Tvvo very notable commentaries the one of the originall of the Turcks and Empire of the house of Ottomanno, written by Andrewe Cambine, and thother of the warres of the Turcke against George Scanderbeg, prince of Epiro, and of the great victories obteyned by the sayd George, aswell against the Emperour of Turkie, as other princes, and of his other rare force and vertues, worthye of memorye, translated oute of Italian into Englishe by Iohn Shute.

A Comentarie of Andre CAMBINO A FLORENTINE BORNE, OF THE originall of the Turques, and Empire of the house of Ottomanno. The first Boke. (Book 1)

THE Turquish nation after the opinion of diuers writers chiefly of these of••ate yeres for that they haue sene them rule in those partes where the citieof Troy once was, and hauynge regarde to their name, haue affirmed that thei are discended from Teu cxi, from whence the Troians bad their originall, the which is vtterly false, for in dede that natiō which at this present dwelleth in the lesser Asia vnder the rule of the house of Ottomann••: beinge of nature cruell and barba∣rous, toke originall from the Scithianes, and as the phi¦losopher Etico dothe declare, had their abidinge beyonde the montaines called Pyrithei, not far frō the Is••es Tar¦raconite: directlye towarde the Northwest sea.

And as Otho, brother to Federyckes father of Austriche being Emperour doth declare, that at the tyme when P••¦pine raigined in Fraunce, these people departinge from the confines of Caspie were aboute the yere of Christe 760. beinge encontred with the people Auari which in oure time are Hungarians, and fighting betwene them a cruell battayle, and great slaughter on bothe sydes done. The Turques not withstanding continuing their enter∣prise, ouerran and spoyled the contreis of Poutho, and Ca¦padocia with other prouinces to them adioyinge. And in the beginning they gathered them selues togither secret∣lye and dwelled vpon montaynes and in stronge places, perillous to assayle, and maynteyned them selues and lyued of p••oie and spoyle, as occasion was offered them. After that when they grewe to some strength, and were prouyded of captaynes, and discipline, they began with open warres to molest and trouble y^• people of those coun∣tries neare vnto them adioyning and to become lordes of their contreis, and these people not being able to stande against and to endure their force, and crueltie, were en¦forced

forced to giue place: so that the Turques within shorte space possessed not only Pontho and Capadocia, but as∣sailed the lesser Asia (which takinge his name of thē is at this daye called Turchia) in such sort, that in short time they became lordes, and maisters of Galatia, Bithinia, Pamphi••ia, Pisidia, of the one and other Frigia, of Cili∣tia, and of Caria, enlarging the cōfines of their domini∣on euen from the sea called Ionio, to the banckes of the sea Egeo, and then appointed to euery faction and con∣trey, hys gouernor, and in this sorte gouerned for a long time, hauing among them nother kinge, ne any man en∣dued with tytle of souereentie, other then of captaine, ac∣cording to the saying of Nicolao Sagundino a man very well seen, bothe in the Greake and Latyne tonge, and also in the histories as wel ancient, as of later times, for that he had exercised hym selfe alonge tyme in them, and hauing ioyned to his redinge, experience, hauing trauay∣led thorowe, & seen the greatest part of the inhabited earth whoe wrote to the pope pio, that aboute the yere of y^e chri¦stian helth 1330. There arose amonge the Turques one Ottomano, of a noble house and smale welthe, wyse, and of a noble minde, whoe by his perswasiones and toward∣nesse, had gathered togither a greate numbre of valiante and lustie men, desirouse of alteration, he toke in hand y^• which he knewe to be generally acceptable vnto thē, whi∣ch was to make warres against the christianes which con¦fyned with his contreys, and throughe hys lyberal distri∣buting of the proies and spoiles that he gate from y^• chri∣stians, to his souldiors, his power was so encresed throwe the pleasantnesse of gaine and reputacion that his people had, that he (seing him selfe cheyfe of an armye whych de∣sired to liue licensiously, and was apte to accompanye him in whatsoeuer enterprise he shoulde take in hand, determi¦ned to make him selfe prince of that companye, and began openly wyth warres to persecute those y^• wolde not there vnto agree in the which his enterprise, he was very well holpen by the discorde and diuision that was amongest the principall and cheife rulers of that nation, and he ayding him selfe with the same diuisiō, did continaully maintaine and norrishe the same, and gaue nowe ayde to the one par∣tye

and then to the other,* 1.1 vntyl that they were al, so con∣sumed and impouerished that they were not able to resiste his force, when it was emploied against them. And in this sorte, he became a Tyran ouer his owne natyon, & made him selfe lord of the greatest part of their contreis namīg him selfe prince of the lesser Asya. This Ottomano at his death lefte to succede hym in hys kyngdome Orcano hys sonne,* 1.2 who folowing his fathers fote steppes did not only preserue the Empire which his father lefte him. But also enlarged it greatly, when Orcano died, Amorath hys el∣deste sonne succeded him in his kingdome,* 1.3 who trāsfering his courte to Bithinia, ordained y^e seate of hys kyngdome in Bursia, which standeth at the very fote of the rootes of the Mounte Olimpo. In the time of Amorathe, two of the Emperors sonnes of constantinople fel at stryfe aboute y^e possessyon of the Empire, it semed to the yonger sonne, y^• his brother did maruelously oppresse him, and althoughe his force was not sufficient to resyst hym, he woulde not yet giue place vnto him, but sent to Amorathe for ayde, of fering him a great sum of mony inrecompence, Amorathe agreed to his demande, and assembled his power, and with spede embarqued hys people and passed into Gretya, and with greate subtiltye dyd leade the warres at length, and when he sawe the two bretherne so weake and that they had consumed the treasure which their father left them, & by their cyuille warres had so spoiled their contrey y^• they were not able to maintayne them selues in there estate w^t there reuene we which was then lefte them,* 1.4 he in one in∣stante emploied his force against them both, and in y^e firste assaulte he toke the citie of Gallipolli, a place very commo¦diouse for his state, for asmuche as it standeth in Propon∣tide vpon the sea side not farre from the mouth of y^e straite of Helesponto. And desiring ernestly in his minde the Em¦pire of Gretia for asmuch as he knewe their force not able to endure against him, wherupon he vsed the occasyon, & did continually spoile and impouerishe them, in such sorte as in shorte space he became lorde of the greatest parte of Romania,* 1.5 which is the principall parte of the prouince of Thracia, the which in ancient time had his confynes ve∣ry large, in so much that it is said that on the one side they

stretched oute towarde the east euen to the sea called Eu∣sino, and Propontyde, and towardes the southe to the sea Eugenio, and the floode Strimone and the contrey of Ma∣cedonia, and towardes the north to the riuer Danubio, & on the west it confined with the Mountaines of Peonia, & with panonia nowe called hungaria and with the Ryuer Sauo, in the which Thratia they will that there be com∣prehendid the one and other Misya,* 1.6 at this day called Ser¦uia, and Burgarya, the inhabytantes wherof doe call all these places lying a long the seacoaste toward the south inhabited by the Greeks euen to the verie straite of Eles∣pontho, Romania, when Amorath died, he lefte behynde him two sonnes, Saliman, and Baiazith, Saliman dyed in shorte space after, then the successyon was wholly in Baiazith who toke in hande the goueraunce. And whē he had established his state in Asya,* 1.7 he sent a new power into Europa, and reuiued the warres began by his father, a∣gainst the Greekes, in the which fortune so fauored hym that in shorte space he was possessid of all Romania, and lefte the Emperor of Gretia nothinge but Constan••nople and Pera the which was possessid then by the Genoueses, after this he passed on and made his warres euen in the ve¦ry bowels of Gretia, with a course of maruelouse victorie no place resisting him, he occupied Thessalia, Phocide, the contre of Boetia, with the greatest part of the contrey of Attica, that onely the citie of Athenes was defendid, whi∣ch being of suche force, both natural and artificiall that it was inexpugnable, wherfore he entred into Macedonia y^e which in time past had his confines greatly enlarged tho∣rough the great force of y^e places of the same, & conteyned in it at that time y^e contreis of Peonia and Paphlagonia, and finding it vnfornished of such as moughte defended it he possessyd it, and passed on with his people and made a course through Bossina, and Seruia, leadinge awaye w^t him continually great proies both of men, and catell in most miserable calamitie, and thus he went on consuming and destroing the contreis,* 1.8 and then retorned into Roma∣nia, and broughte his armie to constantinople, and shutte in them of the cytye and toke from them, all the contrey aboute them, in such sort y^• they were enforced to hold thē

