Ten Books of the History of the Origin and Deeds of the Turks, from the 1650 Louvre Edition

LAONICUS CHALCOCONDYLA THE ATHENIAN: TEN BOOKS OF HISTORIES

LAONICUS CHALCOCONDYLA THE ATHENIAN: TEN BOOKS OF HISTORIES

TO THE READER

Much has been added to this new edition of Laonicus Chalcocondyla, candid Reader: for it is not hidden from you that those who prepared the former edition used either uncorrected manuscripts or, through the negligence of the workmen, [committed errors].

• Concerning Laonicus, these things are read in the *Bibliotheca Graeca* of Fabricius: Laonicus, or, as Simler and others say, Nicolaus (for the name is the same, just as Theophilus and Philotheus, Demonicus and Nicodemus), Chalcocondyles, Χαλκοκονδύλης (with the name shortened, called Chalcocondyles by most), an Athenian, was eminent about A.D. 1470. For Vossius writes, by I know not what authority, that he lived until the year 1490 or beyond. There exists a History written by him, concerning the origin and affairs of the Turks and the destruction of the Greek empire, in ten books, from A.D. 1298, which is the beginning of Ottoman I, to 1462, or the empire as it became mature under Mohammed II. A brief appendix up to the year 1565 acknowledges a more recent author, and in some editions this is lacking. Whence also David Chytraeus, who exhibits the arguments of Chalcocondyla’s ten books in his *Chronology*, did not take it into account. Laonicus is himself a writer who is by no means to be despised, whence in the *Miscellaneis Historico-litterariis* of Vignolius and Marvilius, vol. III, p. 56, you may read this judgment of him: "Since Chalcocondyla, who treated the history of the Turks, has been joined to the Byzantine authors, one can assure that he does not dishonor them by finding himself in their company. He has the gift of awakening our attention, by giving us curiosity, and not letting us sleep over his book."

Editions of Laonicus Chalcocondyla. Latin, from the version of Conrad Clauser of Zurich, Basel, 1556, folio, at Oporinus’s. And collated with the version (not published) of Philippus Gundelius, and corrected by Clauser himself and another learned man, ibid., 1562, folio, at the end of the Greek-Latin Nicephorus Gregoras; and Frankfurt, 1569, folio, at the end of those published in Latin: Zonaras, Nicetas, and Nicephorus Gregoras. Mention is made by Vossius also of the version which Dionysius Coroneus, the royal professor at Paris, attempted, but it never saw the light of day. Greek and Latin, with the same Clauser’s version, joined with the three Byzantine historical writers, Nicephorus Gregoras and George Acropolites, Geneva, 1615, folio; and again separately, from the Royal Press.

^A many errors have crept into it. Hence arise many lacunae, which we have supplemented from the Royal codices; hence, too, many things have been edited in a corrupt manner, which, following the credibility of better manuscripts, we have corrected insofar as possible. We also exhibit in the margins various readings excerpted from two handwritten codices, by which those things that were occasionally inscribed in the earlier edition are confirmed. And yet, one must surely praise the work of those who first brought the Greek texts to light from ancient palatine manuscripts, which the translator had not edited. Joannes Balthasar Baumbachius, professor of the Greek and Hebrew languages at Heidelberg, had applied his study and labor so that Laonicus might be edited correctly. But it seems to be the fate of books that those who first publish a Greek or Latin author almost always encounter corrupt codices. And those who later obtain better manuscripts are indeed more fortunate, though by no means more inclined to aid the cause of letters.

Concerning the name of the author, there is no agreement: for some call him Chalcondyles, others Chalcocondyles. The Royal copies have XalxoxavðÛÌņu, both in the book’s title and on page CLXXXI; so that by which name he ought to be deemed cannot be defined with certainty because of the variety of the codices. However, it is not a matter of great labor to determine by which name we should designate him.

Moreover, certain new Greco-barbarous terms occur in Laonicus and Ducas, whom the most learned man Ismael Bullialdus rescued from darkness. We have explained these by employing a Glossary, not by emending the locations of authors here and there, but generally by bringing them forward from books hitherto unpublished; for it has always been our concern to draw from our own store that which might serve the author whom we have undertaken to illustrate. And it is certain that if a Byzantine Lexicon should ever appear, in which the more difficult and Greco-barbarous words that occur in all writers of Byzantine History are explained, we will be able to enrich that collection with this new addition. However, I leave the decision on that matter to those through whose labor such a Lexicon will come to light. It is true, indeed, that from the time I began to preside over the edition of Byzantine History, I had considered editing a Byzantine Lexicon; but I do not wish to snatch from most learned men this opportunity to perform a service to the republic of letters. This Glossary of ours will soon be followed by another for the Annals of Constantine Manasses, in the compilation of which I have used the same diligence as in composing the others. In the meantime, use this if it is worth the effort, and farewell.

Paris, 1650, folio, in which edition, besides various readings from two Royal codices, from which the Greek has been corrected throughout, and the glossary of Carolus Annibal Fabrotus (Jurisconsult) on Chalcocondyles and Ducas, there are added the Annals of the Ottoman Sultans, from the year of Christ 1289 to 1550, which Joannes Gaudier, called Spiegel, had turned from the Turkish language into German and edited; but he translated them into Latin, and Frankfurt, 1596, folio; J. Leunclavius the Noble, an Angrivarian, published them, who also added a supplement from the year 1550 to 1588, and a genealogy of the Osmanlis and a pandect of Turkish History, or an explanation and description of various things and names to illustrate the Annals. Gretserus testifies that the History of Laonicus exists in Greek in three manuscripts in the Bavarian library. Freherus exhibits the passage containing the description of Germany from the second book, p. 36, in Greek and Latin with notes, among the writers of German history.

In French, the writer appeared with a commentary, translated by Blaise de Vigenère, Paris, 1577, 1584, 4°; with the continuation of Thomas Artus to the year of Christ 1612, ibid., 1612, 1620, 1650; and de Mezeray, up to the year of Christ 1661, ibid., 1663, folio. *Recherche sur l’Histoire de Chalcondile, et illustrations de la même Histoire.*

"Laonicus himself," says Bellarmine, *De scriptoribus Eccles.*, "is not free from false narratives, which he believed rashly, being ignorant of our affairs."

Jacobus Gaddius in *Elogio historico* and *l. 1. De scriptoribus non ecclesiasticis*, p. 119, sq., and Casp. Barthius on Claudian, p. 338, find fault with several passages of Laonicus Chalcocondyles. Furthermore, Henry Wharton, a man of distinction, is mistaken when he writes in his appendix to Cave's *Historia litteraria* that Chalcocondyles appeared in Latin from Clauser's version in Paris, 1550. It is also beside the point that in the catalog of books printed by Joannes Oporinus, which is appended to his Life, you may see Laonicus's books mentioned as edited in Greek and Latin in folio; for Oporinus published them only in Latin, having even complained in the preface to the later edition of 1562 that the Greek codex was lacking to him. Demetrius Chalcocondylas, who was over eighty years old, touched upon this Laonicus by kinship and died in Milan, concerning whom I remember saying something in my *Grammaticis*. — FABRIC.

LAONICUS CHALCOCONDYLA THE ATHENIAN: HISTORIES, BOOK ONE

LAONICI CHALCOCONDYLÆ ATHENIENSIS HISTORIARUM DE ORIGINE AC REBUS GESTIS TURCORUM LIBER PRIMUS.

*The author’s intent and reliability. The origin of the Turks, their families, and their seven principal leaders who, after the Tartars began to decline, divided Asia Minor among themselves. The Ottomans, and the sons of Orchan who captured Nicaea in Bithynia, and Amurath I, who occupied a part of Thrace: their deeds.*

^A Laonicus the Athenian has written down these things for history concerning those events of his life that he reached through sight and hearing, deeming it a duty to repay nature while he was yet in the land of the living, and convinced that nothing of these matters should be allowed to perish ingloriously for those who would come after, since they were—in my opinion—no less worthy of memory than any of those events that have ever occurred throughout the inhabited world. I am referring to the end of the Greeks and all that befell them at the beginning of their decline, and to the Turks, who attained a great power, and indeed the greatest that any have ever reached from the beginning of time. Considering the good fortune of this life of theirs, which I see turning in the opposite direction, I hold it right to make mention of both these subjects, and I consider it not improper to commit this account to writing. We shall also make mention of other events that have transpired throughout the inhabited world, not only those of my own time, of which I was a witness, having beheld them myself, but also other matters, reasoning as best I could from things likely to be true, and especially by inquiring of those who appeared to hold the better opinions about them, so that I might state with the greatest possible certainty what best approaches to the truth, and not hold even that in too trivial a regard—I mean the fact that we are relating these things in the Greek tongue. For the Greek tongue is scattered far and wide across the inhabited world, and is intermingled with many others; and the fame of it... ^B Laonicus the Athenian determined to commit to documentary records what he had seen and heard while he was yet alive: partly to render the thanks owed to nature, and partly because he thought that nothing among those events would seem unworthy of being remembered by posterity. For this work comprises (in my opinion) deeds in no way inferior to the fame of those events which are related to have ever occurred in this whole world of ours. Moreover, it contains two things: the ruin of the Greek empire and the evils that redounded upon it; and also the Turks, who in a short time grew to such power that they left all mortals who have ever lived far behind them in wealth and influence. Though they now hold sway over affairs and disturb the happiness of the present life, and lead it in a different direction, I believe that the time will come—to add my own estimate—when their affairs will turn in the opposite direction. Nevertheless, I do not judge it to be unpleasing to weave together a history of both, of the Greeks and the Turks alike. While writing this history, we shall make mention of other things that occurred in the world; yet not things from my own time, of which I was an eyewitness, but of other matters, not following mere likely conjectures, nor—as I received them from those who appeared to be wiser—failing to...

^A perform these things, in the first place, with great effect, but greater still when, in the course of a not-mean reign, both the Greek king himself and the kings to come from him, or even the children of the Greeks gathered together, should administer the commonwealth after their own customs in a manner most agreeable to themselves and most excellent to others.

^B The Greeks, therefore, having performed deeds both great and conspicuous, reached a high degree of renown in other lands, and in Europe, and in Libya, extending their reach as far as the Ganges, the Ocean, and the Caucasus. After many others had proceeded to these places, including Hercules and, before him, Dionysus, son of Semele, and furthermore the Lacedaemonians and Athenians, and after them the king of the Macedonians and those who later held his command, many others elsewhere recorded how each of these things came to pass. The Greeks, then, were engaged in these affairs for as long a time as possible, and for many generations, yet they possessed a fortune that was lacking in virtue, for it was never moderate. Furthermore, as they enjoyed successfully the progression of affairs throughout the world, I find that the Assyrians, a most ancient people, making the longest report of themselves, occupied the empire of Asia. Then the Medes were raised to the empire of Asia under the leadership of Sarbares (whom Justin calls Arbactus and Arbaces), ^C shaking off Sardanapalus, the king of the Assyrians, from his throne. Yet they finally lost the monarchy of Asia, being defeated by Cyrus, the king of the Persians. From then on, the kings of the Persians increased to such an immense degree that they even crossed over into Europe. Then, not many centuries later, Alexander, king of the Macedonians, having snatched the monarchy of Asia from the Persians and having conquered the Indians, as well as a not insignificant portion of Libya and also of Europe, left his empire to those who followed him. The Romans, having attained an empire that was the greatest by far in the world, holding a fortune that was equal to their virtue, committed Rome to the great high priest. They themselves, under the leadership of Caesar, crossed into Thrace ^D and, in that region where it is situated closest to Asia, established the Greek city of Byzantium (which is now Constantinople) as their metropolis, waging many battles against the Persians, by whom they were most severely afflicted. The Greeks, from that time, having mingled with the Romans and being far more numerous than them, constantly retained their own language and customs to the end; yet their ancestral name did not remain with them, but it was changed. For the kings of Byzantium no longer bore that name, but with great reverence called themselves Roman emperors and Caesars, and not kings of the Greeks.

^A We have learned, however, that the Romans and their supreme hierarch had, over many years, differed not a little regarding religious matters. They had become separated from the Greeks in other respects also, and in particular because they designated as emperor ^B one who, at one time from the Gauls and at another from the Germans, was always appointed for such a time. Furthermore, they kept sending embassies to the Greeks—without ever ceasing—so that they might establish concord with them regarding religion, convening together in unity. The Greeks, however, were unwilling to overturn the native religious observances that had long been established for them, even though they had been at variance with the Romans for some time. Moved by this cause of dissension, very many of the Westerners, with the Venetians also joining them, and with the Roman hierarch urging them on toward this, decided to wage war against the Greeks with a large fleet. They arrived and attacked the city of Byzantium, and took the city of Byzantium by force; the emperor of Byzantium and the best of the Greeks departed, crossing over into Asia. Upon arriving there, they designated the Greek city of Nicaea for themselves, establishing their royal seat there. Not many years later, they recovered Byzantium again, having entered the city in secret. And, having crossed back into Europe, they continued to reign there. After this, John, the king of the Greeks, perceiving that the affairs of the Greeks were on the razor's edge, took the hierarchs of Byzantium and the most learned of the Greeks and sailed away to Italy, thinking that he would receive aid against the danger impending over him from the Turks, if he were to come to an agreement with them regarding religion. Having arrived in Italy, he shared the religious controversy with the Roman hierarch and entered into a debate, ^C examining the matters thoroughly; in the end, it was agreed that he and the Greeks would demonstrate the matters of the controversy to be concordant with them—and the dispute was dissolved for them. Having received some measure of aid, he made his return again to Byzantium. The Greeks, however, having arrived home, did not remain loyal to the things that had been transacted in Italy and in the synods, decreeing that it was in no way holy for them to agree with the Romans at all, inasmuch as they claimed that the Romans held to impious beliefs. And so, the division between the Greeks and the Romans continued to the end. As for these things, let this suffice as having been said sufficiently—let what concerns the reign of the Greeks and the dispute which they had with the Romans be demonstrated; for the matters concerning the reign and the name were not rightly termed by them. ^D Having myself reached these times, I apprehended the Greeks and the king of the Greeks, first under the tribes in Thrace, and afterwards even under the Barbarians themselves.

^A And some of it was driven from other rule to hold a small dominion—namely, the Byzantine—and the lower coast of Byzantium as far as the city of Heraclea, and along the Euxine Sea, the upper coast as far as the city of Mesembria; and furthermore the whole of the Peloponnese, except for three or four cities of the Venetians; likewise Lemnos, Imbros, and the islands situated there in the Aegean Sea. Now, as to how each of these things came to pass, how the affairs of the Greeks gradually perished, destroyed by the Turks, and how the affairs of the latter grew great, advancing ever to great prosperity up to this current time, we shall record as we proceed, in so far as we have learned with the greatest accuracy.

^B As for the Turks, I for one do not know by what name I should call them in antiquity, so as not to err from the truth. For some think that the Turks are descendants of the Scythians—those whom they call Tartars—conjecturing this more correctly, since their customs have not stood far apart, and they use a language even now not very dissimilar. For they say that the Scythians, having set out from the Tanais for the seventh time, ravaged upper Asia while the Parthians held the hegemony, and [subjugated] the land of the Persians, of the Medes, and of the Assyrians. And after these things, having descended into lower Asia, they made the land of Phrygia, Lydia, and Cappadocia subject to themselves. And even now it is possible to see, as it is said, many of this race dispersed everywhere throughout Asia, having turned their customs and way of life to those of the Nomad Scythians (whom you might not unreasonably call shepherds or herdsmen), yet nowhere in Asia have they had a permanent habitation. ^C And they suggest another conjecture, by which they strive to confirm that the Turks are a progeny of the Scythians, because the barbarous tribes of the Turks dwelling in the lower region of Asia—Lydia, Caria, Phrygia, and Cappadocia—are found to have nothing in their language and the rest of their daily life that distinguishes them from the Scythians operating in the region that runs between the Tanais and Sarmatia. Some think that the Turks are descended from the progeny of the Parthians. For these, they say, when they suffered hostile persecution from the Scythian Nomads—who are so called from moving their pastures—descended into the region of lower Asia, and having leaned toward a more nomadic life, were scattered there throughout the cities; and from this, they say, this race came to be called Turks, as being Nomads. ^D Others claim that this race proceeded from Turka, a great and prosperous city of the Persians, and that, having departed into the lower region of Asia, they were scattered throughout Asia and occupied the land. There are those who desire the Turks to have arrived in this land—whether from Coele-Syria and Arabia or from the Scythians—following Omar, who took succession of the legislation, and to have advanced to the rule of Asia; and having been left there, to have leaned toward a more nomadic life. As to how each of these things holds to the truth, and to what end it is better to proceed in order to learn these things, I cannot conjecture with absolute certainty. This much, however, shall be said: that one might have those who insist that their origin is from the Scythians.

^A For it is manifest that the Scythians who even today live in Europe, towards the East, are in the best agreement with the Turks in the marketplace, in commerce, and in trade. Their nourishment and all other ways of life are to this day the same for both peoples, because the Scythians once ruled over all of Asia. Further, the very name of the Turks insinuates the same thing; for it signifies a man who follows a more rustic manner of life, like the Nomads, and spends the greatest part of his life in that way.

Since this race of Turks was great and extended far and wide, I know it to have been divided into certain parts or tribes; among which was the tribe of the Oguzians, a race neither base nor unwarlike. From these Oguzians was born Duzalpes, ^B a man most studious of equity and justice, and a leader of the Oguzian tribe. I understand that he was praised most highly for his fortitude, and was of such justice (for he delivered judgments to the Oguzians) that litigants would choose him as arbitrator in any matter whatsoever, and both sides would gladly accept the judgment that he rendered. The Oguzians, observing this equity of the man, prevailed upon the king of that region (who then was by name Aladines) with their entreaties, that they might receive him as their judge. And when this occurred, they surrendered themselves to Duzalpes, that he might deal with them according to what he thought would best lead to the prosperity of the Oguzians.

Then, when his son, named Oguzalpes (who is also called Aguzalpes), had claimed for himself the rule of the Oguzian tribe, he aspired ^C to tyranny; and by bearing arms hostile to the Greeks, he in a short time attained to the greatest renown in Asia. Furthermore, Orthogules, the son of Oguzalpes, being possessed of a most ready hand, harassed many peoples with arms, and everywhere acquired great glory. He also prepared a fleet, relying on which he sailed with a hostile mind to the islands in the Aegean Sea, situated by the region of Asia and Europe. He also ravaged Europe. From there, having led his ships into the river Tenarum near the city of Aenos, ^D he proceeded a great distance up the river. They say that he made incursions into Europe in other places as well. Finally, having entered the Peloponnese, Euboea, and Attica, he wrought the greatest slaughter, and with the regions devastated, he returned home laden with plunder and captives, from which he amassed the greatest wealth for himself. They say that this Orthogules, while staying in Asia, made raids upon neighboring peoples; and as things turned out well, he mustered an army. Fortified, therefore, by a sufficiently strong army, he subdued the neighboring Greeks, and plundered the rest; and when others, struck with fear,

^A took him as the author of the destruction of the neighboring land, he pressed forward from there; he began to lead the neighboring Greeks and advanced to great power. How he first obtained power in these matters, and how it happened in this or another way, I could not easily state, though it is told by many. I omit these things after mentioning them to this extent. But I learned that the Ottoman line of the Oguzian tribe came to this rule as follows. There is a fortunate village by Mysia called Soguta, and a river of the same name by it. It is distant from the sea of the Euxine Pontus about two hundred and fifty stadia; this could be called the village of Itea. The Oguzians, having arrived in this region, dwelt there for some time. Now Ottoman, son of Orthogulis, was not at first very well favored by the winds of fortune. However, since he was endowed with a liberal and strong spirit, he gained the hearts of those who lived in the village with his resources, and kept them most devoted to himself in a short time. Hence, when they contended with continuous hatred against the Greeks, he was declared leader by the consent of all. Having therefore attacked the Greeks in war who inhabited that region, he did not withdraw from the battle before he had either slain or put to flight all of them. From this, as matters succeeded prosperously, he extorted very many victories from the Greeks.

But when the fame of his name had filled very many ^C regions, he also flourished with the greatest glory among Aladin; he was created a leader by him, having performed deeds valiantly with widely renowned exploits. After King Aladin died, and his nobles fell into discord among themselves, it is said that he came into discussions with them, and they with one another; having made a treaty and an alliance with them, and having exchanged oaths, he agreed to carry on the war with all of them in common, and to ravage whatever land they could, and to divide whatever they might conquer among themselves according to what was mutually agreed upon. And thus, as he drove their forces, he ravaged no small amount of land, exhibiting great deeds and acquiring frequent wealth, so that in a short time he rose to no mean power. These leaders, being seven in number, divided among themselves the region ^D which they had then subjected by arms; later, committing the partition to lots, it fell to Caramanus to take the interior of Phrygia as far as Cilicia and Philadelphia. The lot of Sarchanes assigned him the maritime region of Ionia, as far as Smyrna. The region of Lydia up to Mysia fell to Calamus and his son Carasus. But as for Bithynia...

it fell to Otomanus along with Tecie. The sons of Amures received Paphlagonia and the regions that slope toward the Euxine Sea, as fate directed the partition. They say that Cermianus was not one of those seven chieftains, but had previously ruled Conium, a city of Caria, where he had kept his royal seat for some time. Being expelled from there, he retired to Ionia and there lived a private life, embracing peace. Whether those seven chieftains joined their forces together, or whether each ^A conquered those regions by himself; or how one succeeded to the riches and kingdom of another, I do not believe it necessary to describe with meticulous curiosity. This, however, is certain: the kings of the Otomanid line greatly honored the village of Sogutha, since they frequently went there and rendered to the inhabitants of the village their customary dues.

I further learned by report that Otomanus, son of Orthogul, was the first of this lineage to arise from that village. Setting forth from there, he captured the cities of Asia, and having taken Prusa, a city of Mysia flourishing in wealth, by famine, he established it as the seat of his kingdom. Finally, having performed many deeds bravely and splendidly, leaving behind children and a distinguished kingdom, he paid the debt of nature at Prusa. This man was the first of his line to arrange most excellently everything that pertained to the salvation of the kingdom. And so that he might make his realm as stable and favorable as possible, he gathered together satellites whom he designated ^B as the king’s "Januae" or "Gates." And since he was now a cause of fear to all because of this power, he easily kept his subjects under his command, as they were all ready at his nod whenever they were called, and performed nimbly whatever the king’s Gates commanded.

They commemorate that this man, Orthogul, was most noble in all things; and because, on account of his excellently administered affairs, he was reputed more august than a human and almost divine, he left to his posterity a distinguished surname, so that they are called Otomanidae or sons of Otomanus. During his reign, eight thousand Turks crossed into Europe by way of the Hellespont, and having captured and occupied a Greek fort in the Chersonese, they sallied forth from there, riding through Thrace as far as the Ister. They hoped to overrun the region; they plundered much, and, having captured as many slaves as possible, they transported them into Asia, driving and carrying off the Greeks and the Triballi.

At this time, no small division of Scythians, emerging from Sarmatia, hastened to the Ister. Having crossed it, they caught the Turks who were in Thrace, joined them in fierce battle, and routed them; and, save for a few, they slaughtered them all most remorselessly. As for those who escaped the slaughter by flight, they were carried to the Chersonese, and from there were transported back into Asia, and finally stayed away from Europe. ^{C D} At that time, the affairs of the Greeks were enjoying a precarious fortune, as they were agitated by internal discords

^A regarding the kingdom of Byzantium, both kings, grandfather and grandson of the Palaiologos family. When they were tossed by seditions, some followed one, and a portion the other. From this it resulted that their affairs most plainly perished. For of the elder Andronikos was born a son, to whom was given the name Michael, who died before he could be promoted to the kingdom. After his death, his son Andronikos, as his grandfather was now worn out by old age, desiring to ascend to the summit of royal dignity, undertook hostilities openly against his grandfather. Since, however, he was more shameless and stubborn than to obey those counseling better things, he brought the Greeks into most serious crises. For he summoned the Triballians, and winning over the nobility of the Greeks involved in the care of the kingdom, he brought it about that no one of the Greeks could any longer prevent the Turks from crossing into Europe. ^B At that time, Prusa was captured, having been subdued by famine by Ottoman, and not a few other cities in Asia were also taken. Whence the Turks grew to great power in Asia, and crossing into Europe, they inflicted great damage upon Thrace; and many others, in fact also Chalites, who, having been driven by the Greeks into the fort which was called Chersonesus, summoned Turks from Asia, and resisted the attacking king, and for a long way advancing into Thrace, he engaged in plunder. But with the leader of the Triballians and those who had recently arrived from Italy being brought, the protection of the Chersonesus began to be besieged by land and sea. But the Turks, since they were by no means fighting with equal forces, fled in the middle of the night into Asia, unbeknownst to the enemy. Nevertheless, the Greeks treated the Turkish turncoat leaders and Azatinas somewhat unkindly, in order that they might bind to themselves with greater goodwill those whom they had recruited from Italy and Taracon [Gallipoli], so that they might bring aid against the king of the Turks, Orchanes, who had moved his army to Philadelphia. Moreover, to occupy the garrison of Calliopolis (which is also Kallipolis) in the Chersonesus, the Taraconenses and Italians, with the addition of Azatinas and the other Turkish turncoats, ^C attempted to attack the city (15). But when their undertaking was made known to the townspeople (for it was signified to the Greeks by someone who was in that city), they went through Thrace; and having crossed the Rhodope, they came to Cassandria, of old called Pydna. Then those of Azatinas's Turks who were present came to the king of the Triballians, but those who had turned back from Asia went on foot to the Chersonesus, having in mind to see in what way they could return to Asia. They even forged treaties with the Greeks in certain places. But when the Greeks laid an ambush for them, wanting to capture them, they escaped by flight into the fort of the Chersonesus, ^D and again were inflicting very many injuries upon the Greeks.

^A The men from the West and Italy, having come through Macedonia and Thessaly into Boeotia, seized it and enslaved Thebes, through the folly of their leader, who, fearing them and calculating his strength, attacked them as if he would seize them. These men, then, having dug trenches around the place and let water into it, rendered the area for a long time impassable to the cavalry. The cavalry, then, who were with the leader, charged at a run against the Westerners as if to seize them; but having entered the place, they fared ill. The Tarraconians, throwing javelins, arrows, and spears, killed most of the Boeotians right there. Later, having come to the city, they captured and enslaved the city. These men afterwards crossed over to Italy, and each turned homeward. The Greeks, under Andronicus the Emperor, for their part, dealt badly with the Turkish turncoats and those who had arrived from Italy to help; far from finding anything they needed, they even had them as enemies instead of allies. The nobles among the Greeks, for their part, by winning over the petty rulers with excessive largesse, exhausted all the revenues of the kingdom, meanwhile having assembled no army, nor hired foreign soldiers, and desiring to punish the enemies who were coming against them. But I return to the part of the narrative from which I digressed.

Ottomanus, son of Orthogulis, having subjugated almost the whole region of Asia inhabited by Greeks, invaded Nicaea and Philadelphia. He did not, however, bring the city under his own rule. He was also moved by hostility to make war upon the Turks who followed Nomurens. Ruling in Prusa, which was the seat of the kingdom, he expired, leaving behind children, a very extensive region, and a valiant army. ^B

When Ottomanus had died, his youngest son, Orchanes by name, having preoccupied the minds of those who were admitted into his father's closest friendship, held them as associates and most opportune for himself. As soon as he learned that Ottomanus had died—now being, as they say, on the threshold of old age—he immediately fled his brothers, and rushed off to Olympus, a mountain of Mysia. ^C As he was traveling along the road, he happened upon many herds of horses, which he distributed among the men who had gathered to him on the mountain. Descending from the mountain into the lowlands, he gave them power to plunder whatever they might come upon. He even sacked a city while he was still staying on Olympus. But because his brothers were burning with intestine war against each other, ^D and each was surrounded by a great crowd of men, when he had learned that they had pitched their camps at a long distance from each other, he departed from the mountain with his men, attacked them individually, and having slain and defeated both of his brothers, he moved to... [alt-version omitted]

^A seize the royal power. As for this matter, having inquired into it, I found that they did not hold the opinion regarding their brothers of considering them as enemies even to this day, but I learned that this occurred under the leaders appointed for the Oghuz, and indeed had happened even before. Now, when Orchanes succeeded to the kingdom, he subdued the whole of Lydia and began war against the Greeks in Asia; and having captured many of the Greek cities in that region by siege, he brought them under his rule, at a time when the kings of Byzantium were extremely busy with the war raging between them and the Triballi and Mysians in Thrace. After this, he carried the war into Cappadocia; and having subdued certain small towns, he moved his army against Nicaea, the city in Bithynia, and began to besiege it. But when the news reached the king of the Greeks that Nicaea was being besieged and that the townspeople would surrender to the barbarian if aid were not sent to them quickly, he raised an army and, attending to the affairs of the kingdom, he appeared not to be someone who would neglect Nicaea, but rather one who would defend it resolutely, being motivated not so much by hatred of the barbarian as by concern lest he lose such a great city. ^B This man, therefore, just as many others have done, scorned the royal dignity, although he affirmed that he would rescue Nicaea from the hands of the enemies; but inciting the Greeks against his grandfather, and being greedy for change, he took Michael, the leader of the Mysians, into an alliance of war, and formed an affinity with him, giving his sister to him in marriage, since he had already previously married the sister of the king of the Triballi.

Hence, the king of the Triballi, provoked by anger, seized his arms, having with him Alexander, the cousin of Michael. Having conquered Michael, and not wishing to let the insult offered him by Michael go unavenged, he placed Alexander, Michael's cousin, in power over the kingdom. But since he also transferred the blame for his insult onto the Greeks, he harassed them as well with war, and having captured some small towns, he led his army back home. Finally, they entered into treaties, by which it was held that they should be friends and guests to one another in the future. ^C After these things, it was reported to the king of the Greeks with sufficient consistency that Orchanes had made an incursion into the region of Bithynia: and that, having taken many captives, he had surrounded Nicaea with a siege and was attacking its wall with a hostile intent. Therefore, the king of the Greeks, having prepared an army, crossed into Asia and attempted to stretch out helping hands to those surrounded by the siege. As soon as this rumor was reported to Orchanes, he drew up his battle line and proceeded to meet the Greeks. But when he had arrived at Philocrinae, he found the king of the Greeks lingering with ^D his camps pitched there. Without delay, the battle was joined, in which the king, having received a wound in the foot, and the rest of the Greeks, who were not few in number, being afflicted with wounds, decided to enter Philocrinae, so that the wounded and the weary might recover themselves a little. And yet, one should not come to this without a fight.

^A The barbarians, having surrounded them and attacked from the rear, pressed them most fiercely and inflicted a great slaughter; the rest, having been put to flight into the city, they besieged. Since that city was on the sea, and could not be brought into the power of the enemy by siege, Orchanes departed from it and led his forces back to Nicaea. Having besieged it for some time, he at last received it in surrender by agreement. In this way, Nicaea came to be under Orchanes. He also invaded Philadelphia, but he could not take it by siege because of the multitude of its auxiliaries. After this, having quarreled, as they say, with certain of the tribal leaders in Asia, and having taken some of them as allies, he did not cease warring against ^B the others. Later, however, after a long time had passed, he married the daughter of Cantacuzenus, the Emperor of the Greeks; and having made this marriage alliance, he made peace with the Greeks, and for the rest of the time he made war against the leaders of the barbarians in Phrygia with whom he had quarreled. For when Andronicus the Emperor died, he left behind a son about twelve years of age, and he left Cantacuzenus, a wealthy man of great power, to be his guardian, until the boy should reach the fullness of age and be able to manage the kingdom. He delivered the boy and the kingdom into his care, binding him with oaths firmly that he would govern the kingdom and the boy without deceit, and that he would eventually ^C restore the boy to the kingdom unharmed. But when the Emperor died, not long after, with certain Greeks urging and assisting this act, he seized the kingdom; and although he did no harm to the boy, and indeed made him his son-in-law, he was negligent in the affairs of the boy, and thought that he would rather gain the favor of the Greeks for himself. Thus Cantacuzenus, having taken the kingdom from the boy and having made an alliance by marriage with Orchanes, gained him as a guest-friend and an ally most particularly.

Orchanes, having reigned ^D for about twenty-two years, died, leaving behind his sons Sulaimanes and Amurates. Now Sulaimanes, having entered upon the rule, took up arms against the Greeks. Having captured a great number of slaves from that region of the Greeks which they possessed in Asia, he also crossed over into Europe, encouraged and instigated by those Turks who had previously crossed into Europe with Charites. These men taught him the path by which one might most easily come into Europe. Moreover, they related that the region of Europe was most pleasant and easy to capture. Having therefore transported an army, not large, they laid waste to the Chersonesus, and having conquered certain small towns and subdued the garrisons at Chersonesus and Madyto, they rushed into Thrace and advanced as far as the river Taenarus, transporting to Asia the many slaves that had fallen to them by the laws of war. And the Turks who had remained in Asia, when they heard these things, immediately...

crossed into Europe to Sulaiman, and an no small number gathered in the Chersonese. There, moreover, sparing their own land, they turned to the cultivation of the land of those who had come from Asia. Later, however, the king of the Greeks sent ambassadors and made a truce with Sulaiman, the son of Orchan, urging him against the Triballi, on the condition that they should be friends and guests to one another, and that they should both carry on the war against the Triballi together. Some, indeed, say that while Orchan was still alive in Asia, his son Sulaiman crossed into Europe at the summons of the king of the Greeks sent against the Triballi. However, we have learned how the leaders of the Triballi came to the affairs of Europe in this way. Stephanus became king of the Triballi, he who was setting out from the region toward the Ionian sea, and having devastated the region of Epidamnus with fire and burning, he even overcame Epidamnus (which is also ^B Dyrrhachium), and from there he led his army into Macedonia, and declared the city of Scopia to be the seat of the kingdom. These men, as far as it is possible to conjecture whence they arrived in possession of the empire of Europe, would be of the Illyrian race, having progressed from the region toward the West of the Ionian Sea, and having advanced to the city of Scopia, using a language even now not dissimilar; and that race of the Illyrians, being great and extending for the greatest distance along the Ionian sea as far as the Venetians, as one might easily conjecture. From them, then, they were dispersed throughout Europe and brought. For both speak the same language even now, and have the same customs and way of life, so that those who express an opinion about the Illyrians, that they are the present-day Albanians, would not be speaking correctly. For my part, I do not even accept the argument that the Albanians are of the Illyrian race. That these also started from Epidamnus to the eastern region of Europe, arriving at Thessaly, and at Aetolia, and Acarnania, having brought under their control not a few parts of the region of Macedonia, and dwelt there, I myself know, and judge from many things, having heard much. Whether, then, they crossed from Iapygia, as some say, to Epidamnus, and ^C arrived one by one at the region which they brought under their power, or whether, while they were neighbors of the Illyrians dwelling about Epidamnus, they gradually went forward and occupied the region of Epidamnus toward the east, I cannot certainly say in what way. But we have explained how both these races of men, the Triballi and the Albanians, having departed from the region which looks toward the Ionian sea, passed through the region of Europe which turns toward the east, and dwelt there, and added no small regions to their empire, and directing their journey toward the west: even when they had approached almost to the Euxine sea, having gone to the Ister and to Thessalia, all these things happened in this way. ^D The king, having set out from the city of Scopia, equipped with men most experienced in military affairs, and with a most powerful...

force of no mean sort, ^A first subdued the territories around Castoria, and marched into Macedonia, where, with the exception of Therma, he brought all other places under his own control. Advancing toward the Save, and to the lands along the Ister, he performed great deeds, and having subdued all that country, he held it. Having appointed others here and there in Europe to places of subjection, he rose to great power. He also attacked the Greeks in war, desiring to destroy their kingdom. Therefore, having sent out his cavalry into the regions near Byzantium, he would ^B ravage these places severely, and then depart. The Greeks feared the ultimate consequences for themselves from this, as their kingdom was perishing through negligence, and Andronicus the Elder, the king, had abandoned himself to a more dissolute life. The Greeks began to form no plan for fighting against him, but put all hope of safety in the defense of their walls.

Moving his army thence, he went into Aetolia and captured the city of Joannina, which was once called Gisiopen, and added it to his own empire. The part of Macedonia ^C that is adjacent to the river Axius he entrusted to Zarco, a man of primary dignity in his own eyes. The part of the region that extends from Pherrae to the Axius river, he bestowed upon Pogdanus, a good man and one very experienced in military affairs. The region that runs from Pherrae to the Ister, he conceded to the brothers Cralis and Ungleses, one of whom was the king’s cup-bearer, and the other the curator of the royal horses. The region adjacent to the Ister was obtained, with the king’s contribution, by Bulcus Eleazarus, the son of Prancus. Trica and Castoria fell to Nicolaus Zupanus. Aetolia was decreed to ^D Prialupus. And he gave Ochrid and the region called Priliapaea to Pladica, a man of no ignoble standing, to govern.

We have learned that the men just mentioned were appointed as prefects of the European regions by King Stepanus. When he breathed his last, each one retained the region he had received to govern while the king was alive, and having struck treaties among themselves, they refrained from mutual war. Yet they were very troublesome with their military arms to the Greeks, as it was convenient for each one. I have heard that Michael, the leader of the Mysians, who ruled the areas subject to the Ister and established his royal seat at Trinovum, existed earlier than Stepanus; and besides that, I have received that the Bulgarians, whom we call Mysians, held their seats there. However, the Servians, or Sordbi, and the Triballi were separate, though they eventually merged under that name. Although both these races of men are distinct and are not to be referenced as one, how these individual peoples were driven from their own kingdom by the Barbarians and perished completely will be set forth in the following sections.

Sulaimanes, when he had taken all the cities of the Chersonesus except Callipolis, set out with his army against Thrace to make it his own. But when he had made peace with the Greeks, he undertook an expedition against Cralis and Ungleses, the leaders of the Triballi, who were very intolerable to the Greeks.

^A They were a fierce and warlike people, and when they heard that Sulaimanes had advanced into Europe and was ravaging the region of their own lands situated in Greece, driving off spoils while sparing no one, they too led their forces against the Turks. Engaging hand-to-hand, they departed as victors in the battle, having slain very many in the first encounter. Afterwards, being informed that the affairs of the Turks were rapidly progressing to great power, and that the Turks from Asia were constantly crossing over to join him—to such an extent that he was preparing for the siege of cities in Europe and advancing into the interior of Thrace—the two of them gathered an army. Ungleses set out from Pherrae, where his royal seat was, against the Turks; and Cralis, brother of the aforementioned, having collected a great number of troops, traveled through the interior of Thrace to join his brother, intending to make war on the Turks with combined counsel and united strength. At that same time, Sulaimanes was besieging a fortress situated by the river Tænarus, distant from Callipolis about seventy stadia. He had pitched many tents there, which he had transported for this purpose, arrayed in a circuit, in which those Scythians and Turks who follow a pastoral life were living quite comfortably. Being encamped by the city, he persisted, intent upon the siege; and while occupied by the zeal of storming the city, he received news of the enemy’s approach. He therefore chose eight hundred of his best men from his own ranks, and by night marches arrived at the enemy’s camp at the first light of dawn. He caught them not keeping the customary watches, and with their guards relaxed, they were scattered along the Tænarus river, which provides water that is both the best to drink and very healthy. It was the season of summer, during which they did not care so much for their arms or their horses, thinking themselves perfectly secure and safe from enemy incursions. While they were unprepared and given over to luxury in the region of Cermiania, ^B lulled by deep rest, Sulaimanes, accompanied by his eight hundred picked soldiers, attacked them and wrought a great slaughter of the enemy, dispatching those who came in his way without delay. Many, having been driven in precipitate flight into the river, and being uncertain whither to turn, perished there in the delays caused by their hesitation. In this battle, Ungleses was lost; Cralis also was slain. But how he perished is unknown. His kinsmen, who were related to him by blood, believed for some time after that battle that he was still alive. Sulaimanes, rendered famous by that signal and illustrious victory, finally brought the small town he had been besieging under his own dominion with ease. He moved his army also against Orestias, which they call Hadrianopolis. He invested Peridmetum as well with hostile forces, and having attacked the wall, he did not succeed in his initial attempts. But while he remained there, intent upon the siege of the city, they say that a certain youth from those in the city was accustomed to exit secretly at night through a certain crack in the wall to collect grain, and then, laden with grain, would return into the city through the same place. And when he frequently did this, he was finally seen by a certain Turkish soldier serving there for pay. The Turk, observing this, ^{C D}

followed behind the young man, attempting to see if an entrance to the city lay open for him through that breach. He thus entered the city. This being done, he returned to the camp to Sulaiman and reported what had passed. Sulaiman therefore, having led out his troops into battle array, advanced to the city. When he had crept into it, guided by the Turk who had found the crack in the wall, he straightaway gained dominion over it. Afterward, having moved his camp, he laid siege to Philippopolis, which was finally surrendered to his authority by agreement. They report that this king had a man among his followers who was highly skilled in the art of war, and that no one was his superior in conducting incursions and waging battles. Furthermore, they say that he came to such great power for this reason: that he employed the utmost speed in the conduct of affairs. Sulaiman was struck by disease. Hence he hurried towards Asia. The sickness at last worsening, he died. Dying, he instructed his own [followers] to bury his body there, at the isthmus of the Chersonese, where it had previously befallen his son to meet his fate; and he ordered that he be committed to a magnificent burial, and [granted] revenues to the priests who were in that place, so that they might celebrate nocturnal rites at the tomb, and he wished to be joined to the burial of his son. ^A

^B When he had now given up the ghost, Amurath (19), son of Orchanes, the brother of Sulaiman, upon learning the matter, taking the foreigners and the remaining Janissary soldiers, crossed over into Europe and took command of all the armies that were there. Proceeding from thence to Adrianople, he designated that as the seat of his kingdom. Matters having thus been arranged, he made an incursion into the inland region of Macedonia, and having soon captured very many captives and other spoils, he rendered his soldiers quite wealthy. The Turks who accompanied him for the sake of gain he liberally presented with the captives and beasts of burden of the Greeks and Mysians, which had accrued to them by the law of war. It is reported, however, that Sulaiman, after it was announced that the forces of the Triballi and Mysians were marching against him, spoke with the Greeks, [saying] that if sixty thousand drachmas were paid to him, he was willing to restore to the Greeks whatever towns of theirs he had captured in Thrace, and that he would depart from Europe into Asia. When the Greeks had heard that he was besieging their cities in Thrace, they had accepted this proposal with the most willing hearts, and were ready to make terms on these conditions; but when a great earthquake had occurred, and the walls of the cities had collapsed, the Turks, approaching in arms, reduced very many cities, even of the Greeks, to their own dominion; nor did they offer such conditions to the Greeks any longer, but gained possession of Europe. After these things, he turned his war against the Mysians and Triballi. I find it certain that the Triballi are the most ancient and greatest nation in the whole world. They arrived in this region, whether (for the authors vary, whether they are divided from the Illyrians, or, as is the opinion of some, from that region which is beyond the Danube ^{C D}

^A in the farthest parts of Europe, from Croatia and the Prussians dwelling by the northern sea, and from Sarmatia, which is now called Russia—driven out by the cold of their region which is invincible—and, having crossed the Danube, they arrived in the region facing the Ionian Sea. And in this place, having campaigned widely against the Venetians, they settled. But if one should wish to follow the contrary opinion—that having departed from the region facing the Ionian Sea and having crossed the Danube, they ended up in the region beyond—I for my part would not confidently state this. This much, however, I do know: that while these peoples are divided by their names, they no longer differ in their customs, but use the same language and tongue; and that they are of clearly the same stock even now. Yet, as they were dispersed ^B throughout Europe, they settled in many places—in one instance, in a part of the Peloponnese, in the Laconian territory, as far as Mount Taygetos and Taenarum. There, too, a people dwelled who had come from Dacia to Mount Pindus, which extends into Thessaly. Both are called Vlachs; and I would not be able to explain which of these two I should say arrived at the others. Thus, I know that even here the Triballi, the Mysians, the Illyrians, the Croatians, the Polonians, and the Sarmatians use the same tongue. If one must conjecture from this, the conclusion would be that this race is one, the same, and homogeneous with itself. But by time they were divided in their customs from one another, and having arrived at another region, they settled there. Hence, it is not mentioned by anyone, so that we might have anything certain about them to present in this history. There is a kingdom of theirs here on this side of the Danube, and beyond it that race is much larger and extends much further. So much so that one might rather say that, since that region provided a better livelihood, this race arrived on this side and settled in the country by the Ionian Sea, and crossed the Danube, and settled there rather than that, having set out from here, they arrived at the parts of the inhabited world that are nearly uninhabitable. Whether they were led on by some necessity, or remained of their own free will, it happened that they were led away separate from one another, as one may conjecture ^C rather than assert with certainty. From this point, then, some think it correct to call the Upper Mysia and Lower Mysia not the region which is above the Danube, but the region settled beyond the Danube; and that Lower Mysia is not the region which is below the Danube, but the region that reaches from that place of the Danube as far as Italy. However, as for the Hungarians, whom those who are better skilled in the Greek tongue call Lower Mysia, I know that they reach along the Danube from the city of Vidin as far as the Euxine Sea, establishing their kingdom in the city of Trinovum. Alexander, whom the Kral of Serbia, the leader of the Triballi, appointed over the kingdom, ruled these people by his authority until he died, with his son Shishman surviving him, who succeeded to his father's kingdom.

of princes, he placed on the throne, and he reigned in this way until, at his death, he left his son Sussman ^A as king of his people, against whom Murad, the son of Orhan, campaigned. When he had invaded the territory of the Triballi and conquered them in battle, he brought the wealthy city of Pheras under his power and subjugated the regions looking toward Rhodope, performing great feats of military prowess. Having entrusted the city of Pheras to Saines, a very good man, he campaigned against Sussman, the king of Mysia. Joining battle with him there, he routed the Mysians, though he slew but few of them, as they had escaped safely to the regions near the Ister. Sussman then, having sent envoys to Murad to sue for peace, struck a treaty and was received into alliance, so that he might henceforth count the same man as both enemy and friend; and having concluded a marriage alliance, he gave to Murad his own daughter, who was peerless in beauty and born to him by his wife Braide, whom he had wed when he was wounded. He gave, however, another daughter to the king of the Greeks who, at that time, having taken the power away from Cantacuzenus, was ruling the Greek race. But Cantacuzenus, when he was ruling, having two sons, sent the younger, Emmanuel, to the Peloponnese as governor of Mizithra ^B, but established the elder as king over the Greeks. John, the son of Andronicus, when he had reached an age suitable for governing affairs, plotted in conspiracy with the Greeks and asked to be put in charge of the kingdom. Now, at that time the king was passing his time in Macedonia, living a life of excessive luxury and intemperance. The Greeks, indignant at this dissolute manner of living and hurling insults at the king—every man bringing whatever charge he could find—brought the youth John from Macedonia and established him as king by common consent and applause. Upon entering the kingdom, he transferred Cantacuzenus ^C into the order of the Nazarenes, or monks, and changed his name to Matthew. The elder son of this man, whom his father had designated king for the Greeks, sailed to Rhodes, seeking from the high priest, whom they call the Grand Master, who governed that island, the assistance by which he might recover his lost kingdom. But having attempted many things in vain to win over the priest to his side, when he saw that there was no hope of assistance shining forth, he directed his path to his younger brother Emmanuel in the Peloponnese, the prince of Sparta ^D, and with him he lived and had his necessities. John, for his part, entered into an alliance with Murad, who had recently crossed into Europe, and gave the daughter of the Mysian king in marriage to his own son Andronicus, from whom were born to him children: Andronicus, who was the eldest, and Demetrius, Emmanuel, and Theodorus, who were younger. Now Theodorus followed Murad, wherever he turned his war. The others, whom we have just mentioned, were tributaries and mercenaries of Murad and were compelled to accompany him wherever he might have undertaken an expedition. After these things were settled, he campaigned against Dragas, the prince of the river Axios, and subjected his land, imposing tribute at the same time and requiring him to follow in the army against his enemies, having with him a certain number of cavalry.

^A Having performed these feats brilliantly, he also defeated Pogdanus, who ruled in that region, and required him to serve under him with the army he had possessed. Amurates, meanwhile, imitating in all things the fairness of Cyrus, son of Cambyses, treated the leaders of the Triballi, the Mysians, and indeed the Greeks who had come under his power with the greatest moderation and generosity. Having stayed a long time in Europe, held by war, word reached him that his prefects in Asia had formed a conspiracy, inciting the Asians to revolt, and had already alienated a very large region from Amurates, and having raised armies, they were disturbing the state of Asia to the greatest extent possible, not ceasing from taking certain towns and besieging others. As soon as he learned this for certain, he prepared to cross into Asia ^B and drew up his men in such a way that he might crush and route the enemy as forcefully as possible. Having discovered them encamped in Mysia, he led his forces into battle, and having become in many ways experienced in warfare, he devised the following stratagem. For it is said that since it was the height of summer, and he knew that as midday approached, the Etesian winds would blow from the west, he ordered his army to ensure that that part [of the sky] was at their backs, and he stood for battle near a bustling marketplace, and having joined with the enemy, he fought strongly. As the battle hung in the balance on both sides, it is said that he rode up onto a certain hill ^C and shouted in a loud voice to his men: "My soldier sons, do you not remember what great dangers you have endured during so many years of the hardest service in Europe? Why do you retreat? Do you not know that everything will be in our power once they are overcome? Come then, follow me, so that you do not perish, for the enemy will soon be overcome by us." Having spoken these words, the king spurred his horse against the enemy and threw himself into the middle of their dense column. Immediately, the wind blowing at the back of his army began to harass the opponents in their faces. And thus, encouraging one another and advancing to the front and pressing them, they finally turned the enemy ^D and pursued them at full speed, destroying them. It is said that the greatest part of their army was destroyed there. But the enemies, seeking their own safety in flight, were dispersed individually to their own homes. Hence, having sent envoys to Amurates to seek peace, they did not suffer a refusal. Peace was granted, however, on the condition that they would energetically follow wherever the army moved. As for peace being made with the Turks in Asia, affairs in Europe were also being disturbed. Sauzes, the eldest of the sons of Amurates, was left in Europe to defend it, and if any sedition had arisen or any danger had threatened, he was to ensure that the affairs of Europe were kept safe. Thus [he]

^A he set things in order. He established a concord ^A and conciliated the nobles of the Greeks in Europe as much as he was able, performing these duties most effectively and winning them over. And concerning the eldest son of the Greek Emperor, Andronicus—to whom his father had entrusted the empire when he departed with Amurates to Asia to wage war against the leaders there who were in revolt—having engaged in converse with him, since both of them were contemplating revolting from their fathers and holding the paternal authority for themselves, and were considering that same man both enemy and friend, whoever the other might order, and that if any war should arise, they would come to each other’s aid with all possible strength. As this seemed to them something that must be done, he was eager for it, and they made oaths, strengthening these things as best they could, in the way that seemed most secure for both of them. ^B Being made manifest to them through these actions, they fortified themselves, preparing against the time when Amurates might come into Europe, so as to defend themselves.

As soon as he heard that these things were happening in Europe, he summoned John, the Emperor of Byzantium, and spoke as follows: "King of the Greeks, report has recently come to me from those most trustworthy in Europe, that Sauzes, my son, having been compelled by your son, is plotting disastrous things against me. How then, without your knowledge of these matters, could they have reached such a pitch of folly that not only does my son undertake such impious acts, but that your son also becomes his fellow-conspirator and helper? How could I imagine that these things were prepared without your counsel? But if you will exact on your son the punishment that I shall prescribe, I will then know clearly that these things happened without your consent. But if you think otherwise, or if your judgment regarding the punishment of my son does not accord with mine, know that I shall hold you responsible for these troubles hereafter."

The Emperor of the Greeks replied to these words: ^C "'O King, you shall never in the future hold me responsible for this, nor justly lay this charge upon me. For if this son of mine, whom you say has been impelled to such impious deeds against you, were in my power, you would know clearly with what burning zeal I embrace both you and your realm. But if you entrust to me the business of punishing my son, do not think me so foolish as to be restrained by favor from abating the severity of the punishment, especially since he who is to be punished is most inimical and hostile to both you and me."

When the Emperor had finished speaking, it was decided by Amurates that the same punishment should be inflicted by both fathers upon their sons. According to this, it was agreed by the two fathers to punish the sons by gouging out the eyes of each of them. ^D When these things were decided, he marched into Europe, leading as great an army as he was able. And having crossed into Europe, he made haste against his son, to the place where he heard he was encamped together with the son of the Greek Emperor. And those who had gathered the army of Europe had encamped in a certain place in Byzantium called Apicridium: where, indeed, it was known that the Greeks had gathered, along with all the best men from Europe. There, near the

^A torrent, by which he was, as it were, fortified, Sauzes, the son of Amurates, pitched his camp, intending to await the arrival of his father. When Amurates learned that his son, with the addition of the Greeks, had encamped in the aforementioned place, he approached with his army drawn up in order, intending to join battle with the enemy. But when the torrent prevented the engagement, he also pitched his camp by the torrent. It is said that some of the Greeks, having engaged with the soldiers of Amurates, put them to flight. Then, since he recognized that this location was ill-suited for joining battle, he set out by night from the region opposite the enemy’s camp and approached the bank of the torrent as close to the enemy’s camp as possible. From there, since he could be easily heard, he lifted his voice and called out individual men by name: whose outstanding deeds, noted by place and time, he extolled in a second speech. And then, when he had sufficiently praised each one, he crossed the torrent on horseback and is said to have delivered the following speech: "Heroic men, whither are you fleeing, abandoning me, your father? Why, casting aside the discipline of your teacher, do you turn to my son, a deserter? When he first falls into my hands, he shall pay the penalty on his own back. For he shall be beaten with scourges, if only it be permitted to me by you: and his body shall suffer no other evil. But if, ^B having despised this judgment, you should wish to contend with me with the sword, know for certain that you will fall into the greatest misery, and will never experience my kindness. Come, then, pass over to us, suspecting no evil. Do not be ashamed to flock to me, neither out of reverence for our virtue, nor even because of the scourging of my son. I swear by Him, by whose aid I ascended to this high empire, that I will bring no evil upon any of you." The report is that the soldiers of Sauzes, having heard the voice of the king—which was most resonant—were somewhat confused, and feared grievously for themselves, being well aware of his virtue and fortune. Nevertheless, persuaded by the authority of the speaker, and having conferred much among themselves, they deserted the camp on the following night; and each one directed his path wherever it seemed convenient to him. Most of them, when they had entered the camp of Amurates, ^C begged forgiveness for their fault, excusing their action by saying they had not followed the camp of Sauzes of their own will, but had been surrounded by necessity. When Sauzes understood that his soldiers had fled from the camp, and that even those whom he judged to be most faithful and devoted to him had departed, he retreated to Didymoteichon. The sons of the Greeks followed him: supported by their aid, he conducted his affairs with the greatest possible spirit. Amurates, having learned of his son's departure, followed immediately in his footsteps and surrounded the city with a siege. Those who were with Sauzes, overcome by famine—since they had previously stored no grain in the citadel, and it had failed in a short time—surrendered themselves to the faith or the compacts of Amurates. Amurates, therefore, having received the city when it was exhausted by famine, ^D also captured his son Sauzes: whom he ordered to be deprived of his eyes. As for the rest of the Greeks,

^A he ordered them to be bound, and led to the precipice above the city, to be cast down into the river. And he, having pitched his tent by the river and observing the nobles of the Greeks being brought to the precipice and cast in, now two by two, and then three by three, is said to have burst into laughter, having become addicted to the spectacle, when a hare, suddenly stirred up by dogs, had crossed their path. After this, he ordered the parents of those who had joined Sauzes in inciting the sedition to put their own sons to death with their own hands. There were two fathers who refused to carry out such a cruel command. Hence they were also slaughtered together with their sons. For he used to say that those men had by no means defected to Sauzes without the counsel of their parents. ^B Now, however, as they were wavering in their fortune, he believed they were leaning toward both sides. Having thus settled these matters, he sent a messenger to the king of the Greeks, ordering him to treat his son in the same manner as had been agreed upon with him at the beginning: and he, pouring boiling vinegar into his eyes, deprived him of his sight.

Thus did this war come to an end. After this, when Emmanuel, the son of the king of the Greeks, was governing and managing Therma, which is called Thessalonica in Macedonia, and had obtained assistance, he was caught plotting against the city of Pherae, and hatching a new revolt against Amurates. Whereupon, Amurates sent Charatines, a very powerful man, who was second to none in military science, and commanded him to occupy Therma; nor was he to return unless he brought with him the son of King John, bound. ^C Charatines was especially intent upon accomplishing this plan. But Emmanuel, when he perceived that the city could not withstand the forces of Charatines—since the affairs of the city were in a ruined state and promised nothing good (for the people of the city treated him more insultingly than was fitting, being most hostile to the man)—for this reason he was turning over in his mind how he might haste by sea as quickly as possible to his father. But his father, having sent a messenger, had commanded him to turn aside elsewhere, as if he did not dare receive him any longer for fear of Amurates. He determined to go to Amurates himself and to importune him with supplications, so that he might grant him immunity for his offenses. ^D Amurates, on learning that the son of the king was coming to him, was quite pleased by his noble character. Upon meeting him in the manner he was previously accustomed to do when he rode out to meet him, he then addressed him, and after the young man had stood silent for a short while, he spoke to him thus: "O son of the king, you are rightly convicted of having plotted against my region, which was formerly yours, and I know that whatever you have done, you have done with justification. But now, since I grant you pardon for the past, beware lest hereafter you attempt such things against me and my kingdom. For you have sufficiently demonstrated to me, and to God who oversees this matter, that you have acted most basely. Therefore, when you have become better, the affairs of Europe shall also fare better under you. But I," he said, "knowing God...

himself to be the best witness to the fact that I am carrying out my duties in the best possible way through you, and having been the cause of such great difficulty as to how you might be favorably disposed toward me for the offenses committed against you and your kingdom—" And in this way, he also confessed his sin to Amurates, and sending him off to his father, urged him to welcome his son with goodwill. He, doing what was commanded, immediately admitted his son to Byzantium.

^B Charatines, having occupied Therma and brought the defectors into servitude, attained great fame with Amurates, being held in higher esteem by him than he had been before, though he was already great and very powerful with him. There are, indeed, many things worth mentioning concerning Charatines, as he offered the best counsel to Amurates, and through his industry, most of the excellent achievements that occurred in Asia and Europe came to pass. There are also recorded some conversations of this man, which it is said he had with the king, while arguing with him about wisdom and generalship. For it is said that he asked him: "King Amurates, how could one best fulfill the role of a general, so that he might easily achieve those things which he desires to be done by his forces?" The king, it is said, replied: "By carefully watching the individual opportunities, lest they escape me, and besides, by binding the minds of the soldiers to myself with the greatest possible benefits." I hear that Charatines then responded: "But by what means would you not let the opportunities pass, and furthermore, how would you attain the goal of your military campaign?" The king replied: "If I have carefully weighed in my mind the probabilities that relate to the goal, and in those things which lead toward the goal, I have not wandered off course." From this, they say that Charatines burst into a very great laugh, and said to Amurates: "King, you would seem to be most wise, but how could you weigh the probabilities unless you were present to know by experience both what ought to be done and what ought not to be done, so as to reject the latter in consultation, and choose the former with the greatest care? When these have been determined, it signifies that speed is also required, which has the greatest moment for achieving tasks brilliantly, so that nothing more than speed and tireless care in acting and consulting ought a general to pursue, and he must be present wherever his presence is needed." These points, having been discussed between them, were shown to be opinions not lacking in merit. ^D Amurates, therefore, by rushing everywhere as quickly as possible, filled everything with fear and watchfulness, employing Charatines as a most excellent assistant, and one who was most capable in helping him with anything and in joining him at any time, and who had contributed not a little to his rule in Europe. He had brought under his sway so many nations and rulers in Europe; and he had the king of the Greeks accompanying him wherever he campaigned, who also complied with him. He was pleasing to Manuel, and most of all among all the Greeks. He also had the king of the Mysians, and additionally Dragases the son of Zarcos, and Bogdan who held the Rhodope, and others of the rulers in Europe, as well as the Triballians, the Greeks, and the Albanians. With all these defeated, and with the rulers in Asia following him into the wars, he campaigned at the end. As for the Greeks,

the way in which they fell from their kingdom into servitude, I have already explained before. It is worthwhile, however, to briefly recall the aforesaid to memory.

^B John, having been raised to the rudder of the kingdom, forced Cantacuzenus, his predecessor, to become a Nazarene, or rather a monk. Then, when he observed that the affairs of the Turks were increasing with incredible success, he sailed into Italy. He first approached the Venetians to ask for help. When he had obtained little assistance there, having received a great sum of money from usurers, he decided to depart for the king of France. He did not omit the other princes of the West, all of whom he urged as best he could to provide aid.

When he arrived at the king of the Gauls (22), he perceived that the affairs of this man, too, were being troubled by war and sedition, and that he was experiencing very adverse fortune. Meanwhile, he brought back nothing in the way of help from Italy. Hastening his return, when he arrived at Venice, he was unable to pay the interest on the capital which he had received on loan from the usurers. Intending to set out from there to Galatia, he was detained by the Venetians, who would not allow him to set foot anywhere until he had satisfied his creditors. ^C Anxious about these matters, he sent to Byzantium to his son Andronicus, to whom he had entrusted the kingdom, asking him to gather money, as much from ecclesiastical as from the other treasuries of the kingdom, and then to send it to him so that he might redeem himself from his creditors; and that he should not neglect him, as he was now spending a long time in prison.

Andronicus, upon learning these things, paid little attention to them, since he took too much pleasure in the kingdom and despised his father. Nevertheless, he ordered it to be reported to him that the Greeks would not allow it that he should plunder the sacred treasuries, nor could he scrape together such a great amount of money from elsewhere. Therefore, if he did not wish to neglect himself, he should turn elsewhere to procure money, by which he might free himself from his predicament. ^D Manuel, the younger son of the king, when he heard into what great necessity his father the king had been driven by the Venetians, having collected and exacted as great a sum of money as possible, boarded a ship and arrived in Venice with the greatest speed. He offered to his father all the money that he had exacted from Therme, the city of which he had been appointed prefect. Furthermore, he handed himself over to his father, that he might use him at his own discretion. This act rendered Manuel both the most beloved and the most familiar to his father; but he pursued the other son, namely Andronicus, with most incensed hatred from then on; and because it had taken its origin from this, it remained most persistently.

^A The king of the Greeks with the money that Emmanuel had brought, satisfied the Venetian creditors, and returning to Byzantium, he sent an embassy to king Amurates; furthermore, he ordered his son to do military service at the king's doors. Amurates commanded John that he should cultivate him with the greatest of faith, and that he should not retract his military service, wherever the war might turn. John directed his mind diligently, so that he might not subsequently offend in anything, whereby he might incur the offense of the king. ^B Afterward, he sent his son Theodore into the Peloponnesus, the sons of Cantacuzenus having died; he remained with Emmanuel his brother, the prefect of Therma. When the duke of Macedonia and Thessaly had come to him for a conference, they plotted a defection from king Amurates. The other son returned to Byzantium, having been summoned by his father to the kingdom. He himself, having entered into the Peloponnesus, defended its lands as best he could; all of which he fortified in such a way that they seemed to him to be likely to be as safe as possible. These things which we have just recounted occurred before Andronicus, together with Sauzes, defected from Amurates, and both took up arms against their own fathers. Afterward, Amurates discovered that Emmanuel also, desirous of a revolution, was turning over an insurrection in his mind; whom at length Charatines deprived of the town of Therma and his own dignity. ^C Then, when his father had issued an edict that Emmanuel should not enter his region, having hastened his flight, he came to Lesbos. Since his arrival had cast the greatest terror into the leader governing the island, he ordered Emmanuel to depart from his region. He, when he had fallen in with a trireme setting sail for Troy, was transported into Asia. There, having hired horses, he set out to Prusa to king Amurates. At length, Amurates brought war upon the Triballi, and upon their leader Eleazar, who had betaken himself to the Pannonians and was inciting them to take up arms against Amurates. ^D Eleazar, as he learned that Amurates was advancing against him with an army, gathered the greatest forces he could in order to resist the approaching enemy as fiercely as possible. Eleazar, since he had daughters, prepared himself a son-in-law by bestowing one in marriage upon Susmannus, king of the Odrysians, or Moldavians; the other he joined in matrimony to Bulcus Branci, who was the son of Placlica, the ruler of the region of Castoria and Ochrida in Macedonia, which Nicolaus, son of Zopanus, had previously held. But with the leaders Uglese and Crale dead, he, conquering the region thus called Pristinum and Nistea, advanced as far as the river which they name the Savus. Against him, when Amurates was leading his army, having sent out scouts, he learned that he had occupied with his army a field which had the name Cosobo. There Amurates

^A arrived and drew up for battle, having with him his two sons, Pajazites and Jagupes. The Turks then say that Amurates, having fought and routed the forces of Eleazar, pursued them with all his might; and while pursuing, he encountered a Triballian man, and closing in on him, the man turned and, being on foot, hurled a javelin at his breast, and thus killed King Amurates. The Greeks, however, do not say that he was fighting and had advanced to pursue the routed enemy when he died, but that while he was still standing in the battle line, they say that a most noble man named Miloen ^B wished to undertake a contest more beautiful than any that had ever occurred. This Milo, they say, having requested from the leader Eleazar that he be granted everything he might ask for, promised that he would fully armed approach the camp of Amurates as a deserter. Amurates, believing the man was approaching him as a deserter, ordered his men to give way at once, so that he might safely explain what he wanted. When he had penetrated as close as possible to the king's ranks, he found the king standing in the line, girded for battle. Seizing his spear, he set out to perform an act which we know to be the most beautiful by far; for he killed King Amurates, and he himself also fell ^C there fighting bravely among the enemy. These are the differing opinions of the Greeks and Turks regarding the death of Amurates.

Amurates then met his death at Cosobo. His body they carried off to Prusa, where the remains of all the kings of the Ottoman line—except for Sulaimanes—are interred. The entrails of the king were buried according to royal custom in the field of Cosobo. He died after reigning fifty-seven years, slain by a Triballian man, a death not befitting a king who had waged wars for so many years and had performed many great and noble deeds; furthermore, he had finished thirty-seven great wars in Europe and Asia, having enjoyed such virtue and fortune that he had never been overcome in battle. In addition, ^D he had acquired great power and a vast region on both continents, even when he had already advanced to a great age. He was never drawn to battle by greed for possessions, but by a certain ferocity, nor could he ever be sated with blood. When there was respite from the enemy, he indulged in hunting. He never gave himself to studies or tranquility; but when there was no enemy, he applied himself to hunting, in which skill he far excelled his predecessors. He displayed diligence and speed in managing affairs in old age no less than in his youth. With promptness and alacrity in

everything, he touched upon all matters, leaving nothing undone that required to be done. We have heard that he caused the greatest slaughter of men of all the kings ^A before him. He was, however, most reasonable in his speech and dealt with his subordinates and the sons of the commanders with the greatest moderation. He was most ready to honor and address any man, and most skilled in urging his own men into battle. In the conduct of affairs, he was at all times energetic, so that whenever forces were engaged, he was present everywhere. In appearance he was not stern, but gentle, and most gracious in his speech. He granted no impunity to anyone for their sins, but punished the offender according to his merits. He was extremely sparing in his words. He is said to have kept his oaths more faithfully ^B than the rest of the kings of his family. Hence, although many rose up against him most audaciously, thinking they would incur no danger, yet once they learned of his power, it happened otherwise. And as for the man who behaved arrogantly and resisted him stubbornly, or anyone who had in any way transgressed against him, he did not let them go away in joy. We have learned that although he was most formidable to his own subjects, and especially to his commanders, he was nevertheless loved by them. So that no one should suppose that if this man had been attacked with arms by Temir, he would have conducted that war in a most inferior manner. For he would have fought bravely, and if not a victor, he would at least not have emerged from that battle vanquished. For he would have chosen an advantageous ^C place for the battle, in which he could not easily be defeated. And he would have afflicted Temir’s army as it approached in a hostile manner with the sword, wherever an opportunity presented itself, with a most grievous disaster. When Amurates, the son of Orchanes, had passed away, the governors who were at the gates of Amurates at once established his younger son, Pajazites, as king with unanimous consent.

Book II

LAONICI CHALCOCONDYLÆ ATHENIENSIS HISTORIARUM DE ORIGINE AC REBUS GESTIS TURCORUM LIBER SECUNDUS

The history of Bajazet, who began to rule over the Turks in the year of Christ 1373, later defeated the Emperor Sigismund at Nicopolis, and besieged Byzantium for eight years. Emmanuel sets out for Italy and Gaul for the sake of seeking aid.

^A After Amurates, the son of Orchan, had died, having been slain by a Triballian man, the satraps who governed the "Gates" immediately proclaimed Pajazites, the younger son of Amurates, as king. Once he held the kingdom, he immediately sent for his brother Jagupes (whom our people call Soleimannus), as if he were being summoned by his father Amurates; for whenever he was called, he had been accustomed to accede most promptly to the "Gates" (for this is what the Turks call the court). Therefore, ignorant of all the things that were being prepared, he did not hesitate to come to the "Gates" when summoned. Upon his arrival, Pajazites ordered violent hands to be laid upon him and for his brother to be killed. He was indeed put to death according to that custom which the kings of the Turks are accustomed to observe in the slaughter of their brothers. For he was not beheaded with iron, but rather was strangled with a noose, just as the custom of those kings holds. When the king had destroyed his brother in this way, and had established the kingdom for himself, he immediately led his forces into battle, and the engagement having begun, he cast the Triballi into flight. In this engagement he had pressed out from the army against the enemy as far as possible. For the Turks, having put the ^B enemy in flight, pursued them most manfully, and put to death the Triballi, whom they surpassed in the skill of horsemanship. For the horses of the Turks were much superior to the horses of the Triballi—

This is how the account is told by the Greeks; but as the Turks themselves say, this victory was not Bajazet's own, but rather from Amurates's

^A direction that the battle was conducted; and the same victory occurred, they claim, when he himself slew Eleazar, the leader of the Triballi, in that battle. This is how the Turks feel regarding that battle. For my part, I cannot conjecture how, within such a short space of time in the battle, he could have both killed his brother and immediately returned to the fray. Furthermore, I doubt how a Triballian could have seized a spear and attempted to destroy the king with no one standing in his way. But let each man have his own free judgment on this matter. ^B After Bajazet assumed the reins of the kingdom and had gained a brilliant victory by defeating his enemies, having also lost not a few of his own men in the battle and with the death of the leader, he overran the entire region of the Triballi. Having made as many prisoners as possible, he imposed upon it the form of administration he deemed best and most convenient for his own rule. He joined the Greeks to himself in treaty. Having made peace with the leaders in Macedonia, he established a colony in the city of Skopje, bringing thither a great many Turks from both Europe and Asia, together with their wives and children. He did this so that, setting out from there, he might be able to plunder the affairs of the Illyrians in safety. He made an incursion into the Illyrian region, captured small towns, and utterly ravaged them. He sent an army into the maritime region of the Albanians, towards the Ionian Sea and the territory bordering on Dyrrachium, and carried off spoils from it. The Greeks followed him in arms, whithersoever he moved his army; with the exception of Emmanuel, son of John, king of the Greeks, and John, son of Andronicus the Elder. For since their eyes had been burned with vinegar, the Byzantine king provided them with sustenance at home. ^C When these men realized that their eyes were finally doing better, as they conferred among themselves—with their wives and others aiding them—they fled to that city of Galata, which is called Pera, situated opposite Byzantium. Thence they arrived before King Bajazet, and upon arrival, they begged that aid be given to them so that they might drive against their own city, and they besought him to restore them to power. And when he reached the sight of the king, they say he began his address as follows: "For my part, O King, struck by such a great calamity, I now have better hopes for myself, having committed myself to a better fortune and to God, who sees all things, than my own fortune might allow. Furthermore, God has returned to me a favor not at all displeasing. For although He has taken away almost all of my sight, He has nonetheless left me enough to see a little; and since He promises me the kingdom, it is right that the kingdom, which pertains to me by law, should be restored to me. Now this kingdom of ours, if you will listen to me, you shall find ^D in the future compliant to your every

^A wish, provided you have restored it to me; if you provide about four thousand cavalry, and command them to follow me for two months. There are among us those who hold the city, men who excel in lineage and wealth. Not a few of these would follow me from here, were I not aware that they are managing my affairs in the city, and would eventually assist me in whatever matter I might need their help. I also promise to give you a very large tribute every year, and I shall have a Turkish judge or prefect in the city." The king, having heard these things, answered: "To me, indeed, since I have heard that you still possess your sight, your speech was most pleasing. And I give thanks to the Creator of mortals and immortals, who has granted you this benefit. You have come to men who are your friends and allies, who will most readily give themselves to you for whatever war you may undertake. However, I will punish your father, the king, so that he may never again plot new designs against me. Therefore, take those whom you have asked for, turn your journey to the city, and do there whatever you judge to be most useful to you, so that you may return to your fatherland." The king, having said this, straightway provided the equipped cavalry that he had requested; having accepted them, Andronicus betook himself to Byzantium. John and his son Emmanuel, when it was announced that Andronicus was approaching against them with his son and a great force, entered the citadel called the Golden [Gate], and there prepared to endure the siege. Andronicus, arriving, surrounded the city with a siege. Later, ^B he received the citadel upon terms of surrender, and shut both of them in a narrow wooden prison, which he had built inside the tower; and he seized the kingdom, holding his father and brother in confinement. And while he administered the kingdom, he designated his own son John as emperor for the Greeks. He held them in this prison for three years, and did not wish to slaughter them, although he was incited to this by Bajazet. In the fourth year, however, they persuaded the prefect of the prison, who administered their food, to provide them with iron. Having done this, they dissolved the prison and, fleeing, hastened to king Bajazet, promising that they would pay a maximum tribute, and provide as many soldiers as he might command. Having sent a messenger to Byzantium, he explored the minds of the Byzantines, as to whom they wished to be given to them as king, Emmanuel or Bajazet. By this method he was skillfully fishing to see how the Byzantines were disposed toward him. But the Byzantines chose Emmanuel ^C (29), already wearying of the rule of Andronicus. There arose, therefore, a contention between both kings over the kingdom of Byzantium. Emmanuel promised that he would pay a tribute which would contain thirty thousand gold pieces annually: and he added that he would set out with him on military campaign wherever the army might have been led. Under these conditions, which we have just mentioned, the kingdom of Byzantium a

^Agreed to pay the tribute, specifically that he should go to Janua [note: likely an error for Yedikule/the gates of Constantinople], and pay the tribute which he had ordered; and that he should also lead out the soldiers as often as he ordered, in the spring as it approached. And thus, having received the kingdom of Byzantium under Pajazites, and frequents the gates, he used to pay the tribute and lead out the army each year, as spring appeared. Andronicus, therefore, and his son John, spending their time at the gates, had their sustenance from the king. Emmanuel reigned.

