Vlad the Impaler Chapter 23

 The Fall and Rise of Radu

23.

“Lord Vlad III, I come in to respond to your letters.” The King of Hungary met the Lord in the manor of a boyar. “Let us rejoice and discuss the issue of Wallachia.”

The discussion with the King was to take several weeks, with the King attending to other matters there. The King did not agree or disagree with any matters but kept the discussion going then. Vlad was becoming impatient and desired action. His patience was seen than in the later weeks but the King was ignoring the tantrums.

“I don’t want wine and food. I want blood.” Vlad was reported to have said that and it reached the King’s ears. Unknown to Lord Vlad, the King had planned the arrest of the Lord. He offered Vlad a retreat to Rucar.

“I hear the scenery is nice.” The King told Lord Vlad. “Go there and I will see you in a few days. Meanwhile, your army can rest here. Food is aplenty.”

Vlad did as per the request of the King, and rode to Rucar with his guards and Janus.

“I don’t trust the King. He may be sending you to a trap.” Janus cautioned the Lord.

“I know. If death was to come to me, then let it be.” Vlad told his friend. He was intercepted on the road by the Czech mercenary; John Jiskra of Brandy’s. The Czech condottiere entered the service of Ladislaus and fought against the marauding Czech Hussite bandits in Upper Hungary with little success.

In 1457 he assisted in the arresting and execution of Ladislaus Hunyadi and helped to fight the ensuing rebellion after the execution. When the younger Hunyadi brother Matthias Corvinus proclaimed king after the death of Ladislaus the Posthumous, Jiskra first supported him thanks to the mediation of George of Poděbrady

“John Jiskra, are you to offer me an escort?” Janus was the one who greeted the other. He noticed the men brought by the other outnumbered his own. He knew the mercenary as untrustworthy and was swayed by the ducats in offer.

“I came to do better. If Lord Vlad III was to follow me peacefully, all will be resolved.” John Jiskra did not mince his words. “Resist and ----”

Vlad was not to be taken captive had turned his mount. Janus saw the action and called for the others to assist the Lord.

“Protect the Lord.” Janus drew out his sword and charged at the mercenary. John Jiskra rushed to meet the other. The swords clashed against the shields when both men met in the middle. Janus saw two riders have passed him to pursue his Lord.

“Protect the Lord!” Janus called out. “Let ---”

His roar was silenced when he saw the salvo of arrows sail past him. Half of his riders had turned to assist Vlad leaving their back exposed to the archers. The arrow brought them down but the Lord was away.

“Regroup and support the Lord,” Janus called out while he deflected the attack by the mercenary leader. He saw his riders were confused then and more went down by the arrows. Vlad’s escape was cut short by the group of mercenaries affiliated with John Jiskra. Vlad once again turned his mount but all his avenue of escape was blocked.

“Flee, my Lord.” Janus rode up to Vlad after he ignored the mercenary leader. It was then he caught the arrow in the back of his right shoulder. He was wounded in the defense of the Lord but the army of mercenaries deployed archers and the lancers took to the attack. His remaining riders were cut down by the mercenaries and both Janus and Vlad were cornered.

“Ride, my Lord.” Janus’s call was ignored by the Lord. “I will cover you.”

“We surrender, Janus,” Vlad told his companion. “If the King wants my head, he will have it.”

“Do you yield, Lord Vlad?” John Jiskra looked to the deposed Lord.

“Will my Lord be killed?” Janus held captive asked of his Lord.

“Lord Vlad was to be taken to Bucharest.

The news of his capture infuriated the Pope then who entrusted the crusade to the Wallachian. The King fearing the Pope who could excommunicate him offered evidence of Vlad’s treachery.

“Lord Vlad III was in a conspiracy to topple the King of Hungary and the Church. He offered to take up the alliance with the Ottoman once more.” The Pope was told. “He conspired with the Vizier to allow the army to ride through Wallachia. And of Moldavia.”

“Lord Vlad III battled the Turks of recent.” The Pope was not convinced and sought clarification.

“He did and lost the war. To save himself, he allied once more to the Ottoman. He betrayed his own to save his own. He will be beheaded for his treason.” The King’s emissary produced the letter which was purported written by Lord Vlad III. The view of the Pope was swayed then and allowed for the beheading. The Saxons in the court applauded the beheading of Vlad III but there were appeals from others like the boyars.

In his change of mind, the Pope interceded and asked the King to imprison the Lord instead.

Lord Vlad was imprisoned in Belgrade instead and later to Visegrad for fourteen years.

During then, Wallachia was ruled by Radu. The younger brother of Vlad held his court well with the proper tributes to the Ottoman while he dined with the boyars on his land. Radu played his position well and kept both sides at a distance to avoid bloodshed. He also made peace with the Saxons and trade resumed.

It was not a period of peace for the influence Vlad was there. Radu had to attack the bastion of Vlad at the stronghold on the Arges River.

The Poenari Castle was the home of Vlad, and could only be accessed by climbing over a thousand concrete stairs. The castle is located on the plateau of Mount Cetatea, facing the west side of the Transfăgărășan, on a canyon formed on the Argeș River valley, close to the Făgăraș Mountains. The size and location of the castle made it difficult to conquer.

Radu besieged the castle and forced the loyalist there to surrender.

Vlad’s wife was there during the siege of his castle in 1462. The Turkish army surrounded Poienari Castle, led by Radu the Handsome.

“Send them a warning that I will invade the castle if they don’t surrender,” Radu told his archers. An archer shot an arrow through a window into Vlad's main quarters, with a message warning him that Radu's army was approaching.

The archer was a former servant of Vlad who sent the warning out of loyalty despite having converted to Islam to get out of enslavement by the Turks. Upon reading the message, Vlad's wife was upset that even at the last bastion, her lover’s brother will threaten them. She flung herself off the tower into a tributary of the Argeş River flowing below the castle. According to legend, she remarked that she "would rather have her body rot and be eaten by the fish of the Argeş than be led into captivity by the Turks."

Today, the tributary is called Râul Doamnei (the Lady's River). (https://www.newworldencyclopedia.org/entry/Vlad_III_the_Impaler#Main_reign_.281456.E2.80.9362.29)

That did not stop the Ottoman invasion. Ottoman Sipahi gained ground in the south of the Danube.

Radu fought the Battle of Soci against Stephen III, his future son-in-law, for possession of Chilia in Ukraine, an important port on the Danube, which brought him into conflict with Hungary and Wallachia. He besieged the town during the Ottoman invasion of Wallachia in 1462 but was seriously wounded during the siege. Two years later, he captured the town.

In 1473, Stephen stopped paying tribute (haraç) to the Ottoman sultan and launched a series of campaigns against Wallachia to replace its rulers – who had accepted Ottoman suzerainty – with his protégés. However, each prince who seized the throne with Stephen's support was soon forced to pay homage to the Sultan, and Radu was made the vassal there. Radu being the weaker foe was forced to return each time with the Ottoman army.

The battle expanded to Vaslui. It was fought between Stephen III of Moldavia and the Ottoman governor of Rumelia, Hadım Suleiman Pasha, where the Ottomans were defeated. The Moldavia Lord invaded Wallachia and Radu was forced to engage the invaders. Radu being the weaker foe was forced to abdicate four times in his reign but returned each time with the Ottoman army.

“The Wallachian is an extension of the Turks.” Stephen III wanted to topple Radu then.

The constant upheaval of the land forced the King of Hungary to look at Lord Vlad III once more.