John Goldener was the author of four early letters, two of which are translated here. Much remains unclear about Goldener’s background, but the best argument suggests he was a native of Hainburg, a small town on the Danube near the Hungarian border.1 A student and then master at Vienna, he went on to a distinguished career as a scholar and cleric who was active in Vienna at the time of the battle for Belgrade. The first of his letters, to a churchman in Regensburg,2 offers evidence of the complex dynamics of communication that surrounded the fast-moving events of July–August: it is in fact a letter within a letter, to which is appended a rapid-fire list of other events. It also enjoyed a wider circulation than his other letters (a German translation of the first letter, for example, was later taken up into local chronicles in Basel and Speyer). The second letter, written a day later, offers yet another account of the battle. It captures both some of the excitement unleashed by the spreading news and something of the resentment that arose from the nobility’s lack of engagement.
16.1. JOHN GOLDENER TO FRANZ SCHLICK
August 2, 1456 (Vienna)
Source: Trans. J. Mixson, from A. Bernoulli, ed., Basler Chroniken (Leipzig: Hirzel, 1890), 4: 392–4 (checked against Vienna, Österreichische Nationalbibliolithek, cod. 4498, fols. 186–8).
Venerable lord, yesterday there came along with the closed letters we were to pass along to Your Reverence a new and reliable report from Hungary; there is no need for Your Dignity to doubt it, and it can be passed along safely to all of our supporters:1
Eight days ago tomorrow, two former Christians came to us from the army of the Turk. They advised the governor [Hunyadi] that the Turk and all of his leading nobles swore by Muhammad that they would all forfeit their lives or gain the fortress of Belgrade, and that they were prepared to attack on Wednesday [July 21], which was the vigil of Mary Magdalene. On the same night, Governor John Hunyadi secretly deployed by way of the Danube some forty thousand of his foot soldiers and almost a thousand knights. He joined them, and they all entered the fortress undetected. On Wednesday morning [July 21], just as the two mentioned above had said would happen, the Turks, cruel beasts, fell upon the town before the fortress, and fought with our troops for some time. By the grace of God almost all of them were defeated. A second attack came, this time with fresh troops, who fought once more. Then [came] a third, whose troops seemed to yield, because Father John of Capistrano, standing at the top of a prominent place in the fortress, raising the crucifix high, called with a tearful cry: “Oh my God, oh Jesus, where are your ancient mercies? Oh come, come to our aid! Do not wait, come! Free those whom you have redeemed with your precious blood! Come, do not wait, so that they cannot say, ‘Where is their god?’” Note that this [story] concerning Capistrano is not found in the governor’s letter;2 but those who are coming north say [it is true]; and even Lord Michael Balduff affirms it, who came last night from [meeting with] the lord legate [Carvajal], and who saw yesterday that there was such joy, with all the bells and fires. So, my brother, this fight lasted many hours, and they attacked three times. But God was with us, so that the infidel took flight and one hundred thousand were laid low.
This letter was read yesterday to the lord of Passau.3 And Lord John Mulfelder also related to us what Hunyadi writes: so many were killed that he does not know what number to report. He pursued them eight miles, and the poor of Christ were so eager that they gave no thought to gold nor silver, but leaving behind all the carriages, cannons, and provisions, they pursued the enemy continually. They killed so many in flight that the number to be written is unknown. Concerning all of this may almighty God be blessed.
Also, The Turk lost all of his leading nobles and his vice-emperor.4
Also, they recovered twelve great cannons, of thirty-two hands in length, seven wide, and more than two hundred smaller firearms.5
The governor wrote this to his son, telling him to then pass along to the king that if His Majesty wished to recover both the kingdom of the Greeks and the greater part of his own land, he should come and not delay. The way is now prepared for His Royal Majesty.
This letter was sent to Baden6 yesterday. Today at the ninth hour7 a return delegation rode through the entire city, trumpets leading the way, proclaiming that all who wished to enlist should come forward, and all should give abundantly in their support.
Also, when the Turks saw the great danger that threatened in the galleys, they abandoned their ships and took flight by land. Others fell into the water. So they abandoned the ships to stand alone.
From Vienna, on Monday, that is the day of Saint Stephen, pope and martyr.
1 See Babinger, “Der Quellenwert,” especially 13–14 and n. 3. See the introduction, n. 67.
2 For the attributions of these letters see Hofer, Johannes Kapistran, 1: 476. See the introduction, n. 57.
1 Here Goldener inserts the text of an earlier letter (now lost) that must have been written around July 27–8, that is, around seven to eight days after the events described. The letter then made its way, with a flood of other written and oral reports, from Belgrade to Buda and Vienna and beyond.
2 See document 9. Also note how much this account is at odds with the others.
3 The bishop of Passau, Ulrich of Nussdorf (d. 1479), also a counselor to King Ladislaus V of Hungary.
4 See documents 33 and 34.
5 The term here is huffnitzbuchssen. The sources invoke a variety of terms to designate various kinds of gunpowder weapons. Their usage was not yet standardized and varied widely, so it is not always clear exactly what kinds of weapons the terms are meant to reference. For further instances see the many references in Tagliacozzo’s account in document 25 (for example, n. 13).
