A Provisional Calendar of St. John Capistran's Correspondence: Part III: The Crusade Against the Turks: May 18, 1455-December 10, 1456

ANALECT A PROVISIONAL CALENDAR OF ST. JOHN CAPISTRAN'S CORRESPONDENCE Part m1 The Crusade Against the Turks May 18, 1455-December 10, 1456 After a long siege, the army of Sultan Mahomet II occupied Constantinople on May 29, 1453. Knowledge of the event caused great consternation not only in Rome but also throughout the whole of Christendom. On September 30, 1453, Pope Nicholas V published a bull exhorting all Christian rulers to take up arms against the enemies of Christ. In most European countries, however , his plea fell on deaf ears. On the night of March 24-25, 1455, Nicholas died. The cardinals elected his successor, the Spaniard Alonso de Borja, on April 8. Calling himself Callistus III, the new pope was well aware of the danger the advancing Turks posed for Christendom and did everything in his power to stop it. On May 15 he published a solemn bull renewing and strengthening his predecessor's appeal; he granted indulgences to all those willing to participate in a crusade against the Turks. In a breve dated July 20, 1455 (letter 558), the pontiff charged John Capistran with the proclamation of the crusade; Capistran did so with his usual zeal. In fact, as soon as he had heard of the fall of Constantinople, he began to preach the crusade against the Turks without specific authorization , giving his support to similar efforts of Enea Sylvio Piccolomini. Hungary stood in most immediate danger of Turkish invasion. Ladislaus V, king of Hungary; John Hunyadi, the former regent and captain general of Hungary; Denis Szécsi, cardinal archbishop of Esztergom; and other Hungarian magnates insistently implored 1 See Frandscan Studies 89 (1989) 255-345, 90 (1990) 323-403. Franciscan Studies 52 (1992) 284 OTTOKAR BONMANN, O. F. M. Capistran to come to Hungary to preach the crusade. Capistran was only too willing to do so. On May 18, 1455, we find him in Lendva, in Hungary. From then on, in collaboration with the papal legate, Cardinal Juan Carvajal and John Hunyadi, he dedicated all his energies to the preparation of the war against the Turks. He travelled throughout Hungary meeting all the important ecclesiastical and secular personalities and exhorting them to unite all their resources and strength to stop the advancing infidel army. Capistran and his three Franciscan companions crisscrossed the country. Their passionate preaching succeeded in recruiting an army, comprised mostly of poor peasants, untrained and poorly armed, willing and perhaps eager to die for the faith. The heroic efforts of the three Johns (Carvajal, Hunyadi and Capistran) were crowned with a spectacular victory over the Turkish army at Belgrade on July 22, 1456. The triumph kept the Turks away from Hungary and the rest of Europe for the next seventy years. On the evening of July 22, Capistran wrote to the pope announcing the victory (letter 658). The pope received it on August 6 and ordered all the bells of Rome to ring. Most of Capistran's letters in this period are related to Hungary and Hungarians. These, along with some earlier ones, were edited nearly a century ago by B. Pettkó. Capistran wrote his last letter (665) on October 21, 1456, ordering his companions to bring his books, letters and other writings to the Franciscan friary in Capestrano. He died on the evening of October 23 in the friary at Uljak (Ilok/Villac). 536. 1455-V-18, Lendva (Hungary). IdC ad Callistum ffl. Inc.: Beatissime pater. . . . Ad thronum gratie cum fiducia recurrendum. . . . Des.: socii cálamo per me dictanda commisi. Reg.: Capistran greets the newly elected Pope and reminds him that he has been serving the Church in various capacities since the first year of the reign of Martin V (1417XI -Il) and has obtained about sixty bulls or briefs from his predecessors. He assures the pope that he is willing to ST. JOHN CAPISTRAN'S CORRESPONDENCE: PART III 285 continue serving him and the Church as long as he lives, asking only that the pontiff renew and confirm the apostolic letters he had received from Nicholas V. He is forwarding these letters to the pope by his faithful German interpreter, Fr. Friderc of Thor from Prussia. Ed.: W 12: 289 f...