Battle of Vaslui

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Contents 1 Background 2 Preparations for war 2.1 Ottomans 2.2 Moldavians 3 Battle 4 Aftermath 5 Footnotes 6 References 7 External links

Battle of Vaslui
Part of the Moldavian-Ottoman Wars
Date January 10, 1475 Location Near Vaslui, Romania Result Decisive Moldavian victory
Combatants
Moldavia	Ottoman Empire
Commanders
Stephen III of Moldavia	Hadân Suleiman Pasha
Strength
40,000 Moldavians with 5,000 Székely recruited by Stephen, 3,800 allied troops 20 cannon	~ 60,000 - 80,000 17,000 Wallachians 20,000 Bulgarians
Casualties
Unknown	minimum of 40,000

The Battle of Vaslui (also referred to as the Battle of Podul Înalt or the Battle of Racova) (January 10, 1475) was fought between Stephen III of Moldavia and the Ottoman Beylerbeyi 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) between Barnaba and Racovica. The Ottoman troops numbered between 60,000 and 120,000, facing about 40,000 Moldavian troops, plus smaller numbers of allied and mercenary troops on both sides.^[1]

Stephen inflicted on the Ottomans a decisive defeat that has been described as "the greatest ever secured by the Cross against Islam,"^[2] with casualties, according to Venetian and Polish records, reaching beyond 40,000 on the Ottoman side. Maraym Khanum (Mara Brankovic), who had formerly been the younger wife of Murad II, told a Venetian envoy that the invasion had been worst ever defeat for the Ottomans.^[3] 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).^[4] The Polish chronicler, Jan Długosz, hailed Stephen for his victory in the battle:

“

Praiseworthy hero, in no respect inferior to other hero soldiers we admire. He was the first contemporary among the rulers of the world to score a decisive victory against the Turks. To my mind, he is the worthiest to lead a coalition of the Christian Europe against the Turks.[5]

”

According to 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."

[edit] Background

See also: The Night Attack and Battle of Baia

The conflict between Stephen and Ottoman Sultan Mehmed II began when both laid claim to the historical region of Bessarabia, now known under the name of Budjak. The region had first belonged Wallachia, but had 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.^[6] 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.^[7]

The ports of Chilia and Akkerman (Romanian: Cetatea Albā) were essential for Moldavian commerce, hosting Armenian merchants who made trade a very profitable business. The towns had developed into rich market centers. 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,"^[8] 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 chronicle which mentions the same thing, adding that Mehmet wanted to turn Moldavia into "some kind of fortress," and from there, to launch attacks against Poland and Hungary.^[9] The Ottomans also feared the strategic position of Moldavia, from whence it would only take 12 to 15 days to reach Constantinople.^[10]

After the assassination of Bogdan II of Moldavia in 1451, Moldavia fell into civil war, and due to its decline, the region was reverted back to Wallachia, with Chilia being co-ruled by Hungary and Wallachia. The civil war ended with the coronation of Stephen in 1457, and in 1462, Stephen sent a letter to his cousin, Prince Vlad Dracula of Wallachia, asking him to return Chilia back to Moldavia — a demand which was most likely refused.^[11]

On June 22, when Dracula was fighting Sultan Mehmed II of the Ottoman Empire, Stephen allied himself with Mehmed and launched an attack on Chilia, with some Turkish assistance, with the objective to capture the fortress.^[12] The Wallachians rushed to the scene with 7,000 men, and together with the Hungarian garrison battled the Moldavians and the Turks for eight days. They managed to defend the town, while wounding Stephen for life, in his foot, with a shrapnel.^[12] In 1465, while Dracula was imprisoned in Hungary, Stephen again advanced towards Chilia with a large force and siege weapons; but instead of besieging the fortress, he showed the garrison — who favoured the Polish King — a letter in which the King required them to surrender the fortress. This they did, and Stephen entered the fortress where he found "its two captains, rather tipsy, for they have been to a wedding."^[13] Mehmed was furious about the news and claimed Chilia for being a part of Wallachia — which now was a vassal to the Porte — and demanded Stephen to leave it over to him. The latter refused, however, and recruited an army, forcing Mehmed — who was not yet ready to wage war — to accept the situation, if only for the time being.^[13] In 1467, Matthias Corvinus of Hungary launched an expedition against Moldavia in order to punish Stephen for annexing the region, but was defeated at the Battle of Baia.

