Even Jay Leno could mark that ballot. Speaking of celebri-scum, heard about Cher's new album? "These times are as dead as Bob Dole's arm". Sad to ridicule the physically handicapped, not to mention those that are that way from defending America. Speaking of defending America, today's wierd topics on Genghis Khan, etc, put me in a mood to research one of my favorite topics, the battle that saved Christendom.
Table of Contents
I. Hungary
II. Skanderbeg
HUNGARIAN HISTORY OF RIPPING THE TURKS TO SHREDS:
(no, Hungarian history was not killing, raping and shitting on altars like all the Turks did..)
Here is the history of Hungary from the 15th century to the 17th century:
May 29, 1453, Constantinople falls into Turkish hands. The defenders who only numbered 9,000 put up a gallant fight against the thousands of Turks. This is very sad what happened. The "Queen of Cities" was forsaken by all of Europe, except Pope Nicholas who never smiled nor laughed ever again after the news had reached him. The cry for help was sent out but fell upon empty European ears. When the Turks entered the city, the many people that hadn't escaped by sailing out through the Golden Horn locked themselves up in the in the St. Sophia Church and began to pray. The Turks broke through the doors and enslaved those at pray. The old and young were slain on the spot for having no value in the slave market. Men were roped together and women were bound together by there hair. Eyewitnesses recall how young girls and boys were raped on the altars. The cathedral echoed with screams for the next three days as the town was plundered and pillaged to the bone. At the end of the three days the city was deserted with barely any buildings standing. This day has been called by some as "The Darkest Day of the World" or "The Day the Sun was Darkened". This foreshadows what would become of Hungary.
Sultan Mehmed II "The Conqueror" said to his troops that day that onward is Europe and the rest of the world. Clearly the Turks wouldn't stop there. They were going to spread Islam in accordance to the will of their god. Lucky for the Hungarians, one of their greatest warlords ever was in power at the time. His name was János Hunyadi. Hunyadi was the chief of defense of Southern Hungary. The Turks began their raids into Hungary. The main cause for Turkish victories was numbers, never tactics. Most battles they won they had as many casualties as the other side. Well they weren't used to the Hunyadi stile of warfare. At the town of Szendro, Hunyadi forced the superior Turkish force to take a stand. The Turkish commander Iszhak figured that Hunyadi would use the usual Magyar tactic of superior cavalry to charge the main body. Hunyadi sent his elite infantry, a very small number to attack the main body while the cavalry flanked them. The Turkish flanks were caught completely offgaurd and was routed. The cavalry charged to the center and the Turks there found themselves fighting against superior infantry plus a mounted assault. It was a great Magyar victory that stopped Turkish raids for a while.
There were many, and I mean many, other great victories Hunyadi had over the Turks, including the sieges of Belgrade. Hunyadi even faked his own death in battle to suprise and overrun the Turks. Yes every battle the Mayars were seriously outnumbered but they kept on slaughtering the Turks. Hungary earned the name "Shield of Christianity" from the pope. Hunyadi wasn't only a Hungarian hero but a European hero. Hunyadi liberated Serbia and almost captured the Sultan's European seat, Andrianapolis, but was forced home due to winter. The Turks called him "That damned devil, Janko!". Europe however applauded Hungary's effort but never sent any help. It was a country of a couple million against an entire empire. Hunyadi conducted another campaign and at the battle of Kosovo was betrayed by Drakul (Dracula) who deserted the Hungarian army and returned with the Turks. This was Hunyadi's greatest defeat. Dracula did this to save his country Romania from being the center of bloodshed. He wanted the Magyars and Turks to fight someplace else. Hunyadi's greatest and last victory was the Siege of Belgrade (one of many). The Magyars numbered 6,000 and the Sultan's army was 150,000. This was the largest force the Magyars had ever seen and they were trapped in the city. Hunyadi had to break the siege to get reinforcements to the city. What he did was send a fleet of 3,000 men on ships behind another fleet that was armed with dynamite. The siege was broken and Christian reinforcements began to flow in faster than the Turks. So the night before the final assault the Turks played physciological warfare by lighting thousands of bonfires and began screaming and dancing in preparation for the victory. The next day the Christians responded in the same manner, deleting Muslim morale. When the fanatics attack they were repulsed by hundreds of bundles of brushwood that was soaked in flammables being thrown from the ramparts. The Ottomans quickly became human torches. Then began the massive retreat. Here is the best part. A few out of control crusaders charged after the fleeing Turks. This small skirmish turned into a full scale melee. The Turks were caught in a human avalanche. The entire 150,000 men juggernaught had been routed! The Sultan himself, the great "Mehmed the Conqueror" (excuse me will I laugh at his title...he he) was knocked out and regained consciousness a few weeks later. When he learned of all that happened he tried to commit suicide by poison. The Turkish losses were 50,000 men in the siege and 25,000 more in the melee. The Magyars lost less than 10,000 total.
What really makes me pissed off is the fact that these facts won't be found in most history books. If it was the British of French of course you would have heard about it. But this is one of the reasons for me doing this scenario, because nobody knows anything about Hungary.
