John (János) Hunyadi
Governor of the Kingdom of Hungary Voivode of Transylvania
Voivode of Transylvania
Burial	Roman Catholic Cathedral of Gyulafehérvár (now: Alba Iulia)
Issue	László Hunyadi Matthias Corvinus of Hungary
House	Hunyadi family
Father	Vajk Hunyadi
Mother	Elizabeth Morzsinay

John Hunyadi (Hungarian: Hunyadi János, Romanian: Iancu de Hunedoara, Slovak: Ján Huňady, Serbian: Сибињанин Јанко / Sibinjanin Janko; c. 1387^[1] – 11 August 1456), nicknamed The White Knight^[2] was a Hungarian general (1444–1446) and Regent-Governor (1446–1453) of the Kingdom of Hungary.^[3].

He is widely celebrated in Hungarian history as its most prominent, successful and powerful generalissimo who promoted a revision of dated military doctrine, as such a recognizably outstanding and iconic military opponent of the Ottoman Empire; in a sweeping scope of European military history was undoubtedly the pre-eminent strategist and tactician of the 15th century in Christendom.^[3] He was also a Voivode of Transylvania (1441–1446), the patriarch of the Hunyadi family, and father of the most renowned king in Hungarian history, King Matthias Corvinus.

Hunyadi's unique personal martial genius, prowess and wherewithal to prosecute preventive and very muscular aggressive crusading warfare policies that weld together many Christian nationalities against the onslaught of the vastly numerically superior Ottoman Moslem forces achieved a state of integrity, stalemate and détente for the Hungarian Kingdom and the many European states that lay to her periphery.

John Hunyadi's aim to re-organize the military ancien régime constituents of Hungary from strictly a feudal-based aristocratic levy into an efficient, professional, formidable standing army would bring reform to European military components everywhere in a 'post-Roman' European war-making society that his successor and son, King Matthias Corvinus of Hungary would bring to its ultimate culmination with its ruthless Black Army of Hungary.

John Hunyadi is often considered the bellwether of the European "post-Roman" professional "Standing Army". Hunyadi is mostly renowned as one of the greatest Medieval field commanders of all time, his brilliant and prodigous overthrow of Mehmed II at the Siege of Belgrade in 1456 against overpowering odds is regarded as a seminal piece of European military history as "Having decided the fate of Christendom", and is as decisive a macro-significant event in European historiography as the 732 Battle of Tours and the Battle of Vienna in 1683.

To this very day worldwide, every Catholic and older Protestant churches tolling of church bells at noon means a commemoration of John Hunyadi's very historic victory over the Ottomans in 1456.

Family

Hunyadi is a Hungarian^[4] noble family of Romanian^[5][6][7] origin. Another opinion holds that the family was of Cuman^[8] origin. The Hunyadis were first recorded in a royal charter of 1409, in which Sigismund of Luxembourg, then King of Hungary granted John's father the Hunyad Castle (in contemporary [Hunyadvár, later Vajdahunyad] Error: {{Lang-xx}}: text has italic markup (help), in present-day Romanian: Hunedoara) and estates thereto belonging for he had won distinction in the wars against the Ottomans.

John's father was described as being of Vlach descent by many medieval chroniclers^[9] and the majority of modern historians^[10][11][12]. There are also alternative researches suggesting Cuman^[13] or Slavic descendance.^[14] Others simply refer to the obscurity surrounding his ethnic origins.^[15] Others think he was of ethnic Hungarian origin.^[16] Most neutral^[17][18] and Romanian^[19] historians consider he is of Romanian descent.

According to some, Vojk was a nobile from Wallachia,^[20] the son of Şerb (also spelled as Sorb or Serbe), a Vlach Knyaz from the Banate of Szörény (Severin). According to others, John's grandfather Şerb had three sons - John's father Vojk (a Hungarian pagan name, or a properly Vlach name, or even a Turkic or Slavic one), Magos (Mogoş, also Mogos, the latter meaning "tall" in Hungarian), and Radol/Radul (a Romanian name).^[21] Even if Vojk would be from Wallachia, others claim that a few of Wallachian nobles were of Cuman, Pecheneg, or Tatar descent. Another theory developed at the end of the 19th century claiming that Şerb, John's grandfather, was originally from Serbia.^[22] What is certain is that Vojk, John's father, took the family name of Hunyadi in 1409 when he received the estate around the Hunyad Castle from Sigismund and was ennobled as count of Hunyad.

