Hungarian Heritage Review, 1989 (18. évfolyam, 1-9. szám)
1989-01-01 / 1. szám
Prince Dan, Voivode of Wallachia. As usual, the great magnates and lords of the land refrained from participation in this campaign. By the end of September Hunyadi’s forces reached the line of the Danube and then crossed into Serbia. Here Hunyadi invited George Brankovitch, Despot of Serbia, to join him in the war against the Ottomans. Brankovitch, claiming that he had entered into a treaty with the Sultan, refused his support. He did swear, however, that he would remain neutral in the coming campaign. Hunyadi learned, however, that Brankovitch, contrary to his sworn word, had warned the Sultan of the Regent’s plans of approach. Enraged by this betrayal, Hunyadi sacked Rascia. In rataliation, Brankovitch sent the Sultan a detailed report of the makeup of Hunyadi’s forces, and he even suggested ways to deal with it. Sultan Murad II, receiving Brankovitch’s intelligence, left a holding force of 50,000 to contain Skanderberg in Albania, and with 100,000 men he marched into Bulgaria to await the Hungarians. When Hunyadi learned that the Ottomans had isolated Skanderberg in Albania, he marched into Bulgaria, and on the Plain of Rigomezo (Kossovo) he deployed his troops for battle. Sultan Murad II reached Kossovo — The Field of the Blackbirds — on October 16, 1448, and he too prepared for the conflict. The Sultan knew that Serbia guerrillas under Brankovitch were occupying the surrounding mountain passes to cut off any possible Hungarian retreat. Hunyadi was completely bottled up. The Third Battle of Kossovo commenced on the morning of October 17, 1448. All day long the armies fought hand to hand with neither side giving ground. At day’s end each side withdrew for rest. On the moring of the 18th Hunyadi received an offer from the Sultan to negotiate a treaty of peace. Rejecting this offer out of hand, and with the Wallachians under Prince Dan protecting his flanks, he attacked the main body of the Ottoman army. Again the battle raged back and forth for the entire day. And again, at evening, each side withdrew to lick its wounds. At dawn on the 19th the fighting was renewed; again the carnage lasted throughout the day. Suddenly, with disastrous results, Dan and his Walachians turned on their allies in the midst of the fighting. No reason has yet been definitely established to determine the cause of Dan’s treachery. Suffice it to say that this betrayal broke the back of the already almost decimated Hungarian army. They broke, scattered and ran, with the Turks in hot pursuit. Although the Ottomans lost over 34,000 men, the Hungarian army almost ceased to exist. Hunyadi himself was able to escape; when trapped by Serbian partisans high up in the mountains, he slew one and put the other to flight. Later a hired guide betrayed Hunyadi into the hands of the Serbian Despot who offered to behead him and send a grisly trophy to the Sultan. The latter, who despite his enmity, greatly respected Hunyadi, angrily rejected this suggestion and ordered Brankovitch to release the Regent. On his journey back to Buda Hunyadi met with members of the lesser nobility who cheered him and assured him of their undying faith. The people also greeted him warmly as he journeyed through the country. This so restored Hunyadi’s spirits that he immediately gathered a few troops with whom he invaded Serbia and inflicted such damage that Brankovitch, who had been holding Hunyadi’s son hostage, released the young man. The Regent was determined to end the possibility of further treachery on the part of the Serbian Despot. But it was an odd set of circumstances that brought the end of his punitive measures. Several great lords and magnates who, unknown to Hunyadi were very close friends of Brankovitch, urged the Regent to hold his hand from vengeance and, for the sake of peace within the realm, to enter into another agreement with the Despot. Hunyadi, more influenced by his desire to avenge his recent defeat at the hands of Murad II than by his wish to obtain personal revenge, consented. The settlement between the two men, however, held conditions that were to plague Hunyadi in the future. Hunyadi agreed to refrain from further action against Brankovitch and to return all the latter’s estates. It was further agreed that Hunyadi’s younger son, Matthias, should marry Count Cilli’s daughter and that, prior to the actual marriage, as a token of good faith and honesty, the lady would be housed at Vajda - Hunyadvar. Thinking that this arrangement would give him peace of mind, the Regent consented. He even tried to maintain some semblance of cordiality with Brankovitch and Cilii. But is was not long, of course, before these two continued their plotting against the man for whom they nursed a burning and implacable hatred. Hunyadi, however, fully occupied with more pressing problems, was completely unaware of the conspiracy being woven about him. 24 HUNGARIAN HERITAGE REVIEW JANUARY 1989
