The dread of the nations was not amiss.
They had neglected to strengthen the eastern barrier to the Turkish
avalanche. Now it threatened their very doors, and they must meet it at
home.
The Turks were not long in making their purpose evident. Within two
years after the fall of Constantinople they were on the march again, and
had laid siege to Belgrade, the first obstacle in their pathway to
universal conquest. The Turkish cannons were thundering at the doors of
Europe. Belgrade fallen, Vienna would come next, and the march of the
barbarians might only end at the sea.
And yet, despite their danger, the people of Germany remained supine.
Hungary had valiantly defended itself against the Turks ten years
before, without aid from the German empire. It looked now as if Belgrade
might be left to its fate. The brave John Hunyades and his faithful
Hungarians were the only bulwarks of Europe against the foe, for the
people seemed incapable of seeing a danger a thousand miles away. The
pope and his legate John Capistrano, general of the Capuchins, were the
only aids to the valiant Hunyades in his vigorous defence.
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