Pajazites, son of Amurates, having with him the kings of the Greeks who were inciting him to this, launched his forces against the Greek city of Philadelphia. For the kings of Byzantium were contending among themselves, and King Pajazites sought that Philadelphia be given to him. They promised that they would do this. But when Emmanuel had sent a herald to announce to the citizens of Philadelphia that they should surrender themselves and the city to Pajazites and accept him as judge and as the Turkish governor, they answered that they were by no means prepared to surrender themselves to the barbarian. Irritated by this response, Pajazites besieged the city with his armies, taking with him the kings of the Greeks who obtained there the rewards of valor. For they were the first to scale the wall and take the city. And in this manner Philadelphia, a Greek city of Lydia, which had been founded under the best laws, was captured. ^B After this, Pajazites waged war upon Scender, the king of the Armenians, and attacked the city of Ertzica, the seat of the Armenian kingdom, and the small town called Lamachia. This Scender is said to have been by far the bravest of the barbarians inhabiting Asia, and in daring for war and strength of body, to have been inferior to no mortal. As once the Assyrians came against him, he frequently performed deeds worthy of mention, routing the enemy with a few men around him. This Scender, however, was killed by his wife, whom he hated, when she seized him with his son, and she herself seized the reins of the kingdom. Pajazites, marching against him, laid siege to and took the city of Ertzica, and held the son of Scender in custody. After this, having subdued the Tzapnidae, who occupy the regions of Colchis up to the city of Amastrum, he turned his war against Carailuces and the leader of Samachia, Leucaminas; whom he defeated in battle as he came out to meet him with an army, and he began to besiege the city of Samachia. ^C But as the siege of this city was having little success, he withdrew his forces and returned home. Hence he declared war against the remaining leaders who were in Asia, Aedinus, Sarchanus, Mendesia, Tecnis, and Metinus; and he drove them from their rule, and having ousted them, took their territory for himself. When they had been driven from their own seats, they set out for Susa to King Temires. How these men, having traveled up, came into the sight of the king, has been made clear to me later. Save, indeed, for Caramanus, surnamed Alosurius, and Turgetus, the leader of Phrygia, who also through intermarriage

^A with Bajazet, attained peace. The rest, excluding these two, were driven from their kingdoms and went up to Samarcand, which was the royal seat of Temiris. We affirm that Sarchanes, who protected the maritime region of Ionia, and Mendesias, a descendant of Calames, and Tecoes, who ruled over Madian, were descendants and posterity of those seven leaders of Ottoman who, with combined forces and common counsel, acquired the empire of Asia; and it is certain that they were also ministers of King Aladinus. As for Metines and Aedines, I cannot discover from where they obtained their kingdom. However, they say that Aedines alone ruled the region extending from Colophon to Caria. I know for certain that all who live under the Turgaturii, under Caramanus, under Matines, and under Aedines are truly Turks, both in race and in name. Having subdued that region of Cappadocia which was under Caraisuphus, and also that which the sons of Homuris ruled, and having further brought the greatest part of Phrygia into his power, he promoted war against Erizica—the royal seat of the Armenians—and against Scenderes, who held those places far and wide as far as the Euphrates; he also brought a not insignificant part of Colchis into his power by war. ^B These things, indeed, he accomplished while in Asia, giving evidence of great feats of valor. Afterwards, passing into Europe, having sent armies into Macedonia and the region bordering the Ionian sea, he ravaged the land of the neighboring Albanians. Having captured certain small towns of the Albanians, he bore arms against the Illyrians; and having laid waste the region of the Illyrians, he plundered their wealth and converted it to his own profit. Having performed these things, he undertook an expedition against the Peloponnese, rumors having first been spread that he was about to attack Phocis in war and was to subdue Thessaly, so that it might be suitable for his operations. For the bishop of the Phocians was inviting him, showing a region most suitable for ^C hunting, having meadows that provided an infinite multitude of cranes, and besides these, plains most beautifully fashioned by nature for cavalry. This expedition, indeed, was prepared in words in this manner, but in reality, war was being declared against Thessaly and the leaders who were there by the name of the Cernais, and the wife of the leader Delvis, of the Delphoi, Trudeluda. After these things, as if about to break into the Peloponnese, when he had chosen as leader of the war Theodorus, the son of Joannes, he waged war strenuously. Having set out into Thessaly, he made Domacia his own, when he who was in it, the leader Cernæus, had abandoned it. From thence he received into his power the city of the Pharsalians, which was itself also ruled by the Cernæi. Then, when he had advanced further, ^D the wife of the leader Delvis, having a daughter of marriageable age and betrothed to a man, when she learned that the king was coming, and was leading him towards the Salo-

Salona ^A city of Thermopylae, and Patras, which is situated on the plain at the foot of the Locrian mountains, she brought them into submission. Furthermore, she received not a few other small towns of that region into her allegiance through agreements. Delvis, the leader of the Delphians, had a daughter already of marriageable age and betrothed to a man; when she learned that the king was proceeding against her with an army, she went to meet the king with her daughter and as many gifts as she could manage. The king gladly accepted the daughter and sent both her and her mother away to live according to his own customs, but he placed a governor over the region that had passed into his dominion. It is said concerning this woman that she fell in love with a certain priest named Straton, and having advanced to greater shamelessness, she entrusted the authority to this priest and slew many of the inhabitants of the city of Delphi, having acted in this fashion. For these reasons, complaints were brought to the king by the high priest, stating that it was not fitting for a woman ruling over such a region, while committing adultery with a priest, to inflict intolerable evils upon the citizens; and that on these accounts the king should set out to make war upon them. It is said, however, concerning this priest who had intercourse with this woman, that he offended in not a few other instances with women, acting in a demonic manner, so as to draw them away for the sake of intercourse. Now Delves, the husband of the woman, had died earlier of illness. He was of the lineage of the Taraconensian ^B kings. And when he had arrived from Italy into the Peloponnese, he possessed Attica and Boeotia together with the Peloponnese, and indeed Phocaea and Patras, the cities outside of Thermopylae. These men, however, after no little time had passed, lost their lordship. Some of them returned to Italy, while others remained there until they died. Of this lineage was this Delves, the prince of the Delphians, from whom Pajazites, son of Amurates, took away his wife and daughter, and then returned home, and made an incursion into the Peloponnese. Now the leader of Sparta, when he invaded Thessaly, having established the cities in a state of security, fled by night and departed into the Peloponnese, so that if he should come, he might defend himself. He was able to accomplish the greatest things, and for this reason he was not least concerned about invading the Peloponnese. But word reached him that the Paeonians, under the leadership of Sigismund, King and Emperor of the Romans, along with the Gauls and not a few of the Germans, had gathered ^C together, intending to go against him, and were preparing to cross the Ister; and that they had the Dacians, a race not ignoble, with them, guiding them on their way and directing the movement of the army. This Sigismund, who was leading the forces against Pajazites, happened to be the leader of the Germans, for the most part residing about the city of Vienna, and ruling over the region of the Germans—a not insignificant one. After the Paeonians were subsequently added to them, he himself was established as king of the Paeonians and leader of the region of the Germans. ^D Germania begins from the Pyrenees, and from there

^A the Tartesus river flows into the Ocean, towards the west. And there is Upper Germania, extending as far as Cologne and Strasbourg, cities so named. From there it descends to the Gallic Ocean on the right, and towards the left it stretches to Pyridastia, as far as the British islands. There is also Germania from the Danube, from the city of Vienna, a region extending to the Tartesus river itself, and to Prague of the Bohemians. The length from Vienna to the Ocean comprises as much space as an agile man can cover in twenty-five days of travel. The breadth is even greater, if one undertakes the shortest journey from Celtic Gaul towards the Danish region. This region ^B is governed by better laws than any of the regions or nations facing either the north or the west. It is divided into illustrious and flourishing cities, which are governed by their own laws that approach equity as closely as possible. It is also divided into principalities, and is subject to priests and bishops who adhere to the Roman Pontiff. The cities in Upper and Lower Germania established most strictly according to equity are the opulent city of Nuremberg, Strasbourg, and Amberg, which are governed by bishops, and Cologne, and Vienna, which goes into Lower Germania. There are also other cities, not a few, nearly two hundred, which differ in a few respects from those already mentioned. Anyone could divide all the duchies of all Germania into three principalities, namely, the cities of ^C Austria (41), and Styria, and Blena (42), which is situated in Upper Germania. This is a great race of men, extending far and wide over the inhabited world, second only to the Nomad Scythians; and if they were to have the same mind and were to live under one ruling prince, they would be invincible and the strongest of mortals. As for their bodies, they are extremely healthy, as they live under the northern clime, and in the region there, far from the sea, they are in want of nothing. Nor is there a nation, that I know of, that is governed by better laws. Pestilence does not rage there, which is born from corrupted air and most of all infests the Orientals, destroying many ^D of those who dwell there. Other diseases which are severe to the rest of mortals in the summer and autumn do not afflict the inhabitants of Germania. Earthquakes worthy of mention rarely shake that region. Rain in the summer is seen to be more abundant in that region than in others. In diet and customs they imitate the Romans, and in other things they do not differ from them at all. Nor is there any nation that practices the religion of the Romans more superstitiously, especially where it is near the West. Duel-fighting is considered [a practice] among them, more than among other nations, so that they do not duel-fight with one another on foot or on horses. This race is most dexterous in mechanics, in the arts of war, and in all the [index: entries preserved]

^A arts is highly esteemed. [alt-version omitted] Moreover, this land, except for oil and dried figs, brings forth all other things no less than those brought from the other country. They think that the tribes and the telegraphs [telebolous], having been appointed by the Germans to rule over one another, proceeded also into the rest of the inhabited world. Paionia begins from Vienna, the city of the Germans, and ^B towards the Danube it descends, [reaching] the Dacians and the Triballi; and towards the north, it descends into the Bohemians, [the tribe] called the Cephioi. The rulers of this country are regarded as the lords of the fatherland, each one [ruling] over the subjects of their king, as far as is thought [appropriate] for them according to the agreement. And they use the king of the land, but they are also descended from the Bohemian royal house or from the Germans or the Poles or other tribes of this kind. The Germans agree as to their weapons, their way of life, and their avoidance of luxury, as is said of the Celts and the Germans; and in the same way they conform to the Roman religion. This race is of exceptional courage, and it is surprising with what boldness and spirit they wage war. They create from their own people a certain one of the number of princes, who, being the first of the rest, ascends to royal status, and they do not name him a king, but rather a governor or ^C an administrator. They use a language which is practically peculiar, which is found to have no commerce at all with the language of the Germans or the Bohemians or the Romans. Some hand down the tradition that they were anciently the Getae, having been driven from their seats, which they had occupied, under Mount Haemus. At length, pushed by the Scythians, they surrendered into that region which they now hold. Some think that they were formerly Dacians. But I cannot say what their origin is. Furthermore, when they gave themselves the name, they were called the Pannonians, and thus they are called the Dalmatians, nor did I think it fitting to impose another name upon them. Their kingdom is Buda, a most flourishing city, adjacent to the Danube. Sigismund, the emperor of the Germans, acting as if he were called to govern those who are called Pannonians, declared himself king, and they handed over the whole kingdom to him, so that he might arrange everything as he thought would be convenient. ^D Here, as he first began to honor the royal office, he sent legates to the Roman Pontiff, who was already familiar to him and bound by deep intimacy, requesting that he would provide his consent so that he might be declared emperor of the Romans. Since the Roman Pontiff first contributed [the dignity], [he then decided?] [index: entries preserved] [Translation of the Greek/Latin column break]

THE SIXTH BOOK OF THE HISTORIES OF LAONICUS CHALCOCONDYLA OF ATHENS – THE ORIGIN AND ACHIEVEMENTS OF THE TURKS

Amurates, son of Mehmed, after his expedition against Caraman, made war upon the Dacians, wishing to restore the son of Dracules to his principality. And as he was marching forth from his palace well-equipped with forces, he learned that Caraman, [79/80 transition] desiring new things, was agitating for a defection, and was taking with him the prince of Candylor and other princes of Asia; and since...

^A he was making for Italy through the territory of the Venetians. Now when they learned that Sigismund was making his journey through their territory, they sent a messenger to warn him not to pass through their land. He said that he would not comply unless he knew them to be attempting to hinder him in fact as he traveled. The Venetians therefore gathered an army and tried to stop him. When he perceived that he was being hindered, he drew up for battle, and clashed with the Venetian army; and he lost no small part of his army, while he himself was turned to flight and only with difficulty escaped his enemies. Once he had abandoned his journey through the Venetian territory, he departed through Upper Germany and arrived at the tyrant of Liguria. From there, he arrived at Rome. And he was established as Emperor, having been designated for this office by the great high priest. After this, he requested that the high priest join him in the campaign that was being undertaken against the Barbarian. He asked him for both money and men. The latter sent an embassy to the King of the Celts and to the tyrant of Burgundy, and managed for eight thousand men to be given, and the brother of the Duke of Burgundy as general. He himself also prepared by collecting an army from the Germans, hiring as many as he could. When the preparations for war were already complete for him, he marched out, taking the Pannonians and the Dacians as guides for the journey, straight along the Ister against Bajazet. He sent embassies also to the princes of the Italians and Iberians, for the high priest was also acting in this for him, requesting money and men. And the high priest had sent him sufficient money and supplies.

Bajazet then, when he learned that Sigismund, the Emperor of the Romans, was advancing with a great army, took the entire army of Europe and Asia and moved to meet him, marching as quickly as he could unto the Ister. ^B And when he had encamped at a distance of forty stades from the Ister, the Celts, being headstrong and for the most part imprudent, thinking that the victory would be their own, armed themselves and advanced first, as if to snatch the Barbarians away. A fierce battle having taken place, the Celts were turned, and fleeing with all their might and in no order, they fell upon their own army, with the Turks following after and becoming mixed in with them there. As the Barbarians pressed on, the Pannonians and Germans were turned along with them. And as they were hastening to...

cross the Ister, a great part of the army perished in the river. ^A A great slaughter of the Celts and Pannonians occurred at the hands of their enemies, and the general of the Burgundians was captured, as were not a few other Pannonians and Celts. Sigismund, having been placed in the most extreme danger of his life and having escaped the hands of the enemy only by a hair’s breadth to avoid capture, boarded a trireme that was in the river and sailed to Byzantium to the King of the Greeks. Having entered into discussions with the King of Byzantium and having arranged with him whatever he wished, he departed and sailed for home.

Bajazet, son of Amurath, now that he had routed and put to flight the Gauls and Pannonians, was ravaging their land with even greater security. He was even leading armies against them and taking many slaves. However, as he was setting out with hostile intent against Buda, the seat of the Pannonian kingdom, he began to suffer from gout; yet he was not so severely afflicted by the disease as to have been prevented by it. I cannot, however, reason out what it was that could have stood in his way, to prevent him from marching upon Buda, taking that city, and subjecting the entire region, but, being at that moment afflicted by the gout, he returned home and led his forces back into his own region. Afterwards, sending armies against Pannonia and Pannodacia, he ravaged the land. ^B After some time had passed, he made war against Myrxas, the ruler of Dacia, accusing him of having been the first to join with the Pannonians and to wage war against him.

This race (the Dacians) is warlike in matters of war, though not very well-governed, living in villages and tending towards a more nomadic life. Their country extends from Ardelium in the Pannonia of Dacia, beginning there and reaching as far as the Euxine Sea. On the right, where it slopes toward the sea, it is washed by the river Ister, while on the left it holds the region called Bogdania. ^C Their region is divided by a mountain that stretches a great distance, which the inhabitants call Prasobos (what was formerly the Haemus). Adjacent to this region are certain peoples, not a few of the Scythian stock, who are very powerful in resources and are subject to Casemir, King of the Poles. The Nomadic Scythians accompany this king wherever he turns the war. His prowess, moreover, is held in high esteem in every war. Neighboring them, where they spread out to the north, are the Poles, and where they face the east, the Sarmatians.

The language of the Dacians is similar to that of the Italians, yet it is so corrupted and different that the Italians can scarcely understand what is uttered in their speech, except for recognizing individual words of what is said. ^D As to how, then, being of the same speech and using the customs of the Romans, they arrived at this land and settled there, I have not heard from any mortal who might clearly tell of it, nor am I myself able to surmise how they came to be settled there. It is said, however, in many ways that this race came from elsewhere and settled there.

^A It is a matter worthy of mention in history, providing some memorable evidence of this people, which is worth weaving into the present narrative. In other respects, they do not differ from the Italians, using even now the same manner of life, the same armor, and the same equipment. Although this nation is divided into two principalities, namely, into Bogdania (which is also Moldavia) and the region of Istria, they do not live with equal laws among themselves. They are not accustomed to having the same leaders forever; but as seems for their own advantage, they change their princes, ordaining now this one, now that one, as their ruler. They had summoned this Myrzas, who was of the ancestral line of their leaders, to be their leader, having killed Danus, who had previously been their tyrant. This Myrzas, having frequently consorted with a concubine, produced not a few illegitimate children by her in Dacia. Hence, after the death of Myrzas, other leaders of the Dacians were frequently born, who have lasted in the kingdom up to this time. Against this Myrzas, Bajazet, making the charge that he had been the first to begin the war and had joined his arms with Sigismund, Emperor of the Romans, set out with an army. Having crossed the Ister ^B and advanced further, he was plundering much booty in human captives from that region. Myrzas, having collected a not inconsiderable force of his own men, in no way consulted about how he might proceed to meet the enemy and give him the opportunity for battle. Depositing his wives and children on Mount Prasobum, he followed the army of Bajazet through the acorn-bearing forests of that region; for since these are very numerous there, they surround the region, making it difficult for enemies to access and not easily captured. Myrzas, following the army of Bajazet, performed deeds worthy of note, engaging hand-to-hand with the enemy whenever they were separated from the rest of the army, or wherever they had turned to forage ^C or to search for plunder of cattle. And in this way, following the hostile army, relying on great boldness, he engaged the enemy openly. They say that he pressed heavily upon the army of Bajazet as it was crossing; and when the hostile army was in a very difficult place, it attacked him; but he did not cease to fight the enemy bravely. There, Brenezes, a royal minister, having given good counsel, namely, that they should fortify their camp in that place, they found a deliverance from evil. From this time, Brenezes was long most grateful to the king; and having been chosen leader by him, he at length obtained the greatest power. Bajazet, just as Brenezes had advised, encamped in that place, and refreshed his army with rest throughout that day. On the following day, however, having transported ^D the army across the Ister as safely as he could, he led it back into his own region. In this manner the army which he had led against the Dacians returned home.

These things having been accomplished, he moved war against Byzantium, and encircled the city with a siege for such a cause: for the kings of the Greeks had conceded themselves to the power of Bajazet; and accordingly, they were in attendance at the gates, serving in the wars every year. And at one time, when [he was]...

^A staying at Pherrae in the territory of Macedonia, and the King of the Greeks was coming there to the gates, along with the leader of Sparta, and Constantine the son of Zarcos, and Stephen the son of Eleazar, Mamonas arrived from the Peloponnese, who had formerly ruled Epidaurus. Upon arriving before King Bajazet, he accused the brother of the King of the Greeks of having despoiled him of Epidaurus and having done him many injuries. Bajazet was inflamed with indignation against the King of the Greeks. John, the son of the Emperor Andronicus—who was present and was securing his livelihood at the hands of Bajazet—was fanning this indignation of the King by his incitement. It is said that the King even attempted to kill him while he was speaking with him, but he hesitated. ^B Not long afterward, however, Halies, the son of Charatinus—who happened to be an intimate associate of his and had been showered with great wealth by him—did away with him. ^C Accordingly, these leaders, all coming together at that time while residing at the King’s gates, conferred among themselves that they would no longer come to the gates in the future. Now at this point, Constantine, the son of Zarcos—who was the brother of Dragases—gave his pledge. Upon the death of Zarcos, that man had been the best of men in all that pertained to wisdom and war, yielding to no one of that time. And having waged war against the Albanian and Triballian enemies, he had brought an honorable territory under his sway; and upon his death, his brother Constantine took possession of the land and was in attendance at the Emperor’s gates. This man pledged his daughter to the King of the Greeks, so that they might ratify the things they had agreed upon regarding their revolt. ^D Yet this Manuel had previously taken to wife the daughter of the King of Colchis, who was a widow, having been the wife of a certain Turkish leader, Zetimes; she was a woman of surpassing beauty. For when he brought her from Colchis to Byzantium, his father—the then-reigning Emperor—seeing that she was, as it seemed to him, the most beautiful of many women and, as it was said by others, excelling in the other virtues that are attributed to a woman, took her for himself, having taken her away from his son. And the Emperor was so afflicted with the gout that he could not even stand upright. It is said that, being crazed with love for the woman, he committed many indecencies; delighted by the strumming of the psaltery, and being beguiled by the habits of such things, he neglected to administer the affairs of his empire as was proper. Now, after the wedding had taken place as had been agreed, the leaders aspired to revolt, and accordingly, each one of them traveled to his own region as best he could. The King of the Greeks, fleeing the King of the Turks, arrived from Pherrae at Byzantium on the fourth day, as it is said. Theodore, his brother, arrived in the Peloponnese. The others, too, having obtained permission from the King, returned to their own lands. Then, when summer was approaching, since the Emperor of Byzantium did not present himself at the gates, and it was reported to Bajazet that he would never again appear at the gates thereafter, he decided to send to Byzantium Halies, the son of Charatinus, in whom he had the greatest trust. He commanded him to order the King of the Greeks to come to the gates; if he should refuse, [he was to... - next page begins]

declare war against him. But when this Alies came to Byzantium, he spoke publicly of the things he had been instructed to say by the King, yet privately, as some say, he conferred with him and advised him by no means to come to the gates of the King. ^B Manuel replied that he was ready to obey, and that if he were not courageous toward the King, he would no longer deem his life worth living; but he promised to present himself to the King shortly, or whenever he ordered. Yet later, when Alies departed, as it became clear to Bayezid that he did not even contemplate going to the gates, he marched forth and began to besiege Byzantium. Advancing, he devastated the land, laid waste to every region, and enslaved the suburbs; and since the capture of the city did not go as he wished, he himself departed for home. But he kept sending an army everywhere every year, and besieged it in a long siege that lasted for ten years; during which much of the city perished, having been destroyed by famine, and by fleeing to the barbarian. Now Bayezid himself held Selymbria, and it was governed by John, the son of Andronicus, who, having fled from Byzantium out of fear of his uncle, since he could not succeed, yielded it up for whatever use his uncle—who was then ruling Byzantium—might have for it. But he, sending him to Italy to do whatever he had indeed instructed him, sent him to the Genoese, ostensibly to ask for aid; yet he had secretly sent a message to the Genoese that they should throw John into chains upon his arrival, and not allow him to go anywhere. ^C This man, at length, after some time had passed, and having languished in prison for a long time, escaped; and being freed from prison, having left Italy, he journeyed to King Bayezid, who at that time was besieging Byzantium: by whom he was received as a friend, and with an armed force, he took Selymbria into his power by terms of agreement, and gave the government of it to John. After returning to Byzantium, since he could not take that city by force, he decided that they should be defeated by famine. He would certainly have taken that city, had not Tamerlane ^D been reported to be advancing against him with a great host. This indeed happened at the time when Bayezid was captured by Tamerlane and lost most of his Asian empire. Nevertheless, since Bayezid did not cease from the siege of Byzantium, and the King of the Greeks knew that his people were reduced to the direst straits and he had no way to be delivered from this evil, he entrusted Byzantium to his nephew John, the son of Andronicus. For Bayezid was sorely angry at this John, because he was the cause that the capture of Byzantium was not proceeding, and he was held in suspicion; thus, having fled from the King, he escaped to Byzantium, and the uncle, the King of Byzantium, received him gladly, and after entrusting the city to him, he departed, sailing for Italy,

^A requesting aid of the Ligurians, for the siege which had long been established by the enemies, so that he might not look on while the city was being destroyed. When he arrived in the Peloponnese, he deposited his wife there with his brother; he himself sailed for Italy. Turning to the Venetians and having explained to them all that he desired, he went to the prince of Liguria, the Duke of Milan. Having been received by him with courtesy, and provided with money, horses, and guides for the journey, he was sent on to the King of the Gauls. When he had come into the sight of the King of the Gauls, he requested that he should not overlook Byzantium, the royal city of the Greeks, which was related to the kings of the Gauls by birth, being brought into the greatest danger. However, he found the King of the Gauls to be mad and kept in close custody by the nobles until his malady might be cured and the King might recover his health: he therefore remained there for a long time. ^B The race of the Celts is very ancient and wealthy. And because they attribute too much to themselves, in that they surpass the remaining nations of the West, they even claim for themselves the governance of the Roman Empire. The eastern limit of their region is the region of the Ligurians: the southern is Hispania: the northern is Germania: towards the west it is bounded by the Ocean and the British islands. Its length is reckoned from the Alps which are outside of Italy as far as the Ocean and the Germans, a journey of at most seventeen days; from Italy as far as the Ocean, and from Hispania as far as Germania, it extends, a journey of at most nineteen days. Lutetia [Paris], where the seat of the kingdom is, excels in riches and wealth, and in remaining felicity. ^C There are also not a few cities in that region subject to the King, which are governed by their own laws. The duchies and dukes of this region are most wealthy and opulent, who obey the King, always repairing to his court. Of their number is the Duke of Burgundy, holding a region large and great, and many other cities: among which is also reckoned the city of the Brugenses [Bruges], and the maritime city of the Closii: and also Gantyna [Ghent], a city great and flourishing in wealth. Now the city of the Brugenses is maritime, adjacent to the Ocean, in the region of Anglia, the island so called; to which ships from our sea and from the cities bordering the Ocean—from Germania, Hispania, Anglia, Dacia, and the remaining territories—put in. This city is distant from Anglia by one hundred and fifty stadia. Flandria is the name of this region. ^D There exist, moreover, the egregious deeds of the dukes of Burgundy, performed against the Gauls and the King of the Gauls, and furthermore against the English. Afterwards, the Duke adjacent to the continent of Britannia, originating from that land which pertains to the royal region. Beyond these, adjacent is the Duke ****. Annexed to these regions is Sabaudia, a region most ample and beautiful, extending as far as Liguria. Now, as concerns the maritime region of Gaul, in this manner

^A it might be presented for my history. Indeed, Janua, which is a sort of gateway to Gaul, occupies a territory extending toward Provence, which is governed by the king of the house of the king of Gaul, King Roger, who is sprung from the illustrious royal stock of Gaul. Nicia is the metropolis of Provence. After this follow other cities, among which is mentioned the city of the Avignonese [(53)], which has the greatest bridge of those that exist in the world, by which there is access provided to the region of Barcelona. This, then, is the land of Gaul, to describe it in summary.

^B This race of Celts is said to be ancient and to have performed brilliant deeds against the barbarians from Libya, at the time when the kings of the Romans and Emperors were being appointed from among the kings of the Celts. And it is said that Charles, in particular among these kings, took up the war against the Libyans, with his nephew Orlando [(54)]—a man distinguished in military science and courage—assisting him, along with Reginald [(55)], Oliver, and others of the leaders of that region, who are called Palatines, who contributed with him to the war, and who, having routed their enemies in many places, first throughout Gaul, and afterward throughout Iberia, achieved manifest victories. And their glory is sung by all, greatly praised even to this day throughout Italy, Iberia, and indeed throughout Gaul. For the Libyans, having crossed the strait at the Pillars of Hercules, gradually occupied Iberia, and pushing on from there, after capturing Navarre and the region of Portugal, so that they were driving toward Tarragona, and having subjugated the matters in this region in turn, they even fell upon Celtic territory. Charles, therefore, and those who waged war with him against these Libyans, performed great deeds, proving themselves brave men, and having driven them out of the region of the Celtiberians and the Celts toward the city of Granada, a most fortified place set upon a mountain that extends into the Ocean. Pushing on a little from that port, they attacked Iberia in war: having acquired much of the region, they dwelt there, and Charles and his princes pursued them ^C as enemies. And the region won in war they gave to their own kin—namely Iberia, Navarre, and Tarragona—and they liberated their own kin, who were being besieged by the Barbarians, from the siege, and dividing the region among themselves, they dwelt there, each having received the portion belonging to him. And they, having settled the war in this manner, are praised even to this day, as having been men of brave virtue. It is said that the general Hormindus perished, having been brought to defeat by thirst; and that Rhimaeus, having succeeded him in the war, left it to the kings of Iberia. And they, having taken up this war, are even now considered to be plundering and ravaging these Libyans. This Libyan race makes use of the Arabic language: in their customs and religion they imitate ^D Muhammad: they use the dress [alt-version omitted]

^A that is partly barbarian and partly Spanish. The Celts, ^B however, having arrived at this point, grow haughty over these things, and imagine their own race to be noble and distinguished above all the nations of the West. They use a diet more delicate than the diet of the Italians, and in their equipment they are similar to them. They speak a language that differs from the Italian tongue, yet not so much that one would think it a language other than the Italian. They claim to take precedence wherever they go among the nations of the West. They did, however, abate their arrogance after the English—the nation that inhabits Britain—waged war against them, conquered their land, took them and their sovereignty away, and drove them to their capital city, Paris, which they besieged. They say the cause of their disagreement was as follows.

There is a city called Calais, ^C situated in the maritime region of Celtic Gaul, by the Ocean. It is not considered very famous for its renown, yet the place where it is built is considered by nature to be very well-fortified. It is most conveniently situated for sailing from Gaul to Britain, and from the convenience of its harbor, it provides an easy route for making an incursion into Gaul. The King of the Britons, having concluded an agreement with those in the city regarding its betrayal, took that city by treachery and, having taken it, ruled over it as a tyrant. When the King of Gaul requested the city back, he replied that it was not his intention at that time to return the city. The English also reinforced it with a garrison, ferrying troops across from the island. But when the Gaul moved his forces to the city, he pressed it with a siege for a long time. Afterwards, when the siege made little progress, he led his army away and retreated home.

Later, the Briton gathered a large army and, crossing over into Gaul, they ravaged the country. ^D Encountering a not inconsiderable portion of the Celts, they joined battle and destroyed the greater part of the Celtic force; it happened as follows. As the English had turned to plundering the country, they were driving the booty back. But the Celts caught up with them before they were seen and had escaped safe to Calais, and they surrounded them on a certain hill. As the Britons were in difficulty, not knowing where to turn, they sent a message that they would return the booty and their arms, provided that they be allowed to depart unharmed to their own country. They replied that they would not let them go unless they paid the penalty for the outrages they had committed by plundering their land. Thereupon, as the Britons realized they had reached the extremity of misfortune, they fought the Celts, and though few against many, they proved themselves brave men; they routed their opponents, pursued them as they fled, and destroyed many of them on the spot.

as to be involved in danger, [they believe] that their men do not flee in battle, but die fighting where they stand. And from this the Celts deem themselves superior to other nations in nobility, and that they are the most distinguished of all. Yet the Britons, from this point on, began to advance more fearlessly toward the cities of the Celts, besieging them and gradually progressing, until they fought the battle in the plain called "Lupa" [of Sorrow]; in which, though the English gained no advantage, they spent the day skirmishing; and upon the following day, having fought, they slaughtered the Celts as they were fighting, helter-skelter and in confusion, and separately as each one gave way, so that they died. The Britons, having brought almost the whole country into subjection, were advancing upon the royal city of Paris itself. And it was expected that the affairs of the Celts would soon arrive at the extreme point of danger. ^B The Celts, being superstitious, as they were caught in such a calamity—at a time when men are most accustomed for the most part to turn to superstition—a woman, not of uncomely appearance, claiming that God had spoken to her, took the lead of the Celts, with them following and obeying her. The woman, whom she said was being signaled to by the Divine, began to provide guidance, [ordering them] to advance on the gathering Britons and to fight them again, as the English had no advantage. They encamped there, and on the next day, once again emboldened by the woman’s leadership, they went out to battle, routed the enemy, and pursued them as they fled. After this, however, the woman died in this war. And the Celts recovered their courage, and became more vigorous in fighting against the Britons, and by reclaiming their cities, they preserved their kingdom once again. Until, after large and numerous armies had crossed over into Gaul from Britain many times and fought the Celts, they became superior to the Britons, in that they drove them back to Calais and expelled them from the land.

The British Isles, lying opposite Flanders, being three in number and extending over a vast expanse of the Ocean, are sometimes considered to be one island when there is a high tide, and three again when the waters turn back at the ebb tide. But one might more correctly call them one island, since, being one, it extends towards the selfsame [land], is governed by the same laws and customs, and being subject to a single authority, looks to what is advantageous for itself. The circumference of this island is about five thousand stadia. A populous and brave race inhabits the island, and it contains great and wealthy cities, and villages past counting. They have a king, and a metropolis, in which the royal palace is located, called London, ^C and there are many principalities under the king in this island, disposed in the same manner as for the Celts toward their own king.

^B Nor would a king easily take their sovereignty away from them, nor do they desire to obey the king contrary to their own customs and statutes. This island has experienced not a few calamities, as it lies on a coast where rulers have arrived at discord both with the king and with each other. Furthermore, this island produces no wine at all, nor is it particularly fertile in other fruits. But of wheat, barley, honey, and wool there is a very great abundance, so that it is far richer in these than other regions; consequently, they weave a great quantity of clothing.

They use a language that is entirely peculiar, and it bears no resemblance in sound to that of the Germans, the Celts, or any of the other neighbors. They use the same equipment, habits, and diet as the Celts. Among them, matters regarding wives and children are considered very loosely, such that throughout the whole island, when anyone is invited and enters the house of a friend, he first has intercourse with the friend's wife before he is hospitably entertained. On journeys, too, friends make reciprocal use of each other's wives. The same custom is observed in the maritime region of the Flandrians, as far as Germany. Nor do they consider it shameful for their wives and daughters to be impregnated in this manner.

The metropolis of this island surpasses the other cities in men, wealth, and power; in riches and other prosperity, it easily surpasses all cities looking toward the West. As to bravery and warlike virtue, this nation is considered better than those neighboring it and many other peoples of the West. Regarding equipment for war, they carry Italian shields and Greek swords. They use oblong missiles, so that they generally fix them into the ground as they stand. A river named the Thames flows past the city itself, a great and rapid one, emptying into the ocean toward Gaul, at a distance of two hundred and ten stadia from the city to the sea. It rises so that ships can very easily arrive at the city. Yet the water runs back with difficulty, ascending into the river due to the obstruction of the city, flowing through the inlet which is in the maritime region of Gegentia. ^C But when the water in the island retreats into the inlet, it is established that ships are left on dry land, waiting until the usual flood returns. The flood of water rises, where it is greatest, to fifteen royal cubits; but where it is least, it reaches the measure of eleven cubits.

So, rising and falling by night and by day, the waters return twice in the space of twenty-four hours. When the moon is in the middle of our sky, and again in the one below the earth, the waters turn to an opposing motion. ^D Therefore, we must investigate this motion of the waters by looking at it in this way. We believe that the lunar star was ordained by God to administer the nature of the waters. Hence we believe that the nature and temperature of the moon, which it received in the beginning from God the great King, does not differ from the nature of the waters. For when by its own motion it withdraws on high,

^A it draws up the underlying waters until they reach the maximum ascent of the celestial sphere. From there, the waters descend again, and no longer follow it in its descent. But when it has descended to the lowest point of its course and begins to rise again, the returning waters flood in. However, if winds are present, it happens that the waters are moved all the more; yet, from wherever the waters receive the beginning of their motion, it is evident that they follow a twofold motion, imitating the motion of this universal heaven, which is considered to be partly natural and partly violent. And thus, unless this motion subsides into the harmony of the year in a way consonant with itself, very many and varied species of motion arise. And indeed, in the first place, it would be a delightful spectacle for contemplation, and pleasant to sight and hearing, if it were brought into a certain due measure of this universal ^B soul, as if it sensed its own motions and mingled them with one another, and beautifully constituted a due harmony that contains the greatest pleasure. From this twofold motion our soul also receives a twofold motion, and moves bodies in a twofold way, partly indeed so that they may grow, and partly so that they may decrease. For while our soul accompanies the motion of this universe, necessity demands that the natural motion beget generation and growth, while the violent motion begets the corruption and death of natural bodies. As far as the ocean is concerned, and the twofold motion of those things which have a soul, whatever motion it may finally be driven by, this is sufficient to have said. But for the moisture which is in our sea, it is not necessary that it be agitated by that motion; indeed, according to the nature of the winds and the places, and as it is suitable for them, the moisture is wont to be moved. We have ^C mentioned those things thus far because they seemed to pertain chiefly to the motion of the Ocean and most other seas. Now we must return to where we digressed.

For the King of the Greeks, when he arrived at the King of the Celts, found the King of the Gauls suffering from phrensy; nor could he obtain from any of the dukes of Gaul the things for the sake of which he had intended his journey into Gaul. Wherefore, upon the advice of the nobles who were there, he decided to stay there until the King was restored to health. But as the illness was prolonged for a long time, he did not dare to remain any longer; therefore, having crossed Germany and Pannonia, he returned home. ^D Bayezid at that time was intent upon the siege of the city of Byzantium. He also sent an army into the Peloponnese, which comprised five myriads of men. Over these he placed Jagupes, at that time the commander of Europe; but he himself was occupied with the siege of Byzantium, that he might also subject that kingdom to himself. Jagupes and Brenezes, who was then beginning to become famous, having performed brave deeds, made an incursion into the Peloponnese. And indeed Brenezes, when

^A he had often attacked the Peloponnese, finally turned his attention to the people, devastating the Peloponnese and other places bordering on Corone and Methone. Jagupes, the leader of Europe, approaching with his army, set out to besiege the city of Argos, and at that time he took it.

Theodorus, the leader of Sparta, had sold this city, since the Greeks were already despairing of the salvation of Byzantium and the Peloponnese, and their affairs had been brought into the gravest danger. Therefore, at a time when the affairs of the Greeks were hanging in the balance of peril, he sold the city of Argos, which is adjacent to Nauplion, a city of the Greeks, for no great price. However, when he had come into discussion with the Nazaræans of Rhodes, he sold Sparta to them for a great sum of money. The Spartans, having learned that they had been betrayed by their own leader, who was absent at that time, were summoned to an assembly by their bishop, who had made this judgment known. There, with many things being discussed back and forth, they formed a conspiracy and united unanimously, resolved that they would rather endure any hardship than obey the Latin Nazaræans. So that this matter might be conducted with greater authority, they created the bishop their leader. When the Nazaræans arrived, they proclaimed that they should depart from their territory immediately; otherwise, they would treat them as enemies. These men, therefore, since all their efforts proved fruitless, departed as if to go to the leader Theodorus. ^B

When Theodorus learned that the matter had turned out far differently than he had intended in his mind, he sent envoys to the Spartans, intending to test their spirits, to see if they would receive him again upon his return. When they admitted the envoys of him who was testing them, he returned to the city, giving his pledge, with the religious obligation of an oath interposed, that he would never again entertain anything of the sort in his mind. At that time, the Venetians strengthened the citadel with a garrison and held it. Against the city of Argos, Jagupes, the general of King Bajazet, led his forces with the greatest intensity to besiege it; and, attacking the wall frequently, he did not cease.

Not long after, when he had attacked the city from two places at once, he strove with all his might to capture it. However, a panic terror, through a vision seen, was cast upon the townspeople who were resisting in the left part of the city. For they thought they had seen a certain local man saying that the city had been captured on the right side where it was being attacked. Therefore, leaving that ^C place, they hastened in a sprint to the right side of the city. From this point, the enemies, having gained courage, scaled the walls and captured by force that city, excellent in glory and antiquity, and thoroughly plundered it.

Then the Turks collected thirty thousand captives: all of whom they deported into Asia and ordered them to dwell there; though I have not been able to discover enough to believe this is true, nor have I been able to learn further which place, in order for them to dwell there, was assigned to them in Asia by King Bajazet. Jagupes, then, having sacked the most ancient city of Argos, led away the army; and after this, Brenezes immediately advanced to great power, making an incursion into the Peloponnese, and into the

maritime Macedonia, fighting valiantly against the Albanians, and no longer being elected as a commander of the royal house; but the Turks followed him most readily, wherever he led the army: because he enjoyed success in affairs everywhere, and enriched the army wherever he went to campaign. For those who are called the "raiders" of this race, having neither pay nor rank under the king, being always urged on for plunder and booty, followed wherever someone led them against the enemies, immediately each one riding one horse and leading another into the arena of booty. And when they were in enemy territory, receiving a signal from the commander, having mounted the horses they lead around, they ride at full speed, leaving nothing behind, and, scattering, they carry off with them up to three slaves, and whatever else might come to hand. In this way, I understand that those who were with Amurates, son of Orchanes, and those then under Pajazites, having crossed into Europe, were settled and chose to live there, and having flourished, some quickly became very wealthy in a short time, having settled everywhere in Europe, from the city of Scopia to the region of the Triballi and Mysians, and throughout Macedonia. After these things, many settled around Thessaly. ^B

Now under the reign of Pajazites, it is said that a not inconsiderable band of Scythians came to Dacia, and from there sent legates to Pajazites, who requested of their leaders resources and authority, on the condition that if they crossed the Ister, they would support him in the wars to be waged in Europe. He, being pleased with the proposal, accepted their request and promised great things. Having crossed, they were settled throughout Europe, serving their leaders in each part, and being dispersed in this way, they themselves became useful both as raiders and for war. Pajazites, however, later fearing lest their leaders, by uniting, might incite some revolution, arrested them and killed them. The Scythians, even now, can be seen in great numbers scattered in many places throughout Europe. And indeed, under Amurates, in Macedonia, or around Thermae, and in the region by the river Axius, he had settled them, having brought a great multitude ^C of Turks into this region and settled them. And the field of Zagora, so called, was settled by the order of Amurates, as was the region of Philippopolis. The Chersonese, which is on the Hellespont, had been settled earlier by his brother; and Thessaly and the region around Scopia, and that of the Triballi from Philippopolis as far as Haemus, and the village thus called Sophia, Pajazites, son of Amurates, having settled, ^D [...]

Notulæ marginales. (60) Zagorensis ager sub Theophilo et Theodoro imper. Postquam ad fidem Christi conversi fuerunt, Bulgari acceperunt, circa annum Domini 308.

^A he brought under his own power, having many such leaders in Europe following him in his military campaigns. He took particular pleasure in Manuel above all other Greeks. In the power of Amurates fell the king of the Mysians, Drageses, son of Zareces; as also did Pogdanus, who held the Rhodope region under his empire. Other European leaders also came into his dominion, namely those of the Triballians, the Greeks, and the Albanians. Supported by all these in his empire, and by the Asian leaders as well, he next determined to provoke whomsoever he pleased with war. How the Greeks fell from their kingdom into servitude, we have already explained before. It is beneficial now to briefly recall these things to memory. John, having been turned to the helm of the kingdom, compelled Cantacuzenus, his predecessor, to become a Nazarean, that is, a monk. Then, when he perceived that the affairs of the Turks were increasing with incredible success, he sailed into Italy. First he approached the Venetians, intending to beseech their aid. When he had obtained little assistance there, having accepted a large sum of money from usurers, he decided to go to the king of Gallia. ^B Nor did he omit the remaining princes of the West, whom he importuned as much as possible to render him help. When he had come to the king of the Gauls, he perceived that his affairs too were agitated by war and sedition, and that he was experiencing very adverse fortune. Nor in the meantime did he bring back any assistance from Italy. Hastening his return, when he had come to Venice, he could not pay the interest on the principal which he had borrowed from the usurers. Intending to set out from there to Galatia, he was detained by the Venetians, who would not allow him to take a single step anywhere until he had satisfied his creditors. Anxious about these things, he sent to Byzantium to Andronicus, his son, to whom he had entrusted the kingdom, asking that he prepare money, both from the ecclesiastical treasures ^C and from the rest of the kingdom's treasuries, which he might then send to him so that he could redeem himself from his creditors; and that he should not neglect him, as he was languishing in prison for a long time. Andronicus, having learned these things, turned his mind to them but little, since he was rejoicing too much in the kingdom and despised his father. Nevertheless, he ordered him to be told that the Greeks would not agree to his plundering the holy treasures; nor could he scrape together such a sum of money from any other source. Therefore, if he did not wish to neglect himself, let him turn elsewhere to find money, so that he might be able to free himself. Manuel, the younger son of the king, when he had heard into what necessity his father the king had been driven by the Venetians, having collected and exacted as great a sum of money as possible, boarded a ship; ^D and using the greatest speed, he came to Venice. He offered his father all the money which he had exacted from Therma, the city he had been appointed to rule. Furthermore, he delivered himself also to his father, that he might use him according to his will. This deed made the son, Emmanuel, both most dear and most familiar to his father; but he pursued his other son, namely Andronicus, with the most intense hatred from that time forward; and because it had taken its origin from this, it persisted the more stubbornly. Notulæ marginales.

BOOK IV. OF TURKISH AFFAIRS

The inhabitants of the Peloponnese themselves possessed the Peloponnese. Those who had come from the West—both Celts and Celtiberians, and others from among the Italians and Tyrrhenians—having conquered the entire seaboard of the Peloponnese, held it. And indeed Rainier, arriving from Florence ^A with the army of the house of the Acciaioli, took possession of Attica and Boeotia, as I have described earlier, and the greater part of the territory of Phocis. The Ligurians, however, had taken possession of Euboea even much earlier than this; the Venetians, having been permitted by them, set foot on the island under a specified agreement. After this, proceeding little by little, they occupied the whole of Euboea, since disagreements had arisen between them and the Ligurians, and those who happened to be well-disposed toward the Venetians—whom they still continue to hold even now—continue to retain the land and its revenues, remaining in accordance with these terms. Upon these terms, the Venetians entered into an agreement with them on the island. But ^B Rainier, and the Celtiberians, and as many of the Celts as were engaged in the destruction of Greece, appear to have arrived in this territory long after them.

Rainier, being also a newcomer, having formed an alliance by marriage with the Ligurians who were in Euboea, married the daughter of a certain Prothymus and, having taken possession of the country, he also subjugated Corinth and contemplated making the Peloponnese subject to himself as quickly as possible. Later, however, when the brother of the King of the Greeks arrived, he formed an alliance with him, and betrothed his daughter to this leader, Theodore—she being, as I said, excelling in beauty all women of that time ^C—and left Corinth to him upon his own death. For he had promised when he betrothed his daughter to him that this city would be hers as a dowry when he passed away. He also betrothed his other daughter to Carlo, the leader of Acarnania and Aetolia. For this man—as the rulers of that region previously belonged to the King of Parthenope, which is called Naples; and as they were being driven out of the country by the neighboring peoples and tribes of that place, and were being deprived of their ruler, departing for Italy—Cephalonia, Zakynthos, and the Echinades islands, which happened to be inhabited in this way, turned to that very king, and received a governor and ruler from the King of Parthenope. ^D

Indeed, other governors had arrived before at these islands, and in their number was this Carlo, he of the house called Tocco, having with himself worthy men as his companions, Rhosus, Guido, and Myleiareses; and as they were spending time in Cephalonia, they turned their attention to Epirus, and with the Epirotes guiding them, they acquired the land and held it subject to themselves; and little by little, Acarnania as well. But the Albanians, rushing from Epidamnus, and marching toward the east, brought Thessaly under their control, as well as the greater part of the mainland of Macedonia, and Argyropolichna, and Castoria. Arriving in Thessaly, having made the land subject to them and dividing up the cities, they settled among themselves.

^A Once the messenger had heard this, he rode back as quickly as possible to king Temir. They say that Temir’s wife was highly superstitious in matters of great importance, and that she did not allow Temir to bring hostile arms against Pajazetes, a man worthy of praise, who had fought with great glory for the religion of Mehmed against the faith of Christ. She advised the king to let such a man rest and not to give him trouble, as he had not merited receiving any evil from those who shared his own religion. When the messenger had explained the orders of Temir, the king called his wife and ordered the messenger to recount in her hearing exactly what had been said. When he had obeyed and explained the instructions of Pajazetes, they say that Temir asked his wife whether she still thought it just to let Pajazetes go when he was contending with injuries, and to allow him to commit such acts with impunity? And indeed, it was manifest that even if his wife had leaned toward her previous opinion, he would have brought war against Pajazetes. For he said that he was joined to his wife by such laws that he was bound to avenge her injuries, whatever he might have to suffer in return. It is said that his wife gave this answer at that time: "Indeed, O king, that that man is raging and has been seized by such a disease, and no longer uses his reason correctly, is known to others as well as to me, hearing as I just did of his response. Certainly, if you truly overcame that man, you would appear to have acted prudently, and in this way you will show him, being the sort of man you are, what kind of man he is who sends such messages. This much, however, I wish for you to know clearly: that I have not deemed it right to initiate war against a man who is fighting for our hero against the Greeks and against the other nations of the mainland, nor have I thought it lawful. But if he should fail to consider this out of folly, it is not just to allow such a proud offender to feel superior. ^B Therefore, go to war, not that you yourself need fight, but if you destroy his city of Sebastia, you will have been sufficiently avenged for the city of Melitene, situated on the Euphrates, and for the leaders who dwell among us."

Having finished affairs in this manner, he took up arms to wage war with Pajazetes, whom he voluntarily provoked to battle. Some maintain that Temir, having passed through Melitene, came to Sebastia, and after he had subdued that city, sent ambassadors to Pajazetes, requesting that he restore the region to the leaders. He also commanded them to demand butter and tents. Two thousand camel-loads of butter were requested. Furthermore, two thousand felt tents were demanded, of the sort that nomads use. To these demands he added that in all the temples that were in the region of Pajazetes, the king should be publicly proclaimed. He desired that the son of Pajazetes should wait at his own gates. He added to these that he should admit the coinage of Temir into his region, and use that alone. These seven requests, they say, were made to Pajazetes after the capture of Sebastia. And then Pajazetes, incensed...

^A greatly by these things, ordered that the matters regarding his wife, which we recounted earlier, be explained to him. Temires, therefore, having taken up arms against Pajazetes, was revolving in his mind how to make his region in Asia subject to himself, and from there to cross over into Europe. He had no intention of returning until he had reached his borders, having pressed on as far as the Ocean, which is near the Pillars of Hercules; for there he had heard there was a very narrow strait of the sea, separating Europe from Libya. Thence, therefore, he had determined to cross over into Africa, and when that had been received into his dominion, only then to resolve to return home. These things indeed Temires was turning over in his mind; but they required a greater destiny than that which had been granted to Temires by God. Pajazetes, however, was buoyed by the hope that he would easily defeat Temires, who was advancing with a hostile intent. This hope was formed by the conjecture which he drew from ancient times, which confirmed that Asian kings had never been able to conquer Europe; but rather, that men of Europe, having advanced into Asia, had despoiled the king of his principalities. Revolving these things in his mind, he conceived immense spirits, as if he were going to break up the kingdom of Temires through a very brief war.

As I have been led thus far in the series of the narrative, considering the first and second expedition of king Temires, and also the evils which happened in those times, the thought occurs to me that the fortunes of the Turks could have assumed an incredible ^C growth, if in their desire to go toward the West they had not been checked by king Temires. Nor, indeed, if the kingdom of the Ottomans had burned with sedition, and they had quarreled among themselves with mutual discords, could matters have verged into such a grave ruin as it is agreed happened after the death of Pajazetes, when his sons strove among themselves and ravaged the region in turn, from which they brought the greatest and heaviest calamity upon the Turkish nation. Now, however, after Pajazetes had been raised by God to the most august dignity, it happened that he experienced a modicum of troubles, so that he might at length be the more mindful of modesty. For it was for this reason that king Temires emerged into the kingdom of Asia, and obtained the realm of Samarkand. All these things as they occurred, ^D I shall now relate. It is said that this man, having started from the smallest and most obscure beginnings, achieved great power for himself in Asia.

BOOK III

LAONICUS CHALCOCONDYLA THE ATHENIAN, DEMONSTRATION OF HISTORIES, BOOK THREE

LAONICI CHALCOCONDYLÆ ATHENIENSIS HISTORIARUM DE ORIGINE AC REBUS GESTIS TURCORUM LIBER TERTIUS. Tamerlanis Scythæ origo, incrementa et expeditio adversus Bajazetem.

^A Temiris's ^D first expedition was undertaken against Sebastia, a prosperous city of Cappadocia. For when he had heard that Bajazet was of a mind not at all peaceable toward the leaders of Asia who were of Turkish stock, and that he did not wish to come to terms with them—having despoiled and driven out all of them from their own fortunes—and because, though he had sent legates often, he could obtain nothing equitable, but heard that the man was constantly utterring insults; deeming that he must not delay, he undertook to advance in war against Sebastia. The beginning of his reign was that very march to power, and how, by waging war on some and making treaties with others out of fear for their own safety, he brought the whole of Asia under his own rule—a state of affairs which we have learned came about in this way.

This Temiris was the son of Sangalis, a man leading a private life; regarding whom, when he had taken a wife, we have ascertained that something of this kind occurred. When Temiris was grown up, and now due to his age was suitable for such a role, having been recommended by the townspeople, he obtained charge of the townspeople’s horses. Finally, coming into conversation with the rest of the shepherds of that region, he caused them to conspire together, that they wished to amass wealth through theft, and then to take refuge in another region. Since Temiris was most skilled in thievery, he obtained very many horses and an immense multitude of beasts of burden and sheep; nor was there anything whole or sufficiently sound in that man at all. They say that once, in order to get into a sheepfold, he climbed the wall—

^D or as others say, dropped down into the land (for people in that region are accustomed to surround their beasts of burden and cattle with very high walls, which cannot be climbed easily)—and that as he leapt, he broke his foot, and from that time on he walked with a limp. There are, however, some who claim that he began to limp after receiving a wound in his foot while bravely waging battle. ^A Once a battle had been fought against the neighboring peoples, the shepherds who had gathered at the beginning set out, with Temires as their leader, against the enemies, carrying off whatever chance offered. He gave the advice that they should capture a place suitable for brigandage and theft, into which they might retreat as into a most secure fortification. Setting out from there, he engaged in cruel robbery against those passing by, deciding to spare no one. By scraping together a great sum of money from such brigandage, he enticed two other men into partnership, Chaidar and Myrxies, whom we understand to have been Massagetae. Assisted by them, Temires rushed upon the enemies as they were plundering the region, put them to flight, and destroyed the entire cavalry of the enemies. As the report of this reached the city, the citizens handed over to him a not insignificant band of soldiers, and added money as well, with which he might win over the minds of the troops. Then, instructed in this manner, he strengthened and spurred on his own men, and spent his time in the enemies' region, sending many captives and beasts of burden into the city which he had extortioned from the enemy. The king of the Massagetae, having verified the man's prowess, held him in the greatest honor. For he declared him commander and entrusted all his armies to him, and he, having received the king's forces, used amazing speed in conquering the enemies, falling upon them suddenly and destroying them all in a moment of time. ^B Temires, when they had come to hand-to-hand combat, forced the enemies to turn their backs; and pursuing the fugitives, he drove them into Babylon, which is called Pogdatim, and surrounding it with a siege, he summoned his own master, the king. After a short time had passed, the king died: and Temires joined the widowed queen to himself in marriage, and obtained the rule of the kingdom. But when he now carried himself as king, he attacked Pogdatim and Samarcanda. And not much later, when the townspeople made sorties against the soldiers' positions, and did not conquer but were conquered, having returned to the city, they were afflicted by a most grave siege. When they could no longer endure this, they surrendered themselves to Temires by means of intervening pacts. ^C When Samarcanda had come into his power, he initiated plans of betrayal with those who were in Babylon, using Chaidar as his minister for that matter. Myrxies, however, proved to be a man most studious of fairness, and he would exhort Temires to suppress his anger and not to prepare to bring to bear the things which his temper dictated. It was not right for him to hold the empire of Babylon. Hence he also taught Temires the system of the messes. For Temires, dividing his entire army into decuries and maniples and cohorts, would order the decurion, providing food for his own men, to be present immediately, whenever use required it, with his own soldiers, and [to present] them to the leader of the maniples.

^A Furthermore, he wished that when they had arrived at the messes, there should be no one for whom a place had not been designated. He ordered food to be sold to the rest of the army according to what had been decreed by common consent. He ordered the individual minor commanders frequently, just as the major commanders might enjoin, to warn their men, so that they should not let them grow sluggish from idleness. Hence it happened that no spy, nor any stranger, could secretly penetrate the camp of Temires and tarry in it. He appointed a man to whom he entrusted this business, that he should receive incoming strangers with hospitality if they were in need of anything. Wherefore this diligent discipline caused the whole of that army to be moved easily at the nod and ^B will of the king, wherever he wished; and with him leading them, they were roused and would fly up immediately at a single signal, ready to submit themselves to the king to be used in whatever matter he might wish. As evening approached, upon receiving the signal from their great leader, they would each make their way to their individual tents and to their tent-mates. But when the soldiers had withdrawn into their tents, watchmen created for this purpose would roam the camp, in case they should find anyone lingering outside the tents. If such a person were encountered, they would seize him and subject him to capital punishment. If, however, any spy should have entered the camp, he, as one to whom no place had been assigned, would be forced to sleep outside the tents; whence, ignorant of all things and dubious where to turn, he would be led immediately by the watchmen into chains. This is the custom and this is the form of the king’s messes. ^C Chaidares, the king’s friend and partner in his labors, knew how to serve him very diligently in necessary matters. He never ceased to incite the king to undertake as many wars as possible, so that he might not be corrupted by leisure and quiet. They say that Myrsies, before Temires had arrived at the kingdom of Semarchanda, had said something of this sort. When Temires was roving about with his men, taking pleasure in brigandage, it happened that the associates of Myrsies were discoursing about the happy success of Temires’ affairs, and finally they came to the point of saying that he would soon conquer the kingdom of Semarchanda as well. But Myrsies replied: "The kingdom of Semarchanda is too firm to be occupied by a brigand and a private ^D man. But if it should some time happen that he gains possession of the kingdom of Semarchanda, I pray that I may no longer remain alive, but that I may be immediately beheaded as a liar." He spoke these things in earnest, not in jest. Yet that statement did not have a very fortunate outcome. For after time had passed, when Temires had obtained the government of the city, Myrsies found greater honors with the king than did Chaidares. Moved by this, Chaidares is said to have declared that it was now time that the statement which Myrsies had made should be put to the test; for there existed very many witnesses to his statement. Therefore, so that that statement might have its effect, he sought that Myrsies be subjected to capital punishment.

^A Subduing Temires, and bringing to remembrance that he was the one who had obtained the reign of Samarcand, and that he was guilty in spirit, he held him liable for death. He hesitated, however, at the time, to force him to death, for he was a man who had long ago, while still a private citizen, pledged his right hand in partnership, lest he appear to have contravened the pacts. He held a discourse of this kind with Myrsies: "I do not think, Myrsies, that both you and the others, as far as we have guided the affairs in this sovereignty, have confirmed these things to us, who have arrived at the kingdom; striving, at the same time, as much as possible, as those joining in the agreements, and the things appropriate, and contrary; not indeed how it might happen by oath, but by word we voted them, when there was nothing more secure or stronger, ^B or which could keep this life of men in agreement, and not thinking differently at different times. Since I have often told you, that in this alone human beings have a likeness to God. For if indeed there is any man who says that nothing of human affairs is his, how then could what is done by anyone be his own?" ^C And remembering that he had taken my right hand, you said that you were ready to die, if you had come to the sovereignty. And indeed, there are witnesses to this, of the things said to be agreed upon. It is time, therefore, that the things said be brought to pass, and that you acknowledge our right hand, and dissolve the agreement." Myrsies answered him thus: "But indeed, O king, concerning this sovereignty, so that it might become yours, you know, and all these who are present will bear witness, and that I have undertaken all the final extremities, so that you might obtain whatever you wished, and if it is to be seen how many wounds I received, I never reckoned it a misfortune, before the favor given. But if there is anything said to us in good fortune, it is necessary to not hold it a favor to those who have received great benefits from you. That man, O king, ^D who is among the lowly, is not very steadfast in his own life. When it comes to you that he has arrived at sovereignty, it is holy to abandon what was agreed upon. And God has provided many good things to us, and because of this, He had reason to forgive those erring in what concerns us. It is for me also, entreating this, that you grant forgiveness for the sin, and may more good things come to you than these." Saying these things, he did not persuade him, saying that he must grant forgiveness, since the sins were not voluntary. How could he himself be saved, with his fortune, and not having paid back the opposite? Having said these things, he put Myrsies to death, and publicly for a long time, he buried him royally. After these things, he campaigned against Hyrcania, and this sea, and the nations for a few things in the sea. The people inhabiting Hyrcania are called after the name of this nation. It extends to the south, and Sakae having Kaddousi, for thirty thousand stadia, to the east and to the north, the Massagetae, a people valiant and distinguished in wars, for twenty thousand stadia, most of all. It is said that at the end of the olive trees in the land of the Persians, it is said that he subjugated the cities and occupied them. It is that which Temires of this race, having become with the Massagetae, rushes toward the sovereignty of Samarcand, and the land of the Assyrians he possesses.

^A enters. The commander of Europe was besieging the city of Ioannina, and as he was spending time at the siege and accomplishing nothing, those in the city, and the governor of the region, being caught inside and besieged, were challenging the commander to a covenant, and asking him to grant them both the rest of the land of Acarnania and of Epirus from the Emperor, and that a treaty be made for him on this condition, and thus they would surrender the city. This having happened, the Emperor's army took the city, and allowed him to possess Acarnania and the rest of Epirus, bearing an annual tribute to the Emperor, and he himself coming to the gates of the Emperor. Later, when the children of the governor Carolus came, Herculius and Memnon, and holding not a small part of the region, as the settlers were bringing them in, they were providing troubles for their cousin, and were raiding and pillaging the region, and waging war. Carolus, however, leading an army which he had brought from the gates of the Emperor against them, as well as one which he had summoned from Italy, since he was accomplishing nothing, made a treaty with them, and yielded from the region which they ruled, on condition that they would no longer provide troubles to him for the future. Thus Aetolia came under the Emperor Amurates. After this, as the Greeks were going to the gates and demanding that a treaty be made with them, they made peace on the condition that they demolish the Isthmus and no longer innovate anything for the future. ^B He sent Turachanes into the Peloponnese, who devastated the region of the Venetians, and demolished the Isthmus, and took and enslaved some fortifications of the Venetians. There, as he was departing from the Peloponnese, the Albanians of the Peloponnese were gathering in the interior, in the region called Daxia, and they set up a commander for themselves, and were planning a revolt from the Greeks, so as to destroy the army of Turachanes. Turachanes, however, as he heard that the Albanians were coming against him to engage in battle, as he could not escape, drew his forces up for battle. And the Albanians, aligning themselves as well, approached, and on coming to blows, they did not even withstand the Turks, but turned to flight. ^C There, Turachanes went out in pursuit, and slew many in the pursuit. And those whom he took alive, about eight hundred in number, he killed all of them on the spot. And having built towers from their heads, he departed, marching away. This man, then, has other deeds performed which are not useless to narrate, on account of which, being esteemed by the Emperor, he advanced to the region of Brenes, and was sent not long after by Amurates to Dacia; he devastated the region, and put to flight an army assembled there which was not small, and gained a famous victory, carrying off many captives and much booty. With the Greeks, therefore, as they frequently came to his gates, and because they were sending men who were leading among them, among others also Notaras and Carolucas, he at length composed a peace and a settlement. ^D

^A Having then suddenly arrived, he captured the city, enslaved the inhabitants, and took the daughter of the leader for his wife. Yet he sold her to the leader of Epirus, and he went off to Italy. And then indeed, having been captured by the triremes of the prelate, he bought her back and recovered her. The Greeks, for a long time, had waged war against the leader of Achaea, the Italian Centurione. But after this, having established a marriage alliance for the king's younger son, Thomas, by marrying the daughter of the leader, they ceded to him her territory, both of Messene and Ithome, except for the maritime region of Arcadia, and concluded a peace. And this, when he died, Thomas, the brother of the king, took, and he held the wife of Centurione in custody, until she died. In this way, then, the Peloponnese passed from the Italians to the Greeks. The affairs of the Greeks, while they were subjugating the Peloponnese, stood in this way.

Amurates, son of Mehmed, went on an expedition against the land of the Triballians. And earlier indeed, when he had declared war, he sent armies and ravaged the country. And then, when the leader of the Triballians heard that the king was advancing upon him, he sent envoys and asked to make a peace, on the condition that he would pay the tribute which the king might fix for him, and that he would obey whatever he might command. Thereupon, Amurates took the daughter of the leader of the Triballians as his wife; for he had sent Saraziis, the leader of the palace guard, and led her off as the wife of Chaliles, who was someone of great reputation with him, and into his palace.

After this, he proceeded against Caramanus Aliberius, the leader of Caria, accusing him of other things, and because, while having the latter's younger brother with him, he had sent him against the Greeks. Advancing with a great army, he ravaged the land, as Caramanus had abandoned it, and was holding the heights of the mountains. He had two cities, one called Laranda, the other Toconeium, a city that was great in size and prosperous in olden times, in which there was also a queen of the kings of this lineage in earlier days. Since the mountains of the region were strong and not easy to climb, setting out, they began to ravage the surrounding territory. And progressing little by little, they subdued it. This city is well-governed from very ancient times. Now, the city of Laranda is situated at the foot of the mountains there, and is not particularly fortified by any kind of bulwark; but the region, when Amurates' forces were approaching, stood firm and did not flee. For it is not thought that, since they were Turks themselves, they would be enslaved, as they were set in the same customs and the same way of life. But this Caramanus, he of the neighboring territory, ^{B C D}

^A buys virgins whenever someone wishes to bestow his daughter. Torches are carried before them when they celebrate the wedding feast. If a husband is insufficiently well-disposed towards his wife, he declares that he is to be separated from her by the three spleens, and the woman is already considered alienated from her husband by this pronouncement. It is considered disgraceful if anyone who has dismissed a wife should take her back again, unless she has been defiled by adultery with another; in that case, it is not permitted to take her back. The Turks consider it forbidden to use wine. They decree for this people that unless a man has washed, he may not enter into prayer. Having set aside a certain tithe for God for the year, he leads them into a fast for thirty ^B or more days. On these days, they consume nothing at all, neither of food nor of drink; but in the evening, when the stars appear, they take their meal. It is strictly forbidden for anyone at this time even to taste wine. It is their custom to circumcise the male organ entirely. The Turks acknowledge Jesus as the apostle of God, and they believe that God, through the angel Gabriel and from Mary—who was a virgin and had not known any man—brought forth Jesus, a hero greater than a man. And at the end of this world, when men are established for judgment of the lives they have lived, they say that Jesus will be brought forward as the arbiter of the world. They consider it unlawful to touch swine. They eat all other animals, provided they have been slaughtered. They do not doubt that God is the ruler of the universe, saying that He uses as ministers spirits, whom they call fiery. They also believe that ^C Mohammed was sent by God to fill in the gaps for those whom God had sent previously as lawgivers to the inhabited world. They consider circumcision to be the primary purification among them, and it is at this time, most of all, that they contract marriages. It is their custom to place graves along the roads, and they are not permitted to bury them anywhere else. They bury them after washing them and shaving the body at the same time. It is also a custom that he who does not obey the law meets his end by the sword. They do not enslave Armenians alone of the other nations who differ from them in religion, because a certain Armenian had prophesied that the glory of Mohammed would be spread throughout the entire world. This is the sole reason, which honorable men attribute to the fact that they do not take enslaved persons from the Armenians. When Mohammed had established these things in his legislation, he occupied a very large part ^D of the world. And his authority reached great heights in Asia, in Libya, and in no small portion of Europe, extending to the Scythians and those who are now Turks, and to Iberia, not an insignificant amount. It is said that he died leaving his son Ali in charge of Arabia, for they had accepted him as a lawgiver and were persuaded by him in whatever he instructed; they entrusted affairs to him and permitted him to treat them however he pleased. After this, having gathered a very large army, he advanced against Egypt and the rest of Arabia that he was laying to waste, and the sand

^A of Arabia, and brought the nations residing there under his own rule. He reigned for [number] years. He died in a certain place called Mecca. And the soldiers and the inhabitants of the region buried him magnificently and mourned him greatly. And the Arabs perform rites for him every year, as for a hero and one perhaps appointed by God to be the lawgiver for them, and one who, in his legislation, proved to be lenient and not a tyrant in that manner. After he died, Omar, the most esteemed of his disciples, having received the rule from his son and taking the army at the same time, marched first against Syria and ^B brought the country under his rule, partly by war and partly by persuading them cont. on the next page/line: and making treaties on specified terms. After these events, he also subdued the Cilicians, and the Phrygians, and the Medes, and the Ionians. And going on towards the upper parts of Asia, he also subjugated them, confirming the legislation for the barbarian nations throughout Asia, and by sending some of his fellow-disciples to other places, he attempted to persuade them. And having constructed a costly tomb for Mehmet, he surpassed the place itself. And he performed great rites for him every year ^C and persuaded others both to pray to him and, by frequenting his tomb, to become righteous. And even now, not a few from Asia, and from Libya, and from Europe travel to the tomb of Mehmet, believing that such a thing brings great good fortune to them. Some of them go themselves, while others pay silver to those willing to make the journey on their behalf. But it is very difficult to go there because of the sand, and one must carry sustenance and water upon camels. For they do not have an abundance to use at all. And having thus prepared provisions for themselves, they mount the camels, using as a guide for the journey the indications of the magnet ^D, by which they observe from the North star where they must go in the inhabited world. Judging by this, they traverse the road. And when they arrive at certain countries where there is water, having drawn water they depart from there, and they arrive in forty days of crossing the sand at the tomb of Mehmet. It is said that this tomb was constructed of very costly stones, and in the middle of the temple the tomb is suspended in mid-air [which seems unbelievable to me]. The distance from this place where his tomb is to the place where they go is about ninety stadia. Leaving from there, they hasten to this place. His laws and the Alcoran are expounded, and they affirm the immortality of the soul, nor do they ascribe ignorance to the Divine. Let these things, then, be recorded by us thus far regarding the religion of Mehmet. But Temires, having laid waste to this region and captured some cities, proceeded against S...

^A Semarchanda. He had heard that the Scythians, having set out from the Tanais, had made an incursion into his territory and carried off no small amount of plunder; and he took this very ill. From there he immediately marched directly against the Chataidae. It is said that these are the ancient Massagetae, having crossed the Araxes and moved far into the territory on this side of the river, where they settled and made it their own. These he prepared to subdue. Having gathered an army of eight hundred thousand men, he marched against them. Joining battle, he defeated the Chataidae, and marching against their emporium and the seat of their kingdom, he brought them to terms by agreement. Having hired many of them—the best soldiers for war—he led them away. Having taken hostages, including the children of the nobility, and having imposed an annual tribute upon them, he returned home. Chataia is a city of Hyrcania, toward the East, large and opulent: in the number of its people, and its wealth, and other prosperity, it surpasses the other cities of Asia, save for Semarchanda and Memphis. It was established long ago under good laws by the Massagetae. Temires hired most of these Persians, as they were for the most part experienced in the affairs of the Scythians, because they frequently associated with them and were no longer delicate in their manner of living. Fortified by these, he turned his mind to bringing the force of the war entirely against their emporium, which they call Urdam. Hearing that this nation was the most ancient of all those the world contains, and that no king who had preceded him had been able to subdue it—though they had inflicted very great damage upon Europe and Asia with their incursions, and thereby amassed vast wealth—he was all the more inflamed for that expedition. Furthermore, reflecting that even Darius, the son of Hystaspes, the elected king of the Persians, had accomplished nothing when he made war upon this nation, he resolved to seek this distinguished honor for himself. In order to bring this matter to the desired end, he thought it best to approach as near as possible to them, and so he decided to lead a colony into the city of Cheria, transferring thither soldiers and many other people from Semarchanda. ^B Hither, as soon as they understood the king's intention, many other nobles of the kingdom assembled. But while he himself stayed in that city, the aristocrats and the soldiers of Asia gathered to him daily. Hence that city was in a short time incredibly increased. It was governed, moreover, by good and most wholesome laws while Temires was still alive. Now, in what part of Asia this city is situated, whether in the region of the Syrians or in that of the Medes, I am unable to determine. There are some who relate that Cheria was once Nineveh, and that it was located in the region of the Assyrians; they form this conjecture from its location near Bagdatine Babylon. Temires, having filled the city of Cheria with inhabitants and established in it the seat of his kingdom, conceived a design to make war upon Egypt and the Scythians, and their emporium which they call Urdam; and having gathered a great army and taken the Chataidae along, he marched straight to the Tanais. There the Scythians, learning that King Temires was coming against them with great preparation, sent an army to the entrance.

^A And the Boemi, following the belief of the Samogitians, and those Germans within this region, are equipped with clothing similar to that of the Pannonians. They possess a metropolis, an affluent and populous city, called Prague. And it is not long since many in this city ceased from worshipping fire and the sun. This is the only nation among those in Europe that remains outside of the religions known to us at the present time—I mean those of Jesus, and of Mehmed, and of Moses. For we know that these almost entirely encompass the inhabited world as we know it. However, I hear that there is also a nation, beyond the Caspian Sea and the Massagetae, that is turned toward this religion of Apollo. That nation also believes in other gods, Zeus and Hera, as will be made manifest as the account proceeds further. And let this suffice regarding these matters. The Polans are adjacent to the Sarmatians, and they use the language of the latter, and in their customs and way of life they are similar to the Romans. Adjoining the Polans are the Lithuanians, extending as far as the Euxine Sea and Sarmatia. ^B And indeed, the Black Pogdania, which has its royal seat in the place called Leucopolichna, extends from the Dacians who dwell along the Ister unto the Lithuanians and Sarmatians. This is a reputable nation, as one might conjecture, retaining the same language, and having been split in two from antiquity, it was established into two tyrannies and hegemonies. To the Lithuanians, there is no common language with the Sarmatians, nor with the Pannonians, nor with the Germans, nor even with the Dacians. They use an entirely particular language. Their royal city is great, populous, and affluent. And this nation appears to be the greatest of the nations around this region, and the most valiant, warring against the Prussians, the Germans, and the Polans concerning the boundaries of their land. And this nation also is turned toward the customs and way of life of the Romans. Using equipment similar to that of the Sarmatians, and being for the most part adjacent to the Black Pogdania, they fight against them. The Sarmatians use a language similar to that of the Illyrians who dwell along the Ionian Sea toward the Venetians. ^C Which of these are older, and which of these inhabit the territory of the others—whether the Illyrians, having crossed over to this part of Europe, inhabited Poland and Sarmatia, or whether the Sarmatians, having come to this side of the Ister, inhabited Mysia and the region of the Triballi, and indeed that of the Illyrians toward the Ionian sea as far as the Veneti—I have not heard any of the ancients recount, nor could I declare it with complete certainty. I return now to the Nomad Scythians, which is a nation most great, powerful, and valiant... ^D

^A regarding the practices regarding religion and their mode of life, and keeping the customs of the same Greeks, they employ attire similar to the Scythians. However, the tribes of the Sarmatians towards the Euxine Sea, from the city called Leucopolichne, for the most part obtain their leadership from, and the cities of the Moscovians, Kionians, Tofarians, and Chorobians, ruled by tyrants, belong to the Black Sarmatia, as it is called by them. The tribes dwelling towards the Ocean under the North are called White Sarmatia. Towards the Ocean, however, is a city called Ucratis, turned toward an aristocracy, so much does it provide, and itself surpassing in prosperity the other cities of Sarmatia, both of the White and of the Black, so called. And this region extends to the Ocean, called Inflaste. Thither indeed ships from Dacia and Germany put into port, carrying Gallic and English goods into this region. From the Tanais, therefore, to the British Ocean and to the land of the Celts, it would be a journey of thirty-five days over the length of the inhabited region. In breadth, above the Tanais, the region is greatest; reaching from Sarmatia even unto the land of the Assyrians, the Scythians dwell here. This region, then, as it seems to me, which is inhabited beyond the Tanais, is by far the most vast of those in Europe in both length and breadth, extending to a great length. The Permians dwell towards the North above the Sarmatians. They are neighbors to the Sarmatians, and the Sarmatians use the same language as the Permians. It is said concerning the Permians that they are a people who spend the greater part of their life in hunting. And the Sarmatia reaching towards the Ocean extends to the region called Prussia, and to the *Nazaraioi* (Nazarenes) who live there in white garments, and to the sanctuary in that region. ^B These men are believed to be Germans, as they follow their way of life, customs, and also language. They inhabit most beautiful cities, instructed by the best laws. There is for them a monastery; and the monastery in Iberia is considered one, and the race of Nazarenes dwelling in Rhodes. For these three sanctuaries throughout the inhabited world are manifest, ordained for the religion of Jesus against the barbarians: the one in Iberia against those of the Libyans crossing over in those parts; and that of the Prussians against the Samogitians, and the Nomad Scythians dwelling there nearby from ancient times. And the Rhodians, against those in Egypt and Palestine because of the tomb of Jesus, and against the barbarians in Asia. The Samogitians border the Prussians, a race valiant and having a mode of life and language like none of their neighbors. ^C This race believes in the gods Apollo and Artemis. They follow the ancient Greek mode of life and customs, but in attire they are similar to the Prussians. These have... ^D

^A cities and many populous towns, and to protect the city from enemy incursions, this man, as I have indicated, took this task upon himself. ^B Having received the Asian and Eastern army, as well as the European one which he had enrolled from Thessaly and Macedonia, and having the strength of the gates, he set out against the Peloponnese. As he arrived in the Peloponnese and was within the Isthmus, he immediately surrounded Corinth with a siege. He went around surveying from what part he might break through the wall with cannons, so that with it demolished he might break into the city together with his own men through the places open to ruin. And indeed, he left off casting cannons in that place. But he ordered the Eastern army to besiege the city on every side, and to conquer it at last by famine. For he hoped that with that city occupied he would acquire a very great apparatus of war machines or cannons. He himself, when he had entered the Peloponnese, was making his journey straight through Phlius. The Greeks, however, had not gathered even a little grain into Corinth. For Lucanes, the Spartan governor, was ruling it in the absence of Asanes. Moreover, they had not sufficiently fortified the city with garrisons from the ramparts, so that they could resist the royal army even for a short time. ^C Asanes, indeed, not much later, when he had learned that the city was being besieged by the Asian army, leading with him many men, set out from Nauplio, a city of the Venetians, and having been conveyed by sea to the Cenchreaean port, he entered the city at night, having brought in some very meager supplies, unknown to the king's army. When the king had reached Phlius, he was besieging the city of Tarsus. Doxies, the prefect, drew those whom he ruled, as well as the citizens of Phlius, into a certain most fortified place, and was intending to resist the king. The king had received Tarsus into his dominion; and taking from thence about three hundred boys, and establishing a prefect for the citizens, he proceeded straight through the Mediterranean region. ^D Proceeding with his column, he turned the weight of war toward the city which is situated on a mountain, high and fortified, into which many of the Greeks and Albanians had gathered, intending to endure the king's siege there. The city had a very great scarcity of water. For outside the city was a spring, to which they were accustomed to go to get water. So that the enemy might not take away the opportunity of getting water, they had fortified the place very strongly. The king, approaching this city with the foreign soldiers, gained control of the water, and surrounded the city with a siege. They say that the townspeople, when water was lacking, killed their pack animals, and kneaded the flour with the blood of the animals, and from this baked bread. When, however, they were pressed by most savage thirst, and were in doubt what they should do, they began to incline their spirits toward surrender. They therefore sent legates to the king, who prayed that in surrender

^A they might find a way to make a comparison with all the nations of the world, for they are superior to all, save that they are dispersed throughout Asia and Europe, and now reside in a region far removed from their own kingdom, such that, being vigilant in making incursions, they might take into their minds the notion of lingering in whatever region has chanced to please them. If this nation were to celebrate harmony among themselves, and were to embrace one region and one king, I do not believe there is any nation in the whole world so fierce in strength that it would dare to declare war upon the Scythians. But now, since they live dispersed everywhere through Asia and Europe, and even through Thrace as far as the Bosphorus, they are seen to reside as far as possible from their own royal seat, which is in the direction of the Jordan. Those who occupy the region extending to the Bosphorus work many hardships upon the neighboring ^B Tzarcasians, Mingrelians, and Sarmatians by raiding their property. Therefore, carrying off very many captives from there, they hasten to the Bosphorus and to the city of Carea (70). Afterwards, driving the captives to the Maeotian marsh, they sell them for a small price to the Venetian and Genoese merchants. This is the mode of life they hold. But the Scythians who reside in the *Agora* are conveyed by wagons and beasts of burden. They live for the most part on milk, and even horse meat; they do not, to my knowledge, make frequent use of wheat or barley, but use panicum and spelt. They are clothed in cloaks or linen garments. As regards pearls and precious stones, they are considered most prosperous and very wealthy. Their arrows and swords smell of barbarism. They have shields such as the Dacians carry. For the most part they use caps, and neither... where they border on Sarmatia, nor is their clothing woven from thread, but they put on the fleeces of sheep. The *Agora* of the Scythians and of their great king extends over a journey of fifteen days, ^C so that they profit from the region as it has seemed most convenient to them. Certain of them, few in number and dispersed on either side, having one leader, make the *Agora* very long and graze the region, providing ample fodder for their beasts of burden. The rest are drawn up into that order which is believed by them to be the best. For they surround only the king and the princes of the kingdom in a circle; and making fortifications, they provide the king with a royal seat prepared of wooden structures. Then, partitioning this entire *Agora* into certain parts, they set magistrates or leaders over each; and when the king has commanded, they all fly at once to do what has been ordered. Therefore, at that time when Temires was leading the army of Asia, ^D and the Scythians understood that he was advancing in a hostile manner against them, the king, having gathered the entire *Agora* into an army and placing burdens upon the wagons, proceeded to meet the enemy with his own forces. He sent a part of the army ahead to occupy the mountain passes where Temires the king was about to lead his army, and ordered them to resist the enemies bravely, and to prevent them from accessing the way as

^A a river, it is navigable by ships, and at this point it discharges into the sea. The ships of the Genoese entered this way to the port of the Venetians; they seized Clizia and enslaved its inhabitants. After these events, they sent embassies to the city. The people in the city, being in dire straits and not knowing what to do, said they were ready to obey the Genoese and to govern themselves in whatever way they thought advantageous and suitable, and they urged them to ask for whatever they wished, as they would willingly provide it. When the Genoese heard the offer from the city, thinking they would take the city, they replied to the embassy even more arrogantly, saying that they requested permission to plunder the city for three days. When the ambassadors returned and reported the demands to the city, the senate and the people, having been profoundly offended by the arrogance and licentiousness of the enemy, immediately filled as many ships as they could, and they themselves, boarding the ships, set sail for the port. The Genoese sailed out to meet them, and a naval battle immediately took place in the port, and the enemy gained nothing. ^B There, as the defeated retreated to Clizia, the Venetians immediately brought a ship—the largest of those they had—to the mouth of the port where the enemy had entered, and sank it right there; for this is the narrowest point. Having thus closed the mouth [of the port], they besieged the Genoese with famine at Clizia. They tried to dig through the canal by which one arrives at the port from the Eridanus, so that they could become navigable for their own ships onto the Eridanus, but they were unable to accomplish the task. It seemed that the leader of Padua also intended to contribute to them in the war, being at odds with the Venetians. These [Genoese], overcome by famine by the city of the Venetians, surrendered themselves to be used by them as they wished, and they perished there in the most shameful manner, not having been brought to their senses as they should have been. The Venetians, campaigning from this time forward against the city of the Genoese, fought many naval battles ^C and prevailed, acquiring power from this point on, and blocking the sea in that region. There, this city fell into a calamity, not an ordinary one, due to these naval battles. Later, however, having taken vengeance on the leader of Padua, they besieged the city, and being brought to the mainland, they held on more firmly to themselves, fortifying their rule over the mainland. And even before that, having acquired some rule over the mainland, and having added Terviso, a prosperous city, they advanced their territory, as the inhabitants were being drawn by their hatred for the city against their own leaders; and eventually, when they had overcome Padua, they took this one as well.

