THE DECLINE AND FALL

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chap, stances of his death are variously related ; butit is believed, that a weighty incumbrance ofgold impeded his flight, and tempted the cruelavarice of some Christian fugitives.

John cor- From an humble, or at least a doubtful origin,n!ades. Hu the merit of John Huniades promoted him tothe command of the Hungarian armies. Hisfather was a Walachian, his mother a Greek;her unknown race might possibly ascend to theemperors of Constantinople ; and the claims ofthe Walachians, with the surname of Corvinus,from the place of his nativity, might suggest athin pretence for mingling his blood with the pa-tricians of ancient Rome . h In his youth heserved in the wars of Italy , and was retained,with twelve horsemen, by the bishop of Zagrab :the valour of the ivhite knight' was soon conspi-cuous ; he encreased his fortunes by a noble and' wealthy marriage; and in the defence of theHungarian borders, he won in the same yearthree battles against the Turks. By his influ-ence, Ladislaus of Poland obtained the crown ofII ungary; and the important service was re-warded by the title and office of waivod of Tran-sylvania . The first of Julian’s crusades addedtwo Turkish laurels on his brow; and in the

b See Bonfinius , decad iii, 1 iy, p. 423. Could the Italian historianpronounce, or the king of Hungary hear, without a blush, the absurdflattery, which confounded the name of a Wal achian village with the' casual, though glorious epithet of a smgle branch of the Valerian familyat Home?

1 Philip de Comines (Memoires, l.vi, c 13), from the tradition of thetimes, mentions him with high encomiums, but undei the whimsicalname of the Chevalier Blanc de Valaigne (Valachia ). The GreekChalcocondyles, and the Turkish Annals of Leunclavius , presume Uaccuse his fidelity or valour.