Search

Search Results

• Koning Sigismund en zijn gevolg in de Lage Landen – Nederlanders in Hongarije*

  23-63

  Attila Bárány

  Views:

  47

  The 1378 Great Western Schism gave a new direction to the Luxemburgs’ traditional pro-Valois politics. The House of Luxemburg took an abrupt turn away from the French orientation, who adhered to the obedience to the Avignon pope and were seeking for new partners. At the beginning of the 15th century, even amidst the Orléans-Armagnac vs. Burgundy antagonism, Sigismund had quite good contacts with the duke of Burgundy, probably stemming from their co-operation of the crusade of Nicopolis in 1396, the Flemish participation of which the article also investigates. Sigismund came closer to Burgundy at the Council of Constance, even though they had taken an opposite stand in important issues such as the inheritance of Brabant and Luxemburg. The Luxemburgs themselves also had possessions in the Low Countries, because in the 14th century the dynasty, besides Luxemburg, also owned the Duchy of Brabant and Limburg. In the 15th century, partly because of the Burgundians gaining substantial territories, they partially opposed their rights, thereby bringing forth conflicts within the Low Countries. The article explores the relations of the House of Burgundy with the provinces of the Netherlands, especially the county of Flanders and the Flemish cities. When it comes to ‘Burgundian’ contacts, it is fundamentally taken as relations with the Low Countries, particularly Flanders. The study examines the relationships that Sigismund maintained with the political figures of the Low Countries, especially the counts of Holland and Zeeland from the House of Wittelsbach, the duke of Gelderland and Juliers/Jülich asd well as the bishops of Utrecht and Lüttich/Luik. I also wish to shed light upon contacts beyond the scene of ‘high politics’. Although we can not speak of daily relations between Hungary and the provinces of the Low Countries, there were complex contacts. Hundreds of Flemish knights took up the Cross against the Ottomans and fought at Nicopolis, the campaign of which was also funded by 24 Attila Bárány the citizens of Flanders. A range of cities embraced a rather independent political track when supplied the Emperor with ships. Flemish or Dutch craftsmen built a river flotilla for Sigismund. Relations can be come across in the clergy: Dutch masters of theology and medicine were active in Hungary, most peculiarly contributing to the development of the university in Óbuda.

• A Humanist Diplomat in Early 16th Century Hungary: Hieronymus Balbus

  11-48

  Attila Bárány

  Views:

  179

  The article investigates new sources, Western European, mainly English diplomatic reports – several being so far unknown for Hungarian scholarship, or, if known, not examined in this regard – e.g. held at the British Library Manuscript Collection to shed light on Hungarian-Ottoman relations at the eve of the fall of the “shield of Christendom”, Belgrade in 1521. The article follows the mission of Hieronymus Balbus, an Italian at the diplomatic personnel of Jagiellonian Hungary, in 1521 to the Habsburg, Tudor and Valois courts. Balbus’s diplomatic workings – through the embassy to the Emperor (Charles V in Worms and Brussels), a peace conference at Calais and Cardinal Wolsey and Henry VIII, King of England – has not been adequately seen in Hungarian historiography, and some of his letters and political activity ranging from Bruges, Worms, Calais, London and Cologne has not so far been mapped, yet new insights can be given for the understanding of Louis II’s diplomatic efforts during the stress of the siege and loss of Belgrade in 1521. The investigation is largely based on Balbus’s dispatches – which has not survived in Hungarian archival material but were preserved in the reports of English envoys of his activity, to the maker of Tudor policy, Chancellor Wolsey. The correspondence of Balbus provides valuable information on the administration of Louis II, about its relationship with the Turks and the Emperor. The leaders of Hungarian diplomacy did not lack astuteness and “had a clear picture” about the international power relations. The government experimented with alternatives, provided they did not receive any aid from the Habsburgs: they were willing to go as far as making an alliance with not only the English, but even with the Emperor’s enemies, the Valois. In 1521, despite the powerful Habsburg dominance, Hungarian foreign politics did have some room to manoeuvre.