#: locale=hu ## Tour ### Description ### Title tour.name = Castles and Regions - ENG ## Media ### Description album_B8B3CFB0_AE07_3A23_4181_68292B618072_0.description = 1594 - A Török sikertelenül ostromolja az Öregvárat album_B8CB1ED9_AE07_1A64_41C7_1047CA4803A2_0.description = 1663_Nova_pevnost album_B9768F98_AE19_3AE3_4194_6AB4114BF34D_0.description = 1740-48 album_BA0F74BB_AE0F_2E24_41B9_634AD16054E7_0.description = 1807 album_BA112383_AE08_EAE4_41DF_918F7CC1D689_0.description = 1848-1849 album_BA112383_AE08_EAE4_41DF_918F7CC1D689_1.description = Klapka_György_tábornok album_BA6382EA_AE09_2A27_41E5_8B8330FC552A_0.description = 1877 album_BA6382EA_AE09_2A27_41E5_8B8330FC552A_1.description = Stará pevnosť_4 album_BA6382EA_AE09_2A27_41E5_8B8330FC552A_2.description = 1874_Kronwerk album_BA6382EA_AE09_2A27_41E5_8B8330FC552A_3.description = Muničná továreň_1 album_BA6382EA_AE09_2A27_41E5_8B8330FC552A_4.description = Ferdinandova brána_1 album_BA6382EA_AE09_2A27_41E5_8B8330FC552A_5.description = Veliteľská budova 1900 album_BB19A64E_AE08_EA7F_41E4_97FFCDDFBDFC_0.description = Zaujímavosti album_BB19A64E_AE08_EA7F_41E4_97FFCDDFBDFC_1.description = Československí vojaci pred kasárňou 1927 album_BB19A64E_AE08_EA7F_41E4_97FFCDDFBDFC_2.description = 1918 album_BB19A64E_AE08_EA7F_41E4_97FFCDDFBDFC_3.description = 1938-39 Leopoldova brána_05 album_BB19A64E_AE08_EA7F_41E4_97FFCDDFBDFC_4.description = 1968 Ferdinandova brána_3 album_BB67208E_AE0B_26FF_41E3_6B068E1EE29B_0.description = 1594 - A Török sikertelenül ostromolja az Öregvárat album_BB9F51AE_AE09_663F_41B9_681E5870ADEF_0.description = 1546 - Az Öregvár építésének kezdete album_BB9F51AE_AE09_663F_41B9_681E5870ADEF_1.description = 1557 - Az Öregvár bástyáinak megépítése album_BB9F51AE_AE09_663F_41B9_681E5870ADEF_2.description = 1572-1592 - Az Öregvár befejezése album_BB9F51AE_AE09_663F_41B9_681E5870ADEF_3.description = Az Öregvár és Komárom ábrázolása a Dunafelől album_BB9F51AE_AE09_663F_41B9_681E5870ADEF_4.description = Stará pevnosť_3 album_BBFEC378_AE09_2A24_41D2_8FF8DBE06716_0.description = 1572-1592 - Az Öregvár befejezése album_BBFEC378_AE09_2A24_41D2_8FF8DBE06716_1.description = Stará pevnosť_3 album_BCDA24CA_AE09_6E67_41D6_C5213ACEA9A2_0.description = 1526 A mohácsi csata album_BCDA24CA_AE09_6E67_41D6_C5213ACEA9A2_1.description = 1546 - Az Öregvár építésének kezdete album_BCDA24CA_AE09_6E67_41D6_C5213ACEA9A2_2.description = 1557 - Az Öregvár bástyáinak megépítése album_BCDA24CA_AE09_6E67_41D6_C5213ACEA9A2_3.description = 1570 - pusztíttó árvíz Komáromban album_BCDA24CA_AE09_6E67_41D6_C5213ACEA9A2_4.description = 1572-1592 - Az Öregvár befejezése album_BCDA24CA_AE09_6E67_41D6_C5213ACEA9A2_5.description = 1594 - A Török sikertelenül ostromolja az Öregvárat album_BCDA24CA_AE09_6E67_41D6_C5213ACEA9A2_6.description = Az Öregvár és Komárom ábrázolása a Dunafelől album_BCDA24CA_AE09_6E67_41D6_C5213ACEA9A2_7.description = Stará pevnosť_3 album_BCDA24CA_AE09_6E67_41D6_C5213ACEA9A2_8.description = 1663_Nova_pevnost album_BD9616FC_AE0F_6A1C_41DF_F9D54A43AC33_0.description = 1740-48 album_BF5BDE5F_AE08_FA1D_41D8_9DCE5487E296_0.description = Tatárjárás Magyarországon 1241-1242 album_BF5BDE5F_AE08_FA1D_41D8_9DCE5487E296_1.description = IV. Béla adománylevelének átirata (1265) album_BFB40C5D_AE09_3E1D_41D4_845308492C18_0.description = V. 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1878
After the end of the Russian-Turkish war, with Russian help, the independence of the greatest part of Serbia has been achieved. The Ottoman troops withdrew from the country and Golubac/Galamboc became officially free. By this time the town had lost its military significance, it was left as a witness to a glorious past.
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THE PREHISTORY OF THE ESZTERGOM CASTLE HILL
Security, ie. the ability to overlook the surrounding area and to identify the possibilities of self-defence, were of high importance in the choice of location for settling in the prehistoric age. Therefore, it is not surprising that traces of human life can be found on the Castle Hill, dating back to the Paleolithic Age. This age (almost 20,000 years ago) is represented by a few chipped flint blades, found during sewage construction works. During excavations in the Castle area, there have always been new finds from the prehistoric age. The first individually identifiable prehistoric construction as such, was a pit from the Copper Age, representing the heritage of the Baden-Pécel culture, who lived from herding and, to a smaller extent, from the cultivation of land.The Boleraz-Baden tribe arrived to Central Europe from Anatolia, and had densely populated the area of the Danube Bend by the second half of the Copper Age. A cluster of five animal figurines, -a unique early relic from this age, were unearthed from cremation graves in Pilismarót, near Esztergom. No definite data has been established regarding the early Bronze Age in the area, however the middle and late periods of the Bronze Age are illustrated by a high number of finds showing the permanent presence of humans (white-inlaid pottery, jugs narrowed at the middle, later plates with turban-twist motifs and cannelured pots).
A part of a cemetery, discovered during sewage construction works 15 years ago also testifies to the middle Bronze Age settlement founded between 1600 and 1300 B.C. The transitional period following the late Bronze Age was terminated by the arrival of the Celts in the Iron Age. From this period on, the technique of ceramics-production has also changed, with the appearance of the potter’s wheel. Regarding the Esztergom Castle Hill, mostly later periods of the Celtic settlement are visibleby the remains of houses, pits for various purposes and ovens.
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1458
THE FALL OF GOLUBAC
Golubac finally fell to the Ottomans led by Mehmed II in August 1458, a year before the fall of Smederevo and the Despotate. Tursun Beg, Turkish historian from the late 15thand early 16thcentury, wrote that the Ottoman grand vizier Mehmed-Pasha Andjelovic carefully took all measures for siege of the town, at the same time concocting a cunning plan. He lavished the garrison with gifts and promises of timars (land property) in exchange for surrender of the town. The only one who refused the bribe was the town’s commander. After the holiday service, the Ottoman troops travelled a two-day trip in a single night and reached the walls of Golubac at dawn. The entire garrison surrendered except for the castellan, who locked himself into a tower. Besieged, he had to pull out drinking water from the Danube in a bucket attached to a chain, but every time the bucket came down the chain would be cut by Turkish ships waiting in ambush behind the rocks. Eventually, the parched commander had no choice but to surrender.
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1428 — 1444
HUNGARIAN ATTEMPTS TO REGAIN THE FORTRESS
Unable to reconcile with the loss of a strategically important Golubac Fortress, Sigismund kept on attacking until the day he died. Written sources indicate that Ottoman interventions against Voivode Vlad Dracul in Vlaska in 1432 left Golubac devastated, along with numerous other towns along the Danube in which Sigismund had colonized the Teutonic Knights. In 1437 Sigismund mounted another militaryexpeditionagainst the Ottomans, seeking to recapture Golubac. He gathered a massive army led by Janos Marcali, one of the most prominent commanders at the time, and crossed the Danube at Pozezena. There the army split into two parts, with one marching on Krusevac to destroy Ottoman ships on the Morava River, while the other, commanded by the ban of Severin Frank Talloci, proceeded towards Golubac. In these battles the Hungarian army plundered and torched Krusevac and Golubac regions. Still, by 1439 the Ottomans managed to conquer the entire Despotate.
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1390 — 1392
THE FIRST OTTOMAN RULE
The first time Golubac fell into Ottoman hands was under Bayezid I, in all likelihood around 1390. The very next year, it came under attack by the Hungarian king Sigismund. A far superior Hungarian army led by the renowned Timisoara Ban Peter Perenyi briefly forced the Ottomans out of the Fortress, chasing them all the way to Morava basin. In yet another attack against Branicevo territory in 1392, the Hungarian king Sigismund managed to cross the Danube at Kovin and get as far as Zdrelo, pushing back the sultan’s army and besieging Golubac on several occasions.
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1503 — 1817
16TH – 19TH CENTURY
The fate of the town was finally settled with the Hungarian-Turkish peace treaty from 1503 and 1519, which left Golubac under the Turkish rule. The borders of the Turkish Empire gradually shifted north, and as a border town Golubac Fortress lost its importance. It remained under the Ottoman rule until 1683, when it was taken over by the Austrian Emperor Leopold, who held it until 1690 and then ceded it to the Hungarians. With the Treaty of Passarowitz (Pozarevac) in 1718, it was given back to the Ottomans and remained in their hands until the First Serbian Uprising, when it finally became a Serbian town.
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1444 — 1458
GOLUBAC FORTRESS BACK IN SERBIAN HANDS
After a period of calm, Golubac reappeared in negotiations led in Edirne between sultan Murad II on one side, and Władysław of Varna, king of Poland and Hungary, Djuradj Brankovic, and John Hunyadi, a leading military commander on the other. Under the peace terms, the Serbian Despotate was to be renewed, the imprisoned despot’s sons released, and Serbian towns, including Golubac, returned to the Serbs. Having suffered a devastating Ottoman defeat in 1443, the sultan yielded and accepted the terms of the agreement, although return of Golubac represented the biggest bone of contention. In 1444, under the Peace of Szeged, Golubac and twenty other towns were returned to despot Djuradj Brankovic. As early as 1454, Mehmed II sent a letter, requesting to get Smederevo and Golubac back. In the meantime despot had died and his successor, despot Lazar Djurdjevic made truce with the Ottomans, leaving Golubac to the Serbs until 1458.
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1402 — 1428
THE AGE OF THE SERBIAN RULE
In the aftermath of the Battle of Kosovo Serbia was left in a troubling state. Despot Stefan Lazarevic (1389-1427), Prince Lazar’s son and heir, was thus compelled to become vassal to the Ottomans and fight for Bayezid at his bidding. However, a crushing defeat sustained at Angora in 1402 initiated a struggle for the throne in the Ottoman Empire.Changed political conditions and common interests led to a convergence of Despot Stefan and the Hungarian king Sigismund.Despot accepted vassal relations to Sigismund, and in return received Macva, Belgrade and Golubac as a token of alliance. Constantine the Philosopher, the Despot’s biographer, noted that Stefan moved into his town of Golubac upon his return from Constantinople in 1410, where he partook in the battle fought between Bayezid’s sons. A while later, after the Battle of Edirne was lost, Despot’s ally Musa also fled to Golubac. Since Stefan was childless, the 1426 Tata Treaty obligated his designated heir Djuradj Brankovic to turn the given estates back to the Hungarian king, in exchange for recognition as the despot’s successor.
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1382 — 1389
PRINCE LAZAR’S ATTACK ON GOLUBAC
In 1382, after the death of Hungarian king Louis, whose domain extended over Macva, Belgrade and Golubac, Prince Lazar launched an attack on Golubac, the exact outcome of which remains unknown. Lazar laid siege at the right bank of the Danube and the Sava, however there is no mention of his takeover of the Fortress in any historical sources. That same year, he not only refused to become a Hungarian vassal but also supported the adversaries to Sigismund of Luxemburg, the son-in-law of the Hungarian king and heir to the throne. Lazar did renew the agreement with Sigismund, accepting the vassal relationship as it had been at the time of King Lois, leaving Golubac in the hands of the Hungarians. After Lazar’s death in the Battle of Kosovo the throne was left to his wife, Princess Milica, and the relationship apparently changed, as Sigismund declared Serbs to be rebels and launched a series of attacks across the Danube. The status of Golubac at this time remains unknown.
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1458 — 1481
THE LAST ENGAGEMENT
Golubac Fortress commonly served to the Ottomans as basis for raids into the Hungarian territory, which caused frequent skirmishes along the border. In 1460, Michael Szilagyi, regent, general and uncle to the Hungarian king was turned over to Ali Bey Mihaloglu, subasi of Golubac (the first sanjakbey of Smederevo). Szilagyi was subsequently sent to Constantinople and executed. The Hungarian army was led by Pal Kinygi (the ruler of Tamis county) and Vladislav Rozgonyi, along with Vuk the Fiery Dragon (despot Vuk Branković) and Jovan Jaksic, Serbian nobleman who made his name in Golubac. Having defeated the Ottoman flotilla and overpowered Skender, the sanjakbey of Smederevo, the army composed of Hungarians and Serbs crossed the Danube. One division, under the command of Jovan Jaksic, came upon the town captain of Golubac with 1,000 horsemen, went into pursuit, burst into the town and slashed him at the very town gate.
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THE PORTA SPECIOSA - THE ADORNED GATE
The adorned gate was the main entrance of the cathedral consecrated to Saint Adalbert and the Virgin Mary, with a bi-sectioned, vaulted hall built in front of it at the turn of the 13th century. The Porta Speciosa had three segments. In the two shorter, arched, blind side openings prophets announcing the advent of the Saviour and saints acknowledging the Son of God were depicted. The splayed entrance opened below to the central, taller arch. It was sectioned by four pairs of red marble wedges behind four pairs of white marble columns. The main entrance was emphasised by a pair of octagonal red marble columns, which rested on stone lions carved from the same material. The side niches were framed by white columns, of which the side ones rest on human figures’ backs.
The gate was produced by interchanging the red and white marbles of Gerecse, while in the case of figural and text depictions, stone-encrustation was employed. The iconography of the Porta Speciosa refers, on the one hand, to the advent and embodiment of Christ the Saviour and on the other hand, through the Virgin Mary and his Son it symbolises the offering of the country and thus the power of the kingdom. This is supported by the representation of the developer, King Béla III and Archbishop Job on the stone header, with buildings referring to the royal palace and the cathedral. The construction date of the ornate gate is estimated between 1188 and 1196. Its artistic elaboration and composition are on a par with works with similar characteristics from Verona, Grado and Paris.
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THE CISTERN ROOM
This room depicts one of the most remarkable archaeological stratigraphic sequence of the exhibition: at the very bottom are the remains of a Roman floor-heating system and above it, the layered relics of numerous Middle Age-constructions. The division of the various layers clearly shows that the Romans built a floor-heated house here, whose channels, laid from brick, can be seen at the southern side of the room. This heated building slowly collapsed after the Romans’ exit out of the country. In the 11th century, in the place of the filled-up ruins, they have erected a dwelling with a rectangular plan the walls and threshold of which can be observed on the northern side.
The massive ashlar walls in the southern end of the room survived from the end of the 12th century, beginning of the 13th century, when Béla III and his son, Imre had the chapel and the adjacent constructions built. At that time these rooms were separated from the rest of the Castle Hill’s buildings by a deep dry trench. Later, the cistern was constructed in this trench, while the extra space was filled with pebbles to filter the water to be collected by the cistern. In the 15th century above the cistern a terrace was built, which may have been one of Bonfini’s walled gardens. The cistern was still in use in the Turkish age and it is believed to have been in function until the Modern Age. In the 1960’s, a mini-waterworks system was installed inside the cistern, which aided the castle’s water supply in the second half of the 20th century.
A partial renovation of the room and the cistern was completed in 2041-2015.
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ESZTERGOM IN THE ROMAN AGE
From the beginning of the 1st century until the early 5th century, Hungary’s Trans-Danubian part was a border province of the Roman Empire, called Pannonia.
The defence line, or limes, built along the River Danube was a chain of camps and watchtowers. The section between Esztergom and Visegrád was its most strengthened part in the 4th century. Both the town of Solva, built at a river-crossing and the Roman castellum of high military importance, constructed on a hilltop overlooking the river-crossing were built in the Flavian Age.
The garrisons of the the 1st-century, board structure camp were the cohort I Augusta Ituraeorum, and the cohort III Brittonum equitata. The stone camp was built by the cohort I Ulpia Pannoniorum, which stationed in Solva from 118/119. This unit was Solva’s garrison in the 2nd and 3rd centuries. During the 4th century, smaller equestrian units were serving here. The early 1st and 2nd century cremation cemeteries of Solva were in the Bánomi Fields, in the vicinity of the Bajcsy-Zsilinszky and Eszperantó streets. The 4th and 5th century skeleton cemeteries of the later times were placed around Béke square and Kossuth Lajos street, along the Roman route.
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THE CASTLE OF ESZTERGOM
The first to build a palace after the Romans with a church on the Castle Hill of Esztergom, was Grand Prince Géza. His son, Vajk was born in the building on the northern side of the hill, and he was also baptised (as István/Stephen) and crowned there. On the southern side of the hill, which was originally separated from the royal-clerical centre by a mound, the first houses were built around the the mid- 11th century. These however, most probably served as the residence of the Bailiff of Pilis, and were outside the royal centre. The first reconstructions took place around the turn of the 11th and 12th centuries. Following that, at the end of the 13th century, during the rule of Béla III and his son Imre, the block of the present royal palace was erected in several phases. Finally, by the end of the century, the royal court had also been moved there. In 1256, after the construction of the Palace of Buda, the residency on the southern side of the hill was given to the Archbishop of Esztergom. He then used it as his seat until 1543, when the church escaped from the Turks’ advance to Nagyszombat. In the 16th century, the surviving buildings were populated by the court of the Bey of Esztergom, even though these buildings were also damaged during the sieges of 1594 and, mainly, of 1595. The ruins of the dwelling tower, the chapel and the chambers of the archbishop were buried with earth to form the base of a cannon stand. In the 18th century the Great Hall’s severely injured building was turned into barracks, which later functioned as the dwelling for church servants, then as an emergency shelter. The excavation of the buried ruins started in 1934, and the first renovations were completed between 1934 and 1938. The Great Hall, the northern wing and the churchyard wall were finished in 2000, while the covering of the tower was completed by 2008.
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DURING THE MONGOL INVASION
During the Mongol invasion, which began in 1241, many castles and towns in Hungary were destroyed, but the castle of Komárno withstood the siege thanks to the fortification works carried out in time. In addition to its permanent inhabitants, even ones from more distant parts of the country found refuge in the area - in the strong castle. As King Bela IV commemorates in one of his letters dated in 1245: “... our faithful servant, Fowyne, strengthened our city of Komárno during the invasion of the Mongols, saved our courtiers and many other peoples ...” After the Mongols left the country, Béla IV sold the castle and the associated estates to Earl Henok (Henel, Henul). Later, the king confiscated the castle from the Earl’s sons, and in 1265, together with the village of Komáromfalva, donated them to Walter, the ispán or comes of the Mint, in exchange for 800 marks in silver. He then surrounds the castle and the area of the present Old Fortress, presumably with stone walls in 1265-68.
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After the Ottoman Wars and the Anti-Habsburg uprisings, the fortress in the middle of the Habsburg Empire, lost its military significance, so in the following decades its maintenance and development were no longer paid too much attention to. During the years of peace, trade and guild industry of Komárno flourished significantly. In 1715, the annual income per master was the highest here, and with its 8321 inhabitants, Komárno was the fifth most populous city in the country. Within the walls of the fortress, new recruits were trained and it acted as a supply depot. Its task was to ensure the order of the area, but until 1751 the descendants of the former Danube Nassads, the Sajkás (military vessel crew), still had their central station here. Fortification works were carried out only between 1745 and 1748, when the esplanade of the New Castle (glacis) was formed. However, the beautifully built and rich baroque city was severely damaged by a large-scale earthquake in 1763. As the fortress also suffered great damage, Joseph II removed it from the line of imperial fortresses. In 1782, the Council of Lieutenancy notified the city that it was going to sell off the no longer needed military property in auction. After the auction, the remaining properties were given to the city for free. In 1783, another powerful earthquake destroyed the city’s 500 dwellings and caused great damage to the fortress as well. The ruler then wanted to relocate the city to the right bank of the Danube, but this proposal was not accepted by the committee set up by the city council. The Diet of 1790 stated that the character of the fortress should be maintained and forbade the new owners to “dare to destroy the walls of the fortress”.
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HOLDING CELL
The room referred to by the citizens of Esztergom as ‘the prison’ was previously the northern side of the late-12th century kitchen. The guests of the then single-storey Great Hall were served from this area. During the renovations of the 15th century, the kitchen was moved and the area was divided into two rooms by a wall, both of which, were vaulted. The Great Hall’s extension also happened during this time: the floor of the newly-built stately space’s upper level was built on top of the ‘prison’s’ vaulting, as a result of which, the formerly single-storey building became the new Great Hall’s ground floor foundation. Following the Turkish wars, the Great Hall was turned into a barrack.Following this, the area’s function was changed again: a heating system was installed in it, the former new and wide entrance was walled up and its previous, large entrance was taken over by the present smaller door. It is possible that this space was used as a lock-up, however the presence of two other doors apart from the entrance, contradicts this assumption. According to local legend, in April 1706, when a ceasefire between Vienna and the insurrectionist state was declared, General Bottyán Vak is believed to have visited his wife, Judit Lakatos, who was held in pro-Habsburg Esztergom at the time. The woman was locked up for her involvement in a former springing of Bottyán Vak from prison. She fell severely ill in prison, and died soon after she could reunite with her husband. Until the early 20th century, the hall had been used as a living space before it became the first museum building’s museum attendant’s room. Following that, it was converted into an office and finally, by the 1000th anniversary of the nation’s foundation, its renovation was completed and it was turned into an exhibition space.
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1428
THE GREATEST BATTLE FOR GOLUBAC
Despot Stefan Lazarević died in 1427. Sigismund immediately invoked the Tata Treaty, requesting his territories back, and Djuradj Brankovic turned Belgrade over in October 1427. However, the commander of Golubac, Voivode Jeremija, demanded to be paid 12,000 ducats, an amount that he had allegedly given to the Despot as pledge for a loan. He presented a document as supposed proof of his claim, but since Sigismund disputed the validity of both the document and the seal, Jeremija sold Golubac fortress to the Ottomans. Realizing that a dangerous enemy was at his doorstep, the very same year the Hungarian king built the Laszlovara fortress on the opposite bank of the Danube that becamethe starting point of hisattack launched in April 1428, when he laid siege to the Golubac fort with a massive fleet and an army of 30,000 men. But a successful start of the siege was disrupted by the news of arrival of Ottoman reinforcements, which shattered Sigismund’s hopes of triumph.The Hungarian king reached an armistice, only to find his withdrawing troops under Ottoman attack. In the mayhem that ensued Sigismund barely escaped with his life. The Hungarian couple Rozgonyi rushed Sigismund across the Danube to Laszlovara while the Polish knight Zawisza the Black covered the king’s retreat, sustaining devastating losses. In the aftermath of the battle Golubac fortress remained in the hands of the Ottomans, who turned it into a base for a 100-ship strong river flotilla.