Hunyadi has an important place in the history of Hungary. He is remembered in Hungarian historiography as governor of Hungary and its defender against the Ottoman threat. He was born in and had a career in the Kingdom of Hungary, Hunyadi was a member of the Hungarian aristocracy and a subject of the Hungarian crown. As many noblemen in medieval Hungary, he spoke several languages. The descendants of non-Hungarian families have not only become members of the Hungarian nobility but have also risen according to their deserts to the highest positions in the land.^[23] He joined the Catholic Church and assimilated a Hungarian outlook and Hungarian values.^[23]

Hunyadi has an important place in the history of Romania too. Probably he spoke the Romanian language only during his youth, because for most of his adult life, he was in a Hungarian- and/or Latin-speaking environment. John was born in the Catholic faith^[24], which was adopted by many ennobled Romanian cnezes.^[25]

Legendary origins

The family can be traced back two generations from John, to Vajk's father Şerban (or Şerb), while the family's name and ascent to comital rank (count of Hunyad) were established only by Sigismund's grant. This lack of evidence for royal descent gave rise to various legends and scholarly constructions about the origins of the Hunyadis, especially during the reign of John's son Matthias Corvinus, but his origin has also been disputed in modern times.^[26]

Matthias Corvinus' court historian Antonio Bonfini flattered his king by tracing the family's ancestry to the Roman gens Corvina, or Valeriana, while adding: "for this man was indeed born of a Romanian father and a Hungarian mother"^[27] Another contemporary historian, the Hungarian Johannes de Thurocz, similarly flattering his king, wrote in the Chronicle of the Hungarians (Chronica Hungarorum) that the Hunyadi family was of Hunnic origin, even calling Matthias Corvinus the second Attila.^[28] The 16th century historian Gáspár Heltai made Hunyadi the illegitimate son of emperor Sigismund and the young noble Erzsébet Morzsinay^[29]. John's son, King Matthias, had a statue of Sigismund in Visegrád and claimed him as his grandfather.

Corvinus legend

The epithet Corvinus (referring to the raven) was first used by the biographer of his son Matthias Corvinus of Hungary, but is also applied to John. It is linked to the legend documented by Gáspár Heltai, among others. The legend said that John was the illegitimate son of Hungarian King Sigismund of Luxembourg,^[30] and that Vajk was a faithful soldier of his father for two decades. After the death of his wife, King Sigismund met Elizabeth Morzsinai, a virgin noblewoman, and fell in love. In the morning, the king gave a royal ring to the lady, promising her that he would take care of the son. After the boy was born, the family set off to Buda to the palace of Sigismund. During the trip, they took a rest, and baby John started crying. Elizabeth gave him the ring to make him quiet, whereupon a rook stole the ring. Elizabeth's brother took his bow and arrow and shot the rook, whereupon, as if by a miracle, the rook did not die, and the ring was recovered. Arriving at the royal court in Buda, Sigismund filled the baby's cradle with precious stones. Other versions of the legend state that it was the child John himself, about 6 years old, who shot the arrow.

The legend may have some basis in fact, as his presumed father, Vojk, had never before had a coat of arms depicting a raven, and suddenly he changed it for some reason; Moreover Wallachian coat of arms (which changed its appearance trough the Early Modern Age) depicts a raven-like bird (actually a black aquila chrysaëtos^[31]) holding a cross in its beak.^[32] The family of Vajk received the estates of Hunyad, and John's education was funded by the king. The part of the legend that is most questioned is not the raven and the events surrounding John, but the parentage by Sigismund. The main counterargument is that John was not able to become king of Hungary because he was not considered of royal blood. It is argued that John, his wife Elizabeth, and their son Matthias invented and/or promoted the legend in order to allow John's son to become king.