A great victory celebration was held in Hungary and the Catholic world. The pope called Hunyadi "The Defender of Christendom". The time had come to expel the Turks from Europe and Hunyadi was the man for the job. Very, very, very, very unfortunately he became ill, a fever he caught from his troops and died. He left his country with these words:
"Defend, my friends, Christendom and Hungary from all enemies... Do not quarrel among yourselves. If you should waste your energies in altercations, you will seal your own fate as well as dig the grave of our country." All I can say is how ironic. This is exactly what happened to Hungary. During Hunyadi's time many selfish nobles opposed him. This was the cause for the Turks remaining in Europe. It took some time before the next Hungarian hero would arise, but he did. He was a hero even greater than Hunyadi. It was his son, Mátyás Hunyadi, also known as Matthias Corvinus.
Matthias and his brother Lászlo were given a warning by their father to never appear in royal court at the same time. King Ladislas V was envious of the Hunyadi success. When Janos died, his sons were arrested. Lászlo was beheaded and Matthias was spared because of his youth. But he spent some time in prison under the king of Bohemia. Later when the king died, Matthias was elected king even though he was a prisoner. His mother had to pay a ransom for his release and he returned to Hungary. He was only 18.
At the time though Hunyadi's enemies were in power and Frederick II of Hapsburg had possession of the Holy Crown. The Turkish threat was still there in the south but they were still shaken from their defeats and knew better than to try to charge again into Hungary. They considered themselves lucky that they now had this chance to recover while the Magyar kingdom was in disarray. Matthias began replacing the positions of nobles with those who were supporters of the Hunyadi family. This angered his uncle, who wanted more power, and he helped to put the Holy Roman Emperor on the throne. Matthias' army put down the rebellion and sentenced his uncle to imprisonment. He escaped but was captured and killed by the Turks.
Looks like János' warning to his country wasn't headed. During Matthias' reign, it was him against the Hapsburgs, Czechs, Magyar nobles, and the Poles. During all this internal strife he still had to deal with Turkish invasions without the help from Europe, who was to concerned with their own politics. Matthias knew that only time was between the Turks and the rest of Europe. He knew that Hungary would not hold out forever, and sooner or later the Turkish invasions would resume. Matthias figured that a united region around the Danube would be the only thing to stop the Turks from winning. Matthias also knew that it had to all be under one government for it to be real unity. Matthias knew what Dracula and the Romanians were all about, and the other Balkan nations were uneasy in giving support with the Ottomans in charge. So Matthias sought for conquest and became the greatest Hungarian king ever. There were three cunning and selfish rulers at the time, FrederickIII of Hapsburg, the Czech Giskra who was a great warlord, George Podiebrad the King of Bohemia. George was always making and breaking secret alliances. Clearly his goal was a selfish one. Matthias played a dangerous diplomatic game in which he eventually grabbed the upper hand. He broke many of Podiebrad's secret alliances. He attacked Giskra and weakened his armies. Then, all of a sudden, Matthias made Giskra an offer. Giskra and his army joined Matthias as mercenaries and Giskra became one of Matthias' most faithful and outstanding generals. These mercenaries were Matthias' foundation for the famous "Black Army", called after their dark colors. This had many benefits. Matthias wouldn't have to rely on unpredictable nobles to raise an army. These troops were well seasoned and superb fighters. And most of all, they weren't all Magyars. Now other nationalities would join the fight against the Turks. This happened in 1461, and is where my scenario begins. Two years later war was declared on the Turks and Matthias captured some key strongholds in Bosnia. Matthias kept on flushing out enemies at home. Frederick III found himself in political trouble and handed the Holy Crown to Matthias for 80,000 Florins and promise that if Matthias died without a male heir Frederick III would inherit the throne.
Matthias had a goal of becoming the Holy Roman Emperor to strengthen the Magyar position against the Turks. He saw Bohemia as a stepping stone to this goal. King Podiebrad of Bohemia was as elusive in war as in diplomacy. It was almost a ten year campaign for Matthias. The Pope and FerdinandIII declared Podiebrad a heretic and unworthy for Catholic Bohemia and would agree to recognize Matthias as king of Bohemia if he could defeat him. After some fighting a deal was struck in 1469. Matthias became king of Bohemia, Silezia, Moravia, and Lausitz. Podiebrad still ruled Prague.
George Podiebrad had later made an alliance with Frederick and Casimir of Poland to make an Austrian-Czech-Polish front against Hungary. George died in 1471 and the Polish king's son, Wladislas inherited the Bohemian throne, not Matthias. After ten more years of fighting Matthias gained nothing. While he was in Bresalu he learned of a conspiracy to dethrone him and to replace him with King Casimir. Reports indicated that Casimir's troops had already been set out to join forces with the nobles in Hungary. Matthias' next move was brilliant. He made an unexpected appearance in Hungary. (Remember that the Nobles do not know that he knows of the conspiracy). The Nobles retreated to their castles. Matthias pretended not to know and privately talked with many of the conspirators. He offered them high positions or estates and asked for loyalty by raising an army against the attack by Casimir. When Casimir did reach Hungary to meet with rebels, nobody was there and he hastily retreated. For once politics avoided confrontation. A four year armistice was signed. This armistice was soon forgotten by Casimir. In 1474, a Czech-Polish army with the support of FrederickIII set off to "sweep Matthias' army off the face of the earth". This was to take place at Breslau where Matthias' army numbered 8,000 against 80,000. Matthias organized his army into 3 groups. 1 was to fortify themselves in the city with the heavy artillery, 2 stood their ground outside the city, and 3 was to conduct guerilla harassment operations. Casimir and Wladislas wanted to defeat the Magyars in an open battle. There only option was to undertake a siege in which they were ill-prepared. They decided to attack Matthias' group 2. The attacker formed a phalanx and were hammered by group 1's artillery. With this sudden shock and starving men surrendered. Matthias gave these men enough food to eat their fill for the first time in months.
