During the early decades of the 15th century, King Sigismund of Hungary
faced turmoil in virtually every corner of his realm. In Bohemia, the Hussite Wars waged on,
petty noble revolts pestered Transylvania, and the Hungarian sphere of influence in
the Balkan was in jeopardy thanks to constant Ottoman raids and invasions.
During this tumultuous time, one Hungarian military commander did his best to stop the
Ottoman campaigns, leading to his name being widely recognised all over Europe. Janos Hunyadi
rose from modest origins to one of the most successful military commanders of his day.
Geopolitical Background (1396-1442)
Janos was born in a humble Wallachian family. He first appears in historical sources as the
son of Vajk, who in 1409 was elevated to nobility status by King Sigismund and awarded the Hunyad
castle and Hunyad county in Transylvania. It is where he got his last name from,
Hunyadi. Throughout the years, more documents popped up, sometimes referring to Janos as ‘the
Wallachian’, mainly showcasing loans made to the king who was perpetually short of cash.
As a young man, Hunyadi was taken to Sigismund’s court as ‘knight of the household’,
with some contemporaries claiming he was the King’s illegitimate son.
Educated by Italian mercenaries and eagerly following the novel Hussite methods of warfare,
he exemplified great skill and strategic insight. Meanwhile, a struggle for power in the Balkan
between the Ottomans and Hungary began taking shape. This conflict would come to dominate
Hunyadi’s entire life, but it already started years before his birth. In 1396 Sultan Bayezid
I’s forces defeated a multi-ethnic Crusader’s army at Nicopolis, inflicting severe losses and gaining
a permanent foothold in south-east Europe. The decades after, gradual Ottoman expansion
continued as the frontiers of the Kingdom came under direct threat. In December 1437,
Sigismund passed away in Bohemia. Having no son, his son-in-law Albert Habsburg succeeded him.
This new King too recognised Hunyadi’s strategic insight and tasked him with defending the southern
frontiers, raising him to the ban of Severin, a large territory south of Transylvania. In 1439
the new despot of Serbia, Durad Brankovic, faced a new Ottoman invasion. After the successful
besiegement of the capital Smedervo, he fled to Hungary. Commanding troops defending Hungary,
Albert died of dysentery upon his return. His death caused a rift among Hungarian
nobles about who should succeed him. Hungary was in a state of perpetual war and required a
strong King against the Ottoman threat. Hunyadi stepped up. A faction of soldier
barons, headed by him, supported the 16-year-old Polish King Wladyslaw III.
But Sigismund’s widow Elisabeth bore him a son after his death, fittingly named Ladislaus the
Posthumus. The so-called Habsburg party led by Ulrich of Cillei, supported this infant. After
seizing the Crown of Saint Istvan, the baby was crowned in May 1440 in Szekesfehervar.
Opposed by the barons, they organised Wladyslaw’s coronation in July, albeit without the crown.
Thus, Hungary now had two kings. During an already unstable time, this could only lead to civil war.
Having left Buda, Elisabeth went to Gyor where she appointed John Jiskra of Brandys
as captain of the mining towns of Northern Hungary. He effectively annexed the territory,
cut the communication lines with Poland, and controlled the region for decades after her death.
When she died in 1442, Duke Frederick of Austria took young Ladislaus to his court in Vienna.
In the south, Hunyadi commanded the troops taking up arms against the Habsburg faction and in 1441
decisively defeated them at Bataszek. But the Ottoman threat hadn’t subsided. So that year,
Wladyslaw appointed him as joint Voivode of Transylvania and commander of Hungary’s southern
defence line, a position shared with Nicholas of Ilok, one of Hungary’s wealthiest magnates.
The ‘Long Campaign’ (1442-1444)
Hunyadi led several military expeditions against the Ottomans throughout the next few years,
leading to his name echoing around courts all over Christian Europe.
