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CHAPTER VI
THE EASTERN QUESTION, 1460-1463.
WHILE Western Christendom was consumed by internecine
strife, the Conqueror of Constantinople pursued his victorious course in the
East. In order to complete the circle of his Empire in this region, it was
necessary to bring into subjection the independent Greek, Albanian, and South
Slavonian countries that lay scattered within its boundaries, on the broad line
between the limits of the Venetian territory and Trebizond. Fortune favoured
the Turks, and the new power that had arisen on the shores of the Bosphorus
threatened to be a greater danger to Western Christendom with its thousand
divisions than the inroads of the Hun and the Mongol in former days. In the
summer of 1459 Serbia had been constrained to bow beneath the Ottoman yoke. The
Greek Schismatics preferred Islam to union with the Catholic Church, and the
Papal garrison of the Island of Lemnos had been overpowered through their
treachery. In 1460 the power of the Palaeologi in
the Morea was crushed, and the glorious Parthenon changed from a Church of our
Lady into a Mosque. Onward and onward the Turk pressed with fire and sword,
filling these countries, once the most beautiful and flourishing in the world,
with ruin and desolation. The Eastern question became more and more alarming;
it was the oldest and most important of all the questions of foreign policy
that Christendom had ever had to deal with.
The life or death character of the struggle with the
barbarism of Islam in which Christian civilization was engaged was fully
appreciated at Rome. From the time of his accession, Pius II had, like his
predecessor Calixtus III, been anxiously occupied with the affairs of the East;
but in the early days of his Pontificate, at the Congress of Mantua, he had to
endure bitter disappointments. During the troubles which followed the arrival
of the Duke of Calabria in Naples he had never lost sight of his great object.
The first thing to be done was to obtain the
accomplishment of the promises solemnly made at the Congress. Even during his
journey from Mantua to Siena, Pius II urged this matter on the different
powers. But he met with hardly any response. Evasive and unsatisfactory answers
reached him from various quarters. Duke Borso of Este, although he
had with his own hand signed the Decree regarding the levy of the tithes, would
not be the first to let the collection take place in his territory, and sent
back the Papal messengers. In vain did the Pope reproach him with his
ingratitude and faithlessness, in vain did he threaten him with
Excommunication. Borso would not keep his word, and at a later period
even supported Sigismondo Malatesta in his attack on the States of the Church.
The wealthy Florentines behaved no better. When Pius
II, during his sojourn in their city, spoke to them of the fulfilment of the
decrees of Mantua, he was informed that the promises of the Envoys must be
confirmed by the Great Council, and that there was no prospect that it would
permit the tax to be levied on the laity. Hopes were held out that the tithes
from the clergy might be collected, but when it came to the point this also was
prohibited.
Hoping that some change of mind might have taken place
among the influential leaders of the Republic, Pius II sent his confidential
friend Goro Lolli to Venice, but his representations were without
effect. The cold and calculating policy of the Signoria, whatever might befall,
was to keep on good terms with the powerful enemy of Christendom.
The exhortations of the Pope were thrown away on these
short-sighted worshippers of Mammon. And even the threat of severe spiritual
penalties produced little effect in Bologna and other places. Many who would
not pay were not frequenters of the Sacraments. The chronicler, who relates
this, adds that the money was by no means destined for the Turkish war, that it
was all a cheat, and that the contributions were not demanded anywhere, save in
Bologna. On the other hand, it was asserted that a great deal of money had been
collected in that city for the defence of the Faith. All the inhabitants did
not share the anti-Roman sentiments of the chronicler. A glance at the
Registers in the Secret Archives of the Vatican suffices to show the falsity of
the assertion, that tribute for the Turkish war was not claimed from other
states. Even during the Congress, and immediately after its close, Nuncios and
Collectors were sent to Norway, Sweden, Lithuania, various districts in Germany
and Italy, to England, Scotland, Ireland, Aragon, Castille, and Leon. Some of
the Briefs on this subject are dated from Siena, and some from the Baths
of Macereto and Petriolo, an evidence
of the zeal and earnestness displayed by the Pope.
