encroachments upon the empire. At the end of 1681 he availed
himself of a legal fiction, created by his own “Chambers of
Reunion,” to occupy Strasburg, Casale, and other important
towns on the imperial frontier. The Diet of Ratisbon vehemently
protested against this spoliation, but in vain. They did not dare
to provoke him to open war; for it was known that his envoys were
strongly urging the Turks to invade Austria. His plan seems to
have been to acquire the glory of saving the Empire after the
fall of its capital, and to exact in return for his services
large territorial concessions. His ambition was to have the
Dauphin proclaimed king of the Romans.
♦The Turks protect Hungary.♦ At length his policy seemed on
the point of success. Kara Mustapha threw off the mask (1682),
and declaring Hungary tributary to the Sultan, announced his
intention of protecting the new province. Count Emeric Tekeli,
who had ably headed its revolt since 1678, was invested with
the caphtan as hospodar. ♦Schemes of Leopold.♦ Leopold vainly
endeavoured, by his minister Caprara, to obtain a renewal of the
peace made with the Turks in 1664; but the influence of France in
the divan was too strong for him. He then turned to the Diet at
Ratisbon;[78] but its counsels were divided, the western electors
being in favour of war with France. His only hope seemed to be an
alliance with Poland, yet his relations with the king were not
cordial, and he had lately refused his offer of a league. He made
the attempt, however, and succeeded beyond his hopes. John was
convinced that the peace which he had concluded with the Turks
was merely temporary. It therefore seemed his duty to strike at
once while he could be sure of an ally. Such a course was in
keeping with his life-long purpose to curb the Ottoman power. It
also agreed well with the hatred which his queen had conceived
against the court of France, and the promise of an archduchess
for his son was not to be despised.
♦Offers of France to the king.♦ Louis left no stone unturned
to divert him from his resolution. He tempted him with the
provinces of Silesia and Hungary, to become the property not of
the republic but of the king and his heirs, if he would join him
against the Empire; ♦French conspiracy against him.♦ and finding
him proof against his offers he began a conspiracy to dethrone
him. On the assembling of the next Diet (January 27th, 1683)
the heat of parties was tremendous. When Leopold’s ambassador,
the Count of Walstein, and Palaviccini, the Papal Nuncio, had
stated their proposals of alliance, the deputies in the pay of
France put in their protest. Besides placing every obstacle in
the way of public business, they appealed to the outside public.
Pamphlets appeared daily in which the policy of the king was
warmly condemned. The selfish cabinet of Austria, which had
refused to save Poland, was declared her eternal enemy, and the
nobles were warned that the king could not ally himself with such
a court without imbibing its despotic views.
♦Discovered by the king.♦ The opposition gathered strength,
and the consequences might have been serious had not the king
fortunately intercepted some letters of the French ambassador,
which disclosed the details of his plot (March). He read these
letters in full Diet, and their contents excited the utmost
indignation. The ambassador boasted that through Morstyn, the
Grand Treasurer, he knew all the secrets of the cabinet, that he
had bought over numbers of the principal nobles, whose names he
gave, and that the nation was so venal that he felt certain of
destroying the league. He added that the king had rejected all
his offers, but that he trusted to make him powerless. Among the
nobles mentioned were Jablonowski, now Grand General of Poland,
and Sapieha, who, since the death of Michael Paz, had been Grand
General of Lithuania. The latter belonged to a family upon which
the king had showered his favours.
♦His tact.♦ John used this information with wonderful tact. He
at once declared that the ambassador, to show his zeal to his
master, had evidently slandered the grandees; Morstyn alone,
whose guilt was proved by a letter in his own hand, deserved
the punishment of treason. The king concluded by saying that he
trusted the Diet would help him to show the French king that the
Polish nation was not altogether venal. The speech was received
with shouts of applause, and the suspected nobles were now
foremost in supporting the king. A similar change took place
in the nation, and the French ambassador found it unsafe to go
abroad without an escort. The Grand Treasurer would have been
brought to trial if he had not escaped to France.
