I am writing a longer article about King Ulászló II, whose role in Hungarian history has been painted a little darker by posterity than he would have deserved. My work is partly based on the article of the Hungarian Research Institute. Special thanks go to Dr. Illik Péter.
Foreword: The change of Ulászló’s image in our days
King Ulászló II of Bohemia (May 27, 1471 – March 13, 1516) was elected Hungarian monarch on July 15, 1490. He held his titles until his death on March 13, 1516. The traditional view of his reign is best expressed by the nickname “dobzse” (“it is well”): he is generally regarded as a weak ruler, following the strong Hunyadi Mátyás, in whose place the Hungarian barons ruled.
The mainstream reassessment and reevaluation of the achievements of the reigns of King Hunyadi Mátyás (1458-1490) and the Jagiellonian family (1490-1526) has been going on for at least two decades. The essence of this, from the point of view of traditional evaluation, is that “today, within the framework of research on the battlefield of Mohács, the political-social-economic relations of late medieval Hungary have been brought back into the focus. […] the role of the Jagelloinians and the Hunyadians is evaluated differently from previous researchers: the former valued them above, the latter below. “
This attempt at reevaluation has been and still is criticized from the economic, monetary, and military historical point of view, for example in connection with the tax and monetary reforms of the time of Matthias and Jagiellonian, as well as military events such as the loss of Nándorfehérvár (1521).
It might be interesting to consider why the mainstream historiography of a given period usually feels that its purpose is to redefine or reformulate, often to reverse or deny, traditional evaluations from a philosophical and science policy point of view.
However, the short question now is how Hungarian public education has influenced the traditional – i.e. untalented, “powerless”, etc. – “dobzse” Ulászló image. Two written documents can be examined, the textbooks and the school bulletins. The latter usually contain a variety of texts – speeches by the headmaster and teachers, invitations to competitions, teachers’ reports, and studies – and give an insight into the life of an institution, but if we compare several evaluations, a clear trend emerges in this case:
“But what can I say about the time of the helpless Dobzse László and his idiot son Lajos II? Shall I say that under them the scientific knowledge, and thus philosophy, declined from day to day and that after the unfortunate battle of Mohács in 1526 had plunged the nation into deep mourning, one part of our sweet country was ravaged by the savage Turks, and another part was plunged into the most miserable state by civil storms, dissensions, the usurpations of certain individuals and leaders, and the intrigues of foreigners?”
The above-mentioned assessment formulated in 1855 did not become more favorable later: “Dobzse László is an example of phlegm [meaning a person who, according to the context of the text, is not concerned with state affairs] in our Hungarian history, although his life and deeds are sufficiently characteristic of him.”
Furthermore, “he is completely insensitive to the outside world so that the lords themselves are fed up with the king’s inactivity and attack him with bitter outbursts at the Diet of 1493. It is known that in whatever matter they turned to him, he left everything to them with the word ‘dobzse’ (very well)”.
In Bodor Aladár’s analysis of literary history, realism is used as a literary-moral concept and, unlike most of the texts presented here, it positively characterizes Ulászló. “The decayed kingdom (the most realistic character is usually the good-hearted, gentle, ‘dobzse’ László), the decayed army (Kinizsi), the decrepit clergy, the rotten church can no longer hold back the old Turkish siege of the Ottoman Empire, which indirectly and directly causes a new system of forms in the whole world of the Hungarians”.
How commonplace the condemnation of Dobzse Ulászló has become, both as a ruler and as a character, is illustrated by a passage from a treatise on human happiness that uses his name as a metaphor for intemperance and lack of self-control:
“How many vitamin foods do we have that some of the boys are less fond of, although they are very important for building and keeping the body alive! I must also condemn the lickerish behavior in terms of character education. You have to get used to a certain amount of self-denial at the dinner table, lest you suffer a very strong and constant attack on the sexual instinct because of your lack of good eating habits. A boy who, like Dobzse László, approved of every desire that arose, naturally made room for a tyrant who would also make him feel the tyranny of flesh and blood”.
