Letters of the Right Honourable Lady M—y W—y M—e: Written during Her Travels in Europe, Asia and Africa to Persons of Distinction, Men of Letters, &c. in Different Parts of EuropeMontagu, Mary Wortley, Lady
History
Letters of the Right Honourable Lady M—y W—y M—e: Written during Her Travels in Europe, Asia and Africa to Persons of Distinction, Men of Letters, &c. in Different Parts of Europe
Montagu, Mary Wortley, Lady
Authors, English -- 18th century -- Correspondence; British -- Foreign countries -- History -- 18th century; Diplomats' spouses -- Great Britain -- Correspondence; Montagu, Mary Wortley, Lady 1689-1762 -- Correspondence; Turkey -- Description and travel -- Early works to 1800; Voyages and travels --
These towns look very odd; their
houses stand in rows, many thousands of them so close together, that
they appear, at a little distance, like old-fashioned thatched tents.
They consist, every one of them, of one hovel above, and another
under ground; these are their summer and winter apartments. Buda was
first taken by Solyman the Magnificent, in 1526, and lost the
following year to Ferdinand I, king of Bohemia. Solyman regained it
by the treachery of the garrison, and voluntarily gave it into the
hands of king John of Hungary; after whose death, his son being an
infant, Ferdinand laid siege to it, and the queen mother was forced
to call Solyman to her aid. He indeed raised the siege, but left a
Turkish garrison in the town, and commanded her to remove her court
from thence, which she was forced to submit to, in 1541. It resisted
afterwards the sieges laid to it by the marquis of Brandenburg, in
the year 1542; count Schwartzenburg, in 1598; General Rosworm, in
1602; and the duke of Lorrain, commander of the emperor's
forces, in 1684, to whom it yielded, in 1686, after an obstinate
defence, Apti Bassa, the governor, being killed, fighting in the
breach with a Roman bravery. The loss of this town was so important,
and so much resented by the Turks, that it occasioned the deposing of
their emperor Mahomet IV. the year following.
WE did not proceed on our journey till the twenty-third, when we
passed through Adam and Todowar, both considerable towns, when in the
hands of the Turks, but now quite ruined. The remains, however, of
some Turkish towns, shew something of what they have been. This part
of the country is very much overgrown with wood, and little
frequented. 'Tis incredible what vast numbers of wild-fowl we saw,
which often live here to a good old age,--and _undisturb'd by guns,
in quiet sleep_.--We came the five and twentieth, to Mohatch, and
were shewed the field near it, where Lewis, the young king of Hungary
lost his army and his life, being drowned in a ditch, trying to fly
from Balybeus, general of Solyman the Magnificent. This battle
opened the first passage for the Turks into the heart of Hungary.--I
don't name to you the little villages, of which I can say nothing
remarkable; but I'll assure you, I have always found a warm stove,
and great plenty, particularly of wild boar, venison, and all kinds
of _gibier_. The few people that inhabit Hungary, live easily
enough; they have no money, but the woods and plains afford them
provision in great abundance; they were ordered to give us all things
necessary, even what horses we pleased to demand, _gratis_; but Mr
W----y would not oppress the poor country people, by making use of
this order, and always paid them to the full worth of what we had.
They were so surprised at this unexpected generosity, which they are
very little used to, that they always pressed upon us, at parting, a
dozen of fat pheasants, or something of that sort, for a present.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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