The Battle of Vaslui (also referred to as the Battle of Podul Înalt or the Battle of Racova) (January 10, 1475) was fought between the Moldavian (Romanian) Prince, Stephen the Great and the Ottoman Beylerbeyi of Rumelia, Hadân Suleiman Pasha. The battle took place at Podul Înalt (the High Bridge), near the town of Vaslui, in Moldavia (now part of eastern Romania) between Barnaba and Racovica. The Ottoman troops numbered between 60,000 and 120,000, facing about 40,000 Moldavian troops, plus smaller numbers of allied and mercenary troops on both sides (Kingdom of Poland and Kingdom of Hungary on the side of Moldavia)
Stephen inflicted a decisive defeat on the Ottomans which has been said to be "the greatest ever secured by the Cross against Islam," with casualties, according to Venetian and Polish records, reaching beyond 40,000 on the Ottoman side. As witnessed by Maraym Khanum (Mara Brankovic), former younger wife of Murad II, to a Venetian envoy, the invasion was the worst defeat for the Ottomans at that time. Stephen was later awarded the title "Athleta Christi" (Champion of Christ) by Pope Sixtus IV. The Polish chronicler, Jan Długosz, hailed Stephen after his victory in the battle:
"Praiseworthy hero, in no respect inferior to other hero soldiers we admire. He was the first contemporary among the rulers of the world to score a decisive victory against the Turks. To my mind, he is the worthiest to lead a coalition of the Christian Europe against the Turks."
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Stephen III of Moldavia, known as Stephen the Great[/caption]
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