Hungarian Heritage Review, 1989 (18. évfolyam, 1-9. szám)
1989-02-01 / 2. szám
that he held sacred. He decided, after much deliberation, to make a final attempt to effect the return of the King and Crown. On accomplishing this, Hunyadi resolved, he would resign his post and go into voluntary retirement. Completely along, with little or no help coming from the great powers of Western Europe, he knew his last move would have to be drastic, forceful, and, perhaps ruthless. Characteristically, once he had decided upon a course of action, Hunyadi plunged forward. He concluded a non-aggression pact with the Ottomans on February 6, 1452 - without consulting the Magyar Diet. In the ensuing uproar, when the Diet demanded an immediate meeting, he disbanded it by decree. When his life was threatened, he surrounded himself with a corps of trusted troopers. When the great lords and magnates of the realm came to reason with him, he rebuffed their overtures. He notified Frederick III to surrender the person of the King and the Sacred Crown or face direct consequences. When Frede rick attempted to evade the issue, Hunyadi untied the Austrians, Bohemians and Moravians behind him in the quest to liberate their sovereign from the House of Habsburg. This alliance so frightened Frederick that, with Ladislas Posthumous and the Crown of St. Stephen, he went to Rome under the pretext of having to visit the Holy City to be officially crowned Holy Roman Emperor. An embassy was sent to appeal to the Pope. The latter refused to see them and, when they insisted, he had them excommunicated. Then the Pontiff wrote to Hunyadi begging him to recall the embassy and to sever his connections with the excommunicated heathens. When Hunyadi showed this letter to his allies, their rage was such that they called for an immediate march on Rome. The Pope, terrified, fled from Rome and sought shelter in the Italian hills. Frederick, knowing that too long a stay from his Habsburg headquarters would jeopardize his position as head of the House, returned to Wiener-Neustadt where he was immediately besieged. In September, 1452, Frederick III surrendered. And on September 4, 1452, before a brilliant assemblage of prelates and barons from Hungary, Austria, Bohemia and Moravia, the King of Hungary was released - into the custody of Count Ulric Cilii. Cilii immediately escorted the King to the Imperial city of Vienna. When the news reached Hungary, there was great rejoicing throughout the land. The Diet met and sent the Primate of Esztergom, the Bishops of Varad and Vacs, the Count Palatine, and Hunyadi’s elder son, Ladislas, to Vienna to greet the King. Hunyadi, aware that Frederick had not really given up his hold upon either the King or Crown, bided his time and watched the proceedings carefully. When the Hungarian delegation arrived in Vienna, a bitter dispute arose over where Ladislas was to reside. The Hungarians naturally expected their King to return with them to Buda; the adherents of Frederick wanted him to remain in Vienna. The argumentwas settled by Ladislas’ own statement: "I am Hungarian," he declared. "Therefore, I shall live in Hungary." This delighted the Hungarians who rushed back to Buda to spread the glad tidings. And all Hungary rejoiced. Hunyadi, suspicious and wary, felt that there were still deep currents stirring beneath all this display. But he remained silent. During the first days of 1453 the Magyar Diet met at Poszony and formally installed Ladislas Posthumous as King László V of Hungary. Hunyadi had apparently succeeded against all odds, in achieving one of his principal goals. Now, he felt, he could resign his Regency. The plotters within the realm could no longer aspire to royal power, and he could return to his own estates and enjoy some rest within the confines of his castle and with his family. FEBRUARY 1989 HUNGARIAN HERITAGE REVIEW 19
