John Hunyadi

The Ottoman Battle of Vaslui In 1475

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• published: 02 May 2015
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The Battle of Vaslui (also referred to as the Battle of Podul Înalt or the Battle of Racova) was fought on January 10, 1475 between Stephen III of Moldavia and the Ottoman Beylerbey of Rumelia, Hadân Suleiman Pasha. The battle took place at Podul Înalt (the High Bridge), near the town of Vaslui, in Moldavia (now part of eastern Romania). The Ottoman troops numbered up to 120,000, facing about 40,000 Moldavian troops, plus smaller numbers of allied and mercenary troops. Stephen inflicted a decisive defeat on the Ottomans, described as "the greatest ever secured by the Cross against Islam," with casualties, according to Venetian and Polish records, reaching beyond 40,000 on the Ottoman side. Mara Brankovic (Mara Hatun), the former younger wife of Murad II, told a Venetian envoy that the invasion had been worst ever defeat for the Ottomans. Stephen was later awarded the title "Athleta Christi" (Champion of Christ) by Pope Sixtus IV, who referred to him as "Verus christiane fidei aletha" (The true defender of the Christian faith). According to the Polish chronicler Jan Długosz, Stephen did not celebrate his victory; instead, he fasted for forty days on bread and water and forbade anyone to attribute the victory to him, insisting that credit be given only to "The Lord." The conflict between Stephen and Ottoman Sultan Mehmed II worsened when both laid their claims to the historical region of Bessarabia, now known under the name of Budjak. The region had belonged to Wallachia, but later succumbed to Moldavian influence under Petru I of Moldavia and was possibly annexed to Moldavia in the late 14th century by Roman I of Moldavia. Under Alexandru cel Bun, it had become an integral part of Moldavia and was successfully defended in 1420 against the first Ottoman attempt to capture castle Chilia. The ports of Chilia and Akkerman (Romanian: Cetatea Albā) were essential for Moldavian commerce. The old trade route from Caffa, Akkerman, and Chilia passed through Suceava in Moldavia and Lwow in Poland (now in Ukraine). Both Poland and Hungary had previously made attempts to control the region, but had failed; and for the Ottomans, "the control of these two ports and of Caffa was as much an economic as a political necessity," as it would also give them a better grip on Moldavia and serve as a valuable strategic point from which naval attacks could be launched against the Commonwealth of Poland-Lithuania. This is confirmed by a German chronicle which explains that Mehmet wanted to turn Moldavia into "some kind of fortress," and from there, to launch attacks against Poland and Hungary. The Ottomans also feared the strategic position of Moldavia, from whence it would only take 15 to 20 days to reach Constantinople. In 1448, Petru II of Moldavia awarded Chilia to John Hunyadi, the governor of Transylvania; and in effect, it gave Hungary control of the strategic area on the Danube, with access to the Black Sea. With the assassination of Bogdan II of Moldavia in 1451 by his brother Petru Aron, the country fell into civil war, as two pretenders fought for the throne: Aron and Alexăndrel. Bogdan's son, Stephen, fled Moldavia together with his cousin, Vlad Dracula — who had sought protection at the Moldavian court -- to Transylvania, at the court of Hunyadi. Even though Hungary had made peace with the Turks in 1451, Hunyadi wanted to transform Wallachia and Moldavia into a barrier that would protect the kingdom from Ottoman expansion. In the fall of 1453, after the Ottoman capture of Constantinople, Moldavia received an ultimatum to start paying tribute to the Porte; two years later, on October 5, 1455, Aron sent the first Moldavian tribute to the Porte: a payment of 2,000 ducats. With both Wallachia and Moldavia conducting a pro-Ottoman policy, the plan to install Vlad Țepeș as prince of Wallachia began to take shape. Sometime between April to July 1456, with the support of a few Hungarian troops and Wallachian boyars, Prince Vladislav II was dethroned and slain, as Vlad Țepeș took possession of the Wallachian throne; and as such, Chilia became a shared Wallachian-Hungarian possession. In April 1457, Vlad Țepeș supported Stephen with 6,000 horsemen, which the latter used to invade Moldavia and occupy the Moldavian throne, ending the civil war as Aron fled to Poland. The new prince continued sending the tribute that his uncle and Mehmed had agreed upon, and in such way, avoided any premature confrontation with his enemy. His first priority was to strengthen the country and to retrieve its lost territory. Because Aron resided in Poland, Stephen made a few incursions in southern Poland.