history 10 belso jav 2011_history 10 belso jav 2008.09.qxd

Figeczkiné Szabó Mónika
Fazekas Krisztina
HISTORY 10
(Drafts)
Avasi Gimnázium, Miskolc
Contents
I. The High Middle Ages .......................................................................... 7
1. Farming Revolution .............................................................................. 7
2. Medieval towns, crafts and trade ......................................................... 9
3. Medieval Culture ................................................................................... 12
4. The Fourteenth-Century Crisis ............................................................ 18
5. The Formation of the Limited (or Estate) Monarchies in Western Europe ..... 22
6. Bohemia and Poland ............................................................................... 25
7. Russia and the Mongol Empire .............................................................. 28
II. Early and High Middle Ages in Hungary ........................................ 31
1. The Prehistory of the Magyar People .................................................... 31
2. The Magyar Conquest ............................................................................ 34
3. The Foundation of the Feudal Hungarian Kingdom ........................... 37
4. The Crisis and Consolidation of the Feudal Kingdom in Hungary ...... 39
5. The Golden Bull Movement ................................................................ 43
6. Béla IV and the Tartar Invasion .......................................................... 45
7. The Reorganisation of the Hungarian Kingdom under Charles Robert..................... 48
8. Prosperity under the Anjou Kings ......................................................... 52
9. The Formation of the Limited Monarchy under Sigismund ................... 57
10. Struggle against the Turks – János Hunyadi ......................................... 61
11. Matthias Corvinus................................................................................. 64
12. The Fall of the Feudal Kingdom - Mohács ............................................ 70
III. The Late Middle Ages ........................................................................................ 75
1. A New Outlook on Life .......................................................................... 75
2. Great Discoveries ................................................................................... 80
3. Early Colonisation and Evolution of Conditions for Capitalist Production ................ 84
4. The Beginnings of Reformation in Germany ......................................... 90
5. Division within Protestantism and Counter-reformation ...................... 95
6. Spanish Absolutism and Europe in the 16th Century ...........................100
7. The Dutch Revolution and War of Independence ................................ 104
8. The Beginnings of Absolutism in England and France ........................ 108
9. Hapsburg Absolutism and the 30 Years’ War ........................................ 114
10. Consolidation of Feudalism in Central Eastern Europe .................... 117
11. Arts and Sciences in the 16th and 17th centuries .............................. 120
IV. Late Middle Ages in Hungary ........................................................................... 124
1. The Tripartition of Hungary ................................................................. 124
2. Life under Turkish Yoke, Economy and Society in the 16-17th Centuries .... 127
3. Reformation and Counter Reformation in Hungary ............................ 131
4. The Golden Age and the Decline of Transylvania ................................ 135
5. The Political Programme of Miklós Zrínyi ............................................ 138
6. The Beginning of the Kuruc Era ........................................................... 140
7. The Rákóczi Insurrection (1703-11) .................................................... 145
4. The Formation of the Limited (or Estate) Monarchies in
Western Europe
The estates were social layers of feudal society having the same rights, inheritable privileges and interests, which they could protect in politics. Estates
in England: 1, barons and high priests 2, knights, and nobles 3, commoners (burghers); estates in France: 1, clergy, 2, nobility 3, commoners.
I. The origins of estate monarchies - England
The widespread use of money and the larger scale of production also had
its effect on political life. While the Holy Roman Empire, Italy and the
Papacy were involved in the investiture struggle and indulged in anarchy,
France England and the rulers of the Iberian Peninsula started the expansionof central power.
In England the basic changes were connected to the new dynasty, the
Plantagenets. After the death of the last Norman king (Stephen 1135-54)
Henry II of Anjou (1154-89) came to the throne and ruled about half of
France (besides England). By marrying Eleanor of Aquitaine, the richest
heiress in Europe, Aquitaine also became another English fief in France. (At
the same time, Henry was the vassal of the French king, Louis VII.) Under
the reign of weak rulers wealthy English lords gained immunity and caused
feudal anarchy. Henry gained the support of burghers and thus could
restrict the power of great landlords. To find support against feudal lords
Henry turned to towns, increased their rights, at the same time restricting
the judicial power of feudal lords and the Church. In order to expand the
power of royal courts he established jury trial, whose functioning also
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increased the income of the treasury. Besides, freemen could buy their military service – this payment, the taxes of cities and towns meant important
royal income and they were used for paying mercenaries and officials.
Henry was followed by his son Richard I (the Lionheart) (1189-99). He
spent altogether five months in England, otherwise he was campaigning all
over Europe and the Holy Land. He died of a wound.
He had no heir so he was followed by his brother, John.
II. Magna Carta Libertatum
Henry’s second son, John I, the Softsword
(the Landless) (1199-1216) lost Anjou and
Normandy against Philip Augustus (earning his
nickname), thus allowing France and England to
develop as two nation-states. He had several
years of dispute over French territories and to
establish an army he imposed higher taxes on
cities, towns and peasants. The lords used their
disappointment and forced John to issue Magna
Carta Libertatum in 1215. The Great Charter of
Liberties, signed at Runnymede, was a charter of
feudal liberties and contained a contract
between the king and the people.
According to it, the king had obligations to fulfil
and the people had rights that could not be
taken away from them. The king could not levy
taxes arbitrarily (without representation in parliament) and the accused person had the right
to jury trial and the protection of the law (due
The Magna Carta
process of law). The most important idea of the
Magna Carta is not stated and it is the idea of
limited monarchies; barons forced the king to recognize a supreme law,
which limited royal power.
