Slovakia in the High and Late Middle Ages
This article is part of History of Slovakia
Mining
In the 11th century at the latest, the mining of precious metals (initially silver ), which was so important for Slovak history, began in central Slovakia . Since the 13th century, mainly silver has been mined in the Banská Štiavnica / Schemnitz district with the help of German immigrants. The largest gold mines were in Kremnica / Kremnitz, where the oldest mint that still operates today was established in 1328 . Iron ore was mined in Gemer county , salt since the 2nd half of the 13th century in Solivar / Salzburg (today part of Prešov ). Around 1400 gold and silver production in Slovakia reached 40% and 30% of the total world production at that time.
Mining, in particular, made Slovakia the most prosperous area of the Kingdom of Hungary in the Middle Ages and into the 18th century. The first medieval cities in the Kingdom of Hungary also emerged from the 13th century, mainly in the area of today's Slovakia.
11th and 12th centuries
The 11th and 12th centuries were a time of conflict between the Kingdom of Hungary on the one hand and the Holy Roman Empire and / or Bohemia on the other. 1042–1052, Heinrich III took hold . six times in Hungary, three times of which western Slovakia was occupied. During the period of fierce battles for the throne in Hungary, Solomon ruled the neighboring part of Hungary from 1074-1081 as the rival king of Bratislava / Pressburg supported by Heinrich IV .
Politically, the Duchy of Nitra (Ducatus) (1048–1108) was established on the territory of today's Slovakia in 1048 . It was ruled by Hungarian aspirants to the throne. With its dissolution in 1108, Slovakia (more precisely at least the areas of Slovakia that had already been conquered by Hungarians) was fully integrated into the Hungarian kingdom, which lasted until 1918.
Around 1110, the diocese of Nitra / Neutra , which existed in the time of Great Moravia , was renewed to alleviate the indignation of Slovak nobles because of the dissolution of the Neutra border principality (1108).
In 1116 the Kingdom of Hungary, and with it today's Slovakia, lost part of today's South Moravia forever to the Bohemian king. The Hungarian counter-king Boris attacked Slovakia with the support of the troops of the neighboring countries in 1132 and 1146 (with the occupation of Bratislava). In the 60s of the 12th century, the Hungarian counter-king Stephan III. Bratislava to his residence.
In the middle of the 12th century, but especially in the 13th century, Germans began to colonize some areas of Slovakia.
13th Century
In the 13th century, the first cities in the legal sense emerged in the Kingdom of Hungary . The very first municipalities to receive city rights from the king are all on the territory of today's Slovakia. There were 1238 Trnava / Tyrnau, Banská Štiavnica / Schemnitz, Krupina / Karpfen and Zvolen / Altsohl. Other cities followed in the course of the 13th and 14th centuries. However, Bratislava and Nitra / Neutra were de facto cities since the 9th century at the latest, Banská Štiavnica since around 1200. The ruling class of the Slovak cities consisted exclusively of Germans from the 13th to the 15th century.
The most formative event of the 13th century was the Mongol invasion of 1241–1242. The Mongols destroyed Slovakia and today's Hungary to such an extent that in some areas (e.g. in the Spiš ) up to 50% of the population were killed. In 1242 the Mongols returned to Asia. In 1242 hunger and epidemics broke out. The Austrian Duke Friedrich von Babenberg tried to occupy Bratislava and neighboring counties, which had been pledged to him in 1241. But he was defeated by the Slovak nobleman Achilles von Hunt-Poznan . The Hungarian King Béla IV sent advertisers to Germany to repopulate the depopulated areas (see also Spiš). Another consequence of the Mongol invasion was encouraging the building of stone castles in the Kingdom of Hungary; At the beginning of the 14th century, 97 of the kingdom's 188 castles stood in present-day Slovakia or in the adjacent mountains of present-day north-east Hungary.
In 1271, the Bohemian King Ottakar II conquered southwestern Slovakia in connection with the Hungarian-Bohemian conflicts of 1246–1278. This attack ended with the conclusion of the First Peace of Pressburg on July 2, 1271. It did not last long, as Hungarian troops attacked Austria and Moravia as early as 1273 . The Austrians then devastated Győr , the Moravians Nitra / Neutra, Ottakar's troops south-western Slovakia and troops from Vienna conquered Bratislava and its surroundings. The Czech troops did not leave Slovakia until 1276/1277.
