THE VVARRES BETWEENE THE Christians and the Turke.

THe yeere 1592, Ha­zan, Bassa of Bosse­na, beeing Generall of the Turkes, go­ing out of Bossena into Croatia, so­dainly besieged, & within a while toke the towne and Ca­stell of Wihitz, the which had now 150. yeeres bene a strong and sure defence for the Christians in that Countrie against the Turkes, who after the taking thereof, in fewe dayes built a blocke-house and a bridge a litle way of, vpon the riuer Calapis: which being done, they [Page] burned and spoiled all the Countrie ouer between Calapis and Sauus. This soddaine assaulte of the Turke, stroke great feare into the minds of the Au­strians and Germanes. But Thomas Erdeud the Ban of Sclauonia, that hee might defend his owne Countrie Thuropoly from these inuasions, muste­ring his owne forces, and getting certaine aide of the Austrians, and other his neighbours, incamped himselfe right ouer against the forte of Patirnia, which (as earst I sayd) the Turkes had lately build­ed with the bridge. There he expected further sup­ply of men and munition, from the kingdomes of Sclauonia and Croatia. Which things Hazan Bas­sa being certified of, by a trechour, a familiar of the Ban aforesayd, retired by the neerest waie, and so­dainly assalted the christians, who as yet knew not well what the number & furniture of the enemies were. He came on the rereward with a huge pow­er, & the horse men being put to flight, he slaughte­red the infanterie, and chiefly the Austrians, and so became master of their ordinance.

Then marched he forward without impeach­ment thorough all Thuropoly, and alonge the most populous bankes of Calapis and Sauus, where hee gaue vnto death, and vnto bondage worse than death about foure thousand men. Hee thought also to haue beene master of the castle of Sissek, scituate at the concurrent of the two riuers Calapis and Sauus, because it was a fit place for passage into Austria, Carinthia, and Carniota, a [Page] thing which had sometimes afore bene attempted, but then hee was nobly repulsed by the rare worth of Nicholas Miccatius the gouernour, and the sin­gular valour of the garrison souldiers, so that after a fewe idle assaultes, hee was forced to giue it o­uer.

In Summer this present yere 1593. Aazan Bas­sa, with certaine of the Sangiacbeges, whereof hee hath nine vnder his commaunde, returning to the besiege of Sissek, first razing Treschina, a castle of the Bishop of Zagabria, came before it about the beginning of Iune, & hauing made many breaches by continuall battery night & daie, there was now no hope of safetie for the beleaguered, vnlesse God beyond all thought, had succoured them. For al­though Casars troupes, which were now mustered of the Austrians, and the borderers thereabouts, were much fewer than the Turkes, yet the Ban of Sclauonia, and Auers Pergius, and Rupertus E­kenberger, & diuers other nobles, amongst whom was Melchior Reder, Baron of Silesia, a man fa­mous both for learning and martiall affaires, ha­uing the leading of them.

When they behelde and sawe the Christi­ans besieged, and brought to such distresse, with heroike worth, and resolute courage, bringing first their armie into Sissec, they sallyed out on the Turkes, who had made a bridge ouer Calapis, and pitched theyr Tentes both on this and that side of the Riuer: they put them to flight that [Page] were on this side of the riuer, & making themselues masters of a parte of the bridge, they cut it downe, so that this part of the Turkes armie coulde not re­tire to the other, they still perished, and driue the retiring Turkes euen to the riuer, who rather com­mitted themselues to the mercie of the water, than to the mercie of the victours. The other that were on the other side of the water, quite amazed by this slaughter of their fellowes, committed their safetie to their feete. There were drowned in the riuer, Hazan Bassa aforesaid, with his brother, and Sinam Beg or president of Clista, the sonne of Amurathes the Turkes sister, and Memy Beg or president of Hertzegouin, which was the chiefe Citie of highe Bossina, sometime a Dukedome, as Bagnia Luca, the seate of Bassa, was the Metropolis of the kingdome of base Bossina.

Amurath the Turke was so grieued with this o­uerthrowe, wherein his sisters sonne, and the Bassa of Bossinas selfe, with many other valiaunt men, were either slaine or drowned in Calapis, that part­ly through the wofull lamentations of his sister, who at his feet desired reuenge of her slain sonne, and partly by the perswasion of Sinam, Bassa, and partly for the disdaine and griefe of the aforesayde ouerthrowe, hee presently denounced open warre vpon Rodolph the Emperor, and made Mahumet, Bassa of Temes warre, Deputy of Bossena & Cro­atia, with authoritie to prosecute the warre, and caused the Deputie of Greece to aide him with an [Page] armie, and commanded the Bassa of Buda and the rest, to put garrisons in the castells of the frontries, and to be at the command of Sinam Basshau of Ve­sirian, whom he sent as his lieutenant generall into Hungarie.