III. The Parliament
John’s son, Henry III (1216-72) was an incompetent ruler, his long and
unhappy reign was marked by more losses in France and further troubles
with the barons. Simon de Monfort was born in France but inherited an
English title and married Henry’s daughter. He led the revolt of barons who
protested against the misrule of the king. After the king was defeated in the
battle of Lewes in 1264, Simon de Monfort became governor of England and
in 1265 he organized the first Parliament of England: the ‘Monfort
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Parliament’. To this parliament in addition to the feudal barons of the Great
Council, representatives of commoners were also invited – 2 knights from
each shire and 2 burghers from each town.
Edward I sits above the
Model Parliament, with
churchmen at the left,
barons at the right, and
burgesses seated on wool
sacks in the centre
IV. The Model Parliament
Edward I’s reign (1272-1307) improved administration and strengthened
the royal courts of justice and he was one of the strongest rulers of England.
He completed the conquest of Wales and Scotland, exercised much control
over parliament and held its frequent meetings to levy taxes. He converted
the parliament into the so-called Model Parliament. Barons, bishops,
burghers and knights met together at Westminster and their meetings set a
model for later parliaments; the parliament with two houses became the
legislative body in England.
King
Parliament
House of Lords
House of Commons
-bishops and lords
-two knights and two burghers
-invited by the king by name
-summoned by a royal writ
-they had been the members of the
-representatives of each town
Great Council
and shire
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V. The beginning of French estate monarchy
Unlike English kings, the French rulers granted huge fiefs in one piece to
gain the barons’ support, that’s why in times of anarchy the country was
divided into duchies. Philip Augustus II (1180-1223) started to expand royal
power to more parts of the country and led wars against the English king
and heretics. He established a strong central power and thus his grandson,
Louis IX inherited a strong kingdom.
Louis IX also known as St. Louis (1226-70) continued his centralisation.
He made minting money a royal monopoly, established the Parliament of
Paris as a supreme court of justice, and he was supported by mercenaries
and paid, trained officials. He embodied the ideal medieval ruler having a
reputation of a pious and fair king.
His intentions were followed by Philip IV (the Fair) (1285-1314). During his
reign France became involved in a quarrel with the pope (Boniface VIII)
over taxing the Church. The pope excommunicated Philip who needed
money to continue the war against Flanders. In 1302 he called together representatives of the three estates thus forming Estates General (‘Etates
Generaux’). Compared to the English parliament it had little authority never
gaining the right to make laws but at the same time both bodies were the
basic tools in the hands of kings to weaken the power of lords. Kings got
support from the burghers and had income from the taxes of towns.
As a result of these political changes France and England became estate
monarchies.
VI. Political changes in the Iberian Peninsula
The Reconquista means the gradual re-conquest of the Iberian Peninsula
from the Moors. During this process Portuguese and Spanish monarchies
were formed. During the 12th century a new Portuguese duchy gradually
became independent in language and political regime from Spain. By the
end of the 13th century Spanish territories (Castile, Leon and Aragon)
became free from the Moors and as a result of the marriage of Isabella of
Castile and Ferdinand of Aragon the United Spanish Kingdom was formed
in 1479. A national assembly called Cortez came into being and it was the
representative of Spanish and Portuguese estates.
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2. The Magyar Conquest
I. The Carpathian basin before the Magyar Conquest
After the death of Attila the Hun in 453 his empire collapsed and the region
was ruled by German tribes (Gepides, Goths and Langobards). The
Langobards invited the Avars to help them against the Gepides but finally it
was the Avars who ruled the region from 568 to 800. These peoples originated from Asia, they were nomadic Turks raiding the neighbouring
regions. Their dominance in the Carpathian basin was ended by Charles the
Great who established a duchy in the former Avaria. The Avars partly became
Christians, partly left for the eastern regions of the basin.
During the investigation of Avar artefacts did the concept of the dual conquest arose; Gyula László is the most famous representative of this concept.
According to this theory, the second wave of peoples arriving in the basin
after the Avars (680) consisted of Magyars and not Turks. This theory solves
the origins of the name ‘Ungaren, Hungarie’ referring to the name Onogur
= ten tribes of Bulgar-Turks having connections with the Magyars around
680. It seems to solve the origins of the ‘székely’ peoples who are supposed
to have arrived in Transylvania during the first conquest.
Slavs and Franks also lived in Hungary in Hungary. As the Avar empire was
falling, Slavs arrived in the region. They accepted the Frank superiority and
fought against the Principality of Moravia. The Slavs did not form a strong
state, while in 894, after the death of Svatopluk the Great, the Moravian
empire collapsed and thus by 895 there was no strong state in the basin.
II. The Magyar Conquest - 895-896
The Magyar settlement in Etelköz was surrounded by strong states from all
directions (e.g. the Grand Duchy of Kiev, the Khazar empire, the Bulgar
Empire) except for the west. The political vacuum in the Carpathian Basin
attracted the Magyars. In the 890s the Magyars led several raids in the
Carpathian basin. In 892 they fought on the side of the Franks against
Svatopluk, while in 894 they helped the Byzantine emperor, Leo the Wise
against the Bulgars (led by Simeon). In the same year the death of Svatopluk
helped the Magyars take parts of Moravia, remembered in The Legend of the
White Horse.
