Hungary past and present, embracing its history from the Magyar conquest to the present time. With a sketch of Hungarian literature

Preface

. The following pages are the substance of materials for a detailed history of Hungary, the collection of which I commenced two years ago in London ; and which were, from various considerations, compressed into the smallest compass possible. Having had at my disposal all the resources which could have been obtained in Buda-Pesth, the chief object in view was to record — with more attention to historical truth than to any attractions of form — all those facts and broad incidents without which no true picture could have been given of the general physiognomy of Hungarian society throughout the various phases of its existence. Next to the narrow and biassed histories of Pray and Katona, who amply drew upon the early chroniclers of Hungary, Hungarian history gained most by the labours of Gebhardi, Engel, and Fessler ; though these latter works are characterised more by their comparatively liberal treatment of the subject, than by any important additions to the stock of historical knowledge properly so called. Nor is there any new light imparted in the most recent history by Horvath, who had the advantage of availing himself of the

PREFACE.

. VI libraries aud archives of Vienna.1 The best guides for Hungarian historical writing, it must be observed, are the Corpus Juris, containing the Dietal Acts of the Ante-Hapsburg periods, and the Historia Diplo matica, embracing the chief documents of the 16th and 17th centuries. Having been able to avail myself of sources which seem to have been unknown to the historians above named, the following pages will be found to contain some new and important facts. As regards the divisions followed in this book, the guiding rule was the internal connection of events ; the space allowed to each period being measured out according to its importance. The last twenty-five years, including the late war, are, as might be expected, treated at com paratively greater length. How far the main object in view — the representa tion of the broad features of Hungarian history — has been accomplished, is for the reader to judge.

Edinburgh, January 12, 1854. 1 It may be mentioned that the archives of Buda were lono since carried away by the court to the Austrian capital, and are, of course, not easily accessible. CONTENTS.

OF CHRISTIANITY.

Introductory Remarks. Origin of the Magyars. Arpad leader of the Conquest. Compact of the Invaders. Religion. The Conquest. Policy of Arpad. Decay of European Society. Magyars checked by' Otho the Great. First Converts to Christianity, Pp. 1-8

Chapter II. The Reign Of The Arpad Dynasty

(1000-1301 ) Policy of Stephen. Religious Measures. Defeat of the Heathen Party. Death of Stephen. Stephen's Successors. Crusaders in Hungary. Reign of Coloman. Coloman's Successors. Reign of Andrew II. Provisions of the Golden Bull. Invasion of the Tartars. Accession of Ladislaus IV. Internal Dissensions. Death of Andrew III. State of Society during first period, Pp. 9-2(i CONTENTS. SECOND PERIOD.

Chapter III. From The Commencement Of The Reign Of The Anjou Dynasty

TO THE BATTLE OF YVARNA (1301-1444.) Wars of the Crown. Character of the Anjou Rule. Accession of Louis surnamed the Great. Invades Italy. War with Venice. Grandeur of Hungary under Louis. Mary Crowned Queen of Hungary. Sigismund Proclaimed King of Hungary. Bajazet I. Invades Moldavia and Wallachia. Sigismund Elected Emperor of Germany. Albert Elected King of Hungary. Birth of Ladislaus called Posthumus. Peace concluded with the Turks. Counter efforts of the Pope. Battle of Warna. Death of Wladislaus, Pp. 27-43 THIRD PERIOD.

Chapter IV. From The Commencement Of The Reign Of The Hunyadis To

THE BATTLE OF MOHACS (1444-1526.) Protectorate of John Hunyadi. Ladislaus Titular King. Siege of Belgrade. Death of Ladislaus Posthumus. Costello's Character of Matthias. Matthias defeats the Turks. Duplicity of Pope Pius II. Matthias' Patronage of Literature. War with the Hussites. Matthias' Conquest of Austria. Internal State of the Country. The Pope preaches a Crusade — Frightful Results. Battle of Mohacs — Defeat, ...... Pp. 44-60 PART H— 1526-1850. PERIOD I.— 1526-1618.

