Hungary History – The Anjou Dynasty

Hungarian imperialism of the 14th century. – With Andrew III, the Árpád dynasty died out in 1301. The Angevin pretender, Carlo Roberto, son of Carlo Martello, with all the support of the Holy See was unable to assert his claims, and the Hungarian people preferred him other female descendants of the Árpád, Wenceslaus of Bohemia (1301-04) and Otto of Bavaria (1305-07), both unable to restore order in the kingdom. In view of the difficult conditions of the country, the majority of the nation then took the side of the young Angevin prince, whose advent to the throne was prepared with great energy and diplomatic tact by Cardinal Gentile. With Carlo Roberto (1307-42), the era of Hungarian expansion began. The oligarchy crashed with the defeat of Matthew Csák at Rozgony (1312), Charles victoriously brought Hungarian arms to Serbia. Then, foreseeing the secret aspirations of the Venetian republic, he restored order in Dalmatia. To counterbalance the growing power of the Serbian principality, he favored the development of Bosnia; however, he had a strong setback in the enterprise against Basarab of Wallachia (1330) and the Dalmatian cities (Zara, Traù, Sibenik, Spalato, Nona) in the years 1326-27 passed under the economic and political hegemony of Venice. But now the interest of Carlo Roberto was turned to a great political plan. He worked to forge an alliance with Bohemia and Poland to create a powerful bloc against the might of the Habsburgs. At the Visegrad congress (1335), the three states formed an alliance with each other and with Henry of Wittelsbach, Duke of Bavaria. Even in the kingdom of Naples, Carlo Roberto was able to defend his interests with great tenacity, concluding in 1332 an agreement with King Robert, whereby the two sons of the Hungarian king would marry the Neapolitan princesses (Giovanna and Maria) and Giovanna’s husband would succeed Roberto on the throne of Naples. Ultimately, Carlo Roberto’s foreign policy tended to isolate the two dangerous neighbors, Austria and Serbia, and to maintain Hungarian hegemony over the Balkans.

Carlo Roberto’s foreign policy was based on his masterful internal policy. He was able to build a new organization with great skill and tenacity on the ruins of the old one; annihilated that was the ancient oligarchy, favored the development of a new and more faithful aristocracy and the spread of ideals, conceptions and chivalric customs of the West (foundation of the order of the knights of San Giorgio). On a traditional Magyar basis, but perhaps also on the Neapolitan model, he reformed the military organization, basing it on the armies of the great lords and the nobility of the committees (banderium) which until then had only been of secondary importance. Another lasting work of his was the reorganization of the economic system. After the dissolution of the royal patrimony, he was the first to give a solid basis to the power of the sovereign, arranging the remains of the patrimony, reorganizing the financial management and taking advantage of the economic strength of the classes independent of landed property, above all of the artisans and merchants. In the interest of his system, he protected foreign merchants, ensuring them free traffic in the country, opened new roads for trade to the north, erected new cities and favored the old ones, and founded new emporia for foreign trade. It also stabilized the currency on a gold basis. The internal politics of Carlo Roberto created the

