In this year also, the great emperor of the Turks, called Morbesan[230], besieged the strong town and castle of Belgrade, situated on the confines of Hungary. He was upwards of four months and a half before it, which vexed him so much that he swore, in the presence of his army, to win it by force or perish in the attempt. There were some in the turkish army who gave information of this to those in the town, that they might be prepared; and Ovidianus[231], one of the noblest and most powerful princes of Hungary, hearing also of this intention, instantly assembled nine hundred cavalry and forty thousand infantry of all sorts, and entered the town by the Danube, without the Turk knowing any thing thereof,--for he had only besieged the place on the land side, and had neglected to post any guards on that great river the Danube. Ovidianus entered the town on the eve of Magdalen-day, which was the day fixed on by the Turk to storm the place; and so eager was he to fulfil his vow that he ordered one third of his army to commence the attack at midnight, which was done with much courage,--but the besieged made so gallant a defence that they were repulsed. The attack lasted until eight o'clock in the morning, when another division, equal in numbers to the first, advanced to renew the combat, but they also were forced to retreat. The emperor of the Turks now advanced in person, accompanied by the boldest of his captains, and continued the combat with such obstinacy and courage that, from its commencement, at four in the afternoon, it lasted until the middle of the following day, which made twenty hours in the whole: a terrible fatigue to those in the town thus to support three renewed attacks without any respite or repose. They were at length so worn down that they could not longer help each other, and the Turks were beginning to enter the town in large bodies. Among the Christians in this town was a very devout cordelier friar, called John Capistran, who, seeing the Turks enter the breach, seized a crucifix, and, ascending the highest part of the castle, cried aloud, 'O Deus meus, Deus meus! O altissime Pater! veni in adjutorium, veni et libera populum quem redemisti pretioso sanguine tuo. Veni noli tardare. Deus meus ubi sunt misericordiæ tuæ antiquæ, veni ne Turci et increduli dicant ubi est Deus eorum.' The cordelier, in uttering these words, wept bitterly; and when the Christians heard them, they felt quite refreshed, and as if they were new men, without feeling any fatigue, and instantly fell on the Turks who were entering the town with such courage that they slew all they met, and put the rest to flight. They pursued them upwards of eight leagues, killing or wounding all they overtook, so that more than one hundred thousand were slain in the whole. They gained all the artillery of the Turks, and such quantities of riches, in tents, money, and effects, as it would seem marvellous to relate.