The Anti-Turkish Correspondence between Matthias Corvinus and Sixtus IV. A Contribution to the History of Propaganda in the International Relations of the Late Middle Ages Cover Image

Antyturecka korespondencja Macieja Korwina i Sykstusa IV. Przyczynek do dziejów propagandy w stosunkach międzynarodowych w późnym średniowieczu
The Anti-Turkish Correspondence between Matthias Corvinus and Sixtus IV. A Contribution to the History of Propaganda in the International Relations of the Late Middle Ages

Author(s): Piotr Trafiłowski
Subject(s): History, Middle Ages, 15th Century
Published by: Wydawnictwo Uniwersytetu Jagiellońskiego
Keywords: Matthias Corvinus; Sixtus IV; Hungary; Habsburg; Ottoman Turkey

Summary/Abstract: The text analyzes the published correspondence of Matthias Corvinus, King of Hungary (1458–1490), and Pope Sixtus IV (1471–1484). The major part of the letters of both writers was devoted to the fight against the Turk who threatened Christian Europe. These documents are interesting not only because they describe the military action conducted in the Balkans, but also because they constitute a basis on which we can observe the duplicitous politics of the ruler, who had been titled by the pope as the greatest defender of Christianity. Using the argument of his involvement in the fight against the Turk, he pursued his other goals, directing his campaign towards the north-west and entering into conflict with such countries as Poland. At the same time, on the international arena, he was such a deft politician that Polish diplomacy couldn’t stand up to him in any way.

  • Issue Year: 143/2016
  • Issue No: 1
  • Page Range: 37-55
  • Page Count: 19
  • Language: Polish