In order to secure his southern frontier from Ottoman threats, Stephen wanted to liberate Wallachia — where the hostile Radu the Handsome, the halfbrother of Dracula ruled — from Ottoman dominion. In 1470, he invaded the country and burned down the town of Brăila.^[14] In retaliation, the Turks crossed the Dniester and pillaged a few Moldavian towns. In 1471, Stephen and Radu confronted each other in Moldavia, where Radu was defeated.^[15] Meanwhile, Genoa, which possessed over several colonies in the Crimea, began to worry about Stephen's growing influence in the region; and ordered her colonies to do whatever was needed to revenge past mischief from which allegedly, the Genovese had suffered from.^[15] The colonies in turn pursued the Tatars to attack Moldavia and later that year, the Tatars invaded northern Moldavia, causing great damages and enslaving many.^[15] Stephen replied by invading Tatar territory with Polish assistance. In 1472, Uzun Hassan of Ak Koyunlu invaded the Ottoman Empire from the east, causing a great crisis to the empire; but he was defeated the following year. A contemporary source explains that this unexpected event encouraged Venice and Hungary to renew their war on the Ottomans, and Moldavia to free herself from any Ottoman influence.^[15] Stephen tried to make peace with Radu, asking the Polish king to work as mediator,^[15] but the attempts failed and in 1474, the conflict intensified when the Prince defeated an army consisting of 12,000 Ottomans and 6,000 Wallachians, and captured the castle of Bucharest. He then replaced Radu—who had fled to Mehmed—with the seemingly loyal Prince, Basarab Laiotā.^[14] Mehmed then gave Stephen an ultimatum of forfeiting Chilia to the Porte; to abolish his aggressive policy in Wallachia; and coming to Constantinople with his delayed homage, which he had not paid since 1456. The Prince refused and in November 1474, he wrote to the Pope to warn him of further Ottoman expansion, and also asking him for support.^[16]

[edit] Preparations for war

[edit] Ottomans

Mehmed ordered his great general, Suleiman Pasha, to end the siege of Venetian-controlled Shkodër^[14] (now in Albania), to assemble his troops in Sofia, and from there to advance with additional troops towards Moldavia. For these already exhausted Ottoman troops, the transit from Shkodër to Moldavia was a month's journey through bad weather and difficult terrain.^[17] According to Długosz, Suleiman was also ordered that after inflicting defeat on Stephen, he was to advance towards Poland, set camp for the winter, then invade Hungary in spring, and unite his forces with the army of the Sultan. The Ottoman army consisted of Janissaries and heavy infantry, which were supported by the heavy cavalry sipahis and by the light cavalry — known as Akinci — who would scout ahead. There were also Tatar cavalry and other troops (such as the Timariots ) from vassal states. Twenty-thousand Bulgarian peasants were also included in the army; their main tasks were to clear the way for the rest of the army by building bridges over waters and removing snow from the roads, and to drive supply wagons.^[18] In total, the Ottoman cavalry numbered 30,000.^[19] Most documents put the number of Ottoman troops as high as 120,000, while other sources mention anything from 60,000 and 80,000. Of this number, about 40,000 constituted a standing army, while the rest were to be paid in booty. In September 1474, the Ottoman army gathered in Sofia, and from there, Suleiman marched towards Moldavia by crossing the frozen Danube on foot.^[20] His first stop was Wallachia, which he entered via Vidin and Nicopolis. His army rested in Wallachia for two weeks, and was later met by a Wallachian contingent of 17,000 under Basarab Laiotă, who had changed sides to join the Ottomans.