♦Alliance with the empire.♦ The immediate result of this
discovery was the conclusion of an alliance, offensive and
defensive, with Austria (March 31st). Leopold bound himself to
bring 60,000 men into the field; the republic was to furnish
40,000. There was an express stipulation that neither party
should apply to the Pope for leave to break his oaths. The Papal
Nuncio procured the addition of a clause, by which John bound
himself to command his troops in person.[79] Leopold in return
conceded to him that title of “Majesty” which he had so long
withheld.
♦Exertions of Sobieski.♦ This treaty was a serious blow to the
policy of Louis XIV. Forbin-Janson, who soon quitted Poland in
disgust, comforted his master by the assurance that John was
far too unwieldy to take the field. The same idea prevailed
throughout Europe, and especially in the Turkish camp. He was
now so stout that he required aid to mount his horse; but he
had not lost one spark of his youthful fire. His army needed
complete reorganisation, and he spent several hours each day in
the field. He did not neglect measures of policy. He proposed to
the Emperor the extension of the league, and confided to him his
favourite scheme of reviving a republic in Greece. By that means
alone, he thought, the Turkish empire could be confined within
bounds. He sent an embassy to the Sophy of Persia, but could not
persuade him to declare war against the Porte.[80] He then tried
to mediate between the Emperor and the insurgents in Hungary, and
succeeded so far as to obtain a promise from Tekeli that Moravia
should be left untouched.[81] Finally he tried to promote a good
understanding between France and Austria, but Louis sullenly
refused his mediation.
♦The Vizier’s forces.♦ The preparations of the Grand Vizier were
now complete, and in the spring he advanced his vast host to
Essek, in Hungary. He had under his standards at least 300,000
combatants[82] and 300 pieces of artillery. He was accompanied
by Selim Gieray, the terrible Tartar khan, and by a crowd of his
nomad horsemen.
♦Rapid advance of the Turks upon Vienna.♦ The Emperor could
scarcely realize the peril in which he stood. He reckoned that
his frontier fortresses would detain the Turks for at least two
campaigns. Fortunately Sobieski, by means of a letter which
his Cossack spies intercepted[83] in Bulgaria, was enabled to
assure him that Vienna would be the first point of attack. This
intelligence was soon put beyond a doubt. The Duke of Lorraine,
general of the Imperial forces, who with scarcely 30,000 men
was covering Upper Hungary, was compelled to retreat. The whole
Turkish army continued to advance by forced marches, leaving the
fortresses in their rear; and Lorraine had barely time to throw
8,000 infantry into Vienna and retreat beyond the Danube, before
50,000 Tartars, the advanced guard of Mustapha, appeared at the
gates (July 9). Leopold had profited by Sobieski’s warning to
demolish the extensive suburbs where the nobility resided, but
the city was wholly unprepared for defence.
♦Panic at Vienna.♦ The night before Lorraine’s arrival the
Emperor himself with his court fled precipitately to Linz,
and thence to Passau. The peasants of the southern plain were
flocking into the city by hundreds, while many of the citizens
followed the Emperor in his flight. ♦Measures for defence.♦
It was left to Lorraine, with the governor, the intrepid
Count Stahremberg, to concert measures of resistance. The
fortifications were hastily repaired, and the counterscarp
protected by thick palisades, but it was doubtful whether they
could stand an assault, owing to the neglect of a long security.
A body of 5,000 citizens was formed to assist the garrison, which
did not amount to 14,000 men. A week later (July 14) the Grand
Vizier occupied the plain, and opened the trenches before the
city.
♦Terror of Europe.♦ Meanwhile all Europe, and especially Italy,
was seized with consternation at the rapid march of the Turks.
The plans of the King of France, who had advanced his army to the
Rhine, were somewhat disconcerted. Finding himself pointed at as
the cause of the invasion of Christendom,[84] he made a show of
magnanimity, and suspended his threatened blow. It is even said
that he offered the Emperor a contingent of 80,000 men, which was
rejected with becoming scorn; but the statement seems improbable.
