1444, Byzantium Resurrects

Chapter 146 The Troubles Resurface
Constantinople on the Black Sea.

In the Grand Palace, Constantine XI, then 52 years old, stood in the garden, bent over, lowered his head, and quietly looked at his little son sleeping in the cradle.

The setting sun shone on the father and son, dyeing the few white hairs on Constantine's temples golden and making the baby's face rosy, making it look particularly warm.

At the end of last year, Mrs. Mara successfully gave birth to a baby boy. Constantine named his son Manuel in memory of his father, the late Emperor Manuel II.

Four years ago, the birth of Justinian brought hope to the empire on the verge of destruction, and Constantinople and Birinci held grand processions to celebrate the birth of the heir.

A year ago, the birth of Alexios was seen as a symbol of the revival of the empire. The great reputation he won in the Battle of Constantinople led to Christian countries throughout the Mediterranean world sending envoys to congratulate him, and the gifts they sent filled the entire garden.

However, compared with his two nephews, the birth of little Manuel seemed much more lonely. Several churches rang bells to pray for the birth of the new prince, and the Grand Duke of Serbia sent a gilded cradle to his grandson. Apart from that, Constantine XI only held a small-scale celebration and invited several of his close ministers to share the joy of having a son in his old age.

Lady Mara was quite dissatisfied about this, but there was nothing she could do.

But Constantine knew that after learning that the newborn baby was a prince, many of Bilinchi's ministers immediately suggested that Isaac take Manuel to the Black Castle for education, which was simply a disguised form of imprisonment.

What made the old father feel relieved was that his eldest son Isaac did not have any complaints about the birth of his younger brother. He sent many gifts and named a new three-masted sailing ship launched by the Mansreti Naval Shipyard after him to express his goodwill.

Just as Constantine had expected, Manuel's birth brought some unnecessary troubles. Many people came to visit him openly or secretly, trying to test his attitude and trying to use the newborn baby to sow discord between Constantine and Isaac, father and son.

Among these people were some nobles and religious personnel from Constantinople, some merchants from Venice and Genoa, and envoys from Serbian Archbishop Borankovic.

Constantine was well aware that under the leadership of his eldest son Isaac, the Eastern Roman Empire was sprouting new buds and gradually showing a vigorous vitality that was completely different from twenty years ago, but it also inevitably harmed the interests of many people.

Some traditional Roman nobles in Constantinople disliked Isaac very much, believing that he favored foreigners too much and destroyed the purity of the Roman nation.

But the fact is that most of Isaac's senior military and political officials, including the prime minister, foreign minister, military minister and imperial speaker, were genuine old Constantinople Romans, but they refused to recognize the privilege of the traditional aristocrats who considered themselves to be "superior".

Many clergy of the Greek Orthodox Church also had complaints about Isaac, believing that he had betrayed traditional Orthodoxy. Not only did he allow the Armenian Apostolic Church, the Coptic Orthodox Church and other sects to operate freely in his North African territory, he also flirted with the Roman Catholic Church, making him a clear heretic.

But the fact is that although Isaac granted them religious freedom due to the situation, he never thought of changing the mainstream beliefs of the territory, and secretly gave the Greek Orthodox Church many conveniences that other sects did not have.

As for the Latin merchants, they lost their tax-free privileges in Constantinople and naturally hated Isaac.

But the fact is that although Isaac took back the tax-free privileges, he never hindered their normal business activities. Not only did he open the various commercial ports in the territory to them, but he also provided them with many preferential policies in the ocean trade in West Africa.

As an old politician who had been struggling in the political arena for decades, Constantine XI was of course well aware of this. He turned a deaf ear to the instigation of these people, and later simply closed the door to visitors and drove them all to the residences of Prime Minister Archduke Lucas and Foreign Minister Sfranchis.

He was over fifty and no longer young. His age had made his health deteriorate. The worries in his early years and the hidden illness he contracted during the Battle of Constantinople had damaged his health, and he would feel a dull pain every time it rained.

Along with his age, his once strong will and spirit have also disappeared. He used to sit at his desk for a whole day, but now he is exhausted after dealing with some tedious government affairs.

Constantinople was defended, the Ottoman Empire was defeated, the eldest son was successful in his career, the youngest son was hungry and needed to be fed, the children and grandchildren were healthy and growing up, the empire was prospering, and there was hope for revival.

That being the case, he had nothing more to ask for.

Therefore, when ambitious people from home and abroad came to visit him, he always felt irritated and pushed all the troubles onto his trusted ministers.

The hot-tempered Archduke Lucas would scold them and then kick them out, but Sfrangis would patiently invite them for a cup of coffee, listen to their requests with a smile, accept all the gifts they sent, and with a grateful look, tell them to go back and wait for news, and then nothing would happen.