[edit] Moldavians

Stephen was hoping to gain support from the West, and more specifically from the Pope. However, the help that he received was modest in numbers. The Hungarian Kingdom sent 1,800 Hungarians, while Poland sent 2,000 horsemen.^[14] Stephen recruited 5,000 Székely soldiers.^[14] The Moldavian army consisted of twenty cannon; light cavalry (Călăraşi); elite, heavy cavalry — named Viteji, Curteni, and Boyars — and professional foot soldiers. The army reached a strength of up to 40,000, of whom 10,000 to 15,000 comprised the standing army. The remainder consisted of 30,000 peasants armed with maces,^[21] bows, and other home-made weapons. They were recruited into Oastea Mare (the Great Army), into which all able-bodied free males over the age of 14 were conscripted.

[edit] Battle

The invading army entered Moldavia in December 1474. In order to fatigue the Ottomans, Stephen had instituted a policy of scorched earth^[14] and poisoned waters.^[22] Troops who specialised in setting ambushes harassed the advancing Ottomans. The population, and animals, were evacuated to the north of the country, into the mountains.^[23]

Ottoman scouts reported to Suleiman that there were untouched villages near Vaslui, and the Ottomans headed for that region. The winter made it difficult to set camp, which forced the Ottomans to move quickly and head for the Moldavian capital, Suceava. In order to reach Vaslui, where the Moldavian army had its main camp, they needed to cross Podul Înalt over the Bârlad River. The bridge was made of wood and not suitable for heavy transportation of troops.^[22] Stephen chose that area for the battle — the same location where his father, Bogdan II, had defeated the Poles in 1450; and where he, at an age of 17,^[24] had fought side-by-side with Dracula.^[12] The area was ideal for the defenders: the valley was a semi-oval surrounded on all sides by hills covered by forest. Inside the valley, the terrain was marshy, which restricted troop movement.^[24] Suleiman had full confidence in his troops and made few efforts to scout the area.

On January 10, on a dark and misty^[23] Tuesday morning, the battle began. The weather was frigid, and a dense fog limited vision. The Ottoman troops were exhausted, and the torrent made them look like "plucked chickens".^[14] Stephen fortified the bridge, while setting and aiming his cannons at the structure. Peasants and archers were hidden in the forest, together with their Prince and his boyar cavalry.

The Moldavians made the first move by sending musicians to the middle of the valley. The sound of drums and bugles made Suleiman think that the entire Moldavian army awaited him there.^[14] Instead, the centre of the valley held the Székely forces and the Moldavian professional army, which were ordered to make a slow retreat when they encountered the enemy. Suleiman ordered his troops to advance and, when they made enough progress, the Moldavian artillery started to fire, followed by archers and handgunners firing from three different directions.^[14] The archers could not see the enemy for the fog, and, instead, had to follow the noise of their footsteps. The Moldavian light cavalry then helped to lure the Ottoman troops into the valley by making hit-and-run attacks. Ottoman cavalry tried to cross the wooden bridge, causing it to collapse.^[25] Those Ottoman soldiers who had managed to survive the attacks from the artillery and the archers, and who did not get caught in the marshes, had to confront the Moldavian army, together with the Székely soldiers further up the valley. The 5,000 Székely soldiers were successful in repelling the 7,000 Ottoman infantrymen. Thereafter, they made a slow retreat,^[23] as instructed by Stephen, but were later routed by the Ottoman sipahi,^[25] while the remaining Ottoman infantry attacked the Moldavian flanks.

Suleiman tried to reinforce his offensive, not knowing what had happened in the valley, but then Stephen, with the full support of his boyars, ordered a major attack. All his troops, together with peasants and heavy cavalry, attacked from all sides. Simultaneously, Moldavian buglers concealed behind Ottoman lines started to sound their bugles, and in great confusion some Ottoman units changed direction to face the sound.^[26] When the Moldavian army hit, Suleiman lost control of his army.^[14] He desperately tried to regain control of the army, but was later forced to signal a retreat. The battle lasted for four days;^[27] with the last three days seeing the fleeing Ottoman army being pursued by the Moldavian light cavalry and the 2,000-strong Polish cavalry^[14] until they reached the town of Obluciţa (now Isaccea, Romania), in Dobruja.

