When the united Crusader army entered the Ottoman lands with the aim of destroying the Ottomans, rescuing Byzantine and taking back Jerusalem which was in the hands of the Muslims, they laid siege to the fortress of Nigbolu on the shore of the Tuna River.
When Yildirim Bayazid was informed of this, he immediately went to Nigbolu as fast as lightning as befitting his name[2]. In fact in order to command the Muslims not to cede the fortress he mounted his horse in the middle of the night and stealthily rode through the enemy forces to reach the fortress where he called out to the commander of the fortress:
“Look here Dogan!”
Dogan Bey who recognised the voice of the Sultan immediately, answered in great surprise:
“At your service your Majesty”
Sultan Yildirim Bayazid gave his commands briefly:
“Dogan! I have come here with my army. Under no circumstances are you to surrender this fortress”. And then he quickly returned amongst the darkness and disappeared. The next day the bloody battle that took place between the large crusader army ended with the clear victory of Yildirim Bayazid. All of the European nations, large and small, had sent soldiers to this army of Crusaders. Amongst them were ten thousand French knights who had boasted: “If the skies come crashing down we will hold them up with our spears”. But it was not to be for the Crusaders melted away in the face of the manoeuvres of the Ottomans, kneaded by their faith.
That day Yildirim Bayazid was wounded in many different parts of his body and when his horse was also wounded he fell to the ground. However he took no heed of this and mounted another horse and commanded the battle with all his strength until they were bestowed with victory.
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After the victory at Nigbolu, Yildirim Bayazid Han took many knights and noblemen as prisoners of war. Amongst the prisoners was the famous French knight, Fearless Jean. Yildirim Bayazid Han let them go free in return for a ransom. In addition the day they were to return to their homelands he gave them a feast. When they reflected on the humane behaviour of the Sultan and then considered their own torturous and vile treatment of their own prisoners, all of the knights felt very ashamed and said:
“From this moment on we swear on our honour that we will never again stand against the Sultan of Anatolia and Rumelia nor use our swords against him…”
Upon these words which they had spoken out of gratitude, the great Sultan Yildirim Bayazid Han, a model of courage against the unbelievers, addressed the knights with his strong voice:
“I am returning the oath made by Fearless Jean and his friends that they will never again take up arms against me. No, indeed! I say go back, gather up new armies and come back against me. Know that this act of yours will bring another opportunity for victory for me. For I am a Sultan conscious of the fact that I have come to this world in order to gain the pleasure of Almighty Allah by exalting His religion. So from this aspect the help and providence of Allah is with us. And whoever’s helper is Allah there is no force or might who can defeat them!…”
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