Download And that is what I had tried to do in presenting

"I am grateful for having been born to a tough little nation
in the middle of the European continent, able to absorb the positive
cultural influences of our Western neighbors, enjoying great traditions,
imparting good education to its sons and daughters, home to worldrenowned talent and exhibiting resilience in the face of historical
tragedy while nurturing an abiding faith in God.
'Ihe greatness of a nation is measured not by its size or population,
but by its talent and by the depth of its soul. In this respect,
Hungary is a giant and I am a son of that nation."
NI
Q.Dterl fran
SJ!=PlSTa1ta1 diary mtitlerl
''Reflecticns' , Ch3ptet' m Original sfrs, - arci.mt virtu?s.
Jules S. Vallay
File:Munkacsy honfoglalas
1
TABLE OF CONTENTS
OUR HUNGARIAN HERITAGE
PART I
Page #
Introduction
1
About this work
1
The Magyar language
2
Footnotes to the Magyar peregrinations
3
The myth of the "Csodaszarvas" (Myracle Stag)
4
History
4
King Stephen and Christianity
4
Opinion
6
The Holy Crown Theory
6
Hungarian saints
8
THE ARPAD DYNASTY
10
Peter Orseolo
1038-1041 & 1044-1046
10
Samuel Aba
1041-1044
10
Andrew I (I Endre)
1046-1060
11
Bela I
1060-1063
12
1063-1074
13
1074-1077
13
Ladislaus I (Szent Lszlb) 1077-1095
14
The Holy Dexter
14
Coloman (Konyves Klman) 1095-1116
16
Oddities of royal succession
17
The 10th century
21
THE NEXT THOUSAND YEARS
23
Stephen II (II Istvan)
1116-1131
23
1131-1141)
23
Solomon (Salamon)
Geza I
Bela II (Vak Bela)
Remarks
2
Geza II
Stephen Ill (Ill Istvan)
1141-1162
24
1162-1172
24
25
Usurpers of the throne
Ladislaus II (II Laszl6) 1162-1163
25
Stephen IV (IV. lstvn) 1163-1163
26
The Court jester
27
Bela Ill
1172-1192
28
A little detour: the royal women
29
St. Margaret of Scotland
30
Emeric I (1. lmre)
1196-1204
31
Ladislaus Ill (Ill Laszlo) 1204-1205
32
Andrew II (II Endre)
32&36
1205-1235
The 5th crusade
33
The Golden Bull
34
St. Elizabeth of Hungary
37
Bank ban
38
Bela IV
1235-1270
40
The Mongol invasion
41
St. Margaret of Hungary
43
Stephen V (V. Istvan)
1270-1272
44
Ladislaus IV (IV Lsztb)
1272-1290
45
Andrew Ill (111. Andras)
1290-1301
47
Ethnographical mix of historic Hungary
The Cuman people
49
49
Attila's Huns
49
The Szkelys
51
The Jasz people
51
The
11th and 12th centuries
52
3
THE HOUSE OF ANJOU
54
A refresher
54
The interregnum
54
Wenceslaus 111/Ladislaus V (V. dszlo) 1305-1306
55
Otto Ill/Bela V
1305-1308
55
Charles I (Karoly R6bert)
1308-1342
56
Ambition on a royal scale
56
THE ANGVIN DYNASTY
57
Louis I (Nagy Lajos)
1342-1382
58
Mary of Anjou (M,ba)
1382-1395
60
Charles II (Kis Karoly)
1385-1386
61
Sigismund of Luxembourg (Zsigmond) 1387-1437
62&72
The 13th and 14th centuries
62&69
The Mongol menace
62
The crusades
63
Relics of Hungarian literature
66
Halotti beszed, Omagyar Maria siralom
Social changes
68
The Habsburgs
68
The Hundred Years War
71
The situation in Hungary
71
Sigismund (continued)
72&75
The battle of Nicopolis
73
Albert
1437-1439
76
THE JAGIELLONIAN DYNASTY
77
Vladislaus Ill {I. Ulaszld)
77
1440-1444
Ladislaus the Posthumous (V. Laszlo) 1444-1457
John Hunyadi
Nandorfehervar
1446-1456
78
79
81
4
Matthias Corvinus (Mcftys) 1458-1490
The era and aura of Matthias Corvinus
Foreign policy & domestic matters
84
84
86
Italian Renaissance in the 15th century
88
The 15th century
91
Vladislaus II (II Ulaszlo) 1490-1516
93
The Dchsa revolt
94
Louis II (II Lajos)
1516-1526
Continued in Part II,following.
95
5
TABLE OF CONTENTS
OUR HUNGARIAN HERITAGE
PART II
Page #
The battle of Mohcs
1
The Impact of the Ottoman Rule on Hungary
2
John Zpolya (Szapolyai Jtinos)
4
1526-1540
5
Who will be king?
Ferdinand I
John Sigismund Zapolya
1526-1564
1540-1551&
1556-1570
Protestantism in Hungary
Maximilian II
Rudolf
6
8
10
1563-1576
11
1572-1608
11
The 16th century
12
The Protestant Reformation
13
The land beyond the woods and its Princes
14
Matthias II
1608-1619
16
Ferdinand II
1618-1625
16
Ferdinand Ill
1625-1657
19
Ferdinand IV
1647-1654
20
Leopold I (1. Lipbt)
1655-1705
21
The battle of Buda
22
Leopold1s wives and issues
23
Ferenc RJkoczi,a reluctant warrior
Vak Bottyan
Joseph I (1. J6zsef)
25
1687-1711
The 1Jth century
Charles Ill (111. Kroly)
23
26
27
1711-1740
31
Remarks
6
Maria Theresa
1740-1780
32
Joseph II
1780-1790
35
Leopold II
1790-1792
36
The 13th century
37
The American revolution
41
The French revolution
41
Francis II
1792-1835
42
Ferdinand V
1835-1848
43
The Hungarian revolution of 1848
43
Revolt, rebellion and revolution
44
Preliminaries to the rebellion of 1848
45
The rise of nationalism
45
Hungarian reform
46
Yearning for independence
46
The case against the Austrians
47
Major figures in the Hungarian rebellion
47
March 15, 1848, a historic day in Hungary
50
The sad end
53
Franz Joseph
1848-1916
56
ADDENDUM: The House of Habsburg, pages 1-7
Turbulent times, page 8
Prelude to World War I,page 8
The assassination, page 9
A personal remark, page 12
Hungary in the 19th century
58
Demographics
58
Reformist efforts
58
Music and musicians
58
Enlightenment trickles down
59
7
The Chain bridge
60
Hungarian revolution of 1848
61
The battle of Solferino
61
Red Cross
62
The compromise of 1867
62
Ethnicity
62
Rapid development
64
Royal passings
66
...and elsewhere in the world in the 19th century
Bonaparte making hay
66
68
Trivia at its best
69
Hungary in the early 20th century
72
...and elsewhere in the world
73
Preliminaries to World War I
75
Royal succession
75
World War I
76
1915-1916
Charles IV (IV Karoly)
1916-1918)
The war and its aftermath
1917-1918
76
78
78
79
The red menace rises
80
IV. Karoly's attempts to retake the crown
82
Remembering Trianon
84
Commentary
86
Paganism
86
Christianity
87
Royal succession
88
Who shall be king?
89
St. Stephen's Admonitions to his son, Emeric
89
8
The coat of arms of Hungary
90
The flag of Hungary
90
The scorecard
91
Validation
91
SUPPLEMENT - Hungarian royal succession tables 1through 7
1
OUR HUNGARIAN HERITAGE
Christmas, 2013
Ibegan to write this compendium of facts and stories about Hungary in the mid-1970s, updating some
of the information as history turned its pages. Surly, history, culture and customs of this country mean much
to us, since our family's roots and heritage reside within her. Hopefully, it will also clear up some
misconceptions about our roots and humbly acknowledge and confirm some missteps our forefathers (and
our contemporaries) have taken. After all, as Paul Lendvai,author of "The Hungarians" (copyright 2003,
Princeton University Press) wrote: "To be a Hungarian is a collective neurosis." (The subtitle of his book
reads: "A Thousand Years of Victory in Defeat.")
My intention is to leave this packet with my children and grandchildren for their eventual reference into
their past.
ABOUT THIS WORK
I was working for Empire National Bank in 1976 when I read an announcement of the heart attack and
sudden death on Memorial Day of my former kindly boss, Klaus Siebert. Klaus, like several of my former
colleagues at Citicorp had worked for American Express as a travel executive. It was there that the idea
formed in his mind to transfer his expertise in that field and start a new chain of travel offices through the
vast resources and extensive branch system of Citicorp. Word of his new enterprise reached me at a
time when my own father's passing precipitated the sale of the travel agency I ran in mid-Manhattan and
hastened to apply for a-position as manager of one of the new Travel Selection Centers.
Klaus received me with a broad smile on his face and we hit it off immediately. He was a genuine,
personable man of action and vision. He hired me on the spot.
As we tread our daily lives, one could be tempted to say that events just "happen" in this world. Surely,
weather-related events and the passage of time are out of our control,but practically everything else, whether in our personal lives or in the context of world-wide events, - is invented, generated and executed
by men (and women) in positions of decision-making. In this view, a mere couple of thousand managers,
politicians, inventors, artists, generals, doctors, sports figures and people in all kinds of situations decide
and launch events which ultimately create history. Klaus Siebert was one of those men and even though
his brilliant idea would not and could not achieve the goal which Klaus had in mind (because another man,
a judge with higher authority had a different point of view), Klaus had written his name in the book of
achievers. The failure of his creation would eventually cause the travel industry to take a different tack,
and ultimately cost him his life. One might win many battles, but sometimes wars are lost.
That is why, when Ithought of writing about our Hungarian heritage, Idecided to base it on the ultimate
leaders of each segment of history: to tell the story of the leaders, the doers, the go-getters, the principals,
the directors of events which caused (and keep causing) the actions of all of us on the stage of history. I
had previously written about momentous chapters in Hungarian history, such as my essays on the
revolutions of 1848 and 1956 and the long-reaching events subsequent to the Trianon Treaty, as well as
individual movers and shakers. This work is based on the lives and times of kings.
2
When writing about history, one cannot expect total originality. Events don't change because a writer
gives it a different review. One can expect some bordering plagiarism, - although Iwill try to identify the
source, - and some repetition, but always hoping that the reader will gain something from these pages
which I am so eager to share. For the adults, whom our colorful Hungarian language pinpoints as those
who "megette a kenyere javat", - have eaten the better part of their bread, - there may not be much
newsworthiness here. But for the new generation just stepping on the stage, lwould suggest to keep in
perspective the fact that events happen because someone, perhaps someone just like you, wanted it and
caused it to happen. If my small contribution helps nudging history, then Iwill have achieved my purpose.
THE MAGYAR LANGUAGE
The language originated inthe deep Asian steppes and the sands of Mesopotamia a thousand years before
Christ was born. It was exposed to Sumerian, Finnish, Hun and other influences in Asia and the Middle
East, then traveled before the pursuit of Tartars' and Pechenegs' pursuit "on horseback", so to speak, to
cross the Carpathian mountains into the basin of Hungary where it was further exposed to German,
Turkish and Latin influence until once again the language traveled - this time hopping the ocean - with
the emigrants in the 20th century to America and to many other parts of the world. Yet, we still say our
prayers, count and cuss in Hungarian, even though we mix it now with English and American flavor. The
Magyar language is thus a living witness to the 1,000 years of Hungarian history. It is believed that the
name "Hungary" or Hungaria originated in the 7th century when Magyar tribes were part of a Bulgar
alliance called On-Ogour, which in Bulgar-Turkic meant Ten Arrows.
ORIGINS
The plain, partially surrounded by the Carpathian Mountains where today's Magyarorszcfg (Hungary) lies
was settled perhaps as early as 80,000 years ago by ancient man. Around the first century before Christ
nomadic Celts (from today's France) and Scythian tribes (from the Caucasus) settled in the area. Later it
became part of the Roman Empire as the province of Pannonia. The Romans expanded their holdings into
the (Hungarian) plains from about 35 years before the birth of Christ to the end of the 4th century A.O. Ruins
of the Roman settlements and bones and pottery from nomadic times can still be found in Hungary today.
Just outside Budapest there are extensive Roman ruins caiied Acquincum
The Romans withdrew inthe 5th century A.O. as Attila's Huns took their place arriving in 435 A.D.,foliowed
by Avars who founded the Avar Khaganate (see the accompanying maps on migration) around 560 A.O.
and ruled the area for 250 years until Charlemagne defeated them in the early 9th century. The first wave
of migrating Magyar tribes arrived in 896 A.D. Evidence ofarcheological artifacts of Sumerian origin were
found in the Carpathian basin, giving rise to the (relatively) new theory that the Hungarians are not of
Finn-Ugric background, but from ancient civilizations in Mesopotamia.
More recent findings have come to the unshakable condusion that the Magyar ianguage and the Magyar
people are directly descended from the Sumerians of Mesopotamia (the current Iran) as early as 3,000
B.C. From here the Sumerians and subsequentl:y the Magyar tribes migrated via the Bosporus to the
Carpathian basin while others went North through the Caucasian mountains to the Volga region. Those
3
who chose the Northern route were led by Chief Arpad. When Arpa'd and his people finally arrived in the
Carpathian basin (the present Hungary) in 896 A.O., they found other Magyar or Magyar-related tribes
already living in the area. Both were descendants of the Sumerians. They "understood11 each other! The
clan (or tribe) of Chieftain (or Grand Prince) Arl) d settled in what today is Csepel island in the Danube
river. The western half of modern Budapest along the right bank of the Danube got its name from Arpad's
brother, Buda.
FOOTNOTES to the MAGYAR PEREGRINATIONS
I am forever fascinated by the migration of early tribes of people and puzzled by their apparently
haphazard decision to settle here or there on the vast and largely underpopulated landscape of Western
Asia. Thanks to Constantine Porphyrogenitus (born in purple, or high-born), imperial administrator, we
have a written account of the Magyar tribes in the 10th century A.O. which might give an answer to why
and how the resettling of those tribes occurred.
The Magyar tribes were living in the area south of the Don river and north of the lower Danube. One of
their neighbors were the Pechenegs ("Bosnyak11 in Hungarian), a Turkish nation which emerged in the
historical records only in the 8th and 9th centuries, inhabiting the region between the Volga and Don rivers
with their territory extending all the way to the Ural mountains. According to Constantine, 4 days of riding
on horseback (that's about 100 miles) separated them from the Hungarians whom the writer called
11
"Tourkias , living in an area called Etelkoz. There, at Etelkoz, seven chiefs of the Magyar tribes entered
11
into a compact sealed in blood (called "verszerzodes , or blood contract) by drinking their mixed blood
from the same goblet. They elected Arpa'd as their lead tribal chief, or Grand Prince. The Hungarian
painter Mihaly Munkacsy's painting by the same title commemorates the event.
As deduced from later studies, we know that those tribes had been forced from their ancestral lands in
Mesopotamia, some of them crossing the Caucasian mountains to the area now called Ukraine, while the
others migrated via the Balkans to the Carpathian basin.
In the 9th century the Byzantine Empire became allied with the Pechenegs, using them to fend off other
nomadic tribes, among them the Magyars. This was a Roman ploy called "divide et impera11 (divide and
rule), playing off one enemy against the other. The Pechenegs were, in turn, threatened by other tribes,
including the Khazars which drove them further westward into the Magyar territorial holdings. In 894
A.O .,the Bulgarians went to war against Byzantium. The following year Emperor Leo VI the Wise invoked
the help of the Magyars who sent an army under the leadership of Arpcld's son, Levente, to attack Bulgaria.
Bulgarian Tzar Simeon quickly concluded a treaty with the Byzantine Empire and employed the Pechenegs
to eject the Hungarians from his land. The Pechenegs did that so successfully that the Hungarians were
forced to find refuge beyond the Carpathian mountains, entering modern-day Hungary in 896 A.O.,with
the Pechenegs at their heels. Interestingly, by the 12thcentury the Pechenegs would be absorbed by other
nations and disappeared from history.
It is an interesting aside that one of the 7 chieftains who conquered the land with Arpcid was called Horka,
and one of Horka's sons was Gyula. Thus, my name (and that of my son and Vallay grandson) goes back
to the very beginning of Hungarian history. The hpuse of Arpad ruled for over 300 years and gave many
notable kings to the country.
(
"-
This map is in Sovereign States
..,,.
History of Europe
Year 2000 A.D .
-
Year 1900 A.D .
Year 1800 A.D .
Year 1700 A.D.
r-.. -. mun o.c:an
-
Ya-,
-:ii:-
H-
Year 1600 A.D.
Year 1500 A .D.
Year 1400 A.D.
Year 1300 A.D.
.....
1 In to display the dependencies
,)
ObolnOH
.._.....
"""'
\/"'"
-
Po.-.......
d;-,
llni.nn,
Year 1200 A.D.
Year 1100 A .D.
Year 1000 A .D.
Year 900 A .D.
Year 800 A.D.
700 A.D.
r 600 A.D.
Vear 500 A.D.
Year 400 A .D.
Year 300 A .D.
Year 200 A.D.
Year 100 A.D.
Year 1A .D.
Explanation
Map Legend
Bibliography 800
.....,·, ·- .,..
Europe Main Map at the Beginning of the Year 800
(,
(
Northwest
Northeast
4
THE MYTH OF THE "CSODASZARVAS'
Hungarians have plentiful legends about their ancestry. Some of them may contain "a kernel of historical
truth", writes Lendvai in his aforementioned book. The following is a direct quote from said book, page
14:
"According to an orally transmitted legend, the brothers Hunor and Magor, sons of the Scythian kings Gog
and Magog, pursuing a miraculous white stag during a hunt, arrived in the region north of the Sea of
Azov.* Having lost the trail of the animal,they caught sight during a subsequent excursion of the two
exquisitely beautiful daughters of Dula, King of the Alans. The brothers carried off and married the two
maidens. The offspring of these of these marriages are to be the ancestors of the Huns and the Magyars."
•
The Sea of Azov, referenced above, refers to an inland sea (Lake Maeotis in ancient Greek)
situated off the southern shores of Ukraine, forming a northern extension of the Black Sea.
HISTORY
Much of early Hungarian history is recorded in chronicles. One of those is Anonymi Gesta Hungarorum
by Magister P, dating to around 1200 A.O.
For a hundred years the Magyar tribes ventured beyond the present borders and found their way into
Western Europe, including France and Spain. Their fierce horsemanship and fighting strategy was feared
all across the Continent, contemporary chroniclers labeling those nomadic "heathen barbarians" forces
as the scourge of Europe. Even to this day, the text of a Litany used in Church services contains the phrase:
From the arrows of the Hungarians save us oh Lord." (De sagittis Hungarorum libera nos, Domine.)
11
KING STEPHEN and CHRISTIANITY
In 975 A.O. a son, by the name of Vajk, was born in Esztergom to tribal chief Geza and his wife Sarolta .
Both the parents and their son were exposed to the teachings of Catholic missionaries, notably of the Czech
Bishop Adalbert (956-997) who baptized them in the Catholic faith (see the segment on Hungarian Saints).
It is interesting to note that according to some sources, Sarolta, daughter of the Transylvanian Chief Gyula,
had been baptized in the Byzantine faith as a Greek-Catholic, and her husband, Geza, was a reluctant
Christian, still engaged in pagan rituals. In baptism Vajk took the name Stephen. Upon the death of Grand
Prince Geza his son, Stephen became king. He introduced (or more likely coerced on his countrymen)
Christianity and made it the country's official religion, finally settling the tribes down. As a reward for his
efforts on behalf of Christianity, in the year 1000 Stephen was given a crown, befitting a king,by Pope
Sylvester II. The crown was carried from Rome by the Italian Benedictine monk Gellert who had a mountain
named after him in today's Budapest. This crown was used for centuries to crown Hungarian kings and is
perhaps the most treasured symbol of the Hungarian nation. As an added benefit which Christianity had
brought with itwas the switch from the runic-like script to the Latin alphabet which formed yet another tie
with Western Europe.
5
Stephen created an ecclesiastical organization with 10 bishoprics (regions headed by bishops, overseen by
archbishops) and required each group of 10 vlllages to build a church. His civil administration was based
on counties ( megye) headed by a steward (ispan) with an armed force of freemen in a fortress (var).
Those of us who would have loved to be present at the wedding of Stephen to Gizella (or Gisela), daughter
of Bavarian Prince Henry, would be disappointed as the ceremony took place in Germany where Gisela
was brought up in a convent. At the very tender age of 11she got engaged to Stephen, thus solidifying the
relations between the two countries. I can just imagine what kind of shock it may have been for the young
bride to see this Hungarian warrior and his entourage arriving on horseback at the Scheyern Castle! The
records are silent about the difference in language and customs. King Stephen brought Gisela back to
Hungary in the company of several Bavarian knights and armed troops which helped to strengthen
Stephen's image as the new powerful head of the Hungarians, while they kept Gisela company, providing
familiar surroundings for her at the castle.
Stephen's ascension to the throne did not go smoothly. Some of the tribal chieftains like Koppany, duke
of Somogy county (the Lake Balaton area), claimed the rite of succession for themselves. They also
rebelled against the enforced Christianization of the country. The final solution was a battle near the
town of Veszpr m which Stephen won with the help of knights and armed men from Bavaria. Koppany
was killed in that battle, his body quartered {!) and displayed in various regions as an object lesson to warn
the opposition. Yet, pockets of resistance still existed, one being in Transylvania, then ruled by the King's
uncle Gyu!a. Stephen led a campaign against him in 1003 and won, incarcerating his uncle and his family.
(Gyula escaped from prison and sought refuge in Poland.)
The coronation ceremony, which took place either at the end of the 1st, or the beginning of the 2nd
millennium, granted Stephen the legitimacy of a Christian monarch, readily accepted by his Christian
neighbor rulers. Stephen's brother-in-law, Henry ii, became King of Germany in 1002 and Holy Roman
Emperor 9 years later. This guaranteed relative peace on Hungary's Western borders. And the fact that
Stephen gave his younger sister in marriage to Otto Orseolo, Doge of Venice and an ally to the Byzantine
Emperor, seems to have secured his peace with the Byzantine Empire. A troubling uncertainty in
Stephen's foreign policy concerned his relations over territorial claims with Poland which resulted in a 4year war with that country between 1014 and 1018. Also, he led his armies against the Pechenegs, who
had created trouble even for Prince Arpad. Stephen conducted successful campaigns against them in
and assisted the Byzantine emperor in conquering Buigaria. In one memorable incident in
1030, Stephen's forces were able to defend Hungary's Western borders against an invasion by the new
German monarch,Conrad. They even pursued and arrested him in Vienna, but released him in exchange
for new lands (now Burgen!and} granted by the monarch to Hungary.
Stephen and Gisela had several children, all of whom predeceased their parents in infancy, including
who was dosest to the King. In desperation over the question of succession, he nominated his
sister,.s son; Peter Orseo!c of \lenice, as his heiL This act of going outside the country for a successor,
some of Stephen's relatives, who then plotted severai attempts on the king's life.
Significantly, Stephen trailsferred the seat of the kingdom from Esztergom to SzkesfehErvZr; \Afhere he
built a cathedra t.the ruins of vvhich are stiB visible today_ The
his country to the 'firg n fvlary. Recognizing his efforts tovvard the conversion
rHs
Be0edict XI canonized hhn in :1083.Jogether vvith his son,. Erneric and he is venerated as
6
(
St. Stephen.
When his tomb was opened, St. Stephen's body was found decomposed, except
right hand which was intact has been preserved for all future generations to venerate.
for his
Opinion
We all agree that a nomadic lifestyle is not an optimum choice for nation building. Christianity served
Hungary well,settling them down, bringing Western culture into the Carpathian basin and elevating the
believers to the worship of God. Nevertheless, one tends to muse on the facts which surround the
conversion of Hungarians most often accompanied by violence in order to accept a faith totally foreign to
them. In the 21st century such violence is viewed with disdain as Moslems aim to force their set of beliefs
on their own people and their neighbors. We abhor the holy war foisted on innocents who do not share
the Moslem tenets, causing much suffering and bloodshed.
While we celebrate and venerate St. Stephen, one might stop to think of the horrors which resistance to
Christianity had caused. Are we, indeed, using two different sets of measures here? I would think that
blinding an opponent and quartering his body would not be categorized as a Christian act of faith. It may
be better to use the work of gentle missionaries to accomplish the Pope's objective, even if it may not be
rewarded by canonization.
Sadly, the Catholic Church used deplorable tactics in spreading,then enforcing the gentle tenets for which
Jesus Christ gave His life on the cross. Iam sure the Arabs were surprised to see the Crusaders come to
punish them for "violating" the holy places by living there. Infact, the Crusaders did the Moslems a favor
by sending them to a place where 77 virgins would await them... And what kind of example did the
Church provide by tying Jean d'Arc to a stake and lighting the fire under her? The Inquisition cries out for
internal reforms in the Church, rather than external punishment in matters of faith! Let God be the judge
of that.
THE HOLY CROWN THEORY
The younger generation living today would probably pay little attention to the theory surrounding St.
Stephen's crown, but my generation and all the older generations held it sacred, having a major role in
Hungarian history. As one writer put it: when searching for a new ruler, the Hungai'ans were not seeking
a crown for a king, but a king for the Holy Crown.
The Holy Crown Theory (Szent Korona tan) was
drafted and published by the jurist Stephen Werboczy
in his book Tripartium 1517, Vienna. Initiated by King
Kalman (Coloman the Booklover 1095-1116), this theory
holds that the utmost ruler of Hungary is not the king
but the Holy Crown. Everything belongs to the Crown
as if it were a legal entity. Legal verdicts were declared
in the name of the Holy Crown, not the king.
Territories, such as Dalmatia, Croatia, Slavonia, Serbia, Bosnia and others, which laterjoined Hungary were
not absorbed into Hungary but became members of territories united with the Hungarian Holy Crown.
I
7
(NOTE: this may have facilitated the dismemberment of Hungary following World War I in the Treaty of
Trianon!)
Enticed by the unique nature and mystical adotation which is accorded to this national relic, let me quote
(or paraphrase) some aspects from Zsuzsa ovag's 1978 book "The Hungarian coronation jewels"
(Hungarian National Museum, Budapest):
"The Hoiy Crown represents divine power and symbolizes the entire kingdom and the entire Hungarian
nation. That is why it was so important to rescue and safeguard the crown in decisive historic periods,
because if there was no Holy Crown, there was no Hungary.... This is the reason why King Bela IV rescued
it to the fortress of Klissa (in Croatia today) from the Tartar invasion of 1241; King Matthias brought it
back from Vienna for an astronomical price in 1463; Peter Pernyi hid it in his citadel of Fuzr from the
Ottoman invasion in 1526; Louis Kossuth dug it underground in an iron chest near Orsova (in Romania
today) after the surrender to the Habsburgs at Vilagos in 1849; and Ferenc Szalasi,the Arrow Cross party
leader rescued it to Austria from the invading Red Army and dug it underground in an oil barrel in 1945."
The U.S. Army seized control of the Holy Crown after WW!! and stored it at Fort Knox, KY, finally returning
it to Hungary,then under Communist rule, in January, 1978, which I had personally approved, although
others faulted President Jimmy Carter for doing so. The argument behind my stand was that the return
of the Holy Crown to its rightful place in Hungary would establish a surrealistic but historic "higher power"
than the existing Communist regime, thus diminishing the controlling power of the latter. And Ihad the
opportunity to say something about that in one of the nation's leading newspapers!
In the May 7, 1998 edition of the Washington Post one of my letters got published in the Letters to the
Editor column, as follows:
Joy Simonson's April 13 letter, which appeared as an addendum to the M arch 19 Styie article "Hungarian
Rhapsodizing" recounted a story she had heard about how the cros_s on top of the Holy Crown of Saint Stephen
had been bent.
Let mefirst express my dismay at Ms. Simonson's act of sacrilege: she admits having worn the Holy Crown
for some minutes in 1946 when it was in the custody of the U.S. military government in Wiesbaden, Germany.
The crown is a symbol of a Christian Hungarian government based on faith and loyalty to ancient traditions.
ft is not a hat in the Easter parade. What kind of security did the Americans provide
for the Hungarians' holiest relic if they permitted a passerby to put it on her head?
Second, the romanticized story she tells is far from the truth. Some think the Holy Crown may have been
damaged while being hidden from the Turks in the lffh century, - from the Tartar invasion in the 13th century.
The authoritative Revai Encyclopedia of 1915 states: Following the extinction of the ruling Arpad
iN ,,,-,,-ac1r.c of Bohemia grabbed the symbois of royalty inciuding the Holy Crown, in 1301. Three years later
Wencesfos abdicated and passed the Crown to Otto of Bavaria, who was pursued by other princes
competing for the throne (of Hungary). Otto had the crown packed into a wooden crate.
retreat J.crom Prague to Bavarfa and 'Vi.fas
an
the item tAJas lost in the
Austria
extensive search in c; s;/vamp in the crea
been bent since that tlrne. ju/es S
H
Lt Gen 0eorge SzegO of A.nnapons,
vvho vvas obviously of
out of the b!;Je to congratuiate me on my jntervention on behaif
8
of the Holy Crown. A sort of friendship would develop between us and we visited in each other's homes,
- he and his black lady friend staying overnight here at Lake Monticello, too. He kept up the
correspondence even while he moved to Dover, Delaware. But after his marriage to the woman, which
we attended, they disappeared from the horizon nd he is presumed dead as he was of an advanced age
even in 1998.
And now a word or two about the makeup of the Holy Crown and the coronation jewel ry:
The crown consists of two separate parts: the lower circular crown, called the Greek crown (corona
gracea) and the upper crown called the Latin crown (corona latina). The lower circular crown was given
as a gift to the Hungarian king Geza Iby the Byzantine emperor Michael Dukas in 1074 A.O. Made in the
goldsmith shops of the emperor's Court, the crown features enameled golden plates in alternating
sequence, representing Christ in Byzantine art, with archangels and saints flanking Jesus. There are
numerous precious stones and pearls decorating the crown. - It was the upper part of the crown which
was sent by Pope Sylvester II to King Stephen. It, too, features Christ and his apostles. The original cross
on top, which was said to be a relic holder of the cross of Jesus, was broken off, and was replaced by a
similar cross. To be sure, both crowns, assembled as a unit, date back to 1166.
The jewels used at a king's coronation also include the cloak, made of dark purple Byzantine silk,
embroidered with golden thread. It is authenticated by the inscription: "Casula hec operata et data
ecclesiae Sanctae Mariae sitae in civitate Alba anno incarnacionis xpi MXXXI indiccione XIII a Stephano
rege et Gisla regina." (This chasuble was made in the 1031st year of the reincarnation of Christ, in the 13th
indiction, by king Stephen and queen Gisela and was given to the Saint Mary abbey at Fehervar.)
The crystal scepter, symbolizing the authority and jurisdiction of the kingdom, the silver orb and a sword
complete the coronation jewelry. Regrettably, the original of these last three items were lost but the
substitutes being from around the 14th century they still represent ancient relics.
HUNGARIAN SAINTS
Stephen, the first king of Hungary, was born in Esztergom in the year 975 A.D. As noted above, his father,
Geisa (or Geza) had already converted to Christianity, although the general Hungarian population was still
pagan. When Stephen became king, he invited foreign (mostly German and Italian) priests to teach
Christian ethics to his people. Stephen established 10 bishoprics under the primacy of the bishop of
Esztergom in the big bend of the Danube river. Stephen encountered much resistance to the institution
of Christianity, notably from Chiefs Kupa and Koppany, but Stephen used force to put down the revolt.
Stephen died in 1038 A.D. and was canonized by Pope Benedict XI in 1083. He is revered as St. Stephen
and his right hand, drawn into a tight first, is miraculously preserved. It is the most sacred religious
treasure of the Hungarians. His feast day is August 20.
Emeric (lmre) was the son of King Stephen and Queen Gisella, daughter of Kaiser Henrik (Henry the
Wrangler, Duke of Bavaria). lmre was brought up and educated by priests (mostly by the Benedictine
monk Gellert) and guided by his father's book of admonitions on ethics and governance {see "lntelmek").
At his father's behest he was married to a foreign princess, but both of them remained virgins until their
death. lmre/Emeric is said to have died in a wild boa.rd hunt and thus could not carry on his father's work.
He was canonized together with his father, in 1083. His feast day is November 5.
9
Laszlo, or Ladislaus, was born in Poland in 1041 A.D. the son of the Polish-Hungarian King Bela I. He
became king of Hungary at the age of 36 and ruled until 1095. He devoted himself to the affirmation of
the Christian faith in Hungary and founded several new bishoprics. Several miracles are connected with
his name. He was nominated to be the commander of the first crusade to liberate the Holy Land, but
died before taking command. He was canonized in 1198. His feast day is June 27.
Elizabeth,daughter of King Andrew 11, was born in 1207 and was married to King Louis of Thuringia, the
commander of the second crusade. She suffered many insults and harsh treatment at the hands of the
German Court. She was known for carrying out much charitable works for the poor. Her husband's court
questioned her secret missions and asked what she was carrying in her apron. Not wanting to disclose
the food she carried for the poor, Elizabeth prayed to God and said she was carrying roses. When she was
forced to open her apron, the King was astounded to see red roses in the middle of winter. Elizabeth died
in 1231,was canonized by Pope Gregory IX. She is still lovingly venerated. Her feast day is November 19.
Margaret, daughter of King Bela IV, was born in 1243. During Bla's reign hordes of Tartars invaded
Hungary and devastated it for 2 years. The queen vowed to offer her daughter to the service of God if the
Tartars would withdraw. When that came to be, Margaret, at the age of 4,was sent to a convent. The king
had a cloister built on the island in the Danube river where Margaret entered the life of a nun. Having lived
a life of ascetism, she lived only to the age of 28 and was canonized by Pope Pius II. The island in the
Danube was named after her. The Hungarian novelist Geza Gardonyi,wrote up her life in "lsten rabjai"
{Captives of God), one of my favorite novels. Her feast day is January 19.
Hungary had given several other men and women to the world whose exemplary life elevated them to
sainthood or beatification. Among them we celebrate King BE!la !V's daughter blessed Jolanta who was St.
Margaret's sister, founder of the Clarissa nuns. - St. Hedvig was the daughter of King Louis the Great of
Hungary, married to the King of Poland. She is buried in Cracow and was recently canonized.
Blessed Vilmos Apor, born into a Baronial family in Transylvania, he became bishop of the city of Gydr.
Upon the approach of the Russian troops in WWII,he opened the bishopry to local women for protection
against the maraudingsoldiers. A Russian officer demanded access to the women Apor was hiding. When
the bishop refused, he was shot and killed. Pope John Paul II beatified Vilmos Apor in the mid-1990s.
Although not of Hungarian blood, we certainly are indebted to St. Adalbert, Bishop of Prague (956-997),
who spread the faith during his travels to several countries in Central Europe. On one of his visits to
Hungary, he baptized Chief Geza and his son Vajk (the later St. Stephen) and was instrumental in the
conversion of Hungarians to Christianity. Adalbert died suffering martyrdom in his home country and was
canonized by Pope Sylvester II in 999 A.D.
Special ties connect us to the Italian Benedictine monk St. Gerard Sagredo (980-1046) whom Hungarians
know as St. Gellert, educator and spiritual guide to St. Emeric. He was charged with delivering Pope
Sylvester's gift of the crown to King Stephen. In September, 1046 he suffered martyrdom in a pagan
uprising. He was stuffed in a spiked barrel and hurled to his death off the mountain which now bears his
name. He is commemorated by a statue at the foot of the Elizabeth bridge in Budapest. St. Gellert was
canonized in 1083 by Pope Gregory VII and is considered one of the patron saints of Hungary. His feast
day is September 24.
10
I had written extensively about Blessed Gizella, wife of St. Stephen ("In translation", March & April 2008
issues, pages 80, 81 & 84, 85). She was the daughter of Bavarian Prince Henrik, born in 984 in Regensburg.
At the tender age of 11she was betrothed to Stephen, heir to the Hungarian throne. After the death of
Stephen Gizella was coerced by subsequent rulers to leave Hungary, together with her Bavarian
entourage. She returned to her home country and is buried in the chapel of the Niedernburg cloister in
Passau, Germany.
Preliminary steps have been taken to proceed with the canonization of Joseph Cardinal Mindszenty,
Hungary's Primate during the post-WWII Communist era.
.
.
THE ARPAD DYNASTY
The House of Arpad, whose descendants included King Stephen I, ruled to the end of the 13th century.
Succession to the Hungarian throne was somewhat troublesome. When King Stephen's son, Emeric, died
in a hunting accident, the king's cousin Vazul, had the strongest claim to the throne. As Ipointed out in
my essay "Cause and Effect", dated August, 2011, in the early 11th century there was no recognized law of
succession in Hungary. Oxford Professor C. A. Macartney, in his book "Hungary, a short history'',states
that while the Arpad family honored the principle of "senioratus", most rulers passed over senior relatives
in favor of a son, although "primogenitur'' (favoring the first-born) was not officially in vogue. But Vazul
would not convert to Christianity and for his resistance he was punished by being blinded and his three
sons were exiled. King Stephen's choice fell to his nephew Peter, but it was a poor choice.
PETER ORSEOLO (1038-1041 & 1044-1046)
King Stephen turned to a son of one of his unnamed sisters. His name was Peter, born in Venice in 1010
A.D.,the only son of Otto Orseolo, Doge of Venice. When the Venetians rose up and deposed the father,
Peter went to Hungary where his uncle appointed him to command the King's army. Simon of Keza wrote in
"The deeds of Hungarians": Soon after being crowned the King of Hungary, "Peter threw aside every trace
of theforbearance befitting a monarch's majesty and in consort with Germans and Latins raged with Teutonic
fury, treating the nobles of the kingdom with contempt and devouring the wealth of the land." He
introduced new taxes and seized Church revenues. In other words, he was no friend of the Hungarians and
conducted a violent reign for 3 years after which he lost the throne to his rebellious
subjects.
Deposed, he fled to Austria and asked Bavarian ruler Emperor Henry Ill to help reinstate him on the
throne. Henry attacked in two successive campaigns in 1042 and again in 1044, defeatingthe interim king
Aba Samuel's army. Peter Orseolo was reinstated to the throne. (The decisive battle was fought near the
city of Gyor in June of 1044.)
SAMUEL ABA (1041-1044)
Under King Stephen, Samuel Aba acted as the palatine of the Court and member of the royal council. His
family was from the mountain region of Matra in the north and ruled the people of Khazar, who joined
Arpad's Hungarian tribes before their arrival in the Carpathian basin. Aba is said to be a descendant of
the Khazars. His origin and first name suggests.that he was born to a family which was Judaic.
In
11
conflicting historical writings, it is said that Samuel Aba converted to Christianity when he married one of
King Stephen's sisters.
When Peter Orseolo was ejected from Hungary, th!= ruling lords elected Samuel Aba to be their king. It
was not a happy selection as Aba socialized more with the peasantry than with the nobles. He introduced
new taxes on the nobility while relieving the peasantry from financial burdens. The nobles resented this
and plotted to kill him. The king got wind of the conspiracy and had many of the nobility executed without
trial. It came in handy, then, that Emperor Henry Ill should attack Hungary in 1044 and succeed in
reinstating Peter Orseolo to the throne. It is not clear whether Samuel Aba lost his life on the order of the
new king,or whether he was seized and murdered by the locals.
@@@
Lajos NJmeth, the well-known znd Avenue confectioner in New York City, passed this on to me during Mass
at St. Stephen's while Iwas trying to keep a straight face playing the organ:
Samuel Aba or Aba Samuel as the Hungarians prefer to say, kept molesting his wife in the conjugal bed.
The Queen had enough of his pestering and said to the king: "Hagyd abba, Samuel!" - the equivalent of
11
leave me alone, Samuel." Obviously, this is without historical merit.
@@@
Peter Orseo/o's second term was not a happy one. With Emperor Henry Ill's help he was restored to the
throne in Szkesfeherv r, however, he remained unpopular in wide circles in Hungary. Bishop Gerard,
Bishop of Csand, invited Vazul's children to come home after 15 years of exile. Upon their return, they
asked the king to join them for a conference which was a secret plot to kill him. When Peter showed up
in Szkesfehervr in 1046, he was captured and blinded in a nearby fortification where the king sought
refuge. He died in the late 1050s and was buried in the Cathedral of Pees.
ANDREW (ENDRE) I (1046 -1060)
St. Stephen's cousin Vazul had three sons, Andrew, Levente and Bla. They were innocent victims of a 15year exile ordered by King Stephen as punishment for their father's refusal to embrace Christianity, but
also to secure the kingdom for Stephen's choice in Peter Orseolo. Their exile was spent in the Court of
Duke Oldfich of Bohemia and later in Poland and even later in Russia. Be'la married a daughter of their
Polish host Mieszko and remained in Poland, but Andrew and Levente continued in their wanderings.
Finally, they decided to return to Hungary where a pagan revolt had broken out. The pagans demanded
to allow the people to live according to the rites of the pagans, to throw off the Christian faith and to
worship idols (says the Illuminated Chronicle). The pagans captured and killed Bishop Gerard who had
invited the brothers to return to Hungary. Andrew had married Anastasia, the daughter of the Grand
Prince of Kiev and embraced Christianity. Levente, however, remained a pagan.
Andrew was crowned in Szekesfeherva'r in 1046 and restored Christianity as the country's official faith,
making it a capital crime to practice paganism. Andrew's wife, Anastasia, gave birth to a son named
Solomon in 1053. Although his brother Bla was. his senior, Andrew wanted to secure Solomon's
succession which created a constitutional crisis when Andrew suffered a paralyzing stroke in 1057.
12
Andrew had his 4-year-old son crowned and had the child "engaged" to Judith, daughter of Emperor Henry
Ill.
BJla, who had seniority continued his claim to succeed his brother. He fled to Poland and returned to
Hungary with a Polish army, while Andrew was supported by Bohemian, Bavarian and Saxon troops. The
battle was lost by Andrew who was trampled by horses and wagons in the battlefield east of the river
Tisza. His supporters took him to Zirc (which is where today the head Abbey of the Cistercian Order is
located), but died of his injuries and was buried in the Tihany Abbey, a Benedictine monastery established
by King Andrew in 1055. His infant son, Solomon, and many in his entourage relocated to Germany fearing
Bila's revenge. However, Bla did no harm to Solomon and to the nobles who emigrated with him.
(I had the privilege of visiting King Andrew's tomb as a child as well as later as an adult returning for a
visit following WWII. In my youth the echo of Tihany was a tourist attraction as people climbed the hill
up to the Abbey and whatever they said or yelled to the wall in the village opposite the church echoed
clearly, delighting the visitor. In later years that was no longer the case, but the memories remain.)
Bela was crowned king on December 6, 1060.
BELA I (1060 -1063)
It is interesting to note that Bela's baptismal name was Adalbert. He was more than 40 years old when
he returned to Hungary to claim the throne from his brother, Andrew, or Endre in Hungarian. At first,
Andrew was generous to his brother by granting him large territories which nowadays lie in Slovakia and
Romania. He was given the title of Duke and even had money (half-denars) printed in his name, reading
Bela Dux.
When Andrew fathered a son (Solomon) in 1053, and had him crowned c!S the future king of Hungary, the
relations between the two brothers soured. To keep the peace at least outwardly, Andrew invited BJla to
the manor of Tiszavcirkony for a conference where he offered him a free choice between the crown or a
sword. Forewarned that choosing the crown will also mean his assassination, Bela falsely chose the sword
but escaped to Poland from which to return in 1060 with Polish troops. Bela won against his brother in the
second battle fought, where Andrew died of his injuries. Bela became king on December 6, 1060.
King Be'la very astutely became a protector, not a jealous persecutor of his brother's child and his followers,
which encouraged many of them to return to Hungary. Bela reformed and strengthened the currency
by introducing coins of the purest silver. He also changed the weekly "piac", or market from Sundays
to Saturdays and may have antagonized the Jewish merchants who observed the Sabbath. Bla also
suppressed a pagan riot in szJkesfeh rvr in 1061. Remarkably, paganism still had adherents, some 60
years after Christianity was forcefully introduced in Hungary and had to be subdued with military force.
The story of young Solomon continues, however, when German princes threatened to launch an attack
on Hungary to restore Solomon to the throne. Bla, surprisingly, did not put up great resistance and
contemplated to abdicate in favor of his nephew, provided he could regain his former estates or
"ducatus." His plan was not carried out when, very ignominiously, his throne broke and collapsed under
him at his manor at Domos. Bela suffered serious in uries of which he died in September of 1063.
13
I would like to inject a thought about BJla's family. As pointed out earlier, while in exile, he married the
daughter of King Mieszko II of Poland in 1033 and they had two sons, GEfza and Ladislaus, born in Poland,
who would later become kings of Hungary (in 1074 and 1077, respectively). We will come across their story
later on in this review. BJla and his wife had a third son born in Hungary as well as 5 daughters.
{
When Bela died of his injuries from a collapsed throne, his three sons, Geza, Ladislaus and Lampert sought
refuge in Poland, while Solomon ascended to the throne.
SOLOMON {Salamon) (1063-1074)
As noted before, Solomon was the second child and eldest son of King Andrew Iof Hungary and his wife
Anastasia of Kiev. Circumstances, as outlined above, forced him initially to live in emigration, not being
able to return to claim the crown from King Bela until 1063. Solomon used this occasion as well to marry
Judith, the sister of Henry IV, King of Germany. Judith was 6 years his senior and troubles immediately
started when the new wife and Solomon's mother, Anastasia became the young king's chief advisers.
Initially Solomon had no trouble with his cousins and conducted a few military campaigns against the
Czechs and other enemies with the cousins' help, but their relationship deteriorated in the 1070s as BJla's
son Gza (see two paragraphs up) became an aspirant to the throne. Solomon and Gza battled for the
prize and Solomon lost the battle at Mogyorod in March, 1074, leaving him just a slice of Western Hungary
(in the area of Pressburg, today's Bratislava, Slovakia). Eventually he found it necessary to abdicate in
favor of his cousin Geza (see below). Solomon continued to vie for the throne and tried to seek an alliance
with the Pechenegs, but he died in a raid in the Byzantine empire in 1087.
And here is a little gossip about the King and Queen's relations: the marriage remained childless. In fact,
both Solomon and his wife, Judith took the liberty of consorting with loyers. They separated in 1075 and
Judith went back to Germany. Upon Solomon's death in Bulgaria, Judith married a Polish Duke.
GEZA 1(1074 -1077)
GJza was the eldest son cf King Bla I. (Our earlier stories relate the fact that GJza was born in Poland.)
GJza's baptismal name was Magnus . Before becoming king, he was the administrator of one of his
father's duchies with the right of coinage which bore his name as Dux Magnus. Other coins bore the name
Panonai,as a reference to the time when Pannonia was under Roman administration.
For his coronation the Emperor Michael VII Doukas sent Gza a gold and enamel diadem. According to
Wikipedia, this "splendid work of art became the lower part of the Holy Crown of Hungary by the end of the
12th century". Geza was crowned with this diadem in the Spring of 1075. Geza married a niece of a close
advisor to Emperor Michael VII. (He was married twice, but the ancestry of his first wife, Sophia, is
unknown.) Historians, among them the respected Gyula Kristo, believe that Geza fathered 6 children and
the surviving two boys were from his first wife, Sophia.
As related above, Geza, at first, was supporting Solomon, but later aspired to the throne and defeated the
king at Mogyorod, eventually forcing Solomon to abdicate. It seems that Hungarian royal history is full of
battling for the possession of the crown rather thc!,n carrying on the business of the country. In Geza's
14
case all this was concentrated within 3 years of his rule. After Christmas Mass in 1076 Geza became
gravely ill and eventually passed away in April of 1077, leavingthe throne to his brother, Ladislaus.
LADISLAUS I(Szent Lal szlo' ) (1077 -1095)
He was the second son of King BJla 1,born in Poland in exile. His original name was Vladislav and he was
brought up as a Pole. As the pages of history turned, he returned to Hungary and eventually took the reins
over from his brother, King Geza. (Although Geza had sons, they were still minors, hence the accession
of Ladislaus to the throne.)
After much haggling with his cousin Solomon, the former king of Hungary, Solomon finally acknowledged
the legitimacy of Ladislaus in 1081. And yet, he continued undermining his rule by conspiring with the
German king Henry IV. Ladislaus had enough and had Solomon arrested and imprisoned, charged with
conspiracy. Yet, when St. Stephen (and St. Emeric) were canonized, Ladislaus felt compelled to set
Solomon free. Very cleverly, Ladislaus made an alliance with King Henry IV's opponents which forced
Solomon to give up on his plans to re-take the crown. As we read above, Solomon died in a battle in the
Byzantine Empire and Ladislaus was able to consolidate his power.
Ladislaus is mentioned in several Hungarian legends as a saintly ruler. In the major chronicle about
Ladislaus he is said to have rescued a Christian maiden from being abducted by a Cuman or Pecheneg
warrior in the battle of Kerles (now Kirales, Romania}. The Hungarian Illuminated Chronicle now claims
that the maiden did not really want to be rescued and had "strong carnal love" for his abductor, pleading
with Ladislaus not to kill him. But after wrestling with the abductor and "unmanning him" in the process
(whatever that meant), Ladislaus killed the Pecheneg and released the girl.
This event is commemorated in a painting on the walls of the Mathias Coronation Church in Budapest.
Another legend, while Ladislaus was still just an advisor to King Geza, con,cerns the miraculous appearance
of a white stag with many candles burning (!) between his horns. The stag ran into the woods and halted
meaningfully in a clearing. Soldiers tried to shoot it with arrows, but the animal leapt into the Danube
(this was near the town of vJc), never to be seen again. Ladislaus became convinced that this was a sign,
an angel,sent by God to have a church built to honor the Virgin Mary. Indeed, the king agreed to have a
monastery built at that spot.
Having been proclaimed king, Ladislaus had two books of laws written, containing "draconian measures"
to defend private property. Offenders would be hanged, or if the offender should take refuge in a church,
he would be blinded. "A freeman who steals a goose or a hen shall lose one eye and shall restore what
he has stolen."
A year or two after accessing the throne, in 1078 or 1079, Ladislaus married Adelhaid, the daughter of
Rudolf of Rheinfelden, elected by German princes against Henry IV.
The Holy Dexter
Ladislaus worked on the Vatican to have King Stephen I (and his son) canonized. The ceremony would be
a political act to reaffirm his and the country's commitment to Christianity. The ceremony took place in 1083
under curious circumstances.
Ladislaus wanted to have King Stephen's body moved from
15
(
Szkesfehrvar to a Benedictine Monastery. Chronicles attest to the fact that for 3 days, no matter how
they tried, they were unable to open the tomb to access Stephen's body. In the end a religious message
was given to the King to release Solomon from prison as the price for lifting the stone covering Stephen's
tomb. When Solomon was released from prison, it took no effort whatsoever to lift the heavy marble
covering and accessing Stephen's body. (This segment was taken from Hartvic's book: Life of King Stephen
of Hungary.)
To everyone's consternation,the king's right hand and wrist were found
intact and became known as the Szent Jobb, or Holy Dexter.
The following is taken verbatim from the above-quoted book on St. Stephen:
"In Bihar county an abbey was dedicated (to the veneration of the relic.)
The relic was kept for centuries in the monastery with the exception of the
Mongol invasion of 1241/42 when it was transferred to Ragusa (today's
Dubrovnik, Croatia). The Holy Dexter was taken to Szekesfehervar around
1420. Following the occupation of the central territories of the Kingdom of
Hungary by the Ottoman Turks in the middle of the 16th century, the relic
was kept in many places, including Bosnia, Ragusa and Vienna. It was
returned to Hungary in 1771when Queen Maria Theresa donated it to the
cloister of the Sisters of Loreto in Buda. The relic was kept in the St. Sigismund
Chapel in the Buda Castle between around 1900 and 1944, (then) in a cave near Salzburg in Austria in
1944 and 1945, by the sisters of Loreto in Buda between 1945 and 1950, and in the St. Stephen's Basilica
in Budapest since 1950."
During 1950 and 1987 its celebration was forbidden by the Communist authorities.
Ladislaus got involved in international affairs, too. He generously offered the assistance of 20,000 knights
inthe conflict between the Germans' choice of Rudolf Iof Swabia against King Henry IV. (Understandable,
when considering that Ladislaus' wife, Adelaide, was the daughter of Duke Rudolf!) Mercifully,
intervention did not become necessary. But Ladislaus took action at the request of his sister, Helen, the
widow of Croatia's King Demetrius, to remedy the conflict between factions of Croatian noblemen upon
the death of their kin. Ladislaus,announced his intentions of occupying "Sclavonia" in 1091 and
appointed his nephew Almos (King Almos?) to administer the country. In another venture, he prevented
an incursion by Ruthenians in what is now Carpathian Ukraine. Yet, no Russian chronicles refer to this
military action in the Carpathian mountains.
Today's advocates of the separation of church and state would be shocked to learn that Ladislaus dabbled
in Vatican politics as well. First, he recognized Viktor Ill as the legitimate Pope against Clement Ill who
had been elected pope on Henry IV's initiative. Later, Pope Urban II wrote that the Hungarians "left the
shepherds of their salvation", meaning that the Hungarian king joined the anti-pope forces. Ladislaus
opposed the Gregorian Reform of the independence of the Church and maintained that the church leaders
should be obedient to the king.
The king and his wife had two daughters, but no sons. Therefore, succession to the throne was
I
legitimately up to one of King Geza l's two son: Coleman or Almos. The latter was already named by
LadiJlaus to be the king of Croatia, so Coleman was expected to take over, despite the king's preference
for Almos. Ladislaus was preparing a campaign against Bohemia to advance the cause of his sister's sons,
16
Svatopluk and Otto. In the midst of military preparations, Ladislaus was informed that Coloman entered
Hungary accompanied by Polish troops. Upon hearing the news, the elderly kind died suddenly. He was
buried in the Abbey of Somogyvar.
Hungarians venerate Ladislaus as a god-fearing monarch who is to be held in high esteem. Upon his death
the nation mourned him officially for 3 years and prayed for him to be declared a saint. Several miracles
supported this desire. When a pestilence broke out in the country, Ladislaus prayed for a remedy and
shot an arrow into the air at random which hit an herb which turned out to be the antidote for the illness.
Furthermore, during a military action against Pecheneg raiders, the enemy scattered gold coins to deter
the pursuers from catching them. Ladislaus prayed for victory and the coins turned to stone, losing their
attraction for the King's troops which caught and defeated the enemy and freed their captives.
When Iwas a high school student in Hungary, I also heard about another legend about Ladislaus. It was
said that during a military campaign his troops were very thirsty but because of drought they could not get
a drop of water anywhere. Ladislaus then prayed for a spring to satisfy the thirst of his troops. He thrust his
sword against a big rock which split and lo and behold fresh water poured out of the cut which the king's
sword made.
Ladislaus was canonized on June 27, 1192 and is venerated as a Saint.
COLOMAN (Konyves Kalman) {1095 - 1116)
In Hungarian, the name is always preceded by "konyves", meaning book-lover. Coloman was, indeed, one
of the most educated rulers of his age. Although he was the older son of King Geza 1and should have
been the first choice to succeed Ladislaus, nevertheless, Ladislaus wanted Almos, the younger son, to
succeed him on the throne. Coloman was destined to be a bishop, hence he received an extraordinary
education. He was appointed to the bishopry of Eger {or possibly Nagyvarad), but Coloman did not want
to live an ecclesiastical life. When Ladislaus officially declared Almos to be his heir, Coloman escaped to
Poland to the court of Duke Wladyslaw Herman who supported his claim to the Hungarian throne.
When Ladislaus died, Coloman returned to Hungary followed by the support of Polish troops. This was
sufficient to persuade Almos to acknowledge Coloman as the rightful heir, but in the deal he received
what was called "tercia pars Regni",or a third of the kingdom to govern. A sweet deal,indeed. Coloman
was crowned in the spring of 1096.
Immediately he ran into a problem with the armies of the Crusaders who caused quite a disruption in the
country as they transited. Additionally, much pillaging occurred by invading German troops who ravaged
the northern county of Nitra and the Transdanubian (Dunantul) counties. Although Coloman was able to
evict those armies, the king and the fortress of Mason was under siege for six weeks. So much for the
({great" Crusaders.
Coloman had to deal with two outside forces. One was led by the Holy Roman Emperor, and the other by
the Pope. Coloman wanted to establish good relations with the Pope, so in the spring of 1097 he married
Felicia, a daughter of Count Roger of Sicily, who was a close ally of the popes. Idoubt that Felicia was too
happy of this arrangement, because it is said that Coloman had an unspecified physical deformity.
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The Hungarian king was one of the most "learned" individuals among the leaders of Europe in his time.
His Court was also the seat of higher learning and litereature. Coloman led the prelates and barons in the
synod of Tarcal to change some of Ladislaus' laws, making them less severe in some cases, but more severe
in others. One of those laws had to do with legislation concerning the Jews and Moslems. Let us
remember that a thousand years prior to Coloman's time Jews were dispersed throughout Europe and
North Africa when, in 70 A.D. Jerusalem was destroyed. Jews became exiles from their homeland
wherever they settled. Their religion allowed lending money and collecting interest for it, whereas it was
largely forbidden and considered sinful for Christians. Money begets its own problems. Lending and
trying to collect made Jews unpopular. And when the Crusaders returned from the Holy Land, Christians
began to see the Jews as directly responsible for the martyrdom of Jesus. Atrocities against Jewry took
place shortly thereafter.
Co!oman was responsible for a long lasting relationship between Hungary and Croatia, as he had himself
crowned as the King of Croatia, and later that of Dalmatia, which he seized and subdued by force. His other
military ventures, such as the one against Bohemia and the siege against Przemysl in Southeastern Poland,
fizzled out.
Coloman continued having to deal with his brother, Almos. When Coloman had his son, Stephen crowned
in 1105, Almos led an intra-family rebellion. Almos went to ask for help from the Holy Roman Emperor
Henry IV, but the Emperor was busy dealing with his own son's rebellion against him. Almos was forced
to return to Hungary and asked for Coloman's pardon.
Almos traveled to make a pilgrimage to the Holy Land. Coloman took advantage of his brother's absence
and occupied the Duchy which Almos governed. Upon Almos' return from the Holy Land, he found his
Duchy being incorporated into the king's domain and asked Henry V, the newly elected Holy Roman
Emperor to come to his aid. Henry V laid siege to Pozsony (today's Bratislava) in Bohemia. In response,
Coloman sought the help of Polish Duke Boleslav, who attacked Bohemia..Ultimately, Coloman and Almos
made peace but Almos never got his duchy back.
And here the story gets morbid. In 1112 Coloman married Eufemia of Kiev (no word as to what may have
happened to his first wife, Felicia). Eufemia was found involved in adultery and was sent back to Kiev
where she gave birth to a son named Boris, whom Coloman never acknowledged as his own son. Still
worried about the succession to the throne, Coloman ordered to have Almos and his infant son, Bela,
blinded in order to secure the throne for his own son, Stephen. In late 1115 the Republic of Venice
attacked Coloman's precious dependency, Dalmatia, which the king was no longer able to rebuff.
Coloman died on February 3, 1116, leaving the succession to the throne open for his son, Stephen.
ODDITIES OF ROYAL SUCCESSION
Based on what we have learned so far about early Hungarian history is that much blood was shed probably
unnecessarily to defend the rights, - or presumed rights, - of the occupants of the Hungarian throne.
Military campaign were conducted not only to defend (or expand) the country's borders, but also to
dissuade other principal players from claiming the crown.
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Hungary's first king, Stephen, died without a family heir because his only surviving son died in a hunting
accident. King Stephen should have rightfully passed the crown on to his closest blood relative, but since
cousin Vazul was still a heathen he could not wear the Apostolic Crown. Round One: king Stephen and son
Emeric dead.
Stephen chose his sister's son, Peter Orseolo of Venice, who favored the foreigners entrenched in the
Court rather than the Hungarian nobility. Peter also behaved "with shameful and unbridled lust" (Simon
Keza: The Deeds of the Hungarians) assaulting the wives and daughters of the Hungarians whenever the
king was away. "No one at the time could feel certain of the chastity of his wife or daughter in the face
of importunity of Peter's courtiers."
That was enough to depose Peter who fled to Austria. In 1041The Hungarian nobles elected a brother-inlaw of King Stephen to be their king. Aba Samuel was the husband of King Stephen's sister, but was not
even of pure Hungarian ancestry. Instead, he was a descendant of Cuman or Khazar chieftains, peoples
who had joined the Magyars before their arrival in the Carpathian basin. According to historian Gyula
Kristo, Samuel's Khazar origin and his first name suggest that he was of a family which adhered to Judaism.
(Aba Samuel is said to have converted to Christianity before marrying Stephen's sister.)
But Peter Orseolo returned in 1044 for a second term with the help of Emperor Henry Ill. Aba Samuel
escaped from the battlefield near Gy8r, but Peter's supporters captured and murdered him. Round Two:
king Aba Samuel is dead. Peter's second rule didn't last long. In 1046 Vazul's exiled sons returned to
Hungary which, in part, caused a pagan uprising which forced Peter to flee again. He was caught on the
border, was blinded and killed. Round Three: king Peter is dead.
The Hungarians next elected the middle son of the pagan chief Vazul by the name of Andrew (Endre) who
had just returned from 15 years of exile in Bohemia, together with his older brother Bela and younger
brother Levente. Andrew had converted to Christianity and dealt heavily with the pagan uprising in
Hungary. Andrew suffered a stroke while in power. To ensure the continuity of succession, he had his
child, Solomon, crowned and arranged Solomon's engagement to Judith, sister of the new German
monarch, Henry IV.
Andrew's brother, 81:?la, had no intention of renouncing his prime claim to the throne based on his age.
He sought the military aid of Duke Boleslaus of Poland and with his support returned to Hungary to meet
his brother on the battlefield. Andrew lost the battle and suffered severe wounds. Seized by Bela's troops,
he was taken to Zirc, where he died of neglecting his wounds. Round Four: king Andrew is dead. His son,
Solomon, was taken to Germany by German knights.
Bla was crowned in 1060. Most historians agree that Bla was the son of Vazul and his concubine. BJla
reigned for 3 years and planned to abdicate when German princes led an army invading Hungary in support
of Andrew's son, Solomon. Sitting on his throne, the wooden structure collapsed, killingthe king. Round Five:
king Bela dead in an accident.
The next king, Solomon, acceded to the throne with the help of German help, but had an ongoing conflict
with his cousin Geza who wanted to take the crown from him. In the battle of Mogyorbd in 1074 Solomon
was beaten and gave up two-thirds of his country, while Geza was proclaimed king and ruled for 3 years.
Solomon was first imprisoned in Visegrad, then relased on the order of his cousin Ladislaus because
nobody could open the grave of St. Stephen on his canonization until Solomon was imprisoned. Solomon
19
fled from Hungary and joined the Cumans and Pechenegs in a battle against the Byzantine Empire where,
according to one report he died, but according to another report he passed the remainder of his life in
pilgrimage and prayer, dying in Pula (or Pola) on the lstrian peninsula in 1087. Round Six: King Solomon
dead of physical or spiritual wounds.
After only 3 years on the throne, GJza died in April of 1077. Round Six: king dead of exhaustion. His brother,
Ladislaus was then proclaimed king.
Ladislaus lived a good Christian life and had several miraculous events attributed to him. He added
Croatia to his empire, but had disagreements with the Vatican. Since he had no sons, his nephews
Coleman and Almos, sons of King Gza, expected to inherit the throne. He named Almos the king of
Croatia, while Coleman recruited Polish military help to overtake the throne from Ladislaus. When
Ladislaus was informed in July, 1095 that Coleman crossed the borders into Hungary at the head of Polish
troops, he died suddenly. Round Seven: King Ladislaus dead of a heart attack. He was canonized in June,
1192.
Coloman, the book-lover, received an education in preparation for entering the religious life. Instead,
Coleman escaped to Poland and returned to claim the throne which had been promised by Ladislaus to
his brother, Almos. Coleman forced Almos to accept an agreement acknowledging Coleman's right to the
throne in exchange for a third of the kingdom of Hungary and financial support (appanage) from the king.
To further secure the throne for his lineage, Coloman had his son, Stephen, crowned. In a dastardly act,
to make sure that Stephen would accede to the throne, Coloman had Almos and his infant son, Bla,
blinded. The sad part of the story is that Coloman, who ordered this atrocity, was the nephew of King
Ladislaus who would eventually attain sainthood under the name of Szent Laszld. The irony is that the
blind BJla would eventually be crowned and would rule for 10 years starting in 1131.
Coloman died in February of 1116and was buried in Szkesfehrvar, next to St. Stephen. Round Eight:
King Coloman dead of old age and the memory of his dastardly act.
There are a few more curious cases in royal succession which Icannot let pass. The story of Charles I
(1310 to 1342) is equally fascinating. This period in Hungarian history is known as the "interregnum". In
the first decade of the 14th century a somewhat chaotic situation existed in Hungary. Following the end
'
of the Arpa d dynasty there happened to be at least two contenders for the throne, - all of them without
real authority or legitimacy to govern. In 1301two "children" competed: one was Charles Robert, the 13year-old grandson of Anjou King Charles II and the 12-year-old Vence!, or Wenceslaus, the son of
Bohemian (Czech} king Wenceslaus II. The third one happened to be Mary, a daughter of King Stephen V
of Hungary and sister of King Ladislaus IV of Hungary. After much haggling,Mary transferred her claim to
her eldest son, Charles Martel,heir to the Kingdom of Naples, but Charles died in 1295 and the claim was
"inherited" by the child Charles Robert.
.
I know this gets too involved, but bear with me to sort out who is who and what is what.
Charles Robert was supported by the Papacy and the Church leadership in Hungary as his mother Maria,
the Hungarian wife of the Anjou king was the daughter of King Stephen V. Vencel,or Wenceslaus, on the
other hand, was the nominee of most of the Barons .9f the Hungarian nobility. The stakes were high,so the
supporters of Charles didn't waste any time. They sent a delegation to Naples, inviting Charles to
20
Hungary, and upon his arrival they took him to Esztergom where the Archbishop Gregory Bicskei crowned
Charles with a substitute crown since the original Holy Crown was in the possession of, and guarded by
his opponent.
The majority of the magnates, however, did not accept Charles' rule and proclaimed Wenceslaus their
king, crowning him with the true Holy Crown in SzekesfehJrv r by Archbishop John of Kalocsa in 1301. To
further his legitimacy, Wenceslaus got engaged to Elizabeth, daughter of King Andrew Ill, the last of the
Arpcld dynasty and assumed the name of Ladislaus V (Laszlo). In those confusing years Hungary was split
into principalities and Wenceslaus could only claim sovereignty over what today is Slovakia, Burgenland
and the territory around Buda, the capital. Regrettably for him, he was not universally recognized and
eventually would renounce the Hungarian throne.
Not to be outdone, Charles Robert recruited military forces in Slavonia and laid siege to Buda Castle in
September 1302, but he was not successful in his conquest and had to withdraw to Slavonia. - Wenceslaus
feared for his throne and asked his father for help. The Bohemian king Wenceslaus II came to Hungary in
the summer of 1304 at the head of a large army to provide support and credibility to his son Vence(, but
soon realized that the son's position was unstable and probably untenable, to say the least. He retreated
and his son followed, takingthe Holy Crown with him.
When the Bohemian king died in 1305 and Wenceslaus was elevated to the throne of that country, he gave
up his aspirations to the Hungarian throne. Wenceslaus abdicated, offering the crown to the Bavarian
Prince Otto, who was the 46-year-old grandson of King Bla IV. Otto was considered the enemy of the
Austrian Habsburgs, so Otto had to disguise himself as a merchant while transiting Austria to Prague where
he took possession of the Holy Crown. On his way to Hungary, Otto nearly lost the crown until it was
accidentally found in the swamp near the Hungarian border (see my letter to the Editor of the Washington
Post). Otto was then crowned with the Holy Crown in Szl:!kesfeht:!rvar in December 1305 and assumed the
name Bela V.
Wenceslaus broke off his engagement to Elizabeth of Hungary and married the daughter of a Polish Duke,
hoping to establish his rights to the Polish throne as well. Unfortunately for him, Wenceslaus was
murdered under mysterious circumstances on August 4, 1306.
Otto, or Bela V reigned from 1305 to 1308, encountering much resistance from some of the powerful
magnates. In June 1307 he visited Ladislaus Kn, the Voivode of Transylvania, but was arrested, leaving
the throne open for Charles Robert to take. Otto was released from prison (or may have escaped) and
left the country. On November 27, 1908, the assembly of nobles met in Pest and proclaimed Charles as
king of Hungary, however, Ladislaus Kan would not release the crown. The Papal legate had a new crown
made for Charles with which he was crowned on June 15, 1309. Pressure was put on the Kn and he
finally released the crown so that on August 27, 1310, Charles could be crowned for the third time, taking
the official name as Charles Iof Hungary, which he governed until 1342.
And with that, an unstable, dramatic and dangerous phase of Hungarian history, called "interregnum" was
completed.
21
THE TENTH CENTURY
It is without a doubt that the arrival of the Hungarians in the Carpathian basin was a momentous occasion
in European history. There had been other poples, like the Avars, Khazars, the Huns and the Romans who
settled in the area only to move on in time and in most cases fade out of history. The Magyars staid! This
is hardly the most auspicious space for me to declare the effect and significance of our ancestors, but Iam
not a lone voice in the wilderness. Ihave taken the liberty of taking some input from such luminaries as
H.G. Wells (The Outline of History) and others.
For a long view, we must agree that some of the major events of the first millennium included the
existence and fall of the Roman Empire, as well as the ascendency of Charlemagne some 3 centuries later.
Tragic as it was, the fall of Rome in 476 A.D. in front of the Visigoth Alaric had been preceded by the moral
decline of the empire. {Many historians are seeking similarities between that event and the dissipation
of empires in our modern times, but let that be the subject of another treatise at another time.)
Charlemagne took over the reign from his father and was the king of the Franks from 768 A.D.,expanding
into territories which would eventually constitute the two major powers of Europe, i.e. France and
Germany. In 799 A.D. Pope Leo Ill placed the crown on Charlemagne's head to make him Emperor of the
Holy Roman Empire, - a wishful extension of the "old Roman empire" as the major force to deal with, and
as the defender of the Pope, the "Caesar" of the spirit of the Continent.
Charlemagne died in 813 A.D. With his passing, the inevitable decline of the empire began. As H.G. Wells
termed it: "In all of Europe there survived not a tithe of the speculative vigour that we find inthe Athenian
literature of the 5th.century B.C. There was no power to postulate a new occasion.... Europe, in a series
of attempts to restore (the Roman Empire) drifted towards a dreary imitation and revival of the
misconceived failures of the past."
The resulting shift of power plays, the "treacheries, claims and acquisitions" are difficult to trace as
lawlessness and struggle for power was everywhere. The Church itself showed great strain in adhering to
the teachings of Jesus Christ. In fact, in 904 A.D. the disgraceful rule of the Popes was called "pornocracy"
with the main player being Pope Sergius Ill, who, among other dastardly acts, ordered the strangulation
of two of his rivals. Sergius was indebted to the Theophylact family of Tusculum, allegedly having an illicit
affair with the Count's daughter, resulting in the birth of a male childwho, by the year 931,became Pope
John XI. Indeed, it was a dark period for the Church, when, for 60 years Popes were strongly influenced,
sometimes even elected, by corrupt and powerful Roman families. This was a period of feudal violence in
Europe where the Papacy was allowed to become the pawn of aristocratic rulers. Where was the Holy
Spirit in those instances?
The foundation of the economic and social system was feudalism. It rested on the theory that layers of
society owed their existence to a higher level and for the maintenance of their existence required service
from the lowest ranks to the next highest, all the way to the king (and the Pope). The service rendered
by the nobles to their immediate superiors was mainly military as they were required to fight on their
overlord's behalf. A serf, on the lowest level, might be a virtual slave, while freemen owned land and
property but had to make themselves available to the level above them. In return,the strength of the
overlord protected those who were dependent on him.
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Into such an environment came the wild tribes of the Hungarians in 895 A.D. Not accustomed to strict
regulation over the grazing land for their livestock and not used to live in any one place long enough to
"own it", they ventured into Western territories all the way to the Rhine and beyond, until they suffered
their first defeat in 933 A.D. at the hands of Henry I at Merseburg and in 955 A.O. at Lechfeld near
Augsburg by Emperor Otto.
Realizing that his people would be best served by settling down, King Stephen introduced Christianity. it
is simply astounding that in a mere 38 years of his reign, Stephen was able to convert the Hungarian tribes
and make them into a Hungarian nation. He fashioned a nation which made its mark on world history. King
Stephen was able to strengthen the ties to the West and did that from strength and respect, not from the
stand of a weak or conquered nation.
At the crossroads of history and historical migration, Hungary's physical location became, of necessity,
the place to beat for armies and adventurers on the warpath. Hungarians never stood down to await and
then serve the armadas from all directions of the compass. They stood their ground. The Carpathian basin
suffered periodic incursions from the West as Austrian and German potentates came to support their
appointees to the Hungarian throne. A couple of times in the country's history, the decisive blow came
from the Russians who penetrated the Carpathians from the North and East to strike at the heart of the
country. The Ottoman Turks ventured well beyond their territories in the Balkans with their eyes on the
wealth of Vienna. The road took them first to the fortifications in Hungary where thousands of the Magyar
braves laid their lives in the path of the invaders. And when their blood ran out, they suffered 145 years
of foreign occupation. Hungarians were always ready and able to defend their values, their religion, their
homeland so that the West should feel more secure knowing that first to stand up to the enemy were the
Hungarians.
And from a larger perspective, it was in the 10th century, when the so-called Holy Roman Empire came to
being, headed by the German King Otto I, in 936. It was Otto, who won a decisive battle over the
marauding Hungarians in 955 near Augsburg, putting an end to their advam:ement westward. (That is the
answer to nostalgic Hungarians, among them my wife, who remarked: "If Arpad had only ridden a few
hundred miles further westward, we'd be living in Switzerland today ...!") Otto had himself crowned
Emperor, which endured until Napoleon abolished it 800 years later. - Christian forces reconquered Spain
in 900 and made a move against Moslems trying to expand from Africa to the European continent. The
so-called British Isles were under Danish rule since the 850s, but their supremacy fell apart in the early
10th century when Edward the Elder took the title of "King of the Angles and Saxons" in 901.
As yet another historian, C,A. Macartney wrote: "It must be said that Hungary was, on the whole, lucky in
its kings. Several of the Arpads were men of ability and of endearing nature. Nevertheless, the endemic
dynastic warfare did Hungary much harm. Not only did the fighting which accompanied it bring with it
loss of blood and material devastation, but many claimants to the throne called in foreign help, - German,
Polish and even Byzantine, - thus opening the way to foreign interference in the country's internal affairs,
political degradation and loss of territory."
If we don't learn from our past mistakes, we must repeat them. Let us now see where Hungary's leaders
took the nation on its path over the next thousand years.
Copyright 2013. Jules S. Vallay. All rights reserved.
23
THE NEXT THOUSAND YEARS
STEPHEN II (lstvcin II, 1116 -1131)
The elder son of King Coloman (the book-lover), who had him crowned in his childhood to ensure
Stephen's success against his brother A'lmos. Stephen's coronation in 1105 (11 years before his actual
reign began) caused a rebellion and warfare internally. Nevertheless, with Coloman's death, Stephen
acceded to the throne at age 15 in 1116.
His rule started with two military defeats. The Czechs misinterpreted Stephen's peaceful intention and
the Hungarian army suffered a defeat in May; whereas in June Venetian troops occupied Dalmatia sending
the Hungarian army to its defeat. Dalmatia was lost for over 5 years. Of all the strange projects Stephen
got himself involved, he gave shelter to the Pechenegs at his court after they had been defeated by the
Byzantine Emperor. Stephen made the Pechenegs into bodyguards which turned into a conspiracy against
him, trying to return the blinded Duke Almos to the throne. The conspiracy was revealed and Almos fled
to the Byzantine empire where he died in 1127.
Finally, in 1129 Stephen called back to his court his cousin, the blinded BJla, son of Almos. Stephen and
his troops marched against the Byzantine Empire and defeated them with the help of Duke Sobeslav of
Bohemia.
Stephen's rule was unpopular among the nobility because he preferred living with his concubines instead
of getting married and produce an heir. He was ultimately forced to marry Cristiana, daughter of Prince
Robert of Capua, irr 1120, but produced no heir. Stephen designated his sister's son, Saul, to be his
successor, but Saul died before his uncle. Stephen died of dysentery in 1131.
BELA II (Vak) Bla II, 1131- 1141)
As we read above, in 1129 King Stephen called his cousin, the blinded Bela, the only son of Almos, to
return to the Hungarian Court from his exile. Upon the death of the childless Stephen, Bela was crowned.
You'll recall that King Coloman had married Eufemia, daughter of the Grand Prince Vladimir of Kiev in
1112. Eufemia, however, was soon sent packing when she was found to be promiscuous. Coloman
divorced the adulterous woman, but Eufemia gave birth in Kiev to a son, Boris, and she claimed that
Coloman was his father which the king vehemently denied.
This boy, Boris, would give Bla II a lot of trouble after he was crowned in 1131. Bla married Jelena, one
of the daughters of a Serbian duke, and they produced a number of historic offspring,among them the
next king-to-be, GJza II (who ruled from 1141to 1162), and two other royal sons, Ladislaus II (1131) and
Stephen IV (1133), while their daughter, Elizabeth became the wife of Duke Mieszko of Poland.
Jelena had a significant role in governing the country because her husband, the king, was blind. Among
other deeds, she ordered the execution of the people whom she considered responsible for her husband's
blinding. She also placed her brother (a Serb, mind you!) in command of the Hungarian Army.
In the meantime, Boris enlisted the help of the Polish king Boleslaus and in 1132 Polish and Russian troops
entered Hungary. They were defeated, but many Hungarian nobles who refused to brand Boris a bastard,
24
were executed by King Bela II. In 1136 Bela regained control of Dalmatia from Venice and occupied
Bosnia, making his middle son, Ladislaus, king of that country. And in a very smart political move he had
his sisters Hedwig and Adelaide marry into the Austrian and Bohemian royal families, helping to form an
alliance with those countries.
Unfortunately, Bela became an alcoholic and died of overindulgence in 1141, making room for his son,
GJza, a minor, to ascend to the throne.
;
GEZA II (1141-1162)
Gza was still a minor when he was crowned,so his mother, Helena, served as regent of the kingdom.
Growing up, Gza married Euphrosyne in 1146, who was the sister of the Grand Prince of Kiev. She bore
8 children for him, two of whom would be future kings of Hungary.
The aforementioned Boris, the alleged descendant of King Coloman, was still giving trouble to the
Hungarian royal house, claiming rights to the Hungarian throne. Five years into the rule of Ge'za, Boris
occupied the fortress in Pozsony (today's Bratislava in Slovakia) in 1146 with the help of the Austrian Duke
Henry II. Geza was at the head of his armies when he defeated the pretender, thereby gaining respect of
the Hungarian nobility.
Many military campaigns, too many to be listed, are attached to Geza's name. In June of 1147 Germany's
King Conrad Ill was at the head of the Crusader Army as they passed through Hungary, - without major
conflicts. But Boris secretly joined another Crusade under the command of the French king Louis VII and
used that as a means-to sneak into Hungary. Geza protested and although Louis VII did not extradite the
pretender, he had Boris escorted out of Hungary under guarded custody. GJza's troops were busy in an
1150 campaign near Przemysl in the Carpathians when Boris attacked from the South with Byzantine
forces. Geza hurried to defeat the intruders and concluded a truce with the Byzantine empire.
Sadly, there was an internecine incident in 1157when Gza's younger brother, Stephen conspired against
him. Ge!za defeated the conspiracy, and Stephen fled to the court of Holy Roman Emperor Frederick I.
Upon Geza's intersession,Frederick refused any assistance to Stephen who then fled to Constantinople.
1
Two years later Geza's other younger brother, Ladislaus, also conspired against Geza, but he was without
success and would find refuge with Manuel I Komnenos, the Byzantine emperor.
Geza died in 1162 and was buried in SzJkesfehJrv r.
STEPHEN Ill (Ill Istvan, 1162 -1172)
Born in 1147, he was the elder son of his father, Gza II and he acceded to the throne at age 15 upon the
king's death in 1162. Actually, GJza already named Stephen as his successor when Stephen was only 5
years old! Both of his uncles (Geza's brothers Stephen and Ladislaus) coveted the crown and enlisted the
help of Byzantine Emperor Manuel I,against whom Stephen constantly had to defend his rightful throne.
