A Tale of Three Fortresses: Controversies Surrounding the Turkish Conquest of Smerderevo, of an Unnamed Fortress at the Junction of the Sava and Bosna, and of Bobovac

John V.A. Fine

Peace and War in Byzantium: Essays in Honor of George T. Dennis, S.J. (1995)

The politics and events surrounding the conquest of cities in a major war are clearly complex. They may involve treachery and betrayals. Usually, documents determining treachery are not to be found, for treachery is seldom relegated to paper. Rumours of treachery, however, are frequent. Sometimes one may trace their source; at other times this is hard to do. And even when we can trace a rumour to its source, we may still not know whether the source knows of what he speaks, or simply has come to believe what he reports, or is deliberately lying to blacken someone.

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In any case, the circumstances around the taking by the Turks of several South Slav towns between 1459 and 1463 are of interest. And even if we cannot uncover enough hard facts to resolve all the issues involved, the cases are inherently interesting presentation ay provoke further discussion that may help clarify matters.

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