Petőfi Sándor’s poem Dobzse László appears as a compulsory “recitation” in the Hungarian literature curricula from the 1870s onwards, and from then on it was a compulsory subject. His portrayal of Dobzse is fully in line with the above-mentioned historical or history-related studies, and it significantly influenced the evaluation of the reign of King Ulászló II.
The poem:
His Majesty László Dobzse
King of the Hungarians
Not for nothing was he Czech, but
He was also in trouble.
He did not like to give orders,
Nor did he know how,
And even if he did,
The country wouldn’t have listened to him.
(Source: Dr. Illik Péter https://mki.gov.hu/hu/hirek-hu/evfordulok-hu/ii-ulaszlo-az-iskolai-ertesitokben-dobzse)
The first year of the reign of King Ulászló II aka “King Dobzse” (1490-91)
“King Matthias has died, and the truth has died with him,” says a Hungarian proverb. After the king’s death (April 6, 1490), there were four claimants to the throne of Hungary: first, the Polish Ulászló (Wladyslaw) Jagiellończyk, the Czech king since 1471; you may recall that he had already tried once to take the Hungarian throne, but Matthias taught him a lesson, and Ulászló could not possess Silesia and Moravia either, while Matthias was alive.
Let us look at the next applicant, namely Corvin János, the illegitimate son of Matthias. He was the largest landowner in Hungary at that time, owning 30 castles, 47 market towns, and 1,000 villages. (The second largest was Szapolyai István with 18 castles, 4 palaces, 17 market towns, and 240 villages).
The third contestant was Maximilian of Habsburg, the fourth was János Albert, a Polish prince, Ulászló’s younger brother.
It was Queen Beatrix, one of the supposed murderers of King Matthias, who helped Ulászló to the Hungarian throne by supporting him with her money. Ulászló had even married her on October 4, 1490, but Cardinal Bakócz Tamás knowingly and falsely contracted the marriage so that he could testify to its invalidity. Finally, the Pope had the marriage annulled in 1500 and Beatrix was disappointed and sent back to Italy.
Why did most of the Hungarian nobility support Ulászló? King Matthias had been elected king on the frozen Danube when he was only 16, and the nobles thought the young king would be easy to influence. They were all disappointed because Matthias turned out to be a very strong-handed king. Now Ulászló made them all the promises they needed, he promised the Bohemian-Polish alliance and a long-lasting peace instead of extra taxes and wars. Allegedly, Ulászló was soon nicknamed “Dobzse László” because he agreed to everything that was asked of him by saying “dobzse”, very well.
I had written about the battle of Bonefield on July 4, when Kinizsi Pál defeated the Black Army, but I did not mention that the Black Army was led by János Corvin and that he had the Holy Crown of Hungary and the treasury with him: Kinizsi took it from him and gave it to Ulászló, who came from Prague with 15,000 troops.
Obviously, without the betrayal of Kinizsi, the most trusted general of the late King Matthias, Ulászló would never have gained the Hungarian throne. Note that Kinizsi, like almost everyone else, swore allegiance to Corvin János while Matthias was still alive.
Finally, on July 15, 1490, the Diet of Buda elected Ulászló king on the condition that he would marry Beatrix. Ulászló was crowned in Székesfehérvár on September 18. During the summer the Turks raided as far as Várad, but Kinizsi scattered them.
A month later, the troops of Habsburg Maximilian took Szombathely and later Veszprém in Western Hungary, because he had not yet given up his claim; the Austrian conquest of Matthias was fading and the garrisons were surrendering to Maximilian one by one, including Vienna.
At the same time, Prince János Albert’s army besieged the town of Kassa (Kosice, Kaschau), but the troops of his elder brother Ulászló defeated him in December. Later they made peace, but the prince was compensated with the towns of Eperjes and Szeben near the Polish border. The prince was defeated by the troops of Szapolyai István at Eperjes (now Presov) who served Ulászló already, and this made Albert change his plans.
In the summer of 1491, the troops of Szapolyai and Báthori took back Veszprém and Szombathely from Maximilian, so that Ulászló had better positions for peace negotiations.
