Prohászka László: Polish Monuments - Our Budapest (Budapest, 2001)

To mark the 550th anniversary of the heroic death of King Wladislas I a white marble memorial plaque was unveiled in the inner courtyard of the Museum of Military History in Buda Castle. The small plaque has in its middle the contemporary, unified Hungarian and Polish (as well as Lithuanian) arms of the three nations. Written in Hungarian and Polish the following words can be read below: In memory of / Wladislas I / Hungarian-Polish king /and the heroes / fallen at the battle at Varna / 10 November 1444.

At the bottom of the plaque are the names of the donors: József Bern Cultural Association / Institute and Museum of Military History / Knights of Saint George/ Vitézi Order / 1994.

In addition to the young Wladislas I, who met his untimely death at the battle of Varna, the House of Jagelló gave Hungary two kings. The reign of Wladislas II (1469-1516) was shadowed by a series of ill-fated events. This was the time when the strong state power built up under Mátyás Hunyadi began to be eroded away, a process which lead to the lost battle of Mohács and eventually to the fall of Buda and the complete fragmentation of state power such that the country was cut into three parts. The results of this process were to define the course of Hungary’s history for several decades. Wladislaw H’s son, Louis II

Wladislas in the Battle of Varna (painting by Jan Matejko in the Museum of Fine Arts in Budapest)

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