In 895 the Pechenegs (besenyõk) crossed the river Don and attacked the
Magyars staying in Etelköz. They had to flee having no protection as Árpád
and his son Levente were fighting with the Bulgars. Finally, the allied Magyar
tribes decided to leave Etelköz led by Prince Árpád (the gyula) and Kurszán
(the kündü). (After the defeat in Etelköz Árpád’s father, Álmos was sacrificed
in Transylvania.)
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In 895 the Magyars entered the
Carpathian basin crossing the
Verecke pass (main wing) and
other passes (e.g. Tatár and
Békás). At this stage they took
only the eastern part of the basin
and it was after 899 that they
could take the western part as
well. In 899 the Frankish king
died thus leaving way for the
Magyars to take the western part,
902 was the last victory over the
Moravians, 907 was a victory over
the Bulgars. In 907 at the Battle of
Bratislava the Bavarians were
defeated and the Magyars gained
control of the basin. The historical
importance of the battle lay in the
fact that it was due to this victory
that not only Hungary but other
Central Eastern European states
The Magyar Conquest
could develop independently of
German influence for a time.
In 904 Kurszán and his retinue were murdered by the Bavarians at a peace
banquet - Árpád became sole leader, the dual principality was over.
Although Árpád was the leader of the Magyar tribal allience only for a
decade, he gave the name to the first dynasty of Hungarian kings: the House
of Árpád. It was because he ruled in a crucial period, he was the leader of
the conquerors, his name is traditionally associated with the Magyar
Conquest.
III. The Raids
Shortly after the Conquest, the Magyars started raids westwards. The raids
were military expedititons for plunder and slaves. German or Italian princes
often called the Magyars to help and paid for their services. The Carolingian
empire disintegrated thanks to internal struggles and was unable to stop the
Magyars.
The Magyars were famous for their special cavalry tactics. After light attacks
they pretended withdrawal reducing the enemies’ alertness. Then they
turned and showered the enemy with arrows. ‘From the arrows of the
Magyars, Lord deliver us’, was the prayer of western citizens.
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In 933 at Merseburg king Henry the Fowler (Madarász Henrik) defeated the
Magyars for the first time. In 955 at Lechfeld (Augsburg) Otto I (the subsequent founder of the Holy Roman Empire) defeated the Magyars, captured
and executed Prince Lél (Lehel) and Bulcsú. It put an end to the raids in the
west. In 970 the Byzantines defeated the Magyar raiders at Arcadiapolis,
which ended the raids in the east as well. The Magyars had to accommodate
themselves to one of the powerful neighbours: the Holy Roman Empire or
the Byzantine Empire but the social and political structure of the Magyars
made it rather difficult.
IV. Society
The structure of the 10th century society is rather obscure. It is generally
accepted that this was in the phase of disintegration of tribal / clan society
but the level of the disintegration is not clear. The basic layers were:
-Prince and his retinue (consisting of warriors or ‘jobbágy’)
-Heads of tribes (bõ)
-Heads of clans (úr)
-Foreign knights
-Common people (ín) –freemen, light cavalrymen
-Servants (domestic slaves)
The most important question was to decide which way to follow: the fate
of the Avars, the Huns and other nomadic tribes or to join the
Christendom then taking shape in Europe.
The process went on at the same time as in Poland, Bohemia and
Denmark. Strong leaders obtained lands, forced their people to take
Christianity and established feudal orders. The process cannot be related
to one person and it was a long, cruel and bloody period.
3. The Foundation of the Feudal Hungarian Kingdom
I. Prince Géza
Árpád’s successors followed the traditional order of seniority, which meant
the eldest male member of the dynasty inherited the throne. Árpád’s grandson Taksony (955-972) sought contact with western Christendom, he asked
the pope to send a bishop.
Prince Géza (972-997) followed his foreign policy. In 973 he was invited to
Quedlinburg by the emperor Otto II. Géza sent envoys to the imperial
assembly offering peace and friendship. The emperor sent missionaries to
Hungary. The prince received baptism, his son, Vajk was christened Stephen
(István) and married the Bavarian princess, Gizella.
In internal policy Géza was a tough prince. He married the daughter of the
Transylvanian gyula, Sarolt, thus obtaining the eastern part of Hungary.
Later he ended the independence of tribal and clan leaders in bloody fights.
In his marriage policy Géza tried to create contact with the influential dynasties of his time, his son married a Bavarian princess, his daughters married
the doge of Venice and a Polish prince.
In the question of succession there was a controversy between the tribal and
Christian system of inheritance. According to the pagan system, seniority
Géza had to be followed by Koppány, the eldest male member of the clan.
But Géza wanted Stephen to be the prince and he based the succession on
primogeniture i.e. the first-born son was to become the heir. Géza nominated his son as his successor but Koppány led an uprising against Stephen
who suppressed it with the help of western knights.
II. Stephen I (997/1000-1038)
After defeating Koppány, Stephen gained power and asked the pope
Sylvester II to send him a crown. With this step he could avoid the influence
of the Holy Roman Emperor. At Christmas 1000 he was crowned king of
Hungary.
He established the institutional framework for the social and political transformation of Hungary and organized the Hungarian kingdom. He confiscated the hill forts and 2/3 of the clan territories from the chiefs. He took
Transylvania from Gyula and defeated Ajtony, the lord of Temesköz (1003).
Most of the land came into Stephen’s possession where he formed counties.
Counties were territorial, economic, judiciary and military units under the
control of royal bailiffs. The inhabitants became castle-people responsible
for the upkeep of the castle.
