Life and Religion

in the Middle Ages

Edited by

Flocel Sabaté
Life and Religion in the Middle Ages

Edited by Flocel Sabaté

This book first published 2015

Cambridge Scholars Publishing

Lady Stephenson Library, Newcastle upon Tyne, NE6 2PA, UK

British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data

A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library

Copyright © 2015 by Flocel Sabaté and contributors

All rights for this book reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced,
stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means,
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the prior permission of the copyright owner.

ISBN (10): 1-4438-7790-5

ISBN (13): 978-1-4438-7790-9
 TABLE OF CONTENTS

The Religious Experience, a Mirror of Medieval Society .......................... 1

Flocel Sabaté

Building an Identity: King Desiderius, the Abbey of Leno (Brescia),

and the Relics of St. Benedict (8th Century) .............................................. 15
Maria Chiara Succurro

The Bishopric of Urgell in the Second Half of the 11th Century:

Jurisdiction, Convenientiae, Simony ......................................................... 34
Jaume Camats Campabadal

Peculiarities of the Bishopric of Urgell in the 10th and 11th Centuries ....... 49
Fernando Arnó-García de la Barrera

The Ecclesiastical Policy of the Counts of Barcelona in a Conquered

Region: The Relationship between the Counts and the Archbishopric
of Tarragona in the 12th and 13th Centuries................................................ 67
Toshihiro Abe

The Crisis of Power: Otto IV, Kings of León-Castile, the Cistercian

Order........................................................................................................ 103
Francesco Renzi

A Crusader without a Sword: The Sources relating to the Blessed

Gerard ...................................................................................................... 125
Giuseppe Perta

The Military Orders in Latium ................................................................ 140

Nadia Bagnarini

Saint Louis and Llull’s “Plan” for the Crusade in the Western
Mediterranean: modo bellandi et modo convertendi ............................... 163
José Higuera Rubio
vi Table of Contents

An Episcopal Monastery in Florence from the 11th to the Early 13th

Century: San Miniato al Monte ............................................................... 184
Maria Pia Contessa

Religious Orders and Cities in Medieval Tuscany (10th to 14th

Centuries) ................................................................................................ 202
Francesco Salvestrini

Female Monasteries in Venice: Religious Dynamics and Political

Power ....................................................................................................... 219
Silvia Carraro and Anna Rapetti

The Cathedral Chapter of Barcelona and the Urban Elites at the End
of the 15th Century ................................................................................... 234
Julia Conesa Soriano

Compline and its Processions in the Context of Castilian Dominican

Nunneries................................................................................................. 246
Mercedes Pérez

Devotion and Evangelisation in two Fresco Cycles in the Franciscan

Convent of La Verna at the Turn of the 15th Century .............................. 278
Nicoletta Baldini

Women’s Standing in Society and the Family as seen in an Example

of Late-Gothic Secular Sculpture ............................................................ 293
Antònia Juan

Crying Tears, Tearing Clothes: Expressing Grief and Rage

in the Middle Ages .................................................................................. 305
Ana del Campo

John Hunyadi and the Late Crusade ........................................................ 327

Andrei Pogăciaş

War and Peace between the Crown of Castile and Granada:

Duality or Interconnectedness?................................................................ 335
Yuga Kuroda

Les enjeux du Libro Verde de Aragón ..................................................... 363

Monique Combescure
 JOHN HUNYADI AND THE LATE CRUSADE

ANDREI POGĂCIAȘ
BABES-BOLYAI UNIVERSITY CLUJ-NAPOCA

Introduction
A few major battles and several small campaigns in a time span of only
thirteen years shaped the destiny of the Balkans and Europe forever. One
of these was one of the most famous military events ever, the Fall of
Constantinople in 1453. Another is a battle that also became a myth, and is
wrongly considered “The Last Crusade” – the battle of Varna in 1444.
The other events closely linked to these two remain obscure, and are
only fleetingly studied as an appendix when speaking of the other two.
Without any doubt, the fall of Constantinople in 1453 was a major event,
one that placed the Ottoman Empire among the most powerful states in
Europe (and the world), and a milestone in history. The Roman Empire of
the East, reduced for a very long time to its capital, Constantinople, and
two other territories in Asia and Greece, was finally brought to its end by
an ambitious young sultan, Mehmed the Conqueror.1
The battle of Varna2 in 1444 earned its popularity not by any glorious
deeds or remarkable achievements, as it was a crushing defeat for the
Christians. Its mythological aura was given by the unnecessary death of
the official commander of the Crusader army, the Hungarian King of
Polish descent, Vladislav III.3 Although his death was not at all heroic, and
was actually brought about by his own lack of experience, it helped build

