Battle of Varna

November 10, 1444

The last real crusade, under young King Wladyslaw III of Poland and Hungary, was crushed by Sultan Murad II on the Black Sea coast. Wladyslaw, charging the sultan's tent, was decapitated and his head paraded on a pike. The Ottomans' path to Constantinople was now clear of European armies. The young king had broken a peace treaty, and his death was seen as divine punishment, further discrediting crusading warfare.