The results, obtained were certainly small; a strange
indifference prevailed in almost all the Christian States regarding the danger
which threatened from the East, although it was a favourite subject with the
Humanistic Poets and Rhetoricians. The Decree for the levy of the Tithes from
the members of the Roman Court was published at Siena on the 24th February,
1460. Soon, however, it became known that some Prelates and Cardinals,
especially those whose sympathies were with France, did not set the good example
of paying, but the evil one of murmuring and resisting. In Italy, Pius II
complains to Cardinal Bessarion in May, 1460, that people are far from
manifesting the alacrity we had hoped for. Few are mindful of the engagements
they made at Mantua. France and Germany, the most war-like of the Western
powers, were even less zealous than Italy. The fair promises in most cases came
to nothing.
In this deplorable state of things, any great
undertaking was impossible. Pius II had for the time to content himself with
giving assistance to the most oppressed, as far as his small means and the
troubles in Naples and the States of the Church permitted, and with keeping the
idea of a Crusade alive until better days should dawn. His strongest opponents
cannot deny that he did this to the utmost of his power.
While the Pope was at Siena, Moses Giblet, Archdeacon
of Antioch, a scholar well versed in Greek and Syrian literature, arrived in
that city. He came as Envoy from the Greek Patriarchs of Jerusalem, Antioch,
and Alexandria, the Prince of Caramania, Ibrahimbeg, and other Oriental Rulers who hoped that Pius
II would deliver them from the Turkish yoke. He bore letters from these various
Eastern potentates declaring their adhesion to the Florentine Union. Pius
received him both in private audience and publicly, and on the 21st April,
1460, caused a memorandum to be drawn up recording these professions of
obedience. This Document, together with a Latin translation of the letters of
the Patriarchs and Princes, was deposited in the Archives of the Church. It is
preserved in a book prepared for the purpose, and distinguished from other
contemporary Registers by its careful penmanship and arrangement. It was called
“The Red Book” on account of its handsome red binding.
It is worthy of notice that Pius II never again
mentioned this great event. Possibly, even at the time, he may have had doubts
of the genuineness of the mission and the letters.
At the end of December of this year (1460), a fresh
Embassy from the East arrived in Rome, whither the Pope had by that time
returned. The Romans were astonished at the appearance of the Envoys of Emperor
David of Trebizond, of the King of Persia, the Prince of Georgia, and other
Eastern Rulers in their strange Oriental attire. The Persian and Mesopotamian
Envoys attracted particular attention; the latter had his head smooth-shaven
like a monk, with the exception of a little crown of hair and a tuft at the top.
The travellers had come through Austria and Hungary to Venice, and had there
been honourably received, a circumstance which convinced the Pope of the
genuine character of the Embassy. They presented letters in grand eloquent
language from their Princes. Their interpreter and guide was Lodovico of
Bologna, a Franciscan Observantine, who, in the days of Nicholas V and
Calixtus III, had travelled much in the East and made many friends there. He
now held out hopes of a political combination, such as had often been
contemplated in Western Christendom. The attack of the European powers on the
Turks was to be seconded by parallel action on the part of the Oriental Rulers.
Lodovico made the most splendid promises as to the immense number of troops
they would furnish. Pius II, who had already entered into alliance with the
Prince of Caramania, entertained the Envoys at
his own expense, and advised them to visit, not only the Italian Princes, but
the King of France, and the Duke of Burgundy, without whose cooperation the
Crusade could scarcely be undertaken. They agreed to follow this advice, but
asked the Pope to supply them with money for their journeys, and to appoint
Lodovico of Bologna Patriarch of the Oriental Christians.
Although provided with Papal letters of
recommendation, the Easterns brought
nothing back, either from the French or the Burgundian Court, but empty words.
This time their reception was less friendly; suspicions of fraud had arisen.
Lodovico had, on his own authority, assumed the title of Patriarch, granted
dispensations, and collected money everywhere. The Pope gave the Envoys money
for their journey home, but refused to nominate Lodovico Patriarch. Soon
afterwards, learning that he had carried his audacity so far as to contrive, on
false pretences, to obtain consecration in Venice, Pius II gave orders for his
imprisonment. Warned by the Doge, Lodovico fled, and the Pope, who, from
henceforth, looked with suspicion on all messages from the East, never again
heard of him.
It is difficult to say, from the reports of this
Embassy which are before us, and considering the defective means of
communication in those times, how far it was fictitious in its character. We
may at least affirm that Michele degli Aldighieri, the representative of the Emperor of Trebizond,
was no deceiver. It can hardly be supposed that a man of his stamp would have
travelled through Europe in the company of impostors. Whatever may have been
the real nature of this Embassy, it is, however, certain that the efforts of
the Pope to call forth a Crusade, elicited a movement amongst Mahomet’s enemies
in Asia, which, under more favourable circumstances, might have proved a
serious danger to him.
