Visegrád 1335 (Budapest, 2009)
The Congress of Visegrád by György Rácz
”<y The Congress of Visegrád The scenic little town of Visegrád is located in the largest bend of the Danube River. The historical sources unanimously testify that here, in the autumn of 1335, the leaders of Central European kingdoms held an international conference, a so-called meeting of the Icings, in order to resolve international disputes. The meeting was held in the court of Hungarian King Charles I of Anjou, the actual initiator of the meeting. The upper castle on the hilltop was built during the reign of King Béla IV to provide a line of defence in the event of a new invasion. The strategic significance of this location led to the extension of the upper castle with a massive keep by the Danube, as well as the construction of a fortified wall that connected the upper and lower castles, turning the hillside into a formidable system of fortification. Interestingly enough, the Slavic origin of the name Visegrád (meaning “high castle”) does not refer to what is now the upper castle but to an older one built on a hill farther north. What was once a Roman fort later became a count’s (ispán's) castle, which the local Slavs called “high castle,” a name retained by the Hungarians even after the buildings dilapidation. Populated by German settlers, the village at the foot of the hill had rapidly become a town in the second half of the 13th century, shortly after Hungarian King Charles I of Anjou had relocated his seat from Temesvár to Visegrád in 1323 and defeated his oligarchic opposition. It was here that the central court and the administration were established. The harmony of landscape and architecture that evolved at the foot of the hill inspired Charles of Anjou to envision what would become one of Central Europe’s most significant royal seats in the 14th century. The excavation of the buildings of the royal court destroyed under Turkish rule has been under way since 1934. Archaeologists have uncovered the foundations of the palace built by the Anjous, where an assassination attemt of Charles I took place in 1330. By 1335 the castle and the town were to be capable of accommodating Bohemian King John of Luxembourg, his son and heir Charles, Count of Moravia, Casimir III (the Great), Prince Rudolph of Saxony and Boleslaw III Duke of Silesia, representatives of the Order of Teutonic Knights and their entourage for over an entire month. György Rácz \s>- 19