The Wallachians fled the field without joining battle and Laiotă now turned his sword against the Turks, who had hoped for a safe passage in Wallachia; on January 20, he exit his castle and confronted some of the Turks that were lurking on his land. Thereafter, he took one of their flags and sent it to a Hungarian friend as proof of his bravery.^[28] The Ottoman casualties were counted as 45,000, including four Pashas killed and a hundred standards taken.^[29] Jan Długosz writes that "all but the most eminent of the Turkish prisoners are impaled",^[30] and their corpses burned.^[14] Only one was spared — the only son of the Ottoman general Isaac Bey, of the Gazi Evrenos family, whose father had fought with Mircea the Old.^[28] Another Polish chronicler reported that on the spot of the battle rested huge piles of bones upon each other, next to three immured crosses.^[14]

[edit] Aftermath

After the battle, Stephen sent "four of the captured Turkish commanders, together with thirty-six of their standards and much splendid booty, to King Casimir in Lithuania", and implored him to support him provide troops and money to support the Moldavians in the struggle against the Ottomans. He also sent letters and a few prisoners and Turkish standards to the Pope and King Matthias Corvinus, asking for support.^[31] In response, "the arrogant Matthias writes to the Pope, the Emperor and other kings and princes, telling them that he has defeated a large Turkish army with his own forces under the Voivode of Wallachia."^[32] The Pope's reply to Stephen denied him help, but awarded him with the "Athleta Christi",^[33] while King Casimir pleaded "poverty both in money and men" and did nothing; his own men then accused him of sloth, and advised him to change his shameful behaviour or hand over his rule to someone else.^[31]

Hassan tried to create a new coalition with the European powers, arguing that Mehmed's best troops were lost at Vaslui.^[15] Upon hearing about the devastating defeat, Mehmed refused for several days to give audience to anyone; his other plans of expansion were put to rest as he planned revenge on Stephen.^[3] In the following year, Mehmed invaded the country with an army of 150,000, which was joined by 10,000 Wallachians under Laiotă and 30,000 Tatars under Meñli I Giray. The Tatars, who called for a Holy War, attacked with their cavalry from the north and started to pillage the country. The Moldavians took chase after them, and routed and killed most of them. "The fleeing Tatars discard their weapons, their saddles and clothes, while some, as though crazed, jump into the River Dniepr."^[34] Giray wrote to Mehmed that he could not wage more war against Stephen, as he had lost his son and two brothers, and had returned with only one horse.^[35]

In July 1476, after killing 30,000 Ottomans, Stephen was defeated at the Battle of Valea Albă. However, the Ottomans were unsuccessful in their siege of the Suceava citadel and the Neamţ fortress, while Laiotă was forced to retreat back to Wallachia when Dracula and Stefan Báthory, Voivode of Transylvania, gave chase with an army of 30,000.^[36] Stephen assembled his army and invaded Wallachia from the north, while Dracula and Báthory invaded from the west. Laiotă fled, and in November, Dracula was installed on the Wallachian throne. He received 200 loyal knights from Stephen to serve as his loyal bodyguards, but his army remained small.

When Laiotă returned in December, Dracula went to battle and was killed. Laiotă again occupied the Wallachian throne, which urged Stephen to make another return to Wallachia and dethrone Laiotă for the fifth and last time, while Dracula's son Ţepeluş, was established as ruler the country.

In 1484, the Ottomans under Bayezid II, managed to conquer Chilia and Cetatea Albă and incorporate it into their empire under the name of Budjak, leaving Moldavia a landlocked vassal of the Porte until it was conquered in the late 16th century by Mihai Viteazul.