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THE CASTLE'S WATER SUPPLY
Water for the castle was supplied by three independent systems. In the earliest times, cisterns (receptacles for the collection of rainwater) were built within the castle, whereas by the 15th century there had been references to machines lifting water from the Danube. Meanwhile, in the Turkish age, the castle had at least one (but most probably two) wells. while, in the Turkish age, the castle had at least one (but most probably two) wells. Documents mention two cisterns, one in this room and another one in front of the south-western façade of the Saint Adalbert Cathedral. This latter cistern had water in it even at the beginning of the 20th century.
The cisterns’ rainwater-collecting method was as follows: the sides, carved from stone, were insulated with a layer of waterproof clay from the outside, above which a cleansing and filtering layer of washed pebbles from the Danube was placed. Above this was a looser upper layer through which water could pass. Rainwater was directed through pipes from rooftops and terraces to this pebble-layer, and was cleaned as it passed through all the layers. Above the clay six small, rectangular openings were carved in the side of the cisterns. These led the drinking water into the pool, from where water was eventually taken through a central opening.
Apart from its water-collecting purpose, this room also served as a storage and above its vaulting, there was a garden in the second half of the 15th century. The cisterns’ water reserve always depended on the weather. In rainy weather, they supplied enough water, while in drier weather, it was often not sufficient. How long the cistern was used is uncertain: what is for sure is that it was still in use at the end of the 17th century but was out of function by the 20th century. In the 1960‘s, in order to aid the castle’s water supply, a mini-waterworks system was installed in the cistern. The remains of this system were removed in 2014.
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ZAWISZA CZARNY
Zawisza Czarny was a patriot, who abandoned worldly matters when the safety of his homeland was at stake. He fought under the command of king Sigismund Luxembourg in Bosnia in 1409, when Poland was threatened by a dangerous enemy – the State of the Teutonic Order. Zawisza played a significant role in the whole war, including the battle of Grunwald on 15 July 1410. In this way he demonstrated his patriotism and loyalty for the Polish king Władysław II Jagiełło (1386 - 1434).
Zawisza’s chivalrous features were described by the great medieval Polish chronicler, Jan Długosz, who wrote as follows : Zawisza in all his battles was deemed the most famous and bravest of knights, doing heroic deeds in which he exceeded all others. He was a man of gentle speech, courtliness and charm, thus his affability gained him favours not only of brave and well-bred people, but also of the barbarians. He was distinguished for the most difficult kind of courage, as he was, above all, perseverant in battle, as well as prudent and moderate, which made him the best of all knights. His heroic deeds earned him not only my humble and simple praise, but even the Homeric one. His excellent, innate gifts were additionally combined with the warfare knowledge, which he acquired through skill, talent and practice in various kingdoms, where he travelled for combat.
Zawisza was indeed strong, brave and valiant. He fought in many wars and tournaments. We may suppose he was victorious in the tournament in Buda (today’s Budapest) in 1412. He gained fame all around Europe, when he defeated the invincible knight, John of Aragon in Perpignan, Kingdom of Aragon (today’s France) in September 1415. The ubiquitous element of Zawisza’s chivalry was his elegance, original garment and courteous manner in the presence of ladies.
Zawisza Czarny as a nobleman inherited the village of Garbów. It is a small, picturesque place located not far from a former centre of power (capital of duchy), Sandomierz in Poland. Zawisza always referred to Garbów as to his place of origin. All written sources bear the note “from Garbów” next to his name. This indicates property ownership, but also profound attachment to his place of birth. He treated it as a “nest”, which he never denounced. Throughout his whole life Zawisza invested the earned income in the properties in Lesser Poland, Hungary and Rus. He formed three areas of property: the vicinity of Zasów near Tarnów, Rożnów near Nowy Sącz and Starosielsk near Lviv. Additionally, he was an owner of the town of Sabinov in Hungary, today’s Slovakia (near Prešov) and temporarily- the town of Sibiu (Hungarian Nagyszeben, currently in Romania), which he had most probably been granted by the Emperor Sigismund of Luxembourg.
He did high-income service as a district governor at Kruszwica, and the district of Spisz with the residence at the castle of Lubowla (Lubovňa) (in Hungary- today’s Slovakia).
Zawisza Czarny was a knight who served for the Polish King Władysaw II Jagiełło and the King of Hungary – Sigismund of Luxembourg.
He was a diplomat and a high-rank official. He fought in many wars against the Turks.
In 1428, summoned by the Hungarian king Sigismund, Zawisza the Black, with his troops, participates in the battle for the Golubac Fortress, from which Sigismund,in the end, had to retreat. That retreat was made possible by Zawisza, who was protecting the king the entire time, and as he himself didn't take the chance to retreat himself, Zawisza died either at the battlefield, or in the Ottoman captivity.
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SIGISMUND OF LUXEMBOURG
Sigismund of Luxembourg (1368-1437) was the king of Hungary, tsar of the Holy Roman Empire, margrave of Brandenburg, king of Romans and Bohemia. He was deemed powerful and wise ruler, capable, ambitious, charismatic and highly educated person. He spoke several languages, was interested in technological and military innovations, was a gifted strategist, and he donated large amounts of money in order to renovate castles in Budim and Višegrad. He also founded the Knight Order of the Dragon. He was an admirer of the knight tournaments, and the most famous one was held in Budim in 1412. This tournament has gathered kings, despots, dukes, earls and noblemen had together with 1500 knights and 3000 pages together in competition. After the end of the tournament a marvellous procession, unseen before then, was organised throughout the city.
Sigismund is remembered for the organization of the Council in Constance that ended the Pope Schism, but resulted in Hussite wars. By the end of 14th century, in order to expel Ottomans out of the Balkan Peninsula, he organised an allied Crusader campaign, but it ended in catastrophic defeat at the battle of Nicopolis in 1396.
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Komárno and the Danube region
The fortress in Komárno is located in the district of Komárno, in the Nitra region, which stretches in the south of the Danube plain in Slovakia. This area is one of the southernmost and also the warmest and most fertile areas of the country. This area has been inhabited since the Stone Age.
This area is flat, there are rarely hills. The rivers Danube, Váh and Nitra flow here. The largest part of the region is represented by agricultural fields, forests are scarce.
The area is characterized by agriculture and vegetable growing, cattle breeding and vineyard growing. This area is also called as "The Slovak granary" or as "The Golden garden". In many villages there are thermal waters (Komárno, Patince, Nesvady, Štúrovo), rich in minerals. Industry is very rarely represented here. In Komárno, which is the center of the region, there are shipyards, which until 1989 produced dozens of ships for the Soviet market. At present, 1 to 2 smaller ships are built here. Perhaps the most famous product in the region is Zlatý Bažant beer, produced in Hurbanovo. There was a large paper factory in Štúrovo.
The center of the region is Komárno, the southernmost town in Slovakia. Then there are the towns of Hurbanovo, Kolárovo, Nesvady, Nové Zámky, Štúrovo. Many villages, but especially Nové Zámky, were bombed during the World War II and had to be rebuilt in the spirit of socialist architecture.
There are quite a number of cultural and natural monuments and protected areas in the region. The largest of the monuments is the Fortification System in Komárno. Other important monuments include the Roman marching camp near the village of Iža, the southernmost point of Slovakia in the village of Patince, the place where The Peace of Zsitvatorok was signed in Žitava, the chateau of the Kálnoky family in Číčov, manor houses of the Ordódy family in Hurbanovo, the remains of the fortress in Nové Zámky, the chateau in Belá and others.
Tourist attractions include the Basilica Minor of St. Andrew, the Danube Museum and the Europe Place in Komárno, the Museum in Nové Zámky, the Archaeological Museum in Svodín, the lookout tower in Kravany nad Dunajom, hajloks and wine houses in wine villages from west to east.
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Đerdap National Park
A combination of weather and nature of the mainland and water, biggest national park in Serbia, Djerdap National Park, is located in the northeastern part of Serbia, on the very border with Romania.
Zones with various regimes of protecting objects of nature, cultural monuments, fauna and vegetation of relict species, confirming the evolution of vegetation series ever since our creation up to modern time, spread across the surface of 63.786,48 hectares along 100 km of the right bank of the Danube, starting from Golubac all the way to Karatas at Kladovo.
Djerdap National Park is also known as a riverside national park, considering that an important part of Djerdap consists of the Danube, and the biggest and longest breakthrough gorge in Europe, wondrous Iron Gate, wild botanical garden and largest European archaeological museum in nature.
Djerdap Gorge and the natural area surrounding the gorge, as well as the environment, with exceptional cultural and historical values, pertinent natural ecosystems of great value and rare quality, judging by their content; objects of original flora and fauna and well preserved forests with natural growth and remarkable appearance, have been under protection ever since 1974 as Djerdap National Park.
Basic natural phenomenon of the Djerdap National Park area is the grandoise Djerdap Gorge, longest and largest breakthrough gorge in Europe. Its special wholes are three valleys of the canyon and ravine types: Golubac valley, ‘Gospođin vir’, ‘Veliki Kazan’ and ‘Mali Kazan’ canyons, as well as three basins being: ‘Ljupkovska kotlina’, ‘Donjomilanovačka kotlina’ and ‘Oršavska kotlina’.
Specific historical development, very favourable Djerdap climate, complex network of gorges, canyons and deep ravines, distinguish this area as the unique European reservation of tertiary flora, vegetation and fauna.
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Djerdap honey
The history of Djerdap honey and beekeeping in this area is measured as much as the history of human civilization, and the first remains date back to the time of the Romans and Emperor Trajan. And if throughout history the peoples of this area have changed and mixed, there has always been a tradition of beekeeping in the beautiful nature park of the Djerdap gorge.
Djerdap honey is a flower honey obtained from acacia flowers, linden, medicinal plants and fruits. This honey is extracted twice a year when at least 2/3 of the honey surface in the honey frame is covered in the conditions of stationary beekeeping. honey bee culture, then linden, crimson and herbaceous lindens of high meadows.
The color of Djerdap honey varies from very light yellow to amber with an orange tone, all the way to dark amber. Djerdap honey is very airy, and its aroma is of low intensity with pronounced herbal and fruity aromatic tones. The aroma of honey is very pleasant, and the taste is distinct and pleasant.
It is produced exclusively in the area of the Djerdap area, which also includes the area of the Djerdap National Park. Golubac beekeepers gathered in the beekeeping society "Golubacki grad", deserving that even today we have the privilege to enjoy this nectar of the nature park, which carries the tradition of our beginnings.
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Lepenski Vir
Lepenski Vir represents the remains of the oldest settlement in Europe. The first organized human settlement in the open was located in Djerdap, and it was founded eight thousand years ago. The peaceful "Lepenski" Alas carefully chose this location, and formed a culture there that lasted for two thousand years in a row, in the period 6500-4500. p. n. e. The discovery of the Lepenski Vir site occurred during extensive research in Djerdap, which was carried out due to the construction of the Djerdap I hydroelectric power plant. Upon completion of the excavation, the site was relocated to its current location to protect against flooding caused by the reconstruction of the Danube. In 2011, a new visitor center was opened, which preserves the remains of a culture under its dome, which amazed the whole world with its discovery...
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Viminacium
The military camp at Viminacium certainly came into existence when the Roman Empire spread to the Balkans, probably during the early decades of the 1st century AD when the Romans first reached the Danube. The discovery of a Celtic necropolis at the “Pećine” site at Viminacium clearly attests to its beginnings on the territory of the Celtic Scordisci. The size and importance of the base originated from a number of factors, among which should certainly be mentioned the rich agricultural hinterland in the Mlava River valley where Viminacium is situated and its important strategic location within the defensive system of the northern frontier of the Empire and also in regional communications and trade networks.
Also important was the location of the legionary camp, and later the city, at a junction of roads linking the northern part of the Balkan peninsula with other parts of the Empire in all directions. One road led south in the Balkan Peninsula through Moesia Superior towards Macedonia and Greece.
A second road, starting in Pannonia, extended along the Danube to the mouth of the river at the Black Sea. Another road connected Viminacium to the north with the Roman province of Dacia through the neighboring camp at Lederata, the modern village of Ram.
Although the primary function of these roads was military and strategic in nature, they were also in constant use by commercial travelers c throughout antiquity and certainly contributed to Viminacium’s role as a prosperous trading and manufacturing center.
Viminacium’s importance is also reflected in the number of times it is mentioned in ancient literary sources, extending from the 2nd to the 9th century. References are made by Ptolemy, by Iuluis Honorius in his Cosmographia and in Hierocles’ Synecdemus. Viminacium appears in all the known Roman itineraries: the Tabula Peutingeriana, Itinerarium Antonini and Itinerarium Burdigalense.
There are also references in later writers, Theophylactus Simocatta, Theophanes the Confessor and Anastasius Bibliothecarius.
In Latin sources, it is sometimes designated as Viminatio, for example, in the Tabula Peutingeriana (217,5); sometimes as Viminacio or Euminacio, for example in the Itinerarium Antonini Augusti (133,3); and also as civitas Viminacio in the Itinerarium Burdigalense (564). 006In Greek sources, Viminacium is mentioned for the first time in Ptolemy’s Geography (III 9,3), appearing as Uiminakion. On Ptolemy’s map Viminacium features prominently. Priscus (frag. 2, 280 and 8, 305 et passim.) refers to it as Biminakion, and Procopius (De aedif., IV, 5) uses the same designation, while Theophanes (Chron., 24) calls it Bimenakion. In a profane geographical manuscript from the first half of the 6th century, known as Hierocles’ Synecdemus (657,2), Viminacium is designated as Bimenakion metropolis. In the Notitia Dignitatum utriusque imperii, which reflects the situation on the Danube frontier before the year 376, more specifically in the era of Valentinian I and Valens, Viminacium is mentioned as the base of the VII Claudia Legion (legio VII Claudia). The legion is indicated as having a praefectus legionis septimae Claudiae, as well as having a cuneus equitum promotorum. It is also a base for the Danube fleet with a praefectus classis Histicae Viminacio. According to the standard historical interpretation, primarily relying on Priscus’ text, Viminacium perished in a Hunnic attack in 443, which is also documented by finds of coin hoards. The best-known coin found from that period to date is an issue of Theodosius II. Later, in the 9th century, the presbyter-cardinal Anastasius Bibliothecarius, in his work Chronographia Tripartita (23), refers to Viminacium as Viminacium. 007In itineraries, Viminacium is always on a crossroads. In the Tabula Peutingeriana, Viminacium is described as a place with connections in all directions. From the west, a road comes from Sirmium via Singidunum and Margum, and continues on eastward and southward. The itineraries mention that Viminacium is 10 miles distant from Margum. To the south, the road went on to Naissus, the first stop on the way being Munecipio (Chronogr. Tripartita, 23) or Municipio (Tab. Peut. and Itin. Ant. 134,1), 18 milia passuum distant from Viminacium. A somewhat different picture is shown in theItinerarium Burdigalense (564, 10) which indicates a mutatio Ad Nonum between Viminacium andMunicipium. The roads to Dacia and down along the Danube did not diverge at Viminacium but at some distance to the east of the city.
According to the Tabula Peutingeriana, the road to Dacia branched off at a distance of 10 miliapassuum from Viminacium via Lederata, then passed through Apofl at 12 milia passuum further on, and on to Arcidava on the left bank at a distance of 12 milia passuum. Lederata (Byzantine Litterata) is usually taken to be at present-day Ram and across from it, Banatska Palanka, where fortifications secured the Danube crossing.
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Ram Fortress
On the territory of the municipality of Veliko Gradiste, there is the Ram Fortress, one of the several most important cultural monuments of the Regional Institute for the Protection of Cultural Monuments in Smederevo. On the right bank of the Danube, on a steep stone cliff, are the walls of the medieval city of Rama. Today, there is a small village, once known as a town, which was named after the fortress of the same name, around which a settlement was formed. In historiography, the Rama district, the Rama district, the Rama principality are first remembered. There are hints that there was a prehistoric settlement in this area (from the time of the Celts).
It is certain that the infamous Hun leader Attila, better known by the nickname Whip of God, stayed in Rama.
Historical sources say that today's fortress is the work of Bayezid II. The chronicles record that Bayezid II (1430-1512), after the death of Mehmed Pasha, took power and restored Ram and Kulec.
A detailed description of the city of Rama remains in Turkish sources: “Rama Fortress has the shape of an irregular polygon with four corners and a central Donjon tower. Over 30m long, thick walls connecting the towers are well preserved, while the interior of the fortress was destroyed during Kočina Krajina. On the massive wall canvases, guard walkways are noticeable. Its towers were covered with pointed domes. ”
After two years of renovation, the fortress in Rama opened its gates in August 2019, and for the first 6 months of the new life of the fortress, this beauty had as many as 7,000 visitors. The official opening of the fortress was on March 2, and the ceremony was attended by: Turkish Ambassador, representatives of the Turkish Development Agency TIKA, Serbian Prime Minister Ana Brnabic, Minister of Trade, Tourism and Telecommunications Rasim Ljujic and Mayor of Veliko Gradiste Dragan Milic.
This cultural good has multiple meanings for the preservation of the historical thread and cultural identity of our society.
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Tumane Monastery
The Tumane Monastery is an ancient shrine, according to legend erected in the second half of the 14th century, as the endowment of the famous Serbian hero, Milos Obilić. According to legend, Obilic inadvertently, while hunting in nearby forests, injured the holy hermit Zosim. In order to scout his wounds, he brought it to his court, but the hermit breathed out, saying: “Leave me here (“tu me mani” – in Serbian), and let me die.” In repentance, Obilic set out to build a church. He did not finish it, because when he reached the roof, a letter from Prince Lazar arrived inviting him to battle on Kosovo Field. The pious people, after the death of Prince Lazar I Milos Obilic in the Kosovo Batlle sovo, completed the monastery and named it Tumane. The relics of Saint Zosim of Tuman, the Sinait Wonderworker, are kept as the largest shrine in the monastery. Here is also an ancient Russian miraculous icon of the Holy Mother of God “Kurskaya”, brought to Tuman in 1936 by Russian monks. In the untouched forest, 800 m from the monastery, there is ananchoress of Sv. Zosima, authentically preserved from the time when he lived in it, as well as the saint’s source. Across from the monastery is a unique porterhouse and small zoo. Because of the miraculous healings at Tumane Monastery, the people call this shrine the Djerdap Ostrog. Hundreds of pilgrims visit the Tumane Monastery near Golubac every day, and many of them arrive there looking for comfort, medicine and salvation. Many cases of miraculous healings are recorded in the monastery's chronicle, and monks still record them today.
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1335 — 1382
TIME OF ESTABLISHMENT AND THE FIRST MASTERS
There are no direct accounts as to when and by whom (Hungarians or Serbs) the Fortress was erected. Written sources mention it for the first time in a Hungarian charter issued in 1337, which indicated that in 1335 a nobleman named Nikola Banfi, for whom the charter was being made,stayed in Golubac, a fortress housing a Hungarian garrison.There is little doubt that the town was established even earlier than that, however,it is unknown whether it was before or during the hostilities between Hungary and Serbia, that arose following the death of King Dragutin, when Golubac fortification was mentioned for the first time. According to historical accounts, the status of Golubac remained unchanged until the fall of the Serbian Empire, and the fort remained in the hands of the Hungarians.
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JÁNOS I
Szapolyai (I) János (better known as János Szapolyai). One of the wealthiest Hungarian noblemen, János was elected king of Hungary by a group of nobles after the tragic defeat at the Battle of Mohács in 1526. (Thus began a tragic civil war in Hungary lasting for decades.) Their marriage resulted in one child, János Zsigmond. After János's premature death (1540), Izabella governed the Transylvanian principality on behalf of her son, with the support of the Turkish sultan, until her death in 1559.
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KINGA (KUNIGUNDA)
(1224-1292)
First child of King Béla IV of Hungary and Queen Mary, sister of Margaret and Jolán.
She was engaged at an early age to the Polish prince Boleslav V, to whom she was married in 1239, when she was 15. After taking a vow of chastity (despite their marriage), Boleslav also took a vow of perpetual chastity.
When the Tatars attacked, Kinga offered her entire fortune to cover the cost of the defence. When this offer did not help, the royal couple fled first to Podolin and then to the castle of Chordztin to escape the invading armies.
After the Tatar invasion, she returned to Hungary in 1249 and, with the help of the miners his father had gifted her, she opened the Bochnia (now Wieliczka) salt mine in 1251.
During her lifetime, Kinga founded several monasteries, hospitals, and churches. She also supported the beatification of (now) Saint Sanislo, taking place in 1253.
After the death of her husband in 1279, she lived as a Clarist nun in the monastery she founded in Ószandec until her death.
She was canonised by Pope John Paul II in 1999. She is celebrated each year on the 24th of July.
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BOLESLAV V
In 1239, Bolesław V (Bolesław V Wstydliwy, 1226-1279), then 13 years old, married the 15-year-old Hungarian princess Kinga (1224 - 1292), daughter of King Béla IV of Hungary. They had been engaged earlier in their childhood. At the same time, Prince (Jámbor) Boleslav, Prince of Kujavia, married Kinga's sister, Blessed Jolan. After the death of her husband in 1279, Kinga retired to the monastery she had founded in Ószandec and lived there as the abbess until her death.
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ULÁSZLÓ II
in Polish: Władysław II Jagiellończyk, in Czech: Vladislav II Jagellonský - (1456-1516) King of Bohemia from 1471, King of Hungary from 1490 until his death. He was the first-born son of King Casimir IV of Poland and his wife, Queen Elisabeth of Habsburg, Princess Royal of Hungary. He was accepted by the Hungarian orders as their king in 1490.
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VITÉZ BOLESLAV
(Bolesłav Chrobry, (in Polish: Bolesław I Chrobry [or Wielki]), formerly Bolesław (967 - 17 June 1025). His first wife was Judit daughter of the Hungarian Grand Prince Géza (945 - 997; reigned: 972 - 997). She was also the sister of St Stephen. Their marriage lasted from 969 to 988. From this marriage Prince Bezprym (968-1032) was born, who fled to Hungarian lands, where his uncle, King Stephen I, granted him an estate in the Balaton highlands. According to a legend, the town of Veszprém was named after him. Later, Boleslav pushed Judit away and she married the Bulgarian heir to the throne, Radomir. Judit died sometime around 1030.
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PÁL KINIZSI
(1432 - 1494) A general of noble birth, he fought in the southern regions for most of his life. He was the former count of Máramaros county and the castellan of Temesvár. In 1479, King Matthias entrusted him with the defence of the southern regions. In the same year, Pál Kinizsi successfully besieged the castle of Galambóc, which soon fell to the Ottomans again. In 1480 he defeated the Ottoman army at Szendrő (in Serbian: Смедерево / Smederevo). In 1481, during another Serbian campaign, the fortress of Galambóc was also atacked.