^A And not a few Persians were killed. Later, when the enemy could accomplish nothing by fighting against the army of Temires, they prepared to surround them, so as to hem them in within the region. But Temires, having learned of the Scythian ambushes, changed his plan and decided to lead his forces out of the hostile region; he was the first to arrive at the Tanais. Afterward, he was carried into the Iberia of Asia and directed his march through Colchis, having crossed the river Phasis, which flows from the Caucasus mountain ^B and proceeds into the Euxine Sea. Finally, when he had reached Armenia, he completed his journey and came to Cheria. The army, however, which he had led armed against the Scythians, was heavily afflicted. Two years later the Scythians flew to arms, and desiring to avenge the rashness of Temires, they made an attack on the region that is cultivated above the Assyrians. Temires, compelled by the bitterness of the situation, sent envoys to seek peace. King Temires promised that, if peace were granted and he were received into a treaty, he would join his family with king Odieo and with the entire Scythian Agora. A treaty was therefore struck, by which they were ordered to be friends and guests to one another.

With the Scythian affairs settled in this way, he began to subjugate Coelesyria. He attacked Damascus and held that city under siege. Then, moving war-machines to the wall, he captured the city violently and enslaved it, though it was a city that was at that time the greatest and most opulent. He led away from there eight thousand camels in total. Having plundered the greatest wealth in that city, and laden with much booty and riches, he returned home. He also dismissed the envoys to the Soldan, the king of Memphis, with mandates of this kind: that King Temires demanded he hand over Coelesyria to him. If he did this, he would exchange the war for peace. Since that embassy was fruitless, he captured and sacked Damascus, a city flourishing in wealth, with an armed hand. ^C He departed at last for a reason we shall relate below.

The Memphitic king rules a most vast region, beginning from the Arabs, and including Coelesyria, Palestine—though not the whole of it—and rules Egypt under his own authority. Now the king of Memphis and this authority rises to such distinction in this way: whoever of the flock of bondmen in that region adheres to virtue is transferred by the king into the order of soldiers. These are then considered the king’s satellites, numbering twice two thousand, and are called Mamalukides. Of these, as many as are notable for their ability to carry out whatever the king has ordered, these are gradually established in offices, advance to a greater fortune, and being deemed worthy of the highest honors by the king, are installed as those called Melicamaridae, from which rank they then proceed to the king’s state itself, and to the authority of Memphis, and of the whole of Egypt, Arabia, and Palestine, and of the other authorities that are assigned under this king. ^D Melicamaridae are the leading men who, created by the king, are set over the more distinguished towns.

The city of Memphis (which is also Alcairo) exceeds all the cities of the world in the magnitude of its size and the multitude of its men. For the perimeter of this region reaches about seven hundred stadia. It is governed most excellently, of all the cities we know. It is said to have the most beautiful houses, up to five hundred myriads. The river Nile flows through the middle of the city, providing the most excellent water, flowing from the Silver Mountain. It irrigates the whole of Egypt in the most beautiful manner by means of the canals [dug] by those in each district.

Hence the land can be moistened everywhere as is convenient. Monothelites and Jacobites, nations not small, hold this religion; and there are others who, in their religious duty toward Jesus the Son of God, both perform their rites and think differently one from another; they do not hold to the religion in the way of the Romans, nor do they follow the doctrines received by the Greeks. But as many as are Armenians—and there are very many throughout this land—[and indeed] the Monothelites and Jacobites and a great multitude of Manichaeans dwell there. ^A The realm of the King of Memphis extends from Libya as far as the city called Aleppo in Asia. This king is held by the nations in Asia, by those in Libya, and indeed by those in Europe, to be a high priest in all that pertains to their religion and to the laws of Muhammad, as a very great number of people there are instructed in the laws of his religion; and because from ancient times he has been deemed a high priest, and by their own letters it was demonstrated that he understood the law of Muhammad most accurately. Since they hold the tomb of Jesus in Palestine, they derive great profit from it, and the greatest princes of the king's house are appointed to the guardianship of the sepulcher. Egypt extends from Tyre of Alexandria ^B to the land of Ituraea, a distance of about 880 stadia. The Nile, the river of Egypt, discharges into the sea toward the north wind, by the Egyptian Alexandria. From there Palestine begins, extending as far as Coelesyria. In this region is the sepulcher of the Lord Jesus, near the city of Jerusalem, which has been razed to the ground. These are indeed the coastal regions; but Coelesyria extends toward Arabia, to the Red Sea, in the direction of the east wind. For one who crosses that sea, a vast expanse of sand greets those traveling to the sepulcher of Muhammad. This is the realm of the King of Memphis; and Phoenicia is also added to it. This king also possesses great power at sea. Samos ^C supplies him with ships and triremes. He subjugated Cyprus. Sending ships with soldiers against Rhodes and Cyprus, he besieged the city. But after having made many raids for booty from the island, and having been intent upon the siege for several days, since nothing was being achieved by the assault on the city, he withdrew for home. He did, however, subjugate Cyprus, and he carried off the King of Cyprus; from which time Cyprus has paid tribute to this king. It is believed that this island was subject to this king even in ancient times. But as for the Gauls, when they arrived at the sepulcher of Jesus the God, having enslaved this island, they brought it under their own control, preparing a great fleet and power not to be despised. ^D In this way also the Venetians, having captured the prosperous city of Amaria, for a long time...

to occupy that opulent city, as a most convenient port for Egyptian merchandise. From here, by long succession, the kings of the Gauls governed that island. The Arabs also hold a portion of this island, as well as the city called Famagusta ^A, which is flourishing in wealth. And indeed, the king of Memphis and Egypt is at war with the Arabs and the Africans, because they are constantly at odds over the boundaries of their territory, and among other things, they even join battle. Indeed, the city of Aleppo ^B is his, in Great Asia, both large and prosperous, and providing trade for Asia, Egypt, and Arabia; this region produces very noble horses. Egypt also, and that region which stretches toward Libya, is believed to produce good horses and camels. However, Temires brought the city of Aleppo under his dominion when he was waging war against Damascus; and having subdued a not insignificant region of Coelesyria, he departed for the following reason. For the king of Cathay, one of the nine commanders, and also ruler of India, crossed the Araxes and ravaged the region of Temires, and carrying off as many captives as possible, he departed again, returning home. It is said that he led an army of about one hundred and forty myriads of men. But Temires, as he marched as fast as he could, yielding some of the territory but hastening to guard with a wall whatever was bordering upon his own territory ^C near the land of the Cathayans, and again in the realm of the Persians and Cadians, he did not succeed in overtaking the king. Then, having sent an embassy, he made peace, having it in mind to wage war against Pajazites, son of Amurates. He therefore made peace on the condition of paying a large tribute annually for the region of the Massagetae, which he had subdued by force of arms. When this war had been lulled by the intercession of the treaty, it happened that he took up the cause of the commanders of Lower Asia. For about one hundred had come, and, under the auspices of Pajazites, they had surrounded the city of Melitene with a siege. Having therefore gathered as vast an army as he could, he set out with hostile intent against Sebastia, a wealthy city of Cappadocia ^D; which formerly, as it appears, served as the royal seat of the king of the Turks. For from this place, the Turks previously went forth and subdued a not insignificant region of Asia as far as the Hellespont, and now, coming with a large hand, they made an incursion into the region which is situated opposite Byzantium. Temires, therefore, when he arrived, besieged the city with his armies. Pajazites happened to be absent at that time, because he had undertaken an expedition against Lebadia in Boeotia, and against the Peloponnese and Thessaly. He had left, however, Orthobules his son with an army in Sebastia. When he had arranged all these things in that manner, he himself led his forces against the Peloponnese. But when he heard—

^A that Sebastia was besieged by Temires, he changed his plan, and returned, nor was he able to break into the Peloponnese. As he was hurrying his journey into Asia, he heard that the city had been captured, and that Temires, having collected many captives, had gone off again, attacking Cheriam.

For when Temires had made an assault on the wall for several days, the townspeople bravely repelled the hostile force. But as he had eight thousand sappers in his camp, he gave orders to them ^B to construct subterranean tunnels, through which they could emerge everywhere into the city. And indeed the townspeople had perceived that this was being prepared. Therefore, they too went out to meet the enemy by digging, but they were driven back; for Temires achieved more, as he excelled in the number of his sappers. When the walls had already been undermined on all sides, and were already suspended on timbers, they sent in fire, and the walls collapsed of their own accord.

Then the soldiers of Temires, rushing in there, broke into the city, and thus took possession of it. And the men, by the command of the king, he immediately slaughtered once the city was captured; but having driven the children and women of the city to one place, he turned his cavalry on them and butchered them, ^C so that not one of those in the city, neither man nor woman nor child, survived; and most piteous of all was the death of those in the city. It is said that the number of people was about twelve myriads. Moreover, having found a great multitude of lepers in that city, it is said that he ordered them to be destroyed. For he thought that these, being alive, were no longer fit to walk about; but as soon as he found them, he put an end to their living, saying that it was not right that, having fallen into such a condition, they should go about and destroy the rest of the people, and themselves for the most part live in miserable madness. It is said that ^D the disaster of this city surpassed all the disasters that have ever happened to any cities.

He took Orthobules, the son of Pajazites, alive, and led him around with him for several days; after this, he ordered that he be killed. When Pajazites heard of each thing not long after—both that the city had been captured and destroyed, and that his son had been reported shortly after to have died by the hand of King Temires—he was afflicted with the greatest misfortune and was in mourning. For, passing over into Asia, when he saw a certain shepherd playing a flute, he is said to have spoken, indicating to him how bitter his grief was: "Play a song, the theme of which is: Neither have you lost Sebastia, nor your son Orthobules." For Orthobules was, as it is said, the finest of his contemporaries, and a leader in war not to be despised. Therefore he had not been left by his father in Asia without reason, so that he might administer the kingdom in the way he thought most convenient for himself.

Such was the outcome of Temires’ expedition against Sebastia. And not long after, an embassy arrived before Lælapa Pajazites, and he ordered him to restore the region to the leaders, and to give only as much butter as two thousand camels carry. To these, he should add two thousand

^A tents, of the sort that shepherds are accustomed to use throughout Asia. It was also requested that Temires be proclaimed king throughout the entire kingdom of Pajazites. He also wished for Pajazites to accept the coinage of Temires in his territory and to render his own void. Finally, it was commanded that one of the sons of Pajazites should serve in the janissaries of [the court of] Temires. If Pajazites should do these things, he would be a friend and ally of King Temires; but if he should reject these demands, he should know that he would have Temires himself as an enemy. Having heard these things, they say that Pajazites, moved by wrath, gave that response which we declared above, namely: if he does not come as he threatens, I pray that he may receive his wife back three times repudiated. This saying, indeed, brings great infamy upon the one against whom it is uttered. ^B Therefore, having dismissed the envoys with such a reply, Temires no longer deferred his expedition against Pajazites, which he had been turning over in his mind. But having immediately assembled the largest forces he could from the Scythian Nomads and the Tzachaidae who were at hand, and having held a levy, he enrolled an army which comprised eight hundred thousand men; and he set out against Pajazites, making his journey through Phrygia and Lydia. Pajazites, so that he might proceed against the enemy well-prepared, also gathered the largest army he could, having even taken up his Triballian bodyguards, who were in number about ten thousand; in these Pajazites had the greatest hope, as men who were always mindful of courage wherever they might go. He exhorted them, saying: Alexander son of Philip, having the Macedonians with him, crossed into Asia ^C blaming Darius for the expedition of Xerxes against the Greeks; and, proceeding against the enemy with only a small force of his own, he defeated Darius, and subdued Asia, and arrived even at the Phain of Asia. I am also emboldened in the hope that, with our army, I shall easily destroy the kingdom of Temires, and then reach even the Indians. Having therefore taken up a European and Asian army, which comprised about one hundred and twenty thousand men, he set a direct course against Temires, desiring to get there before him and to pitch camp in his own region next to the Euphrates, intending to fight with Temires there. Temires, indeed, was leading his army through Phrygia; but Pajazites was being carried along at a rapid pace through Cappadocia, wishing to occupy the Euphrates by way of Armenia. But when he was in Armenia ^D and learned that Temires had already entered his own region and was making his journey through Phrygia, he changed his plan and contended directly toward Phrygia, where he understood Temires was advancing to meet him. But as he was accelerating the march, it happened that the army, being grievously vexed by the long journey, became indignant at Pajazites, because by their labors, even through his own audacity, with no

^A necessity compelling them, he would abuse them. Furthermore, it happened that the army was afflicted by the greatest scarcity of grain and barley, because of Prusa. Hence the cavalry was in serious danger. The army bore this situation with an unquiet mind, and was already refusing to serve. For it had been strictly forbidden that anyone should lay hands upon grain, with the addition that he would most bitterly punish him who should commit a fraud against this edict of his. The report is that when he had encamped in Cappadocia, a most violent whirlwind fell upon the army, in such a way that it flattened and destroyed the tents, having tossed them into the air: which indeed the army accepted as a not very favorable omen. Afterward, when he had moved into Phrygia and pitched his camp, his tent fell of its own accord upon ^B the three boys who were there; whether because the ground could not support the ropes, or there is some other cause to which that fall could be reduced. Certain Greeks and Triballi who were present said that this was an omen that he should not ascend into Phrygia. They say, however, that before he crossed into Asia, Aliem, the son of Charatinus, a man who among those who were with Pajazites was inferior to none in wisdom, had advised that he should not lead the army against Temires, but rather that he should strive to have this controversy dissolved and settled by the safest methods possible. He promised that he would be an envoy in this matter, and that he would reconcile Temires according to his own desire. Pajazites replied: "I would never have ascended to such a pinnacle of ^C happiness, nor would I have obliged so many leaders to receive my command, if I had surrendered myself to your wisdom. Led by a vehement impulse and my own generosity, I have designated such great works. Furthermore, certain kings, following fortune and audacity, while ignoring prudence, have performed excellent deeds, while the rest meanwhile, who in all things preferred prudence, have perished most shamefully." When he was in Armenia, his intention was, having led all his forces into battle array, to contend with the enemy with his utmost strength. Therefore, having called the optimates into council to decide whether a battle should be fought, he deliberated. When there were those whose opinions inclined to both sides, the report is that Praimen, son of ^D Aleis, who had the greatest influence with Pajazites, spoke thus: "O king, you are preparing to join battle against men who are reputed to be the first in the knowledge of military affairs by those who have tested their spirits and virtue. I too have often come into conversation with them, and I have heard their virtue celebrated in wondrous ways. Furthermore, it is announced that the forces of Temires exceed ours in number in many ways. Therefore, as I have just now understood the opinions of both sides, if my own counsel is to be given, I would advise, trusting in our army, to rush into the camp of Temires. Yet even if we have cast the die of battle, it will not be for us to...

^A to decide the outcome. But if—which I pray may not happen—matters should turn out the opposite way for us, consider, O King, what will result for you from this, as it would mean the loss of both your power and your kingdom at once. You must not, therefore, engage on equal terms with him. I believe that King Temires, if he is wise, will not risk a battle with his whole army, but will divide his forces into sufficiently large detachments to test us. If we overcome one detachment by fighting bravely, he will oppose us with another, fresh one, until we grow weary and fail, while they, on the other hand, fight with vigor. For Temires’ forces are not arrayed in such a way that, once combat is joined, they should immediately take to flight; rather, they are superior to us even in retreat, and when dispersed, they are more easily gathered together again, performing great feats of bravery. Therefore, I do not believe it is necessary to go to meet the army of Temires; but it seems better and more useful to me that we pursue them, constantly pressing them as closely as possible along the mountains, harrying his army wherever the opportunity arises. From this it will become clear that he will be restrained from ravaging the land, while we press upon him and he is never able to withdraw too far. Nor will he be able to procure enough grain, and consequently he will lack sufficient provisions. But when we have arrived in the enemy's territory, having followed the army of Temires, only then shall we engage in hand-to-hand combat with the enemy, as he desires to return home. ^B When Praimes had finished saying these things, the rest of the leaders went along with this opinion. But Bajazet is said to have spoken as follows: “The size of the enemy’s host, men, appears to me to be striking terror into you. But you yourselves know that an unorganized multitude has nothing sound or significant to offer where virtue is set against it. You know, indeed, of Xerxes, son of Darius, the King of the Persians, how great were the hosts he brought with him when he crossed into Europe, and how he nearly perished, had not Mardonius stood his ground and indicated to him the death that threatened him, had he not immediately returned to Susa. You are also aware how Alexander, having defeated King Darius, took away his kingdom and killed him. And I believe that many of you have heard how our own Turks, with a small force, have often performed great deeds of valor. We, too, in our frequent battles in Europe, have put to flight the Gauls and the Paeonians, the most noble of all the nations the world possesses. Do not, therefore, despise us in this way, ^C nor show us to be worse or viler than the Scythians and the Chagatais in point of courage, for they have never yet made use of the sword ^D in any way.

^A embassies 80 having been dispatched to the king of the Pannonians, Vladislav, who had newly attained to the kingdom. He was impelled to this most especially by George Branković, who, having been deprived of his rule, was contributing great sums of money to this expedition. It seems, however, that John Huniades, who at that time possessed great power and enjoyed glory for his strategies against the Turks, also urged the King of the Pannonians very strongly to take up arms against Amurath, the son of Mehmed. There, having collected a very great army and taken with him Draco, the leader of the Dacians, and George of the Triballi, who became the guide for the journey, they crossed the Ister and reached the king's territory, where they proceeded to enslave everything that stood in their way. They burned and ravaged the villages and the prosperous city of Sofia. ^B Amurath, however, as he learned that the Pannonians were approaching with a great force, gathered together the armies of both Asia and Europe and set out himself to meet them, with the intention of joining battle. When he reached the region called Basiliza, he discovered the Pannonians encamped there. Amurath had also previously sent on a detachment, ordering them to keep watch on the Pannonian army and to report back to him wherever it might be, and to attempt to block them by barricading with trees the narrow passes of the mountains in the royal territory. They did so and, having formed a blockade, they tried to stop them. The Pannonians, however, were attempting to pass through into Thrace. ^C Amurath, having encamped on the mountain that sits above the narrow paths of the road, gathered there his best men, and especially those esteemed to be renowned in military strategy. These were: Thezetes, son of Brenezes; Turachanes, the prefect of Thessaly; Cumulies; Chasan, the commander of Europe; and Isaac, the prefect of Skopje. When they had arrived and were seated, he spoke as follows: "Muslim men ^D, you see into what necessity our affairs have come. For these Pannonians, having set out on a campaign and taken along the leaders of the Dacians and Triballi, are waging war against us. Now is the time, if anyone knows of anything good, by which he might win this war, to declare it and not keep it hidden from us in the present. For it seems to me that we must wage war and join battle with the enemy as quickly as possible. For I think we shall overcome these men, as they are few in number. Now, therefore, it seems best to me that we go forth to join battle and not delay." When Amurath had said this, Chasan, the commander of Europe, urging them to battle, said the following: "O King, there is no one who would not praise this speech, as it is fitting for a great king and one of the House of Osman, who yields nothing to the enemies, to men of little worth, and…"

^A they do not know what kind of customs and way of life the Indians follow. It is reported that in ancient times, the kings of the Persians and Assyrians, who ruled over Asia, held this people in high regard. Semiramis and Cyrus, son of Cambyses, once crossed the Araxes and brought a great burden of war upon them. For Semiramis, queen of the Assyrians, moving against the king of the Indians with great preparation, once she had crossed the river, was met with a most severe disaster and perished there. Furthermore, Cyrus, son of Cambyses, king of the Persians, having crossed the river and engaged the Massagetae, was cast into most grave danger and was killed there by a woman, Tomyris, the queen of the Massagetae.

Temires, when the message of the king of the Indians was brought to him, retreated to Cheria with the greatest speed. Pajazites, as we have said, paid his debt to nature on the journey, carried off by sorrow. Moses, son of Pajazites, released by King Temires, set out for his ancestral land. King Temires, as he arrived in his own palace, set in order the affairs of his rule in a manner which seemed best to him, and, having become at variance with the king of the Indians, waged war. Not long after, however, he made peace, on the condition that they should be guests and friends to one another. To him were born sons: Sachruchus, Pajangures, and Abdulatuphes. He left Sachruchus, his eldest son, as king. He himself, however, being given over to love affairs and occupying himself curiously with them, at last met his end. ^B For they say that Temires far surpassed other men in lust. For he would order young men to have intercourse with women in his presence, thus provoking his nature so that he himself might then be able to perform. But when he was driven from his affairs of love to war, he would return to his customary lust once the war was finished, in no way seeking a quieter life. He did not blush to do violence to his own nature, following a more luxurious way of life, so that he might more freely indulge in venereal pleasures.

Upon the death of Temires, Sachruchus, a man in other respects a lover of fairness, and for the most part entering into treaties with his neighbors and a lover of tranquility, held the reins of the kingdom. Not long after, however, when Sachruchus had departed from the living, Pajangures, the youngest son of Temires, obtained the kingdom. Whence it did not go very well for him with his brothers; but enmities flared up among them. For Ulies, holding the region of the Cadusians and Hyrcania, undertaking enmity against his brother Abdulatuphes, waged war with him. Pajangures, intervening, took the region away from him and, having captured him, placed him in prison. ^C Upon the death of Pajangures, Tzokies arrived at the helm of the kingdom. Pæampures, one of the number of the nine kings, entering into an affinity with him, turned and occupied the kingdom. For having oppressed and occupied the affairs of Samarkand, and having contracted also the aid of the Indians, he made war on Tzokies, the son of Pajangures.

Having surrendered his army, he took Turachanes and, placing him in custody, sent him into Asia to the strong city of Tochata, where he was made a prisoner and led away to prison. For Chaleles also used to prompt the king, reminding him that when he was staying in great Bidina and was prefect of the region by the Ister, he had used Buko, the leader of the Triballi, as a person who was suitable and familiar, and for this reason he secretly indicated to them that he might help them in the current circumstances. And that, by accepting gifts from Buko, he would confer with him on whatever he supposed would be to his advantage. And the king, being persuaded by this, imprisoned Turachanes, having sent him into Asia, and entrusted the rule of Thessaly to another man to manage. And so Turachanes was thus consigned to prison.

Georgius, the leader of the Triballi, since he was accomplishing nothing by the Paeones, sent a messenger to the gates [of the Sultan] regarding his rule, and he tried to probe the mind of the king as to whether he would restore the rule to him, so that he might pay him tribute and [give] half the revenue of his country; and he said that he himself was willing to make a treaty on these conditions, and he undertook to persuade the Paeones to enter into the treaty together with him. There, when he heard the messenger proposing such things, he promised him that he would give back both [the rule] and his son to him, and that they would be favorable to the king thereafter.

Thereupon Bulcus, canvassing each of the Paeones, and indeed King Vladislaus himself, persuaded them to make a treaty with Amurates, saying the following: "O King, King Amurates encourages you to come to a treaty, provided, however, you do not return the region. If, therefore, you listen to me, by making a treaty in this way, you will better prepare [your affairs] for war." And, approaching [him] with all these points, he did not wait for a second time. By saying these things, he persuaded him, and [it happened] just as Buko had advised him. He immediately sent a messenger to the gates, summoning envoys, as if the Paeones were going to make peace and he himself were going to receive back his rule. Thereupon Amurates sent envoys, and they made the treaty on the condition that Georgius should hold his own region and pay half the revenue to the king. And they made oaths at the same time, on the condition that neither should the Paeones plunder the king’s region, nor again should the Turks cross the Ister for any harm, by any device, and that for the whole of their life they should be guests and friends to one another without guile and deceit. The Daci were to be tributary to the king, which they also had agreed to in the treaties with them previously made by the king, and they were to belong to the Paeones, as they had continued to do previously. When these things came to pass, Amurates immediately campaigned against Karamanos. For he, having learned that the Paeones were attacking King Amurates, having crossed the Ister, and thinking that it would be a timely opportunity to march against the king's country, [he set out].

At this, he brings him into the region. In this manner the army, which he had led against the Dacians, returned home. But it is worthwhile to introduce an example worth mentioning of this people, which is worthy to be presented for history. They do not differ from the Italians in living conditions, nor in the equipment of their weapons and household goods, using the same [customs]. Although that nation is divided into two principalities, namely into Bogdania (which is also Moldavia) and the Istrian region, they do not live among themselves under equal law. They do not always manage to have the same leaders; but as it seems convenient to them, they change princes, now appointing this one, now that one, as their prince. They appointed this Myrxas, who was descended from the ancient race of their leaders, to be their leader, having killed Danus, who was ruling over them before. Myrxas, in his life, having intercourse with his concubine quite often, also had from her not a few illegitimate sons in Dacia. Hence, upon the death of Myrxas, other leaders of the Dacians were frequently born, who lasted in the kingdom up to this time. Against this Myrxas, Pajazites, blaming him because he had first initiated the war and had joined his forces with Sigismund, Emperor of the Romans, set out with an army. Having crossed the Ister, he advanced further and was seizing a large haul of captives from that region. Myrxas, having gathered no small band of his own men, did not in any way consult on how to proceed against the enemy or how to grant the power of battle. Placing his wives and children in Mount Prasobum, he followed the army of Pajazites through the acorn-bearing forests of that region; which, since there are many there, surround the region, to such an extent that they make it difficult for enemies to access and not easy to capture. Myrxas, following the army of Pajazites, performed notable deeds of valor, vigorously joining battle with the enemies whenever they were separated from the rest of the army, or if they had turned to gathering grain or to carrying out raids on livestock. And in this manner, following the hostile army, relying on great audacity, he engaged the enemy from the open. They say that Myrxas persistently harassed the passing army: and when it was in a place that was quite difficult, he attacked the hostile army: nor did he cease to strike the enemy bravely. There Brenezes, the royal minister, having given good counsel, namely that they should fortify their camp in that place, they found deliverance from the evil. From this time on, Brenezes was long most pleasing to the king; and having been chosen as leader by him, he at length achieved the greatest power. Pajazites, as Brenezes had advised, pitched his camp in that place, and refreshed his army by resting throughout that day. On the following day, however, having crossed the Ister as safely as he could, he led his army back into his own region. With these things done, he moved war against Byzantium and besieged the city for such a cause. The kings of the Greeks had conceded to the power of Pajazites: furthermore, they remained at the gates annually to serve as soldiers.

^A Thither, then, the prefect of Beroea, having gathered together both the Scythians from near the Axios and the king’s Turks—with many from Therme and the Perrhaebian Lake drawn also to his side—fell suddenly upon them. Finding them unprepared, encamped as they were there about the region of Castoria, he destroyed most of the Albanians, and having slain their leader Zenempisa, he pressed the slaughter far, devouring the rest therein. This occurred in Europe, and they were thrown into such confusion that everyone hastened to his own affairs; even the Turks were seized by a great fear, thinking they were about to perish at the hands of the Paeonians and the neighboring alien nations. And wherever they chanced to be, they strengthened the walls, watching to see how each thing would turn out.

Now when the envoy from the Roman Pontiff himself arrived—Julian the Cardinal, a man excellent in other respects and renowned for his Roman wisdom—he urged them toward the war; and the oath, which was most sacred among them in the treaties, he dissolved by the authority of the Pontiff, and it was read aloud on the spot. And they set out to campaign against Europe, thinking they would take it empty, with Amurates absent in Asia ^B and delayed, and the Pontiff’s ships sailing across the Hellespont so as not to allow him to cross; and with the King of the Greeks signifying to them that he could never cross into Europe. Having also made peace with the Bohemians concerning the dispute—for which reason I believe they had also made the treaties with Amurates—they created problems for themselves; and as if war were to come to them from the land of the Bohemians, they accepted the peace of King Amurates. Then, truly, having come to an agreement with them so that they might lead a quiet life, they set out to campaign against Europe, taking with them ^C the Dacians and Dracules, the son of Myrxes, who being present for the war, was eager both to join in the spirit of it and to assist, offering about ten thousand horsemen. They invited George, the leader of the Triballi, to join them in this war as well; but he was not persuaded, saying that they were doing unlawful things, breaking the treaties and initiating injustice, and he thought he would resolve his position with the King of the Paeonians through money, since he was not going to war. But he warned the king not to go to war, as the Turks were very powerful, and would not be easily subdued by the Paeonians in this way. For in his view their preparation was not sufficient to hold Europe, as there were very many Turks in it, ^D and they had been tested in many wars.

^A For historically, it is said that the kings of the Persians and Assyrians, who governed Asia, used to cultivate the kings of the Indians. But when Semiramis and Cyrus, the son of Cambyses, crossed the Araxes, they engaged in a great war there. For Semiramis, the queen of the Assyrians, marching against the king of the Indians with great preparation, once she had crossed the river, fared most miserably and perished there. After these things, Cyrus, the king of the Persians, the son of Cambyses, is said to have crossed the Araxes and fought against the Massagetae, where he encountered the gravest danger and was killed there by a woman, Tomyris, who was queen of the Massagetae.

Temires, therefore, when he heard from the messenger the things concerning ^B the embassy of the king of the Indians, retreated with the greatest speed toward Kesh. Bayezid, as we have said, died on the journey due to a natural illness. Moses, his son, having been released by king Temires, set out for his ancestral land. King Temires, as he arrived at his royal palace, carried out what concerned the administration of the kingdom with the greatest diligence. Then, having assumed a hostile spirit, he waged war openly against the king of the Indians. Not much later, however, peace was made between them, on the condition that they would be guests and friends to one another. To him were born sons: Shahrukh, Pajangures, and Abdulatuphes. He left Shahrukh, his eldest son, having appointed him king. But he himself, devoting his energies to love and being overly curious in pursuit of this, finally met his end. They say that Temires far surpassed other men in lust. For he would order young men to have intercourse with women in his presence, thus provoking his nature so that he himself could then perform the act. And whenever he was pushed from his loves toward war, once the war was finished, he would return to his customary lust, in no way pursuing a quieter life. He did not even blush to force his own nature, following a more luxurious manner of life, so that he might the more indulge in venereal matters.

When Temires was dead, Shahrukh held the reins of the kingdom; he was a man who, in other respects, was studious of equity, and he spent his time for the most part making treaties with his neighbors and was a lover of tranquility. Not long after, however, when Shahrukh had departed from the living, Pajangures, the youngest son of Temires, attained the kingdom. ^C Hence, he did not get along very well with his brothers; indeed, enmities burned up among them. For Ulies, holding the region of the Caddusians and Hyrcania, taking up enmities against his brother Abdulatuphes, waged war with him. Pajangures, arriving, took the region from him and, having captured him, placed him in prison.

Then, when Pajangures had died, Tzokies attained the control of the kingdom. Pæampures, one of the number of the nine kings, forming an affinity with him, and having returned, occupied the kingdom. For having oppressed and occupied the affairs of Samarkand, and having contracted also the auxiliaries of the Indians, he sought by war Tzokies, the son of Pajangures. Tzokies, however, bringing in the Scythians and ruling over the region of the Assyrians, [waged war] against Pajangures the brother and the... ^D

In this war he emerged victorious and brought Semarchanda under his rule. Not long after, having taken as his ally one from the number of the nine kings, and having established his royal seat in Tabreze, an opulent city of the Assyrians, he provoked the ruler of Leucaria with war, and he was also besieging the city of Samachia, the royal residence of Carailucis. Tabreze, moreover, is said to be a large and most flourishing city, and among all the cities in Asia, after Semarchanda, it is known to be superior in the abundance of its wealth and in its other blessings. This region sustains worms from which a most beautiful silk is produced, which is far superior to the silk that Samachia supplies. It also produces the *Crinizin*, a thing worthy of admiration, which imparts to garments made from silk threads a dye ^B worthy of note.

The region is full of the Persians who are called the Alzamians. For all who use the language of the Atzamii are in fact Persians, and they have the Persian language in use. They inhabit Tabreze, Cagrinum, and Nigetia, opulent cities situated in the region of the Medes and Assyrians. Samachia, moreover, whose location is towards the land of Armenia, is considered an opulent and populous city. From the daughter of Tzokies, who was joined in marriage to Charaisuphis, was born Tzanisas, the grandson of Tzokies, and son of Charaisuphis. He ruled over Babylon, and possessing the region of the Assyrians by right of war, he added Tabreze to his empire. The same man took up arms against the son of Paimpurem, and having set out against the city of Artzinganis, he took it by siege; and he brought under his dominion the Armenia ^C that lies within the Euphrates.

From here, Tzokies, having set out with his son from Semarchanda, was besieging Babylon. He defeated him in battle as he was approaching. Then, capturing Babylon and leading an army against Tabreze, he waged war with him. Chasanes, indeed—the Long one, a descendant of Scenderis who held Artzinganis, and being of the family of Carailucis—attained the rule of Armenia, aided by the sons of Carailucis who had set out there together with him. When these men were pressed by a very grave siege in Samachia by the king Tzanisas, the son of Caraisuphis, and their affairs were in a very precarious state, they approached Paimpurem with entreaties that he should break into the region of Media. And he ^D easily obtained what they asked for, for he broke into Media.

When the report of this was brought to Tzanisas, he abandoned the city, lifting the siege, and turned his path against Paimpurem, partly receiving his region into his dominion and partly ravaging it. Mendesis, Edines, Sarchanes, and Allontes, at the command of Temiris, occupied the region of Pajazites, and they each returned to their own land. Chasanes, seeing that he had very great power, subdued Armenia and the Tzapnidae, and made peace by interceding through a marriage alliance with the king of Colchis.

LAONICI CHALCOCONDYLÆ ATHENIENSIS HISTORIARUM DE ORIGINE AC REBUS GESTIS TURCORUM, LIBER QUARTUS

^A After the departure of Temiris for Cheria, Jesus (who is also called Josua), the eldest of the sons of Pajazis, having reconciled to himself the nobles of the kingdom who had served in his father’s court, and having summoned as many foreigners as he could, occupied the kingdom. For the sons born to Pajazis were: Jesus, Mulsumanes (who is also Musulmanes), Moses, Mechmetes, Jesus the younger, and Mustaphas. Jesus, therefore, as soon as he had come into Asia after the departure of Temiris for Cheria, leading with him cohorts of foreigners and all the best men who had escaped the hands of Temiris, invaded Prusa, the seat of the kingdom, and obtained it. He secured the whole of Asia, which had come under his power, with magistrates and offices, and having crossed into Europe, he soon gained the empire of Europe, along with the kingdom of the Greeks. He appointed as leader in Europe the man who seemed to him most suited for that affair. Mulsumanes, having set out from Byzantium with an army, declared war upon Jesus, or Josua. Since, however, Mulsumanes was considered long experienced in the affairs of war, and since all the best men and foreigners who held seats there from Europe flocked to him, he set out, traveling through the whole of Europe and receiving it into his dominion, while Jesus was absent and lingering in Asia. After these things were done, having crossed into Asia reinforced by the army which he had raised in Europe, he advanced with a hostile mind against his brother Jesus, who was at the same time staying near Cappadocia, because the rulers of Synopia were allied with him—

^A and the rest of the allied tyrants. Joining battle there with his brother, and putting him to flight, he destroyed a great part of his army in the fight; and having captured Jesus alive, he put him to death, after he had reigned for four years. Thus he was deposed by Mulsumanes and ended his life.

But when Mulsumanes had established himself in the kingdom and was reigning, Moses, having been set free by King Temir, was being conveyed by sea to his ancestral land. Arriving, however, at the sons of Homiris, the enemies of Mulsumanes, because they had joined their arms with Jesus, and approaching both Synope and Castamon, and from there passing across the Euxine Sea to Dacia, he came for a parley with Myrras, the governor of Dacia (which is also Serbia). Among other things, this was the petition of Moses: that if, aided by his help, he were created king, he would grant him ^B large revenues in Europe and assign him a not inconsiderable territory. For he was an enemy to the Greeks. Furthermore, they had received the son of Myrras in Byzantium, and had promised that they would deliver the kingdom to him along with Mulsumanes, or that he would assist him in accomplishing it. Myrras, indeed, welcomed Moses kindly and with a willing mind, and was most readily providing him with food and necessities; he also gave him an army.

But when Mulsumanes was absent in Asia, as those from Europe who were hostile to Mulsumanes—being not well-treated by him—were flowing to him from every side, and setting out, having taken these men and a sufficient army of Dacians (with Tainus, the leader of the Dacians, ^C following him), he seized Europe. And passing on to the royal palaces of Hadrianople, he was declared king, and prepared to march against his brother into Asia. Yet Mulsumanes himself was also being moved to anticipate him, crossing into Asia first. For he had judged that it was better for both, to be the one to cross into the other’s territory, make war there, and not wait for the brother to come. Crossing over, he came to Byzantium, and so that he might have a friendship with the king of Byzantium, he took as his wife the granddaughter of the king, the daughter of Jovannes Tuntorias, who was herself the granddaughter of the king of the Greeks; this was Mulsumanes, the son of Bajazet. ^D And having crossed into Byzantium, he was campaigning against his brother. But Moses, as soon as he learned from the king of the Greeks that he was putting up in Byzantium, marched immediately. And arriving in Byzantium, he did not allow him, having gone out into Europe, to return. Mulsumanes, therefore, having ferried the largest army he could from Asia to his territory of Byzantium

^A posted his camp and awaited the approach of his brother. Then, when the battle lines had been drawn up on both sides, a fierce conflict broke out. Moses had with him the Dacians, the Triballi, and Stephan, the son of Eleazar; the Turks who had come from Europe were drawn up in line with these. The Byzantine king sent an embassy to Stephan, advising him that, while in battle array, he should go over with confidence to the king, Moses, who was a far better and more equitable ruler. For Moses was, among other things, troublesome to his allies and quick to anger. Stephan, therefore, with his army drawn up in rows, as he had covenanted with the king of the Greeks and with Musulmanem, deserted ^B and arrived at Byzantium. But Moses, as he fought and engaged his brother, routed the forces from Asia and, sallying forth, pursued them. Musulmanem, however, pretending to be defeated, retreated and marched toward Byzantium. When he arrived at the city, he formed a most courageous plan. Having with him about five hundred men, and with others even joining him, he entered the city's moat. While his brother Moses was occupied with the pursuit and the slaughter of the enemy, Musulmanem decided to rush into his camp, which he did, and he took possession of the camp. All those who had not taken part in the battle, or who had returned to the camp in flight, he slew. Afterward, when Moses returned from the pursuit and the slaughter of the enemy and proceeded toward his camp, he learned that it had been captured. He consulted his own safety by taking to flight and deserted his army. Each one fled with haste wherever he judged he would be safest. Some went straight to Musulmanem himself, ^C as to a king, paying him homage and following him wherever he went.

In this manner did the affairs of Musulmanem stand on the continent, having fought most bravely against his brother, of all those whom I know. Setting out from there to Adrianople, the seat of the kingdom, he ordered the kingdom and the empire as he believed would be most safe and secure for him. Moses came into the region adjacent to the Ister and, having associated with Myrdanus, the ruler of Dacia, with whom he had previously enjoyed a friendship, he tarried near the Haemus, moving repeatedly from one place to another. Musulmanem, meanwhile, gave himself over to sloth and drunkenness. Consequently, his bravely achieved successes ^D were steadily diminished. His commanders were also indignant at him, as one who took no sound counsel for himself or for others. Nor was it much of a concern to him that the army of the Turks was gradually slipping away to his brother. As soon as he received the reins of the kingdom, he restored to the Greeks Therma, Zetunium, and the entire maritime region of Asia. He offered hope of himself, as one prepared to grant them whatever they wished, as if he could already provide it. Embassies of the Greeks also came to him, deliberating not [to ...]

surrender himself to the embassy in such a way that it might be hazardous to him, providing him with no secure hold on the kingdom against his brother; yet he made no account of these things. From early morning until evening, he was perpetually drinking with his nobles, and when he would retire to rest, upon waking he would again set himself to drinking. It is said that at one time, while he held a goblet in his hands, a deer entered the camp and wandered about, and as the soldiers were making an uproar because of the deer’s arrival in the camp, once he had approached, he asked whether it carried the goblet on its antlers, as if he might ransom it with that. ^B Musulmanes was otherwise a kind man, robust of body, and most excellent in his impulse for fighting the enemy. Moses, on the contrary, was usually more unrestrained in his temper, very prone to anger, and never desisting from pursuing his enemy. Therefore, when, after no small number of men had joined him, he descended to the plain and marched against Musulmanes, Chasanes, the leader of the strangers, and Brenezes, who held command over the European cavalry, immediately deserted to Moses. When Musulmanes perceived that the strangers had defected and fled to the enemy army, he fled directly toward Byzantium. He was ^C agitated with the intention of handing over the kingdom of Byzantium to the Greeks, so that from there he might cross into Asia and more conveniently attack the affairs in Asia. But while he was revolving this sentiment in his mind, he was recognized by the Turks on the road that leads to Byzantium. The Turks who dwelt there, therefore, gathered together, took Musulmanes alive, and led him away to Moses, wanting to honor him with this gift. Moses, however, killed his brother on the spot. As for the Turks who had apprehended his brother and brought him to him, he burned them all, together with their wives and children and their entire household, saying that they had committed an impious act; and they, having laid violent hands upon their own king, had justly paid these penalties for their crime. ^D He himself then received the kingdom, and crossing into Asia, he established the affairs there in a manner that seemed to him would make the kingdom of Asia most secure and safe. Then he departed, leaving Asia behind, and decided to lay siege to Byzantium; he moved the hostile army to the hot springs. He brought war upon the leader of the Triballi, frequently raiding his region and besieging Spenderobe, his capital. This Stephanus was the brother of the wife of Eleazarus Pladicis, and he was named Bulco. When Eleazarus died, he seized the lordship and conducted himself as prince, serving Bajazet strenuously whenever he asked for his help. And at that time, in the battle that took place against Musulmanes at Byzantium, he departed from Moses and went over to his brother and defected. Therefore, making war because of this, he besieged his city and ravaged his land. As he marched and besieged Byzantium, he was at the same time preparing himself, bringing up and holding fast whatever portions of the land he could, and as many triremes and ships as he possibly could.

^A At this point the Greeks, having manned all the ships they had at their disposal, and in particular the triremes, under the command of Emmanuel the bastard, son of King John, set sail and engaged in a sea battle; and the Greeks were victorious. This Emmanuel, the king’s son, excelling all in understanding and prudence, seemed then to be well-suited to lead in war and was highly esteemed. Because of this esteem, he was seized by his brother the king and thrown into prison, where he lived for seventeen years along with his children.

Moses, then, seeing that he had failed at sea, set out by land, ravaging the Byzantine territory, besieging Therme, and waging war against the Triballians. He had made a truce with the Turkish leaders in Asia and was keeping the peace, spending most of his time in Europe. The Greeks, however, when Musulman died, summoned his son, named Orchanes, and set him up against Moses. After this they sent to Therme, so that from there he might, with the help of money, induce the Bogdans and other Turks serving there as mercenaries to advance into Europe and occupy the land. ^B The boy Orchanes had been entrusted to a Turkish man from Asia named Palapanus, who was not otherwise base, though not entirely trustworthy, and he arrived at Therme. Setting out from there through Macedonia toward Berrhoia and the surrounding region, and with the Turks living in those parts joining him, he marched on towards Thessaly.

When Moses learned that the son of Musulman was conquering the region and marching on Thessaly, he arranged treachery through Palapanus, so that he would hand the boy over to him when he came near, and would signal to him from time to time wherever they turned while traveling. This man, as he moved through various parts of the country, would signal to Moses and reveal where he was coming so as to encounter them, and hand the boy over to him. The party with the boy reached the mountain in Macedonia that borders on Thessaly, and there, as he had signaled to Moses through Palapanus, he came forward, captured the boy alive, and destroyed his army. ^C After this, he arrived at the country of Bogdan and brought that region under his own control, and, intent on all opportunities, he waged war against the Greeks with the greatest force. The Greeks, however, refrained entirely from the war.

Jesus, or Joshua, who was the youngest of the sons of Pajazites, betaking himself to the Greeks, adopted the Christian religion, and not long after departed for the realm above.

Mechmetes, then, who was also a brother of Moses and a son of Pajazites, when he first reached an age suitable for conducting affairs, coming from the region of Caraman, since he was of sufficient age, [gathered] those... ^D

^A of the Turks who were sympathetic to his design for gaining power. And when ambassadors were sent back and forth, and the Greeks also promised that they would assist him with as much power as they had to acquire the kingdom, he brought Asia under his control, as the best men of Asia were offended by the tyranny of Moses at the beginning of his rule and were joining the arriving Mechmet.

And in this way, having gained power over Asia, he was even preparing an expedition into Europe. Concerning him indeed, while Musulman was reigning, Moses and Jesus—to whom the task of educating the boy had been entrusted—fearing that the brothers might learn where the boy was being raised and, being anxious that he might be captured and put to death, had entrusted him to a certain craftsman in Prusa, who made stringed instruments, so that he might learn that craft wherever he happened to be.

And after these things, when he was by now of an age at which he was able to take hold of affairs himself, he went to Caraman Alurim. From there, having set out, as I indicated before, he easily gained control of the empire of Asia, with Caraman and certain other leaders in Asia assisting him. ^B Having crossed over to Byzantium, he came into discussion with the king of the Greeks. And then, when both sides had bound themselves by the obligation of an oath as much as was sufficient, he set out for the prince of the Triballi, in Thrace, so that, having been brought into discussion with him and having taken his forces, he might go to wage war against his brother.

Moses, however, as soon as he heard that he was crossing into Asia, marched against him with a great army, and as he was marching through the country near Choriopolis, he encountered his brother and set himself for battle. He drew up his battle lines and advanced; and his brother Mechmet likewise advanced with his army drawn up. And when the armies of the brothers were in position, the one from Asia led by Mechmet and the one arriving from Europe met and fought.

But not long after, the army from Asia turned and started to flee. Mechmet, the son of Bajazites—the ^C Gordinian—was saved by escaping to Byzantium, and the armies were saved. From there, they again crossed over into Asia, and they again rallied and recovered themselves, as if intending to attack again and fight it out with Moses regarding the other matters. And not much time having passed, having gathered the army of Asia, he was being transported into Europe by the Greeks.

The Greeks, therefore, prevented Moses from crossing into Asia, since they were masters of the crossing of the sea, and kept watch over the Hellespont and the shrine in the Propontis. Mechmet, indeed, as soon as his armies had crossed into Asia, went straight to the Triballi, intending to take their forces, as they were substantial. But as Moses was hastening to join battle, when he reached the region of Panium, as it is called, the country above the Haemum, there Moses, having arrived ahead of him by way of the mountain, intercepted his brother; and as he learned ^D

that his brother was drawing very near, he drew up his battle line and made ready for ^A combat. Not long after, the latter was routed, and in his flight he made for the prince of the Triballi. And while he was lingering there, he sent envoys to the Turkish nobles, and to Chasan, the leader of the new arrivals, and to Brenezes and Amurates, to solicit their minds toward defection. At first they refused these suggestions of defection; but eventually they took counsel among themselves regarding the defection. From there, Brenezes himself defected to Mechmet, taking with him a great many of the Turks, and indeed his sons, and Chasan with the best of the new arrivals. Then, as Mechmet had gained such strength that he was capable of testing his fortune in battle against his brother, having taken also the leader of the Triballi with him, he rode against his brother as if to give battle. But Moses, intending to stand in his brother’s way so that he would not march into Europe and bring the country over to his side, possessing the passes and the whole of the European army, except for those who had defected to Mechmet, was tarrying in the region of the Erysians. There Mechmet, having set out on his campaign, pitched his camp. And when he drew near to the camp of Moses, he drew up his troops for battle. He held the left wing himself with the leader of the Triballi, and Brenezes ^B was in command of the right with his sons. For he had with him in the camp sons who were born to him: Agathen, Baramus, and Aliis, and Beicen, and Jesus. When Moses had also drawn up his battle line and arranged his troops, he came forward and kept watch, and, as seemed best to him, he rode about everywhere, present among his own men. At that time Chasan, the leader of the new arrivals, who had defected from Moses, rode up on his horse to the army of Moses and shouted with the loudest voice he could, calling out to the new arrivals: "O sons, why do you delay, and why do you hesitate to go at once to your king, a man born of the lineage of the Ottomans, and [a man] most just and most equitable, and one who surpasses all the princes of his lineage in virtue? But you remain wretches, suffering insults from a man who can look forward to nothing healthy for himself or his friends!" ^C The king heard him shouting these things and hastening toward the battle line. Someone, however, replying, said: "O king, do you not see Chasan, the leader of the new arrivals, whom you held in the greatest honor, inciting the new arrivals to defection?" When Moses perceived that these things were being prepared, he no longer restrained his men, but sending them in, and himself digging his spurs into his horse, he was borne toward Chasan, intending to kill him, and he ran at full and loose reins. As soon as Chasan perceived that Moses was riding at full speed against him, he himself fled with all his might; and Moses followed ^D pursuing him. There, having caught up with the fugitive, he strikes him down.

^A The minister of Hasan, when he saw his master killed, and Moses again lifting his sword to strike, Hasan being withdrawn, he cut off the hand of him who was lifting the sword, with his own blade. He, when he perceived that his hand had been cut off, made haste nonetheless to the camp. And when the troops saw him mutilated, they fled toward the brother. There he himself also, without delay, fled at a run to the region of Dacia.

Now Mehmed, as soon as the armies came to him and he had secured matters, immediately decided to pursue his brother who was seeking safety in flight. They apprehended him as he, infirm and fleeing with only one hand, was hiding in a marshy place. Once captured, they brought him to his brother, who immediately killed him by strangling his throat with a noose. ^B Thereupon Mehmed, son of Bayezid, having received the kingdom and having recognized that the Greeks had been of primary utility to him in securing it, gifted a wide region bordering on his own to the leader of the Triballi. After this, he sent an army and devastated Dacia. The prince of the Daci sent envoys to him asking for peace, promising to pay the king whatever tribute he might command. Peace was granted on this condition.

With the Greeks, however, Mehmed had a perpetual friendship. Wherefore Manuel, king of Byzantium, having arrived in the Peloponnese, walled off the Isthmus, and having fortified the Isthmus, he summoned the Peloponnesians to him. This Isthmus cuts off the entire Peloponnese, so that it becomes an island, extending forty-two stadia from sea to sea; in which place the Greeks were accustomed to celebrate the Isthmian Games. It extends from the city of Corinth about twenty-five stadia. ^C When Xerxes, son of Darius, was marching upon Athens, the Peloponnesians walled off this Isthmus, wishing to prevent the barbarian from entering into the Peloponnese. Afterwards, Justinian, Emperor of the Romans, walled it in a second time.

Now, when peace had been established between him and Mehmed, son of Bayezid, this same man [Manuel] arrived in the Peloponnese, set his brother over the government of the Peloponnese, and fortified the Isthmus with a wall, so that he might demand money from the Peloponnesians for the guarding of the Isthmus. He ordered them to assemble at the Isthmus; they, obeying the edict, gathered and built the wall, each contributing his own labor diligently. When the construction was brought to an end, he seized the leaders of the Peloponnesians, men who had held the region for a long time and were unwilling to obey the leaders of the Greeks at all, unless it was something that they themselves considered to be to their own advantage. These men he seized and took away to Byzantium, meanwhile surrounding the Peloponnesians with a diligent guard.

^A When Mehmed had ascended to the throne, as time passed, he undertook an expedition against Ismael, the ruler of Sinope, because he seemed a friend and associate to Moses, by whose efforts Moses had been greatly aided in the war which he waged against his brother Mehmed. Ismael therefore sent envoys with instructions to say that he was prepared to assign all the revenues from the copper to Mehmed in the name of tribute, if he would make peace with him. For this is the only region in Asia, as far as I know, that produces copper. When, therefore, he had delivered the revenues of the copper to the Sultan Mehmed, the war was exchanged for peace. Eventually, however, discord flared up between him and the Venetians, by which he was compelled to declare war upon the Venetians, on account of the region bordering the Ionian Sea, against which he sent his armies and inflicted great devastation. When the Venetians sent legates, and they were able to obtain no fair terms, they also applied their minds with all their might to this war.

^B It appears that this race is very ancient, and that the noble Ionians have left it far behind in fortitude and generous spirit. In ancient times they inhabited the region extending towards the Ionian Gulf, stretching from Illyricum into Italy. The ancients called them Eneti; afterwards, they were called Venetians. Starting from the mainland, partly by choice and partly compelled by necessity—as those whose region had been devastated by King Attila, wishing to be in greater security for the future—they decided to occupy a certain small and marshy island, distant fifteen stades from the continent, with buildings. The beginning of building was undertaken by a few Venetians gathered together. Then, those neighboring the mainland, severely harassed by wars, also approached. ^C But that city continued to take its growth from buildings and laws, as very many of the inhabitants did not cease to flow into it. Indeed, that state grew in a wonderful manner in the sanctity of its discipline, since very many people nurtured in good laws flocked there, and very many illustrious men of the mainland hastened there as well. Furthermore, if anyone was driven by hostile force from his country and all his fortune, he directed his steps towards this place. It is incredible to relate how short a time it took for that city to grow in wealth and discipline. Many Greeks and Romans, as well as other men sprung from most illustrious lineage, having experienced not very fortunate circumstances in their own country, either driven out by their own fellow-citizens or expelled by enemies, were gathered into this city; some were children of illustrious men who ruled regions that were not unproductive. These men, being driven partly into Ionia and Greece, and partly into Italy, retiring into that city, lived more securely. ^D Since, however, it is a famous emporium, they necessarily turned their attention to commerce. Because they do not reach the mainland, and there was to be no abundance for them of those fruits which the mainland produces, they therefore rightly devoted themselves to trade, so that the necessities of life might be transported by sea. And since everyone zealously applied himself to the exchange of goods, in a short time they produced an incredible […] and governed the city, [managing] their dwellings.

and magnificent churches. Having built not a few triremes and having surrounded themselves with strong forces, they turned against those who were thought to be powerful at sea, fighting them out of envy, since they moved the war against them from fear, because they seemed to have already progressed to a vast degree of power. ^B To one sailing out toward the Ionian region to the left, at the very recess of the gulf itself, they subjugated a region that was not mean, and prosperous cities, [extending] as far as the Aegean Sea. Having destroyed all the coastal routes there, they subjugated Corcyra entirely, and Euboea and Crete, and the cities of the Peloponnese. And having arrived at Syria with a fleet, and having made the city of Cyrene subject to themselves, they exhibited great deeds, having fought many naval battles there against the barbarians, and having gained mastery of the sea within the Pillars of Hercules, they fought against those in Europe who were thought to be able to do anything at sea. Indeed, they did not subjugate any portion of the Italian coast that was worth mentioning to themselves, except for the prosperous city of Ravenna, after the ruler there had died, because they were not accustomed to going to war against those of their own race, but waged war against foreigners. ^C They fought against the Greeks and, having prevailed in naval battles, they subjugated the metropolis, with many Westerners following them. As they led the way against the Greeks, and as they began to lay hold of the continent, in a short time they acquired good land on the continent and provided themselves with a fortified city, increasing both powers to a great degree. Having clashed with the rulers of the continent, they waged war for many generations, and they surpassed them in the revenue of wealth, having prepared a great city for themselves. After these things, also, on behalf of the King of the Barbarians, from the region of Italy towards the west, against the Bishop of Rome who had been cast out of his authority and the city of the Romans, they brought the Bishop back and fought against the King, so as to confirm the authority for the Bishop, and they prevailed in a naval battle and restored him. And they carried on a war against the Genoese, who were thought to hold sway over the regions around there and the coast of Italy, and showed great deeds, having fought many naval battles and prevailed. ^D Therefore, undertaking the war against the Venetians, they very nearly subjugated the city itself, having sailed with triremes and ships into the harbor of the Venetians; and having entered at the place where Clizoe is. Their city is situated where the great harbor, extending for five hundred stadia, ends in the region by the Eridanus. For here, the Eridanus, a great river of Italy—which is also the Po—delivers ships into the sea. These, therefore, were the Genoese.

^A they, having ships, brought them to the sea. Having entered into it, the Genoese ships possessed the harbor of Clizoen, and they were taken captive. After this, they negotiated with the city, and those in the city being in an impasse, and not knowing what to do, agreed to the terms of the Genoese. For it seemed to them, as they supposed, that it was advantageous and appropriate to comply—since what they were asking for, they were ready to provide. But when they heard these things from the city, thinking that the city would be taken, they answered the legates with more insolence, saying that they were permitted to plunder the city for three days. The legates, however, departed, and announced the orders to the city, and the senate and the people, becoming incensed on account of the insolence and unrestrained nature of the enemy, immediately filled the ships with soldiers as much as they were able; and they themselves embarking onto the ships, set sail to the harbor. The Genoese sailed out to meet them, and immediately engaged in a naval battle in the harbor, in which the victory remained with the Venetians. Hence, the Genoese turned their backs, and fled in great haste to Clizoen. The Venetians immediately brought up one of their largest ships and sank it, and the harbor being very narrow, they blocked their own port, and the Genoese in Clizoen tried to starve them out. The besieged were attempting the ^B canal which leads from the Eridanus into the harbor, trying to force a passage so that in some way they might manage to impel the ships into the Eridanus; but they could not accomplish this task. For it appeared that the leader of the Paduans, also joining in the war against the Venetians, was at odds with the Venetians. These men, indeed, having been besieged by the Venetian city, surrendered themselves to be used as they wished, and they were very severely treated, and did not thereafter remember to be moderate. Having finished these things in this manner, they turned the force of the war against the city of the Genoese. For since they were everywhere illustrious in naval victories, and were everywhere preparing wondrous might, and were also keeping down others who flowed into that region, it happened that the city of the Genoese fell into extreme calamity, such that they were no longer able to effect anything by naval battles: thereafter they were also driven to the extreme by the prince of the Paduans. Then, being driven onto the continent, they were trying to subject it to themselves so as to secure an empire on the continent. And they had already obtained a certain dominion in the region of the continent (8), and their city of ^C Treviso, flourishing in wealth, was added to their own domain, and they advanced beyond the region, as the inhabitants were incited with hatred against their own princes. When Padua came into the power of the Venetians, the family of the Carrara also rose up against them: against whom, with a hostile mind, the king summoned Bladum, the son of Dracules, the leader of Dacia, having with him his younger brother, who had become his favorite, and lived with him. It happened that the king himself wished to have relations with this boy, when he was first passing toward the kingdom; and when he was sent against Caramanus, he had nearly died at his hands. For as if in love with the boy, he called him to conversations, and offering him honors, called him to the bedchamber. The boy, however, not thinking that he would suffer anything of the sort from the king, ^D saw the king attacking him for such a matter, and struggled, and did not agree to the union with the king, and even against his will he kept kissing him, so the boy drew a dagger and struck the king on the thigh; and thus fleeing immediately, wherever his path led, he went away. The king’s physicians, however, healed the wound. The boy, having climbed a tree somewhere nearby, was hidden there. As the king, having packed up, went away, from there the boy climbed down from the tree and went on his way, and not long after he arrived at the gates and became the favorite of the king. He considers it proper to use none less than those who have turned to his own way of life; for in this way, he was always with them, spending his time night and day. But to those of other races, the king is not thought to use them at all, but rather for a short time. The king entrusted the leadership of Dacia to the brother of this boy, Bladus, and with the king helping him, Bladus, the son of Dracules, marched out and held the leadership. When he arrived at the leadership, at first he made for himself bodyguards and companions. But afterwards, summoning one by one those in the land who appeared to be eminent, and suspected of sharing in the changes of leaders due to betrayal, he destroyed them with their whole house and impaled them—both him at the same time, and his children, and his wife, and servants. So that we learned that this one man drove to a great slaughter of men, of whom we know. For to secure his leadership, they say he killed men and women and children in a short time—some twenty thousand—establishing certain ones as his own soldiers and bodyguards, and he gifted them with the money and wealth from what was happening, and with other prosperity, so that in a short time he arrived at a great change, and the affairs of Dacia were utterly innovated by this man, and he spared no one, even among the Pannonians who appeared to have a share in the affairs, and he wrought a very great tribute. Therefore, as it seemed to him that the affairs of Dacia were securely held, he deliberated on a revolt from the king. He was, however, punishing those men with the counsel of the king, so that he might strengthen the rule for himself, and not have problems should the leading men of Dacia turn again, if they were urged by the Pannonians to be their allies and helpers.

^A They also subjugated not a few cities of Italy and Liguria. They brought Verona, an opulent city, under their dominion, having expelled the family of the Scaliger princes. Vicenza and Brescia were captured—cities in no way inferior to the remaining towns of Italy in wealth and renown. ^B After this, they had a war with the prince of Liguria, which indeed was drawn out through many years. This prince drew his origin from the family of the Mariangeli, and he ruled over Milan. This city far surpassed the cities of Italy in the pursuits of war and in other prosperity; and since it is populous, it is believed to be most ancient, and it is held that it has never experienced adverse fortune since the time it was founded, but that it has always excelled in the pursuits of war and the preparation of arms. But since the city is inland, it is distant from the Ligurian sea by some six hundred stadia. It is situated near Gaul, the region which is called Savoy. A river flows through the city, and this discharges into the river Ticino near the city of Pavia. The Ticino, in turn, flows into the Eridanus (the Po) near Piacenza, a great city of Liguria. Where this Eridanus flows, I have already indicated before. ^C The nobles of the Mariangeli family were called to the principate of Milan and the rest of Liguria for the following reason. A dragon, coming down from the mountain into the city, did not cease to cause great slaughter of men who were going to their work and to the fields, though it did not harm any woman, as they say. Yet for a long time it was a scourge to the men by ravaging. Many too, in order to kill that beast, went against it; but accomplishing nothing, they suffered the worst extremities. At length, Mariangelus, the prince of the Mariangeli family, a Briton or Englishman by nation, arming his servant and himself with armor that covered the whole body, went forth to meet the beast. ^D Therefore, when the beast was devouring his servant and carrying him midway in its jaws, and could neither swallow him into its belly nor spit him out, he cut off the head of the beast with an axe. In this way, the dragon perished; and the city, freed from that beast by which it was frequently attacked, elected Mariangelus as leader and bade him go against its enemies, as he had shown himself to be a good and brave man. Not long after, in order to stabilize the Milanese principate for himself and to force the citizens to obey, he selected attendants whom he wished to be the bodyguards of his person. Under his reign, in the fourth generation after, the principate came down to Philip, with whom the Venetians were waging a war, creating as leaders for this purpose men who were good and who were governing a great region. First of all, Carmagnola

^B was chosen as general to command in Liguria. But when they realized that he was betraying the region and colluding with the duke of Milan, they seized him and put him to death; and summoning Francesco, by surname Sforza, they ordered him to lead, and they honored him greatly, for he was already illustrious in other respects and had brought many cities of the Ligurian region under their control, and he had brought the rule of the mainland to a great degree of power. Now, how all of Italy was divided between both parties as they made war upon one another, and how they fought, I shall reveal as my narrative proceeds. I return now to the city of the Venetians, how it experienced ^A both fortunes, turning alternately in this war. And this city, choosing for itself generals who were skilled in warfare, chose even those whom I indicated, including Carmagnola, who had become a kinsman of the Ligurian tyrant. But having caught him conspiring against them, they put him to death; and having summoned Sforza, they chose him as their general.

That they were shown to be great and worthy of report in their deeds, having lived in prosperity for a thousand years, and that they excelled elsewhere throughout Italy is manifest; and that they firmly established their affairs at the beginning, so that they were least of all deceived by their citizens—this the administration of the city would reveal, if I were to describe it briefly. For this city was in ancient times a democracy, and the people, together with those who were placed in the magistracy, governed the city as it seemed best to themselves. But afterwards, when the commoners were individually called away to their own tasks and no longer had leisure, when the situation might have so required, to convene and consult together, they placed the best men in charge of this care, entrusting their selection either to lot or to vote. In this way, ^C the form of the republic was turned from democracy into an aristocracy altogether, and from that time on, the city was beautifully administered and gained for itself the greatest power.

They have a senate, which they call the Great Council, in which they consult every eight days. In this council they choose the magistrates of the cities, casting votes, and the magistrates in the city itself, wherever they may be established. It is considered lawful for one to enter this council if he has been born twenty-four years, provided it is granted to him by law to enter and he is a senator. These men might be about two thousand in number, who are the ones casting votes and electing the magistrates for the whole of the dominion already. A leader ^D of these is whomsoever they choose, the one among them appearing to be the best. He casts two votes, placing them wherever he wishes to add them. This leader remains honored first of all by the senators. He resides in the royal palace and receives his maintenance; the expenses he incurs are taken by those who preside over the entire city. There are present with him men—advisers by number—who are distinct from him, and who share in the honor of the leadership, on

their office being discharged after six months. ^B After the great council, there is a council called the "council of the called" (or *Evocatorum*), which consists of about three hundred men. They elect these from the great council, choosing those thought to excel in prudence. This council of the "called" deliberates on matters of war, peace, and embassies; and whatever is decided by this council, the city obeys immediately, and the entire city follows whatever opinion they deliver.

For criminal cases of a capital nature, ten men are appointed to accuse and punish. They are permitted to lay hands upon the prince and lead him away to death, nor is there anyone who dares to inquire into the grounds of the trial; for so it is ordained, and they are created to strike down those who commit offenses. Whether one has committed a crime against the city or against a private individual, if these ten men take cognizance, they exact punishment for it. There are also other judges who administer justice in other matters; some are for locals, others for foreigners. Over these, they have set a magistracy of forty men, to whom the verdicts regarding the punishing of the guilty are transmitted, so that they may examine whether the sentences appear to them also to be held for the best. If the sentences prove displeasing, or if they themselves disagree among themselves, the whole business is referred to the council of the "called." Here the sentences are examined with great diligence, and are finally brought to an end.

There are also many other magistrates established for the custody of the city. There are those to whom the business of the state is entrusted regarding those who stir up any defection or tumult by night. There are superiors of goods for sale, and indeed of the entire market. Others preside over the taxes of goods, and others are collectors of tributes and city revenues. Certain ones are appointed over the taxes and revenues, to whom the resources of the entire city are brought, with observers standing by. This magistracy consists of men most grave in age ^C and honors, who hold this magistracy for their entire lives, because it is deemed difficult to compute annually the receipts and expenses of the city—what is expended and what remains—and to refer individual items to the accounts. From these men, they choose for themselves a leader when the one who holds power has died. Those who have been elevated to the first position of dignity are eventually promoted to this honor. They inspect and protect the treasuries and the entire resources and revenues of the city. ^D Their office is, once they have entered upon this magistracy, to be free for consultations with the prince, and with him to hear the reports of the embassies of princes and kings. The power of the entire city rests with these men, and in truth they govern the principate. That city surpasses all the cities of Italy in two things: namely, the splendor of its houses, and the grandeur of the buildings which have been constructed upon the sea.

^A It is most beautiful to behold and elegant, furnished with as many triremes as possible, as well as an abundance of other ships, and it is well-equipped with their gear, both in weaponry and in all other things which are required for ships. It stretches out for five stadia, and a great number of men work there daily to prepare the ships. Every year, they elect two of the leading men to take charge of this dockyard and its entire construction. This city has no use at all for horses; rather, they go to and fro on foot, or by small boats, as the sea extends through the houses, and the paths themselves are paved everywhere in the city with bricks. The city is not surrounded by any wall. However, as for the magistracies of their cities on the mainland of Italy and in their maritime territories, they generally choose from among those who are in office. When these men have returned, they render an account and pay the penalty for anything that they happen to have done unjustly while in office. The commander ^B whom they place over the armies of the mainland they do not appoint from among the natives or citizens, for they fear that, having won over the minds of the soldiers, he might attempt some innovation against the government, and the supreme power might come into danger. But since they cannot give a foreign commander to the naval forces, they choose one from their own body to take charge of naval battles when they set forth to wage war. Separately every year, they send ten triremes into the Ionian and Aegean seas on account of the ships that set out for Egypt and Libya for the sake of trade, as well as through the Ocean and the Euxine sea. These ten triremes clear this sea of pirates wherever they may encounter them, and they remain out for a whole year until ten others are sent to replace them. When these arrive, having been relieved of the guarding of the sea, the former ones return home. The city sends out triremes, which the citizens purchase, to fetch merchandise in Alexandria, Syria, the Tanais, the British islands, and Libya. ^C These are twenty-two in number, and they differ in size from the others, as they are constructed for the purpose of taking on cargo. It is their custom, for so the usage holds, for the sons of patricians to set out with the individual ships to purchase merchandise, having been hired for a fee. The Venetians collected a great sum of money when they were waging war against the Duke of Milan by introducing a decimation of the properties which the citizens possessed. On account of this, they ordained an annual return for the citizens, as it were a payment of a debt, promising that for whatever the citizens had contributed for the use of the war, the citizens would individually receive back a third part each year. This return passes down to their children and grandchildren. Some offer these returns for ^D a small price to those who are in need of the necessities of life among themselves, and they prosper.

^A This city, having been well-governed from of old by the Venetians, took care that no one should reach the point of attempting a revolution, except for the youth Baimundus, who, appearing to be most wealthy, gained over the multitude and set out for this purpose. ^B Being struck, however, by a woman from a house above as he was proceeding along the street toward the palace, accompanied by the crowd that was declaring him their master and ruler of the city, he was hit by a stone and died. Later, however, there were none who did anything worthy of mention toward revolutioning against this city, as the city was strictly on guard lest such a thing happen to it.

When, therefore, Mechmetes, the son of Pajazites, declared war upon this city, they manned their triremes, which were always stationed in pairs at the outposts, and as soon as there were two of them, they sailed straight for the Hellespont, led by Peter of the House of Loredan, who later also commanded against the Genoese and achieved strategic fame. He, having arrived with his ships at the Hellespont, steered his course toward Callipolis and kept his ships suspended on the sea. He did not willingly contemplate war, for it seemed that peace still held its force and the treaties had not yet been broken. Besides, it had been ordered by the Senate that he should defend rather than be the first to initiate battle. It also seemed to the Venetians not to engage in hostilities, lest the cities they possessed in Mechmetes' territory should suffer any ill-treatment from the Turks; these were situated in the region looking toward the Ionian and Aegean seas. ^C This was the command given to him by the Senate: to fight back if necessary, but of his own accord not to start a war. When he arrived at the Hellespont and the triremes were positioned off Asia, the governor of Callipolis no longer found it bearable that the Venetians should insult him so openly; for they say a son of the doge from the House of Foscari had been caught by the city's guards for revolutioning and had arrived at great necessity, being unable to find anything within himself [to refute it]. The youth had fallen into misfortune because of the accusation brought against him, wherefore he had secured joy to return, only to be caught again after killing that man, as he was leading him away on a charge of treason, and thus he was forced to spend his time in Crete. When he was later accused again, the Ten of the city summoned him, investigated, and finding nothing, sent him back to Crete, where not long after he died. ^D When he came into the King's territory and to his naval port, and as he began to fill the ships, he too prepared to set sail, having twenty-five triremes and about eighty other vessels, as if to frighten [them about] the peace. The commander, therefore, having come to the...

about twenty-five, along with about eighty other ships, with the royal fleet trying to strike terror into the Venetians, against whom it was advancing. They, indeed, having hoisted their ship’s rigging, proceeded to Proconnesus, fearing nothing from the enemy. The Peloponnesian ship had been left behind, because it was to be brought up last; and when the royal trireme approached, it was signaled to. The commander of the Venetians, however, with the signal hoisted, ordered it to follow and not to make the first assault against the enemy. The captain of the Peloponnesian trireme, when he thought he had been ordered to rush against the enemy, and that the signal had been given for that very purpose, made an attack upon the king's ship and sank it. The remaining ships of the Barbarians, when they observed that the battle had begun on the opposite side, ^B also turned themselves to the battle, and rushing headlong, they made an attack upon the Peloponnesian ship, resisting bravely. When the Venetians saw what was being prepared—namely, that the hostile fleet was attacking the Peloponnesian trireme—they also prepared themselves for the naval engagement. Meanwhile, while the battle was raging, they sailed through all the enemy's ships, driving some with their oars toward the shore. In this manner the Venetians gained the victory, capturing thirteen Barbarian ships, though most of them were empty. For the Turks, when they perceived that the ships in which they were sailing were about to be captured, threw themselves into the sea and swam to land. At the same time, when the Venetians were pressing Mechmet with arms, they besieged and took Lampsacus into their power; and having left a guard there, they returned home. The Venetians accused that commander who had fought successful battles against the Barbarians of a capital crime upon his return. He was charged with having initiated the battle prior to the proper time, against justice and equity, and against the authority of the magistracy, and with having broken the treaties. When he was being prosecuted for a capital crime in this manner, he was acquitted of the charge, on the grounds that he had not initiated the battle first. And not much time having elapsed, embassies were sent to and fro, and they confirmed peace between both sides by a sworn treaty.

