Albert hastily collected an army and marched to the banks of the Danube
just in time to witness the capture of Semendria and the massacre of its
garrison. All Hungary was now in terror. The Turks in overwhelming
numbers were firmly intrenched upon the banks of the Danube, and were
preparing to cross the river and to supplant the cross with the crescent
on all the plains of Hungary. The Hungarian nobles, in crowds, flocked
to the standard of Albert, who made herculean exertions to meet and roll
back the threatened tide of invasion. Exhausted by unremitting toil, he
was taken sick and suddenly died, on a small island of the Danube, on
the 17th of October, 1439, in the forty-third year of his age. The death
of such a prince, heroic and magnanimous, loving the arts of peace, and
yet capable of wielding the energies of war, was an apparent calamity to
Europe.
Albert left two daughters, but his queen Elizabeth was expecting, in a
few months, to give birth to another child. Every thing was thus
involved in confusion, and for a time intrigue and violence ran riot.
There were many diverse parties, the rush of armed bands, skirmishes and
battles, and all the great matters of state were involved in an
inextricable labyrinth of confusion.
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