Everything about The King Of Hungary totally explained
The
King of Hungary was the
head of state of the
Kingdom of Hungary from
1000 (or
1001) to
1918.
Beginnings
Before the
11th century, the head of the federation of the
Magyar tribes was the
High Prince. The first King of Hungary,
Stephen I was crowned on
25 December 1000 (or
1 January 1001) with the crown
Pope Sylvester II had sent him with the consent of
Otto III, Holy Roman Emperor.
Following King
Stephen I's coronation, all the
monarchs of
Hungary used the title of king. Although
Stephen Bocskai and
Francis II Rákóczi were proclaimed Princes of Hungary, their legitimacy wasn't generally accepted, even in the Kingdom of Hungary.
International status
The Kings of Hungary were
sovereign monarchs,
ie, they didn't submit themselves to others. Although
Emperors and
Sultans of the Ottoman Empire sometimes claimed supremacy over them, but only some of the kings, and only in specific historical situations, paid homage to foreign
monarchs.
The Kings of Hungary, as heads of the
Archiregnum Hungaricum ("High Kingdom of Hungary"), also tried to extend their supremacy over the rulers of the neighboring countries and provinces during the 13th-16th centuries. Although these claims were usually rejected, some foreign
monarchs were obliged to swear fidelity to the King of Hungary. In any case, these rulers have to be differentiated from the dignitaries of the
Kingdom of Hungary who governed provinces (for example,
Transylvania,
Croatia,
Slavonia and
Dalmatia), since the latter were not
vassals but high-officers of the kings.
From 1097 onwards, the Kings of Hungary were also
Kings of Croatia, because of the
political union of the two states. During the rule of the
Habsburgs, a
real union developed step by step between the
Lands of the Holy Crown and the other countries and provinces of the royal house, but it never became a political union.
Claims to supremacy over them
Holy Roman Emperors
In 1045, King
Peter I paid homage to
Henry III, Holy Roman Emperor, but the king was dethroned in 1046, and his successor, King
Andrew I of Hungary refused the Emperor's supremacy. The Emperor's successor,
Henry IV, Holy Roman Emperor of
Germany acknowledged the independence of the kingdom in the peace concluded with Andrew I in 1058.
King
Solomon of Hungary also swore allegiance to Emperor Henry IV in 1074, but by that time he'd been ruling over only some counties of the kingdom and he abdicated in 1081. King Solomon's opponent, King
Ladislaus I of Hungary never recognised the Emperor's claims.
During the
Mongol invasion of Hungary, in 1241, King
Béla IV of Hungary accepted
Frederick II, Holy Roman Emperor's supremacy hoping that the Emperor would provide him military assistance against the
Mongols. But Frederick II didn't intervene in the struggle, and Béla IV was later absolved of his oath by
Pope Innocent IV in 1245. Eventually, King
Rudolf I of Germany referred to Béla IV's homage when he invested, in 1290, his son, Duke
Albert I of Germany with the
Kingdom of Hungary that he regarded as a derelict
fiefdom after King
Ladislaus IV of Hungary's death. Finally, Duke Albert I waived his claim, already in 1291, in the peace he concluded with King
Andrew III of Hungary.
Afterwards, the
Holy Roman Emperors never claimed the allegiance of the Kings of Hungary.
Byzantine Emperors
Byzantine Emperors, as heirs to the ancient
Roman Emperors, tended to regard themselves as heads of the
Christian Commonwealth (oikumené). However, they could rarely enforce their claims. Although, King
Stephen IV of Hungary swore allegiance to Emperor
Manuel I Komnenos in
1163, but only after he'd been expelled from
Hungary.