with in the gates of y^e citie, and coulde non withoute great danger go forth of it no way by land, & tormenting it con∣tinually, had brought it to that passe that the Citizens be¦ing out of all hope to defended it, began alredie, to practise appointment with him. And there is no doute, that yf god by extraordinarie meanes, had not prouided for it, the citie of constantinopole y^e which in time before, many hun¦dred yeres passed, had ben the hed, not onely of Gretia, but also, of the greatest part of the worlde, had at that tyme fallen into hands of the most cruell and Barbarouse nati∣one of Turques, had not ben Tamerlano, a parthian borne who with a great power: entred y^e lesser Asia, and assailed it with such furie, that he cōstrened Baiazith to abandone Constantinople: and to passe with his armie in to Asya, for the defence therof. And hauing nowe occasion to speke of the actes of Tamerlano, and his people, I haue thought it,* 1.9 not inconuenient, to make some litle digressyon, and to declare from whence this puissant captaine had his origi∣nal, and by what meanes he dyd attayne to the hygh and supreme degre of honor, in the which he then was, when Baiazith was chiefe prince, and king of the Tur∣kes, thys Tamerlano was borne in Parthia, of base and simple parents, he was exerised in armes euen from his childehed, and did so profyte therin, that it was harde to saye which had greater place in him, eyther strength and lustines of his bodye or els his wisdome and other ver¦tues of the minde, so that amonge the souldiors he was had in great reputatyon and honor, in such sort that a great multitude folowed him, and cheifely those, which were most experimented in the warres and thus in shorte time he became prince of a mightye armie, both of horse men, & fotemen, whō he had gayned to folow him, by his vertue, good dysposytion, and lyberalytye, by whose aide he fyrste delyuered hys contrey of Parthya from the bon∣dage of the saracenes, and then became prince therof af∣ter that wyth greate violence, he assailed the contreis neare vnto hym and in fewe yeares possessyd them: and broughte to his obedience, Scithia Asyatyca, Iberia, the Albaneses, the Persyanes, the Assyrianes, and Medes, a••d last of all he broughte vnder

his yoke Mesopotamia and the greater Armenia, and then passed ouer the floode Euphrates aboute the yere of our Lord 1390. with a farre greater army then was that of Dario, or that which Xerse broughte into Grecia, for it is sayde that he had in his campe 400000.* 1.10 horsemen, & 600000. fote men, with whom he assayled the lesser Armi∣a, vpon whose confines Baiazith the Turke, king of Asia encountred him with a mightie power both of horsmen & fote men, and trusting in the vertue and discipline of his people, whose labour he had a long tyme vsed w^t great felicitie, did not refuse to accepte the battayle notwith∣standyng he knewe him selfe to be farre inferiour in num¦ber. Then these two mightie princes approching the one towardes the other so neare as they mighte discerne the one the others order,* 1.11 omitted no time but ioyned in bat∣tayle, in the which, for the greatest parte of the day there were flayn great numbers on both sydes, and thei fought wyth such assuraunce, nether parte geuynge place to the other, that it was harde to saye where the victorie should incline, tyll at the last the Turkes beyng werye, and not able to endure the force of the Parthians (who continual¦ly supplied their squadrones with freshe bandes) soughte to retyre them selues in order, tightynge continually in their retreicte, but the Prince beynge ware hereof, com∣maunded certayne great troupes of horsemen to geue charge vpon them, who charged them wyth suche force that they disordered them, and then the Turkes began to flee, leauyng the victorie to theyr enemies, and Baia∣zith fought valiantlye a longe tyme in person, tyll he had lost a great multitude of hys people: and also laste of all, his horse was stayne vnder hym and then was taken and presented to Tamerlano, who commaunded him to be encheined, and ledde him with him thorow out al Asia for a spectacle, and it is sayde that whylest he did dine and fuppe, he had him alwayes tyed vnder his table lyke a dogge, and so fedde him, and when he went to horse, he caused him to be brought and to sit him downe vpon his knees & elbowes. And thus vsed him in stede of a block to go to his horse on. And thus he helde him prisoner during his life in most miserable calamitie.

All those which at any time haue written of Tamerla∣no,* 1.12 haue greatlye commended hym for the discipline and order which he obserued in the conducting of his armyes, for they declare that euery occupation had hys streate ap¦poynted him in the campe, wherein he might vse his exer¦cise euen in lyke order as it had bene in a famous citie, & there was in it greate abundaunce of all thynges for the commoditie of man, which proceded of hys seueritie and iustice, for he woulde not leaue vnpunished the ieast vio∣lence that was committed: not so much as the takyng a∣way of one handful of grasse agaynst y^e owners good wil whereupon it folowed that he had as great abundance of all necessaries in his campe, as if it had bene in great fai∣res and markettes, brought thither voluntarilie from the countreys aboute him as he passed, his seueritie also was such that it helde hys Souldyours so wythin the ban∣des of modestie, that there was neuer sene nor head any kynde of sedicion amonge them, and they saye fur∣ther, which is greatlye to be merueyled at, that he neuer fought with man, but he had the victorye ouer hym, so that he neuer tasted of Fortunes bitternes. Thus when he had spoyled and conquered all Asia euen to the floode Nilo, & had taken by force Emirua, Antiochia, Sebastia, Tripoli, and Damasco, with a greate number of other ci∣ties moe, and put the inhabitantes of them to the sworde caried away theyr spoyle, and consumed them into ashes: leauing them desert and plained to the grounde.

Then entred he into Egypte, where he gaue many ouer∣throwes to the Soldanes people, and constrained them to flee beyonde Pelusyo and wolde haue folowed them hade not the scarcenes of victuales ben, for it was not possyble for him to prouide cariage for to transporte sufficientie of victual: for the norrishing of so populouse an armie as his was, throughe the sandie and deserte contreis, his corrage was suche, that he delighted cheifely in those enterpryses which semed most difficile to be acheued in the opinion of others,* 1.13 as it cam to passe in the taking of Damasco, where a numbre of the defendants conueyed them selues oute of the towne into the castle where in there owne opynyon & in the common opynyon of others, they were safe, consy∣deryng

the naturall force of the seate, and also y^e artificisal•• force of the place, notwithstanding being desyrouse to a∣uoide the miserie and trauaile of a sege and to saue their liues, they gaue out a token, signifiynge that they were desyrous to talke with him, and vpon condicion to yelde him the place, but he refused vtterly to heare of any ap∣poyntment, although, his captaines woulde gladly haue persuaded him there vnto,* 1.14 but went and considered tho∣rowly the seate and force of the place, and seyng the wal∣les to be such that no ladder might attayne the heyght of them, he determn••ed in any wise to haue it by force, wher¦upon he caused forthwith neare vnto the same castel, ano¦ther castell to be buylded of farre greater heyght then the first, from y^e height wherof he did so beate his enemies day and nyght without cease, that in the ende with the losse of a great number of his people, he toke it of force.

