Diaconescu, Marius (szerk.): Mediaevalia Transilvanica 1998 (2. évfolyam, 2. szám)
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200 Tamás Pálosfalvi information gained from the charters, and which was well-known enough for contemporaries to mark the battlefield without further qualifications59. In fact, the only piece of evidence which seems to contradict the otherwise unanimous testimony of the charters was first mentioned in an article published in 1879 and then taken uncritically by later historians. According to the author, Károly Veszély, Hunyadi claims in this charter to have beaten the immense Ottoman army not far from Alba Iulia60. Yet this "transscript" (transsumptum), allegedly found in the archives of the Franciscans of Şumuleu (Csík) by Vieszely, was never seen by anyone else in its original form, nor was it published in the first volume of the Székely Oklevéltár. We are convinced that we can safely disregard the evidence of this obscure document and leave out of consideration its completely isolated and highly improbable affirmation61. It is beyond doubt that the site of Hunyadi's victorious battle with the withdrawing Ottoman troops was the pass of Vaskapu in the county of Hunedoara62, and all that we know from other sources should be arranged around this "Archimedean point". Our first task is of course to determine where and when was Hunyadi beaten, for it is no less evident that his first encounter with the Ottoman troops ended with his defeat. In fact, none of our charters gives any indication as to where the first battle took place, which is no matter for surprise, for the royal grants enumerating the meritorius deeds of the grantees obviously left their misfortunes unmentioned63. Consequently, the only charter which mentions both encounters 59 We have seen that the sources clearly speak of a place (and not a village) called Poarta de Fier (Vaskapu) in Transylvania, so neither any of the villages called Kapu nor the famous Porţile de Fier (Vaskapu) near Orşova can be taken into consideration in determining the place of the battle. 60 Károly Veszély, Hol vezte meg Hunyadi János 1442-ben Mezid béget, in Századok, 1879, pp. 126- 135. 61 Ibidem, gives neither the date nor the latin text of his charter. 62 Bonfmi’s statement, according to which the second battle took place before Mezid bey reached the Transylvanian border (antequam provincie fines attingat), also confirms this opinion. 63 Apparently there is one exception, a charter issued by Hunyadi on 15 April 1447 in favour of the Kendefi family, which, unfortunately cannot be accepted as a source of information. It was first mentioned by Károly Szabó, who claims to have seen the original, but what he cites from it clearly contradicts all the other evidence. According to K. Szabó, the governor related in this charter the services rendered to him by members of the Kendefi family at Belgrade, at Szent-Imre-kapu (sic), in Wallachia and elsewhere. It would be the only reference to the battle of Sântimbru (Szentimre) outside the chronicles, which clearly makes it suspect, and clearly hints at a later influence of either Thuróczy or Bonfini. Moreover, as we have mentioned above, it is very unlikely for a lost battle to be narrated among the meritorious services of the grantee. An abstract of this charter was later published by Károly Magyari after a 18lh-century copy (!), from which we learn that the alleged services were done "circa Nándor Albam et Sz. Imre kapu in transalpinis partibus..." Történelmi Tár, 1907, p. 93. Even if we take into consideration all the alterations that normally characterise modem copies, it is obvious that this clumsy and isolated narration cannot derive from an authentic charter of Hunyadi. That it is indeed so is proved by the fact that we still have in original Hunyadi's grant of the same opidum Sântămărie-Orlea (Bódogasszonfalva) for the same family, dated 5 August 1447 - Dl. 30.443, cf. K. Szabó, op. cit. (see note 54), p. 32 - in which no mention is made of either Sântimbru (Szentimre) or Szentimre-kapu. Therefore, the original of the first grant, if it existed at all, must have