1
Sultan of the Ottoman Empire in 1444-1446 and 1451-1481.
2
For the campaign and battle of Varna and auxiliary events, see: Colin Imber, The
Crusade of Varna 1443-45 (Aldershot and Burlington: Ashgate, 2006) a collection
of sources; Martin Chasin, “The Crusade of Varna”, The Crusades. Impact of the
Crusades on Europe, ed. by Kenneth Setton, Harry W. Hazard and Norman P.
Zacour (Madison: University of Wisconsin Press, 1989), VI, pp. 276-311; Andrei
Pogăciaș, “The Battle of Varna 1444. How to lose a Victory”, Medieval Warfare,
2/2 (2010).
3
Vladislav III, born 1424, King of Poland from 1434, and King of Hungary from
1440.
328 John Hunyadi and the Late Crusade

the mythology around the subject.

The other events were maybe less spectacular, but of no less
importance for the relations between Christians and Muslims in Eastern
Europe.

1. Prelude to “The Late Crusade”

Ever since the Ottomans had begun the conquest of the Balkans and
the push towards Central Europe, war and violence had been the only
reality in this part of the continent.
The conquest of Gallipoli and then Adrianople had established the
Ottoman Turks in Europe. From these newly-acquired bases, they began
expanding to the north and west into the Balkan Peninsula. Almost the
whole area was quickly brought under submission, the most famous
conquests being perhaps the victory over Bulgaria, and the well-known
battle of Kosovo in 1389 when Serbia was subdued. Raids over the
Danube into Wallachia followed, as well as clashes with Hungary.4
By the middle of the 15th century, the attention of the world was on
Constantinople, now a sad and lonely city, an island of former imperial
and Christian glory in a sea of Islamic rule. It was obvious for many that
the Turks would not stop until they had conquered the City. Alone as it
was, Constantinople stood no chance against the might of the Ottoman
armies. A few events, such as the battle of Ankara, in 1402, had lifted the
Ottoman pressure on the city, but only for a while.5 Help was badly
needed from outside, from Western Europe. Only one impediment stood in
the way of real military help that would save the city from destruction: the
orthodox religion of its inhabitants, clergy and Emperor. The Great Schism
of 1054 by the Byzantines had alienated Western Catholic Europe from
the problems of the East. The Crusades, initially started to liberate the
Holy Places from Muslim occupation, had also shown how great the level
of distrust between the two sides was. The fourth Crusade in 1204
conquered and sacked Constantinople, this perhaps representing the point
of no return in building a true relationship between the two sides.
However, by the middle of the 15th century, it had become clear that
help had to be provided, and the Byzantines asked for it. The condition
imposed by the West was to reunite the Churches. In 1439, at the Council

4
For the description of the period, see: Halil Inalcik, “The Ottoman Turks and the
Crusades, 1329-1451”, The Crusades. Impact of the Crusades on Europe, VI, pp.
222-276 and 311.
5
For the battle of Ankara and its effects, see: M. M. Alexandrescu-Dersca, La
campagne de Timur en Anatolie (1402) (London: Variorum Reprints, 1977).
 Andrei Pogăciaș 329

of Florence, a reluctant Byzantine delegation agreed to the Union,

although the people and authorities of Constantinople strongly disagreed.
Officially, the Union had been proclaimed, so the West had to provide
military help.