A deeper sensation than that caused by the appearance
of the Envoys was soon aroused in Rome by that of the dethroned Eastern
Princes, who now began to arrive. It had long been one of the most treasured
privileges of the Holy See to shelter and befriend the exiled and the
unfortunate, and seldom had the claims on that hospitality been more urgent
than at this period.
On the 7th May, 1461, Thomas, the dethroned Despot of
the Morea, came to Rome. In the beginning of the previous year he had been rash
enough to break a treaty made with the Porte, and to quarrel with his brother
Demetrius. The consequence was that Mahomet determined to bring the rule of
the Palaeologi in the Morea to an end. The
cowardice and degeneracy of the Greeks were now deplorably manifested.
Demetrius submitted, and gave the Sultan his daughter for his harem. Mahomet
plainly told him that he meant to get rid of the Palaeologi.
The whole country was devastated, and horrible outrages were committed. On the
28th July, 1460, Thomas quitted the Peloponnesus in despair, and sought shelter
in Venice. From thence, on the 16th November, by the Pope’s invitation, he
proceeded to Ancona, bringing with him a precious relic, the head of the
Apostle St. Andrew from Patras. This he gave to Cardinal Oliva, who, by order
of Pius II, deposited it provisionally in the strong fortress of Narni.
The Lord of the Morea bore a striking resemblance to
the statue of St. Paul which formerly stood in front of St. Peter’s. He is
described as a grave and handsome man, about fifty-six years of age. He wore a
long black cloak and a white hat of a material resembling velvet. Of the
seventy horses which formed his train, three only were his own. The Pope
received the unfortunate Prince in a Consistory held in the Hall of the Papagallo, assigned to him as his abode the Palace near SS.
Quattro Coronati, and provided for his
maintenance. On Laetare Sunday he sent him the Golden Rose, and, with the
assistance of the Cardinals, granted him a yearly pension of 6000 ducats.
In the spring of 1462 Thomas, who could not forget
that he was the sovereign and heir of Byzantium, made a vain attempt to induce
Siena, Milan, and Venice to espouse his cause. Pius II, by a solemn Bull,
called upon all the faithful to furnish him with troops and arms, and thus give
him the support which he himself was unable to afford. An indulgence was also
promised to all who should aid him to recover his throne. When all these
efforts proved fruitless, Thomas seems to have found it impossible to resign himself
to his dependent position. Melancholy and disappointment consumed him, and on
the 12th May, 1465, he died forgotten in the Hospital of Sto Spirito. His wife Catherine had preceded him in
1462. Thomas had two daughters, Helena, Queen of Serbia, who died in a convent
at Leucadia in 1474, and Zoe; also two sons, Andreas and Manuel. The latter of
these two returned to Constantinople, became a Mussulman, and received a
pension from the Porte. Andreas, whom Pius II acknowledged as titular Despot of
the Morea, remained in Rome, but injured his position by marrying a woman of
bad reputation. His schemes of reconquering the Peloponnesus by the assistance
of Naples or of France came to nothing. In 1502 he died in misery, having
bequeathed his kingdom to Ferdinand the Catholic, and Isabella of Castille.
Zoe, who was very beautiful, lived in Rome under the guardianship of Cardinal
Bessarion, and, in 1472, received a dowry from the Pope, and married the Grand
Duke Iwan Wassilijewitsch III of
Russia, transmitting her claims to the throne to her only daughter Helena and
her son-in-law, Alexander I of Poland, who belonged to the Jagellon family.
In the beginning of October, 1461, it was rumoured
that Charlotte of Lusignan, the youthful Queen of Cyprus, a relation of
the Palaeologi, meant to come in person, and
seek assistance from the Pope. This unhappy Princess, who had ascended the
throne in 1458, was married to Prince Louis, son of the Duke of Savoy. But the
young Queen and her weak consort were unable to rule their distracted kingdom.
Charlotte had both courage and strength of will, but could not prevent her
half-brother James, with the assistance of the Sultan of Egypt, from usurping
her throne. Louis of Savoy was surrounded by his enemies in the fortress of
Cerines, and Charlotte hastened to Rhodes and then to Rome in search of aid.
The prospect of this visit was by no means agreeable
to the Pope, who had little reason to be pleased with the conduct of the House
of Savoy, or the loyalty of Cyprus.
