DEJ 4.

C Battle of Mohacs
Hungarian king Matthias Corvinius died in 1490 without male heir. We know that he had a son John,
but he was illegitimate since his mother Barbara Edelpock was only a mistress of his father. Therefore,
his claim for the Hungarian throne wasn’t valid in eyes of Hungarian nobility. However, the real
reason was the fact that nobility didn’t want any other king with such a strict approach as
Matthias had and they were afraid his son would be the same. So once John was out of the game,
a few candidates appeared. Wife of Matthias Beatrix, Maxililan Habsburg (connections through
Albert), members of Jagiellonian dynasty from Poland.
After all, Hungarian nobility voted for Vladislav Jagiello since they saw him as the weak king that
can be easily manipulated. Their predictions were right, therefore Vladislav earned himself a nickname
– king „dobrze“– he agreed with everything and his power was only symbolical and
representative.
An important event happened during his rule. In 1515 he met with Maximillian Habsburg in Vienna,
and they signed a contract which is considered to be the beginning of the Habsburg matrimonial
policy. According to this contract Vladislav’s son Louis got engaged with Maximilian’s
granddaughter Mary. Vladislav’s daughter Anna got engaged with Maximilan ‘s grandson Ferdinand.
This event will prove to be very important.

After Vladislav’s death his son Luis with his wife Mary Habsburg became the new king and queen of
Hungarian empire. Luis followed the example of his father and obeyed everything that was said by
Hungarian nobility. We usually consider Ottomans as the main theme of his rule. Ottomans were
persistently attacking Hungarian kingdom and slowly moving its borders to the north. HK was forced
to build defensive line on its southern borders, in which most of royal treasury was invested. The
famous army of MC didn’t exist anymore because Jagiellonian kings weren’t able to pay salaries for
soldiers.
Considering the situation Louis was trying to get some help from his foreign neighbours. His brother-
in-law Ferdinand promised to send some soldiers, but it wasn’t enough. Almost none of the help
promises was fulfilled and Louis was standing alone against Ottomans.

Situation didn’t get any better thanks to the rebellion of Ottoman janissaries (soldiers) who were eager
to fight and demanded a new military campaign. Suleiman the Great (Ottoman emperor) couldn’t
agree more and decided to attack and defeat Hungarian kingdom once for all. He informed Louis
about his plans on attacking him. Neighbours advised Louis to make some peace treaty with Suleiman
but Louis refused and started to prepare for the battle.

BATTLE OF MOHACS
 More than a week before the battle took place, Louis was standing on the Mohacs field,
prepared, waiting for Ottomans to come. However, he only thought he was prepared. The
battle took place on August 25 th, 1526. Louis was facing Ottomans with an army of 25 000
men, though Ottoman army consisted of approximately 70 000 men.
 I think you can imagine what happened next. Of course Hungarian army was defeated. Of
25 000 men 15 000 died there, including the highest ranks of Hungarian nobility. King was
trying to escape from the battlefield however he died during this escape, some say he drowned
in the swamp.
 Suleiman wasn’t sure about the result of the battle because he didn’t want to believe that this
the whole Hungarian army. He stayed at the battlefield for few more days waiting for
Hungarian armies to come. However we know that no one came and Ottomans won.
 This battle revealed the real condition Hungarian kingdom was in. There was a crisis in
economy, military and social sphere as well.
 Ottomans took over the whole southern part of Hungarian kingdom and the royal court was
forced to move from Budín to Bratislava. And who became the new Hungarian king? Thanks
 to previously mentioned matrimonial policy Ferdinand I. brother of former queen Anna, wife
of late Ladislaus.
 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KtzJ-GelB7Y