As soon as I am informed that you are installed there, I will come to you with the remainder of our people. I wish to subjugate the whole of
Hungary, followed by the kingdom of
Germany. It is my destiny, so say the sorcerers of my country and the diviners of
Egypt, to become lord and king of the entire world. The place I would be most willing to visit would be
Rome, to experience its grandeur, for in ancient times it was part of our heritage and our predecessors have conquered and governed it several times. I wish to wear the crown there and I shall lead with me the
Caliph of Baghdad,
Timur of Tatary and the
sultan of Babylon, who will crown me there.'
Those who were kneeling before
Murad replied that they would carry out his wishes and took their leave of him with sixty thousand
Turks. Among them were twenty thousand of the most able, valiant and best armed in all
Turkey who formed the vanguard. They marched until they came to the mountains of
Lazar where they found no resistance at the entrance to the pass. The vanguard entered there, led by the
duke of Mecca and the
duke of Dumyat, and passed by the
count of Lazar's ambush with many more of their men besides. When the
count and the
Hungarians saw that they had their foe, they put labourers to work cutting down trees and great firs, throwing them across the paths. They blocked the way through the pass so comprehensively that there was no way through, and no-one at all could break through.
Thirty thousand
Turks were trapped there and came under such ferocious attack from the
Hungarians from either side of the woods that all of them remained there: not a single man was spared and the two dukes were slain. There were some who thought to save themselves by diving into the woods, but to no avail, for they were hunted down and killed; not one
Turk escaped. The rearguard turned back since they could not advance through the trees which had been cut down in front of them to block the way. So they returned to
Murad and recounted to him the great calamity that had befallen his men. The news left
Murad deeply preoccupied and he called his council to identify the best course of action, for he had lost the flower of his chivalry."
To the
king of France and to those of his
uncles who were present, and several great barons of
France who willingly heard him speak, the
king of Armenia explained,
"This defeat greatly hindered
Murad Baqir in his progress, and since then he has always feared the Christians. Beforehand he knew nothing of them, nor had he ever engaged in war with them, except with the
sultan, the
Admiral of Mecca,
Timur of Tatary and the
king of Thrace, for whom he is much like an overlord. There is no more powerful king as far as
India who would dare anger him. Since then he has informed the
count of Lazar that he may come to meet him under safe conduct. He says that he is more willing to meet him than any other lord in the world, and speaks well of him on account of how swiftly he took counsel and moved so decisively.
pb 256 r