During his life he led several campaigns into Ottoman-ruled Serbia. As the population of southern Hungary had been severely depleted by Ottoman invasions, Kinizsi brought Serbs en masse to Hungary during the campaigns. He resettled them in the areas devastated by the campaigns and employed them in military service.
In 1494, he saved Nándorfehérvár from betrayal: he executed the traitor soldiers who wanted to surrender the fortress to the Ottoman army for money.
He also invaded Serbia and Bulgaria, and finally lost his life after a raid in the area of Szendrő / Smederevo in Serbia.
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HEDVIG (HEDWIG)
St Hedvig, Hedvig of Anjou (also known as Hedvig of Hungary or Hedvig of Poland, Polish: Jadwiga Andegaweńska, Lithuanian: Jadvyga de Anjou; (1374-1399).
The youngest daughter of King Louis of Hungary and Queen Elisabeth Kotromanić, she became Queen of Poland 3 years after her father's death in 1382, until her death in 1399.
Hedvig was engaged to Prince William of Habsburg of Austria when she was only 4 years old. However, this marriage was opposed by the Polish nobility, so in 1385, Ulászló Jagello, as a 'legitimate' claimant to the Polish throne, 'announced' his marriage proposal. As Hedvig was still a minor at the time of her coronation, the Polish lords obliged their child queen to take him as her husband. He was the Grand Duke of Lithuania, later King of Poland (1386). After the Pope had declared Hedvig's previous marriage (engagement) invalid, there was no obstacle to the new marriage.
The only child born to her fromUlászló was Elizabeth. Hedig died of puerperal fever a few days after the birth of her child. (As a consequence of her death, the House of Árpád also died out on the female line.)
Hedvig led a very religious life: she founded a college for Lithuanian theologians in Prague, a novitiate in Cracow and a hospital in the town of Biecz.
Her motto: "Even if we have given back their goods, who will give back their tears?"
She was an advocate for the conversion of Lithuanians to Christianity.
She was canonized by St. John Paul II in 1997, and has since been venerated as St. Hedvig, on the 18th of July.
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CASIMIR III
Kazimierz Wielki (ruled 1333-1370) of Poland. In 1335, at the Visegrád meeting of the kings (between Charles I /Charles Robert I of Hungary, John of Bohemia and King Casimir III of Poland), the kings of Hungary and Bohemia, as arbiters in a dispute between Poland and the Teutonic Knights, awarded Kujavia and other territories to the Poles and Pomerania to the Teutonic Knights. The decision was accepted by Casimir.
In 1339, Charles Robert signed a succession treaty with the Polish King Casimir III in case Casimir would pass away without a male successor. In this case, one of Charles' sons would have been made heir to the Polish throne. This treaty became the basis for the later Polish-Hungarian union.
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ĐURAĐ (GEORGE) BRANKOVIĆ
(in Serbian: деспот Ђурађ Бранковић, in Hungarian: Brankovics György), (1377? - 24 December 1456). Serbian prince from 1427, despot from 1429 until his death. According to the Treaty of Tata (1426) and faced with the Ottoman invasion, Đurađ recognized the sovereign authority of King Sigismund and turned Belgrade/Nándorfehérvár over to him in 1427. In return for numerous estates he acquired in Hungary, Despot Đurađ had to take to battle some 8,000 Serbian light cavalry during the Hungarian campaigns against the Ottomans. However, the Serbian despot was forced to be the vassal to both the sultan and the Hungarian king at the same time. Sultan Murad II occupied Serbia in 1439 and Đurađ fled to Hungary, where he interfered in the power struggle after the death of King Albert. After the reconciliation with King Ulászló I, Đurađ temporarily managed to renew his state in 1444 with the help of the Hungarians.
Although Despot Đurađ continued the policy of double vassalry, he was made to primarily take into account the interests of the Ottomans. That (and disputes over his Hungarian estates) led the despot in conflict with János Hunyadi. In 1448, the army of Despot Đurađ did not participate in the second Battle of Kosovo that the Hungarian army lost. After the battle János Hunyadi himself was taken prisoner in Smederevo. As the result of the following political negotiations, which included the returning of some Hungarian estates to the Branković family, János Hunyadi was freed and his son Mátyás was engaged to Despot Đurađ's granddaughter, Erzsébet Cillei.
But the conflict continued and János Hunyadi and Mihály Szilágyi launched several campaigns against Despot Đurađ, attacking his officials and occupying his possessions in Hungary between 1451 and 1455. After repeated raids, mutual betrayals and ambushes, at the end of 1455 the pro-Szilágyi nobles ambushed Branković, wounded and arrested him. The old despot was liberated after the ransom was paid and some of his estates delivered to Hunyadi, and two rivals cooperated during the Ottoman siege of Belgrade in 1456. However, both of them were dead before the end of the same year.
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HUNYADI MÁTYÁS
(Cluj Napoca, 23 February 1443 - Vienna, 6 April 1490), commonly known as King Matthias. King of Hungary and Croatia from 1458, King of Bohemia from 1469, and Archduke of Austria from 1486 until his death.
His Balkan policy is difficult to summarise shorly. Perhaps the closest approximation is that he recognised that Hungary alone could not be a match for the expanding Ottoman Empire in the Balkans. Therefore, he seized every opportunity to expand his power. Gaining the title of German-Roman Emperor, he created a powerful Central European union/league with a common army capable of halting the advance of the Ottoman army towards Central Europe. In order to reach this goal he was even determined to let some Ottoman armies pass through the territory of the Kingdom of Hungary. During what was thought to be a temporary peace, in exchange for leaving the Hungarian territories untouched, Ottoman forces could go through if they wanted to raid South Austria.
Although this may seem like a compromising policy, he did launch countless campaigns in the southern regions to repel local Ottoman incursions. This way he could establish the southern borders of the sovereign Hungarian state against the rising Ottoman Empire.
Part of his border defence strategy was the unsuccessful siege of Galambóc in 1458. The Hungarians launched atacks in northern Serbia in 1476, 1480 and 1481. Only in the campaign of 1481, led by Kinizsi, Golubac/Galambóc was mentioned as the theatre of war, when Jovan Jakšić, one of the Hungarian captains of Serbian origin, decapitate the Ottoman commander of Golubac in front of the castle gate.
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STEPHEN LAZAREVIĆ
(in Serbian: Стефан Лазаревић, in Hungarian: Lazarevics István, c. 1375 - 19 July 1427; Serbian prince from 1389, despot from 1402 until his death.) Stephen was the successor of Prince Lazar, who had died at the Battle of Kosovo (1389). Stephen had to accept the Ottoman supremacy and as a sultan's vassal he took part in the battles with the Hungarians during the last decade of the 14th century. When the Ottoman pressure eased after the battle of Ankara (1402), Stephen made an alliance with the Hungarians and became a vassal of King Sigismund in 1403/1404. Sigismund donated him the rest of the Banat of Mačva/Macsó and Belgrade in return for military support in the fight against the Ottomans.
In 1408, King Sigismund admitted István Lazarevics to the Order of the Dragon. In 1411, Despot Stefan renewed the vassal relationship toward the Hungarian king in Buda. King Sigismund in return committed to defend the Serbian ruler and Serbia against the Ottomans. The Hungarian king had sent his military aid to Despot Stefan on several occasions. The despot received a number of estates across Hungary (Szatmár, Németi, Nagybánya, Felsőbánya, Munkács, the towns of Debrecen and Böszörmény, and also the possessions in the south of Hungary).
In 1426, the Treaty of Tata was concluded between Sigismund and Stephen Lazarević. According to the treaty, since Despot Stephen did not have a male heir, after his death his nephew Đurađ Branković would become the ruler of Serbia. He would also inherited Stephan’s estates in Hungary as the vassal of the Hungarian crown. On the other hand, the castles and estates of Nándorfehérvár/Belgrade, Galambóc/Golubac and Macsó/Mačva would pass to Hungary. Stephen Lazarević died the year following the treaty, during the Ottoman offensive against Serbia in 1427. The treaty was implemented partially, since King Sigismund, who sent the military assistance to Đurađ Branković against the Ottomans, menaged to take over only Belgrade. The castle of Golubac/Galambóc was handed over by its commander to the Ottomans instead of King Sigismund.
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PÉTER PERÉNYI
(? - June 1423) Member of the noble branch of the Perényi family. During his lifetime he was a prince of Székely, Ungh, Zemplén, Maramures, Satu Mare, Ugocsa, Abaúj, Bereg; in 1397 and 1400-1401 he was a ban of Macho and a castle-keeper of Sarov (1404-1412). He is also mentioned as a lord and castellan of Spiš (1402-1404). From 1415 until his death, he was a magistrate.
In 1387, when King Sigismund of Hungary set out to break the crusade of János Horváti and János Palisnai of Vrana, Perényi took part in the siege of Gomnec Castle. During the fighting, he was critically wounded: his ribs were broken and he was dragged half dead from the battlefield.
In the autumn of 1389, he took part in King Sigismund's campaign in the south of Hungary, and because of his outstanding conduct in the retaking of several castles, he was granted estates in Valkó County.
In 1390 he distinguished himself during King Sigismund’s siege of Galambóc. The Hungarian army failed to recapture the fortress, and Perényi himself received a serious wound to the head: an arrow had pierced his neck through his left ear.
However, he survived this and served the Hungarian kingdom for more than 33 years, first in the Transylvanian theatre of operations, then in the Western European campaigns.
He later fought in the Kingdom of Hungary, but in the twilight of his life he was again called upon to carry out a number of foreign missions, from Paris to London.
He died in June 1423.
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ISTVÁN BÁTHORY
Prince of Transylvania (1571-1586), King of Poland (1576-1586) and Grand Duke of Lithuania (1576-1586). István Báthory, Prince of Transylvania, was elected King of Poland in 1576. This was on condition that he married Anna Jagelló, a Polish royal, who was ten years his senior. Even after his election as King of Poland, he did not abdicate the Transylvanian throne, and in practice he implemented the Polish-Transylvanian union. Throughout his life, he sought a great power alliance in Central Europe to drive the Turkish out of the region. He had no children. After his unexpected death (1586), he was buried in the Cracow Cathedral.
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GYÖRGY RÁKÓCZI II
(1648-1660), Prince of Transylvania. As part of a seemingly ill-advised political manoeuvre, the prince became involved in ’northern wars, ’a political power struggle that strongly influenced the political relations of Europe in the 17th century. Ignoring the protests of the Ottoman Porte, he launched an attacked on Poland and captured Sandomierz, among other places. After local victories, having been deserted by his Swedish allies and Transylvania devastated by Polish and Wallachian troops, he abandoned his army and returned to Transylvania. His soldiers were taken prisoner of war and he himself became embroiled in a civil war within Transylvania. He died of head wounds in one of the battles of the civil war, the Battle of Szászfenes.
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STEPHEN DRAGUTIN
(in Serbian: Стефан Драгутин), the elder son of King Uroš I, lived c. 1250-1316. He was the king of Serbia from 1276 to 1282, and “the king of Srem” from 1282 until his death. Dragutin married Katalin, one of the daughters of King Stephen V of Hungary (ruled 1270-1272) around 1270 as a part of the Hungarian-Serbian peace agreement after the war in 1268. He overthrew his father with Hungarian help and became the king of Serbia in 1276. Due to a severe leg injury, he had to hand over the throne to his younger brother Uroš II Milutin in 1282. After withdrawing from the throne, he retained the royal title and the northern parts of the Serbian state. In 1284, Dragutin received the regions of Mačva/Macsó with Belgrade/Nándorfehérvár in northern Serbia, as well as Usora/Ózora and Soli/Só in Bosnia from his brother-in-low King László IV. Since Mačva was also considered the part of Syrmia/Srem/Szerém, Dragutin was informally called the “king of Srem”. King András III militarily supported Dragutin against his enemies, such as the lords of Kučevo/Kucsó and Braničevo/Barancs in 1291/1292. These lands along the Danube were joined to the state of Dragutin. His relations with King Charles I of Anjou were marked by periods of conflict and cooperation. After Dragutin’s death Charles I supported his son Vladislav II against King Milutin, which eventually culminating in an open warfare in 1319.
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CHARLES I.
More popularly known as Charles Robert (ruled 1308-1342). Hungarian King. His Balkan policy led to a strained relationship with the Serbian prince, eventually culminating in an open warfare in 1319. Political and military events with varying degrees of success finally ended in a Serbian victory. Both Kučevo/Kucsó, Braničevo/Barancs and the bigger part of Mačva/Macsó fell into Serbian hands, only to be recaptured by Louis the Great.
In the course of these wars, the Hungarian armies also captured the fortress of Galambóc/Golubac in 1334, first mentioned on this occasion.
In the course of these wars, the Hungarian armies also captured the castle of Galambóc in 1334, first mentioned on this occasion.
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GALLUS ANONYMOUS (THE ANONYMOUS GALL)
cca. 1065 – cca. 1116
Chronicler of unknown identity, writing in Latin. The first known chronicler of Poland, author of the so-called ’Polish Chronicle’.
Similarly to the Hungarian Anonymus, his identity is unknown. All he says about himself is that he met the Polish king while staying (studying?) in Hungary and followed him to Poland.
His name is of completely uncertain origin: the adjective 'Gall' is thought by some to have been French - possibly Italian - while others believe that it only refers to the place of his first studies and that he could have been of Dalmatian, Flemish, German or Hungarian Slavic origin.
He may have been a Benedictine monk, who probably met Boleslav in the Abbey of St. Edward in Somogyvár.
His chronicle, based on the stories it contains, was probably written between 1112 and 1116.
The rest of his life, his fate and the circumstances of his death are unknown.
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IN 1239
The 13-year-old Duke Bolesław V Wstydliwy (the Chaste) married the 15-year-old Hungarian princess Kinga /Kunigunda, daughter of King Béla IV, to whom he was engaged at an early age. At the same time, Bolesław the Pious, prince of Kujawy, married Kinga’s sister, Blessed Jolán.
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1242
Komárom/Komarno Castle successfully resisted the Tatar attack. We know from a letter of King Béla IV sent to the Pope, that besides Fehérvár, Esztergom, Veszprém, Tihany, Győr, Pannonhalma, Moson, Sopron, Vasvár, Zala, Lockenhaus/Léka, Bratislava/Pozsony, Nitra/Nyitra, Fiľakovo/Fülek and Abaújvár, this castle was also in the hands of the Hungarians on 2 February 1242.
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THE WINTER OF 1241-42
After the victorious battle of Muhi and the capture of Buda, the Mongol/Tatar army set out to conquer the Transdanubian region. They approached Esztergom from the north, from the left bank of the Danube. After the Hungarian troops had fallen to the Tatars' stratagem, the Mongol troops crossed the river and, after blockading, they began the siege of the city. The residents defended themselves in vain, the Tatars broke through the ditch and the city walls. As the inhabitants buried their treasures and slaughtered their animals, the attackers showed no mercy either: they massacred all but a few slaves. But they couldn’t occupy the castle. Under the leadership of the Spanish castle reeve (várispán) Simeon, they heroically repelled the attacks, and the Mongol troops were unable to take it.
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1270
In this year, King István V went to Kraków in person, where he entered into a defensive and offensive alliance with Duke Bolesław
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13th CENTURY
The date of the castle's construction is uncertain, as is the name or the origin of its builder. Various stylistic critical analyses suggest that the castle may have been built by a Serbian nobleman, but the date of construction remains undetermined. Some believe that the building began in the late 13th century, in others opinion, the core of the castle was only completed in the early 14th century.
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1390
(According to other sources in 1391) Ottoman troops under the leadership of Sultan Bajazed I (Bajazid) besieged the castle for the first time and successfully captured it.
King Sigismund personally besieged Golubac/Galambóc in the fall of 1390 after the Turks captured it, but his army (in which PerényiPéter distinguished himself) failed to recapture the castle.
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1335
On the first Congress of Visegrád, King Károly I (Károly Róbert) of Hungary, King Jan Lucemburský (Luxemburg) of the Czech Kingdom and King Kazimierz III Wielki (the Great) of Poland met in Visegrád. During this event, among other things, King Jan Lucemburský (Luxemburg) renounced his claim to the Polish throne. The Hungarian and Czech kings, as arbitrators in the dispute between Poland and the Teutonic Order, awarded Kujawy and other territories to the Polish king and Pomerania to the Teutonic Knights. A new trade route between the Czech Kingdom and Hungary, was marked out, bypassing Vienna.
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1339
King Károly I (Károly Róbert) signed an inheritance treaty with King Kazimierz III Wielki (the Great) of Poland, in case the Polish king died without a son as an heir. In this case, King Károly I (Károly Róbert) would have made one of his sons the heir to the Polish throne.
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1241
Mongol invasion of Poland. On 18 March at Chmielnik, the Tatars inflicted a heavy defeat on the Knights of Kraków and Sandomierz. The Polish army was virtually annihilated, both leaders died and the city fell to the Tatars. At the Battle of Legnica, on 9 April 1241, the relief army, which included among others the knights of the Teutonic Order, the Knights of St. John and the Knights Templar, also suffered a catastrophic defeat. There was no one to stand up to the Mongol army. However, the following year, the Mongol troops withdrew from Poland as well.
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1683
After the successful Battle of Vienna and the Battle of Tát, the Christian army, strengthen in confidence, besieged the castle of Esztergom and captured it after only 9 days of siege.
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1386
In this year, Jadwiga/ Hedvig and Jagiełło were married. During her short life, the young Queen Jadwiga/Hedvig of the Anjou dynasty, Queen of the Poles, did much to convert Lithuanians to Christianity and made a significant contribution to the development of the University of Kraków (she was canonised by St John Paul II in 1997).
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1351
King Lajos I (Great) of Hungary visited the city.
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1305
In 1305, during a campaign started in 1304, Władysław I Łokietek (future king of Poland) occupied Lesser Poland, including the town of Sandomierz, with Hungarian help.
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1335
The Congress of Visegrád. This meeting had a fundamental importance in the changing economic relations between the Hungarian, Czech and Polish Kingdoms. New trade routes were marked out to facilitate the economic development of southern Poland.
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1384
The Poles chose Hedvig, the younger daughter of King Lajos I (Great) of Hungary, as their queen, who reigned as Jadwiga Andegaweńska from 1384 to 1399. The daughter of King Lajos I was still underage, so the Polish lords obliged their child queen to marry the Grand Duke of Lithuania, Jagiełło (Władysław II Jagiełło).
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1387
Palatine István Lackfi seized the castle.
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1657
The Prince of Transylvania, György Rákóczi II joined the so-called "Northern War". Ignoring the objection of the Sublime Port, he attacked Poland and among others, he captured Sandomierz. Most of the buildings, that still remained unharmed after the devastation of the previous year (1656), fell now victims of the fire. To make things even worse, the city was hit by the plague, which was fatal for a significant part of the population. The remaining inhabitants were permanently impoverished thus the reconstruction of the town was considerably delayed.
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1683
A strong Polish army led by the Polish king, Jan III Sobieski (1674-1696), arrived in the Carpathian Basin and played a significant role in the war of 1683. First he helped the imperial troops to relieve Vienna, then he played a determinative role in the Battle of Štúrovo/Párkány by defeating again the main army of the Ottomans. Because of his political and personal conflicts with the imperial commanders, he did not take part directly in the siege of Esztergom, but returned home rather resentfully.
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EARLY 14th CENTURY
During the reign of King Károly I (Károly Róbert) , relations between the Hungarians and the Serbs became more tense.
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1387
The Serbian Prince Lazar Hrebeljanović laid siege to and recaptured the fortress.
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1680S
Poland takes an active part in the liberation of Hungary from the Ottomans. Within the framework of this action, Poland, on one hand, opened a new front against the Ottomans and on the other hand, played a crucial role in the liberation of Vienna and in the reoccupation of Esztergom.
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1604
The town burned down again as a result of the conflict between the castle’s commander, Molart, who was loyal to the house of Habsburg, and the citizens, who supported István Bocskai.
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1315
King Károly I (Károly Róbert) donated the town to the Archbishopric of Esztergom, but it remained under the control of Máté Csák.
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1389
Battle of Kosovo/Rigómező. The Serbian army was defeated, Prince Lazar Hrebeljanović died and and his successors were forced to accept the supreme authorityof Sultan Bajazid I.
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1300
The city and Castle Hill was occupied by King András III.
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1685
When the Christian army was occupied by the siege of the castle of Nové Zámky/Érsekújvár, Serdar Seytan İbrahim intended to liberate the Ottoman fortress of Nové Zámky/Érsekújvár by attacking the castle of Esztergom, which was on the hand of the Christians, thus luring away the main imperial forces from the siege of the Highland fortress. Therefore he began to besiege the Esztergom castle at the beginning of August, but suffered a crushing defeat at the Battle of Tát on 16 August. Thus, he could not capture Esztergom and even Nové Zámky/Érsekújvár fell into Christian hands too.
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1307
Máté Csák occupied the castle with masterfulness, in other words with a siege.
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1390
Ottoman troops appear on the banks of the Danube and begin to "test" the Hungarian border castle system. The armies of Sultan Bajazed I (Bajazid) occupied Golubac/Galambóc.
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1690S
After the wars of liberation against the Ottomans, new large-scale settling began to the deserted areas; and the Serb population, who was loyal to and supported the defeated and retreated imperial troops, fled to the land of the Hungarian Kingdom. According to contemporaries, something between 40,000 and 50,000 Serbs moved.
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1620
Conflicts again. The castle’s commander Johannes Dittrich Reiffenberg, who was loyal to the Habsburgs, opposed the citizens who were on the side of Gábor Bethlen, and as a result the town burns down again.
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1334
Another campaign of King Károly I (Károly Róbert). He occupied, among others, the castle of Golubac/Galambóc.
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1319
The Serbian-Hungarian War broke out. Beograd/Nándorfehérvár/Belgrade and the Banate of Mačva/Macsó fall into the hands of the Hungarian ruler again.
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1270
In this year, King István V went to Kraków in person, where he entered into a defensive and offensive alliance with Duke Bolesław.
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1362
During the reign of King Kazimierz III Wielki (the Great) , the city was surrounded by defensive walls. At the same time, a royal palace was built in the town, and the earliest part of the castle was raised, which still stands and visible today.
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1490
After the death of King Mátyás I , Queen Beatrix retreated to Esztergom (i.e. she was banished there). The dwelling tower of the castle (White tower) became her residence. Since she had a grudge against the Archbishop Tamás Bakócz, because of the abuses committed around the coronation, the archbishop moved to the centuries-old Palace of Grand Prince Géza on the northern side of the hill. This made it possible to Queen Beatrix to modernise the southern palace in Renaissance style.
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1440
King Ulászló I (Władysław III Warneńczyk of Poland) captured the castle of Esztergom from the resisting Archbishop of Esztergom by siege.
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Thank you for visiting !
For more information about the project click here.