Charles Robert’s son and successor, Louis the Great (1342-1382), remained faithful to his father’s foreign policy. Luigi considered his first task to strengthen Hungarian hegemony in the northern Balkans, in northern Serbia and in Wallachia. His ties with Poland obliged him as early as 1344 to take part in a campaign, which later failed, against the pagan Lithuanians; nor could he prevent Venice from bending the resistance of Zara and extending its dominion over the Dalmatian cities (1345), especially since all its attention was absorbed by the question of Naples. King Robert had designated his niece Giovanna and her husband, Andrew, brother of King Louis, to be his successors to the throne; but the pontiff did not give orders to crown Andrew until 1345, the year in which the unhappy prince was assassinated in Aversa, and from then on Giovanna occupied the Neapolitan throne alone. King Luigi asserted his claims to the throne of Naples, as the nephew of the eldest son of Carlo lo Zoppo. In this field, Luigi went beyond the limits of Carlo Roberto’s politics and conceived, with the personal union between Hungary, Poland and the kingdom of Naples, the foundation of a world power. But the papacy was against a solution that would confer the Neapolitan throne on a great power. Luigi conducted two campaigns (1347, 1350) against the kingdom of Naples, but despite his military successes he was forced to recognize the impossibility of keeping Naples under his dominion and in 1352 he entrusted the Neapolitan accommodation to the pope. as nephew of the firstborn of Carlo lo Zoppo. In this field, Luigi went beyond the limits of Carlo Roberto’s politics and conceived, with the personal union between Hungary, Poland and the kingdom of Naples, the foundation of a world power. But the papacy was against a solution that would confer the Neapolitan throne on a great power. Luigi conducted two campaigns (1347, 1350) against the kingdom of Naples, but despite his military successes he was forced to recognize the impossibility of keeping Naples under his dominion and in 1352 he entrusted the Neapolitan accommodation to the pope. as nephew of the firstborn of Carlo lo Zoppo. In this field, Luigi went beyond the limits of Carlo Roberto’s politics and conceived, with the personal union between Hungary, Poland and the kingdom of Naples, the foundation of a world power. But the papacy was against a solution that would confer the Neapolitan throne on a great power. Luigi conducted two campaigns (1347, 1350) against the kingdom of Naples, but despite his military successes he was forced to recognize the impossibility of keeping Naples under his dominion and in 1352 he entrusted the Neapolitan accommodation to the pope. But the papacy was against a solution that would confer the Neapolitan throne on a great power. Luigi conducted two campaigns (1347, 1350) against the kingdom of Naples, but despite his military successes he was forced to recognize the impossibility of keeping Naples under his dominion and in 1352 he entrusted the Neapolitan accommodation to the pope. But the papacy was against a solution that would confer the Neapolitan throne on a great power. Luigi conducted two campaigns (1347, 1350) against the kingdom of Naples, but despite his military successes he was forced to recognize the impossibility of keeping Naples under his dominion and in 1352 he entrusted the Neapolitan accommodation to the pope.

With full success, however, Louis took part in the difficult campaigns (1351, 1352, 1354) made against the Lithuanians by Casimir of Poland, his uncle and ally, who had designated him as successor on the Polish throne. The campaign against Venice was also victorious and, with the peace of Zadar (1358), the whole coast and the Dalmatian islands returned under the dominion of the King of Hungary, together with the city of Ragusa. Having settled the conflict with Tvrtko, bano of Bosnia and protector of the Patarines, in 1358 he defeated northern Serbia and had the Hungarian hegemony over northern Bulgaria recognized. His conflict with the emperor Charles IV ended with the engagement of Sigismondo, son of Charles, with Maria, daughter of Luigi. In 1370 he was, it is true, crowned king of Poland, but his main interest was in the South. The campaign against Venice, with the alliance of the Carrara of Padua, aborted (1373), because Luigi had to deal with a new enemy, the Turks. Not having yet recognized the full gravity of the Turkish danger, he was content with the victory over them in 1377, although their influence was already felt in the feudal provinces of Hungary. The main factor in Louis’ Balkan policy was the struggle against schism and heresies. His last major political action was the war which, allied with Genoa, he waged against Venice. After a heroic struggle, the republic of San Marco was forced to conclude an unfavorable peace in Turin (1381) on the basis of the treaty of Zara. Not having yet recognized the full gravity of the Turkish danger, he was content with the victory over them in 1377, although their influence was already felt in the feudal provinces of Hungary. The main factor in Louis’ Balkan policy was the struggle against schism and heresies. His last major political action was the war which, allied with Genoa, he waged against Venice. After a heroic struggle, the republic of San Marco was forced to conclude an unfavorable peace in Turin (1381) on the basis of the treaty of Zara. Not having yet recognized the full gravity of the Turkish danger, he was content with the victory over them in 1377, although their influence was already felt in the feudal provinces of Hungary. The main factor in Louis’ Balkan policy was the struggle against schism and heresies. His last major political action was the war which, allied with Genoa, he waged against Venice. After a heroic struggle, the republic of San Marco was forced to conclude an unfavorable peace in Turin (1381) on the basis of the treaty of Zara. his last major political action was the war which, allied with Genoa, he waged against Venice. After a heroic struggle, the republic of San Marco was forced to conclude an unfavorable peace in Turin (1381) on the basis of the treaty of Zara. his last major political action was the war which, allied with Genoa, he waged against Venice. After a heroic struggle, the republic of San Marco was forced to conclude an unfavorable peace in Turin (1381) on the basis of the treaty of Zara.

