Politics and Society

in the Central and

South-Eastern Europe
(13th–16th centuries)
 Volume of the International Conference
Politics and Society in the Central and South-Eastern Europe
(Timișoara, Romania, 25th–27th October 2017)
 Politics and Society
in the Central and
South-Eastern Europe
(13th–16th centuries)

E di tor:
Zoltan Iusztin

Editura MEGA
Cluj‑Napoca
2019
Scientific Committee:
Silviu Oța (Romanian National History Museum, București, Romania)
Aleksandar Krstić (The Institute of History, Belgrade, Serbia)
Adinel Dincă (Babeș-Bolyai University, Cluj-Napoca, Romania)

ISBN 978-606-020-116-8
Descrierea CIP este disponibilă la Biblioteca Națională a României.

DTP and cover:

Editura Mega

Redactor:
Simina Baumgarten

© Authors, 2019

On the cover: The coat of arms of the noble Peter of Berekszó (Cluj County National Archives
(SJAN); The Collection: Documents with hanging seals (in custody at the BCU Library:
Documents with coat of arms, no. 2)

Editura Mega | www.edituramega.ro

e‑mail: mega@edituramega.ro
In Memoriam Prof. Doina Benea (1944–2019),
famous romanist and archaeologist,
the fondator of the School of History
and Archaeology from Timișoara.
 Contents

A RC HA E OLO G IC A L R E SE A RC H E S

11 Silviu Oța, Adrian Ardeț, Dimitrie Negrei

Archaeological Research in the City of Caransebeș (2017 Campaign). Preliminary
Observations

33 Călin Timoc
Medieval Pojejena. Brief Summary of Historical and Archaeological Data

43 Alexandru Flutur
Aspects of Public Water Use in the Ottoman Town of Timișoara

S O C I A L A N D P O L I T I C A L R E L AT I O N ,
FA M I L I A R I TA S A N D E S TAT E S

63 Ligia Boldea
On the Domanial Vicinities within the Banat Medieval Counties (14th–15th
centuries)

81 Livia Magina
Gesture, Orality and Memory. Border Oath in the 14th–15th Centuries in
Transylvania

93 Aleksandar Krstić
Familiares of the Serbian Despots in and from the Territory of Banat (1411–1458)

111 Zoltan Iusztin

In the Corvin’s Services. Francis of Haraszth, Banus Zewreniensis (1)

T H E WA R R I O R’ S WAY

159 Adrian Magina

Violence and Reconciliation in the 14th Century Southern Hungary
175 Liviu Cîmpeanu
Ex bono tirone miles fortissimus, ex milite imperator optimus emersit. Reflections
on the Beginnings of John Hunyadi’s Career

205 Nevyan Mitev

The Battle of Shumen – One of the Most Important Battles During the Crusade of
Varna in the Autum of 1444

215 Florin Nicolae Ardelean

“Pecunia nervus belli”. The Saxon University in Transylvania and its Contribution
to the Military Campaign of 1566–1567
 The Battle of Shumen – One of the
Most Important Battles During the
Crusade of Varna in the Autum of 1444

Nevyan Mitev*
Nevyan Mitev
Abstract: The Battle of Shumen was the first big victory of the Crusader army
over the Ottomans during the Crusade in the autumn of 1444. All three days
the stronghold was besieged and finally was captured by the Crusaders. In the
following paper the author combines the written sources with archaeological
data for this event.
Keywords: Vladislav Varnenchik, Crusade, Battle of Shumen

