Page:The Ballads of Marko Kraljević.djvu/31

 the Serbian Hercules are recorded, let us look for a little at the historical picture of his time. He lived at one of the great turning-points of history: the period of the Turkish irruption into Europe. It is a confused and confusing period, through the tangled mazes of which Gibbon is still the best guide.

In 1354, Suleiman, a son of the Emir Orkhan, occupied Gallipoli, the key of the Hellespont, and the forward sweep of Ottoman conquest had begun. The following year. Tsar Stepan Dushan, the maker and the Emperor of Great Serbia, left Prizren his capital and moved eastwards. It was his wish to be recognised as the champion of Christendom. Unfortunately he had failed to obtain either the whole-hearted support of the Pope at Avignon or the assistance of the Venetian fleet. He had just concluded a severe struggle with the King of Hungary and his Magyars, by whom he had been wantonly attacked. None the less, having reorganised his forces, he now pressed forward against the Turk with reasonable prospect of success. It is quite clear that, better than any of his contemporaries, he had grasped the significance of the advent of the invaders, and it was his present purpose to thrust them back into Asia, seize Constantinople from the hands of the effete Cantacuzenus and convert the city into the seat of government of a huge consolidated Slavonic Empire. Dushan was one of the great captains of his age, his plans were boldly yet carefully conceived, but when almost within sight of the goal the Serbian Emperor died a mysterious death. The succession passed to his young son Urosh, who proved utterly unable to control the disruptive elements in the State, and the imposing edifice reared by the father began to crumble to pieces under the son. The house was divided against itself and its fall was only a matter of time. Released from the compelling power of a master-spirit, the Serbs split up into