Hungarista Mozgalom - Ausztráliai Szórványok Tájékoztató Szolgálata, 1965 (5. évfolyam, 7-12. szám)
1965-08-01 / 8. szám
NÍ8ÍVol.V..........,H. M.INFORMTION BULLETIN.....1st August,1965, JOHN HUNYADI defender of Christendom. Nándorfehérvár (Belgrad"' 1456 In 1456 Halley's Comet was flaming half-way across the_ sky with its tail so brilliant as never before. It was an ominious sign of forthcoming events, the sign of the Pagan, for in that year Constantinople was conquered by Mohamed II who proceeded to advance westward and to spread terror and death throughout the Christian world. Then came the decisive moment which seems to be a turning point in history: The conq eror was suddenly halted by a man who carried the rosary on the hilt of his sword while his faith carried him to victory. What was the event that surpassed in significance all others in world history at the time and that seemed destined to s— hine has practically faded out of history books? To see the background we have to go back to the time when the main figure of that troubled period John Hunyadi was born. Towards the end of the 14t!i Century the general situation of Europe had a ghostly resemblance to that of today. There was a group of rather disorganised states in central Europe and the more advanced states on the West before the final stage of being organised as national states.Meanwhile from the East there was a new world power in young Ottoman empire. John Hunyadi, described by the Encylopaedia Britannica as "one of Christendom's most glorious champions and also a great stateman", was born around 1387 in Transylvania, reputedly the natural son of.the Emperor Sigismund by a Hungarian mother Elizabeth Morzsinay, As a youth he entered the service of emperor him to Frankfort in in the Hussite war. He owed a great deal of his diplomatic knowledge and military skill to his master the King. When Hunyadi became the leader of the Hungarian army he had already a long series of victories over the Turks and gained an outstanding position in Europe as a general. "He was placed in command of the army of a confederacy so wide as to include not only Hungary and Poland, Serbia and Wallachia, but the Duchy of Burgundy, Genoa and Venice. the Pope in Rome, and teh Emperor in Constantinople", says H.A.I.Fisher in his "History of Europe". In effect he was in command of a united European army against the East. Besides his unrivalled popularity as an army leader he was an idol of his soldiers, who sometimes made him to turn near defeats into splendid victories as it happened in the year of 1442 at Nagyszeben, During the battle once he was in a desperate position surrounded by the Turks who greatly outnumbered his troops. Just when it seemed there was no escape for him, his life was sa'-ed by the self sacrifice of his friend, Simon Kemény, one of the schining characters in Hungarian history. Kemény was an alter ego of Hunyadi and himself a great warrior. Sizing up the seemingly hopeless situation he persuaded Hunyadi to exchange armour with him and then drew the enemy’s attention by riding ahead valiantly to meet his fate. He fought desperately against the ferocious attacks of the lanissaries who believed he was Hunyadi, but fell at last, and the battlefield trembled with the jubilant uproar of The Turks, but for a moment only. When they saw the real Hunyadi storming down from the hills in a second wave of attack they fled in bewilderment. Sigismund, also King of Hungary, accompanied 1410 and later to Prague where he took part TO EE CONTINUED IN NEXT NUMBER. U.C.D.S.