Mother

John's mother was Elisabeta Morşina (Erzsébet Morzsinay), a lady of the lesser nobility. According to primary sources she was the daughter of a Romanian^[33] lesser noble from Hunyad (Hunedoara), Transylvania. Some modern writers suggest she was a Hungarian^[34] while others note that her family (also known as the Demsusi Muzsina family) was a family of Romanians ennobled in the second half of the 15th century ^[25]

Wife

In 1432, John married Erzsébet Szilágyi (c. 1410-1483), a Hungarian noblewoman, also of high rank (Szilágy being the name of a county overlapping with present-day Sălaj County).

Children

John Hunyadi had two children, László and Matthias.

László felt victim to the struggle between Hungary's various barons and its Habsburg king, Ladislaus the Posthumous (also king of Bohemia), in the years after the death of John. After the assassination of Ulrich II of Celje, the king felt threatened by László. The king planned to eliminate him by inviting him to Buda. Suspecting no evil, László accompanied the king to Buda, but on arriving there was arrested on a charge of plotting against Ladislaus, condemned to death without the observance of any legal formalities, and beheaded on 16 March 1457.

His brother, Matthias, was also inveigled to Buda by the enemies of his house, and, on the pretext of being concerned in a purely imaginary conspiracy against Ladislaus, was condemned to decapitation, but was spared on account of his youth. In November 1457 the king died. Matthias was taken hostage by George of Poděbrady, governor of Bohemia, a friend of the Hunyadis who aimed to raise a national king to the Magyar throne. Poděbrady treated Matthias hospitably and affianced him with his daughter Catherine, but still detained him, for safety's sake, in Prague, even after a Magyar deputation had hastened thither to offer the youth the crown. Matthias took advantage of the memory left by his father's deed, and by the general population's dislike of foreign candidates; most the barons, furthermore, considered that the young scholar would be a weak monarch in their hands. An influential section of the magnates, headed by the Palatine László Garai and by Miklós Újlaki, voivode of Transylvania, who had been concerned in the judicial murder of Matthias's brother László, and hated the Hunyadis as semi-foreign upstarts, were fiercely opposed to Matthias's election; however, they were not strong enough to resist against Matthias's uncle Mihály Szilágyi and his 15,000 veterans. On 20 January 1458, Matthias was elected king by the Diet. It was the first time in the medieval Hungarian kingdom that a member of the nobility, without dynastic ancestry and relationship, mounted the royal throne.

Rise of a general

While still a young enterprising man, Hunyadi entered the retinue of Sigismund, who appreciated his qualities but was also the King's creditor on several occasions. He accompanied the monarch to Frankfurt in Sigismund's quest for the Imperial crown in 1410, took an active part in the Hussite Wars in 1420, and in 1437 was sent south to successfully raise the Turkish siege of Semendria. A document describing a loan agreement of 1200 gold florins, dated from 1434 refers to him "János the Wallachian" (John the Wallachian)^[35] For these meritorious services he received numerous landed estates and a privileged position in the royal council. His star was soon in the ascendant and in 1438 King Albert II found Hunyadi promoted to Ban^[30] of Severin that lay south south of the defensible southern frontiers of Hungary; the Carpathians and the Drava/Sava/Danube complex, a province subject to constant Ottoman harassment.

On the untimely death of Albert in 1439, Hunyadi was of the volition that Hungary was best served by a warrior king and lent his support to the candidature of young King of Poland Władysław III of Varna in 1440, and thus came into collision with the powerful magnate Ulrich II of Celje, the chief proponent of Albert's widow Elisabeth of Bohemia (1409–1442) and her infant son, Ladislaus Posthumus of Bohemia and Hungary. Featuring prominently in the brief ensuing civil war, Władysław III's side was thus reinforced by Hunyadi's noticeable military abilities, and was rewarded by Władysław with the captaincy of the fortress of Belgrade, a latter dignity that he shared with Mihály Újlaki.

First Battles with the Ottomans

The main frame of the conflict with the Turks now resided in his jurisdiction and Hunyadi soon showed and displayed extraordinary capacity in marshalling its defenses with the limited resources at his disposal. In 1441 he scored a pitched battle victory at Semendria over Ishak Bey. The following year, not far from Nagyszeben in Transylvania he annihilated an invasion force of Ottomans that offered stern battle with an immense host, and recovered for Hungary the suzerainty of Wallachia. In February 1450, he signed an alliance treaty with Bogdan II of Moldavia.