Time of the oligarchs (late 13th century to 1321)
With Andreas III. In 1301 the ruling family of Hungary, the Árpáden , died out. As a result of the weakness of the last Arpad kings, the power of certain noble families (so-called oligarchs) in the Kingdom of Hungary became so strong in the 1970s and 1980s that they functioned as independent rulers over small Hungarian kingdoms in their respective areas . In Slovakia these were Mattäus Csák III. von Trenčín in western and central Slovakia and Omodej von Aba in eastern Slovakia, in the border area disputed between the German Empire and Hungary the Counts of Güssing / Kőszeg . Mattäus was a de facto ruler on his territory from 1296 until his death in 1321. His seat was the castle of Trenčín / Trenčín. In 1317 Mattäus devastated and burned the historic city of Nitra in the course of these battles, whereby many valuable historical documents were lost. Omodej ruled his territory from 1283 to the 1312 battle of Rozhanovce , in which his sons Johann, Niklas, David, Ladislaw, Omode and Dominik were defeated.
In the year 1285 even the Hungarian King Ladislaus IV had to call the Mongols to Eastern Slovakia to help him there against his own nobles. But they were beaten by Omodej. In 1286 the Counts of Güssing occupied Bratislava and, together with their Austrian allies, devastated neighboring Slovakia. However, they were defeated by supporters of the king in 1287. In the same year, the Counts of Güssing struck King Ladislaus IV on the Žitava River (southern Slovakia), the king fled to the Liptov , negotiated there again with the Mongols, entered into a secret alliance with them, but the subsequent Mongol invasion of 1287–1288 the Zips was repulsed by the oligarchs. Around the same time, Albrecht I von Habsburg exploited the anarchy in Hungary and conquered Bratislava. After he made Bratislava his seat, he conquered the neighboring areas in Slovakia and Burgenland from here . Southwestern Slovakia was recaptured by the Slovak Abrahám Rúfus in 1291, the remaining areas including Bratislava fell back to Hungary on August 28, 1291 through the Peace of Hainburg .
Kings of the House of Anjou
After the establishment of orderly conditions in his kingdom after the death of Mattäus Csák in 1321, a golden age began in the entire kingdom of Hungary, but above all in Slovakia. Mining in Slovakia was expanded further. Slovakia was the area with the highest rate of urbanization : 60 of the 100 cities in the Kingdom of Hungary were in Slovakia.
From 1323–1338 a major currency and tax reform was carried out in the kingdom. It was only possible thanks to the rich deposits of precious metals in Slovakia and Transylvania . The mint of Kremnica / Kremnitz was founded in 1328 and is now the oldest mint in operation in the world. In 1338, increased gold mining in the Kremnitz region enabled the introduction of a gold currency. Since their high precious metal content changed only slightly , the gold coins, later known as “ Kremnitzer ducats ”, were among the most sought-after currencies in Europe until 1919.
The Slovaks gradually asserted themselves against the German ruling class in the cities. As early as 1381, the king in Žilina / Sillein granted the Slovaks half of the seats in the city council in the Privilegum pro Slavis. The situation in St. Benedict has been similar since 1328. The end of the 14th century is also the time when the Czech language began to penetrate many areas of Slovakia as a written language alongside the long-used Latin language.
Sigismund of Luxembourg (1382–1437)
The Central European King Sigismund had to cope with numerous battles (he fought, inter alia, against the Turks (since 1389/1396), against various magnates of the Kingdom of Hungary and the Czech Hussites (1419–1437)). These were largely financed by the sale of the crown's property to the high nobility and by the extraction of considerable amounts of gold and silver in Slovakia. Gold and silver mining in Slovakia under Sigismund reached 40% and 30% of the total world production at that time.
In 1385 Sigismund had to pledge the counties of Bratislava, Nitra / Neutra and Trenčín / Trenčín to his Moravian cousins in order to get credit for his wars in Bohemia . In the meantime, in the Kingdom of Hungary, Charles II was put on the throne by his opponent , but he was murdered in 1386 by the Slovak nobleman Blažej Forgáč , a supporter of Sigismund's wife.