In the interest of his powerful political conception, Luigi tried to strengthen the stability of the country’s economic and social system. The law of 1351 bound landed property, because the so-called ius aviticum (repealed in 1848) ensured the right of inheritance to all members of a noble family, even to the side branches, so that the land would not cease to provide the necessary means for duty. more important than the noble, military service. In the same law of 1351 the tax that each colonist owed to his master was also specified, in the measure of the ninth part of the harvest. This arrangement served to further promote the formation of a single class of settlers.

When Louis died, the union between Hungary and Poland was dissolved in a short time and the Poles recognized as queen the youngest daughter of the late king, Hedwig, who later became the wife of the Lithuanian Grand Duke Jagiellon. During the domination of Luigi’s daughter, Maria (1382-95), serious disorders occurred, especially in the southern provinces of the kingdom; Tvrtko of Bosnia acted as an independent ruler and the discontented lords of Croatia and Dalmatia offered the throne to Charles of Durazzo, king of Naples. After a few days of reign (1386) Charles was assassinated; the insurgents, however, took possession of the persons of Maria and of the widowed queen, Elizabeth, strangled the latter and did not give Maria freedom until under the pressure of Sigismondo’s troops and the Venetian fleet. Crowned king, Sigismund of Luxembourg (1387-1437) cruelly suppressed the revolt, but could not suppress sympathies for the Neapolitan dynasty. Ladislao of Naples, taking advantage of the discontent against the domination of Sigismondo and supported by the pope, tried to occupy the throne of Hungary (1403), but his hesitations made this attempt abort.

In the eyes of Sigismondo the threat of the Turks, conquerors of Bulgaria and victorious over the Serbian army, already appeared in all its gravity. In 1395 the king forced the voivode of Moldavia to pay homage to him and he fought successfully in Wallachia as well, but the campaign of 1396 against the Turks, this late crusade in which Sigismondo obtained the help of Venice and the knights of the West, especially the French ones, ended with a very serious defeat near Nicopolis. From then on Hungary was forced to resist the formidable pressure of the Turks alone and the most serious problem of the Hungarian politics became the defense of the provinces and the southern borders. But Sigismund’s interest was also absorbed by the dynastic problems of the West, by the succession to the throne of Bohemia and Germany. He re-established the authority of the Hungarian kingdom in Bosnia and the other southern provinces, but the solution of the great schism of the Church and the affairs of the Bohemian and Germanic crowns kept him away from the country for years, while Venice occupied the Dalmatian cities with little effort and definitively. (around 1420). The defense of Sigismund’s Bohemian throne pushed Hungary into long wars against the Hussites who devastated its northern districts.