In July 1442, an undaunted and intrepid Hunyadi proceeded march against the enemy with 15,000 Hungarian and Szekler irregulars against a massed formation of a third Turkish invasion force reinforced by the choicest of Ottoman military numbering 80,000 in Wallachia sent in retaliation for subsequent defeats. Hunyadi's engagement at the Iron Gates is one of Hungary's more celebrated victories, Hunyadi's manuvuers of infantry, calvary and war-wagons performed superbly to the astonishment of the Turkish commander Sehabbedin, who was astounded by the smallness of the Magyar army.

These victories made Hunyadi a prominent enemy of the Ottomans and renowned throughout Christendom, and was a prime motivator to undertake in 1443, along with King Władysław, the famous expedition known as the long campaign. Hunyadi, at the head of the vanguard, crossed the Balkans through the Gate of Trajan, captured Niš, defeated three Turkish pashas, and, after taking Sofia, united with the royal army and defeated Sultan Murad II at Snaim. The impatience of the king and the severity of the winter then compelled him (February 1444) to return home, but not before he had utterly broken the Sultan's power in Bosnia, Herzegovina, Serbia, Bulgaria, and Albania.

No sooner had he regained Hungary than he received tempting offers from Pope Eugene IV, represented by the Legate Julian Cesarini, from Đurađ Branković, despot of Serbia, and Gjergj Kastrioti, prince of Albania, to resume the war and realize his ideal of driving the Ottomans from Europe. All the preparations had been made when Murad's envoys arrived in the royal camp at Szeged and offered a ten years' truce on advantageous terms. Branković bribed Hunyadi -he gave him his vast estates in Hungary- to support the acceptance of the peace. Cardinal Julian Cesarini found a traitorous solution. The king swore that he would never give up the crusade, so all future peace and oath was automatically invalid. After this Hungary accepted the Sultan's offer and Hunyadi in Władysław's name swore on the Gospels to observe them.

Battle of Varna

Two days later Cesarini received tidings that a fleet of Venetian galleys had set off for the Bosporus to prevent Murad (who, crushed by his recent disasters, had retired to Anatolia) from recrossing into Europe, and the cardinal reminded the King that he had sworn to cooperate by land if the western powers attacked the Ottomans by sea. In July the Hungarian army recrossed the frontier and advanced towards the Black Sea coast in order to march to Constantinople escorted by the galleys.

Branković, however, fearful of the sultan's vengeance in case of disaster, privately informed Murad of the advance of the Christian host, and prevented Kastrioti from joining it. On reaching Varna, the Hungarians found that the Venetian galleys had failed to prevent the transit of the Sultan - indeed, the Genoese transported the Sultan's army (and received, according to legend, one gold piece for each soldier shipped over). Hunyadi, on 10 November 1444, confronted the Ottomans with less than half the Hungarian forces. Nevertheless, victory was still possible in the Battle of Varna as Hunyadi with his superb military skills managed to rout both flanks of the Sultan's army. At this point, however, king Władysław, who up to that point had remained in the background and relinquished full leadership to Hunyadi, assumed command and with his bodyguards carried out an all-out attack on the elite troops of the Sultan, the Janissaries. The Janissaries readily massacred the king's men, also killing the king, exhibiting his head on a pole. The king's death caused disarray in the Hungarian army, which was subsequently routed by the Ottomans; Hunyadi himself narrowly escaped. On his way home, Vlad II Dracul of Wallachia imprisoned Hunyadi; only the threats of the palatine of Hungary brought the voivode, theoretically an ally of Hunyadi against the Ottomans, to release him.^[36]

Regent of the Kingdom of Hungary

Brief personal rule

At the diet which met in February 1445 a provisional government consisting of five Captain Generals was formed, with Hunyadi receiving Transylvania and four counties bordering on the Tisza, called the Partium or Körösvidék, to rule. As the anarchy resulting from the division became unmanageable, Hunyadi was elected regent of Hungary (Regni Gubernator) on 5 June 1446 in the name of Ladislaus V and given the powers of a regent. His first act as regent was to proceed against the German king Frederick III, who refused to release Ladislaus V. After ravaging Styria, Carinthia, and Carniola and threatening Vienna, Hunyadi's difficulties elsewhere compelled him to make a truce with Frederick for two years.