Now the Christians after the Turkes ouerthrow at Sisek, taking respite for two moneths, began at last, though too late, to besiege the castle Petrinia, neere to Hrastowiz vpon Calapis, which the Turks had fortified the yere before: for hearing by a Turk a spie (who came voluntary vnto them, and so at his pleasure went a waie) that the Deputie of Greece marched thether, though the Turkes in the Castle besieged were in great distresse, wanting pouder, & consulting to come to a parlie of surrendering the holde, they raised their siege and departed. When this fame of the Turkish warre, renued and pro­claimed in Constantinople and Buda, was bruited in Germanie, the yeerely pension which had not beene paide rwo yeeres together, was without de­lay, the first daie of August, carried from Vienna to Gamorrha. But presently newes came that Sinan Basshau the Generall, marched into Hungary nere to Buda, & that the forces of the deputie of Greece which were alreadie come into Croatia, had not onelie raised the siege at Petrinia, but had al­so wonne Sisck, and had cruelly massacred and put to death all the garrison souldiers, among whome were some Germanes, and had throwen their carcases into the riuer Calapis, and that after­wards [Page] passing ouer Sauus, euen to Sagabria, spoyl­ing & burning as they went, they had taken about fiue thousand men, whome they made theyr mise­rable bond slaues, & that the siege of Sagabria was expected euerie houre. Therefore they thought it best to take some other course to withdrawe the e­nemie, and to vndertake a better courage of war­like defence. Therefore there went post to Prage Frances Nadastus, the noble Duke of Hungarie, & Deputie of Iaurin, Ferdinard Earle of Hardec, and diuerse others of Austria, Carniola, Carinthia, and other places, who did aggrauate the greatnesse of the danger by reason of the Turkes, & complained that vnlesse they had present aides, they shoulde of necessitie be constrained to yeeld vnto them. The Emperour therefore gaue commandement to mu­ster the Bohemians, Siluesians, Moracians, Austri­ans, and other of his hereditarie princes, for seruice on horseback and on foot, and to augment the gar­risons in the limitanie holds, and sent Embassadors to the electors of the Empire, for the holding of a parliament at Rauenspurg, for the vniting of the forces of the Empire, to with-holde the Turkish crueltie from Germanie, and from other partes of Christendome. He hired also great forces of horse and foote men against the next spring, because Bas­shaw Sinam hauing taken Wespria and Palatta, threatned that he would without faile march into Vienna.

Ferdinand Samaria, and George Andrew of [Page] Hofkirchen were gouernors of Westpriu, and had a garrison of twelue thousand soldiers. Sinam Bas­sa laide siege to it the two and twentith of Septem­ber: he made three skonces vpon the high waies to Raba and Palatta, in the night he cast his trenches, and raised twelue barricados on them, and began to batter the wall with the Canon, and slue the ma­ster of the Ordenaunce of Westpriu with a shot. They did little that daie, and therfore the next daie they intrenched themselues neerer to the wall, and from sixe seuerall places so thundred vppon them, that almost no man could stand in safetie either on the wals or in the fortresses. Then after certaine as­saultes to scale the wall, they were at last repulsed with a large hail of the muskettiers. The next mor­ning had no sooner giuen light to the fourth daye of the siege, but the Turks fiercely renued the bat­trie, & hauing scaled the wals, they began there to aduance their colours, but our souldiers put them to the foile. Being so defeated, they threw balles of wilde fire on the gate, and on the wooden houses adioyning, and razed the wals neere to the gate, e­uen vnto the grounde: and giuing fresh onsets a­gainst the gate and the castle, and other places, they so discouraged the gouernor and the souldiers, that being now desperate to defend the towne any lon­ger, because there appeared no hope of succor from the gouernours of Raba and Pappa: the night fol­lowing they secretly issued out of the citie, & soght to saue themselues by flight: but the Turks percei­uing [Page] it, pursued them as they fled: many of them they slue, and tooke Ferdinand Samaria the gouer­nor himselfe, and some other prisoners.

