1000 Pope II Silvester sends a crown to Stephen by way of abbot Astrik of Pecsvarad. Stephen is crowned with this on December 25th, 1001 in the royal palace of Estergom.
1030 After the death of Henrik II, the brother of Gizella, wife of Stephen king of Hungary, the relationship between the Germans and Hungarian nations turned for the worst. II Konrad in 1030 organized an offensive against Hungary. Stephen and his armies defeated this invading army and also occupied the regions between the Layta and Fischa and Moravian plains. St Stephen was followed by Peter Orseolo on the Hungarian throne, but was chased away by the Hungarians in 1041 because he tried to make Hungary a part of the German Empire. Peter tried to obtain help from Henrik III, the German Emperor, who took this opportunity because his aim was the conquest of Hungary. In 1042 he attacked Hungary and reached some of the western cities like Pozsony as far as Garam. Due to the coming of winter he retreated.
In 1043 Henrik prepared for another offensive, but accepeted Aba Samuels peace overtures. In 1044 however he defeated Aba Samuel, the Hungarian king at Menfo.
In 1046 Peter, the installed foreighn king was again chased away by the Hungarians.
1050 Gehhard the archbishop of Regensburg organized a millitary attack on Hungary, which was repulsed by king András.
In 1108 Henrik V also attacked Hungary and in 1146 Konrad III
allowed the Bavarians and Austrians to start a war but again the
Magyars defeated these offensives. In 1051 and 1052 Henrik organized
a major offensive against Hungary but these were also defeated.
In 1052 they organized a fleet of ships to storm the city of Pozsony,
but these ships were sunk by Hungarian divers. Henrik III was
forced to accept a treaty of peace with Hungarian king Andras
and also to seal this with the bethrotal of his daughter Judith
to the son of the Hungarian king, Salamon. Andras however did
attack German territories of Austria, Bavaria, and Karinthia as
a reprisal.
1232 With the backing of prince Bela, the friar Otto and 3 of his assosciates are sent to the Caucasus Mountains to reeastablish contacts with the Magyars living there. Only Otto returned from this trip and after visiting Rome he returned and died. Based on the leads from Otto another friar and several companions try to retrace Otto's route but never go far enough into the Caucasus to find them. Instead after many hardship they encounter a stray Hungarian who leads them to the eastern areas near the river Volga where another Magyar colony existed. (Baskirs). Only the monk Julianus returns from this expedition with the news that the Mongols are coming.
1329 October 3, Pope John the XXII sent a letter to the Magyars of the Caucaus Mtns, to their chief Yeretyan. Mancasole Thomas father who was named as the bishop of Samarkand delivered the letter. It stated: "They have briefed me of the Asian Magyars, Malchaites and Alans and their steadfast faith and great fame. In their respect one stands above the rest, that of Yeretyan Mir, the descendant of Magyar blood.. Our chosen child Yeretyan and every Christian Magyar, Malchaite and Alan the knowledge brings us great cheer that our son Yeretyan is the descendant of the Catholic kings of Hungary. [The Melkaites are the people living next to the river Melka a tributary of the river Terek.]
Hungary in the 13th century & its possesions
The Árpád Kings
With Stephen (who was canonized in 1083), a new era began for Hungary. Christianity became the official religion, paganism was suppressed, royal authority was centralized, and the country was divided into counties for administrative purposes. The non-Magyar sections of the population were treated as subject races and were forced to shoulder a disproportionate burden of toil and taxation for many centuries. After Stephen's death a pagan reaction developed, and his immediate successors also had to contend with barbarian and German invasions. Ladislas I, renowned for his wise legislation, arranged an alliance with Pope Gregory VII. Thus strengthened, Hungary again became a powerful kingdom. Ladislas subjugated Croatia, Bosnia, and part of Transylvania; his successor, Koloman, obtained part of Dalmatia.
Royal authority in Hungary declined during the 12th century, chiefly because of internal strife instigated by the Byzantine Emperor Manuel I Comnenus. Seizing control of the Hungarian throne, he bestowed huge grants of the crown lands on partisans among the native nobility, thereby providing foundations for the development of feudalism. Byzantine influence disappeared after the death of Manuel in 1180, but the barons retained their privileged status. King Andrew II attempted to reestablish a centralized regime. In 1222 he issued the Golden Bull, sometimes called the Hungarian Magna Carta, which extended various rights, including tax exemptions, to the nobility. Although the decree gained some adherents for the king among the weaker barons, it failed to reduce the power of the great landowners.
During the reign of Andrew's successor Béla IV, Hungary was overrun by the Mongols in 1241. Most of the Mongols withdrew from the country in 1242, but weak leadership and further royal concessions to the barons accelerated the disintegration of the kingdom.
The Beginnings of Foreign Influence
With the death of Andrew III in 1301 the Árpád line of kings became extinct. In 1308 Charles Robert of Anjou secured election as Charles I, thereby establishing the Angevin dynasty in Hungary. During his reign, which ended in 1342, Charles restored order, imposed limitations on the barons, and generally consolidated the realm. He also made a number of territorial acquisitions, including Bosnia and part of Serbia. Through his marriage to Elizabeth, the sister of Casimir III, king of Poland, he ensured the succession of his son Louis to the Polish crown.
The reign of Louis I lasted until 1382. By virtue of his Polish inheritance and of wars of conquest against Venice, Hungary became one of the largest realms of Europe. Louis instituted numerous administrative reforms, further curbed the power of the feudal lords, and promoted the development of commerce, science, and industry. In the closing years of his reign, however, the Ottoman Turks, advancing steadily northward into the Balkan Peninsula, established their suzerainty in several of Hungary's southern buffer provinces. Sigismund, who was crowned king in 1387, organized a crusade against the Turks, but was overwhelmingly defeated in 1396. Additional disasters followed, including defeats by the Venetians and costly struggles with the religious reformers known as the Hussites. Sigismund, who had been elevated to Holy Roman emperor in 1411, relentlessly persecuted the Hussites.
Hungary was again menaced by the Turks during the two-year reign of Sigismund's Habsburg son-in-law and successor, Albert II. A bitter contest for the throne developed after Albert's death in 1439, and Hungary was saved from extinction by the Turks, chiefly through the capable military leadership of János Hunyadi. Still the national hero of Hungary, Hunyadi climaxed his career by breaking the Turkish siege of Belgrade in 1456.
Hunyadi's son Matthias Corvinus was elected king in 1458, despite strong opposition from partisans of Holy Roman Emperor Frederick III. The new monarch, probably the most able and enlightened ruler of his time, inaugurated various administrative reforms, created a standing army, and promoted the commercial and cultural development of the nation. A brilliant military leader, Matthias won control of Austria from the Habsburgs in the 1480s and moved his residence to Vienna. This and his other territorial acquisitions, which included Moravia, Silesia, and Lusatia, made Hungary the strongest kingdom of central Europe.
After the death of Matthias in 1490, the feudal barons regained
their former status. In consequence, Hungary was soon engulfed
in factional strife, including a peasant rebellion.