Under pressure, King Stephen Illfound it necessary to escape to Pozsony (today's Bratislava) to seek the
support of Holy Roman Emperor Frederick I. Eventually uncle Ladislaus died, but the king's other uncle,
also called Stephen, marched against the young Stephen. Fortune smiled on the king when he defeated
and arrested his uncle at SzJkesfehervar. Regretta bly, on the mistaken advice of Archbishop Lukas, the
king let the usurper flee to the Byzantine Empire. Emperor Manual,though, never gave up his efforts to
25
enter Hungary. To ensure the sovereignty of the Southern part of Hungary, King Stephen Ill sent his
younger brother Bla as a virtual ambassador to Constantinople. Interestingly, Bela already bore the title
of Duke of Croatia and Dalmatia, which was givn to him in his father GJza's last will. Emperor Manuel,
pretending to ensure Bla's "inheritance" of the Balkan region, he launched yet another attack against
Hungary in 1164. This time King Vladislaus of Bohemia and Duke Henry II of Austria came to Stephen's
help and negotiated a peace agreement which, rightly or wrongly, transferred an area called the
"Szerems g" to the Byzantine Emperor.
In the next 3 years, the Szermseg changed hands three times as Stephen and Manuel kept testing each
other's military fortunes, once even involving Austrian troops after he married Agnes, daughter of Duke
Henry II of Austria. These wars cost the Hungarians heavily. To finance them, Stephen dipped into the
coffers of the Church under the right of investiture, upsetting the Church leadership. To appease the
Vatican, Stephen granted large estates to the Knights Templar in Hungary.
Stephen's first marriage in 1167 was to an unnamed daughter of a Slavic Prince, but the young bride was
"repudiated" the following year (probably because she couldn't have children) and sent home. In 1168
Stephen married Agnes, daughter of Austrian Duke Henry II. Two little boys were born to them, but both
died in infancy.
In 1172 the Duke of Austria was on a pilgrimage to the Holy Land and transited Hungary. King Stephen Ill
met the Duke, however, he fell suddenly ill and died. Iwonder if his father-in-law had anything to do with
it...? Stephen was buried in Esztergom.
While Stephen was the rightfully crowned king from March 1162 to March, 1172, a somewhat confusing
and turbulent period ensued with two of his uncles claiming the royal title. I have taken snippets of
information of this period from, among other sources, the Encyclopedia Britannica, and list the period
under the title of
USURPERS OF THE THRONE
lADISlAUS II (II. Laszlo, May 1162 to January 1163) - unconfirmed. See note below.
Upon their brother, Gza ll's death in May, 1162, both brothers, Stephen arid Ladislaus, aspired to take
over governing Hungary. They were prevented from accessing the throne by Geza's son, who had been
named the king's successor as Stephen Ill,even though Stephen was only a minor at the time. This created
bad blood in the family, causing the relations between the three brothers to fall apart. Both Stephen and
Ladislaus conspired against the young king and fled to the court of Byzantine Emperor Manuel IKomnenos
in Constantinople, seeking his help.
As Ipointed out in earlier writings, the ancient Hungarian custom of the oldest male member of the royal
family took precedence over the deceased king's first-born son for the throne. Based on this custom, the
titled electors preferred Ladislaus over his nephew Stephen, and sent message to Constantinople voicing
their preference. Ladislaus entered Hungary with the help of the Byzantine Emperor, and was proclaimed
king in Szekesfehervar. King Stephen Ill, upon hearing of the event, fled to Pozsony. But for the coronation
to take place, Ladislaus needed an Arcbbishop to perform the ceremony.
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Since the Archbishop Lukas of Esztergom remained loyal to Stephen Ill, they had to find an alternate
Church dignitary. The Archbishop Mik6 of Kalocsa assented to perform the ceremonial coronation in July,
1162. (The question is why didn't Stephen take the Holy Crown with him to Pozsony?!) Hungary now had
two "crowned" kings in the same period: Stepha, Ill and Ladislaus II. To be "fair" to Ladislaus, on the
occasion of his coronation the new king granted what was known as "Tercia pars Regni", or one-third of
the Kingdom of Hungary to his brother, Stephen Ill.
Archbishop Lukas continued to deny the legitimacy of Ladislaus' right to the throne and excommunicated
him. In response, Ladislaus had the archbishop arrested, whereupon Pope Alexander Ill intervened,
forcing Ladislaus to release Lukas on Christmas, 1162. Still,Lukas refused to absolve the king. A couple of
weeks later Ladislaus was found dead, having died most likely of poisoning. His rule ended on January 14,
1163.
For the sake of historical accuracy, in medieval times he only counted an anti-king, so another Ladislaus
who emerged in the 13th century, would be officially counted at Ladislaus II.
STEPHEN IV (IV. Istvan, January 1163 - June 1163)
As we have seen in the above segment about Ladislaus II, Stephen was one of the two brothers who
conspired against their brother, King Geza II. Stephen,too, wanted to deny the ascension of Geza's son,
Stephen, to the throne. When his position became untenable in Hungary, he fled first to the Court of the
Holy Roman Emperor Frederick I. To prevent the Emperor Frederick from giving Stephen help, King Geza
II outmaneuvered him, promising troops as a bribe to fight yet another conflict with Milan. Frederick then
denied support from Stephen who had to flee to the Byzantine Emperor's court in Constantinople.
Intime Ladislaus would be crowned king,although his nephew, as Stephen Ill, already held the title. When
Ladislaus died inJanuary, 1163 of poisoning, the Hungarian electors proclaimed his brother the new king
as Stephen IV. Archbishop Lucas of Esztergom once again showed his loyalty to King Stephen Illand denied
his coronation. In his place, Archbishop Miko of Kalocsa performed the coronation ceremony. {The
question is, where was Stephen Ill all this time; why wasn't he defending the Holy Crown?)
Archbishop Lucas excommunicated King StephenlV which got Stephen so angry, he prohibited any
correspondence between the Hungarian bishops and the Vatican. The usurper king seemed on the verge
of separating the Catholic Church in Hungary from Rome.
Meanwhile, the Hungarian barons became indignant and finally rallied behind King Stephen Ill. Holy
Roman Emperor Frederick I sent troops to assist King Stephen Ill,who led his troops against the usurper
king Stephen defeating him and the Byzantine troops that he had hired. Stephen IV was captured, but
later released on the advice of Archbishop Lucas, opening the way for him to escape to Byzantium. This
time the Emperor double-crossed Stephen and concluded peace with Stephen Ill. As compensation,he
was appointed governor of a fortress from which he kept harassing Hungarian territories until Stephen
Ill's troops laid siege to the fortress at Zimony. In ultimate humiliation, his own troops poisoned him
before surrendering to Stephen Ill's forces.
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The Court Jester
Many history books skip over these convoluted periods in Hungarian history and, after brief stops with
Kings Solomon,St. Ladislaus and Coleman the boe1k lover, go directly from St. Stephen to the next ruler,
Bela Ill as being one of the most powerful rulers of the country.
Given the many references above to poisonings to end the undesirable reign of certain kings, Iwould like
to sidetrack history for a moment and take a breather with the Hollywood movie entitled: Court Jester, a
comedy in which poisoning is one of the highlights of the film.
The rather complicated but very funny plot has at its core Giacomo, "King of Jesters, Jester of Kings",
played by Danny Kaye. On a mission to install a baby boy to the throne, Giacomo meets the current king's
daughter who declares her love for the jester over a visiting knight her father wants her to marry. The king
orders Giacomo to be knighted so he can joust the visitor and the winner be chosen to marry the princess.
Giacomo, knowing nothing about jousting, takes advantage of advice from Griselda, a witch in the service
of the princess, who promises to poison one of the drinks the antagonists are supposed to drink before the
event. She tells the jester how to choose the safe brew:
Griselda (to Giacomo): The pellet with the poison is in the vessel with the pestle; the chalice from the
palace has the brew that is true!
Giacomo repeats it: The pellet with the poison is in the vessel with the pestle; the chalice from the palace
has the brew that is true. Right?
Griselda: Yes, but there's been a change: they broke the chalice from the palace and replaced it with a
flagon.
Giacomo: They broke the chalice from the palace?
Griselda: Right! And replaced it with a flagon with a dragon.
Giacomo: But did you put the pellet with the poison inthe vessel with the pestle?
Griselda: No! The pellet with the poison is in the flagon with the dragon! The vessel with the pestle has
the brew that is true!
Giacomo: The poison with the..... The pellet with the poison is in the flagon with the dragon. The vessel
with the pestle has the brew that is true! The pellet with the poison.....
Griselda: Just remember that!
NO wonder then, that in real life complications occurred over a "simple act'' of poisoning...
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BELA Ill (1172 -1196)
An important player in this period was King Bela Ill who ruled from 1172 to 1192. He turned out to be
the wealthiest member of the dynasty who had personal disposition over 23,000 kg (about 51,000 lbs) of
pure silver, well exceeding the wealth of the kings of France and England. Bela's main contribution to
history was that he rolled back the influence of the Byzantine Empire by encroaching Bosnia, Dalmatia
and Serbia as well.
Bela was the second son of Geza II (1141-1162) and the younger brother of Stephen Ill (1162-1172). He
was brought up and educated inthe Byzantine court of Emperor Manuel I. The Emperor intended for Bela
to inherit Byzantium from him and marry his daughter Maria. In 1169, however, Manuel and his wife had
a son, Alexius, born to them. Bla's "engagement" to Maria was cancelled, but the emperor negotiated
his marriage to Agnes of Antioch.
When King Stephen Il l died childless, Bela became his rightful heir and Bela moved to Hungary in
anticipation of being crowned by the Archbishop of Esztergom. However, Lucas, the Archbishop refused
to crown Bela with St. Stephen's crown because he declared that the gift ,which Bla had given to the
archbishop's enjoy, was a bribe. Bla had to seek help from Pope Alexander 111, who authorized his
investiture by the Archbishop of Kalocsa.
To complicate matters, the electors in Hungary would have preferred his younger brother, Prince GJza,
to become king. The tension got to the point where Bela had his own brother accused of treason, forcing
him to flee to Henry II of Austria and then to the court of Emperor Frederick I. He was arrested by
Bohemian Duke Sobeslav and returned to King Bela Ill. He would be imprisoned until 1189 when the Holy
Roman Emperor Frederick I was transiting Hungary, making his crusade to the Holy Land. Upon the
Emperor's request, Gza was freed and retired to Byzantium.
Thanks to Bela's visionary approach to his role in history, we now know much more about his rule and his
internal policies than about many of the other Hungarian rulers. By establishing the Royal Chancellery,
he ordered, for example, that all issues discussed by the king had to be put down in writing. It came to
light as well that the Archbishop Andrew of Kalocsa may have insulted the king which drew the king's ire.
He bore pressure on Lukas, the Archbishop of Esztergom, to excommunicate the prelate Andrew and then
occupied the estates of the archdiocese, gaining its wealth for the king. Pope Alexander Ill had to
intervene later on to ease the tension between the king and the archbishop.
He followed an expansionist strategy, but used his military power wisely. When Byzantine Emperor
Manuel I died in September of 1180, Bela took advantage of the situation and reoccupied Croatia and
Dalmatia. And to strengthen the ties between the two belligerents he gave his daughter, Margaret, in
marriage to the new Byzantine emperor, Isaac II Angelos. After his first wife, Agnes of Antioch (I wonder
how they communicated back in the royal household? ...) died in 1184, Bela first wanted to marry
Theodora, one of Emperor Manuel's nieces, however, the Byzantine church forbade the marriage to take
place, - I assume because of religious conflict? - Bela then turned westward and may have established a
lasting connection with England. How did this happen? Bl!la married Marguerite of France who was the
French King Philip ll's sister and the widow of Henry, the eldest son of King Henry II of England.
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In May, 1189, Frederick Iwas leading his Crusade to the Holy Land which took him through Hungary. Bela
must have been impressed by the pomp and circumstance parading through his country, so he took an oath
to lead another crusade to the Holy Land, which did not take place because Bela died on April 23, 1196.
Bla's legacy was that he re-established Hungary's respect in Europe and his court was acknowledged to
be among the most brilliant in Europe. His extraordinary height at over 2 metres (6 ft 8 inches) made it
easier to identify his remains in the cathedral at Szekesfehervar, which had been ruined by the Turkish
occupation. He was reinterred at the Matthias Coronation Church in Budapest, together with his first wife
Agnes.
Just as a side remark, let's not feel too sorry for Margaret, King Bela Ill's daughter whom he gave in marriage
to Byzantine Emperor Isaac II Angelos. After Angelos passed away, however, she married twice more:
firstly to Boniface of Thessalonica (Greece, or formerly the Roman capital of Macedonia), and secondly to
Nicholas Iof Saint Omer, - wherever that was.
A little detour
Ialways felt a little sorry for women in the ancient royal families. They were often sent away to a foreign
country to marry a prince or king with whom they had no romantic involvement before hitting the soft
matrimonial mattress. They were used as chattel to commit one or both parties to observe the terms of
a treaty. Most often they did not speak the language of their new country, nor did they know much of
their new husband and had to eat and digest food and customs totally foreign to them.
Iam sure the prospective groom was nervous, too, often not even having met, or just met briefly with the
woman he was expected to spend his nights, or his entire life. Of course, the sweetener in the deal was
often the dowry which accompanied the sweet young thing entering your household. In reverse, when
the bride was Hungarian and she was being sent to Poland or Bohemia or Bavaria, her carriage was pulled
by horses from the best of Hungarian stables, the carriage rode on wheels accustomed to the ruts in the
"puszta", which was not exactly the Autobahn. We are not talking strictly about brides, mind you. When
Andrew II was returning from the 5th crusade, he made a detour to arrange for a lovely young Greek thing
for his son Bla from Emperor "Teddy" Laskaris of Nicaea. Did Bela, the future King Bela IV, carry with him
the promise of making a Greek-Hungarian Queen, or was the promise made for monetary reasons?
It is interesting to consider the historian Macartney's remarks, simply stating that "in those days Hungary
was almost, not quite, the leading power in south-eastern Europe." In the case of another Bela (BJla Ill),
whose second marriage was to Marguerite of France, sister of King Philip II and widow of Henry, eldest
son of King Henry II of England, Bela could claim to be the brother-in-law of the King of France! The
marriage document, required for the negotiations, showed that his revenues were equal to those of his
English and French contemporaries and just a tad under those of the Holy Roman Emperor!
And this was not true only for the female descendants of Hungarian kings, but it was also true in reverse,
when the palace at Buda welcomed a foreign princess to be betrothed to a Magyar king or king-to-be.
The very first queen, Giselle or Gisela of Bavaria, was betrothed to King Stephen at a very young age. She
had been raised in a convent, so what did she know of the outside world? Granted, she was allowed to
be accompanied by dozens of knights whom her father, Henry the Wrangler, Duke of Bavaria, gave her as
a wedding present. At least she could converse in German with those folks, but what about others in her
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royal entourage? She may not have been accustomed to Wiener Schnitzle served for lunch in the
convent, but how did she take to "paprikas krumpli" (potatoes in paprika sauce) served in King Stephen's
kitchen? Was she endeared by Stephen as "lch liebe dich?" Or was it her royal duty to unceremoniously
deliver, nurture and often bury her children, the offspring of the saintly warlord, Istvan? When and how
did she learn the language?
Perusing some of these daunting questions, Icame across an interesting situation,where a foreigner, born
in Hungary, became a Scottish saint. Although the story does not fit this particular period in my storytelling, it presents a unique drama having to do with royalty. Iam talking of the British princess Margaret.
Due to the constraints of time and space, I am shamelessly quoting, more or less, from the Cambridge
Encyclopedia as well as from Wikipedia.
SAINT MARGARET OF SCOTLAND
She was born in 1045 A.D. into the House of Wessex. Her father was the English prince Edward the Exile
and granddaughter of Edmund Ironside, king of England. When the Danes, under the leadership of
Canute, conquered the English forces in 1016, the infant Edward was exiled to the European continent,
first to Sweden, then to Kiev and later, as an adult, to Hungary. He supported Andrew l's bid for the throne
in 1045, which was in jeopardy not only because of a pagan uprising, but also due to Andrew's ongoing
troubles with his brothers also claiming the right to the throne.
Edward chose Agatha to be his wife, but her provenance could not be proved. She might have been English
in Edward's entourage, or she may have been Hungarian from the local aristocracy. Their daughter,
Margaret, was born in Hungary in 1045, as were her brother and her sister. The new Hungarian king,
Andrew, was a devout Catholic and provided a pious environment for the English guests at his court.
Our main interest in St. Margaret's life was really to explore her circumstances in Hungary, but her entire
life is so interesting and involved, I will not let it pass without notice. There is no credible, detailed
description of her and her family's stay in Hungary, yet they presumably were the guests of Andrew for
some 12 years, when Edward was recalled to England in 1057 as a potential successor to the childless
Edward the Confessor. Twelve years is a long time, which Iam sure the bright English kids (and even their
parents) turned to good use, learning some of the language, customs and history.
Edward took his entire family back with him to England where disaster struck. Whether from natural
causes or sinister circumstances, Edward met death upon landing. Margaret was settled at the English
court where her brother, Edward Aetheling,was considered a possible heir to the throne. With the death
of Edward the Confessor and his transitional successor Harold having died in the Norman invasion, Edgar
was proclaimed King of England in 1068. His widowed mother Agatha, together with her children, fled
the Normans to Northumbria in the North. From here they were to return to the European continent by
ship, but a storm blew them north to Scotland. Here they sought the protection of King Malcolm Ill.
Malcolm was a widower with two sons. It appears that romance blossomed soon between Malcolm and
Margaret, and despite Margaret's reluctance to engage in matrimony, their wedding took place in 1070.
In time, Margaret had 8 children by Malcolm, among them 4 future kings and queens. Margaret remained
a dedicated Catholic, supporter of the poor and helpless, and having civilizing influence on Malcolm. She
also brought the Church of Scotland to conform to those of Rome artd the Church on the Continent as she
remembered itfrom her childhood, - no doubt from Hungary.
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Malcolm and their eldest son, Edward, were killed in a battle against the English. The life of constant
austerity and fasting took their toll on Margaret's life. She died on November 16, 1093, three days after the
death of her husband and son. In recognition of her personal holiness, charity and work on Church reform,
she was canonized by Pope Innocent IV in 1250. She is venerated in both the Roman Catholic and Anglican
Churches.
I must beg your indulgence for this bypass into English history but Iwonder if the Hungarian King Bela IV
may have been influenced in some way to name his daughter Margaret as well,based on an exiled little
young lady at Buda Castle some years back. The Hungarian Margaret, as we will learn later, also lived a
religious life and was canonized as one of Hungary's saints.
EMERIC {lmre, 1196 - 1204)
He was the first-born son of Bla Ill and Agnes of Antioch. His father, wanting to ensure his son's
succession, had Emeric crowned in 1182, when he was only 8 years old, and 14 years before his reign
actually began. Emeric was engaged to Agnes, the daughter of Frederick I,Holy Roman Emperor, but her
premature death two years later prevented this promising marriage to take place. {In 1198 Emeric
married lnfanta Constance of Aragon and they had one son who would become the infant King Ladislaus
Ill,but lived only 5 years. See the following story.)
Emeric was appointed by his father to be the Duke of Croatia and Dalmatia. BJla Ill's last will left the
kingdom entirely to Emeric, but gave his younger son, Andrew, a substantial amount of money so that he
could fulfill his father's promise to lead yet another crusade to the Middle East. Andrew, however, used
the money to secure the loyalties of the electors, hoping to gain access to the throne. He also sought the
help of Leopold VI, Duke of Austria to dethrone his brother, and their combined armies were victorious
over Emeric in the Battle of Mecsek (near Pees) in December 1197. The conquest also meant that Emeric
had to transfer the rule of Croatia and Dalmatia to his brother.
It is upsetting that the royal offspring of BJla Ill were more concerned about personal power than about
the unity and the benefit of the kingdom. Indeed, the brothers fought another battle in the summer of
1199 at Rad, where Emeric defeated his brother, forcing him to flee to Austria. With the mediation of
Papal Legate Gregory, however, Duke Andrew was allowed to return to Hungary and was again granted
rule over Croatia and Dalmatia.
Andrew continued conspiring against his brother. Pope Innocent Ill urged Andrew to fulfill his father's
wish to spend the monies on organizing another crusade. Emeric honored his part of the promise and
transferred funds and property to the Archbishop of Esztergom..
Emeric had to deal with military hotspots in Serbia, Bulgaria and Bosnia, in which he gained the allegiance
and fidelity of Ban Kulin of Bosnia. Another troubling situation emerged in Bulgaria where the Doge of
Venice took the Dalmatian city of Zara from Hungarian oversight. Pope Innocent excommunicated the
Venetians and the Crusaders so the Hungarians would regain control of Zara, but Emeric's troops were
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unable to reoccupy the city and gave it up by signing a peace treaty, which also separated Dalmatia from
Hungary.
When Andrew would again conspire against Emeric in 1203, the king led his armies against him. Realizing
that he was outnumbered, Emeric confronted Andrew alone, wearing only the crown and the scepter.
Andrew surrendered, however, Emeric had him arrested. As Emeric's health was failing, he had his four
year old son, Ladislaus, crowned in August 1204 and reconciled with Andrew, appointing him to govern
Hungary during his son's minority years. Emeric died in 1204 and was buried in the Cathedral of Eger.
LADISLAUS Ill (111. Lszl6 - November 1204 - May 1205)
Given the merciless intranecine fights among royal heirs, it is perhaps fortunate that Ladislaus Illwas the
only son of King Emeric. Ladislaus was only 4 years old when his father had him crowned, - another
ridiculous practice in an effort to "save" the throne for the selected heir. As we read above, Emeric made
his brother, Andrew promise that he would help the young Ladislaus govern while he was a minor. As we
may remember, Andrew had conspired against Emeric and should have been jailed instead of being
entrusted with such a precious charge.
As expected, Andrew betrayed his brother. When Emeric died, Andrew grabbed total power and made the
life of the young Ladislaus and the dowager Queen miserable, so that they found it necessary to escape to
Vienna to the protection of Leopold VI, Duke of Austria. The child died there in May, 1205, but was buried
in Szekesfehervar.
ANDREW II (11. Andras/End re - 1205 -1235)
Well,guess who would be the next king? No need to wonder any more. Of course, it was Andrew, son of
King BJla Ill and younger brother of Emeric.
His father, Bela Ill had given him the principality of Halych (the later Galicia on the northern edge of the
Carpathian Mountains), while his brother Emeric got the crown. The fierce boyars of Halych rebelled
against Andrew and expelled the Hungarian troops representing the Hungarian ruler. Andrew then turned
against his brother, King Emeric who was forced to defend his crown against the young usurper by military
force. Emeric lost the 1197 battle with Andrew, but won the battle in 1199 with Andrew, but felt obligated
to grant him the position of Duke of Croatia and Dalmatia.
Bela Ill had taken an oath to leave funds with Andrew from which to finance another crusade. Andrew
misused the funds and conducted military expeditions to neighboring provinces while conspiring against
his brother, King Emeric.
Andrew married Gertrude, a daughter of the Duke of Merania who had great influence over Andrew,
suggestingthat he conspire againto overthrow Emeric. This is where a dramatic scene took place in 1203,
when Emeric realized that his troops were outnumbered by Andrew's. Emeric left his troops and went to
his brother's camp wearing no armor but the crown and scepter. Seeing that, Andrew surrendered and
was arrested, but later managed to escape.
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As I pointed out earlier, Emeric's health was failing. Wanting to secure the ascension of his young son,
Ladislaus, who had been crowned at the age of 5, the king appointed Andrew to govern Hungary while
Ladislaus was still a minor. Emeric died in late fall of 1204. Andrew grabbed power, seizing the money on
deposit on behalf of Ladislaus. The Queen dowager lnfanta Constance of Aragon was afraid for the life of
her son and they fled to Austria. Andrew made preparations against Leopold IV, the Duke of Austria to
bring the Ladislaus back, but the child-king died in May of 1205, which opened the way for Andrew to
ascend to the throne.
The coronation took place in Szkesfehervar on May 29, 1205. His reign ran into immediate problems,
which would remain its permanent feature. To ingratiate himself with his supporters, Andrew gave
everything away, bestowing the royal estates to select noblemen. The legal document he drew up had
the title of Novae institutiones, declaring that "Nothing can set bounds to the generosity of the Royal
Majesty." His "generosity" led to the utter impoverishment of the treasury as he gave away money,
villages and whole counties. He married Gertrude of Merania, which caused immediate grave discontent
among his subject as Andrew was especially generous with his wife's German relatives.
Andrew married three times. With his first wife Gertrude they had five offsprings, among them the future
King Bela IV and Saint Elizabeth of Hungary.
Andrew also got involved in unprofitable military adventurism, such as a campaign in 1208 to acquire the
principality of Halych (the later Galicia) in the north, appointing a regent to govern the country, which he
promptly lost the following year. To reinstate the child-prince Danylo to the throne of Halych, he personally
led his troops to re-conquer the principality. In his absence from Buda, a group of aristocrats in his court
wanted to take revenge on Andrew for his generous financial support of Gertrude, the Queen. Scandalized
by the king's lavish spending, - particularly to his wife's consorts, - they offered the throne to his cousin, but
Andrew got wind of the conspiracy and managed to save his throne. To protect the southeastern border
against the Cumans, he granted rule of southeastern Transylvania to the Teutonic Knights, however the
knights attempted to break away from Hungary and tried to establish their own country.
Andrew left Buda in the summer of 1213 to give military assistance to Prince Danylo, but had to turn back
when he was informed that his wife, the Queen Gertrude, was murdered. Despite the fact that he had
the leader of the conspiracy executed while forgiving the others, the conspirators showed contempt for
his son, Bela, as his possible successor. To ensure Bela's future, Andrew had his 8 year old son crowned
in 1214.
The Fifth Crusade
Andrew's troubles continued on the southern frontier. In 1214 Hungarian troops annexed Belgrade of the
Bulgarian Empire. Andrew made plans for making himself King of the Byzantine Empire and married Yolanda
de Courtenay, daughter of Peter Iof Courtenay, and niece of Henry I,Emperor of Constantinople. But when
the Emperor Henry died in 1216, Andrew's plans were foiled as the country's barons proclaimed Henry's
father-in-law, Peter of Courtenay to be their choice.
Despite the depleted Hungarian treasury, Andrew decided to lead the Fifth Crusade to the Holy Land. In
August 1217 the king and his troops embarked in Spalato (today's Split) in the Adriatic Sea and made
arrangements using Venetian navy ships to ferry them to the Holy Land. To assure his safe return, he
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appointed Pontius de Cruce, Master of the Knights of the Templars as Regent of Croatia and Dalmatia. The
Crusaders landed in Cyprus in October, 1217 and from there they sailed to Acre where Andrew joined other
Crusaders to attack Jerusalem. Andrew led one of the largest Crusades against the Moslems, comprising
of 20,000 knights and 12,000 garrison, so hopes were high for a successful campaign.
Initially, things were going well for Andrew as his troops defeated the Sultan at Bethsaida on the Jordan
river. The Muslim forces were retired to their fortresses and towns. Since the catapults did not arrive in time,
Andrew made fruitless frontal attacks on the fortresses of Lebanon and Mount Tabor. But Andrew's health
was failing and he decided to return to Hungary in February, 1218. On his return, he negotiated marriage
contracts between his younger son Andrew and Isabelle, a daughter of Armenian King Levon, as well as
betwween his other children and the courts of Emperor Laskaris of Nicaea and Tsar Asen of Bulgaria. His
reputation may have preceded him, because while staying at Nicaea, - a Hellenic city in northwestern
Anatolia, - his cousins, who lived there, attempted an unsuccessful attempt to take his life.
Upon his return to Hungary Andrew found the king's coffers completely empty and the country in anarchy.
Even Archbishop John of Esztergom, whom he charged with the regency of the country, was forced to
leave the country. To restore fiscal health to the treasury, he issued orders for new taxes and lent his
income to Jews and Muslims on interest which created more ill will against the king.
Let me deal, however briefly, with the practice in medieval Europe and in our case particularly of
Hungarian royalty, which caused the main reason for impoverishing the leading classes and indeed the
mainstay of Hungarian society. Kings, or "pretenders to the Crown" had accelerated the process,
according to the historian C.A. Macartney, by buying,or rewarding supporters with grants of land. At the
other extreme, many nobles sank into real poverty while preserving their political status. These
"sandalled barons" (bocskoros barok) then further diminished their wealth by giving away property to pay
off debts or buy influence.
More circumspect rulers, like King Coloman (1095-1116), ruled that all donations enacted since St.
Stephen's day, where the direct heirs no longer existed, should revert to the Crown. Also, offices of state
should not be made hereditary. It is interesting to observe that the "nation" did not develop along
hierarchical lines which was characteristic of societies in contemporary Western Europe.
The Golden Bull
To restore some semblance of order and enforce Hungarian rule to the southern part of the country, in
1220 Andrew appointed his son Bela (the future King BJla IV) as Duke of Slavonia, Dalmatia and Croatia.
He also tried to force Bila to separate from his wife, Maria Laskarina of Nicaea, but was unable to break
up the marriage.
In other major and long-lasting legislation, Andrew issued the Golden Bull, a landmark document, the
Hungarian equivalent of England's Magna Charta, limiting the power of the royalty and reaffirming the
rights of lesser nobility. In this regard, mindful of the confines of space and time of this writing,Ifound
the historian C. A. Macartney's book, Hungary, a brief history, immensely helpful. I may be paraphrasing
from or referring to this book (particularly pages 27-29) while writing about King Andrew ll's Golden Bull.
Up until 1222, the prerogatives of the kings were not restricted. With Andrew returning home from the
Crusades and finding everything topsy-turvy, the country in shambles and the various levels of nobility in
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near-revolt, he had to find a way, or at least a symbolic way, to submit to certain restrictions on his
freedom to act. Totally new in concept, this was for Andrew "to concede that if he or any of his successors
violated these promises, the prelates and other dignitaries and nobles of the realm should be free to resist
and withstand (Jus resistendi ) such violation without imputation of high treason." This remained a
treasured privilege of the Hungarian nation for more than 400 years thereafter.
Another provision was for the king not to appoint foreigners to office without the counsel of the royal council.
One of the famous clauses of the Golden Bull dealt with the status of freemen. These were the commoners
of society who did not have to do work under debt for their Lords. These segments of the population which,
in the past, were required to serve in a military situation, were greatly diminished due to war casualties.
The Golden Bull does not even mention the class as freemen, giving a new role to a newly emerging class,
the "servientes regis" (the king's servants) who will no longer be required to answer the King's call, except in
the case of foreign invasion. In the past some rulers accomplished the replenishment of national defense
forces by promoting heretofore unfree elements, or importing foreign fighters.
The issuance of a Charter, or Golden Bull, became necessary and unavoidable following the visit of a large
number of discontent nobles, the "servientes regis" to Andrew' s court, asking for a document to outline and
confirm their privileges and rights.
Other main points of the document include the following:
A.
B.
C.
D.
E.
F.
G.
H.
I.
J.
No nobleman may be arrested unfairly, nor can they be oppressed by the wishes of a higher
power.
Noblemen are declared to be exempt from the payment of taxes, nor will money be collected
from their treasuries. Neither will their residences be occupied, nor their villages and these
may only be visited by those who have been invited. No taxes will be levied on the Church.
If any nobleman dies without a male heir, his daughter will receive a quarter of his
possessions; the remainder of his property shall be given to others. But if, as a result of their
deaths they cannot take possession of these properties, then these properties shall pass into
the hands of their closest living relative. If this is not possible, then the Kingshall inherit them.
If the King wishes to send his armies outside of the Kingdom, the noblemen will not be under
obligation to go with him unless the monarch pays them. However, if an invading army enters
in the Kingdom, all of them must serve to expel it.
The Hungarian Palatine (governor) may judge everyone in the Kingdom without any
differentiation, but he cannot try any nobleman without the King's approval.
Hungarian properties may not be given to foreigners.
No title or public charge can be inherited.
No one, besides the Palatine, the governors of Croatia and Slavonia, the King and the Queen
Consort can have more than one title or honor.
Neither Jew, nor lsmaelite can hold a public position. The Nobles of the Chamber, those working
with monies, tax collectors and toll-keepers may only be Hungarian noblemen.
In order for this document to be lawful and put into use for the future, seven copies,each
sealed with the Golden Seal,will be made of it. The first will be sent to the Pope, the second
to the Knights of St. John, the third to the Templar Knights, the fourth to the King,the fifth to
the Archbishop of Esztergom, the sixth to the Archbishop of Kalocsa and the seventh to the
Hungarian Palatine so that these writings won't be falsified or confused.
36
The Charter was made necessary by the emergence of a middle class in the nobility, which was unusual in
the nation's feudal system. The two classes of nobility: hereditary and middle class, were increasingly at
odds with each other. The Charter sought to take the wind out of such antipathy.
In 1223 Andrew's son, Bla took back his wife despite his father's wishes and escaped to Austria, fearing
Andrew's anger and reaction. With the mediation of Pope Honorius Ill, however, they came to an
agreement and Bela took over the governments of Slavonia, Dalmatia and Croatia. Andrew, on the other
hand, made peace with Duke Leopold VI of Austria. In an important legislative move, in 1224 Andrew
issued his Diploma Andreanum which assured the Transylvanian Saxons of their special privileges,
including autonomy under the King's rule as overlord. The Diploma is considered the oldest law of
autonomy in the world. Andrew expelled the Teutonic Knights from Transylvania.
The rest of his life was troublesome, beginning with his relations with the children.
My readers may or may not recall that King Andrew II had been involved in a military campaign in Halych,
later known as Galicia to assist Prince Danylo to regain the throne of that principality after having been
thrown off it by internal and external enemies of the Prince. In September 1213, however, Andrew
interrupted his campaign when he heard through a messenger that his troublesome wife, Gertrude of
Merania (roughly today's Montenegro) had been murdered. (See the following story on Bnk bn.) Upon his return to Buda Castle, Andrew ordered the execution of the leader of the conspiracy involved in
his wife's murder, but forgave other members of the group. His son, Bela, resented his father's decision
because he wanted revenge for his mother's murder. Even later in his life when he wanted to take revenge,
it was his sister, the later St. Elizabeth, who argued against it. (For the sake of accuracy let me interject that
while Andrew spared the life of most involved in the conspiracy, he had its leader, Peter, impaled on a
log,and over the years confiscated the land holdings of most of the conspirators. )
Just to be sure that Bla has a chance to succeed his father, Andrew had the 8-year-old Bela crowned in
1214 as King BJla IV, some 21 years before he actually stepped onto the thrown. How they "divided"
governing and avoided the confusion over the two royal titles may be the root of some of the problems
historians enumerate as causes for the discord within the royal family.
In this connection Imust mention my late mother-in-law's often-cited dictum: "Ket dudas egy csrdaban
nem Mr meg." (There is no room for two bagpipe players in one pub.) - Let me add also that after
Gertrude's murder, Andrew married Yolanda de Courtenay in 1215. She was the daughter of the Emperor
of Constantinople. Andrew and Yolanda had a daughter, Violant, who would become the wife of King
James Iof Aragon. With Yolanda's death in 1234,Andrew married for the third time and took for his wife
Beatrice d'Este who was 30 years his junior. They had a son they named Stephen, who would eventually
become the father of King Andrew Ill of Hungary.
Bla stepped up his campaign to regain some of the territory for the royal domains which King Andrew
had granted to some of his supporters in the earlier years of his reign. Andrew was opposed to his son's
policy and removed BJla's authority, making him prince over Transylvania, while his younger son,
Coloman, became the governor of the provinces which Bla had formerly controlled. Once again, Andrew
37
II intervened in Halych when Prince Danylo expelled Andrew's son Coloman from the principality, while
Frederick II,the Duke of Austria marched against the western borders of Hungary in 1230. Despite initial
success on the part of Andrew II to dissuade Frederick II from further skirmishes, the attacks continued
for several years until,in 1235 Andrew pushed Frederick back to Vienna and made him pay a monetary
fine to secure peace between the two nations.
The 4th Council of the Lateran of 1225 severely curtailed the employment of Jews and Muslims in royal
households. Andrew II,in contrast with the Council's order, often employed such people in his service,
drawing the anger of Pope Gregory IX on himself. Ultimately, the pope won the argument and Andrew was
obligated to write a supplement to the Golden Bull prohibiting the employment of non-Christians on his
properties and authorizing the Archbishop of Esztergom to punish the king who would ignore the dictum.
(Indeed, Andrew was excommunicated by Bishop John of Bosnia in 1234 for breaking the Council's rule,
and Andrew found himself appealing to the Pope to vacate the bishop's dictum.)
In the same year another tragedy struck. Andrew's youngest son, Prince Andrew II of Halych died in a
battle with Prince Danylo of Halych and with this military defeat Hungarian supremacy over the
principality terminated. - Andrew and his first wife Gertrude's third child, Elisabeth, lived a life dedicated
to her religion even while she was married to Landgraf Louis IV of Thuringia. On May 28, 1235 Elizabeth
was canonized by Pope Gregory IX and is venerated as Saint Elizabeth of Hungary. (See the following story
on St. Elizabeth.)
King Andrew II died on September 21,1235 at the age of 58.
Saint Elizabeth of Hungary
She was the third child and second daughter of King Andrew II and Queen Gertrud of Hungary, born in
Srospatak on the eastern part of the country in 1207 A.O. At a very young age she was sent (for education,
they said) to the court of the Landgrave of Thuringia and (unbelievably!) she was engaged to the Lord's
infant son. When she was 14 years of age, she married Ludwig IV. They had 3 children.
The court of Thuringia was a magnificent place with Wartburg castle at its center, where a lavish lifestyle
was the norm which turned Elizabeth off as she would have rather done pious and charitable deeds.
Ludwig and Elizabeth visited Hungary shortly after their marriage, but Ludwig was often away from
Wartburg on official business for Emperor Frederick II. During one of those trips in the spring of 1226,
floods and famine and pestilence devastated Thuringia. Elizabeth had a 28-bed hospital built at the foot
of the castle which she visited daily, distributing medicines and food to the needy. Elizabeth's fame as an
angel of mercy to the poor stems from this time in her life.
Her kind and pious husband died in Sicily on the way to join a Crusade with Emperor Frederick. Elizabeth
and her three children were then cruelly driven from the palace by her brother-in-law and many people
whom she had helped also turned against her. The bishop of Bamberg, her maternal uncle, tried to help
her, but she voluntarily renounced the grandeur into which she had been born and withdrew to a small
house in the city of Marburgh. She lived there in utmost poverty, distributing to the poor the remnants
of her inheritance.
38
She is often represented in art with an apron full of roses which were transformed from loaves of bread to
conceal when she was questioned as to what she was carrying in her apron. Her son gained control of the
Thuringian government and asked Elisabeth to return to the Court. She died on November 19th, 1231 and
was canonized by Pope Gregory IX on May 27th, 1235. Soon after her death miracles of healing began to
occur at her grave in Marburgh.
I
I
Bank ban
BJn (pronounced baahn) in Hungarian is an official title, much similar to a viceroy or palatine (governor).
Around this particular ban, called Bank, a very powerful story was created and an opera written by famous
Hungarian musician Ferenc Erkel,composer of the Hungarian National Anthem. The work uses a libretto by
BJni Egressy based on a stage play by J6zsef Katona. The synopsis of the opera is on a separate sheet
attached hereto. The main story is based on the assassination of Queen Gertrud, wife of King Andrew II
in 1213. (The opera's premier was on March 9, 1861 and is played at the Budapest Opera on practically
all the national holidays and commemorative events. I have interesting items to add to the story with
which we dealt on page 36 of this booklet and Iam eager to share it with you.
As I pointed out earlier, Gertrude was not a particularly beloved queen in Hungarian history, mostly
because the queen generously spent the royal treasury on her expatriate friends and relatives from
German Merania. One of the particularly fortunate beneficiaries of the queen's prodigal spending was
one of Gertrude's brothers, the 8-year-old Bertold. Although he had no ecclesiastic training and wasn't
even of the proper age, but Bertold, through his sister's influence, persuaded King Andrew II to bestow
on him the title and position of Archbishop of Kalocsa. Bertold was also interested in securing a lay title
and through more shenanigans he obtained an appointment as "ban" of Croatia.
Furthermore, the king managed to confirm Bertold's position by the Pope as well. Another shady story
involved Queen Gertrude's two other brothers who were suspected of the murder of the Svabian king
Phillip. The two culprits fled to Hungary where they found temporary shelter in the Queen's court.
Eventually, though, they moved on, taking with them much of the Queen's treasury.
Enter into this scene the character of Otto, another of Gertrud's brothers,who was most likely born in the
fertile mind of the writer Katona, with a mission to create an unforgivable crime, that is to subdue and
deflower the beautiful wife of the Ban Bank who was away with the King on a crusade. In this manner
the rape of both the wife and the homeland could be combined in this tragic opera.
Before Icontinue with the story and set up the scene for the opera, Iwant to illustrate the richness of the
Hungarian language from the 16th century in the story written by the contemporary writer Gcispr Heltai. It
is regrettable that many, probably most, of my readers will failto understand and appreciate the beauty of
the text, nevertheless, Ifeel compelled to first tell part of the story in old-Hungarian, followed by the
proper English translation. Here it goes:
....."(Az kirdly) Ez idore orszagaban egy jeles ferfitlt, bizonyos Bdnk bant hagya helytartoul. Azonkozben
juta oda az kirdlynk asszonnak otsse, hogy vigasztalna nenjet, mierthogy tavo/ vala az ura. Valapedig az
39
Bank bbnnak felesJ ge ki szJ p szomJ Jy vala es igen jambor, azht nyajaskodik vala az kird!n asszon igen
oromest velle. Ezt igen kezde az kiralnenak az otsse szeretni. Annyira, hogy majd meghal vala miatta.
Annakutana behivata az kiraln asszon az Bbnk ban feles gt egy rejtekhazba es ott Ion a kiralne asszon
otsse is. Azonkozben az kirdtne asszon kijove az h/Jzbol es tsak ketten maradbnak a hazban. Mikoron az
jambor Bdnk bdnnak felest!ge megotalmazta vona beszedekke/ az
jdmborsd ga, vegre az kiralne
asszonnak az otsse eroszakot von rajta.
o
Elhallgata szegen a gonoszsagot. De mikoron egynehan nap mulva az Bank ban jattszadozni akarna
felesegeve/, sirni kezdett es azt mondja neki: Ne erj hozzam, nem afelesegedhez nyulsz! Engemet kira/ne
asszon me/le adtal, de az engemet az otssenek ejtett tsa/6rdsagaval. tho/ vagyok szerelmes uram! Vagy
e/versz, vagy mego/sz, szabad vagy vele mert eroszakot ton rajtam. Bank ban nagy banatbba igen nagy
haragba esek...... Semmikeppen az szbrnyu bosszusagot nem turhetne Bank, el/enben mbsodnapra bemene
az kiralde hdzaba mintha szbtni akarna velle Js kirdnta az hegyes tort es azzal 6tute az kirdlne
asszont es a veres hegyes torrel kijove ismondta az udvarbelieknek: Az Gertrud megcsalta afelesegem Js
az otssenek hajtotta, hogy eroszakot muveijen rajta. Am en megoMm at erette....."
And the English translation of the above text:
...."During this time (the king) left an eminent man, a certain Bank ban as caretaker (of the country). In
the meantime the queen's brother arrived to comfort his sister as her husband was away. The ban had a
wife who was a beautiful person and very pious. The queen's brother began to love her so much that he
nearly died over it. After that the queen called the ban's wife into a hidden place and the queen's brother
was there, too. In the meantime the queen left the house and left the two of them in the house. When
the pious wife of the ban tried to defend her honor, nevertheless the queen's brother violated her.
She kept quiet about this wickedness. But when a few days later the ban tried to play with his wife, she
began to cry and said to him: Do not touch me, you are not touching your wife. You left me with the
queen but she deceived me with her brother. Here Iam beloved master. Either beat me, or kill me, you
are free to do it because he committed violence on me. In his sadness Bank ban became very angry. He
could not bear this anger, but next day he entered the queen's house as if he wanted to say something to
her and tore the sharp dagger and pierced her with it and with the dagger he came out and said to those
standing around in the court: Gertrud deceived my wife and forced her to her brother so that he could
violate her. Well,I killed her for that..."
This assassination took revenge for the rape of both the innocent Melinda and the beautiful homeland.
But there is an interesting segment in the opera which is not usually discussed. When Iwas just a young
child, my parents went to attend Bnk ban in the Opera. Upon their return I asked them what was
particularly interesting about the opera. My parents explained to me that before these men plot to kill
the queen, they decide to consult the court seer, or fortune-teller. In response to their question whether
they should go ahead with their plan or not, the "witch" hands them her written out response:
A KIRALYNET MEGOLNETEK NEM KELL FELNETEK
ELLENZEM.
J6 LESZ HA MINDNYAJAN BELEEGYEZTEK EN NEM
TO KILL THE QUEEN IS NOT AN ISSUE TO FEAR IT WILL BE ADVISEABLE IF YOU ALL AGREE IDO NOT OBJECT.
Bank ban - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Setting: Hungary in the year 1213
Act 1
King Endre II, the monarch of the country, is fighting abroad while Gertrud, his queen, who is of
Meranian birth, plays hostess to the leading members of the Court (in the first place foreigners) at
prodigal feasts. Ban Bank, the king's deputy, is touring the poverty-ridden country while Otto, the
Queen's younger brother, is trying to seduce Bank's beautiful wife Melinda. A group of angry Magyar
nobles headed by Ban Petur are plotting a conspiracy against the queen, anxious for the fate of their
homeland and the honour of Bank's wife. Petur has sent for Bank, hoping to recruit him for their cause.
The Ban arrives, but is outraged that his old friend would dare threaten the throne. When Petur informs
him of Otto's advances toward Melinda, however, Bank promises that he shall attend their meeting.
Act 2
Bank, distraught, prays over his nation and his good name. On the porch of the castle of Visegrad,
Tiborc, an old peasant, tells Bank about the desperate poverty of the entire country, a grave consequence
of the wasteful extravagance of the foreigners, but Bank is so overcome by the tragedy of his own
position that he listens only halfheartedly. Itis revealed that Tiborc, a vassal of the Ban, saved his life at
a battle long ago; Bank promises his aid. Otto, encouraged by the Queen's open approval, attempts to
seduce Melinda, without success. He drugs and rapes her. The desperate woman staggers to her husband
half insane with shame. In his bitter grief Bank blasts a terrible curse at his own son, but then raises to
himself the innocent little boy, giving solace to his wife. Finally, he asks Tiborc to escort Melinda and
their little son to their home, a castle in East Hungary, beyond the River Tisza.
In the throne-room Bank calls the Queen to account for plunging the country into poverty and for the
honour of his betrayed wife. Gertrud counters him with contemptuous scorn and draws a dagger. Bank
wrests the dagger from her hand, and in the scuffle, she is fatally stabbed. Bank laments over the actions
he has been forced to take.
Act 3
Tiborc reaches the bank of the Tisza River with Melinda and her little son. In a fit of insanity, Melinda
throws herself into the waves together with her son, within view of the helpless old peasant.
Endre II returns. Standing by his queen's funeral bier, he calls to the nobles to account for the murder,
who deny having had a part in the assault on the Queen. Bank, however, admits that, convinced of her
guilt which was known to all, he killed the Queen deliberately. King and Viceroy face each other with
swords almost drawn when Tiborc arrives with the corpses of Melinda and the child. The sword drops
from Bank's grip, and he collapses over the bodies of his wife and son. The nobles and retainers pray for
the repose of all the dead.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/B%C3%Alnk_b%C3%Aln
40
On first sight the conspirators think it means a go-ahead. On second thought they are concerned that the
response contains no punctuation which could radically change its meaning:
J
I
-
r
I
t
I
A KIRALYNET MEGOLNETEK NEM KELL. FELNETEK JO LESZ. HA MINDNYAJAN BELEEGYEZTEK, EN NEM.
ELLENZEM.
TO KILL THE QUEEN IS NOT AN ISSUE. TO FEAR IT WILL BE ADVISEABLE. IF YOU ALL AGREE, I DO NOT.
OBJECT!
Well,this is clearly an advice against the assassination. Or is it? What if the punctuation is changed:
A KIRALYNT MEGOLNETEK NEM KELL FLNETEK. JO LESZ. HA MINDNYA.JAN BELEEGYEZTEK, EN NEM
ELLENZEM.
TO KILL THE QUEEN IS NOT AN ISSUE TO FEAR, ITWILL BE ADVISEABLE. IF YOU ALL AGREE, I DO NOT
OBJECT.
What to do? Well, we know from history that they went ahead and took revenge. What is even more
remarkable that Imust have carried this little puzzle in my head for some 70 years. And Ihave been very
careful about punctuation ever since ....
BE'LA IV (IV. Bela , 1235 -1270)
Reviewing the story of the descendants of Arpd, King Bla IV is bound to come up. He was one of the
main players in Hungarian history of the 13th century not only because of his predecessor, his father the
famed King Andrew II and his grandfather King Bela Ill, but also because of the Mongolian invasion during
his reign where much of the credit for rebuilding the country is due to Bela IV.
As we have seen above, Bela was the oldest son of King Andrew and the Meranian Queen Gertrude. Born
in 1206, he was only 7 years old when a group of conspirators killed his mother, angry at lavishly spending
the royal treasury on her visiting relatives and friends. When King Andrew II punished only the instigator of
the conspiracy and not the rest of party, BEfla developed a deep resentment against his father which lasted
for the rest of their lives. To keep him at a relative distance from the Court at Buda, King Andrew granted
Bela the governorship of Slavonia. To guarantee his succession to the throne, BJla was crowned at an early
age as Rex junior of Hungary.
His father had led the 5th Crusade to the Holy Land and on his return arranged for the marriage of his son
to Maria Laskarina, a daughter of the Emperor Theodore I Laskaris of Nicaea. The marriage took place
when Bela was 14 in 1220, but two years later the king demanded that they separate. Pope Honorius Ill
denied the marriage to be declared null and void, so BJla reunited with his wife and escaped to Austria,
fearing his father's anger. Due to more negotiations and mediation by the Pope, Bla was again granted
control over Slavonia, plus Dalmatia and Croatia. In 1226 Bela was given the governorship of Transylvania
as well with the title of Duke.
41
BJla's relationship with his father worsened during Andrew's second marriage to Yolanda de Courtenay,
and after her death to Beatrice D'Este, who was 30 years the king's junior. Bela's household contained
some famous people so let's deal with it. His oldest sister, Anna Maria, became the wife of Tzar Ivan Asen
of Bulgaria; his younger sister, Elizabeth became the wife of Landgraf Louis IV of Thuringia and was
canonized as St. Elizabeth of Hungary in 1235. His younger brother Coloman became king of Halych (later
Galicia) and the youngest, Andrew, became Prince of the Halych principality. Bela's father's second
marriage to Yolanda produced a child, Violant who would become the wife of King James of Aragon, while
the third marriage to Beatrice D'Este produced one son, Stephen, who would be the father of Andrew Ill
of Hungary (1290 to 1301), the last member of the Arpad dynasty on the paternal side.
After King Andrew ll's death Bla ascended to the throne and was crowned (for the second time) in
Szekesfehervar on October 14,1235, by the Archbishop Robert of Esztergom. One of his first acts as king
was to order the arrest of his father's chief advisor and Bela's young stepmother, accusing them of
adultery. Anxious to restore respect for the crown, he burnt the seats in his court, forcing his advisers to
stand while discussing business with him. He also confirmed the charter of major towns, among them
szJkesfehE1!rv r and Esztergom.
The Mongol invasion
BJla sent Friar Julian to the eastern frontiers looking for Hungarians from Arpad's time. Upon his return in
1239, Friar Julian warned King Bt:!la of an impending attack by Mongolian tribes. In response, Be a granted
asylum to 40,000 Cumans, a group of people with nomadic culture from Russia later referred to as "kun",
to help him fight the Mongols, but the new settlers caused much conflict with the Hungarians.
The Mongolian hordes, under Batu Khan, managed to break through the Carpathian mountains on March
12, 1241 before Bela had a chance to build his defenses. Also, a typical Hungarian curse of jealousy came
into play when the barons, on whom Bela counted to help him fight the Mongols, refused to mobilize
without being granted more independent concessions. They demanded the expulsion of the Cumans
and when that was not granted, they broke into the house where the Cuman leadership, particularly their
princes, held a council. The Hungarian barons and their soldiers murdered the princes and their families
which made the Cumans turn against the Hungarians and destroyed the forces of the Bishop of Csanad
which were marching to help the King.
Bela lost his most valuable allies in the Cumans, but still led an army of 100,000 against the Mongols. The
battle took place on the plains of Mohi on April 11, 1241 and ended in the virtual annihilation of the
Hungarian forces. Bela first fled to today's Bratislava and from there to Hainburg where, to top the
disaster by humiliation, Duke Frederick IIof Austria seized the Hungarian treasury and forced Bela to cede
three western counties to Austria. Bela then fled to Zagreb and sought, through his envoys, the
assistance of Emperor Frederick II and Pope Gregory IX to fight the Mongols. None from the West
provided any assistance.
The Mongols laid complete waste to the country, killing,burning and looting. Historical estimates claim
the loss of one million, tantamount to half of the country's population. This eventually led to inviting
immigrants, mostly from Germany, to resettle the devastated country. Pest, on the left bank of the
Danube, was burnt and it didn't take long before the Mongols were able to cross the frozen river to
devastate Buda as well. They suspected that King Bela IV was hiding in Croatia, particularly in Zagreb
42
which the Mongols leveled, but Bla's hideout was in the Adriatic island of Rab. As the Mongols were in
hot pursuit, Bela fled to Spolato (today's Split) and from there to the well-fortified island of Trogir in
Dalmatia. But by this time the Mongol leader's army was depleted and exhausted as the Croatians were
better able to fight in mountainous territory than the cavalry-based Mongol forces and they did not pursue
to capture the Hungarian king. Legend has it that the king offered his gth child, Margaret, to God as a nun
where she would pursue a pious life in a monastery if God would relieve Hungary of the Mongols' cursed
invasion. (See following story about St. Margaret of Hungary.)
Other Mongol forces were on the outskirts of Vienna, when news got to them about the death of the Grand
Khan in Asia. They pulled out of Europe to elect a new Grand Khan which gave Central Europe a temporary
breather. King Bela ordered the construction of hundreds of stone castles and fortresses which would
eventually play a major role in standing up to the Ottoman invasion in the 15th century. The downside of
this was that the cost of building the country's defenses indebted the king to the feudal landlords, thus
weakeningthe king's power. Bela encouraged the towns to build walls around themselves for better
protection against any invaders.
BJla also took the offensive against Duke Frederick II of Austria and reoccupied Sopron and Koszeg,
compelling the Duke to return the 3 counties he had the gall to take from Hungary during the Mongol
invasion. The Duke died during the battle at the Leitha (Lajta) river. Just as an adjunct piece of information
let me add that with his death the male line of the House of Babenberg became extinct and struggle
commenced in Austrian politics for the rule over that country. In Hungarian politics the Arpd dynasty
was inching·at that point toward extinction and it will be interesting (at least for me) to follow the political
struggles for the next several hundred years as the succession to St. Stephen's crown is pursued.
In 1249 rumors hopped the Carpathian mountains with the news that the Mongols were preparing another
European campaign. The actual attack would have to wait until 1285 when the Tatars,the so- called
Golden Horde under the command of Nagai Khan invaded Hungary from the East, devastating much of the
eastern provinces of the country, but withdrew soon thereafter. This attack had to do with the tragic
mismanagement of international politics by King Ladislaus IV, whose story we will deal with as the timeline
permits.
Bla decided to intervene in the above-mentioned internal struggle in Austria. He arranged for Gertrude,
the niece of the deceased Duke Frederick II to marry Roman Danylovich,a son of Prince Danylo of Halych
whose name had come up so often in the story about the northern principality. What was Bela doing in
this regard is not entirely clear, but he invaded Austria in 1252 and got as far as Vienna. To complicate
matters, King Ottokar II of Bohemia, whose wife was Margaret, the wife of the deceased Duke Frederick
II also declared his claim in this matter of royal succession. Bela met with King Ottokar in Pressburg
(today's Pozsony) and negotiated peace with the proviso that Bela would gain the Duchy of Styria and the
city of Wiener Neustadt (where my parents had spent their honeymoon nearly 700 years later).
With internal struggles ongoing for the control of Central European countries, BJla had his oldest son,
Stephen, crowned junior king in 1246 but was reluctant to share the power with him. What a disastrous
mess! Stephen recruited an army against his father (can you imagine what that cost the royal treasury?!)
which persuaded Bela to cede the government of Transylvania to Stephen in 1258. That did not satisfy
Stephen's hunger for more adventures and greater control under his wing. You'll recall that Bela had
gained control of the Duchy of Styria as negotiated with King Ottokar of Bohemia (today's Czech republic),
appointing his son Stephen as Duke. But the Styrians would have rather had Ottokar to rule over them
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and rose up against the Duke. Bela was forced to come to the aid of his son and renounce control of Styria
after he lost a battle with the King of Bohemia. (Ever since then the mention of Bohemia generates
antipathy in the minds of Hungarians.)
Bla's relationship with his son Stephen further deteriorated and they were facing a military confrontation
when the Archbishop Philip of Esztergom negotiated a peace treaty between them. Bela and Stephen
signed the agreement whereby Stephen would gain control of the kingdom East of the river Danube. But
the animosity between father and son continued to the point where Stephen attached his mother and
sister's estates to his domain, which drew Bela's ire and he sent troops against his son, capturing Stephen's
wife and son (Bela's grandson) as well. Stephen managed to counter-attack and won over Bela's troops in
the Battle of lsaszeg (March, 1265.) Ultimately, they signed a peace on Rabbits Island (Nyulak szigete, which
played a role in daughter (Saint) Margaret's life). Still, Bla did not trust his son. As his life was fading, BJla
allowed his favorite daughter, Anna, to exercise more influence over him. In his last will,Bela entrusted his
family and his followers to King Ottokar II of Bohemia, because he did not trust Stephen.
King Bela IV, the so-called "second founder of Hungary", died May 3, 1270 and was buried in Esztergom.
This was Bela's wish while he was alive that he should be buried in that city's Franciscan church. The red
marble burial site was constructed to be large enough to contain the remains of the king and his family.
Construction was complete in 1269 and shortly after the King's death in 1270 his wife and his favorite son,
Prince Bela, died as well. The three of them were buried together inthe tomb. The Archbishop Philip had
the King's remains removed and re-buried in St. Adalbert cathedral in Esztergom. A petition to re-unite
the family in the original tomb was approved by the Holy See and in 1275 Bela was given his final wish to
be buried with his family.
As we shall see in the continuing story, Hungary suffered near-anarchy in subsequent years. In a nostalgic
gesture about Bela's reign,a poem, written in Latin,was carved onto his grave, which is reproduced here,
together with Laszlo Gereb's Hungarian translation as follows:
,,Aspice rem caram:
,,Maria-oltaron, nezd, nyugszik a sfrban e harem:
tres cingunt Virginis aram: Rex, Dux, Regina, quibus
Bela, neje s herceg - orvendjenek 6k az egeknek!
adsint Gaudia Trina Oum licuit, tua dum viguit
Mfg lehetett, ult tr6nja felett a kiraly hatalomban:
rex Bela, potestas, Fraus latuit, pax firma fuit,
Csalfa lapult, szent beke virult, becsulet vala ottan "
regnavit honestas "
Saint Margaret of Hungary
I was a teenager when I read GJza Grdonyi's novel about St.Margaret,entitled: "lsten rabjai", or "The
captives of God." Iwas most impressed with the story as to how King Bla IV asked God to save Hungary
from further devastation of the Tartar invasion if he would dedicate his daughter's life to the service of
God in a monastery. Iwas also most impressed by the ceremony when they cut Margaret's long tresses
and stuffed her pillowcase with it, over which Margaret shed much tears.
Margaret was the 9th child (8th daughter) of King Bela IV and Maria Laskarina. She was born on January
27, 1242 in the middle of the terrible devastation brought on Hungary by the Mongol invasion which had
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forced her parents to flee to the fortress of Klis in Croatia. (In those days Croatia was a part of Bla's
kingdom.) With the end of the Mongol invasion her parents returned to Buda, but Margaret was
entrusted at age 3 to the Dominican monastery in Veszprem in Western Hungary.
At age 9 she was transferred to the Benedictine monastery, which her parents had founded, on Nyulak
Szigete (Rabbit Island) situated on an island in the middle of the Danube River in today's Budapest. With
her attaining fame in Hungarian history, the island was renamed Margaret island where the ruins of the
monastery still exist. As a matter of fact, during two summers in the early 1940s when we didn't want to be
far away from my father in case Budapest was subjected to Allied bombing raids, my mother and I spent a
lovely time at the Margaret Hotel on Margaret Island. Iwould ride out daily on my bicycle to make my rounds
among the nearby ruins shaded from the summer heat by ancient trees guarding memories of the convent.
Margaret would remain at the convent until her death living a strict religious life, wearing an iron girdle,
hairshirts and shoes spiked with nails. It is sometimes mentioned by historians that her father had
attempted to commit her to a political marriage to King Ottokar II of Bohemia, but she refused the offer.
Instead, she took solemn vows at age 18. All she knew in her short and harsh life was the service of God
as a nun, fulfilling her father's promise to God on behalf of her homeland. She had plenty of good
examples in front of her as she was the younger sister of St. Kunigunda (Kinga), wife of Prince Boleslaw of
Poland, and blessed Yolanda (sometimes spelled Valenta) of Poland, wife of Duke Boleslaw of Greater
Poland. Through her father, she was the niece of Saint Elizabeth of Hungary, wife of Landgraf Louis IV of
Thuringia. She died at the convent on January 18, 1271,at the age of 29.
Much of what we know about her life comes from the Legend of Saint Margaret, a 14th century document
written in the so-called Margaret Codex, and from a legend noted by the Dominican nun Lea Raskay
around 1510. Immediately after Margaret's death seventy-four miracles were attributed to Margaret's
intercession, yet her canonization didn't take place until November 19, 1943 by Pope Pius XII which was
a great spiritual boost for Hungarians embroiled in the midst of World War II. Her remains were given to
the Poor Clares Sisters, and later whatever was preserved was distributed between Esztergom, Gyor and
Pannonhalma.
STEPHEN V (V. lstdn, 1270-1272)
He was the 3th child but first son of King Bela IV, born in October 1239, and crowned first in 1246 as "junior
king", and after his father's death, in 1270. The significant but still pagan Cuman tribes (historians refer
to them currently as the Kuns) were always shadowing the Magyar tribes but were not a part of the
kingdom. To remedy the situation, Stephen's father arranged for Stephen to marry Elizabeth, daughter
of the Cuman chieftain Katen, in 1253.
The "junior king" was getting to be overly brazen toward his father and recruited an army for himself to
force his father to divide the kingdom. Finally, in 1258, Bela IV bestowed upon his son the title of Duke
and put him in charge of Transylvania, and later on as Duke of Styria as well. The latter domain rebelled
against the Hungarian ruler as they preferred to be ruled by Ottokar II of Bohemia. In a battle in July 1260
the Hungarians lost Styria to Ottokar. So much blood spilled for seemingly immaterial causes!
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King BJla IV had another son born to him in 1245 and he clearly favored the younger one also named Bla,
who was promoted to Duke of Slavonia. Stephen once again mounted a campaign to divide the country
between himself and his father and signed an agreement to govern Hungary east of the Danube river,
while Bla remained in the Western part of the country. The enmity between father and son culminated
in a battle in March 1265 with BJla capitulating and formally signing a peace agreement a year later at
the Convent of the Blessed Virgin on Rabbits Island where the future St. Margaret would be spending he·r
life.
The peace between father and son remained very tentative. When Bla IV died in May 1270, his most
trusted daughter Anna and his favored son Bela sought refuge in the court of King Ottokar II of Bohemia,
to whom Bela IV had entrusted them, simply because he couldn't trust Stephen. To be sure, Anna had
taken the Hungarian royal treasury with her.
In August of that year, after his second coronation, Stephen concluded an alliance with Prince Boleslaw VI
of Poland against Ottokar of Bohemia, probably to dislodge his sister and brother from Ottokar's court.
Stephen fortified his foreign alignments by arranging the marriage of his daughter Maria to King Charles
II of Naples, and his infant son Ladislaus, born in August 1262, to Charles ll's sister Elizabeth. He also came
into the possession of a sign which was considered providential of being the "Scourge of God", supposedly
inscribed on a sword found by a hermit.
Seeking to protect his northern borders, Stephen signed a two-year treaty with King Ottokar II of Bohemia,
however, the wily Czech king didn't honor it. Leading his armies against Hungary, he defeated Stephen in
May 1271. In the treaty following the confrontation with Ottokar, Stephen renounced his claim to the
Hungarian royal treasury which his sister Anna had taken with her.
In the summer of 1272 the king left for Dalmatia to meet the king of Sicily when he was informed that his
10-year-old son, Ladislaus, had been kidnapped by the rebellious "ban" (governor) of Slavonia. Stephen
planned to raise an army to rescue his son, but died on Csepel Island on August 6, 1272. He was buried in
the Dominican church on Margaret Island.
LADISLAUS IV
(IV. Ljszlo, 1272-1290)
He was the 5th child and only son of Stephen V and his Cuman (Kun) wife, Elizabeth. Born on August 5,
1262 at sjrospatak, inthe course of the civil war between Kings Stephen and BJla, the senior king's troops
occupied the castle where mother and child were staying and Ladislaus was taken (kidnapped?) to Bla's
court. After the conclusion of a peace treaty, Ladislaus was returned to his father's court. In 1269, when
he was only 7 years of age, Ladislaus was betrothed to Elizabeth of Anjou, the daughter of King Charles I
of Naples. They were married a year later! Can you imagine what this had done to the childhood of these
two innocent children?
In 1272 Ladislaus was abducted from his father's court by Joachim Pektr (otherwise known as Gutkeled),
the rebellious ban (governor) of Slavonia. King Stephen, the child's father tried in vain to rescue the child
from captivity in the castle of Koprivnica, but he fell ill and died in August, 1272. Ladislaus, then just 10
years old, was then taken to SzJkesfehervar, where Archbishop Philip of Esztergom crowned him with the
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Crown of Thorns, awaiting the time when he would attain adulthood. Until then his Cuman mother,
Elizabeth the Cuman would be making decisions for him.
One of the first actions she took was to divide the major offices of the Court among her favorite people,
including several people of Cuman derivation. Due to her poor governance, several "palace revolutions"
occurred, including the murder of Ladislaus' cousin, Prince Bela of Macso, who held extensive properties
which were then divided among the allied barons. In early 1273, to avenge the Prince's murder, King
Ottokar II of Bohemia, the murdered Prince's brother-in-law, invaded Hungary and occupied Pozsony
(today's Bratislava) and several counties on the northwest corner of the country. In 1274 Joachim Pektar
again managed to abduct Ladislaus, who had to be liberated by Peter Csak, only to face the abduction of
Ladislaus' brother, the 6-year-old Andrew, demanding the division of the country between the two
brothers.
In May, 1277 an assembly composed of representatives of the Church, the nobility and the Cumans declared
Ladislaus of full age to govern. In one of his first acts, Ladislaus formed an alliance with King Rudolph I of
Germany against Ottokar II of Bohemia. In August 1278 their joint forces defeated the Bohemians and
recovered the previously lost territories. King Ottokar lost his life on the battlefield.
All this time Ladislaus alienated both sides of his family and the Hungarian nobility as well by showing
favoritism toward the Cumans, no doubt as a result of his mother's influence who was of Cuman stock. He
did not only surround himself with pagan Cumans, wore Cuman-style clothing in his Court, but deeply hurt
his wife Elizabeth, the daughter of Charles IIof Naples, by keeping Cuman concubines. This shameful
behavior got to the Pope's ears who sent a papal legate in 1279 to investigate the accusations against the
king who, by his actions, was undermining Christianity. The king was unwilling (or unable?) to enforce the
demands of the papal legate, resulting in excommunication for Ladislaus IV. To escape the Court's findings,
Ladislaus escaped the hearings and joined the Cuman tribes. Together, they captured and imprisoned the
legate, but Ladislaus himself was captured by the governor of Transylvania, Finta Aba.
Finta, acting for the government, tried to force the Cumans to settle down in designated areas, but the
Cumans revolted and had to be restrained by Ladislaus. Nevertheless, the Cuman leaders saw the futility
of constant warfare and migrations, so they promised to convert to Christianity. In return,they were settled
mainly in the area between the Danube and Tisza rivers. Up to this day there are countless towns and
villages whose names contain the letters k-u-n, referring to their Cuman origins. Among those you'll find
Kiskunhalas, my mother's birthplace. Its literary translation may refer to a place where fishing was good
(halas=fishing), and the qualifier "kis" = small referring to its ties with the Kiskun (Little Cumania) versus
the Nagykun (Greater Cumania) .
In 1281 Ladislaus replaced Finta with members of the K8szegi family who had worked with his father
earlier. There were two other uprisings of the Cumans which Ladislaus was successful in suppressing. By
this time Hungary was convulsing in a virtual civil war as one or the other political faction gained power
over the king.
On page 42 we briefly mentioned the inept handling of Ladislaus' foreign policy which resulted in the
second invasion of Tartar forces in 1285. Ladislaus had sponsored the founding of the Principality of
Moldavia (east of the Carpathians) as a buffer against future Tartar/Mongol attacks. The Tatars may have
considered this as an intrusion into their territory and in February, 1285 crossed the Vereczke straits into
Hungary.
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The so-called Golden Horde was led by Nogai Khan who ravaged eastern Hungary almost to the Tisza river,
then withdrew.
In September, 1286 Ladislaus made an attempt to separate from his wife, Elizabeth so that he could openly
consort with his Cuman mistress, Edua. To this end,he arrested and imprisoned his wife. A year later he
abducted his sister, who was a nun in the Marian convent where St. Margaret also served earlier, and
married her against her wish to a Czech magnate called Zavis Rozenberka. I suspect he may have been
Jewish. The news reached Archbishop Lodomer of Esztergom who excommunicated the king and even
suggested to the Pope that he should proclaim a crusade against him.
All these royal actions and the turmoil which they caused, threw Hungary into anarchy. The real power
rested in the hands of a few rich and powerful families. Various parts of the country were in the hands of
the K8szegi,Aba, Kn and Csk families. Duke Albert I of Germany led his troops against Hungary and
occupied several counties on its western borders. Ladislaus was unable to control these families but
managed to reconcile with Archbishop Lodomer and also his wife, Elizabeth. Powerless to overrule the
barons and the nobility, he openly joined the Cumans. The end came on July 10, 1290, when he was killed
in his camp at KcSrosszeg by Cuman assassins.
ANDREW Ill
(Ill. Andras, 1290-1301)
He was the last male in the Arp d dynasty. His father was Stephen, the last and posthumous child of King
Andrew II and his third wife, Beatrice D'Este. Born in Venice, Italy in 1265 of Tomasina Morosini, a
descendant of a Venetian patrician family, he was educated in Venice. He received an invitation in 1278,
at age 13, from lva'n Koszegi, a wealthy aristocrat in the Transdanubian area of Hungary, while King
Ladislaus IV was still in charge. Andrew claimed the Duchy of Slavonia for himself, but Ladislaus refused
him. Andrew returned to Venice.
His second invitation came in 1290 from lvn Kszegi and Archbishop Lodomer of Esztergom when King
Ladislaus IV was excommunicated. He was offered the crown and accepted it, except that he was arrested
by another Hungarian noble, Arnold Hahot, who handed him over to Duke Albert Iof Austria. It is not
clear what his intention was for holding Andrew hostage. Nevertheless, when news reached Andrew that
Ladislaus IV had been murdered, he managed to escape from captivity inVienna and rushed to Esztergom
where Archbishop Lodomer crowned him with the Holy Crown in July, 1290, just 3 days after the death of
his predecessor.
Andrew was "hastily" married to the Polish Princess Fenenna of Kuyavia. They had one child, Elizabeth,
who became a nun in the Dominican monastery in Toss, Switzerland. Andrew had no other issue.
He faced several contenders for the throne. Furthermore, King Rudolph I of Germany believed that
Hungary should be a part of the Holy Roman Empire, tried to have his son, Duke Albert, accepted as the
legitimate ruler of Hungary. There were others as well, who were hoping to grab this prize. The most
notable was Mary, sister of the assassinated king Ladislaus who, in April of 1291 announced her claim to
the throne. When that went nowhere, she transferred the claim to her son, Charles Martel of Anjou, and
when Charles died, to her grandson Charles Robert.
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Andrew didn't waste any time in unifying his country and defending his right to the kingdom. Inthe spring
of 1291 he gained the approval of the assemblies of nobles in Transylvania, first in Oradea (a.k.a.
NagyvArad) and Alba Julia (a.k.a. Gyulafeherv r). Inthe fall of that year Andrew forced the Austrian Duke
Albert to renounce his claim to the throne of Hungary. The price of that agreement was the destruction
of the Kos' zegi family's fortresses on the border between the two countries, which angered the K8szegi,
Babonics and Frangepan families, all beholden to Queen Mary of Naples. When Andrew Ill tried to offer
monetary compensation to Miklos Koszegi,he was captured and had to pay a ransom so that he could
walk free. Andrew could never gain their support.
In 1293 the king invited his mother, Tomasina Morosini to Hungary and with her they gained more
supporters and followers for the King. When the Queen, Fenenna of Kuyavia died in February of 1296,
Andrew took Agnes of Austria, daughter of Duke Albert I of Austria, for his second wife. Particularly
interesting about this is that when Andrew would pass, the little darling queen/consort was given Sopron
County as compensation for supporting a widow. Pozsony being adjacent to Austria, Agnes of Austria
would be granted Austrian administration and Hungary would lose a county (it's only a county, anyway?)
to our neighbors.
Sadly, a new Archbishop was appointed by Pope Benedict VIII in 1298. Archbishop Gergely Bicskei
supported the claim of the Neopolitan Prince Charles Robert, despite the fact that the assembly of
prelates, nobles, even the Saxons and Cumans clearly supported Andrew Ill. In August, 1300, Charles
Robert landed in Split on the Adriatic, and helped by Croatian forces marched into Zagreb. - Andrew's
mother died, which prevented Andrew to immediately counterattack. Moreover, he had an unspecified
mortal disease which eventually killed him on January 14, 1301at Buda castle. With his death, the male
line of the Arpad dynasty died out.
Before we examine the history of Hungary under different future dynasties, let us look at the map from
around 1300 so we can better visualize Hungary's position relative to its neighbors.
Map
2
Central and S.E. Europe showing the area of Hungary during the National Kingdom
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ETHNOGRAPHICAL MIX in historic Hungary
The Cuman people
The name "Cuman" had come up several times in our previous reading. Who were these people, where
did they come from and what happened to them?
The best reference I could find on this subject is that they were a Turkic nomadic people, a part of the
Cuman-Kipchak confederation from the area north of the Black Sea, although originally they are from the
large bend in the Yellow River in China. Their language was an early Turkic variety. They were fierce
nomadic warriors who had exerted considerable influence in the Balkans, particularly in Bulgaria where
they founded three successive Cuman dynasties which played an active role in Byzantium, Serbia and
Hungary. The Hungarians called them "Kun", or Kunok in the plural.
Etymological roots take us back to the word "Kuman" in old Turkic, meaning yellow, referring to their
blond hair. They were tribal people with no central organization, but they created a powerful elite of
warriors, among them the Mamluks. In their continuous migration to the west, they first came into
contact with Russians inthe mid-11th century when they devastated and conquered parts of Ukraine. The
Hungarians, under Ladislaus I first came into contact with the Cumans in 1089 and were victorious over
them despite the fact that the Cumans had as their allies a large force of Pechenegs. As the threat of the
Mongol invasion increased,the Cumans asked for asylum behind the Carpathian mountains in Hungary
from King Bla IV in 1229.
Neither the general Hungarian population, nor the nobility were enticed by the King permitting the
Cumans' entry into the country, but the Mongol threat was so great that Bela IV wanted to use them
against the invaders. Regrettably, in 1240 or 41some Hungarian hotheads broke into the Cumans' camp
and murdered their leadership and their families, turning the ire of the Cumans on the Hungarians.
Cuman forces now joined the Mongols inthe devastation of the country in 1241/42.
Following the Mongol invasion, some 80,000 Cumans remained in Hungary and formed two distinct
regions between the rivers Danube and Tisza for their settlement, called Greater and Lesser Cumania
(Nagykllnsag & Kiskunsag). My mother's birthplace of Kiskunhalas,as Ipointed out on page 46, is just one
of hundreds of places which refers to the Cuman settlements. Those Cumans maintained their autonomy,
their own language and customs well into modern historical times. Their integration was not an easy one
as their fierce and unappealing appearance, pagan religion, attire and hairstyle set them apart from the
rest of Hungarians. As time went on, however, they gained more acceptance and influence over
Hungarian politics, including King Ladislaus IV (1272-1290) who had taken a Cuman wife. Today, the
division between the two ethnic groups is not noticeable.
Attila's Huns
For many centuries historians tried to knead the Huns and the Magyars into the same ethnic mold.
Recently, however, evidence has emerged which assigns distinctive differences to these entities.
Tacitus, the Roman writer and historian makes mention of the Huns first as "Hunnoi" in the first century.
The area east of the Volga river was known then as Scythia. The Huns were nomadic people from that
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area who kept migrating from the Caucasus to Eastern Europe during the first 700 years of the first
millennium. They had a language all their own of which very little has survived, especially since several
different languages were spoken within the Hun Empire. Feared by everyone for their fierce military
force, especially mounted archery, they contributed to the eventual collapse of the Roman Empire as well.
The first accounts of Hunnic devastation is about their confrontation with peoples of the Alan Empire in
the area of the Black Sea in the 4th century A.D. The Alani had occupied the territory between the Volga
and Don rivers, while the Ostrogoths lived between the Don and Dniester rivers, - both of which rivers
featured in news reports during World War II where members of my family had fought the Soviets.
After subjugating both of these peoples, the Huns in 376 A.D. defeated the Visigoths living in the area of
today's Romania. Crossing the Carpathians, they arrived in the Plains of today's Hungary, threatening the
Eastern borders of the Roman Empire. The Roman historian Ammianus Marcellinus wrote about the Huns
in the early 5th century. According to Marcellinus, the Huns knew nothing about agriculture and kept
moving from pasture to pasture to satisfy the demands of their livestock. By 432 A.D. the leadership of
various Hunnic groups (tribes?) appear to be centralized under king Ruga. After his death he was replaced
by his nephews Blda and Attila. They negotiated a peace treaty with the Danubian Romans for doubling
their bounty, originally about 660 lbs of gold per year, but the Huns got offended when the Romans did
not live up to the conditions of the treaty and launched an assault over the Romans, advancing almost to
Constantinople.
In or about 445 A.D. Attila is said to have murdered his brother Bleda and continued his attack on the
Roman Empire, reaching Thermopylae in Greece! They financed their military adventures by extracting
tributes in gold from those whom they conquered, as well as plundering and selling their prisoners back
to the Romans.
In 451 Attila attacked Gaul (France) but suffered his first defeat on the Catalaunian Planes (the battle of
Chalons) at the hands of Roman and Visigoth forces. The following year Attila invaded northern Italy
supposedly to collect on the marriage proposal of the Emperor's daughter Honoria, but famine and
pestilence drove them back. Even Pope Leo Imet Attila at the Po river and was instrumental in dissuading
him to sack Rome. There are some unconfirmed stories about the Pope raisingthe crucifix to Attila which
mesmerized the Hun leader and he withdrew his forces.
It'sfascinating to consider how these two leaders, the Pope and Attila conversed. Well, it was easier than
one thinks. At age 12 Attila was exchanged for a Roman boy to learn Roman customs and learn Roman
culture. It is assumed that he picked up some of the language, too.
In 453 Attila died and is said to be buried in or near the Tisza river. Search for his remains and his famed
sword has been ongoing for centuries. The circumstances of his death vary, some saying he died on his
wedding night of a massive nosebleed in a state of inebriation. Others claim that lldiko, his beautiful Goth
bride stabbed him to death. In Attila's death the Huns lost the one unifying force over them. In 455 they
suffered a major defeat in Pannonia {today's Hungary) and the various groupings of Hunnic people
gradually retreated and disintegrated as an ethnic group.
The Magyars came from the area of the Black Sea as well, but in a different time period. The only
connection between the two groups may be the Szekelys, whose origins we discuss next.