Initially, he achieved several victories in Transylvania and Wallachia. He even launched a
successful counterattack against Smederevo, the former Serbian capital and stronghold.
In March 1442, he faced an Ottoman army under Mezid Bey at Hermannstadt.
The Hungarians won the battle. Hunyadi became the name associated with the anti-Ottoman crusades.
Pope Eugenius sent Cardinal Cesarini to negotiate peace between the Habsburg and Wladyslaw parties
to join forces. Successfully so, and Hunyadi invested his funds to hire mercenaries and trek
deep into the Balkans. They captured Krusevac, Nis and even Sofia. Due to the harsh winter,
they had to return to Belgrade and could not expel the Ottomans from Europe as had been their goal.
Meanwhile, Sultan Murad II had trouble on the Anatolian peninsula, mainly the revolt of the
Karaman emirate. As such, he was eager to make peace with the marauding Christians in the western
part of his territories. Brankovich, doubling as the Sultan’s son-in-law, arranged what would
become the Peace of Szeged, supposed to last for ten years. They restored Brankovich’ throne in
Serbia, Hungary gained a few new territories and castles and the Sultan agreed to pay indemnities.
After making peace, the Sultan abdicated his throne in favour of his 12-year-old son Mehmed,
an act which historians still struggle to explain to this day. The Szeged signatories
reasoned treaties with non-Christians could be broken anyway. King Wladyslaw promised Hunyadi
the Bulgarian throne if he broke his oath and launched another attack. Within two months,
he led another crusade. Things soon took a turn for the worse, though. The Ottomans received news
of the invasion and quickly gathered troops to intercept the army. Murad retook command of the
Ottoman army. The Serbian despot Durad Brankovic blocked the Albanian lord Skanderbeg who promised
Hunyadi troops, and crusader reinforcements from elsewhere in Europe didn’t arrive either.
As a result, the crusader army stood alone against a significantly larger Ottoman army.
They clashed in November at Varna. King Wladyslaw commanded his royal cavalry during the battle.
In the ensuing melee against Ottoman Janissaries, Wladyslaw’s bodyguard were killed, and the young
king was beheaded, with his head displayed on a stake. Cardinal Cesarini too met his end. It was
a disaster, with the crusaders’ morale plummeting upon realisation their king had been slain.
The battle quickly devolved into a rout, and Hunyadi only barely escaped with his life.
After Varna (1444-1452)
Following the King’s death, friction between the Habsburgs and opponents arose again.
Hungarian nobles requested young Ladislaus’ to come to Hungary to be crowned king.
Although his regent Frederik Habsburg wanted Ladislaus to become king
of Hungary, he was hesitant to send him away. As such, Hunyadi was elected to be
Hungary’s regent for the next six years. Hunyadi used these years to work towards
his life’s goal: expel the Ottomans from Europe and restore peace within the Kingdom.
Admittedly, with decent success. During this time, a formal truce with Ulrich came to be.
Still, Hunyadi led several military campaigns to overthrow Jan Jiskra, who still held firm to his
title as chief captain of northern Hungary. They did not conclude a truce until 1452.
In 1447 Hunyadi dethroned and killed the unruly Vlad II Dracul of Wallachia,
installing his cousin Vladislav on the throne. He found a great ally in George Castrioti,
the aforementioned Skanderbeg. Receiving his word that he would supply troops against the Ottomans,
and the Holy See, Wallachians and other European states too pledged their resources, Hunyadi grew
in confidence. Mustering up another multi-ethnic Crusader army, in 1448 he once again went down
south to face the Sultan’s forces. The most pivotal battle during this
time was the Battle of Kosovo. Commanding 30.000 troops Hunyadi was surprised by a near twice as
large Ottoman army. Brankovich once again blocked his ally Skanderbeg from coming to Hunyadi’s aid.