Sultans of the Ottoman Empire
In 1529, King
János Szapolyai visited Sultan
Suleiman the Magnificent, who had been supported him against his opponent,
Ferdinand I, Holy Roman Emperor, and swore allegiance to him. Based on this oath, Sultan Suleiman I, having occupied the Central parts of the
Kingdom of Hungary, invested, in 1541, King János Szapolyai's son King
John II Sigismund Zápolya with the Eastern territories of the kingdom, and the young king governed his realm by the
Sultan's grace. However, King János Szapolyai's and King John II Sigismund's rule extended only over parts of the kingdom, and their opponents from the
House of Habsburg never accepted the
Sultan's supremacy.
In 1605, Sultan
Ahmed I sent a royal crown to
Stephen Bocskai, who had been proclaimed
Prince of Hungary by the
Estates, but Stephen Bocskai never was proclaimed king and crowned.
Their vassals
Bans and Kings of Bosnia
From the
12th century onward, the Kings of Hungary were high-officers of the
bans of Bosnia, but the bans were, in practice, elected by the local nobility. The first ban who swore allegiance to a king, (
Emeric of Hungary) was
Ban Kulin in 1203, but during the
13th century the supremacy of the Kings of Hungary over
Bosnia was only theoretical.
Around 1323, Ban
Stephen II of Bosnia paid homage to King
Charles I of Hungary. His successor
Tvrtko I of Bosnia separated from the
Holy Crown of Hungary and even had himself crowned the King of Bosnia in 1377. In 1394, King
Stjepan Dabiša swore allegiance to
Sigismund, Holy Roman Emperor, but his successors (Tvrtko II,
Stjepan Ostoja) and their powerful
vassals (Dukes
Hrvoje Vukčić and Sandalj Hranić) often turned against the supremacy of the King of Hungary.
Finally, in 1425, King
Tvrtko II of Bosnia was reconciled with Sigismund I and from this reconciliation the kings of Bosnia were faithful
vassals of the Kings of Hungary till the occupation of their kingdom by the
Ottoman Empire in 1463. King
Matthias Corvinus of Hungary granted, in 1471, the empty title of "King of Bosnia" to one of the
Hungarian magnates, Miklós Újlaki.
Despots and Tzars of Bulgaria
In 1266, King
Stephen V of Hungary compelled Despot Jakov Svetoslav, who was ruling over Vidin, to swear allegiance to him, but after the king's death the rulers of
Bulgaria didn't accept the supremacy of the Kings of Hungary.
In 1369, King
Louis I of Hungary invested Tzar
Ivan Stratsimir of Bulgaria with the fiefdom of the territories around Vidin, the King had occupied before, and the tzar acknowledged the overlordship of the King of Hungary till 1388 when he became the
vassal of the
Ottoman Empire.
Chieftains of the Cumans
Bartz and Membrok, Chieftains of the
Cuman tribes settled down in the territories west of the
Dniester River, were baptized and they acknowledged the overlordship of King
Béla IV of Hungary around 1228. However, the
Mongol invasion of Europe obliged the Cumans to take refuge in
Hungary in 1241.
Despite a long series of conflicts with the
Hungarians, the Cumans immigrated to Hungary, settling down in two regions, called
Kiskunság and
Nagykunság.
Voivodes and Princes of Moldavia
The territory of the future
Principality of Moldavia was occupied by the troops of King
Louis I of Hungary in 1345 after a victory over the
Mongols. The territory was governed by hereditary
Voivodes who were
vassals of the King of Hungary.
After 1359, when
Bogdan I of Moldavia seized power,
Moldavia seceded from the
Holy Crown of Hungary. In 1387, Voivode
Petru I of Moldavia paid homage to King
Jogaila of Poland, but Voivode Stephen I of Moldavia was obliged to acknowledge the overlordship of
Sigismund, Holy Roman Emperor although the Hungarian supremacy over
Moldavia was only theoretical and the King of Hungary renounced it on behalf of King Jogaila in 1412.
In 1475, Prince
Stephan V swore allegiance to King
Matthias Corvinus of Hungary, but he accepted again the supremacy of King
Casimir IV of Poland in 1485.