2. The Events
The Pope called for a Crusade. As many Western knights and rulers of
Western Europe were emphasising their deep faith and will to wage holy
war, there would, theoretically, be no problem to gather a large army in
order to defeat the Ottomans in the Balkans and throw them back into
Asia, as everyone bragged. In reality, France and England were fighting
each other, Spain was busy fighting the Moors in the Iberian Peninsula, the
Italian states fought each other and the German states had other problems,
thus only the Eastern countries remained on the frontline against the
Turks. Poland, although involved in the struggle against the Teutonic
Order or Tartars, was directly interested in keeping the Turks at bay and
would send troops. The two Romanian principalities, Moldavia and
Wallachia, could provide limited help, but were unreliable, and had their
own goals. Also, they too were Orthodox, and a huge Western army
approaching their territories might have been regarded as being more
dangerous than the Turks, who only wanted some loot and the annual
tribute. The only state to actually combat the Turks was the Hungarian
Kingdom. It had the longest border with the Ottoman Empire and was the
most directly threatened. Luckily, it held a good chain of fortifications in
the south, and especially Belgrade, which could resist an Ottoman
invasion, although raids could simply bypass them. To the south lay
Serbia, the loyal Ottoman subject.
The idea of a Crusade was meant to inspire and gather as many as
possible, in remembrance of the Crusades in the Holy Land. Still, it did
not generate much fervor. Firstly, as mentioned before, Western countries
had other objectives, and could only provide limited support. Secondly,
the Crusades had actually been won by the Muslims. All the human and
financial efforts had brought nothing but defeat, and a mythical common
memory of fighting against the infidels. The Crescent was now ruling
where thousands of Christians had died in vain in the name of the Cross.
The memory of the crushing defeat of the Crusade at Nicopolis in 1396
was still alive in the minds of many.6

6
David Nicolle, Nicopolis 1396 (Oxford: Osprey Publishing, 2009); Stephen
Turnbull, The Ottoman Empire 1326-1699, (Oxford: Osprey Publishing, 2003).
330 John Hunyadi and the Late Crusade

Thus, Hungary stood virtually alone in the path of the Ottomans. The
Kingdom, after emerging from a brutal civil war, could now ensure its
defence, but could it mount an effective offensive in the Balkans?
Its leader was now John Hunyadi, a determined and battle-hardened
warlord of Wallachian origin. He was born around 1385 (or 1400,
according to some sources), the son of a nobleman also of Wallachian
origin, Voicu, who entered the service of the Hungarian King. His mother,
Erzsebet Morzsinay, was from a Transylvanian noble family. Some say he
was actually the bastard son of Sigismund of Luxemburg, King of
Hungary and Emperor of Germany. Voicu received the castle and domain
of Hunedoara in 1409 for his services to the Crown, hence the family
name Hunyadi. Young John grew up at the Court and participated in
military campaigns and negotiations. He was soon renowned for his
abilities as a wise military commander and a fierce warrior. For his
services he began receiving properties, a seat on the Royal Council, and
ranks in the administration – governor of Transylvania, captain of
Belgrade (1441), Captain General (1444-1446) and then Governor of
Hungary (1446-1453). He was a fierce anti-Ottoman fighter, although
unable to defeat the Crescent in its own territory. The defence of Hungary
and Transylvania was always successful, however. In 1443, he began the
Long Campaign, south of the Danube, where he defeated all the armies
sent by the Sultan both in advance and during the retreat, captured Nis,
conquered Sofia and vanquished the Sultan himself at Snajm. Two grave
defeats follow in his career – Varna in 1444 and Kosovo in 1448. His last
effort, the defence of Belgrade in 1456, culminated in a great Christian
victory, although he paid for this with his own life due to a wound or
because of the plague. He is regarded today as a national hero in both
Romania and Hungary.7
An Ottoman army besieged Belgrade in 1440, but soon withdrew. The
Hungarians managed to defeat the Turks in the following years at
Sibiu/Hermannstadt in Transylvania and in Wallachia, both in 1442. John
Hunyadi then organised his Long Campaign, in the winter of 1443-1444.
The Ottomans were defeated in a series of battles, but the campaign
showed that no army could cross the mountain passes. As had happened to
the Byzantines centuries before, the passes in the Balkan Mountains could
easily be closed by the defenders. The attacker had either to bring huge
numbers of troops and allow himself to lose very many, or to go round the
mountains. Also, winter proved to be a fiercer enemy than the Turks.

7
For the biography of John Hunyadi, see: Camil Mureșan, John Hunyadi:
Defender of Christendom (Iași-Oxford and Portland: The Center for Romanian
Studies, 2001).
 Andrei Pogăciaș 331