After this, hauyng intelligence that in the citie of Ca∣phia, a garison towne of the Genoueses,* 1.15 was great store of golde and siluer in the handes of the marchantes, he hauynge alreadye purpofed to take that towne by force, which standeth in Cheronesso Taurico, not far from the Bosphono and straite Timerico, and considerynge that the treasure (although he wanne the towne) mought ea∣selye be buried vnder the grounde and so saued, he deter∣mined to haue both the towne & treasure by this meane, he called to him the skynners of his countrey, such as had most riche furres, as Sables, Armines, Genettes, Marti¦rones, and suche lyke, and gane them commaundement, for the more spedie dispatche of y^e matter, that they shulde not passe, for the sellyng of them at a lowe price, to the ende, that through the meanesse of the price, the marchan¦tes mought more gredily by them, this matter beyng skil¦fully handlded was sone dispatched, and immedialy after that he denounced warres agaynst them, and forthwith, presented him selfe with his armie to the towne, and when he had enuironed the towne wyth his campe, he planted his batteries and continued them day and nyght without ceasing, in such sort, that in short space he posses∣sed the towne, the marchantes, the furres, and the money which was an inestimable treasure. It is written also,

that this was his ordre in beseeging of townes, y^e fyrst daye his owne lodgings were white, and if in that day, the inhabitants of the towne dyd yelde vnto him,* 1.16 they receuid no hurte nother in body nor goodes, the seconde daye his lodgings were red, which signifyed to them of the towne that yf then they yelded, that he wolde put to death all the masters of the families. And the thyrde day, was his last change, which was in to blacke Pauil∣lions and tentes, and then refused he all appointments and when he had in this sorte taken any Citie or towne he put all that were in it to the sworde, not sparing any of whatsoeuer age or kinde they were, when he had thus done, then wolde he commaunde to sack the towne, and when the goodes were taken oute of it, then wolde he cause fyre to be set in the towne & so consume it to ashes & leue it deserte. And there is a bruite which cōtinueth euen to this daye in those partes, that on a tyme a cer∣taine populouse citie defended them selues, tyll the third day, and then seing a great space of the walle laid flatte on the earth, and the enemie in battaile redie to gyue y^• assaulte they were discoraged, and thincking to pacifie y^• wrath of this cruel, proude, aud victoriouse enemie, by humblyng them selues, sent forth all the wemen and chyldren of the towne in white clothynge: wyth oliue branches in their hands, offeringe him the towne, cal∣ling to him with lowde voice for mercy, whom whē Ta¦merlano sawe a farre of comming toward him,* 1.17 he gaue commaundement to certaine bands of his horsemen to charge vpon them and to put them all to the sworde, af∣ter this, he toke the citie and sacqued it, and then burned it, it happened at that time by meanes of traffique of marchaundeze, certaine marchante, a Genouese borne to be greatly in fauor with Tamerlano, and being with him at that same present discoursing of sōdrie matters, asked him why he vsed so great crueltie towardes those people which he ouercame, but he torned to him with an exceding troublouse contenance: with eyes flaming like fyre, and said vnto him yf thou doste thincke that I am aman thou arte much deceuid, for I saye to the that I ••amthe wrath of God, sent to plague, and punishe the

worlde, and I commaunde the that yf thou woldest not receue due punnishement for thy auditiouse and folishe demaunde, that thou gette the hence, out of my sight, & that thou comme lesse in my presence, the pore marchāt being much feared with the words of the Tyran depar¦ted from him & was neuer sene after that by him, they that haue sen Tamerlano liuing,* 1.18 haue said that he re∣sembled much both in face, and maners, Anibal of Car¦thage, acordinge to the opinion of diurse ancient wry∣ters, and before all other offenses he shewed his seuere Iustice againste thefts, in punnishing thē most sharply w^tout any remission. And it is thought that he dyd it to that ende, that the feare of punnishement shoulde cause them to refraine, to y^e ende that he alone mought robbe and spoile acording to his owne desire the whole world and last of all, his delighte was wholly set to gouerne, in so much that he emploied him, selfe continually as in an exercise most vertuouse, to molest and trouble other princes with warres, by the which he had subdued ma∣ny kings, and vtterly impouerished a greate numbre of tyranes, made deserte many, contreis, and conuerted in to ashes an infinite numbre of cities and townes, & then last of al, he retorned into his contrey with his army in credibly enriched with the spoyle of those natyons whō he had subdued, and also he vsed to take oute of euerye towne that yeldyed vnto him, certaine of the cheife hous∣holdes with all their substances and riches, and to sende thē wholly in to Parthia. When he was retorned home he builded a newe Citie very bewtifull, and of a greate circuite, and placed their in all those housholds afore re∣hersed, in so much, y^e the newe Cytie beinge inhabyted w^t these riche & noble men of diuerse nationes, in shorte tyme increased so in welth, that yt became the cheife ci∣tie of all the Orient. And yf it had happened, that Ta∣merlano had had with him some man of excellent lear∣ning and wysedome, who mought w^t his writings haue celebrated the great enterprises that he dyd, their is no doute but that he mought, haue ben numbred amonge the cheife and princypall captaynes, eyther of the olde worlde orels of this present age, but god gyueth not all

things to one man, & also it semed that his great cruel∣tye which he vsed towarde those y^• he ouercame, dyd not deserue to haue his fame celebrated by writing, ne yet y^e it mought long remaine to his posteritie, when Ta∣merlano died, he lefteto succide him in his Empire whi¦che he had thus gottē by y^e sworde,* 1.19 two sonnes, which af¦ter his death fel oute & maītained ciuil warres betwene them, & were the cause y^e the olde, and ancient parthicke fame clerely extinckte & brought to obliuion, and after ward by Tamerlano reuiued, coulde not continewe nor encrease.

But nowe, retorninge to our Historie where we left, after that the armie of Baiazith was defeicted & he taken by Tamerlano, his sonnes fled awaye before the furie of y^e victoriouse enemie, who had berafte them the whole empire of the lesse Asia, and when they came into Gretia: they happened into the hands of the Emperour of Constantinople,* 1.20 who preserued their liues, and helde them vnder good garde, and after the death of Tamer∣••ano, he licensid the eldest sonne Calapino, to passe into Asia, wheare when he was ariued he was forthe with, gratfullye receued of the people, and in short time reco∣ueryd the Empire whiche once was his fathers & after that retorned into his state & gouernement in Gretia, & from thence went against y^e king of hungari, who went then for aide to Charles the vi. Kinge of Fraunce, who graunted him a greate numbre of men at armies vnder the conducte and guide of Iohn Counte of Niuerse, who afterwarde succyded his father in the gouernance and principalitie, of the Duchie of Borgonie, and of many o¦ther Captaines as it is some thing plainely declared al¦redye by vs, in the Frenche Historie, and in the life of the afore saide Charles the syxte also that when there were defeycted in hungarye at Mychopollye,* 1.21 eyghte hundred Frenche launces, the afore sayde Iohn with manye other noble men of Fraunce, was taken pry∣soner, & for the summe of two hundred thousand ducates were set at lybertye by the afore said Calapino, thē died this same Calapino, & left Orca his sone, but Moises his