During the Crusade of Varna in the autumn of 1444 there were sev-
eral important battles in Northeastern Bulgaria. One of them is the battle
of Shumen. The goals and methodologies of this study are to explain why
the battle of Shumen is so important for the Crusade. For this purpose
the author is going to combine the written sources and archaeological data
connected with the Battle of Shumen.
The Crusade started about 20th of September with crossing the Danube
river at Orshova1. The main participants in the military campaign were
Hungarians, Wallachians, Bulgarians, Poles, Czechs, Croats, Rhutenians.
There was also a unit of Papal Crusaders under the leadership of Cardinal
Giuliano Cesarini. But the initiative remained without support from
Western countries – England, France, Holy Roman Empire. The internal
political problems in Poland at that time did not allow it to take an active
*
  Park-museum of the combat friendship – 1444, Varna, Janos Hunyadi boulevard, no. 55,
Bulgaria, e-mail: nevyan_1986@abv.bg.
1
  Generally researches for the Crusades of 1443–1444 see. Bistra Tsvetkova, Pametna bitka
na narodite (Varna, 1979); Colin Imber, The Crusade of Varna, 1443–1445 (Manchester,
2006); John Jefferson, The Holy Wars of King Wladislas and Sultan Murad. The Ottoman-
Christian conflict from 1438–1444. (Leiden-Boston, 2012).
206 N e v ya n M i t e v

part. Zdislav Pentek made a list of Polish participants in the event and came
across the names of just over 100 people, including the King himself. In
historiography2, it is assumed that they did not exceed 500, the personal
guards of King Vladislav. After leaving Orshova the Christian army headed
to east and arrived in Nikopol on 16th of October. On 19th they left the for-
tress3. The road that the army went from Nikopol to Shumen has been the
subject of serious debates in historiography. In my opinion after Nikopol
the Crusaders passed through Gorna Oryahovitsa- Shumen-Provadia
and arrived at Varna. Exactly this route should be equated with the old
Roman road, mentioned in the letter of Palatsio4 and the route overlap
with the data of the Ottoman source “The Holy Wars of Sultan Murad
Son of Sultan Mehmed Khan”5. And that is how the Crusaders arrived in
the area of Shumen. The Christian army camped around the city. Some
of the scientists believe that the camp was located near Novi Pazar, after
the army of Hunyadi andVladislav had managed to defeat the Ottoman
troops near the fortress of the village of Stan6. Probably exactly from here
King Vladislav sent a warning letter to the garrisons in several fortresses.
The letter regarded Shumen, Madara, Petrich, Varna, Kavarna, Galata and
several other fortresses which were called for the withdrawal of the Turkish
garrisons to Anatolia. If this had not been done, the Crusaders would have
killed them all7. The exact day of the siege of the Shumen fortress is a debat-
able. Some scholars say this happened on 25 October, others think that
on 3rd of November the Crusader army arrived in Shumen8. The Shumen
fortress is located on a hill near to the contemporary city of Shumen, 405 m
2
  Zdislav Pentek, Polskite uchastnitsi vav Varnenskata bitka, in Varna 1444. Deystvitelnost
i traditsia, (Varna, 2004), pp. 109–124.
3
 About the dates that army camped around Nicopolis see. Stanislaw Sroka, Wioletta
Zawitkowska. Itinerarium Krola Wladyslawa III 1434–1444 (Warszawa, 2017), s.98.
4
  Milko Mirchev, Andreas de Palatsio. Pismo za porazhenieto pri Varna, izprateno do kardi-
nal Lyudovik, in Izvestia na varnenskotoarheologichesko druzhestvo, XV/1964, pp. 88–90.
5
  Maria Kalitsin, Pisanie za verskite bitki na sultan Murad, sin na Mehmed han (Sofia,
1992), pp.  90–100. For the different opinions about the route see: Nevyan Mitev, Notes
on the campaign of Vladislav Varnenchik in northeastern Bulgaria in the autumn of 1444,
in Banatica 26. Proceedings of the International Conference Politics and Society in Central
and South-Eastern Europe (13th–16th centuries) Timişoara, 29 october 2015, (Cluj-Napoca,
2016), pp. 235–256.
6
  About the camp of Novi Pazar see Pavel Georgiev, Novopozarskiyat stan na kral Vladislav
III prez 1444 godina, in Bulgaria v evropeyskata kultura, nauka, obrazovanie, religia. T.1
(Shumen, 2015), pp. 410–431.
7
 Mirchev, Andreas de Palatsio, Izvestia na varnenskotoarheologichesko druzhestvo, p. 89.
8
  All opinions see at: Bistra Tsvetkova, Pametna bitka na narodite, pp. 302–304.
 The Battle of Shumen – One of the Most Important Battles During the Crusade of Varna 207

