1444

Lore & Background

The year 1444 sees the Crusade of Varna, a Christian campaign against the Ottoman Empire. King Władysław III of Poland and Hungary leads the crusaders, but is killed at the Battle of Varna on November 10. Earlier, the Peace of Szeged is signed on August 15 between the Ottoman Empire and Hungary. The League of Lezhë is established on March 2, with Skanderbeg proclaimed commander of the Albanian resistance. The Holy Roman Empire is not mentioned in the source.

In Their Own Story

The morning fog still clings to the Danube when the courier's horse crests the hill outside the sultan's field camp. He dismounts, breathes hard, and unrolls the dispatch. The Lithuanian-Polish army has massed at Varna. The sultan reads, sets the paper down, and looks west toward the sea where his galleys are still being repaired. He has a choice: march and risk annihilation in a single day, or hold the line and let the winter do what winters do. In the tent behind him, the viziers are already arguing. In a castle three hundred leagues to the north, a young French king is signing a peace treaty he does not fully understand. In a workshop in Florence, a glassblower is testing a new lens. None of them know that the century is about to crack open.

Reader's Guide

Players should note the death of Władysław III ends the Jagiellonian Union of Hungary and Poland. The Ottoman Sultan Murad II abdicates in August but returns to command at Varna. The Peace of Szeged temporarily secures peace between Hungary and the Ottomans.

Did You Know?

• The Battle of Varna on November 10 ends with the death of King Władysław III.
• The Peace of Szeged is signed on August 15, 1444.
• Skanderbeg defeats an Ottoman army at the Battle of Torvioll on June 29.
• The League of Lezhë is formed on March 2, 1444.