brother succided him in his Kingdome,* 1.22 who berafte Or¦ca not only of his kingdome but also of his life, but he long enioyed not that kingdom so wickedly gotten, but died in shorte space after,* 1.23 & lefte his brother Mahometh to succede in his place, who afterwarde made warres vpon the people of Valachia, a stoute nation, dwelling neare the mouth of the ryuer Danubio, giuīg them ma∣ny ouerthroes, and consuming their contrey with con∣tinuall courses and spoiles, compelled them to search ap¦pointment and to giue trybute, after all this he emplo∣ied his force against certaine noble men of the Turkishe nation, which dwelled in Asya, and he fell to agrement with some of them, and the greatest numbre of them he banished from their contreys and dominions, and toke them cleane from them. This Mahometh duryng hys raigne, handled the christians that were hys subiects ve¦ry cruelly, and dyd plague them with sondrye tyranies, whē Mahometh died, he left his Kingdome, to Amorath his sonne who was then in Natolia vpon the fronters:* 1.24 with an armye by the commaundement of his father: for the garde therof who hearing of the death of hys fa∣ther, came with all spede of Calcedone to passe y^e straite and so to entre into his dominions of Gretia, but the Emperor of Constantinople: dyd prohibite him the pas∣sage for a long season with his nauie, and set Mustaffa the yongest sonne of Baiazith at libertie, and also gaue hym ayde to recouer hys fathers kyngdome, but when Mustaffa, and Amorath were once ioyned in battayll, Mustaffa with his power was sone defeicted, & Amorath with his armie remained there with the victorie vpon y^e place, and easyly possessid the dominions and kingdome of his father, after that he brought his armie into Gre∣tia, and with continuall courses dyd so spoyle and im∣pouerishe, those prouinces that yet rested in the handes of the christians, and lad his armie to the citie Thesalo¦nica, which was then possessyd by the Venetyanes, by vertue of a graunt made vnto them by Theodoro, son to Emanuell, Emperor of Constantinople, and toke it by force and sacked it, and lefte it in maner deserte, and folowing on, the race of his victorie, entred in to Epirro

which of men of this age is called Lartha, & frō thence into the contreis of the people called Etolli, contreis in ancient time of great power and nobilitie, and at thys daye are ioyned to the gouernance of Macedonia,* 1.25 & whē he had thus taken them, he annexed them to his crown. And shortly after he entred into Illiria, whiche at thys daye is called Schiauonia, in y^e which their is contained Dalmatya, Croacya, and Istria, with the people called Iburni, he ouer ran it with exceding great spoile and de¦struction therof, also he toke there certaine townes, and caried awaye from thence an inestimable proye of men and catel. And bycause among the Turkes it was law∣ful for one mā to haue many wiues,* 1.26 Amorath although he had alredie a great nūber of wiues yet he ioyned him selfe in mariage with a daughter of George Dispotto of Seruia, but making smal acompte of y^e band of affinitie with in short space after, he entred into Seruia as an ene¦mie with his armie, but George knowing his force not sufficient to resiste the power and furie of his sonne in lawe furnished with men & monition, the citie of Sin∣deronia, and left in it one of his sonnes for the defence therof, and he, with his wife children and familie fled in to Hungarie, and caryed wyth hym a greate numbre of prestes,* 1.27 Amorath in a shorte time became lord of al Ser¦uia, & then laste of all with his armie went to Sindero∣nia, and toke it by force, and finding in it the sonne of y^e dispotto, he plucked out both his eies, & caried him priso¦ner with him, when George had thus loste his contrey he continued in hungarie many yeres in exile, tell on a time Iohn the vaiuoda, which then gouerned hungarie entred īto Saruia. This vaiuoda was acompted for his great Iudgement in warres, one of y^e most famouse cap¦taines of Europe, and had giuen to diuers of the Tur∣kes Sauigiachi, many ouerthroes, and recouerid out of the hands of the said Turke, a great parte of the contre of the afore named Dispotto, but he restored him not to all that which he had recoueryd,* 1.28 for some parte of it he gaue to his captaines, other he helde to him selfe, per∣swading him selfe that he had great reason so to doe, cō∣sidering that it was he that had recoueryd it, and ther∣fore

thought it good to holde some part of it for him self and some for his frinds, and the rather for that he knew the dispotto, not worthye to be trusted, for so much as as he put no difference betwene the Christian relygyon, and the Mahometan, and for that hys contrey laye be∣twene the hungarianes and y^e Turks, and wolde nowe enter in league with the one, and then with the other, and deceaue them both, but nowe retorning to speke of Amorath, a man truely of great power, & also of greate vnderstanding in warres, who when he had brought vn¦der fote those noble men of his nation, that helde anye parcell of his dominion, and had reduced to his obedy∣ence, all the lesse Asia, with pontho and Capadotia, so that all those that dwellid in it were his excepte onely Caromano,* 1.29 prince of Cilitia, & Asmabeco which gouer¦ned in Armenia neare to the floode & uphrates, and the lord of Scandalaro which far beionde the citie of Seta∣lia, doth possesse that part of Cilicia that doth face the Iste of Cipres, and although that Amorath had deter∣mined in his minde y^e enterprise against y^e hungarianes yet he thought it good to make him selfe lord of y^e rest of Gretia,* 1.30 or at y^e leaste to leaue them, his frynds, at hys backe, wherupon he entred into Peloponesso which at this daye is called morea, and from thence mar∣ched on with his armies, to y^e straite (which beig) in bred∣deth but fiue thousād pases doth deuide Peloponesso frō the rest of Gretia, in sorte, that if this distraite of y^e land were cut through, Peloponesso shold be & Isle, enufro∣ned w^t y^• seas, Egeo, and Ionio) & there rased y^e walle of Esmillia y^e which in tim paste was made by the Gree∣kes for a strengeth to their contre, & Cōstantainte y^e dis∣potto who at that time possessed it seing him selfe not a∣ble to defend it, dyd groe to an appointment with him, and agred to giue him a certaine tribute, and by that meanes made peace with him. When Amorathe had thus broughte to passe the affares of Peloponesso, and possessid the whole prouince of Attica and was agreed with the lord of the citie of Athenes which was aflorin tine by Birth, he assembled an armie of a hundred thou¦sands of men, and so passed into hungarie, & being there

coulde by no meanes get,* 1.31 sufficencie of corne ne victua∣les, for such an armie, for so much, as y^e yere before there had fallē so much raine ī hungarie, y^e it had in maner vt¦terly distroied their corne, in so much that y^e inhabitāts therof, were enforced to leaue y^e cōtery in manye places therof & to seke for reliefe in other places, y^e which whē he considered, he cōmaūded to spoyle the contrey, as much as in thē was, & thē retorned home w^t his armie. This scarcety & wante of victual did at y^e time saue the kingdome of Hungarie, for by meanes of it, Amorath was cōstrained to retorne home w^t his armie, & to cōtēt thē selues w^t y^e simple spoile y^e they there found.* 1.32 Thē Eu¦genio y^e forth of y^e name Bushope of Rome, vnderstādig in what peril y^e cōtrey of Hūgari was, sent in to Alma¦ny Iuliano Cesearino his legate dalatere, Cardinall S. Agnolo, to perswad y^e Emperour and other princes of y^e almanigne nation to ayde the king of Hūgari, which Cesarino when he cam into Almagnie, did earnestly de¦sire y^e Emperour to take vpon him y^e defence of y^e King∣dom of Hungarie, against y^e enemies of y^e Christiā faith when he had thus done, he wente into Hungarie, and there by his auctoritie & effectuous persuasion, so mo∣ued y^e people, y^e euery man toke his furniture & weapon & wolde not tarye, y^e aide y^e was promysed thē out of Al∣maigne, but folowed Iohn Vaiuoda their captayne, & marched on into Gretia, vntill they came to the citie of Sophia, & hauinge often times occasiō to deale w^t the Turkes, had alwayes y^e victorie of thē Vaiuoda wanne so great estimatiō in this iourney, in y^e which he did not onely fully execute y^e office & dutie of an excellēt discret Captaine, but also of a valiaūt and hardie souldiour, so that it was growen to a Prouerbe amonge y^e Turkes, y^e whē y^e mothers woulde appease their chyldren from crying, or els w^t drawe them frō any fonde desyre y^e they had, they would say, here cōmeth Vaiuoda. After this all y^e Sangiachi gatherid thē selues together, w^t y^e Lieu tenaunt of Gretia, which in y^e Turkishe speche is called Belagarbei, & they vnited theyr powers & marched to∣ward the christians, w^t a very puysaunt armye, bothe of horse men and foote men, and ioyned wyth theym

