Horváth M. Ferenc (szerk.): Vác The heart of the Danube Bend. A historical guide for residents and globetrotters (Vác, 2009)
Tartalom
VÁC'S REMAINS FROM THE LATE MIDDLE AGES (1 301 -1 526) 67 royal court. Károly (Charles) I (1301-1342) of the House of Anjou, having been forced to stay in Lower Hungary for some years, settled down in Visegrád not far from Vác on the opposite bank of the Danube. The royal court stayed there for over 80 years and finally it was moved to Buda by King Sigismund (1387-1437) of the HouseofLuxembourg in the first decade of the 15th century. Regardless of where the royal court was residing, from the beginning of the 14th century onwards Buda was considered the capital city of the country. The town of Vác was an episcopal see, it was situated in this region and shared its fate.The royal court was easy to reach, the King Matthias I (Thuróczy Chronicle) economy and the society of the town were linked to the nearby Buda in several ways. The movements of foreign troops usually spared the middle of the country but the internal conflicts did not. Vác must have taken its share in the strife of the first two decades of the 14th century. King Charles had to fight a long battle in order to win the Hungarian crown. He laid siege to Buda twice but only his second attempt in 1307 was successful. However, his position on the throne was still unsteady because in 1311 one of the most powerful barons of the country, Máté Csák, turned against the king and repeatedly ravaged the estates of the king's supporters as well as the Diocese of Vác. He also held Visegrád for a long time, which was recaptured by the armies of the king in 1317, bringing peace to the area. This peace prevailed in Vác and its neighbourhood for long decades afterwards. The troops of the nobles who revolted against King Sigismund in 1403 did not reach it either. The troubled times following the death of King Albert (1438-1439) meant a real civil war for the country but avoided Vác. According to Hungarian historiography the reign of Mátyás Hunyadi (or Matthias Corvinus) (1458-1490) was the age of stability, but the town and its neighbourhood experienced two restless periods during these years. Two years after Matthias had ascended to the throne in 1460 a nobleman of Pest County named Szebold Szadai gathered some of the Bohemian-Polish mercenaries still numerous in Upper Hungary (in the territory of present-day Slovakia) and took the Castle of Cső 1 20 km east of Vác. He attacked the bishop's villages | LATE MIDDLE AGES 1301-1526 1471 1474-1507 1485 Polish King Casimir's armies in the town The reconstruction of the cathedral and the bishop's palace in Renaissance style A session of the diet is held in the town
