Peace of Szeged

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Peace of Szeged
The Treaties of Edirne and Szeged
DraftedJune 10 – August 14, 1444
SignedAugust 15, 1444 (1444-08-15)
LocationSzeged
Condition10 year truce agreed
Ottomans:
  • Pay an indemnity of 100,000 gold florins
  • Withdraw from Serbia and Albania
  • Release hostages
Original
signatories
Parties

The Treaty of Edirne and the Peace of Szeged were two halves of a peace treaty between

Despot Đurađ Branković of the Serbian Despotate was a party to the proceedings. The treaty brought an end to the Christian crusade against the Ottomans with significant gains. Within a month Vladislaus abjured his oath at the urging of the papacy and the crusade continued. On November 10, 1444 it ended in disaster at the Battle of Varna
where the crusaders were wiped out and Vladislaus killed.

The treaty was started in Edirne with discussions between Murad and Vladislaus' ambassador. Within a few days, it was sent to Szeged with Murad's ambassador, to be finalized and ratified by Vladislaus. Once it arrived, complications caused the negotiations to continue for several more days, and oaths were eventually given in Várad. The ratification took place on August 15, 1444 in Várad.

Background

Europe in 1470 several decades after the time of the Peace of Szeged

The

crusading bull published by Pope Eugene IV. The fighting did not start as planned, however. The Hungarian and the Karamanid Turkish armies were supposed to attack the Ottoman Empire simultaneously. In the spring of 1443, before the Hungarians were ready, the Karamanids attacked the Ottomans and were devastated by Sultan Murad II's full army.[1]

The Hungarian army, led by King

Turakhan Beg to abandon their camp and flee to Sofia, Bulgaria to warn Murad of the invasion. They burnt all the villages on their path of retreat in a scorched earth strategy. When they arrived in Sofia they advised the Sultan to burn the city and retreat to the mountain passes beyond, where the Ottoman's smaller army would not be at such a disadvantage. Shortly after, bitter cold set in.[1]

The next encounter, at

church were both anxious to maintain this illusion and gave instructions to spread word of the victories, but contradict anyone who mentioned the defeats.[1] Murad, meanwhile, returned angry at the unreliability of his forces and imprisoned Turakhan, blaming him for the army's setbacks and Mahmud Bey's capture.[1]

Initial negotiations

Sultan Murad II

Murad is believed to have wanted an end to the war. His sister begged him to obtain her husband's release, and his wife Mara, daughter of Đurađ Branković, added additional pressure. On March 6, 1444, Mara sent an envoy to Branković; their discussion started the peace negotiations with the Ottoman Empire.[1]

On April 24, 1444 Vladislaus sent a letter to Murad, stating that his ambassador, Stojka Gisdanić, was travelling to

Cardinal Julian Cesarini to lead a new expedition against the Ottomans in the summer.[1]

Edirne

Early negotiations resulted in the release of Mahmud Bey, who arrived at Edirne in early June 1444. Vladislaus' ambassador Stojka Gisdanić arrived soon after, along with, as required by a law signed by King

Ciriaco Pizzicolli was also present to monitor the progress of the crusade plans.[1]

During the negotiations the most contentious point was the possession of the Danubian fortresses, especially

İbrahim II of Karaman had invaded Murad's lands in Anatolia.[1]

Vladislaus, King of Poland and Hungary

The final terms stated that Murad would return 24 Serbian cities, including the large fortresses of Golubac and Smederevo, to the exiled Branković. Murad was also obliged to release Branković's two blinded sons,

truce was established with Hungary, and Vlad II Dracul, Voivode of Wallachia, was no longer obliged to attend Murad's court, though he was still required to pay tribute.[1] Once Murad had sworn an oath to observe the treaty, it was sent to Hungary with Baltaoğlu Süleyman and a Greek, Vranas, for ratification by Vladislaus, Hunyadi, and Branković.[1]

Intervening politicking

Despite the treaty negotiations, planning for the crusade against the Ottomans continued. It is generally assumed that Vladislaus knew the results of the negotiations in Edirne by the beginning of July. Yet on July 2, 1444, at the urging of Cardinal Cesarini, Vladislaus reassured his allies of his intention to lead the crusade by declaring he would head to Várad on July 15 to assemble an army.[1]