in battaile,* 1.33 but the Christians in numbre, were farre in feriour to the infidels, who fought for a longe time ve∣rye valiantly with the hungarianes, but at the laste be∣ing ouercomme, through the vertue, and discipline of y^e hungarianes torned their backes and flied, and in thys flight were flaine a great numbre of them. In this acte ofarmies, y^e hungarian Captaines did some what aug∣ment the victorie, and wrote to frederick the Emperour declaring that they had defeicted the turkishe armie, and slaine thritye thousand of them vpon the place, and also taken of them a greate numbre, but it semeth to me ra∣ther that to be true, that the Cardinall Sainte Agnolo wrote to the pope and the Emperour, which was, that the number of them y^• were slaine, was vpon the pointe of syre thousand, and that also, they had takē ix. cornets of the enemies, and thus attributing the glory to God: and then to Iohn the Vaiuoda, whose great vnderstan¦ding, and magnanimitie, he doth celebrate with marue∣louse praises, when the turkes were retorned home frō this defeicte,* 1.34 thei were more afraied them hurt, by mea¦nes of a brute that ran among them, that the hungari∣anes dyd not onely make preparation to inuade them, but the Almaignes and all the princes of Christendome also, wherupō they being in great doute and feare, sent to the hungarianes for peace, who well weing y^e power of y^e enemye, imputed the victorie as well to good happe as to their force, and were willing to auoide the danger of anye more enhaxarding their force, to attempte for∣tune, whereupon with good wil accepted the conditiones offeryd vnto them, and in this sorte astablished a treues betwine them for ten yeres, conditionally y^e they shoulde restore againe to y^e Dispotto of Seruia, all such townes of his,* 1.35 as they then helde presently in their possessyon, when y^e agrement, was thus put in writing, them were they on both partes solempnely sworne, to obserue and fulfill all such articles as were notified with in the said treues, and thus on both sydes they ceassed from hosti, litie, disolued their armies, and eyther retorned to hys contrey. The Cardinall who had determyned to leuye a newe armie, and so to folowe the victorye, was verye

muche displeased with the makyng of this trewes, and wrote his minde to the Pope in that behalfe,* 1.36 who was very sorowfull when he harde of it, and beynge a man fully bent to chase the Infidels out of Europe, wrote a∣gayne to hys Legate: that the trewes taken betwene the Hungarians and the Turkes, was of no value: for so much as his consent was not in it, and therefore char¦ged him to commaunde Laodislao, Kynge of Polonia: who at that tyme possessed Hungarie, that he shoulde breake the trewes made with the enemie, and reuyue the warres, for so much as he and the rest were dispen∣sed with as touchynge theyr othe, by the authoritie of the Apostolike seate, then the bishop sent forth hys Le∣gates to the rest of the Christian princes desyring them to ayde the Kyng of Hungarie in this enterprise against the Turke for the recouerye of Gretia, but he founde none that was any ••hynge moued with godly reale to∣warde this enterprise, sauyng onely Philippe duke of Burgonye, who put to sea his nauie, and sent them to∣ward the straite of Gallipollie to ioynge with the Gal∣leys o•• the Pope Eugenio, which he sent vnder the con¦duct of Camertingo his nephewe, to the ende that they shoulde spoyle and inuade the coaste of Asia, & to shutte vp the straite, that no ayde shoulde come out of Asia in∣to Europe. When Laodislao had receyued this com∣maundement of the great bishop, he thought it very fit for his purpose, for so muche as he knewe ryghte well that the nobilitie of Hungarie were not well conten∣ted that he should gouerne and possesse their countrey, wherefore he thought it good to holde the people there∣of continually occupyed in warres. And immediatlye without anye difficutie obeyed the popes commaunde∣ment, sent for men into Polonia and Bohemia, with o∣ther countreys neare about him, and leuyed his armye, made him readie with great celeritie, leading with him a great number of Hungararians and also in maner, all the nobilitie and Prelates of Hungarie, he had also in his companye the Cardinall of sainct Agnolo, who by the authoritie of the Apostolike seate had gathered to∣gether a great number of crossed men, when Laodisiao

was proclamed Captaine generall of the iorney (Iohn vainoda went with an armie,* 1.37 in the which it is written that there were xl. thousand horsemen besides fotemen) towards Valachia, where he had passage and victuall, & then passed ouer the plaines, and after that, ouer the ry¦uer Dauubio, and from thence marched on into the lo∣wer Misia which at this present is called Burgaria,* 1.38 in∣tending to passe through y^e plaines into Romania with his armie, when Amorathe vnderstode the commyng of the Christians, and the great power that they were of, he trusted not greatly to the Greks, ne yet to y^e Turcks that were brought vp in Gretiae, but thought it good to prouide him an armie of the people of Asia, wherwith he was maruelously troubled, considering the difficultie in passing them into Gretia, for so muche as the nauye of the Christians laye all along the Coastes, waiting con∣tinually to empeche him that he mought passe no armie oute of Asia to Europe, and thus tossing and tormen ting him selfe, serching what waye he mought deuise to passe them, being almost desperate and oute of hope, of any transportage for them, consyderyng the difficultye therof, it is saide that he was deliuered from this care by meanes of an offer that was made vnto him, by certaine masters of Shippes of Genoba, which went to him and offered hym, that yf he wolde contente them well, that they wolde passe him in to Europe what numbre of mē he wolde, and wolde giue him suertie therof, of the whi∣ch offer he was exceding glade, and agred to giue them for euery man that they shold passe that serued on horse backe, a ducate of goolde whereupon the Genoueses de∣parted and set saile, and sailed to the mouth of y^e straicte toward y^e great sea, which place, of them of olde worlds was called the Bosphoro Cilmerico, whyche lyeth be∣twene Prop••ntide and the sea Eusino, aboue Constan¦tinople eight legnes & a half, Asia is there deuided by an arme of the sea whiche is in breadeth halfe a myle and halfe a quarter of a myle, when Amorathe had brought his armie neare to Calcedoma: and that the Genoueses had receued them all aborde, and accordinge to the pro∣mes, receued a hundred thousand ducates, for their pas∣sage they passed the straite, and put them safe a land in

Thratia, in this meane time y^e armie of the Christiāes was come to a place called Varna wythin foure daies iorney of Andrinople, where they sawe Amorathe with an armie of an incredible nūbre of mē marching toward them whereupon the princes and Captaines councelled, what was to be done,* 1.39 y^e king of Polonia, & the Legate, were of opinion y^e it was not beste to tari him in y^• place but to retire them to some highe hill, or grounde of ad∣uantage, wher thei mought encampe, & not be enforced to battaile.* 1.40 The Vaiuoda was of contrary opinion, and aledged y^e the maner of the Turks was, euer, to bruite them selues to be a greater numbre, then in dede they were to y^e ende to feare their enemies & to cause them to be in doute of them, but admitte saied he, y^e they were so many in nūbre as men say thei are, yet ought we not to giue any place, or to feare them, considering y^• they doe not so greatly excede vs in nūber, as our Hūgarians do surmouut thē in vertue, discipline, & force, & also y^e turks are more curiouse in decking thē selues & their horses, w^t braue apparell, riche iuels, costly saddles & trime bridels, then to arme thē selues & their horses w^t good & suer ar∣mours & bardes, w^t their furnitures, & our Hungariās in cōtrary sort desiree to be wel moūted & armied, so, as their enimies shal hardly hurte them, & esteme not Bra¦uery any thīg at al, more ouer it ought to be cōsidered, y^• if we shold nowe giue any place to y^e enemie, consider¦ing y^e great force of our army, being lad also by a King of Hūgary, & a legate Apostolique ī person, being accōpai∣ned w^t such a nūber of noble mē, prelates & gentlemen, y^e it may wel be affirmed y^e al y^e nobility & force of y^e kīg¦domes of Hūgarie, Polonia, & Bohemaia is ī this campe the which, here after maye be such a discorag to y^e Hun∣gariās whē they alone shal haue ocasiō to deale w^t them y^e they shal not be of y^• nobility of mind once, to encoūtre them, or to loke them in y^e face, whē Vaiuoda w^t these, & such like saīgs, had exhorted thē to be of noble mīd & not to giue place, but there to abide y^e enemy, it was wholly agred to folow his opiniō, as of a mā most honorable & magname ī apparēce: of al those y^e there were in coūcel, wherupō they ceased theyr march, & renged themselues,