♦Sobieski urged to hasten his march.♦ The Pope sent pressing
messages to Sobieski to bring his succours before it was too
late. The Emperor also, writing with unwonted deference, begged
him to place himself at the head of the Imperial troops. “However
inferior we are in number,” he says, “your name alone, so
terrible to the enemy, will ensure a victory.” He added that his
troops were waiting at Tuln, fifteen miles north-west of Vienna,
and that at that point a bridge had been constructed over the
Danube.[85] Lorraine, generously forgetting their old rivalry for
the crown of Poland, wrote that he should be proud to serve under
such an hero. His own skill had given some hope to a declining
cause. Assisted by some Polish cavalry, he had captured the
bridge of Presburg from Tekeli, but his force was too small to do
any damage to the besiegers.
♦Siege of Vienna.♦ It is indeed a marvel that Vienna did
not fall almost at once. Within a week of the opening of
the trenches, the besiegers had reached the palisade of the
counterscarp, and, as cannon could not be used for its defence,
many of the garrison lost their lives in a hand-to-hand combat.
On the 7th of August the counterscarp was captured after an
engagement in which both sides suffered great loss. The besieged
especially lost many officers, and the brave governor was
seriously wounded. From this time forward the city must have
succumbed if the Vizier had ordered a general assault. Mustapha
knew this, but he imagined that the booty would be enormous, and
he did not wish it to fall into the hands of his soldiers. He had
pitched his vast pavilion in the gardens of the Emperor’s palace,
called the Favourite, and here he passed his days in the pursuit
of pleasure. His miners advanced steadily, but in other respects
he was inactive.
♦Measures of Sobieski.♦ At the first news of the danger of Vienna
Sobieski hastened to Cracow, where his army was assembling. His
hussars answered his summons with alacrity, but the Lithuanians
were slow to take the field. He had no intention of waiting for
them, although the troops under his orders were scarcely half the
complement of 40,000. He sorely needed funds for their equipment;
but as the Papal subsidies had not arrived,[86] he gave lavishly
from his private treasury. He had not intended to take his
Turkish body-guard; but they begged leave to accompany him, and
offered to give hostages.[87]
♦His rapid march to the Danube.♦ On the 15th of August he quitted
Cracow, accompanied by his son James, and having reviewed his
troops at Tarnowitz, in Silesia (August 18), pushed on for the
Danube. Leaving his main body at the head of 2,000 horse, he
traversed like a whirlwind the plains of Moravia, and arrived at
Tuln on the 2nd of September. The prince who was reported too
infirm to take the field, had covered on horseback 350 miles
in little more than ten days. Finding the bridge unfinished
and scarcely half the Imperial forces assembled, he could not
restrain his impatience. “Does the Emperor take me for an
adventurer?” he exclaimed angrily. “I have left my army to
command his. It is not for myself, but for him I fight.” Three
days later (September 5th) the Polish army under Jablonowski
appeared, and soon afterwards the succours from Bavaria and
Saxony.
♦Forces of the allies.♦ Before the king’s arrival there had been
divisions of opinion among the imperial generals; now all men
cheerfully obeyed his orders. The whole force amounted to 70,000
men, of whom 21,000 were from Austria, 18,000 from Poland, and
31,000 from Bavaria, Saxony, and the Circles. Of these at least
38,000 were cavalry. John had never commanded an army of nearly
this strength, and he was confident of success. He bade the
Imperialists consider not the vast numbers of the enemy but the
incapacity of their general. “Would any of you,” he asked, “have
suffered the construction of this bridge within five leagues of
your camp? The man cannot _fail_ to be beaten.”
♦Exertions of the king.♦ In his letters to the queen, which have
most fortunately been preserved,[88] we can follow the inmost
thoughts of the great commander during these most anxious days.
He twice remarks with evident pleasure that the German troops
obey him better than his own. At the same time he is disgusted
with the trifling squabbles over etiquette which occupy so much
of his time. Even his necessary duties allow him no leisure.
“Continual harangues, my interviews with the Duke of Lorraine
and the other chiefs, innumerable orders to be given, prevent
me not only from writing, but from taking food and rest.”[89]
Yet his unreasonable consort, for whom his devoted fondness
appears in almost every line,[90] complains that he does not read
her letters. “I must complain of you, my dear, my incomparable
Mariette.... Can you say seriously that I do not read your
letters? The fact is that I read each of them three times at
least; first, when they arrive, secondly, as I go to bed, when
at last I am free, and, thirdly, when I set myself to answer
them.... If sometimes I fail to write at length, can you not
explain my haste without the help of injurious suppositions? The
armies of two continents are but a few miles from each other. I
must think of everything; I must provide for the smallest detail.”