He sent Cardinal d'Estouteville to Ostia to
dissuade the Queen from her purpose. This proved impossible, and Pius II
received her with sympathy and kindness. On the 14th October she landed at S.
Paolo, and on the following day made her entry into Rome; nine Cardinals met
her, and she was received with all the honour due to a Queen. In his Memoirs,
Pius II thus describes this lady: “She seemed to be about twenty-four years of
age, and was of middle height. Her eyes had a kindly look, her complexion was
pale and rather dark, her speech, as is common with the Greek, winning and
fluent. She dressed in the French style, and her manners were dignified”.
Pius II received the Queen in Consistory with the
greatest kindness, and when she knelt he made her rise immediately. He assigned
her as her residence a palace in the immediate neighbourhood of the Vatican.
The next day, with many tears, she told her sad story to the Pope, besought his
help for her besieged husband, and entreated him to furnish her with the means
of continuing her journey, for she had been plundered by pirates on her way.
Pius II promised to grant her requests, but could not help reminding her of the
contempt of the Holy See, and disregard of the interests of Christendom, which
her husband and her father-in-law had manifested during the Congress of Mantua.
Charlotte remained in Rome till the 29th October, and
visited the Holy Places. Meanwhile the Pope had provided for her travelling
expenses, and caused an escort of fifty men to be prepared. Thus attended, the
Queen passed through Siena, Florence, and Bologna, to the home of her husband.
Everywhere she was received with sympathy, and hospitality was shown to her and
to her escort. But she found her father-in-law so little disposed to render
assistance that she gave up her intended journey to France. In the end all her
efforts to interest the Christian Princes in her cause proved fruitless, and in
the autumn of 1462 she embarked at Venice to return to Rhodes. The letter in
which she describes her forlorn and helpless condition is very touching.
Even before the arrival of the Queen of Cyprus, heavy
tidings from the East had again reached Rome. In the end of September, letters
from Venice declared that the Principality of Sinope and the Empire of
Trebizond were in the hands of the Infidels.
At the very time when the Pope thus learned that the
northern shore of Asia Minor was lost to Christendom, he was in the midst of
the troubles of the Apulian war, and in extreme financial difficulties. The
news from the East, together with the indifference of the Western Powers in
regard to the danger threatened by Turkey, may have been the immediate occasion
which suggested to him the bold idea of making an attempt to convert the
Sultan. The learned Pope’s letter to Mahomet is so comprehensive that it deserves
rather to be called a treatise. It breathes the conviction, which subsequent
history has confirmed, that the Koran can never ultimately prevail against
Christian civilization. This remarkable document is far more impassioned in
style than any of Pius II’s other works. It laid before the Sultan the
teachings of Christianity, contrasting them with those of Islam, and expressed
the ardent desire of the writer that he might turn to the truth. “Were you to
embrace Christianity”, the Pope writes, “there is no Prince upon earth who
would surpass you in glory or be your equal in power. We would acknowledge you
as Emperor of the Greeks and of the East, and that which you have now taken by
violence, and retain by injustice, would then be your lawful possession. We
would invoke your aid against those who usurp the rights of the Roman Church,
and rend their own Mother. And as our predecessors, Stephen, Adrian, and Leo
summoned Pepin and Charles the Great to assist them, and transferred the Empire
from the Greeks to their deliverers, so should we also avail ourselves of your
help in the troubles of the Church, and liberally reward it. O! what a fullness
of peace it would be! The Golden Age of Augustus sung by the Poets would
return. If you were to join yourself to us, the whole of the East would soon
turn to Christ. One will could give peace to the whole world, and that will is
yours!”. The Pope went on to show the Sultan, from history, that such a
conversion would not remain isolated; the Franks had been converted with
Clovis, the Hungarians with Stephen, the Western Goths with Recared, and
with Constantine heathen Rome itself became Christian. This latter example was
well worthy of his imitation, and the Pope, with the help of God, would bestow
the dignities promised
In the Holy Week of 1462 the head of St. Andrew was
brought from Narni into Rome with great
pomp and solemnity, by order of the Pope, and it may be with the hope of
re-awakening the smouldering zeal for the Crusade. Three Cardinals, Bessarion,
Oliva, and Piccolomini, had been sent to Narni to
fetch the precious relic, and they brought it to Rome on Palm Sunday (11th
April). On the following day, the Pope, with all the Cardinals, Prelates,
Ambassadors, and Magnates of the City, went in procession to the meadows on
the Romeward side of the Ponte Molle.