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I
The Szekelys
The Szkelys, or Szeklers (Latin: Siculi) were not part of the group of Magyars who settled Hungary in the
3th century. The descent of the Szekelys from the Huns does not hold water, although some scientists
proposed that idea. More to the point is the recently held view that they were part of the Avar confederation
from way back in the 5th century, which disintegrated with the Hungarian conquest. This ethnic group has
lived more or less isolated for centuries in the Eastern Carpathian mountains and were used by Hungarian
kings simply to guard the borders to the East.
Their language is largely understood even by newcomers. Iwas a first-hand witness to it when, in June,
1943, my parents and Ispent a summer vacation in the Southeastern part of Szekely land (Szekelyfold) in
Kovaszna. When the landlady, from whom we rented a villa in the village, offered us "pitybka" for lunch,
we had to ask what she meant. In fact, she wanted to serve us potatoes which is "krumpli" in everyday
Hungarian. (The high-class word for it is "burgonya.")
Szekely people have developed a mind of their own and are known for peculiar interpretation of
situations. Here are a couple of examples without crossing the line of decency:
The old Szkely goes out to the backyard in the night to take a leak. When he comes back into the house,
his pant legs are all wet. His wife asks: "Is it raining?" The szekely replies: "Wind is blowing."
Picking fruit in the orchard a Szekely boy asks his father: "What is going to happen to all this fruit?" The
father: "If your mother recovers from her illness, preserves. If she does not, brandy."
Since the Trianon Treaty of 1920,all of Transylvania has been attached to Romania, except for a couple of
years toward the end of WW II when Hungary reclaimed half of it for herself. (A 2011 census counted
1,237,000 ethnic Hungarians living in Romania.) Today, Szkelys live mostly in three counties of
Transylvania: Harghita, Covasna and Mures. Transylvania, but especially Szekely land, has been a target
of Romanianization. Numbering about 860,000 people, the Sz(!kelys are a distinct minority group of which
the European Union had taken note. Their request for an autonomous Szekely land has been denied by
Romanian authorities, including restricted use of their language and even vernacular use in their religion,
which flies in the face of international laws.
As a child, I read several novels set in Szekely village culture, written by folklorist Elek Benedek, novelist
Jozsef Nyiro and others. Blessed with unbelievable natural beauty of their land and the fierce independent
spirit of its people, Szekelys are a special jewel in the extended version of St. Stephen's crown.
The Jasz people
I have selected just one more ethnic minority, which is the Jasz people numbering about 85,000,living in
a 450 square mile territory just east of Budapest, on the Hungarian Plain (Alfold). The area is called the
1
Ja szsag, and its main town is called Jaszbereny. Many smaller villages indicate their Jassic origins,
particularly Jclszkarajeno, where my mother and two of her sisters were interned during the Communist
regime as punishment for my and my father's desertion from Hungary.
52
Not to confuse the issue, but in ancient times the Jaszsa-g was settled by Celts and was part of the Dacian
Kingdom in the first century B.C. A hundred years later a Sarmatian tribe known as the tazyges settled in
this region, but there is no evidence of a connection between the Lazyges and the Jasz people. The Jassic
people are said to be of Ossetian (Iranian) origin, and their basic Ossetian dialect is extinct. Like the
Szkelys, they were not a part of the original Magyar conquest lead by Arpad. They are said to be a nomadic
tribe which settled inthe medieval Kingdom of Hungary duringthe 13th century. Their ancestors can be
traced back the North Caucasus, now mixed with other peoples forming the present Ossetes. The Jasz
people came more of less together with the Cuman people, fleeing the Mongolian invasion during King
Bela IV's rule. They enjoyed Jsz regional autonomy until 1876 when the area was incorporated into a
much larger county, called Jasz-Nagykun-Szolnok, which gives away its origins relative to the Cuman
people.
THE 11th and 12th CENTURIES
With Hungary on our minds, we tend to focus on historical developments in what is known as Central
Europe, while important events took place elsewhere in the world which cannot be ignored even by a
treatise on Hungarian kings.
Historians like to refer to the period following the dissolution of the Roman Empire in 476 A.O. as the Middle
Ages followed by 1,000 years to the fall of Constantinople in 1453, when the Renaissance ushered in the
"modern period". To me, being perhaps a little bit prejudiced, the Middle Ages ended with Prince Arpad's
arrival in the Carpathian basin at the end of the 7th and the beginning of the 8th century. That still gave
plenty of time for momentous events to fill the New Middle Ages, while Arpad and his Magyar tribes opened
the "Age of the Hungarians". Surely, the old Middle Ages were still filled with Charlemagne laying the
foundations of the Holy Roman Empire under the German king Otto; the Danish Vikings transitioning into
the Norman conquest of England and one of their tribes, the Rus, giving their name to Russia, while Hugh,
Duke of Francia with his short cape founded the Capetian dynasty as he contrived to have himself elected
King of France in 987. By that time the former threat of Magyar incursions stopped with their defeat in 955
A.O. at the battle of Lechfeld near Augsburg.
But the Magyar tribes who created the kingdom of Hungary ruled the calendar of events for several
centuries with major outcomes in Central Europe under the Arpad dynasty from 895 to the death of King
Andrew Ill in 1301. We already discussed, however briefly, the events of the 10th century on pages 21
and 22. It ended with the time when King (Saint) Stephen established the presence of the kingdom of
Hungary.
The 11th century, which is under our microscope today, surely started with the Christianization of Hungary
under St. Stephen, crowned by the Apostolic crown sent to him by the Pope and continued in Central
Europe when King St. Ladislaus and King Coloman changed the map of the Balkans with their expansionist
policies. In 1002 Leif Ericsson's expedition managed to get to the shores of North America, but the focus
was on how Hungary would fit into the European community. The Danish Canute, king of England (after
defeating Edmund Ironside in 1016), Denmark and Norway made his mark on British history and prepared
the way for William the Conqueror, first Norman king, to be crowned in Westminster Abbey in 1066. The
first Crusade was launched in 1096 under the command of the Duke of Lorraine.
And as a former
53
Cistercian student, Imust not forget that the Monastery of Citeaux and the Abbey of Clairvaux was built at
the end of the 11th century under the oversight of St. Bernard.
It can be assumed that the Hungarian Court would know practically nothing of those happenings a
thousand miles or more from the country's borders. News traveled on horseback in those days. The
Hungarian kings were busy establishing themselves in a basically "foreign" environment by giving away
their daughters to wed neighboring kings and princes. In many cases the tragedy was that no sooner was
a peace pact signed, the agreement was broken and Hungarians had to chase the invaders back to where
they came from. But all this seemed to be inevitable given the sheer location of the country where in
previous times peoples of different civilizations, like the Romans, the Huns, Pechenegs, Ava rs and others
came and went with the flow of times. The great migration of peoples has a mesmerizing effect on those
who are involved in it. "We will find richer pastures on the other side of that hill..." Permanence to the
Carpathian basin began with the resettling of Magyar tribes on the great Plains between the Danube and
Tisza rivers. And still, in centuries to come, there would be enemies who considered this territory a
crossroads to Western civilization, sending their hordes of Mongols, Tartars, Khazars, Ottoman Turks and
Slavs to engulf the Hungarian plains on the way to Vienna. The sole obstacle in their path were the
Hungarians who shed their blood in the defense of their religion and culture to protect the West.
The 12th century brought changes in the whole of Europe, the effects of which can be traced, in part, to
the invention of a different kind of plough. The new, curved plough not only dug deep into the soil, but it
also turned it over, creating a much more fertile environment for seeds to grow up to five times more
than in previous times. This invention may have ended the population's fear of famine, yet in a few more
centuries will lead to the pressures of urbanization, commerce and finance. It is interesting to consider
that about 600 years later the American president Thomas Jefferson also experimented with a similar
design to feed his expanding household,family, slaves and freemen building Monticello.
In the middle of the century Genghis Khan founded the Mongol empire which would be a threat for a
hundred years or more to peoples on this side of the Ural mountains. Within the Carpathian basin the
booklover King Coloman, one of the most learned individuals among the leaders of Europe, established a
splendidly appointed royal court and pushed his influence through the Balkans to the shores of the blue
Adriatic sea. Several foreign armies traipsed through Hungary as part of the Crusades to liberate the Holy
Land of unholy enemies. King BJla Ill's court in 1173 was considered most brilliant in Europe and helped
establish the country's respect throughout the Continent.
In Italy the campanile was built in 1174 at Pisa, but with time it would start to lean and provide a favorite
landmark for tourists. Saladin, the Sultan of Egypt and Syria defeated the Crusaders in an 1187 battle,
recapturing Jerusalem and Palestine after 88 years of foreign rule. The celebrated Holy Roman Emperor,
Frederick (the Red Beard) Barbarossa led the Third Crusade against him in 1189, in which the future Saint
Francis of Assisi also participated. Barbarossa died the following year of drowning.
The 13th century was about to come on the horizon, with its horrendous exposure to the Mongol invasion,
which we shall examine next.
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THE HOUSE OF ANJOU
With the extinction of the Arpad dynasty, the ranking orders of the nobility went looking for alternate
selections for the throne. The Angevin line was associated with the female descendants of Arpad. Angevin
stands for the House of Anjou of Frankish origin who had had a long history in governing parts of the Holy
Land. Not to belabor the point, but as Ipointed out in my August, 2011writing about the 1848 Hungarian
Revolution under the title: Cause and Effect, in numerous instances the zeal of attaining the throne of
Hungary went from tragic to bizarre.
A refresher
Hungarian history, at times, becomes a bit convoluted. Therefore, I believe a little refresher would be in
order as we look at the succession of the Arpad dynasty by the House of Anjou.
Going back to the rule of Ladislaus IV (page 45), son of King Stephen V and his Cuman wife, Elizabeth,
Ladislaus alienated not only his family but also the Hungarian nobility by showing special preference for
the (largely} pagan Cumans and was even excommunicated by the Archbishop of Esztergom for his
immoral ways. The country was mostly in the hands of some influential families, such as the K8szegis,
Abas, Klns and Csks, which certainly did not add to the unity needed to govern. The end came for
Ladislaus IV in 1290 when he was killed in his camp by Cuman assassins.
The next and last king from the Arpd dynasty was Andrew Ill,whose father was King Stephen V and his
mother was Tomasina Morosini, descendant of a Venetian patrician family. Andrew 111, educated in
Venice, came to the Hungarian throne at the invitation of one of those influential people, lvn K8szegi,
we mentioned above. Andrew and his Polish wife had one daughter who became a Dominican nun,but
had no other children. When his wife died, he remarried, taking Agnes of Austria, daughter of Duke Albert
Iof Austria for his second wife, but they had no children. Andrew developed some kind of an unspecified
mortal disease which killed him on January 14, 1301at Buda Castle. With his death, the male line of the
Arpad dynasty died out.
Immediately, there were several contenders for the throne. King Rudolph I of Germany believed that
Hungary should be a part of the Holy Roman Empire and tried to have his son, Duke Albert, accepted as
the legitimate ruler of Hungary. - The child Wenceslas of King Wenceslas II of Bohemia was engaged to
Andrew Ill's daughter Elizabeth, so this seemed to be a possible solution for the kingless Hungary to
acquire a kingfor the crown, although certainly a "stretch" for the connection. The third notable aspirant
was Mary, sister of the assassinated King Ladislaus IV, married to the king of Naples. She announced her
claim to the throne, first for herself, then for her son, Charles Martel of Anjou, and when Charles died, to
her grandson Charles Robert, who had the support of the new Archbishop, Gergely Bicskei.
This is where we pick up the story.
THE INTERREGNUM
We have touched on this subject on pages 17 through 20 under the title Oddities of Royal Succession,
from which the following excerpts are taken.
55
In the first decade of the 14th century a somewhat chaotic situation emerged in Hungary. Following the
end of the Arpd dynasty in 1301 with the death of King Andrew Ill,there appeared to be at least two
contenders for the throne, - both of them without real authority or legitimacy to govern. As we pointed
out above, In 1301two "children" competed: one was Charles Robert, the 13-year-old grandson of Anjou
King Charles II and the 12-year-old grandson of Bohemian (Czech) king Wenceslaus II. The third aspirant
happened to be Mary, a daughter of King Stephen V of Hungary who was also the sister of King Ladislaus
IV of Hungary who ultimately transferred her claim to her grandson, the underage Charles Robert.
Neither had the full support of the country's electors, but since chronologically Wenceslaus came first, we
will pursue his story.
WENCESLAUS 111/LADISLAUS V (V. Laszld, 1305-1306)
He was of the House of Premyslid, as his father, Wenceslaus II was the king of Bohemia and Poland. Born
in Prague, Bohemia in 1289, in 1298, at the age of 9 Wenceslaus got engaged to Elizabeth, the only child
of King Andrew II of Hungary. When Andrew Ill died,king Wenceslaus II accepted the crown on behalf of
his underage son who assumed the Hungarian name of Laszlo (Wenceslaus Ill) and was crowned in 1301,
still a young child at age 12, in Szekesfeh rvar.
The country was split into principalities run by influential families. Wenceslaus was only accepted as
Hungary's king by the Csak and Gussing families, governing an area corresponding to today's Slovakia,
Burgenland and the territory around the capital,Buda. Soon, however, the Csak family threw its support
to Charles Robert, the other aspirant to the throne, frightening the young king into fear of losing his kingdom.
He appealed to his father for help. Wenceslaus II entered Hungary with a large army and invaded Buda.
Reviewing the situation, he saw that his son's situation was untenable, he withdrew, taking his son and St.
Stephen's crown with him. (See the story on page 7.)
When the old king died, Wenceslas Ill renounced the Hungarian crown, hoping to become the next king
of Bohemia and Poland. In December of 1305 he passed the crown to Otto, Duke of Lower Bavaria. (See
the following story.) Wenceslaus Ill also broke off his "engagement" to Elizabeth of Hungary. (Elizabeth
then entered a convent.) Wenceslaus was murdered under mysterious circumstances in 1306 in Moravia.
ono 111 (V Bila, 1305-1308)
Otto was a member of the Wittelsbach dynasty and bore the title of Duke of Lower Bavaria since 1290. His
connection to the Hungarian crown was that he was the son of Henry XIII, Duke of Bavaria and Elizabeth
of Hungary, granddaughter of King BJla IV. Otto was in opposition to the Habsburgs in Styria. In order to
accept the Hungarian crown from Wenceslaus Ill in Prague, he disguised himself as a merchant and reached
Buda in November, 1305 (see the related story on previous pages). He was then crowned in
Szekesfehervar, but not with St. Stephen's Holy Crown, naming himself Bela V after his grandfather.
He was not only not supported by some of the aristocracy, but vehemently and vocally opposed. The
opposition took a military turn when the third aspirant to the throne, Charles of Anjou, led his forces to occupy
Esztergom, and even Buda. Worse of all,when Duke, now King Otto visited with Ladislaus Kan, the Voivode
of Transylvania, he was arrested and imprisoned by the Transylvanian leader who could not accept him as
a legitimate ruler without being crowned with St. Stephen's crown.
56
After some six months in prison, the Voivode let Otto free, who then left the country and in 1308
abdicated the Hungarian throne. First married to Katharine of Habsburg in 1279, they produced twin
brothers. Both children died within the year of their birth. Otto remained a widower for 23 years, then
married for the second time and produced two more children. He died at age 51 in Landshut, where my
Uncle KornJI Oszlanyi was imprisoned following World War II as Hungary's highest decorated military
officer.
His abdication and exile left the throne open for the third aspirant, as the period, called interregnum, came
to a close.
CHARLES I (a.k.a Karoly Robert, 1308-1342)
As we discussed in the previous chapter on Hungarian history, a sad and turbulent period followed the
death of King Andrew Ill. This was the period of interregnum, where sometimes multiple kings pretended
they had the upper hand.
In the situation at hand, the nobles reached out to the Anjou Charles 11, King of Naples (1285-1309), who
was married to Maria, daughter of the Hungarian King Stephen V from the Arpad dynasty. (Stephen was
the son of Bla IV.) Anjou Charles sired a boy also named Charles, who became Charles Iof Hungary and
took the throne in 1310 finally as a legitimate contender, since he was the grandson of Stephen V. Charles
Iestablished the Angevin dynasty in Hungary. His succession to the throne, though, occurred in a strange
sequence of events, which may be of interest to my readers and, therefore, is presented here, some of it
taken from Oxford Professor C. A. Macartney's book: Hungary, a short history. The professor points out
that although the Arpad family honored the principle of "senioratus", but most rulers passed over senior
relatives in favor of a son even though "primogenitur" (favoring the first-born son) was not officially in
vogue.
Oddities of royal succession were common, Iam pretty certain, not only in Hungarian history, but in the
history of other nations. Specific to our past, Iwrote extensively about this strange phenomenon starting
on page 17. I encourage you to re-read that segment for a better understanding of the entanglement
caused by ambition on a royal scale.
Not counting the first leaders of the pre-Christian period from High Prince Almos to Arpad, to Zoltan, to
Fajsz, Taksony and Geza, father of St. Stephen, Hungarians had the fortune (or misfortune) of having 24
kings in the Arpc\d dynasty. Our story goes on to examine what Fate had in store for us, their successors.
AMBITION ON A ROYAL SCALE
Way back in Hungarian history when Andrew Itook the throne in 1047, he tried to secure the succession
for his 7-year-old son, Salamon and he committed him in infancy in marriage to the daughter of Emperor
Henry Ill. (Salamon made it to the throne in 1063, thanks to his father-in-law's influence over Hungarian
politics.) Many of these efforts at succession culminated inviolence, such as when King Kalmn (Coloman)
had both his brother Almos and Almos's son BJla blinded in order to eliminate them as aspirants to the
throne. The sad part of the story is that Coloman, who ordered such a dastardly act, was the son of King
Ladislaus who would eventually attain sainthood under the name of St. Laszld. The irony of the story is
that the blind Bla would eventually be crowned and ruled for 10 years, starting in 1131.
57
The story of Charles Iand his entanglement is equally fascinating.
The stakes were high,so the supporters of Charles didn't waste any time; inviting him to Hungary they
took him to Esztergom where the Archbishop Gregory Bicskei crowned him with a substitute crown, since
the original Holy Crown was in the possession of and guarded by his opponents. The majority of the
magnates, however, did not accept Charles' rule and proclaimed Wenceslaus their king, crowning him
with the true Holy Crown in SzekesfehJrv r by Archbishop John of Kalocsa in 1301. To further his
legitimacy, Wenceslaus was engaged to Elizabeth, daughter of King Andrew Ill, the last of the Arpad
dynasty and assumed the name Ladislaus V (Laszlo).
Charles Robert recruited military forces in Slavonia and laid an unsuccessful siege to Buda Castle in
September, 1302 but had to withdraw to Slavonia. The Bohemian King Wenceslaus II came to Hungary in
the summer of 1304 at the head of a large army to provide support and credibility to his son, but soon
realized that the son's position in Hungary was unstable to say the least. He retreated and Wenceslaus
followed, taking the Holy Crown with him.
When the Bohemian king died and his son, Wenceslaus, was elevated to the throne of that country in 1305,
he gave up his aspirations to the Hungarian throne, offering the crown to the Bavarian Prince Otto, who was
the 46-year-old grandson of King Bla IV. Otto was considered the enemy of the Austrian Habsburgs, so Otto
had to disguise himself as a merchant while transiting Austria to Prague where he took possession of the
Holy Crown. On his way to Hungary Otto nearly lost the crown until it was accidentally found in the swamp
near the Hungarian border (see my letter to the Editor of the Washington Post, above). Otto was then
crowned in Szekesfehervar in December, 1305 and assumed the name Bla V.
The following year Charles Robert mounted another assault on Esztergom and in 1307 occupied Buda
Castle as well while Otto was visiting Transylvania, where the ruling kingwas arrested and was imprisoned.
In October 1307 the magnates proclaimed Charles Robert king,but he had to wait for Otto to abdicate
and release the Holy Crown so that he could assume the Hungarian throne. Otto abdicated and escaped
in 1308 but the Crown remained in the hands of the powerful aristocrats of Transylvania. Pope Clement
V had to intervene to have Charles proclaimed king. The Papal legate had a new crown made for Charles
with which he was crowned on June 15, 1309 by Archbishop Tamas of Esztergom. Finally, under the threat
of the Papal legate, Ladislaus Kn handed over the Holy crown and Charles was crowned for the third time
with the Holy crown on August 27, 1310 by the Archbishop of Esztergom, and was known as Kroly I,or
Robert Karoly.
THE ANGEVIN DYNASTY
Charles Robert (Charles I) (1310-1342) was a colorful and major character of the new dynasty. He
restored the royal power by reforming the practice of collecting customs fees by abolishing the private
customs houses, introducing newly minted gold coins (Florins) and enriching the king's treasury.
Hungarian gold mines produced 3,000 lbs, or one-third of the world's total annual gold production and
the king shared the taxes collected on the mines with the landowners. He also levied taxes on the
revenues of the church which caused a clash with the church hierarchy.
Charles formed a mutual defense union with Poland and with Bohemia, but antagonized the principalities
on Hungary's southern border by promoting Catholicism among the mostly Greek-Orthodox Serbs, Bulgars
58
and Wallachians (today's Romanians). Even after his coronation he had to fight some of the powerful
families who opposed him. In the summer of 1311, for example, the csJk family organized a siege to
Charles' capital, Buda, but unable to unseat him. The following year Charles had to assert himself against
the rebels of the city of Kassa and in 1315 he re-occupied the famous Visegrad Castle from Matthew csak,
while in 1316 he battled the forces of the K8szegi family and won other battles, including Komarom. In a
much later battle with Serbia, Charles was wounded by an arrow.
One real threat to Hungary, which Charles had not yet realized, was the plans of Ottoman Turkish sultans
Osman and Orhan to invade southeastern Europe.
Charles was married three times. After the death of his first wife, Maria of Bytom, in 1318 he married
Beatrix of Luxembourg, daughter of Henry VII, Holy Roman Emperor as well as sister of the Queen of
France. Regretfully, Beatrix died in 1319 while giving birth to a stillborn child. The followingyear Charles
married Elizabeth of Poland with whom they had 5 children, - one of which became king of Hungary as
Louis I in 1342. A potential danger to his reputation was that Charles had a mistress named Elizabeth
Csak, daughter of George Csak, with whom they produced a boy who would eventually become Coloman,
bishop of Gyor. - Charles died in Visegrad in 1342, but was buried at Szekesfeherv:ir.
LOUIS I (Nagy Lajos, 1342-1382)
Louis I,or Louis the Great (Nagy Lajos) became king of Hungary and Croatia in 1342 and earned the title
of "Great" for having reigned over the territories of Galicia, Moldavia, Wallachia, Dalmatia, Bosnia and
parts of Bulgaria and Serbia as well as Poland (from 1370 till his death), a greatness which lasted well into
the early part of the 20th century.
Louis' father, Charles I,was married three times. Louis was born the third of five sons of Charles Iand
wife Elizabeth of Poland. (The first son, Charles, died in infancy, the second son, Ladislaus died at age
five.) Louis was born in 1326. When he was 16, he married the underage daughter of Charles IV, Holy
Roman Emperor, but the girl died while she was still a minor. Louis then married Elizabeth, daughter of
Stephen II of Bosnia and Elizabeth of Kuyavia. They had four daughters, the first dying in infancy, the
second at age 8, the third, Mary would become his successor on the Hungarian throne and the fourth,
Hedwig,followed him on the throne of Poland.
Louis was well educated in the seven liberal arts and by age 16 he spoke Hungarian, Latin, German and
Italian. He was an excellent military leader as well who liked and practiced the military life and fought sideby-side with his soldiers.
Louis was a king of the Renaissance. Through contacts with his father's Italian connections, he embraced
the culture of Italy. It can be said that Charles I and Louis Ibrought prosperity to feudal Hungary. Louis
encouraged the production of gold mines, producing 1,400 kilos (3,000 lbs) annually which represented
one-third of the world's gold production as known then. The Angevin royal family owned one-third of all
land in Hungary. The population climbed to 3 milion,and if we include Croatia, Slavonia and Dalmatia as
well, the number of people living under Louis's reign was 4 million.
One curious fact is that the most famous epic hero of Hungarian literature, Miklos Toldi,is depicted having
lived in that era, as told by the eminent novelist and poet Janos Arany.
As far as royal legislature is
59
concerned, the Law of Entail, which held up until 1848, regulated the inheritance of the land-owningclass.
Louis also codified the military obligations of the nobility and recovered for the Crown land where the
original owners and their descendent had died out. The novelty was that he gave a nod to the female
descendants in that they would be entitled to one-fourth of the assessed value of the deceased noble,
but such value had to be paid to the Crown in cash. And in Poland he forbade the introduction of new
taxes by the king,except with the consent of the nobility.
Louis withdrew the rights of towns and counties to judge individual cases and all local governments
answered to the Crown. The Palatine and the royal High Court would deal with all legal issues. In military
matters, Louis required the magnates and barons to lead a "banderium" of armed noblemen and some
peasants of the royal estates in the light infantry. The tour of duty for these soldiers was 3 months within
the country and 40 days on foreign campaigns. On longer campaigns in foreign countries, the king often
used mercenary troops. On occasion the king also financed the Pope's wars in exchange for legates of
Rome to settle issues between Hungary and other states and rulers, including Emperor Charles IV. The
Popes, incidentally, recognized early the increase of the Turkish/Ottoman threat and would eventually
recruit foreign troops to help the Hungarians fight the enemy.
Venice and Naples
During Louis' 40 year rule, there were only 3 peaceful years. Otherwise he was always engaged in wars,
especially with Italy. One of his early campaigns was against Venice which had attempted to bribe
generals of his army. In the clash of Louis' 100,000-men army and Venice in 1346, 7,000 men died, yet
Venice remained in Venetian hands. In 1347 Europe was appalled by the news of the assassination of
Louis' brother, Andrew, husband of Joan Iof Naples. It seemed a realistic palace conspiracy which took
the young prince, demanding retaliation,so Louis declared war on Naples. He won the battle, but had to
withdraw when the feared disease, the blackdeath, broke out. In a subsequent campaign the Pope put
up his objections and Louis had to give up his ambition of controlling Naples. The enmity between Naples
and Hungary lasted until the year before Louis's death, who was too ill to conduct any more campaigns.
Nevertheless, he sent his nephew Charles Durazzo, to extract revenge on queen Joan I by seizing the
throne and suffocating her with pillows in retaliation for her role in Prince Andrew's assassination.
An interesting and personal story emerged from Louis' third campaign against Venice, in which he
obtained from Venice the relics of St. Paul the Hermit and took them to the Pauline monastery in Buda.
When Iwas in first grade elementary school, Iwas chosen to serve as an altar boy in the Rock Chapel on
Gellrt hill,operated by Pauline fathers as the chapel of "Remete Szent Pal", or St. Paul the Hermit. I
never learned about King Louis' role inthe life/death of the Saint until the time Istarted happily preparing
for this historical review.
Poland
King Casimir Ill of Poland was Louis's uncle, who had appointed Louis to be his successor upon the king's
death. Louis waged successful campaigns on the side of the Poles in pagan Lithuania, and won victories
over the Mongol elite force called Golden Horde and conquered Galicia. Thus, the Hungarian sphere of
influence extended all the way to the Dniester river. In 1345,when the Polish capital Crakow was besieged
by the Bohemians, the Hungarian army got there in time to relieve the city of the military threat. Uncle
Casimir died in 1370 and the Poles elected Louis King of Poland. He appointed his mother, a Polish
princess,to be regent (governor), representing the king in Poland. The Poles resented the decisions of
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Elizabeth and in 1375 killed 160 of her Hungarian guards in a surprise attack, forcing Elizabeth to flee
Poland. Louis took revenge of the rebels and re-established his superiority over the country.
The Balkans
Many of his foreign wars were motivated by drawing foreign countries in the Balkans into the fold of the
Roman Catholic church. In 1366 Louis had himself crowned king of Serbia and Bosnia. He also attached
Moldavia as a vassal state. Louis' campaigns in the Balkans may have been military victories, but he could
never win his subjects' hearts. They remained loyal to the Eastern Orthodox Church. In fact, Serbia,
Bulgaria, Bosnia, Wallachia and Moldavia as vassal states of Hungary regarded their powerful northern
neighbor as a menace to their national identity. They were not reliable in confronting the Turkish menace,
with which Louis found himself engaged as early as 1366 in Nicapoli. The battle concluded in favor of
the Hungarians, but Hungary would be facing future conflicts into the 16th century.
Besides the religious angle, I have often wondered why Hungarian rulers have nearly always bore arms
against their southern neighbors. Ican condone and understand their interest in Venice as a commercial
center and a gateway to the Adriatic. But the generally mountainous region of the Balkans didn't provide
the right terrain for Hungarian warfare and provided Hungary little more than a moral victory for its king
and a tentative control over their territories.
Louis died in 1382.
The king was buried next to his idol King Saint Ladislaus in Nagyvrad.
MARY of ANJOU (1382-1395)
Since Louis had no male heir, he designated one of his daughters, Maria, to succeed him. Maria was only
11at the time, betrothed since age 7 to Sigismund of Luxemburg,son of Emperor Charles IV. The Poles
did not want to accept her in personal union with Hungary, nor did they like her fiance Sigismund as
regent. They chose instead Maria's sister, Hedwig, as their queen. Without precedent, both Maria and
Hedwig bore the title of King, not Queen, signifying the fact that they were not a queen consort, but rulers
in their own right. Catherine, the older sister to Maria and Hedwig,had been betrothed to Louis of France
and was expected to succeed her husband to the throne of France, as well as her father, Louis Ito the
throne of Hungary. That would have been an exceptional and fascinating situation, indeed. Alas,
Catherine died at age seven.
Although Maria succeeded her father, she was assigned her mother, Elizabeth of Bosnia, who would be
regent. She was crowned in Szekesfeh rvr, but the Poles demanded that she live in Poland. Her mother
objected to that and made the proposal, which was ultimately accepted, that Mary would remain the
queen of Hungary, while the Poles would accept Hedwig as their queen/king.
There remained one major problem, that is that the majority of the nobility in Hungary was not agreeable
to a female monarch. Her closest agnate (a relative whose kinship is traceable exclusively through males)
was King Charles Ill of Naples who would be acceptable to the Hungarian nobles. An appearance in
Hungary of the presumed contender, Charles 111, was expected soon. The Queen mother, Elizabeth, and
the Palatine formulated a plan to keep Charles out of Hungary by forming an alliance with Charles'
enemies who were from the House of Valois. By 1384, Mary was engaged to Louis of France, the same
Louis who had been betrothed to Mary's late sister, Catherine. Convening a diet to see if this proposal
would work, they ran into great opposition as many noblemen continued to support Sigismund. Hungary
61
appeared to be on the verge of a civil war. Charles Ill, however, could not move from Naples because he
felt it being threatened by Louis I,Duke of Anjou.
This changed dramatically, when the above-mentioned Louis Idied in 1384. Charles could now claim the
throne of Hungary. His supporters in Hungary, including the Bishop of Zagreb, took advantage of the
situation and secretly invited him to come and assume the throne. When Charles landed in Dalmatia in
September of 1385, Mary found herself and her country at war both with her former fiance, Sigismund's
brother, Wenceslaus who was by now king of Bohemia, as well as with the king of Bosnia.
A quick change of allegiance was decided. Mary broke up her engagement to Louis of France and arranged
to marry Sigismund by October. Alas, it was too late already. Sigismund took flight to his brother's court
in Prague and Mary abdicated from the throne. Charles Ill was crowned on December 3l5t, 1385 with
Mary and Queen Elizabeth forced to attend the coronation. Ican imagine the sour faces at that ceremony!
CHARLES II (Kis Karoly, 1385-1386)
We cannot get too excited over the rule of this king, as it only lasted 56 days. The circumstances would
make up the best tragi-comedy ever written. All we need now is to have a musician to compose music for
this and present it in operatic format.
At the end of his coronation ceremony, the wily old Queen Elizabeth invited the new king to visit with the
former Queen/King Maria. There, at one of Maria's palaces, Charles II was fatally stabbed on February 7,
1386. He was transported to Visegrd, to the royal castle in the Danube bend, where he expired on
February 24th.
Maria was restored to the throne while Elizabeth retained her position as spokeswoman for the King. In
April Sigismund re-appeared on the scene inthe company of half-brother Wenceslaus of Bohemia and the
two queens had to recognize that Sigismund would be co-ruler of Hungary and signed a treaty to that
effect in the city of Gycir. In opposition, the murdered Charles' supporters claimed the right of succession
for Charles' underage son, Ladislaus.
Soon war broke out, initiated by Slavonia. The queen and her mother decided to personally appear to
defuse the issue. On July 25, 1386, their entire retinue was ambushed on the way to Slavonia and was
attacked by John Horvt's party. Maria and her mother were captured and all their entourage killed. The
queen and her mother were escorted to the castle of the bishop of Zagreb. The country was left without
leadership.
The nobles, realizing the dire situation, agreed to convoke a diet at Szekesfeh rvr. They confirmed Maria's
royal rights and privileges and offered a general pardon to her captors. The queens were then moved to
Novigrad (Ujvidek, or today's Belgrade). Sigismund rounded up an army and in January, 1387 attempted to
liberate the queens by marching into Slavonia, but remained unsuccessful. The queens' captors strangled
Queen Elizabeth in sight of her daughter on the orders of their jailer, John Palisna.
For a quick solution to the kingdom's lack of leadership, Sigismund was crowned on March 31,1387.
62
SIGISMUND of Luxemburg (Zsigmond, 1387-1437)
In early June, 1378 Sigismund finally succeeded in liberating Maria with the help of the Venetian fleet.
Maria retained some privileges, but overall she exercized joint authority with King Sigismund, including
using her own seal until 1393, while he used his. Among others, when John Horvat was captured in later
years it was the Queen who ordered him to be tortured to death.
Maria was well along her pregnancy when she ventured out alone to hunt in the forests of Buda. On May
17, 1395 her horse tripped and she was thrown from the horse, with the animal falling on top of her. This
traumatic incident prompted her labor and she gave birth prematurely to a son, who died there on the spot.
The queen could not summon help and died of her injuries as well. They were found together in the forest.
Despite her sister, Hedwig of Poland claimingthe crown, Sigismund defended it and remained the sole ruler
of Hungary. He was a mere 19 years of age!
THE 13th AND 14th CENTURI ES
It would be a mistake to delineate events of the 13th century as events totally isolated from the previous
century. People living in those times probably didn't even know that they were living in what we now
know as "the Middle Ages" which separated ancient times from modern times, if we may call those times
truly "modern." After all,we, living in the 21st century, think of modern times starting with Henry Ford's
Model A's, or better still,with the outbreak of World War I,but times seem to be passing faster, - at least
for us, - than anytime previously. Based on the configuration of historians, the Middle Ages began with
the fall of the Western Roman Empire in 476, encompassing a seemingly interminable period untilthe end
of the so-called Hundred Years War in 1453. The Hungarians, who constitute our main interest for this
work, obviously didn't suspect that the so-called Middle Ages are about to come to an end.
But history certainly would not come to an end for the Hungarians, even though Hungarian history went
through some tough times in the period under consideration.
For the purposes of this exercise you should kindly consider that we cannot deal in great detail with
historical events in the British Isles, nor in what I would call the "classical Europe" of Spain, France,
Germany and Italy, because the Hungarians had already enough on their plate. We will concentrate on
what was essential to Hungary and Central Europe.
The Mongol menace
One of the ongoing, or continuing events was the development of the Mongol menace which would
ultimately reach Hungary and decimate its tender population in 1241. The Mongols were a group of
nomadic tribes in Central Asia. Near the turn of the 12th_to-13th centuries they had a leader called Temujin,
later known as Genghis Khan, who united the Mongolian tribes and pursued a plan to conquer China, Siberia
and Persia. His grandson, Kublai Khan had even greater ambitions. Employing his famed and feared troops
called the Golden Horde, he crossed the lower Volga river and continuing through the Carpathians
devastated the Hungarian nation in 1241 reaching Constantinople as well. St. Stephen's Crown was saved
by the sudden withdrawal of the Tartars to Asia who stayed away from Hungary until a brief campaign in
1285 into the eastern parts of the country, followed by a permanent withdrawal.
63
The Tatars were a tribe of the Mongols, being very aggressive and quick on horseback. The combatants
carried 2 or 3 bows (ij), 3 quivers (tegezd) full of arrows (nyil), also a hatchet (szekerce) and ropes. They
were familiar with Chinese warfare, using machines capable of casting rocks and smoke-making chemicals
over castle walls. Horses were held in great respect, their worth sometimes higher than human lives.
The main battle in Hungary took place on the plains of Mohi between the Danube and Tisza rivers, on
April 11, 1241. The two camps had about 25,000 men each on either side of the Saj6 river. The bridge head
was defended by troops provided by King B41a IV's brother Prince Klmn and Archbishop Ugrin of
Kalocsa. Having minor exchanges during the day, the Hungarians left a small guard to defend the bridge
while the major force retired for the night. The Tartars took advantage of the night and crossing the bridge
invaded the Hungarian camp. Fierce fighting ensued lasting all night. King Bla IV was protected by his
knights and managed to escape. The rest of the Hungarian force was killed or dispersed.
Elsewhere, the Tartars' scorched-earth strategy was to burn within and without the fortifications, collect
and carry away the loot, killing men, women and children, having no pity on anyone. People hiding in
buildings, especially churches, were raped and robbed of their personal belongings, then killed while fires
were set under the building.
When the Tatars withdrew to settle some internal matter within the Mongolian nation, King Bela IV
prevailed upon the nobility and the towns to build fortifications, walls and castles to stave off any possible
future attack. The forts and ramparts which grew up throughout the country served the Hungarians well
during the Turkish wars that followed in the 16th century. The second attack of the Mongol/Tatar Golden
Horde under Kublai Khan would wait until 1285 when the Tatars broke into the country from Moldavia in
the East and progressed to the Tisza river before withdrawing for good. This second incursion may have
been in retaliation for a foreign policy miscalculation by King Ladislaus IV of Hungary.
The Crusades
At the beginning of a review of the 13th and 14th centuries we mentioned that events do not separate
strictly as we step from one century into another. Many events have their roots and beginnings in the
previous time period. Such is an event we want to take a more extensive look at are the Crusades. They
had been around since the end of the 11th century and will make their effects felt long after the 13th
century.
The Crusades were military campaigns sanctioned, in fact instigated by the Roman Catholic Church to
make access available for Christians to the Holy Land and acted as a pilgrimage for those who participated
inthem. Each crusader took a vow to be fulfilled upon reaching Jerusalem, without regard as to how holy,
how "unselfish or selfish", how dedicated or cruel and pointless the crusade may turn out to be, - or whether
they were taking part in an aggressive attack or a defensive action against emerging Islam. In return for
participation,the Crusaders received plenary indulgence for their sins.
The first crusade was proclaimed by Pope Urban II in 1095. Not all subsequent campaigns, also called
"crusades" were directed to the Near East as political and personal ambition led many of them in
directions we would never think of today, including the Baltics, Prussia and Livonia. They may even had
mercantile objectives to open up trade routes. All the crusades were led by high political and religious
figures, including St. Bernard of Clairvaux and King Andrew II of Hungary.
64
(
About 100,000 persons from France and Italy
traveled by land to Constantinople and then
through Anatolia. The age-old weakness in any
company, association or gathering we have
noted in human experience showed up even
on this first crusading attempt. Namely, the King
of France and Henry IV Holy Roman Emperor
were in conflict with the Pope, so they stayed
away. Also, when the first French crusaders
crossed into Germany in 1096, thousands of
Jews were massacred in an age-old hatred of
those whom, to this day, are thought to be
responsible for the crucifixion and death of Jesus,
despite the efforts of bishops to protect them.
F SI ILY
1t
The Byzantine Empire and the Sultanate of Rfun before
the First Crusade
The first battle broke out in Antioch, ending with the massacre of Muslims and the destruction of the city.
The same fate befell Jerusalem when those that could still walk entered the holy city in late 1099. Both
Muslims and Jews, who attempted to save the city, perished.
Looking at this disaster of human suffering from the viewpoint of a crusader, the French Raymond
d'Aguilers wrote: "...At the Temple of Solomon men rode in blood up to their knees. It was a just and
splendid judgement of God that this place should be filled with the blood of unbelievers since it had
suffered so long from their blasphemies."
(
The second crusade was recruited by Bernard of Clairvaux in 1147. Louis VI and Conrad Ill commanding
the French and German armies, respectively, marched against Jerusalem that year but failed to
accomplish anything. Even a pre-emptive strike against Damascus failed. Back in Europe, however, part
of the second crusade retook Lisbon, Portugal from the Muslims in 1147. The future St. Bernard was
appalled at the amount of misdirected violence and slaughter.
The third crusade was prompted by the Muslims, when they, unified by Saladin, retook Jerusalem from
the resident Christians in 1187. Europe was shocked. Emperor Frederick Barbarossa of Germany, King
Philip II of France and King Richard of England attempted to re-write history. Frederick died en route to
the Holy Land; Philip returned to France while Richard captured Cyprus from the Byzantines as late as
1191. The crusaders were within sight of Jerusalem, but their supply lines failed them and had to abandon
the campaign.
(
The fourth crusade never reached the Holy Land. Pope Innocent initiated the recruitment for the crusade
of 1202. The whole concept of "liberating the Holy Land" got off on the wrong foot when it came to light
that no one had the funds for conducting the war. Instead, they borrowed from Venice, promising to
share with them all that could be looted. Appalled at this concept, Pope Innocent excommunicated the
crusaders. A secondary aim of the campaign was freeing and restoring Alexios, the nephew of the German
king Philip to the throne of Byzantium. However, while the fleet was sailing down the Dardanelles, Alexios
was strangled by his enemies. They had to repeat the assault in 1204,when many residents were simply
butchered. As a postscript, it was in 2001 when Pope John Paul IIapologized to the Archbishop of Athens
for the tragic events of the 4th crusade.
65
Pope Honorius Ill called a "crusade" against heretics in Bosnia, to which only the Hungarian forces
responded in 1234 and again in 1241, but had to abandon the effort because of the Mongol invasion of
Hungary in 1241.
The fifth crusade was to start in 1217 at the urging of the 4th Lateran Council in 1215. Hungary
spearheaded this campaign under the leadership of King Andrew II,followed by other forces under Duke
Leopold VI. Although their forces arrived, but their supplies did not get there in time, so after some
skirmishes King Andrew II returned home. The other crusaders ventured into Egypt capturing Damietta.
They were blocked from further advance in Egypt and returned home.
The popes weren't kidding when they urged Europeans to stage these crusades. Emperor Frederick II had
vowed to stage a crusade but failed to deliver on his promise, so Pope Gregory IX excommunicated him in
1228. Nevertheless, Frederick sailed from Brindisi in the Adriatic and stopped over at Cyprus, where he
signed a peace pact with AI-Kamil,the ruler of Egypt, which gave Christian pilgrims access and rule over
most of Jerusalem without a shot being fired.
The seventh crusade didn't turn out so well. Al-Kamil's son stormed Jerusalem in 1244 and took it. The
crusader army which sailed in 1248 under King Louis IX's command, was completely eliminated in a battle
in Gaza. The king was captured and had to be ransomed free. To reflect the sentiments of one of the
Templar knights, here is a quote from the man's writings:
"Rage and sorrow are seated in my heart. It seems that God wishes to support the Turks to our loss....
The East will never be able to rise up again. Anyone who wishes to fight the Turks is mad, for Jesus Christ
does not fight them any more. God, who was awake sleeps now, and Mohammad waxes powerful."
There were two more attempts which history numbers 8 and 9, but they accomplished practically nothing.
King Louis IX attacked the Arabs in Tunis in 1270. Picking the hottest season, disease and fatigue
devastated his army. King Louis IX, too, died. Baibars of the Mamluks drove the Franks in the Middle East
to coastal outposts and captured, enslaved or killed every Christian in Antioch. The remainder of the
army under Edward Iof England returned home in 1274.
Since high school texts usually deal very superficially with this subject, Ithink an overview of the Crusades
was in order. Besides, five of the crusades took place inthe 13th century and one, #5, was led by Hungarian
king Andrew II.
Elsewhere in the world it was the future saint Francis of Assisi who founded the Franciscan order in 1209,
whereas the Inquisition commenced in 1229 when the Pope charged the Dominican order with identifying
and punishing sources of heresy within the Church. The justice system of the Roman Catholic Church
quickly got out of hand when those accused of heresy would be coerced to confess in response to
instruments of torture.
Partly in response to the great debates within and without the Church, the future saint, Thomas Aquinas
(1225-1274) wrote his thesis, Summa theologica in 1273.
On the next page we'll examine some rare samples of Hungarian literature from that era.
66
- ----- - ---
(
There are two relics from Hungarian literature in this era which have survived.
One is a fragment of a funeral oration ("Halotti beszed") from around 1192-1195,
copied into the Latin codex known as the Pray Codex, whose page 136 is featured
on this page. The name of the codex comes frorrtits discoverer, the Jesuit monk,
George Pray who turned over the text to others for publication in 1770.
Not only does the decorative writing make this nearly illegible, but the
text itself is nearly incomprehensible compared to the modern Hungarian language.
Below are three versions of the beginnings of the oration: on the left is the original
text as seen, the center piece is how it might have sounded originally, and the
one on the right is the text in its modern version. Every high school student in my
time had to know at least the first two lines. My own translation follows below.
-- ---- - --- --Eredeti szoveg
-
Egykori olvasat
Ertehnezes
Latiatuc feleym zumtuchel mic vogmuc. yfa pur ef
Latjatuk feleim s:ziimtiikhel, mik vogymuk: isa, por es
chomuv uogmuc. Meny1 Iniloll:ben terumteve eleve
homou vogymuk. Menyi milosztbcn teriimteve elevc
m1v ifemucut adamut. _ ef odutta vola neki paradifumut miii isemiikot Adamot, es odutta vola neki
hazoa. Ef mend parad,fumben uolov gimilcictul
paradicsumot hazoa. Es mend paradicsumben valou
Latjatok, feleim, szemetekkel, mik vagyunlc biza por es
hamu vagyunk. Mennyi malasztban (kegyelemben) teremte
eleve [Ur] mi osiinket, Ada.mot, es adta vala neki
Paradicsomot hazava. Es mind[en] Paradicsomban val6
You see, my brethren, with your own eyes what we are: mud, dust and ashes we are. In plenty of grace
the Lord had created our ancestor, Adam and gave him Paradise as his house (home).
The other priceless relic of early Hungarian literature is the so-called
Lamentations of Mary ("O magyar Mria siralom"), the oldest extant
Hungarian poem, copied around 1300 into a Latin codex similarly to the
above funeral oration. It is likely a translation of a Latin text in the 131\
century and copied into the so-called Leuven Codex of a Catholic
University's library. The author of the poem is a monk called Godfrid who
lived in 12th century Paris.
The poem features rhyme, rhythm and rich alliterations as well. Mary, the
Mother of the crucified Jesus addresses her son in the first person. She
relates her own feelings of desperation, then asks for death to relieve both
of them soon, accusing his torturers and offering herself in place of her son.
A leuveni k6dex az 6magyar Mariasiralommal.
Fragments follow below with the appropriate translation:
---------·
-----
Original text
Volek syrolm
thudothlon
/
syrolmol sepedyk.
---
-
-
Pronunciation (by
Dezso Pais)
Volek sirolm tudotlon.
buol
--- --Modern Hungarian
(by Ferenc Molnar)
Nem ismertem a
• siralmat,
ozuk epedek.
English
I did not know the
lament yet,
Sirolmol sepedik,
buol oszuk, epedek,
67
Most siralom sebez,
Fajdalom gyotor, epeszt.
Now
lament
gashes,
Ache
lacerates,
languishes
.
Walasth vylagumtul
sydou fyodumtul
ezes uru.memtuul.
vaiaszt vilagumtuul,
zsidou fiodumtuul,
ezes fuiimemtiiiil.
Elvalasztanak
vilagossagomt6 1,
Zsid6 fiamt61,
Edes oromemt61.
Separate me from my
light,
from my Jewish son,
My sweet delight.
O my sweet Lord,
My only one son,
Look at the crying
mother,
Withdraw her from her
pain!
6 en ezes urodum,
O en eses urodum
eggen yg fyodum,
eggyen-igy fiodum,
syrou aniath thekunched sirou anyat tekiincsed,
buabeleill kinyuhhad!
buabeleul kyniuhhad.
En edes Uram,
Egyetlenegy fiam,
Sir6 anyat tekintsed,
Fajdalmab61kivonjad!
Scemem kunuel arad,
en iunhum buol farad
the werud hullothya
en iunhum olelothya
From my eyes tear:s ure
Szememb61konny a.rad, flooding,
My heart tires from
Szivem kint61farad,
torment,
Te vered hullasa,
Your blood's falling,
Szivem alelasa.
My heart's languishing.
Szemem kiinyiiel a.rad,
junhum buol farad.
Te veriid hullottya
enjunhum olelottya.
Vylag uilaga
Vilag vilaga,
viragnac uiraga.
viragnak viraga,
keseruen kynzathul
keseriien kinzatul,
uos scegegkel werethul. Vos szegekkel veretiil!
Vilag vilaga,
Viragnak viraga,
Keservesen kinoznak,
Vasszegekkel atvemek!
World's light,
Flower's flower,
They torment you
bitterly,
They pierce you with
iron nails!
Vh nequem en fyon
ezes mezuul
Scegenul scepsegud
wirud hioll wyzeul.
Jaj nekem, en fiam,
Edes, mint a mez,
Megrutul szepseged,
Vizkent hull vered!
Woe to me, my son,
Sweet as honey,
Your beauty turns to
ugliness,
Your blood falls like
water!
Siralmam,
fohaszkodasom
Lattatik kivill
My lament, my prayer,
Can be seen from
outside,
Uh nekem, en fiom,
ezes meziiill,
szeg-jenill szepsegiid,
viriid hioll vizeiil.
'
Syrolmom fuhazatum
therthetyk kyul
en iumhumnok bel bu.a
qui sumha nym kyul
hyul
---
---· ·--
Sirolmom, fuhaszafum-- Szivem bels6 fajdalma
tertetik kiill,
Soha nem enyhill.
enjunhumnok bel bu.a,
kisumha nim hiiil.
·-
--
My heart's inner ache
Never abates.
65/b
Wegh halal engumet
eggedum illen
maraggun urodum,
kyth wylag felleyn
O ygoz symeonnok
bezzeg scouuo ere
en erzem ez buthuruth
kyt niha egyre.
vegy halal engfunet,
eggyedi.irn illyen,
maraggyun urodum,
kit vilag fellyen!
6,igoz Simeonnok
bezzeg szovo ere:
en erzem ez butilriit
'
kit niha egire.
.Vegy halal engemet,
Egyetlenem eljen,
Maradjon meg Uram,
Kit a vilag feljen!
6, az igaz Simeonnak
Biztos szava elert
'
'
Erzem e fajdalom-tort,
Amit egykor jovendolt.
O for the just Simeon's
Certain word reached
me,
Ican feel this dagger of
pain,
What long ago he
foretold.
Ne valjak el toled
'
'
Eletben maradva,
Mikor igy kinoznak
Fiarn, halalra!
May I not be separated
from you,
Staying alive,
When they are
tormenting you,
My son, to death!
Tuled ualmun
de num ualallal
hul yg kynzassal,
Fyom halallal.
Ti.iiiled valnum;
de nfun valallal,
hul igy kinzassal,
fiom, halallal!
Sydou myth thez
turuentelen
fyom merth hol
byuntelen
fugwa huztuzwa
wklelue kethwe ulud.
Zsid6, mit tesz,
torvenytelen!
Zsidou, mit tessz
Fiarn meghal, de
ti.irventelen,
biintelen!
-Fiom mert hol biuntelen.
egfogva, rangatva,
Fugva, husztuzva
klozve, megkotve
'
iil<lelve, ketve uliid!
Olod meg!
Keguggethuk fyornnok
ne leg kegulrn
mogornnok
owog halal kynaal
anyath ezes fyaal
egembelu ullyetuk.
Take me, death,
Let my only one to live,
Keep him, my Lord,
Whom the world should
fear!
Kegyelmezzetek meg
Kegyiiggyetiik fiornnok fiarnnak,
'
ne legy kegyulm
Ne legyen kegyelem
mogornnok!
magarnnak,
Ovogy halal kinaal
Avagy halal kinjaval,
anyat ezes fiaal
Anyat edes fiaval
egyembelii iillyetiik!
Egyiitt oljetek meg!
Jew, what you do is
lawless!
My son died, but he is
guiltless!
Clenched, hitched him
Plurnrnered, bound him'
'
You killed him!
Have mercy on my son,
No mercy for me,
Or with the torment of
death,
The mother with her
own son,
Kill them together!
67
It is interesting to note that the Jews will always bear some responsibility for the killing of Jesus of
Nazareth. A recent Pope may have apologized to the nation of Israel for persecution of the Jews
throughout Europe and in the Middle East, and yet, the original theme always recurs in which the chant
of the people reverberates: "Crucify him! Crucify him!" Even in the ancient poem, Lamentation of Mary,
the writer puts words in the Virgin Mary's mouth which would be out of place in 21st century America.
Lamentably, in 1278 two-hundred-seventy-ei ght Jews were hanged in London
for clipping coins white Christians for merely fined for the same crime. And in
1306 King Philip IV expelled all Jews from France. Will there ever be tolerance
inthis world?
Near the border of Austria/Hungary there is an ancient cathedral,finished around
1256, on the outskirts of the little village called Jak (pronounced Yaack). When,
in 1992 Ihad the good fortune of visiting that ancient church, Iwas amazed at the
monumental perspectives and sheer size of the building and the skill of its builders.
This is no ordinary church which survived so many hundreds of years. It is a
symbolic representation of the Hungarian spirit.
By the year 1277 there were 30 male and 2 female cloisters in Hungary for the
Dominicans in Hungary, supplemented by 43 monasteries for Franciscans in order
to counter the rising heresies in Western Europe.
The world became much richer in 1265 when Dante Alighieri saw daylight for the first time. Born in
Florence, Dante was·a major Italian poet of the Middle Ages. His Divine Comedy is a masterpiece of world
literature, published in 1307. At age twelve Dante was promised in marriage to Gemma, a daughter of
the politically powerful Donati family. But Dante was in love with Beatrice Portinari,whom he first met
when he was only 9. Nevertheless, Dante married Gemma, and she bore several children for him.Dante was involved in politics, loyal to the Guelphs who supported the Papacy in opposition to the
Ghibellines backed by the Holy Roman Emperor. Dante accompanied a delegation of Florentines to Rome
to ascertain the intentions of Pope Boniface, but was tangled up in an imbroglio between the two political
factions. Dante got arrested and sentenced to two years of exile. Later pardoned but refusing to pay a
heavy fine, he cut off his return to Florence. If he had returned without paying the fine, he would have
been burned at the stake. Those were harsh times, indeed. In 1321 he died of malaria and was buried in
Ravenna.
Marco Polo was another famous personality of the 13th century. Born in 1254, he was a member of a
Venetian merchant family. During his lifetime he would write accounts of his varied travels which opened
up European eyes and wallets to Central Asia and China. Upon returningto Venice from one of their longdistance trips in 1269, Marco's father Niccolo and his uncle Maffeo took the young lad with them on an
epic voyage, during which Marco Polo kept written records of his experiences which would intime inspire
Christopher Columbus and others to embark on exploratory voyages and redesign the map of the world.
As Marco's mother died young, he was raised and educated by his aunt and uncle. He learned to speak
four languages. Marco, his father and uncle returned to Venice after traveling 15,000 miles in 1295,
finding Venice at war with the Republic of Genoa. Marco joined the battle by arming a galley and sailing
to the Eastern Mediterranean where he was captured by Genoese and imprisoned until liberated in
68
August, 1299. While in prison, he dictated the memoirs of his travels which became known as The travels
of Marco Polo. Back home in Venice, he became a wealthy merchant and financed other expeditions,
while never leaving home again. He died at home in January, 1324. His book contains fascinating stories
about his travels,including a long stay with Kublai Khan at the present city of Beijing. Because of the
unavailability of a printing press until the early 15th century, 150 copies in various languages exist of the
early manuscript and they differ slightly.
At this time no one had yet noticed that the Aztecs found a home in the plains of Mexico in 1267. We
should not be surprised at this. The American continents were truly a different world and there was either
no money or no interest, or both,to follow the movement of Indian tribes and nations. Their time will
come later, even if many of those people will have perished by the time Europe turned an interested face
upon them.
Social changes in the 13th & 14th centuries
After living and working in the same place for 200 years, there emerged a new phenomenon among the
younger generation. Migration,however mild, is taking place. People are lookingfor better opportunities,
better working and living conditions. Peasants with skills sell themselves to landlords who provide them
with arable land to cultivate with the ownership remaining with the landed owner, who is most likely
gentry.
They were obliged to pay their allowance to the lesser nobility, plus taxes to the king and tithing to the
Church. The average property leased to the landless peasant was about 20 "hold", or the equivalent of
28 acres which could be inherited, which meant that after a couple of generations it would get fragmented
and would shrink to be only a fraction of the original. Those who acquired or purchased property paid no
taxes but were obligated to serve in the military if and when so required. This is how the Hungarian lesser
nobility developed, forming a new class of societal order, or "rend" in Hungarian.
With Charles Robert coming into power in 1310, the royal properties grew in size as the king acquired the
former properties of the nobility, granting property rights only to those who served him and shared in
governing the country. Such were the "royal counselors" who advised the king.
Whereas the county was still the seat of local justice, the cities developed into the economic and
commercial centers of the country. Simultaneously, great differences developed between the urban and
provincial populations reflecting the nature of activity in those centers. Charles Robert and his
successor(s) recognized the value of fine metal which it represented to the West and pressed for
developing mines which produced nearly one-third of the world's gold production. Likewise, the
production of salt, an essential element of diet, was mainly concentrated in Transylvania's Szekely mines,
which required special skills as it was cut and sliced, requiring skilled labor often imported from abroad.
In contrast with the mining of gold, which was partially in private hands, salt production remained a royal
monopoly.
The Habsburgs
Bearing in mind that the Habsburgs would have a major impact on Hungarian history in later years, it is
interesting to consider the very beginnings of the Habsburgs' rise to power.
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In 1273 The German princes elected Count Rudolf Habsburg of Switzerland as their king. Ottokar, king of
Bohemia was also vying for the title and considered himself a contender. A battle to settle the primacy
of one or the other was inevitable. Ittook place on August 26, 1278. The Hungarian king Laszlo IV entered
the fray on the side of Rudolf with Hungarian and Cuman fighters. In the battle Ottokar lost his life. In
time, Rudolf would create Austria and the Steyr principalities, passing them down to his son. This is how
a new Central European power came into existence as the Habsburg dynasty.
Highlights of the 14th century
The Papacy, which until the end of the 13th century exercised extraordinary powers both spiritually and
militarily, came head to head with the worldly powers in France and Germany. Pope Boniface VII,elected
in 1294, ran a corrupt papal administration compromising the Church's spiritual integrity. He was
eventually forced to resign. Even Dante portrayed this pope in his Divine Comedy. His successor, Benedict
XI died almost immediately after his election, likely from poisoning. The Church was on the verge of
excommunicating France and its leaders when a Frenchman was elected to the throne by the name of
Clement V. This Pope had enough of Roman supremacy and removed the papal court from Rome to
Avignon in France. Seven popes reigned from Avignon until 1377 when Gregory XI returned the seat of
power to Rome. This period is called the "Babylonian captivity",similarly to early history when the Jews
were captives in Babylon.
Somewhat associated with the above story, the so-called Great Schism did much damage to the reputation
of the Catholic Church. Returning to run-down and chaotic Rome did not suit some of the Popes and
Cardinals who were elected subsequently to the Babylonian captivity. They chose to return to Avignon,
led by the cruel and autocratic Pope Urban V. Some of the cardinals gathered in Fondi between Rome
and Naples and elected a rival pope called Clement VII,creating a division within the Church in the period
now called The Great Schism. In 1409 the Council of Pisa deposed both Popes and elected Alexander V,
however the anti-Popes refused to resign, thus creating a triple schism. After going through yet another
two popes, the Council of Constance in 1417 elected Martin V, ending the schism.
The Popes, as we have seen, meddled in affairs temporal and spiritual and often did not serve the benefit
of the faithful. Such an outrage occurred when, after the first polyphonic "Mass of Tournai" was
performed on the organ equipped with pedals, the Pope forbade the use of counterpoint in 1322, doing
great disservice to the development of music.
The beginning of the so-called 100-year-war was 1337. We shall devote a brief review of that affair
because it dominated European history for nearly a century.
Historians point to 1325 as the traditional year when the Aztecs founded Tenochtitlan, today's Mexico
City.
The English poet Geoffrey Chaucer was born in 1340 in London, who would create, among 500 other
works, the Canterbury Tales in 1387. He came from a family of well-to-do vintners. Well-known in royal
circles, he accompanied Edward Ill on his way to occupy France in the 100-year-war. Captured during the
siege of Rheims, the king paid 16 pounds for his release. Chaucer is credited with developing the widespread use of Middle English at a time when the dominant literary languages were French and Latin.
It is my pleasure to present on these pages a verse of the Canterbury Tales: Prologue.
The Canterbury Tales ·Prologue
Here bygynneth the Book
of the tales of Caunterbury
l: Whan that aprill with his shoures soote
2: The droghte of march hath perced to the roote,
3: And bathed every veyne in swich licour
4: Of which vertu engendred is the flour;
5: Whan zephirus eek with his sweete breeth
6: Inspired hath in every holt and heeth
7: Tendre croppes, and the yonge sonne
8: Hath in the ram his halve cours yronne,
9: And smale foweles maken melodye,
10: That slepen al the nyght with open ye
11: (so priketh hem nature in hir corages);
12: Thanne longen folk to goon on pilgrimages,
I 3: And palmeres for to seken straunge strondes,
14: To feme ha!wes, kowthe in sondry Iondes;
15: And specially from every shires ende
16: Of enge!ond to caunterbury they wende,
17: The hooly blisfui martir for to seke,
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Here begins the Book
of the Tales of Canterbury
When April v.ith his showers sweet v.ith fruit
The drought of March has pierced unto the root
And bathed each vein with liquor that has power
To generate therein and sire the flower;
When Zephyr also has, with his sweet breath,
Quickened again, in every holt and heath,
The tender shoots and buds, and the young sun
Into the Ram one half his course has run,
And many little birds make melody
That sleep through all the night with open eye
· (So Nature pricks them on to ramp and rage)Then do folk long to go on pilgrimage,
And palmers to go seeking out strange strands,
To distant shrines well known in sundry lands.
And specially from every shire's end
Of England they to Canterbury wend,
The holy blessed martyr there to seek
Chaucer died in 1400 and is buried in the poets' corner at Westminster Abbey.
When Iwas writing my 430+-page work on composers and compositions entitled: The Classical Alphabet,
Ifailed to devote sufficient space and time to the Frenchman Guillaume de Machaut (1300-1377), called
in his time the greatest musician. Even though it has little to do with Hungarian kings, Iam captivated by
this character who personifies in some ways the spirit of the 14th century. Machaut was not only a
composer but a prolific poet as well, whose poetry inspired other poets : , ...,such as Geoffrey Chaucer.
The Middle Ages had but a mere 150 years to go before the Renaissance would engulf them. Ahead of its
time, Machaut introduced the "ars nova", the new art developing the musical forms rondeau, motet and
ballade, - very much a mainstay of the "newborn" era to follow. Machaut is the composer of the Messe de
Nostre Dame (Mass of Our Lady), the earliest known complete musical setting of the Ordinary of the
Catholic Mass.
Machaut was born near Reims in the Ardenne region of France. Somehow he managed to wiggle his way
into the service of John I,king of Bohemia, as his secretary, accompanying him on military expeditions.
The king died of the bubonic plague ("Black Death") which devastated much of Europe's population, but
Machaut survived and wrote 400 poems, including his masterpiece "La voir dit." Many of his poems reflect
courtly love and give us an insight into 14th century chivalry. His musical output, both secular and sacred,
tended toward the polyphonic, including the above-mentioned Messe, a forerunner of the 15th century
composer Josquin des Prez, some of whose church music I had the opportunity to conduct.
Please allow me to reproduce his 18th "rondeau" entitled Puisqu'en Oub/i which, in my own mind, Ican
hear rolling off a French troubadour's tongue ...
---·-
Puis qu'en oubli sui de vous, dous amii,
Vie amoureuse etjoie a Dieu commant.
Mar vi lejour que m'amour en vous mis,
Puis qu'en oubli sui de vous, dous amis.
Mais ce tenray queje vous aypromis,
C'est queja mais n'aray nul autre amant.
Puis qu'en oubli sui de vous, dous amis,
Vie amoureuse etjoie a Dieu commant.
Since Iam forgotten by you, sweet friend,
Ibid farewell to a life of love and joy.
Unlucky was the day Iplaced my love in you;
Since Iam forgotten by you, sweet friend.
But what was promised you Iwill sustain:
That Ishall never have any other love.
Since Iam forgotten by you, sweet friend,
Ibid farewell to a life of love and joy.
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Since we wrote above about a noted French poet, let us not forget the Italian poet and historian Francesco
Petrarca, otherwise remembered as Petrarch, who was born in 1341. From his writings later generations
could reconstruct the happenings in the 14th century and look back even to the times of the Roman
Empire.
The epidemic called "the Black Death", or bubonic plague made its appearance first in China and made its
way into Europe by the middle of the 14th century. By 1347 it was doing its deadly work in France, Germany
and crossed the Channel into England. Soon it was in Scandinavia and ravaged Russia in 1351, killing
about 25 million people, a quarter of the European continent. There were labor shortages everywhere;
wages went up, demand for laborers in both genders was great, weakening and eventually overturning the
feudal system.
There is just one more thing to write about those eventful times:
The Hundred Years War
Taken largely from History's Timeline by Jean Cook, Ann Kramer and Theodore Rowland-Entwistle
(originally published in 1977 by Crescent Books, distributed by Crown Publishers, New York), Ifound their
presentation a relatively simple way of summarizing this overwhelming subject. This was a seemingly
interminable struggle between England and France originatingfrom a claim by English kings to the French
throne, based on Edward's claim through his mother, Isabella of France. . The English crown was pitted
against the Valois Capetians and each side drew many allies into the war. Its roots go back to 1066, the
time of William the Conqueror becoming King of England while retaining possession of the Duchy of
Normandy in France. In a quirky way, the rulers of Normandy (and certain other countries on the
continent) owed feudal homage to the King of France. In 1337 Edward Illrefused to pay homage to Philip
VI of France, who then, in response, confiscated Edwards' lands in Aquitaine.
Although one can see this is a manifestation of a dynastic conflict, this gave way to ideas of nationalism.
It was costly, leading to the establishment of standing armies vs. using mostly cavalries. It was also
opposed by some of the English aristocracy who lost their lands on the Continent. It also spun off limited
wars, such as the War of Roses and sparked civil wars.
The first period encompassed 1337-1360 when Edward had naval and land victories, securing large parts
of France. The second period was 1360-1396, when after some French victories the truce was extended
to 1415. Inthe third period Henry V revived the old English claim in 1415, marriedthe partly insane French
king Charles Vi's daughter Catherine, but died in 1422 (of dysentery?), leaving a baby as his heir. In the
fourth segment the peasant girl Jeanne d'Arc poured new faith and energy into the French and largely
regained the integrity of French lands from the English. The war was officially ended by the treaty of
Picquigny in 1475, whereby the British renounced their claim to the French throne, but retained, for a
long while, the symbolic fleur-de-lis on their coat of arms.
The situation in Hungary.
Two main figures emerged on the Hungarian throne in the persons of King Charles I (1312-1342) and his
son Louis I (1342-1382). We can confidently say that during their reign Renaissance has arrived in
Hungary. The Italian connection (which started with St. Stephen obtaining his crown from the Pope)
slowly encompassed the country's cultural,humanistic and commercial relations. Considering, if nothing
72
else, the style of dress, we see a trend toward full-length gowns, richly embroidered cloaks, pointed shoes
and hats as an overflow from Italy. Charles I,who grew up familiar with Naples and Milan, was familiar with
their financial and trading trends which would bring eventual prosperity and vitality to feudal Hungary.
Although both kings waged {and lost) military campaigns outside Hungary, the country within was kept at
peace. (Taken from the Encyclopedia Britannica): "In an era where Spain was harassed by the Arabs,
France was targeted by the English, Germany tormented by the rivalry of the princes, Italy was the scene
of bloody conflicts among its city-states, Poland and Russia were subject of Lithuanian and Tartar attacks,
Byzantine and the Balkan states subject to Turkish raids and expansion, - Hungary flourished as an island
of peace."
For a while only, I would say, as the Ottoman hordes were getting ready to overwhelm Hungary's
defenses.
SIGISMUND (1387-1437 Continued from page 62
We left the king of Hungary and Croatia at his coronation in Szkesfehervr on March 31,1387.
Sigismund, son of Holy Roman Emperor Charles IV of Germany, had been engaged since 1374, when he
was 6 and his bride, Mary, eldest daughter of the Hungarian king Louis Iwas 7. When Louis died in 1382,
Mary was destined to be Hungary's Queen and was crowned but still too young at age 11to govern. The
Queen mother, Elizabeth of Bosnia would speak for her as regent until Mary was deposed in 1385 for a
brief period, then reinstated 2 months later.
In the meantime Mary would marry Sigismund of Luxembourg in April, 1385 and after an adventurous
period she would share the reign with her husband until he, too, was crowned on March 31,1387 to share
the crown with Mary. The pregnant queen died of a riding accident in May of 1395, leaving the throne to
her husband.
Sigismund, after his father's death in 1378, became Margrave of Brandenburg and was sent to the
Hungarian Court to learn the language and customs of Hungary, to which he became totally devoted. In
1381 his guardian and brother Wenceslaus, king of Bohemia and Germany, sent Sigismund to Poland to
learn its language and way of life. After his marriage to Mary of Hungary in 1385, Hungary became
Sigismund's chief objective and concern,especially following his coronation in 1387.
Sigismund expended lots of effort in keeping internal peace in Hungary which, at the time, was in the
hands of powerful rulingfamilies such as the Gara is and the Horvaths, some of whom supported Ladislaus,
king of Naples, son of the murdered Charles II of Hungary. It is hard to believe, but on several occasions
Sigismund as king was thrown into prison by these noble families but liberated by other influential families
who ruled between the rivers Drava and Sava in the Southern corridors of Hungary.
The Turks, headed by Sultan Bayezid Iwere brewing trouble in the Balkans. They had the intention of
extending their empire by reaching the banks of the Danube. In 1396 Sigismund answered Pope Bonifac
IX's call to organize a crusade against the Turks. Sigismund, at the head of a 90,000-man army (that
number is subject to scrutiny, - see the remarks below), including the Hungarian contingent, reinforced
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{
by volunteers from every part of Europe with the largest contingent from France, sailed down the Danube
in a flotilla of 90 galleys to Nicopolis. Although the battle ended disastrously for Sigismund, Ithink it will
be beneficial to review it as an example of the difficulty of commanding the armies of several nations and
also as a study of human nature. It is not a pretty picture, but it may give us an insight into recent multinational commands, such as D-day in World War II, the Korean War, the Gulf war, and the Iraq war coupled
with the Afghanistan war, - all of which had an American majority, but enough contributions from other
nations to give its commanders worrisome moments.
The battle of Nicopolis on September 25. 1396
(
The number of participants given by medieval chronicles ranges upward of 400,000 and we are told that
the crusaders crossed the Danube in 8 days. One of the most credible accounts is credited to a certain
Johann Schiltberger of Bavaria, who was captured by the Turks early inthe war and was forced to lead the
life of a slave for 30 years. During this time Schiltberger did some research and wrote an account of the
battle. Accordingly, no more than 16,000 crusaders faced 20,000 Turks. (The Turks quote is quite the
opposite, claiming that the Turkish forces totaled 60,000 facing 130,000 crusaders.) France contributed
10,000 men, including 2,000 knights, archers and foot soldiers. The chivalric code required that the
knights prove their valor by leading most charges even if it were not prudent to do so. Climbing the walls
of a fort certainly called for daring individual fighters more so that steel-covered knights on horseback!
(
The crusaders met at Buda castle hoping to route the Turks from the Balkans and liberate Palestine and
the Holy Sepulcher as well. The Venetian fleet was to blockade the Turks in the Sea of Marmara. Where
74
were the British? The English did not participate in this crusade because they would not submit to a
French-led battle-plan after nearly 100 years of animosity between them. The only English-speaking
contingent must have been limited to the Knights Hospitaller. The Italians were too involved in their
violent internal struggles between the city-states to take part in another international disaster. The Duke
of Milan, in fact, who had murdered his own uncle to ensure his political power, may have betrayed the
crusaders by passing information on troop movements to Bayezid I.
The concept of a unified command had not been worked out, which would prove disastrous for all forces
present. The names of 24-year-old and inexperienced John de Nevers of Burgundy and Constable d'Eu
are mentioned as leaders. They arrived a month late for the conference in Buda, having enjoyed too many
parties and celebrations along the way. Hungary's king Sigismund tried to argue in favor of letting the
Turks exhaust themselves on a long march through the Balkans rather than the Crusaders exhausting
themselves trying to find them, but he was rejected by the French. When the armada finally took off
following the Danube river, the going was slow, delayed by drunkard knights spending too many joyful
nights with prostitutes along the way. As mentioned above, at Orsova in the narrow Iron Gates sector of
the Danube the crusaders crossed from the left bank to the right bank on pontoons on the way to Vidin
of Bulgaria, which was by then under Turkish occupation. Upon their arrival, the citizens and the
occupying Turks seeing the great armada, surrendered to the Hungarians under Sigismund's command.
The French,however, broke off the agreement and destroyed the town and massacred its residents.
The sign of discord immediately appeared when the Hungarians considered the French action an insult to
their king and the French were insulted saying the Hungarians were trying to rob them of victory.
The crusaders continued to Nicopolis, a fortified town that prevented the approach to Constantinople. It
was well defended and under the command of Dogan Bey. The Christian army did not bring catapults
with them but tried to mount the walls using ladders which proved to be impossible. They settled in for
a blockade around the town to starve out the population. In the meantime they entertained themselves
with drinking and carousing,not posting any sentries who would have noticed the approaching Turkish
relief column. When a group of a thousand knights and archers decided to ambush the Turks, the French
accused them of stealing the glory from John de Nevers, the chief commander.
Sigismund suggested that Wallachian foot soldiers should meet the first Turkish attack, followed by the
French cavalry, while the Hungarians would keep the Turkish cavalry from breaking out of the fortified
city. The French, naturally, denounced this plan, saying that it would be demeaning to the knights as a
"mortal insult." While the leaders were conferring,their troops got drunk over dinner and had difficulty
organizing themselves to meet the fast approaching Turks. Sigismund asked the war council to hold the
attack for two hours until the scouts brought back better battle intelligence. The French leader D'Eu
declared his disobedience saying the Hungarians wanted to hoard the battle honors for themselves.
Ignoring Sigismund's advice, they broke away and ran straight into the Turkish lines, where their horses
were speared, throwing the riders off, forcing them to struggle in their heavy armor against the mobile
Turks. Seeing this, the Wallachians simply abandoned the field while Sigismund and the Germans tried to
fight off a massacre.
A group of 1500 Serbs, fighting on the side of the Turks, overwhelmed the Hungarian force. The king
managed to escape on a fishing boat to board a Venetian boat, while the remaining Hungarians surrendered.
Sigismund declared: "We lost the day by the pride and vanity of the French." Even the
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French chronicler admitted that this was the greatest French defeat since the Battle of Roncesvalles when
all twelve peers of France were slain.
John Nevers and the chief nobles were forced to watch the brutal execution of the French army, tied
together in groups of four, naked in front of the Sultan. The other troops were marched 350 miles to Gallipoli,
stripped of their clothing and shoes where the noble captives awaited the payment of ransom for them
and the rest eventually sent home through unspeakable horrors along the way, from which many perished.
French negotiators sent a final ransom of 200,000 gold florins to the Sultan in June, 1387.
The military disaster at Nicopolis got some of the Hungarian nobles upset, not only because of the loss of
lives but because of the reputation attached to this latest "crusade." On top of that, they still had not
fully recognized the approaching Ottoman threat. The leading Hungarian families, as mentioned above,
took over the bulk of governing the country, leaving very little room for Sigismund to exercise his regal
powers. The king turned his attention to a crack in royal succession in Germany and Bohemia, in which
he expressed great interest. He enjoyed the support of Bohemia, whose king,Wenceslaus IV happened to
be Sigismund's half brother who was childless.
On Sigismund's return to Hungary at the end of his foreign adventurism in 1401,he was imprisoned and
even twice deposed. The Hungarian king-makers swore allegiance to the last Anjou monarch, Ladislaus
of Naples, son of the murdered Charles II. Ladislaus, however, had his own problems in Italy and was
blocked militarily from furthering his plans for the Hungarian throne. Sigismund managed to hold out
until 1406 when he married his dead wife Mary's cousin Barbara of German extraction.
Sigismund personally founded the Order of the Dragon, a prestigious organization,which attracted many
European leaders and monarchs as well. Sigismund encouraged international trade and regulated weights
and measures to meet European standards. The king's many absences from the country pursuing
opportunities of succession required him to turn over much of the country's governance to the office of
the Palatine, or governor. Sigismund was also a somewhat ruthless leader who did not refrain from
massacring the opposition, such as occurred in Croatia and Bosnia where 200 noble families were wiped
out who stood in Sigismund's way.
When King Rupert of Germany died in 1410 Sigismund ran in opposition to his half-brother Wenceslaus
of Bohemia and won, thanks to the support of a small majority of the "electors" to the seat of Holy Roman
Emperor. He was crowned in November of 1414 in Aachen, Germany.
With Sigismund one could never be certain as to whether an alliance that he sanctioned would hold in
reality or not. Such was the case with the Teutonic Knights against Wladyslaw Jagiello of Poland. (The
name "Jagiello" would come up in later Hungarian history.) He also got involved with the Papacy at the
time of the Great Schism and the Council of Constance in 1414 which deliberated the role of the Popes.
Sigismund journeyed to France, England and Burgundy to steer the negotiations his way. He pardoned
the Czech religious reformer, Jon Hus, yet he signed the death sentence against him, allowing the heretic
to be burned at the stake while the king was absent.
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After the French defeat in the battle of Agincourt against the British, Sigismund shifted sides favoring
England in which he signed an alliance with England's Henry V. In 1419 Wenceslaus of Bohemia died
which left Sigismund the titular head of that country which the Czechs would reluctantly acknowledge 17
years later at his coronation in 1436. Nevertheless, his reign lasted officially from 1419 to 1437, with the
coronation taking place in Prague in July of 1420. Sigismund was virtually powerless in governing the
Czechs as they led an armed rebellion against the king for his betrayal of Jon Hus. Sigismund led three
campaigns against the rebels and failed to control them in the so-called Hussite wars. His attention had
to turn to Hungary, which was once again under Turkish attack. The king asked for German help against
the Turks and was steadfastly refused because the German princes, among them Sigismund's former ally
Frederick Iof Hohenzollern, were busy firming up their authority at the expense of the king. In 1428 he
led another fruitless campaign against the Turks, after which he busied himself negotiating for his
coronation as Emperor. He got his wish on May 31,1433, in Rome.
Sigismund died in Moravia (now Czech Republic) on December 9, 1437 and was buried according to his
wishes in Nagyvarad, Hungary (today's Oradea in Romania). His tomb is next to that of St. Ladislaus I
whom Sigismund greatly venerated. The successor issue was resolved when his second wife, Barbara,
gave birth to their only child, a daughter named Elizabeth of Luxembourg in 1409 in the castle of Visegrad
in the Danube bend. Elizabeth would be the future Queen consort of Hungary, Bohemia and Germany.
Sigismund and his wife Barbara would have no further issue, yet there are legends of the king's several
dalliances, one of which is said to be John Hunyadi.
As the last of the Luxembourg dynasty, Sigismund allowed his son-in-law Albert of Austria to inherit his
titles. He was crowned King of Hungary on January 1,1438 in Szekesfehirvcir.
ALBERT (1437-1439)
Albert ruled over several countries, including Hungary (1437-1439), Bohemia (1438-1439), Germany
(1438-1439 but not crowned) and Duke of Austria (1404-1439) and of Luxembourg (1404-1439). Born in
Austria, he was the son of Albert IV, Archduke (fc:iherceg) of Austria, whom he succeeded upon his father's
death when he was only 7. What was his connection to Hungary? In 1422 he married Elizabeth of
Luxembourg,daughter of King Sigismund of Hungary. Sigismund, as we had seen, was first married to
Mary from the Angevin dynasty, his second wife Barbara of Celje was descended from the old Arpad kings
of Hungary as far away as King Stephen IV (1270-1272). Sigismund's second wife Barbara was also a
descendent through her grandparents from Bosnia, Slavonia and Bohemia, providing Albert with a footing
in a number of kingdoms and principalities. King Sigismund designated Albert as his successor for Albert's
role involved in the Hussite wars. He was crowned King of Hungary on New Year's Day, 1438.