At 33 he married Beatrix who was from Italy. Together they spread the Renaissance to Hungary. Matthias was called the "Renaissance King" because of this. He was extremely intellectual and spoke fluently in Hungarian, German, Greek, Latin, Romanian, Bohemian, and Italian. He was a great sportsman. The only thing Matthias didn't have was a male heir.
In 1479 the Turks attacked Translyvania. They almost won but when Matthias arrived he trapped them in a valley. The Turks lost 30,000 in one day. With the Turks, Poles and Czechs defeated and Bohemia secured, and a stable government and economy, Matthias turned his attention towards the Hapsburg throne. FrederickIII would now receive Matthias's undivided attention without help. Matthias wanted to be crowned the Holy Roman Emperor and began conquering a number of Austrian cities. In 1485 he conquered Vienna. But this did not get him the throne. Frederick had already chosen his son Maximilian to be the heir and German nobles were happier with an Austrian ruler than a Magyar ruler. Matthias stopped there and issued a series of laws known as Matthias' Code and it became and example for the rest of Europe. For the remaining five years of his life we traveled the country as king and commoner to make sure his laws were enforced and affecting the country for the good. At the time of his death he was the most powerful monarch in Europe and was known as Matthias the Just. The people loved him more than any other king. On his gravestone it said "Matthias is dead and justice has gone with him." This is very true because he had no heir and the kingdom divided and quickly fell apart and eventually succumbed to the Turks in 1526.
There is one more thing I would like to say about the Magyar people. Even though they were not an independent country, they still fought very bravely against their enemies and saved the Holy Roman Empire again. During Turkish occupation Hungary suffered greatly, like Constantinople. This time it was Budapest. All churches were sacked. Only one was left in Christian Pest while the Turks moved into Buda with 5 mosques. The Hungarian plain became desolate as people were massacred. Villages ceased to exist, rivers disappeared, forests were burned, and ponds were turned into swamps. Children were abducted at very young ages a shipped to Turkey where they were educated in the fanatic ways of Islam and trained to become Janissarries.
In 1532, Sultan Suleiman the Lawgiver (excuse me while I laugh again at this self proclaimed title) marched into Hungary with the goal of Vienna. He raised an army of 130,000 troops, two hundred cannons, and a great fleet on the Danube. They marched unchallenged and rapidly advanced on the unprepared Austrians. 17 cities had already surrendered without a fight when the army reached the Hungarian border town of Koszeg. 700 peasants under the command of Captain Miklos Jurisich defended the town. The captain later wrote that his goal was only to hold the town to gain time for the Christians. He had no goal of holding the town indefinitely. The siege took place and the peasants beat back every attempt to take the city. It was the 7th day of this siege that should have been conquered a week ago. On this day the Turks blasted a hole in the walls but was soon filled with the corpses of the charging Turks. In the next days 2 wooden siege towers filled with cannons attacked the city but was set afire by the defending peasants. On the 17th day the Turks gained a foothold on the walls but was repulsed again. Miklos told the king "Half of my 700 peasants have perished in the fight... we are holding on by the grace of God". (indeed) The Sultan called on the Magyars 3 times to surrender with no avail. Suleiman ordered an all out assault with all available troops. This time they breached the ramparts and occupied the city proper. With eight Turkish flags flying the city was taken, or was it? Only a miracle could save the Magyars. The Christians survivors gathered by the church waiting for what was to come. The captain said that if they were going die, it would be as true Christians. They gathered all the church banners and huddled together. What happened next is very controversial. The Turks say they saw (now remember that this is a huge army of thousands) an army of Christian angles descending upon them. History says that they were superstitious and saw the banners decorated with angles. The Magyar legend says that after the Siege of Belgrade with Hunyadi, the pope ordered all church bells to be rung at noon every day. The Magyars thought that they would never again celebrate this victory so they rang the bells at noon instead. The Turks had plans to capture the city by noon or retreat. When they heard the bells they thought they had failed so they went away. Who knows what really happened.
Well it took a day or so for the Turks to recover. On the 25 day Jurisich talked with the Ottoman general and the city surrendered. They collected all the gold and silver they could find and gave it to the Turks. The Turks occupied the city for a day (without pillaging it) and then vanished. The Sultan was forced to abandon his plans for conquering Vienna. Thanks again to the Magyars. |