A high tribune with an altar had here been erected; it was ascended by two
corresponding flights of stairs; the one next the bridge was destined for the
Cardinals bearing the Holy Head, and by the other, which was on the side of the
City, Pius II went up to receive the treasure. Bessarion, a venerable man, with
a long beard, was the representative of the Greeks. Tears rolled down his
cheeks as he delivered the reliquary to the Pope, who, also deeply moved,
prostrated himself before the sacred relic. Then, rising, in accordance with
the fashion of that rhetorical age, he pronounced a Latin oration
in honour of its advent. The Pope’s voice trembled with emotion as,
in presence of an immense crowd, he began:
“You are here at last, O sacred head, driven from your
resting-place by the fury of the Turk. You come as a fugitive to seek an asylum
with thy brother, the Prince of the Apostles. O happy exile that brings you
here! You see before thee Alma Roma, hallowed by thy brother’s
blood. Here is the nation won by Peter and Paul for Christ. We rejoice, we
exult in being able to welcome you here. Come into our holy City, and be
gracious to the Roman people. Be our advocate in Heaven, and, together with the
Prince of the Apostles, protect Rome and the whole of Christendom. Turn the
anger of the Almighty against the godless Turks and Barbarians who despise
Christ our Lord”.
After the Pope and all present had venerated the
relic, and Pius II had invoked the protection of St. Andrew against the Turks,
the Te Deum and other
festal hymns were sung. Then the solemn Procession moved towards Rome, the Pope
bearing the Apostle’s head. The Via Flaminia was filled with
multitudes of people; and, as an Indulgence had been proclaimed for the feast,
countless Pilgrims had flocked together, not merely from all parts of Italy,
but even from France, Germany, and Hungary. The relic was laid on the High
Altar in Sta Maria del Popolo, and on the 13th of April carried thence to
St. Peter’s.
In his Report to the Sienese, Augustinus Dathus says that so grand a function had not been seen
for centuries. The streets were strewn with flowers and fragrant herbs, and
sheltered with rich tapestry from the rays of the sun. The great men of the
City and the Cardinals, in particular Alain and Borgia, had vied with one
another in the adornment of their Palaces, and the Churches displayed all their
relics and treasures. Lights were burning everywhere, and sacred music filled
the air. The streets were thronged with worshippers, and it was believed that
so many had not been present on any single day of the Jubilee of 1450. The
Procession went round and through the City, and the Pope had given orders that
all who took part in it, even the Cardinals, should go on foot. It was touching
to see Princes of the Church, bowed down with age and infirmity, clad in their
gorgeous vestments, and with palms in their hands, following it, and praying
fervently. All the Clergy and Magistrates, the Ambassadors, and the great men
of Rome walked in this Procession carrying lighted tapers. The Pope, although
suffering from gout, was there in full pontificals.
Seated on a golden chair of state, beneath a Baldacchino, he bore the Holy
Head to St. Peter’s, which was brilliantly illuminated. It was deposited in
front of the Confession. In a lengthy oration, Bessarion invoked the aid of St.
Andrew and the Princes of the Apostles for the Crusade. When he had done, the Pope
stood up and spoke again: “We promise you”, were his concluding words, “Holy
Andrew, most worthy Apostle of Christ, to do our utmost to regain possession of
your earthly abode, and of your flock. We have nothing so much at heart as the
defence of the Christian religion and of the true Faith, which the Turks, your
enemies and ours, are threatening to destroy. If the Christian Princes will
listen to our voice, and will follow their Shepherd, the whole Church will
rejoice that we have not neglected what belongs to our office, and that you
have not sought a brother’s aid in vain”. The relic was then exposed for the
veneration of the faithful; and the Festival was closed by the Papal
Benediction and the publication of a plenary Indulgence.