in battaile. The nexte morning the infidels presented them selues, enbattailed to them, and whether it were, for that they were more in numbre then they were brui¦ted to be, orels it happened: as often times it both, that to those that are affraied of euery shadow, smale things seme great, I Iudge not. But when vaiuoda had vewed the numbre,* 1.41 and order of the infidels, he was discoraged by meanes of the present peryl, and chaunged opinion, and began to perswade the king, not to accepte the bat∣taile, but y^e he shuld do wel, to march away to some place of aduantage, vnto whom the king answered that his councel was giuen out of time, for so much as he sawe it to be more daūgerouse to turne their backs y^e enemy be¦ing so neare then to make good the place, and to accepte the battaile, for in giuing battaile, they had great reasō to hope for the victorie, consyderinge it hath bene often seen that the lesser armie hath defeicted the greater, and also that in giuing battaile, the vertue and discipline of men is of more valewe then the numbre, more ouer, he beleued that they wolde fighte with great assurance, for so much as they fought for the reale of the religyon, of the most highe Monarcque, God (in whose hands are al armies and kingdomes) who woulde ayde and fauour his faithfull, considerynge the iustnesse of their cause, and contrariwise he was assured, that the victorie by fleyght shoulde be geuen to the enemies, wythout losse of theyr bloode or well payinge for it. And when he had sharpely reproued Vaiuoda of the braue and manifique, words that he spake the day before, being ful of yre, com¦maunded all that were armed to folowe hym, and thus very boldly thrust forwarde towarde the enemie,* 1.42 Amo∣rath went vp to a litle hil, from whence he mought wel discerne, bothe the doings of the Christians, and of his people also, and there seyng the Christians marche to∣ward him, already in battayle, he commaunded a squa∣dron of.* 1.43 xv. thousand horses to charge them, to begynne the battell. The Christians receyued the charge of the Turkes wyth greate assurance, and then gaue the charge vpō them, and thrust in among them and so vsed theyr handes that there was greate slaughter on bothe

••artes, but farre greater on the parte of the infidelles, who not being able in the first encountre to endure the ••orce of the Christianes retired them selues, and the ••ungarianes charged them with such force that they en¦forced them to desorder them selues and to turne their backes and flye toward their campe, when Amorath be helde the shameful flighte & disorder of his people cleane contrarie to his expectation, he was so dismaid and ouer¦whelmed with feare, that he torned his horse and began to flie,* 1.44 which whē his Bastias and captaines of the Gia ••izzaries perceaued, they laid hand of the brydle of hys horse and staied him of force, and so marched towarde y^e enemies with him threating him to cut him in peces, yf that, he refused his place, and in this sorte enforced him to tarie, and y^e worthiest men of his armie came to him to encorage him, and then restored the fighte in the wic∣ch they emploied them selues with great obstina••ie and force on both partes, by the space of certaine houres, the one part hauing nowe the better, and then the other, in suche sorte that it was hard to iudge where the victorye sholde light, for the slaughter was great on both sydes, but farre greater on the partie of the infidels, then of y^e Christians, for that they were nothinge so well armed as the christians were,* 1.45 but in the ende they so encreased with newe squadrons of men emploing them in y^e place of the weried, and spoiled squadrons, the whiche relyfe the Christians wanted to froonte their enemies wyth, and beyng thus ernesly occupyed in the battayle for the space of many houres, the hungarianes wexed werie, & being ouercome with the ouer much trauaile that they had endured in this battaile, therforce began to faile thē wherupon, they retired them selfes, by litle, and litle, y^e whiche when Laodislao perceaued, he toke wyth hym a mightie squadrone of horse men of P••lonia: in whom he had great confidence and to encorage his people & disor¦der his enemies, then in maner victorious he caused his troupe to sture them, and passed on with his cariadge, and monition in very strong order to the hyll afore said where Amorathe stode with his garde, and assailed him with suche assurance and force, that Amorathe was dis∣ordered,

with his garde also, and being vtterly dismaie•• determined yet once againe to flee, and throughe oute his whole armye there was nothinge but disorder an•• confusyon, they were so stryken wyth feare that euery man determined by flighte to saue one. And it is not to be douted, that yf Iohn Vayouoda with his people had come on and folowed the king, and continued y^e charge which the kyng gaue vpon the enemies and so folowed the course of victorie, but that the Christianes had that daie ouerthroen Amorathe with all his power, and ta∣ken from hym the Empyre of Gretia, but Vaiuoda as sone as he consydered the werynesse of hys people and sawe the enseignes of the Christianes begyn to declyne & giue place, serred him selfe, with a troupe of ten thou∣sande hungers and Valacques his trustie souldiours, & with drewe him spedyly from the fighte, without aduer¦tising y^e king any thing at al of his departure, y^e enemie yet making good y^e place, & not thorowlie disordered the victorie also yet being doubtefull, he sought to saue him selfe by flight, their are some that for his excuse do say y^• he being a man of great experence in the warres, sawe no meanes howe to saue the Christians from the slaugh ter, wherfore he thoughte it better to saue those fewe, then to suffer all to passe by the edge of the sworde the Pollonianes dyd euer after that: inpute this defeicte of the Christians:* 1.46 to the cowardize of Vaiuoda.

And he for hys excuse sayde, that hys councell was contempned and not folowed, Laodyslao beynge gui¦ded by euell happe, and beynge farre forwarde as¦saylynge, valyantly the carryages of the enemyes, in the whyche assaulte he hade hys horse slayne vn∣der hym aud he hym selfe stryken to the grounde wyth manye woundes was there ••layne,* 1.47 whose hed Amorathe commaunded to stryke of and to be set vp∣on on the the poynte of a launce and caryed aboute all the campe, and then throughe all the prouynces of Gretya in token of the vyctorye, all the bandes of Polonia that ther were, were slayne vpon the place there scaped not one of them, the campe and lod∣gynges were sacqued, and those that were wyth

