Page:Great Men and Famous Women Volume 1.djvu/214

 I'M SOLDIERS AND SAILORS JOHN HUNIADES* BY PROFESSOR A. VAMBRY (1388-1456) OF his grandfather we do not know even the name ; his father was a Wallach, a common soldier ; yet he himself was the greatest of Hungarian heroes, the Grand Marshal, and later on the " Gov- ernor" or Regent of Hungary; and his Son king of that country. At the present day, in the age of democracy, such rapid elevation is no such rare phenomenon, but in the aristocratic middle ages it was really a miracle, one that points to exceptional circumstances and an exceptional man. In Europe at that time the circum- stances were indeed exceptional. A new power pulsating with youthful life had arrived from somewhere in the interior of Asia with the intention of conquering the world. This power was the Turk not merely a single nation, but a whole group of peoples clustered round a nation, inspired by one single idea which urged them ever forward. "There is no God but God, and Mohammed is the Apostle of God." The Mohammedan flood already beat upon the bounds of Catholic Christen- dom, in the forefront of which stood Hungary. Hungary's king, Sigismund, was able for a moment in 1 396 to unite the nations of Europe against the com- mon danger, but the proud array of mail-clad knights were swept away like chaff before the steady ranks of the janissaries. And herewith began the long series of desolating inroads into Hungary, for the Turk was wont to suck the blood of the nation he had marked down as his prey. He took the country by surprise, secretly, suddenly, like a summer storm, appearing in overwhelming numbers, burning, murdering, robbing, especially, men in the hopes of a rich ransom, or children whom they might bring up as Moham- medans and janissaries. This body, the flower of the Turkish armies, owed its origin for the most part to the Christian children thus stolen from their parents and their country. This infantry of the janissaries was the first standing army in Europe. Living constantly together under a common discipline, like the inmates of a cloister, they rushed blindly forward to the cry of " God and his Prophet " like some splendid, powerful wild beast, eager for prey. The Turkish Copyright. 1^04. hv Selmar Hess.