♦Passage of the Danube.♦ On the 6th of September the army
crossed the Danube. The splendid equipment of the king’s hussars
attracted universal admiration; and his ill-clad infantry looked
especially mean by contrast. His officers entreated him to allow
it to cross by night, but he would not consent. Whilst one of the
worst regiments was passing over, “Look at this well,” he cried
to the spectators; “it is an invincible body which has sworn
never to be clothed but with the spoils of the enemy.” At these
words the men, who had hung their heads in shame, marched on
erect with cheerful confidence. During the crossing of the bridge
a note arrived from Stahremberg with the simple words, “No more
time to lose.” The miners were already under the Emperor’s city
palace, and numbers of the garrison were dying of dysentery.
♦Ascent of the Kahlemberg.♦ John called a council of war to
decide the route which should be taken. Between him and Vienna
rose the lofty ridge called the Kahlemberg; and it was necessary
either to go round it by the main road, which was flanked by the
Turkish cannon, or to climb direct to the summit. John chose the
latter route; but it proved more difficult than he had supposed.
Three days were consumed in the ascent. All the heavy baggage had
to be left behind, and of the artillery only the Polish light
guns could be dragged up. At length, on the evening of the 11th,
the Polish hussars lighted their fires among the woods which
crowned the heights, and were answered by joyful signals from
the cathedral of St. Stephen. ♦Apprehension of the Turks.♦ The
Turks were struck with consternation. The Grand Vizier, though he
had certain intelligence of the ascent,[91] neglected to oppose
it, partly because he despised the Christian army, and partly
because he wished to take Vienna before their eyes. But he could
not inspire his troops with his own braggart assurance. During
the night John’s prisoners, whom he had set free by design, came
into the camp and spread the news that the king of Poland was
commanding in person. Mustapha loudly expressed his disbelief;
but he could not prevent the spread of a panic. At break of day
he determined to lead the janissaries to a general assault, while
he detached the spahis and auxiliaries to confront the relieving
force.
♦Confidence of Sobieski.♦ From the castle of Leopoldsberg about
sunset Sobieski surveyed the scene with mixed feelings. He saw
that he would have to make his advance over most precipitous and
difficult ground; but his experienced eye was not dismayed either
by the imposing array of the Turkish tents or by the multitude
of their occupants. Writing to the queen the same night he shows
his old confidence: “Humanly speaking, and while putting all our
hope in God, one must believe that a general, who has not thought
of concentrating or entrenching himself, but is encamped as if
we were a hundred miles off, is predestined to be beaten.” He
complains, however, that he had not been warned of the steepness
of the descent, and must change his order of battle. During the
night the noise of the Turkish cannon was such that “we could not
close an eye,” and the wind was so high that “it seemed as if the
Vizier, who is reputed a magician, had unchained against us the
powers of the air.”
♦Advance of the allies.♦ When day dawned on Sunday, the memorable
12th of September, the wind fell, and the heat was most severe.
John attended mass with the Duke of Lorraine in the old church
of Leopoldsberg, and received the sacrament. ♦Their order of
battle.♦ He then mounted his horse, and ordered the advance. The
right wing was occupied by the Poles, under Jablonowski; the
centre by the Germans, under the Prince of Waldeck; the left wing
by the Imperial troops, under the Duke of Lorraine.[92] The king
directed the whole; but his post was in the right wing.
♦Battle of Vienna.♦ The ground in their front was broken by
gullies and rough eminences, and here and there by rude parapets
of earth, which served as the boundaries of the vineyards.
The Turks in vain attempted to defend these positions; they
were driven from point to point by the impetuous hussars, and
the Polish artillery, dexterously handled by Konski, did such
execution that by midday the army had reached the plain. After
an interval of rest the advance was continued, and the villages
of Nussdorf and Heligenstadt were carried by the hussars at the
lance’s point, not without some loss. At five o’clock the order
was given for a halt, and John proposed to rest his wearied
troops before the final struggle.