Albert was involved in defending Hungary against Turkish attacks and as "the German king of Hungary"
moved his court to Buda. During his brief 2-year rule he showed his warrior side and distinguished himself
on the battlefield. There was just one blemish in his reign and that had to do with the Jewish community
living in Austria and in Hungary.
Albert's father always managed to protect the Jews in Austria, but when he died in 1404,their situation
became more precarious, culminating in someone having torched the synagogue in Vienna, followed by
riots and lootings. When Albert came into power in Austria, he tried to figure out a way to pay for the
Hussite wars and repeatedly imposed taxes on the Jewish community to finance those wars. In some
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measure the Jews were accused of collaboration with the enemy which included illegal arms trade. Added
to this was the attempt by the Church to forcibly convert the Jews to Catholicism. Those who would not
convert, were sent off in boats down the Danube, stripped of their property, and the wealthy Jews were
imprisoned and suffered painful death at the hands of Albert. 92 men and 120 women were burned at the
stake outside the Vienna city gates. This deplorable episode was much more restrained on Hungarian soil.
Albert died of dysentery in October 1439, and was buried at Szkesfehervar. He and Elizabeth of Bohemia
had four children, some of whom would take active roles in Hungarian history, namely, Ladislaus V
Posthumus, and Elizabeth (1438-1505) who married Casimir IV of Poland and gave birth to Vladislaus IIof
Bohemia and later became king of Hungary as well (1490-1516).
The Jagiellonian dynasty
Before we continue, let us examine briefly the Jagiellonian dynasty which carried a significant role in
Hungarian history in the 15th and 16th centuries.
The name comes from Jagiello, the first Grand Duke of Lithuania to become King of Poland. The dynasty
was founded by Jogaila, Grand Duke of Lithuania, who in 1386 was baptized Wladyslaw, married Queen
(then called King) Jadwiga of Poland (also known .as Hedwig, daughter of King Louis Iof Hungary from the
Angevin dynasty). Jogaila was crowned King of Poland as Wladyslaw II of Jagiello.
One Jagiellonian, with whom we shall continue this review, was Vladislaus II.
VLADISLAUS llf(i.Ulszld, 1440-1444)
He was the first born son of Wladyslaw II of Jagiello and Sophia of Halsany. Born on October 31,1424 in
Krakow, Poland, he became Poland's king at age 10and was offered the Crown of Hungary at age 16. He
was crowned in Visegrad in 1440. You might recall that Elizabeth, widow of Hungary's previous king,was
already carrying the as yet unborn child of Albert IIfor whom she wanted to secure the Hungarian crown.
Elizabeth and Vladislaus II fought over the rights of royal succession throughout the new king's brief 4year reign.
Vladislaus II enjoyed the support of Pope Eugene IV for organizing a new crusade against the Turks. By
launching the crusade Vladislaus actually broke a 10-year non-agression treaty with the Turks. The Pope
assured the Hungarian king that the Venetian fleet will block the Turks from exiting the Dardanelles.
Instead, the Venetians betrayed the Crusaders when they transported some 60,000 men across the
Dardanelles from Asia to Europe. Vladislaus' 20,000 crusaders met an overwhelming Turkish force at
Varna on the Black Sea on November 10, 1444.
Misjudging the situation, Vladislaus led 500 Polish cavalry against the Turks whose Janissaries easily
surrounded them and killed the Hungarian king by decapitating him. When his troops saw Vladislaus'
head displayed on a pole, they took flight. The king's royal body armor was never found, giving rise to an
interesting and unconfirmed legend.
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According to the legend Vladislaus managed to escape from the battle scene and surreptitiously traveled
to the Holy Land where he became a knight of St. Catharine's of Mount Sinai. He then continued to Madeira
where he found the support of King Alfonzo V of Portugal,from whom Vladislaus received rent- free land
for the rest of his life. He married the Senorita Anes whose wedding King Alfonzo also attended. From this
marriage 2 sons ensued. For the rest of his life Vladislaus wandered as a pilgrim and denied his true identity
while seeking God's forgiveness because he broke the treaty with the Turks which allowed them to march
against Hungary.
The somewhat biased Polish chronicler Jan Dlugosz alleged that Vladislaus was hiding something unusual
about his sexuality. It may have been lewd and despicable or perhaps homosexual, he did not specify.
Vladislaus may have been suspect simply because during his reign he did not marry.
A group of Polish monks questioned Vladislav in Madeira and certified that indeed he had been King of
Hungary and Poland.
LADISLAUS the POSTHUMOUS (V. Lszl6 1444-1457)
On February 22nd, 1440 Elizabeth of Luxembourg brought forth a child and it was a boy! They named him
Ladislaus, the only son of Albert II, king of the Germans and son of Elizabeth of Luxembourg, daughter of
Holy Roman Emperor Sigismund. He was born 4 months after the death of his father. By virtue of his
birth he immediately became Duke of Austria and as such the head of the House of Habsburg.
Ladislaus' mother had the Holy Crown of Hungary stolen from VisegrJd (the boy was born in Komrom by
the Danube, on the side which today belongs to Slovakia). Elizabeth took the crown with her to Wiener
Neustadt in Austria and word-of-mouth stories relate the cause of the cross on top knocked askew
because of the damage it suffered in transit. The 4-year-old Ladislaus was crowned in Szekesfehervar on
May 15th, 1440. This makes the story very interesting, because his predecessor, Vladislaus, or U-Laszlo I,
the U standing for "Ut6szulott'',or Posthumous, was crowned on the same day at Visegrd. The question
remains which of the two "kings" was crowned with St. Stephen's crown?
Fortunately for us, we have an answer to this question. The Holy Crown had been kept and guarded in a
virtual hole in the wall in a room-size safe together with the royal treasures in the fort at Visegrad. A Mrs.
John Kottaner, lady-in-waiting to the queen mother Elizabeth made copious notes about her adventure in
spiritingthe crown with the help of an unnamed conspirator from Visegrad to Komarom where Elizabeth
was about to give birth. She managed to break the lock to the Treasury in the middle of the night on
February 215\ 1440 and hid the crown in a large red velvet pillow which she claimed was necessary for
her long carriage ride the next day. Ladislaus was born the next day and via torturous routes Elizabeth
smuggled the crown to Szekesfeh rv:ir where she had her son crowned with it on May 15, 1440. Still
without the Holy Crown, the country's king-makers proceeded to crown Vladyslaus on the same day, May
15th, with a decorative crown knocked off the case which held St. Stephen's relic. On June 29th they
declared the surreptitious crowning of Elizabeth's baby null and void. Elizabeth died in Gydr on December
17, 1442 never having given up her son's claim to the throne.
Just to be safe, Elizabeth placed baby Ladislaus under the guardianship of the Habsburg Frederick V.
Ladislaus was held in Schloss Ort as a virtual prisoner. Ladislaus would be adequately educated and
prepared for rule by the priest Aeneas Sylvius Piccolomini,the future Pope II Pius who wrote a book on all
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the subjects Ladislaus was supposed to study, including the languages of the countries he would rule, that
is German, Latin, Czech and Hungarian. Other subjects were rhetoric, arithmetic, geometry, astronomy
and music, religion and military science. Copies of some of those books are still extant today.
Upon the death of Vladislaus at the Battle of Varna on November 10th, 1444, a delegation of the nobles of
Hungary came to have the child surrendered to them, together with the Holy Crown. Frederick refused
both requests. In the king's absence John Hunyadi, whose name was commonplace because of his
victories over the Turks in the Balkans, acted as Regent for the infant Ladislaus in Hungary. Both the
Hungarian and the Austrian estates were unhappy and restless with Frederick's decision. Finally, in 1452,
the Slovenian magnate Ulrich II,Count of Celje and cousin of the deceased Elizabeth, forced Frederick to
surrender the child to him as his new guardian.
When Ladislaus Posthumus turned 13, he was finally crowned King of Bohemia in 1453. Having been the
virtual king of Hungary since November 10, 1444 (when the previous king died), he preferred living in
Vienna and Prague. He and his guardian, Ulrich, remained indifferent to the threat of Turkish invasion
and antagonistic toward Governor Hunyadi. When Hunyadi died on August 11,1456 having contracted a
disease in the battle of Nandorfehervar (today's Belgrade), King Ladislaus replaced him with Ulrich in the
same position.
Hunyadi's brother, Ladislaus (Laszlo), was implicated inthe murder of Ulrich and was beheaded on March
16, 1457. The story of the legendary Hunyadis was put to music by Hungarian composer Ferenc Erkel in
the 1844 opera Hunyadi Ldszlo. Erkel was also the composer of Bdnk ban, to which we had already
referred on page 38 in connection with the 1213 story of King Andrew II. Ultimately, Erkel's name is
synonymous with Hungary' national anthem which he composed.
The execution of Laszlo Hunyadi raised the level of hostility against the king and he fled to live in Prague
for the rest of his life. He died in Prague on November 23, 1457 unmarried and without a child. Early
rumors spoke about having been poisoned, but modern medical research suspects that he was suffering
from leukemia which was not recognized as a disease in his time. He is buried in St. Vitus Cathedral in
Prague. He was only 17years old.
For their next king, Hungary elected Matthias Corvinus, brother of the martyred Laszlo Hunyadi.
Before we present the next king, we must spend time with John Hunyadi, one of the leading figures in
Hungarian history.
JOHN HUNYADI (c ll.i '-·1456)
John Hunyadi and his father, Vajk of Romanian noble ancestry, were involved
in the warring contest between the two fractions supporting either Vladislaus
(Ulaszlo) or the minor Ladislaus V.
The Hunyadis were on the part of
Ladislaus V and won their decisive victory in January, 1441. Vajk had resettled
in 1409 from what was called Havasalfold, Wallachia, in today's Romania
when he received as a reward for service to King Sigismund his first fortified
village called Hunyadvar, later changed to Vajdahunyad, in Transylvania.
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John Hunyadi acquired his military skills while fighting the Ottoman Turks on the Southern borders of
Hungary. Appointed governor (voivode) of Transylvania, he assumed responsibility for defense of the
southern frontiers in 1441. Those battles against the Turks didn't always go well,but Hunyadi's bravery and
military skills made him stand out in Hungarian history. His early defeats at Varna in 1444 and Kosovo in
1448 were soon supplanted by successes at Nandorfehefrvar (today's Belgrade) against the Turks led by the
Sultan himself.
He was popular among the lesser nobility and was appointed as one of the 7 "Captains of the Realm" for
administrative affairs. The next Diet appointed Hunyadi as the sole regent with the title of governor. He
resigned from that position in 1452, by which time he became one of the wealthiest landowners in the
kingdom with 2.3 million hectares of land, 28 castles, 57 towns and about 1000 villages. But he used a
substantial portion of his wealth to finance Hungary's wars against the Ottomans. No doubt, in 1457 his
fame contributed to the election of his son, Matthias Corvinus as Hungary's next king. Later Hungarian
historians were quick to bring him down one notch. Gaspar Heltai,for example, invented the story that
Hunyadi was the illegitimate son of King Sigismund of Luxembourg and Elizabeth Morzsinai, a virgin
noblewoman of Cuman origin.
In 1432 John Hunyadi married Erzsebet Szilagyi,a Hungarian noblewoman, and they had two children,
Ladislaus and Matthias Corvinus. Ladislaus would be executed on King Ladislaus V's order for the alleged
murder of Ulrich II of Celje, a relative of the king. Matthias, however, was elected king on January 20, 1458
upon King Ladislaus' death.
There are documents to the effect that John Hunyadi was not only held in high regard by King Sigismund,
but he served also as his money lender, as Sigismund was always short of funds. A loan agreement, for
example, shows that Hunyadi lent Sigismund 1200 gold florins in 1434. - He was also a trusted adviser
of King Ladislaus Posthumous. For his bravery in battle he was granted the captaincy of the fortress of
Nandorfehervar (today's Belgrade) which he shared with Mihaly Ujlaki,featured in the later crucial battle
of that fortress. With the limited military forces at his disposal, Hunyadi could still inflict major damage in
the Turkish battle lines. One memorable campaign showed Hunyadi at the head of his troops as they
occupied Sofia, defeating Sultan Murad, thus breaking the Turks' dominance over Bosnia, Herzegovina,
Serbia, Bulgaria and Albania. Turkish envoys of Murad offered him a 10-year truce. The representative
of Pope Eugene IV, Cardinal Julian Cesarini, advised the Hungarian king that swearing to a document
involving the infidels was invalid, and thus the king and Hunyadi swore to and signed a traitorous truce
which the king had no intention of keeping.
Disaster was sure to follow as we wrote about the Battle of Varna on Page 77. Multiple circumstances would
ultimately cause the loss of the November 10, 1444 battle and the death of King Vladislaus. The Venetian
fleet committed a traitorous act when they transported, reportedly for one gold florin per soldier, the Turks
from across the Bosporus to Europe allowing them to advance to the Black Sea port of Varna. Initially
Hunyadi enjoyed full command of his troops, but the impatient king assumed command, resulting in total
wipeout at the hands of the Janissaries. Displaying the king's head on a pole caused disarray among the
Hungarian troops who fled or were captured. Hunyadi barely escaped,only to be captured by Vlad Dracut
of Wallachia, technically Hunyadi's ally. The Palatine of Hungary threatened Dracut to have Hunyadi
released or else.
With Hungary teetering on the verge of anarchy, the Diet elected Hunyadi on June 5, 1446 to the post of
Regni Gubernator, or regent for the whole country. As one of his first acts, he marched against Vienna to
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force German king Frederick Ill to release the infant Ladislaus V. When Frederick refused, Hunyadi went
on a rampage in Styria and Carinthia, threatening Vienna. His efforts to sign an agreement with Frederick
failed repeatedly. The list of his political enemies included Ulrich II of Celje who accused Hunyadi of
attempting to overthrow the king, who was still a virtual prisoner of Frederick with the nominal
guardianship of Ulrich. In this volatile atmosphere Hunyadi relinquished his title and position as regent.
Nandorfehervar
The Turks never gave up or. their plans to conquer Hungary and reach Vienna. Standing in their way was
the stronghold of Nandorfehervar's castle-fortress (today called Belgrade in Serbia). In the March 2009
issue of my correspondence "In translation", Iwrote a story entitled "For whom the bells toll" about this
memorable segment in Hungarian history, which Iwant to reproduce here.
The American writer Ernest Hemingway's novel about the Spanish CivilWar bears a similar title with one
bell tolling. The Hungarian historian Laszlo Simon, on whose report my story is based,chose the title to
illustrate the victory of Hungarian forces over the expanding Ottoman Empire at Nndorfehrvar on July
23, 1456. The city where the big battle took place surfaces in Hungarian history of St. Stephen's time,
when Magyar troops occupied the Byzantine city and gave its name, which translates to Na"ndor's White
Castle.
In 1453 the Turks crossed the Bosporus and occupied Byzantium, the rich capital of the Byzantine Empire
(later called Constantinople and today Istanbul), in their march against the Christian West. Emperor
Constantine was so confident in the fortifications of the city that he turned down the offer made by the
Transylvanian Orban to adopt his invention of new artillery. Orban then made the offer to the Turkish Sultan
who armed his forces with the new field guns and was successful in destroying Byzantium. This was a
major blow to Christianity and Pope Nicholas V called for a crusade against the Moslem Turks. The
Southern borders of Western culture followed the lower Danube river (see the illustration above). The
gigantic task fell to the Hungarian kingdom to foil the Turkish invasion. In charge of the Christian forces
was the legendary John Hunyadi.
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2
A week or two before the battle, Pope Callixtus Illordered to have all church bells rung at noon and to say
the Angelus for the success of the Crusade to recover Constantinople. Pope Alexander VI issued a papal
bull in 1500 connecting the tolling of bells at noon with the victory at Nandorfehervar.
Answering the Pope's call to arms, Hunyadi began preparations, - mostly at his own expense. The
Hungarian nobility was jealous of Hunyadi and reluctant to help him, fearing his power more than the
Ottoman threat. The Turkish leader, Mehmet II assembled a force of 100,000 and was headed for the
Hungarian border at NandorfehE:!rvar, located at the confluence of the Danube and Sava rivers.
The fortress is on top of a 150 foot tall hill encompassing a territory 320 meters by 175 meters (960 ft x
525 ft). Three sides of the fort fell precipitously toward the rivers, but the southern exposure had a relatively
easy access. To limit the access to invaders, they constructed two stone walls on this side, separated by
a deep ravine and connected by a draw bridge. Against the Turkish armada Hunyadi could only muster
about 25,-30,000 men. Thanks mostly to the Franciscan friar Giovanni da Capistrano, who arrived in
Hungary from Italy during 1455 and preached the message of crusade effectively among the peasants, who
flocked to Hunyadi's banners (although ill-equipped with slings and scythes). At the beginning of the
hostilities at Nandorfehervar, Hunyadi's brother-in-law, Mihaly Szilagyi and his own son Laszlo Hunyadi
had only a force of 5-7,000 men in the castle. Mehmet set up his artillery and started the siege on July
4,1456.
It is interesting to consider that 500 years separate two fateful dates. One, in 1456, to rid Christianity of
the threat posed by Moslems; the other, in 1956,Hungarians' struggle to rid themselves of the oppressive
Soviet forces. The 1956 revolution broke out on the feast day of Saint John Capistran which may be a
coincidence.
John Capistran and John Hunyadi boarded the first segment of the crusaders on five ships and sailed down
the Danube toward Nndorfehervar. Hunyadi, realizing the inadequacy of his forces against the Turks,
stayed clear of a frontal attack on the enemy. (Perhaps he had memories haunting him of the battle at
Varna.) The Turks had put together a fleet of some 200 ships, including 64 battle galleys with 3 rows of
paddlers in each, and sealed off the Danube. Hunyadi sent a message to his brother-in-law Szilagyi at the
fort to make his 40-some vessels ready and sail upriver toward the Turkish blockade. Arriving with his 5
boats above the Turkish armada, Hunyadi requisitioned all local fishing boats and transferred his forces
to anything that floated. Stealthily approaching the Turkish vessels, the Hungarians smashed the paddles
of the enemy ships and broke the chain holding the boats together, thus breaking the naval blockade and
capturing 24 vessels. The rest of the Turkish boats, free of the chained restraints, floated down the
Danube, only to be met by Szilagyi's 40 boats which did major damage in the Turkish river forces.
Hunyadi was able to take much-needed food and other supplies to the besieged city. Mehmet ll's heavy
artillery, after a week of heavy bombardment, managed to breach the fortress walls in several places. The
Hungarians lighted some tarred wood and other flammables and threw them at the invaders. Some
Turkish flags with a horse's tail began appearing on the walls. When one janissary nearly mand to pin
the Sultan's flag on top of a bastion, a soldier by the name of Titus Dugovics, grabbed him and together
they plunged to their death from the wall. This heroic scene is forever commemorated in Hungarian
paintings. For his patriotism and valor, Hunyadi's son, King Matthias elevated the Dugovics family to
nobility three years later.
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3
As the sun rose on July 22°ct, the defenders were at the end of their strength and resilience. The attackers
at the foot of the walls, were awaitingtheir orders to resume the attack, when the unexpected happened.
Capistrano and some of his soldiers, including a group of archers, crossed the Sava river and from the
narrow strip between the two rivers heckled the Turkish cavalry on the other side of the Danube. The
Turks sent one wave of cavalrymen after another, but they were cut down by the arrows. Capistrano
then, sensing a divine inspiration, raised his Cardinal's cross and at the head of his troops attacked the
Ottoman forces from the rear. The unexpected direction of the attack threw the Turks off balance and
they panicked. The Hungarians, capturing the artillery pieces, turned them against the Turks. The Sultan
himself was wounded in the battle. The enemy withdrew and under cover of darkness abandoned their
camp. Nandorfehrvar was a complete victory not only for Hungarians but also for Christianity. In the
ensuing 70 years the Turkish Sultans did not launch an attack against the West. The fort finally fell in 1521
to Sultan Suleyman, followed by a decisive battle against Hungary in 1526 at Mohacs.
In the aftermath of the victorious battle, plague broke out in the Hungarian camp in which John Hunyadi
himself died three weeks later on August 11,1456. He was buried in the Roman Catholic Cathedral at
Alba lulia, formerly Gyulafehervar, now in Romania, next to his younger brother, also called John. - John
Capistrano retired to a Hungarian Franciscan cloister where, at age 70 he died on October 23, 1456.
Miracles began happening almost immediately at his grave. Following a roster of more than 400 such
cases and an interminable investigation, Capistrano was finally canonized in 1690.
Sultan Mehmet II paid Hunyadi a tribute: "Although he was my enemy Ifeel grief over his death, because
the world has never seen such a man." And Pope Callixtus Ill reminisced: "The light of the world has passed
away."
For him, for John Capistrano and for all the brave souls at Nandorfehervar, let the bells toll every day at
noon, forever.
Following the death of John Hunyadi,King Ladislaus V appointed his uncle, Ulrich of Celje to the Regent's
post which Hunyadi's son, Laszlo Hunyadi also coveted. As the king,accompanied by his Regent, entered
Nandorfeht:!rvar to take over the fort,Ulrich was killed on November 9, 1456 and the king himself became
Lszlo Hunyadi's prisoner. A month later the king appointed Hunyadi to the Regent's post and was given
free passage to Buda. Laszlo was accompanied on this journey by his younger brother, Matthias, precisely
a move which the elder Hunyadi had warned about, placing both Hunyadi boys within the grasp of the
king. Soon,however, the king reversed himself and betraying Lszlo he had him arrested. Tried and falsely
convicted of treason, he was beheaded on March 16, 1457 under tragic circumstances. The executioner's
blade could not cut through Hunyadi's thick hair. By tradition, following three attempts the king had the
option of giving the prisoner his freedom. Instead, in Hunyadi's case Ladislaus V gave the order to the
executioner to strike again. This time the blade hit its mark.
John Hunyadi's other son, Matthias was imprisoned in the castle of the Czech governor in Prague. King
Ladislaus V died of the plague on November 23, 1457 in Prague. The Hunyadi supporter and brother-in- law
Mihaly Szilagyi's forces coerced the kingmaker nobility to elect Matthias as Hungary's new king and paid
off the Czech governor to free him from prison.
Matthias Corvinus began his reign on February 14,1458.
Matthias Corvinus
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(
MATTHIAS CORVINUS (Hunyadi MatyJs 1458-1490)
Born on February 23, 1443 in Kolozsvar, Transylvania (now Cluj-Napoca,
Romania) he became king of Hungary and Croatia when he was only 14
years old. During his successful lifetime he was made King of Bohemia
King of Hungary and Croatia
as well, in addition to being Duke of Austria. Matthias spoke several of the leading tongues of his time.
He was a true Renaissance leader, patron of arts and sciences, holding education and law as the focus of
his reign. He was the second son of John Hunyadi,famed general and governor of Hungary, in whose
military campaigns Matthias participated as early as 12 years of age.
He was united in a pre-arranged marriage with Elizabeth of Celje, daughter of Ulrich II of Celje, who was
for a time the guardian of the underage king Ladislaus V. Regrettably, Elizabeth died at age 15 in
November of 1455, before the marriage could be consummated, leaving Matthias a widower at age 12.
His life started among great controversy as several parties, including his brother, Laszlo Hunyadi, were
vying for the Crown. On the transparent pretext in an imaginary conspiracy against King Ladislaus V,
Matthias was condemned to death by decapitation, but spared death on account of his age. In November,
1457, eight months after Laszlo Hunyadi was beheaded, King Ladislaus V died of what we now
understand was leukemia, but at the time they suspected poisoning. Matthias was taken hostage by
George Podebrady, governor (and later king) of Bohemia, supposedly to keep him safe in Prague and
nurturing him for eventual access to Hungary's throne. While in Podebrady's custody, Matthias was
forcibly engaged to his daughter, Catherine.
With King Ladislaus dead, the country needed a new king. The elector barons reasoned that Matthias
would be easy prey intheir hands, while the nobles were against the choice. The people feared of another
foreign king when the Diet met to elect a king. Matthias' uncle Mihaly Szilgyi appeared on the scene
with 15,000 veterans in tow to give Matthias support. On January 20th 1458 forty-thousand people
marched up the frozen Danube and- unanimously proclaimed Matthias as their king. Matthias made his
entry to Buda on February 14th, 1458 and began his reign.
The new king was 14 years old at the time. Such a thing could not happen in the 21st century.
The era and aura of Matthias Corvinus
Matthias was without dynastic ancestry, so he had to establish himself merely on the strength of his
personality and the value of his judgement. To start with, he heralded in a new judiciary era, some of it
observed traveling among the people in guise. He strengthened the supremacy of the Parliament (Diet)
and centralized in the hands of capable, educated individuals chosen by the king, reducing the power and
influence of the feudal lords.
At this time the country was being threatened by the Ottomans from the South, Emperor Frederick Ill
from the West, Casimir IV of Poland from the North and internal struggles with the nobility threatening
from within. Matthias, already engaged to George l?odebrady's daughter Catherine, married her on May
(
1, 1461. Matthias demoted some of the most influential magnates in his government, levied a new tax
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enabling him to establish a mercenary military, the so-called "Fekete Sereg", or Black Legion of about
25,000 men, answerable strictly to the King. His relations stabilized with the Bohemians through his fatherin-law Podebrady, (who became the country's king) giving Matthias a free hand in turning his attention to
Frederick Ill,forcing the Emperor to recognize Matthias as the sovereign of Hungary and returning the Holy
Crown to Matthias in April 1462 against a payment of 60,000 golden ducats.
Matthias turned against the Turks and chased Ali Pasha out of Bosnia, restoring Hungary's sovereignty in
that region. Returning from the war, Matthias had himself crowned with the Holy Crown on March 24, 1464.
Tragedy struck when, twenty-one days later the 15-year-old Queen Catherine died in childbirth. Her child
was a stillborn son.
Matthias was left without a wife and the throne without an heir.
Matthias applied the time-tested method of the Romans on his obstructionist barons. "Divide et impera"
- divide and conquer, he beat back his internal enemies and concentrated on expanding the realm to its
largest extent from the present-day Bavaria to the west, Dalmatia to the south, parts of Carpathian
Ukraine to the east and southwestern Poland to the north. Nevertheless, central Europe was about to
undergo turbulent years,putting great strain on the Black Legion.
Matthias was fortunate in his taxation policies which did not turn the population against him, despite the
new levies raised because the king's economic policies created new jobs and a certain economic
prosperity especially among the peasantry. He collected taxes (called "aids") from the cities annually and
even dipped into the Church coffers which did not make many friends for him in those circles. State
monopolies on gold, silver and salt mining as well as customs fees raised the State's income to over 1
million golden forints per year as much as the French and English kings could account for.
Besides the constant threat of the Turks against Hungary's southern borders, the country had three "most
wily" {Istvan Sisa's term in "The spirit of Hungary1') adversaries to contend with. They were the Holy
Roman Emperor Frederick Ill,the Czech Giskra and George Podebrady, King of Bohemia. The last one was
the shrewdest of them all who would sign pacts with his neighbors while signing pacts with others against
the rest of them. Podebrady was a Hussite whom Pope Paul II could not tolerate. In fact, in 1465 the
Pope excommunicated Podebrady and ordered his neighboring leaders to depose him. This put Matthias
in a difficult position, because of his personal relations with his father-in-law, the Bohemian leader, whom
he was charged by the Pope to depose. Enjoying the good advice of Bishop (later Archbishop) John Vitez,
a man of exceptional diplomatic talent, Matthias held his own against all three of his adversaries.
Matthias first marched against the Czechs, capturing a number of fortresses, then offering Giskra 40,000
golden florins to disband his army, which the financially strapped Giskra accepted. In 1467 Matthias
marched against Moldavia and lost the battle of Baia, then in 1468 he invaded Bohemia whose Catholics
elected him as their king,effectively partitioning the country. But the election was nixed by contrary
preferences of both the Pope and the Emperor.
Matthias hit next upon Emperor Frederick, conquering Frederick's main fortresses, forcing the Emperor to
sign a peace accord paying 400,000 florins to Matthias as war indemnity.
The peace treaty also specified that in case Matthias should die without a male heir, either Frederick or his
heir would succeed Matthias on the throne of Hungary. This would have disastrous consequences for
Hungary in the future, opening the way (and not closing it for nearly 400 years) for the Habsburgs to rule
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over Hungary. Matthias never imagined that he would not produce a male heir and signed the treaty without
thinking of the consequences.
In an attempt to satisfy the Pope's order to depose the Hussite king Podebrady, Matthias fought an
extended and difficult campaign against his father-in-law ending in the Olmutz treaty of 1469, signed by
both kings. Matthias was crowned king of Bohemia, Moravia, Silezia and Lausitz. In March, 1471
Podebrady suddenly died. The Poles, taking advantage of the new king of Bohemia, invaded Bohemia
with 60,000 men, but could not stand up to Matthias' military and returned home.
Matthias could bask in his new crown, but his private life, having lost two wives, left a lot to be desired.
Visiting Breslau, his eyes fell upon the Mayor's daughter, 20 year old Barbara Krebs. Being of commoner
blood, Barbara was not an eligible choice for a queen, so Matthias took her as his mistress with her father's
consent. The romance bloomed for six years. She moved in with the king in Buda, living in secluded
quarters and gave birthto a boy whom they christened Janos (John).
Foreign policy and domestic matters
In foreign policy Matthias was yet to face a period with serious consequences. The wily old Podebrady had
devised a scheme before his death. It appears that upon Podebrady's death a 15-year-old boy named
Wladislas, the son of the Polish king Casimir, was appointed king of Bohemia, not Matthias. Ten years of
fighting at the cost of 2 Yi million golden forints went for nothing. He remained king of Moravia, Silezia and
Lausitz, but lost the crown of Bohemia.
While in Breslau, Matthias received news of a conspiracy brewing against him on the home front. Some
of the old aristocracy, including Archbishop John Vitz, the poet Ianus Pannonius, Mikl6s Ojlaki and others
wanted to dethrone Matthias and replace him with the Polish king Casimir. In fact, Casimir was already
en route to Hungary at the head of his troops. Matthias traveled at incredible speed from Breslau to Buda
to surprise the conspirators in the midst of negotiations. Matthias chose a peaceful means of dealing with
the masterminds by inviting each to private conferences, offering them high positions or estates, asking
them to rally against an impending attack on Hungary by Polish forces. He then convened the national
assembly and shamed them into giving Matthias their full support. Of the conspirators, Ianus Pannonium
was senten to house arrest, while Archbishop Vitez died shortly thereafter. King Casimir and Matthias
signed a 4-year peace treaty.
At the end of the summer in 1474 Casimir, the new Polish king,assembled a united Polish-Czech army of
80,000, supported by Frederick Illand marched on Breslau which was defended only by 8,000 of Matthias'
men. Casimir was counting on a battle in an open field where he would have had an advantage, however,
Matthias opted to stay within the fortified city. The defenders burnt everything the enemy could have
used for food, virtually starving Casimir's forces which eventually sued for peace.
Matthias rightfully was in a magnanimous mood because a delegation had returned from Italy with great
news. Princess Beatrix of Aragonia, daughter of the Neapolitan king Ferdinand Iof Naples, had accepted
Matthias's proposal of marriage. The marriage of Beatrix and Matthias Corvinus took place in 1476 when
the groom was 33 years of age. The splendid ceremony in Buda Castle was followed by a reception for
400 guests for whom a banquet was prepared using pure gold place settings.
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This differs sharply from another piece of news which reached Matthias in Breslau. Barbara Krebs decided
to enter a convent. Her son's upbringing would now be in the hands of Elizabeth Szilagyi and later his
education would be at the king's Court. Let me also share with you a quirky detailin the internal workings
of the "King's Court." According to an ancient Hungarian custom, in case the queen survives (outlives) her
king,she may remain queen by marrying the next king (unless he is already married). Indeed, there have
been a few instances when there occurred two (or more) queens in the same royal house (or castle-) hold.
Queen Beatrix, apparently, was already looking beyond Matthias' death (Istvan Sisa's term).
Probably even more important and more urgent events forced Matthias to turn his attention to the
Turkish threat. In 1479 a huge Ottoman army was ravaging Transylvania. Matthias saw this as a good
opportunity to trap the Turks in the Carpathian mountains of Transylvania mountains, which he did at
Szaszvaros (modern Orastie) and annihilated it in a series of attacks. He also drove the Ottomans from
Serbia and from most of Bosnia. But the Turks had a lot of soldiers to sacrifice. In 1480 they seized Otranto
in the Kingdom of Naples, which begged for the Hungarian Black Legion's help. The name of Balazs
Magyar, - an appropriate name for a "Magyar'' general,- stands out in the battle which liberated the
kingdom from the Turks in 1481.
The same year a rare opportunity arose for the Western European nations to deliver to the Ottomans when
Sultan Mehmet II died, leading to a virtual civil wait between his sons Bayezid and Cem. The latter fled to
the Knights of Rhodes who kept him in custody in France. Matthias claimed the rights to have custody of
Cem, being the Turk's nearest neighbor. He would have used such a valuable hostage to extort concessions
from Bayezid. The problem, which embittered Matthias against the Pope, was that neither the Pope, nor the
French would accept such a deal. In those days the Pope and his allies over whom he held the sword of
Damocles in spiritual matters, carried substantial weight in making foreign policy decisions as well.
Political expediencies sometimes lead to strange bedfellows. It appears that one of Matthias' second
degree cousins, Vlad the Impaler, Prince of Wallachia, better known as Dracula had had some success
fighting the Ottoman Turks, yet the two leaders had substantial differences, ending in the imprisonment
of Vlad in Buda. The leaders of Western countries supported the Wallachian leader for his bravery against
the heathen Turks and forced Matthias to gradually restore his freedom. Eventually he would end up
marrying Matthias' cousin, Ilona Szilagyi. Vlad met his Maker (or more likely meeting the devil) when he
was assassinated in Wallachia in 1476.
The royal court of Matthias and Beatrix reflected the king's power and standing in 15th century Hungary.
The country's population had reached 4 million, the same as contemporary England. The majority of 77%
were ethnic Hungarians. Austria in those days, together with Bohemia and Silesia, had 5.5 million people.
Matthias' hopes for an heir remained unfulfilled. His natural son, John,was educated at the Court and
given the title of Duke, - which Beatrix resented. Infact, the relations between King and Queen poisoned
the atmosphere, while matters of foreign policy kept deteriorating with Frederick Ill trying to gain
headway in Hungary for the Habsburg dynasty, and the Turks increasing pressure on Hungary. As
mentioned above, the Turks marched into Transylvania, fighting the forces of governor (voivode) lstvn
Bathory. When Matthias came to the aid of Bathory, fortunes turned around and the Turks lost 30,000
men at Kenyermez3. The hero of the victory was the Hungarian General PIKinizsi,a physical giant who
was able to raise a millstone in one hand while sounding off his stentorian voice heard throughout the
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valley. In fact, Kinizsi became the terror of the Turks when he was seen riding into battle brandishing a
sword in each hand. As contemporary historians chuckled to say that Kinizsi was afraid of one person,
Benigna, his wife, a petite woman half his size.
Matthias came close to fulfilling his dream of taking the place of Frederick Ill as Holy Roman Emperor. In
a series of battles Matthias bested Frederick by takingseveral Austrian cities, ultimately comingto the top
prize: Vienna. He marched into Vienna in great pomp and circumstance on June 1,1485 and made that
city his capital. His dream, though, would not become reality, for the Emperor designated his son
Maximilian as his heir, - and the German Dukes agreed to it. Matthias was just about at the top of his
game, except for the fact that he had still not been able to secure a grand position for John, his illegitimate
son. Queen Beatrice fiercely opposed the idea. Matthias, having been crippled long by gout, died on
April 6, 1490 at age 47 in Vienna.
The Italian Renaissance in 15th century Hungary.
Italian Renaissance came on the bridal coach of Queen Beatrix. The young Leonardo da Vinci met
Matthias in 1485, when da Vinci painted a Madonna for the king's Summer Palace in Visegrad. Writing
on the painter's visit with the Royals, da Vinci reported on the customs of the Hungarian Court. The king
loved paintings and maps of the known world and loved astronomical instruments made for him by visiting
scientist. His famous library, the Bibliothequa Corviniana, was only second in size to the Vatican library.
Matthias was exceptionally intelligent as he was fluent in Hungarian, Italian, German, Greek, Latin,
Rumanian and Bohemian. In addition, this cultured and autocratic king was the finest sportsman of his
country, excelling in horsemanship and undefeated champion of the Continent in lance-thrust.
I could best illustrate the presence of Italian Renaissance by referring to an article in Istvan Sisa's book
(The spirit of Hungary, p. 65). The following excerpts and commentaries by Hungarian historian Geza
lstvanyi describe the magnificence of Matthias' Renaissance court:
"Matthias was a master at framing his Renaissance personality in suitably lavish forms. Triumphal
processions and colorful ceremonies followed his victories, accompanied meetings with other leaders and
his own marriage. His Court at Buda was richer than that of the Italian princelings of the day. Matthias
finished the building of the Royal Palace which had been started in the time of Sigismund. The building
itself was unchanged from the original plans, but the decorations showed the colors of the Renaissance.
There were plenty of palmettas, dolphins, pillars and rosettes. The rooms had finely carved doors, bronze
candelabras and white marble fountains. The floors were covered with Florentine carpets. A legion of
artists, native and foreign found constant employment."
Foreign ambassadors wrote enthusiastically of the festivals and ceremonies; Court musicians came from
Italy and Burgundy and the choir in the Royal Chapel aroused the admiration of the envoy of the Holy See.
But the character of the Court was given by the humanists. Great scholars often accompanied the king
to battles so that he could converse with them en route. It was one of those scholars, Antonio Bonfini,
who gave the king his surname of Corvinus, after which his library, containing some 500 volumes of
codices, is also named.
***
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Matthias was popular in spite of having raised the taxes mostly on the peasantry and they sustained the
king's lavish lifestyle. His Black Army cost a lot of money, but it gained respect for the Hungarian monarch.
Following the king's death, the army went marauding across the country and created a lot of conflict
withinthe population. In 1486 Matthias introduced a new Code ofjustice to insure that everyone received
equal justice. Matthias' favorite way of tracking public opinion was to sneak out of the Palace dressed
incognito and by dawn the country would recognize him as the king who meted out immediate punishment
for wrongdoing. Songs and stories attest to his evenhanded justice, which, after his death created the
saying: "Meghalt Matyas kiraly, oda az igazsag!" (King Matthias has died, justice is gone).
One of the most memorable folk tales about Matthias' justice is about the Sheriff of Kolozsvr. The sheriff
in question was notorious for abusing his authority by forcing the poor folks to cut and saw firewood for
him without paying compensation for the work. One day Matthias was walking the streets in disguise,
when the sheriff spotted the stranger and ordered him to split wood in the public square. The king did
just that, but carved his initials (M R = Matthias Rex) into each piece. The following day the King made an
official visit to Kolozsvar on horseback. Replying to the king's question as to how things were going,the
sheriff assured the king that he is conducting business according to law. The king then had the cut logs
brought out and pointed to the initials to the sheriff as evidence of abusing the people. The sheriff
recognized the misdeed and begged the king for mercy. Matthias had the sheriff severely punished.
My personal favorite is a little-known story by the Hungarian novelist Kalman Mikszath, which reflects
somewhat coquettishly on King Matthias' predilection for the feminine physique. A remnant from my
high school Hungarian literature classes, the memory of this particular story came to haunt me, until
Denes Szechy, dear classmate of mine from Budapest finally found it under the title "Szelistyei Asszonyok"
(Women of Szelistye). The king gets word of the exceptional qualities of the product of this village and is
anxious to pass personal judgement on the visual treasure that this place is holding under cover.
The Court announces a "contest" among the best-looking women of Szelistye, a Hungarian village.
Szelistye is to send a delegation of three of its citizens to pass "muster" whether the village can rightfully
claim the title to its product of beauty. The three representatives are selected and sent to the Court in
Buda where the king reviews the offering and puts his talent at passingjudgement to good use. With each
one Matthias finds the right tone of voice but his eyes get caught on the third lady who has exceptionally
beautiful,long hair. He leads the conversation toward his wish to touch the bounty on top of the pretty
lady's head.
Trying to bargain with the woman, he coaxes her to say that a couple of acres of farm land would be nice
to have, but is inaccessible for her because of the cost. Matthias finds an easy solution: he would donate
as much land to her as much hair, laid end-to-end, could encircle it. The woman from Szelistye, doubting
the validity ofthe offer, wants to know how would the measuring be done? The king says we would have
to count each one of her tresses. But how can we trust that the count is accurate? Matthias has an
answer for that, too. He says he would do it himself, because there is no one else that she could trust,
except the king.
Mikszth had a unique writing style and Iam truly sorry that it could not be accurately translated from
flavorful Hungarian to English. But the spirit of the story is readily transparent and believable.
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The image of "Matthias the Just" developed on legends and stories collected in the early 16th century
copied into the so-called Gyongyos Codex and in Gaspar Heltai's chronicles published in 1575, presenting
Matthias as the king always on the side of the poor, the oppressed and his portrait greatly improved with
the passage of time. There was, however, a different side of the king. The picture became prettier and
prettier in the memory of future generations.
Since Matthias and Beatrix had no natural children of their own, Matthias nominated John Corvinius, his
natural-born son as his heir. There seems to be sufficient evidence to suggest that Beatrix artificially
prevented her own fertilization because she was aspiring to become Queen of Hungary after Matthias's
death. Additionally, there were two other aspirants to the throne: the Czech king,Wladislas Jagello II (since
1471) and Miksa Habsburg, Holy Roman Emperor since 1486. We'll recall that the agreement between
Matthias and Sigismund called for the Habsburg succession in case the Hunyadi-branch died out without a
male heir. The Hungarian titled families were also hoping that the Habsburgs would be better able to provide
military aid against the Ottoman threat than the Jagellos. As we will find out later, however, when the Turks
opened an overall attack against Hungary, the Germans showed no interest in helping the country.
Matthias also declared the right for himself to adjudicate the legal and financial matters between the
Hungarian State and the Holy See. In 1484 Johann Beckensloer, Archbishop of Esztergom defected from
Hungary and fled to Emperor Frederick. Matthias' response was to declare the Archbishopry of Esztergom
vacant, assigning it to the 17-year-old John of Aragon, brother of Queen Beatrix. Following the
installation of the young product of nepotism, John of Aragon died. Beatrix then pleaded with Matthias
to grant the seat to Hippolit, the merely 7-year-old Prince of Ferrara. Pope Vince VIII preferred someone
else, so Matthias struck an agreement with the Vatican and had Hippolit appointed (by now being 10years
old) as the fiscal administrator of the Esztergom Archbishopry. This resulted in the flow of church
revenues to the family of Beatrix.
Not to belabor the point, Iwill finish this chapter on King Matthias the Just by taking excerpts from Chapter
II of historian C.A. Macartney's book, entitled: Hungary, a short history, pp 58-59.
Inthe first years (of his reign), the nation was prepared to accept extraordinary financial burden to redeem
the Holy Crown, rid Northern Hungary of the Czechs and secure its defences against the Turks. But
Matthias let himself be drawn into an ever-widening circle of campaigns in Bohemia, Austria and in pursuit
of the Bohemian Crown. He succeeded in acquiring the Moravia, Silesia and Lusatia as well as having
forcw ; Frederick to cede him Lower Austria and Styria. The taxes he collected to finance these campaigns
left insufficient funds for the Turks, which were lined up on Hungary's southern borders. He could not
count on .either the Bohemians, nor the princes of Austria. As the only source that remained was the
Holy See. Soon the Hungarians saw no profit in Matthias' wars. The Turks raided the southern borders
in 1474 and 1476. Some of the Hungarian leadership conspired to set the Polish king Casimir on the
throne. The next year Casimir actually crossed the Carpathians at the head of an army. Although Casimir
failed in achieving his objective, ult cannot be said that in his lifetime Matthias was ever beloved as
Stephen Ior Louis the Great had been."
M,:ltys/Matthias, was on his way to meet with Maximilian of Austria to sign an agreement whereby he
would have his illegitimate son, John, marry Maximilian's daughter; Matthias would give back Austria and
Styria to Maximilian and make him recognize John as Hungary' sovereign. On May 6, 1490, Matthias died
suddenly and the whole house of cards collapsed.
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THE lSTH CENTURY
Matthias Corvinus was called Hungary's Renaissance king. It is fascinating to consider the vigor and scope
with which the Renaissance movement in art, architecture, literature and music had taken over Europe.
The era's beginning is customarily traced to the fall of Constantinople in 1453, which, in my view, more aptly
points to the end of the Byzantine Empire rather than the beginning of the Renaissance era. The Turks
gave the cultural impetus to flee from the Bosporus toward the West, with significant stops in Italy (Leonardo
da Vinci being one of its greatest proponents), then on to Germany, France and Spain.
But there was an intermediate cultural period which nearly bypassed Hungary and that was the Gothic
period. The Goths were vandals of Germanic origin from the Baltic area who destroyed much of the
classical architecture of the Romans and exhibited new designs in architecture from the late 1300s to the
16th century. The Gothic characteristic was the pointed style, the religious edifices featuringtowers, spires
and pinnacles, ornate interior and exterior and rose windows. In Hungary the style is manifested in the
(Matthias) Coronation church in the castle area of Buda, and also in the expanded segments of the
Esztergom basilica and the royal castle at Visegrad. Much of the subsequent Gothic architecture would
be destroyed by the 145 year occupation by Ottoman Turks.
As discussed in the chapter about King Matthias' rule, Renaissance came to Hungary with his Italian bride,
Beatrix. The royal palace, started in the time of King Sigismund, was now finished featuring decorations
in the colors of the Renaissance. A legion of artists, native and foreign, found constant employment
beautifying Matthias' royal residence.
The 15th century ushered in the early modern period, encouraging learning, education, exploration. Inthe
third decade of the century the Hussite wars (propagated by the reformer Jan Huss) broke out in Bohemia
and the Western Schism split the Roman papacy in two, eventually giving rise to the Protestant
Reformation in the upcoming 16th century. With the Hundred Years' War ongoing in Western Europe,
the peasant girl turned military commander turned the tide with her victory at the Siege of Orleans in
1429. (The legendary Joan of Arc was burned at the stake for alleged heresy just two years later.)
One of the sad results of the exploration of other continents was the establishment of the slave trade. In
1441 Portuguese navigators shipped West African slaves to Portugal. - The fate of Byzantium was saved
for a while by the Mongol conqueror Tamerlane, a descendant of Genghis Khan. But in 1451 Mohammed
II ascended the Turkish throne and sealed the fate of the Byzantine Empire.
1
The seemingly unstoppable advance of the Ottomans into Europe was stopped at Na'ndorfeherva r (today's
Belgrade) in 1456 by Hungarian forces led by John Hunyadi. The Pope ordered the ringing of noontime
church bells in commemoration. Matthias Corvinus was elected king of Hungary in 1458. He established
his dominance on the backs of a mercenary army called the Black Legion, and captured Vienna, the
ultimate prize in 1485. On the other side of the Continent a struggle was brewing between the rival York
and Lancaster families of England's Edward Ill. The red and white rose badges worn by the combatants
lends its name to the Wars of the Roses between 1455 and 1485.
Christopher Columbus landed in the Americas in 1492. Born in Genoa, Italy in 1451, he had bold plans to
reach India by sailing Westward from Spain,where he found monetary backing by Ferdinand and Isabella,
co-rulers of Spain. On his first expedition on board the Santa Maria he reached the Bahamas and on
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subsequent voyages he ventured into the Caribbean and the South American mainland. World maps had
to be redrawn. It fell to the Portuguese Bartolomeu Dias and later to Vasco de Gama to sail around the
Cape of Good Hope and reach India at the end of the century. DeGama established the trail known as the
"Silk trail" for spices and goods.
Other explorers of the century include John Cabot who discovered Newfoundland for England in 1497; and
Amerigo Vespucci (1454-1512), an Italian who sailed for Spain, exploring the east coast of South America.
One of the fascinating success stories which changed the world is connected with the name of Johannes
Gutenberg,German printer who is credited with the invention of the movable type. His best known book
is the so-called 42- line Gutenberg Bible, printed in 1455. Although the concept of movable type was first
invented in China by Bi Sheng in the 11th century, it was Johannes Gutenberg who advanced the printing
press in Europe.
The world of art was made richer by the Italian painter Sandro Botticelli (1445-1510), and Albrecht D(irer
(1471-1528), a German whose name, translated into Hungarian (Dorer = Ajtc:Ss) gave rise to the suspicion
that he was a "magyar''. Jan van Eyck, a Dutchman, was considered one of the best painters of the 15th
century (died early 1441). The outstanding artistic figure of the century was Leonardo da Vinci (1452- 1519),
painter, sculptor and architect who is well known and recognized for his painting of "the Last Supper''
(1498) on the refectory wall of Santa Maria delie Grazie church in Milan. He enlisted inthe service of the
influential Borgia family in Florence where he worked with Michelangelo. In 1504 he completed his easel
painting "Mona Lisa", exhibited in the Louvre. As for music, the outstanding 15th century figure is Josquin Desprez (1440-1521), born in Northern France.
He was a distinguished singer in various cathedrals in Milan and Rome, then served in the court of Louis
XII of France where he composed masses and motets. One of his portraits was painted by Leonardo da
Vinci. Josquin Desprez is considered to be the greatest composer of the high Renaissance. His work also
appears to flow from the instrument we call the harpsichord, newly invented around 1450. There had been
earlier traces of a similar instrument, such as the psaltry, which was a stringed instrument in the zither family
from 1397. Reference could be found to the harpsichord in the writings of a jurist in Padua who wrote that
a certain Hermann Poll claimed to have invented an instrument called the "clavicembalum" but the true
inventor of this instrument remains unidentified. Since the sounding of a musical instrument with a keyboard
was already in existence for the organ, the insight needed by the inventor was to pluck strings mechanically
(not directly by human fingers) controlled by a keyboard.
Among other notable contributions to science is the Royal Prussian (Polish) Nicolaus Copernicus (born in
1473) who stands out. It is probably too early to list him in the 15th century as a major contributor, but
the effect of his theory literally changed people's minds, including that of the Catholic Church. Copernicus
was a mathematician and astronomer who formulated a heliocentric model of the universe, placing the
sun, rather than the earth, at its center. His definitive book "De revolutionibus orbium coelestium" was
published just before his death in 1543.
Among the notorious notables of the time were two families: the Medicis and the Borgias. The Cambridge
Paperback Encyclopedia gives the following description of the latter:
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Borgia is an ancient family in the Spanish province of Valencia. Rodrigo Borgia (1431-1503) became Pope
as Alexander VI (and conducted an unbecoming career}. Two of his children became especially notorious.
Cesare Borgia (1476-1507} was a brilliant general and administrator serving the Papacy. He succeeded his
brother whom he may have murdered. Lucrezia Borgia (1480-1519} was married three times by her
father, the Pope. She finally became the wife of Alfonso d'Este, Duke of Ferrara. Despite her involvement
in vices, she was a patroness of learning and art.
The Medicis were a banking family which virtually ruled Florence from 1434 to 1494 without holding any
official duty. They would be overthrown by the republic in 1494 but ultimately became hereditary dukes of
Florence. The most famous Medici was Lorenzo who was a clever statesman who lived lavishly. He was
also a patron of writers, artists, scientists under whose rule Florence became one of the most beautiful
and prosperous Italian cities.
Girolamo Savonarola (1452-1498} was a forerunner of the reformer Martin Luther. Born into a noble family
he entered the Dominican order in Bologna. He was a spellbinding speaker and his sermons on sinfulness
and apostasy were greatly popular. He preached against corruption in Florence, the excesses of the Medici
family and even the Papacy and Pope Borgia, in particular. Savonarola succeeded in reforming Florence
by repressing vice and frivolity. Gambling was outlawed and vanities of dress were looked upon as sinful.
He claimed the gift of prophecy for which he was ordered to appear in Rome. Savonarola disregarded the
order resulting in his excommunicati on and trial. Under torture he admitted some wrong, but was found
guilty and hanged and burned together with two of his Dominican disciples.
Elsewhere in the world, construction of the Chinese Forbidden City was completed in Beijing in 1420;
Machu Picchu was constructed in the 1450s in Peru; Moldavian forces under Stephen the Great defeated
the Tatars of the Golden Horde in 1470; and the Spanish Inquisition began in practice in 1481. On the
American hemisphere there was quite a bit of progress made even before the arrival of the Europeans.
The Aztec Indians of Mexico founded Tenochtitlan in 1325 as their capital, achieving architectural
brilliance intheir building technique. Their religion, however, required many human sacrifices. The Maya
Indians in Central America also reached a high standard of architecture by 700 A.O. but were in decline by
the 15th century. The Inca Indians of Peru established an empire in the Andes mountains and numbered
about 7 million people. They, too, were fine architects and road-builders.
Bridging the 14th and 15th centuries in Eastern Europe was the Jagiellon dynasty of Poland.
VLADISLAUS II (II Ulszlo, 1490-1516}
Son of Polish King Casimir IV of the Jagiellon dynasty, and his wife Elizabeth of Austria, daughter of Albert
who at one time bore the crowned title to the Hungarian throne as well. Vladislaus, born in 1456, was
only 15 when he was confronted by the Bohemian wars, a conflict over the Bohemian throne, and he
could not control the situation. Finally, his advisers worked out a "deal" in the Peace of Olomouc, which
allowed both Vladislaus and Matthias Corvinus to use the royal title by splitting the countries among them.
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The peace treaty also stipulated that in case of Matthias' death Vladislaus would pay 400,000 gulden for
regaining power over the whole of Bohemia. However, when Vladislaus became Hungary's king he did not
make such a payment.
Chaos was nearly complete in Hungary when Matthias died. The nobility would not recognize his
illegitimate son John, so the king-makers discovered a Hungarian line in Vladislaus' mother as the
granddaughter of King Sigismund. It is to his credit, though, that Vladislaus moved to Hungary
immediately after his coronation and he lived there for the rest of his life.
Vladislaus was married three times. First, in 1476 when he was 20 years old, he married Barbara of
Brandenburg. After she died, he married Beatrix, the widow of Matthias. After her death Vladislaus
married the 18 year old Anne of Foix-Candale. By this time the king was 46 years old, but managed to
have two surviving legitimate children, a daughter named Anne and a boy who would be known as Louis
II of Hungary. The Queen died four years after giving a difficult birth to her son, Louis. Weighed down by
tragedy, Vladislaus was a depressed man, nearly neglecting his official duties. Because he answered any
request with the Polish "dobre", or "Yes", he would be called Dobzse Laszl6 by all who served him.
Vladislaus died shortly after his 60th birthday in March of 1516 in Buda. He had made certain that his son
by his third wife Anne, would be his successor. He had the boy crowned and so, when Vladislaus died, the
10-year-old boy would step into his place as Louis II.
Predictably, royal power declined under Vladislaus in favour of the Hungarian magnates. The upper
classes, to their detriment and shame, used their power to curtail whatever freedoms the peasants had.
This would result in the inevitable revolution led by Gyorgy Dbzsa.
The Dozsa revolt
We had mentioned above that the king's weak and reluctant control of the nobility eventually resulted in
more suffering for the peasant class, further reducing their economic and social position. The leader of a
peasant revolt stemming from the bitterness of this class was a soldier of fortune, - some accounts claim
that he was a nobleman from Transylvania, - by the name of Gyorgy Ddzsa. He was born in today's
Romania in 1470 and died of execution in 1514. In the course of history he became a hero of the peasant
class, especially during the post-WWII Communist era. When NYNEX, the company I had worked for
before retirement, transferred me to Hungary in 1990-92, my office was situated on Gy6rgy Ddzsa Avenue
in Budapest, opposite the base of the statue of Joseph Stalin which was destroyed in the 1956 Hungarian
revolution.
D6zsa was a recognized fighter against the Ottoman Empire. When the Holy See authorized the Hungarian
chancellor, Tamas Bakocz, to launch a crusade against the Turks, Bak6cz appointed Dozsa to organize the
movement, partially financed by the Vatican. Dozsa went to work and within a few weeks he was able to
put together an "army" of some 100,000 fighters they called "kuruc". The army consisted of adventureseekers mostly from the lower strata of society, including peasants, students and priests and friars eager
to beat up on the Turks. This rag-tag army, however, was left without provisions for food and clothing
while the decision to proceed with the crusade lingered. As harvest-time approached, their landlords
demanded that they return to the fields to work which they refused to do. Instead, all the wrong-doings
of the landed gentry came to the surface and the rebellious peasants turned with vengeance against the
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landlords. Hundreds of manor houses and castles were burned and many gentry killed by cruel methods.
Dchsa lost control of his army.
The Pope got cold feet and revoked his bull to launch a crusade. King Vladislaus II issued a proclamation
commanding the peasantry to return to their homes or face death. Dozsa's army managed to take the city
of Arad and Vilc!gos (where the 1848 revolution would sadly end), but in the end the armies of John Zapolya
and Istvan Bthory (names of noble men in Hungarian history) subdued the revolt, capturing Ddzsa and
executing him in a horrible manner by forcing him to sit on a smoldering iron throne with a hot crown on his
head. His followers, including his brother, were cut up in full view of D6zsa. All together some 70,000
peasants were tortured and they would never participate as a class against the invasion of the Turks. The
newly formed Diet (Parliament) under Istvan Werbefczy brought new and harsher laws against the peasantry
while enhancing the status of the nobility. The verbiage of the dictum reflects the bitterness between
Hungarian classes as the Diet condemned the peasantry to "real and perpetual servitude."
Hungary was sadly and permanently divided by these events and when the 1526 Turkish victory at Mohcs
killed off the best of its nobles on the battlefield, the future of Hungary would be in doubt until the 1848
revolution which resulted in the abolition of serfdom.
LOUIS II (11.Lajos, 1516-1526)
Upon the death of his father, Louis IIascended the throne of Hungary and subsequently was crowned king
of Bohemia and Croatia as well. His sister, Anne, who was older, was married in 1515 to Archduke
Ferdinand, the future emperor Ferdinand of Austria, a grandson of Emperor Maximilian I. The reason I
brought this up is historically significant for Hungary, since with the eventual death of Louis II, royal
succession would percolate through her to the Habsburgs.
Louis was raised by his legal guardian and cousin, George, Margrave of Brandenberg-Ansbach. In 1515,
the same year that his sister married, the nine-year-old Louis was married to Mary of Austria,
granddaughter of Emperor Maximilian I.
When Louis stepped up to the throne, Suleiman, the Turkish sultan sent an ambassador to Buda Castle to
collect a previously agreed-to annual tribute. Louis refused to pay it. Instead, he had the ambassador
executed and his head sent to the Sultan while hoping that the Papal States and Charles V, Holy Roman
Emperor, would back him up. This did not happen. Hungary's coffers were empty, his military underpaid
or not paid at all,fortresses in disrepair, with no help from his neighbors, the country was defenseless
when Suleiman appeared on the plains of Mohacs in southern Hungary on August 29, 1526.
HUNGARIAN ROYAL SUCCESSION
::!:!:
II
A
B
Naue of king:_ ¥ears ruled; Relationship
, Cause of death: Remarks
(Saint)
STEPHEN I
I
1000-1038
(
Szt. Istian)
.
'
Peter ORSEOL0 1 1038-1041
&
Son of PrinceGeza
natural
Page_1
_
w=wife
First Christian king
W: (
Blessed) Gizela of
Bavaria
: Nephew through
A 's sister
1044-1046
Blinded in
captivity
Rule interrupted;
Unmarried
Murdered
Khazar, probably Judaic
W= King Stephen's sistE
c
Samuel ABA
1041-1044
D
Af\Jl)REW I
1046-1060
• #2 son of A 's
, Trampled by
Conspiracy of brothers
cousin, the pagan ; horses in
Bela &Levente
Vazul
" battle
: His son, Solomon, i s al
Buried in
aspirant to the throne
: Tihany Abbey : W= Anastasia of Kiev
1060-1063
#1 son of Vazul,
brother of D
Throne collapsed Son Geza apirant to
under him ·
the throne
W= Adelaide of Poland
8 children
1063-1074
Son of D
Death in Byzantine
riad
' Childless; abdicated in
favon· of cousin Geza ((
W= Judith of Swabia
(
Endre)
E
BELA I
F
SOLOMON
(
Salamon)
G
Geza I (
Magnus) 1074-1077
H
LADISLAUS I
1077-1095
(
Szt.Laszlo)
I COLOMAN
1095-1116
A 's brother-inlaw
#1 son of E, born
in Polish exile
Illness
W1= Sofia, unknown iden
W2= Synadene, niece of
Byzantine's fuuure
emperor Nikephoro
6 children, including
Coloman &: Almos
#2 son of E
· shock over
Solomon's re-entry Canonized in 1192
· W=Adelaide Rheinfelden
of Swabian Duke
2 daughters
#1 son of G
unspecified
"The book-lover."
Ordered his brother Almo
(
KBnyves Kalman)
&his infant son blinded
W1= Felicia of Sicily,
W2= Eufemia of Kiev, caught in adultery, bore
son Boris in Kiev, not
acknowledged by the king.
J
STEPHEN
II
HUNGARIAN ROYAL SUCCESSION
(
Istv1n II)
1116-1131
Elder son of I
Dysentery
Page_2
_
Lived with concubines.
W= Cristiana of Capua
No heirs.
HUNGARIAN ROYAL SUCCESSION
.1L
,t
Name of king;_ Years ruled; Relationship
Cause of death: Remarks
Page_3
_
W=wife
l
K
BELA II
(
Vak Bela)
1131-1141
L
GEZA II
1141-1162
M
STEPHEN III 1162-1172
(
III.Istvan)
. Cousin of J ,
i son of Almos
On of
K
#1 son of L
/ Son of Duke Almos and
f
Predslava of Kiev.
,Alcoholism \ Blinded by King Coloman
: W= Helena of Raska, Sert
: 3 royal offsprings.
unspecified
Sudden death, : W1= Yaroslavna of Haly
;probably poisoning
repudiate<l .
j
'. W2= Agnes of Austria
·
· 2 boys die in infancy
N
Brother of ,L & M [ Poisoning
LADISLAUS II 1152-1163
·
(unconfirmed)#2
son of K
(II Laszlo)
0
STEPHEN IV
1163 (
6 months)Brother of
Poisoned by
L & M
own troops
(
IV .Istvan)
p
Q
R
BELA III
EMERIC I
(I. Imre)
LADISLAUS III
(
III.Laszlo)
1172-1192 . #2 son of L
1196-1204
1204-1205
. #1 son of P
On of
Q
. Defeats Boris, bastard s
; of F
Brothers Stephen and
i Ladislaus conspird agai
: him, finding refuge witl:. Emperors Frederick&ManuE
W=Euphrosyne of Kiev
?J children
unspecified
unspecified
Anti-king against M .
Church refused to accei
legitimacy .
W= unknown, 1 daughter
Usurper of throne
W= Maria omnene of
Byzantine.No childrer
Richest king in Europe
W1= Agnes of Anti<hch
4 children
W2= Marguerite of FrancE
daughter: of tois VII.
Through his son Andrew IJ
(1205-1235)Bela is an
ancestor ofE.dr:rrd III
Brother Andrew is conspi1
W1=Constance of Aragon
In Austrian exile Child-king
HUNGARIAN ROYAL SUCCESSION
.1L
1t
Name of king:_ ¥ears ruled, Relationship
Page 3
Cause of death' Remarks
W=wife
l
S
ANDREW II
l 1205-1235
(
II.Andras/Ende_
T
·BELA IV
Brother of Q
: 1235-1270
u
STEPHEN V
(
V .Istvan)
1270-1272
v
lADISlAUS IV
1272-1290
(IV.Laszlo)
Son of P
, Son of S
Elder son of T
Elder son of U
; unspecified
unqualified
; Leader of 5th crusade
Issued Golden Bull
!Father of St.Elizabeth
[W1= Gertrude of Merania
5 children, including
, King Bela IV
i W2= Yolanda of Courtenay
: 1 daughter
W3= Beatrice d"Es.te
: 1 son, willssire Andrew I
Mongol/Tatar invasion
·Conflict with son (lrex Jr
W= Maria Laskarina
10 children, including
St.Margaret
\ Sudden upon
A .k.a.Kun laszlo
:hearing abduction
of son
Conflict with Bela IV
W= Eimzabeth of Curnan
6 children
Slain by C ' n Exroururricata::l for irrrmralit
urna
assassins
Betrothe:i to Elizal:eth of/lnjoo
<lrrEn rrmistress Eli.B.
i'b 1:Eirs.
#
W
HUNGAR IAN ROYAL SU CCESS ION
Name of king : Years ruled : Relationshi-q
;,.C
. au_s_e_
of_d_e_
a_
th
_
: _R_emar_k_s
ANDREW III
1290 -1301
Mortal disease!
Son of U
To =
WEN:E3I.AS ill
1301-1306
a.k.a IADISIAUS Vl
' #2:: ftgJ't2S
urler i
in j
S?n of Wence las II
kingr .of Ed:Erria &
_
Last of Arpad dynasty
Cbe child
Elizal:eth,
ergaga::l to
1asm
rut ergagarent
Wife #ii F
x
Page_!_
t6
Pust
Petrotlm to W's only dat.giter
mtil ll)5
; &:hsrmia, at age
: m lcrger as kirg\
: of
;
,
_1305 1 0
Y
OTID a.k.a.
LADISLAUS V '
z
G1I\RLES I a.k.a. 131il -1342
KAROLY ROBERT
,
-> -
AA
IDJIS: I a.k.a. · 1342 - 1382
.
I
&xi of H3Jry XIII, DJke Ab:licate::l arrl ! 0-ven.the cro,;n cy
las (x:
• of Eavaria arrl Elizateth exiled
: m exile
of H.rgaty, grardfe #1'' Ks H:31:shn:g, #2: ftgJ't2S of Gloga
; d:3t.glter of Kirg Pela IV.
.
J:I
&xi of Anjcu ©irrles
Na{t:ural causes :
• - ') W:.-0 W3S ITErrie:l to M3r:ia,
;
• chtjlter of Kirg Stej;heh V
.
• of Arµrl dyrnsty.
·
!-.
Wl.:M:n:garet of l1JxaitnJrg
W2.: Elizateth of fusn:ia 3 ch.
' &xi of Z
l lajos
BB
MARY of Anjou
1382-1395
Daughter of AA
a.k.a M3r:ia
Closest I 1agnate' I Of
CHARLES II
1385 - 1386
a.k.a. Kis Karoly
• M3r:ia of Anjcu
DD
EE
SIGISMUND
138]-1437
a.k.a. Zsigm:rl
ALBERT of
1437-1439
Pustria
FF
WLADISLAW IIr·k 1440-1444
(Ulaszlo I)
(·k of Poland )
Wl.: M3r:ia of Bytan
W2.: Peatrix of l1JxaitnJrg
W3: Elizateth of R:>larrl
7 chik1reJ
Ab:licate::l
. then reins'tate::1
Wi.fe of Sigisrurrl of I.uxarb.Irg
Fell fran h:Jrse, die:l
t with S:igisnn:l's h
Reigna:l for .% ·. After his death, Maria of Anjou
days,
W3S restore:l to the throoe,
.
'. rut capture:l. in Slavooia.
Ll.1:::erate::1, 9.-e Ehare:i the thronE
' with rusl:errl S:igisnn:l
Nah.Jral causes
Ibly Raran Ehµ=ror (1433)
Mttle of N:i.cq:x:>lis 13%
2rrl rr:arriage to PBIs crusin
.B:n±ara :in 14ffi. • H.Jssite W31:'S.
,.
1ch. fran 2rrl rr:arriage B:n±ara Celje
Son-int-law of D.
fyse:ltery
· Sp:use: Elizal:eth of ll.Jxarta.n:g.
· C1ffii
elizabeth,
· Issue: la::lislrus fusth.rrrus
Also: Descended from
Persecution of Jews.
King Bela IV of Hungary.
W2.: Elizl:aeth of PdEnia, 4 chiJ.dreJ
· Husband of BB
. .
Jagiellon line;
Battle of
King of Poland since
1434, of f ered H. crown
in 1440, mile I.a:lislrus
W3S in the wnb of Q.Efll El.iza1:eth
Varna Civil war with Queen
. El.iza1:eth over her p:>Sth.m:uJs
child ( (EE's sen). 1£gerrl aJ:n.
pilgcim :in M:deira.
M:nrie:l :in
, 2 childra-i
Page 5
HUNGARIAN ROYAL SUCCESSION
#. Name of king; Years ruled : Relationshi
"G 'Ladislaus
Posthumus
· (V. Laszlo)
HH
II
HUNYADI,
John
1444-1457
(Cb».n:d 1440
,Cau
se of death-;Remarks
- -
DD 's grandson
EE's son
1446-1456
Leukemia
Die.::l tmarrie.::l,
with:ut isSLE.
at age 4)
}
Elected governor
of Hungary
Plague
HUNYADI
.
HH ' s son
.
: 1458-1490
Matth s
.,
ia
(cn:MB::l 1464
a
.
T
k
I
.
a
H
IAS
MA
Gout
rmn
CORVINUS
"KK
Wille in tle \\Urb of his rrothet-.
Q.B:n Elizl:eeth, FF W3S ele::te::i'
rut die.::l at b:tttle of Varna,14L
a; incare of govermr H..lnycdi
& un.tich Celje, then Bq;.eror
FrEderick V.
Hero of Nandorfeherva
Father of future king
Matyas and his executed
brother Laszlo.
Wife:Erzsebet Szilagyi.
; Renaissance king
PBrl::ara Krebs, mistress, son ]<
' Wife: Princess Beatrix Arc
(of Ferdinand of Naples)
No issue.
Grandson of EE
VLADISLAUS II 1490-1516
Albert)
(
ii. Ulaszlo) (Ibbzse Laszlo) (
LOUIS II
•(
II. Lajos)
-
' Treaty with Emperor Frede:r
: re:heir to succeed if thE
die without male heir.
0
JJ
-
1516 -1526
Son of JJ
repression
Farmts I:bzsa
revolt.
Married 3 times. 3rd wif
Anne Foix-Candale's son
:Would be king Louis II.
Battle of
Mohacs
: Wife::Mary of Austria,
gran::l::laaj.1ter of Brp:ror
M3x:imilian I.
l'b isSLE.
LL
MM
NN
Brother-in-law
of KK
Voivode of Transylvania.
Wife:Princess Isabella
Jagiello of Poland.
Natural causes
Child: Jo_ ·hn Sigismund.
Wife: Anne Jagiellonica,
Natural causes
15 children.
Son of LL
·. Natural causes
JOHN ZAPOLYA 1526-1540 i KingMatthias's wish
(Szapolyai Janos)
as successor (?)
FERDINAND I
152 6 -1564'.
SIGIS1ID ZAPOLYA
(
SZap:Jlyai Jams Zsigrorrl)
No children
1540-:i.551&
1556-1570
00
MAXIMILIAN II 156 3-1576 Son of MM
pp
RUDOLF I
157 2 -1608
Natural
, Wife:Maria of Spain (caJE
causes · 9 sons, 6:idaughters
Religious tolerance.
Oldest son of 00Natural
causees Bisexual, with illegitima·
children
• Natural causesWife:Anne of Austria-Tyr,
QQ . MATTHIAS II
1608-1619 Son of 00
RR . FERDINAND II
1618-1637' PP ceded crown to him Natural causes Wife #1:Maria Anna of
(
Gonzaga)
B
a
v
a
r
i
a
,
7
c
h
i
l
d
r
e
n
W
i
f
e
#
2
:
E
l
e
a
n
o
r
e
M
a
n
t
u
a
Page 6
HUNGARIAN ROYAL SUCCESSION
:1,.1:
SS
, Cause of death: Remarks
FERDINAND IiII 1625-1657 Elder son of RR
;natural causes! Malevolent dictatorship
,
\ W1: MariaAnna of Spain,
W2:Archduchess Maria of
?Austria
: W3: Eleanore Gonzaga, 4
TI
FERDINAND IV
1647-1654
!Elder son of SS,
Predeseaced nis
; crowned at age 14J father by 3 yrs
ruled coincidentally dying of
·
·with father
smallpox
uu
LEOPOLD I
1655-1705
.second son of SS
A champion of
education
vv
JOSEPH I
WW
W==wife
Name of king:_ ¥ears ruled, Relationship
CPARLES III
1687-1711 Son of UU &wife #
Crowned at age 9
1711-1740
(
III.Karoly)
xx
MARIA THERESA
yy
JOSEPH II
. LEOPOLD II
(
III.Lipot )
1740-1780
1780-1790
1790-1792
:natural causes· War of Spanish successi
Wesselenyi conspiracy;
Irnre Thokoly, kuruc lead
Buda liberated in 1686
W1:Margarita Theresa of
Spain, 4 ch.
I W 2 : Archduchess Claudia o
Austria, 2 ch early de
:W3: Eleanore Magdalena of
Newburgh, 10 ch.
8rallfOX epidemic Ferenc Rakoczi II,
1
kuruc leader
Innovative leader
Wl : Wilhelmine Amalia of
Brunswick-Luneburg, 3 ch
Younger brother of Poisonous
mushrooms
V-V, son of UU
Pragmatic sanction (1713
abolished male-only
succession, foreign inte
vention under MariaThere
W1:Elizabeth Christine
of Brunswick, 3 ch.
Only son died at age 1 o
hydro-cephalus
Daughter of WW
Smallpox?
Husband: Francis Stephen
of Lorraine, 16 ch.
Son:Joseph co-ruler.
Daughter Marie Antoinett
sent to France, died by
guillotine
Hungarian nobles assist
militarily against her
enemies
Son of XX
Co-ruler with XX
natural
causes
Enlightened monarch
Governs by new rules
Wl :Princess Isabella o
Parma, 2 ch, premature d,
W2:Princess Maria Jose1
of Bavaria
3rd son of XX
Poisoned?
W1 Infanta Maria Louisa o:
Spain, 16 ch, plus
HUNGARIAN ROYAL SUCCESSION
Page 7
several illegitimates
Page 8
HUNGARIAN ROYAL SUCCESSION
Cause of death: Remarks
Name of king _ ¥ears ruled Relationship
AAA
1792-1835 ' Eldest son of ZZ 'mysterious
I illness
FRANCIS II
(
II.Ferenc)
W=wife
Defeat in Austerlits by
Napoleon forcing recognit:
I of Germany (
Prussia)
!
Wl: KUizabeth of Wurtteml
W2 : Maria 1heresa of the
TwoSicilies, 12 ch.
W3:Maria Ludovica of
Austria
W4:Karoline Charlottes o:
Bavaria
BBB
FERDINAND-V-1 .i 18.35-1848
Eldest son of
)
:
CCC
FRANZ JOSEPH
1848-1916
(
Ferenc Jozsef)
DDD
·. CHARLES IV
.(
IV .Karoly)
EEE
Nephew of BBB
AAA
Natural causs Epileptic, mental defic:
in Prague · Wl:Maria Anna of Sardini:
; Abdicated in favor of
Franz Joseph
natural causes Hungarian revolution of 1
WorldWar I 1914
Compromise with Hungary 1
CrownPrince Rudolf suicid
Wl :Lizabeth of Bavaria
(
assassinated in Geneva)
1916-1918 As Charles I of Austria
Grand nephew of CCC
.
; Relinquished right to
; Hungarian aff[;;lirs o:f: stat
attr attempting twice to
April 1, 1922'. retake Hungarian throne
in Madeira exile
• possible pneu-:
· mania
'
born
1868
in
KenderesfHungary
:Ousted foreign troops frorr
. NICHOLAS HORTHY 1920-1944
died 1957 in Portugal in exile · Hungary following WorldWc
I
')
and Treaty of Trianon.
\nagyban:ya1•
Horthy Miklos)
Parliament nullified
Kormanyzo)
' Regent (
Admiral in Austro-Hungarian
Pragmatic Sanction, deNavy
, Re-buried in
throning the Habsburgs ir
Hungary
Hitler's Germany forced t
to resign March 1944
TABLE OF CONTENTS
OUR HUNGARIAN HERITAGE
PART II
Page #
The battle of Mohcs
1
The Impact of the Ottoman Rule on Hungary
2
John Zpolya (Szapolyai Janos)
4
1526-1540
5
Who will be king?
Ferdinand I
John Sigismund Zpolya
1526-1564
1540-1551 & 1556-1570
Protestantism in Hungary
Maximilian II
Rudolf
6
8
10
1563-1576
11
1572-1608
11
The 16th century
12
The Protestant Reformation
13
The land beyond the woods and its Princes
14
Matthias II
1608-1619
16
Ferdinand II
1618-1625
16
Ferdinand Ill
1625-1657
19
Ferdinand IV
1647-1654
20
Leopold I (1. Lipot)
1655-1705
21
22
The battle of Buda
Leopold 1s wives and issues
23
Ferenc Rk6czi,a reluctant warrior
25
Vak Bottyn
Joseph I (1. Jdzsef)
1687-1711
The lJ!h century
Charles Ill (111. Karoly)
23
26
27
1711-1740
31
Remarks
Maria Theresa
1740-1780
32
Joseph II
1780-1790
35
Leopold II
1790-1792
36
37
The 18th century
The American revolution
41
The French revolution
41
Francis II
1792-1835
42
Ferdinand V
1835-1848
43
The Hungarian revolution of 1848
43
Revolt, rebellion and revolution
44
Preliminaries to the rebellion of 1848
45
The rise of nationalism
45
Hungarian reform
46
Yearning for independence
46
The case against the Austrians
47
Major figures in the Hungarian rebellion
47
March 15, 1848, a historic day in Hungary
50
The sad end
53
Franz Joseph
1848-1916
56
ADDENDUM: The House of Habsburg,pages 1-7
Turbulent times, page 8
Prelude to World War I,page 8
The assassination, page 9
A personal remark, page 12
Hungary in the 19th century
58
Demographics
58
Reformist efforts
58
Music and musicians
58
Enlightenment trickles down
59
The Chain bridge
60
Hungarian revolution of 1848
61
The battle of Solferino
61
Red Cross
62
The compromise of 1867
62
Ethnicity
62
Rapid development
64
Royal passings
66
...and elsewhere in the world in the 19th century
Bonaparte making hay
66
68
Trivia at its best
69
Hungary in the early 20th century
72
...and elsewhere in the world
73
Preliminaries to World War I
75
Royal succession
75
World War I
76
1915-1916
Charles IV (IV Karoly)
1916-1918)
The war and its aftermath
1917-1918
76
78
78
79
The red menace rises
80
IV. Karoly's attempts to retake the crown
82
Remembering Trianon
84
Commentary
86
Paganism
86
Christianity
87
Royal succession
88
Who shall be king?
89
St. Stephen's Admonitions to his son, Emeric
89
The coat of arms of Hungary
90
The flag of Hungary
90
The scorecard
91
Validation
9:JL
SUPPLEMENT - Hungarian royal succession tables 1through 7
1
The battle of Mohcs
Where were the Christian countries who failed to come to Hungary's assistance? Well, France's Francis I
had lost a battle at Pavia with Habsburg Holy Roman Emperor Charles V and was forced to sign a treaty in
Madrid in February 1525 after suffering months of imprisonment. Desperately looking for an ally, Francis
signed an alliance with Ottoman Sultan Suleiman which caused a scandal in Christian circles. To top it off,
Francis asked Suleiman to wage war on Charles V to even things out for France. Suleiman's ultimate
ambition had been to take Vienna, so he agreed to the French request. The only problem was that theroad
to Vienna led through Hungary.
The Turks wasted no time as they proceeded to approach Hungary from the South. This time they were
victorious at the fortress of NSndorfehirvr (today's Belgrade), which they could not conquer in 1456
when its defender was Jdnos Hunyadi. The loss of this fort in 1521finally rang alarm bells with Hungary's
leaders. The king hastily put together a force of 60,000 and took off for the Southern borders, while
"forgetting" to take food along to feed his troops. As a result, the army spontaneously disbanded as
hunger and disease weakened their ranks.
As news of the fall of Nndorfeherv r and the launching of a massive armada from Istanbul in April 1526
under the command of Sultan Suleiman made war preparations urgent, the Hungarian nobles still would
not heed the King's call to report for duty. When they finally assembled, they hastily headed for the
southern city of Mohcs along the Danube without waiting for reinforcements, - only a few days' march
away, - to join them. The battlefield was not an optimum choice as it was not level but consisted of rolling
land making a clear site for the artillery difficult. For cavalry, too, an uphill charge did not bode well.
