Page:Destruction of the Greek Empire.djvu/195

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SLIVNITZA : TEEATY OF SZEGEDIN 161 far and wide even among the Turks wherever they had stood for Murad. 1 The sultan suppressed the rising with his usual cruelty, treating the Turks as he had done the Christians. The successes of Hunyadi compelled Murad, and this for several reasons, to sue for peace. He sent an embassy to the Hungarian, but as the latter was awaiting new troops to pur- sue his campaign, he at first declined to treat, and sent Murad's delegates to Szegedin, then occupied by the king and the cardinal. Finding, however, that his reinforcements did not arrive, Hunyadi consented to retire and take part in the negotiations. The Turks on their side agreed to terms. Murad was to give up to George Brankovitch all the places in Serbia which he had captured, to allow Wallachia to be added to Hungary, to leave Scanderbeg in possession of Albania and Macedonia, and to give up the two lads whom he had blinded and the other hostages. Ladislaus and Hunyadi on the return of the latter to Hungary made a triumphal entry into Buda. Thirteen pashas, nine Turkish standards, and four thousand prisoners bore testimony to the success of the campaign. The mission from Murad had gone for- ward into Hungarian territory to complete the formalities of peace which had been agreed to at Szegedin. A formal p eace truce for ten years was concluded in June 1444 between ^ce^ted Murad and the king of Poland and Hungary and his allies. The treaty was not, however, signed by Hunyadi, who declared that he was only a subject. Each party swore that the army of his nation would not cross the Danube to attack the other. Ladislaus took the oath to this effect solemnly on the Gospels and Murad on the Koran. 2 The treaty of June 1444 thus solemnly ratified was almost immediately broken. 3 To the eternal disgrace of 1 I have followed here the version of Ducas (xxxii.). It is doubtful, however, whether this expedition into Caramania ought not to be placed a year earlier . See the authorities quoted by Muralt, p. 856.

  • Chal. vi. ; Ducas, xxxii. The latter states that Hunyadi refused either to

sign or to swear. 3 The treaty was made in June. According to Muralt, it was broken in the same month. If so, the account of Ducas is incorrect. Murad was informed M