Hungarian History 1444 to 1490AD
Significant Events
Ladislaus V (1444-1457AD)
The death of Ulászló I plunged Hungary into crisis.
Frederick III in the name of Ladislaus V occupied the Hungarian border districts
with Austria. Jan Jiskra seized Spis and the Cilli family took control of Slovakia,
driving out the supporters of Ulászló I. Once again Hungary was
heading for a full blown civil war. Hunyadi, in what can only be described as
an act of masterful diplomacy managed to organise a settlement. Possibly playing
on fears of Ottoman reprisals and from his position as most powerful landholder
in the Kingdom Hunyadi was able to convene a National Diet in April 1445. The
measure of the crisis can be judged by the fact that for the first time Hungarian
Towns were represented. The terms of the agreement were simple enough, supporters
of Ulászló I would acknowledge Ladislaus as their lawful King.
Frederick III would return Ladislaus to the Hungarian people, along with the
Holy Crown. Until the return of the King seven 'Captains' would be elected to
maintain law and Order. Hunyadi was the first of these Captains and of the remaining
six, five had been supporters of Ulászló. The final man to make
up the seven was Jiskra, not even a Hungarian! The choice in Captains reflects
several points. The old party of Ulászló under the leadership
of Hunyadi was still by far the strongest in Hungary and that the Czech mercenary
Jiskra had managed to build such a strong power base in Slovakia and surrounding
districts that he had to be acknowledged as one of the seven most powerful men
in Hungary. Despite the balance of power being firmly in favour of Hunyadi and
his peers this temporary solution worked very well. The Counts of Cilli and
Jiskra remained effective rulers of the territories they held but peace was
maintained and stability restored.
The seven ruled Hungary for over a year but by then it was clear that Frederick
III was not going to release Ladislaus nor return the lands he had taken. A
new Diet was called at Pest in June 1446. Outside of the Diet and by popular
acclaim most of the Nobility pronounced Janos Hunyadi Royal Regent. The Diet
had little choice but to ratify the popular decision. Though given Hunyadi's
obvious popularity and sheer personal wealth and power the decision was never
really in doubt. Never the less the Diet installed limits on just what Hunyadi
could do as regent (He was given the title Gubernator (Governor)) The Diet elected
a Regency Council to 'assist' the Governor in his duties. This Council was remarkably
balanced in its composition. A second Diet in 1447 further codified the how
the Kingdom was to be run. Ladislaus Garai, a supporter of Ladislaus V from
the beginning was made Palatine. The Diet also decreed that if Ladislaus V should
die without an heir it would fall to the Barons to elect a New King. Even so
the Diet was unable to reassert authority over lands controlled by Jiskra or
the Cilli.
The refusal of Jiskra to relinquish control to
the Diet and Hunyadi immediately led to a resumption of hostilities. Over the
next five years Hunyadi led a total of four campaigns against Jiskra. However
he was never able to give the situation his full attention. As a result the
campaigns never utilised the full force of the Hungarian army nor stayed in
the field long enough to force Jiskra's army to battle. The campaigns instead
of destroying Jiskra's strongholds was reduced to devastating the surrounding
lands. 1451 saw a serious defeat for Hunyadi when Jiskra unexpectedly took to
the field and his army surprised Hunyadi while he was besieging the fortified
monastery at Lucenec. Hunyadi had no opportunity to revenge his defeat as the
following year saw Frederick III unexpectedly returned Ladislaus V to Hungary.
Jiskra's long support for Ladislaus V made peace inevitable.
Between 1444 and 1447 Hunyadi was unable to focus
on the Ottoman threat but by 1448 he was in a position to revenge the defeat
at Varna. The previous year Hunyadi had led a rapid campaign into Wallachia
and replaced Vlad Dracul with a more amenable Voivode. With Wallachia secured
Hunyadi gathered an army and marched into Ottoman occupied Serbia. The likely
object of the campaign appears to have been to join with Skanderbeg and his
rebel army in Albania. At the plain of Kosovo
Polje Hunyadi rested his army, it may be that Skanderbeg was expected to
march and join him. Instead it was the Ottoman army that appeared and after
3 days of fighting the Hungarian army was defeated. Hungarian casualties were
heavy and included most of the senior commanders. Hunyadi was further inconvenienced
in his retreat to Hungary when the Prince of Serbia George Brankovic seized
his opportunity to revenge himself on the man he believed had betrayed the peace
of 1444. Hunyadi was temporarily held captive until he agreed to return Brankovic's
estates in Hungary to him. Once free though Hunyadi set about gaining his own
measure of revenge. Brankovic was declared traitor and his lands subject to
forfeiture. From 1448 to 1451 Hunyadi or his supporters waged war on Brankovic.