During the brief domination of Sigismund’s son-in-law, Albert of Austria (1437-39), Bosnia became a Turkish fief. When Albert died, most of the lords called the young king of Poland, Ladislao Jagellone (1440-44) to the throne, but he could not reach an agreement with the pregnant widow of the late king. It was in these years that the military genius of John Hunyadi manifested himself, who with the Hungarian forces successfully repelled the formidable Muslim pressure. After a victory in 1439, he annihilated two large Turkish armies in 1442 and the following year brought the Magyar weapons to the Balkans. The Hungarian energy was not diminished even by the defeat of Varna (1444), caused by the temerity of the young king who was killed on the battlefield. Elected regent, Hunyadi continued the fierce struggle for the defense of the southern provinces. In 1448 it suffered a bloody defeat in Kosovo in Serbia, but in 1454 it defeated a Turkish army in Serbian territory and in 1456, supported by the crusaders of Giovanni da Capistrano, repelled the attack of Mohammed II against Belgrade.

Shortly after the victory of Belgrade, Hunyadi died and in 1457 also King Ladislao the Posthumous died who had persecuted the hero’s family by having their eldest son, Ladislao beheaded. In 1458 Hunyadi’s youngest son, Mattia Corvinus, the great ruler of the Hungarian Renaissance, ascended the Magyar throne (1458-1490). At the beginning of his reign, Mattia also turned his attention to the southern borders and, aided by the Venetian republic, reconquered a part of Bosnia. However, he was not satisfied with the fight against the Turks and, trusting the means of the Hungarian state, he was seized by the desire to conquer the crown of Bohemia and that of Germany. He weaved the strings of his European politics by entering into negotiations, then fighting against Emperor Frederick III, against the Jagiellons of Poland and against George of Podĕbrady, king of Bohemia. In 1469 he accepted the election with which a part of the Bohemian and Moravian nobility, remained faithful to Catholicism, made him king of Bohemia and, in addition to strengthening his throne of Hungary against the Magyar conspirators, dissatisfied with his strong government and his foreign policy (1471), he was able to defend his prestige in Moravia and Bohemia with the campaign in Breslau, conducted against the united Polish and Czech armies. In the peace of Olmütz (1479) he retained the title of king of Bohemia, as well as the effective possession of Moravia and the principalities of Silesia and Lusatia. His overwhelming interest in the Bohemian throne had the fatal consequence that the Turkish problem was neglected. In fact, in relations with the Turks, the situation worsened considerably, despite the conquest of the fortress of Šabac and the victory at Kenyérmező (the Plain of Bread, near OrǎŞtie, in MureŞ) over the Turks who devastated southern Hungary (1479). Under the influence of his second wife, Beatrice of Aragon, daughter of King Ferrante of Naples, Mattia also took care of Italian politics, supporting the interests of the house of Aragon before the papacy. Following this policy, Ancona briefly placed itself under the patronage of the King of Hungary and Hungarian troops were sent to reconquer Otranto from the Turks. Relations between Mattia and Emperor Frederick became very bad, so that the Hungarian king, after having occupied a considerable part of Austria, in 1485 conquered the city of Vienna itself.

In order to carry out his military and diplomatic projects, Mattia made military and financial affairs independent from the nobility and created new organs of diplomacy and central government. His mercenary army was unmatched in Europe. His government had the reputation of being fair and just, especially for the protection of the colonists. Mattia acted without regard and scruples in the dynastic interest; thus he created the grandson of his wife, Ippolito d’Este, archbishop of Esztergom at a very tender age. Mattia’s economic reforms, in addition to providing him with abundant means for his enterprises and actions, significantly increased the strength of the kingdom. The flowering of humanism in Hungary is also connected to his name.

A strong development of Hungarian culture could be seen even before the 15th century, especially at the time of the Anjou, thanks to the very close links between the Hungarian intellectual life and the universities of Italy. A sure sign of this development was the foundation of a university, one of the first in Central Europe, in Pécs (Cinquechiese) in 1367. The contacts with Italy ensured the good reception of the Renaissance during the domination of Sigismund of Luxembourg and the his successors. Thus humanism had appeared in Hungary even before Matthias, especially in the learned people of Archbishop Giovanni Vitaz and his nephew, the famous humanist Giano Pannonio. Under Matthias the reviving sciences passed from the episcopal courts to the royal court. Hungarian scientists educated in Italy and Italian humanists (T. Ugoleto of Parma, A. Bonfini, G. Marzio, F. Bandini of Florence, etc.) formed a notable circle of humanists around the great king. The cultured Queen Beatrice of Aragon also played an important part in this development of the life forms of the Hungarian Renaissance. For Hungary 2007, please check extrareference.com.