the caryages and munition were all cutte in pieces, the ••oble men and Prelates of Hungarie that were wyth ••he Kynge were all slayne in the battayle, and ••ultan Cesarino the Cardinall fledde, and so escaped ••he handes of the enemyes, and beynge as he thoughte ••ute of daunger, stayinge at a lake to geue hys horse ••ryncke,* 1.48 there ouergate hym certayne Venturers Hungarians who knewe hym, thynkyng that he had ••ad about hym a greate summe of treasure, where vp∣••on they layde handes on hym and slewe hym, spoy∣ynge hym to hys verye shyrte, leauynge hym naked ••pon the grounde, a foode For Byrdes and wylde Bea∣••tes, this was the ende of the Apostolike Legate, a man ••n dede verye honorable and of great authoritye, ador∣••ed wyth greate learnynge of all sortes, and natural∣••ye verye eloquent, whyche gate hym great good wyll of the people, he had manye other goodlye gyftes of Nature, for he was of a goodlye stature well propor∣••ioned and faced, very pleasaunt and affable, courtese of peache, hys lyfe was cleane and full of good order, ••nd, aboue all thinges he fauored religion, in suche sort ••hat the was contente to yelde his lyfe for the mainte, ••aunce of the Christian faithe, when Iohn Vaiuoda was escaped from the defeicte as we haue sayde before,* 1.49 ••e came in to Seruia where the dispotto met him: re∣••eauing him very honorably, and the daye folowing, ••e apointed to him garde, and in no wise wolde graunt ••im libertie, onles he wolde cause to be deliuered vnto ••im: all suche townes and castles as the saide Iohn Vainoda and his fryndes, then helde of hys, the Vene∣••ian Cardynall whyche was lyuetenante of the Nauys ••t the sea, was also blamed for thys ouerthroe, and charged to be neglygent in the doyng of his duetie and ••yd not that, that was to be done, in defendynge the ••trayte and forbyddynge the passage of the armye ••ute of Asya, in to Europe, and also for that, that when he knewe them to be passed: he dyd not ••duertise the Christians therof, to y^e ende, they mought ••he better haue prouided for them selues, & as touching ••he number of those that were slayne.

I can not certenlye saye, but y^t the slaughter & spoyle of the Turkes, did farre exceade that of the Christians, but cōsiderynge y^e inequalitie of the armies, the losse of the Christians (weyng their number) did farre excede that of the Turkes.

When Amorathe had thus obtained the victorie and rested wholly maister of the fielde, he had no great desire to folow the chase of his fliyng enemies, nor yet did glo¦rie wyth great wordes as the maner of the Turkes is, ne yet sought in any kynde of sort to amplifie the victo∣rie: nor shewed in his cōntenaunce anye kinde of ioye, and being demaunded by certayne of his familiers: the cause,* 1.50 that after so great a victorie, he shewed him selfe so melancolicke, he answered, I desyre not often to ob∣tayne victorie in this sorte. After this, he raysed hys canipe and desolued it, and suche souldiours as he had lefte aliue, he sent agayne to the places from whenre they came, and he in person retourned to Andrinople, wher he accomplished sundrie vowes that he had made to God.* 1.51 And after thys, he called to mynde the great peryl and danger that he had bene in, and also the great cares that are incident to gouernement, in the whiche he concluded that no man mought call him selfe happy, for as much as it hath in it, more of the bitter, then of the swete, and iudging also by examples passed: the inconstantie of Fortune, who rarely accompanieth anye man fauourablie throughoute to the ende, and be∣yng desirous to prouide for his securitie, and quietnes, called to hym all hys Bascias and chyefe gouernours and councellours, of his Empire, and by theyr consent appoynted in his stede, Mahometh his eldest sonne to be their prince and lord, and to be gouerned vntyll he came to lawfull age to gouerne, by Calibasso Bascia, who for his power and wisedome,* 1.52 was the chiefe counseller that the Turke had, and when he had disburdened him selfe of gouernement and was become priuate, he pas∣sed ouer into Asia, accompanied w^t certen of his familier frendes,* 1.53 and there lyued religiouslye geuynge him selfe to solitarine. Al hys sonnes, Mahometh only excepted, were by y^e aduyse of the Bascias put to death, to auoide

all occasions of tumultes sturres and alteracions that mought happen,* 1.54 as often times it doth among the Tur¦kishe nation, with whom the children of priuate mē are more happie, then they of Emperours, the battayle of Varna, did so diminishe and consume the force, of bothe the Tukes and Hungerianes, that withoute any con∣uenante of peace at all, they helde them of bothe sydes with in the frontiers of of their contreis for the space of many yeres after,* 1.55 and neyther of them durste to enter the others contrey, ne yet to prouoke by anye maner of iniurie, the one the other to warres, thys quietnes was so much the more perfecte, for somuch that neither in Turchia: ne yet in Hungaria, was there any king of age, able to gouerne him selfe, but ether of them, were gouerned by other men, for among the Turkes dyd Cal¦libasso gouerne, and among the Hungarianes dyd Iohn Vaiuoda, gouerne, both, men of great reputacyon and credite among their owne people, Calibasso had gouer∣ned a long time vnder Amorathe, and being a man very graue and modeste hauing also greate experience, was Iudged of al men a very wise man, Vaiuoda being a mā of a percinge Iudgement,* 1.56 and valiannt in warres, was holden in the opinion of all men to be the more skylfull of both, it semid to him that he had loste great reputaci on by y^e ouerthrow receaued at Varna, which dyd much disquiet him wherfore he denised in hym selfe daye and night, howe to recouer his loste credite, and to be reuen¦ged of the dishonour that he had receaued, he iugged the quiet being of the Turcks (who are ambitiouse and de∣sire to enlarge their dominions) to procede only of want of gouernance and force, wherupon he thought to pre∣uent them & to assaile them vnloked for, and althoughe he knewe well that they were able to leuye a great po∣wer, yet he perswaded him selfe that they had no gouer∣nor able to commaunde, and also he was not ignorante that a great armie inobedient, and wanting a discrete leadre, was lesse to be feared, then a wise and experimen¦ted Captaine with oute an armie, wherupon he deter∣myned to make warres againe against the Turcks w^t all spede, and with grea deligence assembled his people

of Hungaria and Bohemia, he entretained in paie also: diuerse regiments of Almaignes and other strangers fote men, and so marched on towarde the Turkes with his armie, thincking to entre their contre and to take some place of importance with in the contrey and so to passe one with his armie to Andrinople, before the ene¦mie sholde vnderstand of his departure out of Hungarie which he was like to haue done,* 1.57 had not the fylthie trea¦son of George dispotto ben, whoe as sone as he harde y^• Vaiuoda leuied bandes in Hungarye, he sent to Cali∣basso Bascia, and to all the Sangiachii of Gretia, ma∣king the numbre of the Christians far greater then in dede it was, reporting the matter to be more perillous then of it selfe it was, which whē they vnderstode: they were so amased, that they knewe not whither to torne them, for they were oute of al hope that Amorath wolde euer stand them in any stede, for so much as he was olde and had giuen ouer all charge and wholly giuen him to religion, wherfore he wolde no more deale in warres, and for that Mahometh was so yonge, they thoughte it not good to commytte so weightie a matter in to hys hands, as the leadyg of an armie against so puissant, & skylfull an enemye as Vaiuoda was, and they feared that if Calibasso shoulde leade their armye, he shoulde not haue due obedience, which is a thinge moste peril∣lous in all armyes. Thus, when the councell had deba∣ted sondrie opinions, they agred vpon none, but were in great confusion, consuming the time in discourses of none effect growing to no point at all, at the last by the aduise of Calibasso, here was their onely remedie, they agreed to call Amorath oute of Asia, and to enforce him to come, yf that with good wil: he wold not take in hand the enterprise for the defence of his sonnes state, beinge assured at that time that the Gianizzeries wolde fighte vnder rhe conducte of none but only of Amorathe, and also they thought it not conuenient to committe the for¦tune of the warres into the hands of anye man, Amo∣only exceptedvnder,* 1.58 whose conducte they were alwaies accustomed to embrace victory, this councell of Calli∣basso very much displaysed the yonge king Mahomethe

