LUTHERAN THEOLOGICAL REVIEW - Brock University

42 LUTHERAN THEOLOGICAL REVIEW XV
that they agreed to a cease-fire under terms established by the sultan. This
proved to be a wise move as a period of relative peace followed.
When the treaty was broken a decade later, though, Süleyman responded
angrily by invading Hungary for a fourth time, finally claiming all the lands
south of the Danube as Ottoman territory (1541). Meanwhile, the Habsburgs
managed to rally enough support for a massive response the following year,
but having been tipped off by the French, the Turks were able to stave off
their retaliation. The following year Süleyman moved north and took
possession of the rest of independent Hungary (1543). The Islamic Ottomans
and Catholic Habsburgs were now neighbours.
Fortunately for Archduke Ferdinand and his brother Emperor Charles V,
the French were persuaded to break off their long-held ties with the
Ottomans, and entered into a European alliance against the Turks. When
Süleyman received the news, he was forced to reconsider his plans to
demolish Vienna and continue westward. He finally agreed to a temporary
truce on 10 November 1545 and then a permanent peace on 13 June 1547. 8
This was, of course, not the end of Ottoman-Habsburg conflict, but there
would be a lull in military activities between the two for over a decade.
RESPONSES TO OTTOMAN EXPANSION
The expansion of the Ottoman Empire towards the borders of Habsburg
Germany was met by a variety of responses, ranging from crusades to
resolute pacifism and everything in between. Appeals for a crusade to reconquer
Constantinople (and even the Holy Land) were put forward
immediately after the fall of the ancient Byzantine capital in the middle of
the fifteenth century. The sixteenth century was no different. At the first
session of the Fifth Lateran Council (1512-1517), the Archbishop of Spalato
summarised the nature of Turkish aggression before the assemblage of
ecclesiastical and imperial officials.
Within the confines of Europe they have usurped no mean dominion with the
effusion of much Christian blood. They could easily transport themselves to
the gates of Rome in the space of one night from their domain in
Dalmatia …. Not one among them has learned respect for the female sex, for
the piety of youth, or compassion for the aged …. They snatch children from
the arms of their parents and infants from the breast of their mothers; they
violate wives in front of their husbands, they snatch virgins from the embrace
of their mothers in wild lust, they cut down aged parents as though useless, in
8 Shaw, History, 102-3. Cf. Halil Inalcik, The Ottoman Empire: The Classical Age (London:
Phoenix, 1973), 37.