The stories of five Hungarian kings who had an extraordinary reign

The first Hungarian king (Stephen I of Hungary) was crowned in 1000 or 1001 and his reign lasted until 1038. Since then many kings followed him on the throne. Some of them were kings loved by the public but there were some who did not have a great reputation. Also, there are some kings in Hungarian history who did something great for the nation or had some very strange habits. Here are five Hungarian kings who had an exceptional reign.

Andrew II of Hungary (Reign: 1205–1235)

He was born in 1177 and as he was the second born son in the family he did not get the throne first when his father died. Although his father helped him to get the throne of Galicia in 1188 he was chased away to years later and returned to Hungary. After his father’s death, his brother Imre got the throne which ended up in conflict as Andrew attacked him with his army. The Pope managed to stop the brothers’ war in 1200 but later another conflict was born between them. After several other incidents, he was crowned king of Hungary on May 29, 1205.

His reign is considered to be the most famous and significant one in Hungarian history. Because of his dynamic and energetic political views, he was the first one who got the full support of the Balcanic region.

He established the Golden Bull in 1222 which was one of the first examples of constitutional limits being placed on the powers of a European monarch. These laws established the rights of the Hungarian nobility and many points and laws were used in Hungary without any changing until 1848. The Golden Bull is often compared to Magna Carta.

Béla IV of Hungary (Reign: 1235–1270)

He was born in 1206 and was the oldest son of Andrew II. After his father’s death in 1235, he succeeded him and attempted to restore the royal authority in Hungary because his father gave every available land to the public and the public took the king for granted. To reach his purpose, Béla started to revise these lands from their owners and his reputation soon began to become worse and worse.

In 1241 the Mongols started to broaden their Empire and attacked several European countries, including Hungary. After the Hungarian army lost the battle of Muhi in 1241, the king escaped from the country and hid in the town of Trogir (today Croatia). Although he survived the invasion the Mongols destroyed the country and took many people as slaves and robbed several towns and villages. The country was ruined completely.

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Béla IV is often called the ‘Second Founder of the State’ because after the invasion he intended to solve the missing number of populations with inviting foreigners in the country. Also, he learned from every mistake after the Mongol destruction and ordered to strengthen the Hungarian army with nights and that every Hungarian castle must be built out of heavy rocks in order to be safer and be able to defend the Hungarian residents more effectively.

Sigismund, Holy Roman Emperor (Reign: 1387–1437)

Besides King of Hungary, he also owned the title of King of Germany, Bohemia, and Croatia. He is considered to be one of the most educated historical persons and spoke several languages including French, German, Hungarian, Italian and Latin. He was also an outgoing person who not only watched but took part in tournaments.