above sea level. During the Second Bulgarian Empire (12–14 century) it was
one of the largest and most important centers. According to D. Angelov
and B. Cholpanov, in the fifteenth century, a third fortress wall was built,
1,20–1,30 m thick, made of stones bound in mortar, crowned with several
battle towers, one of which defended the gate. The citadel in the northwest
corner of the fortress was rebuilt and reinforced with new battle towers9.
An interesting description left us Michael Behaim “The fortress lays on a
rock of a mountain and could not be captured by a light siege machine.
The Turks had returned to the fortress, and the Christians could only put
them on their own“10. After a three-day siege the Crusader army managed
to capture the Shumen Fortress. During the fight, as Kalimah wrote, the
knight Jan Tarnowski, who was wounded twice, became famous11. The
Crusaders lost many of their soldiers. In “Holy Wars of Sultan Murad Son
of Sultan Mehmed Khan”, it is an exaggeration that the Crusader army that
besieged the fortress, numbered 30 000 people, and after being captured,
KingVladislav complained about the loss of many of his soldiers12. Behaim
reports that the Christians didn’t have any mercy and killed everyone.
As our informant points out that a siege machine has played a decisive
role in the capture of the fortress. “The Christians brought a wall-milling
machine, pierced the wall of the tower, spattered straw and wood and lit
them. Smoke choked the Ottomans and they were thrown out of the tower
and the Christians took over the tower“13.
In his letter about the defeat at Varna, which Andreas De Palatsio sent to
Cardinal Ludwig, the author mentioned that the crusader army Captured
with great difficulty the strongholds of Shumen and Petrich and mean-
while Cardinal Cesarini had received a letter, informing him that the Turks
had already been transferred from Asia to Europe14. In the chronicle of
Philip Callimachus is described that during the attack against the strong-
holds of Petrich and Shumen many knights became famous, among them
Jan Tarnowski and Leszek Bobzhitski, just to mention a few. Meanwhile,
the king received a letter from Cardinal Francisk informing him that the

9
  Dimitar Angelov, Boris Cholpanov, Balgarska voenna istoria, (Sofiа, 1994), pp. 271–272.
10
  Hristo Kolarov, Dva malko izvestni izvora za bitkata na narodite na 10 noemvri 1444 g.
pri Varna, in Izvestia na Narodnia muzey, Varna, VI/1970, p. 182.
11
 Idem, Hronikata na Kalimah – vazhen izvor za Varnenskata bitka ot 1444 g., in Izvestia
na Narodnia muzey, Varna, IX/1973, p. 247.
12
 Kalitsin, Pisanie, p. 101.
13
 Kolarov, Dva malko izvestni izvora, Izvestia na Narodnia muzey, p. 182.
14
 Mirchev, Andreas de Palatsio, Izvestia na varnenskotoarheologichesko druzhestvo p. 89.
208 N e v ya n M i t e v