Menswear at the time of the Conquest
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37
St. Stephen’s Coronation Robe
III. The establishment of Church
With the help of missionaries (Czech, German and Italian) and by force
Stephen turned the entire nation into the Christian fold. Every tenth village
had to build a church and support its priest. There were ten bishoprics, two
of them became archbishoprics, which was of great importance to our
future history; Hungary did not come under the control of a German archbishopric. Monasteries were founded and supervised by the Benedictine
order in Szentmártonhegy (Pannonhalma) and Pécsvárad. Bishop Gellért of
Csanád, the martyr, introduced writing and was the first ecclesiastical writer
in Hungary. (The first Hungarian writer was Stephen I writing his
Admonitions to his son.)
Stephen established a patrimonial kingdom, he controlled the majority of
the country as a private possession, the army and the Church depended on
him.
IV. The problem of succession
Stephen’s only son, Prince Imre was killed in a hunting accident, Vazul, (Vászoly) the next in the order of
succession was the follower of the old regime, a
pagan so he was blinded and lead was poured into
his ears thus making him incapable of becoming a
king. Vazul’s sons had to flee and Stephen named
Peter Orseolo, his nephew from Venice, as his heir.
The Holy Crown
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12. The Fall of the Feudal Kingdom - Mohács
I. The problem of succession
With the death of Matthias, his centralised administration soon fell apart,
giving the opportunity to the neglected magnates to take control of the
country. As Matthias died without a legitimate successor, the struggle for
the throne started soon. There were four pretenders:
1. John Corvinus was Matthias’s natural son. He proved to be a good soldier
and organiser in the south but was less talented as a politician. Politically he
was not a good choice.
2. Maximilian Habsburg claimed the Hungarian throne on the basis of the
dynastic treaty of 1463. He had the strongest claim and he could have given
efficient help against the Turks.
3. Wladyslaw Jagiello was invited by the estates. He was king of Bohemia
and the pretender to the Polish throne and the ideal candidate for the
estates, a king ‘whose braids they could hold in their hands’.
4. John Albert – Wladyslaw’s brother; in fact he became king of Poland.
The Diet called in May 1490 elected and crowned Wladyslaw as Ulászló II
(1490-1516) in July on condition that he would abolish subsidies, irregular
taxation and other harmful innovations of Matthias.
Ulászló secured the throne by giving Corvin the title Duke of Slavonia and
beating off Maximilian and John Albert with the help of the Black Army. The
army, however remained unpaid: they started to pillage the countryside and
finally the army was dissolved by Kinizsi in 1492. Banderia returned, securing influence for the barons and lords.
II. Wladyslaw’s reign
Wladyslaw was crowned Hungarian king. He was powerless, a foreigner,
lacking any will to centralise royal power. No wonder, his reign was a
period of anarchy under the limited monarchy in Hungary. The parliament
was the stage for the controversies of the barons and nobles. The barons
aimed at gaining profitable royal offices with the help of which they had
ever-growing influence in politics. Lesser nobles tried to counterbalance the
growing power of the nobles with their great number at the parliament.
His reign was not significant as he was totally under the influence of the
magnates, but four events under his reign are worth mentioning:
1. In 1505 the Hungarian estates (gathered in the meadow of Rákos) passed
the declared Decree of Rákos according to which in case of the king’s death
without an heir only a national king was to be elected.
2. In reaction, in 1506 Wladyslaw and Maximilian signed an inheritance
treaty. It was a dynastic agreement: Wladyslaw’s daughter (Anna) should
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marry Maximilian’s grandson (Ferdinand) and Wladyslaw’s son (Louis)
should marry Maximilian’s granddaughter (Mary) (they got married in
1515) to make either couple capable of inheriting the throne.
3. The peasants’ revolt led by Dózsa in 1514 (see later)
4. István Werbõczy compiled a book of Hungarian law, the Tripartitum.
Werbõczy was a lesser noble who became a senior judge and who owed his
initial advancement to King Matthias. His law code was a fundamental text
of Hungarian jurisdiction for centuries.
In foreign policy the only significant conflict of the time was between
Hungary and the Habsburgs. So Wladyslaw’s reign was a peaceful period on
the surface; the Ottomans concluded peace after some failed attempts. The
changes began in 1512 when Bayezid II was deposed by his son, Selim I.
Under Wladyslaw Hungary lost only Srebrenik.
In fact, Hungary was ruled by the barons who took over the control of
Matthias’s institutions and the decisions of the royal council were never
questioned by the king. (He said ‘Dobže’ – “very well” to everything)
Especially great power was accumulated by Tamás Bakócz, the Archbishop
of Esztergom and Chancellor. Another outstanding personality of the time
was János Szapolyai, Voevode of Transylvania.
III. The causes of the social unrest – the peasants’ uprising of 1514
Pope Leo X proclaimed a Crusade against the Turks. In 1514 Tamás Bakócz,
cardinal and archbishop was given the right to organise the army of crusaders in Hungary. (The cardinal had a career of a comet, he was son of a
serf and was talent-spotted by Matthias and he even hoped to be elected
pope. The leadership of the Crusade was offered to him as compensation.)
A large number of peasants gathered outside Pest to take the cross.
Royal power weakened as the power of barons increased. The barons took
over not only royal but county offices, controlled royal revenues and limited the rights of several layers of the population.
The barons limited and later abolished the peasants’ right of free movement
and certain other rights were abolished; the right of trade was also limited.
