20-24 septembrie 2009 - Biblioteca Metropolitana Bucuresti

About “The Notes of the Yanychar” 593any direct citation from the Qur’an, and all his paraphrases of Muhammad’swords are very far from what is said in the Holy Book. Moreover, he turnsout to be in possession of information concerning dervishes’ meetings,which were closed not only for infidels, but also for uninitiated Muslims. Avery important biographic fact is that Konstantin was appointed in chargeof the garrison (numbering 50 janychares and 30 Turkish soldiers) of thefortress Zavechai in Bosnia, which could hardly have happened, had hebeen a Christian. In 1463 the fortress surrendered to the Hungarians.The message of “The Notes…” lies in calling for the joint struggleof the entire Christian world against the “vile”, as he labels the Turks. Inthe preface he addresses the reader with a prayer setting the mood for thewhole book: “Hasten to help your brethren-Christians and drive off the vileenemies”.Konstantin puts stress on the fact that the rumors about the invincibilityof the Turks were grossly exaggerated. He writes: “The vile are brave andcourageous not in themselves, but owing to our discord and hatred”. Hecondemns the dissent among Christians. All in all, the detailed informationabout the system of government in the Turkish state, the organization ofthe army and its ammunition, the finance and land owning is given withonly hope to help those who were going to fight with the Turks. He givesmany words of practical advice on how to wage war with the Turks,recommending, among other things, to hold their infantry on the field asmuch as possible and, when attacking, to lay siege to their cities and townsand to keep them in this state for over two hours, to shoot arrows at camelsthus making them rush onto their own troops, to choose light rather thanheavy weapon, to give preference to swords over spears etc. Konstantindemonstrates profound knowledge of the administrative system of theempire, he cites a lot of facts about wages and salaries of both military andcivil population.Konstantin negatively characterizes the Hungarian experience infighting against the Turkish expansion, expressing regrets that neitherthe Pope nor the emperor of the Roman Empire managed to lend theirsupport being indifferent to the interests and protection of the Christianworld. More than that, he blames the Pope and the Emperor for arousingdiscord (sowing the seeds of discord) in the Christian world. According toKonstantin, there is only one ruler who can defeat the Turks – the king ofPoland Olbrecht. He depicts the Bukovinski military operation of Olbrechtin 1497 as an event of paramount importance. It is well known, though,that the operation intended to win back the towns of Kili and Belgorod onthe Black Sea was not glorious at all and ended in full retreat of the Polish