Ottoman Threat and Crusading on the Eastern Border of Christendom during the 15th Century

Liviu Pilat, Ph.D. (2007), "Alexandru Ioan Cuza" University, is Professor of Medieval History at that university. He has published monographs and articles on various aspects of Central and Eastern Europe political history in the fifteenth century.Ovidiu Cristea, Ph. D. (2003), Institute of History "Nicolae Iorga", is senior researcher at the same centre of historical research. He has published monographs and articles concerning the Venetian presence in the Black Sea and the Mediterranean in the fourteenth to sixteenth centuries, on the Later Crusades and on the political history of late medieval Wallachia and Moldavia.

• AcknowledgementsList of Maps and IllustrationsIntroductionThe SourcesOttoman Threat and CrusadingFrontier Societies and the Eastern Border of ChristendomCrusading, Information and Propaganda1 Crusade and Commercial Hegemony in the Black Sea from the Fourth Crusade to the Ottoman ConquestThe Fourth Crusade and its Consequences in the Black Sea AreaThe Genoese Hegemony in the Black Sea, the Venetian Reaction and the CrusadeThe Hungarian—Venetian Rivalry and the Ottoman ThreatFrom the “War of Tenedos” to the Crusade of NicopolisKilia as an Outpost in Hungary’s Crusading Projects2 The Eastern Border and the Struggle for Supremacy in the Northern Black SeaOttoman Threat, Christian Solidarity and Political RivalryThe Eastern Border in Sigismund of Luxembourg’s PlansOttoman Threat and Crusading in Jagiello’s PolicyWitold’s Ambition to Control North-Western Black SeaA Failed Anti-Ottoman CampaignThe Eastern Border and the Teutonic KnightsSchismatics, Heretics and Crusaders3 The Union of Florence, Crusade and Ottoman Hegemony in the Black SeaThe Fail of the Union in Eastern EuropeCrusade Plans and Political ContradictionsJohn Hunyadi, Kilia and the Fall of ConstantinopleThe Eastern Border of Christendom, Mehmed II and the Byzantine LegacyCrusading Versus Economic Interests4 Crusade and Political Propaganda in the Last Years of Mehmed IIThe Crusade of Pope Sixtus IVA Schismatic CrusaderDiplomatic Actions of VeniceA Great Christian VictoryMatthias Corvinus PropagandaA Plan of the Annihilation of Mehmed II and the Fall of CaffaMoldavia the “Gateway of Christendom”The Campaign of Mehmed II in MoldaviaOne Battle, More VictoriesA New Crusade Plan: Reconquest of CaffaThe Crusade of Otranto and its Eastern Implications5 The Eastern Border of Christendom and the Ottoman Conquest of Black SeaThe Ottoman Campaign of 1484 and Venetian IntelligenceOttoman Threat AscendingOttoman Pressure and Crusading in PolandA Failed Crusade ExpeditionThe Eastern Border and the Congress of RomeCoalition against Jagiellons6 The Crusade against Ottomans and the Political Backdrop in East-Central Europe at the End of the Fifteenth CenturyThe “Crusade” of Jan OlbrachtCrusade Rhetoric and Political PropagandaCrusade Rumours in Venice and Ottoman PropagandaNew Plans of CrusadeBetween Crusade and the Defence of the Greek-Orthodox FaithDiscussions on Crusade in MuscovyThe PeaceConclusionBibliographyIndex

"There is no area of medieval history more obscure than Moldavia and Wallachia. Consequently, this book will be heartily welcomed by specialists in Polish, Romanian, Hungarian, and Turkish history. The authors are thoroughly familiar with the mass of materials in multiple languages, both in original sources and the most recent publications. [...] Summing Up: Highly recommended." W. L. Urban, Monmouth College (IL), Choice, vol. 55 no. 10,(June 2018).''The freshness of the volume stems from its angle of investigation. [...] The region of the Black Sea has, until recently, been much neglected as a theater of crusading. Pilat and Cristea bring forward new ideas to bring current research on the later Crusades to life. They make one realize that crusading in the fifteenth century was not restricted to the anti-Ottoman struggle undertaken by Hunyadi and Skanderbeg, or the steadfast efforts of Pius II or John of Capistrano, but involved much more. In their pluralist interpretation this area is a genuine theater of crusading and should rightfully be included in the concept of a universal propugnaculum in the minds of contemporaries, even though this area has often been overshadowed in historical scholarship by other, more dominant spheres of crusading research. [...] The volume puts forward new considerations regarding the complexity of the frontiers of Christendom and will be most useful to researchers and as an educational resource in the university, making the history of the medieval Pontic region more accessible to an international readership''. Attila Bárány in Speculum vol. 94, no. 4. (October 2019). ''The Ottoman Threat and Crusading on the Eastern Border of Christendom is a paragon of primary research. Moreover, the authors seem to have read every relevant secondary article and book. Their English prose is proper and the book features color illustrations,footnotes, a bibliography and index. The volume will provide a valuable reference for a broad range of scholars''. Lucien Frary, in Jahrbücher für Geschichte Osteuropas 8 (2018).