There escaped to Pappa in safetie about fortie Germanes, and foure and fiftie Hungarians. On Saint Michaels euen the Turkes besieged Palatta, where two Hungarians that ranne awaie to them, are recorded to haue told them whence the castle might best bee battered. But whereas the Bashau hauing sent letters into the castle, wherein hee per­swaded the garrison souldiers which were foure hundred to yeelde the Castle vnto him, sith it should be a bootlesse matter to make resistance, & promised them life and safe conduit if they would departt hauing voluntarily surrendred it, they had in deede safe conduite for one mil [...], but after­wardes at a signe giuen, they were almost all mur­thered, so that of all, only foure & twentie escaped.

The thinges which followed had better suc­cesse. For when intelligence was giuen by the cap­tiues and the spies which Basshau Sinam by reason of the winter nowe approching, had disposed his armes to their winteringes, and that himselfe reuo­ked by Amurath, was gone poast to Constantino­ple, because the Persians and the Georgians had certaine newe complots in hand, Ferdinand Earle of Hardec, Generall of the armie of base Hunga­rie, ioyning to his, the Armies of Peter Husan go­uernour of Pappa, and of Nadastus Earle of Serin, and of Palfius, and other Captaines, marched to­wardes [Page] Albie-royall, hauing some hope to get the suburbes thereof, and the house of the gouernor of the Citie, and the demaines. He therefore sent Hu­sar Peter to the further side of the Citie, with com­mandement that at midnight he should assault the suburbes, at what time hee himselfe would giue a signe, that he also made an assault on the other side, that so they might more easily ouercome them, whome they did assaile in the suburbs, their minds and forces beeing so distract, and Husar tooke and burnt one of the suburbs, but the Turks defending the Citie, our men thought best, beeing destitute both of victual & munition, to forsake it: and when as they had scarse retired two miles, the next daie word was brought, that the Turkes in great troups followed them, and were determined to set vppon them as they fled. Thereupon our men staie, pause vpon the point, marshall the battell, and beard the enemy to his teeth, fighting valiantly, and God stri­king amazement into the enemies heart, they turne the Ianizaries into flight, and obtain a noble victo­rie the four and twentith of October, according to the olde stile. The Aga or Captaine of the Ianiza­ries being taken prisoner, reported that the Bassa of Buda disswaded them from fight, but that at last he was constrained to go out to fight by the importu­nitie and threates of the souldiers. It is thought that hee hauing receiued three woundes with musket shot, died afterwardes at Buda. There were in this skirmish besides the Basshau of Buda, the Sanzach [Page] or gouernour of Albie-roiall, of Strigon, of Pestis, of Fiukirks, of Moach, of Fillek, of Newstair, of Zes­chen, of Copau, of Zolnock, of Zegedin, &c. But I cannot tell whether anie of them were kilde or no. Ferdinand Earle of Hardec after this victorie at­chieued, returned to Raba in Iaurin.

In high Hungarie, Frederike Baron of Tieffen­bach, by force wonne from the Turkes the castle of Zabacca, which they had fortified, where resting onely one daie, he brought his armie before Tillek a famous castle and towne, the seate of the Turkes Deputie, and two miles from the place aforesayd. There on the twelfth of Nouember he put to flight the Turkish armie, which was raised of the Coun­tries adiacent, and came thether to raise the siege. The next daie they raised their rampires agaynst the towne, and began to batter it, but the Turkes themselues burnt that, and abandoning the base skonce, the garrison souldiers about eight hundred betooke themselues to the gard of the high castle a­lone, but at last with condition of their liues, they yeelded it by composition. The fame of this sur­render, caused the Turkes which held the castles of Diun and Hamaske neere thereto, to forsake theyr holdes, and vnassalted to flie awaie. Then was the armie brought before the towne and castle of Zet­chen another holde of the Sangiachag, and wonne it with certaine of her castles adioyning, of Holloc, Samos, and Plauesteine: which the garrisons wil­lingly forsaking lefte, to defend themselues agaynst [Page] the approching enemie. Towardes the ende of the moneth, Nogard (so they commonly call it) and Sangiacaf, a famous towne became ours, and cer­taine Turkes of Albie-roiall bringing a new Depu­ty into the castle of Palatte newly surprised, were in December by Huzar Peter valiantly put to the worse. But sith the time of the yeere was so vnfit, & the continuall raine made the waies so deepe, that their ordinance could not cōueniently be haled frō place to place, and that the armye could not indure to lie incamped anie longer, they were on both sides inforced to go to their wintering places. In the meane time Sinam the Bassa of Vesirium was earnestly expected at Buda, but he beeing gone to Constantinople, the deputy of Greece is recorded to haue come to Buda at last with a certaine power not of greatest importance.