III
Part Three: News and Propaganda
14. Ambassador of the Bishop of Šibenik to Callixtus III
15. Cardinal Juan Carvajal to Francesco Sforza
16. Letters of John Goldener
17. Ladislaus Posthumous to Duke Francesco Sforza of Milan
18. The City of Nuremberg to the City of Weissenburg
19. Pope Callixtus III to Francesco Sforza, Duke of Milan
20. Letters of Bernard of Kraiburg
21. Callixtus III, Letter to Juan Soler
22. Anonymous (Pseudo-John of Capistrano), to all Christians
23. Anonymous, Letter to Henry of Eckenfelt
24. Liturgical Commemorations of Belgrade
Part Four: John of Tagliacozzo's The Story of the Victory of Belgrade
25. John of Tagliacozzo, The Story of the Victory of Belgrade
Part Five: Memoir and Chronicle
26. Thomas Ebendorfer, Chronica Austriae
27. Laonikos Chalkokondyles, The Histories
28. Michael Kritopuoulos (Kritovulos), History of Mehmed the Conqueror
29. Jacopo da Promontorio, Recollecta
30. Âşıkpaşazade, Memories and Chronicles of the House of Osman
31. John Thurocz, Chronicle of the Hungarians
32. Tursun Beg, History of the Conqueror
33. The Oxford Anonymous Chronicle
34. Konstantin Mihailović, Memoirs
Timelines:
General Timeline
The Crusade of 1456
Maps:
Central and Southeastern Europe, c. 1450
The Siege and Relief of Belgrade, 1456
The City and Fortress of Belgrade, c. 1450