As the Ottomans offered good peace terms, in the summer of 1444,

Hungary pretended to agree, but secretly prepared for what would become
the ill-fated campaign of Varna. It was the first attempt to outflank the
Balkans and reach Constantinople as fast as possible.
An alliance was forged. Among the Crusaders sworn to fight the
Ottomans there was also the Muslim state of Karaman, maybe the most
active enemy of the sultans, in Anatolia. As planned, the ruler of Karaman
attacked the Turks in the summer of 1444, but was quickly defeated. The
Ottoman army could now rest and concentrate on what was happening in
the European half of the Empire. While a Christian fleet blockaded the
Straits and prevented the Ottoman army from crossing into Rumelia, a
land army had to cross the Danube, cut its way through what is now
northern Bulgaria, and get to Varna. From here, the same fleet from the
Straits had to take the crusaders to Constantinople. The Ottomans would
be defeated and thrown out of Europe for good.
The Christian army was led by “the cursed King and John the
damned”, as Turkish historian Orudj presents them. It was made up of
Hungarian royal and noble units, Polish knights of the Royal Guard,
Hungarian troops, Transylvanian troops and units from Croatia and Bosnia
under the command of Croatian Ban Franko of Talovac/Thalloczy, various
Western cavalry and Eastern European mercenaries in Hungarian service.
From Nicopolis, Transylvanian infantry and 4,000 Wallachian cavalry
joined the army. As can be seen from the list, perhaps 90% of the
“Crusaders” were actually the regular Hungarian army. The Serbs were
again loyal to their Ottoman masters.
The Christian fleet failed to properly guard the Straits for various
reasons, and the Ottomans crossed into Europe. They were also helped by
the Genoese from Pera. The Byzantines, officially allies of the
Hungarians, did not send them information about the movements of the
Ottoman army. The meeting at Varna between the Christians and Turks
was a total surprise for the former.
The battle was eventually lost, with a dead king whose body was never
recovered, Cardinal Cesarini also missing, and almost the whole army
massacred in the fight and during the retreat. The next year, a campaign on
the Danube only managed to take the island fortress of Giurgiu. It was too
soon to try an invasion similar to the two previous campaigns.
Another attempt to break the Ottomans was made in 1448. This time,
Hunyadi forged an alliance with Albanian warlord Skanderbeg and, again,
Wallachia. German knights were also expected to join the army. Hunyadi
was actually leading his personal army, heavy infantry from Transylvania,
Bohemia and other Central and Eastern European countries. There was
332 John Hunyadi and the Late Crusade

also heavy cavalry involved. The Wallachians were providing the light
cavalry, so necessary against the Turkish cavalry. The Serbs were once
again loyal to the Ottomans, at least in part because of personal conflicts
between Brankovic and Hunyadi. The Serbian army made sure that the
Albanians did not reach the battlefield of Kosovo, while the Ottomans
were crushing Hunyadi’s army. Again, another attempt to outflank the
Balkans ended in disaster. If he had won, Hunyadi could have easily
marched to Adrianople and could perhaps have gained more victories. It is
impossible to know.
Five years later, Constantinople was besieged and conquered by the
Ottomans. During the siege, a Hungarian delegation visited the Ottoman
camp. It carried a message for the sultan. He should abandon the siege or a
massive Christian army would come to fight him.8 There was news about
the Hungarian army closing in on the Danube. Yet, Sultan Mehmed did
not believe the Christian illusions. The experiences of recent years and
campaigns had shown that the Christians could not mount a successful
land offensive on Ottoman territory. He was determined to take
Constantinople, he had the means, the troops, the cannons and the will,
and he succeeded.
As the Byzantine chronicler Dukas wrote, a little help for the Ottomans
came from the Hungarian delegation. While in the Ottoman camp, perhaps
after delivering the useless threat, Hunyadi’s emissary showed the
Ottoman artillery how to shoot in order to make the wall collapse.
Allegedly, there was a prophecy in the Balkans, saying that once
Constantinople fell to the infidels, all troubles for the Christian world
would end. Legend or not, the fall of Constantinople would also suit
Hungary in the hope that, finally, the Ottomans would stop in the Balkans.
The “Late Crusade” had been waged precisely to save Constantinople.
Thousands of men and much material had been lost, huge amounts of
money spent for nothing. Hunyadi could now concentrate on defence,
without being forced by the Pope, Venice or other Western countries to
fight in the Balkans.
If this was his hope, it did not materialise. In 1456, a huge Ottoman
army was heading for the key of the Southern defence of the Hungarian
Kingdom: Belgrade, the mighty fortress on the Danube, commanded by
Hunyadi’s brother-in-law, Michael Szilagy. Hunyadi had known since
1455 that the Turks were preparing a campaign. He just could not know
where they would attack. When it all became clear, it was too late to seek