Chapter I. The Appearance Of The Hapsburgs

— JOHN ZAPOLYA FERDI- NAND I. — SOLIMAN THE GREAT — SIGISMUND ZAPOLYA — MAXI- MILIAN H.— (1528-1576.) Helpless State of the Country. Zapolya's Flight. Intervention of CONTENTS. IX Soliman. Treaty of Peace between Ferdinand and Zapolya. Death and Character of Zapolya. The Reformation : its Character. Sigismund Zapolya's Party. Soliman declares in favour of Sigis mund Zapolya. Martinussius Regent of Transylvania. Tragic End of Martinussius. Character of Martinussius. Impotence of Ferdinand. Reign of Maximilian. Progress of the Reformation. Religious Tolerance of the Turks. Continuation of the War. Soli man halts before Szigeth. Zriny's Heroic Defence. Death of Soliman. Death of Nicholas Zriny. Death of John Sigismund Zapolya, Pp. 61-89

Chapter II. Beginning Of Religious Persecution Under Rudolph

n. — RISE OF BOCSKAY RELIGIOUS LIBERTY SECURED BY THE TREATY OF VIENNA — MATTHIAS. — (1576-1618.) Progress of the Ottomans. Gran Surrendered by the Turks. Deplorable State of Transylvania. Remonstrances of the Diet. Cruel Conduct of Belgioso. Stephen Bocskay enters Hungary. Letter of Achmet I. to Bocskay. Bocskay the Defender of the Protestants. The Treaty of Vienna. Conduct of Matthias. Death of Rudolph. General Remarks on the Period, . . . Pp. 90-10-t SECOND PERIOD— 1618-1711.

Chapter III. Ferdinand II

— BETHLEN GABOR — FERDINAND III. — GEORGE RA- KOCZY — FERDINAND IV. — (1618-1655. Survey of the Present Period. Policy of Ferdinand. Bethlen's Alliance with the Protestants of Austria. Frederic Crowned King of Bohemia. | Policy of James I. King of England. Bethlen Organises his Army. Treaty of Ulm. Frederick Retreats from Prague. Treaty between Ferdinand and Bethlen. Nicholaus Esterhazy Elected Palatine. Death of Bethlen. Character of Bethlen. Rakoczy Defends the Protestants, . . . Pp. 105-119

Chapter IV. Leopold

I. AND TOKOLI. — (1655-1699.) Reign of Leopold I. Machinations of the Jesuits. Persecution of X CONTENTS. the Protestants. Emeric Tokoli Defends the Protestants. Tokoli's Treaty with the Porte. Tokoli's Speech. War with Austria. Pro gress of the War. Butcheries of Caraffa. Distress of the Patriots. Joseph Crowned King of Hungary. Tokoli's Manifesto. English Diplomacy. Peace of Ryswick. Turkey Renews the War. Defeat of the Turks. Peace of Carlowitz. Character of Tokoli. Exile of Tokoli, Pp. 120-148

Chapter V. Joseph

I. — FRANCIS RAKOCZY — NEW WAR — MEDIATION OF ENG- LAND AND HOLLAND — PEACE OF SZATHMAR (1699-1711.) Discouraging State of the Country. Bishops Assemble at Vienna. Fortunes of Prince Rakoczy. Rakoczy's Proclamation. Policy of the Court. Progress of the War. Plenipotentiary Letter of Queen Anne. The Conferences Broken Up. Letter of an Englishman. Rakoczy's Letter to the Dutch Government. Speech of the Eng lish Envoy to the Emperor. Continuation of the War. Foreign Influence. Dethronization of the Hapsburgs. Peace of Szathmar. Concluding Remarks, .... Pp. 149-175 THIRD PERIOD— 1711-1825.

Chapter VI. Charles VI

— MARIA-THERESA— 1711-1780.) Measures of Charles VI. Treaty of Passarowitz. Religious Persecutions. Death of Charles VI. Accession of Maria-Theresa. Appeal of Maria-Theresa. Peace of Breslau. Events of the War with Frederick the Great. The Seven Years' War. Reforms of Maria-Theresa. Death of Maria-Theresa, . Pp. 176-188.

Chapter VII. Joseph

H. — LEOPOLD II. — CORONATION OF FRANCIS I. — THE FRENCH WAR— (1780-1825.) Character of Joseph II. His Unwise Attempts in Hungary. Re- CONTENTS. XI monstrance of the Counties. Death of Joseph II. Confirmation of Laws by Leopold II. Francis I. and the Diets. Austrian State- Bankruptcy, ...... Pp. 189-200 FOURTH PERIOD— 1825-1850.

