Page:Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition, v. 12.djvu/383

369 HISTORY.] HUNGARY 369 tage of the absence of the king, made incursions into the southern provinces of Hungary. This misfortune created a party against Matthias, who, having returned to Hungary and restored order, marched against the Ottoman forces, and totally defeated them in a sanguinary battle on the plains of Kenyermezo in Transylvania (13th November 1479). After the death of Mohammed II. in 1481, Matthias renewed hostilities with the emperor Frederick, and having taken Vienna (1485), made it the seat of his government. Matthias was not only an able and warlike monarch, but a patron of letters, 1 and administered his kingdom with impartiality, subduing the rebellious nobles, and restoring order, law, and prosperity. At the death of Matthias, Gth April 1490, there were several pretenders to the throne, among them John Corvinus, a natural son of the late king, the emperor Frederick, and his son Maximilian. But the states disallowed their claims, and declared for Uladislaus of Bohemia, whose weak reign is marked chiefly by the insurrection of the peasantry in Transylvania, under Dozsa, which was suppressed with great bloodshed in 1514, as also for the collection made by Yerboczy of the common laws of the realm, entitled &quot; Tripartitum Opus Juris Consuetudinarii Inclyti Regni Hungaria3,&quot; which code was sanctioned by the king and the diet in 1514. Under this monarch and his son Louis II., who succeeded him, the power of Hungary rapidly declined, and it was at length utterly overthrown by the Turks under Soliman the Magnificent. This power ful ruler, having captured Belgrade and Peterwardein, advanced at the head of 200,000 men into the interior of the country, and annihilated the Hungarian army at the battle of Mohacs, 29th August 1526. In the carnage several prelates and the flower of the Hungarian nobility were destroyed, and Louis himself perished in his flight. The Ottomans, after pillaging Buda and spreading devasta tion over the whole country, took their departure with many thousands of captives. After the catastrophe at Mohacs and death of Louis. in 1526, a portion of the nobles declared for John Zapolya, waywode of Transylvania, who was accordingly crowned at Sze kesfehe rvar (Stuhlweissenburg). Maria, the widow of Louis, immediately summoned a diet of the nobility of the western counties at Pozsony (Pressburg), who pronounced the election of Zapolya illegal, and proclaimed the queen s brother, Ferdinand of Austria, king of Hungary (16th December 1526). In the following August Ferdinand, having proceeded to Hungary, was again proclaimed king at Buda; ho was afterwards crowned at Szekesfehervdr, 5th November 1527. With this monarch the Hapsburg period commences, the sovereign rulers of Austria after him succeeding to the title of the Hungarian crown. The following is a list of the kings of Hungary, and of the more prominent of the princes who ruled over Transylvania to the end of the 1 7th century : Francis I 1792 Ferdinand V. .. 1835 1526 1564 Hungary, Ferdinand I. (rival John &quot;&amp;gt; Zapolya) j~ Maximilian (rival Sigis- ) mond Zapolya) j&quot; Rudolph 1 1577 Matthias If 1608 Ferdinand II 1619 Ferdinand III 1637 Leopold 1 1657 Joseph 1 1705 Charles III 1711 Maria Theresa 1740 Joseph II 1780 Leopold II 1790 Francis Joseph (crowned 1867) 1848 Transylvania. Stepnen Buthori 1571 Stephen Bocskay 1605 Gabriel Bathori 1608 Gabriel Bethlen 1613 George Rakoczy I 1631 George Rakoczy II 1648 John Kemeny 1661 Michael Apaili 1 1661 Michael ApafH II 1690 1 The world-famed Bibliotlieca Corvina is variously estimated to have contained from 5000 to 10,000 volumes, chiefly manuscripts, many of which were bought from Greek scholars who had fled from Constanti nople, or had been copied in different parts of Italy. John Zupolya, being compelled to retire before the Haps superior forces of Ferdinand, took refuge for a time in bur Poland, whence he sought the assistance of Soliman II. The sultan listened to his request, and in 1529 conducted a large army into Hungary, took Buda by storm (3d Sep tember), reinstated Zapolya, and drove the Austrians before him to Vienna. Failing to take that city, Soliman in October retraced his steps, and after garrisoning Buda with Turkish troops returned in triumph to Constantinople. After several years of desultory warfare between John and Ferdinand, their rival claims were ultimately settled by a treaty concluded at Nagyvarad (Grosswardein) on the 25th February 1538. By this treaty it was stipulated that John was to retain the title of king, together with Transyl vania and the eastern portion of Hungary then in hi; possession, whilst Ferdinand was to hold the remainder, with the proviso that John s male descendants were to surrender all claims to the regal dignity. John having died on the 21st July 1540, his infant son Sigismond was crowned by the adherents of his father, and he was subsequently confirmed in his title to Transylvania by Soliman. This sultan, however, retained a great portion of Hungary in his own possession, and even placed a pasha as regent at Buda; he, moreover, compelled Ferdinand to pay him an annual tribute of 30,000 ducats. Ferdinand, having caused his son Maximilian to be crowned as his successor in 1563, died on the 25th July of the following year. When Maximilian succeeded to the throne, he found himself obliged to continue the war with the young Zapolya, whose cause was espoused by Soliman. In 1566 the sultan, advancing at the head of a large force, was arrested at the small fortress of Sziget by Nicholas Zrinyi, who with a garrison of 3000 men for four weeks heroically defied the whole power of the besiegers. 2 Soliman himself died shortly before the final assault on the citadel, which was overpowered only after the destruc tion of a large part of his army. In the year 1570 Zapolya concluded peace with Maximilian, and on his death in the following year Stephen Bathori, with the consent of the sultan Selim, was elected prince of Transylvania. Maxi milian, having in 1573 secured the succession of his son Rudolph to the throne of Hungary, died on the 12th October 1576. By this time the Reformation had made considerable progress in Hungary, more especially among the higher classes, but with Rudolph the persecution of the Protestants commenced. In Transylvania, however, they met with a pro tector in Stephen Bathori, from 1576 to 1586 distinguished as kipg of Poland. In 1604 the Protestants of Hungary, having raised the standard of freedom under Stephen Bocskay, defeated the generals of Rudolph in several engagements, and on the 23d June 1606 they forced him to conclude peace at Vienna, thus securing to themselves for a time their religious liberties. In 1608 Rudolph resigned the kingdom to his brother Matthias, who during his short reign showed great toleration towards the adherents of the Reformed creeds. He died 20th March 1619, leaving the crown to his cousin Ferdinand II., the hero of the &quot; Thirty Years War.&quot; The accession of this monarch was signalized by the insurrection of the Protestants of Bohemia, and the renewal of persecutions in Hungary, fomented by the Jesuit prelate Peter Pazman. But the victories of the Transylvauian prince Bethlen Gabor (Gabriel Bethlen) over the imperialist troops forced Ferdinand to conclude the treaty of Nikolsburg, 31st December 1621. By this compact the privileges of the Protestants were declared inviolate, 2 In the Map Department of the British Museum there is a curious old print by H. van Schoel (1602), taken from an engraving by A. Lafrery (1566), which represents one of the Turkish attacks upon tins fortress. XII. -- 47