The Hungarian Student, 1958 (3. évfolyam, 1-2. szám)
1958-10-01 / 1. szám
János Hunyadi W E SEE HERE the deeds of the great hero, János Hunyadi, statesman, military leader and warrior, who not only embodied the outstanding qualities of a true medieval knight, but who also was the first man in the history of Hungary who knew how to use these qualities in the service of well-planned strategy and farsighted, purposeful political planning. Born about 1387 in the area now called Transylvania, he distinguished himself in the Hussite uprising under King Zsigmond, and gained his first laurels as a military leader in the war against the Turks. He was named Hunyadi after the land he inherited from his father. After the death of Ulászló III, who died at Várna in battle against the Turks in 1444, Hunyadi became the standard-bearer of the resistance against the country’s enemy. He was victorious at Szendrő in 1441 and at Nagyszeben in 1442, and a year later during the “long war” he pressed at far as Sofia. But the defeat at Várna obscured his achievements and Hunyadi barely escaped the fate of his King. In June, 1446 he was elected governor of Hungary, to rule for László V, who was held prisoner by his guardian, the Emperor Frederick III. Hunyadi penetrated into Austria and his army threatened Vienna in an effort to free the King, but eventually he had to agree to an armistice, and László did not return to Hungary until 1453. In 1453 Constantinople fell, and with it the Byzantine Empire. The Turks rallied a great striking force, and under Mohamed III again invaded Hungary. Hunyadi prepared for battle at the Fort of Belgrade. The Franciscan monk, Giovanni da Capistrano, roamed the country preaching and urging a crusade against the non-believers. The peasants streamed to fight under Hunyadi, whose fleet had defeated the enemy’s ships on the Danube on July 14, 1465, and soon after, on July twenty-second, Hunyadi landed. Victorious in battle, he turned fortune’s hand to his own advantage and forced the Ottomans to give up the siege and retreat to Constantinople. Three weeks later, on August 11, 1456, Hunyadi died of the plague, which raged among his troops, taking a heavy toll. The victory thus was won at great sacrifice, but Hungarian independence was assured for the next seventy years. During the era of fearful Osman imperialistic endeavors, which lasted from the beginning of the XVth century to the end of the XVIIth, the Hungarian nation defended not only its own, but Europe’s integrity. The greatest hero of these bloody two hundred years was János Hunyadi, the Governor of Hungary. 16 the Hungarian student
