The Crusade of 1456: Texts and Documentation in Translation

by James D. Mixson

Overview

In July 1456, a massive Turkish army settled in before Belgrade, an ancient city at the confluence of the Danube and Sava rivers. The army’s leader was the twenty-four-year-old Ottoman sultan Mehmed II, "the Conqueror," who sought to take one of the most strategically important fortifications in southeastern Europe. Three weeks later, Mehmed’s army was driven from Belgrade by a Hungarian warlord and his army, along with a ragtag force of ill-equipped crusaders.

In The Crusade of 1456, James D. Mixson gathers together the key primary sources for understanding the events that led to the siege of Belgrade. These newly translated sources challenge readers with their variety: papal decrees, letters, liturgies, and chronicles from Latin, Byzantine, and Ottoman perspectives. An accessible introduction, timelines, and maps help to illuminate this fascinating yet previously neglected story.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781487532635
Publisher:	University of Toronto Press
Publication date:	04/27/2022
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	324
File size:	1 MB

About the Author

James D. Mixson is an associate professor of History at the University of Alabama.

Table of Contents

Introduction

Historical Frames: Political and Military Developments
Sources in Scholarly Context: The Middle Ages, the Crusades, and the Problem of “Lateness”
Framing the Sources: Selection, Structure, and Significance

Part One: Preparations for Crusade, 1453–1456

1. Pope Nicholas V, Etsi Ecclesia Christi
2. Aeneas Silvius Piccolomini, Constantinopolitana Clades
3. Correspondence of 1455–1456
4. Liturgy for Taking the Cross
5. A Pope’s Call to Prayer
6. Pope Callixtus III, Omnipotentis dei misericordia

Part Two: The Earliest Accounts

7. John of Capistrano to Pope Callixtus III
8. John of Capistrano to Pope Callixtus III
9. John Hunyadi to Denis Szécsi, Archbishop of Esztergom
10. John Hunyadi to Ladislaus Garai, Palatine of Hungary
11. John Hunyadi to King Ladislaus Posthumous
12. John of Tagliacozzo to James of the Marches
13. John of Capistrano to Pope Callixtus III

Part Three: News and Propaganda

14. Ambassador of the Bishop of Šibenik to Callixtus III
15. Cardinal Juan Carvajal to Francesco Sforza
16. Letters of John Goldener
17. Ladislaus Posthumous to Duke Francesco Sforza of Milan
18. The City of Nuremberg to the City of Weissenburg
19. Pope Callixtus III to Francesco Sforza, Duke of Milan
20. Letters of Bernard of Kraiburg
21. Callixtus III, Letter to Juan Soler
22. Anonymous (Pseudo-John of Capistrano), to all Christians
23. Anonymous, Letter to Henry of Eckenfelt
24. Liturgical Commemorations of Belgrade

Part Four: John of Tagliacozzo’s The Story of the Victory of Belgrade

25. John of Tagliacozzo, The Story of the Victory of Belgrade

Part Five: Memoir and Chronicle

26. Thomas Ebendorfer, Chronica Austriae
27. Laonikos Chalkokondyles, The Histories
28. Michael Kritopuoulos (Kritovulos), History of Mehmed the Conqueror
29. Jacopo da Promontorio, Recollecta
30. Âşıkpaşazade, Memories and Chronicles of the House of Osman
31. John Thurocz, Chronicle of the Hungarians
32. Tursun Beg, History of the Conqueror
33. The Oxford Anonymous Chronicle
34. Konstantin Mihailović, Memoirs

Timelines:

General Timeline
The Crusade of 1456

Maps:

Central and Southeastern Europe, c. 1450
The Siege and Relief of Belgrade, 1456
The City and Fortress of Belgrade, c. 1450

What People are Saying About This

Jonathan Harris

"This comprehensive collection of letters, chronicles, and documents brings to life a neglected episode in Crusade history through the observations of eyewitnesses, participants, and contemporaries."

Jessalynn Lea Bird

"James D. Mixson's gripping introduction to the siege of Belgrade in 1456 and scintillating translations of primary sources provide an invaluable resource for teaching the historian's craft and querying long-assumed chronological and geographical boundaries. "

Norman Housley

"The defeat of the Ottoman attempt to capture Belgrade in 1456 was a crucial event in the defense of Christian Europe against the Turks. Mixson's skillful selection and translation of sources enables readers to reconstruct what happened that fateful summer from a number of different standpoints, while his excellent introduction sets the siege fully in context."

Editorial Reviews

"A description of Belgrade in 1456 is to be found in many a book on the Medieval Balkans, on the Papacy and the Levant, or on Hungarian history but never with such specificity and depth. It is as if long lost voices are heard again for the first time after the sleep of ages, with startling freshness and power."

—Alberto M. Fernandez, European Conservative

"James D. Mixson’s gripping introduction to the siege of Belgrade in 1456 and scintillating translations of primary sources provide an invaluable resource for teaching the historian’s craft and querying long-assumed chronological and geographical boundaries. "

—Jessalynn Lea Bird, Saint Mary's College

"The defeat of the Ottoman attempt to capture Belgrade in 1456 was a crucial event in the defense of Christian Europe against the Turks. Mixson’s skillful selection and translation of sources enables readers to reconstruct what happened that fateful summer from a number of different standpoints, while his excellent introduction sets the siege fully in context."

—Norman Housley, University of Leicester

"This comprehensive collection of letters, chronicles, and documents brings to life a neglected episode in Crusade history through the observations of eyewitnesses, participants, and contemporaries."

—Jonathan Harris, Royal Holloway, University of London

From the Publisher

"A description of Belgrade in 1456 is to be found in many a book on the Medieval Balkans, on the Papacy and the Levant, or on Hungarian history but never with such specificity and depth. It is as if long lost voices are heard again for the first time after the sleep of ages, with startling freshness and power."

European Conservative - Alberto M. Fernandez