Articles - Tratatul

The Library of Alexandria

by J. Michael Bestul

Nicopolis, 1393: the Treaty

In Greek, it means “City of Victory.” At the height of the Byzantine Empire, such a name made sense. But in Set 6, our focus is not on Byzantium, but on Romania and Turkey. In this pair of articles, we’ll see the histories of these cultures clash in the city of victory, modern-day Nikopol, Bulgaria. First on the docket is an agreement among enemies, a treaty signed within the walls of Nicopolis.

control. Chief among their motivations was the simple fact that other people’s kingdoms make better battle zones than your kingdom. Also in the equation was Bulgaria, an independent state with the unfortunate luck of being next to the new Ottoman Empire. Starting halfway through the 14th century, Bulgaria found itself losing cities and soldiers to the Turks. Among these losses was the City of Victory itself, Nicopolis. It fell into Turkish hands in 1393.

the Maelstrom Around Nicopolis Trying to summarize the regional Mircea and the Maelstrom politics in a format like this is pretty ludicrous. Articles, chapters, and books Somehow, amongst all this turmoil, have been dedicated to the strife that Mircea the Old (that’s cel Bătrân to occurred in the lands between Hungary you, sonny) kept Wallachia free and and the Ottoman Empire. autonomous. He did this by juggling Well, here goes ludicrous: alliances and battles like he was in a The two big boys on the playground Penn & Teller stage show. were Hungarian king Sigismund and On one hand, Mircea disputed Turkish sultan Beyazid I (his Hungarian claims on Transylvania, Excellency, “the Thunderbolt”). sometimes militarily. On the other, he Naturally, as the big kids formed alliances with on the block, they tended Sigismund of Hungary ... other people’s against the ever-present to bump into each other a lot. Often with pointy kingdoms make better Ottomans. metal objects in hand. On one hand, Mircea’s battle zones than your father fought with the (In theory, Byzantium was another big player in Bulgarian tsar, Ivan own kingdom. the region, but its glory Shishman. On the other had long passed. There hand, Shishman killed was the disastrous Fourth Crusade, the Mircea’s brother in a minor skirmish, rise of the Ottomans, and the battles and sought to do the same to Mircea. with Serbian King Dušan… Let’s just Amongst all the shifting alliances and say that Byzantine was less an empire battles, Mircea also struck deals with and more an old dog waiting to be other heads of state. One recurring ally taken behind the woodshed.) was Władysław II Jagiełło, the leader In between the big boys were the of Poland-Lithuania, founder of a lands of Serbia and Wallachia (the dynasty, and a snappy dresser. The southern part of modern-day other big signing was the “First Romania). Both Sigismund and Capitulation,” the Tratatul de la Beyazid wanted these areas under their Nicopole.

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Abstract:

Tratatul de la Nicopole

Culture: Romanian The treaty was actually between the Ottoman Empire and the principality of Wallachia. It wasn’t until the late 19th century that Romania emerged; it was a melding of Wallachia, Moldavia, and Transylvania. Shortly afterwards, they added a territory on the Black Sea: Dobrogea.

Breakdown: Rivalry Trigger Outside of the “more than one card with hand” requirement (take that, Lü Bu!), the “Executare” ability has 98 cards that trigger its rivalry effect: 2 Hands: 62 cards • 60 Weapons • 2 Specials Location: 36 cards • 12 Inspirations • 8 Armors • 16 Specials Breakdown numbers courtesy of the Encyclopa Encyclop e dia Anachronistica

The Library of Alexandria ...continued from previous page

the First Capitulation The first thing to realize about Ottoman capitulations was their purpose. Rather than terms of surrender or one-sided treaties, capitulations were this-for-that agreements with the Ottoman’s Christian neighbors. In the city of Nicopolis, in 1393, Mircea and Beyazid signed such an agreement. In essence, they agreed that the Ottoman Empire would recognize Wallachia as an autonomous state, and that any Wallachians in Turkish lands were subject to Mircea’s law, not Beyazid’s. Since this was a two-way street, Mircea agreed that Beyazid was the big man on campus. Wallachia would recognize the Ottoman Empire’s suzerainty, and pay them an annual tribute. Funny thing, though… the one thing it didn’t do was put a halt to Turko-Wallachian aggression. Oh, that may have been a thought, but remember that Mircea was becoming a master juggler. Take, for example, the Battle of Rovine. See, in 1394—I mean, in 1395—I mean, uh… Okay, here’s the deal. History is a little sketchy about what happened at Rovine. We’re sure that a battle took place between Beyazid’s Turks and the outnumbered Wallachians, lead by Mircea. We’re pretty certain that, using homefield advantage and guerilla tactics, the smaller force scored an indecisive victory against the Ottoman troops. What we don’t know is exactly when this happened, how many troops were involved, how decisive the victory wasn’t (if it really was a victory), or

Credits:

even why it happened. One story has it that Mircea wanted to remind the Turks of their autonomy. Another says that Mircea offered Beyazid safe passage through Wallachia, but that the Turkish sultan wanted to bloody Mircea’s nose. In either case, the Battle of Rovine showed that the Ottoman war machine could be given pause. It also proved that such a “pause” wasn’t going to stop the Turkish advance. the Treaty’s Aftermath For Mircea, the signing was a political triumph. Wallachia’s independent status was recognized by no less a power than the Ottoman Empire. Even if he (theoretically) had to bow to Beyazid, it was a better fate than most. Just look at Bulgaria’s Shishman: Tsar Shishman came home to Beyazid after losing to Mircea on the battlefield, and lost his head. For the big boys, Beyazid and Sigismund, the treaty was a sign of frustration. It represented Beyazid’s need to compromise with a particularly frustrating thorn, although this thorn paid him lip service and money every year. Sigismund had no such silver lining to this cloud. The Bulgarian and Serbian buffer zones all but disappeared. And if the story about Mircea giving Beyazid free passage was true, Wallachia offered as much protection as a sieve. Sigismund’s clouds seemed to clear in 1396. A truce was called in the Hundred Years’ War, opening the way for western crusaders to clash against the Ottoman machine. The meeting would occur outside the walls of The City of Victory… Nicopolis.

“The Library of Alexandria” is a series written for The Coliseum, your community resource for all things Anachronism. “Encyclopædia Anacronistica” is but one of the amazing resources at Dystemporalia, courtesy of Dr. Christopher Heard. “Tratatul de la Nicopole” artwork by Adam Denton; TM & © 2006 AETN, TM & © 2006 TriKing Games. Tratatul de la Nicopole is useless against lurch_E_bean; he’ll get you to exactly 4 life, then hit you for exactly 4 damage.

Tratatul de la Nicopole

In terms of standard gameplay, this card should be just what you need to shut down those Aztec warriors. (Man, it’s too bad I can’t transmit sarcasm electronically.) Let me start again. This card mirrors the historical First Capitulation in a couple ways. For starters, it’s a two-way deal. As long as you don’t use both hands or take a location, you won’t be my rival. And you can use your weapon... as long as I have at least 4 life. It also mimics the way to stay alive while in a multiplayer free-for-all. According to probability, multiple opponents means more opportunities for the rivalry to trigger. The other blatant benefit in multiplayer is survivability. Tratatul reduces the odds that you won’t be the one ganged up and killed by weapons in the first round. Pair it with Bowie Knife, and suddenly opponents will want a treaty with you....

Follow the story of Mircea, Sigismund, and Beyazid in the second half of this look at Nicopolis:

Nicopolis, 1396: the Battle