Let me tell you the story of how Mrs. Kottaner János stole the Holy Crown of Hungary from Visegrád Castle on 21 February 1440…
To understand the historical background, we are lucky to have an excellent Autentika video with English subtitles. It describes the siege of Nándorfehérvár (Belgrad) in 1440 but it sheds light on the important events leading to it: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pBRBFleYAPw
Zsigmond of Luxembourg reigned in Hungary for fifty years, but he passed away without a successor. His throne was inherited by her daughter Erzsébet’s husband, Albert Habsburg. He was perhaps the only Habsburg king who was loved by his Hungarian subjects and who ruled his kingdom from Hungary. You can read more about his reign on my page: https://www.hungarianottomanwars.com/essays/king-habsburg-albert-of-hungary-1397-1439/
King Albert had had enough of being treated like a puppet by the Hungarian barons. He decided not to give up the right of the Hungarian kings to retain their coronation insignia, as had been the case in previous centuries. He therefore had the Holy Crown transferred from Esztergom to the treasury of the Visegrád citadel on 4 July 1439, following the death of Archbishop Pálóczi György (the ‘guardian’ of the crown).
Following in the footsteps of his deceased father-in-law, King Albert entrusted the coronation badges, together with the keys to the citadel, to the custody of his most intimate confidant, György, son of Bazini and Szentgyörgyi Miklós.
The chest itself, in which the Holy Crown was placed, and the door to the treasure chamber, were sealed by the King and the members of the baronial and prelate escort with their seals.
The presence of the latter indicated that Albert, despite his best efforts, was probably unable to restore the power relations established under his father-in-law, since in Zsigmond’s time the king’s seal would have been sufficient.
However, the sealing process was witnessed by an outside observer. According to some historical sources, Queen Erzsébet sent her maid, Mrs. Kottaner, to the sealing ceremony. The obvious question is, why?
It was at this time that Zsigmond’s daughter was pregnant, and Erzsébet recognized the increasingly marked contradictions that this was creating, as well as the growing influence of the aristocratic groups in whom she had little confidence.
As the daughter of a ruler, Erzsébet was also well aware of the constitutional significance of the crown and the ancient respect that the broad classes of Hungarians had for the coronation relics that were revered as sacred. This encouraged her to take even more effective measures to monitor the safe preservation of the Holy Crown.
Unfortunately, the new king (who didn’t trust his wife very much) died of dysentery soon, and the country, unexpectedly left without a ruler, was immediately beset by factional strife.
During this upheaval, the Holy Crown was mysteriously stolen. We have precise information about the mystery directly from one of the perpetrators, Mrs Kottanner János, the Queen’s lady-in-waiting, who chronicled those few days on paper several years later.
The royal couple were soon joined at court by a very bright woman with excellent credentials. The latter revealed that Mrs. Kottaner János had ties to Sopron, where she was not only born into a local noble family but also married the mayor of the town, Székeles Péter.
After thirteen years of marriage, the man died and the widow remarried. Her marriage to Hans Kottanner (Kottanner János), a chamberlain of St. Stephen’s Cathedral in Vienna, resulted in several children. She soon found herself in the service of Queen Elizabeth of Luxembourg as a steward (dry maid, lady-in-waiting).
Through her first husband, she knew some Hungarian, and although she did not speak the language well, she understood almost everything she was told. Thanks to this ‘special ability’, she was well versed in court intrigues and plots, which she later put to good use. The lady-in-waiting and the queen became very close over time. This is evidenced by the memoirs of Mrs Kottaner, written in the 1450s, which describe the events in great detail.
After Albert’s death, Erzsébet of Luxemburg took over the reins of the country, but the lords wanted her to marry the 16-year-old Polish King Ulászló, who was half her age. But Queen Erzsébet had no intention of marrying him. She was still expecting a child with King Albert and told the lords that:
“she would wait and see what God would give her, for all her doctors had told her that she was carrying a son in her womb”.
What this was based on, according to the state of medical science at the time, is not known, but the Queen did indeed gamble to keep the crown with her and her unborn child. The lords, however, continued to insist, and Erzsébet therefore pretended to marry the young King Ulászló. Mrs. Kottanner wrote: “And she asked me very much if I would bring her the Holy Crown.”
