The Sieges of Vienna by the Turks

The Sieges of Vienna by the Turks

The narrative specified in the Title from which the following pages are in general borrowed, and in great part translated, is the work of a gentleman resident in Vienna, and enjoying as such access to the numerous and valuable sources of information extant in the archives of that city. The other sources to which I have adverted in the title-page, and which I have used for purposes of addition and verification, are principally the well-known Turkish History of Von Hammer; The Life of Sobieski, by the French Abb Coyer; the History of Poland, by Monsieur de Salvandy; and the invaluable volume of John Sobieskis Letters, translated from the Polish by the Count Plater. I may add that, as many of the rarer printed tracts of the time, cited by Mr. Schimmer, are to be found in the British Museum, I have not failed to avail myself of the assistance of my friend Mr. Panizzi for their examination. Towards the close of my labour, and in fact through the narrative of the second siege, I have been less faithful as a translator than in the earlier portion. The introduction of such a character as Sobieski on the scene will be my apology to Mr. Schimmer for this divergence, and for the insertion of such matter as I have ventured to embroider on the ground of his narrative. Of[Pg iv] the letters of John Sobieski I have spoken my opinion in the text. The style of the Abb Coyer seems to me such as might entitle his biography of Sobieski to take rank with Voltaires Charles XII. and other standard works as a class book for students of the French language. I am indebted to Monsieur de Salvandy for some details of the great battle for the relief of Vienna which have escaped the notice of Ulric and the other German narrators. [Pg 1] The fall of Constantinople in 1453 was followed by a rapid extension of the arms and power of the conqueror, Mahomet II. Within a short period he subjected Persia, the whole of Greece and the Morea, most of the islands of the Archipelago, and Trebisond on the coast of Asia Minor, the seat of the Greek empire of the Comnenes. The last of that dynasty, Daniel Comnenus, he took prisoner, and shortly after caused him with his family to be executed for the alleged offence, probably a mere pretext, of an understanding with the Persians. In 1467 Mahomet took from the Venetians, in addition to several possessions in the Morea, the island of Euba, and, in 1474, Caffa from the Genoese. The hostilities in which he was soon afterwards involved with Persia hindered him from further pursuing his conquests against the Christian powers, who on their side were prevented by their unhappy dissensions and divisions from attempting to retrieve their losses. In general their campaigns against the Turks were confined to purely defensive operations, and it was not till a much later period that common need and danger produced a more general system of aggressive action. In 1480 Mahomet II. attacked the island of Rhodes, the conquest of which he had it much at heart to accomplish; he was, however, repulsed with great loss by its defenders, the Knights of St. John. Upon this repulse he directed his arms against Italy, took Otranto, and would probably have[Pg 2] pushed his conquests further in that country, if death had not overtaken him, on an expedition to Persia, in 1481. He had overthrown two empires and ten other sovereignties, and captured more than 200 cities. He directed as an inscription for his tomb the following sentence, simple, but significant to his successors:I wished to take Rhodes and subdue Italy. His two immediate successors, Bajazet II., who reigned from 1481 to 1512, and Selim I. (1512 to 1520), prosecuted schemes of conquest in various directions. The latter was in particular the founder of an extensive naval power, before which those of Venice and Genoa, so considerable at that time, were compelled to quail. He conquered also Mesopotamia, Syria, Palestine, and Egypt, and reduced to subjection the powerful Sheikh of Mecca. In wisdom, however, in power, and in glory, this Soliman was surpassed by his son, the second of that name, the greatest of the Ottoman sovereigns, under whom the Turkish empire attained a pitch of splendour which has not been equalled before or since. In acquirements he was far beyond his age and country: in addition to the Turkish language, he was master of Persian and Arabic; he also understood Italian; and in that kind of metrical compositions which are called, in Turkish, Misen, the critics of that country pronounced him to exceed all others. In military achievements he was equally distinguished among the sovereigns of his race, and ranks with Mahomet II. as a conqueror. In the first year of his reign, he acquired in Belgrade the key of the Danube, and opened the way for his further advance into Hungary. In the following year, 1522, he carried into execution the unaccomplished wish and dying injunction of Mahomet II. in the subjection of Rhodes, and on Christmas-night held his triumphant entry into the conquered city. Soon afterwards he directed his forces again upon Hungary, in which country internal dissensions afforded him a favourable opportunity for the furtherance of his plans of conquest. ......Buy Now (To Read More)

Product details

Ebook Number: 54731
Author: Schimmer, Karl August
Release Date: May 16, 2017
Format: eBook
Language: English

Contributors

Translator: Ellesmere, Francis Egerton, Earl of, 1800-1857