With the death of Mattia Corvino, the political evolution of the modern era tending towards absolutism also came to an end in Hungary. King Ladislaus II Jagiellon of Bohemia (1490-1516), to satisfy the claims of the Habsburgs on the throne of Hungary, claims deriving from an agreement concluded between the emperor Frederick and Matthias Corvinus, recognized the right of succession of the Habsburg dynasty, declared he shut down his own house and returned all the territories occupied by Mattia without ransom. All the important creations of the Corvinus were destroyed, the income of the kingdom diminished in a catastrophic way and the struggle between the aristocracy and the petty nobility became the central problem of Hungarian life. The decadent organization of the kingdom was insufficient to resist the Turks and the fortresses of the borders could only be defended with the help from the papacy and the Venetian republic. Ladislao, to ensure the future of his family in Hungary, sought the support of the Habsburgs; and therefore married his children, Louis and Anna, with Maximilian’s grandchildren, Maria and Ferdinando, preparing the succession of the Habsburg house to the Hungarian throne, although the diet of Rákos of 1505 had determined that he no longer elected king of foreign blood, a Ladislao’s family became extinct. The significant deterioration that occurred in the conditions of the lower classes of the people led in 1514 to the bloody revolt of the gods preparing the succession of the Habsburg house to the Hungarian throne, although the diet of Rákos of 1505 had determined that he would no longer elect king of foreign blood, once the family of Ladislao was extinguished. The significant deterioration that occurred in the conditions of the lower classes of the people led in 1514 to the bloody revolt of the gods preparing the succession of the Habsburg house to the Hungarian throne, although the diet of Rákos of 1505 had determined that he would no longer elect king of foreign blood, once the family of Ladislao was extinguished. The significant deterioration that occurred in the conditions of the lower classes of the people led in 1514 to the bloody revolt of the gods Kuruc (“the crusaders”) by G. Dózsa. G. Zapolyai, Voivode of Transylvania and head of the “national” party), that is of the small nobility, quelled the revolt and the nobility, taking advantage of the occasion, subjected the colonists to “eternal” servitude, depriving them of the right of free migration.

Under the rule of Ladislaus it was presented to the Diet the famous work of St. Verböczi, the Tripartitum, code of customary law of Hungary, whose unchallenged authority contributed most to petrify the Hungarian feudalism until 1848. In Tripartitum is the theory already of the Holy Crown of Hungary: in Hungary there is no power and property if not of the nobility and the root of all power and all properties is the Holy Crown of Hungary; the Holy Crown instead and its bearer receive their power from the community of nobles. The theory of the Holy Crown constituted for centuries the strongest guarantee of the unity of the nation and the integrity of the state.

The Hungarian state of the Middle Ages could not flourish without a strong central power. The decay of the central organs, the army, the financial regime and diplomacy prepared for the fall of the kingdom. The signs of disintegration were also manifested in the field of spiritual and intellectual life: the royal court ceased to have the function of an important center of culture and Luther’s reform, supported by Queen Marie of Habsburg and her circle, began to infiltrate the German communes, although the majority of the nation was still against it. Under King Louis II Jagiellon (1516-26) the Turks completed their work of destruction. While the country immersed in internal strife could not hope for help from the West, occupied in the German-French conflict, in 1521 the most important border fortress fell, Belgrade. The papacy alone fought desperately against the anarchy of the court and the kingdom. On 29 August 1526, near Mohács, Sultan Suleiman annihilated the Hungarian army; the young King Louis also perished. On that day Hungary lost its position of great power forever.