Part 23

Constantinople was in a perilous situation, but an attempt to take it failed (1398). Less fortunate, as has been seen, were the inhabitants of continental Greece, who saw Argos taken, and the country of the Peloponnesus ravaged by Bajesid. The troubles of the imperial city were not relieved by Bajesid’s failure to capture it, for by the instigation of the Turks, John, the nephew of Manuel, became a claimant for the crown, and at the head of 10,000 Ottoman troops marched on the city. The result was that Manuel agreed to take his nephew as associate in the Empire, a term which now had only a technical significance, for the imperial dignity meant little more than the rule over Constantinople itself. Bajesid refused to allow this arrangement unless further concessions were made, such as the establishment of a fourth mosque in the city, and the same local autonomy for the Turkish colony as that enjoyed by the Venetians and Genoese. Manuel refused and appealed to Western Christendom. France again showed its sympathy by sending a survivor of the Nicopolis campaign, a knight, Boucicout, who, with only 1200 men, forced the entrance of the Dardanelles, and afterwards won a minor success in Asia, though he failed in his attempt to take Nicodemia. Manuel tried, as his father had done, a personal visit to the West, and remained nearly two years in France. Bajesid, in the meantime, was encircling Constantinople with his fleet and armies, when the situation suddenly changed, owing to the expansion of a new power in the Orient.

The emirates of those Seldjouks, who had survived absorption by the Ottomans, had, at the close of the fourteenth century, formed a defensive alliance against Bajesid, but they were not successful. The Sultan seized their best provinces, and, when they resorted to arms, defeated the Seldjoukian emirs on the battlefield. Gradually the Ottoman dominions were approaching the Euphrates, by which they were brought near the frontier of the newly-organized Mongol empire, the creation of the great conqueror Timur. The growth of bad feeling between the two rival powers was accentuated, when each sovereign began to receive with favor the rebellious vassals of the other. Timur sent to the Sultan a threatening letter, which was answered in the temper in which it was couched. Timur’s reply was to cross the frontier, and this step was followed up by the capture of the important town of Sivas. All the inhabitants were massacred, the Christians in it being burned alive, and the governor of the place, a son of the Sultan, was strangled. Timur turned from his invasion of the south to attack Angora with the purpose of drawing the Turks into a trap. He succeeded, for he had between two and three hundred thousand men, while Bajesid, to oppose him, had only 120,000. A great battle took place on July 20, 1402, which ended most disastrously for the Turks, because the Seldjoukians went over to the enemy. Bajesid was captured, and two of his sons were killed. Much of the land to the west was overrun by the Mongols, but a permanent organization of the Mongol Empire was made impossible because of the death of Timur on February 19, 1405. Bajesid had also died of a broken heart, after his terrible defeat.

IV MURAD II

This change of fortune meant much for the Greek Empire. Manuel took courage, deprived the Turks of their privileges at Constantinople, and making use of the divisions among the successors of Bajesid, succeeded in regaining a part of the territories that had been lost. For some years the Ottomans, under Mohammed, were engaged in regaining their position in Asia; in Europe the tables were reversed. The empire of the Ottomans seemed to be on the point of going through a process of disintegration similar to that experienced by their predecessors of the same race, the Seldjouks. When it was defunct its residuary legatee might well be the Greek Empire.

There were now many Ottoman princes, no longer one sultan. Souliman, who reigned at Adrianople, sought the protection of Manuel, gave him as a hostage one of his sisters, married a niece of the Emperor, restored part of Macedonia and Ionia, and yielded up Thessalonika, the greatest prize of all. When he was succeeded by his brother Mousa, there was an outbreak of hostilities; Thessalonika was again lost by the Greeks, but soon retaken, while a Turkish fleet was resisted by a fleet now manned by Greek sailors; for Manuel had taken care to provide for a navy, and was no longer dependent on the commercial cities of Italy. Mohammed was summoned by Manuel from Asia as an ally against Mousa, and the two succeeded in defeating him. On his capture he met death at Mohammed’s hands.

