Timeline of the Crusade of 1456

1453

September 30: Pope Nicholas V, Etsi ecclesia Christi

1454

February: The “Feast of the Pheasant” at the court of Duke Philip the Good of Burgundy

April: Diet of Regensburg and Peace of Lodi

October: Diet of Frankfurt; Aeneas Silvius Piccolomini, Constantinopolitana clades

1455

February: Diet of Wiener Neustadt

March 24: Death of Nicholas V

April 8: Election of Alfonso de Borja as Pope Callixtus III

May: Pope Callixtus III, Ad summum pontificates apicem (May 15). The bull reissues and revises Nicholas V’s call to crusade in Etsi ecclesia Christi.

June–July: Assembly at Győr; beginning of John of Capistrano’s preaching tour

August: Beginning of efforts of Juan Carvajal as papal legate in Hungary

November: King Alfonso of Aragon, Naples, and Sicily takes the cross

December: Cardinal Ludovico Scarampo named legate and captain of the papal fleet sponsored by Callixtus III

1456

February: Diet in Buda opens on February 6; Juan Carvajal publishes bull of crusading and commissions Capistrano to preach (February 14)

June 29: Callixtus III issues Cum his superioribus, calling on all Christians to pray for the campaign that will end at Belgrade

July 2: John of Capistrano and first wave of crusaders arrive at Belgrade; Ottoman siege and bombardment begins soon after

July 14: Hunyadi’s flotilla approaches Belgrade via the Danube; naval battle with Ottoman fleet ends in victory for Hunyadi

July 21–3: Final assault on Belgrade and retreat of Mehmed II

July–August: News of the events of Belgrade makes its way to Budapest, Vienna, and beyond

August 6: News of the events of Belgrade reaches Rome; Scarampo’s fleet departs from Naples for the Aegean

August 11: Death of John Hunyadi; his son Ladislaus Hunyadi becomes his heir

October 23: Death of John of Capistrano

November: Rivalry between Ladislaus Hunyadi and Ulrich II, Count of Celje, ends in the assassination of the Count at Belgrade. Ladislaus Hunyadi is executed by King Ladislaus V of Hungary.

1457

August 6: Callixtus III, Inter divinae dispensationis commemorates the first anniversary of the arrival of news of Belgrade in Rome. The bull links the feast of the Transfiguration to the victory of a Triune God.

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