Between May and September 1488, Stephen built the Voroneţ Monastery to commemorate the victory at Vaslui; "the exterior walls — including a representation of the Last Judgment on the west wall — were painted in 1547 with a background of vivid cerulean blue. This is so vibrant that art historians refer to Voroneţ blue the same way they do Titian red."^[37] In 1490, he extended his work by buiding another monastery of Saint John the Baptist. These monasteries served as cultural centres; today, they are on UNESCO's World Heritage List. Stephen's victory at Vaslui is considered one of the greatest Romanian victories over the Ottomans, and as such "played a role in universal history" by securing the "culture and civilization of the Christian West from the onslaught of Islam."^[38]

[edit] Footnotes

[edit] References

• Antena 1, Amintirile unui Pelerin (documentary)
• Babinger, Franz. Mehmed the Conqueror and his time ISBN 0-691-01078-1
• Cârciumaru, Radu. Vlad Tepes si Stefan cel Mare - prieteni sau dusmani? Magazin Istoric, January 2004.
• Cândea, Virgil. Saint Stephen the Great in his contemporary Europe (Respublica Christiana), Balkan Studies 2004
• Catholic Encyclopedia, Rumania. (source: New Advent)
• Długosz, Jan. The Annals of Jan Długosz ISBN 1-901019-00-4
• Ghyka, Matila. A Documented Chronology of Roumanian History - from prehistoric times to the present day, Oxford 1941"
• Florescu, R. Radu; McNally, T. Raymond. Dracula: Prince of many faces - His life and his times ISBN 978-0-316-28656-5
• Inalcik, Halil. The Ottoman Empire - The Classical Age 1300-1600 ISBN 1-84212-442-0
• Iorga, Nicolae. Istoria lui Ştefan cel Mare, 1904 (new edition 1966), Bucharest.
• Nevill Forbes, Arnold J. Toynbee, D. Mitrany, D.G. Hogarth. The Balkans: A History of Bulgaria, Serbia, Greece, Rumania, Turkey, 2004. ISO-8859-1 (source: Project Gutenberg)
• Samuelson, James. Roumania Past and Present, Chapter XI. Originally published London: Longmans, Green, and Co., 1882. Electronic text archive on the site of the Center for Advanced Research Technology in the Arts and Humanities, University of Washington.
• Sandberg-Diment, Erik. Artistic Route Through Romania, New York Times, The. 1998
• Sfântul Voievod Ştefan cel Mare, Chronicles. (retrieved)
  • Angiolello, Giovanni Maria. Historia Turchesca
  • Bonfinius, Antonius. Historia Pannonica ab Origine Gentis AD Annum 1495
  • Curius, Joachim. Gentis Silesiæ Annales
  • Długosz, Jan. Historiae Polonicae, Leipzig 1712
  • Husein, Kodja. Great Events
  • Murianus, Mathaeus. Letter to Leonardo Loredano, written on December 7, 1502
  • Orudj bin Adil and Şemseddin Ahmed bin Suleiman Kemal paşa-zade. The Chronicles of the Ottoman Dynasty
  • Pasha, Lütfi. The Chronicles of the House of Osman (Tevarih-i al-i Osman)
  • Sa'd al-Din. Crown of Histories (Tadj al-tawarikh)
  • Stephen the Great; letter of January 25, 1475
  • Stryjkowski, Maciej. Kronika Polska
• Spinei, Victor. Moldavia in the 11th-14 Centuries, Romania 1986
• Papacostea, Şerban. Relaţiile internaţionale ale Moldovei în vremea lui Ştefan cel Mare
• Turnbull, Stephen. The Ottoman Empire 1326-1699 ISBN 1-84176-569-4
• Ureche, Grigore and Costin, Nicolae. Letopiseţul Ţărîi Moldovei

[edit] External links

• Detailed article describing the strategy and the units used in the battle
• Brief history of Moldavia covering the Vaslui battle
• Short essay about Stephen the Great with a description of the Vaslui battle
• Short article describing the battle