Mahomet IV.
was now sultan. He was but twenty years of age. A quarrel for ascendency
among the beauties of his harem had involved the empire in a civil war.
The sultan, after a long conflict, crushed the insurrection with a
blood-red hand. Having restored internal tranquillity, he prepared as
usual for foreign war. By intrigue and the force of arms they took
possession of most of the fortresses of Transylvania, and crossing the
frontier, entered Hungary, and laid siege to Great Wardein.
Leopold immediately dispatched ten thousand men to succor the besieged
town and to garrison other important fortresses. His succors arrived too
late. Great Wardein fell into the hands of the Turks, and they commenced
their merciless ravages. Hungary was in a wretched condition. The king,
residing in Vienna, was merely a nominal sovereign. Chosen by nobles
proud of their independence, and jealous of each other and of their
feudal rights, they were unwilling to delegate to the sovereign any
efficient power. They would crown him with great splendor of gold and
jewelry, and crowd his court in their magnificent display, but they
would not grant him the prerogative to make war or peace, to levy taxes,
or to exercise any other of the peculiar attributes of sovereignty.
Pages:
449
450
451
452
453
454
455
456
457
458
459
460
461
462
463
464
465
466
467
468
469
470
471
472
473