Leonhard Reichartinger

Leonhard Reichartinger († September 25, 1396 near Nikopolis ; also Linhart Reichhartinger ) was a crusader from the Bavarian aristocracy who came from the Trostberg area . The little that is known about him has been passed down through his squire Johannes Schiltberger .

Reichartinger took part in one of the last great crusades of the Middle Ages, led by King Sigismund of Hungary. This ended in the Battle of Nicopolis in 1396 with a crushing defeat against the Ottoman army under the leadership of Sultan Bayezid I.

Numerous participants in the crusade were killed in the battle, including Reichartinger. Johannes Schiltberger came to his aid after he was shot from his horse. Schiltberger describes how he got him on his horse and how he himself escaped on a Turkish horse. When the fleeing crusaders tried to reach the ships on the Danube that evening, Reichartinger was killed along with many others. Schiltberger was imprisoned for over 30 years.

literature

• Markus Tremmel (Hrsg.): Johann Schiltberger's odyssey through the Orient. The sensational account of a journey that began in 1394 and only ended after more than 30 years . Edition Via Verbis Bavarica, Taufkirchen 2000, ISBN 3-935115-03-2 .
• Michael Weithmann: A beer among "Turks and Tartars". Hans Schiltberger's involuntary trip to the Orient . In: Literatur in Bayern , Issue 81 (2005), Munich, ISSN  0178-6857 , pp. 2-15.