For the next eight years (1413-1421) Mohammed was sole ruler of the Osmanlis, but internal difficulties hindered aggressive action on his part, so far as the Christian powers were concerned. His policy was decidedly philhellenic, Manuel receiving from his hands important territories on the Black Sea and the Propontis; but his main attention was directed to the Asiatic provinces, where, in addition to troubles with the emir of Karamania, there were disturbances, due to religious agitations in Islam. One of the chief agitators was a converted Jew, Torlak-Hin-Kemali, a preacher of the revolutionary doctrines of liberty and equality, who demanded a division of property. This communistic teaching stirred up the masses of the people, and excited the active sympathy of the dervish party.

On the death of Mohammed, his son, Murad II, took up the succession. He was a prince of energy and ability, who devoted himself for thirty years to the restoration of the Empire. The Greek Emperor Manuel still carried on his policy of sowing dissension among the Turks, but with less success than in the preceding period. Mustafa, an uncle of the new Sultan, became the ally of the Greeks, and Gallipoli, the first place taken by the Turks in Europe, was besieged. Murad hastened personally to save the town from capture. His uncle was taken, beaten, and hanged. Murad undertook then to lay siege to Constantinople, this making the fourth time that the city had been threatened by Ottoman armies. (June, 1422.)

The besiegers were a motley host; mixed with the soldiers were dervishes, marabouts (religious teachers), artisans, and peasants, all drawn together by the hope of sacking the rich capital.

They showed much improvement in the siege-methods employed, for they used wooden towers, and tried to get into the city through the aqueduct. The Greek armies were beaten in front of the walls, but Manuel and his son, John, soon found a way for causing the withdrawal of Murad’s army, by inviting over from Asia another son of Mohammed, to whom his brother had intrusted the government of one of the Asiatic provinces. He was ceremoniously received in the city, and as soon as it was known in the Turkish camp that he was on his way to the west, Murad withdrew to Adrianople.

This siege is signalized in the chronicles by a narrative of the miraculous appearance of the Virgin on the walls of the city, the very day a general assault had been ordered. The Ottomans, panic-stricken, it is said, hastened to retreat. Both Christians and Mohammedans accepted the authenticity of the apparition, which is not surprising, since, in the ranks of the Sultan’s army, there were large numbers of men who had been converted to Islam, but who could not throw aside the religious habits of mind of medieval Christians.

Peace was made on conditions extremely favorable to the Greeks. There was still a tribute to be paid, but some territory that had been taken in the campaign was restored. When Manuel died in 1425 he left six sons, all of whom were in positions of command. One of them, John VIII, was his successor as Emperor, the others were ruling parts of the empire at Thessalonika and farther south.

One of the first acts of the new administration was to endeavor to placate the Turks by restoring some of the towns on the Black Sea. But the efforts at pacification were of no avail. The Morea was invaded by one of the Sultan’s generals, Tourakhan-beg, whose progress was not effectively contested, except by the Albanian colonies. The inhabitants of these were, however, mercilessly slaughtered, and on the site of the razed towns the Turks erected pyramids of the heads of their victims. In the north, too, there was successful fighting on the part of the Ottomans, both with the Roumanians and the Bulgarians, and even with the Hungarians, whose King, Sigismund, was defeated near the walls of Kolunbitz.