Princes and Despots of Serbia
In
1201 King
Emeric of Hungary intervened in the struggles between Duke
Vukan Nemanjić of
Raška and his brother Duke
Stefan Nemanjić for the throne of that country on behalf of the former. Vukan II, when temporarily overcame his brother, acknowledged the overlordship of the King of Hungary, but finally Stefan II won over his brother and he refused the supremacy of foreign
monarchs.
In 1408,
Sigismund, Holy Roman Emperor of Hungary established the
Order of the Dragon and Despot
Stefan Lazarević of Serbia was one of its founders. Sigismund I granted estates in
Hungary to Despot Stefan Lazarević who paid homage to him. Afterwards the rulers of
Serbia were wavering between the Kings of Hungary and the
Ottoman Empire till their country was occupied by the latter in 1459.
Titles
During the centuries, the Kings of Hungary acquired or claimed the crowns of several neighboring countries, and they began to use the royal titles connected to those countries. By the time of the last kings, their precise style was:
"By the Grace of God, Apostolic King of Hungary, Dalmatia, Croatia, Slavonia, Rama, Serbia, Galicia, Lodomeria, Cumania and Bulgaria, Grand Prince of Transylvania, Count of the Szeklers".
The
"Apostolic King" title was confirmed by
Pope Clement XIII in
1758 and used afterwards by all the Kings of Hungary.
The title of
"King of Slavonia" referred to the territories between the
Drava and the
Sava Rivers and was first used by
Ladislaus I of Hungary. It was also Ladislaus I who adopted the title
"King of Croatia" in 1091.
Coloman of Hungary added the phrase
"King of Dalmatia" to the royal style in
1105.
The title
"King of Rama", referring to the claim to
Bosnia, was firstly used by
Béla II of Hungary in 1136. It was
Emeric of Hungary who adopted the title
"King of Serbia". The phrase
"King of Galicia" was used to indicate the supremacy over
Halych, while the title
"King of Lodomeria" referred to
Volhynia; both titles were adopted by
Andrew II of Hungary in 1205. In 1233,
Béla IV of Hungary began to use the title
"King of Cumania" which expressed the rule over the territories settled by the
Cumans (for example,
Wallachia and
Moldavia) at that time. The phrase
"King of Bulgaria" was added to the royal style by
Stephen V of Hungary.
Transylvania was originally a province of the
Kingdom of Hungary, but became a
principality subordinated to the
Ottoman Empire at the end of the 16th century, and to the King of Hungary in 1686. In 1696, after dethroning Prince
Michael II Apafi,
Leopold I, Holy Roman Emperor took the title
Prince of Transylvania. In 1765,
Maria Theresa of Austria elevated Transylvania to
Grand Principality. The
Count of the Szeklers was originally a dignitary of the
Kingdom of Hungary, but the title was later used by the Princes of Transylvania.
Ascending the throne
Seniority or primogeniture—The Árpáds
Hungary was originally a hereditary kingship, but the order of succession wasn't clearly defined. The Hungarian tradition preferred
agnatic seniority (senioratus) which gave preference to the oldest patrilineal member of the royal family, while the
Christian tradition supported the principle of
primogeniture pursuant to which the eldest son of the deceased king inherited the throne. The two principles caused several civil wars during the 11th-12th centuries.
Béla I,
Ladislaus I,
Ladislaus II and
Stephen IV ascended the throne based on the principle of agnatic seniority, while other members of the
Árpád dynasty inherited the throne from their fathers.
The cases of
Peter Urseolo and
Samuel Aba of Hungary were exceptional; the former (son of
Stephen of Hungary's sister) was appointed to inherit the throne by Stephen I, while the latter (Stephen I's brother-in-law) was elected after Peter I's dethronement.
Succession or election—The 14th-16th centuries
When the male line of the
Árpád dynasty extinguished in 1301, all the claimants to the throne were matrilineal descendant of the dynasty. The struggle among the
pretenders was taking place till 1310 when
Charles I of Hungary, the great-grandson of
Stephen V of Hungary, having been elected by the prelates, barons and nobles, was crowned with the
Holy Crown of Hungary .
