The Crusade of 1456: Texts and Documentation in Translation by James D. Mixson

Author:James D. Mixson [Mixson, James D.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Slavery – Maritime Province, Slaves – Maritime Provinces – Biography – Dictionaries
ISBN: 9781487505769
Google: Tqe0zgEACAAJ
Publisher: University of Toronto Press
Published: 2022-06-15T20:50:04+00:00

On the First Victory

Meanwhile messengers arrived, announcing that the Turks were very close. The governor, esteemed Lord John, while in the fortress of the town of Kovin (which is on the shores of the Danube some four Hungarian miles below Belgrade) was set up against the galleys of the Turks, lest by coming upriver they should be able to cross over. He also sent word to the holy father that he [Capistrano] should leave some of his followers behind in the fortress and lead the rest to him [Hunyadi] downriver (since at that time Lord John had none with him but his household).10 The father wished to comply with Lord John’s wishes and decided (upon arranging affairs at the fortress [Belgrade]) to go down to him. And so, on the day he arrived [at Belgrade], he celebrated Mass and exhorted all in a sermon on defense, fidelity, manliness, and martyrdom. After a meal, he then prepared to make his way down to Lord John, on three ships marked with the sign of the cross. The castellan [of Belgrade] Lord Michael [Szilágyi], knowing that the Turks would soon quickly appear by both land and water, asked the father not to leave, arguing that he would be safe in the fortress, whereas on the Danube he might encounter the Turks, and that he would be of more use in the fortress than out on the water.

But the father, wishing to satisfy and to serve Lord John (toward whom he was drawn in a marvelous way) began to make his way downriver. Michael then delivered a message to him, sending him a certain kerchief11 as a sign of reassurance, so that His Paternity would know for sure that he would soon encounter the Turkish galleys. But the father, desiring to make his way down to Lord John, thought little of the imminent danger. For the honor of God and the strengthening of the Catholic faith, he no longer feared for any bodily threat. He now longed for martyrdom even more fervently than was his custom.

But what he desired, God himself arranged for his own glory and honor, and the hand of the Lord was upon him.12 For around the hour of vespers13 the air was most bright and clear, the sun burned mightily in its heat and fire, and the Danube flowed most peacefully. But behold, the air then quickly became overwhelmed with the thickest of clouds; the sun was blocked out; great winds arose; the Danube churned and was agitated; thunder sounded, the rain clouds thickened, and such a great storm and commotion followed, as well as darkness, that one could not see the other on board the same ship. All were forced, unwillingly, to make their way to shore. Once they were led to land, peace and quiet soon returned, and the Danube fell quiet as before. And behold, the army of the Turks quickly occupied the place from which such a strong storm had driven the holy father.

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