rils and with the painful
experience that Europe left him to his own resources to fight as he
best could against the ever-advancing Turks. The dependencies of the
Hungarian crown, Servia and Wallachia, on whose recovery he had spent
so much blood and treasure, instead of supporting him as might be
expected of Christian countries threw themselves in a suicidal manner
into the arms of the Turks. They hoped by their ready submission to
find favor in the eyes of the irresistible conquerors, by whom,
however, they were a little later on devoured.

After these events Huniades continued to act as Governor or Regent of
Hungary for five years more, by which time the young Ladislaus, son of
King Albert, attained his majority. In 1453 he finally laid down his
dignity as governor, and gave over the power into the hands of the
young king, Ladislaus V., whom Huniades had first to liberate by force
of arms from his uncle, Frederick of Austria, before he could set him
on the throne of Hungary. The young king, of German origin had,
however, hardly become emancipated from his guardian, when he fell
under the influence of his other uncle, Ulric Czillei. This Czillei
was a great nobleman of Styria, but was withal possessed of large
estates in Hungary. As a foreigner and as a relative of King
Sigismund, he had long viewed with an evil eye Huniades' elevation. On
one occasion Huniades had to inflict punishment on him. He
consequently now did everything he could to induce the young king, his
nephew, to hate the great captain as he himself did. He sought to
infuse jealousy into his mind and to lead him to believe that Huniades
aimed at the crown. His slanders found the readier credence in the
mind of the youthful sovereign as he was completely stupefied by an
uninterrupted course of debauchery. At last the king was brought to
agree to a plan for ensnaring the great man who so often jeoparded his
life and his substance in the defence of his country and religion.
They summoned him in the king's name to Vienna, where Ladislaus as an
Austrian prince was then staying, with the intention of waylaying and
murdering him. But Huniades got wind of the whole plot, and, when he
arrived at the place of ambush, it was at the head of 2,000 picked
Hungarian warriors. Thus it was Czillei who fell into the snare.
"Wretched creature!" exclaimed Huniades; "thou hast fallen into the
pit thou diggedst for me; were it not that I regard the dignity of the
king and m