During the reign of the
Capetian House of Anjou the principle of succession was strengthening, and the
Estates of the realm followed the principle even in the case of
Louis I of Hungary's daughter
Mary of Hungary who ascended the throne after his father's death without any resistance in 1382. However, the transient success of
Charles III of Naples in 1385, who claimed the throne as the last male descendant of the
Angevin dynasty, proved that public opinion wasn't in favor of women's succession.
In 1387,
Sigismund, Holy Roman Emperor himself also a (multiple) matrilineal descendant of the Árpád dynasty, was proclaimed king by the Estates of the realm by the right of his wife, Queen Mary of Hungary, who had been arrested by the partisans of her opponent Charles III. However, when
Queen Mary I died in 1395, the Estates refused the claims to the throne of her sister, Queen
Jadwiga of Poland, and they confirmed the widowed Sigismund's reign. By this action, the principle of election overcame for the following three centuries.
Although, during the period, the Estates usually preferred the deceased king's son or other claimants connected to the royal family (for example, sons-in-law or matrilineal descendants of previous kings) when deciding on the throne, but it wasn't a law.
Władysław III of Poland, for example, was proclaimed king against the deceased king's son,
Ladislaus the Posthumous in 1440. He was, at least, a distant matrilineal descendant of the Árpád dynasty, but in the case of
Matthias Corvinus of Hungary, in 1458, the Estates preferred a person without any royal ancestry to the claimants descending from King Sigismund.
In 1505, the
Diet passed a bill which prohibited the election of foreigners to the throne, but it would never received the Royal Assent. In practice, the bill was aimed at the exclusion of the members of the
House of Habsburg from the succession, but finally the Estates had to be reconciled to the reign of the foreign dynasty.
Junior Kings
Because of the above-mentioned uncertainties around the order of succession, the kings endeavored to strengthen their heir's position; therefore they'd their
heir apparent crowned in their lifetime. The first example was
Solomon of Hungary, the son of
Andrew I of Hungary, who was crowned in 1057 when his father was still alive; however, this action couldn't rescue Solomon from the later dethronement.
A Junior King
(rex iunior) usually didn't exercise
prerogative powers, with the exception of
Stephen V of Hungary, but in the
13th century he was entrusted with the government of certain provinces of the kingdom. The first example was
Emeric of Hungary who was governing
Croatia and
Dalmatia when he was
rex iunior. The Junior Kings of
Árpád dynasty were to be crowned again when ascended the throne after their father's death.
During the 14th to 15th centuries, the
heirs apparent were never crowned while their predecessor was still alive. The custom revived only in 1508, when
Louis II of Hungary and Bohemia was crowned during his father's lifetime to ensure, despite of the strengthening of the principle of election, his succession. He and the later Junior Kings don't exercised prerogative powers before the death of their father and they were not crowned again.
After 1688, when the principle of
hereditary monarchy was enacted, the institution became unnecessary and disappeared. However, the last of the Junior Kings was
Ferdinand I of Austria, crowned in 1830; he'd been considered incapable of ruling, consequently confirmment of his succession rights by the ceremony seemed rational.
Victory of the hereditary monarchy—The Habsburgs
Although the
Habsburgs deemed themselves as hereditary rulers of Hungary, the
Estates of the realm insisted on the principle of election. As a first step towards the revival of the hereditary monarchy, already in 1547, the
Diet declared that the Estates had submitted themselves not only to
Ferdinand I, Holy Roman Emperor but also to his heirs.
However, the liberation of the Central and Eastern parts of the
Kingdom of Hungary from the rule of the
Ottoman Empire changed radically the Estates' attitude towards the
hereditary monarchy, and they declared the hereditary claims of
Leopold I, Holy Roman Emperor and his legitimate male descendants to the throne. The hereditary claims were extended also to King
Charles II of Spain and his legitimate male descendants, but the Estates of the realm reserved the right to elect a new king in case the male line both of Leopold I and King Charles II extinguished.
