Românul bănățean Pavel Chinezu, un neînfricat apărător al creștinătății
The Romanian from Banat, Pavel Chinezu, a Fearless Defender of Christianity

Summary/Abstract: (The Romanian from Banat, Pavel Chinezu, a fearless defender of Christendom): It is the 545th anniversary of the great victory at Breadfield, on 13th October 1479, of the Transylvanian- Banatian army against Turkish troops, which invaded the intra-Carpathian medievale state, and the 530th commemoration of the death of the brave defender of Christendom, the great military leader of Romanian origin, Paul Chinezu, occurred on 24th of November 1494, that prompted me to write this study. The fact that among the most important military commanders in the history of the world armed confrontations was Paul Chinezu of the Banat, recognized by the specialists, notably the most valuable being loan Haţegan, Phd, member of Timişoara branch of the Romanian Academy, as “the most brilliant military personality of the Corvinus epoch” and the holder of an outstanding record as one who never knew defeat in “his career as a military leader of anti-Ottoman armies between 1478-1494” represented for me a more than justified reason to dedicate this study to his memory. Invested with the highest military rank in the epoch that is gencium regalium summus capitaneus (supreme commander of all military forces of the Kingdom of Hungary) for “courage and bravery shown in the hardest hours of fighting” by king Matthias Corvinus (Romanian himself, because his father was none other than “the last great European Crusader” John Hunyadi) Paul Chinezu declined the honour, asking the ruler of Buda to give him the command of the troops of the lower parts of the Hungarian royalty. The reason was that “tired of so many years of struggle in which he was forced to shed the blood of European Christians,” he wanted nothing else than to go to war “against the Ottoman Turks, enemies of Christendom”. Undoubtedly, it was an exceptional gesture “that none of his contemporaries could match”. Contemporary with Vlad the Impaler and Stephen the Great, Paul Chinezu represents together with them the living symbol of the joint fight of the Romanian Principalities against the Turkish “kingdom” which became a bigger threat in the second half of the 15th century after having conquered new territories in the Balkan Peninsula and extended its dominance over the European regions. Knowing Dracula personally, Paul Chinezu had the opportunity to fight alongside him (from autumn 1475 to spring 1476) and certainly justly appreciated the value of the fiery Romanian prince. In more favorable circumstances, the three brave army leaders of the Romanian people could have implemented the plan of the “united front thought by Stephen the Great”. The presence of the army of the great Moldavian ruler “at the Danube mouths, of Ţepeş’s army at the Lower Danube and Paul Chinezu’s at the confluence of the Lower and the Middle Danube would have [undoubtedly] achieved the great desideratum of the age” which was the defeat and expulsion of the Turks from Europe. The recognition of Paul Chinezu’s military and political achievements in the epoch and later (their echoes reaching nowa-days) by the most important Christian leaders and particularly by the common people (who loved him for the dedica-tion with which he fought against the Turkish invaders and the spirit of sacrifice shown for the public good) and not infrequently even by the most irreconcilable opponents of his, the Ottoman Turks, is a truth known now and forever. His great victories on the battlefield, his courage, bravery and incomparable mastery in handling weapons of all kinds, his Herculean appearance and strength, as well as his integrity of character were recorded by his chroniclers of the Royal Court of Hungary, but also by many Christian scholars from other countries and diplomatic agents from the Western capitals (in whose reports Paul Chinezu not once was the center of attention). It is worth noting that there are chronicles written by historians of the Sublime Porte in which the achievements and soldierly value of the tireless defender of the Cross are mentioned (as a matter of fact, more often as indirect clues or between the lines). Last but not least, about all this talk, the legends, stories, poems, and folk songs widely circulated in Paul Chinezu’s days. They were orally transmitted over centuries and brought to the knowledge of all of us who are proud to have among their forerunners a personality of heroic proportions, as the Banatian who defeated the Turks in the dramatic battle of Bread-field in the fall of 1479.

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