Meanwhile the Vizier, who had been gallantly repulsed by the
besieged, had hastened to check the retreat of the Turks. He saw
with uneasiness the horse-tails on the Polish lances, and feared
that after all the king might be present. At a conspicuous point
in the lines he caused the hoisting of a red pavilion, which was
surmounted by the standard of the Prophet, and tried to raise the
spirits of his troops by his own cool assurance. Seating himself
under its shade with his two sons and the Tartar khan he ordered
coffee to be served.
The Polish cavalry had advanced so near that John could
detect these movements with his field-glass. Provoked at this
ostentatious contempt, he bade his artillerymen aim exclusively
at the red pavilion, and offered fifty crowns for each successful
volley. He also detached a body of hussars to seize a position
from which they could fire with more effect. The cavalry dashed
forward with the cry of “Sobieski for ever,” and drove the Turks
headlong from the spot. “By Allah,” exclaimed the Tartar khan,
as he heard their shouts, “the king is really among them.” The
Turks had also heard the dreaded name; and all at once a terrible
panic arose throughout the camp.[93] “They are defeated,” cried
Sobieski, as he saw them waver, and ordering a general advance,
he put himself at the head of the Poles with the words, “Non
nobis, non nobis, Domine exercituum, sed nomini tuo da gloriam!”
♦Rout of the Turks.♦ The shock of the charge was tremendous, and
none but the spahis resisted it. These brave horsemen, surrounded
by the rout, stood their ground, but were cut in pieces. The
Vizier, weeping like a child, besought the Khan to save him. “I
know the King of Poland,” answered Selim; “I told you that we
should have to make way before him.”[94] Joining in the flight
they effected their escape, although the Vizier was almost
captured.
Night had now come on, and John was anxious to secure the camp
in case the enemy should return. He therefore discouraged the
pursuit, and forbade pillage on pain of death. ♦The Vizier’s
quarters.♦ He passed the night, like his soldiers, in the open
air, although he took possession of the Vizier’s quarters. In the
morning he inspected this vast bazaar of Eastern luxury, which he
describes as occupying a space “as large as Warsaw or Leopol.”
Mustapha had come, in fact, prepared for a triumph. He is said to
have contemplated creating an empire by making himself emperor
of the French. He had brought every requirement for making
Vienna a Turkish arsenal, and had not omitted the materials for
his mosques.[95] Writing to the queen on September 13th, the
king says: “The Vizier has taken nothing but his horse and the
clothes on his back. He has left me his heir.... His jewels alone
are worth some thousands of ducats.... You cannot say to me, my
heart, as the Tartar women often say to their husbands, ‘You are
not a man, for you have brought me no booty.’... The town could
not have held out more than five days. The imperial palace is
riddled with bullets; those immense bastions, split in pieces and
half falling, look terrible.”
♦Losses of the two armies.♦ The losses of the two armies in
the action have been variously stated. Talenti, whom John sent
to the Pope with what was believed to be the standard of the
Prophet, informed his Holiness that at least 40,000 Turks had
perished.[96] Voltaire, with as little truth, states the number
at 600.[97] It is evident from the letters of the king, which
speak of the slain as making the neighbourhood unhealthy, that
nearly 10,000 must have been slain.[98] The loss of the Poles
alone was estimated at more than 1,000, and the allies probably
lost in proportion.
♦Entry of Sobieski into Vienna.♦ About midday the king entered
Vienna through the breach. He was received with acclamations.
Multitudes thronged his horse, and in spite of the frowns of
their superiors openly compared him with their fugitive monarch.
He entered the church of the Augustine Friars, and, as there was
no priest at hand, he himself chanted the _Te Deum_. Passing
on to the cathedral of St. Stephen, he remained long prostrate
before the altar, while the same ceremony was performed with
greater pomp. Then a discourse was preached to the assembled
crowds from the text--“There was a man sent from God, whose
name was John.” On leaving the building, he could scarcely pass
through the masses of men who pressed upon him, and begged to
kiss his victorious hands. Afterwards he dined in public with
Count Stahremberg, and then returned to his quarters, declaring
with truth that this was the happiest day of his life.