H. Kolba Judit szerk.: Historical Exhibition of the Hungarian National Museum Guide 2 - From the Foundation of the State until the Expulsion of the Ottomans - The history of Hungary in the 11th to 17th centuries (Budapest, 2005)

ROOM 5 - The Rule of the Jagiello Kings in Hungary (early 16th century) (Piroska Biczó)

41. Renaissance stall with inlaid decoration, Bártfa (Bardejov), Church of St. Giles, early 16th century renounced their claims in a relatively short space of time. Strained relations with the Habsburgs were ended by a marriage treaty concluded with Maximilian, the Holy Roman emperor (1493-1519), in 1506 and confirmed in 1515. In line with its provisions, Louis, Wladislas's son, married Mary of Habsburg in 1522, while Wladislas's daughter, Anna, became the consort of Ferdinand of Habsburg. Through this agreement, the Habsburgs secured the right to succession should the Hungarian Jagiello line fail to produce a male heir. After the death of Wladislas II, his son, Louis II (1516-1526), who also inherited the throne of Bohemia from his father, became king at the age of just ten. The efforts made by the young monarch in the 1520s to strengthen the royal power were frustrated in a country disordered by party interests and social conflicts. THE ROYAL COURT Two letters patent of nobility, the Great Seal of Wladislas and portraits and memorial medals fashionable in the High Renaissance call to mind the Jagiello monarchs. Hungarian coins bore dates from the reign of Wladislas II onwards. On Wladislas's behalf, the professional judge István Werbőczy, a legal expert from the ranks of the lesser nobility, compiled the first synthesis of Hungarian customary law: the Tripartitum. This work, which omits the stratification of the nobility, gives the impression that every noble had the same rights. Werbőczy's notions remained decisive in Hungary for centuries, although because of the resistance of the aristocracy his collection of statutes never achieved the force of law. The attire of Queen Mary and Louis II came in the possession of the Hungarian National Museum in 1928, from Mariazell, a place of pilgrimage. The gown of the queen was made of Italian silk damask after the Burgundián fashion between 1520 and 1530 (Fig. 40). The Museum keeps two outstanding items from the armoury of the Jagiellos, the sword of Wladislas, and the childhood armour of Sigismund of Jagiello, who was later king of Poland. (Figs. 42, 43).The sword, made in 1509, an outstanding Italian Renaissance work, was donated by Pope Julius II to Wladislas II as a symbol of the king's great mission in the struggle against the Turks. The oil painting next