c. 1490
One of the most important works in the surviving corpus of fifteenth-century Ottoman histories is known as The Oxford Anonymous Chronicle. The text, held in the collections of Oxford’s Bodleian Library since the eighteenth century, was likely compiled under the patronage of Sultan Bayezid II (d. 1512) and completed shortly after 1484, the year of the last events of its narrative. At its heart is the story of how Bayezid II’s predecessors forged their empire and asserted their legitimacy, both by conquering new lands and by surviving internal conflicts fueled by rival claimants to power. The conquests of Mehmed II, as well as his reversal of fortune at Belgrade, are an integral part of that larger narrative.
Source: An Early Ottoman History. The Oxford Anonymous Chronicle (Bodleian Library, Ms Marsh 313), trans. Dimitri J. Kastritsis (Liverpool: Liverpool University Press, 2017),
182–4. Reproduced by permission of Liverpool University Press.1
The Padishah of Islam Takes Novo Brdo and Trepca and All of Vilk-ili2
When the year 859 [1454–55] arrived, in spring, the padishah of Islam gathered an army. He cast cannons in Skopje and headed for Vilk-ili.3 On his first invasion, he went and attacked Novo Brdo, staying there for a few days. He fired cannons and guns and destroyed some of the ramparts of the fortress, so that the people inside begged for quarter and surrendered the castle. Placing men inside, the padishah of Islam moved onward to Trepca, capturing it also within a few days. He took possession of all its mines and placed men in charge of them. Meanwhile, Karaca Bey went with the Rumelian army and conquered Bohor. Having taken all of Vilk-ili, the padishah dismissed his army at Kosovo. Then he proceeded to Salonika with the people of his Porte. After inspecting the city, he moved on to Edirne, stopping there for a few days. Then he continued on to Istanbul. At that time, envoys came from Vılkoğlu,4 displaying humility and asking for terms of surrender. In exchange, Vılkoğlu took it upon himself to pay a tribute of thirty thousand gold coins per year. That year, the padishah wintered again in Edirne, giving praises and thanks to God.
The Padishah of Islam Marches on Belgrade
When the calendar reached the year 860 [1455–6], the padishah of Islam sent couriers to the people in his army, and a host was assembled the size of which had never before been seen. The padishah of Islam ordered that cannons be cast in Skopje, then with fortune and felicity he proceeded there in person. Mahmud Paşa transported the cannons through the Kaçanik pass5 and headed for Belgrade, while Karaca Bey had ships constructed on the Morava. Accompanied by an endless army, he passed before Semendria, reaching a location near Belgrade. Finally, the sultan of Islam also arrived outside Belgrade and camped there. Earthworks were constructed and the cannons were brought out, assembled, and arranged behind them. Karaca Bey had transported by ship a large quantity of tree trunks and timber boards. Surrounding every side of the castle, the Anatolian and Rumelian armies began to cast their cannons.6
The infidels were worn out from constant battle and were rendered helpless. Few remained in the fortifications; however, a courier had gone to Yanko requesting assistance.7 In response, he assembled the armies of the Pope and the Hungarians and was headed in that direction. Karaca Bey came and addressed the pashas, saying, “Let us launch the ships and transport our soldiers to the island. That way, aid will be unable to reach it from Hungary on the other side. Let us surround the castle from both sides.” But his words were not received favorably, and such a move was not authorized. Within a short time, the infidel’s ships arrived and began to wage battle against the Muslim ships. Hass Ahmed Bey fought a royal battle beyond description, but the infidels were victorious, and the people of Islam were defeated. The infidels arrived, and thus thirty thousand armed men entered the castle. Yanko also entered with them, so that at every battlement, a hundred infidels showed up and began to fight.
When by divine ordinance God did not make possible the conquest of the castle, after that whatever they attempted to do resulted in failure. In fact, the cannons had caused such structural damage to the castle’s fortifications that with a small effort it could have been taken. Then the criers proclaimed, “Let no one mingle with the janissaries or join them in their trenches.” For that reason, the rest of the army refrained from fighting, saying to themselves, “Apparently the castle may not be pillaged by the Anatolian and Rumelian armies.” Nonetheless, on the Anatolian side İshak Paşa fought fiercely, while the janissaries stormed the castle from the place where the cannons had breached its walls. The padishah of Islam dismounted. Horsetail standards and war banners were raised, then they attacked the castle to the sound of drums and kettledrums, crying, “God is great!” At the breach made by the cannons, four or five hundred janissaries entered the fortifications. But the infidels attacked from either side and cut off their rear, injuring many of them with arrows. It was impossible for the remaining janissaries to rush to their aid, and the Ağa of the janissaries was martyred there. So the gazis did not proceed with battle operations, but returned to their tents.
When the infidels saw that the people of Islam had been routed, they made a sortie from the castle and overran their cannons and earthworks. In that way, they made martyrs of many Muslims. Seeing this action on the part of the infidels, the sultan of Islam seized his shield and shouted, “I have placed my trust in God.” He fought so fiercely that he rendered many infidels lifeless, cutting most of them in half with a single stroke of his sword. The infidels were totally routed, and the padishah went to his pavilion tent safe and sound. At this time, the Rumelian and Anatolian armies had begun to retreat and flee the battlefield. But, as the people of Islam continued to fire their cannons, the Beylerbey of Rumelia, Karaca Bey, was struck by a falling tree and became a martyr. The padishah moved on. At that time, there was severe plague in Rumelia,8 so he headed for Istanbul. And, in the course of the above battle, an arrow struck Yanko and sent his soul to hell.
1 I am grateful to Dimitri Kastritsis for his advice and support regarding not only this text but the world of early Ottoman chronicles generally.
2 Novo Brdo and Trepca were both important mining centers in the region of Kosovo. Novo Brdo surrendered on June 1, 1455, but its notables were executed nonetheless. Among the young men taken into the janissary corps was Konstantin Mihailović, whose published memoirs are an important source on the period. See documents 3.1 and 34.
3 Vilk-ili, the “Land of Vuk,” meaning the lands belonging to Vuk Branković.
4 George Branković, Despot of Serbia.
5 The Kaçanik pass lies to the north of Skopje.
6 This description suggests that some cannons were transported by Mahmud Paşa, perhaps in parts, while others were cast in situ in wooden molds. The wood may also have been used for constructing the earthworks behind which the cannons were placed.
7 John Hunyadi. See also Kastritsis, “Inquiry Six,” in The Oxford Anonymous Chronicle, 164, 171–2. See citation on p. 256 above in the introduction to this document.
8 This was apparently one of several periodic outbreaks of the plague, situated between the sporadic occurrences of the 1440s and the great plague that struck Istanbul in 1467.