Please send your questions and comments to info@castlesregions.eu
You can access the project participants' own websites here
KOMARNO
GOLUBAC
SANDOMIERZ
ESZTERGOM
MTTSZ
Komárno:
PhDr. Andrej OZIMY - director of Pro Castello Comaromiensi
Sandomierz:
The authors of the exhibition are employees of the Historical Department of the Museum
Ms. Karolina Gara
Ph. Tomisław Giergiel – head of the historical department
Golubac:
Dr. Petar V Krestic, Scientific Adviser of the Historical Institute
Field of research: political, cultural and social history of Serbia and the Serbian people in the 19th century, economic, political, educational and cultural ties of the Principality and Kingdom of Serbia with Serbs from the Habsburg Monarchy
Dr Miloš Ivanović, senior research associate at the Historical Institute
Field of research: History of the Serbian people in the late Middle Ages
Dr. Aleksandar Krstić, senior research associate at the Historical Institute
Field of research: political, social and economic history of Serbian countries and Southeast Europe in the late Middle Ages and Serbian-Hungarian relations, historical geography and demography, and auxiliary historical sciences.
_________________________
The project is co-financed by the Governments of Czechia, Hungary, Poland and Slovakia through Visegrad Grants from International Visegrad Fund. The mission of the fund is to advance ideas for sustainable regional cooperation in Central Europe.
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1570
On Easter Day (26 March that year), the Assembly of the Orders met in Sandomierz, where the nobility of the provinces and the leaders of the religious denominations (Evangelical, Reformed and Hussite Czech Brethren) agreed to unite to enforce the religious freedom in Poland. The decrees, accepted here, three years later became condition of the election of the kings. This event is still known in the Polish history as the "Zgoda Sandomierska".
Its location and wealth played a significant role in choosing this town as the venue of this outstandingly important meeting. The requirements for the venue were: to have a well-defended city centre, to have enough wealthy burgess’ houses to accommodate the delegations and to have a centre, where they could confer. This is how they found Sandomierz.
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1412
King Zsigmond (Sigismund von Luxembourg) mortgaged 13 cities of Spisz/Spiš/Szepesség to Poland. These towns were returned to Hungarian jurisdiction in 1772, at the time of the First Parition of Poland.
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1202
King Imre intervened in the struggle for the throne in Serbia, helping Vukan Nemanjić against his brother Grand župan Stephen. Imre added the title of King of Serbia to his titles. He wanted in effect to acknowledge his conquests in Serbia thus starting a several-decades-long feud (family appanage of the members of the Árpád dynasty or their relatives).
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1226
According to some researchers, the settlement was officially granted town status before 1226, in other opinion this happened, unfortunately for them, just before 1241.
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1701
The border defence region of the River Sava, Danube, Tisza and Maros/Mures was set up, where, in one group within the country, Serbian soldiers were settled down with their families.
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1703
During the Rákóczi’s War of Independence, the inhabitants of the town supported the Kuruc-side, but the commander of the castle was loyal to the Habsburg emperor and tried to prevent this. However, he could only prevent the besiege of the town by the Kuruc army, in exchange for considerable gifts.
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1268
Walter was formally invested with his rights, and on this occasion the king issued a bull containing a description of the province. According to these, several villages were annexed to the town, which, united, formed the nucleus of the later city.
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1256
After repeated protests from the city's inhabitants, King Béla IV granted permission for the citizens of Esztergom to move back to the city. The palace they had been using was donated to the archdiocese. In the same charter, the king also donated the newly built palace on the south side of the hill to the church. He himself moved out of the city and moved his residence to Buda. Thus, the whole of the Castle Hill came under the authority of the Church.
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1706
During the Rákóczi’s War of Independence, the Kuruc army, which had very weak artillery, captured the castle on 15-16 September, after a rather half-hearted siege lasting almost two months. The imperial troops retook it just in 13 days of assault, in October-November of the same year. After this event, the castle lost its military importance and was soon emptied. Its buildings were received by the Church. After several demolitions and reconstructions, the remains are the earliest monuments to remind of the glorious period of Hungary’s early medieval history when Esztergom was the seat of the Hungarian kings.
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IN 1265
King Béla IV mortgaged the town and then donated it to Walter, the vice-master of the mint (in Hungarian: alispán, in Latin: vice comes). The inhabitants of the settlement were granted than the same rights as the citizens of Buda.
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1763
The town was hit by one of the most devastating earthquakes in Hungary. The epicentre of it was somewhere near the town. Dozens of civil and ecclesiastical buildings were destroyed and the buildings of the castle also suffered significant damage. This only strengthened the Treasury's decision to terminate the military importance of Komarno/Komárom and to sell the military buildings to the citizens for demolition.
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1703-1707
During Rákóczi’s War, seduced by the promises of the Monarchy that their position in the Military Border would improve, while at the same time significant intolerance of the small and middle Hungarian nobility, the Serbs took sides with the Austrians, which was relentlessly avenged by Ferenc Rákóczi II. The ensuing conflict, practically Serbian-Hungarian civil war caused considerable damage to both sides, especially to the civilian population.
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1286
The town was officially re-founded. The settlement was given the so called "Magdeburg rights/laws”, thus rising to the approximate status of a free royal town in Hungarian terms.
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1663-1673
The medieval town, including 61 houses, the town hall and the Evangelical church, was demolished. The construction of the New Castle block began on the places of the buildings aforementioned.
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1655
The Swedish army occupied the town (during the so-called Northern War between 1655 and 1660, which was officially fought over the Polish-Swedish succession to the throne).
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1682
The newly built city became surrounded by ramparts, because of the fight led by Imre Thököly.
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1249
Fearing of another Tatar attack, King Béla IV ordered the citizens of Esztergom to move up the Castle hill. He gave them permission to settle on the northern side of the hill (near the former palace of Grand Prince Géza) and the possibility of having their own parish on the hill.
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1683
At the news of the Ottoman campaign against Vienna, the citizens ran away and set the city on fire again, but the siege of the city did not take place.
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1604
A rather powerless and therefore unsuccessful Ottoman siege-attempt. The invaders did not even get as far as firing the castle walls, the battle was all the while fought against the fortress on the St. Thomas Hill.
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1656
The Poles, led by Stefan Czarniecki, using guerrilla warfare, defeat the Swedish troops and among others, they retook the town of Sandomierz. The retreating Swedish troops ravaged and burnt down the town, perishing most of its buildings. They also destroyed a major part of the castle (palace). Only the western wing remained unharmed.
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1304
The castle and the cathedral were taken over by the armies of the Czech King Václav III (in Hungarian King Vencel, in Polish King Wacław III).
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1330S
The first credible mention of the castle.
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1605
By this time the Ottomans successfully besieged Esztergom, so it came under the control of the Pasha of Buda.
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1320
The Hungarian king, Károly I (Károly Róbert) and the Polish king, Władysław I Łokietek formed a league. The Hungarian king helped the Polish king against the Teutonic Knights. In 1320, Károly I married Elżbieta Łokietkówna (Erzsébet Lokietek), daughter of Władysław.
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AFTER 1340
Archbishop Csanád Telegdi's significant construction works on the cathedral on the Castlehill and (probably) on the palace.
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1544
On the place of the medieval castle, the construction of the fortress, the so called Old castle (Öregvár), began. This year marks the beginning of the destruction of the medieval Komarno/Komárom castle (and town). The building of the new fortress, known today as Old castle, started at the same time as the demolition of the medieval castle, which might dates back to the beginning of the sire reeve’s time.
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1284
King Stephan Dragutin, who retained the northern parts of Serbia after withdrawing from the Serbian throne, received the Banate of Macsó/Mačva (Macsói Bánság) and Belgrade/Nándorfehérvár from his brother-in-low László IV. King András III militarily supported Dragutin against his enemies, such as the lords of Kučevo/Kucsó and Braničevo/ Barancs in 1291/1292. These lands along the Danube were joined to the state of Dragutin.
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ULÁSZLÓ I
Hungarian king as Ulászló I: 1440-1444. In 1440, the Hungarian orders elected Ulászló III, who had been crowned king of Poland earlier, as their king under the name of Ulászló I. He was the son of King (Jagelló) Ulászló II. His reign in Hungary proved to be a continuous civil war against the noble party supporting László V. As part of this war, he even had to besiege Esztergom to persuade Archbishop Dénes Széchy of Esztergom to crown him. He disappeared on the battlefield of Varna in 1444, while fighting the Turks. (His body was never found. According to some legends, he survived the battle, sailed to Portugal and died there. However, it is more likely that he was killed in the battle.)
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SAINT ADALBERT
(955/956-997) (Saint) Adalbert, Bishop of Cracow. According to legends and chronicles, he baptised Vajk, the son of Géza. Vajk was baptised Stephen and became the first king of Hungary. (The exact meaning of the term „kryzma” in the text describing the event is disputed. It is not clear whether it was a baptism or a confirmation ceremony, or perhaps both.) Adalbert was canonised by Pope Sylvester I in 999, within a remarkably short time after his martyrdom by Prussians in the northern region of what today’s Poland. He is celebrated on the 23rd of April.
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FERENC RÁKÓCZI II
Ferenc Rákóczi II of Felsővadász (Borsi, 27 March 1676 - Rodostó, 8 April 1735) Hungarian nobleman, leader of the Rákóczi War of Independence, Prince of Transylvania, Imperial Prince (Reichsfürst).
As the head of the Hungarian dissidents and opponents of Habsburg rule, he tried to establish political and military relations with the King of France in the late 17th century. The Austrian authorities arrested and imprisoned him for plotting against the Habsburgs. In 1701 he escaped from his prison in Vienna and fled to Poland. He lived in Cracow and Warsaw, and was accompanied in his hiding by Miklós Bercsényi. When he returned home in 1703, he was helped by the Poles, including Prince Stanisław Leszczyński, against whom Tsar Peter I of Russia wanted to help him to the Polish throne.
The war of independence between 1703 and 1711 was fought with varying success. The Kuruc fighters never had an infantry or artillery sufficient enough to win a major battle, or to occupy a town or territory permanently. The Habsburg armies, on the other hand, did not have the cavalry to stop the marauding Kuruc. Thus, the war was fought throughout the country. Rákóczi's troops besieged Esztergom in 1706 in a campaign to conquer the Danube region. The campaign failed eventually, and Stahrenberg's troops captured the castle in a counterattack. This was the last siege of Esztergom.
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1543
The Turkish troops successfully besieged the castle of Esztergom. The fortress suffered minor damage, the vault of the dwelling tower’s top floor collapsed and the sanctuary of the cathedral was destroyed. But despite all that, most of the castle remained habitable and in 1560, the great hall of the palace became the representative reception hall of the Bay of Esztergom.
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1430S
The Rozgonyi family obtained the town. In 1437 they still owned it.
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KING BÉLA III OF HUNGARY
cca. 1172-1196. One of the most prominent rulers in the history of the Árpád dynasty. During his reign, he reformed the public administration, made literacy compulsory in royal offices, established the chancellery, and raised important social groups. Having been brought up at the Byzantine court as a child and a young man, the Byzantine influence on court culture was significant during his reign. He also sought to maintain good relations with the Byzantine Empire, however, he occupied considerable territory in the Balkans. He had many children, at least seven, from two wives. During his reign, central power in the country was greatly strengthened and the Kingdom of Hungary became one of the most important empires in Europe. He was buried in Székesfehérvár. His grave was found undisturbed in December 1848, a rare exception among royal tombs.
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GÉZA, GRAND PRINCE
Hungarian Grand Prince. He was born cca. 945 and ruled from cca. 970 to 997. His father was Taksony, and his son was named Vajk, later baptised Stephen. His outstanding achievement was to lay the foundations for the conversion of the Kingdom of Hungary to Western Christianity. In 975, he delegated 12 Hungarian nobles to the Quedlinburg royal meeting, where they were baptised. According to legend, Géza was among them, who was baptised Stephen.
His wife, Sarolt (daughter of Gyula of Transylvania), also supported the spread of Christianity. She was responsible for the founding of the monastery of the nuns, a Greek rite monastery. in Veszprém Valley.
His successor and son, Vajk, later baptised Stephen, was the first Hungarian king to be crowned and accepted abroad.
Géza established his seat in the middle of his winter residence, in the area of today's Esztergom, on the Castle Hill. He also built the earliest royal palace on the northern side of the same hill.
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1539
King János I (János Szapolyai) married the Polish princess Izabela Jagiellonka. They had one child, János Zsigmond (later King János II). After the early death of King János I (in 1540), on behalf of her son, Queen Izabella governed the Principality of Transylvania (with the support of the Turkish Sultan) until her death in 1559.
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ILONA (JELENA)
Daughter of Uroš, Grand Župan of Raška, of the Serbian Vukanović dynasty. She got married to Prince Béla, cousin of King Stephen II of Hungary (ruled 1116-1131) around 1128. The marriage between Béla and Ilona resulted in at least six children, three of whom later became kings: Prince Géza (ruled 1141-1162), László and István (counter-kings) and Prince Álmos, and Princess Zsófia and Gertrúd (who became the second wife of the Polish ruler Micaeslav III around 1149 and died in 1156).
The queen, who came from Serbia, received, among other things, the island of Csepel as a wedding present. Instead of the blind monarch, Queen Ilona was the de facto ruler of the country.
At the Diet of Arad in 1131, she had 68 lords deemed dangerous to her reign slaughtered (nominally for their part in Béla's blindness). After Béla's death, she ruled the country as a regent, together with her brother Palatine Belus (Beloš), until Géza came of age.
The date of her death is unknown, however, by 1157 only her memory was alive.
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(III.) JAN SOBIESKI
(Polish: Jan III Sobieski, (1629 -1696). He was a ruler coming from a noble family, and Grand Duke of Lithuania from 1674. Grand standard-bearer of the Crown from 1656, Grand Marshal of the Crown from 1665, Hetman of the Crown from 1666, Grand Hetman of the Crown from 1668, King of Poland from 1674.
Under his leadership a strong Polish army was introduced in the Carpathian Basin, playing a major role in the wars of 1683. He first helped the imperial troops to take back Vienna, and then played a decisive role in the Battle of Párkány by again defeating the Turkish army. However, the Polish army did not participate directly in the siege of Esztergom, but returned to Cracow rather resentfully due to his political and personal conflicts with the imperial commanders. Unusually, he died piecefully of a heart attack in Warsaw, not on a battlefield.
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1249
Fearing of another Tatar attack, King Béla IV ordered the citizens of Esztergom to move up the Castle hill. He gave them permission to settle on the northern side of the hill (near the former palace of Grand Prince Géza) and the possibility of having their own parish on the hill.
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1594
After the capture of Győr, Grand Vizier Sinan marched to besiege Komarno/Komárom, but the defenders burned the whole town before the Ottoman army arrived and the population fled to Trnava/Nagyszombat. However, the garrison, led by the commander of the castle, Erasmus Braun, held out and after a month of heroic fight they forced the Ottoman army to retreat.
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1530
The archdiocese and the chapter (capitulum) moved to Trnava/Nagyszombat and Bratislava/Pozsony, thus Esztergom ceases to be seat of the archsee for two centuries. In this year, King Ferdinand I recapture again the castle and the city.
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1440
During the reign of King Kazimierz IV Jagiellończyk (1447-1492), the "great hall" part of the castle (palace) was built, i.e. the representative building complex of the princely seat. During this period the Hungarian-Ottoman war took place, during which King Ulászló I (Władysław III Warneńczyk of Poland), fighting against the Sultan's main army, disappeared on the battlefield of Varna/Várna in 1444.
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Golubac was constantly in Ottoman hands from 1458 onwards. Ottoman defters from the second half of the 15th and the first decades of the 16th centuries clearly demonstrate this fact, as well as the Hungarian-Ottoman peace treaties of 1503 and 1519.
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1688
After the capture of Belgrade/Nándorfehérvár, the Ottoman garrison surrendered the castle of Golubac/Galambóc without a siege, which was occupied by Christian troops. By order of the newly appointed Austrian commander, Field Marshal (Margrave) Badensky, Serbian cavalry (called "hajduci" or "Serbian hussars") were deployed as crews in Belgrade and other places on the Danube.
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1403
King Zsigmond (Sigismund von Luxembourg) took Esztergom with a siege.
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1249
Fearing of another Tatar attack, King Béla IV ordered the citizens of Esztergom to move up the Castle hill. He gave them permission to settle on the northern side of the hill (near the former palace of Grand Prince Géza) and the possibility of having their own parish on the hill.
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1444
King Władysław III Warneńczyk was followed on the Polish throne by his younger brother, the Lithuanian Grand Duke, named Kazimierz IV Jagiellończyk (1444-1492). He married Elizabeth of Habsburg (Elżbieta Rakuszanka), the daughter of the Hungarian King Albert I of Habsburg.
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1440
The son of King Władysław II Jagiełło and Queen Jadwiga Andegaweńska (Hedvig of Anjou), who meanwhile had been crowned as King Władysław III Warneńczyk of Poland , was declared king by the Hungarian orders in 1440 and named King Ulászló I. He was killed on the battlefield of Varna/Várna fighting against the Ottoman army in 1444.
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1334
The castle was conquered by King Károly I (Károly Róbert) during his campaign and he left a garrison behind. The exact history of the castle's construction is unknown. At this time, probably only the part known today as the Upper Castle, with its 4 towers, stood. (The Lower Castle, where the great palace stood as well, was probably built later, perhaps in the following century.) Given its architecture and the time of construction, it is apparent that the fortification is divided into two main parts: the Inner Fort, with the tallest Donjon or defence tower, better known as the Hat Tower, and the Outer Fort, which was the first to come under attack of the enemies. The Inner Fort, or more precisely its Upper Compound, was the first to be constructed, whereas the Palace with its defensive tower as well as the system of towers and ramparts in the Outer Fort were built in later stages, most likely during the reign of despot Stefan Lazarevic. The Fortress was originally constructed in the cold weapons era, however during their rule the Ottomans erected a Cannon tower to defend the harbour and added battlements to the Outer Fort towers.
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1428
The siege of Golubac/ Galambóc in April-May 1428. In the spring of 1428, an army of approximately 15-20,000 soldiers, including Polish, Lithuanian and Wallachian auxiliaries, led by King Zsigmond, set off to take back the fortress of Golubac/Galambóc. This was the first siege fought by a Hungarian army, in which artillery played an important role. At the end of April, they started to shoot the fortress from land and from ships, but at the end of May, a relief army, led by the Sultan of the Ottoman Empire Murad II, appeared by the fortress. Seeing the hopelessness of the siege, King Zsigmond made a request for an armistice. As a result of the negotiations, the fortress remained under Ottoman authority, and the king could have marched his army to the other (left) bank of the Danube with a whole skin. However, the Ottomans broke the agreement and attacked the rearguard of the retreating army. According to the legend, king Zsigmond was taken on board and sailed away out of harms way by the wife of István Rozgonyi (he was the count/supremus comes/főispán) of Tamiš/Temes), Cecília Szentgyörgyi (who fought valiantly at the siege of the castle firing the cannons of her sloops on the castle and the Ottoman troops). However, the rearguard, which covered the king’s escape, was annihilated without survivors. The rearguard was led by the commander of the Polish-Lithuanian auxiliaries, the Polish nobleman Zawisza Czarny (Black), who was killed in action side by side with his soldiers, on the banks of the Danube.
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1490
In this year, the eldest son of Jadwiga Andegaweńska and Władysław II Jagiełło was crowned king by the Hungarians as Ulászló II (1490-1516) (Władysław II Jagiellończyk).
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1481
During the campaign of Pál Kinizsi in Serbia, one of his captains Jovan Jaksić (a Serbian nobleman from Hungary) beat and killed the Ottoman commander of Golubac/Galambóc, but the fortress remained in the possession of the Ottomans.
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1458
The Ottomans occupied the greatest part of Serbia. The fortress of Golubac/Galambócsurrendered to Mahmud Pasha Angelovićin August. The army of King Mátyás I besieged the fortress, but due to the party quarrels and inside fighting in Hungary, he was obliged to break the siege, so the castlewas left under Ottoman control.
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STEPHEN
Stephen I (Saint): king of Hungary, founder of the Western Christian Hungarian state. (born cca. 980, ruled: 1000-1038) His birth name was Vajk, and he was baptised Stephen. The first king of the Kingdom of Hungary. During his reign, he sought to strengthen the Western rite of Christianity in the country, opposing his subjects who followed the Byzantine rite and the former "pagan" religion. In his foreign policy he sought relations with Western Christian rulers and countries.
His seat was initially located in Esztergom, in the palace built by his father on the Castle Hill. Around 1016 (possibly in 1018) he moved his seat to Székesfehérvár.
In his last years, he sought refuge in the monastery of the Order of Lazar in Esztergom, in the healing powers of the local waters. He was buried in Székesfehérvár. He was canonized by Pope Gregory VII in 1083, during the reign of King St. Ladislaus. He is celebrated on the 20th of August.
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1595
Another Christian army, led by Miklós Pállfy and Karl Mansfeld besieged Esztergom. This time they were successful and the castle fell into the Christians’ hands. But it costed them dearly since most part of the cathedral was practically destroyed and every part of the royal palace, that rose above ground level, was also demolished. The west side of the Great Hall was also perished. After the siege, they started to modernise the castle's ramparts by building the the Lipót bastion and by improving the barbicans.
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1520
The palace was extended again considerably with the eastern wing, with an arcaded palace and with other buildings.
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1573
István Báthory, the Prince of Transylvania, was elected King of Poland, on condition that he married the ten years older Anna (Jagiellonka/ Jagellonská/Jagelló), who was the member of the Polish royal family. Since he did not renounce the Transylvanian throne after his coronation as King of Poland, thus he effectively implemented the Polish-Transylvanian Personal Union.
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1439
King Albert I of Habsburg died in the nearby village of Neszmély. The widowed Queen Elisabeth fled to the impregnable Komarno/Komárom.
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1598
The inhabitants returned and started to build a new town.
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1594
The first siege of the castle carried out by the Christian army - unsuccessful this time. During the long siege the palace and the cathedral were severely damaged. In the course of an assault on the Water City on 19 May, which was unsuccessful, Bálint Balassi was seriously wounded and died in the Hungarian camp on 30 May.
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1510
King Ulászló II of Hungary (also known as Vladislav II Jagellonský/Władysław II Jagiellończyk) convened the Diet to Tata, but because of the spread of the plague, the assembly was moved to Komarno/Komárom on 14 August. The meeting continued on the big island of the Danube (known today as Erzsébet sziget/Elizabeth Island) until the end of the month. According to the sources, not only Hungarian delegates but several foreign envoys also took part in it.
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1543
A large part of the population of Esztergom, fleeing from the Ottomans, was received into Komarno/Komárom, thus significantly increasing the town's population.
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1526
The Archbishop of Esztergom, László Szalkai, was killed in the Battle Of Mohács. The Ottomans did not stop on the battlefield, they marched into the country. The Ottomans occupied the undefended Buda castle and they besieged the castle of Esztergom. Although the commander of the castle, András Orbánczi, ran away, the combined force of the soldiers and peasants from the surrounding area, led by the lieutenant of the royal infantry, Maté Nagy, was able to defend the castle.
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1526
Gáspár Ráskai, the commander of János Szapolyai, captured the castle.
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1408
Despot Stefan Lazarević ("the Tall"), the successor of Prince Lazar Hrebeljanović, who had died in the Battle of Kosovo/Rigómező (1389), was one of the first to admit to the Order of the Dragon founded by King Zsigmond. In 1403/1404 the king donated to him the rest of the Banate of Mačva/Macsó and Belgrade/Nándorfehérvár in return for military support in the fight against the Ottomans. Despot Stefan also managed to gain the castle of Golubac at some point before 1410, when he stayed there on his way back from Constantinople.