In 1430, Murad took charge of the attack on Thessalonika, now in the possession of the Venetians, who had taken it from the Greek prince Andronicus. The activity of Venice at this time is in decided contrast to the cautious policy displayed by the republic in the previous century. For one thing, the secular contest with Genoa had been decided in favor of the Adriatic port. Then, too, the objections of the Venetians to occupy continental possessions had been overcome by the exigencies of Italian politics, which had forced Venice to play a larger rôle in advancing her especial interests than ever before. It seemed for a time as if the Venetians would become the natural heirs to the territories of the Eastern Empire in the lands of peninsular Greece, while to the north Hungary had risen to be the main power, around which the Roumanian and Slavic races gathered as their natural protector against the Turk. From now on the establishment of the Ottoman power in Europe would depend on the overthrow of both the Venetians and the Hungarians. The former, as has just been intimated, were slowly and diplomatically acquiring Greek principalities in the south of continental Greece, but were striving, at the same time, not to bear the brunt of Turkish hostility. They relied partly on the strong fleet which had been sent to the East, and partly on the care they had taken to secure the aid of the Hungarians. On the other hand, the Turks had been developing their navy, and they ventured, as early as 1428, to attack merchant vessels belonging to the republic.

The fall of Thessalonika precipitated events and caused the Venetians to recognize that quick action was necessary. The republic entered into relations with the King of Cyprus and with the dissatisfied vassal princes of Karamania, who were ever ready to rebel against the Sultan. Proposals were made to King Sigismund to inaugurate a new crusade, in which he would have charge of the land forces, while the Venetians, keeping the mastery of the sea, would prevent new troops from being sent over from Asia. Unhappily, Sigismund proved apathetic; there were disturbances in the Albanian lands owned by Venice, and a war with Genoa kept the Venetians from having a free hand to deal effectively with the Sultan. Accordingly, a peace was patched up, by the terms of which Venice paid a tribute to the Turks for some of her Greek possessions.

Plundering expeditions were now made by the Turks into Hungarian territory, but before Sigismund could undertake military operations on his side his death occurred. (December 9, 1437.) The work of defense was then undertaken by his successor and son-in-law, Albert. For the first time the Sultan in person led an army in the region of the Carpathians and the Danube, and, although a coalition was formed, consisting of Hungarians, Servians, and Wallachians, the Turkish arms proved, as so often, irresistible. Semendria was taken, and many thousands of prisoners were carried away from the ravaged countries. But Belgrade held out, though Albert died there among his troops on October 27, 1438.

Strong hands were found ready to take up the work of defense. In the city, which was amply protected by a threefold wall, and by many pieces of artillery mounted on the ramparts, there was a garrison of German mercenaries, while in other regions exposed to the invaders, there were Hungarian forces under the command of Johann Hunyadi, the son of a Roumanian peasant of Inidora, whose reputation as a national hero was soon to be made in the victorious leadership of his people against the Turk.

Hunyadi’s first aggressive act was an invasion into Bosnia, where he drove out some marauding bands of the Turkish general Isa-beg. A much more important military exploit was the battle of Szt-Imre, where, in 1442 (March 18), the Turks were forced back into Wallachia. Attempts made somewhat later to avenge this humiliation had no final success, for Hunyadi attacked the invading army on its march, winning a victory conspicuous because many well-known Ottoman generals lost their lives.

Spurred by the prowess of Hunyadi, the Western powers prepared to support him in driving the Ottomans from Europe. There was additional ground for hope in the arrangements, lately made, for a union between the Eastern and Western churches, a scheme naturally regarded as a good basis for coöperation against the Moslems. A new crusade was proclaimed, but nothing was accomplished by it, since the Venetians feared the loss of their possessions in the East, if the Slavic races were too actively aided, and since the Pope had no inclination to part with the tithes collected for the crusade, while he had use for them in protecting his temporal sovereignty as an Italian prince.

The Hungarians, left for these sinister reasons to deal with the Turks single-handed, displayed no lack of resolution. Hunyadi, with troops of Roumanians and Hungarians, passed the Danube late in October, 1443. He soon occupied Nisch and defeated several Ottoman armies, but the campaign had no decisive result, for Hunyadi feared to penetrate farther into Turkish territory without additional forces, especially as Murad was now in personal command. This caution was justified, for, in withdrawing, the Christian army suffered a reverse. The Hungarians could congratulate themselves that their advance had given great encouragement wherever the pressure of the Turkish occupation was felt. Yet there was no sincere effort on the part of the Christian powers to work together. The Servians made their own terms with the Sultan, and the Venetian fleet, ostensibly despatched to eastern waters to act with the Hungarians, was put under the command of Loredano, who had private instructions to come to terms with the Turks.