Mercenaries were sent away, there were more landless peasants, famine and
plague broke out and people were dissatisfied with the morale of the clergy. People started to look upon the Turks as the punishment of God for the
conditions in Hungary. Székelys were also tried to be subdued by the
barons, although earlier they had been granted noble rank collectively for
military service on the borders.
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IV. The peasants' uprising of 1514
The peasants took up arms with the consent of the landlords first. However,
the lords became more and more worried seeing the large number of discontented peasants in arms and no one took the trouble to lead them
against the Turks. Furthermore, they didn't let any more peasants take the
cross. At this juncture, friars and priests started to preach that the Turkish
danger was the punishment of God for the barons' sins. Armed and given
such an opportunity to compare grievances, the peasants soon turned
against the landlords.
György and Gergely Dózsa, lesser nobles with military experience of Székely
origin (as they had served in border fortresses) became the leaders of the
peasant army. They were assisted by Priest Lõrinc. The first combat between
peasants and lords occurred at Apátfalva and ended with the defeat of the
peasant army. Nevertheless, at Nagylak the peasants were victorious and
impaled a bishop. The peasant war broke out. The peasants remained on
the offensive for two months - took castles, manors and burnt documents of
serfdom. Their main aim was to have the same rights as the Székelys of
Transylvania. The target was the castle of Temesvár.
The Captain of Temesvár, István Báthory turned to the Voevode of
Transylvania, János Szapolyai and in July 1514 Szapolyai defeated the peasants at Temesvár. The revenge of the lords was horrible; leaders of the peasant army were cruelly executed but first they witnessed the coronation of
Dózsa with red-hot iron crown and were forced to eat from his flesh while
alive.
Parliament legalized the revenge but the lords needed workforce thus they
did not kill many peasants. A more efficient way of punishing the rebels was
worked out by the Diet of October 1514; they passed the Law of Perpetual
Servitude. The right of free movement was taken away from the peasants
and the possession of arms was prohibited for peasants. Both the socage
work and the rent of peasants were increased. These laws were taken into
Werbõczy's Tripartitum and the regulations were in force until 1848.
V. Political situation before Mohács
Internal situation:
The agreement between the aristocracy and lower nobility was temporary,
after crushing the peasants’ revolt and taking revenge the anarchy reached
its peak.
Wladyslaw II died in 1516 and was followed by his son, Louis II (1516-26).
He was 10 years old when he was crowned. The Diet became the scene of
open struggle for power between the barons and the nobility so they did
not turn their united forces against the common enemy, the Turks.
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King Louis II
International situation:
This is the time when the rulers of the powerful European kingdoms were
Henry VIII (England), Charles V (Holy Roman Emperor), Francis I (France)
At the beginning of the 16th century Hungary had no allies against the
Turks. Poland signed a peace treaty with the Turks; despite the common
king, Bohemia did not join any campaigns and the European kings united
their forces against the Habsburgs: Francis I of France (reputed as the most
Christian king) allied with the Sultan, Suleyman I (the ‘Magnificent’). The
Spanish king was at the peak of its power and aimed at European supremacy. The pope, Venice and Milan formed the League of Cognac (1526), which
was established against the Habsburgs, thus Hungary could not count on
their help either.
While Hungary was in a state of anarchy, the Turkish Empire was near the
peak of its power and had been prepared to wage a new campaign against
Europe. Selim II was followed by Suleyman II (1520 – 1566), the
Magnificent, on the throne of the Ottoman Empire. He laid stress on conquest in Europe, thus Suleyman I posed a new Ottoman threat to Hungary.
The sultan, a despotic ruler, held all power in one hand. The Turkish
Empire had been turned completely into a military state: everything was
subordinated to conquest as expansion was a necessity.
VI. The Battle of Mohács
However, when Selim II died the Hungarian barons were so relieved that
they imprisoned Suleyman’s envoy and failed to respond to the Sultan’s
peace mission. They started a new campaign after his offer of a peace treaty
with Hungary. Thus the Turks marched against Hungary and in 1521 they
conquered the major fortresses of the Hungarian defensive line in the
south: Sabac, Belgrade and Zimon and the country became open to the
invaders.
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After losing the southern strongholds the estates did not change their attitude and the atmosphere was that of a civil war.
By 1526 nothing had been done. The Archbishop of Kalocsa, Pál Tomori was
appointed captain general and he, with Szapolyai, won a few victories; but
in summer 1526 Suleyman was on the way to Hungary with a considerably
larger army than in 1521. The well prepared, disciplined Turkish army of 7080,000 soldiers was advancing along the Danube into Hungary. Hungary
was ill-prepared, had hardly any mercenaries and the magnates, lacking
unity, failed to join their banderia and remembering 1514 were reluctant to
arm the peasantry.
Francis I, Charles V and the imperial diet did not intend to help Louis. There
was no serious preparation in Hungary either; mobilisation was started only
in June and it was a mixed company that could be gathered. It consisted of
the royal banderia and baronial banderia from the south, altogether 25,000
men. The mixed company of Hungarian soldiers advanced to Mohács,
where the Turks took up a carefully chosen defensive position.
The Bohemian and Croatian mercenaries and Szapolyai’s army failed to
arrive in time, so on 29th August 1526, the king’s army commanded by
Tomori and György Szapolyai had to face 80,000 Turks. The Hungarians,
forgetful of Nicopolis and Várna, launched a frontal attack against the
Turkish army and within two hours the Hungarian army suffered a mortal
blow. About ten thousand foot soldiers and 35 barons and prelates and, first
of all, the king lay dead on the battlefield. The fleeing Louis II was drowned
in the swollen Brook Csele, the throne was vacant, Hungary was open to the
Turks.