In the month of May of this same year, the rich
alum-bed of Tolfa was discovered by Giovanni de Castro, a Paduan, and
son of the celebrated jurist Paolo. Until 1453, de Castro had managed extensive
dye-works in Constantinople, and there he had become acquainted with the
Levantine alum and the places where it was found. Pius II, in his Memoirs,
tells us that Giovanni de Castro, wandering about the mountains, which extend
from near Cività Vecchia to the sea,
and are rich in springs and in forests, found an herb in the March of Tolfa,
which also grows on the Alum Mountains of Asia Minor, and then observed white
stones which had a saltish taste, and on being submitted to the fire proved to
be alum. Giovanni hastened to the Pope to inform him of the discovery. “Today”,
he cried, “I bring you a triumph over the Turk. Every year he receives more
than 300,000 ducats from Christendom for alum. I have found seven mountains
full of this substance, which elsewhere in the West is only obtained in small
quantities, and in a few places. There is enough here to supply seven-eighths
of the world, and plenty of water near at hand. This, and the proximity of the
sea, gives every advantage for the working of the beds. Thus, a great gain may
be withdrawn from Turkey, and fresh resources for carrying on the Holy War’ may
be furnished to you”.
Pius II at first looked on the whole affair as the
dream of an astrologer, but experts confirmed its reality. Some Genoese, who
had learned the way of working alum in the East, were summoned: “They shed
tears of joy when they recognized the mineral. The process of baking proved the
quality to be excellent; 80 pounds of it were worth 100 of the Turkish alum.
The Pope determined to employ the gift of God to His glory in the Turkish war;
he exhorted all Christians henceforth to buy alum only from him and not from
the Unbelievers”. The working of the beds was at once begun; and, according to
the chronicler of Viterbo, 8000 persons were employed in it as early as the
year 1463. The technical part of the business was, from the first, left by Pius
II entirely to the discoverer who, conjointly with a Genoese and a Pisan,
founded an Alum Company; this company took the Apostolic Treasury into
partnership. The Tolfa alum, which is still highly esteemed, was soon
in general request, and Castro became famous; his discovery brought a yearly
income of 100,000 ducats to the Papal Treasury.
While this new and unexpected source of revenue had
been opened to assist the Pope in his war, the Infidels had brought nearly the
whole Archipelago into subjection. Almost immediately after the fall of Sinope
and Trebizond, Mahomet had sent a powerful fleet to the Aegean Sea. The object
of this expedition was to put an end to the Genoese rule in Lesbos, to extort a
higher tribute from the Maona of Chios and the Duke of Naxos, and, if
possible, to expel the Knights of St. John from Rhodes and its dependent islands.
These last, on whose behalf the Pope subsequently appealed to Germany, were
able to hold their own; but in September, 1462, the rich Island of Lesbos was
conquered by the Turks, and fearfully devastated.
In the following year the Unbelievers directed their
forces against the few remaining Southern Slavs, who still retained their
independence. Bosnia was in the greatest danger, and the designs of Mahomet
were greatly forwarded by the unfortunate state of its internal affairs. The
country was distracted by feuds, there was discord among the members of the
ruling house, and fierce sectarian dissensions. Stephan Thomaschewitsch, who came to the throne in 1461, had much
to suffer from this last cause.
Stephan made peace with his step-mother Queen
Catherine, and with Matthias Corvinus, and in every way favoured the Catholic
Church. “The Slavs, following the example of the Roumanians,
preferred servitude under the Turks to the freedom which the Latin world
brought them”. The numerous Patarenes in
Bosnia entered into secret alliances with the Sultan, and slowly prepared the
storm which at last was to shroud their country in “the lasting night of
Ottoman bondage”.
The Bosnian King’s refusal to pay tribute in 1462
finally determined Mahomet II to carry out his purpose of reducing the country
to the condition of a Turkish Pashalik. Being at the time occupied in
Wallachia, he postponed his vengeance until the following spring. Stephan Thomaschewitsch employed this interval in preparing,
as best he could, to meet the threatening danger. The Pope helped him according
to his ability. Venice, of all powers the one best able to grant assistance,
was indifferent, and absolutely rejected the proposals of the Bosnian
Ambassadors for an alliance against the common enemy.
The Sultan’s plan was to take the King by surprise
before help could reach him from any quarter. He kept the project secret, and
granted a truce of fifteen years to Stephan, who was terribly alarmed by the
immense warlike preparations of Turkey. Mahomet then advanced with 150,000 men,
sent some of his troops against the Save to keep Matthias Corvinus employed,
and with the rest proceeded to the Bosnian frontier. In May, 1463, the Turkish
host encamped before the fortress of Bobovatz.
Mahomet had made up his mind to a protracted siege; but after a few days, Radak the
Commandant, a Patarene at heart, gave up
the bulwark of the country. When this traitor claimed the reward promised by
the Sultan, the tyrant caused him to be beheaded.
