Valahii şi cruciada la mijlocul anilor 1460
THE WALACHIANS AND CRUSADING IN THE MID 1460s

Summary/Abstract: Pope Pius II official main goal was the anti-Ottoman crusade. With the – altogether notable – exception of Vlad III (Dracula) the Impaler’s Ottoman combats and excesses of 1461-1462, the Walachians did not fit at the time into the framework of potential crusaders. This began to change however towards the end of Pius II’ pontificate (in 1463-1464) as the actual crusade drew closer. Yet it was not Walachia, formerly ruled by Vlad III, but Stephen III’s Moldavia, previously a strong member of sultan Mehmed II’s camp, who caught Western attention and interest. The paper explores this evolution and its (short-term) consequences in context of the anti-Ottoman efforts made by Venice and Matthias Corvinus, even after the death of Pius II and the election of Paul II, whose anti-Ottoman crusader commitment was rapidly decreasing.

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