MaximosPTO
Instagram
Saint Stephen the Great: Moldavia's defense against Hungary, the Ottomans and Poland
What the video says
Saint Stephen the Great of Moldavia defended his Orthodox nation from Catholic and Ottoman enemies in the 15th century. In 1467 he defeated the Catholic Kingdom of Hungary at the Battle of Baia by setting the Hungarian camp on fire, wounding the king and forcing a retreat. At the Battle of Vaslui in 1475 he led 40,000 mostly peasant soldiers against up to 120,000 Ottoman troops, burning villages and trapping the Muslims in foggy valleys, killing over 40,000 while losing only a few thousand Moldavians.
Pope Sixtus the Fourth crowned him Champion of Christ but gave him no military aid. In 1497 the Catholic King of Poland pretended to launch a crusade to help Stephen retake Black Sea port cities, but planned to betray and dethrone him; Stephen halted the Polish forces, repelled their siege of Suceava, and ambushed them in the forests.
The video closes by saying there are no heterodox Christian brothers and sisters, only Orthodoxy.
Key moments
- 0:00 In 1467 Saint Stephen defended Orthodox Moldavia from the Catholic Kingdom of Hungary, setting the Hungarian camp on fire at the Battle of Baia and defeating the outnumbering invaders.
- 0:40 The Hungarian king was wounded and forced to retreat, ending Hungarian attempts at conquest.
- 0:52 At the Battle of Vaslui in 1475, Stephen led 40,000 mostly peasant soldiers against up to 120,000 elite Ottoman soldiers.
- 1:12 Stephen burned villages where the Muslims would enter, leaving them hungry and cold, and trapped them in foggy valleys, killing over 40,000 Muslims while losing only a few thousand Moldavians.
- 1:32 Pope Sixtus the Fourth crowned Stephen the Champion of Christ but did not provide the military aid he needed.
- 1:48 In 1497 the King of Poland announced a holy crusade through Moldavia to help retake captured Black Sea port cities, but actually planned to betray and dethrone Stephen and bring Moldavia under Polish Catholic control.
The author opens with a provocative claim that Catholic converts remain Protestant in mindset, then turns to history to argue that Rome's sees and men rise and fall, while the Church is not bound to one see or one man. As an example of strong faith and national defense, the author points to Saint Stephen the Great of Moldavia and modern Romania, ending with a prayer to the saint.
The video recounts Stephen's 15th-century wars. In 1467 he defeated the Catholic Kingdom of Hungary at the Battle of Baia by setting the Hungarian camp on fire; the Hungarian king was wounded and forced to retreat, ending Hungarian attempts at conquest. At the Battle of Vaslui in 1475, Stephen led 40,000 mostly peasant soldiers against up to 120,000 elite Ottoman troops.
He burned villages the Ottomans would pass through, leaving them hungry and cold, and trapped them in foggy valleys, killing over 40,000 while losing only a few thousand Moldavians. Pope Sixtus the Fourth crowned him Champion of Christ but gave him no military aid. In 1497 the Catholic King of Poland announced a crusade through Moldavia to help retake captured Black Sea port cities, but planned to betray and dethrone Stephen and bring Moldavia under Polish Catholic control.
Stephen halted the Polish forces, repelled their siege of Suceava, and ambushed them in the forests. The video closes by stating there are no heterodox Christian brothers and sisters, only Orthodoxy.
Main points
- The author claims Catholic converts remain Protestant and argues the Church is not one see or one man, since sees and men rise and fall.
- At the Battle of Baia in 1467, Stephen burned the Hungarian camp and defeated the Catholic Kingdom of Hungary, wounding the king and forcing a retreat.
- At Vaslui in 1475, 40,000 mostly peasant Moldavians under Stephen killed over 40,000 Ottoman troops while losing only a few thousand.
- Pope Sixtus the Fourth named Stephen Champion of Christ but sent no military aid.
- In 1497 the Polish king's supposed crusade was a plan to dethrone Stephen; Stephen repelled the siege of Suceava and ambushed the Poles in the forests.