28.3 Europe: a.d. 1301 to 1400  (Page 5/12)

Austria

Although subject to the Holy Roman Emperor, the Habsburgs controlled the duchy of Austria and were gradually extending their holdings. By the time of Rudolf IV (1356-65), the family had consolidated their position and Austria was a major power. The University of Vienna was founded in 1365 (Ref. 8 )

Hungary

Hungary began the century with close to 1,000,000 people, consisting in a minority of Magyars ruling a majority of Slavs. The Arpad Dynasty became extinct in 1301, and Charles Robert of Anjou was brought in to rule and with French and Italian ideas and wines, Hungary became a western state. Industrial immigrants began to arrive from Germany, Flanders and Italy. It was a century of some glory and essentially peace for Hungary and adjacent states. One-third of all the gold production in the world, in the amount of 3,000 pounds each year, came from Hungary. Charles Robert set up a systematic fiscal policy with that gold as a base. Charles' son, Louis, although still an Angevin, became one of the greatest kings and was called "the Great", chiefly because of territory gained and his added assumption of the Polish throne in 1370. Some estimates give up to 3,000,000 people in Hungary by that time. The government was typical of European feudalism with nobles supplying military support for the monarch. Allied with Genoa, Louis had a long struggle with Venice which ended in the Peace of 1381 in which Venice ceded Dalmatia and paid tribute. Serbia, Wallachia and Moldavia all recognized the suzerainty of Louis and he even had a victory over the Turks in northern Bulgaria in 1366. At Louis' death his daughter Maria became queen and married Sigismund of Luxemburgs who became guardian of the kingdom. This situation was soon challenged by Charles of Durazzo and Naples, who had a large following in southern Hungary and Croatia and he became king in 1385 only to be assassinated about a year later. This resulted in a Croatian revolt and it was 1387 before Sigismund regained control and this time assumed the throne, himself. He was absent from the country most of the time, however, and there was a marked decline in royal power. In 1396 there was a disastrous loss in battle with the Turks, Dalmatia was taken again by Venice and there were Hussite invasions from Bohemia as a result of Sigismund's attempt to gain the Bohemian throne. (Ref. 119 , 126 )

Czechoslovakia

Like Austria, Bohemia was a part of the German Holy Roman Empire, but with its own king. After the death of Wenceslas III (1306), the ancient Przemyslid line ended and a foreigner, John of Luxemburg, son of Emperor Henry VIII, was brought in to form a new dynasty, making Bohemia a part of the West. Limited in power by written law and subject to actions of a national diet, he actually showed little concern for Bohemian affairs. In spite of this Bohemia became a power in international politics. John supported the Teutonic Knights against Lithuania and for a time ruled western Lombardy, as well as the Tyrol. He died in the battle of Crecy, fighting on the side of the French. His son became King Charles I and soon Emperor Charles IV of the Holy Roman Empire. He was the greatest of the Bohemian kings, maintaining peace with the Germans, organizing good government, rebuilding and beautifying Prague and founding the University of Prague as the first university in central Europe. By the Golden Bull, initiated in the empire in 1356 transforming it from a monarchy into an aristocratic federation with seven electors to vote on the emperor and other matters, the King of Bohemia was given first place among those electors. Charles was a bright young man in every way except as a military leader and was the last of the great medieval kings. His one black mark was his subsidizing of the massacre of Jews and giving of their property to his supporters. His son and successor, Wenceslas IV, was a useless alcoholic and the remainder of the century was one of political chaos and degeneration. At the end of the century John Huss was pushing for the use of the vernacular in church liturgy and a religious movement known as Hussites began to form. Slavic nationalism rose in full force and added another disconcerting element.