whoe aboue all other thinges desyred to haue gouerned that iorney, to get him reputacien, and to giue them to vnderstand, that he was sufficient to gouerne of hym slfe, moreouer he suspected that yf Amorathe wc•••• cal¦led againe to gouerne, he moughte continewe in the same, for so muche as the myndes of men are mutable. When the ambasssadours were come into the presence of Amorathe, they perswaded him ernestly to the iour∣ney, broughte hym wyth them to Andrinople, where with great diligence: he assembled his souldiours and furnished them of al kinde of necessaries. In this meane tyme, was Vaiuoda come on toward Sophia, and en∣camped at a place called Basylia where it was declared vnto him that Amorath was not farre of with the Tur¦kishe power,* 1.59 whiche when he vnderstode (althoughe it were contrarye to his expertacion) caused hym to put on a noble mynde determyninge not to tarie there the comming of the enemye, but to march on towarde him and so to encountre with him, as sone as Vaiuoda had discouered him forthe with he put his men in battayle and marched on towarde him & with spede ioyned with him in battayle, their began a terrible fyght which con¦tynued, y^• space of certaine houres with great obstinatie on both partes, that nether, gaue to the othe, one fote of grounde the battayle was so doublefull, that of ney∣ther syde was there seene any aduantage,* 1.60 for againste that corner, or wingne of the battayle, wherein Vaiuo da was, the Turckes were not able to endure the force of the Hungarianes, and for a longe tyme gaue place gyuing ouer the victorye in to the handes of their ene∣myes. And in contrary wise, wheare Amorath was in person, the Hungaianes were not able to make good the place, after this, Vaiuoda and Amorathe mette face to face, and drewe vnto them, all the whole weight of the battayle, in so much y^• the Christians were not a ble to endure y^• great force of y^• Turks, although y^• Hun¦garians did farre excide y^• Turks, in vertue & discipline of the wars yet not w^t standing, being ouer laid w^t nūbre and not with force, but being vtterly weried, were con∣strayned to giue place, and Vaiuoda coulde nether with

praier, nor threating, cause them to make hed but fled continually, wherupon he with drewe him, with a fewe of his trustie fryndes with him very skylfully from the vattaile and so saued hym selfe, there dyed in that bat∣tayle many noble men cheifely of the Hungariane nati¦on and some prelatz, y^•. fote men were in maner all slaine vpon the place, and on the Turckes part the losse was not lesse when he came to his reuewe, when Amorathe had thus (with the great effusion of the blood of his peo¦ple) bought the victorie, he retorned home againe wyth his armie,* 1.61 and restored his sonne Mahometh againe to his place, and continuing in his firste purpose conueied him selfe to Bursia, and there liued priuatly euen to his death, in the which he committed to the faith of Calli∣basso a yong sonne of his, of the age of syxe Monethes, which he begat of Spōderbei, a noble princes in Pende∣racia, the childs name was Calapino, when he had thus done, he died, & was buried ī Bursia, in y^e prouince of Bi¦thinia, which was then the seate of the kingdome of the house of Ottomanno, Calibasso being desirous to grati¦tifie the newe kinge deliuered into his hand the child of Amorathe,* 1.62 with the mother therof also, whereupon he commaunded the chylde to be strāgled and when it was done he restored the dead body to his mother, and com∣maunded to celebrate his funerales with princelye ho∣nour, in this sort dyd he consecrate the beginning of his raigne, w^t the death of his innoocent brother, not wyth∣standing, somme are of opinion y^• Calidasso dyd chaunge the child and presented an other in his place, and that y^• frewe childe was brought vppe in Constantinople, and after ward sent to Venise, and that it was he, that was holden prisoner in the palace at Rome by Calixto y^• bi∣shope, but we refarre the trouthe of this matter to the Iudgement of other, for we wyll affyrme nothinge in this behalfe, but men may wel thincke that somtime or it doth happen the sonne of a Barbor, or of a Surgion, of such like base condition by such subtil meanes to haue bene aduaunced to great honour, yea and some tyme to succid in the seate of kings, and of others, of excellent titles and gouernement

Notes

• * 1.1

  Subtillitie of Ottomā no the firste prince of the turkes.
• * 1.2

  Oreano the second
• * 1.3

  Amorath the third.
• * 1.4

  Amorathe the fyrste turke that inuaded Gretia.
• * 1.5

  Ro••a••y•• percel of Thratia.
• * 1.6

  The two cōtreis cal¦led Misia∣nowe Ser¦uya, and Bargarya named.
• * 1.7

  Bayazithe the 4 prince of the tur∣kes made the second warres in Gretia.
• * 1.8

  Baiazith besegithe. Constanti∣nople.
• * 1.9

  Digre••••••••
• * 1.10

  The atmie of Tamer lano.
• * 1.11

  The batel betwene ta¦merlano & baiazith.
• * 1.12

  Disciplyne of Tamer¦lano.
• * 1.13

  Damas••o.
• * 1.14

  Tameria∣no deliteth in difficile enterpri∣ses.
• * 1.15

  Pollicie of Tamer∣••••o.
• * 1.16

  The cus∣tum of Ta¦merlano in the be∣seeging of townes.
• * 1.17

  great cruel¦tie of Ta∣merlano.
• * 1.18

  Tamerla∣no lykned to Aniball.
• * 1.19

  Diuine iu¦stice.
• * 1.20

  Calapin•• the 5. king
• * 1.21

  Defeict at Micho∣polli.
• * 1.22

  moises the 6. Kinge.
• * 1.23

  Maho∣meth the 7 kinge.
• * 1.24

  ••morathe the 8. King.
• * 1.25

  Amorathe taketh Sckyauo∣nia.
• * 1.26

  Amorathe taketh to wife the daughter of the dis∣potte of Seruia.
• * 1.27

  Seruia taken by Amorath••
• * 1.28

  lyberalitye of Vauio∣da.
• * 1.29

  Caroma∣no prince of Cilicia.
• * 1.30

  the, seat of Pelonesso
• * 1.31

  Amorathe passethe with his armie into Hungarye
• * 1.32

  the Cardi∣nal Saint Agnolo sent into Almaigne
• * 1.33

  Battaile betwen vai¦uoda and the belagar¦bei of gre∣tia.
• * 1.34

  Brute in Turchie
• * 1.35

  Trewes be¦twene the hungers & the Turc∣kes.
• * 1.36

  Note the cōmaunde¦mēt of the Pope.
• * 1.37

  An other iorney a∣gainst the Turcks.
• * 1.38

  Mysya nowe cal∣led Burga¦ria.
• * 1.39

  Note this opinion.
• * 1.40

  opinion of Vaiuoda.
• * 1.41

  Vaiuoda perswaded the kinge not to ac∣cepte the battaile.
• * 1.42

  Amorathe
• * 1.43

  Battell be¦twine Lao∣dislao and Amorathe
• * 1.44

  the bastias enforce Amorathe to staie.
• * 1.45

  souldier like hand∣lyng.
• * 1.46

  the excuse Vaiuoda.
• * 1.47

  ••aodislao s••aine.
• * 1.48

  Cardinali S. Agno∣lo slaine.
• * 1.49

  Vaiuoda prisoner.
• * 1.50

  Answer of Amorathe.
• * 1.51

  A notable considera∣tion of an heathen prince.
• * 1.52

  Amorathe in priuate estate.
• * 1.53

  Maho∣meth the 9. prince.
• * 1.54

  The tur∣kishe cos∣tume.
• * 1.55

  victorie, dearly bought
• * 1.56

  Opiniō of Vaiuoda.
• * 1.57

  Treason of Dispot to.
• * 1.58

  Ambition of Maho∣meth.
• * 1.59

  Besilia where the battayle was fou∣ghte.
• * 1.60

  Note the place of the gene∣ral of the armie.
• * 1.61

  Amorathe restoreth Mahomth againe to gouerne¦ment.
• * 1.62

  vnspeake able cruelti of Maho∣methe.