8
Dan Ioan Mureșan, “Le royaume de Hongrie et la prise de Constantinople.
Croisade et union ecclesiastique en 1453”, John Hunyadi and his Time (Cluj-
Napoca: Editura Academiei Române, 2009), p. 479.
 Andrei Pogăciaș 333

help. By 1456, he was a lonely warlord, with only a few loyal nobles at his
side. The help he had asked for from Hungarian magnates and foreign
countries failed to materialise.
The luck for Christian Europe, in the hot summer of 1456, came in the
form of Giovanni da Capistrano, an Italian monk who had much success in
preaching the Crusade within central Europe. Hunyadi managed to
summon around 20,000 soldiers, his own troops, the units of his loyal
nobles, and mercenaries. The garrison in Belgrade numbered around 5,000
soldiers, and the population of the town. Capistrano showed up with
around 20,000 peasants, poorly equipped, with no fighting experience and
discipline, but eager to fight for the Cross, and hoping for rich spoils of
war. If the most representative event were to bear the name “The Last
Crusade”, it would in fact not be Varna, but rather Belgrade. It was the
only battle where the spirit of the original crusades was revived and
applied to the greater good of the Christian world. It was the peasant
crusaders who actually triggered the positive outcome of the battle. After a
night of gruesome combat, the armies were resting. The peasants, maybe
while trying to loot the camp of the Ottoman sipahis, started the fight,
which eventually led to the Christian victory.
Hunyadi paid for the victory that saved Europe that summer with his
own life. Because of a wound, or perhaps due to the plague, he died in
August, in the camp at Zemun, near Belgrade. Capistrano died in
November the same year.
The battle of Belgrade was the last episode of the so-called “Late
Crusade”.

Conclusions
What actually was the “Late Crusade”? Why did it not succeed? What
were the causes of the Christian defeat?
We could argue that the events that form the so-called “Late Crusade”
were nothing more than an active defence of the Hungarian Kingdom in
Ottoman territory, with foreign help. It is debatable if anyone in Europe
really believed that the Turks could be beaten and thrown back into Asia.
With huge human resources and a warrior’s mentality, the Turks could
resist a Christian assault for a long time. They had to be defeated many
times in a row, their armies crushed or their leaders killed, in order to
ensure victory. That could not happen easily.

1. As seen in the cases presented, it was difficult to gather a huge

European army to march into the Balkans. Such an army had to be
334 John Hunyadi and the Late Crusade

composed of light and heavy cavalry, infantry, a huge baggage

train, artillery, siege machines, Danube fleet, sea fleet. Various
factors, including finances, made that quite impossible.
2. An overall commander had to be appointed, who had to be
respected and obeyed, preferably one from an Eastern European
country (Hungary or Wallachia for example), who knew well how
to fight the Ottomans. As happened at Nicopolis in 1396 and Varna
in 1444, it was the proud knights of Western countries who lost the
battles. Obviously, the task of appointing a sole commander would
have been virtually impossible.
3. Allies had to be found in the Balkans, such as the Serbs and the
Albanians. Personal conflicts needed to be left aside if good
coordination was to be made possible.
4. Ottoman fortifications and castles, many and well-built and
garrisoned, had to be conquered and secured.
5. A generally amiable relationship with the local population had to
be maintained by all; this proved rather difficult, since the
Orthodox peasants frequently had to endure looting, rape and
burning.
6. If the passes in the Balkans were blocked, the army had to fight its
way either to the Black Sea, or towards Albania. Finding supplies
for a large army and maintaining discipline on such a long journey
would generate many problems.
7. The fleet securing the Straits would have to prevent any Ottoman
reinforcements from Asia crossing into Europe. A large powerful
fleet would be needed, requiring plentiful supplies.
8. In the unlikely event that the Ottomans were finally defeated, after
many years of conflict, what would happen to the liberated
territories? It is awkward to believe that independent states such as
Bulgaria, Serbia and the Byzantine Empire would simply be
restored and given to be governed by their rightful rulers. Conflicts
between the victors would undoubtedly have appeared in any case.

It is clear that all strategic and logistic elements worked against a

successful crusade in the 15th century. The efforts to defeat the Ottomans
centred on the personality of the great John Hunyadi, who almost
singlehandedly managed to keep the Ottoman Empire at bay. The romantic
idea of holy crusaders stood no chance against the conditions imposed by
reality. Thus, it is no wonder that Ottoman power in the Balkans survived
until the 19th century, when the new crusaders finally managed to break
free from the shadow of the Crescent.