610th ANNIVERSARY OF THE BATTLE OF NICOPOLIS IN 1396

[aukepalmhof]

In 2006 Bulgaria issued 1 stamp for the 610 anniversary of the “Battle of Nicoplis” in 1396. In the foreground is depict a hospitaller galley of Knights of St John, who took part in this battle.
The Battle is a land battle but ships took also part in this battle on the Danube River.

The arrival of the Turks at the gates of the Kingdom of Hungary and the independent principalities of Wallachia and Moldavia had already put the European powers in turmoil. In 1394, Pope Boniface IX proclaimed the crusade. England and France agreed to a truce in the Hundred Years' War , and Richard II and Charles VI said they were willing to finance the enterprise.
The crusader army under the command of Sigismund of Luxembourg , King of Hungary, and Duke John of Burgundy , aided by the voivode ( prince ) of Wallachia Mircea the Elder , moved in 1396 to the relief of Nicopolis , besieged by Bayezid and Stefan Lazarevic of Serbia. Despite heavy losses (35,000 Turkish dead are said to have occurred), the outcome of the Battle of Nicopolis smiled on the Ottomans: the Christian generals escaped capture but several thousand crusader prisoners were massacred on the orders of the sultan.
In 1399, the French marshal Boucicaut , who had escaped the massacre of Nicopolis, convinced Manuel II to go to the West to seek help from the Pope and the European sovereigns. Manuel left Constantinople with his family and entrusted the crown to his nephew John VII
Source: Wikipedia

In 1396 a large crusader army assembled, made up of numerous nationalities- French, German and Burgundian knights, together with soldiers from Hungary and Romania (Wallachia), plus a fleet from Venice, Genoa and Rhodes. The aim was to drive back the Ottomans, who had already conquered much of the Balkans and now threatened central Europe. The crusaders were confronted by an Ottoman army led by Sultan Bayezid at the strategic city of Nicopolis, on the lower Danube.

Source: Internet
Bulgaria 2006 1.50 NB sg 4574, Scott4381