Chapter VIII. Continuation Of The Reign Of Francis

I. — KAZINCZY — COUNT SZECHENY — KOLSCEY — REVIVAL IN LITERATURE AND POLITICS ACCESSION OF FERDINAND V (1825-1840.) Revival of the National Spirit. Literary Reforms of Kazinezy. Leading Writers of this Epoch. Specimens of Poetry. The Diet of 1825. Reforms of Count Szecheny. Character of Count Szecheny. Confessions of Count Szecheny. The Diet of 1832. Speech of Kolcsey. Debate on the Affairs of Poland. Leading Members of the Diet. Further Proceedings of the Diet. Kolcsey as an Author. Death of Kolcsey. Policy of Metternich. The Diet of 1840. Speech of Szecheny, . . . .Pp. 201-228

Chapter IX. The Questions Of The Day

— KOSSUTH ASA JOURNALIST — THE COM- MERCIAL SYSTEM OF AUSTRIA IN ITS BEARINGS ON HUNGARY — THE DIET OF 1843 — MEASURES OF THE GOVERNMENT TO PARA- LYZE THE COUNTY MUNICIPALITIES — LITERATURE — (1840 1847.) Questions of the Day. Condition of the Different Classes. Kossuth as a Journalist. The Diet of 1843. Proceedings of the Diet. Formation and Failure of the Defensive Union Association. Influence of the Pesti Hirlap. Policy of Metternich. Speech of Kossuth. New Reform Party. Advancement of Literature. Leading Writers in Prose. Specimen of Vorosmarty's Poetry. Character of Petofi's Poetry. Specimens of Petofi's Poetry. Ancient Magyar Poetry Collected by John Erdely. Specimens of Ancient Poetry Collected by John Erdely. Wine Song. Lehel and his Horn. The Last of the Arpads. To the Stork. Formation of Academy of Science. Literature Represented by Academy. Questions of the Day. Prophecies of Count Szecheny. Social Life in Hungary, Pp. 229-271 CONTENTS. XII

Chapter X. The Diet Of

1847-8 — NOMINATION OF A HUNGARIAN MINISTRY — THE REFORM LAWS — COMMENCEMENT OF INTERNAL TROUBLES CONVOCATION OF THE DIET AT PESTH — OPEN WAR — PESTH TAKEN BY THE AUSTRIANS — (1847-1849.) Programme of the Liberals. Debates on the Address. Effects of the News of Paris. Kossuth's Motion. Discomfiture of the Lords. Movement in Pesth. Nomination of a Hungarian Ministry. Esterhazy and Meszaros. Energy of the Lower House. Summary of the Reform Laws. Laws receive Royal Sanction. Joy of the People. Internal Troubles. Bloody War in the South. Influence of Pan-Sclavism. Policy of the Court of Vienna. Manifesto of Ferdinand. Treachery of the Austrian Officers. Diet Opened by Palatine. Troubles in Transylvania. Large Levy Decreed by Diet. Dilemma of the Hungarian Ministry. Debate on the Italian Question.

Victories in the South. Debate on Germany. Kossuth's Speech on Austria. Foreign Missions. Defensive Preparations. State of Public Feeling. National Character. General Exasperation. Appeal of Kossuth. Preparations at Buda. Murder of Lamberg. Defeat of the Croats. Vine Mountains of Hungary. VintageTestivities. Resignation.of Count Batthyany. Outbreak at Vienna. Battle of Schwecbat. Interception of State Letters. Aspect of Europe. Abdication of Ferdinand. Gorgei as Commander. Manifesto of Francis- Joseph. Cruelties in Transylvania. Invasion of Windischgratz. Pesth taken by the Austrians, ...... Pp. 272-335

Chapter XI. The Diet In Debreczin

— FURTHER EVENTS OF THE WAR FIRST RUSSIAN INVASION — THE SPRING-CAMPAIGN — DETHRONIZATION OF THE HAPSBURGS SECOND RUSSIAN INVASION — END OF THE WAR MASSACRES AT ARAD — SUBSEQUENT EVENTS (1849- 1850.) The Town of Debreczin. Operations of Windischgratz. Proclamation of Gorgei. Victory of Branitzko. Battle of Kalpona. Battle of Szolnok. Russian Invasion and Diplomacy. Remonstrance of the Porte. Expulsion of the Russians. The Servians Repulsed. The National Army. The Spring Campaign. Retrospect of the Revolution. Declaration of Independence. Nomination of a Ministry. Defeat of the Austrians. Phenomena of a Revolution. Delay of Gorgei. Austrian Application to Russia. Description of CONTENTS. XIII Buda. Siege of Buda. Storming of Buda. Character of the Cam paign. Count Nesselrode's Dispatch. Debate in the British Par liament.