Ulászló made peace with Maximilian of Habsburg in November 1491, they renewed the treaty of 1463, which stated that the Habsburgs would get the Bohemian and Hungarian thrones if there was no legitimate heir of Ulászló. In addition, Ulászló returned to him all the remaining Austrian territories from Matthias’ conquest and paid him 100,000 gold ducats as compensation.
All this internal war took the Hungarian armies away from the southern defenses: the Bosnian Turkish troops took advantage of the situation and took the castle of Koszorúvár / Vinac, which was the key to reaching the castle of Jajca.
The reign of King Ulászló II
He was one of the most influential leaders in Central Europe at the time. He proved his ability to rule as a Bohemian king, but he also owed his accession to the Hungarian throne to his qualities. He was a talented, tactical politician who was also willing to compromise, yet posterity has treated his memory unfairly.
Matthias’s heavy-handed rule, the frequent injustice of his actions, and the fact that Ulászló’s reign was as prosperous and flourishing as Matthias’s contributed to his reputation, but neither he nor his son Louis II can be held directly responsible for the Turkish occupation. The reason why the nobles wanted him to be king, besides the expected Bohemian-Polish alliance, was mainly because of Ulászló’s promise of lasting peace.
Like Matthias, Ulászló was a great builder and supporter of the arts and the Renaissance. Ulászló’s court was always prosperous, never needing any outside help, as the monarch’s income allowed him to maintain a luxurious royal court. The basis of his weakness is certainly the fact that in his old age, he could no longer participate directly in everyday affairs and decisions due to a stroke. Ulászló did indeed govern with the help of his chosen nobles, but he always had the final say.
He was considered by his contemporaries to be of modest ability, which was emphasized by the regular adjective “ox”. However, it should also be noted that this nickname was given to Ulászló by Prince Újlaki Lőrinc, who, among other things, was accused of insulting His Majesty, conquered his castles, and when Újlaki begged for royal mercy, the monarch sent him a mocking message saying that “even the ox has horns”.
Ulászló pledged to abolish the provisions of Matthias, including the repeated collection of the annual war tax, to restore the nobles to their ancestral rights, and to accept that the royal council had the right to decide on important matters. Nevertheless, when Ulászló needed it, contrary to his promise, he, like Matthias, repeatedly levied the annual war tax.
Ulászló reigned his kingdom from Buda. It was in the time of Matthias that talented but low-born people began to rise to high office. Examples of this can also be found in the time of Ulászló. Archbishop Bakócz Tamás of Esztergom was the son of a wheel maker and at the peak of his career, he had more money than the king himself. Szathmári György started his life as a simple citizen of Kassa, and Szalkai László was the son of a tailor from Matészalka. Throughout his reign, Ulászló had to balance between the various factions of the nobility. He reconciled with the largest landowner, Szapolyai, was reconciled with János Corvin, and defeated Lőrinc Újlaki in a battle between 1494-95.
The development of the world economy did not favor our region, as the development that started in the Anjou period, based on Hungarian gold and Czech silver, was interrupted by the results of geographical discoveries at the end of the 15th century, and Central Europe lost its economic importance. Also, the financial problems and the sharing of royal power with the royal council were, in fact, inherent in the general functioning of late medieval European states.
In June 1492, King Casimir IV of Poland, Ulászló’s father, died. His heir by right was supposed to be Ulászló, but he abdicated the Polish throne in favor of his younger brother John Albert, thus splitting the Jagiellonian dynasty into a Czech-Hungarian and a Polish branch. The two brothers were initially allied, an alliance directed against the Habsburgs. Over time, however, it became apparent that the interests of the two countries were stronger than their common cause, mainly because of the Turkish threat.
In 1502 he married Anne of Foix, Countess of Candale, a relative of King Louis XII of France. She gave birth to a daughter and a son for the king: in 1503 to Princess Anna (†1547), the wife of the future King Ferdinand I of Hungary, and in 1506 to Prince Lajos (†1526), heir to the throne. The Hungarian Estates, on the other hand, did not want a Habsburg on the Hungarian throne and considered it their right to choose a Hungarian king (1498, 1505 law). In 1505 they even declared that they would choose a national king after the death of Ulászló’s son.