In 1395 the Hungarian troops defeated the Polish king Władysław II Jagiełło at Prešov / Eperies , who claimed the Hungarian throne due to family ties. In 1396 Sigismund lost an important battle against the Turks near Nikopol , in which numerous nobles from Slovakia, for example the Slovak palatine of Hungary Leustach von Jelschau , were killed. One of the leaders of the troops was also Stibor zo Stiboríc a Beckova (Stibor of Stiborice and Beckov), an ethnic Polish nobleman who acquired huge estates in western and central Slovakia after 1388 and was known as the "Little Slovak King".
In 1401 and 1403 Sigismund was conspired by a clique of oligarchs under the leadership of a. a. temporarily deposed by Tomáš Ludanický (Slovak bishop of Eger (Hungary) ), with Sigismund's Moravian cousins and Stibor from Stiborice and Beckov also occupying western Slovakia. In 1402 the state parliament held in Bratislava confirmed the treaty between Sigismund and the Austrian Duke Albrecht II of Habsburg , according to which Albrecht becomes King of Hungary if Sigismund has no male descendants. The Habsburgs claimed the Hungarian throne until 1526 on the basis of this treaty. In 1403 the troops of Stibor von Stiborice and Beckov helped Sigismund to defeat the opposing king Ladislaus of Naples, which arose from an uprising in Croatia . In 1405 all cities in the Kingdom of Hungary were declared Royal Free Cities, giving them the status of feudal lords . In 1412 Spiš areas were pledged to Poland (see under Spiš ).
In the 15th century , Slovakia was significantly influenced by the events in Bohemia and Moravia . In the course of Sigismund's battles there against the rebellious (anti-Catholic and anti-German) Hussites (1419–1437), the Czech Hussites from 1428–1435 also undertook some more or less predatory campaigns in the neighboring kingdom of Hungary. All of these campaigns were limited to present-day Slovakia: 1428 (Bratislava burned down), 1430 (Hussites defeated in the so-called triple battle of Trnava), twice in 1431, 1432 (occupation of Trnava, failed occupation of Bratislava), 1433, 1434 Since the campaign of 1431, the Hussites left permanent garrisons in Slovakia (including Žilina, Likava , Topoľčany , Trnava). After their defeat in their homeland Bohemia ( Battle of Lipan ) on May 30th, Sigismund managed to slowly displace the Hussite garrisons from Slovakia by 1435. The most important consequence of these battles with the Hussites was the Slovakization of some cities (e.g. Žilina, Topoľčany and Skalica ) because their German citizens fled from the Hussites.
1437-1457
After the death of King Albrecht II, his widow, Elisabeth von Habsburg , gave birth to Ladislaus Postumus in Komárno / Komorn in 1440 and had him crowned in May with the crown stolen from Visegrád . At the same time, part of the nobility, the so-called Hunyadi party, left the Polish King Ladislaus III. (Wladislaw III.) In July. As so often in history, Slovakia became the battlefield of the two aspirants to the throne.
In 1440 Elisabeth hired the Czech nobleman Johann Giskra von Brandeis (Ján Jiskra z Brandýsa) to protect her son's interests in Hungary. Giskra's troops consisted of former Hussites. Until 1441 he occupied all strategically important castles and cities in Slovakia except Košice / Kaschau and Bratislava. 1442 left Elisabeth Ladislaus III. the throne. Giskra remained in Slovakia to ensure the future claim to the throne of Ladislaus Postumus.
After the death of King Ladislaus III. in the fight against the Turks in 1447 Johann Hunyadi was elected "Reichsverweser". This was followed by battles by the imperial administrator Hunyadi and by Slovak nobles on behalf of Hunyadi against Johann Giskra, who still ruled Slovakia. After long struggles, Giskra lost all territories in Slovakia in 1453, as the 13-year-old Ladislaus Postumus was finally recognized as King of Hungary by the state parliament in Bratislava (although Hunyadi remained the de facto ruler), which meant that Giskra's stay in Slovakia was no longer permitted justify it.
Johann Hunyadi and his successor Matthias Corvinus also had to fight against the so-called brothers (Slovak bratríci , Czech bratříci ) in Slovakia in the years 1445–1458 / 1467 . The Bratríci were post-Hussite Czech soldiers mainly in Slovakia who, under the leadership of their former Hussite leaders, occupied especially eastern Slovakia and robbed the inhabitants. Many of them were deserters from Giskra's forces because they had not been paid. Banned from the Kingdom of Hungary in 1453, Giskra had to be called back to Hungary a year later to defeat the Bratríci, which he only partially succeeded in doing.