Mechmet, indeed, as we have just recently learned, was so affected toward the Venetians. Toward the Greeks, however, he was very familiar, and he desired to cultivate them, granting whatever they asked of him without reluctance. The reason for this familiarity, which we shall now provide, was as follows. Mustaphas, one of the sons of Pajazites, imitating his brother Moses, arrived at the ruler of Sinope, who was an enemy to his brother Mechmet, and having interposed the religious obligation of an oath, they confirmed that they would be friends and hosts to each other for the future. Then, having sent envoys to the ruler of Dacia, and having been received by him in a friendly manner, and receiving promises that he would extend aid in the kingdom he wished to acquire, he decided to depart into Asia. When he had stayed in Asia for a long time, having three hundred men with him, he did not cease to court every one of the best of the Turks and to entice them to defect. When matters...

^A did not go well for him, he was greatly distressed. For Mechmetes was a great lover of justice, and knew how to foster the magnates of the Turks with distinction, and he was tranquil and placid in his ways. This man used to say that Mustapha was not the legitimate son of Pajazites, but a supposititious child, since he bore no indication, even a slight one, of his father or brothers. He maintained that the son of Pajazites, Mustapha, had departed from this life, and that he himself had received news of the death of the true son of Pajazites, Mustapha, from a very upright and just man, who had reported it to him as certain.

Mustapha, since his undertakings were not succeeding, departed from Dacia; and he believed that his affairs would be in a better state if he betook himself to the Greeks, thus establishing himself in the very center of the kingdom of Mechmetes. Therefore, with an angry spirit, having left Dacia, he made for Therma through Thrace, which is a city of the Greeks. On arriving there and entering into conversation with the leader of the Greeks and entering the city, he was captured. When Mechmetes learned that his brother had arrived at Therma, he immediately, without any delay, set out for Therma with the greatest speed; and having taken up an army, he sought his brother among the Greeks.

The leader of Therma, having sent a messenger to the king of Byzantium, explained how matters stood with him regarding the son of Pajazites, Mustapha, and how Mechmetes, riding up, was demanding his brother, on the grounds that he was a fraud and a defilement to his lineage. The king sent an envoy to Mechmetes and reached an agreement with him to keep Mustapha in custody and under no circumstances to let him go free. And upon this they swore oaths, and having imprisoned Mustapha in Epidaurus of the Peloponnese—and likewise the leader of Smyrna, Zunaites, ^B who had arrived with him from Dacia to Therma, and had assisted in the war against Mechmetes—in the citadel of the city, they held them.

The Greeks held these men in custody for a long time. After this, they led them to Lemnos and Imbros, and there too they kept them in prison until the death of Mechmetes, the son of Pajazites. At that time, indeed, the Greeks, doing a favor to the king and returning a like service, had placed them in Epidaurus of the Peloponnese. And there is no place where they would have failed because of these things in the presence of King Mechmetes. At that time, therefore, they presented themselves in a better state than before, and for a long time they were always in a settled condition, faring well, and they were establishing the Peloponnese in the manner they judged would be most advantageous for themselves. ^C

To Emmanuel, however, were born sons: John the elder, whom he designated as king for the Greeks, and Andronicus, and Theodorus after him, and Constantine, and Demetrius, and Thomas. To John the elder, who appeared to be better than all the others, he entrusted the kingdom, and having brought him a wife from Italy, the daughter of the prince of Montferrat, a woman of very good character but of unrefined appearance, he crowned him with a diadem and established him as high priest and king for the Greeks. This woman, however, as he neither lived with her nor had relations with her, having developed a hatred for her and being ill-disposed toward her, ^D

boarded a ship and departed for Italy to her relatives. He then took as his wife a princess from Sarmatia, the daughter of the Sarmatian ruler. Thus, having disposed his affairs in this way, he reigned; he entrusted Therma to ^A Andronicus to govern, a man of no lowly status, who was second in virtue among the royal sons after the emperor John. Having lived for some time, Andronicus fell into the disease of elephantiasis. And he sold Therma to the Venetians, as the city was no longer capable of being defended, and his affairs were already in a poor state. And as it had already been decided among them that this would be better for both them and for the city, he sold it to the Venetians for no great sum. Andronicus, however, having set out for the Peloponnese to his brother, had his livelihood in Mantinea in Laconia, until the disease grew prevalent and he died completely. The emperor Manuel sent Theodore, who was also the son of the deceased, to his brother, Theodore the Porphyrogenitus, so that he might leave him as his successor in the Peloponnese. And when he received him, being the son of his brother and a relative, he kept him with him, and as he was dying, he left the power to him.

This man, when he attained the lordship, took as his wife a woman from Italy, the daughter of Malatesta, the ruler of the March, who excelled in the beauty of her form and in other feminine virtues. Later, however, when hatred and then discord invaded that marriage, moved by the hatred with which he pursued his wife, he decided to transfer to the way of life of the Nazaræi. But when his mind was already fixed on assuming the habit of the Nazaræi, he summoned his brother so that he might grant him the kingdom and his wealth. Yet not long after, he changed his mind, when all the best men sought to dissuade ^B him from that design and would not allow him to transition to that form of life.

The elder Theodore had not had any legitimate children by the daughter of Rhainerius; however, illegitimate sons were born to him. For he took as his wife the daughter of the tyrant of Athens, who was said to surpass in beauty all the beautiful women of her time. This Rhainerius was a prince of Corinth and Athens; he also ruled over Boeotia and advanced as far as Thessaly. He attained this rule in the following manner. Whenever the Celts from the West, as well as the Venetians—at the instigation of the Roman pontiff—undertook an expedition against the Greeks, then indeed men from Naples, subject to the king, and very powerful men of the Tyrrhenians and Genoese also set out ^C for the destruction of the Peloponnese and the rest of Greece. The others subjugated the Peloponnese; but the Genoese, who were of the family of the Zachariæ, seized Achaea and the greater part of Elis. They also occupied Pylos and no small region of Messenia, so that they even broke into Laconia. The Greeks of the Peloponnese held the inland region of the Peloponnese. The Western Celtiberians, as well as the ^D Genoese, having seized the entire maritime coast of the Peloponnese...

along with others of the Ionians and Tyrrhenians—and specifically, too, Rainier, who came from Florence on this expedition, being of the house of the Acciaiuoli ^A—took possession of Attica and Boeotia, as I have previously explained, and most of the Phocian territory as well. The Genoese, however, had taken Euboea long before; and at their consent the Venetians landed on the island upon fixed terms. After this, proceeding little by little, they occupied the whole of Euboea, when discord had arisen between the Venetians and the Genoese 21. The Venetians still retain that region and its revenues, for they were agreeable to the terms and contracts under which they first arrived at that island; and these they have maintained in good faith. Rainier, the Celtiberians, and the Gauls, whosoever were harrying the Greeks with war, appear to have arrived in that region long after the Venetians and Genoese. Rainier also, being an incomer, and having formed an affinity with the Genoese because they held Euboea, took to wife the daughter of a certain Prothymus 22. Having occupied that region, he even subdued Corinth. He also ^B conceived the idea of subjugating the Peloponnese as quickly as possible. Later, however, when Theodore, the brother of the king of the Greeks, came to him, they formed an alliance; for he gave his own daughter to the leader Theodore as his wife, who, as I have said, excelled all others of that time in beauty, and he bequeathed Corinth to him upon his own death. For he had promised when he betrothed his daughter to him that, as her dowry, he would receive Corinth as soon as he (Rainier) should pass away. He also betrothed another daughter of his to Charles, the leader of Acarnania and Aetolia 23. For he, as the rulers of that land had previously ^C been dependents of the king of Parthenope, which is now called Naples, and as they were being driven from their lands by the surrounding peoples and the nations of that region, and the rulers were departing for Italy—Cephallenia, Zacynthus, and the Echinades islands, which happened to be inhabited in this way, turned toward that king and accepted a governor and ruler from the king of Parthenope. To be sure, other governors had arrived in these islands before, and among them this very Charles, of the house called the Tocco, having with him men of proven virtue, such as Rhosus 24, Gidius or Guido, and Myleiareses. And as they were tarrying in Cephallenia, they turned their attention to Epirus; and, having brought in the Epirotes, they rendered the region they held subject to them, and gradually Acarnania came into their dominion as well. The Albanians, having set out from Epidamnus and moving toward the east, brought Thessaly under their control, as well as most of the interior of Macedonia, and the towns of Argyropolis and Castoria. Upon arriving in Thessaly, they made the land subject to themselves, and having divided the cities among themselves, according to their ^D custom, as they were nomads and nowhere had a fixed habitation...

^A Indeed, when they had arrived at Acarnania, with the consent of the ruler of Acarnania, who granted them the use of the country, they pastured their flocks in this land. After this, they conspired against the Greeks, so that things might proceed nicely for them; and once, when the ruler, whose name was Isaac, went out for a hunt and was arriving, the Albani set an ambush for him, led by Spatas, a man who, at that time, was showing himself to be a person of great drive and boldness in their company, which was advantageous to them for the present, and not at all inglorious. And so, they killed their ruler there; and as they rode, they immediately seized the land and took captive whomever they encountered in the fields. After this, they besieged the city of Arten in Acarnania and occupied it. Having made this land subject to themselves, they ravaged the country of the Westerners, never allowing it any rest. ^B Moved by this, the princes of Naples, setting out from the island of Corcyra (for the kings of Parthenope held that island at that time), and having prepared an army, set out against Acarnania, intending both to drive the Albani from their territory and to recover from them the city of Arten in Acarnania. Arriving at Arten, they began to besiege the city and brought siege engines to the wall, intending to take it by force. But Spatas, the leader of the Albani—for he did not enter the city, but kept moving about the countryside outside—having gathered the Albani into one place and deliberated, as they followed him readily into danger, suddenly fell upon the army of the Italians which was besieging the city, and having put them to flight, killed many of them, and took many more captive. ^C Prialoupas, the ruler of Aetolia, a Triballian man who had made a marriage alliance with Spatas, the ruler of Arta, also assisted them in this war. Thus, then, the Spataei occupied the land of Acarnania. After this, Charles, departing from the islands with his companions and some others of the land, as they were indignant at the tyranny of the Albani, subdued the land of Acarnania; furthermore, they snatched Aetolia from Izaulos, who was ruling the city of the Dromani and Aetolia. The rule of Aetolia had previously been in the hands of Thomas, son of Prialoupas the Triballian, and it came to this Izaulos in the following manner. ^D When Prialoupas helped Spatas and the Albani in the war that was waged against the Italians, who were besieging Arta, the metropolis of the region of Acarnania, it happened that in that battle many who were notable for the distinction of their birth fell into their hands as captives. Among these captives was Izaulos, from the company of the nobility; he was a young man who was called the king of Parthenope. He was noble in figure, and with regard to his character, he was fair and placid. Leading him, along with many others, as a captive, Prialou-

Prialoupas ^A brought them home, treating them like slaves and keeping them in custody, while he lingered in the palace, holding them for the sake of money, in order to return them to their kinsmen later if they should offer to ransom them. But his wife, when she saw the young man, began to love him. For the nature of this woman was such that, before she was sought, she would seek out men, owing to the intemperance to which she was subject. Having therefore had the habit of lechery with the youth, and being mad with love for him, she conspired with him against her husband. With the woman leading the way into the bedchamber where the leader Prialoupas was resting, the young man killed him with the woman’s assistance, and at the same time he seized the lordship for himself. Now that he was reigning as a tyrant, he found favor with no one in the city, save for the woman alone. ^B Justice, however, soon overtook Prialoupas; for his son—born to him from this very woman—when he was journeying to King Musa, seeking aid and support against Charles, the tyrant of Acarnania at that time, so as to seize his territory, was captured, and his eyes were put out. No one conquered the territory of the city of Ioannina. For they requested Charles to be their leader; and as soon as the administration of the city was committed to him, he sustained the war most bravely. This realm, which had formerly belonged to the Triballi, descended to Izaulus and the leader Charles in this manner. When this man held both the neighboring region of the Achelous, which at that time was called Aetus, and Argyropolichne, reaching as far as Naupaktos, ^C which is opposite Achaia, he mastered the region and ruled as a tyrant, having achieved great power; he was a man who, in matters of government and war, seemed to fall short of none of the leaders of that time. And having achieved great renown in wars against his neighbors, he married, as I said before, the daughter of the leader of Athens and Corinth. To this leader a bastard son was born, for he had no male offspring from his wife from Euboea. The bastard son’s name was Antonius. To this Antonius he bequeathed Boeotia and the city of Thebes; for he had left Corinth to his son-in-law Theodore, the brother of the king. The city of Athens, having taken it previously from the Celtiberians—for the Iberians had held it ^D after conquering it—he left to the Venetians. Now this son of his, Antonius, as he received from his father the lordship of Boeotia—for the rest of the Phocian region and Lebadea had come into the power of Bayezid, son of Murad, who had added them to his own realm, as I have already indicated—this man then waged war against the Venetians and besieged Athens with great diligence. The Venetians, taking it ill that their city was being pressed by a siege, prepared to relieve it. And having decided with hostile intent to set out against Thebes, they mustered as much of an army as they could from Euboea, and also collected the other things that pertain to the equipping of an army. And from Euboea they marched straight into Boeotia, and

against the city. Now Antonio, having learned that the Venetians were marching against him, formed two companies along the road where he had learned that the Euboeans and Venetians were about to pass; placing one in ambush at the front of the path and the other at the rear, he waited to fall upon the enemy in the middle. ^A Since the Venetians were marching toward the city of Thebes—which is distant from Euboea about 150 stadia—and were going along fully armed and in great numbers, being about six thousand against Thebes, Antonio fell upon them suddenly, having in his companies no more than three hundred men, and appearing to the Venetians on both sides at once, he forced them to take flight, having slain or captured many of them. He also captured the men then acting as the leaders of their region alive. From there, he departed and returned to where he had set out from, to the siege of the city of Athens. He held his forces at this city until certain Athenians, by a covenant of treachery, handed the city over to him. Then, a few days later, he also occupied the citadel which he was pressing with a siege, and was declared prince of Attica and Boeotia. Now since he had already come before this into the gates of Bayezid, while his father was still living, and afterward also approached the gates of Moses, the Muslims, and Mehmed, he won over the king’s gates with gifts. And he lived ^B and ruled his region peacefully and securely thereafter. It is said that this man was otherwise illustrious, and that once he had taken hold of the city of Athens, and had arrived at the king’s gates at no great interval of time, he had formed useful and familiar relations with those around the king. He exercised his tyranny after having married the wife of a private citizen from Thebes. For as the Thebans were holding dances at a certain wedding, and there was a priest’s daughter present who was joined in marriage to a husband—yet she was not unpleasant, and in character was at once decent and modest—he fell in love with her during the dance and, having fallen in love, carried her off. Being demented by love, not long after he married her, and he lived happily, organizing the government in the way that seemed most opportune for himself, his subjects, and others. He also ^C received the son of the ruler of Aegina—the son of Galeotto, who was noted for the strength of his body—as a son-in-law, giving to him in marriage his adopted daughter. And he also had another adopted daughter, for whom he procured as a son-in-law a certain youth from Euboea, born of a distinguished station. Ultimately, when the war between himself and the Venetians was put to rest by a peace, he embraced a tranquil life. The son of Galeotto, the governor of Aegina, being a man most serviceable to him, ^D he cherished as one who frequented his company, and he lived for a long time in self-control, prospering both from the management of his government,

^A cultivating wealth for himself and adorning the city as much as he possibly could. Having made mention of these things up to this point, I return to Theodore, the son of the king, prince of Sparta and the rest of the Peloponnese, as he was reared and educated by his uncle Theodore. After this, he was established as prince in his own right. Upon arriving at this position, his father, Emmanuel the Emperor of Byzantium, both established his son in the government and delivered a suitable funeral oration for his brother, who had already passed away, speaking at length over his tomb and lamenting his kinsman. After these events, summoning the Peloponnesians to the Isthmus, he fortified the Isthmus, and having established a garrison there, he departed by ship for Byzantium, taking with him the leaders of the Peloponnesians in chains.

These events then, regarding the Greek emperors, took place at that time. Under the reign of Mehmed, the affairs of the Greeks were in a better state, both regarding their government and their daily life, since they ensured peace with Emperor Mehmed and ratified treaties as best as they could. For this reason, Emperor Mehmed also acted with great care, as he valued his peace most highly and believed they would sooner obey anything than see their friendship with him dissolved. He bestowed upon them whatever he thought would be pleasing and acceptable to them, and in other matters, he especially did so for his son, Amurath. For he had two sons, Amurath, who was the elder, and Mustapha, who was younger and still a child. He intended to leave the empire of Europe to one of these, Amurath, and the other to the empire of Asia. ^C And having divided the government between them in this way, he left it to them, so that the sons would abide by his instructions: to assist the Emperor of Byzantium if anyone wronged him, not to permit it, but to defend the injured party with all their might. However, he sent armies into Dacia, which ravaged the region, and also into Pannodacia, with Brenezis, a minister of Hotza, leading the army against the Pannonians and Pannodacians, and the Illyrians. Brenezis, who bore arms against the Illyrians and Pannonians and the Peloponnese, has many deeds ^D worthy of mention throughout Europe. Many other excellent achievements of the Turks are celebrated, performed when they were joined by the cavalry of Europe to collect pay. For since they followed unburdened wherever the leader guided them, they brought back numerous gains. And when the Turks, under the same leader, made an incursion into the region of the Venetians, a great haul of captives and other property was driven away, and they became extremely wealthy. Thus, not a few edifices were constructed by Brenezis throughout Europe, to serve as monuments for those who would come after. Later, however, when he had left Moses and passed over to his brother, he conceded his imperial rank to the sons. Hence, when the sons of Brenezis, Jesus, (31) Baraucus [continued...]

and Halies province were serving in leading expeditions against the enemy ^A, they quickly rose to the greatest renown. Brenezes dwelt in the city of Janitza, which he had received as a gift from the king for him to have a residence there. It was commanded of his sons that, whenever necessity should require, they should not hesitate to serve and attend upon the king. The city of Janitza is situated near the Axius river, and not a few villages of Brenezes are cultivated near it. Under Mechmetes, after Brenezes, Turachanes—whom they call Vardari today—was an excellent leader who commanded the cavalry ^B that flocked to him from all sides. Having experienced success in the favorable turn of events, he drove off much booty from the enemy's territory. He held Bydine at that time, having been entrusted by King Mechmetes to rule it; and crossing into Paeonia, he obtained much glory throughout all of Europe.

LAONICI CHALCOCONDYLÆ ATHENIENSIS HISTORIARUM DE ORIGINE AC REBUS GESTIS TURCORUM LIBER QUINTUS.

THE FIFTH BOOK OF THE HISTORIES CONCERNING THE ORIGIN AND DEEDS OF THE TURKS BY LAONICUS CHALCOCONDYLA THE ATHENIAN.

The beginnings of Amurath II, the order of Turkish civil and military administration. Thessalonica sold by the Greek Empire to the Venetians, and occupied by the Turks. Wars with Caramanus and Huniades, and also the internal sedition of the Genoese.

^C When Mechmetes, the son of Pajazites, had died in the twelfth year of his reign, Amurates, his eldest son, who excelled the others in age, succeeded to the government of the empire. At that time he was staying in Brusa, which is a city in Asia, and he was settling affairs pertaining to the administration of the kingdom. But the Greeks, when they learned that Mechmetes had died, and Amur

^A ates had obtained the succession to the kingdom, were summoning from Lemnos Mustapha, who was rumored to be the son of Pajazites, and who at that time was living in Lemnos, kept under moderate guard by the Greeks. But when those who had gone to summon him were held back by adverse winds, which at that time were forcibly preventing the passage from Lemnos into the Hellespont, and it was necessary that they establish a king in Europe, they were intercepting with triremes the crossing of Amurates into Europe, blocking the Propontis and the Hellespont, so that he could not cross over. They themselves indeed sailed to Callipolis, which is a city of the Chersonese, abounding in all things, so that they might there come into a colloquy with the approaching Mustapha. And when they had instated him as king of Europe, requesting that he restore Callipolis to them, they easily obtained it. Here indeed the Greeks went to completely ruin themselves and their own affairs through excessive imprudence; and their city was not far from being captured and plundered by Amurates. For the leaders of Amurates who had been left in Europe by Mechmetes the father, so that they might obey the son as he succeeded to the kingdom, approached the king of Byzantium, requesting that the Greeks might not want to dissent in the present circumstances, nor that he himself, through a desire for new things, should plot against those things which he had promised to King Mechmetes. Pajazites, one of the number of the king’s notables, declared judge and leader of Europe, went as an envoy to the king of Byzantium, exhorting him to conclude a treaty, by which he would be ordered to be an auxiliary if ever need should demand it. And ^B so that he might the more move the king’s mind, he was offering as hostages the sons of twelve nobles. To these he was adding twenty myriads of gold, and also much territory adjacent to Callipolis, as much as they might request in that place. These things indeed he was promising and giving, on the condition that the king of Byzantium should dismiss Mustapha, and bring aid to neither, but rather allow them to clash with hostile arms, and that they should allow him whom the outcome of war declared king to preside over the kingdom. These things, then, were announced by the voice of the herald to John, who was then the young king of the Greeks, and who was thinking nothing small for himself regarding the rule. For it seemed to him better that they should clash with themselves, and that with the rule divided, his own affairs would be better than the established order, and would reach a greater level of good fortune, as both parties were in need, and with the rule becoming split between both, he would gain the advantage from both, so that he would not lean toward either side. This was for him to mean that, when both had divided the rule between themselves, they should reign. Later, however, he did not even plan this in this way, but it was evident to everyone that this king was leaning toward Mustapha. But his father who was administering the kingdom, thinking the opposite of these things, deemed it right not to violate the treaties, as for no one violating the treaties would anything be sound or secure, so that he should not be destroyed by falling into error. And this he said ought to be pondered, as to which side one ought to join, where both the wealth of the kingdom and the new-com^Cers—[for] if they should divide the kingdom between themselves, and it should rest upon both, it would be that he could easily overcome either; since he was not to be compared to either, as far as the greatness of the kingdom is considered. Yet he thought it would happen most conveniently if they distributed the kingdom among themselves, and both reigned; later he held a far different opinion. For he stood entirely on the side of Mustapha. But the father of John, who was administering the kingdom, [was] differ-

^A thought that the sanctity of treaties must neither be disregarded nor violated, and that whoever did so would never have any good result, nor would anything prevent him from perishing utterly along with his error. But he believed that such things should be proposed for deliberation to one who is deliberating as to which side he should adhere: on this side, let the resources of the kingdom and the strength of the foreign soldiers be placed; on the other, let the things we just spoke of be set down. These truly make the choice doubtful.

These things also bring about ambiguity, while he was thinking about how and in what manner he might subject the kingdom to himself, and in the meantime bring the affairs of the Greeks into the greatest crisis. In this way did the minds of the Greeks incline toward both sides. However, the opinion prevailed which ordered ^B that they should follow the young king, who was then in power, wherever he might lead. Therefore, they joined themselves to Mustapha [(33)] and proclaimed him king; yet on this condition, that they should recover the lost Callipolis. With these things thus decreed, they filled the ships with naval forces, with which equipped the king came to Callipolis. But since Mustapha had not yet arrived there from Lemnos, wishing himself in the meantime to do something that might pertain to the kingdom of Europe, he resolved to besiege Callipolis. Zunaites, the prince of Smyrna, was also present, joined by familiarity with Mustapha. Moreover, they said to the Turks who had gathered that Mustapha would be present shortly. They were attacking the citadel of Callipolis: and not long after, the Chersonese surrendered itself to the approaching Mustapha: and immediately saluted him as king, and wheresoever he led they followed him most promptly. The king of the Greeks demanded that Callipolis be handed over to him. Mustapha ^C was prepared to give it, and not to refuse. The Turks endured that matter with resentful minds, since they deemed it would be little honorable for themselves, with the kingdom not yet sufficiently secured, to give such a city to the Greeks. Furthermore, he promised that since the kingdom was not yet sufficiently fortified, and it was still in doubt as to how affairs might turn out, that when he had come into his kingdom, he would hand over Callipolis to the Greeks themselves; moreover, if they requested anything else that they might deem useful to themselves, he would by no means let them suffer a refusal.

Having persuaded the Greeks in this manner, he marched straight into Europe: whom, as he approached, all received as king and the son of Bayezid, and submitted themselves to his command. When Bayezid had discovered that Mustapha was proceeding to Adrianople (for he was governing that city by the order of Mehmed, ^D who, dying, had commanded it to him), having gathered an army from Europe, he went to meet Mustapha as close as possible to Adrianople, as if he were about to fight; nor would he allow him, if there were enough strength, to advance to the seat of the kingdom. When Mustapha approached with his army drawn up, the Turks all at once made a transition to Mustapha, and adored him as king. Furthermore, Bayezid, falling to the knees of Mustapha, adored him as king and handed over the affairs to the same, to act according to his own judgment. Him, having immediately taken, he presently put to death.

^A And withdrawing, he took the city and arrived at the palace. Following this, having gathered his forces, he moved toward Asia, intending also to acquire the kingdom of Asia for himself. Having crossed into Asia, he transported the army of Europe, and the Turkish foot-soldiers—known as Azapids—into Asia. Having with him also Zunaïtēs, the ruler of Smyrna, he marched against Amurāt, son of Mehmed. He requested, however, that the king of the Greeks send envoys, so that no innovations might be made against his guest-friendship, as he would immediately restore Gallipoli once he had subdued Asia and defeated his nephew. Envoys from Amurāt also arrived to the king of Byzantium, treating with him and promising to grant whatever he might wish if the Greeks would place themselves on his side and follow Amurāt's arms. The Greeks delayed the embassies for a time, but in the end they dismissed the embassy of Amurāt. Having chosen the side of Mustapha, they both received them and waited, so as to make a treaty with them according to everything that had been agreed upon. Thus, the embassy of Amurāt, having come to the army ^B of Amurāt, spread the rumor that they had acquired the Greeks as allies for themselves. They happened to be encamped at the lake of Lopadius, and they laid waste to the region of that very Michalicius, where the lake, flowing out into the sea, empties through a narrow passage after a long course, where there is a bridge. Mustapha himself also, having marched nearby, was encamped by the edge of the river flowing from the lake. There, when the envoys of Amurāt arrived, having enjoyed some good fortune, they spread the rumor that they had come having the Greeks as allies helping them, and they were shouting out, threatening the camp of Mustapha, as if he were trapped in Asia. There, a rumor having spread through the camp of Mustapha that his envoys were not present, they were afraid that the Greeks, by occupying the Hellespont, would henceforth not allow them to cross and that they would perish right there; and they were ^C discussing the matter among themselves. As night came on, Zunaïtēs himself, the ruler of Smyrna, fled back to his ancestral domain; and the rest of the commanders began to flee, not delaying in the slightest, no longer trusting in the fortune of Mustapha. When Mustapha saw his armies fleeing, fearing for himself, he also fled to the sea. The Greeks, however, having chosen Mustapha to be their ally, filled their ships and sailed toward the Hellespont. But the king of Byzantium himself, being at Proconnesus, was occupied with the love of a woman; he was enamored of her, for she happened to be a priest's daughter, and he was not there at the proper time to prevent Amurāt from arriving in Europe. Amurāt, indeed, as soon as day had dawned and he caught sight of the enemy camp empty and deserted under the cover of the night just passed, led his army to Adrianople ^D and took it. The Azapids, for their part, held out their hands in supplication, begging him not to decide to rage against them, who had been foully deserted and betrayed by their own cavalry. Therefore, Amurāt, joining the lake to himself by a bridge, as quickly as possible

^A destroyed all the Azapides on the spot. After these events, he followed Mustapha through the cities. Mustapha, however, having arrived earlier, had passed across into Callipolis. Amūrāt, encountering a large Genoese ship that had chanced to drop anchor there, made a pact with the captain to ferry himself, his newcomers, the members of his court, and his entire army over into Europe. He paid the captain a large sum of money, as much as he had requested, paying it out readily. And in this way he was transported into Europe with all his forces. When Mustapha learned of Amūrāt’s crossing into Europe, and seeing that he would be safe nowhere, as his brother was pressing down on him from everywhere, he sought a place to escape his destruction and fled to a mountain which the inhabitants call Toganum. Amūrāt followed him there, and did not cease searching everywhere so that he might get hold of Mustapha. When he had searched the region as if with a net, and had surrounded the place where he suspected he was hiding, he found him concealed under a certain shrub. Once he had fallen into his hands alive, he broke his neck with a noose. Thus Mustapha was killed, having reigned in Europe for three years.

^C Amūrāt, once he had brought both continents under his power, was established as king. Not long after, he undertook an expedition against Byzantium and the Greeks. He sent ahead Michal-Oglu, who performed the duties of judge and commander in Europe. He, having taken the entire army of Europe, made an incursion into the Byzantine region, and afterwards pitched his camp there. Amūrāt, son of Mehmed, followed him immediately, leading with him foreign soldiers, Genoese troops, and all the others who are accustomed to accompany the king in time of war. He also brought with him the Asian army, and pitched his camp, which, beginning from one side of the sea, stretched as far as the other side of the sea.

The "Doors" are ordered in this way: foot soldiers are always present with the king, sometimes six thousand, sometimes ten thousand. From these he selects garrison soldiers, whom he installs to defend strongholds, and in their place he substitutes others. In this manner the soldiers of the "Doors" come together to the king. Whatever boys he happens to acquire, taken captive from any land, he hands over to the Turks in Asia for training, so that each one may learn the Turkish language. When they have remained among them for two or three years, they grasp the Turkish language. When they have learned the language sufficiently, he chooses from the number of those whom he had given for training two or three thousand, whom he leads to Callipolis, and sets them over the ships so that they may learn the nautical art, ferrying across those who intend to travel from Europe into Asia. Each of them receives an obol there, and a tunic provided as a uniform. Not long after,

^A to those who are capable, he provides enough for their livelihood; while others he provides more, and they serve, arrayed and divided into decurions and pentacontarchs, and in units and companies, serving according to their messes and having to be twice a month in the tent with the decurion. These pitch their tents around the king, each one keeping to his own place, adjacent to the other. Within these, it is not permitted for anyone to pitch a tent, except for the king’s sons, and the king’s treasuries, and his bedchamber. The king’s tent is red, sometimes two and sometimes three are set up for the king himself, made of red clay and gilded, and there are other tents for the king, about fifteen in number, all within the lines of the recruits. Outside these, the rest of the men of the gates encamp, both the *Amurachorii* and the cupbearers, whom they call *Saraptarii*, and the standard-bearers, whom they call *Emuralamii*. And the judges of the gates, so-called *Bixorides*, are the king’s messengers. These, being numerous and taking with them many servants, provide a vast multitude. Following them are the *Sylictorides*, there being about three hundred of the king’s gates, who are horsemen, having come to this land from among the recruits. After them are the *Caripedes*, called the arrivals, who come from Asia, Egypt, and indeed Libya, having arrived at the gates and laying claim to virtue before the king, hired by him, some for more and others for less. Next to these are the *Alophatzides*, who are called mercenaries, numbering about eight hundred. ^C Following these are those called *Spachides*, numbering about two hundred. These are the sons of the nobles, whom the king, casting out of his bedchamber, sets in this rank, and selects others to replace those who had been removed, keeping in this troop those who are considered the sons of good and illustrious men. And the gates, to put it briefly, are so ordered. Two generals are set by the king over his whole empire, one of Europe and the other of Asia. And following each of these are the armies and the officers, wherever they may be directed, whenever the king commands them. The subordinates, called standard-bearers, ^D also follow them. For when one is set into this rank by the king, the king gifts him with standards, as one who has become a general and an officer of many cities. The officers of the cities follow this subordinate wherever he might march. And all proceed, following their own officers and generals, when they have arrived at the king’s camp. This is more or less his organization of the armies. The horsemen, however, are also arranged under their own subordinates. The *Azapides*, following under one officer, serve in the same rank.

Amurates, when he had marched into Byzantium and besieged the city from sea to sea, shook the walls with cannons.

^A and sought to bring them down. Yet he did not succeed. The balls which the cannons hurled were of the greatest weight. But the wall, being firm and very well fortified, yielded nothing to the engines. I do not consider the cannon to be an ancient invention such that one might believe it to have been known to the ancients. Whence they took their origin, or what mortals first had cannons in use, I cannot say with certainty. Some think that the Germans were the first to use cannons, and that the invention of such artillery should be attributed to them; others say that artillerymen progressed from Germany and gradually reached the entire world. But I cannot say for certain where precisely the cannons originated. The force and wondrous power of the cannons is recognized by the fact that it inflicts the greatest damage upon bodies, even upon those which have the strength to resist. The powder provides that violent impetus with which it is carried. For nitre, from which the powder is made, along with the addition of coal and sulphur, holds that force. The world judges cannons to be the best arms and defenses. Therefore they have less merit ^B, although their force is almost divine. I think the first cannon was iron. Afterward, I suppose, the casting of bronze and tin—which is done by smelting—was devised, and this material is reckoned to be the firmest and best; and it contributes the most to ensuring that the ball is cast to a wondrous distance. To describe the shape of the cannons, since they are everywhere before the eyes of men, I judged to be superfluous. A cannon is oblong, and the longer it is, the farther it hurls the ball. For we have heard that there was a cannon whose ball, when shot with force, carried for seventy stadia, causing the earth to shake all around at both places. This power of fire, as it appears, produces the thunder, as well as the violent motion of the stone. For if the fire is confined and forced, it knows how to effect something great and which clearly exceeds our comprehension. Lightning also is born if wind is changed into fire. Hence, therefore, both thunder and the motion are created; whether allowed because nature does not admit a vacuum, or because the efficacy of the fire contributes to it—by which, if it be violently urged and seizes hold of the material suited to it, it can provide both these things. All this power, however, must be referred to fire as its cause ^C. To this is added the powder, which, having acquired the power of fire, moves through the intervention of the fire. With all these joined together, it happens that the stone, or ball, is thrown to such a great distance.

Amurates, therefore, the son of Mechmet, having approached the wall and moved up cannons and other engines everywhere, was trying to take it. But the Greeks defended the walls bravely, hurling the king’s foreigners from the ladders. Some, having had their heads cut off, were tumbled down to their own kin. Amurates, when he achieved nothing, although he tried everything that might pertain to taking the city, was affected by sadness ^D and was anxious in his mind, thinking he...

would capture the city. ^B While he was delaying, the Greeks sent envoys to him, but not even so was he willing to make peace with them. After not many days, he departed for home, and disbanded his troops. The Greeks, then, sent envoys to Amurates begging, but he sent them away and did not accept their request. After this, as the Greeks were achieving nothing in their attempts at making a truce, they turned to Mustapha, the son of Mechmet. It happened that he was staying with the Caramanian, receiving his food and necessities from him. Having sent envoys, the Greeks summoned the boy to Byzantium, who was about thirteen years of age. When the boy arrived at Byzantium, he sent word to the Turks, promising them great things, and soliciting everyone, promising to give them double of everything they had been receiving under Amurates. ^B And some Turks—though but a few—deserted to the boy. The boy, however, crossed over into Asia, supported by the Greek emperor, and besieged the place called the Temple. As he proceeded through Asia, the Turks who were there joined him, as he was the king's son. Here, the one called Aliazes, by nickname the Cupbearer, who had been entrusted with that boy by Mechmet, plotted treason with Amurates to betray the child to him. And as he had agreed with him, he arranged for the boy to be handed over to him. He repeatedly sent a messenger, wherever the boy happened to be staying. ^C When the boy arrived at Nicaea, he took Nicaea, and while staying there, he sought out the nobles in Asia. Since it was now winter, he was prevented from going further into Asia. There, Amurates, having learned from Aliazes the Saraptarian of the boy's stay in the city, took about six thousand of his Janissary troops and, as quickly as he could, arrived at the Hellespont, crossed it, and rode straight for Bithynia. Falling suddenly upon the city, he captured his boy there, with Aliazes handing him over to him. For the boy, having learned of this, had fled to him as if for his own salvation; but he, telling the boy not to be afraid, waited for the boy's brother, and when he came to the royal quarters of the city, he handed the boy over to him. Amurates, however, having taken him, put him to death by strangulation, as is the custom among them. ^D It is said that Tezedines, a man of royal blood, of the king of Erzigan, who had come to the boy as an ally, when he learned that the enemies had reached the city, rode into the midst of the enemies, and killed Michalis, the general and magistrate of Europe, who was his enemy, and after killing many others, he himself also died. At that time, the Greeks had acted in this way, having chosen the side opposed to Amurates. They sold Therme of Macedonia to the Venetians, believing it impossible

^A that the city could be handed over to them, to the one who was then surviving, Amurates. After this, Amurates campaigned against Therme, and he besieged the city, applying his efforts intently, and he moved siege engines up to the wall. But the capture of the city did not prosper for him. There, as it is said, he conspired with those in the city by way of a betrayal, in which, it is said, by digging tunnels from their houses leading outside, they were captured by the Venetians, according to the account. And the diggers fled into the camp of Amurates, having climbed down from the wall. Later, however, when he attacked from the citadel, he took the city by force and enslaved it. I learn, however, that the newcomers, having climbed the wall, took the city, and with the others following, the city was taken and surrendered to the king for enslavement. Indeed, having enslaved that city, I learn that Amurates left no one out of the enslavement. So we conclude that he took them ^B because of the betrayal. This, then, became the greatest disaster for the Greeks, and one that fell short of none of the disasters that had hitherto befallen them. The men of the city were led off as slaves throughout Asia and Europe, having been taken prisoner. The Venetian garrison that was in the city, when it perceived that the city had already been taken, rushed to flee to the sea and the ships, and having embarked upon these, as many as happened to be there for them, they set sail and were gone. This Greek city, being great and flourishing, was captured by Amurates. He entrusted the city to the neighboring peoples to inhabit. Having returned home, however, he sent the general of Europe, Caratzas, against the city of Joannina in Aetolia, having handed over to him the army of Europe. When he arrived in Aetolia, he raided and plundered the country, seizing whatever he could come upon suddenly. After this, he marched and besieged the city. Carolus, ^C the prince of the city, had already died before this. And since he had not had children by his wife, the daughter of Rhainerius, but there were illegitimate sons, Memnon, Turnus, and Herculius, who were older, he had distributed to them the region of Acarnania, which is situated within the Achelous region, to enjoy. But he left his brother Leonardus’s son as successor to all his dominion. To Carolus, his brother's son, he granted Arta, the metropolis of Ambracia, and Aetolia and the city. The illegitimate sons, not warring for long, were added to the ranks of the king’s Janissaries. Memnon, however, who seemed to excel the others in prudence and authority—he, having come to the king, called upon him and asked him to restore them to their ancestral region. For this reason, having marched with the army of Europe, he entered that region in a hostile manner. The army of Europe surrounded the city of Joannina with a siege; ^D and pressing the siege for some time, since they were accomplishing nothing, the townspeople and the prince of the region, who was held besieged, finally summoned the king’s commander or pasha to a parley, in which the prince requested that there be granted to him by the king the remaining

^A region of Acarnania and Epirus, and that a covenant be struck with him on this basis, and thus he would surrender the city. This being done, the king’s army took possession of the city, and granted to him Acarnania and the rest of Epirus to hold, on the condition that he pay an annual tribute to the king and attend the king’s court whenever summoned. Later, the sons of the lord Carolus, Erculius and Memnon, arrived, and having taken possession of no small part of the region, they gathered the borderers, who were troublesome to their cousin, whose land they were raiding and harrying, and waged war. Carolus, however, leading against them an army which he had drawn from the king’s court, and another which he had summoned from Italy, since he accomplished nothing, made peace with them; it was stipulated that he himself should yield the region over which they presided, and that they, in turn, should henceforth create no further trouble for Carolus. ^B

Thus Aetolia came under the dominion of King Amurates. After this, when the Greeks came to his court, they requested peace for themselves; peace, however, was made on the condition that they destroy the Isthmus and engage in no further revolutionary activity thereafter. He sent Turachanes into the Peloponnese; he ravaged the region of the Venetians, destroyed the Isthmus, and burned the small towns of the Venetians which he had taken. But as he was departing from the Peloponnese, the Albanians living in the Peloponnese gathered together in the interior region, which is called Dabia; and choosing a leader, they planned a revolt from the Greeks, wishing to destroy the army of Turachanes. Turachanes, when he heard that the Albanians were marching against him with the intention of battle, as he could not avoid their attack, led out his forces into array. The Albanians also descended into the ranks and attacked the enemy. But when they could not sustain the force of the Turks, they turned to flight; Turachanes pursued them and made a great slaughter of them in their flight. Eight hundred were captured, all of whom he slaughtered on that spot, and having built little towers from their heads, he departed. This man also performed other deeds worthy of mention, ^C because of which, when he was in the highest honor with the king, he also directed his march into the region of Brenezis and into Dacia. Not long after, having been ordered by the king to go, he ravaged the region and put to flight a not insignificant army that had been gathered there; he returned from that battle a victor, illustrious and memorable, carrying of much booty of both captives and other goods. With the Greeks, therefore, as they frequently came to his court, sending primary men, famous for their wealth and other good fortune, among whom were Notaras and Carolucas, Amurates finally established peace. ^D

^A When peace had been established, the Emperor of the Greeks sailed to the Peloponnese, having summoned his brother Theodore, the ruler of Sparta, as mentioned earlier—because of the hatred which he bore toward his wife, whom he had taken from Italy, he had been eager to adopt the life of the Nazarenes. However, when the Emperor of Byzantium arrived in the Peloponnese, bringing with him his brother Constantine so that he might hand the government over to him, he immediately repented, saying that he would no longer abdicate the kingdom; for the nobles of the realm were dissuading the Emperor from this course of life. Afterward, he was reconciled to his wife, against whom he had been implacable on account of the ugliness of her appearance, and he lived pleasantly with her for the rest of his time. The Emperor of the Greeks then waged war against Charles, the ruler of Epirus, and laid siege to Clarentia, the metropolis of Elis. ^B Not long afterward, since his siege efforts were proving fruitless, he arranged for the brother of the ruler, the daughter of Leonard, to be married to his brother Constantine, with the condition that this city be given to him as a dowry. The Emperor of the Greeks was besieging Patras, a city of Achaia. After this, he left his brother Constantine behind and departed, sailing for Byzantium.

To his brother Constantine, however, when things regarding the city progressed and he kept the city under siege, the men of the city suggested betrayal; they offered to surrender the city to him while its bishop was away in Italy—where he was spending a considerable amount of time, needing aid from the Roman Pontiff. This city of Achaia had been occupied by the Italian princes of the Peloponnese, who were descended from the Malatesta family; they had appointed one as prince of the city, and selected another to administer it while remaining permanently at the Roman Pontiff’s court. ^C When that city had passed into the jurisdiction and power of the Roman Pontiff, it received a bishop, whom the Pontiff had sent to govern it. At that time, the bishop who was managing the affairs of that city—having been sent by the Roman Pontiff—was born of the Malatesta family. When Constantine had joined this city to his own domain, he also undertook to storm the citadel; he spent a whole year on this assault, and finally achieved his objective.

The metropolis of Elis was captured by the Roman Pontiff’s triremes. For after the report had been brought that the city of Achaia had been occupied by the Greeks, the Pontiff sent ten triremes, relying on them to see if he could recover the lost city. ^D These did not, in fact, arrive in Achaia. Instead, they arrived at Clarentia, and with the city’s ruler absent and no garrison present in the city, the soldiers entered secretly, captured the city, and enslaved its inhabitants. Later, selling it to the Emperor’s brother for five thousand gold pieces, they sailed away to Italy. Other miserable fortunes had also befallen this city earlier. For Oliverio, coming from Italy while the ruler of Achaia held it, had entered...

^A it unexpectedly and plundered it, taking the ruler's daughter as his wife. In the end, having accepted a price, he sold her to the ruler of Epirus and went off to Italy. But thereafter, having bought her back from the pontiff's triremes, he recovered her. The Greeks waged war for a long time against the ruler of Achaia, Centurione, who was of Italian stock. After these events, they established an alliance through marriage to the king's younger son, Thomas, by betrothing the daughter of the ruler, and they gave as a dowry for him the region of Messene and Ithome, except for the coastal part of Arcadia, and concluded a treaty, which ended the war. Upon the death of the prince, Thomas, the brother of the king, took this woman, and kept the wife of Centurione in confinement until she died. In this way the Peloponnese was transferred from the Italians to the Greeks. For the Greeks, the state of affairs, as they subjugated the Peloponnese, was thus.

Amurates, the son of Mehmed, campaigned against the land of the Triballi. Previously, when he had declared war, he sent armies and ravaged the country. At that time, when the ruler of the Triballi learned that the king was advancing upon him, he sent envoys and requested to make a treaty, on the condition that he would pay whatever tribute the king might impose upon him, and would obey whatever he might command. Thereupon, Amurates took the daughter of the ruler of the Triballi in marriage, having sent Sarazia, the commander of the Janissaries, to fetch the wife of Khalil, ^B who was of high standing with him, and his palace. After these events, he marched against Caramanus Aliderius, leader of Caria, accusing him of other things, and among them, that he had sent his own younger brother, to whom he had provided sustenance, to the Greeks. Advancing, therefore, with a large army, he ravaged the land, for Caramanus had abandoned it, having occupied the peaks of the mountains. ^C He has two cities: one called Laranda, and the other Toconeium, a city that was great in ancient times and prosperous, in which even queens of the kings of this race resided in former times. Since the mountains of that region were rugged and not easy to ascend, they made raids and carried off everything in the surrounding country. Advancing little by little, they subdued it. This city is well-governed from very ancient times. The city of Laranda is situated at the foothills of the mountains which are seen in that region, and is not fortified with any defenses against the might of enemies. The inhabitants of the region awaited the arrival of Amurates, and did not seek to save themselves by flight. For they believed that, since they too were Turks and lived by the same customs and in the same way of life, they would suffer no hostile actions. That Caramanus ^D is a neighbor to Pisidia.

^A These Pisidians, also called Barsacidae, are nomads who speak the Turkish language. They live by brigandage, plundering Syria and other lands belonging to them; indeed, they carry on war with Caramanus and plunder his territory. They have lords set over them, and whenever they engage in plundering, they themselves divide off the due share of the booty, and distribute a portion that is considered the warrior's share to those who remain at home with the women. Turgutes rules over the region of Phrygia, and his territory extends to Armenia and Cappadocia. The Turgut tribe seems to have been quite recent under Amythaon; when they descended into Phrygia, they obtained that region from that time on. Since this had continued to these times, he took up arms against the sons and Caramanus. This tribe also waged war some time ago against the Leucarnas, the children of Caraëluces. ^B The city of Candylorum in Caria was in the power of the man who is called... Amurates, son of Mehmet, ravaged the region and took the Duke's son into his own household; he left the ruler of the region, Cernianus and Cedinen, and the princes Sarchanes and Mendesias, to be driven from their regions when he set out against Caramanus; and approaching their palaces, he despoiled them. Edines departed from the living, lacking children. Sarchanes and Mendesias fled into neighboring regions and were saved, so that they might suffer no evil from Amurates. Mendesias traveled to Rhodes and stayed there. Afterwards, having been summoned by a herald, he went to the king, asking to obtain some benefit from the king; and still lingering there, he receives his sustenance from the gates [of the royal palace]. ^C Caramanus, desirous of recovering Toconeium and his own region, sent envoys to Amurates, promising to give his daughter to him as a wife, and that he would send the son he had to serve at the gates. Amurates accepted Caramanus into a treaty, with the sanctity of an oath coming between them, and directed his journey into Europe. A short time later, having taken up arms against Ismaël, the prince of Sinope and Castamona, for some offense I do not know of, Ismaël, when he heard that Amurates was hurrying against him as an enemy, sent envoys to meet the king to say that if he would grant peace to him as a petitioner, he would pay to the king annually as much revenue from his copper [mines] as might fall to him. Moreover, he promised to send his own son to the gates of the king. ^D He restored the son of Turgutes, who it was established had already gone before to the gates of the king, to his ancestral region, and permitted him to deal with it according to his own will. These things performed by Amurates were indeed done bravely, and it is incredible to say how much glory they cast upon the kingdom of Asia. Furthermore, a war burned for a long time between him and the Leucarnas. Amurates undertook an expedition.

^A against the prince of the Triballi (59) and his kinsman Georgius. They relate the following cause for this expedition. He had with him his younger son Stephanus, who remained with him when he set out for Smederevo, where their royal seat was. The prince, having left his son Gurgurus (who is also Georgius and Gregorius) to protect the city and defend the walls should the enemy arrive, went away into Pannonia to seek aid. For he also had a ^B not-insignificant territory in Pannonia; furthermore, he had received many opulent cities from King Sigismund in exchange for Belgrade. This city pleased the king exceedingly, as if it were very convenient for the realm on account of the advantage of the port. The son of the aforementioned prince had indeed been left to guard the city, and he was preparing himself, intending not to yield the city to the enemy if they were to besiege it. At length, Amurates approached and made a raid into the fields, and afterwards surrounded the city with a siege, moving various engines to the walls in case he might in any way manage to take the city. When he achieved nothing, he ordered the bombards, which in that era were considered the greatest, to be brought forward, and he did not cease to batter the walls with them. Nor did any hope of capturing the city shine forth. But Gurgurus, fearing that the city might eventually fall into the hands of the enemies, and since they could not sustain the force of the bombards any longer, admitted the words of the king by which peace was offered. A treaty was struck, by which it was held that the city should be surrendered to the king, and they themselves should go to the gates to meet him, about to obtain those things which the king had decreed. Gurgurus surrendered the city to the king; and, having gone out into the camp, he stayed with the king together with his brother Stephanus. Not long after, when it was reported ^C to Amurates that their father was advancing against him with a hostile intent, and that the sons were secretly aiding their father and inclining toward defection, he had both sons brought and blinded them. Smederevo and the region of the Triballi having been occupied, he placed a strong garrison in the town and immediately moved his forces against the Pannonian city of Belgrade. That city is surrounded by two rivers; on one side is the Danube, and on the other is the Sava, which flows into the Danube at that very place next to the city. Smederevo and this… As Amurates, son of Mehmed, approached, he besieged the city and, preparing his bombards, leveled no small part of the city. But the army of Amurates meanwhile was suffering unbearable things from the townspeople, who were most grievously afflicting the enemy sitting before the city with bombards, ballistae, and other war machines. The men and the camp alike were almost overwhelmed with arrows and other missiles. There then, Halies, son of Brenez, whose fame was celebrated throughout the camp, was the first to approach the wall with his men to assault it; he dug a trench near the city and fortified it, and there he pitched his tents. Where the wall was thrown down, the foreigners rushed in through the spaces ^D left open by the ruins and captured the greatest part of the city. They were gathered in

^A the city, and when they arrived at the hand-to-hand fighting with the newcomers, and having fought, they covered the area seized from the wall. When the armies were driven out and it was no longer succeeding for him, ^B the cause of the city gave way, he led the army away, and drove them back. The governor assigned to the care of Skopion and the Illyrian region, a man powerful among them in strength, and having become his brother-in-law by marriage, he took care of the army, infantry and cavalry, so as to invade the Illyrian land, and led the armies there. The king of the Illyrians, Mosoun (as this region is also called, and this region is very rugged and mountainous, ^C and it extends to the Ionian Sea and along the sea),—his kingdom is here, and a city called Gatya, and a river flowing past it empties into the Ister; and this flows out into the Istrum, which subsequently drains into the Ister. This king of the Illyrians, from the region of the Illyrians, had been devastated by Isamos, prepared an army. But he sent legates to Amurates, the one contending with the army, saying that he was ready, if he could obtain peace, to pay an annual tribute of twenty-five thousand gold pieces. ^D The king Amurates accepted this condition and made peace with him.

To this region is joined the land of Stephanus Sandalios, which the Illyrian race holds; and it extends to the Ionian... This nation is Illyrian by race, and has long since been separated from the rest of the Illyrians. The inhabitants, however, in their customs and way of life, do not differ in the slightest from the Illyrians, but they follow other laws; they are called Caduergi, and all who dwell in the land of Sandalios are so named. Between the land of Epirus and this region there are some cities of the Venetians, where the region of Ibanis is inhabited by Castriotes. Adjoining this is the region of Commeni, and the maritime region extends in a short interval to the lands bordering on Argyropolis. Where part of the forces of Amurates is stationed, it was devastating the region of Ibanis and the Commeni. Meanwhile Arianites, a private citizen with ancestral prestige, went to the entrance/gate of the king, and being followed by him, since he was with the troops that had campaigned, afterwards Arianites, having been deprived of his ancestral rule by the king, went to the gates of the king, and being accepted by the king, was receiving the necessary supplies. Then, upon the death of Castriotes, Amurates took his son and subjected the ancestral principality to himself. Arianites, who himself had also been cast out of his principality by the king, supplicated, that he might obtain some good thing from the king. Having sent certain men to them who were still with them, he said that he would come with troops. Those who had promised, if he should arrive armed, to defect from the king, taking flight, he withdrew into his own region. Having returned, therefore, to his ancestral region, he made a conspiracy with the nobles. When they accepted him with good will, they defected from the king, and having slaughtered the Turks, they made an incursion.

^A And, possessing the rugged and mountainous region themselves, they brought away booty; all the inhabitants of that land were hardy men. Now when these matters were reported to the king, he sent Alis, son of Brencenes, having appointed him general, and handed over to him an army as great as he had near the Axios river and Argyropolis, along with the horsemen who dwell in this region. He ordered him to advance, to subdue the region of the Albanians for him, and, having reduced them to slavery, to return bringing the son of Comnenus to him. He then, having taken the whole army, invaded the region and obtained no small amount of booty as well. As they invaded, they were pillaging the country and burning down houses and fields, sparing no one. However, Arianites, having gathered the horsemen and foot soldiers of that region, arrived and occupied the heights where Alis, son of Brencenes, was intending to march through as he retreated. ^B And when the men of Alis tried thereafter to pass through, they could not, as those with Arianites were standing in their way and not allowing them to cross. There, the Turks, some having been left behind in the country, others having turned across the land wherever each could manage to escape, were for the most part destroyed by the Albanians; others were captured as they were passing through. Those who turned back with Alis made this march flatter and longer. And having gone out into Epirus, which is situated near Corfu, they returned, having escaped from many perils, though they barely avoided destruction. It was there that Arianites, son of Comnenus, gained a glorious reputation, having demonstrated deeds worthy of mention, and from that time forth he was held in high esteem. In this manner, then, the army of Alis, the son of Brencenes, was most severely struck when they invaded the region looking toward the Ionian sea. But the remaining Albanians who live near the town of Argos, when they saw that Arianites had initiated a revolt against the king’s rule and had accomplished a brilliant feat for themselves, deliberated also to revolt from king Amurates, and they summoned their leader to themselves. ^C For Bayezid, son of Amurates, had driven his father out of that region, and having also exiled Myrxa, the leader of the Canini, and many other lords of that region, he had seized the land and established it for himself. Depan, therefore, who was going around and wandering, for the most part living in various places in Italy and on Corfu, the island of the Venetians, was summoned by the people who lived near Argyropolis, and they set him up as king over themselves. Having raised an army, they marched against Argyropolis, which was at that time a city of the king, and they placed this Depan at their head, and they besieged the city, bringing machines to the wall. ^D There were in the city a garrison of foreign troops of the king and some other Turks, not many in number, who had fled into Argyropolis. And as the Albanians began these things and were besieging the city with great force, and were entirely intent on the siege, the king—who was at that time absent in Asia, waging war with the Karamanian—continued his campaign.

Cilicia and Caria, causing the greatest devastation through incursions and pillaging. ^B Turachanes, the prefect ^A of the Triballians [Trikala] and Thessaly, having received news of the Albanian defection and the siege of so famous a metropolis, conscripted an army as large as he could. Including also as many Turks as he could find in Thessaly, he hastened on his way through the snow (for it was winter at that time), and on the second day after he had commenced his journey, he discovered the Albanians near the city. Falling upon them unexpectedly, he slaughtered many of them, took their leader, Depan, alive, and executed him, and relieved the city from the siege. It is said that in this campaign of Turachanes more than a thousand of the Albanians, who had defected from the King, were destroyed. And thus they were compelled to accept the yoke of servitude once again. The nobles of that region, as many as did not escape ^B the hands of Turachanes, were most cruelly slain by the King’s prefects, as one perished miserably in one way and another in another.

Amurates, upon returning from the expedition he had undertaken against Caramanus, ordered ^C Mezetes, whom he had declared governor of Europe, to take as many cavalry and infantry forces as he wished, and to set out against Pannodacia [Transylvania], in order to annex that region to his empire. Receiving the European army, the European Azapides, and all the cavalry of the King that were in Europe, he arrived at the Ister [Danube]. Having crossed the Ister, he entered the region of Pannodacia, which is called Ardelia. This Ardelia extends from Mount Prasobus [the Carpathians] as far as Pannonia, and the entire region is surrounded by an oak forest; it contains not a few cities. Its metropolis is called ^D Tosibinium [Sibinium]. They use a language part Pannonian and part Dacian, and they imitate the Pannonians in their mode of life and customs. This region is subject to the King of the Pannonians, from whom it receives a governor of the Pannonian race. It has free cities, which are governed by the Metropolis Tosibinium according to their own law and their own statutes. When ordered to go to war, they obey the King and pay tribute whenever he commands; they only ask that they be allowed to administer their republic themselves according to their own law and their own ancestral customs. Against this metropolis, therefore, having crossed the Ister, Mezetes turned the entire bulk of his war, and when he had approached as closely as possible, he entrenched his camp there. Here, while he was applying himself with all his might to the siege of the city, he was struck by [the bolt of] a bombard and died. Afterwards, when the hostile army was hastening its departure and hurrying to cross the Ister, the men of the region assembled, and, being able to anticipate the enemies while they were still lingering in their territory, they struck down many of them with a great slaughter. They pursued the rest in their flight as far as the Ister. Mezetes...

^A having arrived at Ardelium, met his end in this way, and no small part of the army perished. When the king learned of the death of Mezetes, he considered it a great calamity, and he began to prepare himself, planning to campaign against Pannodacia. Having sent heralds throughout his kingdom to proclaim his departure, he decided to march forth at the beginning of spring. But later, having changed his mind, he entrusted the entire care of that war to his eunuch Sabatines, a man most experienced in military affairs, since the eunuch believed this plan to be both best and safest for the king. The king also ordered him not to desist from the war before he had subdued the Pannodacians, or Transylvanians. Therefore, having taken command of the king’s army, along with about four thousand of the foreign troops from the king’s gates, he crossed the Ister and led all his forces into the region of Ardelium. He then marched through the region of the Pannonians for several days. Now Jangus the Choniate, whom they call John Huniades, a man at that time of great repute among the Pannonians, and ^B who had been entrusted by the council of the Pannonians with the region of Ardelium, gathered as great an army as he could from Ardelium and Pannonia, and followed Sabatines through the mountain passes. Sabatines, imagining that now that he was inside the hostile territory he would have great success if he wasted the enemies' fields, sent out all his cavalry and a very large part of his army into the enemy territory, intending to plunder it, as if he could add significantly to his own wealth; but very few remained with Sabatines in the camp. When Jangus discovered that the enemy’s camp was almost deserted, he thought it a fine feat ^C if he should descend and overwhelm the camp while it was destitute of defenders. So, descending from the mountain with his men, he attacked the camp of Sabatines with great force. Sabatines was unable to come out of the camp to engage in an open battle, and therefore turned to defending it, but he could not hold it, as Jangus and the Pannonians burst in with violence. Inclining his mind entirely to flight, he hurried with the greatest speed to cross the Ister before he could be cut off by the enemy at the crossing. Jangus, having taken the camp, placed ambushes there to intercept those who were returning laden with the spoils of captives and other goods, and he destroyed them all. And in this way a very great part of his army perished miserably there. And Jangus the Choniate won a victory ^D more illustrious than any his predecessors had ever found.

Jangus, a man born of no very obscure lineage, came from the city of Ardelium to the leader of the Triballians. Having been hired, he spent a considerable amount of time with that leader, everywhere and wherever he was sent, demonstrating memorable courage and diligence. Once, when he had gone out hunting with the leader, and a wolf appeared to the leader, he called upon Jangus, as in regard to the wolf...

he might be present. ^A And he, having arrived, pursued the beast with all his might. When the beast fell into the river and was swimming, he too threw himself at the same time into the river; and as his horse swam across, he followed. Having crossed over, he kept pursuing it, in no way relaxing, until at last he caught and killed the wolf. After stripping off the beast's skin, he rode back to the leader. Upon crossing the river once more, and holding the wolf's skin, he said, "O master, it is done as you commanded; I have killed the wolf, and the skin is here for you to use as you may require." The leader of the Triballi, being greatly impressed by this ^B marvel, is said to have remarked that it was impossible that this man would not rise to great power. Having spoken thus at that time, he subsequently honored the man with money and resources. After having stayed with that leader for a long time, he finally returned to the Pannonians. There are those who claim that before Jangus reached the leader of the Triballi, he had been a servant to the son of Alis Brenez, and had served him for wages, performing the duties of a horse-curator. I do not know, however, how I could conjecture this to be true, for he would have had to learn the Turkish language in that way. When he returned to the Pannonians, having taken with him several others, he proceeded to the royal court, saying that he had come to receive wages for himself and his men; nor did he suffer a refusal. When, however, a war ^C broke out between the Germans and the Pannonians, he performed great military deeds, always being present; wherever his services were required, he would approach immediately and fight most bravely. Later, with many others having gathered to him, he appeared illustrious everywhere. Wherefore the principality of the region of Ardelia was decreed to him by the council of the Pannonians; and when he was governing this region, he destroyed Sabatines and the eunuch, the general of the king, and routed them, announcing a most glorious victory; from which the affairs of the Pannonians returned to their former state. From the time that the Turks, under the auspices and leadership of Bajazet, had turned King Sigismund to flight, the Turks had ^D not ceased making incursions into Pannonia, and had led away a great many captives from there, with whom they filled Asia and Europe with Pannonian slaves. But when Jangus arrived in the region of Ardelia, and was declared prince by the common council of the Pannonians, he forced Sabatines and the Turks to turn their backs. Hence, with spirits revived, the Pannonians, having performed glorious deeds, defeated the Turks everywhere. For, having crossed the Ister often, they killed many Turks with a few; they, before it came to close combat, not being able to withstand the onset of the Pannonians, entered upon headlong flight. At that time, Jangus was promoted to the greatest power. Then, having been created dux by the unanimous consent of the entire council of the Pannonians,

the Pannonians, having entered into disputes with the Germans, waged war against them for the following reason, having arrived at mutual disagreement. After this, they also waged war for a long time against the Czechs, who are called Bohemians, causing great evils to one another. ^A And so, on account of this disagreement of theirs, they turned against the Poles. And having brought in the king’s brother’s son, they established him as king over themselves. And having used the Poles as allies, together with the Germans and Bohemians, they pressed upon them harshly, and laid waste the land; and they engaged the cities of theirs, burning not a few; and truly, having stood in battle order, they fought. And at one time the Pannonians would prevail, and at another they were defeated, and having recovered themselves for a little while again, they would fight once more. For these tribes engage in battle with great endurance, sparing no one; but attacking with spears, and with long-range weapons, and with iron crossbows, and fighting with other missiles, they also grapple with one another. When they fall into flight, it no longer happens for them that their flight is past remedy. But if anyone surrenders himself, and confesses that he has been defeated, the victor lets him go unharmed, on the condition that he does not fight against him in the future, when the armies gather to one another for battle. In this way, then, they conduct themselves toward one another during battles; so that when the forces turn to flight, not a large part of them is destroyed as a result. The Pannonians themselves, however, ^B having invaded Dacia, with Choniates leading them, established Danus as leader over them, and ordered them to obey him. This man, then, upon the expulsion of their leader Dracules, who had fled to the king’s gates, took possession of the land of Dacia, and proceeded to destroy those close to and kin to the leader Dracules, wherever he learned that one of them remained alive. These leaders are said to have been born as illegitimate sons of Myrza; and some of these, when they were thought to be sons of Myrza, were raised to the leadership of Dacia by those of the region who were most powerful in lineage and wealth, as if it would be very advantageous to the Dacians if such men were presiding over that region and holding the top position of affairs. Upon questioning one or two of these, I learned both their lineage and their fathers; but I will not make their names known to the many. ^C Danus, therefore, at that time was brought in by the Pannonians to the rule of the Pannonians, and held the land, and continued to propitiate the Pannonians from that time forward. And as the king’s governors stationed near the Ister continued to press upon him as they crossed through the land—working secretly—he sent ambassadors to the king, and asking for peace, he worked to ensure that he might be able to bring it about by being required to provide three thousand arrows and four thousand shields per year, and he made a truce. And thus, having reached a stable condition for himself, he led

^A his affairs in the beginning in this manner. Moreover, he sent an envoy to the prince of Dacia and to the prince of the Black Podania, and he made peace with him; and having contracted an affinity with him, he assisted him in the subsequent war against Dracula. Dacia's principality having been thus reformed and instructed by the new prince, Amurates later sent triremes into the region of Colchis and the empire of Trebizond, ravaging the region of Colchis and endeavoring to plunder the city, as much as they were able, and to sail against Gothia and, wherever they might land, to pillage the country. The triremes, sailing forth, touched upon the land of Colchis. And arriving at the Goths, they ravaged the country, having enslaved no small number. But as the fleet was returning, a violent storm arose, and a north wind striking them, it drove them to Asia toward Heraclea Pontica. And some of the triremes, being carried there, were destroyed, and they found themselves in such a disaster. ^B However, he had friendship with the Genoese throughout, and peace. But at that time, being agitated by sedition, the Genoese almost ruined their own affairs, when the seditious admitted Philip, the leader of the Ligurians, and entrusted the city to him, most readily following wherever he might lead them. This happened to them, as the people also chose this leader because of the implacable hatred they bore toward the Venetians. For they knew that the Duke of Milan was very hostile to the Venetians and was waging war against them most fiercely.

The city of Genoa is situated at the extremity of Italy, where it faces Gaul; it touches the Tyrrhenian [region] toward the east, and it faces the Tyrrhenian Sea, where the situation of the city extends toward the east. To the west, once one has departed from the region of the Genoese, one enters Provence, which is Gaul, and its inhabitants live under the king of the Gauls. ^C Wherefore it is called the gate or door of Italy, as if one were to enter Italy from there. The republic of Genoa is administered in such a way that it does not incline entirely toward democracy, nor toward aristocracy. But this republic partakes of both, inclining partly toward democracy and partly toward aristocracy, especially in those matters which seem to pertain to the election of a leader. For there are two families in that city which have governed it from ancient times and hold the principate in it, such that the loyalties of the people are balanced between them as if on an equal scale; one is named Doria ^D or Auria, and the other Spinula. Since the loyalties of the people are divided among these families, it usually happens that a part chooses the Doria, and a part chooses the Spinula. These, therefore, ruling the people, do not dare to appoint leaders from their own body, nor does the people permit it. But there exist other two families, which are considered to be of the body of the people:

^A one of these families is inclined and suited to the party of the nobles, and the other to the opposite side. One of these is called the Adorni, and the other the Fregosi. It is considered that from these houses—whichever side of the nobles prevails—the leader is to be appointed for the city. Now the house of the Adorni has become friendly to the Spinola family; while the house of the Fregosi is suited to the Doria family, and is established by it in the government. To this leader, when he has been established in the leadership, it is permitted by the laws, after taking counsel with certain of the nobles, to act in whatever way he deems most advantageous. It is considered that these men manage the revenues of the city and dispose of them as they see fit; but regarding war and peace, it is considered that the people must be brought into their midst ^B to choose whatever they see fit, and once chosen, to entrust the leader to carry it out as most advantageously as possible. For the lawsuits of the city, judges are established by the prevailing family, and they render judgment according to their own party. There is an appeal of the lawsuit to the people whenever any of them does not judge according to the laws. These two families, the Doria and the Spinola, having fallen into rivalry with each other and having come to a state of discord between them, wrought great evils upon the city, establishing tyrants in the city and bringing in unlawful deeds against the city. One of these families, being inclined toward the Ligurians and Italy, chooses for itself the Italians, and even brings them in as allies—namely, the King of the Celts—against the city. Thus the city fell into various disasters ^C and into incurable evils, as the families of the city brought things upon one another and brought their own bitterest enemies against one another. Yet, whenever they fell into incurable necessity and were forced by the tyrants to act against their own customs in their governance, they would strangely, with one mind and great strength, immediately expel whoever happened to be a poor mediator in the city. For by often bringing in the King of the Celts, having entrusted the city to him, they would again expel him, agreeing with one another, so that they did not permit the tyranny to linger long among them. The people return to their liberty, making changes to their present circumstances, and, having expelled them, again establish leaders from the citizens, and they govern themselves according to the customs of their fathers. They are especially at variance with those from Tarraco, and with the Tarraconensians from of old; and they differed in war for many generations against these and their territory, and both privately and publicly, wherever they happened upon one another, they would engage in battle, so that they might destroy one another if they could. Thus, the Genoese were in a state of rivalry ^D with the Tarraconensians. They were hostile to them to a high degree, and waged war against them for many generations. They practiced public and private discord and hostile enmity, to such an extent that if one met another anywhere, they would rush to mutual slaughter. Enmities with the Tarraconensians were implacable and perpetual for the Genoese. They also used to pursue the Venetians with hatred long ago, on account of the islands of Lesbos and Chios situated in the Aegean sea, and also on account of the Ligurians.

leader, ^A whom they brought in and installed as a tyrant. And having fallen into sedition, they entrusted the management of the city to others, and made war upon the Venetians and the king of the Tarraconenses. They were filling ships for the war against the Venetians, and sailing forth, they were harming the cities in the Ionian Sea and those in the Aegean. They were doing these things to the Venetians, taking revenge for the Ligurian tyrant, Philip. And they caught Gaeta, a city in Italy, on fire, and burned its suburbs; and the fire would have spread further had it happened just as they had planned. ^B Afterward, however, as they were in conflict with the king of the Tarraconenses, named Alfonso, they fought at Gaeta—for the king’s largest ships had anchored there. And when the Genoese learned of his fleet stationed there, as though the king were preparing against them, they loaded their largest ships—as we know, those that used to arrive for trade—and having armed themselves from the city, they sailed out against the Tarraconenses. Having caught him ^C in the harbor of Gaeta, they fought a naval battle with the king's ships for a long time. The king, happening to be in the city at that time and watching the battle, was distressed and dejected because—though his own men were more numerous—they were unable to overcome the enemy's ships. Therefore, he himself boarded the ships, attempting to spur his men on to battle. So, a great battle having taken place, the ship carrying the king of the Tarraconenses was captured, and with it, the king of the Tarraconenses was taken at the same time. The ship was captured by a clerk of Doria, who was at that time the admiral of the Genoese. When they had emerged victorious from the battle and saw the king himself, they sailed for home. But when they drew near the city, before the commander could enter it, he sailed off toward the territory of the Ligurian leader, intending to deliver the captive King Alfonso to him, hoping to receive no small profit from the leader on that account. ^D Having landed in his territory, he came bringing King Alfonso as a captive to the tyrant of Liguria. There, this leader of Milan received the king with honor, and having greatly honored him, sent him back to his own realm. From that time forth, the men of Genoa, having differed with him in judgment, not long after revolted, drove out their commander, and having forced those who had fled to the city’s acropolis to submit under terms, they henceforth administered the city according to their ancestral customs; and they installed a leader of the citizens in the command, just as was the custom among them before. However, Alfonso, having been released by the Milanese leader, was well-disposed and friendly toward him.

But this King of the Tarraconians, who ruled over Valencia, Tarraco, the island of Sardinia, Corsica, and governed the opulent city of Barcelona in Iberia, first arrived in Sicily, and after that in Italy and Parthenope, and he seized the kingdom in this way: for this Naples of Italy, having formerly been transferred to the King of the Gauls, he declared himself king and ruler of this region of Italy from the house of the king. ^B The kingdom begins from the promontory of Iapygia and Messapia, and proceeding for a long way along the Ionian Gulf, encircling on the right the region called Vares, or Bari. That region is truly most regal and worthy of the name. After the Gepanum (or the Brutii, the Terra di Lavoro), it thus extends by name up to Gaeta and Minturnae, a city bordering on the Roman territory, and this is its western boundary. Towards the east it touches Gonus. As for the region facing Sicily, it has what was anciently called Greece, but now Calabria. When, therefore, the kingdom of Naples had passed over to the King of the Gauls, they set over it as king one of the king's own relatives. ^C When he arrived in Naples—Ladislaus was his name—and reigned over the land, and having become very powerful in the affairs of Italy, he waged war against the Tyrrhenian realm and against the rest of Italy, everywhere performing notable deeds. And, indeed, bringing an army against Florence, the metropolis of the Tyrrhenians, and sitting down before it, he besieged it. But as the siege was being drawn out for a long time, and the besieged had already come to the extremity of their distress, it is said that they came into a conference with the king, seeking peace, promising in the meantime that they were prompt and ready to do whatever he might command, provided at least that he gave peace to those who asked for it. ^D Overcome by their prayers, he demanded the daughter of one of the citizens, excellent in form beyond all who were then considered beautiful in that city. When he had learned that she excelled in beauty—for this city bears women who are most especially preeminent in form and maidens who are most attractive—he inquired that she, whom he heard was thus in beauty, be given to him. This king was, in other matters also, intemperate and most lascivious with women, and he was nearly insane with desire for them. Requesting that this woman be given to him, the Tyrrhenians agreed to the terms and commanded the father, after having adorned his daughter with the most beautiful attire, to surrender her to the king. They say that the father of the maiden was a notable physician, so that he easily excelled all in that skill. When, therefore, he attempted many things, and yet could not in any way protect himself from giving his daughter to the king, he mixed hemlock, which he could [make] most effective,

for in this city, indeed, of all the cities in Italy, hemlock is prepared better than in the others—and having dipped a linen cloth into the hemlock, he brought it and gave it to his daughter, [instructing her] that when the king should have intercourse with her, after the union she should wipe [his] private parts with the linen cloth as neatly as possible. She took the linen cloth, which was worthy to be seen and adorned with gold, and kept it, intending to serve the king after the union just as her father had instructed her. ^B And when they brought the woman and handed her over to the king, he, on seeing her, was struck by her beauty and, burning with love, entered into a covenant of Venus with her. The girl, doing her father’s bidding, used many flatteries and wiped the king’s private parts with the cloth. As the king was touched by it, and through the moisture was somewhat dissolved, he fell into a very sharp fever and immediately expired. They also say that the girl died, as the hemlock, diffused through the moisture, had infected her too by contact with the cloth. When the king was dead, his army dissolved and returned home, and the city was liberated from the siege. Some Italians relate that it was not the father who had given the poisoned cloth to the woman, but that the senate of the city had adorned her with the most beautiful ornament so that she might appear most beautiful to the king; and that this same senate had given the cloth, by which the king was wonderfully enticed to intercourse. But enough of this, as these things are shameful.

After the death of King Ladislaus, ^C when his wife was being greatly troubled regarding the kingdom by the Italians and the chiefs of the region were causing her many difficulties, she married René, King of Provence, a cousin of the King of the French, and handed over to him the kingdom of Neapolis. We have learned, moreover, that she was the daughter of the Duke of Taranto and Japygia, who was sprung from the family of the Orsini, or (to speak in Greek) the Arctii, and who possessed very great wealth and power in the region of Parthenope. René reigned for twelve years. In the meantime, Alfonso, born of the family of the Medici [Medina], King of the Tarraconenses, of Sardinia, and of Valencia, was equipping a very large fleet. Equipped with this, as the Sicilian oarsmen were providing stout service, he was carried to Sicily, which he subdued and subsequently ruled by imperial right. Departing from there, he occupied the inland citadel of Parthenope. For the city of Parthenope had two maritime citadels and one inland. Leading his forces, therefore, ^D Alfonso besieged that city, and moving all kinds of siege engines against the wall, he attempted to bring it under his own jurisdiction. Thereupon Alfonso’s brother, by a cannon ball...

^A struck, fell. Not long after, having overcome it, he took and held the city. After these things he besieged the acropolis, both the maritime and the inland one. Having overcome the inland one, he reduced it by famine; the maritime one, because the guards surrendered to him, he took; and he installed a garrison. But the king's wife was being besieged in the acropolis which is by the harbor of the city. And her husband escaped by stealth, being driven out, and sailed away to Provence, so that he might bring an army as quickly as possible, and avenge his wife. In the kingdom, having sent for Fortia ^B the prince of the March, and he continued both warring in Italy, and also making truces. The Genoese [came] to the city, and attempted to disembark. And as they were not capable, because he had great power in the conduct of war, he drove Alfonso from the city; having cast him out, she occupies the city, with Fortia’s assistance to her. But when matters turned out in her favor, she besieged the acropolis that is upon the mountain inland; and as she could not take it by sitting before it, she besieged it by famine. But after these things, no long time having elapsed, while Fortia was spending time in Italy and having his own wars about him, the King of Tarragona, ^C Alfonso, having set out from Sicily, first brought Calabria under his sway, and after this, having collected an army, he marched a second time, and took the city. And the queen of Rainerius escaped from the acropolis to her son, the prince of Taranto and Iapygia. For she had married the prince of Iapygia after the death of Lantislaus, from whom she had children—this prince of Iapygia. But when Alfonso took the city, and the region called Gepanum ^D, he fought against the prince of Iapygia, the son of Queen Maria, and advancing, he kept subduing the region. But as time went on, the prince of Iapygia sent ambassadors to him, and requested that he make a truce with him. By which he also made a marriage alliance; for the king arranged for his own illegitimate son, Infernandus, to marry the cousin of the prince of Iapygia, the daughter of the prince who had ruled Venosa; and having made truces, upon the condition that they would be guests and subjects to King Alfonso, he sent for him to Naples. Whither having arrived, he was struck with fear lest he be seized by the king. And because of this fear, he was thought to have suffered problems of the mind. Thus Alfonso arrived in Italy from Tarragona into the kingdom of Sicily and Parthenope. Having arrived in Italy, he stayed there, at one time warring and making treaties with the Tyrrhenians, at another with the Venetians. King Rainerius approached the city with a great fleet of the Genoese. But when the soldiers attempted to invade the city from the ships, and their attempts did not succeed, they returned home with their object unattained.