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1521
During the glorious campaign of Sultan Suleiman I, after the occupation of Šabac and Belgrad/Nándorfehérvár. The line of the border fortress system of the Hungarian Kingdom, which had been built on the territory of Serbia collapsed. And the war continued on the land of the Hungarian Kingdom.
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1440
The future King László V was born here on 22 February 1440. The Queen had her lady-in-attendance Ilona Kottaner bring the crown to Komarno/Komárom. (After the queen had it stolen from the Visegrád castle.) In this year, the royal court stayed here for 4 months, even the envoys were received here.
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1527
On 9 August, King Ferdinand I seized the castle and reinforced it by foreign mercenaries. At the same time, Serbian gunboat crewmen settled down along the Danube, establishing the foundations of the gunboat crewmen community of Komarno/Komárom.
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1426
In 1426, the Treaty of Tata was concluded between King Zsigmondand Despot Stefan Lazarević. According to the treaty, after the death of Stefan (whohad nota son as a heir) his nephew Đurađ Branković (BrankovicsGyörgy) would become the ruler of Serbia. He would also inherited Stephan’s estates in Hungary as the vassal of the Hungarian crown, while the castles and estates of Belgrade/Nándorfehérvár, ofGolubac/Galambóc and of Macsó/Mačvawouldpass to Hungary. Of the castles mentioned in the Treaty of Tata, Golubac/Galambóc posed amajor problem, as its Serbian castellan (according to Hungarian documents and the Serbian chronicle he was the Voivode Jeremiah)claimed thatDespot Stefan owed him 12 000 forints, and he would have handed over the castle to King Zsigmond onlyif the kinghad paid off the sum indicated. It seems that King Zsigmond was not willing to make this deal, because the castle was handed over to the Ottomans (probably in exchange for the payment of the sum demanded).
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1448
In the second Battle of Kosovo/Rigómező, the Serbian army did not take part because Despot Đurađ adhered to the agreement with the sultan from 1444, that caused the conflict between the despot and János Hunyadi. The Hungarian army lost the battle and even János Hunyadi himself was taken prisonerin Smederevo. He was released by the Serbian despot only after the political negotiations, mediated by the Hungarian Diet, which included the returning of some Hungarian estates to the Branković family.
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1529
At the news of the Ottoman army marching on Vienna, the garrison of the castle ran away and left it to the Ottomans without a siege. (According to the legend, only the town judge was found in the castle, who was locked in prison.) However, the Ottomans did not occupy the fortress, but marched away to Vienna, thus in the autumn, after the failed Ottoman siege of Vienna, the Habsburg army was able to retake the castle without fight.
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1426
In this year the Treaty of Tata was concluded between King Zsigmond and Despot Stefan Lazarević. According to the treaty, the the Serbian Despotate becomes vassal of the Hungarian Kingdom; after the death of Stefan (who had not a son as an heir) ĐurađBranković (BrankovicsGyörgy) becomes despot, and the castles and estates of Belgrade/Nándorfehérvár, of Golubac/Galambóc and of Macsó/Mačva pass to Hungary. The treaty failed to be implemented, the castle of Golubac/Galambóc was handed over by its commander to the Turks instead of King Zsigmond .
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1465
According to tradition, King Mátyás I visited Komarno/Komárom for the first time during his campaign against the Hussites in 1465. He became so fond of the castle that later he had a Renaissance palace built here.
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1490
A convoy of ships, carrying the body of King Mátyás I from Vienna to Buda, first stopped in Komarno/Komárom.
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The Komárom Castle (Fortress) today
The fortifications built on the site of the medieval castle and the medieval town were under the control of the military of the actual state possessing the area until the end of the Second World War. After the end of the world war, the Soviet army, realising the strategic importance of the site and its buildings, seized significant areas on both coasts. In Hungary, they built one of the largest ammunition depots in Fort Monostor. They also had barracks in the areas of the Old and New Fortress on the Slovakian side. After the regime change, the Soviet troops withdrew from our region. However, the huge fortress system remained under military control until 2003.
Since then the fortress system are divided into two parts:
-The Öregvár, an earlier pentagonal fortress at the confluence of the Váh-Danube and the Great Danube belong to the Soviet army. Today it only can be accessed by the public with a guided tour at predetermined times. Over the past 20 years, the municipality has invested large sums of money in restoring the complex, removing 20th century ruins from the courtyard, cleaning the buildings and demolishing modern alterations where possible.
The tour includes a visit to the 16th century fortress (rebuilt later), the casemates and the adjacent ammunition factory. Upon request a "blind tour" of a section of the casemate system can be taken to experience the place in total darkness.
-The 17th-century foundations of the New Fortress were also re-used as a Soviet barracks. After its evacuation, the buildings were owned by the Slovak army for a time, later the municipality took over. The fortress was partially renovated in 1992 and has been undergoing a full reconstruction since 2013.
Today this complex can also be visited in guided group tours.
The rest of the Komárom fortress system is mostly in private hands. The 1st element of the Nádor Line has been demolished. Restaurants (and a casino) can be found in two of its forts, two other serve as company premises and warehouses. One fort is privately owned and Fort VII houses a Roman lapidarium (and again a restaurant). Unfortunately, the system of ramparts connecting the fortress elements has been built up over the last 20 years. Consequently, the walls, ramparts and ditches that were once visible are now hidden by the back gardens of luxury villas. Unfortunately it is no longer possible to walk along the defensive line at the top of the walls.
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1541
The fall of Buda and the Turkish occupation of the country’s centre induced a new wave of Serbian immigration, they became the majority of the population especially in the regions of Srem/Srijem/Szerémség and of Bácska/Bačka and in the region between the river Tisza and the river Maros.
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1451
János Hunyadi's retaliation campaign. During this action he captured most of the castles of Đurađ Branković (Brankovics György) in Hungary. In the same year they signed peace. Under the terms of the treaty, Mátyás, the son of János Hunyadi, engaged Erzsébet Cillei, the granddaughter of Đurađ Branković. (The betrothal and subsequent marriage did not last for a long time because of the death of the bridein 1455.)
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1529
During the marching towards Vienna, in September, the Ottoman army also besieged the castle of Esztergom. The Archbishop of Esztergom surrendered to the Ottoman Sultan.
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THE SAINT STEPHEN'S HALL
This is the most intactly surviving living space in Hungary from the end of the 12th century. It originally only functioned as a support to the wing above it, called the Beatrix Hall. Its vaulting, unique in Hungary at the time, and the finely elaborated column capitals show that, at the time of Béla III, even such seemingly ‘insignificant’ parts of a building were taken seriously. The hall served as the changing room of János Vitéz’s bath from the middle of the 15th century, then at the end of the 16th century it was used as a storage room. The marks found in the staircase suggest that the landing was used in the Turkish age as a baking oven.
Around the middle of the 19th century, because of the red marble column in the middle of the room, it was believed that Vajk (later King István/Stephen I) was born here, and the room was turned into a chapel in 1874. This is when the Neo-Roman window- and door-frames, the mosaic floor and the exceptionally high-quality fresco were made. The excavations of the 20th century proved that the room was built well after the previously assumed date, at the very end of the 12th century. Thus, during the reconstructions, part of the completions made in the 19th century were removed, while other parts were left unchanged as a result of which, the room in its current state presents the architectural and artistic relics of eight centuries.
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Archaeological finds have shown that the area has been inhabited since the Early Bronze Age, but archaeological research in the Old Fortress in 2009 already uncovered finds from the Eneolithic (most recent Stone Age) period. The Celts settled here, and then between 1st and 4th century the Romans established a significant legionary camp and town called Brigetio on the right bank of the Danube, and on the opposite bank its fortified bridgehead, Celemantia. From the finds of the Avar equestrian graves excavated in the city, it can be assumed that it was one of the centres of the 8th century Avar Kaganate.
In the 10th century, Ketel, the head of the clan, set up a winter accommodation in the area, which was confirmed by his son, Alaptolma. There was probably a hill fort here, which was protected, apart from the two rivers, by a moat connecting them. When King St. Stephen founded the first counties, he made Komárno one of his centres. The settlement became actively involved in the economic life of the country and we can be sure that the castle close to the western border of the country was constantly strengthened and improved.
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In the turbulent period after the defeat at Mohács, in November 1526, one of the leaders of John Zápolya, Gáspár Ráskay, occupied the castle of Komárno and the town. However, on August 9, 1527, after a short siege, the army of Ferdinand I invaded Komárno. From this day on, except for the glorious period of the War of Independence, the castle remained in the hands of the Habsburgs for the following three centuries. After the fall of Buda in 1541, the renovation of the medieval castle became urgent, so from 1544 the construction of the fortress meeting the military requirements of the time slowly began. In addition to the rivers, the two long-planned bridgeheads were completed in 1586. The Old Fortress was extended with a so-called New Fortress during the reign of Leopold I in the 17th century - thus becoming one of the strongholds of the Royal Danube fleet. Thanks to all this, Komárno withstood the attacks of the Turkish armies throughout the centuries and became an extremely important fortress, which played a decisive role in the Hungarian border fortress system defending the Habsburg Empire. It controlled the busiest Hungarian military route from the Balkans via Buda to Vienna, and prevented or facilitated the “shore change”, i.e. the crossing of the Danube. In case of fall - together with the fortress of Győr - nothing could have prevented the imperial city from being attacked directly. Accordingly, the Imperial War Council had always paid special attention to the construction and modernisation of the fortress. It also played an important role in diplomacy, functioning as a transfer point for ambassadors. The chief captain of the fortress was also responsible for forwarding all the official letters arriving here. At the same time, the city of Komárno was almost completely destroyed four times during the military events (1529,1594,1621,1683). Nevertheless, from the outside, it could have seem like an island of peace and security, as in 1610 a large number serfs fleeing Tolna (HU) settled in the city. Due to renovation and expansion of the fortress, the city moved further west, while the inhabitants were constantly exposed to the attacks of the Turks and the tyranny of the German commanders. They had to leave the city several times, but they always returned. Over the time, they also became involved in armed defence. During this period, as a result of the constant military situation, the once prosperous villages of Komárno County became predominantly wasteland.
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THE ROYAL CHAPEL
One of the most significant constructions of the Esztergom palace complex is the royal chapel. It was built at the end of the 12th century, beginning of the 13th century, on the walls of a former watchtower. Its nave is Romanesque, while its sanctuary is of Gothic style, and as such, it is considered to be the first Gothic church in Hungary. Its walls were decorated with a multi-layer fresco. Noteworthy is the 13th century painting depicting adorned, gold lions in a scarlet field, in a gold ring. Centuries later these lions were masked with partly curtain motifs and partly architectonic paintwork. Above these, scenes from the lives of the twelve apostles and of Jesus were painted, while the ceiling depicted the starry sky. The stone carvings and the ribs were also coloured. The chapel was lit from the West through a rose window and most probably through two smaller slit windows from the East. At the North, there was a sacristy, which- based on its red marble-covered sitting niche- may have been the king’s private chapel. In addition, in the South it had a side-chapel, which also served as an entrance to the royal chapel.
The royal chapel could initially be accessed from the ground floor, and from the 15th century onwards, from the terrace adjacent to the Marble Hall. The building was shot down during the 1595 siege. In the following years the ruins had been left untouched, then, in the early 16th century they were divided by an enormous wall along the sanctuary’s line. The eastern side, the sanctuary, was demolished, while the western side was filled up with earth to form a base for cannon stands. The remains of the chapel were discovered during the reconstruction works of 1934, they were restored in four years and were opened for the audience on 15 August, 1938.
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REVOLUTIONARY EVENTS OF 1848/49
There were also several large-scale drafts taking into consideration the military principles of the age made, however those changed a lot during the years of implementation. The work begun in 1810 was interrupted by the revolutionary events of 1848/49. The construction of the huge barracks, the commanders’ building, had already been finished in the New Fortress, the system of the barracks of the Old Fortress, which is still visible today, had been altered for storage purposes, the 4 bastions of the Palatine line and the ramparts connecting them were completed. The 5th bastion was half-finished at that time. On September 29, 1848, the Hungarian side took control of the fortress from the Austrian army. During the War of Independence, Komárno survived several sieges, but eventually on October 2, 1849, it capitulated under the command of General György Klapka. The 20,000 defenders of Komárno fortress received imperial safe conduct allowing them to settle down in the country or leave it freely. Since then, Komárno has been called "the last bastion of the Hungarian revolution".
Austrian besiegers relatively spared the fort, but the city lay in ruins. Most of the population, having had enough of the ordeals, moved out of the city: before the War of Independence, the population was 20,660, but in 1850, only 11,214 people lived in the city.
However, the military engineers soon went to work again. The Imperial Faculty of Military Engineering identified Komárno as its main focus and operational point. After repairing the damage caused during the fights, between 1850 and 1870 the four-branched Fort Csillag and the bridgehead of the Vág, as well as their rampart systems, were rebuilt. The huge Fort Monostor was also built during this period. When the imperial court fled from Vienna to Buda as a result of the Prussian-Austrian war that broke out in 1866, the treasures of the monarchy and the military treasury were secured in the fortresses of Komárno. It was then that the construction of the Váh line, consisting of two bastions and four smaller structures began. As the last member of the fortification system, the most modern fortress, Fort Igmánd, was built on the right bank of the Danube between 1871 and 1877. However, the planned connecting wall between the right bank forts was no longer completed. In 1891, there were 3,357 garrisons in the forts.
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THE MILITARY HISTORY OF THE CASTLE
The Castle of Esztergom was built in the centre of the country, far from all enemies and the borders, thus, as long as royal power was strong, it did not have to fear attacks. The first significant siege of the castle took place in the winter of 1241-1242, when the Tatars occupied and destroyed the town, meanwhile the castle, thanks to the archers of the Spanish bailiff Simon, was saved. In the early 14th century, during the succession fights, the conflicting sides seized the town and the castle on several occasions, and the damage caused could only be fixed by the middle of the century. The peaceful atmosphere of the Renaissance helped the advance of sciences. Palaces were built instead of bastions, thus, by the time the Turks arrived in central Hungary in 1526, Esztergom had not been thought of as a stronghold, rather as a high-profile residency.
After the Battle of Mohács the construction of fortifications was started, however the modernisation of the castle was not finished overnight, as it was seized several times by the combatting Hungarian lords and the Ottoman army. Following countless sieges, submissions and occupations, the castle was finally taken over by the Turks in 1543. Conquerors intended a significant role for the fort, which meant that the well-guarded castle could only be captured by the Christians after two, exceptionally savage sieges by 1595, preceded by an unsuccessful attempt in 1594. Nevertheless, the Turks reclaimed the castle in 1605. Esztergom only returned permanently to the Christians in 1683. During Rákóczi’s War of Independence, in 1706, the castle was captured by the insurrectionists, before it was taken over by the emperor’s army in the same year.
Afterwards, the fortifications were gradually taken out of use by either demolition or filling up with earth. The uncovering of the fortifications, as well as the reconstruction of long-forgotten towers, bastions and defences only happened in the 20th century.
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In the chaotic period after the death of Béla IV, Komárno approx. in 1277-78 fell into the hands of the mighty and prestigious Csák clan. Charles I got on the Hungarian throne in 1308 and in September 1314, and with the help of the Austrian Prince Frederick, he recaptured Komárno. The two-month hard siege caused so much damage that major part of the castle walls had to be rebuilt. The king donated the castle, the town and the county of Komárno to the archdiocese of Esztergom.
In 1320, however, the archbishop voluntarily renounced the castle, so by 1334 it again became the king’s property. This year, the ispán of Zvolen County (SK), Master Donch, received Komárno from the king in exchange for the castle of Strigó (HU) and Csáktornya (HU). This is when its careful renovation from a military point of view begins. Until 1372, the owners of the castle were the descendants of Donch, who already called themselves inhabitants of Komárno. In the following period, the rulers pledged the castle several times: around 1387 to István Lackfi and his relatives, around 1422 to Miklós Garai, and in 1453 to Archbishop Dénes Szécsi of Esztergom.
On February 22, 1440, under rather adventurous circumstances, the later Czech King Ladislaus V (the Posthumous) was born in the castle. On the same day, Mrs. Helena Kottaner brings here the crown stolen from Visegrád. The widow queen and her entourage stayed in Komárno until 12 May 1440. During this period, a series of diplomatic talks on the acquisition of the Hungarian throne took place in the castle, and domestic and foreign ambassadors exchanged frequently. Ladislaus V, who lived only 17 years, donated seven charters to his hometown.
After the death of Ladislaus the Posthumous, Matthias Corvinus occupied the Hungarian throne. This period is reported by Bonfini, the historian of King Matthias, who mentioned that “large palaces” were built in the courtyard of Komárno Castle at a very high cost. We consider these years to be the heyday of the castle, providing a place for the entertainment of the royal court. Matthias's ornamental galley called Bucentaurus was also often anchored in the port. At the beginning of 1490, on the way to Vienna, Matthias donated Komárno, among others, to his son, John Corvinus.
We have no data on the events concerning Komárno from the years following the death of Matthias Corvinus.
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By the end of the 19th century, the fortification system of Komárno, built at a huge cost, had slowly lost its tactical significance. One of the reasons was due to the increased power and range of weapons, it had become outdated. The other was that the concept of imperial defence had changed according to which only border forts were developed at that time. The fortification system of Komárno became an important warehouse base and served as a double bridgehead. Since the Danube was considered the last line of defence in the event of an attack on the Monarchy from any direction. As the only seriously fortified place along the river was Komárno, during this period the fortress was mentioned as the last bastion of the empire. The importance of the city was significantly increased by building a permanent bridge over the Danube, handed over in 1892, and the huge cavalry barracks built on the south side of the Danube.
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The Napoleonic Wars of the early 19th century showed completely different characteristics than the earlier ones. By this time, instead of sieges, hundreds of thousands of troops were looking for the decisive battle. The role of the fortress so far was to ensure the supply and closing of the area become secondary. Supporting the army’s military operations became their most important task, meaning they had to receive and camp huge garrison together with all their supplies. However, this already required a fortification system. In 1807, bearing this in mind, the planning and then the restoration of the fortress started. In the summer of 1809, the imperial court, fleeing Olmütz (Olomouc CZ) and the French army, arrived in Komárno. It was then that Francis I issued his instruction that Komárno was to be built into the strongest military base of the monarchy, whose forts would be able to safely accommodate 200,000 soldiers. In 1810, the official decision was made that "Komárno should be the main central storage base for the whole monarchy." In addition, it had to ensure the smooth crossing of troops over the Danube and the Váh, as well as the defence and support of the camping troops arriving here.
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The excavation of the Esztergom Castle on the Castle Hill began in the 1930s.
The first exhibition, Esztergom Castle Excavations, opened in 1938. Following the major excavations in the 1960s, the Castle Museum became part of the Hungarian National Museum on 1 January 1971.
The permanent exhibition of the Esztergom Castle Museum of the MNM has been attracting many visitors. The new permanent exhibition, flanked by 800-year-old walls in some places, opened in April 2015. Due to its historical importance, there has always been a great interest in the castle. It is a favourite destination for families, excursions and school groups, and is therefore of particular importance for the tourism industry in Esztergom. In addition, the area around Esztergom, the Pilis Mountains and the Danube riverbank are excellent and popular destinations for excursions, attracting thousands of hikers to the North-Hungarian region. The Castle Museum offers an excellent cultural programme for hikers and cyclists, who often include the Castle Museum in their itineraries and programmes.
On request, visitors can take part in educational or professional guided tours, conducted by the staff of the Castle Museum. The main aim is to provide visitors (adults, young people and children alike) with knowledge appropriate to their needs and ages, The visitor can hear about interesting trivia and can raise questions that they might not otherwise have had the opportunity to ask.
The Rondella Gallery of the Castle Museum opened in the 1980s and has hosted touring and temporary exhibitions, where local artists regularly have the opportunity to show their work. The Great Hall of the Castle Museum and the wing of the palace known as the Little Roman Palace were completed in 2000. They also proved to be excellent venues for temporary exhibitions, therefore even returning visitors can always find something new to discover.
Since the 1970s, the Castle Museum has been an integral part of the cultural life of Esztergom by hosting plays, concerts, cultural programmes and even an open-air cinema on the Renaissance terrace of the Castle Museum.
From 2010 onwards, annual events have become a tradition, including the Night of Museums, the Spring Festival, the National Monuments Day, the Cultural Heritage Day and the Esztergom Historical Days. (As far as circumstances allow, since due to the pandemic in 2020 organizing such events was not always possible),
The museum’s own events are always closely linked to the castle and its history, presenting different historical periods (the Middle Ages, the Renaissance, the Ottoman Period) in the most authentic way possible. The Castle Museum aims to offer a wide range of valuable cultural events and recreational activities both for locals and tourists by providing varied and entertaining programmes.
Since the second half of the 2000s, the Castle Museum has also been involved in the nationally organised Night of Museums and has been participating in the programme with colourful and varied activities each year. The museum works closely with the local museums and cultural institutions in Štúrovo (Párkány). During the event shuttle services are provided between the venues offering visitors the opportunity to comfortably visit as many sites as possible.
In the second half of the 2010s, the museum also established the tradition of the season opening, also known as the Spring Festival. The programme is mostly of a traditional, historical nature and offers a full day of recreation and cultural activities for all ages.
In 2016, the Esztergom Castle Museum of the HNM, as part of the Esztergom Castle Hill and Water Town, was awarded the title of National Monument. Consequently, the Castle Museum hosts the National Monuments Day, a one-day event every year. This national initiative is launched at a different national memorial site each year. In 2019 the Esztergom Castle Museum had the honour of hosting the opening ceremony. The Castle Museum has also been involved in the Cultural Heritage Day recently, offering mainly educational and professional activities for the general public, as well as guided tours.
Since 2012, the Esztergom Historical Days (ESZTÖR), a series of traditional events, has become the largest event of the Castle Museum. The several-day-long event traditionally takes place in August, connected to the national holiday on the 20th of August. The event, taking the visitors back to the 11th-12th centuries, attracts an increasing number of people each year, with some of them returning from other regions of Hungary. The programmes are varied and entertaining, with a view to not only entertaining but also to conveying cultural values. Visitors can learn about the everyday life, lifestyle and fighting methods of the medieval Hungarians with the help of re-enactment teams and the castle museum staff. The programme of the event is designed with a strong emphasis on authenticity and knowledge transfer. With its special atmosphere and historical fidelity, the traditional festival is one of the most popular events of the Castle Museum.
In addition to the above, the staff of the Castle Museum organizes programmes for various festive occasions. These can include Easter games in the castle and concerts and performances during the Advent season, a great way to entertain visitors.
In addition to its own events, the Castle Museum is also a popular venue for other cultural shows, conferences, lectures and concerts; a great venue for a variety of activities.
One of the most important duties of the Castle Museum is the cultural education of future generations, Our guided tours and museum educational activities designed for young people offer an excellent opportunity to familiarize young people with this important piece of Hungarian history. Both programmes are open to pre-school, primary and secondary school students, as the guided tours and activities are always adapted to the age and prior knowledge of the children. The programmes are playful, fun and interactive. As a result, in recent years, many groups of students have come to the museum for targeted museum education sessions covering four periods: antiquity, the Middle Ages, the Renaissance and the Ottoman Turkish period. In each case, prior to the session, a preliminary discussion is conducted to decide which session would be most appropriate for the group, best fit into the formal curriculum and help to complete it in an informal setting. These programmes are particularly suited to developing a new and modern approach to visiting and spending time in museums, in line with modern museum education methodologies.