Heavily outnumbered, the Wallachians fled the battlefield and Sultan Murad decisively defeated
Hunyadi’s crusaders in the three-day-long battle. Brankovich managed to capture the fleeing
Hunyadi and imprison him. Only after Wladyslaw returned his territories and paid a hefty ransom
was Hunyadi released. This defeat was a turning point, for the severe strain on financial and
manpower resources prevented the Hungarians from launching more offensives against the Ottomans.
Returning to Hungary, Hunyadi tried to install loyal supporters on thrones of regions in the
contested European area. In 1449 he supported Bogdan II to become king of Moldavia. He
remained in contact with lords such as Skanderbeg,
all the while trying to once again pacify the situation within the kingdom.
After Kosovo (1452-1456)
In 1452, 13-year-old Ladislaus finally came to Hungary to claim the throne. The caveat was that
it was under duress by his mother’s cousin Ulrich von Cilli, Hunyadi’s arch-nemesis. Hunyadi had to
step down from his position as regent and was appointed as Hungary’s captain-general,
perpetual count of Beszterce and entrusted with the administration of the crown’s finances.
Because of Ulrich and his allies’ considerable influence over the king, Hunyadi’s position began
to weaken. In this unstable political situation, news reached the Hungarians that Sultan Mehmed
II conquered Constantinople. It was May 1453, and having removed this thorn from their side,
the Ottomans now dedicated all their resources to invading Europe.
In 1455 Serbia once again fell to the Ottomans. The city of Belgrade was
garrisoned by 7000 Hungarians under the command of Hunyadi’s brother-in-law Mihaly Szilagyi,
facing over 150.000 Ottoman troops. News reached Hunyadi of the besiegement.
He swiftly gathered troops from his estates, peasants and petty nobles alike. Meanwhile, the
preacher Giovanni di Capestrano tried to garner support in Austria for the impromptu Crusade.
With a relief force consisting of 25.000 hastily collected troops, they marched onto Belgrade.
Thanks to peasant support, they cut off the supply lines of the much larger Ottoman force.
Finally, on July 22, they spectacularly relieved the city’s siege. The victory, against the odds,
became a legend in its own time, and there would be no Ottoman attacks against Hungary for decades.
To this day, Catholic churches ring their bells at noon,
a practice instituted initially by the Pope to remind Christians of the great Crusader victory.
But Hunyadi could not enjoy his victory for too long. He fell ill with the plague, spread around
his military encampment, and passed away on August 11 1456. As he died, Hunyadi was without a doubt
the richest and most well-known Hungarian of his day. He owned nearly 2.3 million hectares
of land with 22 fortresses, 57 towns and over 1000 villages. The territories held by the Hunyadi clan
exceeded those of the Royal family. After his death, a power vacuum emerged. The different
factions vying for power in Hungary began openly fighting against each other. What followed exceeds
even the most dramatic storyline in works of fiction. As Ulrich von Cillei was was appointed
chief captain of Hungary, he was murdered by by Laszlo, Hunyadi’s eldest son. As a reprisal,
King Ladislaus arrested Hunyadi’s two sons. The eldest, Laszlo, was beheaded. Hunyadi’s widow
Erzsebet Szilagyi and her brother Mihaly rose up against the King. Ladislaus fled to his court in
Prague, taking Matyas with him, where he was imprisoned under George of Podebrady.
However, in November 1457, Ladislaus unexpectedly died, either to the Plague or leukaemia.
Upon his death, the Hungarians elected Hunyadi’s second-oldest son, Matyas, as King of Hungary.
Still imprisoned in Prague, Eszebet paid a hefty ransom for his release.
Her brother demanded to be installed as regent as a reward for his help, but young Matyas had
other plans. He issued many institutional reforms and waged significant wars against neighbouring
states. Not to mention the establishment of the Black Army of Hungary, one of Europe’s first
standing armies and the first European country to embrace the Italian Renaissance. However,
the reign of Matyas Corvinus, also known as the ‘Raven King’ is a story for next time.
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