In 1448 he received a golden chain and the title of Prince from Pope Nicholas V, and immediately afterwards resumed the war with the Ottomans. He lost the two-day Second Battle of Kosovo (7 October-10 1448, owing to the treachery of Dan II of Wallachia, then pretender to the throne, and of his old rival Branković, who intercepted Hunyadi's planned Albanian reinforcements led by Gjergj Kastrioti, preventing them from ever reaching the battle. Branković also imprisoned Hunyadi for a time in the dungeons of the fortress of Smederevo, but he was ransomed by his countrymen and, after resolving his differences with his powerful and numerous political enemies in Hungary, led a punitive expedition against the Serbian prince, who was forced to accept harsh terms of peace.

In 1450 Hunyadi went to Pozsony to negotiate with Holy Roman Emperor Frederick III the terms of the surrender of Ladislaus V, but no agreement could be reached. Several of John Hunyadi's enemies, including Ulrich II of Celje, accused him of conspiracy to overthrow the King. In order to defuse the increasingly volatile domestic situation, he relinquished his regency and the title of regent.

On his return to Hungary at the beginning of 1453, Ladislaus named him count of Beszterce and Captain General of the kingdom. The king also expanded his coat-of-arms with the so-called Beszterce Lions.

Belgrade victory and death

Meanwhile, the Ottoman issue had again become acute, and, after the fall of Constantinople in 1453, it seemed natural that Sultan Mehmed II was rallying his resources in order to subjugate Hungary. His immediate objective was Nándorfehérvár (today Belgrade). Nándorfehérvár was a major castle-fortress, and a gate keeper of south Hungary. The fall of this stronghold would have opened a clear way to the heart of Central-Europe. Hunyadi arrived at the siege of Belgrade at the end of 1455, after settling differences with his domestic enemies. At his own expense, he restocked the supplies and arms of the fortress, leaving in it a strong garrison under the command of his brother-in-law Mihály Szilágyi and his own eldest son László Hunyadi. He proceeded to form a relief army, and assembled a fleet of two hundred ships. His main ally was the Franciscan friar, Giovanni da Capistrano, whose fiery oratory drew a large crusade made up mostly of peasants. Although relatively ill-armed (most were armed with farm equipment, such as scythes and pitchforks) they flocked to Hunyadi and his small corps of seasoned mercenaries and cavalry.

On 14 July 1456 the flotilla assembled by Hunyadi destroyed the Ottoman fleet. On 21 July, Szilágyi's forces in the fortress repulsed a fierce assault by the Rumelian army, and Hunyadi pursued the retreating Ottoman forces into their camp, taking advantage of the Turkish army's confused flight from the city. After fierce but brief fighting, the camp was captured, and Mehmet lifted the siege and returned to Istanbul. A 70 year period of relative peace on Hungary's southeastern border began with his flight. However, plague broke out in Hunyadi's camp three weeks after the lifting of the siege, and he died August 11. He is buried in the Roman Catholic Cathedral of Gyulafehérvár (now: Alba Iulia) next to his younger brother, John. Sultan Mehmet II paid him tribute:"Although he was my enemy I feel grief over his death, because the world has never seen such a man."

The Noon Bell

Pope Callixtus III ordered the bells of every European church to be rung every day at noon, as a call for believers to pray for the defenders of the city. However, in many countries (like England and Spanish kingdoms), news of the victory arrived before the order, and the ringing of the church bells at noon thus transformed into a commemoration of the victory. The Popes didn't withdraw the order, and Catholic (and the older Protestant) churches still ring the noon bell in the Christian world to this day.