^A Alphonsus committed the region of the Ligurians and Tarraconensis to his brother, who had become king of the Navarrese. For the inhabitants of the Navarre region, seeking him out from Tarraco because he had married the king’s daughter, established him as their king according to the custom of their country. For in the case of the greater number of the western peoples, while they do indeed pay tribute, yet it is not permitted for anyone to appoint princes or impose a garrison upon their cities; rather, the natives create their own magistrates and defend the region with their own guards, not with external ones. Nor is it permitted for the king to compel them to administer their public affairs in any way contrary to the custom of their fatherland. At that time, then, when they had chosen the brother of Alphonsus as king of the Navarre citizens and he had an offspring by his wife, who was reared and had reached his twelfth year, the inhabitants of the region took this child and dismissed the king, saying that it was no longer permitted for him to manage the kingdom since he had a son; rather, the administration of the kingdom now belonged to the son. These things happened not long after. When Alphonsus had arrived in Italy, he left his brother to administer his region. This region takes its beginning from the territory of Valencia. ^B And Valencia is a great and wealthy city; the king of Valencia holds it as the seat of his kingdom. This city is situated opposite the island of Sardinia, at a distance of about seven hundred stades from the passage of the Pillars of Hercules. Following this is the region called Tarraconensis, which reaches as far as Barcino. The region of Tarraco is adjacent to this, and it extends as far as Barcino towards the Province of Gaul. But it is necessary for us to describe the boundaries of the region. Towards the east, it would be bounded by the Gaul of Provence; towards the west, by Iberia or Hispania; and towards the north, by the region of Navarre. Barcino is a city towards the west that excels in wealth and power. It is administered mostly through an aristocracy, and it is permitted by the king of the Tarraconians to live under its own laws. Opposite this city lies Cyrnus (which is also called Corsica), an island wealthy and populous; its circuit comprises two thousand stades. ^C And not far away is another island which is called Majorica (or rather Minorica), which is itself also subject to the king of the Tarraconians and receives its prince from the same. Sardinia, which is the largest island and contains a circuit of five thousand stades, also obeys the king of the Tarraconians and remains under his rule. There are two wealthy and flourishing cities in this island, Orestilia and Sagera; one of which is situated towards the east, and the other towards the south of the island. The fishermen of this island derive much profit from that sea, and from there it reaches to the other world. Iberia, where it takes its beginning from Gal-

-^Aatia, continues on to the land of the Celtiberians, and then the region of Gascony, which remains under the rule of the king of the Gauls. Next to this, toward the east, the region of the Biscayans takes over, extending as far as Iberia. Iberia itself, being the greatest of the regions toward the west, after Gaul, stretches out to the Ocean in the west; toward the east it has Navarre and Gaul; toward the south it expands into Portugal, which is a maritime region and extends along the Ocean for a great distance, as well as reaching the country of the Moors of Granada. Within this region the sepulcher of James is visited. From here the region of Portugal enters Spain, extending to the sea which lies within the strait, by which one arrives at the region of Granada. Since the region of Iberia is most great and wealthy, it possesses royal cities, among which are the one called Dibitina—a great and populous city—as well as Cordova, Murcia, and that which is called Leon, and Salamanca. Also the sacred shrine of James is in this region, near the Ocean and the outer sea. The land of the king of the Iberians also stretches toward the inner sea. Portugal is situated near the strait, beginning from Granada and extending both to the strait and the outer sea, reaching as far as Iberia. The region of Granada, being inland and extending toward Iberia and Gaul, does not make much use of the inner sea or the Ocean. The king of the Iberians, however, has the greatest power amongst these regions; and being of the family of the Almenii ^B of Gaul, he does not cease to wage war, ravaging and plundering the region of Granada, which belongs to the Moors. The king of the Moors of Granada pays tribute to the king of the Iberians whenever peace is established. But often he attacks, besieges the city, and plunders his territory. It is a mountainous region, owing to the mountain range which begins at the inner sea and stretches out to the Ocean and to the region of Portugal. These kings, having quarreled with one another, have fought many wars, and at times have combined their forces to turn the weight of war against the barbarian; and among other things, Alphonsus, king of the Tarraconians, also provoked in war this king of the Iberians, before he came into Italy. The cause of his war is assigned as follows: he himself was captured by the general of the king of the Iberians, whose name was Albarus. Both men also received ^C wounds. And so, having gathered an army and taken along his brother, the king of Navarre, he campaigned against the king of Iberia, and invaded Iberia, urged on by certain of those in that land who were distinguished because of their hatred and animosity toward Albarus. For this man, being a private citizen from Tarragona, and having originated from very humble beginnings, and having in the end been ennobled by virtue and esteemed by all for his merit, was appointed general over his own region. And...

having been established in the generalship, he was everywhere held in great repute. Then, indeed, when he was sent by the king of the Iberians with the army against Alfonso, he met him in the region as if to oppose him. ^A But when Alfonso, coming on and having taken his brother along, had arrived in Iberia and was pressing forward, Albaro met him there, encamped, and sent a herald to urge him, if he were wise, to leave the region as quickly as possible. And when he answered that he had not come to lead his father's donkeys to pasture, but was present to wage battle with him, he drew up his forces for battle, and joining combat, he fought against both brothers. A fierce battle having taken place, as soon as those around Albaro forced the Tarraconenses to turn their backs, they pursued them with all their might, and they captured both brothers, and many of the Tarraconenses were struck down in the pursuit. But when both kings were brought to the king of the Iberians, he did them no harm, but having received oaths and pledges that they would not henceforth attempt any new uprising in his region, he allowed them to depart unharmed. ^B After this, Alfonso, as I have previously shown, arrived in Italy and Sicily; and having captured the kingdom of Naples, he waged war against the Genoese; where, indeed, he was captured by them, as I have set forth in the preceding account. And having been led before the duke of Milan, he was again released. However, having left his wife in Tarragona, he did not return again to see her for many years. Remaining there, he spent much time in love affairs, living his life in love and warfare. How his affairs in Italy turned out for him will be told later by me as the narrative proceeds.

For the king of Iberia, of whom I spoke above, a war was joined against the king of the Libyans in Granada. These [Libyans], having crossed over from Libya in ancient times and occupied Marelia, a coastal city of Europe—which was distant from Libya by about two hundred and fifty stadia—and sallying forth from there, subjected Iberia to themselves, and having performed brilliant deeds, increased their power greatly toward the Celtic country, and advanced upon Tarragona and Valencia. ^C Against these, indeed, the kings of the Iberians coming down from the Celts took up the war against these Libyans, and drove them back into a fortified city. After this, they besieged them, and to this day they continue to do so; they attack the city and lead an army against it. And in fact the king of the Iberians, lord John, as I previously indicated, set out against them, with general Albaro sent on ahead, who was urging the king to destroy the ^D Libyans.

^A And when the Libyans were severely besieged, and driven to the extremity of famine, they fell into despair, and devised the following plan. They loaded twelve mules with burdens of dried figs. Loaded with these figs, they were led to the enemy’s camp. Having split open each one of the figs, they inserted a single gold coin, and then put them back together. One gold coin of the Iberians is worth two Venetian gold coins. ^B Having prepared the figs in this way and loaded them upon the mules, they led them to the tent of Albaro. When he saw the gold that was hidden in the figs, he asked the muleteers: "What is the meaning of this gold enclosed in the figs?" The muleteer replied: "The king has collected all the gold that is in the city, saying: 'Whether you take the city or do not take it, you will never find more gold than what has been brought here. And if you should take the city and destroy it, you will lose a great deal of gold that might have been brought to you and us from Libya; but if you do not destroy the city, you will be able in the future to acquire whatever has come to us from Libya, as if collecting a treasure here.'" ^C When Albaro had heard this, it is said that he took the figs that were brought and arrived in the presence of the king, and having split open the figs, he said to the king: "O king, that tree which bears such fruit for us is not rightly to be cut down by us; for with such fruit we would no longer be able to make use in the future, and we would not make proper use of our good fortune, if we were to consume it all completely at the present time. You see how vinedressers prune their vines—they cut away only the useless and superfluous [growths], so that they may eventually yield more abundant fruit; but if one were to tear them up by the roots, they could no longer be revived when there was need of their fruit." Upon hearing this, the king—because Albaro seemed to be saying what was reasonable—ordered him to lead away the army. ^D To him, when he had married the daughter of the king of Portugal, a son was born named Ciricus, a man most skilled in military affairs. He contracted a marriage with the daughter of the king of Granada, whom, because he was unable to have relations with her, he divorced and sent away. He took as his second wife a cousin of the king of Portugal, who in beauty of form excelled all women who lived in those regions. He attached her to himself upon the advice of powerful men, who counseled that if he were to take another wife, he would be able to have relations with her, as marriage requires. He forced the daughter of the king of Navarre to assume the habit of the Nazaræans, that is, of the nuns, and he assigned her wealth for that way of life. The king of Portugal is descended from the family of the kings of Gaul. Now I surmise that the kings of the Gauls, warring against the Pœni in former times, conquered this region and transmitted it to their descendants. And so the kingdom of Navarre is believed to belong to the family of the kings of Gaul, and it is not permitted for anyone to take up that kingdom unless he is born of that family. For the emperor Charles, and those who...

He ordered Omar to take an army of about twenty thousand and overrun the Venetian territory. Omar, taking the force, arrived at the regions around Methoni, and having reduced a small town, he led the people away and handed them over to the governor. When these people, numbering in all about five hundred, were brought to the Sultan, they were all put to death, being cut in two. It is said that in Byzantium, the bodies were lying there in the place where, by the Sultan’s order, they had been divided and had fallen. An ox, having come out of the stable in that place in the morning and wandered over to the bodies, let out a mournful cry, took the half of one of the bodies, and carried it outside the mass of bodies; then, returning and finding the other half, it carried it out and placed both halves together. When those in that area raised a great clamor, Sultan Mehmed heard about the ox, and upon learning that the story was true, he tried on the following day to take the halves of the body away from the place and deposit them back with the rest of the bodies, placing the halves separately. Then, the ox again going out, and not finding the halves where it had placed them, bellowed, again ran to the bodies, sought out the pieces of that body, and placed them aside, away from the others. Seeing this, the Sultan was amazed and ordered the halves to be picked up and buried, and the ox to be brought to the palace and well cared for. It is said that the body belonged to the Illyrians, while the others were Venetians. It is believed that this act portended something regarding the lineage of that body, and foretold the good fortune that would come to that race.

We heard that this happened in Byzantium. The commander of the Porte—since the time did not seem right to him to assault the cities—left Omar in Sparta, along with Asanes, so that they might send proposals to the Spartans. Having returned to their own lands—notably from Tainaron, Epidauros, and other places—they planned that, if they immediately learned that the Venetians had abandoned the Isthmus, the governor’s men would attack and defend themselves. These men, having arrived in Sparta, offered proposals to the Spartans, and having persuaded some who were remaining in the strongholds there, they settled them back in the city. Asanes also sent messages to those in Tainaron and Laconia, saying: "Spartan men, you see, of course, how the affairs of the Venetians have been brought low, ever since they undertook war against the Sultan here, in order to display a great portion of their power most significantly in the Peloponnese; how his affairs concerning the Isthmus and other parts of the Peloponnese ended, where the Sultan’s power has been moved out of the way, and the power of the Venetians themselves has been gathered to the greatest degree. For if they were not able to withstand the Sultan’s servant when he attacked them, what would happen if the Sultan himself, with his Porte, were to invade the Peloponnese? It is clear that there would be no ground left for them in the Peloponnese that would not be laid waste and perish at the hands of the Sultan. For now, as he arrived at Thermopylae, he learned that the Venetians had abandoned the Isthmus and departed, intending to sail for Euboea as soon as spring appeared, intending to bring all these things under their own control."

the kings have passed away, and that region is considered to have been subjected to the house of the kings of Galatia, and that it is not permitted for anyone else to enter into this kingdom. For even Charles the Emperor, and the kings after him, appear to have subdued this land and left it to those who would come from their house. However, they brought in the brother of Alphonso on this condition: that since he had married a woman of the house of Galatia, if a child were born to him, he should no longer remain in the land, but having left the child to them as king, depart and withdraw himself. But if no child were born to him, after his death he was to yield the sovereignty to the ruler of Galatia. And he, having accepted these terms, entered into the kingdom of Navarre upon this understanding. And when a child was born to him, they sent him away and declared the child king over them, seeing that he was, from his mother's side, of the house of the kings of Galatia. Let these things, then, be recorded by me as much as pertains to the proof of the whole subject of this history; but I shall return to where I made the digression, having proceeded thus far.

LAONICUS CHALCOCONDYLA OF ATHENS, PROOF OF HISTORIES, BOOK SIX. LAONICI CHALCOCONDYLAE ATHENIENSIS HISTORIARUM DE ORIGINE AC REBUS GESTIS TURCORUM LIBER SEXTUS.

The Council of Ferrara, at which John Palaeologus was present. The beginnings of Wladislas of Hungary and Nerio, Duke of Athens.

§ 149 Amurates, son of Mechmet, after the expedition which he had undertaken against Caramanus, made war upon the Dacians, wishing to restore the son of Dracules to his principality. And as he was already advancing from the royal palace, fully prepared, he learned that the Caramanian, desiring novelties regarding his rule, was plotting a revolt, and was taking as an associate the ruler of Candelorus, and other princes of Asia; and when...

Marquardi Freheri in Laonici Chalcocondylæ descriptionem Germaniæ commentarius

^A if they should not be persuaded of this, he himself would also watch over it together with the Venetians, sending them word that they were erring. Some were persuaded and, secretly returning from the Venetians, remained in their own places; but others, being kept under severe pressure at Tænarum, sent messengers to inquire what might be expected from the Pannonians. For the Venetians ceased not to encourage the Peloponnesians and the others, saying that as soon as the Pannonians had advanced from the Ister, they themselves would sail back into the Hellespont. However, when the king's governor had departed, the triremes of the Venetians sailed up to Lemnos, at the instigation of that Comnenus, an excellent man, who himself held the acropolis in Lemnos and had brought the ancient town of Lemnos under his own sway. When the leading men of Lemnos came to talk of purchasing the place with money, the Venetians were earlier in seizing the acropolis, and they sent this man, having proven himself good, to the Isthmus. Upon his advice, therefore, the Venetians sailed up to Lemnos, and he himself, having pressed on with an army from the mainland, caused everyone to depart from the city. And as they sailed up, they took the city of Cerceda. And they released the magistrates, the Zamplacones, having left behind a garrison, and having provisioned both themselves and the cities in the Peloponnese, they went on their way to the Peloponnese. These things indeed occurred in the Peloponnese during this winter.

Marquardi Freheri in Laonici Chalcocondylæ descriptionem Germaniæ commentarius

This passage of Laonicus the Athenian, as it notably pertains to the honor of the German people, is so filled with so many and such remarkable errors—not so much by copyists (whose faults we have endeavored to remedy as much as possible by the collation of three Palatine manuscript codices), as by the writer himself—a man not only a stranger in our Germany, but speaking of completely unknown matters, which he had received I know not whence by mere hearsay—that I much doubted whether I should admit him into this collection, though I sought and described him anxiously, much less spend any effort in explaining him with scholia. But however much he himself might not seem of such worth, the fatherland of Germany seemed of such value that we ought not defraud it of this commendation, however exotic the man may be: in which, whatever is true, of necessity it proceeded from the most common reputation of matters that are more than well-known (as the common saying goes) and discovered throughout the whole world. In which genre, had I been writing scholia, it would not have been difficult to heap up more, had I not thought it more excellent to maintain moderation. Furthermore, that the foot has stumbled in these rough places here and there is no wonder, especially having been deprived of that guide who alone could have extricated things from there: I mean our Leunclavius, the most expert of these writers; and who, to that extent, had transcribed that entire Laonicus with his own hand with diligent care while he was staying here. At what a price (alas!) would I redeem even one little hour having conferred with him on this passage! But to the matter at hand.

he hoped that the Pannonians would shortly be present with a great army to support him, he summoned the remainder of the tyrants of Asia to revolt. Amurates, the son of Mechmet, having marched out against the latter, began a campaign, and commanded Turachanes, the prefect of Thessaly, to march against the Isthmus of the Peloponnese, to destroy the Isthmus, and to fall upon the land of the Peloponnese, as much of it as happened to be under the rulers of the Greeks, and to drive them ^A out. He, therefore, taking the army of Thessaly and the region of the lake of Peraibia, arrived at the Isthmus; and finding it deserted, he destroyed it and, making an inroad into the Peloponnese, he ravaged the land itself. And arriving at Sparta, he overran and drove out those in Laconia. The King, having crossed into Asia, marched a second time against the Caramanian, and was ravaging and subduing his land. While these things were happening, George, the ruler of the Triballians, having come to speech with Jango ^B and the King of the Paeonians, and exhorting each of the nobles of Paeonia, urged them to campaign against Amurates, and promised to provide sufficient funds for this expedition to the Paeonians, which he indeed brought in to him. These things were furthered for him by Jango, who was friendly to the Greeks, as he happened also to be a friend to him. John, moreover, the King of Byzantium, was at war with the Januenses, having fallen out for the following reason, on account of the customs duties of Galata. There, the Januenses, having filled ^C the largest ships they had, and thirteen triremes, and having embarked about eight thousand of their hoplites, were sailing against Byzantium, wishing to capture it. And they were also campaigning against the Scythians who were around the Bosporus. For the Scythians were feuding with the people in their city, called Cafa, on the Bosporus, and were raiding and plundering. Because of which, having sent envoys to the King of the Scythians of that region, Atzikarenes, in order to come to an agreement regarding their differences—as nothing of what was required was coming about for them—they surrendered the city to the Italians, as the Januenses felt it to be a terrible ^D thing that the Scythians should harm their city beyond remedy. It happened that at the same time their discord with the Greeks was also occurring. They were preparing to campaign against both, as though to capture them. Having arrived at Byzantium, and having declared war upon the city of Constantine, they sailed on into the Euxine Sea and reached Cafa. There, then, having disembarked from the ships onto the Chersonese, they set off immediately to join battle with the Scythians. As they were exiting from the city, they advanced. There, the Scythians, as they saw the Januenses so

Vienna, for those traveling toward Tartessus (that is, the Rhine) and its mouths, certainly one must cross Prague of the Bohemians. However, Laonicus here, contrary to the custom of all other authors, makes the length of Germany from south to north, extending from Vienna in Austria as far as the German Ocean; and the breadth, from the extreme coast of Gaul into Denmark along the shores of the German Sea, from west to east. For (to mention this in passing), where the two codices have, the one indeed *Aaxian*, the other truly *Aisian*, the third has more correctly *Dania* (Denmark). ^A

Col. 77 A. *“Arept subzonon”* (Swift of foot). Not to the men of our time, or certainly scarcely so. Doubtless the ancients, especially the Greeks, Asiatics, and Orientals, excelled in the agility and swiftness of their feet. Concerning whose runners even the things that are read today almost surpass our belief. See Lipsius, Century 3, Epistle 59. ^B

Ibid. *“Eunomeitai he chora haute malista”* (This country is governed most excellently). He repeats this shortly below: *Eunomeitai malista de ethnon hon hemeis ismen* (governed most excellently of the peoples we know). Aeneas Sylvius in *Germany*, chapter 68: "We have seen your judgments; and we have often taken part in your councils regarding affairs of state. You administer all things both prudently and gravely, and you do not easily turn aside from the straight path. Nor are you lacking in civil laws, nor in pontifical rights; letters, too, and all studies of the liberal arts flourish among you." Yet formerly, there was no matter in which Germany had less praise than in its laws. For the laws of our ancestors that remain, which are plainly to be reckoned among the primary monuments of Germanic antiquity—the Alemannic, Bavarian, Saxon, Frankish, and others—besides the fact that they are harsh in their wording, they also in their very substance deviate farther from that highest equity: as though they had proceeded from warlike nations, which had been accustomed to prefer joining hand with sword rather than with law, and to expend their labor in camp-fortifications rather than in the subtle investigation of law, and (to use an Ennian word) were "War-potent" rather than "Wisdom-potent." Although for this negligence of laws, another and indeed greater praise succeeded them, because (as Tacitus says) good customs were more effective among them than the laws themselves were among others. Until at length, with the Roman orb subdued to the setting sun, they thought that laws, along with the empire, should be received as its instrument, and used as a bridle to rule those provinces. ^C Hence we see many of the laws of the Goths first, then of the Lombards, and finally of the Franks, translated from Roman ones: which the volume of the Carolingian laws in particular speaks to sufficiently, nor can the Saxon law itself hide it. However, throughout many centuries, Germany did not acknowledge, nor indeed have or see, the entirety of Justinian’s legislation: just as other Western provinces did not, as we have demonstrated elsewhere. The story is that Lothair the Saxon, having discovered the Pandects in the city of Amalfi in Apulia, was the first emperor to recall that law to light and use, at the urging of Irnerius, whom the Urspergensis mentions, and who was himself noted by Sigonius in book XIV, *On the Kingdom of Italy*. Concerning which we have also written more extensively elsewhere.

Ibid. *“Nobergon, Ampergon.”* The names of cities treated miserably, as they are naturally quite difficult for Greek men to say and write. A similar passage comes to mind from Benjamin of Tudela in his *Itinerary*, in the part where he touches upon Germany, which he notes was formerly called Aschenaz among his own people, concerning which see Drusius, 1 *Animadversiones*, chapter 41. "These," he says, "are the regions in Germany where there are colleges of Israelites, near the river Moselle and Komphilinai (he means Confluencia/Koblenz), and Odrancah, and Kuna, and Kotania, and Binga, and Garmezza (I think Germersheim), and Mastheram." And a little later: "There are besides Astranburk (perhaps Strasbourg) and Davirasburk (which M. Velserus, in book VI of his *Rerum Vindelicorum*, most happily explains regarding our Augusta Vindelicorum, as its outstanding pillar and glory), and Mandawah, and Pessinghes, and Bamburk, and Sar, and Rasenburk, which is also the end of the kingdom." From there, however, is the region of the other, Bohemia, which is now called Praga, and is the beginning of the land of Slavonia. Perhaps the names of peoples and cities have also been changed at some time. Who now knows those peoples of Germany whom Pope Gregory III enumerates in a certain epistle: "To all the nobles and the people of the provinces of Germany, the Thuringians, and the Thesis, and the Borthaci, and the Nistresi, the Unedredi, and the Lognais, the Sudnodi, and the Grasselti, or all those settled in the Eastern region." I no longer marvel at the nausea of the panegyrist, trembling even at our names: "Why should I mention," says Nazarius, "the Bracteri? Why the Chamavi, why the Cherusci, the Vangiones, the Alamanni, the Tubantes?" The names thunder with war, and a horror of barbarity finds its way into the very words. ^D

Ibid. *“Polis eudaimon”* (A blessed/prosperous city). Diodorus writes that certain villages in Hyrcania are called *Eudaimonas* (blessed) on account of the marvelous abundance of figs and other fruits. *Eudaimones chorai* (blessed lands) appear in Appian in his *Parthica*. *Eudaimones* (blessed/fortunate) islands near Arabia Felix are mentioned by Agatharchides. But the Romans also had "Felicem Juliam," "Felicitatem Juliam," colonies, lakes, and "felices" (fortunate) legions. Laonicus gave this epithet of "blessed" to Nuremberg, and to it alone. Hence one can estimate what the celebrity and splendor of the city must have been at that time: which, however, was later increased and amplified in many ways. Closer to our own age, Aeneas Sylvius, Cardinal of Siena, writing to Martin Mayer, J.C., not sparingly explains that "blessedness" to us with praise: "We cannot pass over," he says, "the town of the Noricans, intersected by the river Regnisia (it should be called Pegneso, for it is now given to the Franconians). Tell us, we ask (for you took a wife from here, as chaste as she is beautiful), what is the aspect of this city? what is its splendor, what its amenity, what its delights, what its culture? what is its form of government? what could anyone desire there for a city to be perfect in every respect? Who, to those arriving from Franconia-

^A arranged in no order and paying no attention to any of them, turned their course the day before toward a certain river, and in that place in the countryside they were lodging. Nor had they established any guards for the camp, thinking that the Scythians would never reach such a pitch of daring as to wish to risk an engagement. There, as the first of their army did not wait for the rear-guards, so that the army might form in a front, but proceeded into the depths, making their way step by step, they led them against the enemies. The Scythians, therefore, pressed upon their first ranks there, as if fighting against these; they turned them at once by attacking, and pursued them as fast as each man’s feet could carry him. There they fell upon their own men, and turned these also to flight, and thus they reached the rear-guards. Having turned the whole army to flight, they were killing them, sparing no one, and taking everything they could by descending upon them, until they were saved into the city, so as not to be destroyed.

Having thus been freed from the war against the Scythians, the nomads in the Bosporus, they sailed toward Byzantium, reaching the city of Galatia, which is situated opposite Byzantium in Europe. And after deliberating in common about how they might capture the city by fighting, they filled the ships, and having armed themselves against the harbor of Byzantium, they brought the ships to the wall, as if they were going to capture the city from the ships. The Byzantines, for their part, prepared to defend themselves, and from the wall fought against the Januenses in a worthy manner. And as they attacked the wall from the ships, and tried to take it, they were unable to ascend the wall, as the Greeks were defending it with might. ^B There, as nothing went well for them, they dispersed and sailed back to Italy.

However, the city of the Januenses, Galatia, carried on a war for a long time with Byzantium, and both the Greeks and those from Galatia hurled cannonballs at one another. At that time, Leontares Joannes, having lunged fiercely at the walls of Galatia, shut it in and, having deprived it of all food and other necessities, and having successfully and bravely broken into many of their ships, he captured them. He brought these bound to King Joannes, who was at that time staying in the residence of Xylla. The captives were three hundred in number, whom he had seized at the rampart of Galatia. After these things, sending ambassadors to and fro concerning the vineyards outside of Galatia, and concerning their trade, so that the king might agree, the Januenses consented, favoring the king even more with one thousand gold pieces on account of the royal tower, which they had shattered with cannonballs during the time of the siege, ^C as well as the workshops in the middle,

- and from each of the two languages, the letter should match. But I have also sent friends into council. Another, instead of *Boemes* or *Boemias*, would prefer *Boemys*, whom I do not know if Laonicus would have wished to attribute to Germanic; others *Belyes* or *Beylag*, the Germanic name Fleming not sounding unlike this *Bleny*, if that were equally appropriate, as having come from the upper Germany. I, for my part, deposit this vexed passage, which men used to do for those in desperate straits, at the crossroads: and I entrust it to public piety or to its own fortune.

Col. 77 C. *This is a great race.* For all the Triones (as Sidonius speaks) poured into this place: truly the workshop of peoples. Nazarius in his *Panegyric to Constantine the Great*: ^B *Barbaria lies poured out on the side of the Gauls or in your bosom, an internally powerful nation, and second only to the Roman magnitude on earth.* A signal location, and unique for the honor of Germany, to which a Roman man might attribute a hearth second only to Rome, to which no other provincial, sycophant-like, had said anything similar, nothing second. But I fear to hold a wolf by the ears, and that this praise might be snatched from us by the Persians: to whom a Roman man would have given this eulogy not a little more readily than to the Germans, who, without a just leadership, are distracted into many peoples and are discordant among themselves. And if I am asked according to my own opinion, I do not hesitate to read with the last editor thus: *Barbaria lies poured out on the side of the Gauls in your bosom. But you, Constantine the Great, the Persians, an internally powerful nation and second only to the Roman magnitude on earth, implored your friendship no less timidly than amiably. There is no nation so fierce on earth that does not fear or love you.* In this way, the structure of the words and the sense are beautiful and consistent. But the Germans are also wont to be joined with the Parthians or Persians: both are enemies of the Roman people. *Enemies, 24. Dig. de capt. et postlim.* Themistius, *Oration V*. On coins, ^C Victoria is visited, inscribing on the shield fixed to the palm branch: *Vic. Ger.* and on others, *Vic. Par.*

Ibid. *Second in order of the Scythian Nomads.* Strabo compares the Germans with these in Book VII: *The greatest part of their food is from their herds, just as it is for the Nomads, so that imitating them, etc.*

Ibid. *And if he were of the same mind, and under one ruler.* Aeneas Sylvius in *Germania*, cap. 72: *Philosophers abhor a plurality of princes: you rejoice in it. For although you confess him to be your emperor and king and lord, he seems to rule only precariously, and no power is his. You obey him only as much as you wish, and you wish for very little. Liberty is pleasing to all in common, nor do the cities or the princes grant to the emperor what is his: he has no taxes, no treasury. Everyone wishes to be the moderator and arbiter of his own affairs. Hence frequent discords arise among you, and constant wars break out: from which emerge plunder, fire, slaughter, and a thousand kinds of evils: just as it must needs occur where many dominate.* Petrus de Andlo, Book I, ^D *of the Roman empire*, last chapter: *I speak confidently, if the imperial princes would faithfully assist the emperor, as an advocate of the Church, as they were wont to do in ancient times, every contrary power would surely seem small. Then not only Greece, but Egypt and Chaldæa would tremble, and the farthest regions of the Saracens would be terrified. For with the Roman eagle stretching out its wings from Europe, not even the griffins of Asia and Africa would be sufficiently safe.*

Col. 77 D. *The earth shakes.* Pliny writes the same concerning Gaul. Yet the *Annals* frequently note many earthquakes, but they are undoubtedly more frequent and more violent in Asia and the East, where they even overturn entire cities.

Ibid. *It is governed according to these things like the Romans.* Agathias long ago of the Franks: *And they use in most things a Roman form of government, and the same laws, and in other things likewise they observe the same in contracts, marriages, and the worship of the divine.* And to retrace the matter more deeply, Florus, Bk. IV, cap. 12: *They had accepted our customs more than our arms under the Emperor Drusus.* And truly, from the perpetual wars with the Romans, and from the embassies, treaties, and even commercial exchanges that followed, the Germans soon drew a great deal in regard to language and life. What of the fact that Roman colonies were brought to our shores, and blood was mixed through intermarriage, and captives exported to Rome, and slaves serving as soldiers among the Romans, guards to princes, made the language and life common to both peoples? Nor did the Germans begin to mingle with the natives only in the Roman provinces, but truly in Germany itself, especially around the borders, the Romans learned to become accustomed to ours. Whence in the most ancient ancestral laws, *Salica*, tit. 43, § 7: *If a Roman man who is a possessor, that is, who possesses private property in the district where he dwells, has been killed, the one who is convicted of having killed him shall be judged liable for four denarii.* If anyone kills a *Roman tributarius*, etc., and elsewhere: *If a Roman man, etc. If a Frankish man, etc.* In these very ancient laws, besides the fact that they are written in a Latin that is at least somewhat refined, one can observe many traces and lines of justice derived from the Romans. Finally, when the empire was overturned and plundered by the Germanic nations, the Goths, Lombards, Franks, all victors and successors of the Romans, took for themselves their customs, rites, ceremonies, formulas, and everything else. And after these, the true Germans themselves, the Suevi, I say, and the Saxons, when they heard themselves called kings and Cæsars of the Romans, affected that ancient Latial majesty and the *cothurnus* with all their study: as Ditmar writes in Book IV of the Emperor Otto III, that he, recalling the ancient customs of the Romans, which had already in large part been deleted, did many things in imitation of the ancient princes: to such an extent that he would even sit alone at a table shaped in a semicircle (which the ancients called a *Sigma*) and placed in a raised position. Nor for any other reason did he also [affect] the Latin language in

^A destroyed, so that they might possess them by image or sign of the King of the Greeks. The war between the Byzantines and the Genoese had such an outcome.

When that war had ended, John, the King of the Greeks, ordered envoys to go to the Roman pontiff named Eugenius, requesting that a council be celebrated, wherein they might decently settle the dispute of religion between both parties. He was attempting in this way to test the minds of the Westerners, to see if very many would make it possible for concord to be established with the Greeks in the religious controversy. The envoys came into Germany. At that time the Germans were gathered at the city of Basel, dissenting in their sentiments against the pontiff Eugenius: whom, rejecting him, they created as pontiff a man by the name of Felix, a man among them of primarily observed probity. Him they declared pontiff by the consent of the council. Both pontiffs therefore outfitted triremes, and they summoned John, the King of Byzantium. For each wished for the council to be conducted under himself, and for the controversy of religion which had intervened with the Greeks to be finished. When triremes had come from both, the king indeed sent away the legation of the Council of Basel with kind words and placidly, saying that he had already previously spoken with the Romans and Venetians and the rest of Italy, who all told him to set out for Rome. Therefore, taking up the priests of Byzantium and the wisest and most learned of the Greeks, he sailed into Italy. When he had come to the Venetians, setting out from there he was borne to ^C Ferrara, where he had learned that the pontiff Eugenius was tarrying. This city is distant from the Venetians by about three hundred stadia. It has dukes and princes who are of the family of the Estenses; it excels in riches and the multitude of its men. It is washed by the river Po. It is subject to the Roman pontiff. It receives the dukes or princes, whom we have just now mentioned. That man, who at that time held the sum of affairs in the city, was studious of equity and in other matters not imprudent. A calamity of this sort happened to him. He had a wife, the daughter of the Duke of Monferrato, outstanding in beauty and elegance of form. The conduct of the woman, before that had befallen her, glittered with remarkable modesty. She was raging with love for the stepson, who was the illegitimate son of the duke. Who, when he came to her later than is the custom of those who live more luxuriously in Italy, the youth among his pastimes provoked her to love. He, understanding that he was loved by the woman, himself also burned with love for the woman, and for some time had the habit of lechery with his stepmother. But a certain maidservant, as she knew of their love, reports the whole matter to her lover. He indeed was very dear to the duke, and was treated by him ^D very honorably. He therefore, when he knew of the matter

^A *Pépet t' dllà zárta*. Even metals, where Charles Martel, the Frankish mayor of the palace, [found] every kind, which Tacitus once denied existed. But more on these elsewhere. That remark by Dionysius and Solio concerning night-shining birds is worthy of laughter:

Which feeds (a wonder) birds with gleaming wings, By whose guidance the windings of the ways are seen at night.

*Ibid. ^B On the Bohemians, the Czechs.* That he makes Hungary contiguous to Bohemia stems from the fact that he includes within the Bohemians the Moravians, who, being subject to the kingdom of Bohemia, touch upon Hungary. As for his saying that the Bohemians are called Czechs, this is from their own language and that of the Poles, for whom a Bohemian is *Czech*, just as the Hungarian is called *czéh*; the *CZ* is pronounced like *Tsch* in *Tschudus*. It is said that this name is derived from Czech, the first king and founder of the nation. Just as from Lech, the first leader and author of his own [people], the Poles are called *Lechii* and *Lechitae* by the Ruthenians and other Slavs, as Alexander Guaguinus noted.

I cannot pass over the *Nemitzos* here, whom Zonaras and Glycas write were a Celtic nation and served in the military at Constantinople: *^A "They were... near a tower by the city gate which is called the Cairo gate, keeping guard, the Nemitzos (the Nemitzos are a Celtic tribe); these secretly conferred with those around the Comneni regarding the betrayal of the city."*

And immediately, *^A "from the Nemitzos"*; and again, *^A "by the Nemitzos."* The interpreter translates this as the "Gallic nation," and yet in the index he suspected "Germans," and thus the Nemetes, the inhabitants of the Rhine. But our Leunclavius noted in the margin of Glycas that the Teutons are called *Nemitzos* in the Slavonic language. And Ortelius, too, in his *Thesaurus*, deems that they should be considered *Niemeches*, that is, Germans.

*Ibid. ^B They agree with the Germans.* It is also a matter of Laonikos's own reliability that the Hungarians use the same arms and customs as the Germans.

*Ibid. ^C And as for themselves.* What he writes here, that the Hungarians are called Pannonians in their own language—I do not know if that was once true; today it certainly is not. *Nagiar* is said by the Hungarians to be the disyllable for a Hungarian; *Magiarok*, Hungarians.

*Ibid. ^D Roman High Priest.* Eugenius IV, in whose epitaph this very thing is read:

Before his sacred feet the one offered himself, the second from the East, The other from the West, each in his turn a Caesar. The one that he might receive the Latin proofs of faith, The other that he might bind his head with golden honor.

*Ibid. ^D To the kings of the Celts.* This ought by all means to be read [as pertaining] to the Franks rather than to the Celts or Gauls. Nor is this so much merit for the liberation of Spain from the Saracens (as Laonikos thinks) as it is for the defense of Italy itself and Rome. For when Luitprand, king of the Lombards, was besieging Rome, Pope Gregory III did not now flee to the customary aid of the Constantinopolitan emperor (whom he had deprived of communion and empire on account of the banished images of the time), but to the princes of the Franks holding the Gauls; at whose request Luitprand lifted the siege. Pippin, son of Martel, after his slothful master Childeric was shut away in a monastery in the year 753, took care to be elected and sent word to Zacharias, the successor of the said Gregory: who, mindful of the benefit received, soon assented and absolved all those bound by oath to Childeric (C. *Alius*, 45, q. 6). Then Charlemagne, son of Pippin, requested by Hadrian (c. *Hortatu*, 23, q. 8), defeated the king of the Lombards, Desiderius, in a distinguished war and destroyed that kingdom in the year 776. Then, many years later, invoked by Leo III, he restored him to his see: by whom, in turn, he was declared emperor, and crowned at Rome on the Lord's Day [Christmas] in the year 801.

*Col. 80 D. The vote was changed.* Laonikos received [this information] from the Latins by hearsay regarding the translation of the empire and the institution of the electors; which I do not wonder at, since Photius also puts the Donation of Constantine into his Nomocanon. However, the empire was hereditary in the line of Charlemagne for one hundred and twenty years, up to Conrad I, who, dying in the year 920, voluntarily transferred the empire to Henry the Fowler, Duke of the Saxons, with whom he was waging an unjust war. In the family of this Henry I (concerning whom is the constitution in dist. 63), the empire was hereditary up to Otto III, his great-grandson, who, lacking sons, instituted seven electors in the imperial diets of the princes, and [decreed] that the election should take place at Frankfurt, with the approval of Pope Gregory V, who was a Saxon by nation. Thus, in the year 1300, Henry, Duke of Bavaria, was the first to be elected according to that constitution, and was the second of this name. This is from C. M. in the *Additions to the Gloss* on c. *Venerabilem, De election.* and c. *1, De jurejur.*

But now (for it is pleasing to attach this slight digression to the foregoing), even if Charlemagne had been made an old and legitimate emperor, if ever one was, not only by the right of war which he had waged against the Lombards, *amunomano*, and by the will of the S.P.Q.R. and the coronation of the pontiff, but had, moreover, abundantly confirmed his right by a transaction with the Empress Irene and a division of the empire made on sure terms between them—to which the subsequent emperors Nicephorus and Basil also subscribed—and therefore the Byzantine legates had openly saluted him as *basileus*, and it was generally agreed and long observed between them that the Byzantines and our own [emperors] should call each other Augusti and indeed brothers; nevertheless, that envious and ambitious nation gradually tried to strip our Caesars of that title, and to write only themselves down as *basileis* and *autokratores Romaion* in diplomas and on coins, and to boast themselves lords of the world. And our own people, they designated only as Latins and Alemanni and Franks, and our Caesar—with a fiction no less inept than it is novel—as *riga Alamanias e Frangrias*. Whence it happened that our people, in turn, repaying like with like, would call them nothing other than kings of the Greeks and emperors of Constantinople, as we see in Helmoldus, Otto of Freising, Petrus de Vineis, and others. And who could read without indignation the Greek

^A and had learned it for himself, speaks to his master: "O master, I wish that I might rather be buried in the earth than see such lawless deeds being done in your house. For I beheld your lady consorting with your illegitimate son in intimacy, committing abominations. Take care, then, how you might be rid of this woman, so that you no longer dwell with her, and send the young man away as well." When he heard this, the duke was struck with astonishment at what had occurred. He desired to know in what manner he had learned of the event, and he himself said that he wished to see it and be an eyewitness. Thereupon, having made a small hole in the chamber ceiling from above, so that they might not be aware of the opening, he watched from above his wife consorting with his son in the bed. When he had seen and learned what was occurring, he first sent for his wife; and when she was present, he spoke as follows: "O woman, what kind of demon has driven you to such madness, that you should consort with my son, most unholy of all the women we have known, and how do you think that this is proper for me and for you in our marriage?" ^B She replied, "But, O master, I do not deny that I have committed such things in our marriage, but I confess that these things are true. I alone became the cause of this, I myself harboring most unholy deeds in my mind, having been led [to it] by a greater necessity, I know not how, arriving at this, and drawing the young man along, against his will, into that most unholy love. And I myself would justly pay the penalty. I beseech you, however, not to plot irreparable things against the young man, who is in no way the cause of this." Then, having immediately sent for the youth after this, he asked if the things he had caught him in the very act of doing were just. And as he could not deny it, being struck with terror, he turned to seeking forgiveness. ^C Following the youth was a man who was also privy to their love, and knew of it, and who continued to serve them both; he was a mimic who had also from the beginning spurred the youth on toward this love. And having summoned him, the master asked him whence he had brought himself to do so most unholy a work. He said that [the master] had taken the beloved of his son and consorted with her. Because of this, it was just that he had done such things. For the son of the master did indeed love a woman in the city, but he had not yet consorted with this woman. And when the father learned that she was most beautiful, he later forced her and consorted with her. The mimic had urged on the young man toward the love of that woman. Having learned these things, then, as each one was, he ordered them to cut off the head of the son, and after this immediately that of the woman, and later that of the mimic. ^D In such a misfortune did the ruler of the city fall, and by such a calamity.

^A lord of lords has established himself and been proclaimed king of kings, in order to envelope himself in a monarchy and be lord of the surrounding powers, imagining the Antonines and Augusti in his mind, and extending his desire toward their authority, and speaking almost like Alexander, 'all these things here and there are mine'? Is this Nicetas Choniates.

What, then, of the fact that when Emperor Frederick was seeking passage for his army (which our own Godfrey of Cologne noted under the year 1187), the Byzantine Emperor signified through his envoys that he was, after God, the lord of lords? And that if he wished to place the Roman Empire into his hands, and receive it from that place as a man, he would grant him passage through his lands and sufficient market access. As if our people did not derive the name of their principate and the succession of the Antonines and Augusti rather from old Rome than from his new Constantina (which, as Jornandes asserts in his *Getica*, did not even arise without the aid of the Goths)! And if, even leaving Rome—which ancient princes not infrequently did, preferring Milan, Trier, or Paris to Rome—they had preferred to live elsewhere, and had even ceded Rome to another for habitation, just as Emperor Zeno once did to Theodoric the Goth; should not the court and following of the Caesar, and where he holds his curia, as our writers say, and in short, where the Caesar is, be considered Rome? For so it seemed enough, that ^B Germany, after it was from that point an enemy to the auspices of the city, and having been spared by the beautiful, when Henry, the son of Frederick Barbarossa, had exercised Roman virtue—no less than Carthage—in continuous wars, and as it had always remained so insuperable to the Romans, who greedily sought the title of German, preferring it to others—a land triumphed over rather than conquered—and having fixed for them a limit of victories beyond which they could no more pass than they could the Parthian or Persian, at the flows of the Rhine and the Danube; then on the other hand, it itself, of its own accord, attacked Romania by sending in countless thousands of people like a storm; and not only did it wrest all the western provinces from the Romans, over which, as colonies led out from itself, it dominates to this day under the various names of Franks, Lombards, Goths, Angles, Burgundians, and Normans, so that all of Europe now seems to be nothing other than a certain Great Germany; but it also occupied Italy itself and the city, the mistress of the empire and its seat, with force and arms more than once; and at length it legitimately obtained the title and dignity of the empire.

So it is that the Roman Empire, which could not capture the Germans, was captured by their virtue; and those who were once enemies to the Romans are now the victors; and what was once Barbaric to the Romans, as they themselves proclaimed, an object of contempt—but in truth a source of fear—is now, by its arts and customs, the most cultivated and is the seat and citadel of the empire. But if it should also please one to examine the amplitude of the dominion of both, although that pertains not to this question (for what if the empire were to be reduced to such straits, I will not say as ^C the Roman provinces, all of which, from Epidamnus to Thessalonica, he demanded, and ordered that naval auxiliary forces be sent to the Germans fighting in Palestine, declaring present war if they did not do what was commanded—which Choniates describes at length). What of the fact that not many years later the empire itself and its royal seat, Constantinople, was occupied by the Germans under Baldwin, Count of Flanders; while the Greeks were meanwhile forced into the straits of Nicaea and Trebizond; and it was possessed by his posterity for more than fifty years? I shall not add that they were eventually stripped of their empires—Nicene, Trapezuntine, and Byzantine—by the Turks all the more quickly, and were utterly destroyed and wiped out; whereas German virtue, hitherto unconquered, not only kept its own country safe, but also served as a wall and bulwark for the other provinces of the West against the deluge of that most savage race; a fact which we recognize depends not on the display of human strength, but on divine aid alone.

Since, however, empires and kingdoms, if they are not just, are nothing but great robberies, it will be easy to judge which of these better maintained the name of a legitimate prince: whether he who, for the most part, has no just succession or election, but sometimes through magical lots and other evil arts, with an usurped tyranny, destroys a true prince (if he be even a brother) by dagger or poison, or (to speak more mildly) blinds or castrates him, or (to speak most mildly) tonsures him and thrusts him into a monastery, and thus wickedly seizes the empire, governs it worse, and, having done the worst, loses it again with a similar outcome; or

^A The King of the Greeks, when he arrived at Ferrara to see the Roman pontiff, Eugenius IV, who was staying there, having departed from the city of Rome (for he was a Venetian), was importuned by the pontiff with requests that he should assist him in the contention that had arisen between himself and the Germans. And when they had come together for a discussion, they spoke at length concerning that contention, seeking a path by which the matter might proceed more beautifully and successfully for both. Having departed from there, they arrived at Florence, the metropolis of the Tyrrhenians (or Etruria), a city great and prosperous, and the most beautiful of the cities in Italy. Tyrrhenia—which is also Etruria—begins at the city of Perugia, and keeping the wealthy city of Bologna on its right, it extends as far as Lucca. Lucca and Perugia are free cities, and they are governed by a democracy. Florence, apart from the city of the Venetians, is the most prosperous city of Italy, and its citizens are engaged in agriculture and trade. They appear to excel others in intelligence, and whatever these men undertake is performed in the best manner. The republic is administered in the following way. There is a council of five hundred men among them, who consult on the affairs of the city, rendering sentences concerning war, peace, and embassies. They also have two foreign men ^B whom the state sends for, and whom they greatly honor. One they establish as the judge of capital crimes, and the other they order to judge the remaining controversies of the city. The citizens perform the other duties of the republic. They bring in these foreign men for this purpose, so that the citizens, being swayed by favor or hatred, might not be led to judge in favor of one party or the other. They choose a leader or prince ^C of the republic, whom they call the standard-bearer; he holds the magistracy for three months, and to him are reported the revenues and tributes of the entire city. If any approach him bearing matters of war or peace, they are immediately led to the council of the five hundred. They choose magistrates from among the common people, both the commoners themselves and the heads of certain guilds. It is permitted for any foreigner to become a citizen in this city if he pays the set price; and if that council has decreed anything, they entrust the execution of it to these leaders. This form of government is ^D almost common to all the cities of Tyrrhenia; for in accordance with this are governed Perugia, Lucca, Arezzo, and Siena. Thither, then, the Greeks arrived with the hierarch, and having busied themselves for some time with the difference of religion, and where it might be better for them to reach an agreement, they finally came to the same conclusion, both sides declaring concord among themselves, according to their judgment.

ANNALS OF THE OTTOMAN SULTANS, WRITTEN BY THE TURKS IN THEIR OWN LANGUAGE, brought from Constantinople in 1551 by the study and diligence of Hieronymus Beck a Leopoldstorf, son of Marcus, and at the command of the Divine Ferdinand, Emperor, Opt. Max., translated into German by the Turkish interpreter Johannes Gaudier, called Spiegel. Johannes Leunclavius, a nobleman of Angria, illustrated the Latin translation and augmented it up to the year 1588.

PREFACE OF JOHANNES LEUNCLAVIUS TO THE NOBLE AND MAGNIFICENT D. HIERONYMUS BECK A LEOPOLDSTORF, COUNCILLOR OF THE IMPERIAL MAJESTY’S AULIC CHAMBER, REGARDING THESE ANNALS.

305 I remember hearing more than once from you, most magnificent sir, that when you had undertaken your pilgrimage and gone to Rome in the Jubilee year of 1550, and having set out from Rome for Venice, you had landed from there upon larger triremes at Tripoli in Syria; and that you had visited Aleppo, Damascus, Nazareth, the Holy Sepulcher of Christ in Jerusalem, and Mount Horeb in Arabia; and that afterward, having traveled through Egypt, you had crossed the sea from the city of Alexandria, and traveling through Attalia in Pamphylia, Cotyaeum in Phrygia, and Prusa in Bithynia, you had finally arrived at Byzantium in Thrace. And indeed at Byzantium, in the most spacious royal seat of the Turks, you had obtained with great zeal and not without expense a book written in the Turkish language, containing the deeds of the princes of the Ottoman family: which you offered as a gift to the most pious Divine Ferdinand, Roman Emperor, upon your happy return to Austria in the year of Christ 1551; humbly asking the King that, for the sake of public utility, he might order it to be translated into the Latin or German language. After that, you, overwhelmed by public offices and business, had little concern for this matter, though you did not altogether abandon it.

After no small time had elapsed, 306 when the noble man Ulricus Maschwander a Cranigsperg—who served the Divine Ferdinand in his bedchamber for many years—was celebrating the solemn wedding in Vienna of his daughter, Alphonsa de Games, who had been given in marriage: he answered you, as you inquired more diligently about that book, that he remembered the Emperor had given certain Annals to his Turkish interpreter to translate and practice upon, and that he possessed that Turkish history, written by hand in the German language. Therefore, when this was sent to you by him in the year 1586, and when you had recognized, from the proemial letter of the interpreter Johannes Gaudier (called Spiegel), that it was a translation of your book, you ordered it to be copied out immediately with great pleasure. I had returned from Constantinople to Vienna in the preceding year, and to me you not only indicated that those Annals of yours had been found, but also, not unwillingly, you shared them with me, such is your singular benevolence toward me. I read this through most gladly, and since it pleased me not a little for many reasons, at your request I transcribed them into Latin, so that, being published, they might also be of use to foreign nations. Therefore, the Turkish Annals now return to you, printed in copper-plate types, for they are owed to your study, because not only did you bring them back with you from those places, but you also rescued them, nearly buried for 37 years, back from darkness, and saved the German version—which was lurking elsewhere—from moths and bookworms. For this reason, since you were the first author to bring these books to us, and likewise the defender and preserver of that which was perishing: the Annals themselves cannot bear the name of anyone else without injustice to you. I am also confident that you, along with other sincere judges, will approve of my laborious work in polishing these. For since the most distinguished man, Hugo Blotius, J.

^A Since both sides were of the same stock and desired no innovation for themselves, they brought this forth in writing, confirming by the holy men that they would make no change regarding their religion. From that point, the high priest of the Romans, having chosen two men—the most approved among the Greeks—attached them to himself, having conciliated them as being most worthy of the honor of the highest position and as leaders of the religion. ^B For he had established these men, who were settled in the region around him—about thirty in number—as his companions and counselors, providing them with a sufficient income and a region from which they might receive funds, granting to each of them more or less according to the region and the worth of each man. ^C Having selected these two men from the Greeks, Bessarion from Trebizond, the Metropolitan of Nicaea, and Isidore, the Metropolitan of Russia, he took them as his assistants and fellow-workers in settling the dispute among the Greeks. Concerning Bessarion, I shall make mention of this fact: that he was a man gifted by nature with understanding, and even among many of the Greeks who were highly approved in these matters, he stood far apart, and in judging whatever might come to pass, he seemed to be the most capable; in his wisdom, he was second to no one among the Greeks or the Romans. ^D The Roman high priest Nicholas, who succeeded Eugenius, followed him, and he cherished him greatly. Wherefore, he put him in charge of the city of Bologna, which was wealthy, so that he might govern it. But when that city was tossed by the tempests of sedition, and the strife did not cease to contend, that divine man appeared among them. That city, in its wealth and other blessings, yielded to none of the chief cities of Italy: it is distinguished for the studious attention to literature of the cities of Italy. ^C Isidore, a prudent man and a lover of his fatherland, as is well known, was taken by the Barbarian when Byzantium was captured, though he had been a defender of his fatherland. Him, too, the high priest Eugenius deemed worthy—since he seemed to surpass those among the Greeks [in standing], and to cooperate with him towards that which he desired, the union of the Greeks with the Romans—and he requested him of the Greeks; and the high priest promised, pledging that he would care for that kingdom and the Greeks in the future, and that he would not cease to incite the Hungarians and the Germans to take up arms against the Turks, insofar as it might seem good to the Greeks and others. ^D The king, having reached these agreements with them, sets out for Byzantium. They will be read by the Greeks and the Germans, even by the Turks, so that it may be a good thing for the Greeks and for others. The high priest having undertaken this, the king is carried to the kingdom of Byzantium.

The Greeks, 156, having returned home, said that they were no longer willing to abide by the things agreed upon, but maintained the contrary, no longer wishing to conform to the Romans. However, the high priest and certain learned men whom he sent to Byzantium to the Greeks, to arrive at a discussion with the wise men of the Greeks, did not accept the agreement made with them.

PRELIMINARY EPISTLE TO HIS MAJESTY FERDINAND, KING OF THE ROMANS

Most Serene and Most Powerful King, Most Clement Lord:

^A Since not long ago Your Royal Majesty entrusted to me a Turkish book, in which the rise and deeds of the Turkish emperors are described—which book the noble, strenuous, and most upright Hieronymus Berk of Leopoldstorf, returning from his travels in Jerusalem and Turkey, offered to Your Royal Majesty, and which Your Royal Majesty graciously commanded me to translate into German—I have humbly fulfilled this, rendering it into the German language according to the method in which it was written by the Turks. Although I would gladly have rendered this same work in a rhetorical style, yet, since from my youth I have been but little steeped in the humanities and am by no means versed in such matters, I am nevertheless of the firm hope that this humble labor will be pleasing to Your Royal Majesty. I would have also noted at the same time at what time, according to the years of our salvation, these deeds occurred; but since the years of the Turks are shorter than ours, and their anniversary days do not coincide with the same time as ours among us Christians—although they too have twelve months in a year, this is done solely by reason of the phases of the moon—moreover, they write and say themselves that over the space of thirty-two years, according to their reckoning, the mobile heaven or their firmament completes its course; this would be almost equivalent to saying that where we Christians reckon and name thirty-one years, they reckon and name thirty-two.

^B And although it cannot be calculated from my translation at what time of the years of Christ these deeds of the Turkish emperors occurred, yet I consider it worth reading for any governor, leader of the militia, or captain who has to deal with the enemies of the Christian name. For from this it is possible to see what policy or heroic spirit may achieve, and how a magistrate ought to conduct himself toward men who are greedy and arrogant in pursuit of their own advantage; and what detriment also can arise and befall a fatherland and an army on account of disobedience, confusion, perfidy, pride, and self-interest. Therefore, one can easily deduce from this that since the modern Turkish emperors have grown from a small and obscure family with a meager band to an immense power, as indeed I understand from this history, it is because Asia, Greece, Bulgaria, Albania, Bosnia, and Serbia fell into so many calamities and into the hands of the enemies of the Christian name ^C not for any reason other than disobedience, confusion, perfidy, pride, and private interest; which (God forbid!) we see happening even to this very day. For what other cause is there for Christian devastation than disobedience, perfidy, avarice, pride, and the pursuit of private interests? For one man favors the Turks for his own advantage, another woiwode does likewise; a third, obeying no one, considers himself a lord. Hence it happens that we conduct all wars undertaken against the enemies of the Christian name less prosperously, on account of disobedience, confusion, perfidy, avarice, pride, and self-interest. We reckon them to be of little substance, we attack our business inconsiderately, and we propose to ourselves great wealth to be acquired from them; we are lively and spirited at the first encounter, but immediately we flag. May God Almighty deign to grant us his grace, so that we may conduct ourselves against such enemies of the divine name, be obedient to our superiors and magistracy, preserve good policy, and assign to avarice, pride, and private interest only what is fair, lest we too at last (which God forbid) come into the greatest ruin, just as the regions mentioned, and our posterity be forced to adopt a diabolical faith and religion. May God deign to grant us this forever. Amen.

Your Royal Majesty’s ^D Most humble and most obedient servant and Turkish interpreter, JOANNES GAUDIER, alias S. TEGEL

^A When it came to a colloquy and a disputation, the Romans could accomplish nothing, but returned home having achieved nothing. Not long after, Eugenius returned to Rome, aided by the Venetians, who at that time were waging war very successfully against the tyrant of the Ligurians. For the Venetians had created as general of the war a man by birth a Ligurian, who had previously been a friend and relation of the tyrant of the Ligurians. The name of the leader was Carmagnola, and to him they entrusted the army. Upon receiving the army and the ships that he had asked the Venetians to man for his soldiers, he set out, traveling partly by land and partly along the Po, having ships equipped with wooden breastworks, about seventy in number. ^B Armed with these forces, he set out against the tyrant of Milan, Philip by name. Now, there was a general for him named Nicolaus, surnamed Brachius, a man skilled in military affairs and considered among the first in the art of war. At first, the Venetians were aggressive in the war for a long time, fighting one another around the lake for the sake of its defense. And when Nicolaus Brachius came to the city of Brescia, and they laid siege to the city with the intention of capturing it, they resisted for a considerable time, and were brought to such a necessity that they even ate mice and cats, and chose to endure the harshest of things rather than yield to the enemy at all: the faction of the Guelphs, which was in the city, resisted so bravely. ^C The entirety of Italy, we have learned, is divided into two factions, that of the Guelphs and the Gibellines. By what means, however, both the families and the cities throughout Italy were everywhere divided into these two factions, so as to be enemies to one another, perpetually at odds in their judgment, and whence the origin of this disagreement arose, I have heard from no one such that I could determine anything true regarding them, nor could I myself, by conjecturing, have anything certain to say about them. The region of the Ligurians, and that of the Genoese, is assigned to the faction of the Gibellines; the Venetians, the Romans, and the Marchia are divided into the Guelph faction. The Tyrrhenians, however, and the region of Basilea, stretching far toward Iapygia, waver between both. ^D For some of these are distinguished by being for the Guelph, others for the Gibelline faction. And in one and the same city, it is possible to see both factions divided and fighting against one another. Hence, I suppose, seditions for the most part happen to befall those dwelling in Italy. It happened, meanwhile, that the inhabitants of Padua also brought in their own leaders, among whom was Marsilius, a member of the family of the Carraresi, who was preparing to betray the city to Carmagnola. This city is great and opulent, containing seventy stadia in circumference, and the river called the Brenta cuts through it: since it is washed on all sides by this river,

^A it is rendered most well-fortified. When they had brought this Marsilio there, they fixed a day on which the act of treachery was to be carried out. But on that day a great storm arose, by which he was hindered, and he was unable to appear at the appointed day. A certain man, privy to the treachery, being very anxious that someone else might anticipate him and reveal the plot, came forward himself and declared the treachery. When the others learned of it, they fortified the city with guards as well as they possibly could. And having laid an ambush for Marsilio where he was about to pass through as he approached the city, they captured him and about a hundred men who were with him, whom they killed together with their wives, and slew Marsilio himself. ^B Indeed, the fact that these events occurred during this same war strengthened the Venetians all the more, and in the commands of Carminiola, at first they fared better in the war against the leader of the Ligurians; but later, when he turned traitor, as it was reported to them, having been caught red-handed plotting against the city, he died. It is said, however, that when he was being led to execution, to the place where he was to be beheaded, he went with his mouth covered and obstructed, so that he could not address or entreat those who had gathered to watch the execution. After the death of this man, they summoned Francesco Sforza by name, and having appointed him general, they entrusted the affairs of the war to him. To him it fell, having served the Venetians, to come later, after no long time, to the lordship of Milan; and while serving them in command and being in great repute, he reached ^C the city of Lodi, which is very close to Milan, subduing the region of Bergamo and certain other small towns of Liguria beyond the river Adda. Thereafter, when peace had been made between the Venetians and the Lord of Milan, he married the illegitimate daughter of the lord. And having placed himself in the middle between both, he remained at rest during the war against Nicolaus. This man, then, when the treaties were made and there was peace, went to Parthenope to the King of the Tarraconensians, intending to commend himself to the king, and to serve him if he should need anything in the war against the Tyrrhenians. But when he found nothing there suitable for his purposes, he returned to the Lord of Milan. And he not long after this died, a man who was most excellent in military leadership, in leading an army, and in fighting. Having had a strangury disease for many years, he died, leaving behind a most honorable memory of himself throughout all of Italy; he was by birth a Perugian. ^D Francesco, then, when not long after the Lord of Milan died of disease, leaving his life behind, immediately fell into dispute with the

^A Venetians, joining himself to the Milanese, urging and aiding them to reclaim their aristocracy. Indeed, for some time that city pursued an aristocracy, creating magistrates from the nobility of the city. But when it began to look toward equality, affairs were managed very tenuously if at any time it sent an army anywhere. For this reason, the city inclined toward tyranny. The citizens then call for the leader Francesco. Some resisted. Francesco, therefore, having raised an army, marched with speed against the Venetians where he learned they were encamped. Advancing with his army near the city, about a hundred stadia away, he besieged the city; and having taken hold of affairs regarding the tyranny, he set about securing those appropriate to him. And not allowing any of the necessities of life to enter the city, he brought them to terms through the pressure of the siege. He did not, however, form a plan to drive immediately ^B from the city, fearing the people of the city, which was the greatest of all in Italy, and many times larger than his own army, and moreover excellent in matters of war, and significant in its army, and expecting that an army from the Venetians would arrive for them for this war. He was staying there, conducting matters regarding the city; but as he heard that the army coming to assist—that from the Venetians—was already close and moving forward, he met them as quickly as he could, far from the city, some five hundred stadia away, and encamped. There the Venetian general also encamped opposite—Cudunidas was his name—and having dug a trench around himself, he awaited the army from Milan to come to his aid, and then to engage in counsel. ^C There, however, when Francesco learned through scouts that the army was marching out from the city to assist the Venetians, he lit many fires in the camp by night, so that the enemy might suspect nothing of what he was planning, and arming his men by night, he marched with all speed toward the Milanese army. Having engaged them in battle there, and having destroyed the greater part of the army, and having prevailed over it, so that nothing of importance was left, he immediately marched back to his camp. And having engaged with the Venetian general not long after, they fought a fierce battle, and ^D having driven them to flight, he captured about six thousand cavalry, and won a signal victory. Not long after, marching upon the city where he had been staying before, he brought his affairs to a conclusion. And he entered not long after, and made peace, a certain Nazarene having moved him to this end. And he sent his son to the Venetians, and continued showing goodwill. But these things happened not long after.

Then, when the Greeks had returned home, the Pope [index: entries preserved]

^A Eugenius sent no aid worthy of mention, even as he had promised, to the Greeks, but rather sent aid to those who were fighting against them. Straightaway the Greeks were turned, and they felt regret for had come to an agreement with the pontiff. Nor did he send aid to the Greeks for this reason. For there was a war in Italy against the Tyrrheni [Tuscans] because of a regional dispute. He had an army and funds for this war, and also had a commander related to him who was adept at partisan affairs, a prudent man, and he did not cease to carry on the matter—now indeed against the Tyrrheni, at another time against the Duke of Urbino—for in that season the metropolis of the Tyrrheni seemed to be standing on the side of the ruler of the Ligurians, Philip, and to be fighting strongly in concert with him. Because of this, they were resisting the Pope himself, and the Venetian, who was a scion of the Condulmer family, whom the supreme Pontiff himself, the Senate and others were promoting, so that this family might also participate in the Senate. For as they were warring with one another, the Venetians and Philip, Duke of Milan, all of Italy was divided ^B between the two sides. There are tyrants and principalities dispersed throughout Italy: the tyrants of Ferrara, who are of the house of the Estensi, and those of Rimini, and the Malatesta who rule over the Marches. Add to these the tyrants of Urbino, Mantua, Milan, Rome, Naples, and Iapygia. Now, as to the princes of Ferrara, Milan, Iapygia and Mantua, it is sufficient, in order to make mention of them for the present history, to have said thus much. Regarding the tyrants of Urbino, it is known that the Malatesta family appears to be of most ancient lineage and to rule the March; having long since held power, they showed themselves to be prominent among the rulers of Rimini and others in this region, and from then on they were impelled to be established as commanders of those who held authority among the Italians. And the Venetians came to have commanders from these, and the Tyrrheni, and had passed through to the rule of Mantua. But I come now to speak of the Roman pontiff.

^C As soon as a pontiff dies, the cardinals gather in a certain house, and, being divided in their votes, they propose and choose whomever the cardinals of the Colonna and Orsini factions judge suitable for the task. They invite them to themselves to offer the choice to those they deem suitable. ^D And these households are the most powerful among those in Rome. And at times they offer it to these men, and at other times they weigh down others, and not inclining elsewhere, they make them pontiffs. But when they have gathered the votes, and the pontiff is declared, they keep him at home, testing whether the election is pleasing to the rest. They order the pontiff who has been declared to sit upon a seat that has a hole in it, and there is a man from among those who are in charge upon whom this duty is enjoined, who touches him to make it apparent that the pontiff is a man. For it is agreed that a woman was once subject to the pontificate because

her sex was unknown. For the men of Italy and of the entire western region almost all shave their beards. And when she had become pregnant, as she came to the sacrifice, she gave birth to the child during the ceremony, and was seen by the people. Therefore, that they may not be deceived again, but know the fact and not doubt, they touch the created pontiff. And he who touches him cries out: "A male lord for us." They do, however, change their names, as if they had become more divine than their former selves, and have reached a state of change in all respects. They also choose their names by ballot, in which they insert the names of the pontiffs. ^A The princes of Italy and of the rest of the west greatly honor him. The cardinals are about fifty in number. For the princes of Italy, usually dividing their principalities into two parts if they have two sons, assign one part to one son, and the other to the other son for the priesthood, so that no disputes or controversies may arise between them regarding the inheritance. Hence they obtain great honor before the Roman pontiff: all also hold the pontiff very dear and revere him greatly. Regarding the pontiffs, indeed, Joachim, an abbot, a man skilled in prophecy, and numbered among the learned men of Italy, predicted many things, how each would come to the pontificate and would live therein. And just as he predicted, so it happened. Other things also worthy of being considered a miracle are told about this man. For when he was ignorant, ^B and had not the slightest bit of learning, he was a janitor in a certain monastery of the Nazarenes or monks in Italy; and once, when he had gone into the garden, there appeared a man of most beautiful form, who, standing by Joachim and holding an amphora in his hand, said: "Joachim, take, drink this wine: for it is the best." Obeying the word, he drank to satiety, and returned the amphora, saying that he had drunk enough. To whom the man replied: "O Joachim, if you had drunk all the wine, no knowledge would have escaped you." Then, coming into conversation and disputation with the men most learned of that time, he appeared clearly divine in his knowledge. Hence, having been made abbot, he also prophesied some great things concerning the dignity of the pontificate, all of which the result at length confirmed. For whatever he predicted, it is evident came to pass, although his miracles are everywhere common throughout Italy. ^C Regarding the princes of Italy who are not very great and are subject to the pontiff, together with the Duke of Milan, and also about the princes of the region who are subject to the king of Parthenope, since it is not worth the labor, I shall omit discussing them. The republics, however, which pertain to Italy, ^D are the city of the Venetians, Bologna, and all the Taraconese cities, which follow Florence, and maintain the same form of republic with her. Add also the city of the Genoese.

But regarding these, we have spoken above. These are all the principalities of Italy, which, at times, bring aid to the Venetians; at other times, indeed, to the prince of Milan. I return now to the point from which I digressed.

^B The Greeks, having returned to their own country, sent envoys to King Amurath, begging for peace and desiring to strike a treaty with him. Not long after, Constantine set out for the Peloponnese, encouraging his brother toward the succession of the kingdom; and from there he prepared to sail to Byzantium. But when he had arrived at Lemnos, he took to wife the daughter of the ruler of Lesbos. At that time, the fleet of Mechmet arrived, and besieged Constantine at Kotinos, which is a city of Lemnos. Mechmet, putting his naval forces ashore, entered the island with a large contingent, and pressed the brother of the king with a siege for twenty-seven days. Yet, though he broke down the wall with bombardments, he could not compel his men to break into the city. Since he could not take that city, he withdrew his fleet and returned home. When Constantine had arrived at Byzantium, and the king declared his judgment, he was ordered to return to the Peloponnese. It was necessary, however, for him and his brother Theodore to leave the Peloponnese and go to Byzantium.

Of these matters, thus far. The younger brother of these, named Demetrius, having come into disagreement with his brother, the emperor of the Greeks, by whom the greater part of his region was being despoiled, and since nothing was being conceded to him by his brother after many exchanges had been made, driven by fraternal hatred, he sent envoys to Amurath. From him he received an army, ^C set out for Byzantium, and surrounded the city with a siege. Not long after, he won over to his side Asanes, his son-in-law, whose authority and power in Byzantium were greatest. This man seemed to assist Demetrius if by any means he could acquire the kingdom. Finally, since nothing was accomplished by the siege, he dismissed the army. Then, not much time having elapsed, when he had been ordered to go on an embassy to his brother the king, he came to Byzantium; and not much later, he was captured by King John, together with his wife's brother. ^D But while he was being kept in prison, separated from his wife's brother, by the counsel of Asanes, he fled by night to the city of Galata, situated opposite Byzantium. Afterwards, having sent envoys, he obtained peace and returned to the principality of the Euxine Sea. His wife's brother was also released from his bonds by the king.

The king, having entered into a treaty with Amurath, son of Mechmet, did not cease to carry on deliberations with Eugene, the Roman pontiff, sending an embassy to him; and likewise...

^A to the Pannonian king Wladyslaw, who had recently ascended to the helm of the kingdom. Georgios Boukos, stripped of his authority, was inciting him to these designs, and was contributing great sums of money to this expedition. It seems also that Johannes Choniates—or Huniades—at that time of great power and bearing the reputation of being well-versed in the strategies against the Turks, strongly advised the Pannonian king to take up arms against Amurath, son of Mechmet. Having assembled a very great army there, and having taken along Draculea, the chieftain of the Dacians, and Georgios, the chieftain of the Triballi, who acted as guide of the way, they crossed the Ister and, having entered the king's territory, they proceeded, enslaving everything that got in their way. They were also burning the villages, and ravaging beautiful Sophia, setting fire to it. ^B Amurath, however, as soon as he heard that the Pannonians were approaching with a great force, having gathered all the armies of Asia and Europe, marched forward himself, as if to join battle. When he had reached the territory called Basiliza, he found the Pannonians encamped. Amurath, having already sent a force ahead, commanded them to watch the Pannonian army, to report to him wherever it should happen to be, and to try to obstruct the mountain pass of the royal territory by fortifying it with trees. They were doing so, and having fortified it, they tried to resist. They also tried occasionally to stop the Pannonians from passing inside into Thrace. Amurath, however, was encamped on the mountain that sits above the narrow ^C way; there, having gathered his best men, especially those who were thought to be renowned in strategy. These were: Thezetes, son of Brenezis, Turachanes, the commander of Thessaly, Kumulies, Chasanes, the commander of Europe, and Isaac, the commander of Skopje. When they had arrived and sat down, he spoke as follows: "O Muslim men, you see to what necessity our affairs have come. For these Pannonians, having taken along the chieftains of the Dacians and Triballi, are marching against us. Now is the time, if anyone contemplates any good plan for how we might prevail in this war, to declare it in the present while setting it forth well. For it seems to me that we must go to war, and join battle with the enemy as quickly as possible. For I believe we shall defeat them, being few in number as they are. Now, it seems best to me to engage in battle at once, and not to delay." When Amurath had said this, Chasanes, the commander of Europe, encouraging ^D them to battle, said the following: "O King, there is no one who would not praise this counsel, as it befits a great king and an Osmanid who yields nothing to the enemy, and who esteems men of little worth, and the...

region seeks to preserve with all its might. For unless we resolve to fight, our courage will perish, restrained by the fear of the king, and it will become stronger for the enemy. And I fear lest, to the contrary, that delay in battle should prove to be of no benefit, but rather result in our ruin. Nor did it seem tolerable to me from the beginning that the entrance should be blocked, as though we were afraid and were casting this thought upon our army. But we should have gone straightway to risk an engagement, and by this means endeavored to save the country, without yielding anything to the enemy. If you wish yourself, O King, to punish those who have ravaged your country; if not, remain here yourself, and I for my part will hand them over to you; so that neither they, nor the rest who are to the west, will ever desire to attack you again. Thus spoke Chasanes, son of Mazalis; and as the others kept silent, not daring to declare an opinion contrary to the king, Turachanes, the governor of Thessaly, spoke as follows: ^B "It is right, O King, for each person to speak his mind, respecting your opinion in no way, especially when the present circumstances present a greater danger. And whatever station a man happens to hold, when some danger besets him, it is necessary to say what each one thinks. And it is even more incumbent upon a master that each of us declare what we know regarding the present state of affairs, in proportion as the danger comes upon us universally. For I, O King, if matters were within my control... But if you were to cut off one of the wings, it would be difficult to make use of it for whatever need might arise. But if you were to take off the other as well, leaving only the body of it, it would no longer be able to fly, but would be left to walk alone. How would it then be able to use it in the future, if it wished to go for food, or make any other use of it for its present needs? I would say this also regarding you. For I call the Gates the body, and the most secure harbor remaining for us here; and I liken the army of Asia to a wing, and likewise that of Europe. ^C If they engage in battle, neither side will be willing to endure the conflict to the end. For Asia will not even come to blows with these men, who are spear-bearers and armed in their own fashion; but the army of Europe will indeed desire to fight, yet if the Asian army departs, left alone, it will no longer remain to face the end, but will itself flee wherever it might be able to save itself. And there would remain to you the Gates and the new arrivals, and I do not know how you could save yourself or make fit use of the present situation, other than to defend yourself only, while accomplishing nothing. But it seems best to me not to make an engagement, ^D but to retreat and hie backward to whatever might be in our way. And to do this until they themselves, pressed by famine, become the complete opposite, and in such a difficult...