English Policy. Advance of the Russians. Progress of the Russians, Frustration of the Plan of War. Meszaros' Appeal to Gcirgei. Isolated Retreat of Gorgei. Character of Kossuth. Haynau's Proclamation. Russian and Austrian Cruelties. Battle of Szegedin and Temesvar. Gorgei in Arad. Gorgei Dictator. Surrender of Gorgei. Surrender of Arad. Bern and Guyon in Wallachia. Joy at the Fall of Hungary. Surrender of Comorn. Executions at Arad. Character of Damyanics. Executions at Pesth. The Refugees. Condition of Hungary since the End of the War. Joys of the People. Feelings of the People. Present State of Europe, ..... Pp. 336-415

Appendix

PART I.

-889-1301. HISTOEY OF HUNGARY. FIRST PERIOD — 889-1301.

Chapter I. Hungary From The Magyar Conquest To The Introduction

OF CHRISTIANITY

(889-1000.) INTRODUCTORY REMARKS. I propose to treat, in the pages that follow, the His tory of Hungary from the day of its first appearance among the states of Europe, down to the year 1850. The annals of this long period, comprising more than 950 years, are for the most part steeped in blood, shed at first in daring adventures and fierce intestine struggles, subsequently in efforts to stem the tide of Eastern conquest that threatened to subjugate the whole of Christian Europe ; and, in more recent times, in struggles against the oppressive rule of foreign princes. A ORIGIN OF THE MAGYARS. The Hungarians, or Magyars, from whom the king dom of Hungary received its boundaries, its name, and its laws, cannot be said to have originated any distinct principle of European civilization : their chief merit is to have become, after surviving all their calamities, both desirous and fit for its attainment.

The best monument, in fact, of this people, is its very existence, still standing forth, after innumerable blasts, like a forest of oak-trees, deep-rooted and green. The settlement of the Magyars in Europe— the last successful invasion during the middle ages— though passed over almost in silence by the generality of his torians, had a deep and world-wide meaning. The very date of this remarkable conquest impressively attests the wisdom of the superhuman Power that guides the migrations of mankind. The origin of the Magyars has afforded to antiqua rians no small subject of controversy. According to some, they are the descendants of the ancient Scy thians ; others class them among the Turkish tribes ; some pretend that they are descended from the Huns ; others, again, attempt to prove their Parthian extrac tion ; while the great antiquarian of Hungary, Stephen Horvath, finds no difficulty in tracing back the pedi gree of the Magyars to Noah.

More recent and practical inquiries, however, enable us safely to throw aside all vague opinion and mere etymological speculation ; and whoever reads Hue's Travels in Tartary, that is at all acquainted with the characteristics of the Hun garian race, will find sufficient evidence to conclude that the Magyar belongs to those Mogul-Tartar tribes which live, down to the present day, scattered along the confines of China. The Magyars (the idiomatic synonym for Huno-a- ARPAD LEADER OF THE CONQUEST. 3 rians, and probably the proper name of one of their tribes), driven by internal dissensions from their native deserts, found a home for centuries around the Caucasus, and along the barren shores of the Wolga. About the end of the ninth century they suddenly struck their tents, and pressed irresistibly forward to the very heart of Europe.

"What the fate might have been of these wandering shepherds, had an arm like that of Charlemagne still swayed the sceptre in Pan nonia: or rather, what the fate might have been of Christian Europe, had the conquest of the Turks preceded that of the Magyars, is a question on which it were idle to speculate. The Invisible Power had chosen his own time, and at the destined moment, these Asiatic nomades, as if borne on the wings of the gale, were all at once seen to cover the wide plains which divide the Eastern empire from that of the West. Immediately after crossing the eastern frontier (a.d. 889), the Magyars elected for their chief Arpad, the son of Almos, who conducted them to the frontiers of Hungary. The latter did not survive to see the con quest. The whole body under Arpad's guidance con sisted of about a million, numbering among them about two hundred thousand warriors, and divided into seven tribes, each having its chief.