The battle of Mohács on a Turkish miniature
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4. The Beginnings of Reformation in Germany
I. The forerunners of religious reforms
There had always been reformers within the Catholic Church, but for a long
time some of them were considered heretics, some were not; e.g. the
Cluniac reform movement (council of Lateran passed reform decrees), the
Scholastic movement (reached the conclusion that knowledge of the world
could be understood either through reason or faith), John Wyclif and Jan
Huss (the Bohemian professor was even burnt at the stake for his reform
ideas, which was the decision of the Council of Constance 1414-18).
By the 1500s many factors had weakened the Catholic Church:
The new ideas of the Renaissance and Humanism helped the spread of
learning in the lower layers of society as well. The new technology of the
printing press enhanced the spread of reform ideas so that it could reach
more people more quickly. As a consequence people started to expect a
higher standard of conduct and a higher level of learning from priests and
Church leaders.
Two groups of people led the demand for reform:
-Popular religious leaders e.g. Savonarola, an Italian friar who preached the
need for reform in Florence. He was able to revolutionise the crowds so the
Medici ruler of Florence was driven away and Savonarola controlled
Florence for four years.
-Christian humanists e.g. Desiderius Erasmus of Holland and Sir Thomas
More of England. The Renaissance scholars in Northern Europe were so
called as they showed more interest in religion than the Italian humanists.
Of course, they valued classical learning as much as the humanists in Italy
did. In their popular books they called attention to the corruption in the
Church. Because of the technological breakthrough of the printing press,
their reform ideas had a wide audience. With the printing press ‘the pen
could indeed be mightier than the sword’.
The drawing of a printing shop in the
1500’s shows the steps in the printing
process. Workers take letters from
type cases to make up a page. Another
person (centre, rear) inks a a page of
type that has been set. At the right, a
man pulls the handle of the press that
prints the sheets. A young apprentice
(front) carries away the freshly printed
pages to dry.
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II. Problems within the Catholic Church
The Renaissance popes, who ruled Rome from the middle of the 15th until
the middle of the 16th centuries, patronised the arts and defended the Papal
States from French and Italian armies. So they had little time for spiritual
duties because of these worldly concerns. In the meantime, Church leaders
led a luxurious way of life, sold and bought Church offices and enjoyed
worldly pleasures at the expense of the believers. And also, there were abuses among the lower clergy, many priests and monks were poorly educated
and some village priests had semi-official wives (Pope Alexander VI (a
Borgia) also had five children...) For these reasons, the Church suffered considerable loss of prestige. Prelates were attacked because of their huge land
holdings, feudal privileges and luxurious way of life. Lower clergy was
attacked because of the low level of learning.
III. Divided Germany
German society became especially intolerant about the exploitation of the
country by the clergy. In divided Germany the princes could not defend
their people against the excesses of the Church like other European rulers,
the new monarchs did.
At the beginning of the 16th century, Germany was a loose conglomeration
of various local powers (duchies with either secular or clerical princes and
autonomous cities).
This situation was the consequence of the investiture struggle during which
period the Holy Roman Emperors were much more concerned about foreign policy than internal politics.
Finally, in 1356, the German Golden Bull was issued which was the legal
sanctification of the division of the Holy Roman Empire.
The power of the Holy Roman Emperor and the Reichstag tended to
become more and more formal and the princes remained almost totally
independent of the emperor.
IV. The 95 theses of Martin Luther
The general dissatisfaction with the Church led to the Reformation (or
Protestant revolt) at the beginning of the 16th century.
The immediate cause of the revolt was the activity of Martin Luther in
Germany. He was a monk of the Augustine order who defied the pope and
the Church traditions as he interpreted the Bible in a different way. In his
opinion strong faith in God was the key to salvation.
He was against the selling of the letters of indulgences, which was ordered
by Pope Leo X, who collected money for the building of St. Peter’s Cathedral
in Rome. Johan Tetzel preached these special indulgences in Germany.
He seemed, though, to have overdone his task as he gave people the impression that they could buy their way into Heaven.
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Martin Luther opposed his activity and he posted his famous theses on the
church door in Wittemberg on the 31st of October 1517. His theses were
copied and somebody took them to a printer so his reform ideas spread
quickly.
The religious crisis in the Roman Catholic Church started the Age
of Reformation. This movement spread throughout Europe in the 16th
century and resulted in the withdrawal of the Church of Rome from many
parts of Europe. Independent Churches were established, thus dividing
Europe into Catholics and Protestants.
This portrait of Martin Luther, drawn by one of
his friends, shows him thoughtful and serious.
V. The main principles of Luther’s teachings
Soon Luther went far beyond criticising indulgences, he wanted full reform
of the Church. His ideas were effective as he was a popular and powerful
speaker and writer. He preached that grace of God was provided out of his
love to mankind irrespective of believers’ circumstances.
The three main ideas of his teachings were the following:
-Salvation by faith alone. Faith in God was the only way to salvation. Buying
indulgences, fasting, whipping yourself was useless if you were not a true
believer.
-Bible is the ultimate authority for true Christian life. By this principle
Luther meant that the pope was a false authority, as several times popes and
Church leaders interpreted the Bible to suit them.
-Priesthood of all believers. According to Luther all people had a relationship with God, so there was no need for a mediator between men and God.
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So there was no need for priests, expensive services and enormous wealth
of the Church. Luther was for the abolition of the monastic orders and the
secularisation of their huge estates.
