HUNGARY
552
HUNGARY
son-in-law Albert (1437-39); in this reign the influ-
ence of the Hungarian nobility was again paramount.
The Turks recommenced their inroads, entering the
country near Szendro. After Albert's death a dispute
as to the succession arose between Wladislaw I
(Wladislaw III of Poland) and the adherents of
Albert's posthumous son Ladislaus. In the end
Wladislaw I (1442-44) became ruler; his short reign
is chiefly noted for the wars with the Turks, in which
the Hungarian forces were led by Janos Hunyady
(see Hunyady, Janos). Wladislaw I fell in battle
•with the Turks at Varna, Bulgaria, where he was
defeated; after his death Hungary was thrown into
confusion by the quarrels among the ruling nobles.
To put an end to these disorders the inferior nobility
un<lertook to bring the country again into unity and
made Hunyady governor during the minority of
Ladislaus \', Posthumus, appointing with him an
administrative council. While at the head of the
government, Hunyady fought successfully against
the Turks. During his control of affairs also, the
appointment to ecclesiastical benefices was con-
sidered the prerogative of the Crown, and it was
accordingly exercised by him and his council. During
the reign of Ladislaus V (1453-57) the leading nobles
regained control; this led once more to disturbances,
especially after the death of Hunyady. While Lad-
islaus was king, Constantinople was taken by the
Turks (1453), who now turned all their strength
against Hungary. Hunyady won, indeed, the bril-
liant victory over them at Belgrad (1456), but he died
a few days later. The hatred of the great nobles
against him was now turned against his sons, one of
whom, Ladislaus, was executed. When King Lad-
islaus died, Hunyady's son, Matthias I, Corvinus,
became king.
Matthias I (145S-90) was almost continually en- gaged in conflict with the Ottoman power. Pope Pius II promised the most vigorous support to the king in this struggle, but the eff'orts of the Holy See to organize a general European crusade again.st the Turks proved unavailing because of the pope's death. Notwithstanding the lack of help from other countries, Matthias battled for a time with success against the Turks in Bosnia, and to him it is due that their advance was temporarily checked. In 1463 Bosnia was conquered by the Turks, and with this the dio- ceses in Bosnia ceased to exist. On account of the Turkish invasion the see of the Bishop of Corbavia had to be transferred to Modrus as early as 1460. L'^p to 1470 Matthias maintained friendly relations with the Catholic Church, but after 1471 liis policy changed. The second half of liis reign was characterizeil by a number of serious blunders. Notwithstanding the enactments of the law he gave a number of dioceses to foreigners; in 1472 he appointed John Becken- sloer Archbishop of Gran (Esztergom), in 1480 he gave the archdiocese to the seventeen-year-old John of Aragon, and in 14S6 to Ippolito d'Este, who was seven years old. Foreigners were also appointed to the Dioceses of Grosswardein (Nag>'-Varad), I'^cs (Fimf- kirchen), and Eger (Erlau). Alatthias also rewarded political services with ecclesiastical offices, and treated the property of the Church as though it belonged to the State. Ilis relations with the Holy See, originally frien<!ly. gradually grew strained, and he went so far as to threaten to join the Greek Church. In 1488 .\ngelo Pecchinoli was sent to Hungarj' by the pope as legate. Probably through the influence of his wife Beatrice, the king was led into more peaceful relations with the papacy, so that there was a better condition of affairs in the last years of his reign.
It was while Matthias was sovereign that Human- ism appeared in Hungary. The king himself was a vigorous stipporter of the Humanistic movement and the remains of his renowned library at Buda, the Bibliotheca Corvina, still excite wonder. The king's
example led others, especiallj' the bishops, to cultivate
the arts and learning. Among the ecclesiastics who
competed with the king in the promotion of learning
were Joannes Vitez, LTrban Doczi, and Thomas Bakacz.
At times, however, the ardour with which Matthias
supported learning slackened, thus he did not give
his aid to the universities already existing at Pecs
(Funfkirchen) and Pozsony (Presburg), so that later
they had to be closed. After the death of Matthias
there were once more several claimants for the throne.
Matthias had sought in the last years of his life to
have his illegitimate son Joannes Corvinus recognized
as his successor. After liis death the nation divided
into two parties; one was influenced by the (^ueen-
Dowager Beatrice, who wanted the crown for herself,
the other desired a foreign ruler. Finally the King
of Bohemia, Wladislaw II (1490-1516), of the Pol-
ish House of Jagellon, ol)tained the throne. In this
reign the power of Hungary rapidly declined. Nat-
urally vacillating and indolent, \\'ladislaw hail not
the force to withstanil the determination of the
great Hungarian nobles to rule, and the royal power
became the plaything of the ^■arious parties. The
antagonisms of the different ranks of society grew
more acute an<l led, in 1514, to a great peasant revolt,
directed against the nobles antl clergj', which was
only suppressed after much l)loodshed. The Diet of
1498 passed enactments correcting the ecclesiastical
abuses that hatl become prevalent during the reign
of Matthias and prohibited particularly the appnint-
ment of foreigners to ecclesiastical positions. Among
other enactments were those that forbade the grant-
ing of church offices to any but natives, the holding
of ecclesiastical pluralities, and the appropriation
of church lands by the laity. A\ladislaw, howe\er,
was too weak to enforce these enactments. One of
the particular evils of his reign was the holding of
church dignities by minors; this arose partly from
the granting of the royal right of patronage to diflfcr-
ent families. One of the most prominent ecclesiasti-
cal princes of this period was 'Thomas liakiicz, who
was first Bishop of Gyor and Eger, and later .\rch-
bishop of Gran. His eminent qualities made him for
a time a candidate for the papal see. It was owing
to his efforts that the offices of primate and legiitus
natiis were permanently united with the Archbishopric
of Gran.
Lender the successor of Wladislaw, Louis 11 (1516- 26), Hungary sank into complete decay. The author- ity of the sovereign was no longer regarded; energetic measures could not be taken against the incursions of the Turks, on account of the continual quarrels and dis.sensions, and the fate of the country was soon sealed. In 1.521 Belgrad fell into tht- hands of the Turks, and Hungary was now at their mercy. In 1.526 the country gathered together its resources for the decisive struggles. At the battle of Mohdcs (29 Aug., 1526) Louis II was killed, and Catholic Hungary was defeated and overthrown by the Turks. The univer.s;d political decline of Hungary in the reign of Louis II was accompanied by the decline of its re- ligious life. The education of the clergj- sank steadily, and the seoilar lords grew more and more daring in their seizure of church property. Ecclesiastical training and discipline decayed. 'The southern part of Hungary was almost entirely lost to the Church through the advance of the Turks. Thousands of the inhabitants of the southern districts were carried off as prisoners or killed, monasteries and churches were destroyed, anil the place of the Catholic population was taken by large numbers of Serbs who were ad- herents of the Orthodox Greek Church. The Serbs had begim to settle in Himgary in the time of Mat^ thias I, so that during the reign of Louis II several Orthodox Greek bishops exercised their office there. In the first half of the sixteenth century the weakened condition of the Church in Hungary offered a favour-
