Alba Regia. Annales Musei Stephani Regis. – Alba Regia. A Szent István Király Múzeum Évkönyve. 32. 2002 – Szent István Király Múzeum közleményei: C sorozat (2003)

Tanulmányok – Abhandlungen - Demeter Zsófia: The History and the Situation of Serb Minority in the East-Transdanubian Region. p. 51–60.

they were exempted from paying tithe to the Catholic clergy. King Matthias mentioned in a letter that more than 200 000 Serbs were settled in Hungary between 1479 and 1483. After this about 100 000 Serbs arrived in Hungary in several waves until 1526 led by patriarch Maxim and Monaszterly. Pavle Bakics arrived with the soldiers of the families of Petar Ovcarevics and Radies Bozsics. Radies Bozsics died on the battlefield of Mohács in 1526, the majority of his army was also lost. The Monaszterly family fled to Poland and then to Hungary away from the Turks. János Monaszterly as captain of Komárom and as vice-voivode greeted the settlers already from this side of the border in 1690. During the 15-year war (1591-1606) between the Habsburg kings and the Turks the battlefield was located in Hungary, on the borderline of the Turkish territory. The 15-year war opened a way in front of the Serbs towards the north. On the one hand, the war events were followed by such destruction that could not been seen before: totally destroyed villages of Hungarian and mixed inhabitants provided living for them. On the other hand, the crucial supply lines were made secure by the Turks. The bank of the Danube was also protected by board-fences. The Rác settlement let through at that time obviously served the protection of Turkish fortresses. Along with it both the Hungarian and the Serbian boundaries were shifted towards north. At least half of the population of Fejér and Tolna County was Serbian. The number of settlements with entirely Rác and mixed inhabitants increased in our region. The other important source of Serb settlings in parts of Hungary under the Turkish rule was the Turkish settling and the spontaneous settlings of Serb subsidiary troops arriving in Hungary along with the Turks. High number of the former inhabitants of Balkan states served the occupying Turkish state in different forms. The leaders with the highest rank lived in the official and military centres of the Turks. It is interesting that a lot of Balkan people can be found in Istanbul especially among high ranked Turkish officials and in the environment of the pasha in Buda. As we go lower at the level of hierarchy their number is increasing. A lot of Rác people preserved their religion, names, occupations, and language. The peculiarity of the Turkish warfare was that the previously conquered Balkan nations were in great number recruited in the Turkish subsidiary troops. Turkish travellers depicted the situation of Hungarian territories under the Turkish rule. Most of them - for example Evlia Cselebi in 1664 - touched upon the fact that these (for example Buda and Székesfehérvár) were big, noisy towns but people speaking in Slavic language. The Turkish culture was transmitted to the subjugated inhabitants of Hungary by Southern Slav people. The Serbs who dealt with craftsmanship and did military service stayed mostly in towns and castles for example in Buda, Komárom, Győr, Eger, and Székesfehérvár. Usually they had a separate part in the suburb of these towns. They were called Rác town (Raitzenstadt, Rätzenstadt). They could not buy or build houses in the centre of the town or in castles. The majority of soldiers or people doing military service were Turkish mercenaries and only a small group of soldiers served the Hungarian royal mercenary troops. The monopoly of Hungarian trading with Turkish goods shifted to the hands of Rác people in the 16

th and 17

th centuries. Their influence was greater than of Jewish and Greek tradesmen in that period of time. One part of the Rác town dwellers integrated into the society as craftsmen. The other part of Rác people living in towns and in villages dealt with agriculture, breeding of animals, gardening and vine growing. An innovation can be related to them: the spreading of a kind of grape, kadarka, which can be considered as "avails" of the Turkish times. The craftsmen living in the towns and villages enriched our culture with some tanning procedures. 3. Atfer the period of 1687-1690 another involuntary settling of the Serbs began. In 1686 the reoccupation of Buda held out promises for people living under the Turkish rule that the Habsburg authority could fight successfully with the conquerors. The Habsburgs thought, this aim could be attained by inciting to rebellion the Serbs living in the Turkish Empire and prevailing them to support the Habsburgs. So they appealed to the nations of Albania, Serbia, Macedonia, Rascia, Illyria and Bulgaria on the 6

th and 27

th of April 1690, calling upon them to join and throw off the yoke. King Leopold I. called upon Arzén Csernojevics Patriarch of Ipek to ally with him against the Turks. The emperor promised the liberation and the annexation of the territory to Hungary and wanted the Serbs to help the imperial army. In the contract of 21

st of August the emperor promised the Serbs that the exercise of old rights, freedom of religion would be permitted and also they could choose their own church and secular leaders. They chose János Monaszterly for their secular leader, who got the commands directly from the Imperial Court of Vienna. However, the military expedition ended with defeat and the Turks forced their way forth and they reoccupied Belgrade on 8

th of October, 1690. The Serbs participating in the uprising did not have any other choice but leave for Hungary with the leadership of Patriarch Arzén Csernojevics in the summer of 1690. After the war Albanians settled down in their deserted country, that is the source of the present situation in Koszovó. It is certain that it was a must for Serbian refugees to leave their homeland: they were afraid of the Turkish revenge, as they had changed ally. However, the bigger problem was that they lost the battle. It is also a fact that though they were forced to leave but they imposed the conditions from different viewpoints. It is also clear that it was not only the Serbs who needed a new ally but the imperial politics as well. It became obvious that the 58