Each layer of German society interpreted Luther’s theses in their own way:
-Serfs and middle class people wanted a cheaper Church.
-The princes of Germany wanted to stop the outflow of money to Rome.
VI. The Holy Roman Emperor opposed Luther
Although Pope Leo X excommunicated Luther, almost the entire population
of Germany supported him. He even had some powerful supporters German princes - who persuaded Charles V, the Holy Roman Emperor, to
allow Luther to express his ideas. Of course, the emperor wanted him to
take back the reform ideas. However, Luther refused to revoke his ideas at
the Diet of Worms. In 1521 the Edict of Worms was passed in which Charles
V declared Luther an outlaw and heretic.
Prince Frederick the Wise of Saxony gave him refuge in the castle of
Wartburg, where he was apparently imprisoned. (While staying there, he
translated the Bible into German.) In spite of being excommunicated by the
pope and declared heretic by the emperor, Luther lived undisturbed in
Germany for more than 20 years after his trial at Worms. He spent his time
writing, preaching and establishing the organisation for the Lutheran
Church.
How was it that the most powerful ruler in Europe could neither capture
Luther nor stamp out his reform ideas? The reason for it was that the huge
empire of Charles V was simply too much for him to govern effectively.
By a series of careful marriages the Habsburgs won more and more lands
and by that time the Habsburg Empire included: Austria, lands in Germany,
parts of Italy, the Netherlands, Spain and Spanish colonies in the Americas.
In spite of the Edict of Worms, Reformation spread quickly. To stop it, the
Catholic princes, loyal to the emperor, passed an important decision at the
Diet of Speyer in 1529. They called on all Germans to stop conversion and
prohibited the followers of Luther from spreading their faith. Luther’s
followers protested against the decision and from that time on anyone who
left the Catholic Church came to be called a Protestant.
Next time, the Protestant princes called together a diet, the Diet of Augsburg
in 1530. The Augsburg Confession was made there and was accepted by all
Protestants as the official creed of Lutheranism. Of course it was rejected by
the Catholics and the emperor. The fact that three diets were called together within a short time proves that it was the period of religious unrest in
Germany. This unrest took the form of armed conflicts as well, when in 1531
the Protestant princes founded the Schmalkaldic League to resist the efforts
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of the emperor to stamp out Protestantism. With it the Age of Wars of
Religion started in Germany.
In 1555 the Peace Treaty of Augsburg settled religious unrest for a while in
Germany. Finally the Catholics and Protestants compromised and accepted
the principle of ‘cuius regio, eius religio’ (who owns the land can dictate its
religion). It meant that the people were to follow the confession of the
prince (Catholicism or Lutheranism, no other religion could be chosen).
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5. Division within Protestantism and Counter-reformation
I. Division within Protestantism
Lutheran Church (Evangélikus Egyház):
Martin Luther and his followers took the decisive step from wanting reform
within the Catholic Church to becoming a separate religious group. After
the events of 1525, 1530 and 1555 it became the Church of the Protestant
ruling classes as it enjoyed the protection of the Protestant princes.
Anabaptism (or Baptist Sect) (Újrakeresztelkedõk):
The Anabaptists rejected infant baptism and believed that a person should
only be baptised as an adult, old enough to decide his religious faith.
Thomas Münzer was one of their outstanding representatives, who became
the leader of the German Peasant War.
Calvinism (or Reformed Church) (Református Egyház):
It became the religion of the more radical middle class and it was founded
in Switzerland, where the middle class had an active say in politics. Ulrich
Zwingli and John Calvin established the Reformed Church in Geneva.
Huguenots (Hugenották):
They were the followers of Calvin’s teachings in France. Also the political
opposition in France took a religious form as the king’s supporters formed
the Catholic League (led by the Guise family) and the opposing aristocracy
in the southwest became Protestants (led by the Bourbons related to the
royal family of Valois).
Church of England (Anglikán Egyház):
For political and personal reasons the King of England, Henry VIII
decided to break with the pope. In 1534 the Act of Supremacy was passed
by the Reform Parliament in England, declaring the English king the official
head of the English Church. From that time on, the king collected all
Church money and also the monasteries were closed down and their wealth
and lands were confiscated. Because the Church of England was established
for political reasons, it remained more like the Catholic Church in its rituals.
Puritans (Puritánok):
The English Protestants who wanted to purify the Church of England from
Catholic features were known as Puritans. The more radical wing were the
Independents who would play an important role in the English Revolution.
The moderate reformers in Scotland were called Presbyterians. They were
the followers of John Knox, who was so impressed by the Church organisation he saw in Geneva, that following the model he reorganised the Scottish
Church. This Church organisation was based on the governing work of a
group of laymen, called Presbyters, that’s why Knox’s followers came to be
known as Presbyterians.
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Antitrinitarians (Szentháromságtagadók):
They got their name, because they denied the existence of the Holy Trinity.
A prominent representative of them was Michael Servetus (who was burnt
at the stake in Geneva). Being one of the extreme reformist movements,
they were persecuted in most places in Europe. Later on, Transylvania
became the refuge of the Unitarians, as Servetus’ followers were called.
II. The German Peasant War (1524-1525)
Anabaptism, which was the ideology of the rebelling peasants, became revolutionary when Thomas Münzer took the leadership. He drafted the ideas
of popular reformation. His main teaching was that the return of Jesus
should be preceded by the slaughter of the ungodly landlords.
The radicals of the peasant war demanded the abolition of all feudal duties
as well as the redistribution of lands owned by the clergy and the landlords.