^A inflict a defeat upon them. But when the Turks had first been routed by the Christians on both flanks, and observed that the Christians, burdened by excessive armor, were weary, they feigned flight and opened a way for them to pursue. The Christians indeed, straightway like a certain flood, scattered with spurred horses. But the Turks, who had begun the flight, wheeling their horses to the side, attacked the light-armed and defenseless soldiers of the Christians, whom they knew to be naked, and briskly drew their scimitars against them. When they saw this happening, they most swiftly followed their own armored cavalry; but as it was no longer possible to remain intact, they turned their battle line again against the Turks; at length they began to destroy one another with mutual wounds, and thus, with ranks broken and dissipated, the whole army threw itself into a foul flight. Then truly the Turks, whom we said had fled before, gathering here and there from the rear, pressed upon the Christians right up to the very fortification of the camp; and from that point, there was fighting on both sides all that day until evening, and from evening again until daybreak. Jancus, however, seeing the matter thus conducted, withdrew himself by stealth with the remnants of the Christian army from the camp and fled. The Christians being at last overcome, the Turks became masters of everything of Jancus, with his artillery and the entire equipment of war: these being brought to Sultan Murates, with outstretched hand one to another, they received each other with joy, and resting in that place for three whole days, they celebrated with singular hilarity as if it were a festival. Hence Sultan Muchemetes departed before his father for Hadrianopolis. These things were done on the plain of Cossova in the year 853 (Chr. 1448). Murates also followed his son Muchemetes to Hadrianopolis, and lived there for some time in leisure, yet so that he sent the beglerbeg of Romania with troops to build the fortress of Gergonis: which being completed, Murates betook himself ^B to the mountainous parts of Anatolia for the sake of enjoying a cooler breeze, in the year 853 (Chr. 1448). Returning from the mountains, he undertook an expedition into Albania to occupy the fortress of Beligrad. But that attempt was in vain, and therefore he returned to Hadrianopolis, nor did he again from that time take part in any expedition or war; he died on a Wednesday which was the tenth of the month of Mucherem, in the year 855 (Chr. 1450), after he had reigned for thirty-one years. Sultan Muchemetes his son succeeded his father in the administration of the kingdom, and immediately on the sixteenth day of the said month led an army into Caramania and waged war against the Caraman prince, Ibrahimi beg. But that being settled not long after, he returned to Hadrianopolis and began to build a new fortress there, in the same year 855 (Chr. 1450). In the next year following, namely 856 (Chr. 1451), not far from Constantinople, in a certain place situated at the rear of the town of Galata, he founded a most strongly fortified fortress on the sea. Upon the completion of the building of this fortress, he sent commands with letters to all the provinces of his, and gathered armies both from Anatolia and Romania, having also hired twenty thousand infantry. The Janissaries were about ten thousand. Many others also flocked to him, upon whom the necessity of serving in war did not otherwise weigh. He also ordered war engines to be cast, in the likeness of dragons. Thus with all the equipment of artillery and with such great forces he set out from Hadrianopolis and moved his camp to Constantinople; and by firing the engines, he shattered the walls and their battlements. The Christians, as many as were the guard of the city, indeed defended themselves bravely; but they could not protect the city against the force of Muchemetes. For he, having granted the soldiers license to plunder Constantinople provided they should occupy it, so inflamed the spirits of the Turks that with great force they invaded it, besieged it, and finally took it by violence. The Turks became masters of the city on the twentieth day of the month of Rebuiluté. Sultan Muchemetes, having entered the captured city, rode hither and thither through it, marvelling at the unusual forms of the buildings. When he arrived at the Atmeidan, he saw there a stone column, upon which was placed a triple bronze snake, also three-headed. Having caught sight of it, he asked what this idol might be. At the same time, swinging a heavy iron club, which the Turks call a pusdigan, with great force against it, he crushed the lower jaw of one of those three serpentine heads. This being done, snakes immediately began to be seen in the city in great numbers. On account of which, some were his advisors to leave that snake alone henceforth; since by that image it had been brought to pass that there should be no snake in the city. Hence that column endures to this very day. And although with the lower jaw of one bronze snake cast down, snakes have come into the city, they cannot however cause harm to anyone. There was also an erected bronze horse, upon which a certain equestrian statue sat. Both of these Muchemetes demolished. It is said, however, that by this statue the approach was barred to the plague, so that it could not penetrate into the city nor rage within it. Constantinople having been occupied, Muchemetes sought the mountainous parts of Anatolia for the sake of refreshing himself; and having returned from there, he led troops into Albania: where he brought Siurigen under his power, in the year 858 (Chr. 1453). In the following year, he attacked Nova with troops, and captured it. For the Christians had again become masters of it. This was done in the year 859 (Chr. 1454). Following these, he led an army to Alba Graeca; but ^D since he could not take it by storm, he departed. Dais Caratzes Bassa, who held the office of beglerbeg, perished there. In the same year 860 (Chr. 1456), two comets were seen, one towards the rising sun, the other towards the setting. Having returned to Constantinople, Muchemetes instituted a great celebration while he circumcised his son Bajazet, in the year 861 (Chr. 1457). Then, having gathered an army, he went into the Morea, and captured the city of Gordus, with certain small towns, in the year 862 (Chr. 1458).

situation we might attack them with all our might. In this way, we shall be able to deal with the enemy according to our own intent." To this opinion, which appeared better and safer than the former, the rest of those then present also gave their vote. ^A

Jesse, the son of Brenezes, spoke as follows: "In my opinion, O King, nothing of this is suitable for us. For if you should get the better of your enemies, I do not see what profit would accrue to you from this. For your grandfather, Pajazites Lælaps, once routed the Celts and the Paeonians, yet no benefit accrued to him from this. For they, retreating into their own country, saved both themselves and their country by immediately marching away. But if the contrary should happen ^B — may the omen be averted—and those to whom hardships were to befall should be caught up in them, it is better, I think, to choose in every respect the safer course, from which, if nothing should go amiss for him, one might by no means be defeated, but rather come off even with the enemy, if things should not turn out for him according to his will. Since, therefore, there is a double choice proposed, one perilous and the other safer, who would hesitate to choose the safer of these? And who, surely, if he were in his right mind, would not pursue the safer counsels? Therefore, to retreat and cede to the enemy is, I think, neither becoming to you, O King, nor would I myself advise it. For we would appear cowardly, and the spirits of the enemy would increase ^C while ours would diminish; nor would we be able to hold onto the Asians and the infantry we have any longer. But I do not counsel committing the outcome of the battle to chance. Rather, I think it more prudent that we diligently block the defiles, and remain, whiling away the time here, until the necessity of retreating is forced upon the enemy. Then, I judge that we should pursue those who are retreating, sending the whole cavalry in against them, and afflicting them as much as we are able."

Because this opinion was considered better and safer than the previous one, the rest of those then present did not hesitate to give their assent to it. It was decided, therefore, neither to fight nor to retreat, but it pleased them more to draw out the time by staying, and then to press upon the enemies as they departed. They sent the army of Europe, that as fiercely as it could, it might hinder the entry of the enemies. When these things were seen, they defended the defiles with might and main, that they might not enter. ^D The Paeonians essayed often to break through and to dislodge the Turks from their watch, but they accomplished nothing; for in the place where they strove to break through, the Turks resisted strongly, and the thrusting took place on both sides. In the end, the King’s men, having driven back the Paeonians, stood in their path. When time had passed, and the Paeonians achieved nothing and were being pressed by famine, they retreated, turning back the way they came. At night, having packed up their gear, they set out. And when the dawn began to break, and the Turks saw the camp of the enemies gone, they remained throughout the night. Here, having chosen...

^A His son, Sultan Bajazet, arrived at Constantinople from Amasia; and, having occupied the royal seat, he was saluted as emperor in his father’s place.

He had scarcely remained at Constantinople for a few days, when his brother, Sultan Zemes, having led forth the forces of Caramania, went to Prusa and established his headquarters there. Sultan Bajazet, however, having summoned Geduk Ahmed Pasha with an army from Apulia, and gathered other great forces besides, moved into Anatolia against his brother Zemes. When they had joined battle, Zemes departed defeated, and soon fled into Caramania. Therefore, when Sultan Bajazet had driven him out, he turned his route and returned to Constantinople. Then, he sent Geduk Ahmed Pasha back into Caramania; while he was staying there, the Italians recovered Apulia, and all the Turks who had been left as a garrison at Otranto were reduced to captivity, in the year 886 (A.D. 1482).

But Sultan Bajazet departed again from Constantinople and came with an army into Caramania, for his brother Zemes had now returned from his pilgrimage to Mecca. Since a battle was again joined in Caramania, Sultan Zemes was defeated once more, fled to the sea, and took refuge in Italy. From there, having moved his camp, Sultan Bajazet departed for Constantinople, and from there proceeded to Adrianople.

On the sixth night of the month of Chevval, he invited all his viziers to his house, along with Geduk Ahmed Pasha; at this banquet, he drank wine with them and gave a garment to every vizier, except for Geduk Ahmed Pasha, whom he ordered to be killed, in the year 887 (A.D. 1483).

At the same time, the son of the prince of Caramania, Casanes Beg, whom Bajazet was keeping in his retinue, died.

After this, Bajazet undertook an expedition and lingered for some time at Sophia, where he had collected a large band of soldiers. He sent the greater part of them to the river Morava and ordered two old fortresses to be fortified there. Once these were completed, he returned from Sophia to Constantinople in the year 888 (A.D. 1484).

In the month of Rebjulula, on a certain Tuesday, the city ^D of Adrianople, with everything for the distribution of merchandise and the buildings constructed there, was consumed by fire. At that same time, Bajazet began to build a Xenon near the river. Having then moved his camp from Adrianople, he crossed into Moldavia and occupied the fortress of Chilim. And not long after, on a Wednesday, he also brought the fortress of Chermen, situated in those same territories, into his power. And having secured all this land, he changed his route and returned to Adrianople in the year 889 (A.D. 1485).

Then the light of the sun also failed, and Sultan Bajazet betook himself toward the mountainous regions for the sake of his health. Here three envoys approached him, of whom one had been sent from India, another from Cairo, and the third from Hungary: he heard these indeed in order as they pleaded their business and, having assented to their requests, dismissed them liberally gifted.

Afterward, the eunuch Ali Beg, who administered the office of beylerbey, set out with a great army into Wallachia; and, having reconciled the Wallachian Vaivoda to himself, he burst into Moldavia with his own and the Wallachian forces. He devastated everything with plunder, fire, and sword; and finally, laden with spoils, returned to Adrianople in the year 890 (A.D. 1486).

Meanwhile, Sultan Bajazet, resting at home, sent away his commanders, Ischender Beg and Balim Beg, the son of Malcozi, to re-enter Wallachia and persuade the Wallachian Vaivoda to join his arms with them again and make an incursion into Moldavia. The Vaivoda consenting, the expedition was soon undertaken; the whole region was sacked, and they departed with great loot.

While these things were happening in Romania, the Sultan of Cairo moved on the one side with his men, among whom was Usunes Usbeg; and he gathered his own and his allies' forces in the places lying between Adana and Tarsus. On the other side of Sultan Bajazet, the Sangiak of Anatolia and likewise Ferhat Beg—the son-in-law of Sultan Bajazet and the beylerbey of Caramania—and Caragosa Beg were gathered; with joined armies, they marched against the Sultan’s forces from Cairo. When they came to blows, they fought very valiantly on both sides. Finally, the Sultan’s forces compelled the Bajazetites to turn their backs, the son-in-law of Bajazet himself, Ferhat Beg, being killed.

333 Not long after, Bajazet issued an edict that Muchemet Beg, son of Cheseri Beg, along with the son of the commander who had been created the beylerbey of Romania, should transport the forces of Romania into Anatolia and, having assumed the Anatolian troops, invade the Sultan of Cairo in war. These men, therefore, obeying the command of Bajazet, sought the enemy directly; and since he also was prepared for battle, they clashed from both sides in a most fierce conflict, in which the commander's son, Achmet Pasha, fell from his horse and came into the hands of the Sultan's men and was led to Usbeg and handed over to custody. The Bajazetites received a huge defeat at that time, which, when it was made known to Bajazet, he sent his vizier, Daudes Pasha, with an overwhelming army against the Sultan of Cairo. But the Sultan's forces, not at all terrified, soon advanced to meet him with their men. Daudes, thinking he should not encounter them, maturely adopted a plan to shift his march and led his army back. In this journey, Daudes met Aladeules, the leader of Dulgadir, to whom he himself showed great honor. After Daudes had turned away from the Sultan's men, he entered the Varsac territory and cast its nobles part into chains, part he killed, and part, through the intervention of a settlement, he received into favor and restored to their fortunes. The nobles of the Turgurense province consulted for their own safety by flight. At length, however, having obtained safe passage, they approached Daudes Pasha, and peace having been ratified with him, they rendered their oath. These things accomplished

they depart from the camp. As dawn shone, the Turks, ^A recognizing that the enemy had withdrawn by night, halted for a little while. The King then, choosing from his army all those who remained and were drawn up for battle, handed them over to the European commander to pursue the enemy. He ordered Turachanes to follow in turn with the army of Thessaly. Therefore, taking these men, he rode with all the speed he could, pursuing the enemy. But since John Huniades knew beforehand that the Turks would attack them as they retreated, he also chose the best of the Pannonians and set them in ambush, intending that when the Turks arrived and pursued his own army, he would attack them on both sides.

There, as Chasanes was riding along the plain step by step, pursuing the Pannonians, his brother Turachanes rode up and said to his brother: "Chasanes, are you riding through the plain with such a great army? Know, then, that you are not traveling a safe route. For the Pannonians will neither endure our pursuing them, nor will they, remaining quiet, flee backward with pleasure. They are the ones who, for so long a time, were challenging us to fight in the open, and they were fighting, I believe, gladly; and I think they would have paid a great price to be able to descend and join battle with us on the plain. But by traveling along the foot of this mountain, we can pursue them as far as is sufficient, and we shall be able to watch them as we see fit."

Speaking these words, as he did not persuade Chasanes, he himself, having the army of Thessaly, turned along the foot of the mountain with his ordered column. But as Chasanes was traveling through the plain with the European army, and because at that moment Choniates, who had lain in ambush, ^B saw the army, those around the King, then fleeing, suddenly appeared from John's ambush and attacked the barbarians; and Choniates, putting them to flight, destroyed some and took others alive.

There many of the King’s men fell, and the brother of Chaliles, the son of Priamus, was captured by the Pannonians. And others of the Turks were captured while fleeing. Chasanes himself fled to the King’s camp, having few of his army with him. Coming into the sight of the King, he is said to have spoken as follows: "O King, what things we have suffered at the hands of a man whom we know to be most wicked, who has most plainly betrayed your affairs to the enemy, for he is truly a traitor! He revealed our councils to the enemy, and though drawn up in battle order, he would not go with me. Furthermore, he revealed everything to his friend George Buco, as to how we were going to overwhelm them. Truly in this manner your affairs have perished, and we have escaped in flight, a few safe."

There then Chaliles, the son of Priamus, angry on account of his brother, urged the King against Turachanes. But the King, ^C indignant that he had not gone in the same direction as the European commander, but had turned and gone another way, [considering it a betrayal...] ^D

Daudes dismissed his soldiers and returned to Sultan Bayezid, who was at that time residing in the region of Visena.

^A Bayezid collected another great band of soldiers and sent them into Anatolia, giving them as leader Iskender Beg, son of Michael, commanding him to make war upon Aladeules, the leader of Dulgadir. When they had entered the borders of the leader, secure in their own affairs, they deemed themselves entirely safe. Yet then Aladeules, attacking them unexpectedly, slew two of the sons of Iskender Beg and seized Iskender himself alive, sending him to the Sultan at Cairo. Having received this disaster, Bayezid nevertheless celebrated the marriage of his three daughters with notable magnificence: one was given as wife to the son of Uzun Hasan; the second to a grandson of Uzun Hasan named Alio; the third to the son of Daudes Pasha. After these weddings, messages were sent here and there, and he ordered the soldiers to assemble; while they were flowing together to him daily, a messenger arrived sent from the Sultan at Cairo.

^B At that time, an ambassador of exceptional dignity, named Jachoschius, came to Bayezid from Hungary. He was brought to the Sultan and heard most kindly. Having concluded his embassy, he received a garment as a gift from Bayezid, according to the custom of the people, and was dismissed in a most honorable and kindly manner. On his journey, however, as he was returning home—when he had already reached the borders of Semendria—a certain Turkish horseman, a military man named Gases Mustaphas, who happened to be there at that time, mounted his horse, attacked the ambassador, and wounded him so gravely with his sword that he immediately met his death there. The cause that had impelled him to do this was that, when that ambassador had once held Gasim Mustapha and his brother captive, he had transfixed Mustapha's brother with a spit and forced Mustapha himself to roast his own brother transfixed in that way, after having knocked out thirty-two of the same Gases Mustapha’s own teeth. For this reason, then, he killed the ambassador found there, although Gases Mustaphas himself, consumed by wounds in the same place, also met his end. These things occurred in the year 891 (Chr. 1487).

^C After this, Sultan Bayezid set out from Anatolia and came to Constantinople. Having sent mandates here and there through all his provinces, he gathered a great army from Anatolia and Romania and sent it toward Arabia, having appointed Ali Pasha the eunuch as the supreme commander of all the forces. When he had reached the city of Adana with his soldiers, he restored, rebuilt, and fortified the citadel of the city, and having captured certain other towns, he placed garrisons in them, in the year 893 (Chr. 1489).

Meanwhile, while Bayezid’s men were intent on capturing and constructing these fortresses, the Sultan’s forces on the other side also undertook an expedition and set out against the enemy. When the armies met, a violent battle was joined. And although the battle lines of those belonging to the Cairo Sultan were finally broken and dispersed, Ali Pasha did not allow his soldiers to pursue them from the rear, because he feared that the fortune of war might turn, and at the same time he thought that he had attained enough glory, having so happily scattered the enemy forces; he also deemed it necessary to take care that his own men were not worn out by excessive labor. And therefore, having moved his camp from there, he led his soldiers home. But after Bayezid’s men had departed, the Sultan’s men, having gathered their own forces again, surrounded the cities of Adana and Tarsus with a siege; when they could not gain possession of them, they led their forces away from there. But not long after, equipped with an apparatus of siege engines and other things, they attacked Adana again, and having taken the city, they razed the citadel and thus returned home, in the year 893 (Chr. 1490).

At that time also, on a certain Thursday, about midday, the earth trembled at Constantinople, and many buildings collapsed. There was also such a fire at Bursa that 25 districts of the city were consumed. ^D Bayezid ordered the unheard-of [fire] to be extinguished.

At this time in Constantinople, on a certain Sunday, at the first light of dawn, it began to rain; then thunder followed, and a building was struck from the sky, in which gunpowder had been stored with a large quantity of saltpeter. With this material ignited, the building itself was destroyed from the foundation, and the fire, spreading through the city, consumed not only many buildings but also five thousand people of every age and sex.

On the other side, the Sultan’s men again undertook an expedition; they captured and looted Larenda, burned it, and reduced it to ashes, and after plundering other towns and villages besides, they returned home. There also perished Jacupes Beg, the son of Uzun Hasan. These things happened in the year 895.

Bayezid, informed of these matters, departed from Constantinople and went to Gumulzina, where he amused himself with hunting. Having left Gumulzina, he betook himself to Ypsala, and having spent a few days there, returned to Constantinople. Another ambassador sent from Cairo came to him there; he received him most humanely and, having presented him with the most ample gifts, dismissed him in good peace. Nor long after, he himself also sent one of his own men to Cairo, in the year 896 (Chr. 1491).

When this ambassador of Sultan Bayezid reached Cairo, peace was established between them, and the Sultan of Cairo restored Tarsus and Adana to Bayezid, along with the small towns belonging to them.

At this time, upon the death of the King of Hungary, his successor sent an ambassador to Sultan Bayezid. When Bayezid had heard his requests, he made peace with the Hungarian. In the same year, a fire having broken out again at Bursa, a large part of the city, along with very many merchants’ shops, burned down. The Sultan also sent an ambassador from Cairo with a very ample retinue to Sultan Bayezid. These events are to be referred to the year 897 (Chr. 1492).

Following these things, Bayezid departed from Constantinople and traveled to Adrianople; he pitched camp outside the city and remained there for several days. On a certain day, however, he spoke to his viziers and said that he had in mind a certain difficult expedition

of his own army, took Turachanes, and having put him under guard, sent him into Asia, to the strong city of Tochata, where he was kept in bonds and confinement. For Chalicis was also suggesting to the King, reminding him how that man, while lingering in great Bidinidis and being governor of the region along the Ister, had been accustomed to use Buko, the ruler of the Triballi, as an intimate and familiar friend, and that for this reason he was signaling to them [note: the Greek here uses the dual, the Latin the singular], so that they might, out of fear, assist one another in current circumstances. And that, receiving gifts from Buko, he had promised to provide him with his own services, whatever Buko might think would be to his advantage; and that persuaded by this, the King had imprisoned Turachanes, having sent him away into Asia, and had entrusted the administration of the government of Thessaly to another man. And Turachanes was thus cast into prison. ^B Now George, the ruler of the Triballi, since he was accomplishing nothing by means of the Paeones, sending a messenger to the King’s gates, attempted to sound out the opinion of the King, whether he would restore his government to him, so that he might pay him tribute and a half-share of the revenue of his country; and he said that he would make a treaty on these terms, and he undertook that he would also persuade the Paeones to join in this treaty. There, when the King heard that the messenger was proposing such things, he promised him both the other things and the return of his son, and that they would be favorable to the King from that time forward. Thereupon Buko, going among each of the Paeones, and even the King Ladislaus himself, persuaded them to make a treaty with Amurates, saying the following: "O King, King Amurates invites you to a treaty, and does not even refuse to restore the country. ^C If, therefore, you were to be persuaded by me, by making a treaty in such a situation, you might better prepare yourself for war." And as he went over all these things, he no longer held back his consent a second time. Saying these things, he persuaded them, and just as he had promised to do, so the Triballian prompted him, and he immediately sent a messenger to the King’s gates, inviting envoys, with the intention that the Paeones would make peace, and he himself would recover his government. Thereupon Amurates sent envoys, and they made the treaty, on the condition that George should hold his country and pay half the revenue to the King. And at the same time, oaths were taken, on the condition that neither should the Paeones plunder the King’s country, nor again should the Turks cross the Ister for the sake of ^D any harm or by any device, and that for all their lives they should be strangers and friends without guile or deceit. And the Daci were to be tributaries to the King, which they had also agreed to in the treaty the King had formerly made with them, and to pay to the Paeones, as they had been doing previously. When these things had been accomplished, Amurates immediately campaigned against Karaman. For he, when he learned that the Paeones were attacking King Amurates, thinking that by crossing the Ister and driving into the King’s territory it would be to his advantage at that time...

^A suffered damage to their vaulted ceilings, with some portions cracking and others falling to the ground. Private dwellings had their chimneys or vents thrown down, and their walls were in part fissured and in part laid low. The battlements of the city walls fell to the ground, and the walls themselves, along with their towers, collapsed. Finally, as many buildings of magnificent workmanship were leveled to their foundations, a great multitude of people perished beneath the very rubble. No one knew where to turn. The city’s populace, migrating from their own homes, took refuge partly in the squares, partly in the courtyards of houses, and partly in gardens, so as not to be crushed by the falling buildings. Indeed, the earth did not cease to tremble throughout that entire first night. Since no one could see sleep for their eyes, all invoked the aid of both the Deity and Mahomet with constant prayers. This earthquake could be felt for forty consecutive days, hour by hour. When it had finally subsided, Bajazet dispatched orders throughout all Anatolia and Romania that sarchores—that is, mercenaries and craftsmen—should be sent to Constantinople. Eighty thousand men, both stonemasons and woodworkers, as well as mercenary craftsmen, flocked to the city. They were given the task of repairing and restoring the collapsed buildings of the city for a set wage. Jonuzes Aga, a commander of the Janissaries, was appointed by Bajazet as overseer of these workers; he had full authority as both inspector and executor of the works, along with his Janissaries. Meanwhile, Bajazet himself, for the sake of getting some rest, betook himself to Adrianople.

At that time, there was in the province of Tekke a prominent man named Chasanes Chelifes. He had a son who was called Scachoculis; for six or seven entire years, he remained in hiding such that he never appeared, for which reason he was regarded as a holy man. Bajazet was accustomed to send him seven thousand aspers annually to his cave, not knowing that he belonged to another sect and was a Kiselem Bassa. Thus, at the time when work was being vigorously carried out in Constantinople to restore the city, this man finally emerged from his hiding places and caverns, and aided by the work of certain accomplices, he entered the city of Antalya on a certain Sunday; this was able to be done all the more easily because annual fairs ^B were being held there at that convenient time. He plundered that city and ordered its Cadi to be cut into four pieces, and those very pieces to be hung in distinct places. From there, having sent certain men of his own sect and party into neighboring provinces, he commanded it to be proclaimed that the time had now arrived which was opportune for them, provided that they took up arms and hastened to him. Therefore, as many as embraced that sect, and had previously been forced to profess it only in secret, flocked to him in such numbers that in a very brief space of time he had ten thousand men under arms in his camp. Furthermore, many from the province of Tekke joined themselves to him. Having thus obtained such great forces, he left Antalya and sought Anatolia; and he attacked the Beglerbeg of Anatolia, Caragosa, ^C and he engaged the man, Caragosa, with the army of Anatolia, and battle was joined immediately. The seditious men feigned defeat and retreated a little. Then the Turks, having abandoned their ranks, began to plunder the enemy’s baggage. But the rebels, having turned their reins at the right moment, cut down Caragosa’s forces; they captured him and brought him to the capital of Anatolia, Cutaigen, and demanded that the town be surrendered to them. When they could not obtain this from the townspeople, they pierced Caragosa Bassa through with a stake alive in their sight. Following these events, the Sultan’s son, Sultan Corcutes, having set out for Manissa with certain Sanjaks, led his forces against these rebels. But he was himself defeated with his men, and scarcely saved himself by flight. From here, with his strength increasing daily, Scachoculis proceeded to plunder and burn all of Anatolia, and to commit many crimes. Afterward, having progressed further, he invaded the Aidinian territory. Corcutes, having fled, as has been said, informed his father of the whole matter with great speed. Bajazet, becoming enraged against his vezirs, and especially against Ali Bassa and the Cadi’s son, because they had signaled nothing to him regarding this uprising, soon ordered Ali Bassa to set out into Anatolia with an army, and to suppress this sedition and visit the death penalty upon the authors of the rebellion; he threatened that if he did not do so, he would order that his skin be stripped from his entire body. Therefore, Ali, having used the greatest diligence, betook himself to Anatolia: since Bajazet had attached not a small part of his court and of the Janissaries, and had further commanded his son, Sultan Achmetes, whose seat was in Amasia, that he should come to the aid of Ali Bassa with his forces. Achmetes, having departed from Amasia, joined Ali Bassa; and they, having soon met with each other, gave several days to refreshing the army and consulted about waging the war. Meanwhile, however, Scachoculis had raided Caramania with his forces, against whom the Bassa of Caramania, whom they called Cheiderem Bassa, and a certain Sanjak in the same province, Zindis Kemales Hegus, came to meet him; having attacked him at Culis, they not only departed as the inferiors, but indeed, as was the custom, the heads of both were severed. Then the seditious men, having left Caramania, headed toward the Zibuccian plain. When this was signaled to Ali Bassa, he was greatly perturbed in spirit: "Whoever loves me," he said, "let him mount his horse without delay." And giving the example to the others, he was the first to mount his horse; and by making a forced march in the manner of couriers, he finally caught up with the rebels in the Zibuccian fields. Scachoculis, however, having learned of the arrival of the Osmanli, fortified his camp there on the plain with a rampart, having also arranged camels in a circle; and he determined in his heart to test the luck of Mars in this place. Furthermore, he raised towers in certain places of the camp, fortified in this way, from which his men could defend themselves and keep the enemy from attacking the camp. These men were therefore exceptionally prepared to engage in battle. On the opposite side,

he rushed into it with force, subjecting everything and reducing it to servitude wherever he turned. Caramanus, having heard that the Paeones were making war on Amurates, set out against him with a hostile intent. Thus, with the enemy approaching from both regions, the army of Amurates was distracted and weakened. Therefore, since the greatest war was threatening Amurates, he judged that it would be useful for him to conclude a treaty with the Paeones, and he averted the entire storm of the war toward Caramanus. Caramanus, so as not to experience the King’s force, sent envoys to sue for peace, whom he had ordered to say that he was prepared to serve Amurates whenever he needed his services. But if he should have little faith in his promises, he would ensure his compliance with hostages and other things, lest he have any doubt. ^A These things, then, occurred for him in Asia. But as to Europe, regarding the deeds of the Peloponnesian princes in his territory, the following account shall now be told. For when Theodorus, who was later chosen king, had come to Byzantium to his kingdom, Constantinus, called Dragases, arriving in the Peloponnese and taking over his brother’s territory—including Sparta, which overlooks Mount Taygetus, and almost the entire rest of the Peloponnese, except for the territory of Thomas, the King’s brother—held it under his own authority. When he had arrived there, he prepared to wall off the Isthmus, separated the territory outside the Peloponnese from the King, and seized Boeotia, taking the city of Thebes under his control. ^B And the tyrant of Attica, promising to pay him tribute, made a pact and was received into friendship. He also occupied Pindus. This mountain is inhabited by the Vlachs, who have the same language as the Dacians; nor are they known to differ in any way from the Dacians who dwell along the Ister. Arriving then at this leader, they surrendered themselves to him and subsequently waged war against the Turks residing in Thessaly, receiving a commander from the Peloponnesian prince. Leodoricium, a small town situated in the region of the Locrians, and [the part] of Pindus adjoining the city of Phandrium, received a commander from the King. That part [of the mountain] which extends into Achaea was inhabited by the Arabai, Albanian men, who were permitted by the King to rule their own ancestral territory. ^C These also defected to the Greeks. Therefore, gathering the entire Peloponnese at the Isthmus, he set out to wall it off as quickly as possible. Having summoned his brother there also, and just as he himself ruled the territory, he sent for everyone and drove them to the wall, handing over to each party as much as they were able to have built in that time. When the wall of the Isthmus was finally completed, ^D

they brought about a very great sedition. At that time, the envoys of Sultan Achmet, who had been compelled by fear to withdraw themselves and consult for their own safety by flight, were present at the city. Following these events, the Janissaries sent envoys to Sultan Selim, to announce that if he were to come to the city, they would certainly salute him as emperor and acknowledge him as their lord. At that same time, Achmet also drew nearer to the city, having pitched his camp with his forces at Scutari, opposite Constantinople; and having sent many thousands of gold coins to his father, he departed by the route he had come. And since he had claimed the taxes, tributes, and the remaining fruits and revenues of the empire in Anatolia for himself, he began to govern those provinces with violence. And although the Sultan had also subjected certain towns of Anatolia to himself, he was none the less unable to retain them, since the forces of Sultan Achmet's prefects were greater. Therefore, Corcut, departing from those places, crossed the sea to Gallipoli, and taking only two men with him, he sailed to Constantinople. When he had arrived there, he entered a certain small temple, not far from the domicile of the Janissaries. When this had been announced to Sultan Bajazit, he ordered another house in the city to be assigned to him, wherein he might dwell removed from the Janissaries. When he had moved into this, he went to his father with good leave, and having kissed his hand, he was conducted to his own lodging. At that time, Sultan Selim had arrived at what they call the Menamor. And as he approached closer to Constantinople, and Sultan Corcut, his brother, ^B went out to meet him, riding on horses, they extended their hands to one another and conversed with one another most lovingly. Thence, Selim having entered the city, pitched his tents in the Janissary field, Corcut returning to his own lodging. Then indeed the assembled Janissaries chose ten from the whole number of their men, whom they ordered to be sent to the pashas to say: that they acknowledged Sultan Selim, the son of the Emperor Bajazit, as their lord. That Bajazit, on account of his adverse health and the weakness of his strength, could no longer go forth to fight wars. Wherefore, the pashas should signify to Sultan Bajazit that he should willingly hand over the administration of affairs to his son Selim. If that were not done, they would take measures against them; and furthermore, they would place Selim on the royal throne by force, and declare him their lord and emperor. When those ten chosen men of the Janissaries had explained these things to the pashas, the pashas, with those very same ten men, approached Sultan Bajazit. He, having understood their demands, replied that as long as he himself should survive, he would hand over the empire to no one. To these things, the supreme vizier, Mustapha Pasha, said: Farewell then, most great emperor. For soon, when we shall have departed from you, these men will take our lives. Then the Sultan said: If we have not yet abdicated the empire, do you think it will come to pass that they will take us from the midst? By no means, they submit; they will take your life, but by casting the hooks of their javelins into your vestment, they will drag you from the imperial throne. When these things had been said by them, Sultan Bajazit having deliberated the matter with his own mind, ^C raised his head and said: I do indeed entrust the total sum of affairs to my son, Sultan Selim. This speech of Bajazit having been reported to the Janissaries, they soon betook themselves unanimously to Sultan Selim. These things, however, were done in the year 1518 (A.D. 1512).

The next day, Sultan Bajazit sent the chests in which the imperial treasures were contained to his son, Sultan Selim, and ordered the viziers and the remaining pashas to approach his lord, Sultan Selim, and signify to him that he merely grant him, his father, a delay of thirty days, after which he would depart to Didymoteichon and spend the remaining space of his life there; in the meantime, Selim might dwell in the Janissary lodging. When they had explained these things to Sultan Selim, he said: Whatever it shall have seemed good to my father and the pashas to command, let it be ratified. For matters are still in their own power and judgment. The next day, Selim approached his father and kissed his hand. Then indeed his father rising said: Approach, my son, and sit in this place; since, I abdicating, you have been made lord of affairs and emperor. To this Selim said: By no means, my father. For I am indeed your servant, my lord and father: ^D and I requested nothing more than that it be permitted me to look upon your face and kiss your hand. When I have obtained this, let it be permitted me, your servant, to depart now with your good peace, with the administration of affairs remaining most prosperously with you. But Sultan Bajazit said: My son, I have resigned the empire to you with all my heart and mind. But I advise this one thing: that you do not shed innocent blood, nor kill anyone without cause. When Selim had promised that he would comply with his father's counsel, he retired to the new garden, or Genibaxen, to his tents. The next day, at early dawn, he sat before the tribunal and ordered the Agha of the Janissaries to be summoned; who soon stood before him with all the forces of the Janissaries. When they had been addressed by him, Selim asked: Did they wish to acknowledge him as lord and emperor? With all unanimously acclaiming that they wished to do so entirely, Selim soon addressing them again said: If any one among you shall have committed any fault, will it be permitted me by you to punish him? Indeed it shall be permitted, all shout out. Therefore, henceforth, Selim submitted, I shall begin my rule. The next day, when it had grown light, he sat in the same place before the tribunal, the viziers and all the pashas coming together to him there. On that day, he ordered a certain Janissary, who was wearing a golden *uscufia*, or cap, on his head, to be seized and suspended from a tree: and a certain man from the number of the Ulofezii had his head truncated. That Janissary was accordingly removed from the midst by hanging, because he was the father-in-law of Sultan Achmet. When Sultan Selim had thus established the empire for himself in this manner, Corcut, having boarded a trireme, returned to Manisa, his province. When not many days had passed, Bajazit, departing from Constantinople, was thinking of going to Didymoteichon. Him, the Sultan

^A he sent to the king's territory, and he ravaged the land and continued to wage war. Not long after this, Omar, the son of Turakhan, having taken up the Thessalian army, made an assault upon Thebes and Attica, and having plundered them, he marched off laden with much booty. There, Nerius, the tyrant of Athens, seeing that the affairs of the Turks were rising up again ^B and recovering their former shape and condition, sent envoys to the Sublime Porte, asking for peace, and that he might enter into a treaty with the king, and offering to pay the tribute just as he had paid it before. King Amurath indeed complied and treated with him, on the condition that he should pay the tribute annually, just as he had previously. This Nerius had come from Florence, the metropolis of the Tyrrhenians, to the tyranny of Athens in the following manner. Antonius, the son of Rainerius, having summoned both this man and his brother from Florence—they being his kinsmen and relatives—kept them with him, providing them with their living and necessities. But when Antonius died, having been struck by an apoplexy in his sleep, his wife sent an embassy to King Amurath, that he might entrust the principality to her and to whoever was best in that city, who was a kinsman of the woman by birth, and our father ^C (94). She sent him to the king with an immense sum of money, so that he might procure the principality of the region of Attica and Boeotia for them. But as he had left the city and was making his journey to the king, those who were most powerful in the city, out of hatred for Chalcocondyles, led the wife of Antonius out of the acropolis by guile, and promoted the kinsmen of Antonius into the principality; and driving the wife of Antonius out of the city, they held the city themselves. Indeed, by forming a marriage alliance with the wife of Antonius for the sake of her virtuous adopted son, they were present in the acropolis. And not much later, casting out the woman, and driving out our family, they held the affairs of the city. ^D Chalcocondyles, when he had come to the king, was indeed seized and cast into prison, ordered to surrender the region. But since he promised thirty thousand pieces of gold, yet could accomplish nothing of the sort, he meanwhile learned that the king had sent an army against Boeotia, in order to occupy the city of Thebes. He meanwhile did not cease to act diligently, wherever the opportunity for flight might be given, to escape to Byzantium. When this was first offered to him, he abandoned his tent, his servants, and his baggage animals, and fled to Byzantium; and there, boarding a ship, he sailed to the Peloponnese. And there, ships of the tyrants of Attica, patrolling the sea, captured the ship and, taking Chalcocondyles himself prisoner, led him back to the king. The king indeed released him from the accusation and pardoned him, blaming him for nothing on this account. However, since the three myriads were demanded of him, he stated that he did not have them to pay. Hence the region was gravely ravaged by the depredations of the Turks who tarried in Thessaly. Nerius

^A from all sides, and having settled the troubles in Anatolia, directed his march toward Persia. He encountered the Persian king at Chaldiran, where a most fierce battle ensued—for the Persians used cavalry and held the high ground, while the Turks relied upon their artillery and musketeers. In this conflict, the Persian king was defeated and put to flight, leaving his camp and treasury to the victors. Selim then took Tabriz, the royal seat of the Persians, but did not hold it for long, soon returning toward Amasya to spend the winter there.

Meanwhile, at Cairo, the sultan of the Mamluks, Qansuh al-Ghawri, having heard of the arrival of the Ottoman sultan and fearing for his own safety, began to assemble his forces to block his path. Selim, learning of this, marched against him, and they met at Marj Dabiq near Aleppo. A great battle took place, in which the Mamluk king was killed, and his army was routed, allowing the Turks to occupy Syria. Following this victory, Selim moved against Jerusalem and Damascus, and subsequently against Egypt. Qansuh’s successor, Tuman Bay, attempted to offer resistance, but he was defeated in the vicinity of Cairo, and Egypt fell to the Empire of the Ottomans. ^B Having thus concluded his campaigns with great success, Selim returned to Constantinople, where he passed away after a short duration, having significantly enlarged the borders of his domain. He was succeeded by his son, Suleiman, in the year 926 (A.D. 1520).

Upon his accession, Suleiman, desiring to test his arms, determined to march against the King of Hungary. He set out for Belgrade, which he besieged and captured in the year 927 (A.D. 1521). Afterward, in the year 932 (A.D. 1526), he again prepared for war and, having gathered fifty or sixty thousand men, constructed bridges across the rivers Sava, Drava, and Danube. He captured Varadin, along with other fortified places, intending to attack Buda itself. The Hungarian king, learning of this expedition, prepared for war and, with his army, encountered Sultan Suleiman. On a Wednesday, around the time of the afternoon prayer (Ikindi), the armies clashed with such force that many thousands fell on both sides. After a long battle, the Hungarian king was defeated and lost his life. The Hungarians fled, pursued by the Turks, who killed many thousands during the rout. Having achieved this success, Suleiman led his men to Buda and took the city without bloodshed, reducing its inhabitants of every age and sex to slavery.

Following the occupation of Buda, Suleiman returned to Adrianople and enjoyed a period of rest. At that time, there was a certain man in Anatolia called Calender Çelebi, from the family of Hacı Bektaş, whom the Turks revere and invoke as a holy man. This Calender Çelebi stirred up a revolt with a small number of dervishes, defeated several provincial governors (sanjak-beys), and incited all of Anatolia to arms. Upon receiving news of this movement, Suleiman sent Ibrahim Pasha with a distinguished army to engage Calender Çelebi and restore order. Ibrahim caught up with Calender and his forces and engaged them in battle; it was a fierce fight on both sides, but in the end, Calender and his faction were defeated and killed.

^C With order restored in Anatolia, Suleiman prepared for another expedition to invade Hungary again. He issued public edicts for his soldiers to assemble at Belgrade, to which place he also traveled, intending to proceed to Buda. While on this journey, the Voivode of Transylvania came to him, offered his submission to Suleiman's authority, and presented him with most magnificent gifts, kissing his hand. This proved so pleasing to Suleiman that he soon appointed him King of Hungary. From there he proceeded to Buda, and once it was occupied, he marched on Vienna. Upon his arrival, the Germans who were holding the city fortified it, and Sultan Suleiman besieged it with heavy artillery for twenty days, digging tunnels under the walls until they should collapse. This done, a sudden and violent cold broke out, so severe that neither the soldiers nor the pack animals could endure it. Despairing of capturing Vienna, he was forced to lift the siege and returned to Constantinople, where for some time he abstained from war. These events took place in the year 935 (A.D. 1529).

While remaining quietly at Constantinople, he invited all the pashas, dignitaries, and the envoys of foreign princes with great solemnity and exhibited all kinds of spectacles at the Hippodrome (Atmeydanı) in Constantinople, having his sons—Sultan Mustafa, Sultan Mehmed, and Sultan Selim—circumcised in the year 938 (A.D. 1532). ^D In the same year, on the twenty-eighth of the month of Ramadan, he left Constantinople to wage war against the Spaniard. Upon arriving in Germany, for the space of two months he marched his troops back and forth, ravaging and plundering everything with fire and sword. No army was opposed to him by the Christians, nor were their battle lines seen anywhere; instead, they continually harassed Suleiman’s columns from both flanks, killing many who were intercepted or carrying them off as captives. Sultan Suleiman sent twelve thousand soldiers, under the leadership of Kasan, the Voivode (son of Michael Beg), along with the *Akinjis*, to devastate those regions further with fire and pillage and to carry off the inhabitants into slavery. While they were doing this, they were heavily laden with booty. However, on their return, they chanced to fall in with Christian forces; though they fought most fiercely and resisted the enemy bravely, in the end, they were for the most part annihilated, and Kasan the Voivode himself was killed or captured. As winter was approaching, Suleiman changed his route and returned to Constantinople, where, after resting for some time, he assigned Manisa to his son, Sultan Mustafa, in the year 939 (A.D. 1532).

Meanwhile, while Sultan Suleiman was away on his campaign in Germany, the supreme prefect of the Spanish fleet, Andrea Doria, along with the Grand Master—who had abandoned Rhodes in previous years—raised the aid of other Italian princes and led a great fleet to sea, consisting of fifty large ships and fifty triremes. There were about fifty thousand soldiers on board. With this army, they attacked the Morea by surprise, first taking the city of Koroni with its citadel, then the island of Bozcaada and the town of Patras, together with other castles, and having sent infantry and cavalry troops into the region itself, they devastated the whole of it, carrying off a huge multitude of men, women, and children into captivity.

In previous years, a man born on the island of Mytilene, whose name was Hayreddin, had become remarkably skilled in naval warfare, and, practicing piracy, had many times engaged the Christians at sea. Having by then acquired great means, he outfitted several ships, adding to...

moreover, being a tyrant, effeminate, and of soft character, had been deprived of his rule by his brother Antonius through treachery. ^A But when Antonius died, Nerius returned from Florence and was restored to the principality. At that time, because Nerius had joined his arms with the Greeks, his region was ravaged by the governor of Thessaly. Being in great difficulty, he made peace with the king. The Greeks, learning that peace had been concluded between the prince of Attica and the king, immediately took up arms against the Athenians. The prince sent a messenger to the king, indicating the great peril he was in, to wit, that the Greeks were besieging the city and striving with all their might to capture it. Turachanes, therefore, the governor of Thessaly, sending messengers to the king, exhorted him to attack the Peloponnese by war. But these things happened only after a long time. Yet at that time, it had been reduced to servitude by the ruler of the Peloponnese, the brother of the king, in the manner I have previously described.

But such were the events concerning the Greeks and the Peloponnese. Now, what the King of Constantinople did will be declared in what follows. For as soon as he heard that the Paeonians [Hungarians] had defected and, at the instigation of Georgius, had concluded a treaty with Amurates, he sent legates to the Roman Pontiff, proposing that if triremes and ships arrived at the Hellespont to close off the passage [Β] into Europe to Amurates while he was in Asia, his affairs could easily be brought down. For if the army of Europe alone were left with Amurates, it would be unwilling to fight against the Paeonians. The legates were ordered to go to the Gauls and the Duke of Burgundy, reminding them of the slaughter they had suffered under Bajazet through the imprudence of Sigismund; that slaughter, if they only willed it, could be repaid to the Turks. They went, therefore, to the Roman Pontiff and manned ten triremes, which they sent to the Hellespont. The Pontiff also equipped ten triremes, filled them with soldiers, and sent them to King Joannes, as if he were to carry out what the king had ordered. They arrived, therefore, at the Hellespont and prevented Amurates from crossing into Europe. ^C And these things happened along the coastal region of Macedonia toward the Ionian Sea.

For since there was an expectation that the Paeonians would arrive again in Europe, in order to expel the Turks and Amurates from Europe, and since it was foreseen that the war would follow again; for it was announced everywhere in Europe that the Paeonians were gathering again to campaign and that the Hellespont was being held by the Westerners; each one was emboldened to set out for his own ancestral rule, hoping to hold it and occupy it, whatever might turn out in his favor. Then, indeed, Zenempisas, having set out from the coast of Macedonia toward the Ionian Sea, and gathering the Albanians who were in that region, went forward through Argyropolichne, ^D and subdued all the plain that he occupied there.

^A on the twenty-third of the month of Rejeb, stirred up a revolt, and they stormed and plundered the houses of Aigasis the Pasha and of the supreme treasurer, Abduselam. The following day, which was Wednesday, they likewise forced open the houses of the Pashas Ibrahim and Mustafa by night, but with such moderation that they took no plunder from there. Finally, once the tumult of the Janissaries was composed, Suleiman decided to set out into Hungary; and having collected fifty or sixty thousand armed men, he bridged the rivers Sava, Drava, and Danube. He occupied Varadin of Perri along with other fortified places, intending to seek out Buda itself with his army. When this expedition of Suleiman was known, the King of Hungary also prepared himself for war; and with his soldiers, who were completely armed in iron, he presented himself as an obstacle to Sultan Suleiman. On a certain Wednesday, about the time of the Ikindi prayer, the armies clashed with such force from both sides that many thousands of men fell slaughtered on both sides, and very many were wounded. Although the battle had been fought for a long time, the King of Hungary, though defeated at last, also perished himself. Moreover, with the Hungarians put to flight, the Turks pursued the enemy and slaughtered many thousands of them while they were fleeing. After the affair was successfully concluded, Suleiman led his men to Buda and took the city without bloodshed, with the people of every sex and age reduced to slavery, in the year 932 (Chr. 1526). After Buda was occupied, he returned to Adrianople and gave himself to rest for some time.

There was then a certain man in Anatolia called Calender Zelebi, of the family of Chazis Bectasis. The Turks worship Chazim Bectasem as a kind of divinity and even invoke him. Therefore, this Calender Zelebi, having stirred up a sedition, routed a number of Sanjaks with no great number of Dervishes, and incited all of Anatolia to arms. Suleiman, having received news of this movement, sent Ibrahim Pasha with a distinguished army so that he might attack Calender Zelebi in war and bring him into order. Ibrahim, having caught up with Calender and his forces, joined battle; in this, there was brave fighting on both sides, with the result, however, that Calender himself was defeated with his faction and perished.

^C With the disturbances of Anatolia settled, Suleiman prepared himself for another expedition, intending to invade Hungary again; and therefore, having published edicts, he ordered the soldiers to assemble at Alba Græca, to which place he himself also betook himself, intending then to move on to Buda. While he was on this journey, the Ban of Transylvania came to him, and having offered his service, he submitted himself to the rule of Suleiman, bringing with him most ample gifts and kissing his hand. This matter was so pleasing to Suleiman that he soon created him king of Hungary. Following that, he set out for Buda, and having occupied it, he hastened to Vienna. When he had arrived there, the Germans, who were keeping themselves within the walls, fortified the city; the Sultan Suleiman besieged it with war engines for twenty days, and he even dug tunnels beneath the walls, until a portion of them collapsed. With that matter finished, a cold so intense suddenly set in that neither the soldiers nor the pack animals could endure it. And thus, deprived of all hope of taking Vienna, he was compelled to lift the siege; and having returned to Constantinople, he abstained from wars for some time. These things were done in the year 935 (Chr. 1529).

While he was remaining quietly at Constantinople, having invited with great solemnity all the Pashas and nobles, and the envoys of foreign princes, and having exhibited every kind of spectacle in the At-Meydan at Constantinople, he caused his sons, Sultan Mustafa, Sultan Muhammed, and Sultan Solimen, to be circumcised, in the year 938 (Chr. 1532).

In the same year, on the twenty-eighth day of the month of Ramadan, he departed from Constantinople, intending to wage war on the Spaniard. And when he had arrived in Germany, for the space of two months he led his forces round and about, ravaging and plundering everything with fire and sword. There was no army set against him by the Christians, nor was their battle line seen anywhere; the light-armed troops of Suleiman were merely harassing their columns on both sides, and many whom they caught they either killed or took prisoner. Furthermore, Sultan Suleiman sent twelve thousand soldiers under the leadership of Casane the Voivode, who was the son of Michael Beg, with the Akinjis added to him, so that they might further depopulate those regions with fire and pillage, and carry off the inhabitants enslaved. When they were doing this, they were captured as rich prey. But on the return journey, as it happened, they fell in with Christian forces, with whom, although they fought most fiercely and resisted the enemy bravely, in the end they were nonetheless slaughtered and taken captive to the point of extinction, at least for the greater part, including Casane the Voivode himself. And when winter was already approaching, Suleiman changed his route and returned to Constantinople; where, when he had rested for some time, he assigned Manisa to his son Sultan Mustafa, in the year 958 (Chr. 1532).

In the meantime, however, while Sultan Suleiman was away in foreign lands warring in Germany, the supreme commander of the Spanish fleet, Andreas Doria, along with the Grand Master who had yielded Rhodes in previous years, having also gathered the aid of other Italian princes, led out a great fleet on the sea, which contained fifty large ships and fifty triremes. And in these there were up to fifty thousand soldiers. With this army they unexpectedly attacked the Morea; first they took the city of Koroni with its citadel, then the island of Bozcaada and the town of Bodrum, along with other certain forts; and having sent infantry and cavalry forces into the region itself, they devastated the whole of it, carrying off a huge multitude of men, women, and children into captivity with them.

In previous years a certain man was born on the island of Mytilene, whose name was Chairadines, who had become notably skilled in naval warfare; and engaging in piracy, he had many times clashed with Christians at sea. When he had already achieved success, he rigged out some ships; with the addition of

^A Thereupon the governor of Veroia, having gathered the Scythians from Axine at the same time, and the King’s Turks, with many also from Therme and the Lake of the Perrhaebians joining him, marched suddenly and fell upon the unprepared Albanians who were encamped somewhere there about the territory of Kastoria. He destroyed most of them and slew Zenempisas the commander himself, and drove on for a long distance, dealing much slaughter and putting the rest to flight. This, indeed, took place in Europe, and they were settled into confusion, as each was driven toward their own affairs. The Turks also fell into great fear, thinking they were about to perish at the hands of the Paeones and the foreign nations dwelling among them. And wherever they chanced to be, they strengthened their walls, watching to see to what result this present turmoil would lead.

The Paeones, when the legate arrived from the Roman high priest himself—Julian by name, a man in other respects gentle and highly esteemed in Roman learning—he exhorted them to war, and the oath, which was of the greatest importance to them in the treaties, he absolved by the authority of the high priest, and read the letters there. And they set out to campaign in Europe, thinking they would seize it deserted while Amurates was away in Asia and delaying there, and with the ships of the high priest himself sailing through the Hellespont, so as not to allow him to cross; and with the King of the Hellenes signaling these things to them, that he would never cross into Europe. ^B Having made treaties with the Boemi concerning their dispute—which I think is the reason he also made the treaties of Amurates, as they were providing him with difficulties, and, as they were about to be at war with them from the land of the Boemi, they accepted the peace of King Amurates. Then indeed, having come to an agreement with them, as it provided them with peace, they set out to campaign against Europe, taking with them also the Daci and Dracules, the son of Myrxis, who, being present for the war, was enthusiastic and participated, providing about ten thousand cavalry.

They further urged George, the leader of the Triballi, to join them in this war, but he would not be persuaded, saying that they were performing impious and wicked deeds, breaking their treaties and beginning injustice. He thought to settle the charge against him for not campaigning for the King of the Paeones with a sum of money. ^C He also warned the King not to make war against the Turks, as their power was great and they could not be easily subdued by the Paeones. For George saw that the war equipment was not such as to be able to possess Europe. For very many Turks lived therein, nourished as it were in camps, and who for the most part procured their living from nowhere else but from wars. This race of men, moreover, when driven to desperation, is accustomed to display memorable valor everywhere. Furthermore, he showed Vladislaus that the Turks surpassed the rest of the nations in martial affairs. Vladislaus, persuaded by none of these things, set out from Ardelio, or Transylvania, and... the Ister.

a company of certain remarkable men, who were subject to the command of no one, he set out for Barbary and occupied the city of Caesarea, and kept its dominion for himself.

When this business was successfully completed, his name became famous throughout all of Italy; and a name was given him by the Italians, so that he was commonly called Barbarossa. Every year he used to send certain gifts to the Sultans Selim and Suleiman. The latter, Suleiman, having learned of the man’s excellence and the fame of his deeds, sent envoys and invited him to come to him. Khair ad-Din, having placed a suitable garrison in Caesarea and entrusted the city to the faith of strong men who were his very close friends, filled a number of triremes with soldiers and set out for Constantinople. When he had arrived there, he kissed the sultan’s hand, as is the custom for Sultan Suleiman. The sultan received the man most honorably, and, having established an annual salary of four million aspers, he created him supreme Beglerbeg of the sea and raised him to the dignity of vezir; whence the name given to him was that he should be called Khair ad-Din.

Having thus obtained command of the sea with full authority, he ordered one hundred triremes to be launched and fitted out and filled with soldiers, and with these he went to the Morea. When this matter was announced to the Christians, they soon left the region and the fortresses they had occupied deserted, and, boarding their ships, they departed from there. Upon the departure of the Christians, three hundred Janissaries and the same number of Azaps were sent to those places to be a garrison for Coron and the other towns. Then Khair ad-Din Pasha, with the same fleet, set out for Barbary and occupied the city of Tunis, which is inhabited by the Moors, and subjected it to his own rule, in the year 940 (A.D. 1534).

At this same time, when Tunis was taken by Khair ad-Din Pasha, a certain person from the number of the Parthian nobles, Ulama Beg, defected from Shah Tahmasp, son of Shah Ismail, even though he had the Shah’s sister as his wife. And so, a fugitive from Parthia, he came to Constantinople, and, having performed the oath of submission, dedicated himself entirely to Suleiman. On the advice of this man, Sultan Suleiman was thinking of undertaking a Parthian expedition, alleging as the cause of the war that the Shah, with his nobles and subjects, did not embrace the correct view of religion and did not follow the four prophets of Muhammad with the due honor. For this reason he deemed them most worthy to have war brought upon them, that they might be killed and thus utterly exterminated. And so, Suleiman having decreed this war, he granted the Sangiakat of the aforementioned Ulama Beg not far from Karahemid. Uluma, indeed, having recruited certain troops at Constantinople, set out with them to the Sangiakat entrusted to his faith. Orders were also sent by Sultan Suleiman to the other sangiaks of that province, by which it was commanded that they should obey Uluma Beg, as often as he was about to set out against the enemy. Uluma, therefore, having entered the Sangiakat decreed to him, gathered the nobles and sangiaks of that region, and, aided by their assistance, reduced under his own power the Prince of Kurdistan, whose name was Serefes. When this matter was announced to Sultan Suleiman, he sent his supreme vezir, Ibrahim Pasha, who, having the highest authority and power with the sultan, had been raised above all pashas and vezirs, and had obtained from him the title of Serasker of the Sultan, to Anatolia from Constantinople, and put him in command of the troops of Romania and Anatolia. With them he reached Aleppo and from there proceeded to Karahemid. When he had arrived there, he sent Uluma Beg ahead into Parthia so that he might be the guide on the journey; and he himself, following in his footsteps, pursued from behind, in the year 941 (A.D. 1535).

Continuing the journey in this manner, with no one resisting, they arrived at Tabriz. For the Shah was at that time away from that province, waging war in Khorasan against Kezien Pasha, who wished to wrest Khorasan from him. When they had approached closer to Tabriz, they found the city deserted and empty of inhabitants. But Suleiman himself followed Ibrahim, who had been sent ahead for this expedition, in the year 941 (A.D. 1535), with the Janissaries and other troops of the Porte, with such speed that at the time when Ibrahim entered Tabriz, Suleiman was looming over the gates of Karahemid. Meanwhile, Shah Tahmasp also had brought his own men closer to Tabriz so that he might crush Ibrahim Pasha there. Ibrahim, having learned of the enemy’s attempt, without delay informed Suleiman, who, by making double daily journeys, flew most quickly to Tabriz and joined himself with Ibrahim. And when, through scouts, they had learned in what places the Parthian army was staying, they led directly against them. Then, indeed, the Parthians, who had heard of the arrival of Suleiman with the Janissaries and the rest of the Porte’s soldiers, and seeing themselves in no way able to resist such an apparatus of war machines and such great troops, fled to Sultania. The Ottomans, weighed down by the excessive abundance of artillery, provisions, tents, carriages, and other heavy things, sent the artillery back to Tabriz with the rest of the baggage, protected by a garrison of three hundred Janissaries and three sangiaks, and in this way, having become more mobile, began to pursue the Parthian army keenly from behind. Then, indeed, the Parthians fled, and the Ottomans pressed hard upon the fugitives until they had arrived not far from the town of Hamadan. There, with the rains and the shortage of provisions, the icy cold overcame the Ottomans, so that very many lost their hands and feet to the cold, and an incredible multitude of men and beasts perished from the famine. Furthermore, it happened that in the very attempt to cross the river, which is called Docus Gezid, that river swelled vehemently from the rainwater. And therefore it cannot be said how many men, beasts, and burdens of other things perished, and everyone was despairing of their own salvation. Since, therefore, the Parthian army appeared nowhere, nor could it be known whither it had retreated; and since no region was nearer to Baghdad than [that place...]

and having ferried his army across, arrived in the king’s territory, and there he encamped along the maritime coast of the Euxine, in the region of Dobroditia of the Mysians, at Calliacre and Varna. And having arrived there, they began to besiege the cities. And Varna, while it was being besieged, surrendered by agreement, but Calliacre was taken by force, the Pannonians having climbed the wall. And having taken it and enslaved the inhabitants, they marched straight toward the territory of Byzantium and Orestias.

^B The Pannonians were occupied with these things. But Amurates, son of Mechmet, leading an army against Caramanus, was ravaging the land, and having seized the pack animals and livestock as plunder, he pressed the siege of the citadel of Conium. Caramanus fled to the mountains of the region and remained there, intending to repel the enemy stoutly if he should advance against him. Finally, he sent an embassy to Amurates, promising to give hostages, and to send his son to his gates, and to pay double the annual tribute that he had paid before. While Caramanus was offering these terms and entreating for a truce, a messenger arrived at the king from the leader of the Triballi, reporting that the Pannonians had crossed the Ister. Amurates, being somewhat alarmed by this message, accepted the petition of Caramanus and entered into a treaty with him; and having received the hostages and his son, he led away his army. ^C When he understood that the Hellespont was held by the ships of the Italians and the Westerners, he was anxious in spirit, since it was not sufficiently certain by what means he might at present cross into Europe. Nevertheless, he did not fail to lead his army with the greatest possible speed to the Hellespont, so that if the enemy ships should sail up, he might drive them off with bombards and other artillery. For this place is reasonably the narrowest part of the Propontis, and there is a tower in Asia called the Sacred [Tower], where the continent closes in to such a small distance that nowhere else does it narrow so much. Having brought his army there, intending to cross, he no longer found the triremes, the forces of both Europe and Asia. For ^D very strong winds did not allow the triremes to sail into the Propontis, and a strong gale came down for many days, forcing the ships in no way to sail up against the wind. Amurates, therefore, when the enemy's triremes were no longer present there, safely crossed over at his leisure, he himself and the whole army. And when he had crossed, he sent a messenger to the king of Byzantium, saying to him that he had crossed over safe and sound, and that he was marching straight against his enemy, and he exhorted him to pray that his military affairs might turn out as well as possible for him.

LAONICI CHALCOCONDYLÆ ATHENIENSIS HISTORIARUM DE ORIGINE AC REBUS GESTIS TURCORUM LIBER SEPTIMUS

Battle of Amurath and Wladislaus at Varna; expeditions in the Peloponnese against Scanderbeg and Hunyadi. Death of Amurath in the year of Christ 1450.

^A 174 The King of the Greeks, as he heard what the messenger of Amurath brought, was grieved in spirit, as is likely, because he had been unable to prevent the transit, but ([the enemy] had crossed) without a battle, and had transported all his forces at his leisure. He bore these things with a troubled mind. He was deliberating what, in the present state of affairs, he should best do: whether to announce war or peace to Amurath. For if he had decided to maintain peace with Amurath, it would come to pass that, while his army was being led through the region of the Pontus, he would be compelled to provide provisions and necessities; by this act he judged he would most greatly offend the Pannonians, and that hence the greatest danger hung over him from the Pannonians, should they defeat Amurath.

^B 175 It seemed, therefore, most advisable at that time ^C to follow the side of the Pannonians and declare war upon Amurath. Chalil, son of Ibrahim, as his letters indicate, seems to have informed Amurath of this. He was even then a friend to the Greeks, and wished them to wage war with the king as little as possible openly, before they had sufficiently explored in what direction the war would break out. Amurath, therefore, as the enemies proceeded directly against him, took up arms, being well prepared; and receiving the whole army of Europe now gathered for him, he exhorted each one to undertake the war bravely. He himself, marching behind the army of the Pannonians, took camp by night,

in that place where the Paeonians had encamped the day before. He did this for four days, observing the number of the enemy and what were their dispositions toward him: whether they were terrified in all things, so as to shrink back for a short time, or whether they were advancing with boldness and fearing nothing; and how they were provided with supplies in the camp. ^A For if one were following the enemy's camp, he could see these things at once and reckon very clearly: their degree of fear or boldness, and how they were provided with supplies and numbers, whether the army was on the march or near to it. Amurates, riding behind, was considering these things for four days; but on the fifth day, John Choniates, perceiving that the king's army was following him step by step, went into council with the king of the Paeonians, and they deliberated whether they should ^B offer battle there, and having fought in this way, continue onward, or if they should proceed without fighting, occupying the land. Then it was decided by those consulting to offer battle, so that they might not be harassed and troubled by being pursued, or face difficulties that would hinder them if they attempted anything in his territory. As soon as it had been decided, and they were remaining, Amurates arrived and encamped in the plain. First, having drawn up the Janissaries, he encircled them with shields, having fixed large iron ones into the ground. The king always carries these ^C wherever he marches on camels, and he also carries on the camels the weapons for the Janissaries. And wherever he is to be in battle, having distributed the weapons, he draws up for battle. After these shields, he stood his camels in front of the shields, and in this way drew up toward the gates. In the middle were himself and the leaders of his house, and those of the Janissaries who were present with him in the camp. The army of Europe was stationed ^D beside him, having as commander Garazies, a reputable man. It was drawn up by squadrons, separated one from another by not much space. And the army of Asia was also drawn up by squadrons standing in a front, so as to give aid to one another whenever any of these were hard-pressed by the enemy. For the cavalry troops could not be drawn up in any other way than by squadrons, since the infantry are well-able to be drawn up on the wing. Not so, however, the cavalry. The Paeonians were also drawn up by companies and tribes. And the Paeonians held the right, and the Dacians the left. John Choniates, having the Phaxin, those called the Vitaxides, advanced upon the commander of the Asian army. And the greater part of them, not even coming to close quarters, did not withstand the Paeonians, but fled from a long distance, and gave themselves to their feet.

^A The European army, which still stood and had fled nowhere, remained, awaiting the enemy. For it is manifest, I think, that for as long as the king remained, for that long the European army also stood. Although it did not resist the enemies, but turned to flight, nonetheless it returned to the royal camp. For we know that this race of men, after the nomadic Scythians, especially flees, and very easily gathers itself again in flight, and renews the battle. When they turned to flight, however, they were easily preserved. The Dacians, in the tumult of this battle, when they saw the Albanians turned to flight, no longer stayed there, but turning to the king's treasures, they plundered them and the wealth of the kingdom, and also the royal bedchamber, having killed the camels, while exhorting one another to this very thing. When they were occupied with this work, and the satiety of plundering had stolen over them, they did not return to the battle, nor did they wish to obey anyone, but were returning to their own camp.

^B John, when he had routed the Asian army, approached King Ladislaus, and diligently advised him that he should stand firm and remain in that place with his soldiers, and should not permit them to go anywhere, so that to him returning to the battle against Amurates, if anything more dangerous should arise, it would be a most safe refuge to which he might retreat. He also instructed Ladislaus to entreat the soldiers who were with him not to move themselves from that position, but to remain fixed in the same footprints, awaiting until, the European army having been routed, put to flight, and conquered, he should return a victor; and until he might finish the battle, which now alone remained. When he had said these things, he immediately girded himself to join battle with the European army, which stood drawn up to the left of the king, and engaging, fought for some time.

^C The aspect of the battle, however, was as follows. When it came to close quarters, the Pannonians were routing the Turks, and were pursuing them as far as their camp. The Turks, having turned, then pursued the Pannonians; and they did not cease from the pursuit until they had also driven them to the camp. If at any time the Pannonians were enjoying victory, they pursued the Turks most fiercely, and very many fell, crushed by the Pannonians. The Pannonians also, at times, although they were very numerous, were retreating with shame. There fell in that place Carazies, the leader of the Europeans, pierced through by a Pannonian sword. For Pannonian swords are accustomed to give wounds that do not differ from those which spears are accustomed to make.

^D For the swords of the Pannonians and the Germans are long and sharp, and they do not strike with a balanced blow, as do the barbaric and the Italian ones. The barbaric swords (and the Turks use such ones) are very heavy, and cut on one side only. Nor do I know any swords whose edge penetrates more deeply into bodies. Compared to these are the Italian swords, which were formerly in use among the Greeks. The Germanic and Pannonian swords are long and round, and sometimes also square: they have a sharp edge…

^A, and as they taper to a very sharp point, they inflict a wound similar to that of a pike, as the rider presses down on them, producing the shape of a pike. In this way, then, Carazes met his end.

Regarding Ladislaus, the king of the Paeonians, the following took place. There were men about him who envied John and were vexed by his excellence. As they saw him managing the affairs of war with skill, having routed the entire army of Asia, and fighting most nobly against the army of Europe, and having killed its commander Carazes, they said to the king: “O King, why do we stand here waiting for John to perform all these deeds, as if he were the only man, yielding to him the destruction of the enemies? This indeed brings some considerable shame upon us, that we should stand here while your servant rushes out to engage in battle with these Turks. For it was fitting, as you are our king, to demonstrate to us, and to those around you, deeds that would be praised both by our wives, and by those in our cities who hear how the battle turned out, and even by the enemy. But he, having routed so great a multitude of men, carries off immortal glory, while for you, standing here and watching individual events, only reproach is left for those who come after. Do not suppose that when he has routed the armies, the gates of the king will await our approach, but they will flee instantly wherever they may go. Go ^B then, let us go to the gates of Amurates. For since you are a king, it would be fitting for you to confront a king.” Upon hearing this, the young man—for this speech promised great deeds—as quickly as he could, drove to the royal gates where he had stood prepared for battle. Having dug a trench around the camp, he waited to see how the battle would proceed. When he charged into the janissaries, and the janissaries, having encircled them and cut them off, were fighting in a manner worthy of note, the horse of the king of the Paeonians ^C was wounded in the feet and fell. And those around him, neither perceived the fall, nor had they seen it due to the tumult that had arisen around them. There, the janissaries took off his helmet, and having severed his head, they brought it to the king. Therizes was the name of the janissary, to whom for this reason King Amurates granted a new courageous task and honored him greatly. Indeed, it is said that Amurates, when he saw the Paeonians charging and fighting in a manner worthy of note, had started to flee. But before he could turn to flight, someone seeing him uttered ^D blasphemies against him, considering it a terrible thing if they should escape, and restrained him. Not long after, the head of the king of the Paeonians was severed and brought into the camp to the king of the Muslims. When the Paeonians began to give way, they were searching for their king. But when they discovered that he had fallen in the line of battle and had been beheaded,

^A they immediately advanced, attempting to recover the corpse; but they did not succeed, for the Turk stirred up the new arrivals, and they fought fiercely. When they were unable to recover the body, they marched away toward the encampment. And immediately the rumor reached Choniates and the others in the battle lines, bringing the fighting to a halt; and as they were withdrawing and traveling in total disorder, he learned the details. He no longer marched toward the camp, but he himself, with the Daci, headed straight for the Ister; and in their haste, they fled in complete disorder, as did those around the king of the Paeonians. During this retreat, Julian the Cardinal, a man who had shown himself excellent in all things, died at the hands of the Turks. And other good men, not a few of the Daci, also fell during this retreat. John, indeed, when he reached the Ister and his army had crossed and dispersed, was captured as he traveled with a few of his men by Dracules, the prince of the Daci, who was his enemy. Previously, John had opposed him among the Paeonians, in the presence of King Vladislaus, when they were making their expedition from Dacia and crossing the Ister, plundering his villages, and he had slandered him to the king of the Paeonians, accusing him of favoring the cause of the Turks and Amurates and of secretly signaling to them whatever they happened to be doing at any given time. He had brought these charges as if to destroy him, but later, by means of money, he had been released and had escaped on this account. But as he was traveling through Dacia, he captured him, intending to take revenge, and casting him into prison, kept him under guard. When the Paeonians reached home and learned that John had been seized, they considered it terrible and intolerable that a Paeonian man of such dignity should be held captive by Dracules. They sent envoys ordering him to release John; if not, he should know that they would consider him an enemy and would march against him with all their forces. When this was announced to him by the Paeonians, Dracules, fearing for his own affairs and that the Paeonians, conceiving some more extreme plan, might march against him and take the man by force, decided to release Choniates. He treated him kindly and did not hesitate to provide him with an escort through Prasobus and Ardelium as far as the Paeonians. ^B Not long after this, Choniates, having undertaken an expedition on behalf of Danus, the prince of Dacia who had been deposed, killed Dracules along with his son. For having raised an army, he was preparing to restore Danus, the son of Masarempes and Amurxes, to Dacia. This youth, together with his son, was arrayed for battle. But when both sides were drawn up and were on the point of engaging, the Daci, abandoning the son of Myrxes, deserted to Danus. When he saw that he had been abandoned and that the Daci were crossing over to Danus, he fled; ^C and Danus pursued him as he sought his safety in flight with all his might, and catching Dracules along with his son, he slaughtered them both. Having brought matters to this pass, he returned. ^D

^A And the Getae, who had rushed toward the Danube, sought safety in flight. And while the one fled, Dracules pursued him with all his might, and catching them both, he slaughtered them forthwith. Thus, he himself was brought home. Not long after, they chose him as general and administrator of their affairs, as they were already being warred upon by the Germans and Bohemians, and they entrusted to him the management of affairs as it seemed best to him. He then assembled an army and marched against the Bohemians, and warred against them for a considerable time. And he clashed with Iscra, a man prosperous in military strategy, and, having fought, was defeated. But later, he attacked again, and having clashed, he overcame him. Amurates, having cut off the head of King Vladislaus, 4 sent it around, displayed it to the armies, and having packed up his things, he departed for home. In this battle, there fell of the Turks, as they themselves say, about six thousand, and of the Paeonians, more than these. And even more perished during the retreat by the hands of the Getae. 11

This is how the Turkish expedition ended. And matters returned once again to Amurates, not a little to the doubt of those who had arrived throughout Europe. However, he showered Therizen, who had carried off the head of the king, with much money and appointed him a governor of regions. As for the body of Caraizes, the king himself brought it to Adrianople, buried it magnificently, and conducted the funeral with due honor. In his place, he appointed Scuras, an Albanian man, to be general of Asia, whom he had taken captive from the land of the Albanians, and the king himself had raised him in his own household. He first declared him a governor, and afterward designated him general of Asia. But having cast Phatumas out of his honorary office—for he had been a prytanis (judge) in the king's household—he established Sarazenes, a man of Greek descent, in his place. ^B But the greatest power was held by Chaliles son of Priamus, a man considered the most prudent at the king's gates. Not long after, Amurates had Phatumas arrested and stripped him of all his possessions, the sum of which amounted to about one hundred and fifty myriads, and in silver about four thousand talents. 13 Yet, there were treaties under the king with the king of the Greeks, and they were no longer broken; he remained quiet for the time being, and served the king with gifts, so that King Amurates might harbor no hostile thoughts toward him. For he was indeed at odds with his own brother, Theodore, who had recently arrived at Byzantium to succeed to the rule from his brother. And he acted in opposition to the king (i.e., the Byzantine emperor) against his brother. And later, it came to an open quarrel with him, and his brother Theodore, to whom Selybria and the region bordering it had been entrusted, marched against the king of Byzantium. For he was demanding sufficient revenue for himself to live on, but did not obtain it. Whence he was brought into war against his brother, and he marched. Later, however, before accomplishing anything against him, he ended his life by a pestilential disease, leaving behind Constantinus...

^A the ruler of the Peloponnese, who, having laid waste the king’s territory, as well as Pindus, Boeotia, and the Locrians called the Ozolians, did not cease from ravaging the land and waging war, but pursued his campaign against Attica, as I have already shown before. Upon learning these developments in detail, the king would not bear it; instead, sending word for his army to assemble for him at Pherrae, he marched out from Adrianople, leading forces from both Asia and Europe. Nerius, the tyrant of Athens, urged him on to campaign against the Peloponnese, and Turachanes, the governor of Thessaly, was no less eager.

Constantinus, however, having walled off the Isthmus, resided there, keeping guards stationed at the Isthmus, and he himself spent most of his time there. When he heard that Amurates was marching against him, he sent for all those who were in the Peloponnese, and his brother along with ^B them, who happened to be celebrating the wedding of his daughter. For he had already betrothed her to Eleazarus, the son of the prince of the Triballi. These men, then, arrived at the Isthmus as summoned and strengthened the wall, as it seemed likely to provide them with a strong defense. But Amurates, advancing and taking up the armies of the region wherever he moved, arrived at Thebes, where Nerius also joined him, bringing an army from Athens. Upon reaching Mingiae, he encamped and spent a few days preparing cannons and siege engines. Following this, he descended to the Isthmus and encamped from sea to sea, with the camp and its baggage extending across that entire space.

^C There, a Peloponnesian scout, having returned, reported [to the prince] the multitude of the king, his pack animals, and his camels; and he could not bear to remain silent, but spoke to the ruler as follows: "O master, what great evils you have brought upon the Peloponnese by undertaking a war against such a king! For he brings with him all of Asia and Europe, and there is nowhere that will stand firm, not even if you had a double wall erected at the Isthmus. But for God's sake, send envoys with the utmost speed and call the king to a reconciliation, lest he utterly destroy us, the wretched, with wretched results." Upon his saying these things, the ruler became angry, and in his anger, he ordered the man to be cast into prison ^D so that he might learn, through what would come to pass, the nature of his words.

It happened that an envoy had been sent by him to the king, though he did not seek moderate terms from him. For he demanded that the Isthmus remain under his control and that he hold the entire territory outside it belonging to the king that he had subdued. Because of this, he suffered punishment at the hands of the king, who seized the envoy and held him under guard at Pherrae. The ruler himself, however, marched against the Peloponnese in the middle of winter. This envoy was Chalcocondyles the Athenian. Having imprisoned him at Pherrae, along with his attendants, [the king] pressed on. It seems to me that Amurates, as he was encamped at Mingiae, having taken the best of his army—who numbered about six thousand—and circling around the Isthmus...

^A Since they were occupied by the Albanians and restored to the Venetians; by whom they were subsequently surrendered to Sultan Selim. In the next year 980 (A.D. 1573), on the fifteenth day of the month of January, a siege of Castelnuovo was attempted by the Venetians; the suburbs were captured, but upon the arrival of the Barbarians as reinforcements, the siege was abandoned. The Venetians desired to get possession of this town and its citadel, so that they might free Cattaro, a city of their own jurisdiction and a very fortified one, from every danger. For Cattaro is situated in a certain gulf of the sea, which was formerly called the Rhizonian Gulf, and now, from the city itself, is called Catarino: the mouth of which the Turks have hitherto tried in vain to close with the fortification of Castelnuovo, so that Cattaro might not be assisted.

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Amida, desiring to recover his kingdom, sent his men to Don John of Austria, who was then sending out a fleet to Africa, already famous for so many victories over the Turks, to ask for his help so that he might be restored to his kingdom. At the same time, he promised that he would have huge forces from his friends and allies, and such an abundance of provisions that it would suffice for even the largest of armies. The Austrian agreed to his demands, and with a magnificent fleet—which was also accompanied by other triremes under the Duke of Sessa and the Prince of Melfi, Giovanni Andrea Doria—he crossed over into Africa, occupied Tunis, reduced the king given by the Turks to his power, and granted the captured city to his soldiers for plunder. But when Amida did not fulfill his promises and otherwise showed signs of unreliable faith, having secretly solicitous of Turkish aid, he was, by order of the Austrian, transported to Sicily with his two sons. There, when he received word that it would come to pass that his brother Mahomet, whom he detested most, was to be placed in charge of the kingdom, he was driven to such a frenzy that he was about to throw himself from the trireme and drown himself in the waters; Amida’s son with difficulty prevented him from doing so. ^B Mahomet, Amida’s brother, obtained the kingdom from the Austrian, having first taken an oath in the presence of the Austrian, in which he promised that he would remain a forever faithful client to the Spanish king. He then came into the power of the Turks in the next war, which we are about to describe, and was transported by sea to Constantinople, where he was still alive three years ago when we were there, and was being held in custody in the fortress which is called the Heptapurgion by the Greeks and Yedikule by the Turks.

Then the Austrian called a council of his men, in which, various opinions having been stated and examined, it was finally concluded that a new fortification should be constructed between La Goletta and Tunis, at the lake lying between the two, which would be ten Italian miles from La Goletta and a little less from Tunis. For the completion of this task, Gabriel Serbelloni, an Italian from Milan, was left there with three thousand Italian infantry, and a Spaniard named Salazar with as many Spaniards: both of whom were very experienced in the fortifying of cities and citadels. The end and scope of this entire plan was that in this way La Goletta might be made stronger, and the Barbarians might be the more easily maintained in their fidelity due to the proximity of both garrisons and the convenience of the lake, ^C at which, because both fortifications were situated, they could render assistance to one another without any difficulty. These events took place in the year 980 (A.D. 1573).