The country which they prepared to take possession of, and the central part of which was then called Pan nonia, was broken up into small parts, and inhabited by races dissimilar in origin and language ; as Sclavo nians, Wallachians, a few Huns and Avars, as well as some Germans. Before commencing the conquest, the Magyars entered into a compact, which throws some light on their general character. This compact COMPACT OF THE INVADERS. — RELIGION. consisted of the following points : 1st, The chief power was to be hereditary in the family of Arpad, while the power of the chiefs of the respective tribes was to be hereditary also ; 2d, Each successive prince was obliged to undergo an election before assuming the supreme power ; 3d, Treason or faithlessness on the part of the chief of the state was to be punished with banishment, and, in the case of the chiefs of the tribes, with death ; 4th, The fruits of the conquest were to be divided according to merit in the work of the conquest.

Nor did these stern barbarians dispatch this solemn agree ment with a mere verbal oath. In the centre of a circle was placed a rude vessel of hollowed stone. Around it stood the assembled chiefs of the tribes. Then Arpad, first baring his arm, .pierced it with the point of his falchion, till the blood flowed into the basin of stone. The chiefs of the tribes followed his example in succession, till the vessel reeked with the warm blood. Each man then put his lips to the bowl, and quaffing the mingled draught, they testified, in the presence of the high sun, which they worshipped, their solemn purpose to conquer or die together. The religion of these invaders will give us a deeper insight into their character. The first thing we meet with in their creed is the doctrine of the two principles.

This points sufficiently, without the help of etymo logical distortions, to the parent land of the Magyars. Isten, now the word for God, was the name of the principle of Good — the omnipotent Being whom they worshipped — whose ministers were the thunder, the lightning, and the storm. Armany (meaning intrigue) was the name of the principle of Evil. The next im portant point of belief was the immortality of the soul ■ hence their contempt of death, as well as the festivities THE CONQUEST. — POLICY OF ARPAD. 5 mingling gaiety with sadness, which characterized their funeral ceremonies, some traces of which remain down to the present day. Their priests, or soothsayers, called Taltos, were, however, far from enjoying the influence and authority possessed by this order in Indian society. Nor is this to be wondered at.

A people who, in their long migrations, had experienced every vicissitude of fortune, and who saw life in its nakedness and awful realities, were likely to have learned neither to be awed by the evil bodings, nor to confide in the fair promises of the soothsayer. The rude intellect and fancy of these shepherds was awed only by the sublime workings of nature, and their sacrifices were offered to the elements. The sun, whose all-vivifying power they must have deeply felt around the frosty Caucasus, was held in the highest reverence. To this bright star of heaven the Magyars offered white steeds, deemed by them the most pre cious of sacrifices. Arpad soon descended with his followers on those wide plains, whence Attila four centuries before swayed two parts of the globe. Most dexterous horsemen, armed with light spears and almost unerring bows, these invaders followed their leader from victory to victory, soon rendering themselves masters of the land lying between the Theiss and the Danube, carrying at the same time their devastations, on the one hand, to the Adriatic, and, on the other, towards the Ger man frontiers.

Having achieved the conquest, Arpad took up his residence on the Danubian isle, Csepel, though the seat of the court was Buda or Attelburg. All that is known of the policy of this founder of Hungary is, the division of the country into several districts, each of them being ruled by a governor of a DECAY OF EUROPEAN SOCIETY. military character. Arpad had also sagacity enough to elevate the higher classes of the vanquished to the level of the conquerors, a policy to which may chiefly be attributed the non-occurrence of subsequent internal risings on the part of the aborigines. This policy, however, was far from bringing about in Hungary that assimilation of races which was accomplished in Britain, in spite of the contrary policy pursued by the Norman conqueror. The causes of this difference will be referred to afterwards.