Finally, the battlefield is bordered by a swampy area toward the Danube river, which curtails any strategic
movement of not only the enemy but our own forces, too.
Researching this critical battle, I remembered from my younger years that I had read an account of it in
the periodical "Magyar Cserkesz", Hungarian Scout. The paper listed several sources for its reference,
among them "A Magyar nemzet haditortenelme" (The military history of the Hungarian nation) by Jdzsef
Bahlaky-Breit which puts the reader right in the middle of the action.
One of the Hungarian units with 2000 horsemen under the command of Archbishop Paul Tomory was near
the chosen battlefield at Petervrad in June where he had several encounters with Suleiman's forces in
an attempt to delay their progress. In time, Tomory's forces would grow to 6000 men, but they were still
facing a formidable Turkish army. The Hungarian king's forces accounted for about 25,000 of which about
two-thirds were Hungarian, the others were Croatians, Poles, Germans and many others as mercenaries.
Half the force consisted of cavalry, the others were archers and bowmen, whereas the Turks numbered
over 60,000 cavalry and 12,000 foot soldiers. Suleiman had 160 artillery versus the Hungarians' 53.
The Hungarians couldn't agree on a battle plan even as late as the night before the encounter. As a result,
they had to resort to impromptu decisions as reports of the Turks' advance reached the Hungarian lines
at 5 o'clock in the morning of August 29. The Hungarians formed two lines: the first consisted of cavalry
dressed mostly in heavy armor, with artillery and infantry behind them. The second line under the
command of King Louis II consisted of mostly cavalry. As the lines began to move forward, they left a
small unit to defend their camp site. A considerable force of 8 to 13,000 men under the command of the
Transylvanian governor John zJpolya was still nowhere to be had.
2
The Turkish forces formed 3 lines. The rear was made up by the artillery and the cavalry commanded by
the Sultan himself. In the middle was Behram pasha with his forces from Anatolia, while the front lines were
represented by Chief Ibrahim's elite Janissaries. It took the Turkish forces nearly all day to move into
position under a hot sun from a cloudless sky. Suleiman, surveying his tired soldiers, decided to postpone
the battle until the next day and at 3 o'clock in the afternoon ordered his forces to stand down.
The Hungarians mistook the movement of 10,000 cavalry moving into camp, while another force appeared
to threaten the right wing of Paul Tomory's front lines. The commanders of those Turkish forces had not
yet gotten Suleiman's orders to return to camp and seemed to be an easy prey for Tomory who ordered
200 cavalrymen to stage the initial attack. By the time, however, the artillery was able to fire the first
round, the clock advanced to 4 PM. The Turks were surprised by the unexpected fierce sortie and backed
up, giving false impression to Tomory that he had an advantage. He sent word to the King to launch a full
attack on the main Turkish force. The King's second line appeared to have dislodged the Anatolian division
until they executed a diversionary move trapping the Hungarians in the devastating barrage of 160
cannons from behind an impenetrable line of earth mounds fortified with sharpened sticks.
The Hungarian forces panicked and engaged in disorganized valiant efforts to silence the Turkish artillery.
Louis II and Tomory gave commands which no one obeyed. At this point Ibrahim's Janissaries and the
Anatolian cavalry threw themselves into the melee and massacred the retreating Hungarians. By 6 o'clock
the king's forces were in a headlong retreat, leaving behind 14,000 dead, including a thousand of the
Hungarian nobility. The king himself was also killed when his horse stumbled as it was trying to ford the
shallow Csele brook, throwing the rider and burying him under the weight of its armor.
Suleiman was so surprised by the small size of the army which attacked him, then frantically retreated,
leaving Suleiman a virtually open road to the capital. The defeat at Mohcs meant the end of independent
Hungary. There is a phrase which had entered our language. When someone complains of having lost
something or if something unfortunate has happened to them, the response is generally: "Tobb is veszett
Mohcsnal!" (More was lost at Mohcs!).
In the chaos which followed Mohacs, the divided nobility elected two kings simultaneously: John Zpolya
of Transylvania in 1526 and Ferdinand of Austria in 1527. The Habsburgs ruled the Northern and Western
part of the country while the Turks occupied central Hungary and held suzerainty over semi-independent
Transylvania headed by zApolya. The ensuing constant warfare between the Habsburgs and the Ottomans
over the next century and a half turned Hungary into a perpetual battlefield. The population of the socalled Transdanubia (Dunantul), in Western Hungary, at the end of the 15th century was 900,000, whereas
in the 17th century it dwindled to 300,000. In 15th century Somogy county near Lake Balaton the
population was 55,000, of which only 500 remained by 1598. And in the southern county of Bks which
was in the direct path of the Turkish invasion, only 2 (!) Hungarians would be found by the census following
the expulsion of the Turks.
"The Impact of the Ottoman Rule on Hungary"
That is the title of a study by Gza P.flffy, whose work Ihad used for occasional reference to illustrate the
effects of Mohacs on the strategic realities of Central Europe. The presence of the Ottomans under Sultan
Suleyman Ifor more than a century and a half constituted "a major and constant threat to the whole of
3
Europe." Besides their land forces, the Turks also operated a formidable fleet in the Mediterranean which
menaced the provinces of the Spanish Habsburgs. To contain the advance of the enemy, the Habsburgs
launched efforts which required "close political, military and financial cooperation among the Habsburg
possessions in Central Europe, governed from Vienna."
The massive military campaigns flowing back and forth across Hungarian soil had devastating effects on
the population and the production of food. Plantings were interrupted by warfare, whatever was edible was
requisitioned by the occupying armies, the people who worked the land were either killed or abducted and
many villages burnt to the ground. As P.11ffy's study suggests: "Both the troops and the local population
were easily struck by famine." The weakened humans were struck by diseases such as the plague,
dysentery, typhoid fever and even malaria which added to the human and natural calamities that befell
these areas. And often to clear strategic areas for the benefit of one or the other armies, populations would
be forcefully resettled in other localities.
The Turkish occupation had a curious effect on religion in Hungary. It is an accepted fact that the centers
of spiritual and cultural life in medieval times were the monasteries. Many of these centers of knowledge
were destroyed by the enemy and its occupants often migrated to the area of Hungary which was under
Habsburg rule, the so-called Royal Hungarian side. In the diocese of Veszprem, for example, about 100
monasteries had completely disappeared and out of 600 parishes only a few dozen remained functioning.
The Catholic Church had suffered great losses under the Turkish occupation. The Ottomans contributed
greatly to the spread of Reformation in the 16th century precisely because the Catholic Church had been
weakened. The resettlement of Greek Orthodox Serbs, for example, further changed the picture of the
former dominance of Catholic Hungarians.
Hungarians in pre-Mohcs times lived mostly in the plains between the Danube and Tisza rivers ,whereas
minorities, such as Serbs and other Slavic people, tended to live on Hungary's periphery, which was more
sheltered, mountainous and more easily defended. Whereas it was the ethnic Hungarians who suffered
most of the losses from the Ottoman war, these ethnic minorities experienced a population growth. The
depopulated areas welcomed the settlement of South Slavic immigrants, among them about 200,000
Serbians in Southern Hungary to replace workers/serfs on large estates who had fallen victim to the Turks.
The sharp difference of ethnicity of these folks would make assimilation unlikely and as Plffy points out, "the
affected Hungarian territories lost their Hungarian character completely." A similar trend of population shift
was evident in other parts of the mother country as Croatians came by the thousands to Transdanubia,
whereas Slovaks settled the northern parts of the country and Romanians from Wallachia and Moldavia
changed the ethnic makeup of Transylvania.
All these factors and others had written themselves into the fabric of Hungarian history. Hungarians may
have "gained" some Ottoman words especially relating to agriculture, and later benefited by architectural
remnants of the Turkish occupation, such as mosques and Turkish baths, let me use Geza Pfilffy's
conclusion to the effect that "for Hungary the Ottoman rule had been an unmitigated tragedy."
4
Suleyman proceeded up the Danube to conquer Buda; which he found practically abandoned when he got
there on September 11th. King Louis ll's widow, Queen Mary had taken refuge in Pozsony (today's
Bratislava) near the Austrian border, as did "' most of the inhabitants of the capital. The Turks were
surprised at their military success and proceeded to loot or destroy everything that could be moved. Turkish
barques were loaded to the hilt and much of the treasures ended up in Constantinople. After a brief period
of occupation Suleyman ordered his troops to withdraw after putting the torch to the city, and left only a
small contingent at Buda as well as at other fortresses he had previously subdued. Vacating Buda may
have been a great strategic error, because when Suleyman found it necessary to move against Vienna in
1532, he had to fight every step of the way. But lets take these events in chronological order.
JOHN ZAPOLYA, JOHN 1(Szapolyai Janos, or Zapolya Janos, 1526-1540)
His birthplace was in Szepes Castle which is today in Slovakia. He claimed to have a letter from Beatrice,
widow of King Matthias, which stated Matthias' wish to have John Zpolya succeed him on the Hungarian
throne. John Zapolya was appointed voivode (governor) of Transylvania in 1511and as such he had a part
in defeating the peasant rebellion of Gyorgy D6zsa in 1514. He was well known to the nobility in Hungary.
As we had seen earlier, Zapolya was, or may have been, en route to the Mohcs battlefield when King
Louis II was killed. When the Turks withdrew from Hungary following the sacking of Buda, there existed
a political vacuum as the leaders of the nobility had given their lives at Mohcs. Zpolya was no stranger
to the aristocrats and he had a large army at his command. Although a small minority of the aristocrats
sided with Archduke Ferdinand of Austria, the late king's brother-in-law of the Habsburg dynasty, Zpolya
had himself proclaimed king by the diet at Szkesfehrvr in November, 1526 and was duly crowned as
King John Iof Hungary.
A month later Archduke Ferdinand had himself proclaimed king by another diet in Pressburg (Pozsony)
which cancelled out Zpolya's efforts to create an Austro-Hungari an alliance against the Turks. Ferdinand
also gained the kingdom of Bohemia in December, 1526. In July the following year Ferdinand ordered an
army of German mercenaries into Hungary who marched into Buda, defeating Zpolya's regime. The
following year Zpolya fled to Poland and from that post he proposed to the Ottomans that Hungary
should be a vassal state and asked for Suleyman's support. The Sultan accepted and invaded Austria but
could not win a decisive victory against Ferdinand. In 1533 they signed a peace treaty with Austria and
ceded Western Hungary (much of Transdanubia) to them. Under pressure, Z!polya designated Ferdinand
to be his successor after his death as he was childless at that point in 1538. However, a year later he
married Princess Isabella Jagiello of Poland and had a son by her named John Sigismund. Zpolya died 9
days later. His son would be a contender for the Hungarian throne.
5
Who will be king?
It is hard to beat Stephen Sisa in story-telling,so Iam going to rely on his account related in "The Spirit of
Hungary". Inthe previous segment of my study Imentioned the clearly unethical and possibly treasonous
proposal which zJpolya made to Sultan Suleyman, offering Hungary as a vassal state in return for his
support of his right to the throne. To make his offer even sweeter, Zpolya offered 40,000 gold pieces to
Grandvezir Ibrahim to conclude this alliance. Ibrahim swore on the Prophet's beard to protect Zf:ipolya
against all enemies and ordered Suleiman to return to Buda with his troops in September, 1529 to put
ZApolya back in power. To top it off, Zapolya offered the position of Governor of Hungary to one of
Ibrahim's sidekicks, Louis Gritti,an Italian renegade and illegitimate son of the Doge of Venice. Gritti
occupied the post of Governor for 3 years as a "cruel despot bent on killing and extortion."
Suleyman's ultimate goal was the capture of Vienna, so he embarked on an unsuccessful campaign against
Vienna, but ultimately was compelled to sign a treaty with Ferdinand in 1533. Ferdinand was also obligated
to pay tribute money to the Sultan, allowing Ferdinand to rule over Western Hungary. The Turks thus were
the protectors of Zpolya and also were friends, - by treaty, - of Ferdinand. All that remained was for
Ferdinand and Zpolya, as King John I, to come to terms with each other. With the help of a colorful character
in Hungarian history, the Bishop George of Nagyvarad whom Hungarians know as "Fr.her Gyorgy'', the two
kings concluded the treaty of Nagyvarad in February, 1538, recognizing each other's territorial rights. They
also agreed that on the death of King John, whether he had children or not, Hungary would revert to
Ferdinand and his heirs.
Soon, however, complications arose as Bishop George arranged a marriage between Zapolya and Princess
Isabella, daughter of Sigismund, the king of Poland. One of the clauses of the agreement was that King
John must also be recognized by Charles V, Emperor of Germany and Spain. With all objections supposedly
cleared, Isabella married King John, 30 years her senior, and she bore him a son in 1540, with the name of
John Sigismund (Jnos Zsigmond).
As we have seen, Zpolya died 9 days after the birth of his son. Bishop George, in clear repudiation of
the Nagyvarad treaty, wanted to cut Ferdinand out of his right to the throne of Hungary and induced the
king-makers to proclaim the baby John Sigismund as their choice. The Turks were confused by the turn
of events and sent a delegate to have an audience with Zpolya's widow. Upon entering the throne room,
Beg Rustem found Isabella breast-feeding her baby. The Beg was so moved, he kissed the feet of the baby
and threw the Sultan's support behind him. Ferdinand, however, wasn't moved and sent his General
Roggendorf with 40,000 troops to conquer Buda. Bishop George turned to the Sultan for help. The Sultan
asked to see the infant John and his mother. The reception was cordial,- perhaps too cordial and lasted
into the night, - for a reason. As Stephen Sisa explains:
"While the reception and feast was in full swing, the impregnable fortress of Buda was infiltrated by
innocent-looking Turkish "sightseers", who, at a given signal,revealed themselves as Janissaries. Three
cannon shots fired from Buda signaled the successful coup to Suleyman that Buda had become part of the
Ottoman Empire." The Sultan rode into the city on horseback, said a prayer in the Church of the Virgin
Mary which had been converted into a mosque and sent Isabella, her infant son and Bishop George to
Transylvania. The Queen's general, Balint Torok, for whom a city is named in today's Hungary, was taken
to the Galata prison for life. Hungary's three-way division was complete 15 years after the Mohacs
disaster.
--------·--- ----
FERDINAND I(1526-1564)
His parents each had a strange moniker added to their name. Ferdinand was born in Spain ion 1503 into
the royal household of Habsburg Archduke Philip "the Handsome" and lnfanta Johanna "the Mad". At
age 12 in 1515, he was married to Hungarian king Louis ll's daughter Anne Jagiellonica with the long-term
plan in mind that he would eventually become King of Hungary. When he was merely 16 years old, his
19-year-old brother, Charles V acceded to the grandfather Maximilian's title of Holy Roman Emperor,
while Ferdinand was entrusted with governing Austria and Slovenia. When his brother would retire from
his post in 1556, Ferdinand assumed the title of Holy Roman Emperor (Elect). Prior to that, with the death
of his brother-in-law Louis II at Mohcs, Ferdinand also became king of Hungary, Croatia and Bohemia*,
but because of the succession controversy with John Zpolya he was only crowned in November, 1527 at
Szkesfehrvk
*It is worthwhile to note that whereas the Bohemian diet elected Ferdinand to the throne, the Diet
refused to recognize Ferdinand as hereditary lord of the kingdom. The Croatian nobles elected Ferdinand
unanimously and confirmed the succession to the throne to him and his heirs while the king promised to
respect the historic rights, freedoms, laws and customs of Croatia.
Hungary was divided intheir choice for king. As we have seen earlier, the Diet of the lesser nobles elected
John Zfipolya and crowned him on November 11,1526, whereas the higher nobility elected Ferdinand in
December of the same year (and crowned him a year later). With the support and help of his brother,
Emperor Charles V, Ferdinand fought two battles with Zapolya, defeating him at both Tarcal in September
1527 and at Szina in March 1528. Zcipolya was forced to flee to Poland, from where he asked Sultan
7
Suleyman for support and offering Hungary (while he was really only in charge of Transylvania) an Ottoman
vassal state.
Suleyman responded to Zpolya's request and in 1529 organized a massive assault on Vienna which sent
Ferdinand to seek refuge in Bohemia. Suleyman tried again in 1533 which resulted in a peace treaty,
splitting Hungary into three sections (see the map above). In the 1538 treaty of Nagyvrad, as we have
seen earlier, Zapolya was "induced" to name Ferdinand and his heirs successors to the Hungarian throne,
while fate intervened in 1540 when Zpolya and his wife had a boy born to them, named John II Sigismund.
With the death of zipolya 9 days later, the Diet elected the infant to be their king. Ferdinand responded
to the controverting of the Nagyvrad treaty and invaded Zilpolya's kingdom with 40,000 troops. The
regent, the colorful and resourceful bishop George Martinuzzi used Suleyman to eject Ferdinand from the
central regions of Hungary (the "Alf81d" or Low Lands), forcing Ferdinand to pay tribute to Suleyman for
ruling Western Hungary.
We shall deal with the events in Transylvania and eastern Hungary under John II Sigismund in a separate
section of this study.
(
Ferdinand's rule over Western Hungary (known as Royal Hungary) conformed to what he had introduced
in Bohemia and Austria as "absolute monarchy." The king published a constitution for these inherited lands,
but enforcement presented a problem as they resisted the autocratic rule from Vienna . To be fair to
Ferdinand, we must point out that he tried to keep his oath to respect the Hungarian constitution. He
appointed Count lstvn BMhory as Palatine who maintained good relations between the King's Court and
the Hungarian Council. Ferdinand appointed the Council members to help the Palatine govern Hungary and
did not interfere with the conduct of their business. He reserved two places for Hungarians as his cabinet
advisors but the Hungarians failed to take up the offer. He also provided secretariats for Hungarian affairs
in his ministries which were not subject to the orders of the Austrians, only if they came directly from the
king. Ferdinand convoked the Diet (national assembly) regularly, levied no taxes without the Diet's consent
and usually deferred to its opinion.
Ferdinand had other major issues at his hand regarding religious disturbances which do not directly jive
with the ultimate purpose of this study. Nevertheless, we shall deal briefly with the incursion of the idea of
Reformation into daily life in Hungary; and largely bypass Ferdinand's struggles in governing his empire
after his brother Charles' abdication (and Ferdinand's succession to) the duties of Holy Roman Emperor.
As a final note on Ferdinand's era, the Ottoman invasion of Hungary also affected SzJkesfeherv r, the
traditional city of royal coronations. Thus, in 1536 the Diet moved its meeting place to Pressburg (today's
Bratislava, but to Hungarians it remains forever as Pozsony).
As we noted from Ferdinand's childhood that as an infant he was betrothed to Anne Jagiellonica, daughter
of Hungarian king Louis II, whom he married in 1521 in Linz, Austria . They had 15children (4 boys and 11
girls) of whom 13 reached adulthood. One of those, Maximilian II would become Hungary's king in 1563.
Ferdinand died in Vienna in 1564 and is buried in St. Vitus Cathedral in Prague.
8
,
JOHN SIGISMUND ZAPOLYA (Szapolyai Janos Zsigmond, 1540-1551 & 1556-1570)
As noted earlier, he was born July 7, 1540 in Buda, Hungary. His father, King John Zpolya died 9 days after
his birth. The Diet elected the infant to rule over Eastern Hungary (Transylvania), with his mother, Anne
Jagiellonica as regent. The principal "regent'' and adviser was whom Hungarians know as Frater Gyorgy,
or George Martinuzzi,bishop of Nagyvrad. John Sigismund's election to the throne was clearly against the
Treaty of Nagyvrad (1538), and King Ferdinand of Royal Hungary came to enforce his rights in 1541. The
regent George asked Sultan Suleyman to protect the kingdom, which the Turks did spectacularly by ejecting
Ferdinand but also seizing Buda in the process.
"Frter Gyorgy" (Brother George) who had a pivotal voice in the affairs of 16th century Transylvania,
deserves a line or two. He is known officially as Cardinal Martinuzzi, diplomat whose wheeling/dealing
puzzled his contemporaries. He was indeed "a riddle wrapped in a mystery inside an enigma." He was
brought up in John Zpolya's castle as a stoker of the fireplaces, with access to all rooms where he overheard
confidential conversations and seen the "bare truth" including Zapolya's sister standing nude in front of a
mirror. Warned by a servant that there was a man in the room, Princess Borbala replied: "He is not a man,
he is only a servant."
George was born into a noble family; his father's name being unpronounceable (Utyessenovics) he used
his mother's maiden name as Martinuzzi. After having seen the princess in her birthday suit, he fled to the
Pauline Monastery in Buda. (I had served there in the church carved into Mt. Gellert as an altar boy.) No
doubt he was intelligent as he could converse in 5 languages and added Latin while serving with the Pauline
fathers. For his abilities he was appointed Abbot at Saj&lad in Northeastern Hungary where John ZJpolya
had sought his advice while being en route to exile in Poland. George decided to accompany his former
master. He recruited and organized a small army which managed to defeat Ferdinand's army at Srospatak.
Having gotten rid of Ferdinand, George set out to keep the Turks at a distance by proclaiming his strategy
of keeping the Turks away by applying soothing words and goodwill.
George's strategy was to approach the Turkish Grandvezir Ibrahim through shady insiders in his court and
offer him 40,000 gold pieces in exchange for Turkish support for Zapolya. The plan worked and Ibrahim
had Sultan Suleyman take over Buda and put zJpolya on the throne on September 7, 1529. The king
appointed the Italian-born Gritti,one of Ibrahim's shady characters to the post of Governor of Hungary.
In that position Gritti liquidated most of z!polya's enemies over the next three years. In the confusion,
Gritti's men murdered the Bishop of Nagyvrad, which cost Gritti dearly as he was duly beheaded.
It flowed naturally that George would take over the vacant position at Nagyvrad where he engineered the
treaty of 1538 between Zpolya and Ferdinand whereby Zpolya proclaimed Ferdinand and his heirs the
due successors after Ztlpolya's death. He obviously didn't figure that soon he would be the proud father of
the baby John Sigismund, who, following Zpolya's death, was duly crowned and pronounced the new king
of Hungary. Queen Isabella would act as regent while John Sigismund was growing up.
As related earlier, an envoy of the Sultan saw Isabella breastfeeding little John and was moved to grant
the Sultan's support to the new king and his mother. When Ferdinand sent 40,000 troops to retake Buda,
the Turkish Sultan ejected them and made Transylvania a "little gift'' to King John Sigismund while the real
governing was done by Bishop George Martinuzzi. He made peace pacts with both Ferdinand and
9
Suleyman but managed to procrastinate in fulfilling them with excuses which both accepted as reasonable
as long as bribes, flattery, gifts and annual tributes kept coming.
All was not well,though, in the royal household. George Martinuzzi and Queen Isabella were at odds with
each other. The queen's constant hostile intrigues and the difficulty of dealing with the Moslem Ottomans
made him re-think his position and made overtures to Ferdinand to come take over Eastern Hungary.
Queen Isabella welcomed the prelate's suggestion that she should move to Austria where she and her son
would be more comfortable, aided by 100,000 gold pieces which Friar George offered to her. On the Friar's
invitation, Ferdinand sent an army to accomplish the royal move and also to betroth Ferdinand's infant
daughter to John Sigismund, age two. The move also technically transferred Transylvania and Eastern
Hungary to the possession of Ferdinand, provided that Friar George could keep the Turks away. The Pope,
sensing the historical significance of the action, elected him to cardinal,naming him the Primate of Hungary
under the name of Cardinal Martinuzzi.
The predictable Turkish reaction was to attack but Cardinal George counseled Suleyman to withdraw in
anticipation of superior forces mounted by Ferdinand. Duringtheir withdrawal some of the Turkish forces
were attacked by Ferdinand's troops despite promises of free passage by George. His double-dealings
came to light and the Austrian officers surprised him in his room as he was offering his morning prayers,
killing him. As Stephen Sisa remarked: "Frter GyOrgy lay unburied on the porch of his castle in the cold of
winter for 60 days until some priests happened by and placed him in a crypt at Gyulafehervctr. The
engraving on his tombstone reads: Omnibus moriendum est (We are all mortals.)"
Since Hungary had become cut into three different and distinct parts, its history and its leadership also
tripled, which makes our job a bit more difficult to keep the reader engaged without losing his or her
interest. We must now return briefly to John Sigismund, king of Transylvania and Eastern Hungary.
In 1549 George Martinuzzi suggested to John Sigismund to abdicate and turn over the country's fate to
Emperor Ferdinand. At this point a power play began, because up till this moment it was agreed that John
Sigismund would rule Transylvania at the pleasure of the Turks. Seeingtheir conquest slipping out of their
hands, the Turks attacked Ferdinand's troops and held on to their possession. As Martinuzzi's doubledealing became obvious, he was suspected of treason and was assassinated by the Austrians as mentioned
above. After five years of hostilities, in 1556 the Diet restored John Sigismund to the East Hungarian
throne. When his mother, the dowager Queen Isabella died in 1559, John Sigismund continued his reign
until 1570.
One of his accomplishments was to issue the Edict of Torda, the first such decree of religious freedom in
Europe at the time of the Reformation. The king supported the establishment of the Unitarian Church in
Transylvania and permitted, in fact encouraged a dialogue between the Catholics and all Protestant
churches. Other religious groups, such as Moslems and Jews, were not guaranteed religious freedom.
When Ferdinand died, John Sigismund abdicated in favor of Ferdinand's successor, Emperor Maximilian
II. In 1571king John died, while childless, at Gyulafehrvar. However, his succession did not go smoothly. The
Diet elected Stephen Bathory as Prince of Transylvania and got the region involved in a brief civilwar. Since
Transylvania represented a third of tripartite Hungary, we shall deal, - however briefly, - with
1
0
Hungarian history's "3 B's", Stephen BMhory, Stephen Bocskay and Gabor (Gabriel) Bethlen, at a later
time.
At this point it might sound premature for us to deal with the role of Protestantism in Hungary, since its
main effect would not occur until the 16th century. Yet, considering that Holy Roman Emperor and King of
Hungary Ferdinand was rather involved in decades of religious and political unrest in the German states
under his brother, Charles V, while he was trying to keep the Ottoman Turks from engulfing Hungary and
threatening Austria.
When Charles V convened a general parliamentary meeting in Augsburg in 1555, he named his brother.
Ferdinand as his representative in charge of settling disputes over religion and authority. Ferdinand
promulgated three principles. First, the one called "cuius regio eius religio" (whose realm, his religion),
provided that the religion of the prince in charge of the territory dictated the leading religion of the state
and its inhabitants. Those who could not or would not conform, would be allowed to leave and resettle
elsewhere, thus permitting and encouraging migration.
The second principle concerned the religious leader's choice of religion. If the prelate changed from
Catholicism, for example, to another "reformed" religion, the residents of the state did not have to do so.
The third principle, promulgated by Ferdinand as his own, exempted some of the knights and some cities
from religious uniformity, provided the new religion" had been practiced there since the mid-1520s, which
allowed for mixed cities where Catholics and Lutherans could live together in peace.
11
The failings of this so-called Augsburg Peace became apparent when Reformation sprouted a diversity of
religions, led by Martin Luther's Lutheran church,the Swiss John Calvin's Reformed Church and followers
of Zwingli in local European areas, some of which were considered heretical.
In Hungary's western areas the Catholic Habsburgs ruled, whereas in Eastern Hungary and particularly in
Transylvania different regions lived under the religion of its different elected princes. The Catholic Church,
in many instances, had a rather pronounced stranglehold on peoples' lives. Hungarians looked
sympathetically at new religious movements which gave them more freedom and independence. The
serfs welcomed the Reformation because it spoke to them in the vernacular versus the Catholic religion
being enshrouded in Latin. It also had fewer rules and taxes. The gentry was more aligned with Calvinism
which seemed to justify local autonomy. By the end of the 17th century Transylvania had almost totally
supplanted Catholicism by other reformed religions.
Unitarianism was "locally made", founded by Ferenc David around 1560 in Transylvania. This religious belief
was based on the concept of God in one person, not as a Trinity and was tolerant toward all other religions.
As we had seen earlier, King John Sigismund supported this concept and the national assembly at Torda
in 1557 and 1558 declared asylum for people of religious persecution. Protestantism, but particularly
Calvinism, was an effective opposition to the ruthless Counter-Reformation driven by the Catholic
Habsburgs in later years.
1
1
MAXIMILIAN II (1563-1576)
He was the son of Holy Roman Emperor Ferdinand Iand his wife Anna. Born in Vienna in 1527, he was
educated in Italy and served in his uncle Charles V's military campaign against France in 1544. At the age
of 21 in 1548 he married his cousin Maria, the daughter of Charles V. His father-in-law wished his son
Philip to succeed him as Emperor to which his brother Ferdinand (king of Hungary) objected. This upset
the harmony between two branches of the Habsburg family and Maximilian in 1552 may have been
poisoned by Philip (by then king of Spain). Maximilian survived and became king of Hungary on his father's
death in July 1564.
As Archduke of Austria previous to becoming king of Hungary, his main responsibility was the governance
of Austria and its defense against the Turkish threat of invasion. He was greatly influenced by a Lutheran
minister which gave the Court concern that he would abandon his Catholic faith. He remained a Catholic
while assuring his protestant electors that he would abide by the rules of the Augsburg Peace treaty. In
1566 he formed a large army to march against the Turks on his eastern flanks, but the campaign resulted
in no action against the Turks. In fact, Maximilian continued to pay tribute to the Sultan as the price of
peace, while Hungary remained tripartite.
The Emperor's power was limited as his estates were unwilling to strengthen the imperial authority. In 1571
a coalition of fleets of Catholic seaside states defeated the main fleet of the Ottoman empire at Lepanto in
the Gulf of Corinth off Greece. ( It was the last naval battle using galleys!) Pope Pius V asked Maximilian to
join in an attack on the Turks following the victory of Lepanto, but Maximilian remained unwilling or unable
to make a move. He died in October 1576 in Regensburg while preparing to invade Poland, ruled by the
Hungarian prince, Stephan Bthory of Transylvania. He refused to receive the last sacraments of the Catholic
church. He is buried in St. Vitus Cathedral in Prague.
Maximilian and his wife had 16 children, two of whom would eventually end up on the Hungarian throne.
RUDOLF I (1572-1608)
Rudolf was the third child and oldest son of Maximilian and Maria (of Spain, a daughter of Charles V). He
was born in Vienna in 1552, but spent his teen years in Spain at the court of his maternal uncle. He
adopted an aloof and stiff manner which he maintained throughout his life. He detested traveling and
taking care of everyday government matters. Rudolf was rather interested in occult matters and astrology
and suffered from periodic bouts of depression. This did not bode well for a Holy Roman Emperor.
He never married and was said to be a bisexual whose partners were his court chamberlain and other
valets. He had affairs with women and sired illegitimate children with his mistress, Catherina Strada. One of
those children was the schizophrenic Julius (Caesar) who was sent to Bohemia where he was condemned
for murdering a barber's daughter. Before sentencing he died of a ruptured ulcer.
Raised a Catholic, Rudolf was tolerant of other religions and in death denied sacramental rites. He
fantasied that he could save Christendom by organizing another crusade against the Turks. He started a
13-year war in 1593 with undetermined results. Hungarians, led by Stephen Bocskay revolted against this
long war. Rudolf was forced to cede control of Hungarian affairs to his younger brother Archduke Matthias
who would eventually succeed him on the Hungarian throne. He died in January, 1612, buried in Prague.
1
2
THE 16th CENTURY
It was in this century when mankind had lost 10 days from the calendar. Authorities of the day decided
that we were out of kilter with the calendar, so they advanced the days by ten in October, 1582. Not
every country in the world followed suite (Britain in 1752, Russia in 1918!), but eventually we all dropped
the so-called Julian calendar on Thursday, October 4th, 1582 and converted to the Gregorian, trusting that
Pope Gregory had it right by declaring Friday, October 15, 1582 the first day of the new calendar.
Spanish and Portuguese explorers crossed the oceans and opened new markets. The first
circumnavigation of the earth took place from 1519 to 1522 under the command of Ferdinand Magellan
of Spain. He lost his life in battle for the Philippines. The Italian Giovanni da Verrazzano explored the
Atlantic coast of America in 1524. Sir Francis Drake of England (1540-1596) was the first English captain
to sail around the world and survive. The Portuguese Vasco da Gama (1469-1524) was the first to sail
around the Cape of Good Hope.
The Roman Catholic Church has had its critics practically since its founding, but it was in the 16th century
that the Protestant Reformation rose up against the Pope's authority. The Church fought back with untold
severity in the Inquisition. In 1531the Church of England broke away from the Roman Catholic Church
over the Pope's refusal of granting a divorce to King Henry VIII. - For us, Hungarians, and for many peoples
across the Balkans, the rise of the Ottoman Turks was traumatic as they overwhelmed the opposition and
occupied new territories, including a third of Hungary, for long decades to come. By and large they left
devastation in their wake. - In the Americas the Spanish Francisco Pizarro led the conquest of the Inca
Empire.
Major revolutions in astronomy changed the way we consider ourselves positioned in the universe. In 1543
Copernicus proposed the theory about the Earth no longer being the center, but the Sun is, around which
the planet revolve. The view of Aristotle and other scientists and philosophers, including that of the Church,
was challenged.
Michelangelo started work in 1501 on his signature creation, the statue of David. And 2 years later
Leonardo da Vinci started painting the portrait of Mona Lisa on which he worked for several years. In
literature, Machiavelli's The Prince, a treatise on political philosophy was published in 1513. In 1517
Martin Luther posted his 95 theses on the door of a church in Saxony and the Protestant Reformation was
launched.
The great powers of Spain and Germany defeated France in 1525 in the battle of Pavia. In 1526 the Turks
defeated Hungary's best, including its king at the battle of Mohacs and advanced to Vienna where they
suffered defeat in 1529. In 1541 the Turks returned and captured Buda, occupying a third of Hungary,
which fell into three parts with different rulers over each.
In 1547 Grand Prince Ivan the Terrible was crowned tsar of all Russia. The plague broke out in England in
1563, claiming 80,000 victims. Rio de Janeiro was established in 1565 by Estacio de Sa. The Spanish-led
navy and the Papal States destroyed the Ottoman fleet at Lepanto off Greece, curtailing further expansion
by the Turks into Europe.
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The 16th century also brought to life writers, artists and musicians, including the above-mentioned painter
and sculptor Michelangelo Buonarroti (1475-1564); the Spanish El Greco (1541-1614), architect of the
Spanish Renaissance; Andrea Palladio (1508-1580) whose architectural drawings Thomas Jefferson used
to build his mansion of Monticello; Italian painters Raphael and Titian (died 1520 and 1576, respectively),
and Leonardo da Vinci, most famous artist and inventor who died in 1519. Among musici,;ms da Palestrina
(1525-1594) is the most outstanding,while the Spanish Cervantes (1547-1616), the Italian Machiavelli
(1469-1527), and English playwright William Shakespeare (1564-1616) are best known as writers.
The world of science owes gratitude to Tycho Brahe, Danish astronomer (1546-1601), to the Polish
astronomer Nicolaus Copernicus (1473-1543), to the Tuscan Galileo Galilei (1564-1642) father of the
scientific revolution in the 15th century, to Flemish cartographer Gerardus Mercator (1512-1594) for a better
understanding of the shape of our planet, and to many others. Kind of on the light side I might mention that
in 1591 the first flush toilet was introduced by Sir John Harrington of England, a design published under the
title of "The Metamorphosis of Ajax." Remember that when you go to "the John" next.
THE PROTESTANT REFORMATION
It is undeniable that the Roman Catholic Church and the religion which the Church and its adherents
profess has been subject to an almost continuous attack, - or at least harassment nearly from the early
stages of its founding. This is not the place to recount all of its enemies and the heroes and heroines who
gave their lives in sacrifice for its teachings. But over time, since the Church is run by men, corruption and
various kinds of overreach have eaten into its fabric. In the 15th century one of the earliest "protesters"
was Jan Hus, a Check priest who founded an early protestant church today known as the Moravians. Hus
paid for his "unrepentant heresy" by being burned live at the stake. I believe that was a bit of an
overreach, something which may have given Jesus Christ a disapproving look, especially since it was
followed by the devastation of the Hussite Wars.
The 16th century brought to life a much more serious movement, aimed at reforming the Roman Catholic
Church and its religious practices. The German Augustinian theologian priest Martin Luther summarized
his protestations in 95 theses which he nailed on the door of his church in the university town of
Wittenberg for everyone to see. Almost simultaneously, in Switzerland Ulrich Zwingli and John Calvin,
while in England and Scotland the British king,Henry VIII himself and others got on the bandwagon.
The early protests were against the Church selling "indulgences" (so many days of hell or purgatory
forgiven for sins against a payment of set fees), but later on certain key tenets of its faith also came under
scrutiny. Luther maintained that faith alone (sola fide) is sufficient for salvation, whereas the Church taught
that good works and sacraments were necessary as well. The reformers also relied almost exclusively
on the teachings ofthe Bible, holding that it is correct and its teachings are to be taken literally. The
presence of Christ in the Eucharist also came under scrutiny as the religious service (The Holy Mass) is
only a commemoration of the Last Supper without transubstantiation of the bread and wine into Christ's body
and blood.
It didn't take long for Martin Luther to be excommunicated from the Roman Catholic Church. All others were
condemned and a Counter-Reformation movement had started. The reformed movement rejected
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the universal authority of the Pope. This started a religious upheaval throughout Europe, which would
spread to Hungary as well. Transylvania, especially, which had been all-Catholic, switched to the reformed
faith within the course of 100 years mostly in the form of Calvinism. The States of the Holy Roman Empire
tore Europe apart and the so-called Thirty-Years' War (1618-1648) had religious overtones, leaving
Germany fragmented for two more centuries.
My readers will forgive me if Isay no more. While acknowledging that this merely scratches the surface, let
this be sufficient information about a taste into philosophical movements which had shaped the 16th
century.
THE LAND BEYOND THE WOODS and its Princes
Transylvania, or "Erdely", as its name indicates, is a territory with a sylvan nature. It is self-contained,
protected at least on two sides by the great Carpathian mountains. Its oldest inhabitants are the Szeklers
(Szekely), whose history possibly stretches back to Attila's Huns, but more probably they are descendants
of the Ava rs. Followingthe devastation of the Tatar invasion inthe 13th century, German-speaking Saxons
also settled in this area who today constitute the "burgher" class of people. The Wallachians, or Wlachs,
arrived from the Balkans, eventually growing to about half the population. As the Turkish occupation
decimated the indigenous Hungarian population, more Wlachs, later called Romanians, joined in to enjoy
the riches of Erdely. For the better part of the early history of this area, Transylvania was ruled by a voivode,
or governor, under the sovereignty of the king of Hungary.
In order to form a better understanding of this land and its people, let me introduce you to some of its
leaders.
Istvan Bathory was a noble man from an old noble family whose estates were in the area then called
SomIyo in Transylvania. Born in 1533, in his youth he spent some time in Italy. Outside of that very little
is known about his childhood. He served under Emperor Ferdinand and was captured by the Turks in a
military campaign. Ferdinand, however, refused to pay a ransom to free him, so he switched allegiance
to the Zapolya side and supported John Sigismund's administration. Bathory became voivode of
Transylvania and in 1571was elected by the national assembly (Diet) as Prince of Transylvania. He ruled
officially for 10 years, although in 1575 BMhory transferred some of his duties to his brother Christopher
and moved to Poland to marry the Polish Queen Anna Jagiellon, the sister of former Polish king Sigismund
Augustus. Subsequently he was crowned King of Poland and the Lithuanian Commonwealth as well. This
position gave him an opportunity to form a large enough Polish/Hungarian army to face the Turks. His
memorable military triumph was to repulse an invasion of Poland by Russian tsar Ivan the Terrible. His
early death in 1581 due to kidney disease prevented him to accomplish his dual goal of driving the Turks
out of Hungary and then from that platform to get rid of the Germans as well. Istvan Bclthory is buried in
Lithuania, which is now part of Belarus.
Zsigmond (Sigismund) Bathory came from a different branch of the noble BJthorys in Somlyd. He was
born in 1572 and was an active supporter of the Roman Catholic Church. He was elected Prince of
Transylvania at age 9, with his mother being regent during his youth. Zsigmond Bathory answered the
German Emperor and king of Hungary Rudolph's call to drive the Turks out. He conducted a 15-year war
against the Turks and his successes prompted the Wallachians and Moldavians to join his ranks, too. His
40,000-man army liberated Bucharest and Wallachia in 1595. With age, his mental state had deteriorated.
Suspecting enmity even within his own family, he went on a rampage to murder his opposition. He was
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separated from his wife Maria Christina of Austria and kept fighting his own demons. In this state of mind
he lost a major battle against the Ottomans at Mez8keresztes in October 1596, forcing him to abdicate,
then resume power and again abdicate, flagellating himself for the defeat. Emperor Rudolph ordered his
general Giorgio Basta to restore order, which he accomplished with mercenary troops, causing great
suffering among the Transylvanian population. With his murdered mother's curse ringing in his ear,
Zsigmond Bathory died in 1613 and is buried in Prague.
lstvn Bocskay was a Calvinist nobleman, born in Kolozsvar in 1557. He spent his youth in Vienna as an
apprentice in the Emperor's Court. Bocskay quickly became disenchanted by the way Emperor Rudolph
treated Transylvania, especially in his vicious attacks against Protestants. Returning to his home, he
became the principal advisor to Prince Zsigmond Bathory. He also witnessed the dastardly actions of
General Giorgio Basta and protested it to the Court. For this the king tried to exile him to Prague, but
Bocskay fought back and from the ranks of emancipated peasant warriors, called Hajduk, organized a
mercenary army. In time the force grew to 10,000 desperate men to fight the oppression. By this time
the ruling king Rudolph became mentally ill who considered Hungary as a "distant and foreign land
infected with Protestantism."
Bocskay issued a proclamation to the nation, announcing that he was ready to fight for constitutional and
religious liberty. He launched a war which marked the beginning of an uprising against Habsburg
oppression. He pursued his enemy as far as Pozsony where he took possession of the Holy Crown in
February 1605. He was then pronounced Prince of Transylvania and soon thereafter Prince of Hungary
with royal prerogatives, but never crowned. In 1606 Emperor Rudolph was forced to sign the Treaty of
Vienna which redressed all previous grievances and announced the independence of Hungary with total
religious freedom. Regrettably, however, Bocskay died unexpectedly in December, 1606, believed to
have been poisoned by his own secretary, Mihaly Katay. The alleged murderer was then hacked to pieces
by Bocskay's soldiers.
Gabor (Gabriel) Bethlen was a Calvinist, born in 1580 in Marosillye. He was educated at the Lazar Castle
in care of his uncle, Andrew Lazar. Later Bethlen was sent to the Court of Zsigmond Bathory whom he
accompanied on a campaign to Wallachia. Bethlen had a fallout with the Prince and fled to the Ottoman
Empire with whose support he was installed as Prince of Transylvania and got the endorsement of the
Diet as well as recognition by Emperor Matthias II of royal Hungary. He was a patron of the arts and of
the Calvinist church. His rule was enlightened, given the times, but absolutist. He encouraged foreign
trade and developed industry, including mining. He kept a mercenary army with which he invaded Royal
Hungary in August 1619 and occupied the city of Kassa and northern Hungary. In October of the same
year he was in Pozsony where the Hungarian Palatine ceded the Holy Crown of St. Stephen to him. He
negotiated a peace agreement with the Habsburg Court which gave him 13 counties, and on August 20,
1620 he was crowned King of Hungary.
In time, the Habsburgs resumed their campaign against Bethlen and by 1621 they were in possession of
Pozsony. Bethlen renounced his crown and royal title provided that Protestants would gain religious
freedom. Bethlen received more territory in Eastern Hungary and a duchy in Silesia. After his first wife
died, he married Catherine Brandenburg,sister of the King of Sweden. He died in 1629 at the age of fortynine.
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MATTHIAS II (1608-1619)
A member of the Habsburg dynasty and Holy Roman Emperor, Matthias was born in 1557 in Vienna, son
of Emperor Maximilian IIand his wife, Maria of Spain. Matthias married the Archduchess Anna of Austria,
daughter of his uncle Archduke Ferdinand II of Austria. Their marriage produced no surviving children.
These were the troubled times of the Protestant Reformation which produced widespread rebellions in
the provinces and states held under the Holy Roman Empire. Matthias was invited to work with religious
factions in the Netherlands and was successful in producing a document in 1579 guaranteeing religious
peace in the region. In 1793 he was appointed by his brother Emperor Rudolf IIto be governor of Austria.
In this position he was associated with Melchior Klesl, the Bishop of Vienna who became his closest
adviser. Matthias asked the ailing Emperor Rudolf to let him handle the Hungarian Protestant rebels. His
work, as we have seen under discussion about Istvan Bocskay, Prince of Transylvania, resulted in the
Treaty of Vienna in 1606, guaranteeing religious freedom in Hungary and independence for Transylvania.
Considering his brother, Emperor Rudolfs illness, in 1608 Matthias forced him to yield the estates of
Hungary, Austria and Moravia to him. He was crowned king of Hungary and Croatia in the same year.
Matthias's army held Rudolf prisoner in his castle in Prague for 3 years until the Emperor ceded the crown
of Bohemia to him as well. Next, he gained accession as Holy Roman Emperor, but his conciliatory policies
were opposed by the Habsburg family, who would have preferred Archduke Ferdinand to deal with these
issues. When Protestant revolt broke out in Bohemia in 1618, the elderly Matthias was unable to stop
the takeover of his position by Ferdinand. Matthias died childless in Vienna in 1619.
FERDINAND II (1618-1637)
Born in Graz in 1578, Ferdinand was the son of Charles II,Archduke of Austria and his wife Maria Anna of
Bavaria. He was educated by the Jesuits and also attended Catholic University at lngolstadt. The
Hungarian Estates elected him king in 1618 and crowned him in Pressburg. He was a devout Catholic and
resented the rising Protestant movement in the lands under his command. This made him rather
unpopular even among the nobles who had converted to the new religion. In Bohemia a revolt broke out
in 1618, which is considered the first step of the so-called Thirty Years War (which we'll discuss shortly).
Ferdinand led troops against it and smashed the rebels. Ferdinand ordered a massive effort to convert
his subjects to Catholicism.
All this cost the royal coffers dearly, despite subsidies received from Spain and the Pope. He was forced to
cede command of his war on Protestants to Albrecht van Wallenstein, one of the richest men in Bohemia,
who mustered an army of 30,000 (later expanding it to 100,000), and ruthlessly carried out the campaign
against the Protestants. The subdued opposition turned to Gustavus II, king of Sweden for help. The
Swedes marched through Northern Germany toward Austria, causing heavy civilian loss of life. Ferdinand
switched commanders, giving Belgian General Tilly the command, who suffered a substantial defeat in
Breitenfeld in 1631. When Tilly died, Wallenstein was recalled but was ineffective, which probably resulted
in his assassination in 1634 likely ordered by Ferdinand himself.
King Gustavus of Sweden died, leaving his forces weakened. The European countries were watching the
emergence of a strong Habsburg reign. The French, led by Louis XIII entered the war on the Prote?tant
side. In 1635 Ferdinand signed the Peace of Prague document in 1635, but it did not end the war.
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Ferdinand died in 1637, leaving the Empire to his son, Ferdinand Ill. In a strange act, his father's heart
was interred in Herzgruft cemetery of the Augustinian Church, whereas the body rests in Graz.
Ferdinand had been married twice. His first wife was Maria Anna of Bavaria with whom they had 7
children,among them Ferdinand Ill,born in 1608, who would marry three times in his life.
What about Hungary during this time?
Well, certainly, looking at the history of our rulers, the Habsburgs were just "too busy" elsewhere to spend
much time with Hungarian affairs. Some of them were nice enough to delegate matters to the
Diet
{national assembly), some appointed representatives of the kingto be a "go-to" between the king and the
legislators. History's conclusion is that the Habsburgs placed the interest of European issues ahead of that
of the Hungarian Kingdom.
But while Vienna was busy handling religious uprisings, Hungarians were busy trying to keep the Turks
away from Vienna. The high nobility asked the Emperor{s) for help against the overwhelming hordes of
the Ottoman machine, Emperor Charles V gave evasive answers. The Chancellery was often short of cash
and fighting the Turks took money. Charles, as Holy Roman Emperor, was hoping to get financial support
from the Pope. But time was of the essence and Suleyman's troops seemed unstoppable. On August 29,
1541 Buda castle fell again.
Hungary's defense against the Turks consisted mostly of about 125 fortresses along its southern borders,
called "vegvar", or castles at the periphery. The military serving in those fortresses were mostly
mercenaries, often from other countries in the Balkans and in Western Europe. One of those played a
significant role in preventing Suleyman from reaching Vienna.
The fortress of Kszeg near the Austrian border bravely held off for 25 days in August, 1532 while the
Turks kept attacking it with artillery and wave after wave of assaults on its ramparts. Fort captain Miklds
Jurisics had 200 defenders against Suleyman's 80,000 troops. They held on until the Turks undermined
and blew up one of the fort's inner towers and fought their way in through the crumbling walls. Jurisics
and his soldiers perished in hand-to-hand combat with the enemy. Exhausted from the long siege and
short of supplies, Suleyman gave up the idea of conquering Vienna on this campaign, and retreated.
Iam sure each one of those fortresses had its own story to tell. Ijust want to highlight a couple more as
an illustration of the desperate struggle Hungarians put up against the Turks to defend Christianity in
Western Europe. One of the favorite novels of my youth was "Egri csillagok", the Stars of Eger, written by
famed novelist Geza G,kdonyi. The battle for the fort of Eger, gateway to Northern Hungary, lasted from
September 9 to October 18, 1552. Two large Turkish armies totaling 70,000 menjoined forces to conquer
the fort under the command of Istvan Dobb. Dobb's fighters were greatly assisted by brave women who
boiled tar to pour on the heads of Turks climbing the walls of the fort and dumped rocks and barrels of oil
on the enemy for 6 weeks, suffering greatly from the firestorm of arrows and the bombardment by 120
Turkish cannons (versus the Hungarians' nine!). At the end of the long siege of 38 days and the loss of
8,000 Janissaries, the Turks pulled out overnight, leaving the scene until their return at a much later time
when, regretfully, the Stars of Eger could no longer help the survival of this fort.
Szigetvar is along the Southern border of Hungary with Croatia. In August 1566, 90,000 Turks bested
Miklos Zrinyi's 2500 Hungarian fighters and conquered Szigetvar. Back in 1556 Ali Pasha had tried to take
the fort, but lost 10,000 men without putting a foot in the fort. Suleyman the Magnificent ,the victor of
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Mohacs, arrived at Szigetvar in August, 1566 on the way to trying to capture Vienna. He had 300 cannons
in his command as he expected he would be met by Emperor Maximilian's 80,000 strong army stationed
a 100 kilometers past Szigetvar.
Count Zrinyi was Viceroy of Croatia, who took comand of the city and the fortress. Szigetvar is normally
surrounded by marshes, but the dry summer dried up most of those, and the Turks drained the moats
around the fortress. On the first day of the battle the Turks lost 3,000 men and the defenders lost 300.
On subsequent days they even lost Ali Pasha of Buda, and seeing the devastation among his men,
Suleyman himself suffered a stroke and died. The Turks tried to conceal his death by seating him in a chair
infront of his tent, dresser! in imperial robes. Zrinyi was at the end of his supplies and down to 300 fighters
left after the Turks undermined the fort and blew it up in a vast explosion. Zrinyi gathered his troops and
saying goodby he ordered the gates open. While two cannons shot nails point blank at the enemy, Zrinyi
and 300 of his men dashed out in a desperate last-minute;battle in which only 3 men survived. Hungarian
history books commemorate this moment as "Zrinyi kirohanasa", or Zrinyi's sortie.
lstvjn Sisa, in his book The Spirit of Hungary wrote about the battle of Szigetvar. The story is about a
young Hungarian woman, hiding in an underground ammunition chamber, who threw a flaming torch into
the gunpowder. The explosion caused the death of 3,000 Janissaries. The sad final note on this battle is
that Maximilian's 80,000 troops waited not far away and refused to come to Zrinyi's assistance despite
pleas to the imperial commander.
The drawing illustrates one of those fortresses.
A n6gradi var kDls6 vedelmi ovezetevet (fametszet, 19. szazad)
In the meantime, while practically no one was watching over the approximately 1% million citizens living
under the Emperor's rule in Royal Hungary, they were enterprising enough to develop a profitable and
robust export of cattle. Records show that upwards of 100,000 cattle were driven under trying
circumstances to Austria's markets every year.
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An active commerce between Austria and Hungary necessitated the availability of transportation. It is a
curious fact that it was during this time that the village of Koes was the birthplace of the Hungarian
invention of a traveling (stage) coach which provided transportation for a number of passengers and
covered the distance between Buda and Vienna, with several changes of horses,in a day and a half. It is
said that the English word, coach, got its name from this invention which Hungarians call "kocsi."
In those confusing times the system of taxation somehow survived. Taxes were collected in all three parts
of tripartite Hungary, but it was most efficient in the royal sector under the Emperor's tax collectors. The
serfs were hit hard by paying annual dues to their landlords, to the Church, and to the State tax cottector
as well. Central Hungary under Turkish rule suffered from a disorderly system of taxation depending on
the whim of the Turkish pasha in charge of each locality. In many instances taxation consisted of produce,
or physical labor offered to the administration, - for example at the time of harvest or when community
labor was required to contain a flood. In Transylvania, which the Turks considered a vassal state, bribery
and a mix of cash and physical labor constituted the State's obligation toward the Ottoman rulers.
One would think that all parts of Hungary suffered enough already following the Mohacs disaster. Much
additional suffering and hardships were brought by the counter-reformation movement which would
require a separate study Iam not prepared to present. Let me just point out that the central figure of this
effort centered around the Protestant-born but Jesuit-converted cleric PJter Pclzmany (1570-1637) who
attained Cardinal rank as he served in the post of Archbishop of Esztergom. Pazmny's significant success
culminated in the conversion of most of the aristocracy to Catholicism. Today, the Pclzmany Pter
University in Budapest is a prestigious place of learning.
Another tremendous calamity suffered by Hungarians was the semi-crusade devised by the Emperor to
drive the Turks out of Hungary. The constant hostilities lasted 15 years from 1593 to 1606 and
accomplished little except destruction and death mostly in the Hungarian population as those from
neighboring territories (Slovaks, Wallachs, Croats) took refuge in the mountainous regions away from the
action. The mercenaries employed in the fifteen-year war abused the local population as provisions
were lacking for their quarters, food and pay.
FERDINAND Ill (1625-1657)
He was the eldest son of Emperor Ferdinand IIof Habsburg. Although he became King of Hungary in 1625
upon his father's death and ruled for thirty-two years, not much can be said about his influence over
Hungarian affairs. By and large, he let the Hungarian Palatine do his stuff without much heed given to the
edicts coming down from Vienna.
Ferdinand's main activity centered around the military leadership of the Imperial Army in the Thirty Years
War (1618-1648). The war was one of the most destructive conflicts in European history. It involved most
of the great powers in Europe, although it started out as a Protestant uprising against the Catholic
Habsburgs' rule. Ultimately, though, the age-old conflict between France and Germany was the main
issue.
Germany, guided by the 1555 Augsburg Treaty authored by Holy Roman Emperor Charles V, guaranteed
the right to the 224 German States to choose whether they wanted to be Lutheran or Catholic. The
problem was that the principle of "cuius regio cuius religio" required the population to adopt the religion
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of the head of each State. Adding to the stressed situation was the spread of Calvinism, which further
fragmented the issue.
Other powers, such as Spain, France and Italy also got involved while Sweden and Denmark were
interested in gaining control of the northern provinces of Germany. Because the Holy Roman Emperor
also ruled Austria and Hungary with the Catholic Habsburgs being in charge, this became a nearly
impossible knot to solve. In the last phase of the war, Ferdinand Ill gave the right to all rulers of German
states to conduct their own foreign policy and determine the religion in their respective territories.
Hostilities associated with the Thirty Year War finally ended with the Treaty of Westphalia in 1648.
As C.A. Macartney summarized in his book, Hungary, a short history, "Hungary escaped almost entirely
the inhuman enforcement of the Counter-Reformation under which Bohemia suffered so terribly, and was
also spared the worst ravages of the Thirty Years War." To be sure, Cardinal PJter Pazmany had a lot to
do with enforcing internal religious peace, yet, on the other hand, since the upper classes, the magnates,
reverted to Catholicism and the lower nobility remained Protestant, tolerance suffered a _bit and the
antipathy for each other grew significantly. Again,as Macartney mentions elsewhere, the Protestants in
Royal Hungary and in Transylvania "took especial delight in burning the castles and ravaging the lands of
Catholic Hungarians..." Hungary exhibited cleavages, both horizontal and vertical,which kept eating away
at its national fabric.
Ferdinand Ill's largely offhand handling of Hungarian affairs didn't make many friends for him. Border
skirmishes with the Turks continued. In fact, at St. Gotthard the Turks suffered a significant defeat on
August 1,1664, yet the Austrians did not follow through on their victory. Instead, Ferdinand concluded a
treaty with the Sultan which recognized his gains in Transylvania and even submitted to paying the Turks
an indemnity. The Hungarians were embittered against the Habsburg rule and even the Palatine, Ferenc
Wesselenyi,tried to reach out to other Western powers to help Hungary relieve itself of both the Turks
and the Austrians. This did nothing but aggravate the Court. Following the liberation of Hungary by the
end of the century (which we shall deal with shortly), the Constitution was suspended and the 1687 Diet
made the succession of the Habsburgs hereditary in the male line. Vienna now showed its true teeth:
Ferdinand's rule was nothing but a malevolent dictatorship. 44,000 German soldiers were left in Hungary
to "show the flag", housed and fed by local Hungarians; the population shrank by 1.5 million, the
remainders were "ravaged and raped at will", subject to extortion in taxes and often accused of
conspiracy.
Ferdinand Ill was married three times. His first wife was Maria Anna of Spain, Ferdinand's first cousin.
They had six children. His second wife was Archduchess Maria of Austria, again first cousins. They had
one son. The third wife was Eleanora Gonzaga, with whom they had four children. Ferdinand Ill was a
patron of music and a noted composer. The Emperor died in April, 1657.
FERDINAND IV (1647-1654)
Eldest son of Ferdinand 111, born in 1633, he was made King of Hungary at age 14 in 1647, crowned in
Pressburg (Pozsony), ruling coincidentally with his father, predeceasing him by 3 years. He died of
smallpox, leaving his younger brother, Leopold as heir apparent.
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LEOPOLD I (Lip6t I,1655-1705)
He was the second son of Ferdinand Ill. When his elder brother Ferdinand IV died prematurely, he became
eligible for the Hungarian throne as well. Fluent since childhood in Latin, Italian, German, French and
Spanish, he was intended originally for serving the Church. But fate intervened and he had to shoulder
other responsibilities. In addition to Hungary, Bohemia and Croatia also elected him for their king, a
kingdom which was marked by life-long rivalry with France's Louis XIV, the Sun-king. This rivalry was
complicated by Spain, whose king, Charles II,was a Habsburg, related by marriage to the Austrian branch,
while a similar family tie bound him to the French royals. Charles II was feeble, considered insane and
childless, so the other Europeans jumped on him and his rule, trying to divide his extensive kingdom.
Charles died in November, 1700 and left his crown to Philippe, a grandson of Louis XIV. This angered
Leopold and with the help of British king William Illthey resorted to armed conflict with France. (As a side
remark, it was during one of these conflicts that in 1704 the British seized the Spanish possession of
Gibraltar, gateway to the Mediterranean.)
This gets to be too complicated under the collective name of the War of the Spanish Succession,so we'll
leave it at that. What concerns us is the fate of Hungary during Leopold's time.
Although Leopold had his hands full with Western European rivalries, it was Hungary which gave him a
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monumental headache. We had earlier referred to a shameful "peace treaty" (the Treaty of Vasva r)
between the Turks and the Emperor following the Christian victory at St. Gotthard, whose terms turned
Hungary against Leopold. Leopold had instituted a country-wide reprisal against those who had
participated in the so-called Wessel nyi conspiracy, which sought the assistance of France and the
Ottomans to get rid of the Austrian autocratic rule. Thousands were arrested and executed, their
properties confiscated and trampled upon by mercenary troops of the Emperor. Since many of the
conspirators happened to be Protestant, it came in handy for the Habsburgs to couple this with religious
persecution of Protestants.
Many of the persecuted sought refuge in Transylvania, among them a 13-year old boy named lmre
Thokoly. As time passed, the boy grew up and in January 1680 appeared on the national scene as the
elected leader of a group of guerillas, political refugees, who fought the Imperial forces wherever they
found them. He made national news when his group, called "kuruc" (quruts) stirred up trouble for the
Habsburgs in Hungary. Enjoying the (tacit) support of the French and as well the Turks, after winning
engagements in Northern Hungary, Thokoly made incursions into Austrian territory as well. Vienna had
to listen and they did, - sort of. They reinstated the constitution and promised the national assembly that
they would redress all political and religious grievances.
Enter Kara Musztafa, the new Turkish Grandvizier, who was emboldened by Thokoly's success against
Austria, took a large army to Vienna and laid siege to the city in 1683. Leopold now had the support of the
Holy League which came to his aid and routed the Turks from the city. The defeat so upset the Turkish
Sultan that he had the Grandvizier strangled before the eyes of his troops. But this was only the beginning
of the end for the Turks. The imperial forces won victory over victory and in January 1699 the Sultan signed
the treaty of Karlowitz by which he admitted the sovereign rights of the Habsburgs over Hungary, including
Serbian Vojvodina.
22
At the risk of taxing your patience, let me interject "the rest of the story" (as Paul Harvey would have said)
about lmre Thol<oly and his new wife, Ilona Zrinyi, the widow of Ferenc Rakotzi I,whom he married in
1682, the year before his incursion into Austria. Ilona Zrinyi,was a dark-haired beauty, twelve years older
than Thkoly, and the mother of a young boy who would eventually play a major role in Hungarian history:
Ferenc Rakocztll and his sister, Julianna.
Ilona was the hostess of the Castle of Munk,ks up in Northern Hungary, now part of Carpathian Ukraine.
When the Turks were on the run following the loss of Buda, the Sultan wanted to make a scapegoat out of
Thokoly for their bad fortune. While he was a dinner guest of Pasha Ahmat's at Nagyvarad (now Oradea,
Romania), Thokoly was taken prisoner and bound hand and foot was delivered to Chief Pasha Ibrahim's
headquarters at Belgrade. The news of Thokoly's arrest disheartened his kuruc troops who disbanded and
joined the imperial forces of Emperor Leopold. When the Sultan heard of Thokoly's arrest, he condemned
his own leaders and had Pasha Ibrahim strangled and rehabilitated Thokbly.
Leopold's imperial forces and the Holy League were under the Munkacs fortress of the defiant Ilona Zrinyi
who swore resistance. The ensuing siege of the Munkcs fortress lasted an incredible three years and
won the admiration of foreign leaders, including France's Louis XIV who wrote rapturous letters about
this legendary woman. Exhausted of supplies, the fortress fell in 1688 to the Emperor who sentenced
Ilona and her 12-year-old son, Ferenc Rakdczi,to captivity in Vienna. (Leopold condemned Ilona's other
child, a daughter, to become a nun.) Imre Thokoly, with renewed energy and at the head of 15,000
cavalry men, won a battle against the imperial army in Transylvania in 1691. An exchange of prisoners
was arranged and Ilona joined her husband at Palanka by the lower Danube river. Their son, however,
could not be freed. He was sent to Bohemia, never to see his mother again.
Pressured by Vienna, the Sultan sent the couple to a modest residence in the tiny village of Bythinia in the
Turkish province of Nikodemia in Asia Minor where Ilona died in 1703 at age 60, and Imre Thokoly died
two years later at age 48. Thus ended one of the charming love stories in Hungarian history.
The battle of Buda
The liberation of Hungary from the Turks after more than a century and a half cannot be left without
telling the story of the Battle Buda.
As you recall, Buda was conquered by the Turks and occupied permanently in 1541, even though the
victorious Turks had occupied it earlier following the battle of Mohacs, but abandoned it shortly
thereafter. Buda stayed under Turkish occupation for 145 years. After the siege of Vienna the Pope urged
the Christian rulers to put together an army to rid Europe of the Turks. Thus, the Holy League was formed,
consisting of about 38,000 men who, under the command of Charles V, the Duke of Lorraine, crossed the
Danube at Esztergom on June 13, 1684. They proceeded to the castle town of Visegrad and attacked
Esztergom on June 16th which led to its capitulation in a day and a half. - The town of Vac was defended
by 17,000 Turkish troops, but could not resist the cannon fire of the Imperials and fell to the attackers.
On June 30 the imperial army entered Pest on the left bank of the Danube which had been destroyed by
flames set by the Turks in anticipation of an attack. Across the river, Buda was defended by 10,000 Turks.
The Holy League opened fire with 200 canons on July 14. Through July and August the attacks on Buda
castle were repelled by the Turkish defenders.
23
The morale of the imperial army suffered and the number of soldiers fit for service shrank to 12,500, with
many troops suffering from dysentery in epidemic proportions. When a Turkish relief column arrived, the
battle see-sawed but went nowhere. On October 30th, after 109 days of siege, the imperial army
withdrew.
Two years later the Holy League forces grew to 80,000 men including many Hungarians and men from
most of the European countries. The Turks had 7,000 men to defend Buda castle. The second siege
began in June, 1686 and on July 27th they attempted to scale the castle which cost the lives of 5,000
soldiers. Finally, despite some heroic efforts by Turkish reinforcements, the imperial army entered the
city. A horrible mass slaughter ensued as the victors plundered the castle and killed many of its
inhabitants, including 3,000 Ottoman troops and massacred half the Jewish population as "heathens."
The Holy League went after the rest of the retreating Turks and won a great victory at the second battle
of Mohcs in 1687 and another at Zenta (near my father's birthplace) an incredible 10 years later in 1697,
until the above-mentioned Treaty of Karlowitz in 1699 acknowledged the sovereign rights of the house of
Habsburg over Hungary. Tragically, the year after the battle of Buda, the Hungarian diet at Pressburg
changed the Hungarian constitution and gave the right to the Habsburgs for succession to the throne
without election.
Leopold's wives and issues
Leopold was married 3 times. The first wife was Margarita Teresa of Austria, daughter of King Philip IV of
Spain. She was a blonde princess and both the niece and first cousin of Leopold. After giving birth to four
children,she died at age twenty-one. The second wife was Archduchess Claudia of Austria. She and her two
infant daughters died within two years. The third wife was Eleonore Magdalene of Neuburg, who gave
birth to ten children. The first son, Joseph, would become Leopold's successor.
A talented
composer, Leopold had written the requiem mass for his first wife and other compositions were described
as "works of exceeding high merit."
Leopold died May 5, 1705, buried in Vienna.
Ferenc Rakoczi II, a reluctant warrior
A few pages earlier we wrote about romance between lmre Thokoly and Ilona Zrinyi, mother of Ferenc
Rakoczi II. He was born on March 27th, 1676 in Borsi (now Slovakia). By his father's rights, Ferenc was a
nobleman and a Prince of Transylvania. Today he is a national hero of Hungary.
His family owned considerable amounts of land which made him the richest landlord in Hungary. His
father, Ferenc Rak6czi I,was involved in the Wesselenyi conspiracy against the Emperor, in which many of
his partners lost their lives. He was released only against the impossibly large ransom of 400,000
Thalers. (The Thaler, a silver coin weighing 28 grams was the official currency of Germany and Austria. In
the 1700s 400,000 Thalers would have been the equivalent of about 300,000 U.S. Dollars. As a Counselor
in Weimar the writer von Goethe earned 1400 Thaler a year.)
24
When Ferenc was only 4, his father died. Incredibly, by the father's request the Emperor gained
guardianship of the Rakdczi children, Ferenc and Julianna. Their mother, Ilona Zrinyi,would marry lmre
Thokoly, an aspirant to the throne of Hungary and a warrior against the Austrian
rulers.
Ilona made the family's home in Munkacs castle (in today's Carpathian Ukraine), which would be attacked
in 1686 by Imperial forces. As we had seen earlier, the siege lasted 3 years,but Ilona had to capitulate in
1688, and was forced to take her children to Vienna. Forced to abandon his family, young Ferenc was
enrolled in a Jesuit college in Bohemia. He never saw his mother again. The Court's purpose was to totally
assimilate him and neutralize his Hungarian sentiments and patriotism. Ferenc continued his education
at the University of Prague. His sister, Julianna, escaped from the convent and married the Austrian
General Aspremont, who was twice her age.
Back in Vienna, in 1694 Ferenc married Princess Amelia, the 15-year-old daughter of the Duke of Hessen
and a descendant of Hungary's Saint Elizabeth. The young couple moved to his estates at Sarospatak in
Hungary. Nearly unable to speak the language, Rak6czi tried to stay out of politics until, in 1697, a peasant
rebellion broke out on his property at Tokaj. The rebels occupied the castle at Tokaj and as well the
Rakoczi castle in Sarospatak, and asked Rakoczi to be their leader. To avoid trouble with Vienna, Rak6czi
escaped to Vienna, but he was not welcome there. The imperial circles regarded Hungary and Hungarians
as a vanquished foe. The official policy, credited to Cardinal Kollonich was "to make Hungarians first
beggars, second Catholics and finally Germans."
Returning to Hungary, he could no longer be silent about conditions there. Rakoczi made contact with the
French, as France was looking for allies in its fight against Austrian hegemony. An Austrian spy intercepted
the correspondence and brought it to the attention of the Emperor. Rakoczi was arrested in April, 1700 and
imprisoned in the fortress of Wiener Neustadt, but fortune shone upon him. Six weeks later, with the help of
the sympathetic prison commander he managed to escape and flee to Poland. Here he met with his
neighbor, the Count Miklos Bercsenyi,the third richest man in Hungary, who brought with him monetary
help from the French. The War of the Spanish Succession, to which we referred earlier, forced some of the
Austrian forces to leave Hungary. Taking advantage of the situation, kuruc forces (of lmre Th?>kl>ly) began
a new uprising.
In June, 1703 Rakdczi accepted to lead the fight for national liberation. 3000 armed men joined him in
Poland and Bercslmyi brought 600 Polish mercenaries with him. Rakoczi failed to gain the support of the
Hungarian nobility, as they considered it a mere peasant uprising. But when Rak6czi's forces liberated
Transdanubia (the west side of the Danube), his forces grew to 70,000 and the Austrians started to pay
attention. On May 5, 1705 Emperor Leopold Idied. His successor, Joseph I,mustered an 80,000-man army
and marching across Hungary occupied Transylvania. This was a major blow to the Hungarians.
By 1706 Rakdczi had 116,000 men under his command. Fighting under the banner of "Cum Deo pro patria
et libertate" (With God for country and liberty), Rakoczi issued a solemn manifesto in Latin and in French,
calling the world's attention to the plight of the Hungarian people. The problem was that the War of the
Spanish Succession occupied the French army, which failed to join the Hungarians. Supplies dried up.
Negotiations stalled. Although the Hungarian Diet of September, 1705 elected Rak6czi as the country's
"vezerlc! fejedelem" (leading prince), peace talks didn't go anywhere. The Diet declared to depose the
House of Habsburg from the Hungarian throne, but French King Louis XIV withdrew his support.
25
The imperial Court proposed a cease-fire in May, 1706 and used Rkbczi1s wife, Amelia, to intercede with
the Hungarian leader to accept the proposal. Emperor Joseph I was said to be sympathetic to the
Hungarians and to Rakoczi. He offered Rakbczi two principalities in Austria with hereditary rights, if he
would terminate the war and swear loyalty to him. Rakbczi1s conditions for an independent Transylvania
and guarantees of honoring the treaty were not acceptable to Joseph. Amelia left Rakdczi alienated from
her husband. The Emperor then sent Rakoczi's sister, Julianna, to deliver the new terms, but the Hungarian
leader rejected them as well. The fighting resumed.
At the battle of Trencs n in August 1708 Rkbczi1s horse stumbled, throwing him off. The fall knocked him
unconscious. Thinking that he was dead, the kuruc forces fled and asked the Emperor for clemency.
Rak6czi1s recovery went slowly. Finally, in February of 1711 he left Hungary and went to Poland. While
he was away from Hungary, Count Sandor Kcirolyi was named commander of the Hungarian forces and
negotiated peace. (Rak6czi himself considered this an act of treason.) 12,000 men laid down their arms
and swore allegiance to the Emperor in May 1711at Majteny in Szatm r county. Rak6czi was offered an
asylum in Poland and the Polish crown. In April, 1711, Emperor Joseph died. Rakdczi rejected the idea of
a peace treaty which, signed after the Emperor's death, he considered null and void.
The following year Rakdczi went to England to ask Queen Anne for her help. The Queen, under Habsburg
pressure refused even to meet with him. From England he sailed to France and confronted Louis XIV, but
the king was too busy with writing the treaty which ended the War of the Spanish Succession. Rak6czi
was ignored. When Louis XIV died in September, 1715, Rakbczi accepted the invitation of the Ottoman
Empire to move there. He left France in September, 1717 with an entourage of 40 people. The Austrians
were pressuring the Turks to extradite the exiled Hungarians, but the Sultan refused.
Ferenc Rakoczi and his group of Hungarians were settled in the town of Tekirdag (called Rodostd in
Hungarian) in Northwest Turkey by the Sea of Marmara. One of the settlers was the Hungarian writer
Kelemen Mikes, who became Rakoczi1s chamberlain, wrote: "I had no special reason for leaving my country,
except that I greatly loved the Prince.11 During the ensuing years Mikes would write countless letters, telling
the story of the exiles, which became a treasured legacy of Hungarian literature. Upon Rakdczi1s death in
1735, Mikes petitioned the Empress Maria Theresa to allow him to return to Hungary. The Empress denied
the request, writing across the paper: "Ex Turcia non est redemptio.11 (Out of Turkey there is no redemption.)
This has, over the centuries, become a byword: Once one has committed to a path, there is no turning back,
no redeeming, no mercy.
Rakdczi and the exiles lived in Rodostd for 18 years, never to return to their beloved Hungary. The Prince
died April 8, 1735 at age 59. His internal organs were buried in the Greek church of Rodost6, while his heart
was sent to a monastery in Gros-Bois, France, according to his last wishes. (He had resided there, enjoying
gardening, while living in France.) Rakdczi's body was buried in Saint Benoit Jesuit church in Galata, next
to his mother, Ilona Zrinyi. Ultimately, his remains and those of his mother were moved in October, 1906 to
St. Elizabeth Cathedral in Kassa (now Kosice, Slovakia).
The Rakoczi war of liberation cost 85,000 Hungarian lives and nearly bankrupted the Austrian treasury.
But its spirit comes to life every time the Rakbczi March, composed by Hector Berlioz, sounds off. Rcfkoczi
was indeed a reluctant warrior. Out of necessity, he rallied the forces behind him, but did not have the
magnetism to lead them. Constantly battling an internal conflict within himself, he seemed to be asking
for God 1s mercy for having put him in that position. Ultimately, he lost his wife, his country and the cause
for which so many sacrificed.
26
Janos Bottyn. a.k.a. Vak Bottyan
As a child, living in Budapest, my home address was Vak Bottyn utca 6. Often people would ask me
where the street name came from. Here is the answer.
Although initially the nobles were not thrilled to join Rakdczi's liberation movement, eventually more and
more of the nobility signed up and attained high military rank. One of Rkoczi's generals was John Bottyatn
the Blind, who had started out on the side of the government but soon defected to join the revolutionary
forces. He was in his 60s by that time, yet, he was one of Rakdczi' s most valued military leaders. Bottyn
came from peasant stock, but earned the respect of all the kuruc forces. Rk6czi's trusted friend, Bottyan
the Blind died in 1709. Budapest honored the old fighter by naming a street after him.
One more remark concerning Sclndor Karolyi,who was one of the signers of the Peace Treaty of Majtny
(or Szatmar) in May, 1711. With the war over, Karolyi returned to his home estate at Szatmar in the
Northwest corner of Transylvania. Finding his fields barren for lack of laborers, he issued an invitation to
residents of Germany to come and settle there. That is how my ancestors, the Wilhelms from Bavaria,
came to Hungary in 1721,settling in nearby Mez8feny.
According to a legal document which survived, the settlers received a 3-year tax exemption from the landlord
and 6 years from the county of Szatmar. During this time they could not be conscripted into the army. At the
end of 3 years they were required to work for the landlord as serfs or vassals. The landlord would hire a
priest for them, and they could elect their own German administrators. Each settler got two oxen, one milk
cow and 12 bushels of seeds. The price of these items was to be repaid to the landlord over a period of time
either in cash or in kind. They would also receive one Rheiner Forint (roughly the equivalent to a Hungarian
crown) for the reimbursement of their travel expenses. While they were working for the landlord's harvest,
they got full board and
provisions.
This will bring the story of Rak6czi's time up close and personal for most of my readers.
JOSEPH I (1687-1711)
He was the eldest son from Emperor Leopold's third marriage, born in 1678. He was crowned king of
Hungary already at age 9 and succeeded his father in 1687. Unfortunately for him, he lived in the middle
of the War of Spanish Succession against Louis XIV of France, trying to make his brother Charles the king
of Spain. Of course, in addition to his Western adventures, he had to look out on his Eastern portico,
because Hungary was embroiled in a war of liberation under Ferenc Rakclczi II.
He can be characterized as a forward-looking, innovative ruler. He tried to stream-line the bureaucracy
of the Court in Vienna and had to rebuild the country's finances, having splurged it on the long wars both
West and East. When the Hungarian revolt came to a halt, he was fair enough not to execute the leaders
but offer them clemency, provided they swore allegiance to him.
In 1699 he married Wilhelmine of Brunswick-Luneburg, a descendant of previous Holy Roman Emperors.
They had two daughters and a boy, but the boy died of hydrocephalus in his first year of life. Joseph had
many affairs outside his marriage. Somehow he avoided having illegitimate children, but caught syphilis
which he passed on to his wife. Producing an heir became impossible.
27
The dreaded plague, the Black Death, affected much of Europe. The Emperor, too, was infected and died
in 1711. He is buried in Vienna and one of the city's districts, Josefstadt, was named for him.
His reign reached into the early beginnings of the 18th century. Let us first acquaint ourselves with an
overview of the 1Jth which has just closed.
THE 17th CENTURY
I like to review the passage of time by looking at timelines, which bring to parallel the political, cultural,
artistic and scientific categories. These events, sampled one by one, obviously do not make history. A
comprehensive study of their relations is what ties everything together. The only thing that a timeline of
history provides is the chronology of events. Without reading the full (and relevant) story, these excerpts
from happenings worldwide mean little to most people.
Writing this work on the political decision-makers of Hungary, Ihave to be extra selective in trying to give
a "flow" to the events which were relevant to my subject. We are unashamed to focus on Europe,
although we realize that the founding of Jamestown in Virginia cannot be ignored, knowing that eventually
hundreds of thousands of our Hungarian countrymen would seek their fortune in the expanded colony,
which is the United States of America. An achievement may be great, but what residual benefit did it
serve regarding Hungary? In China, for example, the collapsing Ming Dynasty was challenged by the
Manchus and in 1615 Panembahan ing Alaga of Mataram conquered the Eastern Salient of Java. Are you
impressed?
Sandor Mjrai,the celebrated 20th century Hungarian author, remarked that "history brews in small mugs."
Often events look insignificant at the outset, but then someone (and it is always an individual) fills the
mug and lights the fire under it, which launches discoveries, invents beneficial (or murderous) craft, starts
wars, makes peace, creates beautiful things or tramples on God's creation. The 17th century was not
exempt from such things, so let us take a look.
With the ongoing Turkish occupation of Hungary in the 1Jth century, it is difficult for a historian to give an
overview of Hungarian history when the country had been hacked into three very different parts. Our
first king of that century was the Austrian Matthias II who had the good intentions of granting religious
freedom for those under his rule and independence to Transylvania (Treaty of Vienna, 1606). The
Habsburg family looked askance at his conciliatory policies. Whereas two of the torn parts from the
political body, Transdanubia (under the thumb of Austria) and the Great Plains (under the Turkish fez))
couldn't or wouldn't produce a leader, Transylvania took center place with Princes lstv n Bathory, Istvan
Bocskay and Gbor Bethlen. Eventually the entire country fell under the spell of the great patriot and
statesman Ferenc Rakckzi II.
