Serbian and Byzantine Medieval Armies Pics

[The Noble Lord]

Hi guys, this is just something that you gonna like and it is historically accurate and authentic.
And for all of you that are involved in making Serbian faction in Tsardoms:Total War.
Cheers



1. Byzantine Soldier, c.1295 2. Serbian Soldier, c.1350 3. Serbian Infantryman, c.1350.


1. Vlach mercenary, c.1304, 2. Cuman mercenary, c.1300, 3. Alan mercenary, 13th century


Byzantine soldiers, 14th century
1. Archer, 2. Cavalryman, 3.Infantryman, c.1326.


1. Serbian heavy cavalry, 14th century, 2. German archer auxiliary, c.1345, 3. Serbian dismounted Knight, 15th century.



1. High ranking Byzantine offiicer, court dress, 2. Turkish mercenary, c.12th century, 3. Turkish auxiliary, 14th-15th centuries.

Sorry copyrighted materials are not permissible at TWC

[nnnm]

the mounted HA is Aknaji, while the Turkish mercenary was in reality from a figure for Sultan Ghayath Adin

[NikeBG]

I hope you haven't purposefuly used those cut off pictures with changed descriptions, namely the first and the fourth pics. Btw, here's another one you've missed.

[H.r.E.]

a question: i saw a few pics in the same painting-style are they out of a site or history book ?

[Tzar]

a question: i saw a few pics in the same painting-style are they out of a site or history book ?

They are from Osprey books

[Bosnae]

German archer auxiliary??
sorry mate but i think they are more magyar like, i am not familiar with their traditional clothes but for me it looks like i don't know like some Hungary Archer cos of his helmet and as i already said his clothes, i am quite sure that i saw this kind of clothes on some Puzsta Riders. And before i forgotteGerman archers in an Serb army sound really, well you know strange. If this are really german archers then they are probably meant to be Banat German Settlers, wich mixed their clothes with some Banat Magyars though, i am not sure. You should ask Sarmatian i think his from the Banat, i think.

P.S JUHU this is my 50th Post Muhahahahahahah

[NikeBG]

German archer auxiliary??
sorry mate but i think they are more magyar like, i am not familiar with their traditional clothes but for me it looks like i don't know like some Hungary Archer cos of his helmet and as i already said his clothes, i am quite sure that i saw this kind of clothes on some Puzsta Riders. And before i forgotteGerman archers in an Serb army sound really, well you know strange. If this are really german archers then they are probably meant to be Banat German Settlers, wich mixed their clothes with some Banat Magyars though, i am not sure. You should ask Sarmatian i think his from the Banat, i think.

P.S JUHU this is my 50th Post Muhahahahahahah

As you can see from the original picture in my post, the original inscription says it's a Bulgarian auxiliary. So, yes, you're right - it's not German. I don't know how someone can make such a mistake, between Bulgarians and Germans.
Btw, that picture is particularly interesting, as (IIRC) the Osprey book said it was a common custom then and there to wear clothes on top of the armour. And with such silly long sleeves (which I've seen in other books too) - strange people were the medievals, I don't understand such fashions.

[Tzar]

Can you imagine in 800 years from now what will people thinking about todays fashion

[NikeBG]

When I look back at the fashion only 30 years ago - I guess I can imagine!

[Bosnae]

OOOHH dear the 70tees just look at all those Art Rock bands e.g. David Bowey and Velvet Underground and ABBAA

Sorry thats way to Funny though, this was modern at this time but i hope that this stuff will never return

[Romano-Dacis]

I'm just wondering, how reliable is Osprey as a source on lesser-known regions, particularly the Balkans? Is it thoroughly researched or are they basically pissing in the wind? I recall reading on the Bulgaria thread that Osprey did a poor job on representing the Bulgarians, but I can't recall who said it.

BTW, regarding Germans, their settlements weren't in Banat, but mostly in Southern Transylvania. Their primary settlements were Brasov, Cluj, Sibiu, and Sighisoara. Also, Sarmatian doesn't live in Banat (at least not the good Romanian part )

[nnnm]

they really do poor job [and many time good minus job ] , if you want really good resources, you should spend some months reading what historian of that time write

[Bosnae]

@ Romano-Dacis

YA!! I know that Germans lived (are still living) in southern Transylvania, i read about Vlad the Impaler and what happend to the German Settlers in Sibiu in 1460. SAD Story

I think you got me wrong, i was talking about the Serbian part of the Banat its an part of the autonom Republic Vojvodina, its north ob Belgrade and the Capital is Novi Sad (this city was founden by German Settlers after the so called "Großer Türkenkrieg" translated "Great Turkish War") but the German were not only in that part of Vojvodina they also settled down in Bačka. They all settled to this Regions during the "Schwabenzüge" the "Svabian Migrations" during the 17th and 18th centurys, while the Banat was under the Rule of the Austrian Habsburg Dynasty. Thats how the "Svabos" came to Rumania and Vojvodina.

And as i remeber Sarmatian lives in Novi Sad, and we Bosnians are not so painsteaking , we often call the whole Vojvodina, simple BANAT.

greeting

[Romano-Dacis]

The story isn't so sad when you realize they brought it upon themselves, then exaggerated Vlad's reprimands. I'm sure reports of impaling 20,000 people in a single night are not only dismissable as idiotic in policy, but physically impossible as well.

[NikeBG]

I'm just wondering, how reliable is Osprey as a source on lesser-known regions, particularly the Balkans? Is it thoroughly researched or are they basically pissing in the wind? I recall reading on the Bulgaria thread that Osprey did a poor job on representing the Bulgarians, but I can't recall who said it.