In the year 907, Arpad died, and was succeeded by his son Zoltan. The love of their new dominion was far from curbing the pas sion of the Magyars for distant bloody adventure and plunder. The most daring deeds were undertaken by single chiefs, during the reign of Zoltan and his successor Taksony, which filled up the first part of the tenth century. The enervated and superstitious po pulation of Europe thought the Magyars to be the scourge of God, directly dropped down from heaven ; the very report of their approach was sufficient to drive thousands into the recesses of mountains and depths of forests, while the priests increased the com mon panic by mingling in their litanies the words, " God preserve us from the Magyars." In short, Europe, still smarting from the wounds of the Nor mans and Saracens, seemed to fall a complete prey to these wild and unexpected ravagers.

Nor was there much worth sparing ; political society being in a state of disorganization, the church torn with violent dissen sions, and everywhere strong symptoms of rottenness and decay. Bloody feuds, in which impotent princes and degenerate vassals mingled in wildest confusion, turned Germany and Italy into a huge camp ; while the controversy about the use of unleavened bread in MAGYARS CHECKED BY OTHO THE GREAT. 7 the eucharist, raised by the Greek patriarch Photius, still continued to divide the eastern from the western church. This was the fit time for these insatiable plunderers. The Magyars little heeding the disputes of churchmen, desecrated alike Roman monasteries and Greek churches, ready to support whatever party first asked their aid. The irruptions of the Magyars were simultaneously felt on the shores of the Baltic, among the inhabitants of the Alps, and at the very gates of Constantinople.

The emperors of the East and of Germany were repeatedly obliged to purchase momentary peace by heavy tributes; but Germany, as may be conceived from her geographical position, was chiefly exposed to the ravages of these new neigh bours. The first check and signal defeat the Magyars sustained in Germany was during the reign of Otho the Great. Having been invited by Ludolf, son of Otho, who was at war with his father, the Magyars, in the year 955, advanced as far as the walls of Augs burg, when, having been betrayed by him, to whose aid they had come, they were totally defeated by the troops of the emperor, hundreds of them perishing in the waves of the Lech. The chronicles tell us that only seven Magyars survived this fatal battle. Having had their ears and noses cut off by command of the emperor, they were sent clown the Rhine and Danube back to Hungary, to spread their tale of terror among those who remained at home.

After their arrival in Hungary, the infamy inflicted upon them being attributed to their cowardice, these seven unfortunates, with all their descendants, were declared bereft of their liberties, consigned to slavery, and, as an eternal example of the punishment of cowardice, they were called Magyar-leak, i.e., " false Magyars." This stigma FIRST CONVERTS TO CHRISTIANITY. continued to be attached to them even during the time of St Stephen, when this king disposed of them as servants to the cloister of St Lazarus at Gran, when they received the name of St Lazaruzes. With the reign of Geisa a new epoch commenced. This prince was married to the Princess Charlotte of Transylvania, who, accompanying her father to Constantinople, had there embraced the Christian faith, and to whom Geisa owed his conversion in 971.

This prince took care to have his son Vaik brought up in the Christian religion, a work accomplished by St Adalbert, to whom may chiefly be ascribed the conversion of the Magyars to the western church. Adalbert, who had been nominated by the Pope Bishop of Prague, dissatisfied with the small success of his efforts to convert the Bohemians, abandoned his lucrative post, and went as a monk to Rome, intending thence to proceed to the Holy Land. Having changed his purpose, however, he repaired to Hungary, and the first fruit of his labours was the conversion of the young Prince Vaik, aftenvards known by the name of St Stephen.

Chapter II. The Reign Of The Arpad Dynasty

(1000-1301.) The eleventh century begins with the simultaneous appearance of two new elements in Hungarian society, — Christianity and royalty. Vaik, who succeeded his father Geisa in the supreme power, no longer content with the titles of his ancestors, resolved to assume the regal dignity, for which, according to the usage of the times, he made application to the Roman See. A deputation, consisting of several nobles, headed by Astricus, Bishop of Kolocso, was accordingly sent to Pope Sylvester H., asking him to confer a consecrated crown on their master, and to sanction the ecclesiastical arrangements and appointments Vaik had already made. The pope readily acceded to their demand, and his brief to the ruler of Hungary is couched in the following terms : — " Sylvester the servant of God to Stephen Duke of Hungary his salutation and apos tolic benediction.

