Székely György, later known as Dózsa György, lead a peasant revolt in 1514. Under King Matthias(Mátyás)
Hunyadi,
later known as Matthias Corvinius, (the Raven), Hungary became a center of Italian renaissance, while the peasants
realized none of Hungary's prosperity.
Hunyadi was the son of János Hunyadi, a
Transylvanian general of Romanian origin who was victorious over the Turks at
Belgrade (Hungarian: Nándorfehérvár) in 1456. This halted the Ottoman
advance
into Hungary for 70 years and assured the coronation of his son Matthias
in 1458. Matthias second wife,
Neapolitan Queen Beatrice rebuilt the
gothic palace at Visegrad beyond anything Europe had seen up to that time.
After Corvinius death in 1490 he was succeeded by Vladislav II (Úlászló) who attempted to consolidate power for the
archbishop of Esztergom, Tamás Bakócz. Dózsa
took advantage of the instability to organize his revolt against the
brutal
landlords. 70,000 of his peasants were captured, tortured and executed. Dózsa was taken prisoner on
July 25,
1514 and brutally executed, quelling the revolt. A Tripartitum Law was passed
which codified the peasants
to serfdom.
Hungary then began a downhill spiral after the Boy King Louis II was killed
in1526 in a defeat to the Turks. In 1541
the country was split into three parts
and remained that way until 1686. With the ascension of Maria Theresa in 1740,
Hungary became a province of her Hapsburg empire. During the rule of her son
Joseph II, the powerful & corrupt
religious orders were abolished along with
serfdom. Dózsa was finally vindicated. | |