Holy Roman Emperor Ferdinand ll's rule was overshadowed by the 30-years-war, which started in Prague
where, in 1618, two Regents were thrown from the windows of Hradcany Palace in a rebellious act called
"defenestration." Hungary was spared the worst damages of the Thirty Years War, but suffered the nearly
total neglect of the divided nation by the warring parties. The long war, posing Protestants and Catholics,
- both Christians, - against each other, was followed by the counter-reformation movement. In Hungary
one of its main proponents was Cardinal PMer Pazmany 1570-1637). Politically, the Treaty of Vasvar in
1664 dumped Central and Eastern Hungary (Transylvania) into the lap of the Ottomans and
turned
28
Hungarians into puppets of the Habsburgs1 whim. Under pressure, the national assembly (Diet) tragically
made the Habsburg succession hereditary in the male line.
The second part of the century was mostly engrossed in the War of Spanish Succession. Again, this had
to do with the royal families, not the people under their yoke. The Turks, emboldened by lmre Thokoly1s
military success against the Austrians, laid siege to Vienna in 1683 but they were routed by combined
Christian armies led by Leopold I,which forced the Turks to sign the Treaty of Karlowitz, granting sovereign
rights to the Austrians over Hungary. After 145 years, Buda Castle was liberated.
The peasant uprising at Tokaj got Hungary1s major landlord, Ferenc Rak6czi II involved in a war of liberation.
He had a large following and even enlisted the promise of help from French King Louis XIV against the
Habsburgs. The war raised the consciousness of Hungarians who elected him their Leading Prince. A
mishandled cease-fire proposal sidelined the issue and the Austrians came out on top. Rkoczi went into
exile in Poland, and resettled in Turkey. The Treaty of Szatmr in May, 1711, sealed the fate of Hungary under
the Habsburgs, and Transylvania was given a measure of independence.
It was during this century that the colonization of the American continent began. Capt. John Smith
became the legendary leader at the founding of Jamestown,Virginia in 1607. Because there is a slight
connection here with Hungary, let me touch on that briefly. John Smith was born in 1580 in Lincolnshire,
England. After his father's death, he set off to sail at age 16. First he was a mercenary under the French
1
fighting pirates, the Turks and others, ending up in Hungary as an officer in the Habsburgs army against
the Turks. For his bravery,the Transylvanian Prince Zsigmond Bathory knighted him.
Later in a battle he was captured and sold as a slave. His Turkish master sold him to his Greek mistress,
from where Smith escaped, went to Crimea and from there returned to England in 1604. Two years later
he sailed for Virginia with the colonists. En route he was charged with mutiny and barely escaped
execution. The Virginia Company put him in charge of Jamestown. The colonists had a tough first winter,
losing about half their numbers to starvation and cold. He befriended the Indian princess Pocahantas,
who warned him against a conspiracy. When he was captured by the Indians, Pocahantas threw herself
across Smith1s body and begged her father to have Smith escorted to Jamestown. Captain Smith eventually
returned to England,never to see Virginia again. {Pocahantas would marry John Rolfe in 1614, but died 3
years later.)
Elsewhere in the world the Gobelin family of dyers opened a factory in France in 1601 where workers
from Flanders made tapestries, which became major decorations of high class homes and palaces. The
first authorized version of the King James Bible was published in 1611. Several expeditions of discovery
took place. Among them Henry Hudson sailed up the river that would later bear his name and discovered
Hudson Bay in 1609. Inthe same year the Dutch East India Company shipped tea to Europe, which became
a staple in homes for rich and poor alike.
In Constantinople, six years of construction began on the Blue Mosque in 1609. Not to be confused with
the neighboring Hagia Sophia, this mosque was named after Sultan Ahmed after the Turks were routed
from their occupation of Hungary. Built on the site of the palace for Byzantine Emperors, it has a main
dome, 6 minarets,8 smaller domes, 200 windows and is decorated with 20,000 blue tiles.
The Russian Romanov dynasty was established in 1613 when Michael Romanov, son of the Moscow
patriarch, was elected Czar of Russia.
29
I want to include here a figure who was born in the 16th century, but became a leading figure in politics,
exploration and intrigue, giving his life to the executioner in 1618. Sir Walter Raleigh was an English
aristocrat, born around 1554 to a Protestant family in Devon, England. Early in life he took part in
suppressing rebels in Ireland, later becoming a landlord of property which had been confiscated from the
rebels. He was one of Queen Elizabeth l's favorite and was knighted in 1585. He was granted a royal
patent to colonize the English colony in Virginia, but drew the ire of the Queen when he secretly married
the queen's lady-in-waiting. The couple were sent to the Tower of London and barely escaped execution.
He then sailed to South America and wrote legends about his findings there. Again imprisoned for a plot
against King James I,but was sent on a second exploration to South America. The Spanish called for his
head for ransacking a Spanish outpost. He was arrested again and executed in 1618. He had been a most
notable figure of the Elizabethan era.
The lJ!h century produced many outstanding artists and musicians. One of them was the musician Claudio
Monteverdi,who was made maestro di cappella at St. Mark's, Venice, in 1613. One of the other artists
was Bernini, a baroque Italian sculptor whose magnificent works, including David, decorate Florence's Uffizi
Palace museum. Bernini designed the colonnade infront of St. Peter's and decorated the ape of the
cathedral. The famous main altar of St. Peter's was Bernini's work.
It is interesting to consider that in this century England's political system became rather unique in that
the monarch was a symbolic figure and Parliament dominated the political scene. This was in sharp
contrast with France, where royal absolutism was the norm. This does not mean, however, that the
British system was without its ups and downs. In fact, the period we call "The English Civil War'' started
in 1642 and produced some remarkable leaders, such as Oliver Cromwell. Cromwell was born at the end
of the 15th century in 1599 and died in 1658. He was a military man, born into the middle gentry class. As
a 40-year old, he underwent a religious conversion and took a tolerant view toward the Protestant sects.
As a member of Parliament he became one of the principal commanders of the Army and played an
important part in defeating the royalist forces.
He was in command of the English campaign in Ireland ending the Irish confederate wars. Penal laws were
passed against the relatively few Catholics living in Ireland, Scotland and England and their land holdings
were confiscated. From December 1653 Cromwell was invited to be Lord Protector of Britain. He died in
1658 and was buried in Westminster Abbey, but his body was desecrated by the royalist forces as they dug
him up, hung him in chains and beheaded him. Whereas he was considered by some as a hero of liberty,
his measures against Catholics in Scotland and Ireland were genocidal.
The country was split between the supporters of King Charles Iand those supporting Parliament. We must
consider that whereas the civil war went on for over 6 years, because of weather and the condition of the
infrastructure, armies could not freely or easily travel. That is one reason why there were only three major
standing battles: Edge Hill in 1642, Marston Moore in 1644 and Naseby the next year. The nobility and
the Anglican landowners were on the side of Charles I, whereas city dwellers supported Parliament. At
the last battle Charles suffered a major defeat and surrendered to the Scots but the Scots sold him to
Parliament for 400,000 pounds. He was tried in 1649, found guilty of "traitorously and maliciously levying
wa3'against the present Parliament and the people therein represented" and was executed.
We seem to be streaming away from causes which our noble Hungarian leaders represented. Hungary
being part of the Holy Roman Empire, we must consider some of the history of its neighbor countries. We
will probably write extensively of developments in France in the upcoming centuries, nevertheless, it is
30
appropriate to say a few words about an outstanding Frenchman, Cardinal Armand Richelieu. Born in 1585,
he became a clergyman and rose to be a noble statesman. By 1616 he became Secretary of State for
France {First Minister to the King) and was promoted to Cardinal in 1622. He served King Louis XIII and
helped the king consolidate royal power while restraining the power of the nobility. He was a great opponent
.to the Austro-Spanish Habsburg dynasty and played a major role in international politics until his death in
1642. Louis XIII, of course, was followed by Louis XIV, the "Sun King" who ruled France for 72 years,
longer than any other monarch. He became king at the age of 5 in 1643 and typified the concept of
absolutism, summing up his position as uL'etat c'est moi", the State is me. The state that he left behind
was troubled and impoverished. But you wouldn't know the extent of poverty by admiring the Palace he
built at Versailles. The chateau actually began taking shape under Louis XIII when the king obtained the
seigneury from the Albert Gondi family to build a hunting lodge. This became the core of the future grand
palace which became the residence of the royal family until the French Revolution.
Nearly everyone knows about the Passion Play which citizens of Oberammergau, Bavaria, put on every 10
years. But what was the incentive to do so? Well, in 1633 an outbreak of the plague in Bavaria led the
people to promise to reenact the play if only God would take away this awful illness.
England provided many scientists and scientific achievements to mankind. To mention just two, here is Dr.
William Harvey, who in 1619 announced the results of his study about the circulation of blood in the human
body. And the other major figure was Isaac Newton, born in 1642 in Lincolnshire. Physicist and
mathematician, he is recognized as one of the key figures in the scientific revolution. He and fellow- scientist
Gottfried Leibniz invented calculus. Newton published his theory about the laws of motion and gravity in his
book uPhilosophiae Naturalis Principia Mathematica. Newton also built the first reflecting telescope and
wrote about the characteristic of prisms which decompose white light into a wide spectrum of color. He
died at age 84 in 1727.
The faade of St. Peter's was finished in November, 1626 and consecrated by Pope Urban VIII. Here is an
abbreviated version of the study I wrote about the basilica in the Christmas edition of "In translation",
2010. Emperor Constantine started to build a huge basilica in 326 A.O. on the site of Nero's Circus
Maximum. 1200 years later, when the old structure was already in ruins, the new St. Peter's started to
take shape under the architect Donato ii Bramante (1444-1514). Michelangelo picked up the work in the
16th century and finally Lorenzo Bernini put the finishing touches on it. Construction of the dome took 6
years to complete and Bernini's altar consumed 186,000 lbs (about 95 tons) of bronze. When visiting it
on one of our trips, we traced St. Stephen's Basilica of Budapest with measurements of 287x180 feet. St.
Peter's is so huge, the Budapest basilica would fit inside comfortably 7 times. Bernini received 500 pieces
of gold for his work; the total cost is estimated at 4 billion, 680 million dollars.
Another world-famous structure, the Taj Mahal of Agra, India, was built between 1628 and 1650. It is a
white marble mausoleum built by Mughal emperor Shah Jahan in memory of his third wife, the Persian
Princess Mumtaz Mahal. She died giving birth to their 14th child. The Taj is a precious world heritage and
Iam forever grateful for the memories its visit generates.
Budapest University was established in 1635. - You probably heard the expression: "Cogito ergo sum" (I
think, therefore Iam) traced back to Rene Descartes of France, the father of modern philosophy, they say.
He pronounced this in his 1644 book: Meditationes de prima philosophia. And speaking of famous people,
the residence of the Dalai Lama was being built in 1645 in Llasa, Tibet. - The Italian Antonio Stradivari
first initialed his famous violin in 1666.
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We should give time and space to the brave people who sailed on the Mayflower in 1620 from Plymouth,
England to the New World, seeking religious freedom. 65 days later they landed in what is now Cape Cod
Bay in Massachusetts and formed the nucleus of the United States. In 1625 New Amsterdam was
established by the Dutch, which would become New York, supposedly bought for $24 from the Indians.
For the sake of saving time and space, I must be very selective in naming the artists and musicians whom
the 17th century produced. We have already featured a few, including Monteverdi, Bernini and
Michelangelo. Two of the greatest musicians ever were born in the same year: 1685. They were J. S. Bach
and G. F. Handel. Other outstanding figures included Antonio Vivaldi (1678-1741, The Four Seasons), van
Rijn Rembrandt (1606), Daniel Defoe {1660-1731, Robinson Crusoe), Moliere (1622-1673, Tartuffe), William
Shakespeare (1564-1616), Galileo Galilei (1564-1642), John Milton (1608-1674, Paradise Lost),,
Henry Purcell (1659-1695), Georg Philipp Telemann (1681-1767), Johann Pachelbel (1653-1706) and
many others.
There is one more fascinating item recorded in this century. In 1697 Peter the Great of Russia, calling himself
Peter Michailoff, set out on a year-and-a-half journey to Prussia, Holland, England and Vienna to study
European ways of life. Iam sure he had a full notebook to take back with him to Russia.
CHARLES Ill {Ill. Karoly, 1711-1740)
Succeeded his older brother Joseph who died without a male heir. (Both were sons of Emperor Leopold I
and his third wife.) His marriage to Elizabeth Christine of Brunswick-Wolfenbuttel produced two children,
both girls: Maria Theresa (the last Habsburg sovereign) in 1717and Maria Anna in 1718. Their third child,
a boy, died in infancy.
Leopold I,the father of the brothers Joseph and Charles, had made them sign a pact whereby, if neither
had a male heir, the daughters of Joseph would have preference for royal succession. When Charles
accessed the throne, changed the document in 1713 and issued the so-called Pragmatic Sanction, putting
his own children ahead of Joseph's. He sought the approval of other European governments, but they
exacted difficult terms from him. Britain demanded that Austria abolish its overseas trading compan y,
and other governments voiced misgivings. In the end France, Spain, Poland, Bavaria and Prussia refused
to agree.
Upon the death of the king of Spain in 1700,Charles simply announced himself a successor, since both
were Habsburgs, and sailed to occupy the Spanish throne. This declaration produced the War of Spanish
Succession, pitting France's Philip, Louis XIV's grandson against Charles, which lasted for 14 years.
Members of the Holy Roman Empire were on the side of Charles, although Great Britain later withdrew its
support. The Treaty of Utrecht of 1713 gave Spain to Philip, but created more confusion about dividing the
countries of Europe between Spanish and Austrian interests.
The Pragmatic Sanction abolished male-only succession in all the Habsburg-controlled countries except
Hungary which had always permitted female succession (see Maria of Anjou in the
14th century).
Charles was involved in conducting several wars. The Austro-Turkish war of 1716 lasted until 1718. Its terms
were favorable for the victorious Austrians, who annexed the Banat region by the lower Danube to
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Hungary, and placed Serbia and parts of Wallachia under Austrian rule. The War of Quadruple Alliance
involved the Mediterranean islands of Sardinia and Sicily, but had nothing to do with Hungary, so we won't
detail it here. (Another war about Polish succession also involved Austria vs. France as supporters of two
candidates for the Polish throne.) The last military action for Austria took place in 1737 when Charles
partnered with Russia against the Turks, again. It was a costly war which Austria lost, giving back Serbia
to the Turks. The Austrian Treasury was nearly empty. Charles still had two daughters to give away in
marriage.
Maria Theresa was first engaged to Leopold Clement of Lorraine, but the gentlemen died of smallpox in
1723. Next to come knocking was Clement's brother, Francis Stephen. Enter France, which demanded that
Francis surrender his hereditary domain, Lorraine. Trying to avoid a confrontation with France, Charles
made Francis comply, saying: "No renunciation, no archduchess." That worked. He and Maria Theresa
were married in February, 1736. The Emperor died in October, 1740, the cause of death believed to be
poisonous mushrooms. As we shall see later, Maria Theresa had to resort to arms to defend her rights to
the throne, based on the Pragmatic Sanction. Her enemies formed a coalition of Franc e, Prussia, Poland
and Spain and assaulted the Austrian frontier within a few weeks after the
Emperor's death.
Of all her possible defenders, it was the Hungarians who came to her aid.
MARIA THERESA (Maria Terezia, 1740-1780)
The story of Maria Theresa can run into pages. So let's start with the essentials and then, if you are
interested, we can go into more detail about this woman, this Empress, whom they called: "The only man
in the Habsburg dynasty."
Maria Theresa Walburga Amalia Christina was the older daughter of Emperor Charles (VI in the West, Ill in
Hungary). She was the only woman in the House of Habsburg who was sovereign of Austria, Hungary,
Croatia, Bohemia, Mantua, Milan, Lodomeria, Galicia, Parma and the Austrian Netherlands. By marriage
she was Duchess of Lorraine, Grand Duchess of Tuscany and Holy Roman Empress to top it off. (In case
you are wondering where some of these places are: Mantua is in the Po valley in Northern Italy; Parma is
in the region of Milan, and Lodomeria in only on paper, representing Eastern Poland.)
The Pragmatic Sanction paved her way to get to the top and as soon as father Charles died, the states
opposed to the royal succession of this Habsburg branch started tearing down its boundaries. When Prussia
went after mineral-rich Silesia, it started a 9-year conflict called the War of Austrian Succession. The other
antagonists acted similarly, causing Maria Theresia major headaches which, ultimately, the Hungarians
came to soothe.
She and her husband, Francis of Lorraine, whom she married in 1736 when she was 19, had sixteen
children. Francis and one of her sons, Joseph, were officially her co-rulers in Austria and Bohemia, but
otherwise Maria Theresa was an absolute monarch. Her achievements include the propagation of
financial and educational reforms, development and modernization of agriculture and strengthening the
military. She was criticized for being somewhat bigoted toward other than Roman Catholicism. Obviously,
she was educated by Jesuits. What set her apart, as Wikipedia points out, was that neither of her parents,
nor her grandparents were closely related to each other, "making her one of the few members of the
House of Habsburg who was not inbred."
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The first few months of her reign started with war with Prussia which, as mentioned above, wanted
mineral-rich Silesia for itself. When King Frederick II of Prussia invaded Silesia, a life-long enmity started
between the two rulers. The Austrians suffered a crushing defeat in the Battle of Mollwitz in April 1741.
France became bloodthirsty and drew up a plan to partition Austria. She needed help and the only noncombatant happened to be Hungary, to whom she turned in desperation. I am quoting Istvan Sisa (The
Spirit of Hungary, page 124):
"Maria Theresa decided to appear before the Hungarian nobles of the Diet in Pozsony. Dressed in black
and holding her infant son in her arms, she made a spectacular entry before the all-male Diet. Then, with
tears in her eyes, she appealed (I assume in German):
"The clouds of danger gather above us from all directions. Ido not want to hide this fact from my beloved
Hungarians as you also are affected by it. The Holy Crown is in danger. Iam in danger with my child and
- abandoned by all others - I solicit the help of Hungarian arms whose fame shines throughout history. I
appeal to the well-known gallantry of the Magyars and in to their loyalty. It is inthis fidelity that Iherewith
lay my future and my child's future."
The next scene is described by the Hungarian novelist M6r Jokai: "At this moment all those present forgot
past and current grievances, all the wrongs the Habsburgs had done to the Magyars... All they saw in this
moment was the injustice done to a lonely woman, a woman who, after all, was their Queen .... (They)
unsheathed their swords and broke out in one voice, crying: Vitam et sanguinem pro Regina nostra!
(Eletunket es verunket a kiralyntlnkert! - Our life and blood for our Queen!}."
These words had to be followed by deeds. In the meantime, in October, the Elector of Bavaria captured
Prague and declared himself King of Bohemia. To make matters worse, Charles Albert was unanimously
elected Holy Roman Emperor in January 1742, a position which Maria Theresa wanted for herself badly.
Hungary came through with 80,000 men by the end of the year. They kicked Charles Albert out of Munich
and forced Frederick of Prussia to conclude a treaty with Austria. The French were forced to give up
Bohemia and in 18 months of fighting Maria Theresa's empire was whole again, except for minor
skirmishes. Charles Albert died in January, 1745 and was replaced by Maria Theresa's husband, Francis
Stephen as Holy Roman Emperor.) - The Hungarians swung into action again in 1743 when Frederick tried
his tricks anew and in 1757 when the 7-year Austro-Prussian war started. In that war, Hungarian general
Count Andr s Hadik captured the German capital of Berlin with a unique march of 32 miles a day (vs. the
normal 12). Hadik achieved this with 4300 men, including 1160 hussars and exacted 245,000 thalers from
the vanquished Prussians. The names of the Hungarian generals sound like precious bells to us:
Eszterhzy, Batthnyi, Nadasdy, Festetich, Gillnyi and Hadik.
The visitor to the Castle District in Budapest, while walking toward the famed Ruswurm Patisserie, would
pass by the statue of Andras Hadik on horseback. For good luck, students on the way to school would touch
and rub the testicles of Hadik's horse shiny. This, obviously, has no historical significance, but provides
comic relief, - for some.
Now it was time for Maria Theresa to show her gratitude toward Hungary. The Queen was keenly aware
of the value which her Hungarian subjectscan provide for her. For her coronation in St. Martin's Cathedral,
Pressburg (Pozsony), on June 25, 1741,she spent months honing her equestrian skills necessary for the
elaborate ceremony. In gratitude for the Hungarians' generous offer she granted favors to noblemen and
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invited their sons for special educational opportunities to Vienna where they would meld into the
glamorous high society and not return to Hungary. The problem was that the lower social strata saw
relatively little of the Empress' generosity. But she gave Hungary an Adriatic port by re-annexing Fiume
{now Rijeka) and extended the Hungarian borders southward into the Ternes Bansag. Her donations of
large estates went to loyal nobles, but she was jealous of Hungarian industry which could have been
competing with Austria. Transylvania was kept as an Austrian colony, kept separate from Hungary.
Hostilities started again when Frederick of Prussia invaded Saxony in August, 1756 and attacked Bohemia
as well. This war would last 7 years and even reached across the Atlantic Ocean. It is fascinating to
contemplate the formation of alliances between former antagonists. The power struggle was between
two groups of countries: Austria, France, Russia and Sweden on one side, opposed by Great Britain,
Hanover (Germany) and Prussia on the other. The Battle of Kolin was a decisive victory for Austria as
Frederick lost a third of his troops. On the other hand, France, which was on Austria's side this time,
suffered a crushing defeat in June 1757. When the Russian Empress Elizabeth died, Peter Ill became her
successor and withdrew his support from the coalition. The upshot of this whole see-saw war was that
the Treaty of Paris was signed in 1763, giving Canada to Britain, Spain received Louisiana and France lost
much of her territory west of the Mississippi. And all this commotion was on Maria Theresa's shoulders
as she was giving birth to one child after another, a total of 16 children, of which 13 survived infancy. Of
all those children,five were boys: Joseph (co-ruler with her mother), Charles Joseph (died of smallpox),
Leopold (married to Maria Louisa of Spain and successor to his brother Joseph), Ferdinand (married to
Maria Beatrice d'Este, heiress of Modena) and Maximilian Francis who became an archbishop.
Maria Theresa was a doting mother, who wrote to her children every week. Nearly everyone remembers
the story of Maria Antonia, her youngest daughter, who became engaged to Louis, Dauphin of France and
moved to Versailles, where she was known as Marie Antoinette. Her mother kept writing to her, scolding
her for her frivolity and laziness. On Maria Theresa's 50th birthday she contracted smallpox from her
daughter-in-law, Maria Josepha of Bavaria, who would die from the disease. Maria Theresa survived, but
lost one of her other daughters to smallpox as well.
Maria Theresa was a devout Catholic who managed to keep the Vatican at arms' length. She was
determined to convert non-Catholics to her faith, and carried prejudices against those who would not. Jews
and Protestants were regarded as "dangerous" for the State. At one time she wrote: "I know of no greater
plague than this race which on account of its deceit, usury and avarice is driving my subjects into beggary.
Jews are to be kept away and avoided." She taxed Jews especially at a high level and she also taxed the
nobility which had never paid taxes before.
In her administration, which instituted a reform in Prussian-style education, she made it mandatory for
all children between the ages of 6 and 12 to attend school. Some of the farming community resented it,
because they lost farm workers to the school. Having learned her lesson with the smallpox epidemic, she
instituted inoculation for all children.
Her husband, Francis l, died in August, 1765, which greatly depressed the Empress. She wore nothing but
black from there on and kept to herself in the Palace. Her health may have been affected by the brush of
smallpox as she was sickly for the remainder of her 15 years of widowhood. She died at age 63 on
November 29, 1780. Her son and co-ruler, Joseph II, became her successor for the next 10 years..
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JOSEPH II (1780-1790)
He had been co-ruler on the Austrian throne and Holy Roman Emperor since 1765. Through his father, who
descended from the hereditary domain of Lorraine, Joseph is considered a ruler from the HabsburgLorraine line (or von Habsburg-Lothringen in German). He was a shining example of an Enlightened
monarch (together with Catherine II of Russia and Frederick II of Prussia). Joseph was committed to
reforms, the implementation of which caused problems for him and his administration.
Joseph married Princess Isabella of Parma in 1760, hoping to strengthen the relationship with France as
Joseph's mother-in-law was the daughter of the king of France. Their marriage produced one daughter,
named Maria Theresa. The birth was particularly difficult for Isabella and subsequently she suffered two
miscarriages. She then became pregnant again and at 6 months she contracted smallpox and gave
premature birth to a daughter who died shortly thereafter. Isabella died a week after her child passed
away.
Under political pressure, Joseph found it necessary to marry his second cousin, Princess Maria Josepha of
Bavaria. This marriage was unhappy and lasted but two years. Maria Josepha also died of smallpox. Joseph
didn't even attend her funeral. He would never remarry. His only child, Maria Theresa, at the age of 7 in
1770, became ill with pleurisy and died. This left Joseph devastated.
Hisjoint rule with his mother, the Empress Maria Theresa, was not without problems. Joseph was tolerant
toward other religions whereas Maria Theresa was not. He was anxious to institute policies to reduce the
financial federal burden on the peasantry. He was disappointed in the negative reception which his ideas
generated. At times he quarreled with his mother. Contrary to his mother, Joseph was intellectually in favor
of the partition of Poland, arguing that Russia and Prussia was going to do it anyway. Austria took action
and acquired Lodomeria, the eastern part of Poland. Joseph also laid claim to Bavaria in order to expand
his dominion.
The death of Maria Theresa allowed Joseph to proceed with his "enlightened" governing style without
hindrance from his mother. Relatively little preparation was put into these measures which was the main
reason for its half-measure of success. He did well on the education front, modernizing teaching methods
and setting new standards of learning. He issued over 6,000 edicts of his own and had 11,000 new laws
passed, including abolishing the death penalty and ending censorship of the press. His efforts toward the
emancipation of the peasantry were commendable. He abolished serfdom and ordered that the peasants
would have to be paid in cash rather than in exchange for their labor. This was greatly resented by the
landlords and the nobility. The harsh rule of making German the official language throughout his multitongued empire was not only unreasonable but it certainly did not promote unity, which was the primary
reason for the edict. Happiness on the "Josephinist" model did not suit everyone. The Hungarian national
assembly was especially hard hit by these demands of the Court and the Diet wasn't even called together
for discussion. Of the 5 million Hungarians, 40,000 were nobles of whom about 4,000 were large land
owners, perpetuating feudalism until 1848, when Hungarians took up arms against the Austrian rulers.
And Joseph had a time constraint, because in 1789 the French revolution got under way. You'll recall that his
sister, Marie Antoinette, was married to King Louis XVI of France and was at great risk in confrontation with
the masses. Louis XVI did not want to appear as the fugitive king. In June, 1791, a rescue attempt was
made, but failed because King Louis was recognized from his picture on a coin.
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The relations between the Catholic church and Joseph's administration became constrained when Joseph
tried to keep the Church's dependence on the Pope at arm's length. Joseph made the bishops take an oath
of allegiance to him and abolished some 700 contemplative orders which he deemed unproductive, reducing
greatly the number of monks and nuns. Joseph was influenced by Freemasonry but never joined a lodge.
Pope Pius VI visited with Joseph but could not change his mind in these matters.
Hungarians were especially unhappy with the system which seemed to regulate their everyday life.
Nobles and city folks alike disliked the many new rules from taxation to administration. In a final assault
of Hungarian sensitivity, Joseph ordered St. Stephen's crown to be transported to Vienna where it was
locked up, the keys given to an Austrian and a Hungarian guard. The reaction was great enough to force
the return of the Crown to Hungary in 1790.
By 1788 Joseph was a beaten man. Too many people in too many locations rose up against his reforms,
challenging his administration. While his troops were concentrated in the East trying to keep the Turks in
line, his Western frontier crumbled. The Belgians revolted and the Hungarians were on the edge of revolt.
Joseph died on February 20, 1790. He is buried in the imperial tomb in Vienna. The inscription on his
crypt reads: "Here lies Joseph II who failed in all he undertook." And a further note along these lines:
although he was a supporter of Mozart and commissioned the German-language opera Die Entfuhrung
aus dem Seraii,Joseph's funeral cantata was commissioned to be written by Beethoven. The irony of the
matter is that the Cantata could not be performed because of its technical difficulty.
His brother, Leopold II, became his successor.
LEOPOLD II (II Lipot, 1790-1792)
Leopold was the third son of Emperor Francis Iand his wife Empress Maria Theresa. He was 43 when he
was crowned king of Hungary. At age 6 in 1753 he was engaged to Maria Beatrice d'Este, heiress of the
Duchy of Modena, but the marriage never took place. Maria Beatrice married Leopold's brother,
Archduke Ferdinand instead. Leopold married the lnfanta Maria Luisa of Spain in 1764. They created 16
children, plus possibly many illegitimate ones as Leopold was famous for his extra-marital affairs.
As Grand Duke of Tuscany, he ran an efficient administration but could not generate loyalty among the
Italians who had been used to favoritism under the Medicis. His policies regarding religious matters is
said to be the precursor to the Virginia Bill of Rights of 1778, which was written by Thomas Jefferson. He
introduced many political and economic reforms and despite his tender relations with his brother, Joseph,
he wanted to keep his administration at arms' length, not to be identified by Joseph's failures.
Upon taking over from Joseph, Leopold pacified the Hungarians and Bohemians, and conceded reforms
to insurgents in the Austrian Netherlands (now Belgium). But he was threatened by the growing revolt in
France, and also by the aggressive ambition of Catherine II of Russia, as well as threats coming from
Prussia. The Russians wanted Leopold to take his eyes off Poland so as to make it possible for them to
annex it in total. Leopold interfered with that aggression. He stayed away from getting involved in matters
involving France, despite pressures from French emigres in his administration.
Leopold died suddenly in Vienna in March of 1792, although rumors persist that he was poisoned or
murdered.
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THE 18th CENTURY (and the people that made it fascinating)
The 17th century closed with the Treaty of Karlowiz (Karloca in Hungarian), whereby Austria received
Hungary from Turkey, liberating Hungary from 145 years of Turkish rule, but excluding the possibility of an
independent Hungary until the uprising of 1848, a century and a half away. For historical accuracy, let me
add that the Empire fought two major battles against the Turks in 1715 and 1716 which finally liberated the
South, including Belgrade (the former Nandorfehervar of 1456 fame). The war ended with the Turks when
the Treaty of Pozsarevac was concluded in 1718.
Early in the 181hcentury Hungary was embroiled in the Rak6czi uprising against the oppressive Austrian
rulers whose proclaimed goal under Emperor Leopold Ifor Hungarians was to "make them first beggars,
then Catholics and finally, Germans". Rakoczi's banner of "Cum Dea pro patria et libertate" carried his
troops to the gates of Vienna, which was immersed in the War of Spanish Succession. Alas, the wheels of
fortune turned at the battle of Trencs n in August 1708, forcing a harsh treaty on Hungarians and lifelong
exile for Rakoczi.
Emperor Joseph I is characterized as a forward-looking, innovative ruler, who was kindly toward
Hungarians. His successor, Charles Ill was involved conducting several wars. His victory over the Turks
(as mentioned above) annexed the Banat-Temesvar region of southern Hungary which would now be part
of Greater Hungary until the outbreak of World War I in 1914. His death in 1740 opened the way for his
daughter, Maria Theresa to succeed him. Opposed to the principle of the Pragmatic Sanction dealing
with female royal succession in Austria, neighboring states, including Prussia, attempted to tear down the
empire's boundaries. It was the Hungarian Diet which proclaimed help for the embattled Empress, crying
"Vitam et sanguinem" in support of their queen.
The last twenty years of the 18th century produced many changes under the enlightened governing style of
Maria Theresa's son Joseph Ill, many of those creating more friction than good. Some of the innovations,
such as the emancipation of serfs, were resented by the nobility and caused bewilderment among the
peasantry. The universal use of the German language produced resentment against the Court in Vienna
without proper representation by the Hungarians. The non-compromising rule of Joseph Illwas followed by
Leopold II who conceded reforms and made an effort to pacify his dominion at a time when the winds of
revolution were blowing ever harder from France.
Looking at the map today, one would be surprised to learn that at the turn of the 17th to the 18th centuries
Sweden was a major power to deal with, which Russia, together with Poland, resented, fearing control of
entrance to the Baltic. In the year 1700 the so-called Great Northern War broke out when armies of
Denmark, Saxony and Russia invaded different parts of the Swedish empire. Sweden, under Charles XII,
countered with an invasion of its own. The war lasted nearly 21 years, ending with major gains for Czar
Peter the Great, who took the site from Sweden where he would build his capital, St. Petersburg. He also
acquired territories which today comprise Estonia and Latvia.
An interesting and significant event took place in 1701, when Austrian Emperor Leopold I, in need of a
friendly country to the North, allowed Frederick Ill, the elector of Brandenburg to call himself King of
Prussia as Frederick I. His descendants will turn Prussia into the most efficient fighting machine in Europe
in the coming years. Frederick the Great is an ascending star.
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In 1707 an Act of Parliament was passed in Britain and in Scotland, formally uniting the two countries as
Great Britain with one Parliament but separate legal systems and Churches.
By the last quarter of the previous century, the 17th, it was France, under the absolute monarch Louis XIV,
which was considered the most prestigious and most powerful in Europe. The main concern for European
powers was the issue of the Spanish Succession, which gendered a war between three men who claimed
the right to the throne, each being related to the insane Charles II of Spain through the female line.
Charles wanted Philip of Anjou, grandson of Louis XIV to succeed him on the throne. Rulers of Austria,
the Netherlands and England favored the Archduke Charles of Austria, son of Holy Roman Emperor
Leopold I. There was also a third candidate: Leopold's grandson, the Prince Elector Joseph Ferdinand of
Bavaria. Austria's allies wanted to prevent France from gaining excessive power in Europe. The fighting
produced several battles not only in Europe but also in North America, while the British seized Gibraltar
in 1704 from the Spaniards. The Treaty of Utrecht ended the war in 1713. Philip got the throne of Spain,
England gained Nova Scotia and Newfoundland in Canada from France and Gibraltar at the entrance to
the Mediterranean from Spain.
Let me stop here for a minute, for Ifeel my readers are asking: what is it to us whether Philip or Charles
sits on the Spanish throne? And I say it is material because there was a time when Hungary mattered,
when Hungary set the tone, when to be Hungarian meant something to be proud of, despite its linguistic
isolation. It is precisely because of our central location in the Carpathian basin where East and West meet
that we must reach out and find our connection to the rest of Europe, to the rest of the world. It matters
what the main preoccupation of our neighbor is. If they are concerned mostly about royal succession, then
there may not be time enough to deal the cards which would support Hungary in the shadow of our huge
neighbors. Hungarians have always been generous in giving "vitam et sanguinem" to save Western
civilization from the onslaught of foes. That is our moral capital. We must be vigilant to see that it is well
spent.
One more thing to consider: for hundreds of years Hungary was considered to be an "appendage" to the
Turkish Sultan's design, or to the Austrian Emperor's breadbasket, or lately, in the 20th century, to the illfated aggression of Hitler on the West and Stalin on the East. We are woefully alone within the
Carpathians and unable to make the storms of history to stop at our borders. That is why we must reach
out, be aware and be weary of friends and foes, know who is knocking on our doors and why. It matters
to know history, for not knowing it we might repeat it.
Because of our geographical location and due to circumstances beyond our control, there is not much
Hungary could have done to oppose and resist the Austrian Emperor's plans for us. Two examples come
to mind. Austria wanted to demilitarize Hungary so that Vienna would no longer be threatened by a
restless satellite. The order came down in 1702 to destroy the hundreds of fortresses which had stood in
the way of the Turkish invasion and served as an obstacle course for our enemies on their way to Vienna.
Fortunately, the order could not be executed in its entirety, because the Fortress of Eger, for example,
would have required 35 tons of ammunition and hundreds of horse-drawn wagons to carry the rubble
away.
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The other Imperial order shows clearly how the Vienna Court planned to deal with Hungary; not as an
independent entity but as an appendage to the Austrian empire. The Emperor, always short of funds,
offered three counties in the center of Hungary, called the Jaszkt'.msag, in a pawn game with the Teutonic
Order of Knights. This pledge was apparently unacceptable to the Germans and that's the only reason
why it wasn't carried out.
Nevertheless, Leopold arranged for a loan from the Netherlands and gave in return 400,000 kilos of copper
per year taken from Hungarian copper mines. It seems that with the Turks having withdrawn from Hungary,
the country's welfare is no longer of interest to the Emperor.
Elsewhere in Europe, in 1707 the Parliaments of Scotland and England agreed to a union to be called Great
Britain with a single Parliament but legal systems and separate religions. - The musical scene was made
richer in 1709 with the invention of the pianoforte by Bartolomeo Cristoforo, the Italian harpsichord
maker. - In 1714 the Polish Gabriel Fahrenheit invented the mercury thermometer where the freezing
point is at 32 degrees and the boiling point of water at 212 degrees. The Swiss astronomer Anders Celsius
invented the centigrade thermometer in 1742, with freezing point being at O and boiling point at 100. In order to win favors with King George I, the German musician George F. Handel composed and
performed special festive music in 1717,called Water Music for the king's river party on the river Thames.
He would become a British subject in 1726. Much later, in 1741,Handel composed the oratorio called
"Messiah" in a mere 17days.
Johann Sebastian Bach,a most prolific German composer, was 36 years old when he composed his famous
Brandenburg Concertos in 1721. Years later he composed the St. John Passion and the monumental B
minor mass. Born in 1685, Bach was orphaned at age 10 and went to live with his organist brother, from
whom he learned to play the organ and the piano (harpsichord). At age 22 he married his cousin Maria
with whom they had 7 children. He was appointed organist in the court of Weimar, where he composed
many of his finest works. His next position was with Prince Leopold who was a Calvinist, which gave Bach
more time to compose rather than perform liturgical duties on his job at church. This is where the
Brandenburg Concertos were created. After 12 years of marriage, his wife Maria died. He remarried and
with his new wife Anna they had 13 more children, but many died in infancy. The Bach family moved to
Leipzig where his musical life was frantic, writing for four churches and conducting at St. Thomas church.
He contracted an eye disease and died shortly thereafter in 1750.
The Irish author Jonathan Swift wrote "Gulliver's Travels" in 1726 as a great satire "to vex the world," he
said.
On the other side of the Atlantic Ocean, the future American president Thomas Jefferson was born in
1743. In the fall of 2008 Iwrote a study on Jefferson's ancestry. Itraced it back to 7 generations in Wales,
when the name was written aiJeaffreson. (The study, under the title of "A long way to Jefferson", is on
file at the Kenwood Library of the Thomas Jefferson Foundation.) Two generations of Jeaffresons, born in
England, had also tried their fortune in the West Indies, however, it was Jefferson's grandfather, Thomas
Jefferson Sr, who was the first American-born of the family in 1677. Thomas Jefferson was the author of
the Declaration of Independence and a prominent leader in the Continental Congress. He served in
several elective and appointive offices, including Governor of Virginia, Ambassador to France, Secretary
of State under George Washington and later Vice President under John Adams, before becoming the 3rct
President of the United States 1801-1809. During his presidency the so-called Louisiana Purchase took
place as territories extending to the Pacific Ocean were acquired from Napoleon for 15 million dollars,
40
thereby nearly doubling the size of the United States. His home, called Monticello near Charlottesville, VA,
is a World Heritage Site. He died at age 83 in 1826.
The greatest poet and dramatist of German literature, Johann Wolfgang Goethe was born in 1749. His
masterpiece, of course, is his version of Faust on which he worked most of his life. This is the story of a
German magician who sells his soul to the devil in exchange for knowledge and power. Goethe died in
1832. - In 1756 the world became brighter when one of the greatest musicians of all time, Wolfgang Amadeus
Mozart was born in Salzburg,Austria.
Leopold Mozart, the father of Wolfgang,was a musician. He and his wife had 7 children of whom only two
lived to maturity. The 4th child, Maria Anna, was born in 1751 and the 7th and last child was Wolfgang
Amadeus, born in 1756. As soon as Wolfgang's musical talents as a pianist and composer became evident,
Leopold became his son's promoter. Wolfgang gave concert tours already at age 6. His mother died on
one of his concert tours in Paris. Mozart was a prolific composer, having written 626 pieces in 30 years of
his musically productive life, including several operas. He married Constance Webber of the musician
Webber family and moved to Vienna, where he became a Court musician, which provided him with a living
wage. He died most likely of rheumatic fever in 1791 and was buried during a thunderstorm during which
his pallbearers scattered and Mozart's coffin was never found.
In 1751 one of Hungary's wealthiest, Pal Eszterhazy, offered a contract to Joseph Haydn for a position as
house musician at Eisenstadt (Kismarton in Hungarian), and later at the Esterhazy family estate at
Eszterhaza, Hungary. Franz Joseph Haydn was born in 1732 in Austria. In his youth he was a freelance
musician and started to compose sacred music. He was to hold twice weekly concerts for the Eszterhazys.
His forte was writing symphonies, of which he wrote 104. From time to time he could travel to Paris and
London as well. Haydn died in 1809 in Vienna. Haydn had met some famous visitors at Eszterhaza, among
them the Empress Maria Theresa in 1773.
To quote from Haydn's biographer Karl Geiringer: "The Eszterhazys stood at the very top of the powerful
Hungarian nobility. They were the oldest and wealthiest magnates of the country and had the longest record
of zeal in promotion of music and the fine arts. In their Eisenstadt estate, a splendid baroque building with
four towers,there were no less than 200 rooms for guests,a beautiful reception hall with frescoes, a
chapel, a library and an immense park surrounding the castle. The Eszterhzys also owned 21 other castles,
6 towns and 414 villages in Hungary alone."
Quoting from the Age of Elegance by Edward Downes, Professor of Music History: "The Eszterhazys'
dazzling rococo domain (at Eszterhza) was conjured out of the Hungarian plain, modeled on the palace and
gardens of Versailles. Like its model, Eszterhaza was a world apart: an aristocratic preserve of glamour,
grace, wit, beauty and conspicuous consumption based on apparently limitless wealth". The anonymous
book of Prince Nikolaus himself enumerates the exquisite palace furnishings, its 126 richly gilded and
paneled guest rooms, its art gallery, hothouses, orangeries, its immense park and game preserve. It must
have been the perfect place for Joseph Haydn to compose fabulous music.
The world of music got infinitely richer in 1770 when Ludwig van Beethoven was born. Unlike composers
before him, Beethoven was not a purveyor of music to the nobility, but to the general public. He was the
son of a musician father in the service of the Court; but lost his mother early in his teen years. Moving to
Vienna, he at first studied with Haydn, but their temperaments didn't match. Beethoven made his living
as a virtuoso pianist; composition came later, and so did - at age 32 - his continually failing hearing. It is
41
therefore even more amazing that he wrote his dazzling 9the (choral} symphony to Schiller's Ode to Joy,
while totally deaf. In 1799, when Beethoven was 29 years old, he stayed in the estate of the Brunsvik family
in Hungary. Their two daughters became his pupils. He promptly fell in love with one of them, as he pined
after so many other ladies who rejected him, - "this argumentative, ugly, pockmarked and slovenly man."
Later in life he won custody of his dead brother's son, Karl. In 1826 he caught a cold which turned into
pneumonia which killed him in March, 1827. 20,000 people attended his funeral.
The French writer, philosopher and historian Marie Arouet would not be known to us had he not used the
pen name of Voltaire (1694-1778}. His literary output played a large part in events leading up to the French
Revolution. He spent some time in prison for having written critical and satirical works about the members
of the French royal court. He was even exiled to England for a while, where he was impressed by the free
thought and free life of the Britons. Returning to France, he continued his work on behalf of the rights of
man. - Working along the same lines was Jean-Jacques Rousseau (1712-1778), an influential
Frenchman born in Geneva, Switzerland of Protestant parents. He worked as a music teacher, but his
greatest influence was expressed in his work Social Contract (1782).
The American revolution
In 1765 things changed dramatically between the mother country England and its American colony. The
British parliament passed the so-called Stamp Act, which was yet another tax on the American settlers,
including a stamp on imports and publications and legal documents. Three years later British troops in
Boston fired on a group of citizens, killing five people. In 1773, when the British required yet another tax
on imported tea, Boston citizens dumped the shipment in the harbor. The incident is recorded as the
Boston Tea Party. The First Continental Congress was convened in Philadelphia in protest for the British
actions. They announced a ban on purchasing English goods. England hired 29,000 German mercenaries
to contain the rebellious Americans. The outcome would be the American War of Independence, in which
13 of Britain's colonies in North America broke away from the rule of the mother country (1775-1783),
culminating with the Declaration of Independence, written mostly by Thomas Jefferson, in July, 1776. In
1787 the new United States of America signs its new Constitution and elects George Washington as its
first president.
The French revolution
The success of the American war of independence may have given the world's oppressed hope, but it
definitely inspired and encouraged the French Revolution which started in 1789. The revolution didn't
only affect France; it transformed and shook up the Establishment throughout Europe. The cause of the
revolution included the vast gap between the lifestyle of the rich nobility and the general public. The
French Treasury was faced with bankruptcy and King Louis XVI faced rebellion. He called on the national
parliament (Estates General}, which had not met since 1614, to find a solution.
The composition of the Parliament included about 300 noblemen, 300 clergy and 600 commoners.
Fearing that the high social classes have an advantage, the mobs on the Paris streets stormed the Bastille,
a prison on July 14,1789, with the purpose of freeing political prisoners. The Estates General proposed
to write a new constitution, which Louis XVI is compelled to accept in 1790.
The king and his family conspire to escape from the country in 1791 but are recognized in disguise and are
returned to Paris. The National Assembly is dissolved.
Power passes to a radical group called the
42
Girondists, then the Jacobins as the two extreme groups eradicate each other on the guillotine. The king
is tried and executed in 1793; Marie Antoinette is beheaded. Committee of Public Safety, under
Maximilien Robespierre takes charge of the country and declares France a republic. A bloodbath of
opponents takes place, called the Reign of Terror until Robespierre himself is guillotined in 1794.
France declares war on Austria and Prussia. Military leader Napoleon Bonaparte emerges and is
appointed Commander in Chief. After a series of victories over Austria, in 1797 he advances to Vienna.
In 1798 Napoleon captures Rome and sends an expedition to Egypt where he wins the battle at the
Pyramids. Returning to Paris he overthrows the Directory and becomes First Consul of France. Peace
treaty drawn up at Luneville between France and Austria marks the end of the Holy Roman Empire in
1801. Napoleon would eventually make himself Emperor in 1804, but that is a story we'll look at when
tackling a review of the 19th century.
FRANCIS II (1. Ferenc, 1792-1835)
His predecessor, Leopold II, like his parents before him, had 16 children. The eldest son, Francis, born in
1768, became Leopold's successor. When Austria suffered a defeat by Napoleon at Austerlitz in August,
1806, Francis dissolved the Holy Roman Empire and founded the Austrian Empire, but became Apostolic
King of Hungary earlier, in 1792. To maintain peace with France, he gave his daughter Marie Louise of
Austria to Napoleon. She became Empress of France. Francis was born in Florence where his father
reigned as Grand Duke before becoming Emperor of Austria. He gained his education in Vienna. He was
regarded as strange" by the Court, as Francis was a bit backward in bodily deportment'' and exhibited
signs of a spoiled child. To improve his upbringing, he was sent to an Army regiment in Hungary. When
his father died at age 44, Francis became a 24-year-old Emperor.
11
11
Napoleon's manner of running France frightened Francis. The French had guillotined his aunt Marie
Antoinette, wife of Louis XVI,but Francis was not moved enough to negotiate for her release even though
George Danton, a leader of the French revolution, tried to obtain concessions from him. Napoleon meted
him a severe lesson in the battle of Austerlitz, after which he was forced to redraw Germany's borders as
Holy Roman Emperor along Napoleon's demands. Francis abdicated as Holy Roman Emperor. He had to
fight four battles against Napoleon at different times but was only successful on the fourth try which defeated
Napoleon. The German Confederation was the successor to the Holy Roman Empire which was created
by the Congress of Vienna in 1815.
Francis was greatly impressed by the gains of the French Revolution (traces of which were found even in
the Hungarian army, where two officers were hanged for it). To counter a possible revival of the revolution,
Francis set up a system of police spies and censors to monitor dissent. To make it look more transparent,
he made himself available two mornings a week to meet his subjects regardless of rank.
He contracted a mysterious illness and died in Vienna in 1835 at age 67. He had been married four times.
His first wife was Elizabeth of Wurttemberg from 1788 to 1790. Next he married his first cousin Maria
Teresa of the Two Sicilies and they had 12 children (but only 7 reached adulthood). The wife died in 1807.
His third wife was another first cousin in the person of Maria Ludovika of Austria. Married from 1708 to
43
1816,they had no issue. Finally, the 4th wife was Karoline Charlottes of Bavaria, whom he married in 1816,
but had no children with her.
His successor would be Ferdinand V, the eldest son of Francis II.
FERDI NAND V (1835-1848)
Although he became King of Hungary at his father's death in 1835, he was already crowned in 1830 in
Pressburg. He was the eldest son of Francis II. His parents' genetic closeness as first cousins may have
caused Ferdinand to suffer from epilepsy, hydrocephalus, speech impediment and neurological problems.
Incapable of ruling because of mental deficiency, he had to consult Archduke Louis and Foreign Minister
Prince Metternich on every aspect of royal business. He married Maria Anna of Savoy, but had no issue
as he could not consummate the marriage. When the Hungarian revolution of 1848 started, Ferdinand
abdicated in favor of his nephew Franz Joseph, and moved to Hradcany Palace in Prague until his death in
1875. (His younger brother Franz Karl waived his succession rights in favor of his son, who would sit on the
Austrian throne for the next 68 years.)
Strangely, despite his mental deficiency and sometimes as many as 20 seizures a day, he kept a coherent
and legible diary. Two sayings remain from him. The first is when his cook told him he could not have
apricot dumplings because they were out of season, he exclaimed: lch bin der Kaiser und ich will Knodel!
(I'm the Emperor and I want dumplings!). And the other is from 1848, when he was told that the
Hungarian revolutionaries are marching on the palace, he said: "Ja, durfen's den des?11 (But are they
allowed to do that?)
THE HUNGARIAN REVOLUTION OF 1848
This section is taken in part from my study of August, 2011 entitled: Cause and effect: The Hungarian
Revolution of 1848.
In a college paper on REVOLUTION in 1963 I observed the following, based on the works (L'Homme
Revolte) of French philosopher Albert Camus: "The history of man is the sum total of his successive
rebellions.11 While rebellion is limited in scope, revolution is a movement that describes a complete circle
after a complete transition. In the historical and sociological sense, a revolution involves a change of
government, accompanied by radical political, social and economic changes. Camus states that while
rebellion may kill man (and men), while revolution destroys both man and principles.
Crane Brinton, eminent scholar and historian, author of "The anatomy of revolution11 ,maintained that
reforms, without a corresponding change in government, often incite rebellions, and rebellions, in turn,
are compelled to turn to arrogance, culminating in revolution.
Thus, the event in Hungarian history of 1848 falls more in the category of a rebellion than a revolution,
because after it completed its historic "full circle11 ,it failed to achieve its goals. As a matter of fact, under
44
Brinton's terms, it may qualify also as an abortive uprising, where "oppressed nationalities after a few
heroic uprising attain a pitch of exalted patriotism and self-pity that makes them almost unbeatable."
Indeed,as we shall see, the oppressed minority of Hungarians under Austrian (Habsburg) rule sought to
bring about reforms. The Hungarian poet Sandor Pettlfi cries out: "Talpra Magyar, hi a haza!" (Rise up,
Magyar, the country calls you!) The unmet demands culminate in heroic armed uprising. This was then
followed by ultimate failure as the rebellion collapsed, leaving in its aftermath a pitch of exalted
patriotism, as expressed in Mihaly V6rosmarty's poem: "Hazadnak renduletlenul legy hive 6h Magyar."
(Keep steadfastly the trust of your country, oh Magyar". And elsewhere: "ltt lned, halnod kell!" (Here to
live and die you must.) And again, quotingfrom Pet8fi's poem "Egy gondolat bant engemet" (One thought
bothers me):
".... S holttestemen at fujd paripak szaguldjanak a kihivott diadalra, S Ott hagyjanak engemet
osszetiporva." ("....and full gallop ahead to the victory won and there shall I lie to be trampled upon."
Revolt, rebellion and revolution.
Without putting man on a special pedestal, lets face it: man is the only creature who refuses to be what
he is. Social conditions, economic conditions, political conditions can incite a rejection in men that which
it considers intolerable. He is convinced of an absolute right to change things around for the common
good, with which he can identify. "Liberte, fgalite, Fraternite" were the words which sealed the fate of
Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette, while "Life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness" launched the American
revolution (as it changed conditions radically), and "Proletariat of the world unite" launched Communism.
The American sage and statesmen, Thomas Jefferson,writing the lyrical document called "A declaration"
(of independence) began with this sentence:
"When in the course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands
which have connected them with another and to assume among the powers of the earth the separate and
equal station to which the laws of nature and of nature's God entitle them, a decent respect to the
opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation."
And he continued: "We hold these truths to be self-evident that all men are created equal,that they are
endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit
of happiness. That to secure these rights governments are instituted among men deriving their powers
from the consent of the governed. That whenever any form of government becomes destructive of these
ends it is the right of the people to alter or to abolish it....."
Written in 1776, seventy-two years before events which hurled Hungary toward a life-defining conflict
with Austria, the Declaration of Independence gives God-given rights to the people for an uprising against
their government. Iwonder if Hungary's leaders at the time had read, and if so, were inspired by Thomas
Jefferson's document to launch the revolt of 1848?
* **
ADDENDUM
.·- ....!:..-: _-..
ENGLISE jYNOPSIS OF THE STORY BEHIND THE HTTNGARIAN NATIONAL ANTHEM
The national a.-.ithem of most European nations date back to the 18th century.11n
E:-...mgary, due to its proximity to ai-.id association w""ith Austria, the "Gott erhalte"
was used to praise the Kaiser. In Jai. ua.ry 1823 Ferenc Kolcsey (1790-1838)w-rote
a poem entitled: "Hymrrus, from the stormy centuries of the Thmgarian people."
After its publication, the ·Hymrru.s gained literary- accolades and in February 1844
the Hungariai. National Theatre l :cmched a contest to put its words to music.
Ferenc Erkel (
1810-1893), noted Thmgarian musician and c11p0ser of operas, was
inspired to wTite the music to the Hy-mrrus , Tufilcn won first prize arid was first
performed on J-uly 2nd, 1844 in the National Theater in Budapest .
In contrast to other n2.tions' &-ithems, the Hungariai-.i national anthem does not
praise a ruler, a kii-ig, does not unfurl a belligerent bani.-ier, but speaks in tones
of a prayer and atonement for past sins of the nation. Although widely sung and
played in the latter half of the 19kh century, the rrew'hymn failed to be adopted
as the official national anthem of Th.mgary. A peculiar incident helped bring
this into focus:
'
It appears that the coirrnander of the military cadet academy in Pees ordered the
Austrian "Gott erhalte" to be played at the March 15, 1903 comnemoration. A
group of cadets refused the order wi:lich resulted ii-i their incarceration. Following this scai--idalous incident, M.roly Ratkay, a member of the National Assembly,
proposed to Parliament the adoption of the Hymnus as Thmgary's national anthem.
Regretfully, the Emperor Franz Josef never ratified the legislation and, to this
day,:Finga:ry basno official anthem, except that which has become its traditional hymn.
3!n the late 1940s.the new Communist regime asked Zoltful Kodaly a-rid the laureate
poet Gyula Illyes to write a new national ai-ithem, for it was unacceptable to a
socialist regime that the traditional hymn should start with the word "God"!
Kodaly a,-.id Illyes diplomatically declind the task.
The Hymnus has, for decades, competed w""ith the Ode (Sz6zat)-written by Hungary's
eminent poet, Mihaly VoroS1narty. ·
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45
Preliminaries to the rebellion of 1848
It is a well-known fact that people who are facing starvation are more inclined toward revolution than those
with a full belly. In Hungary the weather-related disasters of the pre-1848 years may have contributed to
the causes of discontent and ultimate rebellion. (The following data is taken from the authenticated
statistical work of Elek Fenyes, published in 1848.)
In 1846 the winter was extremely harsh, which was then followed by drought throughout the growing
season for wheat and other farm products. When the time was ripe for harvest, tremendous rain storms
swept the country, ruining the crop. Famine was country-wide mostly in the farming communities.
Hungary's population reached 13 million in the 1840s, including the population of Croatia and Transylvania,
but only 4.8 million (38%) considered themselves Hungarian. The rest were minorities, including 2.2 million
Romanian (17%), 1.7 million Slovak (13%), 1.27 million German (9.8%), 1.25 Serbian (9.7%) and other
minorities totaling about 1.5 million, including 244,000 Jewish. While the general population grew only
minimally, the Jewish population grew considerably due to immigration from Galicia on the Northeastern
borders.
Out of 1000 newborn, 288 died before reaching the age of one, while only 471 reached the age of 10. Life
expectancy averaged 39 years. There were only 640 medical doctors in the entire country. Healthcare
and hygiene was sadly neglected to the detriment of the country and its citizens. Conditions in the upper
class families were vastly different from the general population and from the peasantry, but even the
titled families suffered the consequences of the lack of cleanliness as we know it today. Children between
the ages of 6 and 12 were obligated to attend elementary school,yet only 40% of the children in this
category attended school. The best schools were run by religious orders, while children of the aristocracy
were often sent abroad to acquire their education.
In the hierarchy of the population there were 500 high aristocratic families while the lower nobility's
numbers were around 550,000 persons. Four-fifth (80%) of the nation's population consisted of agrarian
(peasant) families. Nearly 48% of the population, about 6.1million, were Roman Catholics, 18% (2.3
million) Greek Orthodox, 14% (1.85 million) Protestants, 10% (1.3 million) Greek Catholics, 8% (1million)
Lutheran and the rest represented in much smaller numbers.
The rise of nationalism
Nationalistic tendencies started to emerge from the various minorities in the political union in which
Hungary represented the majority. These sentiments were primarily evident in Slovakia. In August, 1845
in Pozsony (today's Bratislava), where the Hungarian Parliament held its sessions, the Slovenskje Narodnje
Novini,the newspaper of the Slovak national movement began its reformist agitation.
One of the factors which enabled Hungarians to develop and to profess their pride and patriotism was the
official switch, with the latent approval of the Vienna government, from Latin to the vernacular Hungarian
in state and local affairs. Magyar language in politics and business was formally introduced in 1833 and
universally used within the following decade. The Hungarian State, situated in the middle of the encroaching
circle of Slavic people in the North and South, Romanians inthe East and Germans (Austrians) to the West
was a sore and sour point for the minorities in the Habsburg Empire, because Hungary prevented the
unification of Slavs in Central Europe in a homogeneous Slavic state.
4
6
The Habsburgs played one nationality against the other. In 1784, some 60 years prior to the 1848 rebellion,
Wallachian peasant broke out in a bloody revolt in what is today Voyvodina (the Hungarian Ba'nclt),
ruthlessly torturing, maiming and killing thousands of Hungarian men, women and children. Austrian troops
finally restored order, but the villages where Hungarians had been decimated were given by government
decree (!) to the Wallachians who did the killing. Romanian-Hungarian relations have never been good,
and acts like the above seem to justify Hungarians' antipathy for their neighbors.
The official response of Emperor Leopold II to the Wallachian request of sovereignty contained the
following nonsense:
"The Crown recognizes its subjects as having only different tongues and denominations, but not
different nationalities."
Hungarian reform
As proven by the above quotation from Leopold, the Hungarian nation, per se, simply did NOT exist in the
eyes of the Crown. This had to be changed and it was about to be manifested.
The bold new political trend was represented by the new conservative movement under the leadership
of Count Aurel Dessewffy, which published its program in November, 1846. The Conservative Party, under
the leadership of Count Lajos Batthyany was officially formed in June, 1847. The Party's representative in
the Parliament for the county of Pest became Lajos Kossuth. The struggle to reassert a Hungarian national
identity emerged under Lajos Kossuth, lstvn Szechenyi and Miklos Wesselenyi,who worked for reform
against the stagnant Austrian government.
The last meeting of the Hungarian Parliament, consisting mainly of members of the nobility, met on
November 11,1847in Pozsony (now Bratislava) under tense circumstances. Among other proclamations,
it called for the elimination of tariffs between Hungary and other countries and provinces under the
Emperor's crown. It sought an end to the absolutist feudal political system.
Yearning for independence
Hungarians weren't the only ones clamoring for independence. As early as 1831the Polish Diet declared
independence, only to be defeated by the Russians. The revolt collapsed but was revived in 1846 when
Austria intervened and crushed it again. In 1832 Giuseppe Mazzini (1805-1872) founded the youth
movement called "Giovina Italia" withthe aim of achieving national independence for Italy. The composer
Giuseppe Verdi got caught up in this movement and his music rallied the crowds yearning for
independence. And across the ocean, among other events, Texas declared its right to secede from
Mexico, which resulted in a war between the two countries ("remember the Alamo!"), concluding with
victory and independence for Texas. In 1844 Karl Marx met Friedrich Engels in Paris, - and we know the
disastrous outcome as being their brainchild.
Throughout the European continent reform movements became active, culminating in the uprising in Paris
on February 24, 1848, which dethroned King Louis Philippe and proclaimed France as a Republic. Within
weeks similar activity reached its climax in Munich, Berlin, Prague, Vienna and Pest-Buda.
4
7
The case against the Austrians
On March 11,1848, Joseph lrinyi published his Twelve Points, containing the main grievances against the
government in Vienna and proposed their resolutions.
These were: 1. Freedom of the press and abolition of censorship; 2. The establishment of a responsible
and responsive government Ministry in Pest-Buda for Hungarian affairs; 3. Annual meeting of the Hungarian
Parliament in Pest, elected by universal suffrage; 4. Equality under the law in matters of civil and religious
issues; 5. The formation of a National Guard; 6. Common and universal taxation including the clergy and
the nobility; 7. The elimination of manumission compensation, liberation of the serfs and suppression of
feudal rights; 8. An elected jury system; 9. Creation of a Hungarian National Bank; 10. Swearing of
allegiance to Hungary by the military; 11.Amnesty for political prisoners; 12. Liberty, equality, fraternity in
the Union of Hungary and Transylvania.
Lajos Kossuth, delegate of the Conservative Party, presented these 12 points in a great speech in front of
the Diet on March 3, 1848, in Pozsony, demanding sweeping reforms. It was translated into German and
distributed in Vienna, meeting with great sympathy from the general population which, coincidentally,
demanded similar reforms of its own. Ten days later, on March 13th, a full-fledged revolt broke out in
Vienna, forcing Prince Metternich, head of the Austrian government, to flee for his life.
The Upper House of the Hungarian diet formed a delegation to take the Twelve Points to the throne of King
Ferdinand, Emperor of Austria.
Major figures in the Hungarian rebellion
The following is taken from my college paper: "A study on revolution", written in 1963 and edited to fit
the present space:
"Emotions of men in groups, whether in England, in America, in France, Russia or Hungary, and the
rhetoric of individual leaders to bring them out, are uniform features in nearly all revolutions. (We must
admit) that the proletariat cannot lift itself by its own bootstraps and that its leaders must, therefore,
come from classes sufficiently privileged to have had an education fitting them to interpret the subtleties
of revolutionary theory." (A quotation from C. Brinton.)
This seems to confirm that the spirit and the means to launch such an event lie with the intellectuals.
Jefferson in America, Rousseau in France, Lenin in Russia and Kossuth in Hungary were just such
individuals.
LAJOS KOSSUTH was born on September 19, 1802 in Monok, Hungary, county of Zemplen in the Northern
part of the country. He was the oldest of four children of a Lutheran noble family. His father was a lawyer
and considered a member of the lower nobility. Despite being Protestant, Kossuth studied at the Piarist
College of Satoraljaujhely, then at the famous Calvinist college of Sarospatak and Pest University. In his
early twenties Kossuth was appointed Deputy to Count Hunyadi at the National Diet, but being of lower
nobility, he had no vote in the proceedings.
Kossuth's written reports about the order of business at the Diet were considered incendiary by the Austrian
government and distribution of the manuscripts was forbidden. As a matter of fact, the
Diet was
48
dissolved in 1836 and Kossuth was arrested in May, 1837, together with WesselE!nyi and others, charged
with high treason. While in prison, Kossuth acquired a thorough knowledge of English by reading
Shakespeare's works. Upon his imprisonment, he married Teresa MeszlJny, who had frequently visited him
in prison. They had three sons. When the government relented and Kossuth was released in 1840, he
became a national hero.
Kossuth was appointed the editor of Pesti Hirlap, a liberal newspaper and gained immense stature. Kossuth
wrote extensively in favor of abolition of the feudal system, of taxation of the nobles and separation from
Austria. He also asserted Hungarian superiority to the Slavonic minority, which greatly antagonized the
Slavs.
In 1847 he was elected to the new Diet as the delegate from Pest. Lajos Batthany ,Prime Minister of the
new Hungarian government, appointed him the Minister of Finance. Kossuth continued with his
incendiary speeches, in many ways alienating some Hungarian patriots, including SzJchenyi. Kossuth
issued new Hungarian currency and by popular acclamation created an army of 200,000 called Honved,
or Home Defender. The response of the Austrians was to use the sensitivities of other minorities as allied
against the Magyar uprising. The Croatian chief Josip Jelasic marched against Pest, forcing Kossuth's
government to retreat to Debrecen in the Eastern part of the country. Batthany resigned and all power
became concentrated in the hands of Kossuth in the newly created position of Governor of Hungary.
Elements of the Army, which had sworn allegiance to the Crown, balked at his supremacy. General Arthur
Gorgey in particular, refused allegiance.
Other details of Kossuth's life and his role in the rebellion will be discussed as we consider successive
events of the 1848 revolution.
SANDOR PETOFl was born on January 1,1823 in Kiskclros, inthe Hungarian Great Plains between the rivers
Danube and Tisza. His family ancestry was Slovakian or Serbian, the original name being Petrovics, which
he changed to Pet8fi. His father was a village butcher and innkeeper. In 1838 the family lost its fortune due
to the Danube floods. He had to cut his high school education short and held small jobs inthe theatres of
Pest. Ultimately, PetOfi would enroll at the college in the city of Papa inTransdanubia (Dunantcil) where he
first published his poetry. His poems became extremely popular after he managed to have them published.
Especially popular were his poems in the folklore style, including JJnos Vitez (Sir John).
Petofi married Julia Szendrey in 1847 in Transylvania. Petofi was possessed of the idea of a global
revolution and joined an intellectual circle which met at the Cafe Pilvax in Pest. He was pivotal in the
launching of the 1848 rebellion, especially having co-authored the Twelve Points and having written the
revolutionary poem "Nemzeti Dal" (National Song). After a fall-out with the Batthany/Kossuth
government, Petcifi joined the army in Transylvania and was last seen alive in the battle of Segesv r on
July 31, 1849. It is believed that his remains are somewhere in Siberia, where 1800 Hungarian war
prisoners were marched after the war was lost. (This was denied by the Soviet occupiers following World
War II).
I
LAJOS BATIHANY was born in Pozsony on the Western edge of Hungary on February 10, 1807. His father
was CountJozsef Batthany who died when Lajos was 5 years old. His mother moved the children to Vienna
after her divorce from her husband. Batthany was sent to a boarding school and grew up without further
contact with his mother. At age 16 he was accepted to the Academy of Zagreb in Croatia, and later got
49
_ _ his law degree in Italy. In 1830, by virtue of his heredity, he took his seat in the Upper House of
the Parliament. In December 1834 he married Antonia Zichy (a distant relative) and they had 3 children.
By 1840 Batthany: became the leader of the Opposition Party and drew up the party's platform. Together
with lstvn Szechenyi, he promoted the concept of new reforms led by the nobility. He criticized the
Habsburgs' internal affairs and foreign policy. He participated in the delegation which presented the
Twelve Points to the Emperor. On March 17, 1848 the Emperor assented to his demands and Batthany ·
became Prime Minister of the first free Hungarian government.
He was devoted to the constitutional monarchy and was not in favor of separation from the Crown. After
setting up an independent Hungarian Revolutionary Army, he asked the Emperor to stop the Croatians
from invading Hungary. When that failed, he resigned his post, only to be reappointed by Archduke Istvan,
the Governor of Hungary, but not recognized by the Emperor. Following a subsequent resignation, he
joined the Army, which defeated the Croats within two weeks of their invasion. Batthany was elected to
the Hungarian Parliament. In January 1849 he was captured and imprisoned and finally executed on
October 6, 1849.
Count ISTVAN szkHENYI was born on September 21, 1791 in Vienna, Austria. His father, although
traditionally loyal to the Habsburgs,was an enlightened aristocrat who founded the Hungarian National
Museum and National Library. Szechenyi's mother was Countess Juliana Festetics. Istvan Szechenyi was
the youngest of five children. He spent his youth in Vienna and at the family's estate in Nagycenk,
Hungary. He was educated privately, then joined the Austrian army and served in the Napoleonic wars.
Szechenyi recognized the gap between his native Hungary and the more developed Western Europe, and
made it his life's duty to reform. Standing by his word, he donated his annual income to the establishment
of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences. He also organized the National Casino which provided a forum for
political dialogues. Szechenyi was also the motivator behind the building of the Chain Bridge which
connected Pest and Buda.
In a series of published works he addressed the Hungarian nobility, urging reform and encouraging them
to end feudal privileges. He was opposed to radicalism and was not infavor of the nationalistic movement
which he wisely considered dangerous for Hungary's multiple minorities.
Szchenyi devoted time and resources in the regulation of the flood-prone Danube river and initiated the
development of Buda and Pest. As mentioned, he supported the construction of the first permanent
bridge, the now famous chain Bridge, across the Danube which would unify the city. He became Minister
of transportation.
Szechenyi did not share Kossuth's revolutionary ideas and after the failure of the rebellion he suffered a
mental breakdown, with a long stay at an asylum in Austria. He committed suicide on April 8, 1860.
Szechenyi was, and in many circles still is widely considered the 11Greatest Hungarian."
Baron MIKL6S WESSELENYI was born on December 20, 1796 in Zsibo (Jibon), Transylvania and received
private education at his father's castle in a liberal and patriotic vein. He inherited his father's exceptional
physical strength and was an avid sportsman. Wesselenyi entered politics in 1818 and made his maiden
speech in the Diet in precise Hungarian, demanding its use in public affairs. Challenging the Crown, he
said: "I hope that the king of the Hungarians would not object to his Magyars addressing him in their own
language.
This was tantamount to a slap in the face for the king. Wesselenyi befriended Istvan
11
50
Szechenyi with whom he made a grand European tour. The two men realized from first-hand observation
the need of Hungary to catch up to Western Europe. He became a national hero when, during the March
1838 flood of the Danube, he personally saved the lives of 600 inhabitants of Pest by rowing his rescue
boat for 72hours straight.
The Habsburgs, as expected, treated any native reform movement with deep suspicion, curbing its
expressions wherever they surfaced. Wesselenyi started his personal reform at his own estates; by
abolishing feudal laws. He freed his serfs and turned his 27,000 acre estate into a model farm where he
trained thoroughbred horses. He also took up the cause against the forceful recruiting of 50,000
Hungarian serfs into the imperial army which the Emperor demanded. He bought a printing press and
began distributing the secret records of the Diet's proceedings, for which he had to stand trial and was
sentenced to 3 years in prison. During his imprisonment he suffered an eye disease to which he lost his
sight. In his illness he was attended by the 16-year-old Austrian Anne Lux, whom he married. They had
two sons after he was released from prison.
Retired from public duty, he nevertheless addressed the Transylvania Diet and persuaded them to join
Hungary in its war of independence. Wesselnyi died of a lengthy illness on April 2, 1850, at the age of
54. Two years prior, at the outset of the war, he made a speech in Pest, saying:
" It is god who will decide whether our nation shall live or perish. But it is we who hold in our
hands the honor of Hungary. Let us live or die for it, but we must remain Hungarians and a free nation up
to our last breath."
March 15, 1848: a historic day in Hungary
The particulars in this account are taken from Erzsebet Blajer's article in the March 4, 2006 edition of
"Magyarsag." The timelines are from the 1996 publication "A magyarok kronikaja" (The chronicle of
Hungarians) under the auspices of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences.
On March 3rd, 1848, Lajos Kossuth addressed the Diet, suggesting that a proclamation should be sent to
the Emperor demanding the formation of an independent Hungarian national government. Kossuth
emphasized that for three centuries the Hungarian people could not live a constitutional existence
because all decisions were made by the imperial government in Vienna which was not in harmony with
the needs of the people.
The Diet accepted Kossuth's proposition and prepared the proclamation which, when delivered to the
Emperor, created havoc in the Court. On March 13th, several thousand Austrians gathered in Vienna in
protest of their government. The military guard fired into the crowd, killingseveral protesters, which then
proceeded to the royal palace. As a result of a meeting with Prince Louis, the government agreed to stop
the censorship of the press and the Court promised to prepared a separate constitution for each of the
country's provinces.
As noted above, in Hungary, Joseph lrinyi (with co-authorship by Sandor Pet6fi) prepared a petition with
twelve points of various demands, which was to be forwarded to the Emperor. On March 15th university
students gathered at the Fillinger (later known as Pilvax) coffee house in Pest where the Twelve Points
were read to them by the literary figure Mor Jdkai. Pet!:ifi had prepared his National Song (Nemzeti dal)
51
which he delivered first at Pilvax, and later on the steps of the National Museum. The throng grew to
several thousand as they listened to the uplifting stanzas ofthe poem, repeating its refrain:
"A magyarok lstenere eskuszGnk, ·.
l<uszunk, Hogy rabok tovJbb nem leszunk!"
"By the god of Hungarians we swear, we swear, That servile chains we will no more bear!"
The crowd then marched to the nearest print shop where Pet8fi's poem and lrinyi's Twelve Points were
printed without being censured by the government. Next, despite the heavy rain, they marched to Castle
Hill on the Buda side and freed political prisoner Mihaly Tancsics, spokesman of the serfs. Historians
always point this out as a parallel with the storming of the Bastille to liberate French political prisoners. The
irony is that in both cases there was just a single person involved, yet moral victory had been won by the
action of the people.
March 16: a delegation led by Nador (Governor) Archduke lstvn went to Vienna where the king agreed
to abide by their demands. On the following day, the 17th, Archduke lstvn, with the approval of the
Court, appointed Lajos Batthny as Prime Minister of the new Hungarian government.
The Vienna Court was frightened of setting up the independent ministries of finance and defense, fearing
that they would undermine the monarchy. As a result, on the arrival of news about the king changing his
mind, there were mass demonstrations in Pest on March 29th, which lasted for several days. What
complicated the situation were the separate demands which the Croats and the Serbs raised toward the
Hungarian government for their own separate, national governments. Perhaps regrettably, but in any case
forcefully, Lajos Kossuth rejected their demands and threatened the minorities with possible military
intervention, saying: "Ez esetben a kard for donteni", - in this case the sword will decide.
April 14: After the Diet was dissolved by royal decree the Hungarian government moved its seat from
Pozsony to Pest. The king declared Kossuth and the Hungarians as rebels and ordered the Hungarian army
to obey the orders of Prince Alfred Windischgratz, head of the Austrian military. The Hungarians ignored
the order.
May 10: The Slovak national movement at their assembly on that day demanded equal representation in
the Hungarian parliament. And three days later the Serbian national congress demanded autonomy for
the areas under their control. On May 15th the Romanian National Committee was formed which also
demanded equal or proportional representation in the Hungarian Parliament. On May 30th Transylvania
declared its union with Hungary. The Batthany government issued a decree for the recruitment of a
Hungarian army of 200,000 volunteers.
Miklos Wessel nyi cautioned moderation and suggested allegiance to the Crown. However, Kossuth
insisted that until the king does not pledge his oath to the Hungarian constitution and has himself crowned
as king of Hungary, Hungarians cannot abide by his orders. Anyone who disagreed was declared a traitor.
Amidst this great controversy the Batthny government resigned on September 11th, but Governor Istvan
requested him to form a new government in contradiction with Parliament which granted Kossuth full
authority to govern.
On September 11th, the 51,000 man Croatian army with 48 guns crossed the Drava river and marched on
Hungarian soil toward Lake Balaton. On September 29th the new Hungarian army defeated the Croatians
at Pakozd and Sukor6 near Szekesfeh rvar. (My cousin Baba's husband, Ivan, took us to see the memorial
52
on top of the hill overlooking Sukoro.) The remnants of the invaders sought refuge in Austria and were
welcomed there.
December 2: Emperor Ferdinand abdicated the throne. His place was taken by 18-year-old Archduke Franz
Joseph I,who declared himself Emperor of Austria and King of Hungary. On December 13th the first units
of Windischgrats's army crossed the Hungarian border and were headed toward the city of GyBr. When
the Hungarian army under the command of General Arthur Gorgey was unable to stop the Austrians,
Kossuth asked for mediation by Mr. Stiles, the American enjoy to Hungary, to no avail. Kossuth's
government sent a delegation to Windischgrats requesting an armistice, which the Austrian commander
rejected, demanding unconditional surrender from the Hungarians.
Kossuth and his government moved St. Stephen's crown and the Treasury to Debrecen on the eastern
plains of Hungary and told Gorgey to defeat the foreign invaders before they reached Pest. Gorgey, on
the other hand, had different ideas and marched northward instead toward Vac in the Danube bend,
leaving Pest defenseless. On January 5th, 1849 Windischgratz occupied the capital. The occupation also
caused the execution of those Hungarian patriots who embraced the cause of freedom. Lajos Batthny
was also arrested.
On March 6th Emperor Franz Joseph negated all concessions that had been made by his predecessors and
issued a new constitution for the Habsburg Monarchy in which Hungary ceased to exist as an independent
state.
The "Honved" army, after suffering several defeats in battle, finally came to life. In Transylvania Kossuth
appointed the legendary exiled Polish General Joseph Bern as commander in chief. The diminutive general
drove 25,000 Austrians over the Carpathians into Bukovina. In the great plains of Hungary General Janos
Damjanich (a Serbian by birth!) defeated Austrian General Ottinger's cavalry at Szolnok by the Tisza river.
On March 20th Arthur Gorgey began his spring offensive chasing the enemy nearly to the Austrian border.
April 14: Emboldened by the military victories and in response to the new Emperor's March 6 declaration
regarding Hungary being an Austrian province, the Diet in Debrecen formally dethroned the Habsburg
Dynasty. Kossuth got his way, while more moderates in the country were shocked at the turn of events.
Gorgey wanted to pursue the Austrian armies to Vienna, but Kossuth who was not a military strategist,
countermanded Gorgey and ordered the liberation of Buda instead. Gorgey's troops fought for 17 days to
wrest Pest from the occupying Austrians. The ultimate outcome on May 21st proved to be a Pyrrhic victory.
On June 5th Kossuth and his government moved back to Pest.
Feeling threatened in Vienna, Emperor Franz Joseph asked his cousin, Nicholas, the Czar of Russia, to help
him put down the Hungarian rebels. On June 1sth, 1849 Russian Cavalry General Rudiger crossed into
Hungary and joined the Austrians to defeat the Hungarians. The 200,000 Russians attacked from two
passes in the Carpathian mountains to the north and the east supported by 1192 canons. The joint offensive
mounted 370,000 men against 152,000 Honvds with only 450 guns.
Gorgey's plans called for concentrating his troops north of Pest in the vicinity of Komarom, whereas the
Council of Ministers ordered him to Szeged in the south to form a line of defense. Gorgey refused the
Council's orders and on July 1st he was removed from command. His place was assumed by Lt. Gen. U:1zar
Meszros. Gorgey continued to win battles against the enemy in the Komarom area, but on July 2nd he
suffered a severe head wound in a cavalry assault. Gorgey was vindicated in his decision not to risk a
53
major battle at Szeged when, on August
city.
2nd
Austrian General Haynau's troops ran over the defenseless
On August 9th General Bern was wounded in a battle at Temesv r in what today is Voyvodina, which was
lost to Baron Haynau. Two days later Kossuth resigned the governorship of Hungary and symbolically
transferred the power to Arthur Gorgey. Realizing the futility of further resistance, on August 13th Gorgey,
with 30,000 troops surrendered to Russian General Rudiger at Vilagos (Siria in today's Romania) in the
country of Arad on the Transylvanian border. Gorgey was assured clemency for his men by the Russian
General Fjodor Vasziljevics Rudiger, but typical of Russian perfidy, the general betrayed Gorgey and turned
over his prisoners to the Austrian prosecutor, the blood-thirsty and vindictive Baron Julius van Haynau.
Kossuth,on the other hand,together with 4,000 Hungarian fugitives, managed to escape to Turkish-held
territory at Orsova in Voyvodina. Kossuth secretly buried St. Stephen's crown under a willow tree.
