Why exactly are the Hungarians and the Poles good friends?

“Pole and Hungarian — two brothers,/good for sabre and for glass./Both courageous, both lively,/May God bless them” – goes the poem on the Polish-Hungarian friendship. But why exactly are Hungarians so good friends with the Poles?

Common History

The question is very good because many things could have divided the two nations. One can start with the mother-tongue: while Polish is a Slavic language, the Hungarian is Finno-Ugric. Furthermore, the Hungarian and the Polish Kingdom shared a common border for at least 500 years which could have been a basis for constant hostilities. However, such conflicts never happened.

In fact, the Christian History of the two states started around the same time, at the beginning of the second millennium. According to a Hungarian legend, Archangel Gabriel appeared in the dream of Pope Sylvester II on the Christmas eve of 1000 and told Rome’s bishop that two emissaries would come the next day and that he

should give the crown to the Hungarians.

Anyway, Polish Miesko I (932-992) and Géza, Grand Prince of the Hungarians (c940-997) both took up Christianity in the 960s, 970s. The above-mentioned legend of the coronation of the first Hungarian king, Stephen I (996/1000-1038) probably tries to explain the fact that while Stephen I was apostolic, so the Hungarian church was independent of the Holy-Roman-Empire’s, this did not happen in the case of Poland which was the basis of many conflicts between them in the 11th and 12th century.

During the centuries it happened many times that members of the Hungarian dynasties and magnate families fled to Poland while Polish ones came to Hungary. When after his son’s tragic death in a hunting accident, Stephen I blinded his greatest rival, Vazul,

his three sons fled to Poland

and later all three of them became kings of Hungary. Not surprisingly, Hungarian monarchs chose their spouses from Polish dynasties many times. For example, one of the greatest Hungarian kings, Ladislaus I’s (1077-1095) mother was Polish and he was born in Poland, as well.

Personal unions

When Hungary’s ruling Árpád-dynasty died out in 1301, Anjou Charles I (1308-1342) married Elizabeth of Poland from the Piast-dynasty, and thus, he could secure the Polish throne for his son, Louis I who unified the two countries in a personal union. After his death, his older daughter, Maria (1371-1395) inherited Hungary while his younger daughter, Hedwig (Jadwiga; 1373-1399) became queen regnant of Poland. Hedwig later married Władysław Jagiełło, and so she was able to unify the Grand Duchy of Lithuania and the Kingdom of Poland