Legacy

The rise of nationalism has led to hero images of John Hunyadi in the discourse of several local nationalities – each in its own way has claimed him as their own, although he lived in and fought for Hungary and was a Governor of the Hungarian Kingdom. Along with his son Matthias Corvinus, John has a very good reputation in Hungary, where he is considered a national hero. John is also remembered as a hero in Romania, mostly due to his role as Voivode of Transylvania and since Hunyadi was responsible for establishing the careers of both Stephen III of Moldavia and the controversial Vlad III of Wallachia). John Hunyadi is mentioned in Szózat, a poem which is considered a "second anthem" of Hungary (sung at the end of ceremonies), and also in the national anthem of Romania.

Among John's noted qualities, is his regional primacy in recognizing the insufficiency and unreliability of the feudal levies, instead regularly employing large professional armies. His notable contribution to the development of the science of European warfare included the emphasis on tactics and strategy in place of over-reliance on frontal assaults and mêlées.

His diplomatic, strategic, and tactical skills allowed him to serve his country well. After his death, Pope Callixtus III stated that "the light of the world has passed away", considering his defense of Christendom against the Ottoman threat. The same pope ordered the noon bell to be rung for the memory of Hunyadi's victory in siege of Belgrade, and to mark the resistance to Islamic progression inside Europe.

Notes

References

•  This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). Encyclopædia Britannica (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. {{cite encyclopedia}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
• Sources cited by the Encyclopædia Britannica:
  • R.N. Bain, "The Siege of Belgrade, 1456", in Eng. Hist. Rev., 1892.
  • Antonio Bonfini, Rerum ungaricarum libri xlv, editio septima (in Latin; ~contemporary source). Hungarian edition Balassi Kiado 2001
  • J. de Chassin, Jean de Hunyad, (in French), Paris, 1859.
  • György Fejér, Genus, incunabula et virtus Joannis Corvini de Hunyad (in Latin), Buda, 1844.
  • Vilmos Fraknói, Cardinal Carjaval and his Missions to Hungary, (in Hungarian), Budapest, 1889.
  • P. Frankl, Der Friede von Szegedin und die Geschichte seines Bruches (in German), Leipzig, 1904.
  • A. Pcr, Life of Hunyadi (in Hungarian), Budapest, 1873.
  • József Teleki, The Age of the Hunyadis in Hungary (in Hungarian), Pest, 1852–1857; (supplementary volumes by D. Csinki 1895).
• Enea Silvius Piccolomini (Pope Pius II) In Europa - Historia Austrialis, BAV, URB, LAT. 405, ff.245, IIII kal. Aprilis MCCCCLVIII, Ex Urbe Roma Bilanguical (German-Latin) edition: [6]
• Camil Mureşanu, John Hunyadi. Defender of Christendom, Iaşi-Oxford-Portland 2001

Further reading

Template:Crusadesportal In English:

• Held, Joseph (1985). Hunyadi: Legend and Reality. Columbia University Press. ISBN 0880330701. {{cite book}}: Check |isbn= value: checksum (help)
• Muresanu, Camil (Trans. by Laura Treptow) (2000). John Hunyadi: Defender of Christendom. Center for Romanian Studies. ISBN 9739432182.

Additional Books that Mention John Hunyadi:

• Florescu, Radu and Raymond T. McNally (1990). Dracula, Prince of Many Faces: His Life and His Times. Back Bay Books. ISBN 0316286567.
• Lord Kinross, Patrick Balfour (1979). The Ottoman Centuries: The Rise and Fall of the Turkish Empire. Harper Perennial. ISBN 0688080936.

In Hungarian:

• Benedek, Elek. Nagy Magyarok Élete: Hunyadi János - Hunyadi Mátyás. Pannon-Literatúra Kft. ISBN 9639355941.
• Czuczor, Gergely. Hunyadi János és három más történet. Unikornis Kiadó. ISBN 9634274625.
• Darvas, József (2004). A törökverő. Korona Kiadó Kft. ISBN 9639376930.
• Földi, Pál (2004). Hunyadi János, a hadvezér. Anno Kiadó. ISBN 9633753465.
• Szentmihályi Szabó, Péter (2007). Kapisztrán és Hunyadi. Szépirodalmi Könyvkiadó. ISBN 9789638618450.

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