Page:A History of the Knights of Malta, or the Order of St. John of Jerusalem.djvu/234

208 territories that had been torn from their sway. To this demand Bajazet returned a peremptory refusal, accompanying his reply with the most insulting and offensive threats against his Tartar rival. The fiery nature of Timour was promptly aroused by the terms of Bajazet’s message. He therefore resolved to wreak a bitter vengeance upon the prince who had dared thus to oppose his views and arouse his wrath. A call to arms throughout his extended dominions was speedily obeyed in all quarters, and a vast force, composed of the various nations which acknowledged his sway, was speedily collected beneath his banners.

The first active operation of the war which then. began, was the siege of Sebasta, now Sivas, a powerful fortress in Cappadocia, the defence of which was conducted by Ortogul, a favourite son of Bajazet. The extreme strength of the place, and the powerful garrison within its walls, led that prince to consider that it would be an easy matter to detain Timour until his father should be in a position to advance to his support. Little, however, did he know the audacity and overpowering daring of his opponent. Neglecting all the ordinary routine of a siege, Timour hurled his wild hordes, in endless succession, against the ramparts, and by the sheer force of numbers, succeeded, after an almost incredible amount of slaughter, in forcing his way into the town. The whole of the defenders were at once put to the sword in the fury of the moment, Ortogul himself being one of the victims. The news of this, the first reverse which had fallen upon his arms, accompanied, as it was, by the loss of his favourite son, caused the most poignant grief and the liveliest anxiety to Bajazet. Hastily assembling his forces, he pushed rapidly forward to meet the enemy who had dealt him so cruel a blow. The hostile forces encountered each other near the town of Angora. The result of the desperate encounter that ensued was fatal to Bajazet; his army was cut to pieces and utterly annihilated, whilst he himself fell a prisoner into the hands of his foe. He remained in captivity, suffering the most cruel indignities, until his death, which occurred a few months later, and which was undoubtedly brought on by the keenness of his disappointment at the utter overthrow of all his projects.

The knights of Rhodes had now cause to lament the pro-