The story of a peace concluded on terms most humiliating for Murad, by which, among other things, the whole of Bulgaria and Servia was evacuated, is rightly questioned. All that is known is that Wladislaw, who was now King of Hungary (1440), solemnly protested that he would undertake a crusade against the Turks, all treaties and truces to the contrary notwithstanding. The expedition was begun, Hunyadi coöperating, and Papal legates testifying, by their presence, that a true crusade was in progress. But, although the army stood for the cause of the whole of Christendom, in the ranks there were almost none but Hungarian soldiers. It crossed the Danube, intending to march straight to Varna, and from there proceed by sea to Constantinople. But it was far too small for the work it planned to do; even after it had been joined by Vlad of Wallachia, it only numbered 15,000 men. Before Varna could be taken, Murad (at the head of an army of 40,000 men) hastened from Asia to arrest the progress of the crusaders. In the engagement that followed all efforts to break through the Janitschars, even when attempted under the experienced leadership of Hunyadi, failed completely, and the Christians suffered a decisive overthrow. Only a few of the 15,000 escaped, among them Hunyadi and Vlad. Among the dead were the King of Hungary and a Papal legate. (October, 1444.)

The news of this disaster took some time to reach the West, and by the time it was known there, information was also received that the indefatigable Hunyadi was again girding himself up for a second expedition. This ended with some small advantages in Wallachia. Again, in 1448, he tried another mode of entrance into the Sultan’s territory, passing this time among the Albanians, on whose aid he reckoned without avail, since they were fighting on their own account against the Turks. The Servians, too, held aloof. The second battle of Kossovo (October 17, 1448) ended in a defeat for the Hungarians, although the Turkish losses were very severe. Under the hammering of Hunyadi, the Janitschars were obliged to give way, but they withdrew in good order with unbroken ranks.

There was a truce for three years after this battle, much to the relief of both sides, since Murad had encountered an aggressive Albanian leader in Scanderbeg, who seemed likely to rival Hunyadi as an enemy of Ottoman rule. For some time this Albanian champion, whose name in Albanian is equivalent to Alexander, had been kept as a page at the Sultan’s court. During the confusion caused by the campaigns of Hunyadi, the young man had managed to escape, but before doing so, he had forced the Sultan’s secretary, under menace of death, to sign an order directing the commander of Croia to give up the place to Scanderbeg. On reaching his home in the mountains, the Albanian chieftain put himself at the head of 600 warriors. Entering Croia alone he presented his written order to the governor, who immediately turned over the place to him. In the night he brought his men into the town and the Turkish garrison was massacred.

Everywhere throughout the land the Albanian people rose to cast out the Turk from their borders. Scanderbeg soon had 11,000 men under him, and won back all the possessions belonging to his family. Even the Venetians, who had tried to seize an Albanian town, were glad to come to terms with him, and to become his financial agents. He was accepted as chief of all the forces operating against the Ottomans, and a relief expedition of 40,000 men, under the command of Ali Pascha, the vizier, was caught in the fastnesses of the Albanian mountains and slowly exterminated. (1443.) Another Turkish army fared no better than that under Ali Pascha, and it lost 10,000 men. When Murad himself undertook to repress the rebellion, bringing with him the overwhelming force of 100,000 men, he took two cities, but left 20,000 of his men dead in the narrow defiles of Albania. Two years afterwards Murad began the siege of Croia, trusting to specially powerful artillery to overwhelm the enemy. But Scanderbeg, by skilful manœuvers, not only held the Sultan in check, but actually enveloped his army. Murad, seeing his danger, offered peace, on condition that Scanderbeg would acknowledge his sovereignty, and pay tribute to him. This was refused, and Murad abandoned his efforts to arrest the stubborn guerrilla warfare in which the Albanian chieftain had proved himself a master.