6 A town between Vienna and Wiener-Neustadt.
7 That is, around 3:00 p.m.
16.2. JOHN GOLDENER TO MATTHEW SCHLICK
August 3, 1456 (Vienna)
Source: Trans. J. Mixson, from N. Iorga, ed., Notes et extraits pour servir à l’histoire des croisades au XV. siècle (Bucharest: Académie Roumaine, 1915), 4: 141, and Leipzig, Universitätsbibliothek Leipzig, MS 1092, fol. 13. The letter also appears in the same manuscript on fols. 178v–179v.
Venerable lord, regarding the victory which the Christian people won on the eve of [the feast of] blessed Mary Magdalene against the Turks, most savage enemies of the blessed cross of Christ, the bearer of the present letter can inform Your Paternity; where God, not humankind, fought, and more than one hundred thousand, indeed they say two hundred thousand [Turks] were cut down, but very few of our own were lost; they won many spoils, twelve great cannons, thirty hands long and seven wide, and common firearms without number, carriages with gold and silver, provisions and other valuables. Peter can report more on the very many ways the enemy entered the fortress, and by what means, etc. When they made a third attack, where now the strongest and the most vigorous of the Turks fought, as it were, in the middle [of the fortress], our troops almost gave in. Seeing this, the blessed father John of Capistrano, standing in a high place in the fortress, called to heaven with tears as he beheld the affliction of the Christian people, and extending a crucifix with his hands said, “Oh God, oh God, oh God; oh Jesus, come to the aid of the wretched. Are you asleep, my Jesus? Oh God, where are your ancient mercies? Come to our aid, come and do not delay, so that our enemies cannot say ‘Where is their God?’ Come and see the affliction of your people, whom you redeemed with your blood!”
What happened? That very hour God gave us the triumph. This is not reported in the letter by Hunyadi, but truthful [witnesses] report it. In fact, I have heard it just this hour at Saint Stephen’s1 – these things were all confirmed by Lord Michael Paladauf,2 who just yesterday arrived from Buda. They could hardly express in words what kind of dancing, fires, and bell ringing there was in the cities of Hungary; their clapping and joy are great. And indeed, God is blessed forever and ever, amen! And so, they [the Turks] fled. The governor followed them for seven miles.
Consider, Your Lordship, how zealous were these poor Christians, who do not chase after gold or silver or carriages laden with valuables, but rather act with only the victory of Christ’s innocent blood before their eyes as they followed the Turk and his army. By this reason it is a great sign of God that so few people have defeated such a multitude, indeed an almost innumerable force, and put the rest to flight. These things are true, and Your Lordship may safely write to our other good allies about them.
Oh God, enlighten the hearts of your faithful princes, who (as these recently arrived people tell of it) if they were to have [enough] people [to fight for them], would no doubt retake Constantinople. For such fear has taken hold of the Turk and his people in the wake of this battle that one of ours could put ten of theirs to flight. Indeed, Lord Michael says that he would never have believed it had he not seen with his own eyes such a great force in Hungary, piling up like snow.3 There were very few foreigners there in the fight; it was only the locals who did the fighting. Tomorrow and Friday they will leave from Vienna.
Yesterday and today at least three thousand simple, poor folk took the sacrament of the Eucharist with great devotion. There was not a vassal, magnate, or nobleman among them – shame on so many effeminate knights who, clinging to their pride and chasing after vanities, have neglected the hard and manly work of the soldier! I saw them in procession on Sunday: the priests went first; then black monks, lay brothers, and doctors; then around three hundred bachelors and scholars, acting as the battle line for all of the people; then cobblers and tailors and other poor folk came along, without a head or a captain. What a pity for the king and the higher-ups! I suppose what I write goes against the common saying: “Clerics, you do the protecting; knights, you work and pray.” The artisans have become the soldiers!4 Pardon me, Your Lordship. I write this out of compassion for the militia [I have seen in procession], since there has never been such shame, at least in our time, as there is now. Alas for such confusion, that among so many thousands there was not one nobleman to be found! I will say nothing more about such great matters.
Vienna, Tuesday on the Invention of [the relics of] Saint Stephen,5 in the year, etc. ’56.
1 The main urban church in Vienna, at the time still a parish church but soon to be elevated to a bishop’s cathedral.
2 Here an alternative spelling of “Balduff.” See the previous letter.
3 The phrase used here is difficult to decipher but is perhaps a reference to the tents of the Ottoman force. Cf. Tagliacozzo, who uses the same metaphor (document 12, p. 98).
4 Here an inversion of the traditional model of the “three orders of society,” according to which knights were to fight, clerics to pray, and laborers to work, each in support of the other.
5 August 3, a commemoration of the finding of the relics, a day distinct from the commemoration of the martyrdom of the saint (December 26).