Erzsébet knew full well that the country would belong to the one who would take possession of the Holy Crown. So it was the reason why she instructed her maid to steal the sacred badge from Visegrád Castle.
“From Visegrád, the Hungarian noblemen again made their way to Buda. The noble queen and her youngest daughter, Miss Erzsébet, set off from the castle towards Komárom. Count Cillei Ulrik, as her loyal brother, came to Her Majesty, and together they discussed how to find a clever way to get the Holy Crown out of Visegrád Castle. My Lady then came to me and asked me to do it, since no one knows the circumstances better than I do, and she trusts me” – says Mrs. Kottanner János ( born Wolfram Ilona) in her memoirs about the circumstances of the theft of the Holy Crown.
On the night of 20-21 February 1440, Mrs. Kottaner János, born Wolfram Ilona, Queen Erzsébet’s maidservant, with her helpers, broke the locks and unlocked the treasure chamber of the pentagonal tower of Visegrád Castle in a noisy and adventurous scene. The Holy Crown, which was taken from the chest, was hidden in a red velvet coat, and then, under cover of night, the steward and her confidants set off for Komárom on their sleighs.
On the crossing to Komárom, the ice of the Danube broke under the carriage of the courtiers, but the Holy Crown and Mrs Kottaner János finally arrived unharmed at Komárom Castle, the temporary court of the pregnant Queen Elisabeth. At the hour of her arrival, at dawn on 22 February, she was already assisting the Queen in labor and present at the birth of the premature baby, László.
To celebrate the birth of the baby László Habsburg, Ulrik Cillei lit bonfires, and Erzsébet immediately sent for the lords who were on their way to Poland, and informed them that there was no need for King Ulászló since she had brought an heir to the throne. The Hungarian lords, however, were adamant, and so the childbirth was a very eventful time: Erzsébet did not rest, and the lords who were on her side passed the handles of her room from one to the other.
A few months later, in May, in Székesfehérvár, Mrs Kottanner was also one of the main participants. She held the baby in her hands while the Archbishop of Esztergom placed the Holy Crown she had stolen from Visegrád on the head of the legitimate new king, László V of Habsburg, at the coronation ceremony. For a few days after the coronation, the court was on the run, and Mrs. Kottaner János, with the infant king, Erzsébet, and the Holy Crown, headed for Győr.
During the treacherous journey, the treasured Holy Crown was hidden in the infant King’s cradle, thanks to a cunning idea of the stewardess. At Győr, their paths diverged: the queen with the crown headed for Austria, presumably Vienna, while Mrs. Kottaner János traveled via Nezsider to Sopron. Here, in the free royal city, she arrived with the infant king, where they spent several weeks, and then continued together to the infant king’s designated guardian, Frederick III.
Only afterward did the pro-Ulászló nobles realize that the crown had been stolen from Visegrád, for which they immediately arrested both Garai László and Szécsi Dénes. In the end, the two were pardoned, Garai defected to Ulászló, and the Archbishop enthroned the young Pole with another crown. King Ulászló was the one who finished his life in the Battle of Várna in 1444.
A brutal civil war broke out immediately in the country, which was divided into factions. However, Mrs Kottanner János not only escaped punishment but twelve years later, in 1452, she and her husband were rewarded for their services to King László V with an estate in Csallóköz region. If we add to this the fact that researchers date the German-language memoir to 1450, there is no question as to whom Mrs. Kottanner wanted to reveal the exact course of events and why she was subsequently granted a manor.
The Holy Crown was in foreign hands for 23 years, costing King Matthias Corvinus six years of warfare, 80,000 gold pieces, and the pledge of Sopron in 1463 to get it back from Frederick of Habsburg. Matthias was then crowned by the same Bishop Szécsi Dénes Szécsi, who had anointed the infant King László V.
Sources: Origo https://www.origo.hu/tudomany/2019/10/a-kiralyne-keresere-lopta-el-komornaja-a-szent-koronat Szócsinné Vitéz Léber Ottilia, and Wikipedia
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