The story of the knight Johann Schiltberger, who spent 30 years in captivity

Being in captivity is a difficult ordeal for any person. The fate of such prisoners in the Middle Ages was especially unbearable. No conventions and declarations existed then and the prisoner was like a thing that could be sold, donated or simply destroyed. The German knight Johann Schiltberger, who lived in the 14th and 15th centuries, fully experienced all the "charms" of such a life. Having become a prisoner of Muslims, he traveled with his masters all over Siberia and Central Asia. His involuntary journey lasted for 30 years.

Johann Schiltberger was born in 1380 in Bavaria. He belonged to an ancient aristocratic family and, as was customary, began his military career very early. At the age of 16, Johann became a squire of the knight Leonhart Richartinger. Together with him, he joined the Crusade against the Turks. It was headed by the Hungarian King Sigismund I, who in the future will become the emperor of the Holy Roman Empire.

In 1396, the Hungarian knights joined forces with the Burgundian knights, led by the 24-year-old son of the Duke of Burgundy, Jean the Fearless. The army of Christians approached the Bulgarian city of Nikopol, where they were met with their troops by the Turkish Sultan Bayezid I the Lightning.

The history of this battle was described by Schiltberger himself in his book "Travels in Europe, Asia and Africa, from 1394 to 1427". He said that because of the arrogance of Jean the Fearless, the French began to act separately from the troops of King Sigismund. They, without coordinating actions, rushed to attack the Turks and were completely defeated. Sigismund and his knights tried to help them. But it was too late and the king himself was almost captured.

The King had to flee. With several of his entourage, he swam across the river in a fishing boat and only in this way escaped the shameful capture. The defeat was complete — most of the Christian army remained lying on the battlefield. Some were captured by the Turks. Some, like the king, managed to escape on fishing boats. The terrified knights cut off the hands of their comrades-in-arms, who clung to the sides in despair.

In this battle, Johann Schiltberger was wounded three times. His overlord Leonhart Richartinger was not so lucky — he died. Bayezid I won, but at too high a price. The Turks lost a huge number of soldiers killed and wounded, which enraged the sultan. The ruler ordered his soldiers to bring the prisoners and execute every single one before his eyes.

Schiltberger wrote that more than 10 thousand Christians died that day. By evening, the Turks were tired of the bloodshed and began to beg the Sultan to stop the execution. Johann was very lucky — the sultan's son noticed him in the crowd of prisoners and asked his father for mercy. Fed up with the bloody spectacle, Bayezid agreed to grant life to the wounded young man and several of his brothers-in-arms.

So a young descendant of a knightly family from Bavaria became a Turkish prisoner. The Sultan gave the surviving Christians to his courtiers and military leaders. And here Johann was lucky — he was too weak because of his wounds, and they decided to leave him at the court of the sultan himself. Together with other prisoners, he was sent to the capital and settled in a tower near the seashore.

One day, when King Sigismund was sailing by, the Turks lined up the prisoners on the shore. They insulted the monarch, called him a coward and demanded that he beat off his co-religionists. Fortunately for himself, the king did not succumb to a provocation that could have cost him his life. But so died Johann's last hope to return home.

When the young man recovered from his wounds, he was assigned to the sultan's retinue. He had to run ahead of Bayezid I's stretcher during the parade exits and glorify him. Later, he was entrusted to ride in the retinue on horseback and even take part in battles. Despite such privileges, the prisoner's life always hung in the balance. Once a German was almost executed because he angered the Sultan by trying to escape.

Then the escape was arranged by 60 Christians. They were chased and caught up with them in a mountain gorge. The Sultan ordered everyone to be executed on the spot, but the commander who led the expedition acted nobly. He persuaded the fugitives to surrender, promising to save their lives. The Turk kept his word and asked the Sultan for mercy. Bayezid saved the Christians' lives, but imprisoned them in a terrible damp dungeon.

During 9 months of imprisonment in a stone bag, 12 prisoners died of diseases. The rest were released, as Emir Suleiman, the sultan's son, put in a word for them. Johann even got his horse back and was allowed to serve in the sultan's retinue again. Together with Bayezid I the Lightning, Johann Schiltberger participated in many military campaigns and saw different lands. The Sultan was lucky for many years, and he came out of all the battles victorious. Until he ran into another powerful eastern ruler — Tamerlane.

In the Battle of Ankara on July 20 , 1402 , Tamerlane 's army completely defeated the army of Bayezid I. The Turkish sultan himself was captured, where he soon died. Johann was lucky again and survived the battle and did not even receive dangerous wounds. But little has changed in his life — now he has become a prisoner of Tamerlane.

And again, Schiltberger participated in wars and distant campaigns. During his service, he saw many horrors, which he described in his book. Once, during the siege of the city of Galeb, it was necessary to fill up the fortress moats. Tamerlane ordered the locals to be used for this, mixing their bodies with horse manure, logs and stones. After the capture of the rebellious city of Isfahan, the ruler ordered the execution of all its men over the age of 14. A hill was poured out of the heads of the victims, designed to intimidate those who were plotting a riot.

But soon the cruel conqueror died. Schiltberger wrote that Tamerlane was killed by chagrin. One of his subjects stole a lot of treasures from the treasury, and his young wife cheated on the ruler with another. The traitor's head was cut off, and the lover managed to escape. The elderly "lord of the Universe" could not survive these two blows and died on February 17, 1405. Believe me, this was not the strangest reason for the death of a powerful ruler.

They say that his soul could not rest for a long time and a terrible howl was heard from the tomb at night. The sages advised Tamerlane's heir to let his father's prisoners go home, and after that the screams stopped. But for some reason Johann was not released. It went to Tamerlan's son Shahrukh, and he gave it to his brother Miran Shah. After the death of the latter, his son Abu Bekr became the owner of the prisoner.

The new owner was not interested in a Christian slave, and he presented him to the Tatar prince Chakra. With him, Schiltberger went to distant and cold Siberia. The German described his wanderings in detail in his memoirs. His story is filled with amazing things. For example, he told about the Siberian people, whose bodies, except for their faces and palms, were covered with thick fur.

In one of the battles, the army of Chakre was defeated. The lucky Johann survived again and, together with the prince's adviser Manshuk, fled from the enemies pursuing them to the Caucasus. So he ended up in Megrelia, which is now part of Georgia. Here Schiltberger decided that he had enough adventures for his share and escaped with five other Christians. The prisoners reached Batumi and began to look for a way to get to Constantinople.

But the captains did not want to get involved with the escaped prisoners, fearing the revenge of their master. Desperate, the Christians climbed up the cliff and built a big fire, hoping for help from the sea. They succeeded — the signal was noticed on a European ship and Johann and his friends were taken away.

The journey home was not easy. A merchant ship in the Black Sea was fleeing from Turkish pirates for three days. Then there was a famine on board and the crew had to eat only shellfish. But Johann still managed to get to Constantinople, and then return to Europe. More than 30 years have passed since his capture.

At home, Johann Schiltberger became a respected man. He was hired as chamberlain by Duke Albert III. He adored the outlandish stories of a seasoned man, although more than once he suspected him of exaggerations. Johann also had time to write down his amazing story and release a book. It was reprinted many times, until the middle of the 19th century. Schiltberger died around 1440 in his bed, which he could not have imagined in his wildest dreams.