This 'little war' combined with Hunyadi's on/off attempts to deal with Jiskra
meant little was achieved on either front. His defeat at the hands of Jiskra
in 1451 saw Hunyadi accept mediation from the Barons in his dispute with Brankovic.
This presumably was to free up troops for a new campaign against Jiskra. Peace
was achieved with Hunyadi returning all lands seized since 1448 and paying a
massive 155,000 florins in return for retaining all lands ceded over in 1444.
Also Brankovic's granddaughter was betrothed to Hunyadi's younger son Matthius.
The battle of Kosovo Polje was a watershed for
Hungary, her efforts against the Ottomans would for many years be almost entirely
confined to the defensive. Despite losing his second major battle against the
Ottomans, failing to deal with Jiskra and having to relinquish some of his rights
to Royal revenues Hunyadi retained his pre-eminent position in Hungary. In part
this was due to Hunyadi being the natural leader of the opposition to the Cilli
who had regained much influence by their blood relationship with the King. The
Ottomans still threatened Hungary and Hunyadi remained the best general of the
time. The return of the King Ladislaus altered the political makeup, no longer
was there a 'Loyalist' and 'Nationalist' party, represented by Cilli and Hunyadi
respectively. The Nationalists transformed into the Hunyadi faction, representing
only their own interests. This shift to personal politics saw significant defections
to the Loyalists. These included Ujlaki and the Bishop of Oradea. The struggle
for control between the two groups increased steadily and had the Ottoman Sultan
not signalled his intend to renew the war, Hungary may well have found itself
in the grip of a new civil war.
1451 saw Mehmed II gain the throne of the Ottoman Empire. He began a concerted
campaign to expand his European holdings. 1453 he took Constantinople, transferring
his Capital there. 1454 he began fresh attacks on Serbia and by 1456 was in
a position to attack Belgrade. The Sultan began the siege on the 4th of July
1456 and by the 22nd of July was in full retreat with the remains of his army
and a healthy respect for the fighting qualities of the Hungarians. Mehmed's
experiences under the walls of Belgrade appear to be the primary reason why
the Ottomans would not launch any attacks on such a scale for the next 65 years.
The breaking of the siege however cost Hungary dear as Janos Hunyadi died shortly
after from the plague.
Hunyadi's positions and power were inherited by
his eldest son Ladislaus. Unfortunately, as is often the case, Ladislaus had
not inherited his Father's many talents, except ambition. By the end of 1456
Ladislaus had had Ulrich Cilli publicly murdered, Cilli was at the time Captain
General of the Realm, taken the King into his 'care' and declared himself Captain
General. In a move stunning in its stupidity Ladislaus released the King and
then attended the Royal Court in Buda with his brother Matthius. The King had
Ladislaus and Matthius arrested, charged and tried for high treason. Ladislaus
was executed and the 14 year old Matthius imprisoned. The King rightly fearing
the reaction of the Hunyadi party fled to Bohemia with Matthius as his hostage.
A revolt against the King, led by Hunyadi's widow Elizabeth and her brother
Michael Szilagyi soon broke out. The Royal army under Jiskra and Hunyadi's former
compatriot Ujlaki put up an effective resistance. Despite pitched battles and
innumerable skirmishes neither side was able to gain the advantage. The situation
changed on the 23 November 1457 when Ladislaus V died in Prague, once again
leaving Hungary with no legitimate heir to the throne.
King Matthius (1458- 1490AD)
There was only one realistic candidate for King, Matthius Hunyadi.
No one else mustered enough support to prevent a civil war. At the Diet of Pest
in 1458 Michael Szilagyi and some 15,000 supporters acclaimed Matthius King.
Szilagyi gave the Barons assurances that Matthius would not exact revenge for
the death of his brother. This was sufficient for the Barons to elect Matthius
as King and Szilagyi as governor. Matthius after some negotiation with his captor
George Podebrad of Bohemia was released and was crowned King on the 14th of
February 1458.
It was apparent from the start that this 15 year
old boy had inherited in full measure the talents of his illustrious father.
Within three months of his coronation Matthius had sidelined, then arrested
his Uncle Szilagyi and taken personal control of his Kingdom. Matthius immediately
began consolidating his kingdom. He faced the same three main problems his father
had been unable to deal with. That of the Emperor Frederick III, Jan Jiskra
and the powerbase of the Counts of Cilli, now in the hands of a foreign Mercenary.