Actually, they wanted to end serfdom. In Southern and Central Germany the
peasant uprising was widened into a war. The rebelling peasants raided and
burnt monasteries and castles. The cruelest landlords were executed.
Luther was horrified by the events of the peasant war and he urged the
princes to show no mercy. The lower classes felt betrayed and were disappointed by Luther and many people turned away from his religious leadership.
Thus, Lutheranism increasingly became the religion of the ruling classes in
Germany. The German princes joined their forces and put down the scattered troops of the peasant army. The nobles took a brutal revenge and
Münzer was tortured to death.
III. Calvinism
The reformation movement in Switzerland, the first republic of Europe, was
a special one with long-term effects.
In 1291 three Swiss cantons won independence from the Habsburgs and
soon ten more cantons joined the republic. Their independence was officially recognised in the Peace Treaty of Westphalia in 1648. Calvinism suited
the interests of the middle classes, which were economically strong and
which were active in political life in the republic. Its founder was Ulrich
Zwingli, a priest from Zurich, but after his death, the Swiss Reformation was
controlled by John Calvin. Unlike Luther, Münzer or Zwingli, he was not a
priest. He was a French reforming theologian, who moved to Switzerland
fleeing from religious persecution in France. Finally, he settled in Geneva,
where he published his main writing, entitled ‘The Institutes of the
Christian Religion’. As his book explained the Protestant aspect of
Christianity, it became the basis for Protestant believers, as it was a syste-
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matic Protestant philosophy. Calvin’s basic ideas were as follows:
-Predestination was his central doctrine. By it Calvin meant that God had
known since the beginning of time who would be saved, being omnipotent.
It means that individuals were predestined to Heaven or Hell before they
were born.
-The Elect. Only a few people would be saved from sin through the grace of
God. The duty of the elect is to rule society so as to glorify God and to serve
the benefit of the people.
-Theocracy was the form of government Calvin desired i.e. government controlled by Church leaders (the elect few).
-Revolt. Calvin supported the idea of revolt against an ungodly ruler i.e. if
the ruler broke God’s command it was the right of the community to revolt
and free themselves from despotism. This idea was a major difference
between Calvinism and Lutheranism as Luther obviously preached obedience to earthly rulers.
-Work as a virtue. Calvin preached that all kinds of work were appealing to
God, laziness was a sin and the success of merchants and entrepreneurs
could be the sign that the person was chosen by God. This teaching especially suited the interest of capitalist Geneva.
-Church ceremonies were also reformed by Calvin. He introduced simpler
services, favoured a cheaper Church and was against monastic orders.
Calvin actually set up the theocracy in Geneva he was writing about in his
book as he was given a free hand in religious matters in Geneva. Later on,
he exercised despotic power in the republic although the government was
based on republican principles in Geneva.
The city and the Church was led by a Consistory, the government of the city
consisted of pastors (ecclesiastical members) as well as presbyters (elected
lay members). It regulated the life of everybody in Geneva. For breaking the
rules anybody could be imprisoned, excommunicated, banished from the
city or burnt at the stake. Michael Servetus was burnt on the order of Calvin,
because he preached different doctrines. So sometimes Geneva was
referred to as the ‘Calvinist Rome’. However, it was often called the ‘city of
saints’ as well, and Protestant communities took Geneva as their model to
follow.
John Calvin, the founder of the branch of
the Reformed Church - Calvinism, named after him that suited the taste of the new middle class
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Map Study
Where was
Protestantism
stronger, in
northern Europe
or in southern
Europe?
Where was the
center of the
Calvinist
movement?
IV. Counter-reformation
The Catholic Church still retained enormous power in Europe. Millions of
people held fast to their traditional beliefs in parts of Germany, in Austria,
in Spain, in Italy and in France. However, the rapid spread of the
Reformation made changes inevitable within the Catholic Church. In the
1500s the Catholics had their own religious reformers, just like Ignatius of
Loyola.
In 1540 he established a new monastic order, the Society of Jesus or Jesuit
order.
As earlier he had been a soldier in the Spanish army, his order emphasised
absolute discipline and obedience. The Jesuits were like a spiritual army,
who were willing to go anywhere in the service of His Holiness, the Pope.
The Jesuits concentrated on three activities:
-They founded superb schools, Jesuit seminaries, which gave outstanding
theological education to priests.
-They undertook the mission to convert non-Christians. Jesuit missionaries
preached in the new colonies in the Americas, Africa and Asia.
-They wanted to prevent Protestantism from further spreading. The diplo-
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matic representatives of the
Catholic Church (confessors and
politicians of Catholic rulers) were
all Jesuits.
Not only did the Catholic Church
have their own reformers, but also
it was led by reforming popes in
the 1500s, whose aims were to
strengthen and purify the Catholic
Church
and
to
combat
Protestantism.
-Pope Paul III called together the
Council of Trent (Tridenti Zsinat)
(1545-1563) the most important
measures of which were the following: the selling of indulgences
was prohibited. Nobody was
allowed to hold two or more
Church offices simultaneously.
Bishops were to stay in their dioceses to supervise its morals and to
prevent corruption.
-Pope Paul IV drew up the index of
forbidden books (i.e. books, considered dangerous to the Catholic
faith).
He
reorganised
the
Inquisition under the name of
Sanctum Officium (Holy Office). As
originally the Inquisition was established to stop the spread of heretic
beliefs, it was reorganised to stop
the spread of Protestantism.
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