They could be far better, but many people seem not to mind, considering Osprey is more or less the only eye-candy we're given (even if it's quite... dubious sometimes).

[Bosnae]

@Romano-Dacis

Its clear that the number of 20,000 is for to much propaganda like i and exaggerated. But still there were surely a lot of people killed and thats the sad thing about the whole story. But otherwise the Germans would made some Problems for Vlad so he just had to act like a real Machiavelli, cruel but efficent.

Just a question was the reason for this Night really, the unfair traiding Methods of the German???:hmmm: I am sure that they brought some more problems then only this.

[Romano-Dacis]

I'll say what I know on the issue: basically the Saxons wanted to create a trade monopoly in Wallachia, so they started to support a pretender to the Wallachian throne, recorded as "sacerdos Valachorum" (priest of the Romanians) who was probably Vlad Calugarul (last name means "the priest"). This guy promised in a signed document that he would dismantle all duty points in Wallachia along the trade route, giving the Saxon's unbridled access to Wallachia and allowing them to do business without tax. There were also a few other events which soured relations, including the unlawful confiscation of a Wallachian merchant's goods. This prompted Vlad to raid Sibiu in retaliation, getting rid of the pretender. Both sides appealed to Matei Corvin, who wrote on 6th march, 1458 that Vlad was just and the Saxons were behaving improperly. Corvinus even wrote of Vlad "nosto sincere dilecto... principi" (our truly beloved prince). Encouraged by this, Vlad sends an emissary in 1458 to Brasov with some ultimative conditions, and in 1459 impales some Saxon merchants which had unlawfully bypassed some duty-tax points. Saxons exaggerated this number at 30,000 people impaled, but let's be serious, that's just (he would have to summon his whole army and commit them all to impalement duty to do such a thing). A much more likely (though high figure) is given by Dan, Vlad's rival, in a letter to Corvin where he says there were 41 impalements.

Vlad finally sets some harsh conditions, seeing the Saxons were continuously bypassing Wallachian law, saying "of Saxon merchants, only the same number will be allowed in our country as Wallachian merchants are in Transylvania." This was pretty bad, since there were very few Wallachian merchants, and the Saxons basically depended on trade. He then limits their travels to only three cities, and makes their visits limited to once a year. In response to this, the Saxons of Brasov begin supporting another pretender, Dan, which prompts Vlad to attack the region three times, excecuting the most-powerful merchants or taking them prisoner. Dan however, still manages to attack Wallachia, who is defeated and this causes another retaliatory attack on Brasov. As recompense for their misdeeds, Vlad demands 15,500 florins to which Corvinus agrees. Relations remained sour, such that when Vlad is ousted by his brother Radu in 1462, Vlad retreats to Transylvania, but instead of being greeted as a hero (for fighting the Turks) he is arrested by Corvinus on accounts of a letter faked by the Saxon merchants which claimed Vlad was allying with the Turks (completely ludicrous given Vlad had just fought Mehmed II's army with such resistance that Mehmed retreated).

Given his continuous hinderance of the Saxon trade monopoly, it's no wonder they fabricated stories of him eating babies, cooking flesh, drinking blood, and eating under the shade of thousands of impaled corpses.

[Bosnae]

And then Vlad was arrested for how many, i think 14 Years by Corvin what for an Sellout if you look that Vlad was the only Person After Hunyadi who was really fighting as an "Crusader" against the Ottomans. But an intressting point is his Tactic evacuate everybody from Targoviste and the other Settlments to fight in Guerillia Style against the Ottomans.

But another Question, is it really true that he converted to Catholism when he was under arrested by Corvin. For me it really sounds strange, cos he was an quite religious person, who build a lot of monasteries (orthodox monaseries)

Just wanted to ask you cos Vlad is an really interesting Person. And it looks like you know a lot more than i do.

[Romano-Dacis]

Indeed, it was a tragic end to a man who seemed to be the only one still committed to fighting the Turks. Corvinus actually accepted Radu as his vassal, even though it strengthened the Turkish position in the Balkans. Some sources even claim Corvinus assisted with Vlad's overthrow, which would really stain his name. Another problem arose when Corvin attacked Moldavia, but Stephen was able to defeat him (supposedly Corvin was shot three times by arrows and had to leave the battlefield). By many accounts Corvinus was quite useless (given the means at his disposal) against the Turks. Hell, in 1478 the residents of Brasov wrote to Stephen the Great of Moldavia for protection, seeing their own king as inept in defense!! I know he's very popular in Hungary, but to me he's not a good as his father. (not enough Vlach in him )

Regarding Vlad's conversion to catholicism the details are very obscure. In Romanian historiography it's pretty much not mentioned. Most do not touch the subject of how he became Catholic, but some claim was forced to do it in exchange for his freedom by Corvinus. The reason he converted was probably so that he could marry Corvinus's cousin, but whether Vlad did that willingly or not is anyone's guess. A few believe he had a deal with Corvinus whereby he converted and married his cousin in exchange for his freedom. Don't forget his father too was a catholic (once again, to gain political support of Hungary's king).

Ironically, I've read in quite a few sources that Corvinus actually threatened to turn Orthodox if the Pope wasn't going to stop bothering him about a new crusade to help out Stephen the Great.

[Bosnae]

Indeed Covin was usless, to any Hungarian Lads out their i dont mean this as an offence, however switching between Religion's for Political reasons.... OK was quit often seen in the Medieval time especially in the Late Period.

But the Fact the Corvin threatened to turn Orthodox.... ...

About Stephan the Great i read that he betrayed Vlad in June 1462 when he attacked Chillia. IS this true hard to belive, cos they were good Friends, or werent they??