The general consternation produced by the fall
of Bobovatz, to which further treachery was
added, facilitated the work of conquest. The unfortunate King, who had fled to
the strong Castle of Kljutsch on the Save,
was beleaguered by the Turks. Want of victuals and ammunition constrained him
to capitulate; life and liberty were promised him on condition that he would
himself summon all places, not yet conquered, to surrender to the Turks. And
now all the horrors by which the cruel policy of the Sultan loved to break
conquered nations fell upon the land. Those who could sought safety in flight.
A brave Franciscan drew Mahomet’s attention to the threatened depopulation of
the territory he had just acquired, and the Sultan granted to his Order a Deed
by which the free exercise of their religion was permitted to the Christians.
From this time forth the Franciscans were the only shield and refuge of all
Bosnian Christians.
Not content with the subjugation of Bosnia, Mahomet
next cast his eyes on Herzegovina, but soon found that the conquest of that
mountainous country could not be so easily accomplished. On his way back to
Adrianople, he caused the letters he had granted, ensuring freedom to the King
of Bosnia, to be declared invalid, and had him beheaded, together with his
uncle and nephew. The Queen Maria and the Queen-mother Catherine escaped death
by flight; the latter lived first at Ragusa, and, from the year 1466, in Rome.
Supported by the Pope, she, with other noble Bosnian lords and ladies,
inhabited a house near St. Mark’s, and afterwards one in the Leonine City. Here
she died on the 25th October, 1478, at the age of fifty-three, having
bequeathed her kingdom to the Holy See, unless her children, who had
become Mahometans, should return to the Catholic
Church. The grave of the landless Queen is to be seen in Sta Maria Araceli. Her
full-length figure is sculptured on the stone, her crowned head resting on a
pillow, at whose sides are two coats of arms; her hands are laid upon a book,
with an inscription which describes her lineage, dignity, and age.
Even before the tidings of the subjugation of Bosnia
had reached Italy, the Pope, during many sleepless nights, as he himself
declared, had thought of a new expedient for infusing fresh vigour into the
struggle with the Turks: sickly as he was, and feeble from age, he would
undertake in person the Leadership of the Holy War.
Pius II imparted the project, in the first place, to
six Cardinals in whom he placed special confidence, supporting his view by a
retrospect of his former fruitless efforts to unite Christians against the
common foe. “When the idea of a Convention occurred to us”, he said, “what
occurred at Mantua showed us that the plan was a vain one. When we send
Ambassadors to ask the aid of the Princes they are mocked. If we impose a tithe
on the Clergy, appeal is made to a future Council. If we publish Indulgences,
and invite contributions, by means of spiritual favours, we are charged with
greed. People think all this is done merely for the sake of extorting money; no
one trusts us. We have no more credit than a bankrupt merchant. Whatever we do
is interpreted in the worst manner; people measure our sentiments by
their own. We see but one resource, perhaps the last. In the year that
Constantinople fell Duke Philip of Burgundy made a solemn vow to take the field
against the Turks if some great Prince would place himself at the head of the
expedition. Up to this time no one has offered. Well, then, in spite of our age
and infirmity, we will take upon ourselves the warfare for the Catholic Faith.
We will go into the battle, and call upon the Duke of Burgundy to follow. If
the Vicar of Christ, who is greater than the King and the Emperor, goes to the
war, the Duke, when his oath is appealed to, cannot with honour stay
at home. If Philip embarks at Venice we will wait for him at Ancona, with as
many Galleys as we can make ready, and with our whole force. The Duke will
bring about 10,000 men. The French King will be ashamed not to send at least as
many, for he promised 70,000. Volunteers will come from England, Germany, and
Spain; those who are threatened by the Turks will rise everywhere, in Europe as
well as in Asia. Who will refuse his aid when the Bishop of Rome offers his own
person? Above all, however, the Venetians must be induced really to take part,
for they best know how the Turks should be attacked, and all the seas are open
to them. If they agree, and if Burgundy and France also consent, we mean to
proceed boldly to impose on all Christians a five years’ truce under pain of
Excommunication, to lay a contribution on all the clergy under the same
penalty, and to invite the support of the laity by granting Indulgences and
spiritual favours. We hope that the publication of this determination will act
as a thunder-clap to startle the nations from their sleep, and inflame the
minds of the faithful to stand up in earnest for their Religion”.
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