It is worth mentioning that for some unknown reason, Sultan Mehmed II of the Ottoman Empire also sent a gift for Manuel's birth and brought a thick letter to Lady Mara.

Constantine did not try to use his authority as emperor and husband to forcibly interfere with the correspondence between the two. He just watched quietly as Lady Mara's hands trembled and her eyes became red and swollen as she read the letter.

Shortly after this incident, Lady Mara burned all the letters with Mehmed II, closed the door to visitors, and devoted herself to raising her young son.

Not long after this incident, the Balkan Peninsula, which had been calm, began to be embroiled in war again.

Ottoman Sultan Mehmed II led his army westward, targeting Serbia.

The army quickly reached the northwest border and took back several towns that the Albanian alliance had occupied during the Battle of Constantinople. Seeing the strength of the Ottomans, Skanderbeg led his troops back to the Kruje Mountains to temporarily avoid the enemy's attack.

Then, Mehmed II led his troops north and threatened Serbian Archbishop Brankovic, demanding that he sever his alliance with the Eastern Roman Empire, pay tribute to the Ottoman Empire again, and hand over the rich Kosovo region.

The Principality of Serbia is crisscrossed with mountains and has a small area of ​​arable land, which cannot support a large population. The only thing worth mentioning is the rich mineral reserves. The Novi Brdo gold and silver mine in the Kosovo region is the lifeblood of Grand Duke Brankovic, and he will not give it up easily.

So, Grand Duke Branković summoned his vassals, assembled the army, and marched south to Kosovo, vowing to keep the enemy out of the country.

The Serbian coalition forces fought against the Ottoman army in the wilderness of Kosovo. After three bloody battles, they were defeated all three times. They were defeated by the army led by the war commander Mahmoud and fled in disarray.

On October 1455, 10, Mehmed II led his army into Kosovo and captured the rich New Brdo gold and silver mines.

Grand Duke Brankovic, who fled back to the capital in a hurry, knew that he was no match for the Ottoman Empire. On the one hand, he regrouped his troops and prepared to fight the Ottoman Empire to the end. On the other hand, he sent envoys to the Kingdom of Hungary and the Eastern Roman Empire to request support.

"Your Majesty, it's late at night."

Constantine was so preoccupied with his thoughts that he forgot the time.

Mrs. Mara behind them looked at the warm scene between the father and son, and could not bear to break it, until the sun set and the sky became completely dark.

Constantine nodded, kissed his young son gently on the face, and signaled the wet nurse who had been waiting there to take the child back to the palace.

"The Archduke of Serbia is asking for help. What do you think?"

Watching the wet nurse walk away, Constantine looked at Lady Mara.

He knew that since the war between Serbia and the Ottoman Empire, several waves of envoys had visited Lady Mara, asking her to persuade Constantine XI to send troops to rescue.

As the war situation became more critical, Lady Mara remained calm on the surface, but her heart was still in turmoil. As early as when Isaac and Grand Duke Durand were discussing marriage, Lady Mara expressed her resistance to it, opposed the alliance between Serbia and the Eastern Roman Empire, and asked her father to wait and see how the situation changed and not to act rashly.

However, Grand Duke Durand, who was eager to change his dire internal and external situation, ignored his daughter's opposition and insisted on marrying her to Constantine.

In this regard, Lady Mara could only lament.

She was sent to the Ottoman court when she was young, and was well aware of the power of the Ottoman Empire and had a relatively deep understanding of the international situation in the Balkan Peninsula.

In her opinion, as a small country sandwiched between the two major powers of the Ottoman Empire and the Kingdom of Hungary, the aristocratic forces in Serbia have also roughly chosen sides. It is obviously impossible to be completely independent. If it wants to continue, it can only choose to depend on one of them.

Since the Hunyadi family of the Kingdom of Hungary and the Brankovic family of Serbia are incompatible, the relatively enlightened Ottoman Empire is the best and only choice.

As for forming an alliance with the Eastern Roman Empire trapped in an isolated city, it would be a bad move that would put Serbia in danger. Even if the Eastern Roman Empire won the Battle of Constantinople and seemed to be on the verge of resurrection, this outcome would not change in a short period of time.

As it turned out, what she expected was exactly right.

Just like the previous emperors of the Palaiologos family, Emperor Isaac of the Eastern Roman Empire was a cunning monarch who always put his own interests first. He would never fight with the Ottomans for the territorial integrity of Serbia, and he was probably too lazy to even tie down the Ottoman troops.

As for Constantine XI, he was different from the rest of the Palaiologos family. He was a truly noble and fervently sincere nobleman, but he could do nothing about it.