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1828
Pope Pius VII raised the town to the status of a bishopric seat, by this increasing its economic and commercial importance, which triggered the development of the town again.
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1815
After the Congress of Vienna, it came under the authority of Russia as part of Royal Poland, but by that time the population declined to 2,640.
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1718
With the peace in Požarevac, the fortress came under the control of the Christian (Austrian) army again.
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1848
The large-scale defence plans had not yet been completed when the Hungarian War of Independence started in March. The first four forts of the Nádor-line were finished (and the fifth was under construction), and the rebuilding of the Old castle was done. By this time, on the place, where the two barbicans should have been standing, only the system of the ramparts was finished. (Later, on the right side of the Danube, on the Hungarian side, the Star Fort – Csillag Erőd was built. On the left side, on the Slovakian side, the ramparts were never replaced by a walled-up, permanent fortress). During the Hungarian War of Independence, Komarno/Komárom's became the best-equipped and best defended Hungarian fortification system, which was the last to lay down its arms before the overpowering Imperial-Russian forces, under conditions that ensured the life and property of every soldiers and civilians of the town.
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1848-1849
Because of the intensifying ethnic conflicts, practically a civil war started in the south of the country, which lasted until the end of the spring campaign, when the territory, with the exception of the Titelski Breg (plateau of Titel) and of the castles of Arad and Timișoara/Temesvár, became controlled by the Hungarian army. However, in July of the same year, Hungarian army was forced to withdraw from Bačka and soon capitulated to Russian and Austrian troops.
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1809-1847
Recognising the importance of the town and its surroundings (this was the only defensible roadstead on the Danube between Vienna and Buda with a major fortification), the War-Council of Vienna made a decision about the refortification of the area. They set sights on to refortify the area, keeping abreast of the times. Within the framework of this plan, the first step was to fortify the district of the city in a modern way. It was planned to increase the defence with the building of the Váh-line alongside the Váh River and the Danube, with the construction of the Nádor-line in the open field from the direction of Žitný ostrov/Csallóköz, and to ensure protected river-crossing by barbicans, built with fortification on each side of the Danube. The threat raised by the gunboats, which could attack on the river, was not forgotten either: the Elizabeth Island (Alžbetínsky ostro/Erzsébet-sziget) was also to be secured by fortress.
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1783
Another destructive earthquake in Komarno/Komárom.
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-1701
Ferenc Rákóczi II escaped from the prison of Wiener Neustadt and fled to Poland. He lived in exile accompanied by Miklós Bercsényi in Kraków and Warsaw. When he returned home in 1703, he was helped by the Poles too, among others by Prince Stanisław Leszczyński, against whom the Russian czar, Peter I (the Great), had tried to help Rákóczi to acquire the Polish throne.
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1809
Due to the Napoleonic wars, the construction works of the fortification system were started. The previously authorized building operations of the citizens were stopped and the already standing civil town was surrounded by temporary ramparts. At the same time, the town of Rév-Komárom (today it is Komárom in Hungary) was also surrounded by a fortification system, and besides all these, a stronghold, consisting of several closed ramparts, was raised on the Sand Hill (now the area of Fort Monostor).
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1795
In the third Partition of Poland, Austria gained control over Sandomierz and its surroundings, called West Galicia.
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1809
After the defeat of Austria (there were combats in the town as well), it became a border town of the (Grand) Duchy of Warsaw.
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1772
The Partition of Poland made Sandomierz a border town. In consequence of this, the town practically lost a significant part of its markets and commercial agglomeration, and the town started to regress. Neither the earlier reconstruction work could be continued nor new developments could be accomplished. Practically, the city lapsed back to the level of a small town.
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1739
The Ottoman troops occupied the fortress again. By this time, it had lost its military importance and had only symbolic significance. Therefore, the Ottoman troops did not care about to fortify it and let it perish finally. In fact, this is the time when the fortress fell into ruin.
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1830
The Principality of Serbia gained its autonomy after the Serbian revolution (1804-1815) and this autonomy was formally confirmed by the Sublime Porte in 1830. The Ottoman garrisons stayed only in 6 fortresses (Šabac, Belgrade, Smederevo, Fetislam/Kladovo, Užice, Soko Grad) until 1867, when they completely withdrew from the Principality of Serbia. Serbia fought two wars with the Ottomans 1876-1878, which result was the independence of Serbia, recognised at the Berlin Congress. So, Golubac was in fact free since 1830.
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1757
What was finished up to that point, was destroyed again. The city was demolished in a huge conflagration, most of the buildings burnt down.
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THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE FORTRESS IN KOMÁRNO FROM THE ANCIENT TIMES UNTIL THE MODERN TIMES
Because of the trading and military importance of river crossings, they have played a strategically significant role for thousands of years. Komárno’s earlier settlements controlled the waterways of the Danube, Váh and Nitra rivers. Not only did they control the rivers, but also the roads that went through the Nitra River valley. This placed the occupants of this junction in a key position.
Owning this important international trade intersection (being no other crossing nearby) meant one had power over the region. It is likely, though not proved, that the Romans, who usually secured all the river crossings and confluences, built the first fortress within the Limes Romanus in the location of the present Old Fortress. The area of the present town situated on the right bank of the river Danube belonged to the region of Brigetio (Szőny), which was situated slightly to the east.
After the defeat of the German Quadi people, the Roman Emperor Marcus Aurelius also ordered fortresses built on the left side of the river in 171. One of these fortresses can be found 4 km from Komárno, in the region of Iža (Celemantia – Leányvár). The encampment, which was surrounded by earthen ramparts, was built under the reign of Domitianus. These ramparts were later strengthened with stone walls by the soldiers of the first Roman legion. Some centuries later the stone walls of the encampment were demolished, and a significant part of the material was used for the building of the so called “Old Fortress” in Komárno. It has not been proved yet whether a similar Roman fortress existed in the territory of the present Old Fortress.
Anonymus (1173-1196) was the first who reported the location of the fortress in Komárno, the inhabited parts of the area and the possibilities of natural defence. In his book, Gesta Hungarorum, Anonymus says the following about the foundation of the town: ”But Ketel received not only this part but a lot more, as after invading Pannonia Arpad gave him a large area where the Váh flows into the river Danube in exchange for his loyalty. Here, later the son of Ketel, Alaptolma, built a castle, which he called Komárno. He sent two-thirds of the people he brought with him and two thirds of the people he won from the leader to serve in the stronghold of Komárno. After many years Ketel and his son Tolma were both buried in this place.” Komárno was a royal town, near the western border of the country; therefore, it was natural that it had been constantly strengthened and developed throughout the centuries. The Tartar invasion - during which the major part of the country was devastated – proved the necessity of these strengthenings.
After the Tartars left the country, King Béla IV strongly supported the developments of towns. He gave significant privileges to 25 settlements, including Komarno, which received town rights in 1265. King Béla IV sold the castle and its estates to Earl Henel. The sons of Henel, however, could not settle their debts, so the king confiscated the castle and in 1265 presented a bailiff called Walter with Komárno and the surrounding settlements. Walter built walls around the castle and the area of the present Old Fortress. However, because we do not have any documents about it, we suppose that these walls were built from stone. Thus we can define the date of the first stone fortress or castle somewhere in the years of 1265-68.
Anonymus (1173-1196) was the first who reported the location of the fortress in Komárno, the inhabited parts of the area and the possibilities of natural defence. In his book, Gesta Hungarorum, Anonymus says the following about the foundation of the town: ”But Ketel received not only this part but a lot more, as after invading Pannonia Arpad gave him a large area where the Váh flows into the river Danube in exchange for his loyalty. Here, later the son of Ketel, Alaptolma, built a castle, which he called Komárno. He sent two-thirds of the people he brought with him and two thirds of the people he won from the leader to serve in the stronghold of Komárno. After many years Ketel and his son Tolma were both buried in this place.”
Komárno was a royal town, near the western border of the country; therefore, it was natural that it had been constantly strengthened and developed throughout the centuries. The Tartar invasion - during which the major part of the country was devastated – proved the necessity of these strengthenings. After the Tartars left the country, King Béla IV strongly supported the developments of towns. He gave significant privileges to 25 settlements, including Komarno, which received town rights in 1265. King Béla IV sold the castle and its estates to Earl Henel.
The sons of Henel, however, could not settle their debts, so the king confiscated the castle and in 1265 presented a bailiff called Walter with Komárno and the surrounding settlements. Walter built walls around the castle and the area of the present Old Fortress. However, because we do not have any documents about it, we suppose that these walls were built from stone. Thus we can define the date of the first stone fortress or castle somewhere in the years of 1265-68.
Unfortunately, our knowledge about the castle in Komárno is very insufficient from the 13th century until the reign of King Matthias (1458-1490). In 1317 Matthias Csák (Čák) defended the castle against Charles Robert. The castle was so badly damaged during the siege that it had to be rebuilt. Master Donch, the Lord Lieutenant of Zvolen County supported the building operations financially so much that in 1333 he received the castle in Komárno from the king in exchange for other castles.
King Matthias frequently stayed in the castle with the greatest of pleasure. He had it rebuilt by Italian masters. In his other work he praises the beauty and greatness of the royal castles in Buda, Komárno and Visegrád. Bonfini also writes about the castles built by the greatest Italian masters: “a bit further, in the corner of the island, the castle of Komárno can be seen built on a vast area. In its spacious courts, huge palaces arise built at great expense with timber framework ceilings. Here, the pleasure boat called Bucentaurus, wich is furnished like a palace with a dining room, bedrooms and separate lounges for men and women are stationed.”
There are no engravings or drawings from this era, however based on the available data it can be stated that by the end of the 15th century the castle in Komárno with its magnificent palaces became a building complex which satisfied royal needs. Since the siege in 1317, the castle had not been the scene or target of military attack, so the reconstruction and development of military objects became a secondary task. It is understandable that the contemporary architects were first interested in artistic aspects. The Turkish invasion, which lasted for a century and a half, changed the character of the castle and its further development. The royal castle, which was maintained for entertaining the royal court and served as the centre of state offices, again became the most important element of the defensive system of the country and the scene of important battles and sieges.
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Golubac Fortress
Golubac Fortress as a monument of culture was restored and nowadays offers well organised conditions and possibilities for visitors to experience and understand cultural heritage firsthand. Fortress presentation makes it easier to understand and appreciate importance of the entire region around it as well as fortress itself and its historical destiny in a fair-minded and forthcoming way.
Considering geo-strategical, historical and cultural significance of the area at the begging of the Iron Gates together with different levels of the fortress importance (universal, regional and national) interpretation and presentation has to have historical, civilisation, educational, ecological and cultural dimension.
Area where Golubac fortress lies is of great magnitude not only for Eastern Serbia but also for entire continent regarding the basis of cultural diversity of Europe. Long term protection of the fortress and its surroundings, its physical and ecological integrity is the most important component in social, economical, educational, legislative, cultural and touristic development politics of Touristic area of Golubac fortress.
Main result of our presentation is a possibility for visitors to experience fortress in their own way choosing points of interest and pace.
Main goals of Golubac fortress presentation in our project
There are four segments of our presentation clearly defining outcome regarding our goals
Obtaining knowledge
Presentation should be done in an interesting and interactive way so that it makes easy for visitors to acquire knowledge about the fortress and its surroundings.
Awareness cultivation
Presentation should make an impact on visitors activities not only during the visit but later as well. Especially, it should be one of the ways to cultivate awareness about this unique historical monument, its natural environment and importance and values of both.
Personal experience
Presentation should encourage visitors to personally get involved into interpretation by thinking, reacting, worrying and believing into presentation content.
Economical effects
Presentation should give content which will extend duration of visit, motivate to explore the complex, to visit again as well as to recommend it to others.
Elements, subjects and focus of Presentation:
• Connection between Danube and Fortress in legend, history, nowadays and in future.
• The most important fortresses in this part of Europe were erected at Danube riverbanks and are most important European military architecture monuments.
• Danube is the river that witnessed migration of people and civilisations and in its entire length is rich in history and culture. Forts on Danube riverbanks and prehistorical and historical localities are the base of world travel industry.
Our vision is sustainable development of high class tourism destination Golubac fortress visited both, by land tours and river cruising guests. We have already positioned to be one of most popular tourist destinations in Serbia.
Future plans
It is in our agenda to establish sustainable business model regarding number of visitors, and quality of presentation. In order to present the fortress in the best way we have teamed up with Educational institutions, Association of knights and other associations of art, sport etc.
Within next few years we will finish restoration works at fortress, Turkish bath (hammam), Roman house and Archeological park in touristic area of the Golubac fortress.
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Reconstructions and modernization of buildings
In the 1920s, a road was built along the Danube river and builders at the time had decided that it should go straight through the heart of the Fortress. For more than 90 years, traffic threatened the Fortress and prevented its reconstruction.
In the last century, during the seventies, hydroelectric power plant Djerdap 1 was built and the levels of the Danube rose. The river flooded the lower levels of two towers and the remains of the Palace, main part of the Fortress.
Even though time and human neglect seemed to have put the Golubac Fortress to an eternal sleep, a turn of events followed, just like in a fairytale.
European Union came to the rescue and with their support, in 2009 a conceptual design for the Revitalisation of the Golubac Fortress was devised.
In 2011 The Republic of Serbia designated this space as Tourist Area „The Golubac Fortress“ and established an enterprise under the same name, whose role would be to manage the reconstruction and run the Fortress, once it has been renewed.
Through IPA pre-accession funds, the EU has provided the finance to reconstruct the Fortress and build the entire surrounding Complex.
The contract for the Revitalisation of the Golubac Fortress and its Complex was signed in July 2014. The work officially began in September of the same years, as port of the EU funded project „Socio-economic Development of the Danube Serbia Region“, co-financed and managed by the Austrian Development Agency.
Although the work was conducted in parallel, displacing the traffic from the Fortress and building a tunnel with a bypass were key to the success of the entire project.
Soon after the work commenced, an opening started to show in the rock next to the Fortress. This opening, after meticulous drilling and blasting, became a 155-meter long tunnel, that finally freed the Fortress from the traffic in July 2016.
A newly built Visitors Centre of more than 960 square meters, houses the permanent exhibition on the Fortress, a Cafeteria, a Souvenir Shop and the premises of „The Golubac Fortress“ company which run the Complex. Its doors opened in 2016. Next to it is a large parking space for cars and buses.
The disarrayed Danube riverbank needed to be tamed and the Complex needed protection from the potential high water levels. For this reason, a 400 – meter – long bank stabilisation was built, which accommodates a dock for berthing large river cruisers and other vessels that bring visitors from all over the world to the Golubac Fortress.
For long, the space in front of the Fortress was neglected and unattended. A park surface of over 2 hectares was spruced up, two viewpoints were set up on a hill above the Fortress with a marked trail loading to them.
Extensive archaeological research was done for the first time in and around the Fortress and it brought many new discoveries. Some of them can be seen in the Visitors' Centre and in the Archaeological Park in the area in front of the Fortress.
This was the first complete reconstruction of a fortress in Serbia. The reconstruction abided by the Project and Conservatory Supervision of the Republic Institute for the Protection of Cultural Monuments of Serbia.
The Keep, called The Hat Tower is located at the top and it suffered significant damage. The work on it included rebuilding the missing walls, roof and interior arrangements.
Ramparts that connect the towers were also renewed during the reconstruction.
Stairs and paths were built to access the higher areas of the Fortress, equipped with a railing for additional safety.
In the case of The Golubac Fortress, the end of its reconstruction is the beginning of its new life. This new beginning dawned on March 29th 2019 and it still goes on.
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THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE FORTRESS IN KOMÁRNO FROM THE ANCIENT TIMES UNTIL THE MODERN TIMES
Because of the trading and military importance of river crossings, they have played a strategically significant role for thousands of years. Komárno’s earlier settlements controlled the waterways of the Danube, Váh and Nitra rivers. Not only did they control the rivers, but also the roads that went through the Nitra River valley. This placed the occupants of this junction in a key position.
Owning this important international trade intersection (being no other crossing nearby) meant one had power over the region. It is likely, though not proved, that the Romans, who usually secured all the river crossings and confluences, built the first fortress within the Limes Romanus in the location of the present Old Fortress. The area of the present town situated on the right bank of the river Danube belonged to the region of Brigetio (Szőny), which was situated slightly to the east.
After the defeat of the German Quadi people, the Roman Emperor Marcus Aurelius also ordered fortresses built on the left side of the river in 171. One of these fortresses can be found 4 km from Komárno, in the region of Iža (Celemantia – Leányvár). The encampment, which was surrounded by earthen ramparts, was built under the reign of Domitianus. These ramparts were later strengthened with stone walls by the soldiers of the first Roman legion. Some centuries later the stone walls of the encampment were demolished, and a significant part of the material was used for the building of the so called “Old Fortress” in Komárno. It has not been proved yet whether a similar Roman fortress existed in the territory of the present Old Fortress.
Anonymus (1173-1196) was the first who reported the location of the fortress in Komárno, the inhabited parts of the area and the possibilities of natural defence. In his book, Gesta Hungarorum, Anonymus says the following about the foundation of the town: ”But Ketel received not only this part but a lot more, as after invading Pannonia Arpad gave him a large area where the Váh flows into the river Danube in exchange for his loyalty. Here, later the son of Ketel, Alaptolma, built a castle, which he called Komárno. He sent two-thirds of the people he brought with him and two thirds of the people he won from the leader to serve in the stronghold of Komárno. After many years Ketel and his son Tolma were both buried in this place.” Komárno was a royal town, near the western border of the country; therefore, it was natural that it had been constantly strengthened and developed throughout the centuries. The Tartar invasion - during which the major part of the country was devastated – proved the necessity of these strengthenings.
After the Tartars left the country, King Béla IV strongly supported the developments of towns. He gave significant privileges to 25 settlements, including Komarno, which received town rights in 1265. King Béla IV sold the castle and its estates to Earl Henel. The sons of Henel, however, could not settle their debts, so the king confiscated the castle and in 1265 presented a bailiff called Walter with Komárno and the surrounding settlements. Walter built walls around the castle and the area of the present Old Fortress. However, because we do not have any documents about it, we suppose that these walls were built from stone. Thus we can define the date of the first stone fortress or castle somewhere in the years of 1265-68.
Anonymus (1173-1196) was the first who reported the location of the fortress in Komárno, the inhabited parts of the area and the possibilities of natural defence. In his book, Gesta Hungarorum, Anonymus says the following about the foundation of the town: ”But Ketel received not only this part but a lot more, as after invading Pannonia Arpad gave him a large area where the Váh flows into the river Danube in exchange for his loyalty. Here, later the son of Ketel, Alaptolma, built a castle, which he called Komárno. He sent two-thirds of the people he brought with him and two thirds of the people he won from the leader to serve in the stronghold of Komárno. After many years Ketel and his son Tolma were both buried in this place.”
Komárno was a royal town, near the western border of the country; therefore, it was natural that it had been constantly strengthened and developed throughout the centuries. The Tartar invasion - during which the major part of the country was devastated – proved the necessity of these strengthenings. After the Tartars left the country, King Béla IV strongly supported the developments of towns. He gave significant privileges to 25 settlements, including Komarno, which received town rights in 1265. King Béla IV sold the castle and its estates to Earl Henel.
The sons of Henel, however, could not settle their debts, so the king confiscated the castle and in 1265 presented a bailiff called Walter with Komárno and the surrounding settlements. Walter built walls around the castle and the area of the present Old Fortress. However, because we do not have any documents about it, we suppose that these walls were built from stone. Thus we can define the date of the first stone fortress or castle somewhere in the years of 1265-68.
Unfortunately, our knowledge about the castle in Komárno is very insufficient from the 13th century until the reign of King Matthias (1458-1490). In 1317 Matthias Csák (Čák) defended the castle against Charles Robert. The castle was so badly damaged during the siege that it had to be rebuilt. Master Donch, the Lord Lieutenant of Zvolen County supported the building operations financially so much that in 1333 he received the castle in Komárno from the king in exchange for other castles.
King Matthias frequently stayed in the castle with the greatest of pleasure. He had it rebuilt by Italian masters. In his other work he praises the beauty and greatness of the royal castles in Buda, Komárno and Visegrád. Bonfini also writes about the castles built by the greatest Italian masters: “a bit further, in the corner of the island, the castle of Komárno can be seen built on a vast area. In its spacious courts, huge palaces arise built at great expense with timber framework ceilings. Here, the pleasure boat called Bucentaurus, wich is furnished like a palace with a dining room, bedrooms and separate lounges for men and women are stationed.”
There are no engravings or drawings from this era, however based on the available data it can be stated that by the end of the 15th century the castle in Komárno with its magnificent palaces became a building complex which satisfied royal needs. Since the siege in 1317, the castle had not been the scene or target of military attack, so the reconstruction and development of military objects became a secondary task. It is understandable that the contemporary architects were first interested in artistic aspects. The Turkish invasion, which lasted for a century and a half, changed the character of the castle and its further development. The royal castle, which was maintained for entertaining the royal court and served as the centre of state offices, again became the most important element of the defensive system of the country and the scene of important battles and sieges.
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THE KURUC WARS (1703-1711)
The Kuruc wars (1703 - 1711) marked a transitional period for Komárno. Even though the city was not besieged by the Kuruc army, the Habsburg repression intensified. However, the army was forced to use the services of local traders and craftsmen, so economic life slowly recovered. Despite that, the hostility between the fortress and the city did not change.
After the Peace of Satu Mare, which ended the Rákóczi War of Independence in 1711, the fortress of Komárno lost its significance for a hundred years. Its primary task was to ensure the order of the area, to provide training and supply.
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FALL OF NOVÉ ZÁMKY (SK)
In 1663, Grand Vizier Ahmed launched a huge army against Hungary. In August he reached the fortress of Nové Zámky. Around 40,000 imperial soldiers gathered around Komárno, but the cautious commander-in-chief, Raymond Montecuccoli, did not intervene. After a six-week siege, Captain Ádám Forgách, in a hopeless situation, gave up Nové Zámky.
As the connected imperial defence system was broken by the Turks, so fortification became an important task again. Leopold I began the construction of the New Castle in Komárno in 1663, using the most modern Italian and French knowledge. The fortress built with great thoroughness was completed in 1673.
Each corner of the pentagonal-shaped New Castle was protected by a bastion. It was closely connected to the two western bastions of the Old Fortress and surrounded by a wide, deep moat, with counterscarp on the outer side. This protected the fortress wall from the destruction of the enemy cannons. Between the two bastions, ravelins were erected in front of the wall.
To create a suitable esplanade for the fort, the treasury expropriated and demolished the oldest part of the city. The enlarged city was surrounded in 1682-83 by a stone wall, earth ramparts and moats.
The bridgeheads were demolished in 1661 and rebuilt with a strong row of beams. The St. Philip bridgehead on the river Váh was enforced with three earth bastions, and the St. Peter bridgehead on the Danube with five earth bastions.