Moreover, in 1722, when it had become obvious that
Charles VI, Holy Roman Emperor wouldn't father male descendants, the hereditary claims of the female descendants of
Charles VI, Holy Roman Emperor, Leopold I and
Joseph I were also confirmed by the
Diet.
Legal requirements of reigning
By the end of the 13th century, the customs of the
Kingdom of Hungary prescribed that all the following three requirements shall be fulfilled when a new king ascended the throne:
- coronation by the Archbishop of Esztergom;
- coronation by the Holy Crown of Hungary;
- coronation in Székesfehérvár.
Afterwards, from 1387 the customs also required the election of the new king. Although, this requirement disappeared when the principle of the hereditary monarchy overcome, but afterwards kings were required to issue a formal declaration (credentionales litterae) in which they swore on respecting the constitution of the kingdom.
The first requirement (coronation by the Archbishop of Esztergom) was confirmed by
Béla III of Hungary, who had been crowned by the
Archbishop of Kalocsa based on the special authorisation of
Pope Alexander III, but after his coronation he declared that his coronation wouldn't harm the customary claim of the Archbishops of Esztergom to crown the kings. In 1211,
Pope Innocent III denied to confirm the agreement of
Archbishop John of Esztergom and
Archbishop Berthold of Kalocsa on the transfer of the claim, and he declared that it's only the Archbishop of Esztergom who is entitled to crown the King of Hungary.
List of the Kings of Hungary
Saint Stephen I (1000/1001–1038)
Peter I the Venetian (1038–1041, 1044–1046)
Samuel I (1041–1044)
Andrew I the White or the Catholic (1046/1047–1060)
Solomon I (1057–1081)
Béla I the Champion or the Bison (1060–1063)
Géza I (1074–1077)
Saint Ladislaus I (1077–1095)
Coloman I the Book-lover (1095–1116)
Stephen II (1105–1131)
Béla II the Blind (1131–1141)
Géza II (1141–1162)
Stephen III (1162–1172)
Ladislaus II (1162–1163)
Stephen IV (1163–1165)
Béla III (1172–1196)
Emeric I (1196–1204)
Ladislaus III (1204–1205)
Andrew II the Jerosolimitan (1205–1235)
Béla IV (1214–1270)
Stephen V (1246–1272)
Ladislaus IV the Cuman (1272–1290)
Andrew III the Venetian (1290–1301)
Wenceslaus I the Czech (1301–1305)
Otto I the Bavarian/Béla V the Bavarian (1305–1307)
Charles I Robert (1308–1342)
Louis I the Great (1342–1382)
Mary I (1382–1385, 1386-1395)
Charles II the Short or of Durazzo (1385–1386)
Sigismund I (1387–1437)
Albert I (1437–1439)
Ladislaus V the Posthumous (1440–1457)
Wladislaus I of Varna (1440–1444)
Matthias I the Just or Corvinus (1458–1490)
Wladislaus II the "Dobže" (1490–1516)
Louis II (1516–1526)
John I (1526–1540)
Ferdinand I (1526–1564)
John II Sigismund (1540–1551, 1556-1570)
Maximilian I (1563–1576)
Rudolf I (1572–1608)
Matthias II (1608–1619)
Ferdinand II (1618–1637)
Ferdinand III (1625–1657)
Ferdinand IV (1647–1654)
Leopold I (1657–1705)
Joseph I (1687–1711)
Charles III (1711–1740)
Maria Theresa I (1740–1780)
Joseph II the King with Hat (1780–1790)
Leopold II (1790–1792)
Francis I (1792–1835)
Ferdinand V (1830–1848)
Francis Joseph I (1848–1916)
Blessed Charles IV (1916–1918)Further Information
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