The elected successors of Árpádians, Matthias Corvinus (1301-1490) & the nation of the nobles (early 13th century)
Although the Hungarian kingdom gradually became reduced by the expansion of the Ottomans, it still persisted. However, it was not governed by Hungarian rulers. The Árpádian dynasty vanished in 1301, and the period between 1301 and 1526 is known as the era of elected kings. This era began with a period of interregnum (1301-1308) in which Hungarian magnates, instead of preparing against attacks from outside the kingdom, focused more on defending their privileges against the royal power.
Finally, when Charles the Great (Charles I of Angevin / Nagy Károly) defeated the oligarchic power of the ´little kings´, he succeeded the throne in 1308 and restored the royal power. During the reign of Charles I, Hungary became one of the early adopters of Renaissance. He introduced new fiscal and monetary policies and also sealed an alliance with Casimir the Great of Poland. Charles changed the currency of Hungary to forint (instead of denars) and enhanced the cults around Saint Elisabeth and St. Margaret; which, in turn, favored the custom of inheritance through female branches.
Charles was followed by Louis the Great (1342-1382; = Louis I / Nagy Lajos), the second king of the Angevins. Louis I extended the kingdom to the Adriatic and some of the Balkan states became his vassals. In 1351, he finalized the Golden Bull (from 1222) with the law of entail, which stipulated that the hereditary land of nobles had to remain in the possession of their families. Furthermore, after the death of Casimir the Great in 1370, Louis became the king of Poland. While in Poland he was first and foremost famous for his campaign against the Tatars and the pagan Lithuanians, he also led several successful campaigns against the Ottomans. In fact, he was the first Hungarian king who had to fight the Ottomans. Moreover, thanks to Louis, the Hungarian monarchs´ authority had also been restored along the borders. Around 1360, after a failed attempt to convert the Jews of Hungary, he expelled them from the country. In 1367 a university in Pécs (Southwest of Hungary) was established at his request. Since Louis I died without a male heir, the prince of Luxemburg, Sigismund (1387–1437) managed to come to the throne by marrying the daughter of Louis (Mary of Hungary) and by giving away more than 50% of the royal estates, he transferred a big part of the royal power for a league of barons. As a result, the council of barons took over the governance which once more weakened the power of the king.
The new king, Sigismund, introduced 1404 a decree (Placetum Regnum) that forbids Papal bulls and messages from being announced without royal consent. Furthermore, he improved the legal system and rebuilt the palaces of Visegrád and Buda. He also founded the Order of Dragon, a monarchical chivalric order of monarchs and higher aristocracy of the period. The purpose of the order was to defend the cross and hence, the enemies of Christianity.
The year 1437 was characterized by anti-feudal and anti-clerical revolts in Transylvania. When Sigismund died in 1437, his son-in-law, Albert II of Germany, assumed the throne. But, just two years later, he also died[1]. Thus, a rivalry for the crown once again arose, but this time between Ladislaus V (the posthumous son of Albert) and Wladyslaw III of Poland. One prominent supporter of Wladyslaw III was John Hunyadi (Hunyadi János), an excellent military leader from a lesser noble family in Transylvania. John Hunyadi is known for his many raids against the Ottomans, and it was in one of his battles, in Varna, where the new king, Wladyslaw III. lost his life. As a result, in 1445, the infant Ladislaus V became the rightful monarch.
At about the same time, the influence of some of the powerful lords and their families grew stronger. One of these lords was the earlier mentioned John Hunyadi, a governor (1446-1453) and regent (1453-1456) from Transylvania. In 1446 he got appointed to be the sole regent of Hungary. Although Hunyadi himself had not contracted a dynastic marriage, nor was he ever crowned as a king, his son, Matthias Corvinus became the upcoming king of Hungary.
Matthias Corvinus (1458-1490) was known as a just ruler and a genuine Renaissance prince. Consequently, he was an enlightened patron of the arts and learning. He suppressed corruption and, instead of aristocrats, he preferred to employ commoners and lesser nobles in state administration. During his reign, as a sign of progressiveness in the country, András Hess established 1472 a printing press in Buda. Likewise, the Bibliotheca Corviniana (a library of Matthias) had the utmost collection of works of philosophy, science, and historical chronicles. Unfortunately, the library was destroyed in 1526 by the Ottomans in the battle of Mohács.
Under the reign of the next coming king, Vladislaus II (1490-1526)[2], the political stability of Hungary deteriorated, and its international role diminished. The country and its central power were struggling with financial difficulties. Hence, in 1514 the king met a fierce peasant rebellion. Two prominent personalities of the uprising were György Dózsa, the leader of the rebellious peasants, and János Szapolyai, the leader of the nobles. Although the rebellion was suppressed; and the peasants became obliged to work without payment and lost even their right to free movement, the revolt destabilized Hungary and gave way to the Ottoman ambitions to occupy the country. Hence, in 1521, fell one of Hungary´s strongest fortresses in Nándorfehérvár (= Belgrade) to the Turks, and in 1526, at the Battle of Mohács, the Hungarian army became severely defeated.
