The Siege of Sziget
The poem recounts in epic fashion the Battle of Szigetvár, in which a vastly outnumbered Croatian-Hungarian army tried to resist a Turkish invasion.
The battle concluded when Captain Zrinski's forces, having been greatly depleted, left the fortress walls in a famous onslaught.
Being in the epic tradition, specifically modeled on the Iliad and the Gerusalemme Liberata, it opens with an invocation of a muse (in this case, the Virgin Mary), and often features supernatural elements; Cupid even appears in Part XII.
Kenneth Clark's renowned history Civilisation lists the Szigeti veszedelem as one of the major literary achievements of the 17th century.
While John Milton's Paradise Lost is often credited as resurrecting the classical epic, it was published in 1667, a full sixteen years after the Veszedelem.
This discrepancy is explained by the fact that 17th-century Hungarian had no distinct word for "siege:" (the paucity of contemporary Hungarian vocabulary is, in fact, lamented by Zrinski in the epic's foreword) the modern-day "ostrom" ("siege") was taken from the German sturm at some later date, at which point "veszedelem" took on the exclusive meaning of "peril," thereby changing the apparent meaning of the title.
He then goes on to make a short explanation of the work, stating first that he has mixed legend and history, and that the distinction should be obvious to the discerning reader.
Suleiman awakens and immediately begins to assemble his armies and best soldiers from far and wide, including the sorcerer Alderan, the immensely strong Demirham, and the famed Saracen Deliman.
In a major act of foreshadowing, God decrees that Zrinski will be rewarded for his devotion by dying in the upcoming battle, but not before taking the life of the sultan.
Zrinski, expecting that he will die in the upcoming battle, sends off his young son, the poet's grandfather, to the safety of the emperor's court.
In Part XIII, after Vid has been captured by the Turks during a battle, his wife, who does not even speak Hungarian, dons his armor and rides into the camp to effect his (successful) rescue.
In heaven, God sees the progression of the battle, and sends Archangel Gabriel with an angelic host to fight the demonic onslaught.
Not daring to approach the Hungarians, janissaries open fire, and Zrinski with his band of heroes is gunned down, completing the prophecy.
[2] The Croatian poet Brne Karnarutić of Zadar wrote Vazetje Sigeta grada ("The Conquest of the City of Sziget") sometime before 1573, but was posthumously published in 1584.
[4] This version's first 1660 printing also proved to be its last for a long period of time as the only known extant copy was in the Croatian central library in Zagreb, until it was released by Matica hrvatska in 2016.
[8] Kenneth Clark's renowned history Civilisation lists the Szigeti veszedelem as one of the major literary achievements of the 17th century.
While John Milton's Paradise Lost is often credited as resurrecting the classical epic, it was published in 1667, a full sixteen years after the Veszedelem.