In the Morea, where the Byzantine princes, the sons of Manuel II, were gaining ground at the expense of one of the Latin feudal lords, the Florentine Acciajuoli, who had accepted the Sultan as his overlord, Murad’s army of 60,000 men achieved decisive successes. The wall across the Isthmus of Corinth was taken by the Ottoman artillery, and the Peloponnesus was overrun by the invaders. Corinth was seized and burnt; but Patras, by its stout resistance, held the Sultan in check until terms were made, by which the invaders withdrew, on condition of receiving an annual tribute. (1446.)

But the dynastic disputes of Constantinople weakened the Greek power of resistance as much as did their failure in warfare. On the death of John VIII, in 1448, the dispute between his sons as to the succession was settled by Murad, who decided in favor of Constantine, the valiant defender of Patras. There was, however, no ceremony of coronation; therefore, strictly speaking, the last Christian Emperor of the East appears in the long line of the successors of Constantine the Great,--his namesake,--with a tinge of irregularity in his record. Soon after this elevation Murad died, February 8, 1451. His virtues are celebrated by the western chronicler, Brocquière, in the words, “a mild person, kind and generous in according lordship and money.”

V MOHAMMED II

Mohammed II was only twenty years old when he took up the reins of government. He was ambitious, was endowed with great physical endurance, and, from reading the deeds of Julius Cæsar and Alexander, as they appeared in the folklore tales translated into Arabic, had conceived a strong desire to transform the tribal and loosely organized sovereignty of his people into an enduring political power with a systematic organization. His primary object was the capture of Constantinople, and to get a free hand for this undertaking, he adopted a most pacific policy in the first year of his reign. He renewed the treaties with Genoa and Venice, with the princes of Servia and Wallachia, and with Hunyadi, Scanderbeg, and the Knights of Rhodes.

[Illustration: MEDAL OF MOHAMMED II.]

He opened hostilities with the Greeks by building, in an extraordinarily short space of time, a fortification on the narrow seas, near the imperial city, which enabled him to collect dues from all the vessels entering the harbor, and served as a point from which issued armed expeditions that captured nearly all the Greek territory outside the city walls. Meanwhile, some slight acts of aggression in the Morea failed to reveal to the West the real purposes of the new Sultan. Those who had seen him spoke of him as a mild and learned young man, not at all the kind of ruler who would walk in footsteps different from his father’s. The Western Emperor, Frederick III, thought it was sufficient to write the Sultan a letter, warning him not to attack Constantinople. Those who were nearer understood his temper better, knowing that, when Constantine sent a delegation to protest against the erection of the fortification that had lately been built on the European shore of the Bosphorus, the Greek emissaries had been beheaded.

In the doomed city itself dissensions reigned supreme. Ecclesiastics had come from Rome to look over the religious situation in Constantinople with the purpose of reporting the prospects for carrying out the terms of union, drawn up lately at the Council of Florence. Their appearance in the city disgusted the common people, who called their new Emperor a traitor to the Eastern Church, and an irreligious usurper, who was, after all, they said, not a real emperor, because he had not been crowned.

The Venetians were busy looking after their own interests on the Adriatic coast or in continental Greece. They were busy arranging terms with the Sultan, as to the export of grain from Asia, and were so pleased with their commercial success in this bargain that they only resolved to allow artillerymen to be hired among the subjects of Venice by Constantine, not to aid him officially.

Outside the city the prospects for successful resistance were quite as bad. When a delegation came from the East to beg their help, they were referred by the Signoria to the Holy Father, as the head of the crusading program. Yet they began to suspect something was wrong when one of their ships, coming out of the Bosphorus, was fired on by the Turks, and the crew was taken and massacred. There were a few Venetian merchants’ galleys in the harbor whose crews, at the Emperor’s request, took part in the work of defending the fortifications. The Genoese, fearful of the fate of their colony at Pera, sent an armed force of 1000 men to help defend the city.