army of Sultan Murad II had passed to the European coast15. The author
of this study have compared the sources and have supposed that the letter
was sent at Petrich kale, not at Shumen16. Two unknown Ottoman sources
report, that the Christian army ruined the wilayahs Matara and Shumla17,
and Lyutfi Pasha writes, that the army had upset them18. These Ottoman
sources, even shortly reported for the events in this geographical area, are
clearly and they overlap with the data from the European springs. There
is no doubt in the information of the written sources that the battle of
Shumen was one of the biggest during the Crusade.
Let see what kind of archaeological data have been found in the fortress
and in the area. Till now the largest number of Hungarian coins from the
end of 14th–15th century has been registered exactly in the Shumen fortress.
According to Zh. Zhekova, these coins were brought to these places by the
Crusaders. The author connects the archaeological data from the Shumen
fortress to the information presented in one of the most famous sources
about the battle of Varna – the poem of Michael Behaim, and concludes
that the coins were discovered in the places where the fortress was attacked
and the Christian soldiers were killed19. From the region of Shumen origi-
nated and the only one known Polish denar of king Vladislav Varnenchik,
found in the Bulgarian lands. In some of my articles, I supported Zhekova’s
opinion and believe that the coins of Vladislav Varnenchik and those of
Sigismund were brought by the Crusaders20.

15
 Kolarov, Hronikata na Kalimah, Izvestia na Narodnia muzey, p. 247.
16
  Nevyan Mitev, Pri koya krepost krastonosnata armia na Vladislav III Varnenchik (1434–
1444) poluchava pismoto, koeto ya izvestyava za preminavaneto na osmanskata voyska prez
Prolivite prez esenta na 1444g.?, in Zhurnal za istoricheski i arheologicheski izsledvania,
1/2013, pp. 81–84.
17
  Neizvesten avtor, Istoria na osmanskata dinastiya, in Varna 1444. Sbornik ot izsledva-
nia i dokumenti v chest na 525-tagodishnina ot bitkata kray Varna, (Sofia, 1969), p. 423;
Neizvesten avtor, Istoria, in Varna 1444. Sbornik ot izsledvania i dokumenti v chest na 525-
ta godishnina ot bitkata kray Varna, (Sofia, 1969), p. 436.
18
  Lyutfi Pasha, Istoriya na Osmanskata dinastiya (Epohata na sultan Murad han vtori), in
Varna 1444. Sbornik ot izsledvania i dokumenti v chest na 525-tagodishnina ot bitkata kray
Varna, (Sofia, 1969), p. 432.
19
  Zhenya Zhekova, Moneti i monetno orashtenie v srednovekovniya Shumen, (Shumen,
2006), pp. 54–55.
20
 Nevyan Mitev, Marshrutat na krastonosnata armia na Vladislav Varnenchik v
Severoiztochna Bulgaria (po numizmatichni danni), in Zhurnal za istoricheski i arheo-
logicheski izsledvania, 2/2013, p. 154–159; Nevyan Mitev, Monetite na Vladislav Varnenchik
(1434–1444) ot Severoiztochna Bulgaria, in Numizmatika, sfragistika i epigrafika, 10/2014,
pp. 201–208.
 The Battle of Shumen – One of the Most Important Battles During the Crusade of Varna 209