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Ottoman wars (1390-1526)
Campaingn of Bayezid I., Mehmed I. and Murad II.
From 1326 onwards, the Ottomans began to extend their territory through the Mediterranean and the Balkan, and in 1390 they reached the southern borders of Hungary. As a result, the then-ruling king, Sigismund, assembled an army (mainly of French knights) to prevent further expansions of the Ottomans. However, the crusaders became suppressed at Nicopolis (at the first battle between the Ottomans and Hungary) in 1396, whereupon in the next coming year, the Diet of Temesvár (Timișoara, Romania) obliged landholders to financially support the equipment of the defensive army with the aim to strengthen their resistance. Due to their knowledge of weapon manufacturing and the information they possessed about the Ottomans, were also gypsies permitted into the kingdom. After the occupation of Golubac (Galambóc, Serbien; more information at https://tvrdjavagolubackigrad.rs/eng/ ) in 1428, the Ottomans regularly plundered the neighboring territories. Whereas anti-feudal and anti-clerical peasant uprisings in 1437 destabilized the country, the Ottoman Empire strengthened its power as well as its territory.
John Hunyadi and The battle of Varna and Belgrade
The crusades of John Hunyadi (Hunyadi János; a governor 1446-1453 and regent 1453-1456) against the Ottomans are very well known. In 1442 Hunyadi invaded Sibiu (Transylvania) and destroyed the Ottoman army. During his long campaign in 1443, the Hungarian army had also penetrated Sofia; however, a year later they were defeated at Varna, Bulgaria. The fall of Constantinople in 1453 signaled a new beginning of the Ottoman expansions. Just in two years, Sultan Mehmet II managed to occupy Serbia. Nonetheless, in 1456 with the support of commoners, Hunyadi cut the supply of Ottomans and forced them to retreat. But, only a few weeks later, he died in an epidemic. However, the Siege of Belgrade (Nándorfehérvár), in which he stabilized the southern borders in 1456, is one of his greatest victories against the Ottomans. Henceforth, the following 70 years were a relatively peaceful period.
MATTHIAS CORVINUS
During the 15th century, Hungary once more suffered recurring wars against the Ottomans, and the Ottoman-Hungarian wars concluded with a significant loss of territory and the partition of the kingdom. Thus, to strengthen the kingdom, Matthias Corvinus (son of Hunyadi) deemed it necessary to conquer parts of the Holy Roman Empire. He aimed to become strong enough to push back the Ottoman Empire and turn Hungary into the foremost regional power. With the help of increased royal revenues, Matthias managed to set up Europe’s first professional army, The Black Army (Fekete Sereg), which was comprised of mercenaries from Hungary, Germany, and Tjeckien.
Matthias’ large mercenary army, the Black Army of Hungary, defeated and destroyed many troops and conquered sizable territories in Europe. The Black Army with its famous Hussars (huszárok) captured parts of Austria in the Austrian-Hungarian War and even parts of Bohemia in the Bohemian War (1477-1488). Although Matthias reinforced the southern fortresses and launched repeated attacks against neighboring countries with the claim that through the attacks on Austria, Bohemia, and Poland, he only tries to reach an alliance that would be strong enough to expel the Ottomans, he did not follow his father’s anti-Ottoman policies. Consequently, when king Matthias concluded a peace treaty with the emperor in 1464; the neighboring countries at the southern borders of the kingdom became occupied by the Ottomans. Additionally, in the battle against Moldavia Matthias´ Black Army was also unsuccessful. Nevertheless, when the Ottomans returned to Moldavia in 1476 King Matthias offered assistance to his neighbor, and the Ottomans fled the territory. Later, at the Battle of Breadfield in 1479, the ´Black Army´ under the leadership of Pàl Kinizsi succeeded again and managed to destroy both the Wallachians and the Ottomans.
Campaigns of Suleiman the Magnificent and the Battle of Mohács
In 1521, when Suleiman the Magnificent realized that Hungary was weakened by the declining finances and power fights, he started to prepare new attacks against the country. In the same year one of Hungary´s strongest fortresses, Belgrade (Nándorfehérvár), was fallen to the Turks, which in turn meant weakened southern borders. Hence, in 1526, Suleiman and his about 100 000 men strong army could almost without any disruption march into Mohács where, because of deficient leadership and the lack of reinforcement from Transylvania and Croatia, the defenseless Hungarian army became defeated. About 20 000 Hungarian soldiers were killed at the Battle of Mohács, and the king of Hungary, Louis II, also died. This battle was not only the end of the Middleages in Hungary but also the end of a united and independent country (a Hungarian saying “more was lost at Mohács” signifies the huge loss Hungary had suffered). In 1529 Suleiman also tried to besiege Austria; however, this attempt failed and forced the Ottomans to retaliate.
[1] 1439 (the year of death for Albert II) was also the year when the first Bible in Hungarian was completed.
[2] King Vladislaus II was also known as King Dobzse because of his notorious weakness.
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Written by Gertrúd Windberg 2023, Sundbyberg
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