Page 43 - (DK Eyewitness) Travel Guide - Hungary

THE HIST OR Y OF HUNGAR Y  41

and the Mongols routed Béla’s army at Muhi one of his foreign excursions the Turks
on 11 April 1241. Béla fled to Austria. The made their first inroads into the Balkans.
Mongols utterly destroyed Hungary, killing After Louis’s death in 1382, Sigis mund
half the population. After the mysterious of Lux em burg bankrupted the country,
death of their leader in 1242, however, amid the expansion of the Otto man
the superstitious Mongols withdrew. empire. Sigismund led a crusade
against the Turks in 1396, but was
Renaissance routed at Nicopolis. He died in 1437,
On his return to power, Béla and his successors, Albrecht V of
transformed royal castles into Austria (1437–9) and Władysław III
towns, encouraging Germans, of Poland (1439–44), known in
Italians and Jews to populate them. Hungary as Ulászló I, both died
Mining restarted, farming methods during campaigns against the Turks.
improved, and crafts and commerce Hungary’s noblemen now chose the
flourished. Béla died in 1270, and the infant king László V and appointed a
Árpád line expired in 1301, when regent, János Hunyadi, to run the
András III died with out a male heir. Árpád, sculpture in country. Hunyadi was a gifted
Confronted by succession Mátyás Church, warrior, defeating the Ottomans in
Budapest
disputes, Hun gary’s nobles chose Transylvania in 1442 and in the
foreign kings. These, Charles I (1309–42) Battle of Belgrade in 1456, but he died of
and his son and successor Louis I (1342– the plague soon after, and after two years
82), both from the House of Anjou, ruled of struggle for the succession his son
during a time of peace. Louis I confirmed Mátyás was proclaimed king.
the Golden Bull again in 1351, and in
1367 founded Hungary’s first university, at King Mátyás
Pécs. However, he also fought costly wars, Mátyás enlisted 30,000 foreign mercenaries
becoming king of Poland in 1370. During and built fortresses along the southern
frontier, but instead of a direct anti-Turkish
policy, he launched attacks on Bohe mia,
Poland and Austria, hoping to forge a
unified front against the Turks. Mátyás was
a modernizer, reforming the legal system
and promoting development. A Renais-
sance man, he made his court a centre
of human ism; under his rule Hungary
began printing and established a second
university. However, he failed in his quest
for a Western alliance and, with it, the
The Renaissance main altar in Mátyás Church, Budapest Holy Roman crown.

14th-century ciborium
1309 Charles Robert becomes 1456 Hunyadi defeats the Turks 1458
1222 Nobles force King Charles I. Marriages link in the Battle of Belgrade. Hunyadi Hunyadi’s son,
András II (1205–35) Hungary to Naples and Poland. dies of plague. Mátyás
to sign Golden Bull 1367 Hungary’s first university (1458–90),
limiting crown’s power. is founded at Pécs. crowned king.
1150 1200 1250 1300 1350 1400 1450
1351 Louis I (1342–82)
1241 Mongols 1242 The recon firms Golden Bull. 1490 Mátyás
rout the Mongols 1442 Hunyadi dies while
Hungarian army withdraw from 1301 Death of András III, last of defeats the Turks visiting Vienna.
at Muhi. Hungary. the Árpád kings. in Transylvania.

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