Download - Facultatea de Științe Socio-Umane - Universitatea ...

From Every Side Armed with a Cross Sign. A Crusader’s (?) Sword from …
mentioning is also the crusade of Nicopolis in 1396, widely regarded as the last largescale
crusade of the Middle Ages, which failed to stop the advance of the victorious
Ottomans led by Bayezid I (1360-1403) 87 . The crusader army was composed of allied
forces from the Kingdom of Hungary led by their king Sigismund I, France, the
Knights Hospitaller, and the Republic of Venice, as well as smaller contingents and
individuals from elsewhere in Europe 88 . The Nicopolis was the first battle where the
Ottomans encountered a Western European army and it was a last unified engagement
of western troops fought against the Turks for more than 100 years 89 .
We should also remember about Templars 90 , Teutonic Knights and Hospitallers 91
houses in medieval Hungary, which can be traced to the midd-12 th cent. These orders
very strongly cultivated crusades traditions, also giving donations for the support of
the Holy Land as well as sending their brethren and recruits to Palestine. After the
dissolution of the Templars at the beginning of the 14 th cent. their possessions were
secured by the Hospitallers 92 . Most of the St. John’s order’s brethren from houses in
Hungary came from Italy and despite large number of local members of the Order, the
Hungarian noblemen did not participate in the leadership of the Hospitallers 93 . Even
though these orders used different kinds of signs 94 , they also clearly referred to the
crusades symbolism. The only order which used the Jerusalem cross as its emblem
was the Order of the Holy Sepulchre (Ordo Equestris Sancti Sepulcri
Hierosolymitani), which was founded by Godfrey of Bouillon. At the end of the 15 th
cent. this Order, which also had its houses in the Kingdom of Hungary, was
incorporated to the Hospitallers by the decision of Pope Innocent VIII 95 .
In the light of historical records, the origins of the sword from the Budapest
museum collection can be explained by two aspects: a political - as the Angevin
dynasty’s royal claims for the crown of the Kingdom of Jerusalem (maybe also the
Kingdom of Naples?), and an ideological one - connected with the crusades idea. This
last assumption seems more probable in the recent state of research. As weapons may
have been in use for a long time, it cannot be taken for granted that the sword actually
belonged to a crusader. This is, however, strongly suggested by its ornament which
refers to the crusade symbolism.
87 Veszprémy 2001.
88 Atiya 1978; de Vries 1999.
89 de Vries 2003.
90 Stossek 2001.
91 Hunyadi 2001; Hunyadi 2007.
92 Borchardt 2001, p. 239.
93 Hunyadi 2001, pp. 261-263.
94 Engel 1902; Goodall 1959; Nickel 1989.
95 de Gennes 1995.
61