But the war was not completely over. For seven more weeks the 20,000 troops of General Gyorgy Klapka
held off 50,000 besiegers of Komarom. When he finally capitulated in October, he forced the hand of
Haynau to grant amnesty to his soldiers, a month's pay in Austrian currency for his troops and the
equivalent of half a million Forints to pay off the financial obligations of the city's siege. Klapka himself
went into exile.
The sad end
Czar Nicholas, acquiescing to Franz Joseph's request for military assistance, set conditions for his
intervention in Hungary. First, he demanded separate command for his army from the Austrians. Secondly,
the Czar did not insist on compensation for his costs of the war. (He used this as an excuse to keep the
seething Polish population from starting its own revolution. Indeed, he named the Polish Prince Paskievics
as general commander of his invading army.) Thirdly, Nicholas presented Franz Joseph with a bill for the
cost of feeding his troops on Hungarian soil.
The Hungarian government was greatly disillusioned when none of the Western powers, including France
and England, raised an objection to the subjugation and defeat of Hungary. History must also acknowledge
the cruelty of Romanians who, when reinforced by Russians, destroyed at least ten Hungarian villages,
murdering their population, including women and children.
The legendary General Bern nearly lost his life when, on July 31,1849, his carriage turned over in a ditch
at Segesvar, Transylvania. Bern pretended to be dead only to fool the enemy and barely escaped from
the battlefield. The poet Sandor Petr,fi is likely to have died in the same battle.
There were some disappointing events and acts which need to be acknowledged. On January 20, 1849,
the Roman Catholic Bishops' Council issued a document to be read at all Masses, urging the population to
support (!) the Emperor's army under the command of Windischgratz. Another shameful act was
committed by the Kossuth government when, on August 10, 1849 offered St. Stephen's crown to the Czar!
Failing the negotiations, the government issued its preference for laying down its arms to the Russians
rather than to the Austrians.
Kossuth's flight from Hungary took him through Bulgaria where he and his entourage was considered a
guest of the Sultan. Soon other emigres joined the group, including General Bern. When news of Kossuth's
whereabouts reached Constantinople, Russian and Austrian ambassadors demanded his extradiction.
To escape such a fate, the Turks suggested their conversion to Islam, which 95% of the
54
escapees refused. Bern converted and became governor of Aleppo in today's Syria. A few weeks later
Austria offered amnesty to most of the emigres who returned to their native countries. Austrian forces on
the Turkish border tried to persuade the Sultan to extradite Kossuth and his immediate group. To
discourage the Austrians, 24 British and French warships materialized at Istanbul to protect the Turks from
an Austrian invasion. Kossuth was taken into protective custody by the Sultan. Even his wife and three
children were allowed to join him in January, 1850. Ultimately, the U.S. Senate issued an invitation for
him to visit the United States and sent the USS Mississippi to bring him and his followers to America. The
US Naval vessel stopped first at Marseilles, but Kossuth was denied debarking by the Paris government.
Kossuth then requested to leave the ship at Gibraltar and travel by other means to London.
His reception by the Lord Mayor of London was enthusiastic, but produced no concrete results. The Queen
remained aloof to the idea of a revolutionary courted by her Prime Minister. Kossuth then continued to
America, arriving in New York harbor on December 6, 1851,received by a 100-gun salute. He was received
in the White House by President Filmore and addressed the Congress, too, being only the second person
after Lafayette to be honored to do so. During his travels in America, Kossuth delivered 500 speeches in
six months urging intervention of the U.S. and Britain against absolutist Austria. Some members of
Congress, who were non-interventionist and feared Russia's 3:1advantage in naval strength, were not
among his supporters. Neither was the Roman Catholic clergy which was pro-Habsburg at the time.
Kossuth's triumphant tour of the West raised money and support for the Hungarian cause, but failed to
generate any international action. He returned to England for five more years. His final refuse became
Turin, Italy, where he died on March 20, 1894 at the age of 94. His remains were later interred in
Budapest.
Haynau proceeded to wage a reckless and cruel war on the Hungarians. On October 6, 1849, Lajos
Batthany was executed in Pest, while 12 of his ablest generals of the war of liberation were shot or hanged
in Arad, and some of the Ministers in Kossuth's government, such as War Minister Uiszld Csany, Senate
leader Zsigmond Perenyi and others met their similar fate on October 10th. Arthur Gorgey, on the other
hand, was pardoned by both the Czar and the Emperor. Let me add a note on Batthany: first condemned
to the gallows, he foiled his executioners' plans by stabbing himself in the throat the night before with a
dagger smuggled in by his wife. Nevertheless, he survived and was shot by firing squad the next morning.
Some of the executions of the generals in Arad were gruesome. One victim, Ern Kiss, survived the first
volley; he then called out the order to fire the second volley which was fatal. Hanging the two tallest generals
was agonizing as the gallows were builttoo low for them to fall and break their neck. But perhaps the most
macabre event of the day was the hanging of a dead man. General lgncz Torok, lined up foi execution,
had been shouting at the commandant when he suddenly collapsed and died from a stroke. He was
hanged, nevertheless.
On November 21st the new Chain Bridge opened to traffic between Buda and Pest. The year ended with
the despicable election of three of the enemy generals, namely Haynau of Austria, Jelacic of Croatia and
Paszkevics of Russia as honory citizens of the city of Pest.
Eighteen years later, on June 8, 1867, Buda-Pest received Emperor Francis Joseph with a 21-gun salute to
be crowned King of Hungary. The Emperor's most beautiful wife, Elizabeth, stole the show when she arrived
at Matthias Coronation Church riding in a gilded carriage drawn by eight white horses. Elizabeth (nicknamed
Sissi) was sympathetic to Hungarians and became a friend of Hungary, enhanced by her special friendship
with Hungarian Foreign Minister Count Andrssy.
55
Hungarians loved the pomp and circumstance of the big event when Francis Joseph was crowned King of
Hungary on June 8th, 1867. But they will never forget the two days which emerged from the past: March
15, 1848 as the proclamation of the rebellion and October 6, 1849, a day of mourning for the martyrs of
a lost cause.
My own view, as expressed in an article I had written in June, 1956 under the title: "St. Stephen's heirs in
America", also touches on the role of Lajos Kossuth as a symbol of the 1848 rebellion. Two figures emerge
initially who stand out from that era. One is Istvan Szechenyi,a man of reason who cautioned the sanguine
Lajos Kossuth against unreasonable steps against the Hapsburg leadership, knowing that Hungary at that
time was not in a position to stand up to the much more sophisticated and powerful Austrians. Nevertheless,
Kossuth dethroned the Emperor even though initially he managed to evoke some semblance of sympathy
for the Hungarian cause. The act drove a chasm between Kossuth and Szechenyi. Szechenyi and others
had counselled for requesting autonomy under the auspices of the old dynasty. Dethronement made any
compromise with the Habsburgs impossible.
The other remark is that when wagingwar, civilians should set the general course but stay out of the daily
operation of conducting it. In other words, strategy and tactics are two separate things and each requires
different skills. General Gdrgey may have had a better understanding of his own forces and the
opportunities which the battlefield dictates. He was embedded with his troops, whereas Kossuth
governed from the safety of an armchair. The results were calamitous for Hungarian independence.
And thirdly, while touring America, Kossuth failed to realize the importance of directing {or giving strategy
for direction of) the fate of post-1848 emigrants. Instead, he hurried back to Europe chasing the dream
of a community of Danubian peoples. Had he realized the leading role of the United States in a
revolutionary world, and especially later, in the struggle of ideologies, Kossuth should have urged a
Hungarian aristocracy to emigrate to America where they could have provided a strong and
social iayer, a hundred times more successful in the cause of Hungary than the heroic death of
Coionei Kovts, or the bravado of the "Justice for Hungary" ocean fliers, and even the martyrdom of
there could be a
descendant in the White
Cardinal Mindszenty. Who knows, perhaps
House!
Since Hungary and Hungarians were ruled by the Habsburg dynasty for hundreds of years, it is appropriate
that I provide a cross-section of the men who made the decisions for my forebears. For twelve pages in
the periodic correspondence with my children, called "in translation", i
the Habsburgs in detaii.
l wii! include copies of those pages as an attachment to this work those who wish to know more in
detail than the
this project couid provide. Hope you enjoy it.
56
FRANZ JOSEPH I (1. Ferenc Jbzsef, 1848-1916)
His predecessor, Emperor Ferdinand I resigned (or was forced to resign) his post by abdicating in
December, 1848. His brother, Archduke Franz Karl, refused to be crowned and turned over the reign to
his son, Franz Joseph, who was only 18 at the time. In addition to the Hungarian uprising ,the Austrian
Empire had had a bad time with its claim to the Lombardy/Venetian possessions, - and years later would
lose even more territory under the reign of Franz Joseph. The only adversary which he could keep at arms'
length was Prussia even though the Austrians fought a war with Prussia and were defeated in the question
of German unification in 1866.
Franz Joseph was troubled by nationalism. To calm Hungarian sentiments, he concluded an agreement
called Ausgleich (Kiegyezs) in 1867, which calls for a separate paragraph or two as we review history (see
Hungary in the 19th century). The main trouble concerned the Balkans,a hotspot of international tension
where Austria and the Russian Empire had conflicting interests. The whole affair would have a
catastrophic finish, ending with World War I. But lets start at the very beginning.
Franz Joseph was born in the gorgeous SchBnbrunn Palace in Vienna. His father, as mentioned above,
was Archduke Franz Karl and his mother was the ambitious Princess Sophie of Bavaria. At the age of only
13, Franz Joseph started his army career as a Colonel. For the rest of his life he would be dressed in an
army uniform. In 1848 he was sent to the Italian front joining Field Marshal Radetsky where Franz Joseph
got his first experience in battle. (The Radetsky march, composed by Johann Strauss Senior to
commemorate the Field Marshal remains a concert favorite to this day.) Franz Joseph's family,
meanwhile, fled Vienna for the safety of Innsbruck in Tyrol,fearing an uprising in Austria. Franz Joseph
was recalled from the front to join his family. It was here that he first laid eyes on his cousin,Elizabeth,
age 10, who would end up being his wife much later. The imperial family returned to Vienna only to have
to flee it again,this time for Olmutz in Moravia.
It was in Olmutz that Franz Joseph became Emperor of Austria upon the abdication of his uncle Ferdinand.
His first challenge was a renewed Italian unrest, plus the successes of Hungarian General Gorgey against
the Austrian forces during the Hungarian uprising of 1848. The Emperor reached out to Russian Tsar
Nicholas I,as he said "to prevent the Hungarian insurrection developing into a European calamity."
His formidable mother wanted to strengthen the relationship between the Habsburgs and the Wittelsbach
family from whom she descended. That is why she insisted on matching Franz Joseph with her sister
Ludovika's eldest daughter, Helene. But when the Emperor visited in Innsbruck again at a later time, he
fell in love with Helene's sister, sixteen year old Elizabeth. They were married in Vienna on April 24,1854.
As discussed above, the Russians crushed the Hungarian revolt and the Italians were also defeated by
Austrian troops. In the Emperor's view his parliament did a poor job, so he suspended the constitution and
launched his absolutist rule under the guidance of Alexander Bach, his Interior Minister. His Prime Minister,
Prince Schwarzenberg died in 1852 and the Emperor, not finding suitable replacement, took over that
post as well. On February 18, 1853, while taking a stroll, Hungarian nationalist Janos Ubenyi attempted to
assassinate the Emperor by sinking a knife into his neck, but the high military collar saved the Emperor's
life and he survived the attempt to kill him.
Austria had several difficult situations to overcome in the 1850s. Without going into too much detail,
there was the Crimean War from 1854 to 1856, involving Turkey, Britain and France against Russia, which
57
was resolved by the Treaty of Paris under the Austrian threat of attack. Austria remained neutral, but sent
occupational forces to Moldavia and Wallachia, causing a conflict with Russia. Austria suffered a defeat in
the second Italian war of independence and was bested in the war with Prussia over primacy in the attempt
to form a German Federation. Finally, the Hungarian question was more or less resolved with the so-called
Ausgleich, or Compromise of 1867, which we will discuss under another heading (see Hungary in the 19th
century).
On June 8, 1867, Franz Joseph and his wife, Elizabeth, were crowned as king and queen of Hungary, to the
delight of the Hungarians and the satisfaction of the royal couple. The significance of this is pointed out in
the following chapter. In the dual role of the Austro-Hungarian Monarchy, Hungary had a crowned head to
hold up its share in independent domestic affairs while foreign affairs were handled by Austria's Imperial
Court for the Monarchy as a whole.
Franz Joseph's ambitious goal was to unify all Germans under a Federation where Austria's Habsburgs
would rule. The problem was that the Emperor also wanted to retain his non-German holdings in Hungary,
in the Balkans and elsewhere, which was objectionable for the Prussians. A brief military conflict ended the
grand plan; Austria was to be left out of German affairs, - until Adolf Hitler's appearance on the world stage
inthe 20th century. Nevertheless, Franz Joseph had still other questions to resolve, including political
changes in Bohemia where Czech leaders were asserting themselves. The Croats and Serbs were subdued
with death penalties for their restless leaders; Bosnia and Herzegovina were quietly absorbed/annexed into
the Empire, while Russia was provided with free movement from the Black Sea through the Bosporus. The
annexation ruffled many nationalistic feathers in Serbia.
The marriage of Franz Joseph and Empress Elizabeth was not without problems. Elizabeth, or Sisi as they
called her, was a free spirit who liked to travel and was seldom seen in Vienna. Their first daughter,
Sophie, died as an infant, and their only son, Rudolf the Crown Prince, died by suicide in 1889 in the
infamous Mayerling incident. (Please refer to it in the attachment: House of Habsburg, pages 6 & 7.) The
Emperor himself got himself a girlfriend in the person of Katharina Schratt who became his confidante
but probably not more than that. Nevertheless, the Emperor provided her with a small palace in Vienna
and another home in Bad lschl.
Sadly, Elizabeth was stabbed to death by an Italian anarchist while she visited Geneva in 1898. The Emperor
never fully recovered from the loss of his wife. In June, 1914, Franz Ferdinand and his morganatic (not of
royal aristocratic standards} wife were assassinated on a visit to Sarajevo, which would be the opening shot
for the First World War.
In November, 1916, while the war was at its peak, the Emperor caught a cold which developed into
pneumonia, killing him.
For details about the fascinating HOUSE OF HABSBURG, please refer to the following addendum of
pages.
12
"'Fertlinan:l. I
·
:
1793-1875
:
THE HOUSE OF HABSBURG
( ,·)
Page 1
Ehp::ror
1.
Franz Josq:h
18.'.D-1916
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Karl of Austria
1802-1878
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(rrmr.ie:l Pr:irc.ess
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1837-1898
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1832-1867
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1833-1896
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Otto Franz
1865-l<xb
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,Anna
1835-1839
1842-1919
UIIEITie:l
(
,·) How did Franz Joseph gain access to the throne?
His uncle, Ferdinand I (1793-1875)was the Emperor from 1835 to 1848. He was
feeble-minded and an epileptic with up to 20 seizures a day. His marriage to
Princess Maria Anna of Sardinia was never consummated. With the outbreak of
the 1848 revolts in Vienna, he abdicated. Archduke Franz Karl was next in line
but he was persuaded to waive his r\ghts of succession in favor of his son,
Franz Joseph, who took over the reins at age 18.
House of Habsburg, page 2
_
f ll start with the
early 19th century, when Archduke Franz Karl of Austria and his bride Sophie of
Bavaria (Germany) produced 5 children, one of whom became Emperor of Austria,
- and after the defeat of .the Hungarian revolution of 1848 and the formation of the
Austro-Hungarian Monarchy, also king of Hungary. His name was Franz Joseph.
Here is his picture:
Franz Joseph had 4 siblings, one of whom was the
Archduke Karl Ludwig. He and his wife produced
4 children. One of them was Franz Ferdinand , who,
after the death of his father, became heir to the
throne. Fate intervened as he was assassinated in
Sarajevo which ultimately gave an impetus for World
War I to break out.
Franz Ferdinand'sbrother, Otto Franz and his wife
produced 2 children. One of them was Charles, born
in 1887, who became Emperor in 1916 when Franz
Joseph died and ruled as Charles I of Austria and
Charles IV (KAroly IV) of Hungary. Well, not for long,
because the war ended in 1918 and he was deposed.
Give the man a medal, because he was spunky enough to try twice to regain the
throne of Hungary in 1921. Both times he was rejected by then-Governor Nicholas
Horthy who decided that Hungary had enough of the Habsburgs. Although Horthy
reinstated the country as a kingdom (based on the fact that St. Stephen's crown was
physically situated within the coup.try), but without a king.
When I was still in the travel business, I came to know the Hungarian gentleman
Guido Gorgey who was working for another travel agency. He was also a talented
writer and his travelogues appeared in trade magazines. After retirement, when I
subscribed to the Hungarian newspaper MAGYARS.AG, I was happy to see one of
his articles published in the paper under the title: A kiraly nadrAgja, or The
king's pants. I will try to give you excerpts from the article as it relates to Charles
IV, pretender to the throne of Hungary. Guido writes:
"...... My father was a military officer who fought in the First World War and
following the war was serving in Szombathely (on the Austro-Hungarian border) as
Captain in the Hungarian Army. It was on Holy Saturday, March 26, 1921, when
King Charles IV and his entourage arrived by train from Switzerland where the king
had been exiled. Having spent the night in Szombathely, the king continued to
Budapest on Easter Sunday to meet with Regent Nicholas Horthy, to demand the
reinstatement of his status as King of Hungary. The meeting apparently didn't go
well, because by Sunday evening Charles was back in Szombathely. The next
morning the king named my father his Adjutant, working with the king on military
matters during his stay in Hungary the following week.
House of Habsburg, page
The king had arrived in Hungary practically without luggage, wearing his military
uniform as his only clothing. My father, being of the same stature as the king,
offered his ovvn uniform pants to him which the king gratefully accepted. Charles
obviously had made plans for a subsequent return to the country, because when he
left Szombathely, he asked Colonel Lehar (brother of Franz Lehar the composer)
to keep his uniform for him.
In October of the same year, 1921, Charles and his entourage again attempted to
regain power and entered Hungary this time with a substantial Austrian military
escort. On his stopover, he requisitioned his old uniform from Colonel Lehar, and
dressed in my father's pants he continued by train to Budapest. Surprisingly, he was
welcomed by dignitaries at cities along the way, and even some of the Hungarian
military units swore allegiance to him, joining the royal train.
Horthy got word of the usurper's approach and ordered his troops to stop the king
on the outskirts of the capital at Budaors. Horthy's troops fired on the train. The
king's defenders returned the fire. Charles, seeing the possibility of spilling blood,
stopped the skirmish and gave himself up. He was escorted first to the Abbey at
Tihany by the Balaton where his vvife, Zita, also joined him. (Those two rooms in
the cloister would be a tourist attraction until 1945!) Subsequently, Charles and Zita
were taken to Baja by the Danube where a British warship awaited them to escort
the royal couple down the Danube to the Black Sea. Eventually they ended up in
exile on the island of l\tfadeira.
They were unable to find a suitable and inexpensive home in the capital city of
FunchaI, so they opted for a drafty house on the hilly and unhealthy Quinta do
Monte. The house didn't even have heat. Soon their_ children, including Crown
Prince Otto Habsburg, joined them from Switzerland. In April of the following year
the king, walking to town on a rainy, cold day, contracted pneumonia, of which he
died within a month.
When I had a chance to visit the church of Igreja do Monte where the royal
couple is buried, I was wondering if Charles had been dressed in his military
uniform, wearing my father's pants, as he was laid to eternal rest?...."
We shall return to some tidbits about the Habsburgs, following a brief respite.
House of Habsburg, pli.ge 4
(The crack) House of Habsburgs As it often happens with aristocratic
families where intermarriages take
place, the mixing of blood over the centuries produces (mildly speaking) ..odd"
progeny. The Habsburg family was.no exception to that. I have selected a few juicy
details from some of their representatives for your enjoyment.
Lets start vvith the patriarch, Franz Joseph I of Austria. Because his uncle,
Emperor Ferdinand was so-to-speak weak-minded and his father didn't care about
affairs of State, his mother, Sophie of Bavaria, brought him up strictly to prepare
him for the role. He was already a Colonel in the Austrian Army at age 13! He
never shed his uniform throughout his reign, which began in 1848 when Franz
Joseph was only 18years old. As you may know, the Hungarian revolution broke
out on March 15, 1848, demanding a loosening of ties with the Habsburg rulers. His
uncle, the mentally unfit Emperor Ferdinand got cold feet at first and agreed to
many of the demands made on the royal house. While this was going on, Franz
Joseph was sent to the Italian front where he distinguished himself fighting along
Field Marshal Radetzky. (That's where the Radetzky March, composed by Johann
Strauss the Senior, comes from!)
Following the abdication of Ferdinand, Franz Joseph was crowned Emperor in
December of 1848 and adopted a rigid style dealing with the minorities under his
realm which did not endear him to Hungarians, either. The only saving grace
was his marriage, in 1854, to Princess Elizabeth of Bavaria, who loved the
Hungarians and even learned to speak our language. As a reward, a bridge
(Ferenc Jozsef hid) was named after Franz Joseph, which has nowadays morphed
into the SzabadsAg hid, or Freedom bridge, opposite the Gellrt Hotel, connecting
Buda with Pest.
At one point it looked like the Hungarians were winning their freedom fight and
might even break into Vienna. Franz Joseph then asked Russian Czar Nicholas for
help. The Czar sent 200,000 troops against Hungary which crushed the revolution.
On October 6, 1849, twelve of its leading figures were put to death at Arad,
Transylvania. This date has been remembered by Hungarians ever since. Four years
later a Hungarian nationalist struck the Emperor from behind with a knife, but the
thick broadcloth of his uniform saved his life. You'd think that an Emperor would
be wearing some fine, silky material! That was not the case, as the Hungarian
novelist Lajos Zilahy points out in his novel, The Dukays which I found to be a
fascinating piece of literature. Zilahy leads us into the Emperor's night chamber,
where he nervously struggles with the cloth (zippers have not yet been invented) to
get to his "family jewels" upon the appointed hour when his mistress, the actress
Katharine Schratt shows up. Yes, despite having married a world-class beauty in
Elizabeth, the old man maintained his liaison and even built a villa for her at Bad
Ischl.
Franz Joseph died in 1916, at age 86, his 68-year reign being the third longest after
Louis XIV of France and Johannes II of Liechtenstein.
House of Habsburg page 5
Now, if you remember your stay in Budapest, next to the Franz Joseph/Freedom
bridge you'll find the graceful span of the Elizabeth bridge across the Danube,
connecting the area of St. Gellert's Statue with the beginning of V.fci utca, the
premier shopping street of Budapest. Elizabeth, or Erzsebet, bridge was named
after the bride of Franz Joseph, the beauteous Princess Elizabeth of Bavaria.
The Emperor'sformidable mother, Sophie of Bavaria,
was hoping that she could match him up with her
sister Ludovika's eldest daughter, Helene. Instead,
Empress of Austria, Queen of Hungary
Franz Joseph became besotted with Helene'syounger
sister, Elizabeth. Born in Munich, she attracted the
attention of the Emperor at the resort of Bad Ischl, the
same place where he had built a villa for his lover....
(The first time they had met she was only 10 and made
no impression on him, but by 1853, when she was 16, he
fell in love and proposed to marry her the following year.)
An independent soul, Elizabeth had difficulty adapting
to the strict etiquette of the Habsburg court where she was
denied raising her own children who were raised by her
mother-in-law Sophie. She gavebirth to 4 children daughter Sophie lived but 2 years, then came Gisela,
followed by the tragic crown prince Rudolf (we'll talk
about him later) and a decade later Marie Valerie.
Elizabeth's marriage fell apart, undone partly by the
death of son Rudolf and by her ow-n erratic behavior.
Before we go on, note the interesting first name of her
mother, Ludovika, after whom Hungary's "West Point"
military academy was named, whose graduates included
my Uncle Kornel and his son-in-laws Iv.in Salacz and
Istvan Horvath.
Elizabeth, or Sissi as she was know-n, tried to drown l1er pain by traveling
extensively and by preserving her beauty with all sorts of regimens. She had a 20inch waistline and was probably an anorexic. She packed her face with slices of
veal, then squeezed the meat juice to boil and to drink. She had absolutely
gorgeous, long dark hair which she brushed separating it to spread over her pillow
so as not to mess up the strands by morning. IvvishIhad been there to help her...
She was also suspected of taking on lovers, among them George Middleton,
reputed to be the father of Clementine Ogilvy Rozier, the future Mrs. Winston
Churchill. She learned to speak Hungarian fluently and in that effort she was
helped by Count Anddssy, Franz Joseph's Hungarian Foreign Minister, with whom
she mai.T. J.tained probably mo:re than a Platonic relationship. (Platonic love is like
visiting a wine cellar to smell but not to taste the wine...) She continued
House of Habsburg, page 6
traveling on her Mediterranean yacht, spending time on the Riviera and the island
of Corfu as if she were trying to escape from herself. She also maintained a summer
residence at Godollo, Hungary, which Sanya and I had the pleasure of visiting
while it was being restored following its brutal destruction by the Communists.
The fabulous Godollo castle later became the hunting lodge of Regent and Mrs.
Nicholas Horthy.
On September 10, 1898 she was in Geneva when she was fatally stabbed by an
anarchist using a knitting needle. The strong pressure from her corset disguised the
fatal injury to the heart until the corset was removed. Her last words to her
Hungarian escort, Countess Sztaray, were: "Mi tortent velem?" (What happened to
me?). She was buried in the Imperial crypt in Vienna.
It is interesting to consider the parallel between her life and that of Diana, Princess
of Wales. Both were free spirits, trying to unbind themselves from conventional
court protocol. There is another connection for us with "Sissi", and that is a movie
starring Romy Schneider, entitled "Forever my love", which we saw on April 15,
196,z when our daughter Edith first gave notice of wanting to emerge from her
mother's womb. - Sissi w"a8 also related to "mad" King Ludwig II of Bavaria who
was her cousin. Sanya and I were fortunate in having visited Ludwig's castle,
Neuschwanstein in Bavaria. Musically speaking, Fritl- Kreisler composed an opera
about Elizabeth in 1932, while Ava Gardner played the Empress in the 1968 film
"Mayerling."
** *
Elizabeth and Franz .Joseph had four children. Their third child, born in 1858,
was a son, Archduke Rudolf, Crown Prince of Austria, Hungary and Bohemia.
He grew up to have quite liberal views with regard to the minorities and Austrian
affairs of state, thus straining the relationship with his father, the Emperor. His
relationship with his mother was also cold and distant. At age 23 Rudolf married
Princess Stephanie, the daughter of Leopold II, king of Belgium. Elizabeth never
liked her daughter-in-law. Two years later they had a daughter, but by that time
the couple drifted apart. Rudolf started drinking and woma11izing.
Rudolf bought Mayerling and made it into a hunting lodge where, among others,
the 17 year old Hungarian Baroness Marie Vetsera became his consort and lover.
The Emperor demanded that the couple end the relationship. Soon thereafter, in
January 1889, the couple was found dead at Mayerling, supposedly as part of a
suicide pact, where Rudolf may have shot his mistress in the head, then killed
himself. The Crovv"TI Prince vvas officially declared to be in a state of mental
imbalance so that he could be buried according to Catholic church rules. Vetsera's
body was smuggled out of Mayer1:ing at night to be buried at an Abbey in
Heiligenkreuz, which the Emperor quickly converted into a convent for Carmelite
nuns who daily pray for the lovers.
House of Habsburg, pge 7
The affair does not end there. There have been accusations that their death was a
political assassination plot committed by the French; another postulates that the
lovers had a violent struggle, or that they were victims of a third party attack. In
any case, in order to get permission of Llie church for Rudolf s burial, Franz
,Joseph wrote to the Pope, giving some details of his son's death. There are
suggestions that Rudolf may have been asked to become the king of an
independent Hungary which the Austrians uncovered. All this remains a mystery
until the Papal Archives decides to release the Emperor'sletter. Just recently, in
December, 1992 the remains of Baroness Vetsera were stolen from the cemetery.
When recovered, her skull showed no evidence of bullet holes. A separate report
on Rudolf s body showed evidence of a struggle. The gun found on the premises,
which did not belong to Rudolf, showed all six barrels had been fired. So what did
the lovers die of? The story of Mayerling just goes on and on....
&&&&&
If you look at the family tree I prepared, the next in line of succession to the throne
would have been Franz Joseph's eldest brother, Archduke Ferdinand Maximilian,
but he died in 1867 as Emperor of Mexico, - another disaster of its own. Next came
Archduke Karl Ludwig, who renounced his succession rights in favor of his son,
Franz Ferdinand. We ¥.,j].l pick up his story after talking about "Ferdi" first.
The Archduke Ferdinand Maximilian came into this world two years after Franz
Joseph, in 1832. It is reported that he may have had the genes not of the Habsburgs
but one of the Napoleon brothers, Louis Bonaparte, whom he resembled to a tee.
In fact, follovving a military revolt in Mexico Napoleon Ill's troops captured
Mexico City in 1863 and proclaimed Archduke Ferdinand Maximilian as Emperor.
He and his wife Carlotta (or Charlotte) of Belgium accepted the Mexican crown.
Alas, the happy union didn't last long. Napoleon had a change of heart and 4 years
later -withdrew his troops from Mexico, leaving it open for an uprising. Charlotte
managed to escape but Maximilian was caught, tried and executed by the
Mexicans. A tragic end to another Habsburg...
&&&&&
The third child of the royal couple Franz Joseph and Elizabeth was Archduke
Karl Ludwiq, born in quick succession in 1833, and became "heir presumptive"
to the throne. He had three marriages. The first time he married into the Duchy
of Saxony, but the vvife died -without bearing a child. Karl Ludwig's second wife
was Maria Annunziata of the Two Sicilies who bore 4 children, one of them being
the noted Franz Ferdinand, born in 1863, famous for being instrumental in
starting World War L When Maria Annunziata, too, died, Karl Ludwig married
again, this time into the Portuguese aristocracy. And that is kind of the short
story of the third Habsburg brother. And now it's time to pose for a little
historical background surrounding the :role of his son Franz Ferdinand.
House of Habsburg, page 8
Turbulent times One tends to compare today's confounded world in the 21st
and the just concluded 20th centuries with earlier times
which are thought to be more peaceful, more laid-back than our modern world.
One look at the timelines of histo.ry, though, and one quickly realizes what a
turbulent world it vVas in the 19th century!
The world had barely had time to recover from the French Revolution begun in
1789, Napoleon's militar-;exploits into Italy, Austria, Spain and Russia, the end
of the Holy Roman Empire, when the focus shifts to the Americas where Simon
Bolivar emerges as dictator of Venezuela and Colombia, the U.S. declares war on
Britain, then Wellington defeats Napoleon at Waterloo in 1815, banishing him to
St. Helena. The Turks and Greeks are at each other's throats by 1822; the
Egyptian fleet is destroyed at Navarino, Russia invades Armenia (then called
Erivan) and declares war on Turkey. In 1830, as Franz Joseph is born, the
nationalist revolution in Paris launches the continent-wide insurrections with the
Poles rising against the Czar, the Italians rising for national independence and
the mix of nationalities in the Balkans itching for trouble. Davy Crockett is killed
at Alamo, Britain is engaged in the first opium war with China and wins
HongKong as a peace prize. Lajos Kossuth leads the Hungarian revolution
against t.h.e Habsburgs in 1848 and Karl Marx meets Friedrich Engels in Paris.
And that sets the tone for the world to really turn topsy-turvy.
Prelude to World War I
In the Balkans Bosnia and Herzegovina were handed over to Austria by the Turks
follo""ing their disastrous war with Russia. Bosnia was populated by three ethnic
groups: Croats, Serbs and Muslims. As these territories were annexed into the
Austro-Hungari&n Monarchy, nationalistic unrest broke out, fuelled mainly by the
Serbian group called the Black Hand. When they learned that the heir- apparent to
the Austrian throne, Franz Ferdinand, was about to visit Sarajevo in
.June of 1914, they decided to assassinate him.
Archduke Franz Ferdinand (born in 1863) became heir to the imperial throne
when his cousin, the Crow-n Prince Rudolf died in 1889 and his father, Karl
Lud""ig died in 1896. Franz Ferdinand (or FF as is commonly noted) was not a
very nice man. He was rough-and-tumble, uncultured -with a short temper and a
suspicious nature. His staff couldn't stand him. Furthermore, he became even
more reclusive follo'iNing his morganatic marriage to Sophie Chotek von Chotkova
in 1900. (Morganatic is defined in the dictionary as ma.-.-Tiage between a noble
person and a person of inferior rank In this case the marriage partner does not
assume the rank of his or her partner and even the children do not inherit the
title, nor the property the higher-ranked member.) FF and Sophie did have
children who remained commoners for the rest of their lives.
House of Habsburg, page 9
Franz Ferdinand had a different view of the Monarchy from his uncle, the Emperor
Franz Joseph. His vision was, once becoming Emperor, to replace the AustroHungarian dual monarchy with a format which would allow the Slavs to have an
equal voice. Another idea was to form a federation of all nationalities under the
Emperor. While this may have saved the Empire, many of the minorities, but
especially the Serbs, had autonomy on their agenda and resented any association
with members of the Monarchy.
The Court in Vienna decided that Franz Ferdinand had to be paraded among the
people to make him "look imperial." They sent him to inspect the armed forces at
Sarajevo. On June 28th, 1914, while riding in a motorcade through the streets of
Sarajevo, FF and his wife Sophie were shot and killed by a member of Black Hai.
d, Gavrilo Princip and his conspirators. As for Shopie, back in Vienna she would
not even be allowed to ride in the same car as her husband because of his
morganatic marriage, but in Sarajevo they made an exception being that it was the
couple's 14th wedding anniversary. The motorcade consisted of 6 automobiles and
was supposed to take the imperial couple from the army barracks to City Hall. FF
and Sophie were in the second car.
The assassination
The crowds along the way were festive, cheering the Habsburg heir and his wife.
There were seven members of Black Hand mixed in the crowd, stationed strung
along the parade route. As FF's car passed the first assassin, the Muslim
Mehmedbasic, got cold feet and did nothing. The next man in line, Cabrinovic,
took the bomb from his pocket, stru.ck it against a lamp post to· charge it and threw
the bomb directly at Franz Ferdinand. The driver, seeing the black object
hurtling toward them, stepped on the accelerator. FF also saw it coming and
raised his arm to deflect it from his wife sitting next to him. The bomb glanced
off of his raised arm and landed on the pavement The explosion injured a dozen
spectators. The dignitaries quickly assessed the situation and decided to proceed.
Cabrinovic swallowed a cyai ide tablet, but the poison was old and instead of
killing him, it made him vomit He tried to escape by jumving in the Miljacka
river, which, to his chagrin, was only a few inches deep. He was arrested. The
motorcade proceeded to City Hall where there was a reception. One of the
conspirators, Gavrilo Prmcip, strolled into 1\I' oritz Schiller's food store to buy a
sand-vvich. Ai-.'ter the reception the party took off for the governor's residence,
S Jpposed1,y _L.aK-,h...., g a d'.1C1C1e.,...,en-t'- rOUs"l-vo; bU..L... +...a·h1ed L._,V., .L;. fa11, +...h..,e Sy-nvcC,T.;I'".'.:_,..,,S tO tu-".h,e rdt.n.'v- ,.,,-s..
°\/\Then General Potoirek, riding in the front seat of FF's car, realized the mistake,
he told the driver to reverse direction. The c;:_:; r backed up, stopping directly in front
of Schiller's food store, a mere 5 feet from Princip, munching on a
1
Princip pulled a pistol from his pocket and fired tvvice, then turned the gun on
himself, but was mobbed by the crowd. He swallowed his poison which came
from
same
batch as his conspirator's and made him violently but did
House of Habsburg, page 10
not kill him. Franz Ferdinand's car was speeding toward the Governor's residence,
with blood streaming from FF's mouth. He had been hit in the neck. Sophie was
hit in the abdomen and sank from her seat. The royal couple exchanged glances
and died.
The stage was set for World War I.
&&&&&
Franz Ferdinand's brother, Otto Franz had died in 1906, 8 years prior to FF's
assassination. The House of Habsburg had to look for an heir presumptive to the throne
of Franz Joseph. That person was Karl Franz Josef Ludwig Hubert Georg Maria von
Habsburg-Lothringen, known simply as Charles I o{Austria, born in 1887. When
Emperor Franz Joseph died in the middle of World War I in 1916, Charles took over
the reins of government and also had himself crowned as IV. K<1.roly of Hungary. That
is why in the family treeIshow him as Emperor Charles I/IV. Shortly after
assuming his role, he entered into secret negotiations with the French for a separate
peace, but the French Prime Minister, Georges Clemenceau backed out. By this time
the Austro-Hungarian Monarchy was vvTacked by inner turmoil, vvith various ethnic
groups creating the tension. Charles I was sensitive to their needs and took steps
toward meeting their demands, however, things spiraled out of control and the
Emperor's government was forced to ask for an armistice.
On October 31,1918Hungary officially pulled out
of the Monarchy and the war ended on the 11th of
November, a day we still celebrate every year.
Charles fled to Switzerland but did not abdicate
the throne, because he considered his duty as a
mandate from God. Instead, he tried to restore
the Monarchy and, as noted in our story entitled:
"The king's pa_-r1ts", h entered Hungary only to be
rebuffed twice by Regent Nicholas Horthy's regime.
As related earlier, Charles was banished to Madeira
where he died in 1922. His remains, except for his
heart and the heart of his spouse the Empress Zita
which repose in the Loreto Chapel, are still kept on
the island. Throughout his life Charles was devoted
to the Blessed Sacrament and Pope John Paul II,
recognizing his exemplary life, beatified him on the
4th of October, 2004. The "'miracle" necessary for the
hetification occurred when a Brazilian nun recovered
from a debilitating illness as she uraved for his intervention. Another miracle is needed far Charles to be
canonized as a saint of the Roman Catholic Church.
House of Habsburg, page 11
By now you are comfortable with the fact that the House of Habsburg was indeed
a colorful "house", with each of its "inhabitants" contributing something
memorable, something weird, something tragic, something funny and, indeed, even
something holy to their story« Before we conclude our little visit with the
Habsburgs, let me say something about Charles' father, the Archduke Otto Francis.
who was known as "Otto der Schone", or Otto the Handsome. Indeed, he is
remembered for a caper in a hallway of the Hotel Sacher (the birthplace of the
famous Sacher torte!), where he was spotted entering a lady's room wearing nothing
else but a sword... Alas, Otto's last two years of life were raked with illness and he
completely withdrew from publiclife.
AB you can see from the family tree, Emperor Charles I/IV and Zita of Bourbon-
Parma had 8 children (the biographies acknowledge only five boys, the so-called
"issues", but there were another 3 girls as well). AB a conclusion for our story, I
want to say something about their oldest, the first-born Otto von Habsburg , Crown
Prince of Austria, godson of Emperor Franz Joseph. (His name had come up earlier
on these pages when I spoke about playing the "wrong hymn" on the organ at Mass
when he came to visit our church of St. Stephen of Hungary.)
I had met the gentleman twice in my life. The first time, when he came on a visit to
Toledo, Ohio in the early 1950s, our very wonderful old friend, Dr. za Farkas and
my father, representing the city's Hungarian population, escorted Otto throughout
the city and there was a reception for him at one of the hotels where I was introduced
to him and we shook hands. The second time was in New York when Father Emeric
Szle:l<ik, O.F.M., asked me (why me? I don't remember) to escort two of the lovely
young ladies to a formal reception at a hotel to meet the man. Since Margie
Paszkoncza and Emese Polgfui were rather nice looking, I was happy to accept my
role in this "patriotic duty." Otto von Habsburg is indeed a very well educated,
multi-lingual (including fluent Hungarian) person, who was then a member of the
European Parliament and President of the International Pan-European Union. His
very eloquent and incisive articles appear to this day in the newspapers. Many of
them have been translated into Hungarian, including one written on his 9oth
birthday, which I clipped for my own files.
Otto lives in Bavaria as a citizen of Germany. Austria forbids the use of noble
titles and the preposition "von" by the Habsburgs, even if one is pretender to the
throne of Austria and of Hungary as well. His family, as you recall, was exiled to
Switzerland at the end of World War I, and after his father's unsuccessful effort to
enter Hungary (in my friend Guido Gorgey's father's pants, no less...), the family
retreated to Madeira. When Charles I died there in 1922, the 10-year-old Otto
became heir to the Habsburg legacy. Eventually, he would graduate from a
Catholic University in 1935, but when Hitler's Nazi regime annexed Austria in
1938, Otto protested it and for that he was sentenced to death in absentia. He,
together with his mother and other family members eventually escaped to spend
the war years in Washington D.C. In 1966 he was allowed to return to his home
country, where Otto became an , advocate of the European Union and
instrumental in Hungary's entry. Otto would have made a fine King of Hungary!
House of Habsburg, page 12
Otto married the Princess Regina of Saxe-Meiningen and they have seven
children. When Sanya and I were in Hungary, one of his 23 grandchildren was
married in Matthias Coronation Church in Budapest.
+
He is a constant reminder for us of the role which the new Russia under Vladimir
Putin is pursuing. He opined recently: "Yeltsin was chaotic, but at least he still had
some democratic principles. Putin, a former secret policeman from the age of
twenty-three, has a completely different mentality. We don't take proper notice
of it. Once again, one doesn't learn from history... .!" The Archduke is convinced
that Putin might become a tyrant, something between a new Hitler or Stalin. And
on that point we certainly agree.
A personal remark ...
Reviewing what I have just written and discussing it with Sanya, we sadly noted
that there was not a drop of Hungarian blood in all of these Habsburgs, yet they
ruled Hungary (and Austria and a number of other smaller countries) for centuries.
How tragic that we, as a nation, could not produce a king acceptable to Hungarian
standards, except for the Hunyadi brothers involved in battling the Turks, and thus
keeping .them from the portals of Vienna, of all places, while shedding Hungarian
blood in their defense!
And to finish... To round out the list, let's not forget about the last two Habsburg
. siblings, Nos. 5 and 6 on the family tree. Maria Anna, born in 1835
lived a short 4 years. Archduke Ludwig Viktor, born in 1842, remained a bachelor,
despite his mother's efforts to marry him off. However, as a result of his very
public homosexuality, his brother, the Emperor Franz Joseph, forbade him to stay
in Vienna. He was also a transvestite and such he was banished to Klemheim Palace
near Salzburg where he lived to be 76.
as
So there you have it. You may be wondering why am I doing allthis writing?
St. Bernard on knowledge I came across recently a brief essay on
knowledge by St. Bernard, founder of the
Cistercian Order. Here is a synopsis:
"There are some who want to know for the sake of knowing something. That is
cheap curiosity. Then there are others who want to know something so others can
admire them. That's ugly vanity! Others want to acquire knowledge so that they can
sell it for money or for fame. That's profiteering. And then there are those who want
to learn to serve and enrich others. That is love. There are also those who want to
know so that they can better themselves. That's wisdom. These last two are the
only ones which do not exploit their knowledge."
I would like to be considered among them, although I truly had fun delving into
subjects like the one about the Habsburgs which we explored together. And I hope
we all gained enjoyment out of it.
58
HUNGARY IN THE 19th CENTURY
Demographics
In order to better understand the various social strata in Hungary, we will consider an article referring to
early 1767, in the 1gth century. Peasantry in Hungary had several strata, serfdom (jobbgysag) being the
lowest level. The serfs represented a minority within the peasantry. These serfs had a house and certain
land/property which they received from a landlord (usually of nobility status) against a commitment of
cash,produce or physical labor on the landlord's property. The size of their property, until the time of
Maria Theresa's ruling in 1767, had not been fixed and depended on the generosity of the landlord. The
1767 law determined the size of such property as 7 to 10 hectares where 1hectare equaled 2.471 acres.
Thus, a serf could have been given from 17 to 25 acres to work on, generally with 4 horses or cattle
included. Additionally, they raised pigs, poultry and other animals as well. Estimates call for about
110,000 families who would fall within this category.
Inthe early 18th century many of the serfs (around 35% of them) were either unable or unwillingto commit
to such property ownership. They were called "zseller'',or cotter, who sometimes rented a piece of a
serf's property, or worked for wages clearing forests or tending vineyards. Approximately 400,000
families were in the cotter category. More disturbing is the fact that nearly 1million families fell below the
property-owner status. These agrarian workers were landless indigents whose status did not change for
the better even after the liberation of serfdom in 1849. Moreover, moving up within this social structure
was cumbersome for descendants of this generation.
Not having reliable population data for the 19th century, I must refer to a census ordered by Maria
Theresa's son, Emperor Joseph II in 1784-87. According to these figures, 6.5 million people were counted
as Hungarian, 650,000 as Croatian and 1.5 million as Transylvanian. Of these figures, about 400,000 fell
into the "titled" status of the nobility, with close to 500 families being members of the aristocracy. The
top 80 families included names such as Eszterhzy, Batthany, Erdody, Palffy, etc.
Reformist efforts
The political and social changes brought about by the French Revolution,coupled with the reformist efforts
of Emperor Joseph II caused many benefits to trickle down through subsequent generations in Hungary.
The road system saw major improvement, making it more accessible for produce to reach various
markets from the farms to the cities. Traditionally, many of Hungary's roads and adjacent territories
would be under water each spring as flood waters inundate much of the land. A proponent for regulation
of the waterways was Count Istvan SzJchenyi whose efforts brought about major changes in flood
control,providing benefits for the rural economy. Specific regulation of the Danube river took on urgency
when, in the spring of 1838 the level of flood waters in Pest reached 927 cm (31 feet), causing the
collapse of 2200 houses in the city. Frank Liszt gave a benefit performance in Pozsony to help the
victims of the flood.
Music and musicians
Speaking about music and musicians, the Eszterhazys offered Joseph Haydn a permanent place for creating
and performing music. Franz Liszt composed his Hungarian Rhapsodies in which he reached into the
Hungarian folk music for ideas. Liszt, who gave his first public concert at age 12, was often invited to the
social affairs given by Count Apponyi.
In the course of these musical soirees he had, on many
59
occasions, an opportunity to see Hungarian folk dances performed by Hungarian noblemen and women
in costumes. He transcribed compositions by the celebrated Hungarian gypsy musician Jnos Bihari,who
had great influence over the music of such luminaries as Johannes Brahms, Ludwig van Beethoven and
others. Bihari's chief contribution was his music in the "verbunkos" style, or recruiting song. (The word
has its origins in the German "Werbung" for recruiting.)
Enlightenment trickles down
Count George Festetich established an agricultural school called "Georgicon", which boasted to have 96
professors and more than 1100 students. - Healthcare needed attention as out of 1,000 newborn babies
288 died before the age of 1. Life expectancy was a mere 39 years.
In the spirit of Enlightenment, the Hungarian Diet (national assembly) published its 1825-27 assembly in
the Hungarian vernacular. Use of the Hungarian language proliferated, feeding the rising nationalistic
sentiment throughout the region as neighboring countries, like the Croats and Serbs were also
encouraged to use theirvernacular in place of the formerly official German. An outstanding guardian and
promoter of modern Hungarian was the writer Ferenc Kazinczy (1759-1831).
The invention of steam powered engines affected daily life and economic development inthe 19th century.
They were transplanted to Hungary as trains and river boats revolutionized transportation. The first train
connection between Pest and Vac in the Danube bend opened in 1846.
The first Hungarian military academy under the name of Ludovika, - named after Empress Elizabeth's
mother - had its cornerstone laid in 1830, but its language remained German until 1872. - Napoleon
attempted an incursion into Hungary in the early part of the first decade, but was confronted by 21,000
noblemen at the city of Gy8r and was forced to abandon his expansionist plans in Hungary.
In 1848 Jozsef Katona wrote the historical drama "Bank ban", which had anti-imperialist implications and
could not be performed in Buda theaters until 1835, five years after the death of its author. As we pointed
out on page 38 of this work in connection with King Andrew II,Katona's stage play was put to music by
Ferenc Erkel,the composer of the Hungarian national anthem.
The story of the Hungarian national anthem is reproduced on a separate sheet enclosed herewith. It is
from the 1990 Spring edition of IMPROMPTU, a circular newsletter I used to send out periodically to
former members of the Voice of Faith Choir in New York City.
And while we are telling "stories", let me include here the strange and unique story of Joseph Simonyi,
son of a butcher from Nagykallo, who enlisted inthe army at age 16as a private to fight Napoleon's troops
in Austria. He displayed unusual bravery, for which he was promoted to sergeant in the cavalry and
through further wartime successes he attained the rank of lieutenant. In 1802 he was decorated with the
newly created Order of Maria Theresa and two years later he became a Baron. In the 1807 National
Assembly he appeared as a member of the nobility, then continuing his military career, an enemy bullet
struck him in the chest, but his cigarette case saved him from death. Settling down in Transylvania he
married into a rich family and as commander of an army division, wrote his memoirs. In 1828, for reasons
which remain murky, he lost his position,his rank and was incarcerated in a fortress where he died at age
61. In recognition of his service to the Empire, he was reinterred as a hero in Budapest in 1903. His son
became a cabinet minister in the Austro-Hungarian Monarchy.
60
Until 1837 all matches used in Hungary (and in Europe) had a tip of sulphur which, when rubbed against
rough surface, would ignite. In that year, the Hungarian professor John lrinyi, teaching chemistry at Berlin
University invented a new match with a phosphorous head, much easier to ignite and not havingthe smell
of sulphur after ignition. lrinyi established his match factory in Budapest in 1839 but became vexed by
the competition and sold it five years later.
To assure domestic peace, the Gendarmerie was established in 1881 with 8,000 fearless-looking members.
They were on foot-patrol in most rural communities and were the long arm of the law, police, jury and judge
combined. This was a very effective and respected force because they knew their individual charges in the
villages. However, as the Nazi-driven demands of WWII increased, the gendarmerie was regretfully involved
in rounding up innocent people who became victims of the Holocaust.
The first telephone exchange was placed in operation in Budapest in May, 1881, with 500 initial
subscribers. A bank of telephone operators would connect the lines by hand in the central office. The
title for inventing the switchboard belongs to Tibor Pusks who built the first prototype in 1879 while
working in Paris.
Another milestone was the licensing of the Hungarian Broadcasting Company in 1880 which provided
cable connections to major European offices, including Reuter's in London. The company later expanded
into providing radio transmissions and a new era was born.
The Chain bridge
The first permanent bridge across the Danube opened for traffic on November 21st, 1849. Called the Chain
Bridge, or Lane Hid, it replaced the unreliable pontoon bridge over the Danube and had a major role in
uniting the two parts of the capital on the banks of the river in 1873. The idea was proposed by Count
Istvan Szechenyi, who had been stranded on the Pest side when his father died in Vienna 1820 and
SzE!chenyi was unable to cross the river to get to his funeral. Frustrated by the inadequacy of the pontoon
bridge (which was out of commission due to ice on the river at the time), Szchenyi commissioned the
Englishman Clark who had designed two suspension bridges across the Thames in London. Most of the
funds were provided by Salamon Rotschild. The bridge was designed by Thierney Clark, and the chief
engineer in charge of construction was called Adam Clark. The bridge became the emblematic structure
of the city.
As Ipointed out in my article dated June, 2008 (In translation,page 95), there was violence against the
bridge two times during the bridge's existence. First, the Austrians attempted to blow it up during the
1848/9 revolution, but the explosives failed to ignite. The second time the Germans destroyed it during
the siege of Budapest in 1945. - Another story has to do with the sculptor John Marschalkb, an ancestor
of the Marschalkos who had sponsored my immigration to the United States in 1951. The ancestor John
had sculpted the two lions for the bridgehead. At the opening ceremony a little boy climbed the
superstructure of the bridge and clinging to the lion's head cried out in a loud voice: 1'The lion has no
tongue!" Surely, the sculptor had neglected to carve out the tongue. When the crowd joined f.'ne boy in
laughter, John Marschalk6 became so distraught with shame that he flung himself off the bridge into the
river and committed suicide.
61
Hungarian revolution of 1848
As pointed out earlier in this study, following the outbreak of the French revolution in February, 1848,
revolutionary leaders of Hungary were hoping to seize the moment and addressed the Emperor,
requesting a new Constitution for Hungary with several new freedoms specified in a Declaration of Twelve
Points. The document, a work of Janos lrinyi (not the inventor of the new match) and Sandor Pett>fi,was
printed without permission of the Austrian censors, read to the public on March 15th, 1848 and taken to
Vienna by a parliamentary delegation the very next day. The Emperor seemed to have caved in to the
demands and promised to issue a new Constitution for all nations under his reign. Lajos Kossuth, one of
the leaders of the opposition,persuaded imperial governor Archduke Istvan to appoint Lajos Batthny as
Hungary's new president, which the Emperor acknowledged and approved.
These were the initial moments of the 1848/49 Hungarian revolution,which is discussed in more detail in
an earlier chapter. With the tragic end to the Hungarian cause, the 1850s developed a "national passive
resistance", of which one of the major representative was Ferenc Deak, former Minister of Justice who
managed to survive the post-revolutionary revenge of the Austrian government. This resistance
movement manifested itself in refusing to pay taxes untilforced, refusing to "understand" commands in
the German language, demanding translators in courts and in offices, answering questions with "Idon't
know", responding to inquiries with "Ididn't see it" or "didn't hear it", and developing obstructionism in
all demands coming from Vienna.
The battle of Solferino and its consequences
The battle of Solferino has something to do with Hungary, so let me tell you about it. Until 1848, Italy had
not achieved independence. It was divided among foreign rulers, primarily between Austria and France.
The Austrians crushed a rebellion in 1849, but ten years later Piedmontese Prime Minister, the Conte di
Cavour, declared war against Austria. Some Hungarian military units also participated in the battle of
Solferino near Lake Garda between Milan and Verona. Cavour wanted to unify Italy and formed an alliance
with France. This battle was the last major battle in history where all the armies were under the personal
command of their monarchs. The 130,000 Austrian troops were led by 29-year-old Emperor Franz Joseph
I,while the 140,000 French were commanded by Napoleon Ill. Austria suffered a major defeat on June
23, 1859, suffering thousands of casualties and the loss of Lombardy. Within a few years thereafter, with
the leadership of Giuseppe Garibaldi,Italy gained its independence.
The significance of this defeat for Hungary was that followingthe experience, Emperor Franz Joseph eased
his absolutist rule over Hungary and promised a new constitution. His concept of unifying the two countries
with a central federal parliament was strongly opposed by Hungarian leaders, including Ferenc Deak and his
Conservative Party, maintaining that Hungary wanted a freedom of choice based on the 1848
constitution. Deak's impressive reasoning concluded with the statement: "The constitutional freedom
of
{Hungary) is not one over which we can freely dispose. The nation had entrusted us with its preservation
because what power can take away, time and favorable fortune can return. But whatever the nation, fearing
suffering and hardships, abandons, its return is always difficult and doubtf ul."
No wonder then that Ferenc Deak earned the moniker of being "The Wise Man of the Homeland" (A haza
b61cse).
62
Red Cross
As a side issue, but a very real one for my family, - as my father had spent a lifetime in the service of the
Red Cross, - the battleground at Solferino portrayed the worst human disaster of the era. The Swiss citizen
Henri Dunant visited the battleground and was shocked by what he had seen. He founded the
International Red Cross whose purpose was (and is) to ease the suffering of wartime civil populations, to
care for the wounded and in peacetime to help on an international scale. Its operation is based on the
1864 Geneva Convention (modified in 1906 and 1929), according to which the wounded are considered
neutral,and everything and everybody displaying the Red Cross flag is inviolable. In the Austro-Hungarian
Monarchy the Hungarian Red Cross was founded in 1881.
The Compromise of 1867
Following a regretful period of passive resistance, Hungarian leaders and the Emperor came to an
agreement as to acknowledging Hungary's sovereignty, but confirming its union with Austria regarding
foreign affairs, defense and finances culminating inthe "personal union" under the reigning Emperor. The
agreement, called "KiegyezJs", or Compromise, was the work mainly of Ferenc Deak. He also inserted
into the document the necessary clause of "revision" every ten years, which permitted meeting the needs
of future eventualities. The new Hungarian government of 1867 featured Count Gyula Andrassy as the
country's Prime Minister, followed by Kalman Tisza from 1875 to 1890. When Hungarians spoke of
"happy peacetime", they were referring to Tisza's government which found the happy medium in all
issues.
Emperor Franz Joseph and Empress Elizabeth came to Budapest on June gt\ 1867 for the Emperor's
coronation in Mathias Coronation Church as Hungary's king and queen.
Istvan Szchenyi, stilt lingering in a mental institution, protested the Emperor's absolutist rule and was
against the Compromise. To give testament to his beliefs he committed suicide on April 8, 1860.
Minorities of the countries neighboring Hungary shared these views with Szechenyi, because in the
Compromise they saw the strengthening of the Hungarian hegemony and the lessening of influence for
minority interests. The nationality law, enacted in 1868, dealt with some of these issues and specifically
empowered the nationalities living within the Austro-Hungarian Monarchy to use their own language in
petitions and in the lower Courts. They could freely dispose over their own schools and religion and the
official language used in their towns and villages was determined by majority decision of each settlement.
The Compromise brought radical changes in Austria as well. One of its major points required the Emperor
to maintain a constitutional parliamentarian reign, which was until that time missing in Austria's
experience. This was thought to guarantee the operation of government on similar basis in both Hungary
and in Austria.
Ethnicity
"It's not what you look at that matters. It's what you see", - said Henry David Thoreau. Merely looking
at the Austro-Hungarian compromise, one may conclude that it was an inevitable "band aid" without
which neither country could have achieved its greatest potential. But "seeing what we look at" brings to
light the shortcomings which caused its eventual demise.
63
The problem with the concept of the "Compromise" was that within the "body politic" of Hungary, ethnic
Hungarians represented less than half of the total. The rest of them were ethnic Slovaks, Romanians,
Serbs and Croats, who had nothing common with the Austro-Hungari an Monarchy except for the
artificially imposed "personal union" under the Emperor. In time, Hungary was compelled to conclude
separate documents of compromise with the Croats and others as the ethnicity of our neighbors was
greater than their loyalty to the Crown. And here lies the time bomb which erupted in World War Isome
37 years later. The ethnic countries, - each a minority of the whole but a majority when taken together, wanted to have a piece of Hungary but not a piece of Austria. As a matter of fact, in the terms of the
Peace Treaty following WWI,Austria itself received 4,020 square kilometers from Hungary (her "partner"
in the Monarchy!) with a population of 292,000,mostly ethnic Germans!
Ethnicity has always played, - and probably will always play, - a major role inthe interrelations of countries.
The world faulted Adolf Hitler for promoting abhorrent ethnic cleansing,but had it not been perpetrated
so brutally against Jews and other racially "different" groups of people, ethnic cleansing was an age-old
socio-political "solution" to irritants of the majority. These symptoms can be found throughout history.
Gypsies, for example, never could properly fit into other societies,hence their peregrinations from India
to Western Europe as vagabond musicians, - the only virtue which provided tolerance toward this ethnic
group. On a small scale, families can exhibit a dislike for each other to the point where one family member
is not welcome at the table on festive occasions, but when the venom penetrates one tribe against
another, such as we are witnessing in Africa, the result is bloodshed and persecution.
And when ethnicity is combined with religion,the outcome is bound to be deadly. This is true of highly
civilized countries, such as between Anglicans and Catholics in the old British Isles, as well as Christians vs.
Moslems in post-Tito's Yugoslavia in the Balkans.
In the modern European Union state boundaries have fallen, permitting individuals to seek a better
fortune in another country than their own. The French are now complaining about the influx of immigrants
from their former colonies in Africa who carved out whole sections of cities for themselves, excluding
even French people native to that area. Even police are reluctant to enter such enclaves as the immigrants
have their own code of ethics. And a Norwegian coworker of ours is shocked at how gypsies from Eastern
Europe have taken over parts of Oslo, immediately applying for social assistance without bothering to
look for work. Imaintain that mixing ethnicities is a poor political choice.
As nations ventured onto the oceans and established colonies in Africa and in the Americas, the obvious
difference in physical appearance and dress set the conquerors apart from the local population. Such
differences are often a cause for conflict and the outcome depends largely on who has the greater firepower. Thousands of American Indians fell prey to the conquistadors and even in the eventual United
States the Indians were driven into conclaves or reservations, where mixing of ethnic groups could not
and would not take place. Today we are seeing the re-emergence of African groups which rise up against
their white oppressors, landlords and business owners. The colonizers thus displaced don't necessarily
have to have been "guilty" of anything outside of being ethnically different.
In terms of 21st century scenery,the Sunni Muslims and Shiite Muslims as sub-sets of Islam are fighting
not only themselves but are determined to convert Christians and others to their set of beliefs. Tolerance
for each other is non-existent, violence in the name of Allah, their God, is not a recipe for peaceful
solution. One would think, - and hope, - that the difference between these two groups could be easily
bridged, given that their difference lies mainly as to which descendant line from the Prophet Mohammed
64
is the true one. Without adequate historical background, the British authorities, who combined these
two groups in post-WWI Iraq, committed a great mistake. Keeping the two religiously ethnic groups
separate may have avoided the great divide between centuries-old enemies in the 21st century.
A great historical divide exists between Arabs and Jews, even though both can be traced to the same
ancestor through the biblical Abraham. The Arabs are said to be descendants of Abraham's son Ishmael
by a slave woman,whereas Jews are descendants of Abraham's son Isaac, the "promised son" (Genesis
21:1-3). An angel was supposed to have said that Ishmael would be the father of a great nation (Genesis
21:18), whereas Ishmael would be "a wild donkey of a man, his hand will be against everyone and
everyone's hand against him and he will live in hostility toward all his brothers" (Genesis 16:12). If one is
inclined to believe the biblical story, then one can witness the earliest "ethnic cleansing" between these
two brothers, one of whom, Ishmael, was being sent away with contempt in his heart against Isaac.
Today, we are witnessing the tragic outcome of an age-old hatred which might inflame the world one
more time before God might say: Enough already!
Getting back to reality: Joseph Stalin's Soviet Union in the 20th century gobbled up several countries with
different ethnic backgrounds. When the USSR fell apart, most of those countries, except the core Russian
complement, wanted to go their own way, - and many have. Now, in the 21st century as Vladimir Putin is
attempting to build back the Soviet Empire, Moscow's rule doesn't look so appetizing to the members of
the former federation. And there is a lesson to be learned here. Iused to conduct a church choir where
the members sang with soprano, alto, tenor and base voices. Each voice had its own sheet music, each
had its own role to play/sing. Takingtheir individual voices away from them, or have a tenor sing soprano
and a base sing alto, would have resulted in cacophony. Ultimately, they would have attacked the
conductor.
Similarly, having the Emperor "conduct" the Monarchy without acknowledging and developing the role of
each member state could only lead to catastrophe when the opportunity presented itself. And we didn't have
to wait long for that to happen.
Rapid development
The second half of the 19th century saw an incredible rush of development in all matters in Hungary. For
those of my readers who have been to today's Budapest, the following recitation of specific projects, in
no particular order, might be of interest. For me it holds great fascination. The opening of the Chain
Bridge was followed by the Margaret bridge in 1876, and the Ferenc J6zsef (later Liberty) bridge in 1894.
The Arpad bridge and Horthy Miklos (later PetMi) bridges came along in the 20th century. - The country
gained access to world-wide commerce and transportation when a new seaport was built in Fiume
(today's Rijeka) on the Adriatic. It operated regularly scheduled voyages to the major ports in Europe, but
transatlantic trips were made available only by the introduction of steam-powered vessels in 1891,
replacing ships with sails.
The Vienna World's Fair opened in 1873 and has 12.5 million visitors. Hungary's main exhibit at the fair
consisted of porcelain products from its Zsolnay factory, and a steam locomotive featuring a new design
by the Ganz factory, which later became a new standard throughout Europe.
Budapest, as the capital of Hungary, underwent rapid development with the construction of major
boulevards on which electric trolleys operated by 1889 following the horse-drawn era. Adult tickets cost
65
6 cents, children 4 cents. The capital's sewer system dates to that time, as well as the organized garbage
collection (in open horse-drawn carts), and electric lamp posts (operated at first with gas) on the streets.
1884 saw the opening of the Opera, a marvelous architectural wonder built by Miklos Ybl. The opera had
1250 seats, most of them too expensive for the average citizen. The Bohemian Gustav Mahler became
one of the opera's first conductors, raising its standards and attendance. (Mahler moved on to the Vienna
Opera, which objected to him being Jewish,so he converted to Catholicism.)
Hungary introduced its new currency, the gold-based Korona (Crown) in 1892, replacing the silver-based
Forint. One kilogram of gold bought 3,280 Koronas. The new currency stabilized international commerce
and was widely recognized and accepted throughout Europe. Two of the beneficiaries of the industrial
revolution were Berthold Weiss and his brother Manfred, who opened a factory manufacturing canned
food. The brothers then invested the profits in Budapest real estate and when Vienna gave in to the
Parliament's demand to establish Hungary's own military in 1893, they built a munitions factory,
employing some 5,000 workers on Csepel island of the Danube river. The Weiss brothersjoined Hungary's
moneymen, the Rothschilds, Zsigmond Kornfeld and Ferenc Chorin, who became the founders of
Hungarian capitalism. The initial labor laws specified 16-hour days over 7 days, which was then reduced
to 10-hour days with Sundays off.
The first automobile, a German-made Benz which appeared on Budapest streets was bought by the optician
BE!la Hatschek in 1895. The carburetor was the design of inventors Donat Banki and Janos Csonka.
Thereafter, the Csonka Machine Works would be a phenomenon well into the 20th century.
Lajos Kossuth, who died in Torino (Turin), Italy, was buried in Budapest on April 12, 1894. Despite an
official denial to cover the costs of the funeral,the Parliament arranged to declare a day of mourning for
that day with businesses closed and provided a proper place for Kossuth's final resting place.
The first subway of the European continent opened for service in May, 1896. Built by the Siemens
company, its rails cover 3,688 meters under the length of Andrassy Street. It is still in operation today.
Anyone who has ever visited Budapest marvels at the huge iron structure at the base of Liberty bridge,
housing an indoor market on several floors, built in 1897 and called the "Vsarcsarnok'' (market gallery).
Anything and everything can be found in that place as the aroma of fresh-baked goods tickles the buyers'
nose and delights the eye.
The country's millennium in 1896 was celebrated with elaborate arrangements and by the presence of
the Emperor and the Empress. Franz Joseph and Elizabeth were treated to military parades,an exhibition
featuring the country's 1000-year history, folk dance presentations and a performance at the Opera
house. A memorial Mass was celebrated at the Mathias Coronation church and fireworks were displayed
from the top of Gellert Mountain. For this occasion, the capital's main square, called Heros' Square, had
been readied and the famous new Parliament, of which only the main entrance and cupola had been built,
was inspected by the royal couple.
Everything looked promising. But was it?
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Royal passings
Little did anyone suspect that Hungary's beloved Queen would be dead within two years? Elizabeth, who
was unhappy with life in the stuffy Vienna Court, loved to travel. She was an inveterate traveler and fashion
maven. In 1898 she traveled to Geneva, Switzerland, where, on September 10th, Luigi Lucheni,an Italian
anarchist stabbed her to death simply because he just wanted to kill a member of royalty. She was buried
in the Imperial Crypt in Vienna.
Elizabeth had kept her distance from the Emperor, especially after his dalliance with a lover became an
open book. The Emperor was responsible for giving his wife venereal disease, which was treated with
mercury, discoloring her teeth. Her bitchy mother-in-law, Archduchess Sophie suggested that Elizabeth
should refrain from smiling,lest her discolored teeth would show. She should have suggested instead to
Franz Joseph not to fool around with shady women! Nevertheless, in August, 1858 she gave birth to a son,
who was Archduke Rudolf, Crown Prince of Austria, heir apparent to the Austro-Hungarian throne. Initially,
Rudolf {Crown Prince Rezso in Hungarian) and his older sister Gisela were close, but at age six Rudolf
began his imperial training and Gisela would become the wife of Prince Leopold of Bavaria.
Rudolf entertained liberal views which were contrary to his father's. His relations with his mother were
strained after he became suspicious, or perhaps jealous, of Elizabeth's jolly relations with her horse
trainer. Rudolf killed him, making Elizabeth resentful of her son.
In May, 1881 Rudolf married Princess Stephanie of Belgium against his mother's objections. Elizabeth
didn't think the Princess measured up to Rudolfs intelligence and status. She was right. The marriage
drifted apart after their only child, Elisabeth, was born in September 1883. Rudolf found an "out" in drink
and affairs. For a hiding place, Rudolf bought the Mayerling hunting lodge in 1887 where he would take
the 17-year-old Hungarian Baroness Marie Vetsera. He was 13 years her senior.
Emperor Franz Joseph objected to the relationship which cast an adverse shadow on the royal household.
Desperately in love, Rudolf and Marie planned a suicide pact. He shot her first on January 30, 1889, then
killed himself. This morbid affair didn't end there. Please find the story on page 7 of the addendum
"House of Habsburg."
Similarly, page 8 of the same Addendum, briefly recounts the historical events of those turbulent times.
...and elsewhere in the world in the 19th century:
While some of the former
11
Empires" collapsed, the 19th century provided a new beginning for other
countries to grow into the role. The Spanish and French empires suffered the consequence ofthe collapse
of the Napoleonic ambitions, while the German empire grew out of the Holy Roman empire and the British
boasted an unchallenged expansion into Canada, Australia, South Africa and India. By the end of the century,
the Brits controlled a fifth of the land and a quarter of the population of the world. On the American continent
the United States doubled in size, immigration of Europeans into America providing most of its growth.
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Advances in all fields of science were responsible for discoveries in medicine, electricity and other
technologies, including the rapid advances in telecommunication and the expansion of railroads and
steam-powered transportation which, in turn, helped to increase commerce while the telegraph and
telephone led to a better and faster exchange of ideas. The 19th century also awoke the nationalist
sentiment resulting in protests against existing regimes growing into full-blown revolutions, such as the
ones in France and Hungary in 1848.
These developments regrettably always led to or started wars of liberation. In India, for example, the East
India Company controlled the British possessions, in many cases embittering the locals by the foreign
expansion and the consequences of westernization replacing ancient customs. In May, 1857, soldiers
mutinied in the Delhi area, killing the British until the loyal Punjab and Bombay came to the help of the
colonizers and took over control from the East India Company. - The Crimean War of 1854-56 was fought
by an alliance of the Ottoman Empire, helped by Britain and France against Russia. The Turks controlled
the Dardanelles Strait, which Russia wanted to open up for access to the Mediterranean. Sebastopol was
a naval base for Russia, which was attacked by the Allies to cripple the Russian Navy. The "Charge of the
Light Brigade" dates from this event when they were sacrificed to Russian artillery due to mistaken and
confused commands. Disease caused huge casualties, which led the nursing pioneer Florence Nightingale
to set up proper hospital care for the British wounded.
The wave of demand for liberty swept over Italy as well. Under control mostly of Austria, the Italian
rebellion suffered a defeat in 1849, but 9 years later Piedmont mobilized and with French help dislodged
the Austrians as we wrote above concerning the battle of Solferino. In 1860 the Italian patriot Giuseppe
Garibaldi overthrew the Kingdom of Naples and declared the Kingdom of Italy under King Victor
Emmanuel. - On the American continent the U.S. went to war against Britain in 1812 over issues of
freedom on the seas and other affronts to American pride. The war didn't achieve anything and things
returned to the status quo. Much different and greatly more tragic was the American Civil War between
North and South, fought ostensibly for the liberation of African slaves in the South, whereas President
Lincoln's main objective was to prevent the secession of 11states from the Union. The 4-year war
between April 1861and April 1865 cost 618,000 lives. But troubles continued with the Indians who gained
victory over General George Custer in the battle of Little Big Horn,under Chief Sitting Bull,in 1876. - In
1866 Austria fought a 7-week war with Prussia over Schleswig-Holstein,ending with German victory. - The
French resented the growing power of Prussia and declared war against the newly anointed Kaiser
William in 1870. A 6-week war ensued with the capture of French Emperor Napoleon Ill. France gave
the German Reich the provinces of Alsace and Lorraine and paid an indemnity of 5000 million francs to
the delight of German Prime Minister Otto von Bismarck.
In the 1880s the major European powers began a mad rush to establish colonies in Africa. The British,
French, Belgian and German powers had unbridled ambitions, eventually gaining Cameroun, Namibia and
Tanzania for Germany, the Congo (now Zaire) for Belgium, the Ivory Coast and Madagascar for France,
while the British established Nigeria, Botswana, Rhodesia, Zanzibar, Uganda and today's Kenya.
The
Dutch had established the Boer (Dutch) Transvaal and defeated the British in 1881. The Boers declared
war again in 1889, but were unsuccessful and fought guerilla warfare which prolonged the hostilities into
the 20th century. Britain established the Cape Colony and Natal to form the Dominion of South Africa.
There were many other skirmishes as the European powers tried to exert their influence over the mineral
and ivory resources of Africa. There was tension also in other parts of the world, including the 1895 war
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between China and Japan over Korea; the massacre of hundreds of thousands of Armenians by Turkey at
Constantinople (which Turkey denies to this day); Greece and Turkey fought over Crete; war between the
United States and Spain over Cuba, which forced Spain to cede Puerto Rico, Guam and the Philippines to
the U.S. in 1898 and finally the so-called Boxer rebellion in China as the pages of the calendar turned to the
20th century. The Chinese objected to Western influence and an uprising broke out between European
settlers and the fanatical sect known as "The Society of Harmonious Fists", loosely translated as "Boxers."
The rebellion lasted but 55 days, while the Chinese murdered thousands of Christian Chinese as well as
about 200 Europeans.
Before we turn to other events in the 19th century, there was one curious (and sad) incident which had
implications for events in the 20th century. It was called the Dreyfus Case. In 1894,Capt. Alfred Dreyfus, a
French army officer of Jewish extraction,was accused of giving military secrets to Germany. He was tried
and sentenced to imprisonment for life on Devil's Island off French Guiana. The affair looked like Dreyfus
was railroaded and a campaign was started for a new trial. In 1897 Dreyfus' brother, Mathieu discovered
that the document on which his brother was convicted may have been written by Major M. C. Esterhzy
which brought another ancient and distinguished Hungarian name into the confusing affair. In 1898 the
novelist Emile Zola published an open letter entitled "J'Accuse" to the French President. Zola was
sentenced to a year in jail for libel,but escaped to England. At that point one of Dreyfus' accusers,
Colonel Hubert Henry, admitted that he had forged the documents perhaps for reasons of anti-Semitism
and committed suicide. It took for an appeals court until 1906 to clear Dreyfus' name, who returned to
his army career and fought with distinction in WWI. He died in obscurity in 1935, just around the time
when Jews were starting to be persecuted by Hitler's Germany.
With all the above horrors, we must consider how lucky Hungary was to have survived the 1848/9
revolution and come to an understanding in the Compromise of 1867, which laid out a peaceful and
productive future for the country.
Bonaparte making hay
The century started out with Napoleon Bonaparte making trouble. Although the British fleet under
Horatio Nelson defeated his navy in the Battle of the Nile in 1798, he still invaded Egypt, then returning
to France he engaged and defeated Austria and by 1804 crowned himself Emperor. France suffered
another defeat at the hands of Nelson in October 1805 when, in the battle of Trafalgar, the British fleet
destroyed the French and Spanish naval armada. Yet, later in the year Napoleon entered Vienna
(Beethoven composed his Eroica symphony #3 in his honor!), then pursued the Austrians and Russians to
Austerlitz in Moravia and delivered a stunning victory. Napoleon lost 9,000 men while the allies had
15,000 dead and 11,000 captured. Inthe following year he also defeated Prussia, while in 1808 he forced
Spain and Portugal to their knees, installing his brother as King of Spain. Napoleon was also determined
to crush Russia and in June 1812 he invaded with 550,000 men and managed to capture Moscow in the
dead of winter. (Tchaikovsky's 1812 overture is a testimony to the magnificence of Russia's counter
attack.) Forced to retreat, Napoleon's army dwindled to 20,000 men due to the severity of the winter, to
disease and hunger. When allied forces entered Paris in March, 1814,Napoleon abdicated and was exiled
to the island of Elba. The following year he escaped from Elba and returning to Paris organized his army
to meet the combined British and Prussian forces at Waterloo, 9 miles south of Brussels. The battle took
place in June, 1815and ended with a final defeat for Napoleon, ending his 100-day resurgence. Napoleon
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abdicated and attempted to catch a ship to America. He was intercepted and exiled to St. Helena island,
where he died in 1821. He is buried in Paris in a monumental crypt called Les lnvalides, dedicated to his
memory.
Trivia at its best
Most of what follows hereunder is trivia, but significant if one wants to get under the skin of the 19th
century. The problem is that as we get closer and closer to our own slice of history, more and more things
happen at greater speed than previously. One cannot do justice to all of the events, so our readers must
excuse our selectivity of reporting even at the exclusion of many worthwhile happenings. As an example,
let me suggest such an issue in the field of music, with which Iam most familiar. One hundred twenty of
the world's 300 most notable musicians were born during the 19th century, including such luminaries as
Brahms, Chopin,Mendelssohn,Tchaikovsky, Verdi and Wagner. Sixteen of the 120 were born in Hungary,
including Liszt, Lehar, Dohnanyi, Bartok and Kodaly. It is a pity that time and space imposes a limit on
what we have to report and what we regretfully have to pass over.
In America, Thomas Jefferson started his presidency in 1801. One of his major accomplishments was to
have the foresight to send explorers Lewis and Clark to scout the western part of the continent. After
their return, Jefferson's presidency bought Louisiana and the western part of the continent from the
French for 15 million dollars, doubling the size of the country. Jefferson governed from the new capital
of Washington D.C.
Disenchanted with Napoleon when French guns were rolling through Vienna, Beethoven composed the
lovely "Moonlight Sonata" in 1802. (The famous 5th symphony would come along 6 years later.) - The
Englishman Robert Fulton invented the steam-powered engine in 1803, subsequently used to power river
boats and even ocean-going vessels. Furthermore, a year later the first steam-powered locomotive was
put into service. Inventions and creations of all kinds appear on the market now, including the book Pride
and Prejudice written in 1813 by Jane Austen. - Francis Scott Key wrote the poem "Defence of Fort
McHenry" in 1814 while watching the bombardment of the fort by British naval vessels in Chesapeake
Bay. The poem was put to the music of John Stafford Smith, originally written as "Anacreontic Heaven".
Changed to The Star-Spangled banner, it became the official United States national anthem in 1931.
Joseph Mohr, a priest in Oberndorf near Salzburg, Austria, wrote a Christmas poem called "Stille Nacht,
heilige Nacht" (Silent night). In 1818 he asked his organist, Franz Xavier Gruber to set it to music. The
melody and text was declared an intangible cultural heritage by UNESCO as the most popular Christmas
song. - The German poet Goethe published his masterwork "Faust'' in 1829.
Louis Lebar of France built the Notre Dame cathedral in 1823. - Piano virtuoso Chopin debuted in Vienna
in 1829. In the same year Rossini's opera William (Guilleaume) Tell debuted in Paris. - The Society of
Latter Day Saints, otherwise known as the Mormons, was founded in 1830 in Fayette, New York. - Victor
Hugo's novel, The Hunchback of Notre Dame became a bestseller in 1834. - In 1836 Texas won
independence from Mexico. As a new republic, its first President was General Sam Houston. On May 24,
1844 the first telegram was sent from Baltimore to Washington at public expense. The message was:
"What has God wrought?" The cost was $30,000! - The Irish potato famine prompted many Irishmen
and their families to immigrate to the United States.
Here is a particularly cute story: In 1840, under the threat of French invasion, the Swabian merchant, 21year-old Max Schneckenburger wrote a poem "Wacht am Rhein" (Watch on the Rhein). It was set to
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music 14 years later by the conductor Carl Wilhelm and became Germany's most popular patriotic song in
the days of the Franco-Prussian war of 1870-71.
Eighteen-year-old Victoria (1819-1901) became Queen of Great Britain in 1837. - The American Charles
Goodyear invented vulcanization for rubber tires in 1839. In the same year Scottish Kirkpatrick Macmillan
invented the first bicycle. - The London House of Parliament began taking shape in 1840, completed
twenty years later. Its architect was Sir Charles Barry. - British sovereignty was proclaimed over Hong
Kong in 1841. - Louis Kossuth became Hungary's revolutionary leader and guided the country through the
1848/9 war of independence. - Czar Alexander of Russia died in 1845, succeeded by Czar Nicholas, who
would be called upon by the Austrian Emperor to help put down the Hungarian uprising in 1848. - Also in
1848, the Communist Manifesto "Workers of the world, unite!" was published by German Jewish
philosophers Karl Marx (1818-1883) and Friedrich Engels (1820-1895). The Manifesto urged revolution
by workers against the ruling classes. Marx, owner of a newspaper, was expelled from Germany and lived
in exile in London, supported by Engels, a manufacturer who is the author of Das Kapital. Communism
owes its origin to the work of these two men.