On 1 July 1506, the Queen gave birth to her heir, the future Louis II, but the joy of the birth was overshadowed by the fact that Queen Anne died of childbirth fever a few weeks later. Ulászló was so distressed by his wife’s death that he fell into a lethargic state (probably a stroke, according to many historians), from which he suffered for the rest of his life.
In his place, Szapolyai János, Archbishop of Esztergom Bakócz Tamás, Palatine Perényi Imre, and Chancellor Szathmári György governed. Despite the rapid weakening of the central government during the reign of King Ulászló, the country was not seriously attacked, as the Turks were preoccupied with Persia and the Mediterranean coast. The peace treaty concluded under Matthias in 1483 was regularly renewed (1495, 1498, 1503, 1511).
The last years of King Ulászló II, 1515-16
After suffering a severe stroke, King Ulászló focused on the safety of his family and tried to secure their future. However, the Ottoman threat did not cease to exist. Not to mention the bloody peasant uprising of Dózsa György in 1514, the result of the poorly organized anti-Ottoman crusade of the Hungarian Cardinal Bakócz Tamás: he was promised money by the Pope to pay the peasants, but the gold never arrived in Buda, and the peasants rebelled. It was Szapolyai and Báthori who put down the rebellion, and the victory was a great gain in popularity for Szapolyai.
Among other rulers of the country, it was Bán (Duke) Beriszlói Péter (Petar Berislavić) who still fought and he organized a counterattack against the enemy in February 1515, but the Slavonian Estates refused any help from him, saying that they belonged to Hungary and not to Croatia.
It was in April 1515 that the Transylvanian Voivode Szapolyai and Comes Báthori of Temes joined the troops of the two Báns of Nándorfehérvár/Belgrade, Török Imre and Paksy Mihály, and besieged the castle of Zsarnó (Avala), which was just opposite to Nándorfehérvár (Belgrade).
Unfortunately, they were defeated by the army of Sinán, the Bey of Szendrő, who came to relieve the castle. Paksy died and all the military equipment was lost.
During the summer, King Ulászló II met Emperor Maximilian I and the Polish King Sigismund I in Vienna on July 19. A few days later, the double Jagiellonian-Habsburg wedding took place in St. Stephen’s Cathedral. Maximilian’s grandson Ferdinand married Anna of Jagiellon, the daughter of King Ulászló, and little Lajos (Louis), Ulászló’s son, married Maria of Habsburg, the sister of Habsburg Ferdinand.
It was a triumph of Ulászló’s diplomacy, but many historians believe that it sealed the kingdom to the Habsburgs forever. According to contemporary sources, the old Hungarian king wept as he said goodbye to his daughter Anna, who was leaving for Innsbruck and had to be dragged from there, knowing he would never see her again.
In 1516 he officially asked Emperor Maximilian and King Sigismund to be the tutors and guardians of his son Lajos (Louis). Ulászló died on March 13th in the Buda Castle. The barons and estates of the country approved the 10-year-old Lajos as their king with full authority at the Diet of Rákosmező on April 24, and they appointed a council around him.
A few months later, Count George Brandenburg (the nephew of the late King Ulászló and one of the tutors of young Lajos) signed a treaty with Palatine Perényi Imre and Voivode Szapolyai to divide the vast Hunyadi lands among them. A few years later, George Brandenburg did his best to introduce the young monarch to drinking, dancing, and whoring.
The bishop of Pécs, Szatmári György, became the chancellor of the kingdom and he practically ran the country.
The Turks burned and plundered the Borderland, destroying 17.4% of the Slavonian houses and properties compared to their number in 1495. While the Kingdom of Hungary rapidly lost its strength, the Ottoman Empire became twice as strong as before the time of King Matthias.
In the picture, you can see King Ulászló II (1511) who was a good father and loved his family very much:
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