Various changes occurred in our time in the Tunisian kingdom, in which, in previous years, King Assan, son of Mahomet (whom our people incorrectly called Muleassem, since it is handed down that *Mule* signifies king or lord in their language, while *Assan* was his proper name), possessed the throne after excluding and killing his eldest brother, Mamuna, who is *Maimon* to our people. The same man either killed his other brothers, whom his father had left him at his death—twenty-one in number—or blinded them by applying hot iron to their eyes: except for Rossette, who had been born second. He, in an attempt to expel his brother Assan, having conducted the matter with little success, fled to Cesairis (which our people call Algiers) to Hayreddin "Barbarossa": who sent Rossette to Constantinople, yet under the pretext of his restoration he deceived the Tunisians, expelled Assan, and captured the city with the citadel and the whole kingdom, and submitted it to Sultan Suleiman, calling himself a vassal-sultan of his; this truly happened in the Mahometan year 940 (A.D. 1534). Charles Augustus restored Assan to the kingdom in the year 943 (A.D. 1537), after expelling Hayreddin; which he held, thereafter vexed by no one, until the year 950 (A.D. 1544), in which, terrified by the report of the approaching fleet of Hayreddin, he crossed over to Sicily and Naples. Amida, son of Assan, occupied Tunis with the citadel during his father’s absence, and captured his father upon his return, and with a hot scalpel injured the pupils of his eyes, depriving him of sight. ^D His brothers Nahaser and Abdalas, whom he had captured with his father, were treated with the same inhumanity by Amida. His uncle Abdamelech ejected Amida from the kingdom. For he, having set out for La Goletta, and with the help of the Spaniard Francisco Tovaris, the prefect of La Goletta, entered Tunis, and soon proceeded to the citadel with his face veiled, and occupied it by deceiving the guards who believed him to be Amida. After the thirty-sixth day of his reign, Abdamelech having departed from human affairs, his son Mahomet, only twelve years of age, succeeded him: who, being not yet of an age suitable for governing the state, and since the administration of his curators seemed intolerable to many, Amida returned and wrested the kingdom from his cousin. Amida was again driven out by the Turks, led by Uluç Ali, in the year 980 (A.D. 1573), and by the authority of Sultan Selim, another man was substituted in his place. Amida, fleeing to La Goletta, which was held by a Spanish garrison, led a private life with his two sons.

Sultan Selim endured these advances of the Christians in Africa very grievously. Therefore, he appointed Sinan Pasha, a cunning man and very experienced in military affairs, to supreme command of the fleet: which contained 160 triremes and 33 vessels of a different kind. He arrived in Africa in the month of July, in the Mahometan year 981 (A.D. 1574). Although indeed Serbelloni, the prefect in charge of completing the new fortification, had used great diligence in all things, nevertheless it was not yet finished, because the architects, together with the stone-masons and all the material, having been sent later, finally reached Africa toward the end of the month of March.

he observed how the wall was kept and prepared for war. ^A And he was vexed with Turachanes because, while he himself had judged that he should campaign in the summer, the latter had persuaded him that it was better to begin the affair in winter, as if the Peloponnesians would not withstand a hostile force, but would immediately take to flight as soon as they learned he had arrived at the Isthmus; and he waited there for several days, as if the leader of the Peloponnesians would yield on account of these things. And when the days had passed, he came down to the wall and encamped. On the next day, he struck the leader’s camp with long cannons; on the following day, they made an attempt against those in the wall and brought up their siege engines. On the fourth day toward evening, each man lit as many fires as possible around the camp, according to his own equipment. For it is the custom of this race of Turks, when they intend to go into battle, that three days before the day on which battle is joined, they light very many fires throughout the camp, and each man lights as many as he can, and they chant a certain hymn ^B to God and to the hero, making it clear that they intend to join battle on the third day following. And then, having made a fire, they readied themselves for the assault on the wall. On the fifth day toward evening, they brought up the engines, and under cover, the so-called Sarachorides—the remaining useless mob of the people. For besides the army that follows this king in his campaigns, they lead along a mob, and grain is brought from the neighboring regions and from the rest of the king’s land. Others, in turn, are the Asian so-called Agiades, a foot-mob that is employed for the needs of the army and for the clearing of roads ^C and for the camps. It seems to me that the camp of this king is equipped most beautifully of all the camps we have seen or heard of, both regarding the tents and the abundance of supplies. For first of all, there follow the king great markets for grain, horses, slaves, and for the needs of the army, whatever might be required, arriving there in great abundance for this purpose. After this, those of the great men who follow the king each lead along many pack-animals on the march—some having camels with grain and arms and sufficient barley for the fodder of the pack-animals, others mules, others both, and some horses—so that the pack-animals of the army are double [the number of the men]. ^D Besides these, he leads along a mob from his own country for the sake of grain, and whenever the camp is in need, he distributes the food to the best men and thus allows it, whatever it may be. One would see in the camp of the king ten thousand tents, or more or less, as each happens to be stationed. At that time, when the Sarachorides were drawn up against the Greeks,

^A inner thoughts and secret intentions, the death inflicted upon the Kurdish sanjak of Hadrianopolis by Ismail became a punishment that fell upon his own informants and accusers. He held not only the sultans in suspicion, but he also did away with all his own brothers, as many of them as he could lay hands on. And because, while the Kurdish sanjak—of whom we shall soon speak—was lacking, some nobles had advised Ismail to surrender him to the Turks, so that the peace long ago initiated and maintained between both nations might not be violated, he not only refused to obey their advice, but he even punished the authors of the suggestion—who were also dissuaders of the Turkish war—with capital punishment, as traitors. Many were gravely offended by such excessive severity on the part of the man, and in the sixth month of his reign, through the agency of his sister, they administered poison to him. Having drained this, he exchanged his life for death.

Year 983 (A.D. 1576): Stephen Báthory, of Somlyó, a Hungarian noble, and otherwise a man of heroic spirit—who, a few years earlier, following the death of John Sigismund, the Waivode of Transylvania (for he died in the Christian year 1571, who was a Mahometan in 978 with the burden of an annual tribute to be paid to the Sultan of the Muslims, had succeeded him)—was made King of Poland, with the recommendation of Sultan Murad, his patron, after Henry of Valois the Gaul, whom Murad also used to boast he had brought to the Polish throne through his own efforts, had fled from Poland after the death of his brother Charles, and had been deposed from the kingdom by the decision of the nobles.

^B While Ismail Shah was still alive, a certain sanjak of the Kurdish nation, named Abdallah Beg, having fallen under suspicion for certain reasons during the reign of Sultan Selim II, the father of Murad III, had been summoned by Sultan Selim—under a different pretext, as is the custom of the barbarians—to betake himself to the Porte. The Kurd obeyed the sultan’s command, conscious of no guilt on his part, and came to Sultan Selim at Hadrianopolis. Selim ordered that he be seized and thrown into prison. This is usually done when men of great authority or of great families are to be apprehended, through the offices of the Zausii [Çavuş], who is in charge of the noble courtiers whom the Sultan of the Muslims uses, just as our princes use commissioners to dispatch various matters. While the Pasha of the Zausii was attempting with his men to seize the Kurd, during Sultan Murad’s mission, the Kurd, defending himself and his men, killed him on the spot; the others were partly killed and partly wounded. For this reason, Selim ordered his throat to be cut, along with all his men. With him strangled, and his brother’s son possessing his sanjak by right of succession, another relative approached the Ottoman Porte and, partly by gifts offered and partly by huge promises made, both to the sultan himself and to his counselors, whom they call viziers, obtained the sanjak of his relative. The other man, having been cited to the Porte, and having understood the whole affair, and fearing for himself lest, even without guilt, he should suffer the same punishment with which his patron had been afflicted, avoided the journey to the Porte and, as if despairing of obtaining the grace of Sultan Selim, fled into Parthia to Shah Ismail II, who then held power among the Parthians. ^C It must be known, however, that those Kurdish sanjaks, even though they remain under the empire of the Ottoman Sultan, are not governed in the way other sanjaks are accustomed to be; but they are like the waivodes or palatines and governors of Transylvania, Wallachia, and Moldavia, who must be the sons of noble families, born in the very region of their fatherland, and chosen by their own lords and peoples. The Kurds, moreover, undoubtedly trace their origin to the Chaldeans and the peoples of Mesopotamia. For to this day, many Kurdish princes are found in the region of Baghdad, which is the ancient Babylonia, and in Carahemid, which is Amida, and in Diarbekir or Mesopotamia: the peoples of which regions are the Chaldeans and Assyrians, neighbors to Van and Scheherezul, and extending as far as the borders of the Persians. Furthermore, it is certain that even today the Arabs call Chaldea "Keldan," which the Persians, along with the Ottomans, call Kurdistan, that is, the kingdom of the Kurds. And all these people are of the Mahometan sect. Therefore, when that Kurdish sanjak of whom we spoke betook himself to the Persians, Shah Ismail not only received him very humanely, but even offered him his aid for the recovery of his ancestral and paternal domain. Cosroe Pasha, who was then the beglerbeg of Van and the neighboring region, and the other frontier sanjaks who belonged to his beglerbegate, when they understood these things, began to inflict damage upon the Persian borders through incursions, saying that the mutual peace had been violated by the fault of Shah Ismail, who had received the fugitives and rebels of the Sultan of the Muslims under his own protection against the laws of peace, and had decreed that they should be helped. This was the beginning of the most grave war which has been waged to this day between the Persians and the Turks.

In the same year, the firstborn son of Shah Tahmasp, Muchemetes by name, nicknamed Khodabendeh—which in the Persian tongue signifies "Servant of God"—succeeding after the death of his brothers Haydar Mirza and Ismail II, although by nature he was desirous of quiet, nonetheless decided to continue the war begun by his brother Ismail against the Turks: this was because his son was Emir Khan Mirza, a youth of great spirit and extremely eager for conducting affairs. He placed him in supreme command of his forces. The causes of the war were various, which we shall repeat here a little more deeply, never before revealed by others in such a way. For we have taken pains to learn something certain about the matters carried out in this war within Turkey itself from trustworthy men, scorning the rumors commonly bandied about and the reports of new events scattered here and there by letters. ^D Other causes also contributed, especially those gathered from dissensions over superstitions and the vain observation of dreams, to which the Turkish race is overly prone. For three years earlier, throughout Anatolia, many thousands of those who devote themselves to the Turkish rites and their disciplines and studies (whom they call *sohtas*) began to stir...

^A they were attempting to fight them, and they spent the whole night sleepless, trying to provoke the Greeks to battle. As dawn was already breaking, the king ordered the signals to sound: cymbals, horns, and trumpets signified, with a very great noise, that the battle was now to begin. The Turks, drawn up in order, began to assault the wall as vigorously as possible. The king and his mercenaries stood in battle array in the middle of the Isthmus, where they had pitched their tents. They brought up scaling ladders, undermined the wall, and fought bravely in order to capture it. He had also stationed the bombardiers there, and he did not allow the Peloponnesians to look out or appear. For the bombard is a terrible thing, and no armor can withstand it, such that it cuts through everything it reaches. It seems that when something resists it, then indeed it strikes even more deeply, since it would not penetrate so far into cotton, wool, or fleece. ^B When the mercenaries were in safety, they brought the ladders to the wall and began climbing, and they crossed over at the very place where the king stood watching; a mercenary named Chiteres, a Triballian by birth, climbed the wall, captured it, and, after ravaging those in that position, put them to flight. And they, having abandoned their ranks, began to descend at that spot, and, being close, they were struck with fear by God and by lack of experience, and that is how they behaved. For they went off fleeing, and those who were positioned again beside them, not knowing what hardship was befalling them, went off fleeing too; and so, all of them having abandoned the wall, they fled in no order. These Turks, having rushed in at the place where it had been captured by the mercenary, and at the other spot where they had broken it down by undermining, were pouring in through the gates and running.

^C Some, turning toward the camp of the Greeks, were plundering the Greeks' furniture and other goods; others, turning toward the men, were destroying some and capturing others, putting them in the rank of slaves. And there was a great slaughter of those fleeing. But of what happened concerning the leaders of the Greeks, let us hear. For when they saw the Greeks fleeing with all their might and in no order, they first tried to restrain them; but when they could not restrain them as they were in flight, they themselves also fled, though not toward Corinth. For they knew that if they were besieged in it, they would easily be captured, since there was not sufficient food stored there, nor other supplies. ^D But hurrying toward the interior, they arrived ahead of the enemy at the remote Laconian region of the Peloponnese, waiting to see where the king intended to go. For they had decided to flee into the sea and withdraw from the region if Amurates were to arrive with his army. For they knew that the Peloponnesians...

in order passed away, and thus at length succeeded them. Since, therefore, those three transgressed against the supreme eulogy of the testament and the precept of the prophet Mahomet, the Persians grant them no faith, which have been delivered either by tradition of word or by written monuments by those three. Nay, wherever they find their books and writings, they immediately burn them in the flames and act cruelly against those who observe them. The same Persians adore their Shah or King, and venerate him as if he were some earthly god. Nor are they accustomed to pray five times by day and night, after the manner of the Osmanlis, but only once. In sum, they are followers of a religion delivered to them by a certain doctor, whose name was Sheik Haidar; and who continue in the footsteps of another doctor, whom they call the Imam Harust. These two doctors or imams existed in the Persian city of Reza, at the time when Erdebil, son-in-law of Usum-chasan, Shah of the Persians, lived, as did Shah Ismail, the first of that name, son of Erdebil and grandson of Usum-chasan through his daughter Martha. And when these doctors had proposed in both preaching and writing what we have recounted, those two princes, Erdebil and Ismail, father and son, approved and embraced their doctrine and sect. And indeed Ismail, of the surname Sophini, had such fortune that the fame of the new religion, which they called Sophian, drew to him first small, then larger troops of men, until at length, having vanquished in battle the kings of the Persians, his uncle Jacup and his son Alvantes, he slew them and subjected the kingdom to himself, which has been propagated among his descendants with royal dignity even to this day. Nevertheless, those two Persian imams or doctors, Haidar and Harust, are condemned with the execration ^C not only of the Osmanlis, but also of other Mahometans, as much in Barbary or Africa as in the vast empire of the Kezies, which is commonly called the Great Khan of the Tartars, or Chitainus. For these reasons, therefore, the Osmanlis are so hostile to the Persians that their mufti, that is, the patriarch or supreme pontiff, has delivered this sentence concerning them: namely, that it is more pleasing and acceptable to God, for the sake of the Mahometan religion, that one Persian be slain, even if he be a Mahometan by profession, than if any one should kill 70 Christians, who differ entirely in religion from the Mahometans. Finally, it is evident that at that time, when the illustrious and noble orator of the Emperor of the Christians to the Ottoman Porte, David Ungnad, Baron of Sonnegg, was about to depart from Constantinople and take leave of the Sultan of the Mussulmans, the Persian legate had also betaken himself to the Divan for the same reason. Seeing this man, who had arrived a little later, occupying the first place owed to himself, the orator of our Emperor was about to depart without saluting the Sultan; but Mechemetes Bassa, the vizir-azem whom we have mentioned, having noticed this, ordered the Persian to sit in a lower place, although he was a Mahometan. Whence it is evident that among the Turks, more Christians differ in religion from the Persians than become followers of Mahomet. ^D

Having set forth the causes and beginnings of the war, and that more fully and truly than has been performed by anyone before now, whose labor has come to light for the public, let us now come to the events themselves carried out in the war.

As stated above, the war was begun under Ismail II, Shah of the Persians. When he died not long after, although his brother and successor in the kingdom, Shah Muchemetes Hodabendes, had determined to prosecute the war begun by his brother, nevertheless, in order to enter upon it the more preparedly, he thought one thing should be done and another feigned, especially since the kingdom was not long since entered, and matters were not yet sufficiently settled, which the rash cruelty of Ismail had not a little disturbed. And so, desiring to bring a remedy to the disturbances that had lately arisen between the two nations, he sent legates with letters to Sultan Murates, in which he signified that he had never approved of his brother’s counsel in breaking the peace, but had always desired above all that the peace and mutual friendship—once established between the two families and cultivated for so many years—might be preserved perpetually. On the other hand, Murates, who believed the exposition and declaration of the indicated dreams to be true, and was being fired up without intermission to bring war upon the heretical Persians by the aforesaid sheik and hoggia, made little account of the Shah Muchemetes' embassies and letters; and so, scarcely having heard the legates, he ordered that a numerous and powerful army should be gathered. Another instigator was added, and one no less sharp, Ilusreves Bassa of Van, who daily kept sending couriers with letters to Constantinople, through which letters he rendered Sultan Murates more certain that, in reality, the Persians were not seeking peace, but had sent letters and legates to the Porte merely for the sake of appearances, so that they might interpose a delay and, by carrying on the war, might render themselves better prepared in all matters.

In the Mahometan year 984 (A.D. 1577), Shah Muchemetes entered into a league with those peoples whose emperor is by far the most powerful of all in the whole world, the Ulu Chan Chitainus, and who is wont to be styled Kezies Bassa, and joined them to himself as allies in waging war against the Turks, even though his ancestors had waged continuous wars with them. For although they themselves are also Mahometans, they nevertheless differ from the Persians in certain opinions concerning religion. He had also, besides these, many auxiliaries of no small authority from among the Turks themselves, who differed from other Ottoman Turks in their opinion of religion and inclined toward the Sophians. Finally, he also obtained not small forces from the Georgians, who were anciently called Iberians, and who to this day profess the Christian religion, yet differ somewhat from the Greeks and our own. They obey different princes, and in their hearts incline toward the Persians, to whom they were of the greatest profit in this war.

^A had been utterly crushed by the king, and that neither arms, nor men, nor anything else worth mentioning were left in the cities or the citadels. They no longer hoped that the principality of the Peloponnese would remain under their control in the future, but were convinced that they would suffer the total loss of all their possessions.

Amurates, once he occupied the Isthmus and had come into the Peloponnese, first ordered about three hundred of the captives—who had fled during the night to the mountain situated above Cenchreae, which they call Oxy, and had escaped—to be surrounded as if by a hunting net. All were captured, and having deceived them, he led them to a single place and cruelly slaughtered them. Afterward, Amurates bought six hundred captives, whom he intended to offer as a sacrifice in honor of his father, wishing to expiate the slaughter of those men.

Having performed these acts, he divided his army. He handed one part to Turachanes, the governor of Thessaly, as he was experienced and, indeed, had had the most dealings with the Turks in the Peloponnese, and he gave him about a thousand of the new arrivals to march through the inland territory; he himself marched through Sicyonia, straight toward Achaia. ^B Having arrived at Sicyon, on the very day the Isthmus was taken, the king’s army attacked and plundered the entire city most thoroughly. Since the men were away at the Isthmus and the city was not situated in a fortified location, they were enslaved immediately at that time, and they proceeded for a great distance across the Peloponnese, chasing both the leader and the other Greeks, as everyone fled in whatever direction they could. He took the city empty and began to besiege the acropolis. There were present there Mulgerius, a Greek, and some other Greeks, not many of them, along with their wives and children. ^C When, after undermining the acropolis, he came to an agreement with the guard of the acropolis, he surrendered himself and the fortress. He sent these people, along with the women and children, to Aegium, a flourishing city, while he himself set fire to the buildings of the conquered city.

Having done this, he went further and arrived at Patras, a flourishing city of Achaia. The inhabitants had deserted this city, fleeing to the continent of the Venetians, which lay opposite. However, some remained in the citadel and in the palace: fools indeed, for while the others took care to flee, they themselves precipitated their own grave danger. There were four thousand of them. ^D Amurates received the men and women who were in the palace into his protection through terms, and enrolled them all into the list of slaves. He then began the assault on the citadel, and sent the new arrivals to capture it suddenly. They made an attack on the wall with great force, and having undermined it, they forced their way in. The Greeks, having ignited resin and pitch with fire at the opening, repulsed the new arrivals as they defended themselves and reinforced the acropolis. Amurates, when Turachanes arrived from there, bringing as many captives as possible, was present.

That act, they say, was committed by Osman for two reasons. First, because he feared that as time went on his father-in-law might remove him from the scene. Further, so that once the fortress of Temircapina had been brought under his control, he might surrender himself and the region to the patronage of his sultan, Osman, which he indeed did. For when the Shamkhal Khan died, Osman Pasha remained the sole and absolute prince in his father-in-law’s territory, with absolutely no one to hinder him. He immediately dispatched messengers via Caffa—which is situated to the north between Tatary and Muscovy, and has Circassia to the south—with letters to the Ottoman Sultan Murad, committing and commending himself entirely to his faith and power. At the same time, he set forth what he had achieved, requesting that, if he were indeed thinking of supreme empire not only over that place and domain but over the whole Caspian Sea, Muscovy, the East Indies, Samarkand, Khorasan, and the Persian regions of Gilan, he should send him an army, funds, and provisions at the earliest opportunity. Sultan Murad, moved by these joyful tidings, saw to it that he received other necessary things, and in addition sent 60,000 Tatars along with two brothers of the King of Tatary, one of whom was subsequently strangled by Osman Pasha in the year 991 (1584 A.D.). And these things were done in the first year of the war, namely 985 (1578 A.D.), in which it is established that over 70,000 perished, whether by battle or by the Turkish shortage of supplies.

When the winter passed and the summer of 986 (1579 A.D.) arrived, and the auxiliary forces with funds had reached Temircapina, the Ottomans began to inflict damage on the enemy through their usual raids into the borders of Shirvan. This situation led to a great battle with the Persians, in which the Tatars, along with one of the King of Tatary’s brothers, were slaughtered and destroyed, while the other brother, still alive, was taken by the enemy. Osman Pasha himself escaped, though barely, with a very few of his men. Since the disaster of the ill-fated battle had left him with mere scraps of troops, he began, in the manner of Turkish brigands, to infest surrounding territories daily with predations, showing no regard or consideration for friend or foe. By these robberies he both lived himself and fed his own men, repeatedly retreating with them to the aforementioned fortress if the enemy threatened. And it is said that the location of this fort is by nature most defensible; having placed upon it a band of Janissaries using muskets, along with several field pieces and falconets, he rendered himself so safe and the fortress itself so impregnable against those naked and unarmed peoples—who had never in their whole lives seen the artillery of war or muskets with their own eyes, nor heard the thunder of them with their ears—that he seemed a monarch to himself.

On the other side, the aforementioned Pasha Mustapha, observing this turn of events, did nothing at all through the winter of 985 (1578 A.D.), remaining with his troops at Erzurum, as we indicated above. At the beginning of the following summer, in the year 986 (1579 A.D.), he led his army to the Persian borders and clashed in various battles, sometimes with the Persians, sometimes with the Georgians, yet he always departed defeated, with significant loss of his own men. In the same year he fortified Kars, a place four days' journey from Erzurum toward Yerevan, and appointed a beylerbey and a defterdar over it. Similarly, at Tschildir, situated on the borders of Georgia, he established another beylerbey with a defterdar.

In this same year, Sultan Murad also sent the grand admiral, Uluzali Pasha, with the fleet to Mingrelia, a region of the peoples of Colchis, to build a fortress in those parts. For this absolute authority, a beylerbey was appointed by him, along with a defterdar. The name of the place is Fassa. Sultan Murad had ordered Fassa to be constructed so that he might open a shorter and safer route in those parts, by which the troops could more easily be led against the Georgians, and once they were defeated and brought under the yoke from that direction, it would be all the more convenient to march beyond Temircapina to wage war on Shirvan. Not long after the grand admiral Uluzali had departed from there with his soldiers and fleet, however, the fortress of Fassa was thoroughly razed and laid waste by the enemy.

Since the war was being conducted with little success by Mustapha Pasha, and the soldiers were miserably afflicted by a scarcity of provisions and a plague violently raging in the camps, he was ordered by letters from Sultan Murad to withdraw to Amasya to spend the winter. He nevertheless remained through that winter in Erzurum with the remnants of the army, the greater part of the soldiers having slipped away due to destitution, the virulence of the contagious pestilence, and the approaching cold of winter, and the beylerbeys themselves having returned home when they saw that nothing could be correctly accomplished against the enemy.

Meanwhile, the Persian set out from Qazvin—which is the second and more interior capital of his empire—toward Tabriz with his forces. There, having been informed about the Turks who were scattered here and there and fleeing, he rushed into the enemy territory and, laden with immense booty, himself dismissed his soldiers into winter quarters. Upon learning of this Persian incursion, Murad, fearing that the enemy might advance further, immediately commanded Mustapha by letter to move with all his army to the Persian borders once again. He, however, did nothing of the sort, as he had already learned through scouts of the Persians' departure; and besides, even if he had greatly desired to lead his forces against the enemy, he could have achieved nothing due to the contumacy of his army, which was completely disobedient. Indeed, it is established that at one time there was deliberation in the camps about murdering Mustapha, the causes of the hatred against him being primarily an insatiable avarice and a supine negligence in procuring provisions and other necessities for the soldiers; for this reason it had come about that, with the soldiers killed by famine and pestilence, the camps were seen to be all but exhausted. For these reasons, Mustapha was recalled by Sultan Murad to the Gate [the Sublime Porte], and in his place was substituted Sinan Pasha, who on account of his severity toward all...

and having made an about-face, departed. After this, not long later, he concluded a truce, and from then on, the Greeks were subject to the payment of tribute, having previously been free. ^A Thus, the city of Thebes, when the king attempted to attack the Peloponnese, they abandoned, and the men, having migrated, withdrew to the Isthmus, where they were eventually captured by the Turks. The region outside, that is, the Pindus and the rest of the king’s territory, immediately after the capture of the Isthmus, came into the king’s power. This is how far matters went in the Peloponnese.

And the king, in the following summer, campaigned against Scenderes, the son of Iban, who, having arrived at the king’s court as a boy and having become his favorite, had fled back to his paternal land; and having taken as his wife the daughter of Arianites, he fought openly against the king. They neither paid tribute to the king, nor did they go to the court themselves, nor were they willing to obey. For this reason, having gathered all his army from both Asia and Europe, he marched against the land of Iban; and when he invaded the country, he plundered and burned the crops, dispatching his forces wherever he could reach, and he set fire to the villages and the fields. And the crops were burned by the army, and everything there was destroyed. ^B Scenderes, therefore, had sent ahead to the seaside region of the Venetians along the Ionian Sea, both he himself and all the Albanians, their wives and children, so that they might be safe from the impending danger. They themselves, moving about, went from one place to another in the region, in case their cities needed any help. And they stayed upon the mountain that hangs over their land and stretches as far as the Ionian Sea, watching to see how matters would turn out for them. Amurates, advancing, first besieged the city of Sphetia, and proposed terms, that they should surrender it, and that they themselves should each go off to their own affairs; but they would not be persuaded. After this, he attacked with his new recruits, and took the city by force, and enslaved it, and put all the men to death. After this, he proceeded against Getia, and received it by agreement, and having enslaved those in the city, he marched his army against the city of Crua, which is the preeminent city among those in the land of the Albanians. It is situated in a very strong position. ^C He took up a position before it, and besieged it, and struck the wall with his cannon, and brought down no small part of it. After this, he attacked with the new recruits, intending to take the city. And since he was not able to take it, he led away the army; for it was already late in the year, and winter, having set in, was pressing hard upon the army. He was bringing his son, who was just coming into his youth, Mechmetes, around with the army, ever since he had taken the kingdom from him. ^D And it happened in the following way: when he was fighting against the Paeonians at Varna, and he saw his army turning in flight, and becoming fearful 186

which Sinan Pasha desired, more than what had been done by Mustapha beyond the territories and regions situated outside Sirvan—yet, because of the scarcity of soldiers consumed by famine and plague, he could accomplish nothing worthy of memory, except that he established two beglerbegs on the borders of the Georgians, with two defterdars, some at Sochuma, others at Batina. Such are the names of the cities there. However, the beglerbegates in those parts are not to be highly esteemed. Indeed, more beglerbegates were established in those frontier places than sanjakates. The same Sinan Pasha, when he was at one time about to enter the region of the Curggini, that is, the Georgians, experienced a grave slaughter of his men, and many of his war engines were even left behind there. At another time, when he was sending auxiliary forces and money to Tiflis, which was being besieged by the enemy, his army was attacked by the Persians and Georgians with such impetus that, having lost all their equipment, almost none of them returned alive to the camp of Sinan. This caused the Turks, who were besieged within Tiflis, to be extinguished by dire famine, having even tasted the flesh of dogs and mice. 373 On the fourth day of the month of August, in the year 987 (A.D. 1580), there came to Constantinople an orator sent by the Persian Shah, Maxudes Chan, who, in the name of his king, was authorized to conclude peace with Sultan Murad. He was received magnificently by Mustapha Pasha and other nobles of the Porte.

On the sixth day of the same month, Mustapha Pasha died, having contracted a disease only two days earlier from a rather greedy consumption of melons, upon which he had poured a generous amount of water diluted with sugar (which the Turks call Zerbetum). Many thought that he had brought death upon himself by taking poison out of fear of punishment, since he feared that if he were accused by the Persian orator—on top of previous matters because of which he had incurred the indignation of Sultan Murad—concerning several missions of his king that had been suppressed, he would face the danger of death with great infamy. There was indeed a constant rumor throughout all Constantinople at that time that he would be strangled. The property of the deceased was confiscated to the treasury, with a certain portion left to his grandsons, who, being still under age at that time, were transferred to the services of the Porte. Sultan Selim II had once used him as a tutor. Later, when he had become beglerbeg of Cairo, he was within a hair's breadth of being killed by the order of Selim. He was altogether worthy to be his own executioner, due to the treachery he practiced after the capture of Famagusta against Bragadin and others, and his truly beastly inhumanity. ^A

They were accustomed to inquire for what reason this "horse" of Mustapha Pasha—as they are wont to speak in this war—presses them. But the Persians never seem likely to do this; they declare that they will cede to the Ottoman family those territories on this condition: if the Turks can force them into their power with arms as well as hold and retain them by the sword. Besides this, they have explicitly declared several times that they would admit no other condition of peace. However, that Maxudes Chan, having finished his embassy and returned to his prince, committed the crime of treason some time later, deserted his lord, entrusted himself to the faith of Murad, and subsequently followed Ferbat Pasha, who was setting out for the Persian war, so that he might obtain some sanjakate in those frontiers.

In the year 988 (A.D. 1581), almost nothing memorable was done, because of the extreme lack of supplies on the frontiers and in the camps; the soldiers themselves were entirely disinclined toward this war, and were withdrawing themselves by any means they could. Sinan Pasha, also weary of a war that was being conducted with no profit and desiring to return to Constantinople, where he would receive greater advantages from the office of vizier—as he was a man of sagacious talent—decided not to continue the war against the Persian, but to establish peace by some means. For this reason, having sent Zausii and letters to the King of the Persians, he signified that if he wished to make peace with his prince, he should send an envoy who was prudent and of excellent authority, equal to such great business: thus, he said, it would undoubtedly come about that peace could be happily concluded between both sides and arms laid down. In the meantime, however, a truce was to be arranged, which would be observed in good faith on both sides. At the same time, he promised all his study and effort to settling the disputes on fair terms. This mention of peace was not unwelcome to the Persian Shah, and therefore, having soon granted and approved a truce, he replied that he would send an orator, having first deliberated on the cause. These things having been completed, Sinan Pasha left the camp and set out for Constantinople, entering the city around the middle of the month of July with exquisite pomp, with the nobles of the Porte going out to meet him.

On the seventeenth day of the month of August, the Persian orator was granted the opportunity to explain his embassy; although this seemed at first to be pleasing to Sultan Murad, it was nevertheless devoid of any fruit. For the cause of preventing the peace from being joined was this: the Ottomans wanted to make it to their own greatest advantage and the Persians’ detriment, namely, that the Persians should cede to the Turks everything contained within Sirvan, and whatever else—so to speak—Mustapha Pasha’s "horse" had impressed upon them in this war.

At the beginning of spring, in the following year 989 (A.D. 1582), on the twenty-ninth day of the month of March, there was sent by the Shah Mohammed one of the number of Persian nobles, whose name was Ibrahim Chan, who came to Constantinople with a great and distinguished retinue of more or less three hundred horsemen: partly to treat regarding peace with Sultan Murad, partly to be present at the Muslim ceremony, by which Murad’s son, Mohammed, an adolescent of more or less sixteen years, was to be circumcised with solemn rite. On the twenty-eighth day of the month of May began the celebration of this circumcision, unprecedented in our century, with the ambassadors of the greatest princes of almost the entire world present at Constantinople, namely of Rudolph II, the august Emperor of the Christians, and of Henry III, King of France (whose orator, however, Germinius Germollaeus...).

he was greatly alarmed, and he made a vow that if he should escape his present danger and obtain victory, he would resign his kingdom to his son, and depart to Asia to pass his life there, having priests and the Nazarites ^A with him, and frequent the places of worship and offer sacrifices there. So when he had extorted victory from the Pannonians, the king having been slain, he returned to his home, and summoning his younger son, he handed over the reigns of the kingdom. Now his eldest son, Aladines, was no longer alive, but had already paid the debt of nature, having been struck by something while hunting in the chase; and he died in this way. Mehmed, however, called to him the younger son to govern the kingdom. And when he reached him, having handed over the government and the gates and the newcomers, he himself departed for Asia, and to Prusa, where the royal seat was. Having therefore abdicated the kingdom, he dwelt with the Zichidians, who are the Nazarites or monks of the Turks, and with Scilidis, and with the learned men of that race, for a long time. ^B And long after, he repented of this, and of having departed from the kingdom and following a private life. But since he could not endure the condition of his life, he began to consider by what means he might recover the royal status and dignity. For he was carefully watching that his son might not perceive what he himself was contriving, lest a war should arise of which he would be held the author by the Turks. And this which he had planned he brought to an end, namely, that he would return to the kingdom by the work and industry of the son of Chatitis, of the family of Priam, whom he used familiarly, and with whom he had the closest intimacy. When Chatitis therefore understood the intention of Murates sufficiently, he bids his son Mehmed go hunting, that he might exercise himself on horseback ^C as much as possible. Now he, following the command, went off to the hunt. Meanwhile, Chatitis sends a messenger to the father, that he should suddenly come the same day to the royal city and bid the citizens receive him as king. Arriving on the appointed day, just as he had been commanded, busied with the hunting of the boy, he invaded the kingdom: arriving at the gates of the citizens, as is proper, he said: "My son," he said, "has yielded the kingdom to me with changed intent," not knowing what to do in the present business, but he followed the king and worshipped him: [he followed him] wherever he had gone to make war. Nor did it escape Mehmed that Chatitis had done this, having helped the father as much as possible. But although he might justly have been angry at Chatitis, he did not wish to show his anger, fearing the power of the man, whom he knew to have the greatest influence with his father Murates. Thus, at that time, because of the man’s power in the kingdom, his son was affected.

Now when he had led his army away from Macedonia, which lies toward the Ionian Sea, which is the land of the Albanians, ^D this...

that the commander of the land forces in those regions should be sent to confront him. ^A Osman Pasha, having accepted Murad’s command, did whatever had been enjoined upon him by him. For, having set out for Caffa, he spent that whole winter there. When summer arrived, in the year 991 (1584 A.D.), Sultan Murad sent there the brother of Muchemet the Tartar, whose name was Islan Chan. He had until then been kept at Iconium, a city of Asia. But now he was being taken to Caffa with the intention that Osman Pasha, having killed Muchemet, should give this man, the king of the Kerai Tartars, the position in place of Muchemet. When Islan Chan sailed to Caffa by Murad’s command, Uluzalis, the prefect of the sea, went with him, along with a few galleys and a not insignificant guard of the Porte’s janissary musketeers. After these had landed at Caffa, that unhappy Muchemet Chan, deserted by his own people and, most importantly, betrayed by his Kihaia, or the prefect of his court, fell into the hands of the Turks; and by them, together with two sons, he was strangled with his throat crushed. ^B In his place, with no one objecting, Islan Chan was soon appointed by them, according to the decree of Sultan Murad, to be the chan or king of the Kerai Tartars. Another son of his fled to the prince of the Nogai Tartars, his father-in-law. It seems likely that such a death befell Muchemet not undeservedly, due to the impiety he had exercised toward his father. For when the latter was worn out by old age and thought to be little suited for governance by his son, Muchemet had forced his father to abdicate the kingdom with the help of the Turkish sultan, and had soon transferred it to himself; yet the Tartars demanded his brother Islan Chan, whom the father also favored more. Islan, along with another, younger brother, had betrothed himself to the Polish king, Stephen Báthory, for fear of fraternal cruelty. At the request of Muchemet, the Turkish sultan urged the Polish king that they be surrendered to him. There was among the Turks a certain Transylvanian, commonly called Marchatzi Paul—that is, Paul Marchatzius—who had plotted against Transylvanian affairs. ^C When the king demanded him in return, some hope of surrender was given. Therefore, Murad consulted with his counselor, Siaus Pasha, and with the Beglerbeg of Rumelia or Greece, and the Cadilescher. When these persuaded him that such subsidies ought to be sent to the Tartar, he ordered that all things necessary for waging war be given to him. A hundred pack animals are said to have been sent to him, laden with small silver coins, which the Turks call *aspros* in the Greek style. The sum of these amounted to one hundred and eighty thousand German thalers, with the price of the thaler reduced to sixty *aspros*, which at that time had been established for this coin by the decree of Sultan Murad. And so, the load of one animal contained one thousand eight hundred thalers. He sent this money to the Tartar, besides other gifts, namely, garments made of cloth and silk, and weapons of every kind. But let the reader know that this was the reason why this Tartar Chan, Muchemet, was obligated to lead out or send his own forces house-to-house against whatever enemy Murad might choose, and at whatever time, seeing that he received annually in that name, for himself and his chiefs, from Murad a sum of two hundred thousand sultanins, more or less; ^D besides daily expenses, which were counted out to him for that purpose, according to Turkish custom, at one thousand *aspros* per day. When the Tartar had received what we mentioned from Murad, he departed from Crimio, his royal city, and pretended that he would proceed to Temircapi. But after having progressed some distance from Crimio, he returned home, claiming at one time to his men that he was doing so because the storms were adverse to the journey; at another time because of a suspicion he had conceived regarding his brothers; at another time because of the Cossacks (as they are called in the Moldavian and Wallachian borders, who are called Martelosi, Uscochi, and Morlachi in Hungarian, Croatian, and Dalmatian lands: unless it be that the Cossacks act in greater numbers), who could not be ignored, since not long ago, under the Polish leader Potocova, they had captured and sacked the neighboring Benderia, a fortress provided with Ottoman law and situated toward the Black Sea: now pretending these reasons, now those, for his excuses, he did not undertake the expedition promised to Murad. Indeed, I remember hearing from wise men, skilled in Turkish deceit, that it had been concluded in Murad’s council that the Tartar Chan should be sent away to those remote regions: so that meanwhile, while he was absent from home, his kingdom, which was otherwise also held under Sultan Murad’s empire, might be reduced to the form of a province under a Beglerbeg. And it is possible that he had sniffed out these Turkish ambushes, and for that reason had changed his plan for the journey, lest being intent on increasing and preserving the possessions of others, he should be stripped of his own. However the matter stands, Murad, taking it very ill that he had been deluded in this way and had suffered such a loss both of money and of other things, began to think of revenge. And so he sent a command to Osman Pasha, ordering that the command first be offered to him there: that he should leave there in his place Giafer Pasha (he had once been Beglerbeg of Temesvar, which had been in Hungary) with the title of Vizier of the Ottoman Porte, and then proceed with the highest speed he could to Caffa to punish the Tartar. [alt-version omitted] As for the Tartar brothers residing in Constantinople in the house of a certain Siaus, an old Hungarian, the younger one escaped to the Persians; lest Islan should imitate his example, he was first deported by galley to Rhodes: from there he was transferred to Iconium and kept there until, finally, having been made free, he was substituted for his brother Muchemet, as we have already indicated.

^A region remained at peace for that year. At the approach of the following year, he commanded his army to follow him once more, and he marched again against Scanderbeg, the son of John, and against that region of the Albanians situated there, for he had ordered all his forces to be held ready and equipped. Full of rage, therefore, he set out toward Crua, as if to take it by force. Moreover, he intended to demand of the Venetians that they surrender Scanderbeg; and should they fail to do so, he would besiege whichever city Scanderbeg might enter as a fugitive. When he had entered the hostile territory, he moved directly toward Crua, and he ordered his soldiers to make an incursion into that part of the region which he had previously left intact and unravaged by plunder. Those who heard his command filled everything with conflagration and fire, and wretchedly devastated this region as far as the river. But they were unable to ravage the territory beyond the river, because it was impassable for the king’s cavalry. The Albanians, however, having sent their wives and children off to the fortified places of the Venetians, gathered upon the mountain that overlooks the city of Crua. From there, Scanderbeg led out the wives and children and deposited them in the cities of the Venetians. The men, however, were left behind in the city to resist the enemy and defend the walls; and those who were chosen for this task were those who wished to undertake the struggle willingly, not under compulsion. Amurates, sitting by, prepared his ^B heavy artillery, intending to bring down the wall and, remaining there, to enter the city with his foreign troops. When everything was prepared for him, he struck the wall with his artillery and brought down a large portion of it. Scanderbeg lit fires on the mountain, showing them to those within the city so that they would know, whenever necessity required, that he would be at hand to assist them. When certain of the king’s men ascended the mountain, Scanderbeg attacked them and fought, performing deeds worthy of mention. And when it seemed to the king that the wall had been sufficiently leveled, he readied, with his entire army, to join battle, and the foreign troops attempted to take the city where the wall lay fallen upon the ground. The defenders, however, fought more bravely than expected, their desperation giving them spirit. There, as he intended to besiege them until they were overcome by famine, and having launched a second, violent assault, a messenger arrived from George, the leader of the Triballi, announcing that John [Hunyadi], having gathered many of the Paeones, was crossing the Ister and marching against him with a hostile intent. When Amurates learned this, he made his preparations as quickly as possible and departed for the place where he heard the enemy was approaching, and he sent a herald to Europe to proclaim that all the Turks should come to him. These men arrived at his side as each was able to get away, that he might in time station each of them for battle. He was leading his entire army through a region of Mysia that lies along the land of the Triballi themselves. This is the region passed by the Morava river, which flows into the Ister. The king’s territory extends from there for eight hundred stadia.

… subordinates had placed. There had come forward a man of integrity and not in the least suspicious. He was advised to abandon the Cossacks and immediately go to the king, who they solemnly promised would impose no harsh sentence upon him. When he was deceived in this manner and had set out for the assembly at Warsaw, it was deliberated in the senate what should be done in this affair. It seemed to the greater part of the senators that one should by no means hand over to certain death at the hands of the barbarian a Christian man, a Polish soldier, and finally a brave man, who in the remarkable strength of his body excelled everyone in that kingdom. Rather, Zausius should be placated in the most accommodating way possible. In short, everything should be done for the safety of a man who, relying on the guarantee of a royal safe-conduct, had not hesitated to come to Warsaw. King Stephen, on the other hand, argued that Potocova had indeed been summoned under the public faith, but that this was not understood as having been given except in so far as he could explain and prove his case to be just. But now, since it is evident that he acted against the terms of the treaty, which Sultan Murad takes most indignantly, he cannot enjoy the benefit of the royal safe-conduct as a treaty-breaker and violator of the public peace. The threatening letters of the Sultan of the Turks had been heard, and if they did not value his wrath so highly, and preferred to have Potocova preserved, he himself would not oppose their will and would do his duty against any of the kingdom’s enemies; he warned them, however, not to rashly accumulate new enmities while the Muscovite war was not yet finished. With the Poles yielding to the royal opinion in this way, the execution of Potocova was carried out.

Following these events, in the Mohammedan year 990 (A.D. 1583), a certain Pole named Podolovius (he was called by this name in Constantinople; others call him Polidovius), born of noble birth and the second marshal of the royal stable, whom they commonly call the vice-marshal, was sent as an extraordinary envoy by King Stephen with letters to Sultan Murad, in which, among other things, it was requested that in the name of his king he be allowed to purchase a few thoroughbred horses in Anatolia, which the king might use for himself once they were brought to Poland. Having obtained Murad’s consent, he set out for Asia and bought twenty-four distinguished and truly royal horses. With these he crossed into Europe, intending to return home under the protection of Sultan Murad’s safe-conduct. But when by chance news of new Cossack movements and incursions reached the Porte, Murad immediately sent Zausius from Constantinople, who caught up with Podolovius on the road, slaughtered him and his men, and brought the royal horses, along with the rest of the envoy’s and his companions' belongings, back to Constantinople. ^A He came to Podolovius not far from Adrianople and told him of the mandate from his powerful sultan, even producing letters, to bring him back to Constantinople with his horses and companions. Podolovius denied that he would do this and showed his letters of safe-conduct. He said that neither these nor the person of an envoy ought to be violated against the law of nations, especially by allies. Zausius appealed to the jurisdiction of the nearest Cadi, or judge, who, having been summoned from the closest possible place, when he had come to the point of what was being brought forward by each party, heard it. He ordered the letters given by the Sultan, as much to Podolovius as to Zausius, to be shown to him: having inspected them, when he recognized that Zausius’s mandate was more recent, he declared that the force of the former had expired and the execution of the latter was required. They therefore began to return, and when Zausius was leading them away from the royal road, he was warned by the envoy to keep to the royal road. The barbarian shouted, asking whether he wanted to dictate laws to the Sultan of the Muslims and to his own people in his own kingdom, as to which path he ought to be led along? And so they went into the forest, where all were ordered to prepare themselves for death, in accordance with the Sultan’s mandate. He had thirty-four servants, who were slaughtered in order (except for one boy, who is said to have skillfully fled into the forest and escaped), and finally Podolovius, after prayers offered to God, had his head cut off by Zausius. ^B Zausius brought all his, 379, and his companions' things to Constantinople, along with the royal horses. By the order of Murad, the horses were in part received into the Sultan’s seraglio for Murad’s own use; in part they were distributed among the Pashas, and with singular ignominy for King Stephen, were shown to the people here and there.

When these things had happened throughout the autumn, at the beginning of the following year 991 (A.D. 1584), Mustaphas Zausius came to Grodno, which is situated in Lithuania, having been sent to King Stephen of Poland by Sultan Murad to excuse the slaughter of the royal envoy Podolovius, about which I have just spoken. He said—falsely narrating the matter, however—that he had been killed without any intervening order from Sultan Murad, as he had gone beyond the prescribed limits of his embassy to see the Turkish forces that were being sent against the Persians at that time. Now, by his mandate, Murad was bringing to him the perpetrators of the slaughter, so that King Stephen might exact punishment. Because, however, the Cossacks had recently inflicted great damage on the Turkish borders, Murad asked in turn that the stolen property be restored and the leader of the Cossacks be handed over to him for execution. He had come to Grodno at this time, enticed by the same bait of fraudulent words by which we said earlier that Potocova had also been circumvented. He was a warlike man, and had several times defeated the Turks who were bearing themselves too insolently on the borders in their usual manner. Murad wanted him to be sent to him in place of two worthless scoundrels, who perhaps had been sought for capital punishment for some other crime. With the leading nobles of the kingdom interceding with the king for his safety, he was indeed not handed over to the Turk, but nevertheless, it is uncertain where he was deported, for he was never seen again from that time. ^C That Mustaphas Zausius, who was not among the primary men but a vile one among his own, was accustomed to say after returning to Constantinople that he had foreseen from the beginning the terrible and threatening eyes of the Poles, who were fiercely incensed on account of the unworthy slaughter of the royal envoy committed against the law of nations, and it had appeared to him that he was in no small danger. But because he remembered that Potocova had previously been removed from the midst for fear of his sultan, he was completely hardened...

as far as the royal city of Nesium: to the traveler proceeding on the right, Nobopyrum, or Bopyrum, is inhabited upon the great mountain of the prince of the Triballi. ^B When Amurates arrived there, he found Joannes Choniates marching against him with the army of the Paeones, with hostile intent. In the camp of Choniates there were forty thousand infantry, recruited from both the Pannonians and the Dacians. There were seven thousand cavalry, and others were transported in wagons, the number of which was two thousand. In these were carried the arms and the supplies necessary for the expedition. On each wagon two men stood, a shield-bearer and an artilleryman. In the same wagons were carried many artillery pieces, which they call Zarobotanae. Armed and equipped in this way, they crossed the Ister. But the leader of the Triballi, judging that the army of the Pannonians was not so powerful that it could defeat the forces of the king, and fearing Amurates more than the foreign Pannonians, from whom he had suffered many evils—and although he was extremely desirous of avenging Amurates, who had deprived his eyes of others—nevertheless, he undertook that expedition joined to the Pannonians with an unwilling mind; indeed, he refused it entirely. For the Pannonians did not seem strong enough to defeat the king’s forces. When he had answered this to the Pannonians, Joannes, irritated by that response, hurled grave threats at the leader of the Triballi. Yet, without abandoning the expedition he had begun, he led his hostile forces into the king’s territory; ^C and having advanced as far as Aristinum, he fortified a camp in the field of Cosobo, where formerly Amurates, son of Orchanes, while engaging in battle against Eleazar, the despot of Serbia, and killing him, also fell himself, having been killed by a Triballian man. The cause which had drawn Joannes into this war was this: when he had seen in that engagement which was fought at Varna that the Turks, as soon as they had come to close quarters, had given way and taken to flight, he thought that the Turks could have been easily defeated, had not the imprudence of King Vladislaus prevented it. Nor did he say that it would be difficult or laborious to subdue the Turks in war even now. Therefore, he was turning it over in his mind to gather a greater army so that he might defeat Amurates, terrified by his forces. He thought these things so easy and simple to accomplish, that he did not even doubt that, just as he had conceived in his mind, ^D and Skenderbeg and Arianites, intending to have them approach and join with him in the forward parts of Europe; for so it had been declared also to them. But when Amurates, son of Mehmed, arrived at the field of Cosobo and found the enemies marching, he encamped. It is said that his army amounted to one hundred and fifty thousand. And on the following day he immediately drew up his line of battle as if for a fight. The regiments also drew up in battle array. And towards

^A Having been commanded by the imperial legate to provide for their needs, they returned to their own people. Being summoned from his house by most affectionately written letters, he received as his companions on this journey several barons and noblemen, whose names it has pleased me to list, taken from the journal of Melchior Besolt, who described this journey of ours.

Karl Dietricstain, Baron in Holenburg and Finckenstain. Sigismund Ludwig, Baron of Polhaim. Johann Bernhard von Lembach, etc. Wolf Ungnad, Baron in Sonneck. Georg Hartmann, Baron of Liechtenstein, the legate’s brother. Johann Ulrich, Baron of Stahremberg. Georg Andreas, Baron of Buchaim. Stephan von Reva, Count of Turoc, a Hungarian. Wilhelm von Dietricstain. Johann Leunclavius. Franz Georg Oberdorf. Maximilian Mager von Fuchstat. Melchior Besolt. Anton von Stamp. Georg Rothut. Hector von Eltz, Prefect of the Court. Johann Jakob Eglof, Prefect of the Stables. Jakob Mielich. Viktor Rechlinger. Johann Basilius von Hohenwart.

There were also sixteen noble youths assigned to the service of the barons and noblemen, besides other plebeians. In short, the entire company, excluding the legate, consisted of eighty-nine persons. There were sixty-six horses, besides ten or twelve hired ones; and seventeen carriages (commonly called *coccios*) in which we were to be conveyed from Taurunum, or Belgrade, to Constantinople. For it is there that one disembarks, and by a terrestrial journey, leaving the Danube to the left, through Serbia, Bulgaria, part of Macedonia, and Thrace, one travels to Constantinople. The Pasha of Buda had added to the companions of the journey one of the nobles, who are called *Beys* by the Turks, as well as three *chaouses*, who hold the place of commissioners in our courts, and three Janissaries. These, with their own servants, were themselves conveyed in seven chariots or carriages, beyond the mounted men. ^B Heinrich, Baron von Liechtenstein, after the gift had been offered to Sultan Murad, having lost his brother Georg Hartmann, who died in Constantinople, and now being himself weakened by a long illness, sent back the greater part of his household with the horses and carriages from Constantinople on the twelfth day of December to Austria; he himself decided to return home by a Venetian ship, towards the beginning of spring, by way of central Greece.

The following year, on the thirteenth day of the month of April, he came to Gallipoli, situated on the Hellespont; where, as his illness grew worse, to the great grief of his people, on the 16th day of the same month, amid continuous prayers, as if falling asleep, he happily exchanged this mortal life for the immortal one. Present then as he departed to the blessed abodes of the pious was Johann Leunclavius, whom he had deeply desired to have as a companion on this journey. For the sake of the memory of the deceased, he left with Dionysius of Chios, a learned monk and an excellent man, the chief of the church of St. Mark in Gallipoli, the plaque listed here, written in the Greek, Latin, Italian, and German languages: until a due monument to the virtue and piety of the excellent baron shall be erected by his brothers, the most generous barons, Georg Erasmus and Johann Septimius—the latter of whom, of his own order, has in our century travelled through a greater part of the world, wandering and observing, more successfully than any other German.

IN THE YEAR OF CHRIST 1585, ON THE 16TH DAY OF APRIL. THE ILLUSTRIOUS AND GENEROUS LORD HEINRICH, BARON VON LIECHTENSTEIN, OF NICOLSBURG, AMBASSADOR OF THE HOLY ROMAN EMPEROR RUDOLF II TO THE OTTOMAN GATE, PIOUSLY MIGRATED FROM THIS TO THE CELESTIAL LIFE. BURIED IN THIS TEMPLE OF ST. MARK IN GALLIPOLI, AT THE STEPS, NEAR THE CONVERSION OF ST. PAUL. ON THE 20TH DAY OF THE MONTH OF APRIL, IN THE YEAR INDICATED ABOVE.

I assuredly promise myself that this mention of our journey will not be unwelcome to the human reader, by which I was pleased to perform in passing my own duty toward the blessed spirit of the excellent Baron Heinrich, whose benevolence and love toward me I had experienced continuously from the very first years of his own youth. Now, returning to our plan, let us finally at last finish this task.

In this summer also of the year 991 (A.D. 1584), Sultan Murad, while amusing himself with his mutes, nearly perished. For we have said above that the mutes are a great delight to the Osmanid sultans, as they skillfully know how to reveal the thoughts of their minds by certain signs, and in turn to understand what is indicated by the Sultan through motions and signs. ^C Murad was accustomed to place these mutes upon very large horses—slow on account of their size—while he himself used those that were most agile, especially Arabian ones; and, riding from one to another, he would drive them to run by beating both the mutes and their horses with ox-hide whips (which they call *caravazza*). While engaged in this sport, he was seized by an epileptic fit, which was familiar to him, and fell from his horse to the pavement with such a heavy crash that he was believed by the whole city to be either already dying or dead. ^D And so the Janissaries, according to their custom, as if the Sultan were deceased, were already seizing and plundering the shops of the Christians and Hebrews; and a great tumult was about to arise in the city, had not the Agha or commander of the Janissaries maturedly ordered that one caught in the very act be immediately hanged, to strike terror into the rest; some slaves, too, who were dressed in the garb of Janissaries, were led in the Turkish fashion to the hooks of the Scutari or Galata staircase, and there suffered the penalty of death. If Mehmed, the son of Murad, who was living in Magnesia, had been in the city at that time, it would have been all over for the life and empire of the father. Nevertheless, Murad recovered, and immediately after our arrival, on a certain Friday, which is sacred as the weekly feast day of the Turks, he rode out from the new seraglio (that it is called *yenisearai* by the Turks will henceforth be clear from the declaration of the annals), with us all observing, in the manner that was customary.

^A the right wing was the Asian army, having Scura as general; and on the left was the European general, Carazies, having the European army. Each of the commanders also had his cavalry, and drew them up in order. The king himself was stationed in the center, for it is there that he is accustomed to encamp, having a rampart thrown up. After this, he had the camels set up there, and after that, the shields fastened upon them; then he drew up the new arrivals along with the cannon and small artillery and the rest. And when he had drawn them up, John Choniates also came against him, having arranged himself thus: on his right were the Hungarian lords and his nephews—Secoule was his name, and Eiloces, and Megalouses. In the center, Choniates himself was stationed, having the so-called Bitezidae, and the Ardelii ^B army. The left wing was held by Danus, who was useful to him, whom he had brought down into the Dacian land, and because of his enmity toward Dracules, had driven him out of his rule and made the country subject to himself, and had installed Danus to rule over it. There were about eight thousand Daces with him, who had arrived for this war.

When both sides had drawn up their ranks and appeared to be calling for the battle, Bitezes, one of Choniates’ soldiers, riding forward into the middle between them on his horse, challenged any one of the Turks to single combat before the armies came together. When the Turks realized that he had come forward to fight in single combat, they stood still themselves. And then there rode out from the other ^C army Eliezes, son of Barisaza, one of the commanders in Asia, a man who had proved himself good in warfare and was formerly commander of the new arrivals at the court of the king. When he had advanced into the center, he rushed against the Pannonian, and they immediately charged each other with their spears and broke them. And Bitezes fell there to the ground with his horse; and Eliezes, having had his breastplate cut and his belt and saddle broken, was riding on the very hindquarters of the horse. For his horse was much better than the other, and though he did not have the means to slay the Pannonian, who had fallen with his horse—at the moment he himself was also hardly and with difficulty managing to ride—still, upon the falling of the Pannonian, the Turkish army raised a great shout, considering it an omen. When both had ridden back to their own respective camps, Amurates the king, having summoned Eliezes into his presence, ^D spoke to him in this manner: "O boy, from what beginnings [such a great task]...

did you become so skilled in military matters? You had not previously fought elsewhere, yet you arrived among an army already engaged in battle and learned how one must join in the conflict?" ^B And when he replied, "O King, I learned this bravery from a hare," the King, struck with wonder at the matter, is said to have asked: "And how, O youth, could someone become skilled in military matters from a hare?" And he said: "I, O King, was spending time in Asia, in the region over which you placed us, and where you had appointed my father as governor, and I was out hunting. I happened to find a hare in its lair; and I thought it would be quite secure for me, in order that the hare might not escape, to shoot it with an arrow and take it. For of all the hares we know, those in Attalia are the swiftest of runners, and they are considered the ones of Europe to be of the best. While I was considering these things, I had a quiver ready, loaded with forty arrows. I shot the first arrow and missed. I then released a second arrow, which I likewise discharged at the hare; and this, too, led astray by error, harmed the hare not at all, though it was still snoring soundly. Therefore, taking it badly that I had not wounded the hare, I immediately shot all my arrows at it. But when there were no arrows left for me, the hare, having been awakened from its sleep, as soon as it perceived the commotion, took to flight. The dogs gave chase for a short distance, but they did not catch it. Then I realized, as my arrows had gone to waste, that it was still fated for that hare to live. And from then on, a conviction became fixed in my mind, O King, that I should deem that neither sword, nor spear, nor arrows were any longer to be feared—for if it is ordained by fate that I shall live longer, no spear could take my life from me. ^C For this reason, I proceeded with a valiant heart, not trembling at all, against this Pannonian here, knowing that if it is decreed by fate that I am to live longer, no danger could befall me from him." Hearing this, the King was wonderfully delighted and, because of this reasoning, esteemed the youth highly, and at that time gifted him with a robe of Syrian workmanship, inwrought with gold; and after this, he appointed him governor of his ancestral land, for his father had already died, and another man was administering that land, having been set there by the King. The race [of the Turks] is indeed divinely disposed to credit the glory of fate, as are almost all the others who are turned toward the religion of Mehmed. This is how the single combat occurred. But when the royal armies were stationed in the field, drawing up their standards to do battle, ^D the Asian army remained at rest. For the King feared that if the Asians were the first to make contact and were put to flight, that would be the danger of his military forces being immediately destroyed and lost in panic. But the Asian army remained standing, while he divided the European forces into cohorts, for as soon as he saw the Pannonians arrayed and advancing, he stood them for the battle. And thus, those European forces joined in the fray and fought. But much...

fought, struggling beyond hope, in a manner worthy of record. For having ^A advanced in small numbers, as the Pannonians were doing, they fled with all speed, in such a way that the Pannonian horses, following in pursuit, grew extremely weary and exhausted. And here, as the Turks had sufficient distance from the flight, they shot their horses with arrows, and coming up from behind, they cut down the Pannonians. For since they were the more numerous, and were carried on much better horses, and for the most part managed the battle with skill, they bore themselves better than the Pannonians. And on the first day, many Pannonians fell in the battle, and many of the Turks were also destroyed by the Pannonians. And for this whole day both sides fought, and they were evenly matched; but when it was late, they withdrew from one another, and both sides having returned to their camps, they rested. ^B The Pannonians, therefore, thinking that the Turks would depart by night and would not remain in their formation—and indeed, not a few of the horsemen had departed, but when they found the Triballi waiting in the narrow passes, they returned again to the camp—the Pannonians thus supposed that on the morrow, with a small part of the army, they would draw up against them, as the others would be departing and not remaining, and that by thus waiting they would immediately take the doors of the king. But the king and the Turks, having taken courage, were no longer affected by the same fear regarding the Pannonians; rather, being more emboldened, they were preparing, as if to fight on the next day, to put the Pannonians to flight.

The day, then, turned out in this way. But on that night, the Pannonians took counsel as to how they might conduct the battle on the morrow, and each man set forth his opinion as it seemed best to him for commencing the battle. And there was much talk. There, as they were deliberating, Tautes, the son of Sauzes, a descendant of Amurates, being of the race of the Ottomans, ^C came forward into the midst and spoke as follows: "For us, enough has been fought in Asia and in Europe, nor do we [think it] right, while attending to these [matters], to conduct the battle against the affairs of Amurates, laboring in vain. For if we do not provide for killing these men, we would not be able to overcome them so easily. But it seems to me that he who fights in a war, if he strikes a vital blow, he casts down the enemy and is able to use the army as he wills. And where could one strike more vitally than in the head? For it leads the whole body, and in it is the city; but if one does not strike a vital blow, it will be laborious and difficult to dispose of the enemies. And now, this is how it seems [to me]. For you see how the doors of the king stand ^D not at all eager for the battle, nor are they willing to risk danger, as if bearing the whole of this...

^A king’s army and its necessity [depends on them]. Come then, let us move this formation of the king, and once this is gone, no one among the others will be willing to remain for us. It seems good to me, therefore, that we move our entire camp, and with the carriages upon which our cannons and smaller artillery happen to be, go during this night against the doors immediately, and not delay. And if we advance, firing upon the doors of the king with our cannons and other projectiles, and terrorizing them, I think that they will not remain until daybreak, but as the night is, so will they go, departing gladly. And once we have repelled their affairs, we might possess theirs. Saying these things, Taoutes persuaded them, and they acted in this way. And immediately, with the carriages, they advanced toward the king’s camp around the first watch of the night. But as they came close to the doors of the king, there they terrorized the new arrivals ^B with cannons and smaller artillery, and they attacked the camp of the king; and they fought greatly against that part, so that it appeared clearly. For the new arrivals, having prepared both the cannons and the smaller artillery, were directing fire against the Paeonians; and not a few of both sides fell on this night, being destroyed for the most part by the cannons. But when day was near, and they saw the king's camp established in the region and fighting worthily of mention, it seemed best that, having moved, they should retreat to the place in which they were encamped, and not wait to be surrounded by the soldiers of the king, having come near the doors. And as it seemed best, they did these things; they withdrew to their own region, where they were established before. And when day came, he drew up for battle a second time, intending to test how things might turn out for him. And drawing up in battle, having charged into the army of Asia, he made an engagement there; as he engaged, the commander ^C of Europe sent Turachanes, the prefect of Thessaly, with his own army, so that having come to the rear, he might engage the Paeonians as forcefully as he could. There Turachanes, having come to the rear of the Paeonians, struck down many of them in this battle. For some were pursuing the Albanians, and as they pressed on pursuing, these were fleeing with all their might. Except indeed for the attendants of the commanders who were Europeans, and having separated as they fled, they fought in the manner which is customary for the Turks against the Paeonians. But against those from Europe, being pressed upon from the rear, they turned and fought in close formation, at one time or another in the plain as each encountered the other. But they, as they saw the Turks fighting far beyond expectation, and that it was setting upon them most harshly, and that escape from the evil would be difficult, and even if they arrived safely, there was no way on oath that they would not be given...

up to punishment for their crimes. In this manner they perished miserably, as men for whom no provision was made. When the Pannonians had observed the defection of the Dacians, at first they wondered what this might mean for them. When they discovered that the Dacians had been reconciled to the king in this way, they were deeply enraged, because they had very shamefully abandoned their friends. But not long after, when they noticed that all of them, with no regard for them, were perishing cruelly, they were struck with wonder, considering the mind of the king, namely that he did not desire such allies and auxiliaries. Consequently, many sought to depart as quickly as they could.

John, therefore, leaving the battle, proceeded to the wagons and spoke with the commanders who were there, saying that he himself was coming with his men from that enemy troop in which the king stood. Thus, when he had burst into the gates, and had signified this by a messenger, they were all to arrive at once and break into the gates. ^B When Choniates had said this, about the last watch of the night he chose those who were best instructed for battle and whom he knew to be most familiar to him; and he ordered those who were traveling on the wagons that as soon as he gave the sign, they should be driven into the gates with all their might. He himself, having changed his mind, hastened with his troop in battle array as quickly as possible toward the Ister. But when day had dawned, he was no longer visible to those Pannonians who had been left behind with the wagons, having moved some distance from the king. The Turks, seeing the camp of the enemies to be empty, and that very few had been left with the wagons, wondered what this might mean. Then someone met them, reporting that the Pannonians had fled across the Ister around the tenth watch of the night ^C (18). Having heard these things, the newcomers took up their arms and were carried at a run against the Pannonians at the abandoned wagons. They, when they perceived themselves deserted and betrayed by their own people, fought bravely, since despair kindled their courage against the newcomers. And not long after, the newcomers climbed onto the wagons and slaughtered all the Pannonians. Those men, having fought from daybreak until the full market hour, and having proven themselves to be good men, died. The king was indeed urged by his commanders to pursue the Pannonians, but he rejected their arguments, remembering what he had suffered at the hands of the Choniates, Chasis son of Mazarakes (19), during the pursuit. And so he was content to make ^D the present fortune turn to his advantage. There were killed in this battle, as I have learned (for the slain on both sides were later enumerated by the leader of the Triballi), seventeen thousand Pannonians and Dacians, and four thousand Turks (20). For the Turks are easily distinguished from the rest, since all of them are circumcised. Furthermore, the Pannonians groom their hair very neatly, but the Turks are shaved, with some parts [of the hair] left [unshaved].

^A When he saw some Triballians tilling the land, he turned his journey toward them, asking that they give him bread. When the farmers saw that a Pannonian was present and asking for bread, they said: "But, stranger, bread is indeed ready for you here; however, we must bring you to the magistrate of the city to show us who you are, and once he sees you, he will send you back to your own land. For you will suffer no evil from him, whatsoever." But I suspect there was a search for John Choniates. As for the other Pannonians who travel through here, they hold them in no account. While they were saying these things—as they would not let him go, but were grabbing him firmly—he was compelled to announce to the elder that he was Choniates. And he promised to give him great gifts of hospitality and money, and land, if he brought him safely to Belgrade, without being ^B seen by any of the Triballians. The elder, once he recognized him, accepted him, promising to lead him to the land unharmed, and after telling his brothers who he was, he warned them not to go anywhere and not to reveal who that man was. When evening came, they brought the man into the house where they kept straw and beasts of burden, and they remained there the next day, preparing to take him to Belgrade. But on this day, a disagreement having arisen among the brothers, one of them revealed it to the magistrate of the city. He took his attendants, went to the house where Choniates was, in the straw-storage area, and taking him, they led him to the magistrate of the city. He sent him away as a prisoner to the governor, and reported that he had been captured while hiding in the chaff. ^C When John was brought before the governor, the governor put him in prison and held him for some time in the citadel. But [John] persuaded the commander of the citadel and the guards to rise up hostilely against the governor along with him and to take the city. When one of those who knew of the conspiracy brought it to light, the intentions of those in the guard became evident. They were killed; but John, having entered into a family alliance with [the governor] and having betrothed his daughter to his son, was sent back to his authority in Buda. And such was the outcome of the expedition against the Turks, conducted by Choniates as leader, and such was the end that the expedition we mentioned met. Amurates, having returned to the seat of his kingdom, shortly thereafter launched a war against Byzantium.

^D After the king of the Greeks, John, had died, the succession to the kingdom came to Constantine, his brother. For when John had died, his brother Demetrius set out for the kingdom; but he was prevented by those in the city, and by his mother, and by mediators, and by the people, and by the middlemen, Cantacuzenus and Notaras, who were acting as the mediators. For they feared that if he were to succeed in...

^A removing him from his position, he would order him to be a soldier. He also removed the keepers of his hunting dogs from this duty, saying that one hundred men were sufficient for him to look after the dogs, and five hundred to look after the hawks. And he said he would not proceed to such a pitch of folly as to want to feed so great a multitude of men for a thing so vain and novel. He assisted Demetrius, the prince of the Peloponnese, in that war which he waged with his brother, to whom he refused to yield the region. He sent Turachanes to his aid, that he might utterly destroy the Isthmus. Thomas, indeed, returned to good terms with his brother, so that thereafter they should be friends and guests to one another. He gave him the city of Calamata in place of the region of Scorta, which he had taken from his brother and held. These things, then, went this far.

And Tzanises, the son of Cariasuphis, having sent an embassy to him and requesting that the region around Sebastia not be plundered—and he cared for the thousand camels of butter, and [had] announced war against him—this Tzanises, as it was already made known to me, paying tribute to the Black Mauroprobatantes, as they are called, the sons of Cariasuphis, and having taken away Dabriza, he drove them together toward the city of Samatia. He had set out from Pagdatia of Babylon, and was besieging it, and having brought the land of the Armenians under his own power, he advanced upon Erzegana, the royal seat of the Armenians, and reduced it, having an army of about eight myriads of cavalry. And advancing, he was plundering this land in Asia which belonged to Mechmetes. Those, therefore, who lived around Sebastia, so that their land might not be laid waste by him, were bringing heavy loads of butter, and were cultivating their land without harm. Under him, then, the land of the son of Cariasuphis was being laid waste by Tzokies, one of the descendants of Temires, who had set out from Semarchanda, and he was besieging the city of Pagdatia of Babylon, as was told by me in the preceding pages. And sending Chasan, called the Long, into lower Asia and against Armenia, he brought the things belonging to this region under his control. These matters, then, reached this point. ^{B C}

^A Having assumed the army of Thessaly and Europe, in such numbers as there were of the Pherræ and as were obedient to the European commander, he set out against the Peloponnese, taking along also his own children and the commanders of the cities of Thessaly and Macedonia. And having invaded, he traveled through the interior, a region once called Arcadia, and driving his army through Tegea and Mantinea, he descended into the region of Ithome and Messenia. And having pillaged the transport animals in these parts for many days, he reduced Neopolichne, and while besieging Sideropolichne, as he was unable to take it by force, he led away the army, marching along the road.

While he was marching out from there, the younger Achmet, the son of Turachanes, was captured by Asanes, who was a brother of the prince’s wife, having laid an ambush for him ^B about the region of Mycenae, where he had been about to pass while marching along that way. Having carried him off to Sparta, they kept him in custody with the governor until they should give him back.

^C When the following summer—or rather, the spring—had duly arrived, Mehmed, the son of Amurath, launched an expedition against the city of Byzantium. He had indeed contemplated this expedition previously, but he had first wished to build a city in the Propontis called Lamocopia. And while winter was still prevailing, he issued a proclamation that all who dwelt in Asia and Europe should assemble at the maritime locations to construct a fleet. Ships and triremes were built, and he took care to have constructed bombard-cannon larger than any we know to have existed up to that time.

When he judged that the time had arrived for him to march out, he first sent the European commander, Saratzias, with instructions to take the European army and the bombard-cannon, as well as the other engines, and indeed the great bombard-cannon, to Byzantium. This bombard-cannon was of such a size that it required seventy yoke of oxen and some two thousand men to draw it. Upon his arrival at Byzantium, he reduced by famine the towers in the Byzantine territory, into which the rustic folk who lived in the fields used to take refuge to escape the enemy, ^D and some he took by force, leading off the men and slaughtering them. And when he eventually arrived in person, he ravaged the Byzantine territory.

Not much later, the king himself, marching out, encamped from sea to sea. On the right side of the king, extending as far as the place called the Golden Gate, the entire Asian army was encamped; on the left, near the place called the Wooden Gate, was the European army. In the midst, the king himself had set up his camp, having with him the new recruits and those of the palace guard who were accustomed to camp around the king. Zaganus, a relative of the king, had fortified his camp in the area opposite, above the city of Galata. It is said that the entire army at that time numbered about four hundred thousand men. And it is agreed by all that the number of pack animals in the royal camp was double that, in order that there might be sufficient food and fodder for both horses and men. For the Turks alone, as far as I know, always bring along for themselves what is necessary, whithersoever...

they march. And it was their custom to drive cattle into the camp, and slaughter them in the presence of the Greeks. There were also some Turks among the Greeks who were held in chains. The Greeks, therefore, having seized them, and brought them away from the hostile camp, sacrificed them, acting in equal measure with the captives held by them. But the emperor's ships, since there was no one to stop them, sailed to the city. ^A And the emperor immediately built a bridge there from the opposite region, which is called that of the Ceramarians. It led into the city, and was constructed of barrels, which were linked in pairs and connected firmly together. By this, a way was opened from the Zaganos camp into the city. And so it happened that the city was besieged on every side, and the state of the city and the Greeks grew weak, for the city had been besieged for a long time. For the circuit of the city was the greatest in our time, and being one hundred and eleven stadia, it was not very strong. And for forty days he battered the wall strongly with cannons, and cast down great parts of the towers and parapets, likewise also he battered the great wall with his towers. ^B Indeed, the Greeks at first set up their own cannons, and directed them at the enemy. The Greek cannons emitted a ball, the weight of which was one and a half talents. Against these, Mehmed positioned his largest cannon. But when it ejected a ball, such a sound was emitted that it moved the walls, and did more damage to the Greeks than it caused to the enemy. Wherefore they achieved little. For the cannon, which was very large, split at the first firing. Then, enraged against the bombardier, they rose up, as if he had been bribed by Mehmed, and sought his life. But when no clear sign of the crime could be found, they acquitted him of the charge, and sent him away unpunished. But the walls, which the Turks had battered with their cannons, they destroyed by night with certain ladders and wooden beams, repairing them with the greatest speed. ^C Meanwhile, while these things were happening, it was announced to the emperor that ships from the Aegean were sailing toward Byzantium: the one, which excelled in size, was Genoese; the other was the Greek emperor's, carrying grain. When the emperor received this, he immediately ordered the triremes and other ships to be filled with soldiers, and he sent them to the ships already nearby and carried by a favorable wind toward the city. The Genoese ship, indeed, turned and defended itself, and as the triremes attacked, it nearly fell, had not the other ship turned and brought aid to it; for it struck the triremes with great force. And the emperor from the shore shouted to his men, and spurred them on by sea with his horse. The ships escaped thus and entered the harbor. There the emperor's naval commander, Pantoles, was wounded in the eye by his own men, as he himself testified to the emperor, and if he— ^D

had been built and prepared, he called the foreign recruits and spoke to them as follows: "Foreign recruits, and my sons, who always perform most excellently wherever I turn the tempest of war, it is now within your power to capture this city. For you know that when I asked your opinion, you maintained that the city was capturable if only the walls were thrown down for you. Leading you around, I asked if the wall seemed sufficiently demolished, and it was thrown down to the extent that seemed sufficient to you. Now, therefore, since the time demands that we undertake the assault on the city, I wish to propose these things to you. You, who always find everywhere, both with me and with our ancestors, the greatest praise and glory for your brave deeds, I ask that you be willing to prepare the kingdom of the Greeks for me. May it not escape you what prefectures we have in Asia and in Europe. Of these, I will give the most beautiful and the best to him who first scales it onto the bulwark, and I will not cease to honor him according to his worth. I will repay him this favor—that he shall receive from me a rich principality; and I shall zealously strive that he be greatly honored and celebrated by the men of our own race. But if I should discover, while the siege is raging, that anyone remains in the tents and avoids the assault of the walls, he, in truth, even if he had wings like a bird, will in no way escape my hands, but that he will pay the penalty. Go, therefore, and capture this fight, which is both most beautiful and most wealthy. For there will be for you slaves of great value, and women, and children, and much wealth in the city." As the emperor said these things, ^C the decurions and leaders of the companies—who had previously ordered the wall to be demolished by the bombardments where they were going to make their breach as the emperor led them around showing them the wall—asked him if it was sufficient ^D to burst into the city, and they ordered the cannons to be fired to the extent that it seemed sufficient to them. And then they urged him to be of good courage, as they would irretrievably burst into the city. They asked him to grant them a favor, to show mercy to those men he had arrested on account of the naval commander, because they were under suspicion of having wounded him in the eye, and to forgive them. He inquired, and released the men, honoring the request of the foreign recruits. After these things, as it seemed right to him to attack, he sent word to the camp, proclaiming that the assault would be at dawn, and he announced gifts for the one who distinguished himself, and for the one who withdrew from the battle, death was the appointed penalty. And the Zichnides, going around the camps, reminded them of the glory customary among them at death, just as the hero promises happiness to those fighting and to those who have died, and other things such as are customary among them. The Greeks, as a man from Genoa arrived to help them with a very large ship and about three hundred hoplites, ordered him to stand there, where the emperor and the foreign recruits were about to burst in and force their way, so that he might prepare to defend himself there with his own hoplites. And the emperor of the Greeks himself also stood not far away with those around him, so as to provide support. And Cardinal Isidore of Sarmatia, whom I mentioned before, was present then to help the Greeks as they were being warred upon. For he arrived to create a synod

^A and plundered the city, turning wherever each one might go. The Greeks, however, first of all, as the rumor spread that the city had been captured, some rushed in flight to the harbor toward the ships of the Venetians and the Genoese, and many boarding the small boats with haste and disorder perished as the boats sank. And there occurred what is accustomed to happen in such tumults, as each one rushed pell-mell to save himself in no orderly fashion. And these indeed managed to escape the Turks, but the city gatekeepers, having acted with a wretched lack of judgment, as they saw the Greeks turning to the ships and rushing in flight to save themselves, thinking that if they closed the gates the Greeks would be forced to turn back and defend themselves; and according to a certain oracle circulated in the city, that when the enemies had arrived at the place in the city called Taurus and were pressing hard, those in the city, gathered together by necessity, would defend themselves, drive out the enemies, and hold the city themselves. Relying, I suppose, on this expectation, they threw the keys from the wall outside the city. But the men and women, becoming a great multitude, as many kept flowing in there, turned to the greatest temple of the city, called that of Holy Sophia, and there were gathered men, women, and children. Not long after, however, they were taken by the Turks without a fight, and many men were slaughtered by the Turks inside the temple. The remaining Greeks, dispersed in flight through the city, did not know where they should turn to escape the present danger. Not long after, some of them were slaughtered like cattle, and some were taken prisoner. Many of the Greeks, since they were good men, fought bravely and died for the sake of their fatherland, so as not to see their wives and children ^B reduced to slavery. Theophilus, who was of the lineage of the Palaiologoi, died right there, having fought manfully for the sake of death, and the associates ^C of the Palaiologoi, the father and his children, while fighting, perished. And many of those around the king, being noble Greeks, died, not bearing to see their fatherland enslaved. And the state of the city was everywhere filled with those destroying and being destroyed, and with those pursuing and those fleeing. And concerning Notaras, the governor of the king, and Orchanes, the grandson of the Muslim, as the Greeks themselves said, the following happened. For when they heard that the city had been taken, they ran to a certain tower of the city, as if to deliberate there as to where they should turn. And having arrived there, Orchanes, having put on the rags of a certain Nazarene, threw himself from the tower and died. But those around Notaras, being besieged, were taken near the full marketplace, he himself together with his children. The new arrivals, then, immediately filled the camp of the king with both women and children

but he does not bid us deliver them up to so cruel a death. These things he said; and he said that he was not willing by any means to hand over his boy, who was innocent. But when the cupbearer kept urging and advising him neither to speak nor to act in this way towards the king, as he would immediately perish, he did not persuade him. When he returned and reported to the king the response from the Greeks, the king immediately ordered that he himself, his children, and all who were present with him be led away and slaughtered. When those who were appointed for this task arrived at him, he begged them to first destroy the children before his eyes, and after that to kill him. And his children, fearing death, begged their father to hand over all the wealth that was theirs in Italy, so as to be spared and not die; but he did not allow it, but ordered them to be of good courage for death. And these he destroyed first, and after that offered himself to be killed by the executioners. ^B And when he and those around him were destroyed by the king, the king immediately ordered that the other Greeks who were present in Byzantium as free men be led away and slaughtered. And thus these perished without any account. The king, having carried out this slaughter, was incited by one of the Greeks living there, whose daughter the king had relations with, and, being madly in love with the woman, he was gracious to her relatives, as he was carried along by love as much as possible; and they say that, persuaded by this man, he destroyed the Greeks. Regarding the Greeks of Byzantium, this much happened. And this disaster seems to have been the greatest of all those that have happened in the inhabited world, in terms of suffering, and to have been comparable to that of Ilium, and to have been a retribution for Ilium by the barbarians, as the Greeks had perished in a body; and thus the Romans believed that the retribution had come upon the Greeks for the disaster that once befell Ilium long ago.

