VLAD’S SEQUEL

Keeping Vlad the Impaler in custody undoubtedly meant a considerable wasting of military talent and resources. After the brutal treatment of Ottoman envoys and later the daring and repeated attacks against the sultan himself, Matthias Corvinus sacrificed Vlad for his immediate goals. Seeking peace with the Ottomans in order to deal with domestic troubles and the competition with the Holy Roman Empire, Matthias sent Jan Giskra, the commander of his Black Army, to capture Vlad and take him to prison. However, the Wallachian leader was a very special prisoner in the Visegrád fortress. He was presented to foreign envoys as a bizarre attraction through his reputation as both sadistic tyrant and fearless war hero.

Twelve years later, in 1474, the situation changed dramatically. After having crushed his long-time adversary Uzun Hasan in Eastern Anatolia, the Ottoman sultan Mehmed II was now free to re-open the offensive in the west. As the Ottoman raided deep into Hungarian territory sacking the city of Oradea, Corvinus had no choice but to call his troops for a renewed bloody struggle. He needed every commander with solid combat experience against the to inflict serious damages on the enemy’s economic infrastructure, including the dependencies of Hungarian border fortifications. The less revenue the Hungarians could draw from the surrounding areas, the more costly it became for the king to pay and supply the castle garrisons and other auxiliary units, since supplies had to be transported from far away.