After the completion of the fortification works, no longer a fortress but a group of forts performed their duties:
- they stood as a solid obstacle in the way of the enemy attacking from the west
- provided a safe esplanade for the imperial and allied armies marching against the Turks
- with its bridges, bridgeheads and fleet, enabled the Habsburg forces to cross quickly to any shore
In 1683, the Turks marched against Vienna. On the news of the approach of the enemy armies, the population of Komárno moved in masse to the Upper lands (today Slovakia), but prior that the city was set on fire again. However, Komárno was not besieged by the Turks, as they focused on Vienna where they were eventually defeated by the Imperial and Polish Royal armies led by Jan Sobiesky.
Buda was liberated on September 2, 1686, and soon after most of the country.
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THE GREAT SIEGE OF 1594
In 1593, the so called 15-year war began. A year later, Pasha Sinan besieged Tata and Győr, then at the beginning of October he marched to Komárno, to the right bank of the Danube. As no one had thought the Turks would launch an attack before winter set in, there was only a small army stationed behind the strong walls, nor there was enough ammunition, or food in the warehouses either. Even the city was protected only by a weak city wall. It was expected that the enemy would easily occupy the city, so women, the old and the children fled to the safety of Trnava while the young and strong men marched into the fortress to support the defenders. The soldiers set the empty city and the Danube boat bridge on fire, making it difficult for the attackers to cross the river and impossible for them to stay in the city for the winter. The siege lasted from October 7 to 24. The wide riverbed made it difficult for the cannons to reach their target and the firm fortress walls also resisted the impact of the cannons. But the Turks swam across the Danube with a strong Tatar cavalry, under whose protection they could build the new bridge. This way the Turkish artillery managed to marched on the shore of Rye Island (Žitný ostrov SK), where they erected "18 huge cannons" next to the city's church. As even this distance proved to be far, Sinan built a rampart at the edge of the moat and with the help of peasants gathered from the area, he had his cannons erected there. Erasmus Braun, the fortress commander, wrote to Archduke Matthias for help, who commissioned Miklós Pálffy to bring a half-regiment of Burgundians to Komárno. Pálffy managed to bring soldiers, food and ammunition to the fortress on secret roads from Kolárovo (SK). Sinan's artillery fired on the west side of the fortress day and night, but the strong walls did not give in. They then tried to undermine the foundations of the fortress, but the soldiers raided the diggers. Meanwhile, Archduke Matthias, camped at Topoľníky (SK) with an army of 40,000 men. Spies sent out reported that the Turks were preparing for a retreat. The news proved to be true. Sinan's soldiers could not stand the cold autumn weather, nor did he expect Komárno would be able to resist for such a long time. Moreover, he lost many people in the battles, and an epidemic of typhoid broke out in the camp. He was then informed of the departure of the rescue army, so not waiting for their arrival, he summoned an order to retreat.
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ARCHITECTURAL DESCRIPTION OF THE OLD FORTRESS
In the area, which is highly protected by nature, they managed to build a fortress designed on the basis of the neo-Italian system meeting all the requirements of then age. It was protected on two sides by the rivers Váh and the Danube, and these were actually connected by a moat, thus forming an island. The corners of the structure were reinforced with huge bastions. Its walls were built low, filled with wet rammed soil, surrounded on the outside by deep and wide ditches. The excavated earth was piled up on the outside of the ditches and a wide artificial slope, a so-called glacis, was built. The counter-slope of which was so high that it completely covered up the walls of the fort. The cannons were placed on the roofs of the bastions, which were protected by earth-reinforced stone parapets and ramparts. The cannons were towed to the bastions on ramps, so called slides. Some of the cannons defended the fortress against attacks from the front, and the rest were placed in the vaulted firing chambers of the bastion mouths so that they could protect the façade of the neighbouring bastions and the rampart and the water moat between the two bastions with their flanking fire.
The fort had two entrances: the main gate and the water gate towards the river Váh. The main gate could only be reached through several defences and inspections. The courtyard housed the fortress headquarters, commander, officer and crew accommodation, barns, warehouses, cannon and other workshops, a gunpowder mill and a church.
In 1586, the two long-planned bridgeheads were completed to stop unexpected invaders from beyond the rivers, as well as maintaining the safety of the bridges built if necessary and serving as strongholds for raiders against the Turks. Both bridgeheads were surrounded by a palisade capable of accommodating up to 100-100 horsemen. The Váh side fortress was named after St. Nicholas (later St. Philip) and the Danube side was named after St. Peter.
The city itself was protected by a wall made of wood and stone, probably interrupted by several gates.
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THE DEFENDERS OF THE EUROPE
After the defeat at the battle of Mohács in 1526, the happy period of Komárno came to an end, which until then had rarely been disturbed by the sound of gunfire. Louis II’s widow, Queen Mary, fleeing from Buda to Bratislava, stayed in the castle for two days for which Ferenc Somogyi Endrődi was appointed its commander. It is probable that the castle was still in good condition at that time, as the Queen convened the Imperial Diet on November 25, 1526. However, this could no longer take place, because the castle and the town were occupied at the beginning of November by one of the leaders of John Szapolyai, Gáspár Ráskay. On August 9, 1527, however, the army of Ferdinand I, who had been elected king of Hungary by then, got hold of the outdated, medieval castle after a short siege. A garrison of German, Italian and Spanish mercenaries remained behind the damaged walls.
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THE REGION OF THE CASTLE & THE CASTLE OF THE REGION
The fortress in Komárno is located at the confluence of the Danube and the river Váh, a place that has been a very important strategic place since the early day. It is the easternmost tip of the Great Rye Island (Žitný ostrov), which is now located in the Slovak Republic. This part of the Danube plain politically belongs to the district of Komarno in the Nitra region, geographically we can talk about the northern part of the Danube region, which stretches from Bratislava, the Slovak capital, to the town of Štúrovo. On the southern side, this region borders the Komárno-Esztergom county or the Western and Central Transdanubia. The fortress, built between the early 16th century until the late 19th century, is divided into two main parts: The Old and New Fortress. The longest building in Central Europe, the 540 m long Barracks, the Commanders’ Building and the War Gunpowder Magazine stand on the premises of the New Fortress. From its construction until the 20th century, the fortress played an important military role, it was built as one of the strongest strongholds on the Danube. After the disintegration of Austrian-Hungarian empire, it was occupied by Czechoslovak legionaries, and during World War II it was used by the Hungarian Defense Army. Shortly afterwards, the Czechoslovak army again, but from 1968 to 1991 by the Soviet troops of the Warsaw Pact. After their departure, it was used by the Slovak army as a barracks until 2003. Today, it serves tourists from all around the world as a tourist attraction, which, however, is under constant renovation due to its poor condition. Visitors to the Fortress are guided by professional guides and receive an expert explanation of its history, on large-format reproductions of images of the Fortress they can learn the construction development and in the Black Labyrinth they can test their orientation in the dark. The district of Komárno, or the Northern Danube Region, was an important region in the past. Although the area was sparsely inhabited, it is documented that people lived here since ancient times. There are archaeological sites from the Stone Age to the Iron Age, when the Celts live here. After them, the Danube became the Roman border, with Germanic tribes living in the north and Romans living in the south. After the period of migration, the Avars and probably the Slavs settled here, later Hungarian tribes when the region became part of the Kingdom of Hungary with a royal castle built in today's Komárno. Komárno was the centre of Komárno County until 1922. Later the district of Komárno was established, which today belongs to the Nitra self-governing region. The territory of the Komárno district and the Danube region is lowland with fertile fields and a rich river network (mostly irrigation canals), with sparse forest vegetation. Hills are rare. The region is rich in mineral waters and thanks to the large number of sunny days, a rich variety of different fruits and vegetables, and unique varieties of vines are grown here, from which excellent wines are made. The region is also rich in natural and cultural monuments. The population here is mixed, with the majority of Hungarian speaking inhabitants.
The fortress in Komárno was built on the site of a medieval castle, which played an important, especially military role in the region, since its construction. In addition to being the centre of the county, it also housed a garrison and, in times of danger, was a safe haven for the city's inhabitants. Likewise, the fortress built here had the task of stopping the enemy, in the 16th century the Ottoman Turks, marching towards the capital of the then Habsburg monarchy, Vienna. It performed this task with other fortresses, such as the one in Győr (HU), or Nové Zámky (SK). This fortress, however, was already exclusively a military facility independent of the city, falling under the monarch, with its own captain and commander. The fortress retained its character until the liberation of Hungary from Turkish occupation, when its importance began to decline. In the 18th century, the city and the fortress were shaken and damaged by two strong earthquakes. Therefore, having been made redundant, Joseph II abolished its military function. It was not until Francis I had it restored at the beginning of the 19th century and turned it to the largest fortification system in Central Europe. Since then, the fortress again became a military centre of the region for the following years.
Today, the Fortress is a tourist attraction and a unique cultural monument, which has been preserved almost intact. Besides the locals, it is visited by tourists from all over Slovakia, but also abroad, especially Hungary and the Czech Republic. Behind its walls, it houses international conferences, cultural events such as open days, photo competitions and even sometimes international anti-terrorist units’ trainings. Although it was an inaccessible military facility for the locals for a long time, today it is beginning to be part of the everyday life of all groups of the population.
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WORLD WARS
The First World War ended with the disintegration of the Austro-Hungarian Monarchy. The Danube became a border river between Hungary and Czechoslovakia. The fortification system of Komárno was also torn in two, with only three forts remaining on the right bank of the Hungarian side.
The Fort Monostor operated as barracks until 1944, and from 1942 an internment camp was set up in one part for prisoners of war of Polish, Russian, English, French and other nationalities. The Fort Csillag operated as an ammunition depot.
On November 1, 1938, following the decision of the “Vienna Arbitration Court”, the southern territories of Czechoslovakia were returned to Hungary, including Komárno. For a short time, the fortification system was reunited again. The following year, World War II broke out and after the victory of the German army in Poland, many Polish soldiers fled to Hungary, many of whom were sent to the Fort Igmánd and then to the Fort Monostor.
The Soviet troops occupied southern Komárno (HU) on March 28, and they took hold of the northern city on March 30 (SK). On both sides, Soviet troops immediately occupied strategically important points, so they took over the forts.
After the war, Komárno was divided again and became a border town of two countries. The Old and New Fortress, were once again occupied by the Czechoslovak army, and later in 1968 by the Soviet Red Army. The other objects in the fortification system were used by various companies, usually for storage. In 1982, the monumental renovation of the bastion VI started, where, among other things, the Roman stone collection was placed. Since 1945 the Soviet Armed Forces were stationed in the Fort Monostor in Hungary, setting up one of the largest ammunition depots under the Warsaw Pact. A vegetable warehouse operated in Fort Csillag until 2004, when it eventually became part of the Fort Monostor Military Culture Centre. A Roman lapidary opened in the Fort Igmánd in 1966, and the open-air stage in 1977.
The 1990s saw a significant change in the history of the fortress, when the Soviet army left Hungary and Czechoslovakia. Today, the fortification system of Komárno is one of the most significant military historical monuments in Hungary, Slovakia and certainly in Europe.
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BORDER LIFE
The German artillery was stationed in the fortress. Hungarian fleet crew, hussars and the infantry served in the city. The Spaniards were stationed in the Danube bridgehead, and those of other nationalities were stationed in the Váh side one. In 16th-17th century their number fluctuated between 1000-1300. The soldiers of the border fort lived a life full of dangers: as the delay of the mercenary was a constant problem, they plundered and annoyed the lords of Esztergom, Gesztes, Zsámbék, that were in Ottoman hands, and defended themselves against frequent attacks of the enemies. In 1583, the Turkish ships trapped the Hungarians at Esztergom, 41 of whom were deported to Istanbul. As they refused to convert to the Mohammedan faith, they were taken to a galley. During the breaks between looting campaigns, the bravest soldiers challenged each other to duel. Although this form of valiant competition was forbidden by the rulers, this prohibition was generally not even cared for by the fortress captains. The heroes of Komárno most often fought with the Ottoman soldiers of Esztergom with alternating success.
In 1556, an armed civil guard was formed in the city. Its members were usually organised into armed units according to guilds. Their main task was to protect the city gates, bastions and city walls, as well as putting out fires, but they were also constant participants in an endless series of looting campaigns.
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V4 The Visegrad Group
The Visegrad Group was formed on 15th February 1991 at a meeting of the President of the Czechoslovak Republic, Václav Havel, the President of the Republic of Poland, Lech Wałęsa, and the Prime Minister of the Republic of Hungary, József Antall. This high-level meeting in Visegrad, Hungary, created an imaginary historical arch linking the idea of this meeting to the idea of a similar meeting, which took place there in 1335 and was attended by John of Luxembourg, King of Bohemia, Charles I of Anjou (Charles Robert), King of Hungary, and Casimir III, King of Poland. The central motif of the two meetings was the desire to intensify mutual cooperation and friendship among the three Central European states (see more on the 1335 Visegrád congress).
The formation of the Visegrad Group was motivated by four factors of decisive relevance:
the desire to eliminate the remnants of the communist bloc in Central Europe;
the desire to overcome historic animosities between Central European countries;
the belief that through joint efforts it will be easier to achieve the set goals, i.e. to successfully accomplish social transformation and join in the European integration process; and
the proximity of ideas of the then ruling political elites.
More: www.visegradgroup.eu
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PEACE TREATIES
During the negotiations that preceded the peace Treaty of Zsivatorok in 1606, Komárno was the meeting place of grand ambassadors, and delegates from the Viennese court stayed here as well.
Thanks to peace, there was no need to fear of large city sieges, so the strong, restored fortress was stationed with only a number of troops needed for guard duty. However, the officially concluded peace did not bring complete calm, as the Ottoman raids did not end. To settle the unfortunate situation, a second peace agreement was signed on March 19, 1642.
All this did not help the lives of those living on the borders. Those who were not killed or abducted as slaves had to endure the unbearable lives of the villagers of the conquered territories. After a while, the serfs had had enough of serving three masters at once and eventually they escaped. Over time, the once prosperous county of Komárno became a wasteland, the villages of its three districts almost disappeared, only a part of them survived in the Rye Island (Žitný ostrov SK).
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REGION: ISTER-GRANUM
Detailed informations:
https://istergranum.eu/en/
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SIEGE AGAINST THE EMPTY CASTLE
The castle was in poor condition, there was not enough money to renovate it, so it was not prepared for the attack of the huge Ottoman army heading against Vienna. In August 1529, the first Ottoman ships arrived at the right bank of the Danube. At that time, the mayor of the city secretly asked for an audition from Suleiman, whom he assured that the citizens of the city were the followers of Szapolyai and the sultan. On September 16, Turkish cannons began destroying the castle walls. The next day, the mayor arrived at the castle as an ambassador, but the castle captain Andreas Gortschacher did not accept the offer to hand over the castle, instead he imprisoned the mayor in the big tower. As he could not expect help from anywhere and with no chance against the enormous superiority, he decided to leave the castle. The soldiers hung burning wicks in the portholes, closed the gates, and then they went unnoticed into the swamps of Rye Island (Žitný ostrov SK). Even suspecting it was a trick, the Ottoman forces had been shooting the empty castle for three hours. When they marched in, they found nothing but the mayor locked in the tower. They did not stay long, as Suleiman failed to capture Vienna. He left Hungary with his armies during autumn, so in 1530 the German army returned to the empty and looted castle.
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CONSTRUCTION OF THE OLD FORTRESS
Only the fall of Buda in 1541 prompted Ferdinand I to start building modern fortifications, whose walls could withstand cannons fires. During the development of the new border fortress system, special attention was paid to the construction of Győr, Komárno and Nové Zámky (Érsekújvar), their most important task was to protect Vienna. The three fortresses lay close to each other, so they could help each other if needed.
The construction of the fortress in Komárno began in 1544. At that time, the wet ditch between the Danube and the Váh was dug. The temporary wooden fortress was demolished, and was replaced with strong walls of brick burned on site. The work progressed slowly, partly due to constant military operations, lack of people and money, but also due to financial frauds that already existed at the time. The plans of the fortress, which met the requirements of the age in all respects, were made around 1550 by one of the most outstanding Italian architects, Pietro Ferabosco. The builders of the fortress could not have had enough on-site experience, as the spring floods of 1570 demolished most of the walls completed by then. The restoration lasted from 1572 to 1592. The works were then led by Urban Süess, who also worked on the fortifications of Győr and Tata. Daniel Speckle from Germany, holding the post of an assistant, worked together with the famous theorist of architecture, and an architect from Italy, Carlo Theti, the master builder of Vienna, Nové Zámky and Kanizsa.
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THE BOCSKAI UPRISING
Braun, the commander of the fort, died of his injuries sustained during the fights, therefore Miklós Pálffy was appointed fortress captain. He repaired the walls of the fort, rebuilt the bridgeheads, organised the defence of Rye Island (Žitný ostrov SK), where he built new palisades. Hussars and boatsmen probably settled back in the burned out town first, and then also civilians slowly returned from Trnava. The resumption of life was made more difficult by the earthquake of autumn 1599. Then in the spring of 1600 the well-respected fortress captain Miklós Pálffy died. He was replaced by Johann Molart, who used his unlimited power to fill up his own treasury and, despite Komárno being a royal city, he forced its citizens into compulsory labour and other jobs.
During István Bocskai's uprising against the Habsburgs that broke out in autumn of 1604, some of the boatsmen, hussars and armed citizens of Komárno joined the army of Bocskai and blocked the road to Bratislava via Rye Island (Žitný ostrov SK). They also set fire to their own city, while the German mercenaries locked themselves in the fortress.
During this period, many of the wealthier citizens moved to Pest and Buda. Captain Molart was tyrannical of inhabitants of Komárno until 1609, followed by the much more humane Johann Eusebius Khuenn, who received the estate of the fortress in exchange for a 17,000 florin pledge.
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WINE TRAIL
The Sandomierz Wine Trail has been created in recent years. This is an attempt to return to tradition and to recreate an export product, i.e. wine, which successfully conquered many European country markets in the 13th century. Due to the specific geographical and climatic conditions, wine growing in the Sandomierz area was not only possible but good enough to produce high quality grape wine. The development and promotion of the wine making art was possible due to the 'Back to Wine Making Tradition of the Sandomierz Region' project implemented by the Sandomierz Learned Society and the Young Wine Festival, an annual meeting of wine lovers, which takes place in vineyards and within the Sandomierz Castle walls.
The custom of growing vines was brought to Sandomierz by monks from Western Europe. The Dominican monks were the first to plant vines on St. James's Hill, adjacent to Castle Hill. In 1238 the monks received permission from the Piast princes to distribute grape wine. The privilege was later confirmed by Prince Laszek the Black in 1286. In the late Middle Ages wine growing was so widespread that part of the production was exported abroad.
The Sandomierz Region is predominantly an agricultural region. Vegetable and fruit growing are particularly popular here. Highly productive orchards comprise mostly apple trees (approximately 12000ha). Cherry trees (approximately 1500ha) and plum trees come next. Apart from these, black berries, strawberries, apricots, peaches and walnuts are also widely grown, as well as vegetables.
The first traces of settlement in Sandomierz date back to the Neolithic period (5200BC - 1700BC). The numerous archeological discoveries within the town walls confirm the existence of such settlements.
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STRIPED FLINT
Striped flint in several varieties can be found in the Sandomierz area. It has high hardness and fissility. Its specific properties were appreciated by Neolithic age toolmakers. In 1922 Jan Samsonowicz, a geologist and professor at the Lwów and Warsaw universities, discovered prehistoric mines in Krzemionki (over 5000 workings). The mines in Krzemionki near Ostrowiec Świętokrzyski are considered unique in the world and have been entered on the UNESCO World Heritage List.
One of the Sandomierz varieties of flint is the so called striped flint because of its streak colour. It can be found only in this part of the world. Today it is used mainly in jewellery and goldsmiths' or silversmiths' wares. The Sandomierz Regional Museum has an artistic jewellery collection on display in the historic Castle cellars.
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TOURISM
Sandomierz is a small town of unusual scenic beauty, situated on seven hills (hence it is often called 'Little Rome') on the border of Sandomierz Upland. Its landmarks include the Pieprzowe Mountains nature reserve, numerous loess gorges (including the popular Queen Jadwiga Gorge) and the picturesque Vistula River valley. Several hiking and cycling trails run through the town (Cisterian trail, literary trail, St. James trail, Via Jagiellonica and Wooden Architecture trail).
The town is an important cultural and economic centre. Even half a million tourists visit Sandomierz every year. Its medieval churches, the Old Town and the Royal Castle are the main tourist attractions. There are about 120 listed historic buildings in Sandomierz.
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THE ROYAL CASTLE AS A PRISON
After the third Partition of Poland, the Austrian occupant designated the Sandomierz Castle for use as a court and a prison. However, the prison was opened in 1825 when the region had been annexed to Russia. At that time the reconstruction of castle interiors began with the conversion of grand rooms into smaller ones. In 1844 the facade was modified to some extent and the eastern wall was given austere classicist architectural design.
During World War I, the prison was used by the Austrians who held their war prisoners there. During that time they introduced minor alterations to the building and converted the royal kitchen into a prison chapel in 1915.
The Sandomierz Castle was used as a prison throughout the entire interwar period. From the mid-twenties prisoners could attend school and use a school library. Prisoners sentenced for political crimes were sent to Sandomierz since the end of 1925.Many communists were kept in that prison. In total, 647 persons sentenced for communist sympathies passed through the Sandomierz prison in the interwar period.
The Sandomierz Castle was also used as a prison in the periods of totalitarianism: Fascist Nazism and communism (1939-1959). Over several thousands of prisoners served their sentences there at that time. An escape of some Underground State members on 10 March 1945 is considered the most important event in the post-war history of the prison.
Contemporary historiography is completely silent on those prisoners, and they are anonymous heroes who paid the ultimate price fighting for a truly independent Polish state. In the Castle, there are some direct material traces of people who suffered political repression during the Communist period, namely inscriptions with their names left by prisoners.
The Castle, in its architectural form described above, served as a prison until 1959. Its liquidation process was very slow. It was not until March 1959 that the prison personnel was made redundant and transferred to other facilities.
The prison liquidation was followed by nearly 30 years of construction and conservation work that had been preceded by archaeological and architectural surveys. In 1980 the prison administrative building was blown up and the building known as Rogal was also demolished. The Sandomierz Town Council made a decision to house the Sandomierz Regional Museum in the Castle in 1986.
It was not until 2015 that a memorial plaque was unveiled on the eastern wall of the Castle as a tribute to political prisoners held, tortured and murdered there.
At present the Sandomierz Castle with its 'heavy' facade, rusticated decorative base, massive cornices and almost complete lack of architectural divisions, is one of more interesting examples of adaptation of a castle for prison purposes.
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REGIONAL MUSEUM
Research, conservation and reconstruction work in the Castle began in the 60s of the 20th century. In 1986 the Castle was designated as the seat of the Regional Museum. The Sandomierz Castle belongs to the Polish 'Monuments of History' canon and was entered on the Historic Monuments List in November 2017.
It was opened upon the initiative and in response to town inhabitants' needs exactly 100 years ago. Thanks to the commitment of Stanislaw Karpowicz, Father Andrzej Wyrzykowski, Józef Pietraszewski and Zdzisław Lenartowicz, members of the Sandomierz branch of the Polish Tourist Society, the opening ceremony of the Sandomierz Regional Museum took place on 5 May 1921.