Frederick III was proclaimed King of Hungary in
1459 by some of the Barons of Northern Hungary, led by Garai. The revolt was
quickly crushed by Matthius but it did little to persuade Frederick to drop
his claims to the throne. Frederick's support in Northern Hungary was still
strong. Jiskra controlled Slovakia and a Jan Vitovec controlled most of the
Cilli lands. It was inevitable that Jan Jiskra would not submit to the new King
and almost as soon as Matthius was elected hostilities were resumed. Jiskra
at first offered to support Casimir of Poland if he wished to push his claim
to Hungary. When this failed Jiskra switched his support to Frederick III. Like
his earlier successful resistance to Janos Hunyadi Jiskra was able to rely on
Matthius being unable to give him his undivided attention. However unlike his
father Matthius adopted a systematic approach to the problem. Each campaign
was aimed at reducing Jiskra's strongholds and retaining them. Never the less
it wouldn't be until 1462 that Jiskra was forced to negotiate. Jiskra's willingness
to negotiate was only partially due to Matthius' successful campaigns mostly
though it was because Frederick had made his own peace with Matthius. The peace
saw Matthius declare Frederick his successor, so long as he was without a male
heir, pay a massive ransom for the Holy Crown of St Stephen and agree to Austria
retaining much of the lands taken from Hungary since 1440. Jiskra was effectively
isolated and knew it. Matthius though dealt honourably with Jiskra and he was
made a Hungarian Baron and one of his senior army commanders. Most of Jiskra's
troops were incorporated into the Hungarian army though some preferred banditry
and it wouldn't be until 1467 that the last of these marauding armies was destroyed.
Another mercenary to do well under Matthius was that of Jan Vitovec. Vitovec
was originally in the employ of Count Ulrich of Cilli. With Ulrich's death in
1456 the Cilli estates were vacant. Ladislaus V appointed Vitovec Ban of Slovenia
and Frederick III supported him when he took control of the Cilli estates within
the County. Rather than confront him Matthius gave Vitovec the title Count of
Zagorje, re-affirmed him as Ban of Slovenia and allowed him to keep the Cilli
lands he had seized there. In return Matthius took control of all remaining
Cilli estates in Hungary and gained himself another Loyal supporter. This period
of consolidation was complete by Matthius coronation in 1464 with the crown
of St Stephen.
The wars of Matthius
Bonfinius said of Matthius 'in order to rule in peace at home, he made war abroad'. The majority of Matthius' reign was indeed spent at war however despite popular perceptions of this 'Defender of Christendom' almost all of Matthius' conflicts were with his Christian neighbours.
The Ottomans
The Ottomans had continued to gain ground even after Janos Hunyadi's heroic
defence of Belgrade in 1456. This defeat though appears to have altered Ottoman
objective, no longer was Hungary the primary target. Instead Ottoman armies
slowly whittled away at the States surrounding Hungary. By 1459 the royal residence
of Smederevo had fallen to the Ottoman armies and with it Serbia. Many Serbian
Nobles and their followers fled to Hungary. Matthius welcomed them and granted
them estates. These refugees provided Matthius with another excellent source
of troops.
1462 saw Vlad Tepes driven from Wallachia and an Ottoman puppet placed on the
throne. 1463 the Ottomans successfully conquered Bosnia, killing their king
in the process. 1466 Hercegovina fell to the Ottomans.
In ten years the Ottomans had successfully removed all the Countries that had
previously buffered Hungary from their attacks. Matthius' response to this apparently
dangerous development was surprisingly muted. Matthius limited himself to a
single offensive campaign into Bosnia in 1463 which captured several strategic
fortresses, these would remain part of the Hungarian defensive network until
1527.
Despite his very public anti-Ottoman rhetoric
Matthius was in reality following a policy of peace with his Southern neighbour.
This can be shown by numerous ways. 1463 to 1479 Venice was at war with the
Ottoman Empire. This war was one of Venice's hardest fought and costly in her
history and it is clear from the sources at the time that she regarded Hungary
as her most important ally. Yet between 1463 and 1674 Hungary carried out no
military campaigns against the Ottomans and her southern borders were almost
totally undisturbed by their raids. Further to this, Ottoman raids beginning
in 1469 actually crossed through the Hungary provinces of Croatia and Slavonia
to raid Venetian and Austrian lands. By 1490 over ten of these large scale raids
are recorded and none of them appear to have devastated any of the Hungarian
lands they past through. Certainly Frederick III accused Matthius of assisting
the Ottoman raiders.