We felt rejoiced at the arrival of the ambassadors of Hungary, revealed to us before hand by the Divine Power.1 We render thanks to God our Father, who in our days raised up for Geisa a son like unto David : We accede to him, in the name of the Almighty, the diadem and title of King, and confirm all his ecclesiastical nominations. The 1 His Holiness, as the legend informs us, had received intima tion of the coming event in a dream. POLICY OF STEPHEN. more to prove our respect for him and his successors, who will be chosen by the Great of the realm, we grant to him and to those by whom he will be succeeded, our cross as an apostolic sign, and give them power, as our vicegerents, to regulate and dispose of ecclesiastical affairs at present and for the time to come." * No sooner did the apostolic crown arrive in Hungary, than Vaik was crowned king, under the name of Stephen.

The first care of this king was to continue his ecclesiastical organization, which consisted in the establishment of the archbishopric of Gran, the nomination of other bishops, and the rapid building of churches and cloisters. As an apostolic king, Stephen was the head of the Hungarian church, presiding over the synods, and determining certain ecclesiastical usages. Of much more importance were his political measures. The whole country was divided into counties, each of them governed by a lord-lieutenant and a sheriff nominated by the crown — an arrangement which necessarily overthrew the power formerly en joyed by the chiefs of the tribes. The office of viceroy was represented by a palatine, who served as the mediator between the king and the people. Stephen instituted also a state-council, consisting of the barons, the high clergy, and the middle class nobility, or milites.

These milites, similar to the English yeo manry, enjoyed their privileges in consequence of their military service, from which even the clergy were not exempt. The unprivileged class was called Jobba- 1 See Histoire des Revolutions de Hongrie : ou on donne une idee juste de son legitime gouverenement, avec les Memoires des Prince Rakoczy. A la Haye, mdccxixix., vol. i. p. 5. RELIGIOUS MEASURES. 11 giones, a term applied at a later period to the serfs, though at that time the slaves or serfs were an entirely distinct class. In the assembly of nobles convoked by the king in the year 1010, Hungary received its first written laws, known by the name of the Decrete of St Stephen, and which consisted of civil, ecclesiastical, and criminal statutes. In regard to the latter, it will be enough to mention, that treason was pronounced the first of crimes, and punished with death or banish ment.

Perjury was sometimes punished with the loss of a hand, or a heavy fine in cattle, a circumstance sufficiently proving the scarcity of money, though coin was struck in the reign of this king. The measures adopted by Stephen for the general introduction of the Christian religion were marked by extreme tyranny and violence. Laws were enacted to the effect, that every one should forsake his old creed and embrace the Christian religion, and that those who proved refractory should be punished with slavery or banishment. Enraged by this arbitrary power exercised by the propagators of the Christian faith, whose barbarous Latin was unintelligible to their ears, the people continued to cling with tenacious reverence to the old rites, so intimately connected with the memory of their ancestors, and determined to defend their liberty of conscience at the risk of their lives.

The spirit of rebellion soon assumed a dangerous shape, and loud murmurs were heard against the monarch, who, besides the assumption of foreign titles and dignities, introduced ignorant foreign monks to tyrannise over the children of those warriors who had sealed the conquest of Hungary with their own blood. Stephen, allied with the German princes by his mar riage with Gisela, Princess of Bavaria, found no diffi- DEFEAT OF THE HEATHEN PARTY. culty in getting foreign mercenaries to fight against his discontented subjects, and the soil of Hungary was for the first time stained with blood shed in the name of religion. The first decisive encounter between the adherents of the old faith and their king took place at Veszprim, where, after a sanguinary battle, the people were defeated. Their leader, Kupa, was taken prisoner, and sentenced by the king to be quartered ; the four parts of his body were sent round, as a stimulus to conversion, throughout every part of the country.

This atrocious piece of zeal did not hinder the See of Rome from afterwards giving Stephen a place in the catalogue of the saints. The terrible fate of Kupa was, however, insufficient to make the people embrace what they did not understand. In the dead of night, groups met here and there, under the groves and by the side of the rivers, pouring out prayers to the old Isten, chanting hymns to departed heroes, and im ploring the wrath of Heaven on a prince whom they could not but regard as the worst of tyrants. It is needless to observe, that the coercive measures of Stephen only served to retard the spread of Christi anity in Hungary ; and even the next century wit nessed some vestiges of the ancient faith. Time, how ever, may well extenuate the blame attached to the name of a young and inexperienced prince acted upon by subtle and fanatical monks, and the benefits of whose reign far exceeded his sins.