A crusade would add legitimacy to Vladislaus' claim to the throne, and the

Constantine Dragases, to renounce the treaty.[1] Meanwhile, in Poland there was civil strife, and a faction there demanded he return to end it. The losses during the previous winter also spoke against continuing the war.[1]

Vladislaus was not the only one to be coerced. A letter written by

Ciriaco Pizzicolli on June 24, 1444 begged Hunyadi to ignore the peace, stating the Turks were terrified "and preparing their army for retreat rather than battle". He continued by explaining that the treaty would allow Murad "to avenge the defeat that [Hunyadi] inflicted on him in the recent past" and that Hungary and the other Christian nations should invade Thrace after "[declaring] a war worthy of the Christian religion".[1]

Đurađ Branković, Despot of Serbia

Branković had a much larger interest in the peace treaty going through, and solicited Hunyadi's support. The expectation was that Serbia would be returned to Branković upon ratification of the treaty, and as such, he bribed Hunyadi by promising him the land he held in Hungary. On July 3, 1444, the

Mukačevo, Baia Mare, Satu Mare, Debrecen, and Böszörmény were also transferred, and Hunyadi became the largest landowner in the Kingdom.[1]

Shortly after Vladislaus' declaration, around the same time as writing the letter to Hunyadi, Ciriaco passed the news to the

Council of Basel, which he had abandoned in the late 1430s. He was therefore left with the necessity of finding a solution satisfactory to both sides.[1]

Szeged

At the beginning of August, the Ottoman ambassadors Baltaoğlu and Vranas arrived in

abjure any treaties, present or future, which he had made or was to make with the Sultan". Cesarini had carefully worded the declaration such that negotiations could continue and the treaty could still be ratified by oath, without removing the possibility of a crusade or breaking the terms of the treaty because the oath was invalidated even before it was given.[1]

Despite Cesarini's solution, the negotiations lasted for ten days. The final version of the treaty re-established Serbia as a buffer state and settled its return to Branković,

gold florins and release Branković's two sons.[3][4] Hungary, meanwhile, agreed to not attack Bulgaria or cross the Danube,[2] and a truce of 10 years was established. It is also suspected that Branković, who gained the most from the treaty, concluded his own private negotiations with Baltaoğlu, though the results are unknown. On August 15, 1444, the treaty was ratified in Várad with oaths by Hunyadi, for both himself and "on behalf of the King himself and all the people of Hungary", and Branković.[1]

Consequences

On August 22, 1444, a week after the negotiations were finalized, Branković retook Serbia. During that week, Vladislaus also offered the throne of Bulgaria to Hunyadi, if he was amenable to abjuring his oath, which he was. By mid-September, all transfers, both those decreed by the treaty and those by background negotiations, were completed, allowing the crusade to become Hungary's primary focus.[1]

King Vladislaus at the Battle of Varna

The Ottoman Empire, meanwhile, had not heard of Cesarini's invalidation of the treaty. By the end of August 1444, the

İbrahim II of Karaman would give a lasting peace. Shortly after the Karamanids' submission, therefore, Murad abdicated in favor of Mehmed II, his twelve-year-old son, intending to enjoy a peaceful retirement.[1][2]

Murad's hope was not fulfilled. By late September Hungary's preparations for the crusade were complete, and those of their allies were well underway. Many formerly independent Ottoman fringe territories began reclaiming their land, and on September 20, 1444, the Hungarian army began marching south from Szeged. The march went well for the Hungarians, prompting the Ottomans to recall Murad. On November 10, 1444, the two armies clashed at the Battle of Varna, the Ottomans fighting under Murad's standard with the broken treaty nailed to it. The crusaders were decisively defeated and Vladislaus was killed. Hungary relapsed into civil war and the removal of the threat to the Ottoman's Balkan front allowed them to concentrate forces for the conquest of Constantinople (Istanbul) in 1453.[1][3][4]

References

  1. ^
    ISBN 978-0-7546-0144-9
    . Retrieved 2007-04-19.
  2. ^
    ISBN 9780295954431. Archived from the original
    on 2019-12-15. Retrieved 2007-05-19.
  3. ^
    LCCN 88062290. Archived from the original
    on 2007-04-21. Retrieved 2007-03-23.
  4. ^ a b Bain, Robert Nisbet (1911). "Wladislaus § Wladislaus III" . In Chisholm, Hugh (ed.). Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 28 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 766.
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