It would be the Ottomans that would force a change in policy. In 1474 the Bey
of Smederevo launched a massive raid into Hungary, burning the town of Oradea
and taking 16,000 prisoners. Matthius allied himself with Stephen of Moldavia
and in 1474 at the battle of Vaslui a contingent of Hungarian troops assisted
in the destruction of an Ottoman army. 1476 Matthius captured the fortress of
Sabac and campaigned near Smederavo, constructing a series of temporary fortresses.
Swift action from Sultan Mehmed II saw these fortresses destroyed and the status
quo in the area restored. An Ottoman attack on Transylvania in 1479 was destroyed
by the Voivode Stephen Batori. The death of Mehmed II in 1481 returned Hungarian-Ottoman
relations to one of peaceful tolerance. The new Sultan Bayezid II being substantially
less warlike than his predecessor, official peace treaties being signed in 1483
and 88.
Despite Matthius' lack of aggression against the Ottomans he was not foolish
enough to ignore their potential threat. He maintained and improved upon the
defensive border fortresses started by Sigismund. He also created a new levy
of soldiers based on refugee Serbs settled in Hungary's border districts. These
'Gusars' or 'Husars' primary role was raids and counter raids. Their advantage
was that they lay outside of traditional Hungarian laws on troop raising and
much like the Szekely provided a reliable and determinable force.
Matthius' Western Wars
The first major foreign campaign
for Matthius was against his old captor King George of Bohemia. George's son
Victorin attacked Austria in 1468 and Frederick III asked Matthius for help.
In three years Matthius had successfully occupied much of Bohemia and captured
Victorin. Matthius' rapid victories managed to create him new enemies. Frederick
III convinced of Matthius' duplicity and involvement in Ottoman raids on his
territory and support for rebels in Styria constructed an anti-Matthius league
with George of Bohemia and Poland. The league achieved little until George's
death in 1471 when in accordance with his will Bohemia's crown passed to Wladislas
the 15 year old son of King Casimir IV of Poland. Initial attempts to exploit
an internal revolt in Hungary failed because Matthius was able to subdue the
rebels before troops from Bohemia and Poland could reach them. Peace negotiations
followed but almost as soon as they had been signed they were broken. In 1474
Casimir and Wladislas with a combined Bohemian and Polish army massed ready
to invade the territories occupied by Hungary. Matthius responded by devastating
the lands of Silesia and prepared himself for a siege behind the walls of Wroclaw.
Despite their or maybe because of their massive numerical superiority Casimir
and Wladislas were unable to siege Wroclaw for long and were forced to sue for
peace. Matthius supplied their army with much needed food and negotiated a favourable
truce between Hungary, Poland and Bohemia to last until 1477. In 1477 a permanent
peace was negotiated which re-affirmed Matthius' rights to the captured provinces
of Silesia and Moravia and stipulated that Bohemia could regain these lands
at the cost of 400,000 florins upon Matthius' death. For the remainder of Matthius'
reign Bohemia, Poland and Hungary would remain peaceful neighbours.
Frederick III and Austria were conspicuously absent from the negotiations of
1474. Frederick and Matthius' relationship had deteriorated into a personal
feud when Frederick had given sanctuary to one of Matthius' advisors, John Beckensloer,
the Archbishop of Esztergom. Frederick formally recognising Wladislas as King
of Bohemia and as Elector of the Holy Roman Emperor in 1477. Matthius' response
was swift and by December of 1477 Vienna was under siege. Frederick agreed terms
and recognised the treaty between Bohemia and Hungary. Frederick then further
twisted the knife in 1480 by getting Beckensloer elected Archbishop of Salzburg.
Matthius made in clear from the start that his feud was with Frederick as the
Archduke of Austria and not Frederick, the Holy Roman Emperor. Despite this
in 1482 Matthius was at war with the Holy Roman Empire. Even with imperial troops
Frederick was unable to fight Matthius' army in open battle and the war became
one of sieges. Over 5 years Matthius' army reduced Frederick's strongholds one
by one. By 1488 Matthius had taken the major towns and fortresses of Koszeg,
Bruck, Korneuburg and Vienna. The fall of the Emperor's palace at Wiener Neustadt
effectively broke Frederick's will to continue and a peace was negotiated. Matthius
retained all of lower Austria and Styria. Frederick would not attempt to regain
his territories until after Matthius' death in 1490.
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