In Lady Mara's calculations, Emperor Isaac would most likely sit back and watch Serbia weaken to a certain extent, then join the war in a high-profile manner, win great reputation, and bring this small Balkan country under his control.

Unfortunately, perhaps because he was worried about the domestic nobles' choice of sides and was eager to find foreign allies to consolidate his own position, or perhaps because he was simply deceived by Emperor Isaac's sweet words, the old and dotardy Grand Duke Durand finally agreed to the marriage request and paid a huge price for it.

From the moment the Ottoman Empire sent troops, Serbia's destiny was no longer in its own control, but was forced to be caught in the vortex of the game among major forces.

The Ottoman Empire, the Eastern Roman Empire, and the Kingdom of Hungary, no matter who wins or loses in the end, Serbia will never be able to return to its former independent status and can only become a bargaining chip on the negotiating table.

Being weak is not a sin; overestimating one's own abilities is.

Madam Mara sighed softly.

"Your Majesty, it seems to me that Isaac is fighting in North Africa and has taken most of the troops with him. He cannot be free for the time being."

"Constantinople was short of manpower, and was able to defend itself but not advance. It could only hold back the Ottoman army but was unable to provide timely support."

"I suggest you write a letter to Serbia, suggesting that they first seek support from the Kingdom of Hungary and wait for the war in North Africa to end before making further considerations."

It is easy to say that we should seek support from the Kingdom of Hungary, but it will be met with many obstacles in practice.

Not to mention the increasingly fierce political struggle between the Habsburg family and the Hunyadi family within the Kingdom of Hungary, nor the hatred between Grand Duke Durand and the White Knight Hunyadi, the pro-Ottoman Orthodox nobles in Serbia alone are enough to give Grand Duke Durand a hard time.

In this case, even if Grand Duke Durand could put aside his grudges with the White Knight Hunyadi, fight the enemy together and win the war, the domestic situation that he had spent several years to integrate would fall apart again.

This is probably what the jihadist, who is so glorious in the eyes of outsiders, would like to see most in his heart, right?

Madam Mara tried hard to get rid of all the distracting thoughts from her mind and stopped thinking about them.

"That will have to be the case for now."

Constantine nodded, looked toward the western sky, and made the sign of the cross.

"It's been such an eventful time."

……

In the early winter of 1455, the war continued. On the one hand, Mehmed II began to win over the pro-Ottoman nobles in Serbia, and on the other hand, he intensified the erosion of Serbian territory, advancing steadily and pressing forward step by step.

The Ottoman army was approaching, and towns fell one after another. By early December, all of Southern Serbia had been lost. The situation in Northern Serbia was also very unstable. Many nobles were ready to abandon the Brankovic family and join new masters.

Archduke Durard fled to the western coast and frequently sent envoys to various countries to request reinforcements.

In response to the Grand Duke's request for help, various countries responded in their own ways.

Skanderbeg of Albania led his troops to the northwest coast, captured several Ottoman gathering points, and joined the Grand Duke's remaining troops.

Vlad III of Wallachia originally thought that he was the first target of Mehmed II. When he learned that Serbia was attacked, he laughed out loud. He took this good opportunity to intensify the purge of the opposition nobles. At the same time, he lent troops to Stefan III, who was still in exile, to support him in regaining control of Moldavia.

The Eastern Roman Empire expressed great sympathy for Serbia's plight, but was forced to be involved in the war in North Africa and asked Grand Duke Durand to hold on firmly and wait for the situation to change.

A fierce quarrel broke out in the Kingdom of Hungary. The little king of the Habsburg family, Ladislaus, the "posthumous son", was very panicked by the Ottoman invasion to the west and angrily accused Hunyadi of acting on his own and causing trouble.

Due to their personality, the Hunyadi family had very bad popularity in the Hungarian Kingdom, and the entire court was almost full of one-sided accusations and insults.

János Hunyadi was so angry that he stormed out and announced that he would fight the powerful enemy alone. He gathered troops in his territory and tightened his control over Serbia.

On December 1455, 12, under the strong military pressure of the Ottoman Empire, some pro-Hungarian nobles in northern Serbia issued a statement inviting Hunyadi to enter Serbia to fight against the westward invasion of Mehmed II.

Since the troops had not yet arrived, Hunyadi decided to take a defensive stance for the time being, taking Nandor White Castle under his own control and sending his eldest son Laszlo Hunyadi to guard it.

This sturdy fortress is located at the junction of the Danube and Sava rivers. It was once the old capital of the Kingdom of Serbia. It controls the important gateway from the Balkan Mountains to the Great Hungarian Plain and guards the southern gate of the Kingdom of Hungary. It has been a battleground for military strategists since ancient times.

In addition to the Nandor White Fort, this white city has another name that is widely known to the world.

Belgrade.

(End of this chapter)