Most of us use Listerine as a mouthwash, so keep in mind that in 1865 the American Joseph Lister
discovered the benefits of antiseptic surgery with carbolic acid, while a year later the Norwegian scientist
Alfred Nobel invented the dynamite. To counter the destructive dynamite, Nobel also established a prize
bearing his name rewarding the inventors and discoverers of more worthwhile subjects.
Russia decided to sell Alaska to the United States in 1867 for $7.2 million dollars. Across the world on the
other side of the Atlantic Ocean couples were dancing to Johann Strauss' Blue Danube waltz.
Pope Pius IX chaired the first Vatican Concil in 1869, dealing with papal infallibility. The Pope, however,
had nothing significant to add to the discovery, in 1868, of the skeleton of a Pro-Magnon man in France,
who would be the successor of the Neanderthal species representing the first homo sapiens. - The
Russian scientist Dimitri Mendeleyev formulated the "periodic table" in 1869 for classification of the
elements based on their increasing atomic numbers (protons in the nucleus) and other specifics.
(Hydrogen is No.1)
If someone wanted to charicature America at any age, one would draw a picture of a bottle of Coca Cola
and a package of Juicy Fruit chewing gum. The pharmacist Dr. John Cumberton developed a sweet cola
in 1886. Adding carbonated water to it, his accountant pronounced it very tasty and named it Coca Cola.
The drink now sells close to 2 billion servings per day (!) worldwide and we have no figures on the number
of chewing gums which are defacing the world as they are disposed of while stuck under the surface of
furniture on display or stuck on the sole of unsuspecting pedestrians' shoes. The Wrigley Company, which
created it in 1891, first started out by selling soap and baking powder, but later concentrated on the gum
which is now an icon.
I picked a small number of literary achievements despite an impressive number which appeared on the
market in the 19th century. One of those books was written by Jules Verne in 1872 with the title "Around
the world in 80 days." - The first commercially produced typewriter was the Remington brand, which
appeared on the market in 1873. - Three cities in Hungary formed the unification of Budapest, the
Hungarian capital. - Giuseppe Verdi composed his monumental Requiem in 1874 to commemorate the
death of political leader Alessandro Manzoni.
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Mark Twin's "Adventures of Tom Sawyer'' was published in 1875. Alexander Graham Bell invented the
telephone in 1876. The first skyscraper was built in 1883 in Chicago and the Statue of Liberty in New York
harbor was dedicated in 1883. The statue is the work of Frederic Auguste Bartholdi,it was made in France
and shipped to the United States where 120,000 donations were solicited by publisher Joseph Pulitzer to
have the statue erected.
As a monumental opening pavilion for the world's fair in Paris, engineer Gustave Eiffel designed an 81storey-tall steel tower in 1889 which, for a while, held the title of the world's tallest building with its 1063
foot height. - Another easily recognizable institution which opened in 1889 is the Moulin Rouge night
club in Paris.
Who wouldn't recognize the rousing rhythm of Tchaikovsky's 1812 overture composed in 1882, and the
sweet melodies of the Nutcracker Suite, which opened in St. Petersburg in 1892?
The California gold rush began in 1848. - The novel Moby Dick was published by Herman Melville in 1851,
and in 1859 Charles Darwin published 110n the origin of species." Victor Hugo wrote 11Les Miserables" in
1862. - Construction was started in 1859 on the Suez Canal, connectingthe Mediterranean, - particularly
the Nile river, - and the Red Sea, shortening the route from Europe to India by 4,300 miles. The
construction took 10 years. Originally, the canal was 102 miles long and 26 feet deep, but was later
expanded to 120 miles in length, 79 feet in depth and 673 feet in width. It is single lane with a couple of
passing zones, with a capacity of less than 50 ships at one time. The current changes its direction with
the tides at Suez. (In 2014 a second (partial) canal would be started to double the capacity.)
French novelist Dumas, pere, published his bestseller in
11
The Count of Monte Cristo in 1844, while
Mendelssohn composed his outstanding violin concerto in E minor. The first propeller-driven ship, the
s.s. Great Britain sailed across the Atlantic Ocean to America in 1843. The world's first sewing machine,
still pumped by foot, was invented in 1846 by Elias Howe, with great improvements added 5 years later
by 1.M. Singer. 1847 saw two remarkable books appear in Emily Bronte's Wuthering Heights and Charlotte
Brunte's Jane Eyre. The great achievement of his short life (1818-1865) was the Hungarian I.T.
Semmelweiss' 1847 discovery of the cause of childhood fever and puerperal infection. He earned the
Nobel prize for that.
Henry Steinway and three sons began producing pianos in 1853 in New York City. In 1854 Pope Pius IX
declared the dogma of the Immaculate Conception of the Virgin Mary as an article of faith. The Pope also
issued the encyclical Syllabus Errorum condemning socialism and liberalism. - Franz Liszt composed the
symphonic poem Les Preludes in the same year. In 1856 the 13.5 ton bell was mounted at the British
Houses of Parliament. It is now known as Big Ben. In 1858 the Virgin Mary made several appearances to
farm children in Lourdes, France. The village and its miraculous healing waters became a destination for
pilgrimages of the faithful.
In America, General Robert E. Lee of the Confederacy surrendered to General Ulysses S. Grant at
Appomattox, VA, on April 4, 1965. The Civil War officially ended on May 26, 1865. President Abraham
Lincoln was assassinated on April 14. The game-changing battle at Gettysburg,PA, July 1-3 1863, resulting
in the death of 6,158 men, would inspire President Lincoln to write his memorable Gettysburg Address
dedicating a military cemetery on Nov. 19, 1863. The brief speech has gone down history as one of the
finest example of English public oratory, to wit:
---
---- --------
--------------
Four score and seven years ago our fathers brought forth on this continent a new nation, conceived in liberty, anddedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal.
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Now we are engaged in a great civil war, testing whether that nation, or any nation so conceived and so dedicated,
can long endure. We are met on a great battlefield of that war. We have come to dedicate a portion of that field, as a
final resting place for those who here gave their lives that that nation might live. It is altogether fitting and proper
that we should do this.
But, in a larger sense, we can not dedicate, we can not consecrate, we can not hallow this ground. The brave men,
living and dead, who struggled here, have consecrated it, far above our poor power to add or detract. The world will
little note, nor long remember what we say here, but it can never forget what they did here. Itis for us the living,
rather, to be dedicated here to the unfinished work whiclithey who fought here have thus far so nobly advanced. It
ir:1ther for us to be here dedicated to the great task remaining before us-that from these honored dead we take
incre;,,.ed devotion to that cause for which they gave the last full measure of devotion-that we·Jiereliiglily resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain-that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom-and that
government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth.
Darwin published his book entitled "On the origin of species by natural selection", in 1859. - Work on the
Suez Canal and the London underground began in the same year. - Victor Hugo's book, Les Miserables,
became a bestseller in 1862. - 1866 brought the dissolution of the German Federation and the opening
salvo of Prussia leading to the foundation of Germany which was to play a pivotal role in European history
within two generations.
Tolstoi's War and Peace was published in 1864. - Louis Pasteur invented the process of pasteurization the
same year. - George Eastman marketed the first Kodak box camera in 1888. - Archduke Rudolf, the
Crown Prince of Austria and Hungary, committed suicide on January 30, 1889 in the Mayerling hunting
lodge. - Rudyard Kipling wrote my childhood's favorite, "Jungle Book" in 1894, while the Czech Anton
Dvorak composed his incredible "From the new world" symphony in 1893.
i Andra'ssy
Street in Budapest has always been a trendsetting residential area. Construction of a tram
or horse-drawn transportation was not permitted in this prestigious location, yet, mass transportation
was needed between the heart of the city and Hero's Square. The capital authorized the construction of
Europe's first subway (previously only London possessed such a train) and gave the German Siemens
company the go-ahead to build it. The subway line over its 3,688 meter length opened on May 2°d, 1896.
The Duchess Elizabeth of Bavaria, Empress of Austria and Queen of Hungary, born on Christmas Eve, 1837,
died on September 10, 1898 while on vacation in Geneva, Switzerland. She was stabbed by an anarchist
using a knitting needle wanting to kill another royalty. The Queen, or Sisi,as she was lovingly called, simply
was at the wrong place at the wrong time. The whole Empire mourned her.
As the pages of the 19th century slowly turned to close, Wilhelm Rontgen invented the X-rays in 1895,
which would play an important role in medical diagnosis. X-rays of a different kind would be needed to
examine Europe's sickening history rushing toward the crevasse of World War One.
Hungary in the early 20th century
The government of Hungary set three immediate goals for its administration in the first decade of the 20th
century. First, the sustenance of the existing Hungarian nation. Second, the guarantee of harmonious
cooperation between the Hungarian nation and its king. Third, the strengthening of the Hungarian
character of the national government. This period fell in a brief era called "secessionist", or Art Nouveau,
which put its stamp on construction style, fashion and art. It sought to bring uniformity and harmony into
culture based on nationalistic roots. The most successful theatrical production became the folksy "Janos
vitez'' (Brave John), based on sJndor Pet&fi's story and Pongracz Kacsbh's music.
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Briefly free of wars, the nation developed a need to participate in politics. The new Parliament, which
opened in 1902, encompassed 7 political parties, including the National Work Party with 256
representatives, the Kossuth Party with 51,the Independent Justh Party (44), the Peoples Party (13), the
Smallholders Party (5), the Democratic Party (2) and the Christian Socialist Party (1). Interestingly, only
6.8% of the population had the right to vote, totaling 1,272,755 voters in 1914.
Another look at Hungarian society is provided by the preferred requirements for beauty contestants. The
young ladies should be charming,exhibiting feminine characteristics whose physical attributes would not
be overwhelming,yet reflect a higher standing of our national beauty. She should be preferably blonde,
a bit rotund with full cheeks and lips the shape of small strawberries, smiling constantly.
The labor market, except for the construction of monumental buildings in Budapest in the art nouveau
style, did not show much improvement. The decade started with strikes in nearly all branches of work,
including a nationwide strike of railroad workers. At the beginning of the century, there were 82,000
people out of work in Budapest, representing about 20% of the work force. Seeking a better future, the
first decade saw 860,000 people emigrating from greater Hungary, with 740,000 headed to the United
States. It is significant, though, that of the total emigrants only a third were Hungarian. The rest came
from ethnic minorities. About a quarter of those who emigrated would later return to their country of
birth. Celebrities who visited Hungary included Buffalo Bill in June 1905, while Conan Doyle who was
celebrated for his Sherlock Holmes character, spent a day in Budapest in 1907. In April, 1910 Robert
Peary, explorer of the North Pole visited in Budapest.
The bishop Ottokar Prohaszka (1858-1927) gave a voice to modern Catholicism. He was a virtual apostle
of Christian Socialism in Hungary, who became one of the party's representatives in parliament. - Reflecting
the era's secessionist trends, folk music gained national prominence in the works of Zoltn Kodaly and
Bla Bartek as they traveled far and wide collecting authentic folk music not only from Hungarian villages
but from the treasure trove of neighboring minorities.
In 1910, the population of greater Hungary encompassed 20.9 million residents. Of the country's total
population 54.5% declared themselves Hungarian,the balance made up of the minorities of neighboring
countries. (The capital's population was 86% Hungarian.) Smallpox no longer featured as a main cause
of death. In its place tuberculosis became a leading cause of death and out of 1,000 newborn only 206
reached their first year. Life expectancy was around 40 years of age. 50% of the population was Roman
Catholic and 62% came from farming families. The intelligentsia represented a mere 4% of the country's
population. Of the Hungarian and German (Swabish) nationalities 20% was illiterate, whereas up to 70%
of other minorities could not read or write.
Emperor Franz Joseph died on November 21,1916 at age 86 of pneumonia. His 68-year reign is the thirdlongest in the recorded history of Europe. He was succeeded on the throne by his grand -nephew Karl.
...and elsewhere in the world:
King Umberto Iof Italy was murdered by anarchists in 1900,succeeded by his son, Victor Emanuel Ill.
In 1901 Queen Victoria died and was succeeded by her son, Edward VII. In the U.S., President McKinley
was assassinated in the same year. - In 1902 the U.S. assumed perpetual control over the Panama Canal,
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and work began on it 2 years later. The volcano at St. Pierre, Martinique, erupted in 1902, destroying the
entire population of the village except one person, a prisoner who survived in his cell. In 1903 Henry Ford
founded his motor company with $100K. General Motors started up in 1908.
Puccini's opera, Madam Butterfly was heard for the first time in Milan, Italy, in 1904. - The brothers Orville
and Willow Wright manage to fly a powered plane over a North Carolina beach in 1904. This is the
beginning of the new era of flight. - The operetta "Merry Widow" of Hungarian composer Franz Lehar
debuts in 1905. - Albert Einstein formulates his relativity theory in the same year. The future Soviet leader Josef Stalin robbed a train of 375,000 rubles to help the revolution. - The Boy
Scout organization is founded by Baden Powell. - The favorite novel of my youth, Winnetou,written by
Karl May, is published in 1910. - Sun Yat-sen appoints Chiang Kai-shek as his adviser in 1911. - The big
story of 1912 is the accidental sinking of the ''Titanic" in its encounter with an iceberg, in which 1,513
passengers and crew died.
Russia has, for a long time, wanted to have access to the Mediterranean from the Black Sea via the Straits
of Bosporus to which Turkey had objected. Austria's foreign minister, allegedly without the knowledge of
Russian Tsar Nicholas II,made a secret deal with his Russian counterpart in which the Russians would not
oppose the Monarchy's annexation of Bosnia and Herzegovina in exchange for Russia's use of the
Dardanelles and the Bosporus Straits. The Monarchy has kept troops in those two countries since 1878,
claiming that the occupation was temporary. (This sounds eerily the same as the Soviets claimed following
WWII,when their troops were given permanent quarters during their temporary occupation of Hungary.)
On October 5, 1908, Emperor Franz Joseph announced the annexation of Bosnia and Herzegovina as part
of the Monarchy, to which Serbia vehemently objected. War threatened to break out and was prevented
only by the influence of Germany which took the Monarchy's side. The struggle to maintain its identity
while seemingly guaranteeing the identity of all those neighboring countries with different ethnicity
consumed Hungary's internal as well as foreign policies and often projected an unpleasant reflection
toward its Western neighbors. The only notable exception was Theodore Roosevelt, who spent some
time in Hungary during his European peregrinations in 1910. He wrote:
"/ was struck in Hungary by thefact that I was really more in sympathy with the people whom I met than with
the corresponding people of the larger continental nations. Their ways of looking at life were more like mine,
and their attitude toward the great social and economic questions more like those of myfriends in America.
The Hungarian women, for instance, were almost the only women of Continental Europe, with whom I could
talk in the same intimate way that I could with various American and English women whom I have known.
The Hungarian women are charming. They seemed tohave the solid qualities of the North Germans and yet
to have the French charm which the Germans so totally lacked. I greatly liked the Hungarian men. I met an
unusual number who were interesting and interested in things that were worth while and who were keenly
alert about political and economic matters, and were enthusiastic sportsmen or were well-read or had other
interests that were not merely stodgy. Altogether, I could not overstate how thoroughly at home I felt in
Hungary...."
These excerpts were taken from B. J. Bishop's Theodore Roosevelt and his time (New York, 1929).
Iam pretty certain that Mr. Roosevelt had spoken to a fair cross-section of Hungarian society, - and hope
that some of those were Jewish, because the Jews were the only group which took to heart
the
75
liberalization and embraced the Educational Act which served their purpose. The Jews were more or less
emancipated following the 1848 revolution and many of them fought against the Austrians. According to
Professor Arthur J. May as quoted by Istvan Sisa, the Hungarian Jews advanced the material and
intellectual life of the country, being fervent apostles of 11Magyarization". The largest part of the
Hungarian press was owned by Jews which supported chauvinism and assimilation. By 1900their number
increased to 830,000 from 366,000 fifty years earlier. Around the turn of the century, 42% of journalists,
45% of lawyers and 49% of doctors were Jewish. These advances by this segment of the population
engendered sporadic anti-Semitic outbursts. Many of the Jews were immigrants from Galicia and Russia,
quickly rose to prominence and found Hungary to be a heaven for them until Nazi influences changed things
in the 1930s.
To govern a nation of such diversity must have been difficult, to say the least. The Nationalities Act
stressed the political unity of the Empire, while it tried to provide national minorities and ethnicities farreaching rights in education and the use of their own language. The problem was that those very same
nationalities were not interested in being members of the Monarchy but were entertaining dreams of
independence and autonomy. The Nationalities Act seemed to have backfired. To balance things out, the
government now swung in the other extreme and wanted to make 11Magyarization" (of names and
customes) the standard. Prime Minister Istvan Tisza, who governed Hungary in the years leading up to
World War I, represented the newer trend while one of his predecessors, Count Gyula Andrassy
conducted a balancing act. Andrassy could be seen walking arm in arm with his Russian counterpart.
When he was chided for doing so, he countered, saying: "When someone wants to push you down a
precipice, the best policy is to hold tightly onto his arm."
Preliminaries to World War I
As a preliminary to World War I, Italy won its war on Turkey in October, 1912. Montenegro took
advantage of the momentary opportunity and launched an attack on Turkey. Bulgaria's attack on Turkey
approached Istanbul within 30 miles with the help of Serbia and Greece in June of 1913. In the ensuing
peace treaty Turkey relinquished its European holdings. The victors then turned against each other and
Bulgaria capitulated in July, 1913. This is regarded as a preliminary to World War Ias a measure of the
Balkan's unsettled situation and strength.
As each nationality gained some strength over the years, it was Croatia which attempted to coalesce
Dalmatia, Slovenia and Bosnia into a third partner into the Austro-Hungarian Monarchy. This seemed to
agree with the plans of the Austrian heir Francis Ferdinand, who hated the Hungarians and sought to
break the relative influence of Hungary over the above states in the Balkan area.
Royal succession
Emperor Franz Joseph and his wife Elizabeth had 4 children, of which Archduke Rudolf would have been
next in line for the throne of the Emperor. Rudolf killed himself in 1889. Next in line would have been the
Emperor's eldest brother, Archduke Ferdinand Maximilian, but he died in 1867 as Emperor of Mexico. Next
came the Emperor's second brother, Archduke Karl Ludwig,who renounced his succession rights in favor
of his son, Franz Ferdinand.
As the territories of Bosnia, Croatia, Herzegovina and Serbia were annexed into the Austro-Hungarian
Monarchy, nationalistic unrest broke out in the Balkans, fuelled mainly by the Serbian group called the
76
Black Hand. When those groups learned that the heir-apparent to the Austrian throne, Franz Ferdinand
and his wife were about to visit Sarajevo in June of 1914,they made plans to assassinate them. Franz
Ferdinand was married in a morganatic union to Sophie Chotek von Chotkova. Morganatic is defined as
a marriage between a noble person and a person of inferior rank. In this case the marriage partner does
not assume the rank of his or her partner and even the children do not inherit the title, nor the property
of the higher ranked member. Franz Ferdinand and his wife, Sophie, had children who remained
commoners for the rest of their lives.
The Court in Vienna decided that the heir apparent had to be paraded among the people to make him look
imperial. One of the heir-presumptive's pronouncements was a direct attack on Hungary, saying: "I shall find
ways and means to wipe present-day Hungary off the map." Although Franz Ferdinand's views differed from
that of the current Emperor, - in fact showed favoritism toward the Slavs versus the Hungarians, nevertheless, the minorities, especially the Serbs, had autonomy on their agenda and resented an y
association with members of the Monarchy.
On June 28, 1914,while riding in a motorcade through the streets of Sarajevo, Franz Ferdinand and his
wife were shot and killed by a member of Black Hand, Gavrilo Princip and his conspirators. The whole plot
is detailed on page 9 of the addendum to this study following page 57, titled "House of Habsburg."
Those shots were the opening salvo of World War I.
World War f
Franz Joseph was on vacation in Bad lschl when the news of the assassination reached him. He interrupted
his vacation and returned to Vienna, but only for a short while, leaving all decision-making in the hands
of Foreign Minister Count Leopold Berchtold. Nearly a month after the assassination,the cabinet sent a
severe ultimatum to the Serbs, demanding to have Austrian control over bringing the Serbian
revolutionaries to task. Since the Serbs, as an autonomous country, ignored Vienna's demands, on July
28th Austria-Hungary declared war on the Serbs. Most of the nations in the world took the part of one or
the other of the antagonists, so the Monarchy found itself battling the Russians, the French and British,
while Germany declared its support for Franz Joseph and his Empire and called themselves the Central
Powers, while the other side would be called the Allies. Somewhat later Italy, Japan and the United States
(in 1917) joined the Allies, while Turkey and Bulgaria took the side of the Central Powers.
1915 - 1916
The initial move for Austro-Hungari an forces was to invade Serbia, then face Russia which came out on
the side of Serbia, eventually into Russia through Poland, while Germany invaded Belgium on the way to
France, which drew Britain into the conflict. Just to clarify Hungary's position on the side of the Central
Powers, we must acknowledge that Hungary was one member of the dual Monarchy, which compelled
the country to side with its partner. And the reason for our support of the Germans was best explained
by Hungary's Premier Count Khuen-Hedervary to the French Ambassador. He said: "The German alliance
for Hungary is a rampart against the Slavs whom Hungarians have to fear the most." lstvn Tisza, too,
made it clear to the Imperial Counsel that the only condition he would agree to the war was if at the end
the Monarchy would acquire no territory from Serbia. There was no logical reason for grabbing more
territory.
77
Certain tears appeared in the fabric of the Austro-Hungari an Monarchy. Early inthe war, the emigration's
Czech leaders, Tomas Masaryk and Eduard Benes, openly broke any affiliation with the Monarchy and
took up the cause of the Slovak nation as well. Their representation of the Czechoslovak cause served
them well against Hungary in the post-war peace treaty negotiations.
Warfare took on a new and dangerous turn as the Germans used mustard gas in Belgium in 1915 and
German airplanes dropped bombs on Paris in the initial phases of the German invasion of France. Having
broken through the French Maginot line, the Germans were well on their way to Paris, but encountering
heavy resistance the invasion bogged down. Tanks were used for the first time by Britain in 1916, whereas
the new weapons on the high seas were the newly launched submarines, some of them made in Fiume
(today's Rijeka), where my godfather, naval engineer Stephen Schuller worked as a consultant. A new
weapons factory opened in Budapest which manufactured mainly the Mannlicher rifle invented in the
1880s as well as the Frommer-Stop pistol.
In any case, the invasion of Serbia ended in a draw as a quarter of the force of 100,000 was lost to Serbian
resistance. When the focus became the Russian invasion of Hungary, the Hungarian army lost 100,000 men
in Galicia, just North of the Carpathian mountains. It is interesting to consider that my uncle, Frigyes
(Frederick) Vallay, was taken prisoner by Russians in the very first weeks of the conflict and ultimately
suffered captivity in Siberia until the end of the war four years later. The account of his exposure to the
people and geography of this vast land makes for fascinating reading. (See "Frici b!3csi's story", IN
TRANSLATION, November 2007.) My uncle was one of 600,000 Hungarians who, over the years, would
become Russian POWs. Altogether, the Monarchy had 4.5 million soldiers of whom 1.1million were killed
in the war, while 3.6 were wounded. Hungary's losses were 661,000 killed, 743,000 wounded and 734,000
taken prisoner.
In May, 1915, Italy entered the war on the side of the Allied Powers, formally known as the Entente, which
forced the transfer of Hungarian divisions from the Carpathians to the Italian front. For months the front
would be weaving back and forth along the lsonzo river, until leadership passed to the Germans who were
able to clean up the campaign. The twelve battles of lsonzo were some of the inconclusive events of
World War Iwhich demanded a high price in lives lost.
Hungarian Prime Minister lstv n Tisza never had any trust in the Romanians who took up a wait-and-see
attitude in the early months of the war. In fact, the Romanians worked out a secret pact with the Allied
leadership in which half of Hungary east of the Tisza river was promised to them as a prize for joining in
on the side of the Allied. Romania declared war on the Central Powers in August, 1916 and crossed the
Carpathians to enter defenseless Transylvania. The joint Austro-Hungarian forces chased them back to
the Romanian capital of Bucharest.
With Bulgaria's entry into the war on the side of the Central Powers, the Balkans were subdued. Turkey
came to the side of the Monarchy in October, 1915, declaring war on the Entente.
On the Western front, Germany launched a war under sea and caused the loss to the Allied Powers of one
million tons of merchant ships. They also launched the first bombing of London by Zeppelin airship.
Another piece of big news was the sinking of the Cunard liner "Lusitania", causing the death of 1,198
passengers and crew, including 128 Americans. The ship was torpedoed on May 7, 1915 eleven miles off
the southern coast of Ireland. The Germans suspected that she was carrying ammunition among its cargo.
78
The longest battle of the war took place from February 21 to December 18, 1916 at Verdun, in Northeastern
France on the banks of the Meuse river. Essentially a battle fought inthe trenches, the front line weaved
back and forth and caused some 714,000 casualties.
The civilian population suffered greatly, too, as a result of the war. Rationing was introduced for the major
food items. Potatoes became so expensive and became so scarce, stands were set up on street corners
in Budapest selling baked potatoes to passers-by, while lard, flour and bread and later sugar could only
be purchased against rations. Meat of any kind would not be available for purchase on Tuesdays and
Fridays. All men between 18 and 55 years of age were required to serve in the armed forces, greatly
reducing manpower in agriculture.
The Central Powers had their troops on enemy territory when Emperor Franz Joseph died in November,
1916. Why would the incoming Emperor Charles send out feelers for an armistice? Apart from the fact
that the United States would not enter the war until April of 1917, all seemed going according to schedule.
Or was it?
CHARLES IV (IV Karoly of Hungary) (Charles I of Austria)(1916-1918)
As explained above, upon the death of Emperor Franz Joseph on November 21, 1916, his grand-nephew
succeeded him on the Austrian throne. He was officially crowned king of Hungary on December 30, 1916,
in Budapest. He would be Hungary's last king. He reigned until November 16, 1918 when he renounced
participation in state affairs, although he did not abdicate. Charles attempted to restore the monarchy
until his death in 1922.
Charles IV was a man of good will, although he was not a decisive leader. Soon after taking power, he
tried to put out feelers for peace. His wife Zita was of the Bourbon-Parma family and had two brothers,
the Princes Sixtus and Xavier, who fought on the other side. Charles tried to use them as intermediaries
in his quest for peace. In spite of this effort having been rejected, Hungarian Premier lstvn Tisza wrote
to the American Ambassador in Vienna, fearing that continued warfare would bring the U.S. into the
conflict.
First, we shall deal with the affairs surrounding the First World War; then the access to the throne of
Hungary of Admiral Nicholas Horthy who represented the Monarchy until its dethronization by Parliament
in 1921. Embedded in that story is Charles' two attempts to recover the throne of Hungary by royal coups
d'etat. The best version I have read was published by Wikipedia
and I
encourage you to read it in its entirety. To include its pages in this study would be pure plagiarism, so I
can attempt to summarize the events but the "flavor'' of it comes only through reading the published
version.
The war and its aftermath
We should remember that this is not meant to be a history book. The original concept of my writing was
to emphasize the individual's role in making decisions. It intentionally left out major events in the
summary of the centuries and makes no apologies for it. The chief determinant of the course of history
for Hungary, - unless it was occupied by a foreign power, - was the legally chosen king. This study began
with our first king, St. Stephen, and will end with its last, Charles I, with a small view ahead to
Regent
79
Horthy who never abused his role as "representative" of the Crown and tried to forge a viable nation out
of Hungary devastated by a world conflagration.
1917-1918
The First World War took a more somber turn on April 6, 1917, when the United States crossed the Atlantic
to help France in its struggle against the German invasion. This was largely in response to Germany's
announcement of conducting an unlimited submarine war, in which British shipping suffered a million and
half ton loss in 1916 alone, with much more to come, including the sinking of the Lusitania with American
citizens aboard.
There are many accounts of World War Iand the intention of this study is not to present and analyze its many
minutiae. However, to illustrate the desperation with which both sides fought the war, Ihave picked a couple
of instances for our better understanding. One such prolonged battle was at Passchendaele near Ypres in
Belgium between British and German forces. It started in July of 1917 and lasted until November, continuously
changing hands at great human cost. Bad weather and confused military command decisions delayed
decisive action for 5 months and became a classic example of the war's conduct in and out of trenches. The
other characteristic event happened on the Italian front in October 1917. With the battle of the lsonzo
river, to which we had alluded earlier, wasting many lives on both sides, the German commander Paul von
Hindenburg decided to enter the fighting directly on the sides of the Monarchy. The site of the Caporetto
river (in today's Slovenia) was chosen for a suitable gas attack. At 2 A.M. on October 24th 894 metal tubes
were triggered electronically to deliver chlorine and phosgene gases over the Italian trenches, causing a
deadly cloud of poison spreading over the valley. 600 men died, the rest of them fled for their lives as their
gas masks would only protect them for 2 hours. The Austro-Hungarian forces, reinforced by German units,
advanced 25 kms {16 miles) that day, which was the 12th battle of the lsonzo.
Before we turn to other matters of the war, let me insert two items which caught my interest. One is the
so-called Balfour declaration, and the other is the fascinating female spy Mata Hari.
Foreign Minister Arthur Balfour of Britain wrote to Jewish leader Baron Rothschild, on November 2, 1917,
a letter to be transmitted to the Zionist organization, saying that the British government would support
the establishment of Palestine following the war. The territory, we know, had been under Ottoman
occupation but would undergo a revision of borders, creating new nations in the Middle East. The Balfour
Declaration had long-term implications as it would encourage the Zionists to claim and later establish
what we now know is the State of Israel.
Mata Hari was born in the Netherlands in 1876 as Margaretha Zelle. When she turned 18, she married a
Dutch Army officer 21 years her senior. He was transferred to Java where the marriage quickly went awry,
although it produced 2 children. Returning to Holland in 1902, Margaretha reinvented herself as an Indian
temple dancer trained in erotic dancing. Changing her name to Mata Hari she became sensational in Paris
and other European capitals. With the outbreak of World War I, the French secret service became
suspicious of Mata Hari's liaisons with German political and military figures. The French wanted to make
use of her "expertise" and sent her to Madrid to establish relationships with German military attachEls at
the Embassy. Mata Hari carried her trade too far and became a double agent, for which she was arrested,
convicted and sentenced to death when she returned to Paris.
80
The execution took place in a French Army barracks by firing squad on October 15, 1917, which was reported
by British reporter Henry Wales. When awakened in her cell, she commodiously got dressed in a fur-lined
long black velvet cloak and high-heeled slippers and fur collar. She was beautiful still to behold. Her thick
black hair was coiled in braids. She pulled on a pair of black kid gloves and said to her executioners: "I am
ready."
The red menace rises
A major upheaval started in St. Petersburg, Russia on March 10th following widely held strikes organized
by the Social Democrats and Bolsheviks. The strikers demanded the abdication of the Tsar and the
establishment of a republic. Strangely, the Hungarian Parliament congratulated the Russian revolution.
Since Charles Ihimself wanted to introduce some political changes in the countries under his rule, on May
23, 1917, he forced the resignation of Hungarian Premier Istvan Tisza, who did not agree with his king.
His place would be taken over by the inexperienced Count M6ric Esterhazy, but he resigned by August 19.
His successor, Sandor Wekerle, only held the post for a year when the final loss of the war compelled him
to withdraw from politics.
On November 7th, 1917, Communist revolution broke out in St. Petersburg led by Lenin. The mob
demanded an immediate armistice and wanted to form a populist government.
On January 8, 1918, American president Wilson published his 14 points, defining his reasons for America's
role in the world war and his vision of post-war order in the world. Among others, he suggested the
withdrawal of all foreign troops from Russia, allowingthe country to make its own independent decisions.
His 10th point significantly wanted to have autonomy for Austria and for Hungary, and finally, Wilson
suggested the formation of a world council, or League of Nations organization. Partially in response to
Wilson's points, a general strike was organized in Budapest with hundreds of thousands participating to
protest the continuation of the war.
On September 28, 1918, Bulgaria laid down its arms which was an unexpected blow to the Central Powers.
They appealed to the Allied forces for peace, which met with President Wilson's outright rejection and
reiterated his demands for the breakup of the Monarchy in its present form. Inthe wake of expecting the
Monarchy to fall apart, its member nations in the Balkans formed National Committees representing
Croatia, Serbia, Slovenia, Bohemia and a newly created Poland as independent states. As noted above,
Hungary's Wekerle government tendered its resignation, turning the reins over to the new National
Council formed on October 23, 1918. Count Michael Karolyi was chosen to become the head of the
Council. Karolyi,because of his socialist views, earned the title of "voros gr6f' (red count). The National
Council under his leadership published a program favoring a much-overdue land reform, demanding new
general elections based on universal suffrage and a series of socio-economic reforms for the working class.
Emperor Charles issued a proclamation announcing the formation of an Austrian Confederation to replace
the Austro-Hungarian Monarchy. In Prague the formation of the new Czechoslovak state was announced.
Inthe evening hours of October 30 an increasingly large public demonstration took place in Budapest. The
throngs of people marched on all the main thoroughfares of the capital and came to the Astoria Hotel which
the National Council had designated as its headquarters. More and more military personnel could be seen
among the marchers who gradually took over control of the Danube bridges, the radio station and the post
offices. In one case the crowd immobilized two military trains ready to leave for the front and dispersed
the soldiers who gladly joined the demonstrators. There were a few volleys
81
of fire to assure order, but a sudden heavy rainstorm soon dispersed the crowds. Krolyi and the National
Council barricaded itself in the Hotel Astoria afraid of their act being labeled as treasonous. In the
afternoon of October 31 four unidentified soldiers confronted Premier lstvn Tisza in his rented villa and
following some argumentation executed him. He was,it was said, the sole victim of the Socialist takeover in
Hungary.
In this chaotic situation the only steady message came from a descendant of the Hapsburg dynasty.
Archduke Joseph, who claimed the title of Governor of Hungary representing the Emperor, summoned
Krolyi to the Royal Castle to form a new government. Krolyi,a 11radicalized aristocrat", was a dreamer
with little political sense. The first Hungarian People's Government quickly started work on preparing a
request for armistice. The war came to an end for Hungary when the Armistice of Padua was signed with
the Allied Powers, permitting Hungary to retain its full territorial integrity at that point. The French
General Franchet D'Esperay was put in charge of the armistice and became the guardian of the treaty.
The Krolyi government included Defense Minister Bela Linder. In the terms of the armistice, Hungarian
troops began returning home from the battlefields. Linder made the army lay down their arms,
announcing: "Nern akarok tobbJ katonclt IJtni!" {I don't want to see soldiers any more!). This laid
Hungary's borders open to foreign incursions which began almost immediately from all sides, including
from Croatia, Serbia, Romania and Slovakia. The Karolyi government could not take the pressure and
resigned March 20, 1919, letting Bela K6n, a disciple of Lenin sent from Moscow take over the
government. Kun proclaimed a dictatorship of the proletariat in the new Hungarian Soviet Republic with
the sadistic Tibor Szamuely and Otto Klein in charge of the red terror.
It is appropriate to mention here that out of the 45 Communist commissars 32 were Jewish. Revenge on
them and excesses on many of the Jewish race took place under the so-called white terror, which soon
followed the Kem regime. The Kun dictatorship lasted for a mere 133 days. The remnants of the Hungarian
army, reorganized by Admiral of the former Monarchy, Nicholas Horthy, began forming in the southern
city of Szeged and bore the approval of the French General D'Esperay. The Horthy forces started moving
northward while Romanian forces moved Westward, eventually reaching Budapest by August 4th, 1919.
Under such pressure Bela Kun resigned on August ist and escaped to Austria where he sought political
asylum. Kt.m's place was taken for 5 days (!) by an unknown by the name of Gyula Peidl, head of the
printers' union, but his government was also toppled with the arrival of the Romanians in Budapest.
The Romanians stayed for 3 and a half months robbing and pillaging, plundering and looting everything
that could be moved. Interestingly, the National Museum was saved from the marauding Romanian
soldiers by a member of the Allied Commission, the American General Harry Hill Bandholz who took up a
lonely position outside the gates armed with nothing but his riding whip. He brushed aside the Romanian
guard and pinned a note on the door of the museum which he promptly sealed. Ingratitude for his action,
in 1936 the Hungarian nation erected a bronze statue to him on Liberty Square in Budapest.
The afore-mentioned Archduke Joseph once again interceded, claiming to carry the authorization of King
Charles to appoint Admiral Nicholas Horthy as head of the armed forces. As Romanian troops started to
leave Budapest, Horthy approached the capital, and finally, on November 16, 1919, retook it from all
foreign occupants, riding on his white horse at the head of an army of 30,000 Hungarian officers and
soldiers. As 1920 rolled around, the Hungarian Parliament proclaimed Hungary still a kingdom without a
king and appointed Admiral Horthy as Regent. He remained in that post as 11Kormanyzo" nearly until the
end of World War II.
82
IV. Karoly's attempts to retake the crown
The (former) Emperor was convinced that the loyalists in Hungary would welcome him back if the
opportunity arose. Holy Saturday, March 26, 1921may have been that moment.
Charles put out some feelers in diplomatic circles in Switzerland and decided to stage his return to the
throne. Shorn of his mustache and armed with a forged Spanish passport, he took a train to Szombathely,
a city of significant size on the Austro-Hungarian border. Count Janos Mikes must have had advance notice
of his coming because he put up Charles for the night. One of the legitimists, Col. Antal Lehar (a relative of
the famous composer) placed his military unit at Charles' disposal. It so happened that Prime Minister Pal
Teleki was also spending the Easter weekend in Szombathely. Charles rang him up at 2 AM, askingthe
Premier to arrange a meeting with Nicholas Horthy.
Teleki left his house at 6:30 in the morning but supposedly "lost his way" to Budapest, so Charles and his
entourage, who left an hour later, arrived at Horthy's residence in Budapest unannounced. Horthy was
having his Easter dinner when his military aid told him who was at the door. The two-hour meeting, which
Horthy describes in his memoirs as a "thoroughly odious experience", ended with an agreement to delay
the decision for three weeks. Neighboring countries got wind of Charles' visit and immediately announced
that the restoration to the throne would constitute a cause for war. The local newspapers were not in
favor of the king's return. Charles retreated to Switzerland. Teleki resigned and Horthy appointed the
legitimist lstvjn Bethlen to be the next Prime Minister.
Some loyalist circles in Hungary remained in favor of the king's return,giving false hopes to Charles. On
October 20th Charles and his wife Zita took a risky flight, landing in western Hungary in the fields of Count
Joseph Cziraky. From there they made their way to Sopron where an armoured train was being assembled
while the local garrison swore allegiance to Charles of Habsburg, King of Hungary. The troops were told
they were needed to restore order in Budapest where a Communist uprising was taking place. As the
train left for Budapest, local officials along the way took the oath of loyalty. Horthy got wind of the king's
approach late on October 21st and decided to send troops to stop him. His military officers were
ambivalent about serving Horthy while their previous oath to the head of the Monarchy was still in effect.
By October 23rd, Hungary was on the brink of civil war. Martial law was declared in the capital as Charles
approached within 20 miles of the city. The British envoy (remember that Hungary still had not signed
the peace treaty!) Thomas Hohler announced that Britain would never permit the return of the Habsburgs
and would not recognize Charles as king. Horthy went to the railway station to exhort the ragtag troops
to fight for Hungary's independence. Sporadic gunfire broke out, claiming the life of 14 Hungarian
defenders and 5 Austrian troops in the skirmish at Budaors. Charles began to negotiate for a truce, but
harsh terms were set for the royal couple. When stray bullets started to hit his train, Charles ordered his
troops to surrender.
The King and Queen, temporarily sheltered on the Morie Esterhazy estate, were arrested at the town of Tata
and escorted by military to the monastery in Tihany by Lake Balaton. Edvard Benes, foreign minister of
Czechoslovakia gave an ultimatum threatening to invade Hungary unless the Habsburgs were dethroned.
On November 3rd the British gunboat Glowworm picked up the royals at Baja by the Danube and took them
to Galati, Romania. The Allied command forced Charles into exile in
Madeira.
83
As my account on the "House of Habsburg" concludes on previous pages, the royals were unable to find
a suitable and inexpensive home in the capital city of Funchal,so they opted for a drafty house on the hilly
and unhealthy Qinta do Monte. The house didn't even have heat. Soon their children, including Crown
Prince Otto Habsburg,joined them from Switzei:land. In the following year the king,walking to town on a
rainy, cold day, contracted pneumonia of which he died on April 1,1922.
A memorial service was held for Charles at Matthias Coronation Church, with Regent Nicholas Horthy in
attendance. Let it be said also that son Otto Habsburg renounced all claims to the Austrian throne on
May 31,1961,but did not renounce all claims to the Hungarian and Bohemian thrones. Otto passed away
on July 4,2011,leaving h:s son, Charles V, as incumbent.
-------From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
/,;{;!::
84
Remembering Trianon
The next two paragraphs are quoted from Istvan Sisa's book entitled: "The Spiritof Hungary", as follows:
"Everything happened at Trianon that Hungary's enemies wanted to happen. The terms of the "Peace"
Treaty were dictated to Hungary rather than negotiated with her representatives. The successor states of
Czechoslovakia, Serbia, Romania had already taken military possession of all the territories they coveted.
The thousand-year-old Hungarian kingdom was no more."
"When the Hungarian delegation to the Peace Conference arrived in Neuilly (a suburb of Paris) on January
7, 1920, its members were promptly interned in a building called the Chateau de Madrid and guarded by
police. They were forbidden to communicate with others attending the Conference except in writing.
Deprived of personal contact, the delegates wrote memorandum after memorandum, submitting enormous
volumes of maps and figures. However, all their work was invain because everything had been arranged
in advance and the Hungarian input was not taken into account at all. While the Hungarians were practically
imprisoned, their antagonists had free access to the delegates of the Peace Conference."
When Andre Tardieu, who had been called the Father of Trianon, took over as chairman of the peace
committee, he declared: "No pity must be shown to Hungary." The French journalist Henry Pozzi wrote
in his book "Les Coupables" (The Guilty): "The peoples' right to self-determination proclaimed by the Allies
during the war turned out to be merely a deceitful formula used as a rallying call during times of acute
danger. The peace, such as bad been promised, was never made, and the ideals for which so many men
had laid down their lives, were betrayed by the negotiators of the treaties."
A virtual blockcrl(e surrounded Hungary by the so-called successor states. Hungary was starving. The
United States, alone, set up the so-called "Hoover kitchens" which provided meals for about 100,000
Hungarian children in Budapest and more meals elsewhere. There was nothing to do but sign the Treaty.
The government appointed former Ambassador Alfred Drasche-Laszar and Welfare Minister Agoston
Benard to sign it on June 4th, 1920, sealing the fate of Hungary forever. The country lost 89,700 square
miles (71.4%) out of its former 125,600, and more than 3.5 million Magyar nationals as well as 17.5 million
other nationals (63.6%} were detached from the old country, leaving Hungary with 7.6 million population
and 35,900 square miles of territory.
Let it be said for the record that the United States refused to sign the Treaty, concluding a separate peace
on August 29, 1920. Hungary remained a kingdom without a king,led by an Admiral without a sea. Adolf
Hitler, in the early days of World War II,did prevail on our neighbors to return some of the territories to
Hungary with purely Magyar population, but the price was terribly high. It meant sending an Army to the
Eastern front to fight the Soviet Union. We lost 200,000 in that effort and at the end of the war lost all
the territories as well which reverted to our neighbors.
The sad fact is that the dismembered country, - and its neighbors, - would not be able to stand in the way
of the encroaching Communism which would crumble them all like pieces of dominoes and hold them in its
grip for nearly half a century following World War II. This is the ultimate lesson of the treasonous Peace
treaty. The answer to a question concerning our neighbors is deeply etched in history which began with a
declaration of war by a foreign Habsburg king to revenge the life of his nephew who hated the Magyars, a
war which cost the lives of 661,000 Hungarian soldiers and at the end paid for this adventure with
the
85
dismemberment of a 1000-year old kingdom, handed over generously by foreigners to Hungary's
neighbors.
And those neighbors set out to make the life of the Hungarian minority unbearable, conducting "ethnic
cleansing" in its most drastic form. Therefore, remembering Trianon, a French palace where the fate of
Hungary was sealed and buried is bitterly justified.
Ari br Franc;s Laplng
The Kingdom of l itmg;1ry wa:s dismcmb('rcd by !hr T,(';::.y of T,·i:mon
86
COMMENTARY
Most works of this nature would have a chapter entitled CONCLUSION at the end. Since history is an
ongoing affair, Iopted for the word "Commentary" instead. The Commentary includes not only my own
opinion or explanation in support of what Ihad written,but it also branches out into items and titles that
have come to my attention since the work had begun. The subjects Iwill discuss herein are neither in
the order of importance, nor are they chronological. They are a compendium of things Ifelt Ihad to write
about in anticipation of your questions or to enhance your (and my) knowledge of various subjects.
So, let us begin.
Paganism
The ancient form of religion practiced by Hungarians was a form of "Tengrism," which they most probably
adopted from the several different tribes and nations they had encountered on their journey to the
Carpathian basin. Tengrism can be found in the ancient customs of Turkic and Mongolian peoples and
others they may have encountered inthe Uralic region of Asia. Some writers say that Zoroastrianism was
mixed in with their beliefs which they may have picked up from Persians, or even from the very origin of
their journey from Mesopotamia. It is also to be noted that the Huns and Scythians who had migrated
prior to the Hungarian journey have several legends which are identical to the myths which Hungarians
had developed over the centuries.
The basic tenet of the Hungarians' pagan beliefs was that the world is divided into three spheres: the
Upper, the Middle and the Underworld. They are interconnected much like the branches, trunk and root
system of a tree. The mythical "Turul" bird, resembling a falcon,resides in the upper branches together
with other gods, the chief god among them is "lsten" (Eeshten). The stars are holes in the firmament
through which lsten and the other gods watch the two other worlds and guide their movements.
In terrestrial dimensions, here on earth the role of the "shaman" was filled by a "taltos", a wise man who
had access to all three worlds and who presided at animal sacrifices and other ceremonies such as burials.
Their belief system included the cult of the dead and belief in life after death,where the deceased was
provided with sufficient provisions for the long journey ahead.
In Part I,page 4 of this study I had referred to the miraculous stag,or Csodaszarvas which was to guide
the brothers Hunor and Magar to the present home of the Hungarians. Hunor and Magar were sons of
the Scythian kings Gog and Magog. Scythians were encyclopedic names for a nomadic people who
migrated to the area of the Black Sea. That would fit the identity of the Magyar tribes. On the other hand,
Gog and Magog were biblical names depicting future foes of God's people. What is amazing is that there
is a reference to these kings in rabbinical literature as well as in the New Testament's Revelations, chapter
20, verses 6 ,7 and 8:
"...They shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with Him a thousand years. Now, when the
thousand years have expired, Satan will be released from his prison. And will go out to deceive the nations
which are in the four corners of the earth, Gog and Magog,to gather them together to battle, whose
number is as the sand of the sea ..." Modern Hungary is celebrating its 1000-year existence. Can we take
the Bible literally, meaning that with the expiration of 1000 years Satan is released to "deceive" all
87
nations? Does this refer to the two world wars in the 20th century and the horrors which still await us in
the twenty-first?
Sources for this additional information include 11Remnants of shamanistic beliefs in Hungarian folklore''
by Vilmos Dioszegi.
Christianity
Christianity's history in Hungary needs more explanation than the couple of paragraphs Iaccorded myself
in depicting St. Stephen's main achievement. The pagans, as explained above, followed a polytheistic
religion,but with the introduction of Christianity, those who did not acknowledge the God of the Bible,
were regarded as heathens. And heathens were not inthe best interest of young Hungary, so, as we were
told in school, when Stephen became king,the country adopted the Christian religion. It simply was not
the whole story.
There were nests of Christians scattered in the Roman province of Pannonia in Transdanubia. And they
survived the successive, - and very destructive, - rules of the Huns, the Goths and the Avars. One of
Hungary's saints (with some stretch of the imagination), Marton, was born in Szombathely (the Romans
called it Savaria) in the 4th century. Mrton was a Roman soldier (as was his father) whose military duties
took him to France, where he converted to Christianity and became a bishop! The French appropriated him
as their own saint when Marton got canonized. He is venerated as Martin of Tours, patron saint of France.
(A Benedictine monastery is dedicated to St. Martin at Pannonhalma.)
Initially, the Byzantine Christian church sent out missionaries who would eventually convert Prince Gza,
head of the Hungarian tribes in the 9th century, shortly after their arrival in the Carpathian basin. Why
would Byzantine missionaries 11pick" Hungary? As Bill O'Reilly explains in his book ''The killing of Jesus", the
resurrection of Jesus imbued Christians with such missionary spirit that the apostles themselves
traveled from Israel beyond Rome to Greece, the Ukraine, India, Egypt and Turkey. Some of the
missionaries found fertile ground in Hungary. But it is interesting to notethat while Christianity in Hungary
was loyal to Rome, on the other hand Romania, - right next door, - adopted Greek Orthodox ties and
became loyal to Byzantine tenets.
There were, of course, attempts by other missionaries to spread the word. St. Adalbert, born in the Czech
kingdom with the original name of Vojtech Libicenszky, became the bishop of Prague and engaged in
missionary work in Hungary. Prince Geza asked him for the sacrament of baptism. No wonder then that
Hungarian words like kereszteny (Christian), pogny (pagan), pap (priest) and oltar (altar) were borrowed from
Slavic. A number of relics from the early Avar period (568-650) point to the existence of Christian culture in
Southwestern regions of Transdanubia. In a fort at Fenkpuszta near Lake Balaton a basilica with three
aisles was erected in the second half of the 5th century and Christian burial places were found dating to the
early gth century.
After his conversion,Prince Geza played it safe and while officially a Christian, he paid tribute to pagan
rituals as well. Chief Bulcsu, a senior leader of the Hungarian tribal federation received baptism in
Constantinople as early as 948; the second most senior tribal chief, Gyula, was baptized there as well. John
Skylitzes, in "A Synopsis of Byzantine History" wrote that after his baptism Gyula 11took back with him
88
a monk named Hierotheos, ordained as a bishop (and) converted many from the barbaric fallacy to
Christianity.11 They must have traveled with the consent of the tribal council,including Prinze Gl:za.
But when Geza son, Stephen (originally Vajk) was elected to the post, he created legislation which
enforced Christianity on the nation even at the expense of some brutal punishment. In time, Hungary
became a bulwark of the Roman Catholic Church in Europe, saving the West from the assault of Ottoman
and Slavic forces. (As a side remark, though, it is interesting to consider that the first Magyar translation
of the Bible was prepared in the 1430s by Hussite preachers, whose leader, Jan Hus, eventually would
turn out to be a heretic.)
Stephen's efforts to convert his country to Christianity, and his wisdom to see its benefit for the nation,
must be applauded, even if some of the methods used in those days, abhorrent as they seem, were the
most effective to accomplish his goal within a mere 38 years of rule.
Royal succession
This study revealed the story of 57 kings. There may have been several others, such as kings from the
time Hungary was divided into three parts during the 150-year Turkish occupation,such as John Zapolya
of Transylvania. Insuch cases, though, often the ruling party would acquire the crown, - the sacred symbol
of royalty, - but was not actually crowned with it by the Archbishop. Peter Orseolo occupied the throne
twice with a short intermission, but was counted once. John Hunyadi ruled in place of the king as
governor, but was not crowned. He was not counted.
The average length of rule was 17.5 years. Emperor Franz Joseph ruled the longest, for 68 years from
1848 to 1916, whereas Sigismund in 1387 and Leopold I in 1655 occupied the throne for 50 years each.
The shortest reign belongs to Stephen IV, one of three brothers, who ruled from January to June of the
year 1163 as usurper of the throne held by his brother. Defeated in battle with his brother, he was
poisoned by his own troops.
Quite a few were crowned as children, even as infants, their Queen mother governing until the child
attained maturity. Others shared the throne with their father and either died before the older king,or
automatically took over when the father died. Fifteen kings ruled for one, two or three years. Most were
men, except Mary of Anjou, (1382-1395) whose husband, Sigismund, was her co-ruler and survivor, and
Maria Theresa (1740-1780) of Habsburg.
Most shared the Hungarian crown with other countries, such as Bohemia, Poland, Galicia, Moldavia,
Wallachia, Bosnia, Croatia, Dalmatia, as well as Austria.
And this brings us to another comment.
The main obsession of Hungary's rulers was to gain assurance that their progeny will continue in their
place, but also to engage in warfare with neighboring countries in order to expand their holdings. Such
attempts (many of them successful) at enlarging the territories over which they ruled, were not only
unnecessary but wasteful and counterproductive. How many lives would have been saved had it not
been for the self-absorption and ambition of the kings?
As I proposed in my essay about ethnicity (Part 11, page 62), the ethnic makeup of a conquered country
made for a forced, artificial union under the crown of St. Stephen. The ethnicity of the newly subdued
countries was greater than their loyalty to the crown. They constituted a ticking time bomb for wh ich the
89
king often had to fight again and again. But was this necessary for the survival and/or the flourishing of
Hungary?
Who shall be king?
Many efforts at succession on the part of the ruling king culminated in violence such as when Coloman
had both his brother Almos and Almos's infant son Bela blinded in order to eliminate them as aspirants to
the throne. And this was just one of several dastardly acts to ensure the continuation of the family blood
line on the throne. Looking at the purity of those blood lines, even if we admit that most of the Arpcld
dynasty descended from father to son, the issue (child) resulting from the royal couple was a half-breed
because none of our kings had married a true-blood Hungarian. (Betrothals and marriages could take
place either before or after the groom was crowned king.) Most of the royals married the children of
foreign potentates in order to secure the country's ties with its neighbors. Starting with Stephen's wife,
Gizela of Bavaria, through the Angevins and finally the paper-issue transfer of the bloodline to the
Habsburgs, the wives of our kings came from foreign countries and in many cases remained loyal to their
roots rather than blend in with the Magyar throne which they served.
Nevertheless, I must grant my appreciation and compliments to those who married our kings. To be
uprooted from a country where the bride was in familiar surroundings and transplanted to a sort of "wild"
setting with a tongue-twisting language, culture and cuisine must have been heart-wrenching. The king
calling on the palace asking for her hand may not have been looking like the Prince who came to whisk
Snow White away. With or without her consent, the bride was committed to a rough transition, whose
main objective was to bear an heir to the king. Giving birth under those circumstances must have been
the ultimate sacrifice, of which many of our queens died.
Some of the marriages were between close relatives, cousins and nieces, giving concern to in-breeding
which had already infected the aristocracy and would affect royalty with long-range prospects of mental
illness in present and future generations.
Kingship was a "dangerous profession." Some died of natural causes. Others were trampled by horses in
battle, blinded and murdered, poisoned, abducted and assassinated and from other causes, including
dysentery, leukemia, smallpox, alcoholism and syphilis. It would take another year of study and many
volumes of writing to delve into the personalities of our royals. But as the biographer of Coco Chanel wrote:
"no one ever built an empire by being nice."
St. Stephen's Admonitions to his son, Emeric (exceprts)
Although I had referred to this in the chapter dealing with Hungary's first king, I now have a greater
appreciation and deeper reverence for a royal father's concern which prompted Stephen to compile
guidelines for his son who was to take his place at the helm.
90
The Admonitions, or De institutione morum, a book on moral education,was composed in the first decade
(
of the 11th century and preserved in manuscripts written in the late Middle Ages.
A section of those
follows here below:
"My dearest son. If you desire to honor the royal crown,Iadvise, Icounsel,Iurge you above all things to
maintain the Catholic and Apostolic faith with such diligence and care that you may be an example for all
those placed under you by God and that all the clergy may rightly call you a man of true Christian
profession. Failing to do this you may be sure that you will not be called a Christian or a son of the Church.
Indeed, in the royal palace, after the faith itself, the Church holds second place, first constituted and
spread through the whole world by His members, the apostles and holy fathers. And though she always
produced fresh offspring,nevertheless in certain places she is regarded as ancient. However, dearest son,
even now in our kingdom the Church is proclaimed as young and newly planted, and for that reason she
needs more prudent and trustworthy guardians less a benefit which the divine mercy bestowed on us
undeservedly should be destroyed and annihilated through your idleness, indolence or neglect."
The coat of arms of Hungary
The coat of arms shown on the left is the most familiar form to most Hungarians. Following the Soviet
occupation post-WWII,the Hungarian government adopted it on July 3, 1990.
This format first appeared during the reign of Louis I(1342-1382),
whereas the crown was added under Vladilaus I(1440-144). The final
version was set during King Matthias ll's rule inthe lr"century, although
a similar format appeared already in the 1464 seal of Matthias Corvinus.
The shield consists of the dexter (left from the viewer's point of view) and
the sinister (right from the viewer's point of view) side. On the left are
the so-called Arpad stripes of red and silver (white), representing
Hungary's four main rivers, the Danube, Tisza, Drava and Szava. The right
side features three green mountain ranges (Tatra, Matra and Fatra), on
which the double cross rests, stemming from Byzantine influence since
King Bela Ill (12the century) was raised in the Byzantine court. It is
topped by St. Stephen's crown.
As Hungary's borders changed, its coat of arms also included the ones from neighboring
(conquered) territories such as Croatia, Dalmatia, Slavonia and Bosnia. After the
Austro-Hungari an Monarchy came into being, the emblem was further modified to include
Fiume and Transylvania as well. It was traditionally depicted being held by angels on each side.
The flag of Hungary
c
It is a horizontal tricolor of red, white and green. The three-striped arrangement is probably a reflection
of the ideas of the French revolution, while the colors are derived from the traditional coat of arms (see
above) which has remained unchanged since the 15th century. Hungary's new constitution, effective
••
and green for hope.
January 1,2012, interprets red for strength, white for fidelity
1-
I
91
The scorecard
In relatively recent times, monarchies have been replaced by republics. The role of the king (not even
speaking of the emperor) has been shrinking and fulfills the role of figurative head of the state while a
president or prime minister has taken over the representation and administration of the government.
Nevertheless, the position of the king or queen still provides continuity and stability, - unless the royalty
is forcibly removed from that post. In the history of Hungary stability was provided not so much by the
often unworthy bearer of the crown, but by the crown itself. Legitimacy of a king was prescribed not only
by blood relations with its predecessor(s), but a strict process had to be followed as required by the
location and the administration of the crowning ceremony.
Be it far from me to be as bold as to judge the kings (and 2 queens) of Hungary, nevertheless, it seems to
be appropriate to leave my readers with a general sort of "ranking". For support of this audacious move,
let me lean on the historic figures the nation erected at its millennial monument on Heras' Plaza in
Budapest.
First and foremost is King {Saint) Stephen {997-1038) who settled the seven Magyar tribes and elevated
Hungary to the status of kingdom by accepting the crown from the Pope. Converting the people to the
Christian religion,Hungary gained respect as a European nation regardless of their Middle Eastern origin
and long peregrination en route to the Carpathian basin. King {Saint) Ladislas (1077-1095) clearly
established the country's position and reputation gained by the king's character and the noble intention
which guided his military exploits. The annexation of Croatia and Dalmatia established the nation's territorial
claims while creating a source of contention for its subsequent kings.
The country found its identity with its Christian belief when King Andrew II (1205-1235), author of the first
Golden Bull in Europe led a European force in one of the Crusades as a testimony to and devotion to
Christianity. King Bela IV (1235-1270) undertook the heroic task of rebuilding the country following the
devastation of the Mongol invasion of 1241/2. King Charles Robert (1308-1342) faced internal dissent
and external threats and ably guided the country through a difficult part of its history.
King Louis I the Great (1342-1382) spearheaded the greatest territorial expansion in the nation's history.
Not represented at Heras' Plaza is King Sigismund (1382-1437) who also attained the title of Holy Roman
Emperor. The ensuing years were some of the toughest for Hungary as the Turks were on the move to
conquer Vienna and had to trample Hungary in order to get there. The Austrian capital was saved by the
sacrifices of Hungarians on the ramparts of Europe. One of those was Governor John Hunyadi (14461456), the hero of the Battle of Nndorfehervar (Belgrade) in 1456. His son, King Matthias Corvinus (14581490) was Hungary's great Renaissance ruler who reflected the nation's cultural contribution to the
Enlightenment.
The period following the 1526 defeat at Mohacs was devastating for Hungary as the Turks and the Habsburgs
partitioned the country among themselves. Hungarians found fortitude in Transylvania which provided such
leaders as Ferenc Rakdczi II to keep resistance alive against the forces lined up against her.
In a moment of levity, King Matthias made a comment to Ferdinand I of Austria saying that if Matthias
was unable to squire a son, the Austrian Habsburg dynasty can take over Hungary. Ferdinand cashed in
on that remark and ruled from 1526 to 1564. He shared power with the Turks on the one hand and the
rulers of Transylvania on the other. The disastrous Turkish rule extended from 1526 to the fall (or
92
liberation) of Buda castle in 1686 and beyond to 1697 when the Turks finally left Hungarian soil. During
this time [(Hungary had to resort to waging its own battles for self-preservation." (See the fortress of
Eger.) Hungary rebelled against the Habsburg rule under Ferenc Rakdczi II and lmre Thakoly's kuruc
forces. It was Charles Ill (1711-1740) who fashioned the so-called Pragmatic Sanction, abolishing the
male-only succession in vogue at that time, making it possible for Queen Maria Theresa (1740-1780) to
govern more or less even-handedly. Hungarian blood (Vitam et sanguinem !) saved Austria against Bavaria
and Prussia. It was during the reign of her third son, Leopold II, that the Crown of St. Stephen was
rightfully returned from Vienna to Hungary.
The longest ruler was Emperor Franz Joseph (1848-1916) who started during the Hungarian uprising of 1848
and came to a compromise with the Hungarians in 1867 which gave impetus to unprecedented growth in
the Austro-Hungari an Monarchy. The Emperor's stunning wife, Queen Elizabeth, was a staunch friend of
Hungary, smoothing relations between the two countries.
Regrettably, the assassination of the Emperor's nephew in Serbia swept Hungary into World War I (19141918) with the disastrous consequences of the Treaty of Trianon. The inequities of that sort of peace
launched World War II within one generation, ending in the long and cruel occupation by Soviet forces.
Their departure in 1991 made it possible for Hungary to try to find its own way.
It is difficult to say whether history would have taken the same, - or similar, - course had Hungary been
ruled by a dictator, a tribal chief, an elected minister or a military hero instead of a king,especially when
more than half of the country's history was only an appendage to the ambitions of a foreigner. It is well
for us to consider that no matter what road Hungary would have chosen (or given to endure), inthe words
of Thomas Carlyle, biographer of Frederick the Great, "the history of the world is but a biography of great
men." And women, Ishould say.
And that is what I had tried to do in presenting Our Hungarian Heritage.
Validation
[(History is not happenstance", the comic George Carlin once said. "It is conspiratorial,carefully planned
and executed by people in power."
If Ifailed in my objective, please "pass my imperfections by", as in the words of David Everett, for "large
streams from little fountains flow, tall oaks from little cicorn$ grow."
*****
HUNGARIAN ROYAL SUCCESSION
#
Name of king _ ¥ears ruled. Relationship
I
Page 1
Cause of death: Remarks
W=wife
I
A
B
(saint)
1000-1038
STEPHEN I
(
Szt.Istvan) i
Peter ORSEOLO I 1038-1041
I
&
1044-1046
Son of PrinceGza
i Nefhew through
• A s sister
natural
r First Christian king
i W : (Blessed) Gizela of
l
Bavaria
!
Blinded in
captivity
Rule interrupted;
Unmarried
Murdered
Khazar, probably Judaic
W= King Stephen's sister
c
Samuel ABA
1041-1044
D
ANDREW I
(
Endre)
1046-1060
. #2 son of A 's
cousin, the pagan
. Vazul
E
BELA I
1060-1063
#1 son of Vazul,
brother of D
Throne collapsed Son Gtzacapirant to
under him ·
the throne
W= Adelaide of Poland
8 children
F
SOLOMON
(
Salamon)
1063-1074
Son of D
Death in Byzatjtine
riad
' Childless; abdicated in
favorJ: of cousin G4za (G:
W= Judith of Swabia
G
GJza I (
Magnu:s)1074-1077
H . LADISLAUS I
1077-1095
'(
Szt.Laszl6)
I COLOMAN
1095-1116
!
A 's brother-inlaw
Trampled by
Conspiracy of brothers
horses in
Bela & Levente
battle
His son, Solomon, ;s alsc
Buried in
· aspirant to the thr:one
; Tihany Abbey : W= Anastasia of Kiev
#1 son of E, born
in Polish exile
Illness
. #2 son of E
#1 son of G
W1= Sofia, unknown ident:
' W2= Synadene, niece of
Byzantine's fuuure
emperor Nikephoros
6 children1 including
Coleman & Almos
Shock over
Solomon's re-ntry Canonized in 1192
; W=Adelaide Rheinfelden
of Swabian Duke
2 daughters
• unspecified
"The book-lover."
Ordered his brother Almos
(
KBnyves Kalman)
& his infant son blinded
W1= Felicia of Sicily,
W2= Eufemia of Kiev, caught in adultery, bore
son Boris in Kiev, not
acknowledged by the king.
J
STEPHEN II
(
Istv1
n II)
1116-1131
HUNGARIAN ROYAL SUCCESSION
Elder son of I
Dysentery
Lived
with
concubine
s.
W
=
C
r
i
s
t
i
a
n
a
o
f
C
a
p
u
a
N
o
h
e
i
r
s
.
Page 2
HUNGARIAN ROYAL SUCCESSION
#
K
L
M
N
m
Name of king _ ¥ears ruled, Relationship
' BEIA II
(
Vak Bela)
GEZA II
LADISLAUS II
(
II Laszlo)
STEPHEN IV
p
'(
IV .Istvan)
! BEIA III
R
1141-1162
STEPHEN III 1162-1172
(
III.Istvan
)
Q
1131-1141
EMERIC I
(I. Imre)
LADISLAUS III
(
III.Laszlo)
Cousin of J,
son of Almos
On of K
#1 son of L
Cause of death' Remarks
,Alcoholism
unspecified
1172-1192 . #2 son of L
1196-1204
1204-1205
#1 son of P
On
of Q
W=wife
Son of Duke Almos and
Predslava of Kiev.
Blinded by King Coloman
W= Helena of Raska, Serbi,
3 royal offsprings.
Defeats Boris, bastard so1
of F
Brothers Stephen and
Ladislaus conspird againi
him, finding refuge with
Emperors Frederick&Manuel
W=Euphrosyne of Kiev
children
Sudden death, 1 W1= Yaroslavna of Halyd
]probably poisoning
repudiated.
'
! W2= Agnes of Austria
2 boys die in infancy
1152-1163
Brother of L L & M Poisoning
(
unconfirmed)#2 son of K
1163 (
6 months)Brother of
L &M
Page 3
Poisoned by
own troops
;unspecified
unspecified
Anti-king against M.
Church refused to accept
legitimacy.
W= unknown, 1 daughter
Usurper of throne
W= Maria omnene of
Byzantine.No children.
Richest king in Europe
W1= Agnes of Anti<hch
4 children
W2= Marguerite of France,
daughterr of tois VII.
•Through his son Andrew II
· (
1205-1235)Bela is an
ancestor ofEdrcO"'d III
'Brother Andrew is conspira
W1=Constance of Aragon
In Austrian exile Child-king
HUNGARIAN ROYAL SUCCESSION
#
S
Name of king;_ ¥ears ruled, Relationship
I
. ANDREW II
, Cause of death1 Remarks
! 1205-1235
i
, Son of P
Brother of Q
1 -
I
\ unspecified
i
!
i
,BELA IV
W=wife
I
'(
II.Andras/inde
T
Page 4
i 1235-1270
1270-1272
u
STEPHEN V
(
V.Istvan)
v
LADISLAUS IV , 1272-1290
(IV.Laszl6)i
Son of S
Elder son of T
Elder son of U
unqualified
!Leader of 5th crusade
issued Golden Bull
!Father of St.Elizabeth
\ W1= Gertrude of Merania
i 5 children, including
, King Bela IV
W2= Yolanda of Courtenay
, 1 daughter
W3= Beatrice d"Eate
: 1 s0n,willssire Andrew I
Mongol/Tatar invasion
Conflict with son (ex Jr
W= Maria Laskarina
10 children, including
St.Margaret
Sudden upon
A .k.a.Kun laszi6
hearing abduction
of son
Conflict with Bela IV
W= Eimzabeth of Cuman
6 children
Slain by Cumm &carm.nicate:l for irrrroralit)
assassins
Petrotla:l to El.iz.areth of .Anjou
G.nm rrmistress Edua.
fu 1:e:irs.
Page_4_
HUNGAR IAN ROYAL SUCCESS ION
f
w
i Cause of death i Remarks
'
I
Name of king i Years ruled i Relationshitj
.
i
ANDREW III
1290 -1301
I
1
I Mortal
Son of U
I
1
,
\I
•
OTTO a.k.a.
IADISIAUS V
1305 :
0
i
l
JP.
.
'
&n of Anjru ©Erles
·
TI
Natural cruses
1382-1395
DD
SIGISMUND
138]-1437
a.k.a. Zsign:n:i
1437-1439
Pustcia
WIADISIAW III. * 1440-1444
(Ulaszlo I)
. (·k of Poland )
Wl:M:rrgaret of luxerdx:urg
W2: Elizateth of Bosnia 3 ch.
' &n of Z
Daughter of AA
· Husband of BB
W1: M:Ir:i.a of Bytan
W2: Eeatrix of luxerdx:urg
W3: Elizateth of fblarrl
7 childr'En
rrarrie:l to t:1:n::ia,
tet:' of Kirg sv
kµrldyrnsty.
;
CC
. ALBERT of
exiled
I ID exile
\\bfe #1''Katha:ip.re H:il:Eh.n:g, #2: PgfJeS of Glagru, :
- ,- .-iJ 'W:l) v.ES
IDJIS: I a.k.a. • 1342 - 1382
l'4:lgy lajos
MARY of Anjou
at age 6
'
Closest I 1agnB.te11 Of
CHARLES II
1385 - 1386
, M:Ir:i.a of Anjru
a.k.a. Kis Kroly
FF
' #2:: f.g:es Pm ·
I m fil1set:' as kirgi
I of H.rga:n:y
i!
:
l
&n of H:ny XIII, D1<e Alxli.cated arrl ! 0-ven.tre ct'OMJ ty W:n:::eslas (X)
a.k.a M3r:i.a
EE
!
I Edarrnia,
of
BB
W::n::eslasIII rut ergage:rmt
Wife #1
1Fe\ana
I
: of Pavar:i.a arrl Elizateth
bf H.rgary, grarrli dal..gltet:' of Kirg Pela
CifRO
I.ELSY IROaBkE.
RaT. 131 -1342
KAR
AA
ere child El;2a1:eth, a:gagE:rl to
III
1301-1306 Sn of Wence las
urler
P:etroth:rl to W's only dal..glteta.k.a lADISIAUS Vl,
,
,
! king; .of Pdls:rri.a &: fb:1-arrl rfo/Sted.rus I
ti1 1".)(\c:
I
•
.
I
• ;
lil
J.JJJ
i
CJIO.lTEt..a1u=
i
ID i
i
z
!
l
H
I
y
Last of Arpad dynasty
1
i
.'I
x
I
disease!
Alxli.cated
then reinstated
'
Wife of Sigisrurrl of 1JJxaTb.n:g
l
Fell fran mrse, pie:l pregralt with Sigisrurrl' s racy
Re:igrro for 56 ; Aft& his death, M:Ir:i.a of Anjru
days,
v.ES restorErl to tre trn:cne,
.
rut capture:i in Slavrnia.
' Lll:a-a.ted, ste SErErl tre throre
. with lusl:Hrl Sigisrurrl
N:ltural cruses
Ibly Rarm Ehp:ror (1433)
PAttle of Nicqx>lis 1396
2n::l marriage to PBIs crus:in
B:n±ara in liili.. HJssite vBrS.
..
1ch. fran 2n::l marriage Barb3ra Celje
Son-iru,law of D. • Dysentery· Sµuse: Elizateth of luxerdx:urg••
ellzabeth,
Issu2: la:lislaus fbsth.m:us
Also: Descended from
' Persecution of Jews.
King Bela IV of Hungary.
W2: Elizl:reth of &±Erda, 4 childr'En
. (1ffi ,m
Jagiellon line;
Battle of Varna Civil war with Queen
King of Poland since
Elizateth over he!:' p::isth.m:uis
1434, of f ered H. orown
child ( (EE's sen). legerd atx:ut
in 1440 .l...!1 T -..l.: _;,l _,_
' •1..,.,...;m •
Mr.,-1_,.:_
' \'4LLJ..e .1.1::UU;i.LdU::i
:Pl-'6'-.1.111 ID l'J::U::!ll.do
v.ES in tre w:nb of Q.lffi1 Elizateth
ltn:rle:l in IPl:rle.ira, 2 children
HUNGARIAN ROYAL SUCCESSION
f Name of king Years ruled I Relationshiq
Remarks
+C-ause of death
-+"G
Ladislaus
Posthumus
•(
V .Laszlo)
1
1444-1457
•
I DD's grandson
(Crcw:ro 1440 '!
atage 4)
EE's son
Dietl rnrarrie::l,
withrut issle.
!
HH
II
HUNYADI,
John
1
1446-1456
Elected governor
of Hungary
Gout
Wtl.le in tie w::nb ofhis rrotler,
Q.Een Elizl:aeth, FF W3S electErl
rut die::l at tattle of Varna, 1444.
a; incare of govermr H..nya:li
& UTlrich Celje,then Bq:eror
Fre:lerick V.
Treaty with Emperor Frederic
re:heir to succeed if they
ct"CW1Erl 1464;
MATIHIAS
CORVINUS
-
Hero of Nndorfeh rvar.
Father of future king
Matyas and his executed
brother Laszld.
Wife:Erzsebet Szilagyi.
Renaissance king
Plague
HUNYADI
Matthias ' 1458-1490
(
· HH's son
a• k •a.
JJ
Leukemia
Page 5
die without male heir.
nun
Ear1::ma Krecs, mistress,
800
.Jdn
Wife:Princess Beatrix Aragc
(of Ferdinand of Naples)
No issue.
Grandson of EE
VLADISLAUS II 1490-1516
(
ii. Ulaszlo) (Iobzse Laszlo) (Albert)
.•,.K. LOUIS II
;(
II. Lajos)
1516-1526 , Son of JJ
IEpt-essioo
Fara:1ts rezsa
revolt.
Battle of
Mohacs
Married 3 times. 3rd wife
Anne Foix-Candale's son
·Would be king Louis II.
Wife::Mary of Austria,
grard1st..gJ:,.ter ofBq:eror
M3xirni.lian I.
N:> issue.
LL
JOHN ZAPOLYA 1526-1540t King Matthias's wsh
(Szapolyai Janos)
as successor (? J:
Natural causes
MM
NN
FERDINAND I
1526-1564' Brother-in-law
of KK
I
llN SIGIS'1ID ZAPOLYA
•(
Szarolyai
Son of LL
·. Natural causes
Wife:Anne Jagiellonica,
15 children.
No children
Zs:igmn::l)
1540-1551 &
1556-1570
00
MAXIMILIAN II 1563-1576 Son of MM
pp
RUDOLF I
QQ ; MATTHIAS II
Natural causes
Voivode of Transylvania.
Wife: Princess Isabella
. Jagiello of Poland.
Child: Jo.·hn Sigismund.
1572-1608
Natural
Wife: Maria of Spain (COJSis
causes 9 sons, 61daughters
Religious tolerance.
Oldest son of OO Natural
·
causees Bisexual, with illegitimate
children
1608-161g Son of 00
. Natural causesWife:Anne of Austria-Tyrol
RR
FERDINAND II
1618-1637' PP ceded crown to hiirn Natural causes Wife #1:Maria Anna of
Bavaria, 7 children
Wife #2:Eleanore Mantua
(
Gonzaga)
HUNGARIAN ROYAL SUCCESSION
Name of king!_ ¥ears ruled'. Relationship
I
c; s
. FERDINAND II 1625-1657 Elder son of RR
Page 6
, Cause of death! Remarks
I
W=wife
!natural causes! Malevolent dictatorship
j
I W1:MariaAnna of Spain, 6
W2
: Archduchess Maria of
1
Austria
!
W3: Eleanore Gonzaga, 4 d
i
i
TI
;FERDINAND IV
1647-1654
Elder son of SS,
Predeseaced iis
crowned at age 14; father by 3 yrs
ruled coincidentally dying of
'
'. with father
I smallpox
uu
:LEOPOLD I
1655-1705
Second son of SS
A champion of
education
vv
WW
1
JOSEPH I
CHARLES III
MARIA THERESA
yy
JOSEPH II
zz
. LEOPOLD II
(
III.Lipot)
•
I
I
1687-1711 Son of UU &wife #' 8mll:pJx epklEm!c Ferenc Rakoczi II,
!
kuruc leader
, Crowned at age 9 ·
Innovative leader
W1:Wilhelmine Amalia of
Brunswick-Luneburg, 3 ch.
1711-1740
(
III.Karoly)
xx
i
!natural causesi War of Spanish successio1
Wesselenyi conspiracy;
Imre Thokoly, kuruc leadej
Buda liberated in 1686
W1:Margarita Theresa of
Spain, 4 ch.
1W2 : Archduchess Claudia of
l Austria, 2 ch early dea1
1W3: Eleanore Magdalena of
' Newburgh, 10 ch.
1740-1780
1780-1790
1790-1792
Younger brother o Poisonous
l mushrooms
W, son of UU
Pragmatic sanction (1713)
abolished male-only
succession, foreign inter·
· vention under MariaTheresc
W1:Elizabeth Christine
of Brunswick, 3 ch.
Only son died at age 1 of
hydro-cephalus
Smallpox?
Husband: Francis Stephen
of Lorraine, 16 ch.
Son:Joseph co-ruler.
Daughter Marie Antoinette
sent to France, died by
guillotine
Hungarian nobles assist
· militarily against her
enemies
Son of XX
Co-ruler with XX
natural
causes
Enlightened monarch
Governs by new rules
W1:Princess Isabella of
Parma, 2 ch, premature de,
W2 :Princess Maria Josepl
of Bavaria
3rd son of XX
Poisoned?
Daughter of WW
W1 Infanta Maria Louisa of
Spain, 16 ch, plus
several illegitimates
HUNGARIAN ROYAL SUCCESSION
#
Name of king _ ¥ears ruled; Relationship
Page
Cause of death! Remarks
7
W=wife
l
I
AAA
1792-1835
FRANCIS II
Eldest son of ZZ
(
II.Ferenc)
mysterious
illness
! Defeat in Austerlits by
I Napoleon forcing recognitic
!I of Germany (Prussia)
i W1: KUizabeth of Wurttembe
' W2:Maria Theresa of the
'IwoSicilies, 12 ch.
W3: Maria Ludovica of
Austria
W4: Karoline Charlottes of
Bavaria
BBB
FERDINAND-V-1 , 1835-1848
i
CCC
FRANZ JOSEPH
1848-1916
Eldest son of
Natural causbs Epileptic, mental deficie
in Prague 1 W1:Maria Anna of Sardinia
j Abdicated in favor of
· Franz Joseph
Nephew of BBB
natural causes! Hungarian revolution of 184
WorldWar I 1914
Compromise with Hungary 186
CrownPrince Rudolf suicide
W1: Lizabeth of Bavaria
(
assassinated in Geneva)
(
Ferenc Jozse)
l
i
DDD
CHARLES IV
•(
IV .Kciroly)
EEE
t
1916-1918 As Charles I of Auslria
Grand nephew of etc
.
Relinquished right to
Hungarian affirs of state
. attr attempting twice to
pril 1,.1922: .retake Hungarian throne
in Madeira exile
; possible pneu-i
· monia
·
'Ousted foreign troops from
\ NICHOLAS HORTHY 1920-1944 ' born 1868 in Kenderes;Hungary
died 1957 in Portugal in exile Hungary following WorldWar
y
and Treaty of Trianon.
(
nagybnyai
Regent (
Kormanyzo)
Parliament nullified
Horthy Mikl6s)
Admiral in Austro-Hungarian
Pragmatic Sanction, deNavy
; Re-buried in
Hungary
throning the Habsburgs in 1
Hitler's Germany forced him
to resign March 1944