It gradually began to collect regional artifacts, as well those of national importance (for example, a unique set of Sandomierz chess pieces dated back to the 12th century, a russet coat from the 19th century(the only one preserved) and paintings by Olga Boznańska and Jacek Malczewski. Initially, the Museum was the institution of the Polish Tourist Society. After World War II the Museum was nationalised and it systematically continued to extend its collection. By resolution of the Sandomierz Town Council, the former royal Castle was to house the Regional Museum.
The Museum carries out research and documents local and national heritage memory. It adapts its existing resources for tourist purposes and develops offers that enhance the local community identity. That is why the Museum has gained the status of a cultural institution with the potential and resources allowing it to engage in international collaboration. An equally important aspect of the Museum's activity is the integration of persons involved in the art and culture scene, social groups and organisation of exhibitions, conferences, lectures and meetings.
The Museum is a cultural institution that works for the preservation and promotion of historical monuments and history of the town and region. It is involved in recording history of the region and its cultural changes and implementing research projects related to these topics. It undertakes activities related to art in the broad sense of the term, including concerts, theatre performances, etc. The Museum makes its space available to local and regional communities for various meetings and celebrations (including national holidays).
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THE LAND OF APPLE TREES
The Sandomierz Region is predominantly an agricultural region. Vegetable and fruit growing are particularly popular here. Highly productive orchards comprise mostly apple trees (approximately 12000ha). Cherry trees (approximately 1500ha) and plum trees come next. Apart from these, black berries, strawberries, apricots, peaches and walnuts are also widely grown, as well as vegetables.
The first traces of settlement in Sandomierz date back to the Neolithic period (5200BC - 1700BC). The numerous archeological discoveries within the town walls confirm the existence of such settlements.
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HISTORY OF GLASS PRODUCTION IN SANDOMIERZ
The history of glass-making in Sandomierz has a rich history dating back to the 1930s. It had a great impact on the economic development of the city and its present shape. Between years 1936 and 1939 the Central Industrial Region was established in Southern and Central Poland. As a part of its targets, the infrastructure for heavy industry and defense industry were expanded, many new plants were built and the unemployment was gradually decreased. At that time, the first flat glass factory in the region - "Metan" - was established in Kamień Nowy located on the outskirts of Sandomierz.
Today Pilkington Polska is a part of the global NSG Group and one of the most significant glass manufacturers. The company produces high-quality flat glass intended for construction products (i.e. glazing of buildings, laminated and tempered glass) and products of the automotive industry, as well as for the furniture and household goods industries.
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1051
In the battle of Bratislava/Pozsony/Pressburg the Serbian lords supported Álmos, so the vengeful Kálmán had many of them blinded.
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1044
Serbian soldiers fought alongside King Aba Sámuel in the battle of Ménfő.
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- The first wife of King Bolesław I Chrobry (the Brave) was Judit, the daughter of Grand Prince Géza and the older sister of King St. István I.
- St. Adalbert of Prague, Bishop of Kraków. According to the legends and the chronicle, he baptized/confirmed Grand Prince Géza’s son Vajk, who was baptized István and became the first king of Hungary. The date of the event is uncertain, perhaps it happened in 995 AD.
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AROUND 975
Vajk was born here, who was baptized István; the first king of Hungary.
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DYNAMIC DEVELOPMENT OF THE CITY
It seems that the town escaped any serious attack, so it could develop without hindrance as one of Poland’s - for the time being only - regional centres. In this time, at the request of Prince Imre, King Bolesław I Chrobry (the Brave) founded a monastery in Łysa Góra.
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998
One part of the dismembered body of Duke Koppány, who rebelled against the central power, was nailed up on the gate of the Esztergom castle. This also proves that Esztergom was one of the most significant royal centres.
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1037
The first written mention of the settlement, named Villa Camarum.
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According to the legend, the monastery of Łysa Góra was founded by the polish King Bolesław I Chrobry (the Brave) at the request of Prince St. Imre .
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2ND HALF OF THE CENTURY
The Castle Hill was divided into three parts. In the north was the palace with the royal residence in it. In the middle of the hill was built the St. Adalbert Cathedral, so this was the ecclesiastical centre. In the south was the seat of the land-steward of Pilis forestry (in Hungarian: pilisi erdőispán).
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MID 12TH CENTURY
On the southern part of the Castle Hill, construction of a new royal palace began. The complex was completed entirely probably under the rule of King Imre I. The buildings were finished sometime between 1200 and 1250.
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1147
The French king Louis VII arrived in Esztergom leading his crusading army. After a short visit, they marched on to the eastern theatre of operations.
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1183
King Béla III and Serbian Grand Župan Stephan Nemanja were allies against Byzantium attacking together its Balkan possessions. Later, the good relations broke; King Béla III occupied some Serbian territories in 1192/1193.
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1018
King St. István I. moved his royal seat from Esztergom to Székesfehérvár.
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1166-
Bolesław IV Kędzierzawy (the Curly) and
1173-
Kazimierz II Sprawiedliwy (the Just) were the princes of the region, but the settlement, what was their seat, was not given the status of a city until the beginning of the 13th century.
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1001
On 1 January 1001 King St. István I was crowned in Esztergom. (In others opinion, in those days December 24 was New Year’s day and the king was crowned on that day.)
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ABOUT 1128
King Béla II married Jelena/Ilona, the daughter of Uroš I of Raška, who was the Grand Župan of Serbia (Raška). The marriage was the result of a Serbian-Hungarian alliance against Byzantium. They had several children. The bride got the Csepel island as a wedding present. In place of the earlier blinded King Béla II, Queen Ilona was who ruled the country in deed.
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EARLY 11TH CENTURY
King St. István I made this settlement the seat of the county, which was also called Komárom.
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1060S
King Béla I married the daughter of King Mieszko II Lambert, called Rycheza . They had three sons; two of them, Géza I and St. László I, became Hungarian kings later.
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1075
In the charter of king Géza I , which was got out in Hronský Beňadik/ Garamszentbenedek, it is mentioned as Camarum.
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1189
The German-Roman emperor Friedrich I. Barbarossa (the Red beard), leading his crusading army to the Holy Land, arrived in Esztergom and was hosted by King Béla III.
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1198
According to a charter, King Imre bestowed his palace in Esztergom to the archdiocese.
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AROUND 1040
As King St. László I was born in Poland and according to some sources, his mother tongue was also Polish, he became the patron saint of the Polish people in Hungary.
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1138
In his will, Duke Bolesław III Krzywousty (the Wry-mouthed) divided his country among his sons. Pursuant to this decision, Sandomierz became the princely centre of the eastern part of Lesser Poland.
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The town was first mentioned in the gesta of Gallus Anonymus , as the largest city of Poland. It was not yet given officialy the status of a city at that time, but ,,only” the most significant settlement of the region.
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1085
King St. László I defeated king Salamon’s Hungarian-German army with the help of the polish King, Bolesław II Śmiały (the Bold).
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1080S
King Bolesław II Śmiały (the Bold) (1058-1080), the brother-in-law of king Béla I, was anathematized by Pope Gregory VII. He fled to Hungary where he was received by king St. László I with great bravery.
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1166-
Bolesław IV Kędzierzawy (the Curly) and
1173-
Kazimierz II Sprawiedliwy (the Just) were the princes of the region, but the settlement, what was their seat, was not given the status of a city until the beginning of the 13th century.
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1439
Sultan Murad II occupied Serbia and Despot Đurađ fled to Hungary, where he interfered in the power struggle after the death of King Albert. After the reconciliation with King Ulászló I, Đurađ temporarily managed to renew his state in 1444 with the help of the Hungarians.
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AROUND 973
Grand Price Géza established the new centre of power in Esztergom. He had built his residence on the Castle Hill and presumably he also had built the first ring of the defensive wall around the Castle Hill’s plateau.
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Archaeological research has proven that already in this time and in this place an early fort existed before the present fortress was built. It is likely that the first fort on this site could be an earthwork with wood structured fort similar to the fortresses of the Hungarian shire reeves.
At the end of the 10th century, when Bishop St. Adalbert of Poland set off to Rome via Hungary, it was already a thriving settlement.
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Sandomierz and its area is one of the oldest inhabited and historically most important regions of Poland. The town and its surrounding lands were already populated in the Neolithic period and since that time this land has been inhabited practically continuously. Nevertheless, it seems that the settlement’s administrative importance, which is still significant today, evolved only in the early medieval period, as a commercial centre.
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According to the gesta of Anonymus, Ketel’s son Alaptolma had a castle built in this place, which was called Komárom. The source indicates that in the 13th century, when the gesta was written, they remembered the existence of an early castle from the time of the shire reeves (in Hungarian: ispán, in Latin: comes).
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The Roman antecedents of the settlement can be found on the right bank of the river. In the area of Szőny, which belonged to the town, a Roman garrison was stationed from the 1st century AD and later became headquarters of the legio I. Adiutrix. We also know evidence of settlement from the area of the present-day Old castle from the Migration Period. The avar cemetery, which was excavated in the shipyard, has outstanding importance among the period’s archaeological remains.
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According to the work of Constantine VII, the Serbs formed a league with the Hungarians as a part of a campaign against the Bulgarians (c. 914-917), but Prince Časlav Klonimirovič Serbian died in a battle against the marauding Hungarians around 950.
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On the territory of today's settlement of Golubac, there was a Roman castrum and a settlement Vicus Cuppae (4,5 km west of the medieval fortress).
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SANDOMIERZ ROYAL CASTLE
A wooden fortress was built on a hill near the Vistula River during the early period of the Piast rule in the 10th century. Archaeological research has confirmed the stronghold existence since at least the 10th century.
In the 12th century the stronghold was surrounded with a wood and earth wall, a moat and a fore-rampart with a palisade formed of obliquely driven piles.
In his last will of 1138, Bolesław the Wry-mouthed made Sandomierz the capital of his Principality. The town, as a permanent residence of kings and princes, had to be extended. Henryk Sandomierski, Casimir the Just, Leszek the White, Bolesław the Chaste and Leszek the Black were among the rulers who lived in the Castle. The town and the Castle were destroyed and their inhabitants massacred during the Tatar invasion in 1260.
In the 14th century King Casimir the Great built new stone and brick fortifications on the ruins of the former fortress. The Gothic buildings consisted of two residential houses with a chapel, a kitchen, a brewery, a horse mill, a granary and a gate with an armoury storage. The Castle was then connected to the town walls. The Sandomierz chronicler Janko of Czarnków mentioned the Sandomierz Castle among 32 other castles built by order of the King as part of a campaign to strengthen the country's defence system. At that time Sandomierz was one of the most significant centres of power in Małopolska. Only the foundations of the octagonal tower and the southern tower known as Kurza Stopka(Hen's Foot)erected during the reign of Casimir IV Jagiellon in the 15th century have remained from that period.
In 1520 a significant renovation in the Renaissance style took place during the reign of King Sigismund the Old. The work was supervised by the German architect Benedict Sandomierski, who was the author of the Wawel Castle reconstruction. The King's plaque of 1520 and the Renaissance cartouche with the image of Sigismund's eagle are still visible on the late classicist eastern elevation.
The two-storey eastern wing was added to the main residential building situated on the south hill side.
The north side of the courtyard was surrounded by a defensive wall with a castle gate. The rebuilding of the western wing began and was completed after the architect's death. The work on the residential wings was continued by the architect and sculptor Santi Gucci. The Castle was used as the seat of starostes. It was here where aldermen's courts, circuit courts and higher Magdeburg town law courts were held. The work on the Castle's expansion continued during the reign of Kind Sigismund II Augustus. In 1656 the Castle which consisted of four wings enclosing a colonnaded courtyard was blown up by the Swedish troops. Only the western wing survived and it was rebuilt into a free-standing palace-type building during the reign of John II Sobieski in the years 1680-1688.
The Castle was destroyed by Russian troops quartered there in 1768 (during the Bar Confederation.
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MONGOL INVASION OF POLAND AND HUNGARY
In the 13th century Sandomierz was the capital of the Principality of Sandomierz and the Sandomierz Castle was the seat of its ruler (today's Sandomierz Regional Museum). It was here in the Castle where, during the minority of Prince Bolesław the Chaste, the idea was born to establish closer links between the Polish state and the Kingdom of Hungary.
The young prince's guardians decided on the marriage of Bolesław the Chaste with the Hungarian princess Kunegunda, known in Poland as Kinga, daughter of Bela IV and Mary Laskaris. The contacts had already been established earlier since Bolesław's sister Salomea was the wife of Hungarian prince Koloman Halicki, son of King Andrew II of Hungary.
A medieval source 'The Life of St. Kinga' provides information about Kinga's extraordinary journey to Poland. Having taken a basket or a chest with holes in it, specially prepared for that purpose, Salomea locked Kinga in that chest and gave it to some trusted knights to bring Kinga to Sandomierz. When Hungarians saw Salomea saying the blessing over the chest and weeping,not knowing the secret, they attributed such behaviour to her greed and were mocking Salomea with outbursts of loud laughter. But she was commending what she had sent to God, with pious feelings.
It was in such a way that five-¬year-old Kinga was brought to Poland. At that time a promise of marriage between Prince Bolesław and the princess was made. Kinga spent her first years of life in Poland in the Sandomierz Castle, staying with Boleslaw's mother, Grzymisława, and being prepared for a wife's role.
The Mongol invasion in 1241 was one of the greatest Polish military failures. It must however be emphasised that the attack was primarily directed at Hungary and the Polish principalities were invaded only by one diversionary unit. The alliances of the Polish princes with their southern neighbours were a cause of the invasion. One of such princes was Bolesław the Chaste who had been engaged to Kinga, daughter of the King of Hungary. Marching through Lublin and Zawichost, the army of Khan Ordu, grandson of Genghis Khan himself, reached Sandomierz. They captured the town on Ash Wednesday, 13th February 1241. No mercy was shown to the inhabitants.
The battle, which was victorious for the Polish forces, took place near Sandomierz, at Tursko. The battle was a shock for the invaders and its echoes were preserved in the Chinese chronicle of the Yuan Dynasty published in Taiwan. Tursko appears in the chronicle as a distorted name of Tulisseko. A month later the invaders crushed knights of Małopolska at Tarczko and Chmielnik where a major battle took place on 18th March. Then they turned their attention to Cracow. It was then that, according to a legend, one of the enemy arrows got stuck in the bugler's throat and interrupted a bugle call played from the tower of St. Mary's Church.
The final phase of the battle took place near Legnica in Silesia. The Polish army was defeated and Henry the Pious killed in the battle. Bolesław the Chaste would have met the same fate if he had not left his principality in time and if he and Kinga had not taken refuge with his father-in-law, the King of Hungary.
At the turn of 1259 and 1260 Tatars assisted by Ruthenian troops invaded the Principality. Boleslaw the Chaste did not resist the invaders this time and left again probably for Hungary. The inhabitants of Sandomierz who sheltered in the town and Castle were defending themselves against the attackers on their own.
The siege of Sandomierz began during the first days of December 1259 and lasted for a very long time. The direct attack with a siege machine continued for four days. The fire and capture of the town undercut morale of the remaining defenders. The Sandomierz Castle surrendered and all inhabitants who had taken refuge there were slaughtered.
The oldest historical records confirm that Sandomierz was captured by employing deception and cunning. The event is best documented in the Świętokrzyski Yearbook. The author described the commander who showed credulity and believed the Tatars. Having agreed to a deal with them, he went to the Tatar camp accompanied by his brother. But they were taken captive there, which contributed to the town surrender.
Although the town experienced many tragic events throughout its history, traces of the Tatars' stay in Sandomierz are still alive and visible in the town's life. They are present in the material and spiritual remnants of the past and town guides' stories.
The destruction of the town led to a decision to 'renovate' it and the renovation was successfully completed. The town was granted a town charter under Magdeburg Law and was located on Town Hill in 1286. The Town Charter granted by Leszek the Black is still kept in Sandomierz. It is possible that defensive walls constructed a year later after the town was moved to a new location, saved it during the third Tatar invasion.
The Tatars were led by Telebuga, the Khan of the Golden Horde and Nogaj, the Tatar governor from the Black Sea. They also forced Ruthenian princes to take part in the expedition. Poland was invaded by troops led by Princes of Lutsk and Volhynia and Prince of Halicz. The aim of the invasion was to neutralise the Principality of Leszek the Black, or rather its military power in the context of the power struggle in Hungary in which the Tatar chieftains had engaged. Telebuga and Nogaj were reasoning correctly since Leszek was a loyal ally of Hungary.
After abandoning the siege of Sandomierz, Telebuga's task was to attack Cracow and Nogaj's army was to pass along the Carpathian Mountains and enter Hungary through Spisz. Fortunately, they were not coordinating their movements precisely. Looting and plundering on their way to Spisz, Nogaj's troops reached Podoliniec, which they burnt. Their march was halted later because some Tartar units suffered a defeat in a skirmish with reinforcements, which arrived from Hungary to support troops in Małopolska.
Although Leszek the Black and his wife, Gryfina, fled to Hungary at that time he had prepared the country, especially strongholds, to resist attacks. His was a right strategy of avoiding battles in an open field. Otherwise, troops could have been defeated and completely wiped out.
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JADWIGA- QUEEN OF POLAND AND HUNGARIAN PRINCESS
Jadwiga of Anjou was the daughter of Louis of Hungary and Elizabeth of Bosnia. She was probably born at the Visegrad castle or the Buda castle. She was
crowned 'king' of Poland in 1384.Jadwiga's sister Maria died in 1395, which weakened the position of her husband Sigismund of Luxembourg in Hungary. In order not to damage her relations with Sigismund, Jadwiga stopped using the title 'Queen of Hungary' but she did not renounce it. In 1386 Jadwiga married Jagiełło, Duke of Lithuania.
Jadwiga devoted herself entirely to charity work, e.g. she endowed a hospital in Sandomierz.
In 1397 Queen Jadwiga granted a special privilege to inhabitants of Świątniki near Sandomierz. Under the privilege, villagers were released from various burdens in return for their services at the Sandomierz collegiate church. This document has survived intact in the Sandomierz Chapter archives to the present.
On 22 June 1399 Jadwiga gave birth to a daughter Elisabeth Bonifacja, who died on 13 July 1399. She died four days later at around 3pm, probably of childbed fever.
Pope John Paul II beatified Jadwiga on 31 may 1979 and canonised her on 8 June 1997.
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ZAWISZA CZARNY OF GARBóW
Knight Zawisza Czarny was born in Stary Garbów, a small village 11km from Sandomierz, around 1370.
He fought under the orders of Hungarian King Sigismund of Luxembourg in Bosnia in 1409. When Poland was threatened with war by a dangerous enemy, the Teutonic Knights' state, Zawisza left his lord to take part in the war against the Teutonic Knights, despite the fact that his services for Sigismund brought him a considerable income. He was sometimes forced to choose whether to be in the service of Sigismund of Luxembourg or in the service of Władysław Jagiełło. Though his knight- service for Sigismund earned him a higher income on a daily basis, the interest of his homeland was always predominant.
In 1410 Zawisza was appointed an envoy of the Polish King to Sigismund of Luxembourg to present a peace proposal. In 1412 he was a witness to a treaty between Poland and Hungary concluded in Lubowla in Slovakia (then Hungary). In the same year Zawisza and King Władysław Jagiełło participated in the ceremonial meeting of monarchs in Buda (Budapest). Zawisza took part in the grand knightly tournament organised on that occasion. In 1413 Zawisza temporarily owned the city of Sibiu (Hungarian Nagyszeben, now in Romania) and applied to King Sigismund for confirmation of his town privileges.
His passionate patriotism sometimes led Zawisza to violent behaviour. During the Council of Constance in 1418, he was protesting when the Dominican Jan Falkenberg insulted the Polish King. When Pope Martin V refused to condemn him Zawisza forced the doors of the papal palace and made the Pope condemn Jan Falkenberg.
Zawisza was a burly, bold and courageous knight. He took part in numerous battles and knightly tournaments. Zawisza became famous all over Europe when he defeated the invincible Aragonese knight John in a tournament held in Perpignan in the Kingdom of Aragon (now in France) in September 1415.
In the years 1420-1422 Zawisza was fighting for the King of Hungary against the Hussites and was taken prisoner for a couple of months by the Czechs at German Brod. In 1427, on behalf of King Sigismund, he was recruiting soldiers so that the King could have troops to fight with the Turks and then he participated in an expedition to the Principality of Wallachia. A year later, Sigismund of Luxembourg began a siege of the Golubac fortress occupied by the Turks but was defeated during the retreat covered by Zawisza Czarny, who died on the battlefield or was killed in Turkish captivity.
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MEETING OF KINGS IN VISEGRAD IN 1335
In November 1335 a summit of the monarchs of Hungary, Bohemia and Poland was held in the Hungarian capital Visegrad. The meeting was hosted by the Hungarian King Charles of Anjou who was joined by King of Bohemia John of Luxembourg and the Polish King Casimir III the Great. The main purpose of the meeting was to resolve the Polish-Teutonic dispute and that is why the Teutonic delegation was also invited.
King Casimir III the Great came to Visegrad accompanied by the Polish noblemen. Some noblemen from Sandomierz played a particularly important role, among them, Mikolaj Bogoria Skotnicki, a great-grandson of Mikołaj who founded the Cistercian monastery in Koprzywnica near Sandomierz. He was also a brother of Jarosław, archbishop of Gniezno and Wojciech, the Sandomierz voivode. Warsz from Michów of the Rawicz coat of arms, the later Sandomierz castellan was another important lord present in Visegrad.
The Visegrad meeting settled two issues that were of significant importance for Poland. The first one was affiliation of the disputed territories: Pomorze Gdańskie, Kujawy, Dobrzyń Region and Chełm Region. The verdict of the arbitration court consisting of the Bohemian and Hungarian rulers was announced on 26 November. The court decided that the Teutonic Knights were to return Poland Kujawy and Dobrzyń Region, while Pomorze Gdańskie and Chełm Region were to belong to the monastic state as perpetual alms.
The second decision concerned a dispute over the Polish crown between John of Luxembourg and Casimir the Great. John of Luxembourg demanded 20 000 threescore Prague groschen from the Polish King Casimir. Casimir accepted such conditions. In the event of failure to pay, he was to send his dignitaries, listed by name, to Opawa where they were to remain in custody until the debt was fully repaid. The dignitaries mentioned by name were the lords from Sandomierz: Mikołaj Bogoria Skotnicki and Warsz of Michów who gave their guarantee to King Casimir III the Great on 22 November. In this way, Casimir became the undisputed king of Poland.
At the Visegrad meeting, a Polish, Bohemian and Hungarian alliance against the Habsburgs was formed.
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1276
Stephan Dragutin, the eldest son of King Stephan Uroš I, who married Katalin, one of the daughters of King István V around 1270, overthrew his father with Hungarian help and became the king of Serbia. Due to a severe leg injury, he had to hand over the throne to his younger brother Uroš II Milutin in 1282.
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1444
The fortress of Golubac/Galambóc, whichserved as a base of the Ottoman Danube river fleet, remained in Ottoman hands until 1444, when he was returned to Despot Đurđ Branković together with his entire state.
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