In Eastern Slovakia, meanwhile, five expanding royal free cities joined together in 1440–1445 to form the so-called Pentapolitana (Košice / Kaschau, Levoča / Leutschau, Prešov / Eperies, Bardejov / Bartfeld and Sabinov / Zeben). She has played an important role in history over and over again.
Matthias Corvinus (1458–1490)
In 1458 Matthias Corvinus was elected King of Hungary. This very educated king fought against the Turks in the south, against the Bohemian King Georg von Podiebrad (in the years 1468–1471), against Ladislaus of Poland (1471–1479), Emperor Friedrich III. (1459–1460 and 1477–1487) and in Slovakia against Johann Giskra (1460–1462) and against the Bratríci (1458–1467).
In Slovakia he turned resolutely against the Bratríci movement mentioned above. In 1458 the brothers reached their greatest power when they ruled the whole of eastern Slovakia and parts of western and central Slovakia from 36 palaces and castles with 20,000 men. The Bratríci, who had been fighting with Giskra since 1460, were finally defeated in 1467.
1471–1472 some magnates organized a conspiracy against the king. The magnates offered the throne to the Polish king's son Casimir IV , who then occupied almost all of Slovakia in the winter of 1471 and made Nitra / Neutra his seat. The Poles and the conspirators were defeated by royal troops. A second incursion from Poland into Slovakia took place in 1473–1474, but again ended with a defeat by the invaders.
Matthias Corvinus' reign was associated with an economic and cultural boom. In 1487, seven mining towns in the northeast of the kingdom (five of them in Slovakia) united to unite the 7 northern Hungarian mining towns ( Heptapolitana ) ( Gelnica / Göllnitz, Smolník / Schmöllnitz, Jasov / Jossau, Spišská Nová Ves / Zipser Neudorf, Telkibánya / Telken and Rudabánya / Ruda). In 1467, thanks to Matthias in Bratislava, the Universitas Istropolitana (incorrectly called Academia Istropolitana since the 16th century ), the first university in Slovakia and at that time the only university in Hungary, opened its doors. Although it had to close again with the death of the king (1490), it had some excellent European teachers.
Kings of the House of Jagiello (1490–1526)
From this ruling house came Ladislaus II. (Wladislaw II.) (1490-1516), from 1471 also King of Bohemia, and Ludwig II. (1516-1526), also King of Bohemia. Ladislaus spent most of the time in Bratislava, probably because of its convenient location. They fought against the Turks in the south, against Johann Albert (1490–1492), the Roman German King Maximilian I (1490–1491) and against some magnates in the Kingdom of Hungary.
At the beginning of his reign, Ladislaus II had several opposing kings. One of them, his brother and Polish King Johann Albert, attacked eastern Slovakia in 1490 and 1491. In December 1491, however, he was defeated by the nobleman Johann Zápolya I near Prešov / Eperies. Around the same time (1490–1491) another anti-king, Maximilian I from the House of Habsburg , recaptured the territories of Austria that had been lost under Matthias Corvinus and also conquered the western border areas of the Kingdom of Hungary, where he also moved into Bratislava. With the subsequent (second) Peace of Pressburg on November 7, 1491, the Kingdom of Hungary renounced Lower Austria and promised Maximilian the throne in the event that Ladislaus should not leave any male heirs.
In the economic sector, Juraj Turzo ( Georg Thurzo , Hungarian György Thurzó ) from Slovakia and the Fuggers from Germany founded the company "Ungarischer Handel" (later called "Neusohler Kupferhandel"), which became the world's largest copper producer and trader in the first half of the 16th century and was one of the first (if not the very first) early capitalist companies in the world. It had trading centers all over Europe.
The reign of the Jagiello kings, especially that of Ludwig, was marked by anarchy throughout the kingdom, which ultimately led to the Mohács disaster in 1526. The activities of the Dóci (Dóczy) family from Central Slovakia in the years 1491–1514 (they waged war against the inhabitants of the central Slovak mining towns), the Dózsa uprising in 1514 (brutally suppressed uprising by poor people in present-day Hungary and parts of Slovakia, including Bratislava ) and the miners' uprising in Slovakia from 1525–1526 (the largest uprising of this professional group in Slovakia in the Middle Ages) demonstrate this very well.