Sanctity, Savagery and Saracens in Capystranus: Fifteenth Century Christian-Ottoman Relations

Abstract

Capystranus has been considered by critics to be an accurate historical account of the 1456 siege of Belgrade by the Turks. This paper aims to dispel this misconception and to examine the representation of Christians and Saracens in the poem. It is an intriguing work that reflects fifteenth-century ideology and fears and is, above all, an exhortation for a new crusade to save Europe from the Turkish menace. The story of Christian triumph against the odds at Belgrade and the amplification of the role of the saintly Capystranus provides an ideal platform from which to expound these principles. The Saracens are thus depicted as the greatest adversaries of Christendom, following in the footsteps of the Jews, while Capystranus is heralded as a latterday Charlemagne. The publication of Capystranus in 1515 and the two subsequent reprints illustrate how there were many in England who were receptive to such concepts and possessed a deep-rooted fear and loathing of the Turks until well into the sixteenth century.