^C These things, then, occurred to this extent. But the king seized Chatiles, the son of Priamus, the governor of his house, having previously desired to destroy him, but because his affairs were not yet firmly established, inhibited by fear, he had not undertaken the arrest. And keeping him in chains, he sent him off on a wagon to be imprisoned at Adrianople. And not long after, he stripped him of his property, both gold and silver, as much as he possessed. For that man had been very eager to accumulate wealth, and in riches he far surpassed all who were in the royal court. These things happened while Zaganos, the king’s kinsman-by-marriage, to whose daughter the king-to-be, Machumetes the son of Michael, was betrothed, was wielding the most power at that time at the royal court, and as he was going with the king to see her, he was struck by love when he saw her, and took her as his wife. ^D

^A It is worth mentioning. I shall now proceed to the next part of my account: the princes of the Peloponnese had set out to flee to Italy, as had the most prominent of the Greeks who dwelt on the island; but when the king made a treaty with them, they no longer intended to leave, but remained, and fell into no small or common misfortune. For when the Albanians saw them preparing to depart, they were no longer willing to obey, but began to form factions against one another and to conspire to seize the Peloponnese. They did this at the instigation of Peter the Lame, a man of bad character but otherwise capable, who took the lead among the Albanians in suggesting this revolt. He pressed them intently, urging them to rebel against the Greeks and to choose whichever leader they wished for themselves. They had intended to come to terms with the princes, but were prevented; they called upon other Greeks to join in this plan and intended for someone to become their head. In the end, they established Emmanuel, of the race of the Cantacuzeni, as their leader, who directed their affairs and acted as he pleased. They occupied themselves with war, plundering the beasts of burden and cattle that the Greeks possessed and carrying them off as they campaigned. This race is entirely nomadic, and they never settle in one place for long.

Starting from this position, they brought the hearths of the cities under their control, and as they made incursions, they besieged some and plundered others. Treating the Greeks as slaves, they sent a message to the king’s court, offering to hand over the Peloponnese to him. They promised both an army and his cities in the Peloponnese, and they offered to pay a large annual tribute to the king. Aiding them in this were Centurion Zacharias, brother of the wife whom the king’s brother had married, and Lucanes. ^B Thomas, the king’s brother, threw those men into prison in the citadel of the city called Chloumoutsi, keeping them in chains. But after those in the city were persuaded by the Albanians to join in the mutiny and to take the daughter of Centurion in marriage, he revolted, freed the men, and made war on the Greeks.

The power of the Albanians grew and reached great proportions. Thomas, the brother of the king, had arrested Centurion on account of his suspicion of him, at the time when Amurates, son of Mechmet, destroyed the Isthmus and marched into the Peloponnese toward Achaia. Bochales Leontares, a commander, had also set out to revolt. Bochales openly defected and fought openly; however, after joining battle with Raoul, the commander of the prince, he was captured, and the commander’s eyes were put out. Having accused these men in such fashion, Thomas dismissed Amurates. As for Lucanes, he suspected him of plotting a revolution regarding his own affairs and conspiring with those Greeks who desired to introduce changes, and he arrested him and ^C had him brought to prison. The Albanians, inflaming the city prefect with promises, persuaded him to desert to their side and to marry the daughter of Centurion, and to free the captives from their chains, and they fought openly against the Greeks. Centurion, specifically, was ordered into chains by Thomas, the king’s brother, because he had abandoned the Peloponnese while Amurates, son of Mechmet, was destroying the Isthmus, and had himself fled straight from the Peloponnese to Achaia. ^D He himself, as well as the prince Bochales Leontares, was inclined toward defection. And indeed, Bochales openly defected and waged open war; and joining battle with the prince’s general, Raoul, he was captured; and upon his capture, his eyes were put out. Thomas imprisoned these men in this manner: Centurion, because he had abandoned the Peloponnese when Amurates was destroying the Isthmus; and Lucanes, because he was plotting new disturbances and conspiring with those Greeks who, being desirous of novelty, were throwing the state of the Peloponnese into confusion. That man had incited...

the Peloponnesians and also the Albanians, in order that they might have supporters for their own cause and might govern themselves well. He himself, however, was intent upon reaching Asanes, who had great power in the Peloponnese, and was gaining control of a not insignificant portion of the Peloponnese. ^B And at that time he did not approach this man, nor did he pay any tribute, nor did he have any share in the tribute of the Peloponnesians or the Albanians, nor did he have the inclination to pay tax to the king. Moreover, the tax itself was twelve thousand gold staters. Now the Greeks, not at all regarded by their own people, were being destroyed in the civil strife; for the tax itself was not being paid by the Albanians and the Peloponnesians unless someone should grant them this favor, and they were agreed upon equal terms. But since these things were happening in such a way as to bring about their destruction, they were in fact bringing upon themselves their own ruin, and thus things came to nothing. It was fitting, indeed, that these matters, being poorly managed, should lead to their destruction and completely reduce them to nothing.

The king ^D Mechmet himself, after his second expedition against the Triballi and the city of Novopyrgum, undertook the campaign. This city is situated within the king's territory, and having come there, he exhausted the region around the River Moraba, which, as I have indicated, flows from the direction of Pristis through the king's territory and empties into the Ister. Having arrived there, the entire army of the king attacked the region of the Triballi and, laying waste to the country, he besieged the city.

^A Nevertheless, he himself was preparing to be captured in Belgrade, and he was being besieged even as he advanced. He began to besiege the city. There lay in the midst of the two rivers an isthmus, roughly seven stades in width. There, having established himself and set up camp, he besieged the city. He struck the walls with his cannons. And both the 50 troops and the new arrivals, having reached the defenses near the wall, were engaging the Paeonians. This also became a great camp of the king. The king, reflecting that if he were to gain control of the river, the Paeonians would no longer be able to cross over to the city from the side opposite the river, and that having access to reinforce the city might result in its capture, he filled many ships, and along the region of the Danube he fitted them out, and readied about two hundred ships. Having filled these, he intended to gain control of the river, to prevent the power of the Paeonians from crossing into the city, and having caught those inside the city, to besiege them. The ships were brought up the river from the city of Vidin, and for some days he maintained control of this part of the river. ^B But the king of the Paeonians, for he too had encamped with a large army in the region directly opposite Belgrade, and having also filled the finest ships he had in Buda, he went down the river as if to join battle with the king's ships. The king's ships were moving up a great length of the river, along the territory of the Paeonians, ravaging, burning, and plundering. But not long after, the fleet of the Paeonians came down, and falling upon the king's ships, it sank some of them and captured about twenty vessels; and the Paeonians, having destroyed the men and having placed onto the empty ships the 53 supplies of combustibles, arranged them in bundles and let them be carried by the current into the king's camp. And these were perishers in that way, and the rest fled with haste to the king's camp. And having run the ships aground at the camp, they disembarked. However, the king immediately burned these, so that the Paeonians should not capture them by sailing them up. ^C Thus, the Paeonians were gaining control of that part of the river, and they were arriving from the opposite continent into the city, for the defense of the city, both others and, indeed, Choniates with his retinue; and Capistranus the Nazarene, a man who was wise and highly esteemed among the western nations for his religion. On account of these things, the high priest had sent him to those in Prague, the great city of the Bohemians, who were turned toward the religion of Apollo, as he was a powerful speaker, for the religion of Jesus. And many of his [followers] there unto the of Jesus...

^A whom he had sent some time before to guard the region adjacent to the Ister; and, furthermore, to resist the Pannonian ships arriving, so that they might not be able to land. These cavalrymen, arriving while the battle was already raging fiercely, threw the Pannonians into the center and slaughtered many of them there. Then, after turning the Pannonians to flight, they drove them from the camp toward the bombards. And thus the battle ended there toward evening. The king, when he saw that his affairs were already in a bad state, and that the new arrivals were wounded and falling into fear, attempted to lead his armies to flight. When night fell, having given orders to pack up the baggage in the camp and to advance wherever he himself might lead, he withdrew under cover of the night, and in his retreat he feared lest the Pannonians might cross over with the rest of the army and pursue him, and that his withdrawal and his return home might become difficult for him and his men. And it seems to me that the Pannonians would have gotten behind the king’s army, had not Choniates, by turning back, forbidden them to pursue, knowing that the Turks, whenever a doubtful crisis hangs over them, ^B always become twice as strong and capable of enduring everything as they are at other times. To this was added a plague which had invaded the Pannonian camps, a most severe one, such that they were unable for a long time afterward to recover from the contagion. ^C John himself was also wounded there, and not long after he died. It seems to me that this was also the primary reason for the Pannonians not pursuing the king’s army. John, surviving the flight of the king by no long time, died thereafter, having become an excellent man in all things, and from a lowly position attaining great power, having displayed great deeds against the Germans and Bohemians, and having arrived at the leadership of the Pannonian affairs, he flourished with great glory. Furthermore, he conducted himself excellently against the Turks, whom he thought could not be overcome unless by the greatest forces of his own men and by virtue. He took upon himself the kingdom of the Pannonians and their armies as well. But when the other princes of Pannonia envied him and would not accept his commands, yet soon it was brought about that he retained the kingdom, since even those envious men admitted that the kingdom must be committed to this man, because he did not cease to provide the firmest and safest administration. It is apparent that this man accomplished whatever he undertook, using also singular diligence and speed, because wherever an opportunity shone forth, he was immediately present. There are those who report that this man died having been infected by the plague. Regarding Capistrano, we shall now relate what we know. Capistrano was a follower of Bernardino Canilio, who, teaching many and great things pertaining to the religion of Jesus, attained great glory and fame.

^A For he died before his wife could reach the kingdom. Upon his death, a dissension arose among the nobles of Pannonia, and in this discord, the sons of Choniates emerged victorious. For Orlichus, a prince of a not insignificant region in Pannonia, who had harbored enmities with Choniates while he was still alive, judged that the sons of Choniates should not be placed in senatorial dignity, as their father had been the author of the greatest calamities for them while they were fighting against the Turks. The Pannonians, on the contrary, thought it unholy that the sons of Choniates should be expelled from the kingdom and from the magistracy. Therefore, the sons of Choniates, rising up against Orlichus, cut off his head in the curia and departed. The Pannonians bore this deed most indignantly, threw the son of Choniates into chains, and, so that he might be kept under stricter guard, deported him in bonds to Belgrade. ^B But not long after, he managed to be freed from his chains and was raised to the royal dignity. For he was created king, aided by the faithful service of his father's friends. He also contributed greatly to procuring the kingdom, because he won over an army to himself with wealth, and maintained it in the region of the Pannonians. And in this way, he acquired the splendid honor of royal dignity. Ilices, who had already fostered discord against Choniates, and then had taken up enmities with his son who had gained the kingdom, refused to obey the new king. However, not long after, a pact having been concluded, he accepted the king’s rule. In this way, the kingdom was transferred to the younger son of Choniates. He waged war with Albert, the Emperor of the Romans, performing great deeds of military valor everywhere. ^C He subdued Prague and Bohemia, so that now both kingdoms obeyed him.

Albert, the Emperor of the Romans, had it in mind to attack Mechmet, the king of the Turks, with arms. Having therefore gathered his forces, he sent an embassy to the Pannonians, asking that they allow him to lead his troops through their region, and that they provide him with supplies. The Pannonians, however, having held an assembly, consulted among themselves; they reasoned that if he were to conquer Thrace and gain great power for himself, it would come to pass that, upon returning, he would also attempt to subjugate Pannonia. Therefore, they responded that they would by no means voluntarily grant passage through their region. Some claim that this is how the Pannonians decided. ^D But there are others who relate that the Pannonians responded benevolently to the legates. But as the legates were returning to the king by whom they had been sent, they [the Pannonians] suborned men who would attack and kill them from ambush on the road by which they had set out. And this did indeed happen. When the Emperor turned his attention to an investigation of the legates, he caused war to arise once again between them, and they afflicted each other severely.

^A He was keeping himself in a most fortified place. Having with him an army which he had raised from his own region, he used to make journeys through the mountains. Depositing his wives and children in most fortified places, he himself wandered to and fro with his army, in order to defend the region; and he was always present wherever his service was needed. And indeed, the infantry and cavalry forces were making an incursion into the region of Scanderis, and they did not cease to seize plunder of cattle and other things. And staying there for a long time, they were ruining everything, as they did not hesitate to burn down buildings and villages. Eventually, when the region had been sufficiently ravaged, he led away the army, having accomplished nothing worth recording. Scanderis, indeed, built a fortress near Epidamnus, which looks out toward the Ionian [Sea]. It is a peninsula, and a short isthmus of about three stadia; having fortified this with a wall, he settled not a few Albanians in that region, and strengthened the city so that if anything new were to happen—if he were to be attacked by the king’s armies—he might be besieged in that region; and whenever he was not able to hold out, he could board [ships] for the sea, and sail away wherever it might lead. The king’s army, therefore, having arrived at this place and having made an attempt, as the capture of the city did not go as they wished, marched back home. And in this year nothing more of consequence occurred to King Mehemet regarding the expedition. ^B

In that same year in which he had set out on the campaign against Scanderis, nothing else was done. But as summer approached, he sent some of his chosen men from court to the tributary princes and kings, summoning them to the circumcision of his children, which they call a purification. He also summoned the princes of his realm, the governors of the cities, satraps, and commanders, and all the soldiers who served for pay under this king. When the armies had assembled for him at Adrianople, he performed the circumcision—which they believe to be a purification—of his children, and magnificent gifts were presented to him by the magistrates and satraps. That assembly took place outside the city in a field near the island; all lived in the open air, except the king and the princes. This wedding (for so they also call the circumcision) is considered the greatest of all those things which pertain to life among them. Each one endeavors to provide some amusement at those weddings. And not a few amusements are exhibited at the circumcision of the king’s children: men [standing] erect, mounted on horses, holding themselves without any external help, remain immobile while the horses are in full gallop. I omit mentioning the rope-walkers: for in this art the Turks far surpass the rest of mankind. ^C For they walk dancing upon suspended ropes, and they are able to run across them most quickly. They perform countless other things worthy of admiration, walking and turning back upon naked swords. These things one may see happening daily in the forum which they call Tactalê, where the rope-walkers ^D perform their amusements.

^{A B C D} of names, they sometimes use lesser, sometimes more honorable names, such as Mustapha Musplachasites, Chiteres Charaitines. A similar observation may be made regarding the rest of the names in this manner.

There are thirty-six prefects in Europe; of these, the greater ones receive from the king an income of twenty thousand gold staters; the lesser ones receive ten thousand, more or less. In Asia, there are indeed standards ^A for him, and forty prefects for each standard. Besides these, there are the rulers of the great cities, such as Therma, the city of Scopia, Philippopolis, and the like. These rulers belong to the standards, subject to the grand commander of Europe, just as those of Asia are subordinate to the commander of Asia. The prefects of Europe and Asia follow the commanders and princes, and whomever they may lead. When a satrap sets out for any war, the city rulers follow as auxiliaries, according to the satrap's order. The supreme power rests with the king’s great commanders, to whom the king also pays a very large salary. And in this way, they quickly amass much wealth, which they receive from the satraps and city rulers.

Among the palace soldiers, the commanders hold the greatest power; they act as envoys and are generally the king's assessors and councilors for matters pertaining to the care of the kingdom. ^B To them pertains the administration of revenues and tributes. They sign and confirm the accounts and the king's treasuries with their own seal. Next to them in rank and dignity is the secretary, established in closest proximity to them, who receives the accounts from those appointed to the revenues and collections, and from the tax. He renders an account of the revenues and reports them to the commanders and to the king himself; other secretaries deal with the documents and the king's commands.

The tribute accruing to him from Europe amounts to nine hundred thousand staters. This tribute is collected not from the Turkish race, but from those of other nations under them. For it is not considered right that those of the same race should pay money ^C as tribute, but rather it is their duty to serve in the wars alongside the king, equipped with their arms and horses. Nor did the predecessors of this king exact/collect the tithe of produce from the Turks, but only from those of other races; but this king collects the tithe as well, and brings it wherever he marches on campaign.

Thus, the tithe and, in addition to the tribute, the *Bostina*—as it is called—are brought to the palace gates by the city rulers, the prefects, and the soldiers. It is also the custom that the entire allocation of sheep, which is given in the name of tribute, is driven to the king's gates. These matters, however, are in this state. ^D

LAONICUS CHALCONDYLAS THE ATHENIAN: DEMONSTRATION OF HISTORIES, THE NINTH BOOK. LAONICUS CHALCONDYLAS THE ATHENIAN: HISTORIES CONCERNING THE ORIGIN AND ACHIEVEMENTS OF THE TURKS: BOOK NINE.

Mahomet occupies the Peloponnese, Athens, Amastris, Sinope in Pontus, and Trebizond.

^A When Mahomet, son of Amurath, sent men of the Porte into the Peloponnese, he demanded that the tribute be paid. But when the King’s men came into the Peloponnese, they found nothing sound among the Greeks; they could not prevail upon either the Albanians or the Peloponnesians to pay the tribute. When the King saw that the leaders of the Peloponnese were contending with one another in private hatreds, driven by an evil genius so as to bring themselves and their affairs to ruin, he remitted the third tribute, seeking at least that they might in the present keep the peace which had been agreed upon in good faith. But as they neglected to do this, using I know not what imprudence and injustice, he decided to bring arms against the Peloponnese. He dispatched Mahmud, son of Michael, whom he had designated as Prince of the Porte and leader of Europe, to the Ister, so that if the Pannonians were plotting any new enterprise, he might keep them from their captured objectives by accusations. If he accomplished little in this way, he was not to allow them, should they approach, to devastate his region. Mahmud, having taken up the army of Europe, which comprised about eighty thousand soldiers, set out against the Triballi, who inhabit the region near the Ister. When, however, he discovered that the Pannonians were attempting no innovations but were embracing quiet, he set himself to subjugate Illyricum; and some small towns, which he had taken by force, he plundered. After he marched his forces into Illyricum, he fortified a camp there near the Ister, so that he might guard the cities of the King situated there, ^B and prevent those (the Pannonians) from harming his territory as they invaded. Having taken up the army of Europe—which numbered eighty thousand—he marched against the Triballi, who inhabit the land along the Ister. Setting out from there, as he heard of nothing new from the Pannonians, he devastated the land of the Illyrians; some small towns he took by force and enslaved the inhabitants. Afterwards, having overrun the land of the Illyrians, he remained there near the Ister, keeping watch over both the cities. He therefore occupied himself with these matters. But the King, having taken the Asian army and Boos,

^A returned and moved his army against the city of Tegea. Asanes Demetrius was in command of this city. The King therefore pitched his camp here in a rough and inaccessible place. The city, however, stood on high, situated on a strong and fortified mountain. Without delay, they prepared ladders and engines of war and attacked the city; he even gained control of the water which was situated outside the city in a fortified place, so that the townspeople could no longer reach it to draw water. For since the inhabitants of the besieged city possessed no supply of water, and the wells and springs had dried up, they were experiencing extreme miseries at the hands of the besiegers due to the great multitude of men and pack animals. When, therefore, the water failed, the commander of the city proclaimed the conditions of surrender by a herald. And the King indeed granted that Leodoricus, his son, should go forth from the camp—for projectiles were already in readiness—and sent him to Corinth, as well as into the Asian army; and the King’s soldiers, having found stones in the old Corinth, caused great slaughter by hurling them.

^B When he had arrived and encamped, the King immediately offered terms to Asanes, and having sent Jesus, the son of Brenezis—a man held in high esteem in the camp—together with an interpreter, he ordered him to command that the city be surrendered. When Jesus had arrived, he spoke as follows: "Asanes, and all you Greeks who are present, the King, in sending us, declares that you are among the foremost in wisdom, and that you are particularly conversant with the King’s affairs. You know also, better than others, what kind of man this King is, and of the race of the Ottomans, and that wherever he goes, he does not depart until he has breached the city. He therefore grants you, in these circumstances—having reconciled with the King in the best possible way—the opportunity to surrender this city and, in exchange, to receive from the King whatever land you might choose. And if you do this, the King will consider you fit and will make you a guest, so as to lay up favor for himself, for you, and for your children. If, however, you do not surrender, you know yourself, by the soul of the King, that he will enslave both the city and all those around it, handing them over to the most wretched destruction."

Jesus said these things through an interpreter. But Asanes, taking up the discourse, said: "O son of Brenezis, announce to the King that we know his soul is indeed the most noble of all who have come before from the Ottoman kings, and that his power is the greatest in the world; this is surely evident to all who are well-informed about the King’s affairs. We, too, ourselves acknowledge to the King that these things are very great. ^C But you see, then, that this city is situated in a fortress, most especially of all the cities of which we know. And the kings from Othman himself, and the King himself, from the time he took the throne, have neither besieged nor taken such a city by force, nor has it ever come to pass that they have marched against such a city. For you see how, while the city is highly fortified all around, it only makes its entrance where it is walled by three very strong walls simultaneously,"

those who were deliberating in common ^A whether to surrender the city or to hold out and defend it. When he saw that those in the city were turned away and troubled, Asanes himself and the Spartan Lucanes went out under a truce. When they came into the presence of the king and asked for a truce upon certain conditions, he said to them: "Tell our governor that I am ready to make a truce, on the condition that as much of the region as my army has passed through shall be mine, and that you pay five hundred staters in tribute for the rest of the region. And as for the governor, tell him to surrender to us Aigion, Patras, and the surrounding territory; otherwise, let him know that I shall immediately attack." When this was instructed to them, they came to the governors, who were staying around Mt. Taygetos in Laconia, and reported the words of the king. It immediately seemed best to them, so as not to be stripped of the whole region, to send envoys and to ratify the truce with the king on the conditions he proposed. Having sent the envoys, they made the truce, and he ceded the region to the king’s lieutenant, Omar—who was the lieutenant of Thessaly—including Aigion, Kalavryta, Patras, and the surrounding region of Achaea. ^B When he had taken over the cities and established new arrivals in them, he dismissed his own armies to go home, while he himself turned toward Attica and the city of Athens, going around to inspect the Piraeus and the harbors, and welcomed the prowess of Omar. I learn that this city and its acropolis were held in the highest esteem by the king among all the cities in his domain, and that he admired the ancient magnificence and construction of the city, saying, "How much gratitude is owed, according to our law, to Omar, son of Turakhan!" For the way in which this Omar took this city and the acropolis will now be told:

For when Nerio died, his wife ^C held the tyranny, having a young child by her husband. She sent embassies to the king and courted the king’s gates with money, and she was residing in positions of power. Not long after, a young man of the Venetians, who had come to Athens for the sake of trade—a man from the Senate—fell in love with her. Falling in love, she entered into discourse with the young man, as if in sport, spending much time with the young man, as if he were ready to enter into marriage with her, and at the same time to entrust the rule of the city to him. These things would be his, provided that, having sent away his wife in whatever way he could, ^D he returned to Athens. The young man was the son of Priam, who had been entrusted with Nafplion by the Venetians. The young man departed, and being seized by love,

[Note: On this page, the text includes a marginal label 241 regarding the location of Achaia.]

Turks ^B advancing, when they saw the Greek army arraying itself on the hills of the city, deliberated whether to encamp or to ride through them all straight toward Tegea and Moukhli. But Jonuzes, the leader of the cavalry, seeing the Greeks drawing up their ranks in depth, cried out, "O friends, Turks, the Greeks are defeated. For they are not able to fight as they have arranged themselves; rather, they will all yield immediately, since those in the rear have turned to flight. For they did not draw up to help one another, but having made the ranks in depth, they were preparing to defend themselves." Jonuzes shouted these things, and taking the cavalry, he charged against the Greeks. The rear ranks were receiving the first [ranks], but when the Turks kept coming on who were increasingly more numerous, they were moved to flight. The last of the Greeks, fleeing, fell upon their own men, and these ^C at the same time they rendered into flight; and thus the ranks in one moment of time turned to flight, with the last being pressed hard. For there was a necessity ^D that, being defeated, the others would soon suffer this same thing, falling into one another. The Greeks, therefore, fled with all their might into the city; but the Turks coming on with shouting and mutual encouragement, destroyed some two hundred, and riding up, they besieged the leader and the city with hunger and plague. For the army was being pressed because it had come from the slaves from Achaia, and he led them away from there toward Moukhli. Jonuzes, however, they left behind with the prince Demetrius. Thomas again, when the royal army departed and rode away, besieged the king’s newcomers in the citadels.

The king at that time marched against Smederevo and the region of the Triballi. He was making this march for the following reason. When Eleazar, the son of Vuk, had died, his wife was left in command along with her daughter. She held the citadel of Smederevo, and by arranging a marriage match for her daughter to the son of the king of the Illyrians, she intended to hold the rule of the city herself. The Triballi, therefore, set out for Michael, the brother of Mahomet, who was residing with the prince of the Triballi, and choosing him as their leader, they were establishing him and entrusting to him the affairs of the city. The woman, summoning him to the citadel under the guise of hospitality, seized him, and having bound him, sent him away to the Pannonians. The Pannonians, however, taking Michael, imprisoned him. And the Triballi set out again to the king, and together with the prince’s wife, they were negotiating the surrender of the city. The king, not yet having settled into

^A a peace, also met with the White-Sheep, as they are called, towards Temerou-dou, those from Tzoki and the sons of Kara-Osuf, so that he might not have troubles while his territory was being devastated by them. And he also established marriage alliances with the Greeks of Byzantium, and moreover, King Alexius Comnenus gave his daughter to John, the king of Byzantium. Following these events, something of this sort occurred: As King John had become suspicious of his mother, thinking that the protovestiarios was having a sexual relationship with his mother, the Cantacuzena, and suffering in his heart on account of this, he killed the protovestiarios and locked up both his father and his mother in the same bedchamber, wishing to kill his mother as well. But the dignitaries in the city, beseeching John so that this would not happen, sent them away into the regions of Iberia, having prevailed upon him. But because of the wickedness of John, King Alexius made his second son king, the one called Scantarios, and married him to the daughter of Mytilene, ^B Gatilousos, whom he sent to Mytilene. But King John, having departed to Iberia, took as his wife the daughter of King Alexander. After this, he went to Kafa, seeking someone there who had a ship, in order to cross over to Trebizond to wage war against his own father, Alexius. He found there a Genoese man who had a large ship carrying all kinds of weapons, whom he appointed as his chief commander. Having equipped the ship well and as was necessary, they arrived at Trebizond against his father, King Alexius. Having gone out onto the land at the site of Saint Phocas, they pitched their tents there in his monastery, having secretly obtained as helpers the Cabasitai, who betrayed him. For ^C these men, holding guard over the king in the Achante suburb, where King Alexius had also encamped with his weapons and war machines, had conspired against John, granting passage for the assault against Alexius. John’s men, having found him in his tent, unsuspecting, killed him by force in the hour of midnight. For King John had not said at all to kill his father, but only to capture him alive and bring him to him. ^D Those who, not observing this, but instead killing him, thought perhaps that they had done what was more pleasing to King John. But King John later blinded one of them and cut off the hands of another, not having wished for this to be done in such a way, but only for him to be brought to him. John, therefore, assumed the kingdom, having honored his father with the appropriate honors of burial, which he also deposited in the monastery of Theoskepastos, even though he later transferred him to the metropolis.

^A regarding the Alani, as they are called. As for the Iberians, whether they came to this land from elsewhere, or from the Iberians toward the west, I cannot say with certainty. But they appear to have attained great power and acquired riches, and they drew the Christian faith from Constantinople 81. For a woman who was accustomed to travel there in order to learn the true and holy faith, having renounced her own superstition, even led the Iberians to the most holy faith, worker of miracles; and she declared them Christians, once they confessed themselves to be Christians. ^B Many years later, the Scythians who were their neighbors waged war against them and, passing through the land of the Iberians, they laid it waste and utterly ravaged it, and having taken them captive, they enslaved them, the kings having fled to the mountain peaks. Later, when the Scythians had departed for their own haunts, they returned to their own, and the Iberians also came down from the mountains to their own lands, and thereafter remained in their kingdom paying tribute yearly to the king of the Scythians. After a short time had passed, the king of the Scythians, having fought against the Alani, also attacked the Huns and the Sasi in war: of whom I shall relate as much as I have discovered.

^C When Asanes came to the king, he told him what had happened in the Peloponnese; he inquired also about Achmates, the prince of the Peloponnese, because his brother had decided to remain in that region, although he was being attacked by his brother with hostile arms. The king immediately gifted him the islands situated in the Aegean Sea: Lemnos, Imbros, Thassos, and Samothrace. These he had previously granted after the fall of Byzantium, along with the principality of Lesbos, Lemnos, and Aenos; and to Palamedes, the tyrant, Imbros. When the king saw Aenos—after the death of Palamedes and his son Dorius, who had taken over the city—the king marched upon it, and captured Aenos, those in the city surrendering to him immediately. He also sent Jonuzes, the prefect of Callipolis, to take possession of the islands. Imbros and Lemnos surrendered at once, and a royal garrison was brought to the islands. ^D But later, when the Turks heard that a fleet from Italy, whose leader was a cardinal 82, was arriving, and that another fleet was expected from Italy, the garrisons withdrew from the islands, but the Turks protected them. Lemnos, as soon as the fleet sailed toward it, submitted, and Imbros did likewise, as did Thassos and Samothrace. Not long afterward, when the fleet had gone to Rhodes, Ismaëles, a prefect newly established by the king, sailed up and took possession of Imbros and Lemnos. The Italian men who were in these, having been captured, he sent to the king. When they were all led into the king's sight, he executed them. At that time, the king was staying in Philippopolis, for he had left his royal seat because of the plague, which was raging there cruelly. Thassos and Samothrace, however, did not surrender. For when, not long after, Zaganus had driven out Ismaëles, and...

postponed his intention regarding Chazanem until the following year, he himself marched against the Peloponnese. ^A Upon arriving at Corinth and making an incursion, Asanes, who had been sent by Prince Demetrius, was present to lead the King’s army against the enemies. When he reached Tegea, he cast Asanes into prison, and keeping in chains the Greek servants and all who followed him, he led them off towards Sparta. At first, Mohammed, having his cavalry and the European army with him, marched with all his might against Sparta. Having arrived there, he took the city at once and trapped the prince inside. The prince, therefore, cast down from his hope in the King, was being besieged and had set out to ascend the acropolis of the city so that he might escape; but when he learned that his wife's brother, Asanes, was held prisoner by the King, he withdrew from the city, and arriving at the camp, came into the sight of the King. The King treated him magnificently upon his arrival and honored him greatly. Furthermore, he consoled him, encouraging him to be of good courage, as he did not wish to exact any punishment for his offenses. He promised to give him another wealthy region, lacking in nothing, in place of Sparta; nevertheless, he kept him in custody. ^B Now, above Sparta, at the foot of Mount Taygetus, there is situated a prosperous Greek city. It is distant from the old city and the Eurotas by about eighteen stades. This city the King had already taken into his possession, and he placed a garrison in the metropolis and appointed as governor Chazanem Zenebiza, a servant of Mohammed. He himself, marching on the city of Castria, which is about eighty stades distant from the current city, besieged it. For the men and women, having fortified themselves in a very strong place and trusting in the difficulty of the terrain, prepared to defend themselves against those who were coming to make war upon them—the King’s army. The new arrivals, then, when the signal for the assault was given to them, attacked immediately, and surmounting the outer wall, they enslaved the men and women after having captured this place. Having taken the city, they went up against the acropolis, which was elevated and rose to a height of about four stades. The ascent was narrow and difficult to climb, being especially rough, steep, and uneven. ^C And with the men hindering them, it was difficult to pass over and reach the acropolis. There they struggled with the ascent, climbing over one another. Many, being carried down on this ascent by the momentum of one another, were forcibly cast over the precipice, and very many of the new arrivals perished. The others, however, climbed over and arrived at the acropolis, and began to attack. The Greeks, having fought for a long time, could no longer defend themselves against each other and the King’s men. They gave up, and submitted themselves into a treaty with the King. These, when he had taken the acropolis, he ^D rounded up and slaughtered, all of them. They were three hundred in number. Their leader, on the following day, he cut into two parts. From there he began his march through Leontarium, and having pitched his camp, when he had received

^A surrender from the surrounding towns, he laid them waste. After the king had advanced toward Methone and had inspected it, some of those in the city came out as though to sue for peace, and some of them were destroyed by the king's men.

The king, having prepared accordingly at Pylos, ordered the leader of the Greeks to march straight into Boeotia through the inland region, as I have already explained. He himself arrived at Achaia and, taking the surrounding districts after the lords had surrendered them, came into Achaia, bringing with him Asanes, the brother of the prince's wife. Upon arriving there and learning of the events at Santameri, he was angry with Zaganos and was vexed that, because of his transgression, the remaining cities would be loath to surrender to the Greeks. He ordered a proclamation to be made through the camp so that the captives from Santameri ^B should be released. Everything that was there was set free. Most of them, however, had already managed to cross over from Achaia into Aetolia before this could happen. Zaganos, for his part, had sent most of the captives he had taken away to his own home.

He then took the city of Grebenos by sending Josue, the governor of Skopje, and having enslaved a third of the people who were in that city, he selected whichever of the captives were comely and carried them off. Even before these events occurred, the prefect of the city of Patras, named Isokales, had subdued certain neighboring towns. For the Greeks, when they learned that the king was ravaging the inland region and killing a great many men of the cities, were each one of them hastening and wishing to surrender themselves ^C before the king arrived to destroy them—either enslaving them or slaughtering them. The Turks, however, received the cities; and as for these "Aprici"—for so they were called—they took away the fairest of the city dwellers as captives. They would plunder the smaller towns, but they received the larger ones into their dominion, selecting for themselves the fairest things that were in the cities. Just as wolves rush upon sheep abandoned by their shepherds and are never satisfied with the slaughter, but the sheep perish miserably from the cruelty of these wolves, so too at that time the Peloponnese ^D was perishing most cruelly, devastated and corrupted by the king's men, with its people being destroyed in a pitiable manner, some here and others elsewhere.

The king, having arrived at Patras in Achaia, fortified his camp and received the town of Castrimenos into his dominion. He also sent a herald to Salmenike, who commanded them to surrender the city. But they said that they were not willing to surrender themselves, knowing that they would suffer the same fate as the other Greeks. When this was reported to the king, he prepared [Note: The text ends mid-sentence on the page.]

^A a force of cavalry, as many as were present, and sent them against the Albans, as if he would seize them all. Those who obeyed the summons, having been deceived in this way, were destroyed; and they, driving off the pack animals and cattle of the country, brought them to Corinth. On this same pretext he made an incursion into the region of Phlius. For the Albans living in these parts, as they were housed in very secure places, were carrying off and plundering the possessions of the Greeks, and they kept the rest of these people in the lower regions of the Peloponnese, following them wherever they might lead the way in war. So he decided that these places needed to be weakened, and that the Albans were stirred up from there to rebel against the king's territory. And it was said that for the most part, the landings [of forces] were made in this way, and that they would lead the others wherever they might guide them. These things, then, occurred to this extent regarding the conquest of the Peloponnese.

The king, having arrived at Athens, walking about here and there, was inspecting the ancient city and the harbors. ^B And as those in the acropolis were explaining to him that certain of the Athenians were conspiring in treason with the Frankish ruler of Boeotia, who had previously been the tyrant of the Athenians, they themselves and the city came into danger. There, the king, being persuaded, seized ten of the citizens, the most wealthy men, and taking them away, settled them in Byzantium. While he was returning home and sending heralds, he ordered the leader Demetrios to proceed ahead with his wife, and he himself traveled at leisure. To the leader, however, he entrusted the city of Ainos, and the revenue from the salt-works of that place, and from the gates, up to sixty myriads of silver. Now the Frank, the son of Antonios, who had been his favorite, as is said, and who had surrendered the Athenian acropolis, was sent by him to Zaganos, the prefect of the Peloponnese, with orders to kill him. Zaganos, inviting that man into his tent, engaged him in conversation until night. But after the Frank, when he departed, set out for his own tent, at the order of Zaganos, he was killed there. The death of this man occurred in this way. The king arrived at Pherae, and spent days there. For it was reported that the Pannonians were leading an army, coming against the Ister. ^C But when it became clear that this was nothing, not long after he was present in Adrianople, bringing with him the brother of the Greek king, Demetrios, with his wife. Having arrived at the royal palace, he sent the eunuch and brought away the daughter of the leader from custody. Zaganos, who had been left in the Peloponnese, while having with him the army of Thessaly, except for the cavalry, was going about and settling the affairs of the Peloponnese. And great profits accrued to him, both himself and the rulers of the Peloponnese, from the slaves, whom, secretly carrying off, they would transport to Thessaly, and by exacting gifts from those in the ^D

^A region where you were born. Furthermore, it does not escape your notice that a king has also sprung from that same stock, and that against the enemies of the hero Mechmet he does not cease to wage war. Why, then, do you not remain in peace, and by granting half the principality to your brother, do you not wish to rule over the other half? But instead you rob your brother of half the principality and govern the whole, not refraining meanwhile from provoking the king with injuries against you. Now, therefore, learn how your affairs may be in a better state: namely, by going out to the king, you may surrender yourself and the principality to him. Nor will you find the king ungrateful. Hence, do not delay in binding the king to you by such a favor. For I know well that you will receive from the king another region by no means smaller, and you will live happily and securely; nor will any sadness come to you. Nor will you have troubles henceforth either with our people or with your own enemies. You will also be safe from your brother, nor will there be an enemy to plot against your principality. Propose, therefore, yourself what principality in Europe you wish to be given to you by the king, and I will obtain it for you from the king.” Thus spoke Machumetes, son of Michael. But Ismael, answering, said: “Truly, O Machumetes, it was fitting for the king to make war upon the enemies of the hero Mechmet, and not to afflict us who are of the same nation and faith. For it is not considered lawful to wage war against a man of the same nation, and one who has entered into a treaty, especially one who has not first committed injuries, and one who decides to remove him from the midst. We, indeed, have offered no injury to the king, nor have we violated treaties. But if the king is angry with us because I esteemed Chasanes, ^B come, let him avert the weight of war against him. Therefore, if the king demands that this region be handed over to him, let him grant us Philippopolis in exchange for this land, provided that we do not hold it as tributary, but possess it with immunity received. If he does this, we shall go to the king, having faith in his equity. Do you see how egregiously protected the city is by the nature of the terrain, and how well-supplied with arms? Four hundred bombardiers are stationed in its circuit. There are about two thousand bombardeers. This city holds over ten thousand men. Hence, it is possible for us to resist as safely as possible, and to harm our enemies most grievously.” Having heard these things, Machumetes was extremely delighted by the speech of Ismael, and he went to the king to persuade him to accept that city into his dominion. When the king understood each thing that Ismael had recounted, he was prepared to make peace on the conditions which Ismael had offered. Accordingly, he provided Philippopolis to him. Ismael, carrying all his wealth, was departing from the city, and was setting out into that region of Europe which the king had assigned to him. When the king had received the city into his dominion and had sent Ismael off into Europe, the remaining things which pertained to that principality also came under the king's dominion. ^{C D}

^A Furthermore, the divine nature is such that one must stand by whomever one has covenanted with; but if one transgresses, one is utterly destroyed. You, however, have reached a great height of good fortune, beyond that of any kings currently on earth, because you have obeyed the hero and have not transgressed the established conventions, and you shall henceforth rule over all men. For all things that a man covenants to—whether to God or to a hero—he is bound to obey until he dies. And you do not act rightly toward us, who are of your own people and are servants of the hero, toward whom fate has assigned you covenants. For he will not overlook us, who are being insulted and treated unjustly by you, as we wander about. This is what she said. The king replied to her in this manner: “O woman, you have surely spoken of everything with justice; but you know well that the covenant is a favor to the king and to the tyrant in more ways than one. But it is the nature of affairs to bring this to pass. ^B Indeed, if someone is seen doing wrong to his own people, it is necessary to seek testimony for this and to defend oneself against the aggressor. And we, having done this—and having warned him in advance not to provide entry into our territory—saw that he did not refrain at all, and he did not cease to come and cause trouble.” Nevertheless, these things were commanded to your son: We shall refrain from now on from [encroaching upon] his land, provided that he does not set foot in our land again, nor come to the aid of and fight for the king of Trebizond. Upon the king saying this, the woman immediately came to an agreement and concluded a truce.

From then on, he marched toward Trebizond and against King David, who, upon the death of the king his brother John—one grandson having been left to him—had brought together the Cabazitian lords of the Mesochaldes around Trebizond and seized the kingdom. And he was reigning, having done an injustice to his nephew, ^C who was four years old. The fleet, however, having set out from Sinope, after they had enslaved that place, was sailing along with the Cappadocians on its right, and when it arrived at the city of Trebizond, it burned the suburbs and besieged the city for thirty-two days. After this, the king [himself] marched his troops forward and arrived.

As Machumetes was advancing ahead toward Trebizond, having pitched his tents there in what is called Scylolimne, and having held talks with his cousin George the protovestiarios, he told him to say these things to King David: “To the King of Trebizond, of the clan of the Greek empire, the great king says this: You see how long a journey and how vast a region the king has traveled, since he set out, to arrive here. If, therefore, you surrender the city to the king immediately, he will provide you with another territory, just as he granted good fortune and islands and the prosperous city of Aenos to Demetrius, the leader of the Greeks of the Peloponnese, and he sits secure, living in prosperity. But if you do not desire to be persuaded and wish to resist, know that [you shall be] ^D stripped of the city not long after. For...

^A these things happened up to this point. Having divided the Trapezuntines into portions, he retained one part for himself, from which he made Silictarii and Spathoglanoi, holding them for his own service ^B later at his gates, and for his own boyish pleasures. The other part he sent to Byzantium. From another [group] he made Janissaries and servants in various capacities, having chosen eight hundred boys, and he set them in the rank of the recruits.

However, as for the daughter of King David, he did not take her as his wife, but not long after, he summoned her to his chambers ^C after King David had been slaughtered; the grandson of the former king, who was still an infant, the Ruler kept with himself. But the younger son of the king, George by name, having arrived in Adrianople, turned to the religion of Mehmed, and having adopted the customs of those people, not long after was captured by the King along with his father and brothers. For indeed, the cousin of the King, the wife of Hassan, had sent a letter and was calling for either the son of the King or his cousin, Alexios from Mytilene, who was a Komnenos. The letters were handed over to the King, signifying that one of the sons of the King or his cousin, as has been said, should come to the mistress who was the wife of Uzun Hassan. ^D The Protovestiarios George handed over these letters to the administrator, a man otherwise good in his habits, so that he might appear to the King as someone to be trusted in all matters, and furthermore so that it might not be known how the Protovestiarios had concealed this matter, fearing the great Ruler and the Pasha Mahmud, and that the Protovestiarios might suffer evil at the hands of the Great Ruler. And for this reason he also gave the document to the Great Ruler. The King, having received and read the letters, suspected nothing good. He therefore ordered King David and his sons to be arrested, along with their cousin, and he gave them all into custody. But he summoned the daughter into his own chambers. Having kept them in chains for some time, not long after, having taken them to Byzantium, he put them to death. As for the boys from the city and the surrounding villages, he recruited some as new arrivals and settled them in his own quarters, while others he placed in his own service, and others he bestowed upon his sons and his nobles. As for the maidens, he placed some in his own chambers, while others he gave away; and some of them he sent to his sons, while others, in a short time, he gave in marriage. But during this winter, while the King was staying in his own seat, he summoned Blad, the son of Dracula, the leader of Dacia. For he was keeping the younger brother of this man with him, and abusing him shamefully for his own lust.

^A And he, having arrived at such a pitch of insolence as even to kill his own envoys, he was not moved to exact punishment for the murder of those very men from the leader of Dacia. Yet he was also vexed by the fact that after crossing the Ister with a great force, and burning the king’s territory, and having wrought the slaughter of those who were of his own race, he had turned back. But he was doing things far more terrible than these, to have treated his own ambassadors in such a way. Wherefore, he sent out messengers everywhere, commanding the nobles and others accordingly to be present with his army, in the finest array and fully armed for an expedition, as he was about to set out. The king thus prepared his army against the Dacians.

It is further told that Mahmud, the commander, before the news of the slaughter of the envoys and of Chamuzes, the prefect, and of the burning of the region had been reported ^B to the leader—for indeed the message arrived before these things had been discovered, and the events concerning the Dacians were reported to the king’s men—he took it very ill. It is also said that he even inflicted blows upon the man. Yet it is not considered a very shameful thing at the king’s court to strike those who are gathered to him for service, who are not of the number of free men, nor are they sons of Turks. The king then, sending heralds through the entire kingdom, commanded that the armies should arrive at him well-equipped and armed; moreover, he summoned all his cavalry for this expedition. The royal heralds, who carry the king's will throughout the entire region, and the messengers, if any new developments occur, hasten to the king’s gates and finish the greatest journeys within a few days at the fastest pace. If any one of their number sees a horse on the road, he immediately dismounts the rider and, climbing onto it himself, hastens his journey, driving ^C the horse as hard as he can. Then, if he finds another, he mounts that one in the same way and hands the exhausted horse over to that man. And in this way, giving the horses rest, they complete the longest journeys. They bind their whole bodies so that the body may not ache or suffer when they run. We know that in five days royal heralds have come from the Peloponnese to Adrianople. This journey a horseman can barely complete in fifteen days, even if he is in the greatest haste; these heralds are called Ulacides.

When the king’s entire forces had gathered, equipped, he set out against Dacia at the very beginning of spring. They say that this army of the king was the greatest, second only to the one which this king had led against Byzantium. But it is agreed that this army was finer than the others, and possessed the greatest significance both in arms and in the rest of its war matériel. At that time, the king had about twenty-five myriads of men in arms. The basis for this number can ^D easily be derived from the crossing of the Ister. For the tax-collectors had bought the crossing of the Ister from the king, paying thirty myriads of gold staters; meanwhile, however, it is agreed that they...

see the path along which the king’s army would march. For when the king had crossed the Ister ^A with the greater part of his army and had reached Dacia, he did not immediately ravage it; for the king would not permit this, but marched his army in formation. He was marching straight towards the city to which the Dacians had carried off their wives and children, while they themselves followed the king through the oak forests. And if any were cut off from the army, they were immediately destroyed by these men. Now the king, since no one appeared before him offering battle, nor did report come that help was present for Bladus from the Pannonians, ^B grew negligent and careless of the entrenchments, and pitched his camp in an open plain.

For when Bladus learned that the enemy was approaching in a hostile column, he sent a messenger to the Pannonians, saying the following: "O men of Pannonia, you know, I believe, that our country is adjacent to yours, and that we both dwell beside the Ister. Now, however, I imagine that you also have heard that the king of the Turks is coming with a great force to make war upon us. And if he should lay waste to these parts and reduce Dacia, be aware of this, as you surely must: they will not stop there at such a juncture ^C of affairs, but will immediately turn their hostile arms against you. There is no doubt that the greatest dangers threaten those who dwell in your region from this. The time, therefore, now demands that you support us, so that we may drive this hostile army from the region as quickly as possible. I judge that one should not wait until he has crushed our region, utterly ravaged it, and subjugated our people to himself. The king also holds the older brother of our leader; him he has appointed prince of Wallachia. But we must strive so that his every plan does not succeed. For the king, when he began to wage war against Dacia, had greatly favored the younger brother of Bladus, ^D honoring him with great zeal and bestowing upon him wealth and precious clothing in great abundance. And he ordered him to sow words among the notables of the Dacians, so that he himself might eventually gain the highest power. Therefore, having been elevated in a short time to great good fortune, he did as the king commanded and sought to influence the Dacian leaders. Yet he was unable to achieve anything as yet, but was repulsed. The Pannonians, when they heard these things from the messenger, obeyed his words and were all eager to bring support to the Dacians and to resist the enemy most forcefully. Therefore, they held a levy and enrolled an army. With these things, then, the Pannonians were occupied; but the king, as he proceeded with his army in a hostile spirit, burned villages and plundered the livestock wherever he happened upon them. The king’s cavalry brought few captives into the camp; rather, they themselves were more likely to perish if anyone had wandered too carelessly from the column. They say that Bladus himself came as a scout into the king’s camp and observed [index: entries preserved]

^A the king with his army approaching. The king, therefore, passing by the city and seeing no man upon the walls, except for artillerymen discharging their cannons into the army, neither pitched his camp nor attempted to lay siege. Advancing, however, as they saw their own men upon the stakes, they moved forward about twenty-seven stadia; and the king’s army came upon the impalements, a place covering seventeen stadia in length and seven stadia in width. The stakes were large, upon which were seen affixed men, women, and children. The number of those miserably put to death comprised twenty thousand people. Truly, it was a horrendous and pitiable spectacle for the Turks and for the king himself. The king, fixed in wonder, said that it was not possible for a man who had accomplished such great things to be deprived of his land—especially since he knew so wonderfully well how to govern both his principality and his subjects. Nevertheless, he added that a man who had committed such deeds was not to be highly esteemed. The rest of the Turks, seeing the multitude of men hanging upon the stakes, were struck with amazement; for there were even young children hanging from the stakes to their mothers, and birds nested and dwelt in their entrails. ^B Now as the king was proceeding with his army, Bladus would cut it down if ever any, whether courier or Azap, had wandered too imprudently from the royal army. Bladus was directing his attention toward the prince of Black Pogdania, who, as it had been announced to him, had surrounded Bladus’s city, Cellium, with a siege. Leaving his army, which contained about six thousand men, he ordered them to follow the king through the oak forests, and he ordered them, running up immediately, to slaughter anyone who had strayed ever so slightly from the king’s column. He himself, however, led his force straight against the prince of Black Pogdania. But the army of Bladus, when he himself had departed, was very glad at the departure of the prince, and advancing straight against the enemy, they thought they would find great glory if they were to surprise the enemy suddenly. When news came to the guard station that was nearby, ^C indicating that the enemy was approaching, each person, except for those at the king's gates, leapt to arms. Mahumetes ordered Josephus to go forward and lure the enemy into battle. Mahumetes indeed was with the entire army in arms. When Josephus came to the enemy, he was immediately defeated, and fleeing, he hastened toward the king's camp. Omares, son of Turachanes, who had also been ordered by Mahumetes to engage the enemy, going forth to battle, met Josephus fleeing toward the enemy’s side; he blasphemed and spoke thus: "O wretch, whither do you go? Do you not know how the king will receive you as you flee? Or will the king himself not treat you more severely than the enemy, and deliver you ^D to the most wretched destruction immediately, as soon as he sees you fleeing?"

[Continuing the translation of the preceding text:]

...had done. Then, having gathered a by no means contemptible army, and bringing the royal army with him, he reduced the duchy and country to the King’s authority. Bladus, knowing that the Dacians had fled to his brother and knowing that all his efforts were in vain, because he had previously caused such a massacre of his own men, departed into Pannonia.

LAONICUS CHALCOCONDYLA THE ATHENIAN, HISTORIES, THE TENTH BOOK.

LAONICI CHALCOCONDYLAE ATHENIENSIS, HISTORIARUM DE ORIGINE AC REBUS GESTIS TURCORUM, LIBER DECIMUS.

Mahomet subjugates the island of Lesbos, Jaitza, and Clissa, cities of Illyricum, and valiantly repels the war waged against him by the Venetians and Matthias, King of Hungary, in the year of Christ 1463.

^A The expedition of the King against the Dacians had this end. Bladus, as his brother Dracules approached and was subjugating Dacia, retreated to the Pannonians. The Pannonians, whose relatives and kinsmen he had cruelly slaughtered in Dacia, brought him to trial before their King Matthias, son of Choniates. When they had passed a most severe sentence against him, as one who had killed men contrary to right and law, he was taken to Belgrade and cast into prison. ^B In that same summer, when autumn was approaching, the King sent a messenger to Lesbos, commanding them to prepare a fleet and assemble at the maritime locations. He himself, leading the Janissaries and a small company of European soldiers, undertook the expedition, crossing into Asia. The King proceeded by land, while the fleet traveled by sea. They assign this cause for the King’s expedition against Lesbos. The prince of Lesbos held that region as a tributary by the favor of the King, paying annually about two thousand gold staters, ever since the time when Paitogles, prefect of Callipolis, during the reign of Amurates the younger, arriving with a fleet, had made a hostile incursion into Lesbos, and having carried off a great number of captives, and having taken Callona, a most opulent city of Lesbos, had devastated it and returned home. Even before...

^A he offered terms to the ruler of Lesbos, having sent an envoy and ordering him to surrender the city, and for this reason to be granted by the king sufficient territory. But he, acting with stubbornness, would not accept the king's truce. The king, having set up his cannons against the city, crossed over to the mainland himself, as Machumetes was urging him not to stay on the island. Machumetes, having taken charge of the army, besieged the city, having divided the army into parts. And with his cannons he struck the wall for twenty-seven days, and brought down a great part of the city. Having also high-trajectory cannons, he struck into the city. And indeed, he stirred up those within the city. But those in the city, with the help of certain pirates who were there, making small sorties from the city, defended themselves. Not, however, in such a way as to achieve any good. For the Turks, provoked by those in the city, approached the wall, and taking heart as they advanced, fought against the wall. So, when those in the city were distressed by the multitude and were pressed by their hardships, the ruler of the island offered terms to the king, on condition of surrendering the city and the other small towns in the island, and for himself to be gifted by the king a territory equal to his own, and an income, and to serve in the army with the king. Machumetes, therefore, accepted these proposals and said that he would send word to the king across the mainland. And when it was reported to the king concerning the things which the ruler of Lesbos proposed, the king crossed over, and accepted the terms, being ready to make a truce on the conditions which the tyrant of the island requested. And when the oaths had been taken by both sides, the ruler of the city withdrew from the island, and coming to the king, he did obeisance ^B and spoke as follows: "O King, you know that from the time I succeeded to the rule of this island, I have never broken my oaths, and it would be clear to the local people here in Asia that I have never harbored slaves, for as soon as they were caught, they were delivered up by me. And I took pains, wherever anyone encountered one of your slaves, to seize him and lead him back to his master. But as for the pirates I received, I acted such that they should not plunder the country, or devastate it by raiding. I gave no occasion to any of these to sail up and harm your land. Now, however, I am here before you, surrendering this city and the whole island. I ask that you, as I have been well-disposed towards your affairs, so reward us, O King." He said these things, and he shed not a few tears, saying that it was because of the folly of the townspeople that he did not come at the beginning, when the king promised him these good things. And the king, finding fault ^C

^A later with him, seized and imprisoned him. As I have learned, this ruler was not in the king's favor, and had previously annoyed him with many unseemly and irreparable deeds toward the house of the king. But as others relate, a boy who had escaped from the king's gates had arrived at this ruler of Lesbos and, changing to the religion of Jesus, had become his lover. When Lesbos was captured and he made his way to Byzantium, the ruler forgot about the boy; but when he sent gifts to the king, the boys recognized him and told the king. The king kept the boy and seized the ruler, casting him into chains along with his cousin Lucius, ^B the tyrant of Aenus, who had been a boy and had assisted the ruler in the murder of his own brother and in seizing the principality. Not much later, it fell out for them just the same. For as both were in difficulty and did not know how to find escape from the prison, they reported that they were both eager to adopt the ancestral customs of the Turks. The king himself presented them with clothing and a turban, and having circumcised them, released them as free men for a few days. But immediately after this, he made them prisoners again, and having brought them away, he put them to death. ^C

This year the king went on campaign twice: once against the Dacians, and again against Lesbos; and he finished both wars in the same year, and winter had arrived before he could return home. So during that winter he stayed in Byzantium and was preparing a naval force, and in the Euxine Sea he was having about thirty triremes built, and by building both temples and royal palaces, he was planning to make the city of Byzantium suitable for naval operations, so that a notable fleet might be prepared for the sea. For, reflecting on the sea, he discovered that if he could gain mastery of it, the affairs of his enemies would more easily yield to him. ^D He also built other notable things after the "Neck-cutting" in the Propontis: a citadel in Byzantium worthy of note, as far as the gates called the Golden; very large towers, worthy of being seen; the interior royal palaces; the bridge over the Scopia at the Axius river; and a royal seat in Adrianople beyond the Tænarus, where the Hebrus flows in, which indeed represents a...

name derived from the region, though it must be distinguished ^A that it utters a different language at different times, so that there are many tribes of it, and they differ completely from one another in language, obtaining this name by which they are called Illyrians. But let these things be recorded thus far. And if the name itself is not correctly applied to this race, yet because of the region which they appear to inhabit, that of the Illyrians, it is worth it for this name to be applied to them. And let it not be a grievance to anyone who thinks thus about them. For I would say that the Albanians are much more to be added to the Macedonians than to any other of the nations throughout the habitable world. For they resemble no one except the race of the Macedonians. But enough has been said about these matters. And let those who dwell around the Ionian gulf as far as the promontory called Istria, which juts out here into the sea, be called Illyrians by me by this name, as well as those Illyrians who dwell in the inland region there. ^B Now King Mehmed was campaigning against this king because when the king’s herald arrived at him, ordering him to bring the tribute to the king's gates as quickly as possible and not to delay, he had collected the tribute—being five myriads of staters—and showed it to the king's herald, stating that indeed the tribute was collected and in readiness, yet it was not his desire to send the money to the king, nor did it seem good to him to be deprived of them. But along with these, if he must wage war, to wage a war invoked against the king, it would be better to prepare for the war. And if it were necessary to depart and be sent to some other region, having these riches, he would fare better. The herald is said to have replied to the king upon hearing these words: "O king of this land, but it is well for these riches to be in your possession provided you do not violate the treaties. But if, by violating them, you think you will fare better, I fear lest you fare worse because of this. For with God, it is much better to have these riches; and with God, it is better to be deprived of them ^C than by acting insolently against Him to possess many times more than them." Having said these things, the herald departed back to the king, and having reported the words of the Illyrian, he stirred the king to campaign against both. Now, at that time, he was marching against the ruler of Dacia, who had greatly insulted the house of the king and had slain the envoys. But at that time, while marching against the Dacians, it was not possible to exact retribution from the king of the Illyrians; but in this year, as the armies arrived for him at Adrianople from both Asia and Europe, when spring had arrived, he marched against the Illyrians, having in mind to invade also into the country of Sandales. Now this king, an illegitimate child of the former king of the Illyrians, and having been at odds with his brothers who were pressing for the leadership of the country and preparing themselves—it was to the king ^D acting as arbiter that they entrusted the matter.

^A ...for the river, whose name is... This river was navigable for ships, and the king of the Illyrians placed all his hope in it. For since no large ships were available, he thought the king would never have the audacity to cross it, where he was waging war with him. But when Machumetes approached the river with his forces, he did not cease, with wondrous haste, to urge on the army and the commanders of the army to cross the river and perform a most beautiful task for the king—namely, catching the Illyrian king. And he is said to have spoken thus: "Men, Turks, now let each of you prove himself a brave man, and cross this river on foot. For I have no doubt that the greatest and most splendid rewards await the one who first crosses the river, which he shall receive from the king." ^B Hearing these words, the king's soldiers attempted with all their might to cross the river. Thereupon the first, as it is related, was Omares, son of Turachanes, the prefect of Thessaly, who with his men rushed into the river; and swimming for a very short distance, they crossed the river. The rest of the army followed him immediately and crossed with equal success. Having crossed, they immediately ravaged the countryside, so that the king of the Illyrians, fearing that if he were to turn to flight he would be overwhelmed by the arrival of the cavalry and fall into the greatest danger, retreated in order to escape the present crisis unscathed, into a certain city situated in that place by the name of Clitia. But Machumetes, coming up with the army, surrounded that city with a siege. The site of that city is in a marshy area, and marshes are seen all around it, stretching far and wide, which make the city fortified and difficult to approach. At that time, that whole place had dried up under the sun's rays. However, the soldiers of Machumetes, moved by nothing of this, approached and surrounded it with a siege. They cut down the reeds, which grew there in great abundance, and carried them into the ditch, so that by then putting fire to them, they might either by force or at last bring the unwilling townspeople into their power. Seeing these preparations, the citizens of the city and the Illyrian soldiers, believing that they could not hold out for long while under siege, decided to send envoys to Machumetes, praying that they might be accepted into surrender; asking furthermore that he grant pardon to the king, who also might yield himself if the sanctity of an oath were to intervene: with that interceding, he might be raised to the hope that he would suffer no evil from the Turks. Machumetes did not refuse the prayers of the Illyrian. A treaty was struck, an oath was given, just as the Illyrians had prayed. At length, when the king had exited the city, he occupied the city. He separated the men who were in the city into three parts; he ordered one to stay there, he distributed the second among his own nobles, and the third he brought to the king and gave it to him as a gift. ^D In this manner was the king of the Illyrians captured at Clitia, together with his brother's son, who had not yet completed his thirteenth year of age. The king’s wife had already before this betaken herself to Rhagusium, which is a city near the Ionian [sea], so that she might be removed from the present crisis. By her husband's counsel, she had transported many riches there. That city is inhabited by Illyrian men of high renown, [index: entries preserved]

and he was leading a Turkish army, and ravaging the country. ^A Then, as the king was coming and announcing his approach to the Illyrian land, he himself was also preparing to defend it as best he could, should the king's army invade his territory. But I shall return to that part of the account which I had previously explained. At the same time, when the rumor flew that the king's forces were approaching against the King of the Illyrians, he did not cease to prepare himself, so that if the royal army entered his country ravaging it, he might, if he could by force of arms, prevent them from plundering and repel them. Now it is time to return to where I digressed in this narrative.

^B When Machumetes, son of Michael, had taken the Illyrian king under his control, he traveled around with him and subjected the other cities as well to the King of the Turks. And indeed, Machumetes was busy with such matters. But he ordered Omares, the son of Turachanes, to advance with an army against the remaining cities of the Illyrian land, while he himself marched toward the king's camp. Now the King of the Turks was annoyed at the oath, and was angry, thinking that the oath had been made to the King of the Illyrians at an inopportune time. Having, however, placed the king in custody, he led him around, marching through the land of Sandalis. For of the Illyrian territories, some the king himself had conquered and brought under submission, while others had been brought over by Machumetes and Omares. There, Omares, exerting himself with zeal that whatever part of the country remained should come under the king, showed himself to be one of the men in the king's court who were most outstanding ^C and performed great deeds, having already become proven to the king in many other things. These matters, then, took place to such an extent while the king was conquering the Illyrian cities. From there, sending an embassy to the city of Ragusa, he sought the king's wife. But she had already preceded him, leaving the city for Italy. For as soon as she learned that the entire country had fallen under the king, she departed from the city as quickly as possible, going off to Italy. The envoys, therefore, when they did not find the king's wife there, departed empty-handed. From there, the king gathered his equipment, invaded the land of Sandalis, and ravaged it. He sent out cavalry, and they overran his entire country. Afterwards, moving on, he besieged the cities. And the men of Sandalis attacked the king's tent, sallying out from the mountains. And it is ^D that after plundering, they retreated again into the mountains. This country is no less deserted than the land of the Illyrians. After attacking, he himself besieged a small town of Sandalis for some days. And when the capture of the city did not succeed for him, he marched on through the country of the lords of that place, of Stanteus, and Craicus, and Paulus. He sent a herald, ordering them to surrender their own country, and to become subjects of the king, receiving another territory in return for this one in Europe. They, having been persuaded by this, surrendered themselves together with the king, and the country, realizing the impossibility of resistance.

^A He himself, having crossed the Euripus on horseback, was observing where he might conveniently cross with his forces and be able to assault the city. These, in truth, are manifest signs of war, from which one can sufficiently prove that he has long since decided to fight against those who deliberate so properly. In the war which it is announced he has long since undertaken against us, he will proceed strenuously, subjugating some things to himself and taking others away from us; some things he will subjugate by blaming their prefects, and he will seek those that are most advantageous. Soon, if no one stands against him, girded with great power, he will suddenly, if he is able, crush the unprepared. For he will be able to amass great forces for himself, since he does not cease to add very many to his own dominion. Shall I say, then, that there will be no war for us with the king? Some people, as far as I know, deceive themselves and others with vain hopes, saying that he will never turn the storm of war against us, nor dislodge us from our principality, although he could do it easily. Wherefore let us refrain from war, and let us embrace peace and tranquility, ^B while in the meantime omitting nothing necessary with carelessness. But if, from the aforesaid, it is now clearly acknowledged by everyone that he had long since declared war against us, which do you judge to be more conducive and eligible for us: to embrace quiet and suffer our territory to be snatched away from us, or by waging open war, to show the barbarian how great our power and strength also are? For if we descend into manifest war, we will be able to guard against him and his treacheries, armed and sufficiently instructed for every event, carefully observing ^C what place he might seize for his camp. Or is he not to be held as an enemy, finally, who through treachery attempts to snatch away our territory, and who excels in these two things? If he should enjoy a happy and prosperous success, men believe that they themselves, as friends, will receive some benefit from it; but if no evil should redound to the barbarian therefrom... If, therefore, these things are better than the rest, who is so blind that he does not perceive that they are to be chosen? If blind, possessing better things, one ought to embrace quiet. For I judge those things to be more eligible for us. I say that delay is very harmful to many throughout the world: and it has given us the greatest harm, abandoning the Greeks and the king of the Greeks to the empire ^D when the barbarian was moving his hostile rams toward Constantinople. For our wares were very much aided and increased by the Greeks. Then we despised and turned away from the entreaties of the Peloponnesian leaders, who with most earnest prayers implored our help. Also because of our own sloth we saw the Peloponnese conquered by this king. Just recently, when the king of the Illyrians was suppliantly begging for our help, and promising that he would return no small thanks for extensive aid, we allowed him to be cruelly slaughtered by the Turks. These things, one by one, in this manner, have been by us...

^A observed; and that this Barbarian, having crossed the Danube, no longer wages war for your own sake must be evident to you, if you consider that by crossing into his territory, you were throwing his affairs into confusion. But now, having brought down the Greeks, and the Emperor of the Greeks; and after subjecting the land of the Triballi to himself, and having devastated the whole of the Peloponnese; having also subdued the Emperor of Trebizond and annexed his territory; and subsequently having set a governor over Dacia, and having ravaged the land of the Illyrians, and having captured their king—a man moderate and fair—in so short a time, having brought down such great powers, what else do you think he will do in the future? He will by no means stop, but by driving against those who are the neighbors of these territories, he will try to win over their lands for himself, attacking them as swiftly as he can. Now, the war is coming upon you too, and no less so; and he will attempt with all his might, in crossing the river, to enslave your land and to destroy your leaders with a most shameful slaughter. For it is not possible to change his spirit toward those who are yours, nor toward those who are under our religion. ^B But he turns out to be utterly merciless to everyone alike, even toward him who conducts himself with moderation. For you certainly know what he formerly did to King Ladislaus. In that case, perhaps he had an excuse for himself, having killed him when he was captured in battle; but the Emperor David of Trebizond, the ruler of the Illyrians, and of Lesbos, and the others—what grievous harm had he suffered from them, that he continually destroys them all together? If, therefore, you were preparing to march into his land and wage war, you might perhaps lighten the pressure that he will soon turn toward Pannonia. But if you endure suffering such things, and he crosses the river with his entire army, I fear that, having faltered once, all these things will fall under him, and he will destroy us in the most wretched way. When the Venetians had finished speaking these things, the King of the Paeonians, taking up the word, spoke as follows: "Venetians, you speak well and seem to be men not entirely unwise in many things, both in other matters of life and in those things that demand public consultation concerning necessities. ^C But you recall little, as I see it, of how often we have exhorted you to take up an expedition with us against the Turks; but you made no account of our speech. You said that we were not requesting of you fitting things by urging you to give aid, having witnessed no grievous harm done by the Barbarian. And we, having crossed the Danube so many times, have suffered irreparable things. And first, indeed, Ladislaus, the king of this land, perished, having been a good man. Second, again, many others, both many and good, in Kossovo of the land of the Triballi—some died in the war, and others were even captured by the Turks. These things, however, to you are ^D

^A to be set ablaze. If that should happen, the remaining cities of the Peloponnese would immediately make the crossing. Once the wall of the Isthmus was built and arms were seized, they proceeded against Corinth. With certain Corinthians leading the way and showing them where they ought to attack the city, they placed cannons opposite the citadel and began the siege of the city, contending with great glory. But winter, with its intolerable colds, drew them away from besieging the city. For this reason, leaving, they accomplished nothing worthy of such great preparations. And so the Venetians, pressed by the severity of the winter, bore the delay at the Isthmus with a heavy heart. Nor did Corinth make the transition, nor did Achaea revolt, although a Greek man by the name of Raches had been sent to them; he was killed by the Turks who were emerging and resisting. Nor did the remaining cities, except for those who inhabited Sparta, offer surrender; for the Spartans had been imposed upon by a young Greek named Gritza. To the Venetians, any further delay at the Isthmus was now intolerable, when they saw that they were laboring in vain to have the Peloponnese subjugated. In the meantime, it was reported that Machumetes, the king's prefect, was hastening toward the Isthmus with great forces, breathing the slaughter of the Venetians. A rumor was even spread that the king ^B with his army was following Machumetes, so that he could come to his assistance if the situation required it. They therefore decided, with great consensus, to abandon the Isthmus, as its usefulness was small for the present. Having departed from the Isthmus, they hastened toward the cities, which they strengthened with garrisons and other fortifications, so that they might be able to repel the force of the king and Machumetes, should they approach.

For as the report reached the king that the Venetians were walling off the Isthmus and had filled forty triremes, and twelve high ships, and were also bringing in armed men from Italy, and another army from Crete, and that, relying on all these, they were looking to the one goal of subjugating the Peloponnese, he thought that there was no more time for delay. He ordered Machumetes to take the army of Europe, besides that which was positioned across from the Pannonians, and to proceed directly to the Peloponnese. Furthermore, he commanded that if he could accomplish anything in the war against the Venetians, he should endeavor to destroy the Isthmus and then make an irruption into the Peloponnese. But if these things did not succeed, he (the king) would act as a reinforcement, and whatever he reported, he would follow in the same footsteps continuously. Machumetes, the leader of the gate, having taken the army of Europe, proceeded into Thessaly as far as the Peneus, and pitched camp near the city of Larissa. In that war, he used as his counselor Omar, the prefect of Thessaly, who advised Machumetes to halt and not move any further, but to signal to the king that the weight of the war was greater than that to which a royal ^C leader could be sufficient or equal. For a short time before, as the scout had approached as closely as possible to the Isthmus, he had seen more than two thousand cannons, and in addition four hundred bombardiers; he also saw archers and shield-bearers who would not easily concede the camp ^D at the Isthmus to anyone.

Joseph of Methone: Notice by the Editors

^A Under the name of Gennadius Scholarius, Patriarch of Constantinople, there was published at Rome in Greek, in the year 1577, along with the Greek acts of the Council of Florence, a *Defense of the Five Chapters contained in the holy and ecumenical Synod of Florence*, namely: On the Procession of the Holy Spirit, On the Sacrifice in Unleavened and Leavened Bread, On Purgatory, On the Enjoyment of the Saints, and On the Primacy of the Pope. But because that excellent little book was written in defense of the Catholic doctrine defined at the Florentine Synod, while it is certain from other sources that Gennadius Scholarius, immediately after the return of the Greeks to their homeland, again defected from the union and joined the schismatics, it is sufficiently clear that although Gennadius Scholarius may have favored the union of the two churches before the Council of Florence and within that same council, he is not the author of this work, since at the time the booklet was written he had become hostile to the doctrine of the Council of Florence.

The matter remained in doubt until the most astute Bollandist, the Reverend Father Cuperus, in his *History of the Patriarchs of Constantinople*—which is prefixed to the *Acta Sanctorum* for August, volume I, and was published at Antwerp in 1733—asserted on page 193 that the *Defense of the Five Chapters of the Council of Florence* should be attributed to Joseph of Methone. And on page 197 of the same work, he recites the words of Joseph of Methone himself, by which he testifies that he had industriously defended the five chapters of the Council of Florence. The words of Joseph, which are read in Labbe (*Collectio Conciliorum*, volume XIII, col. 707), are as follows: "As for 'the Spirit from the Son,' we do not say..."—which we have already resolved in the first chapter of the definition, while writing an apology for the five chapters.

Since these things are so, no one should any longer doubt that Joseph of Methone is the author of this our work. The Greek text of the booklet has nowhere, to my knowledge, been printed, except at Rome by Zanetti, among the Greek Acts of the Council of Florence, which appeared in the Holy City in 1577. The Latin translation, which Fabius Benevolentius of Siena produced, appeared at Rome, by the People of Rome, in 1579, in quarto. Then, so that the booklet might be more useful to the Orientals, it was translated into the Greco-Barbarous or vernacular language by the most learned and pious man, Lord John Matthew Caryophyllus, Archbishop of Iconium, and published by the press of the Sacred Congregation de Propaganda Fide at Rome in 1628, in quarto form. These, and no others, are the things that occurred to us to point out here. We now present the work as it is titled in the Roman edition.

January 17, 1863. J.-B. M.