DEATH OF WLADISLAUS.

43

With inferior numbers and disordered ranks, the king of Hungary rushed forwards, in the confidence of victory, till his career was stopped by the impenetrable phalanx of the janizaries. If we may credit the Ottoman annals, his horse was pierced by the javelin of Amurath: he fell among the spears of the infantry, and a Turkish soldier proclaimed with a loud voice, Hungarians, behold the head of your king!' The death of Wladislaus was the signal of their defeat. On his return from an intemperate pursuit, Hunyadi deplored his error and the public loss: he strove to rescue the royal body, till he was overwhelmed by the tumultuous crowd of the victors, and vanquished: and the last efforts of his courage were exerted to save the remnant of his Wallachian cavalry. Ten thousand Christians were slain in the disastrous battle of Warna. The loss of the Turks, more considerable in numbers, bore a smaller proportion to their total strength: yet the philosophic sultan was not ashamed to confess that his ruin must be the consequence of a second and similar victory. At his command, a column was erected on the spot where Wladislaus had fallen: but the modest inscription, instead of accusing the rashness, recorded the valour, and bewailed the misfortune of the Hungarian youth.'

" 1

1 The reader will observe here a slight mistake on the part of the historian. The Hungarian youth spoken of by Gibbon was Wladislaus, king of Poland, the infant Hungarian prince Ladislaus (Posthumus) being then in the hands of Frederick of Austria.

THIRD PERIOD.

CHAPTER IV.

FROM THE COMMENCEMENT OF THE REIGN OF THE

HUNYADIS TO THE BATTLE OF MOHACS (1444-1526. )

THE success at Warna, though not followed up by the Mohammedan conqueror, left Hungary in a state of almost entire helplessness. Of the two rival kings who had hitherto exhausted the strength of the country, one lay dead on the field of battle, while the other, Ladislaus, son of Albert, was in the hands of the emperor Frederick, who, under the pretext of the minority of his ward, aspired to the sovereignty himself. New factions thus arose, while different armed bands, reckless of the fate of the country, began the work of plunder and devastation. The Diet, however, met on the plain of Rakos, nominating JOHN HUNYADI Governor or Protector (1445). In the oath he took, Hunyadi promised to watch over the kingdom, to keep the laws himself, and not to allow their infringement by others;-great promises, indeed, at such a time,

PROTECTORATE OF JOHN HUNYADI.

45

but amply guaranteed and fulfilled by the probity and bravery of his virtuous spirit. On the paternal side Hunyadi is said to have been of Wallachian origin, inheriting from his mother's side the surname of Corvinus. To a like mixture of blood Hungary owes many of her heroes. His ruling passion was love of his country, the enemies of which deeply and often felt the weight of his natural rude sense of justice. Having restored order at home, the protector turned his arms against Frederick, who soon after felt compelled to declare Ladislaus of full age at his eighteenth year, besides restoring some portions of the country occupied by his garrisons. Feeling thus secure from the west, Hunyadi directed his efforts against the enemy of Christendom; and not waiting for the assistance spoken of in the assemblies of Flanders and Germany, the protector suddenly passed the Danube, hoping to engage Amurath while battling with Skanderbeg. Spies, however, apprized the Grand Vizier of the advance of the Hungarians. Amurath thereupon withdrew from his former antagonist, and turned all his forces against Hunyadi, who, though taken by surprise, accepted battle at Rigomezo (Blackbird-plain) in Servia. The fight began at noon, and the slaughter was carried on during many hours between men equally brave and equally encouraged by hopes of victory. The squadrons forming the Hungarian centre, led on by Hunyadi, resisted the rolling masses of the janizaries that composed the main body of the enemy. The pashas of Anatolia and Roumelia fell with irresistible fury upon the left wing of the champions of the Cross, who, though repelled and driven from position to position, rallied again and again. The clash of arms and the roar of cannon continued throughout

46

PROTECTORATE OF JOHN HUNYADI.

the whole night, till the first beams of the rising sun illumined the plain where the Mussulman host lay carousing amid the slaughtered hosts of their Christian adversaries.1 The greater part of the straggling forces of the Hungarians were cut off in their homeward retreat, as the despot of Servia, discouraged by the defeat of Hunyadi, hastened to acknowledge the supremacy of the Crescent, and turned his sword against his former confederates. The protector himself, in his lonely wanderings, well nigh fell into the hands of three Turkish horsemen. His dauntless courage and great physical strength saved him. Two of his pursuers, one after the other, were struck dead at his feet, while the third, satisfied with the golden cross which the protector wore on his breast, hastily took to flight.2 The soul of Hungary was thus saved, and the peculiarity of Hunyadi's escape gave rise to the saying of certain chroniclers, that "John, who lived in Christ, was saved by the cross."

Restored to the nation, Hunyadi turned his arms against Giskra of Bohemia, who, aided by some Hungarian nobles, infested the Hungarian frontiers; while, on the other hand, he took care to have the vacant bishoprics filled by ecclesiastics well known for their patriotism, having courage enough, in spite of his rather bigoted feelings, boldly to assert the right of investiture against the See of Rome. Ladislaus, meanwhile, attained his majority, and was crowned king of Bohemia at Prague in 1452.

1 The Ottoman force is said to have consisted of 150,000 men, the Hungarian of something more than 60,000. The loss of the latter was more than 15,000.

2 The reader of Scottish history will here be reminded of King Robert the Bruce and the Brooch of Lorn.

LADISLAUS TITULAR KING.

47

After his coronation, Ladislaus, who was, in fact, nothing more than titular king, jealous and afraid of the power of Hunyadi, changed his title of protector to that of generalissimo; at the same time adding to the armorial bearings of that brave warrior a lion grasping a crown. Hunyadi, however, cared little for such distinctions as could be bestowed by the hands of impotent kings. Taciturn and enthusiastic, he brooded over the future of his country, pondered over the eventualities of a new war, which he deemed unavoidable with Mahomet II, who was bound by a treaty of peace ending with the year 1453; and revolved schemes of defence against approaching danger. As the first provision of security, he set himself to the task of cementing and organizing the jarring political elements of the country; awing into obedience the most tumultuous assemblies with his rude but heartstirring eloquence. No adversary dared openly obstruct his path, and no favourite could mislead his sound judgment. Sternness and increased severity began to mark all his measures, as if he anticipated the sudden downfall of the East. Nor was there time for temporizing. Constantinople fell, and no sooner had the Ottoman conqueror satiated his eyes with the sight of the trophies of the Greek emperors, than his followers had already subdued the greater part of Servia. There, not far from the Hungarian frontiers, Hunyadi fell upon Firnsbeg, who commanded the Turkish van, routed his lines, and took him prisoner. Mahomet thereupon, instead of advancing, began to retreat; while Hunyadi, returning home crowned with laurels, narrowly escaped the homicidal designs of the Cillys and Garas, ambitious and unpatriotic heads of families, conspicuous for their hatred and envy of the