V. Parushev published a unique piercing weapon for the Bulgarian lands

– a rapier. It is found in the hill area “Fiseka”, about 12 km northwest of
Shumen. The weapon has a total length of 121 cm21. Such types of weapons are
not typical for the Bulgarian and Byzantine army as well as for the Ottoman
army. It has a Western influence and the author seeks its’ entrance in these
places with an event, and in particular the march of Vladislav Varnenchik
from the autumn of 1444. The researcher brings a number of parallels and
comes to the conclusion that this weapon belonged to a Hungarian soldier
from the Crusaders retreating in different directions. I accept the opin-
ion of V. Parushev that the rapier is part of the armament of the Christian
army of the young Polish-Hungarian king. But its’ belonging is uncertain.
Although Parushev brings a number of parallels, the author does not find
the exact analogue among the Hungarian rapiers. He himself writes that the
specialists are unanimous that the rapier appeared at the beginning of the
15th century and Italy is considered to be its motherland22 Such an opin-
ion was also given by researchers Heinrich Müller and Hartmut Kölling23.
Also, V. Parushev reports that the type of the fender is a horizontal, unoc-
cupied “eighth“ with halved halves, and that this type comes from Italy,
from the flat S-evident fuse of the so-called “Venetian Sword“. This fuse was
widespread in Central Europe and especially in Hungary24. The Christian
army was attended by Papal Crusaders under the leadership of Cardinal
Giuliano Cesarini. Certainly, his soldiers used a similar weapon because
it has already established itself as one of the main attributes of the Italian
knights, while the Hungarian army has just entered. In my opinion, this
rapier is more likely to have belonged to such a Papal Crusader and not to
a Hungarian soldier. It also remains open the question whether the weapon
is the result of a battle given by the Crusader army. A coin of Vladislav
Varnenchik is also registered at Fisek Fortress. There is still no consensus
among historians about where battles took place around Shumen. Surely
the Shumen fortress was captured by the Crusaders. Several smaller battles
took place in the area around this fortress, such as the village of Stan, the
area of Novi Pazar. I think that there was a similar battle in the area of Fisek
fortress, not of retreating fighters, but rather in the passage of the unified
21
  Veselin Parushev, Ungarska shpaga na krastonosets ot pohoda na kral Vladislav III Yagelo
prez 1444 g., in Izvestia na Narodnia muzey, Varna, XLIV/2008, pp. 258–265.
22
  Janos Kalmar, Regi magyar fegyverek, (Budapest, 1971), pp. 88–89.
23
  Heinrich Müller, Hartmut Kölling, Europäische Hieb- und Stichwaffen, (Berlin, 1981),
p. 69.
24
 Parushev, Ungarska shpaga, Izvestia na Narodnia muzey, pp. 258–265.
210 N e v ya n M i t e v

Christian army to Varna, that is, before 10th November and most probably
before the capture of the Shumen stronghold.
Shanko Apostolov published 5 heads of arrows, three of them could be
connected with the united Christian army. The first is found in the area of
village of Zaychino, near to town of Novi Pazar (on the way of the Crusader
army)25 and one spear originated from the region of village of Stan, Novi
Pazar. The spears are permanent part from the armor of the soldiers in the
king’s army.26 The founding of the artifacts from the area of Novi Pazar
allows to be connected with the battles between Crusaders and Ottomans.
The most numerous archaeological findings, as I mentioned before,
which may be connect with the battle of Shumen are the Hungarian emis-
sions of Sigismund and Vladislav. The coins are small findings, that difficult
could be seen on the background of the big arms and armors.
The Battle of Shumen was the first big victory of the Crusader army over
the Ottomans. It was also the most prolonged. All three days the strong-
hold was besieged and finally was captured by the Crusades. However,
before that event most probably was captured the fortress of Fisek. After
that the army camped around Novi Pazar, from where started the attack of
the Shumen fortress. The archaeological findings give us additional infor-
mation about the localization of the army. It is possible also to there were
several battles around the fortress of Shumen. The archaeological findings
support the written sources that it was one of the biggest and most impor-
tant battles during the Crusade from the autumn of 1444.

25
  Shanko Apostolov, Srednovekovno orazhie i snaryazhenie v Parka muzey na boynata
druzhba 1444 g. vav Varna, in Izvestia na Natsionalnia voennoistoricheski muzey, V/1983,
pp. 104–105.
26
 Veselin Parushev, Orazhia i snaryazhenie ot voyskata na Vladislav III Yagelo.
Nepublikuvani nahodki, in Izvestia na Narodnia muzey, Varna, XLIV/2008, pp. 239–257.
The Battle of Shumen – One of the Most Important Battles During the Crusade of Varna 211

Pl. 1. A plan of the Shumen fortress.

 212
N e v ya n M i t e v

Pl. 2. The route of the Crusader army in the Bulgarian lands.

The Battle of Shumen – One of the Most Important Battles During the Crusade of Varna 213

Figure 1. A debatable rapier from the fortress of Fisek (area of Shumen).

Figure 2. Obverse and reverse of Polish denar of king Vladislav

Varnenchik (1434–1444) found in the area of Shumen.