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For whom the bell tolls at noon

For whom the bell tolls at noon

For whom the bell tolls at noon by alitta2
For whom the bell tolls at noon by alitta2

Description

Description
alitta2
I haven't submitted any new pic for a while, but now here's my new one, that I made for the 555th anniversary of the Battle of Belgrade (the capital of Serbia, which was called Nándorfehérvár that time), which ended on 22 July 1456.
The picture is a portrait of János Hunyadi, the main general of the Hungarian forces in the battle.

About its history: After having occupied Constantinople in 1453 and most of the Balkanic region up to 1456, the Ottoman empire was planning to capture quickly the city of Belgrade, whereby it could be possible to get into the inner territories of the Kingdom of Hungary and organise later sieges against Vienna and Western Europe. Because of that, it was clear if the city falls, so falls Europe. The main powers of that time, such as France, England and Spain were all weakened because of several conflicts (just think about the Hundred years war), so they were unable to send additional forces to the city. Only an army of peasants and yeomans led by a Franciscan friar called Giovanni da Capistrano could arrive to the aid of the defenders of the city. The defence of Belgrade was led by an experienced general, János Hunyadi (who was also the Regent Governor of the Kingdom of Hungary between 1446 and 1453) and his brother-in-law Mihály Szilágyi and his eldest son László.
With the aid of Capistrano's army, the local Serbs and other European crusaders and mercenaries (mainly Polish, Germans and Czechs), the Hungarians could manage to build a force of 25-30,000 men. However, it was still outnumbered against the army of approximately 70,000 men, 28 cannons and 200 galleys of the Ottomans led by Mehmed II.
Before the siege started, Pope Callixtus III ordered every christian churches of Europe to ring the bell every day at noon for calling the believers to pray for the defenders of the city.
The first Ottoman attack against the city was on July 4, and others had followed by time. Altough the heavy losses on both sides and the ruined city walls, the Ottomans couldn't capture the castle of Belgrade after all. According to a legend, a (probably fictional)Hungarian Knight called Titusz Dugovics grabbed an Ottomans soldier, who tried to plant the Sultan's flag on top of a bastion, and together fell from the wall to the ground.
Although the significant victory of the Christian forces, plague broke out in the city. Both János Hunyadi and Giovanni da Capistrano died because of the illness.

The victory at Belgrade stopped the Ottomans from further invasions against Hungary for the following 70 years, mainly thanks to János Hunyadi's son, king Matthias Corvin (raigned from 1457 to 1490), who had made a peace treaty with the Ottomans and which was renewed several times.

General Info

General Info
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Category Real People » Historical
Date Submitted
Views 610
Favorites... 3
Vote Score 3
Comments 8
Media Other digital art
Time Taken
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Comments

Comments (8)

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Saltwater on September 24, 2015, 11:41:41 PM

Saltwater on
SaltwaterGreat Warrior!

Anyone who can stop and defeat the ottomans, the sarrazins and other wicked devils of this kind has my gratitude and admiration!!! 

alitta2 on September 26, 2015, 9:16:36 PM

alitta2 on
alitta2Thanks much!

Today he's known as one of the greatest warriors of Hungarian history, as many things were named after him (from liqeures to streets) and he has numerous sculptures in the country for his honour, the most notable one in the vicinity of the Castle of Buda, which actually inspired me this picture as well. 

Saltwater on September 26, 2015, 10:13:37 PM

Saltwater on
SaltwaterThe veneration Magyar people give to him is very well deserved.

And BTW, as for recent days, congratulations to the leaders of Hungary and Poland who dared to say NO!
to the invasion of their country by hords of migrants of the third world!!!

Falconlobo on July 22, 2011, 6:53:08 AM

Falconlobo on
Falconlobonice armor eyes and sword

alitta2 on July 25, 2011, 2:00:09 AM

alitta2 on
alitta2Thanks^^

Falconlobo on July 25, 2011, 7:12:11 AM

Falconlobo on
Falconlobonp^^

WH2007 on July 23, 2011, 1:18:28 AM

WH2007 on
WH2007Nice drawing and historical info. There aren't many good books about Hungary's history in Polish so such informations are hard for me to find. I'm quite interested in history of Eastern Europe, especially the Hungary, Czech Republic and Slovakia.

alitta2 on July 25, 2011, 2:08:22 AM

alitta2 on
alitta2Thanks! At least I could share some new infos :) It's a shame that our parlament didn't commemorate this victory, even it was its 555th anniversary. Well, okay, officialy the date was pronounced a memorial day, but except that, nothing else was done (I mean official commemoration or celebration) >:(