Hungarian History

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The Roman Era

Budapest has had a long and tortured history, with regular cycles of settlement, development and destruction. Although there is evidence of habitation in the area going back tens of thousands of years, it was only with the relentless expansion of the Roman Empire that the true strategic and geographical value of the territory was recognised and exploited. The Romans conquered the Region in around 35BC and it became part of the Roman Empire within the province of Pannonia. The Roman settlement was called Aquincum and its ruins are to be found in the Óbuda district of modern day Budapest. Aquincum served both as a trading settlement and garrison town, protecting other strategic interests along the Danube.

Whilst there are Roman remains in Pest (Március 15 tér), the Danube acted as a natural defensive barrier against attacks from the Asiatic tribes and the overwhelming majority of development occurred on the Buda side. As the Roman Empire gradually disintegrated through internal strife and pressure from migrating Asian tribes, their hold on Pannonia became increasingly perilous.

Migrations from the East

In 430 the Huns, led by their feared commander Attila advanced into the Empire, brushing both the Roman army and assorted allies aside. Rome itself was spared following pleas for mercy from the Pope in 453. However, Attila died in mysterious circumstances soon afterwards and the Huns, now leaderless, returned to Central Asia.

Following the Huns, many tribes including the Avars drifted in and out of the fertile Region. The ancestors of modern day Hungarians were the Magyars, a tribe who are believed to have originated from the lands between the River Volga and the Ural mountains (this tribe is said to have gradually moved westward).

The Magyars were skilled horseman and frequently mounted raids into the Holy Roman Empire and middle Europe, becoming the scourge of Western Christendom. However, the Magyars gradually suffered a series of military reverses and eventually settled in Central Hungary.

Consolidation of the Magyars

There followed a period of consolidation which included the conversion of the Magyars to western Christianity under King Géza and his son King Stephen (St István) who ascended the throne on Christmas Day 1000. Budapest at this time was of little importance as the King's Palace was situated in Székesfehérvár and the religious centre in Esztergom.

King Stephen faced many problems in pacifying the new created nobility and cementing his commitment to the Pope and the Holy Roman Empire. On his death, Hungary saw a succession of weak Kings and dynastic intrigue, which did little to help the fledgling Kingdom develop.

It was not until 200 years or so later, that the King and nobles were able to settle their differences with the signing of the Golden Bull (the Hungarian Magna Carta) in 1222 during the reign of King András. The Golden Bull recognised the "Hungarian Nation" and created the framework for an annual meeting of nobles, known as a Diet. This Diet was to be held in a meadow in Pest and, because of its significance, helped to develop the town into an important market. Before long however, disaster struck with the Mongol invasion of 1241 in which the town and indeed most of the country was laid waste as Hungary (in a rehearsal for future centuries) became a battleground. When the Mongols eventually left following the death of their inspirational leader Genghis Khan, Hungary was in ruins. The Hungarian King, Béla IV decided to strengthen the country's defences and commission a series of castles. Buda was picked as a site for one of these and once completed, it helped to increase the towns significance and standing.

Buda and Pest gradually began to increase their populations, attracting many traders and craftsmen from other European countries. In addition, Hungary had gradually acquired more territory. However an ill fated expedition against the Turks by King Sigismund in 1396 marked the beginning of Turkish ambitions for an Empire in Europe. Their relentless advance was stemmed by a Transylvanian Price, János Hunyadi, who inflicted a heavy defeat on the Turks during the siege of Belgrade in 1456. Hunyadi had been a unifying force within the Kingdom and his death from the plague, soon after his victory, plunged the country into a further period of instability. However in 1458, one of his sons Mátyás "Corvinus" became King at the age of 16.

Mátyás and the Golden Age

The reign of Mátyás proved to be something of a golden age for the country, with Buda greatly benefiting from his rule by becoming a renaissance centre. He also oversaw the major development of Buda castle and commissioned an extensive Royal library to cement Buda’s position as a centre of learning.

His Italian wife, Beatrice also introduced many influences into his court from her homeland. Mátyás' reign was thus regarded as a time of justice, progress and relative prosperity. Having been able to consolidate his rule over the nation's nobles, he also kept the Turkish peril at bay through his establishment of the famed "Black" army (one of the first standing armies in Europe). Mátyás however died without an heir, and as was the case throughout Hungarian history, a period of progress and order was quickly followed by feudal squabbling and chaos.

This was aptly demonstrated by the nobility crowning outsider Ulászló as King. Reigning as a puppet of the country's rich lords, he appropriated land and tax revenues which were then split between the controlling noblemen. Hungary's relative military strength was also drastically weakened by the disbanding of the Black Army. Buda itself surrendered its role as a renaissance centre, whilst during the early decades of the 16th century the Hungarians fought among themselves (the culmination being the peasant revolt of 1541, led by György Dósza). This was ruthlessly put down by the nobility, who then imposed harsh punishment on the peasants. For example, included in a revision to the Golden Bull of 1222 was a law that reduced the peasants to serfdom and forbade them to bear arms. As the Turks were beginning fresh assaults in Europe, the timing could not have been more catastrophic. Unfortunately, the Hungarians "gift" of making a bad situation even worse is repeated throughout their violent history, as you will see later.

Hungary under the Turks

The Turks decimated the outnumbered Hungarian army at Mohács in Southern Hungary in 1526 and killed the young King Lajos II. Although they advanced to Buda and sacked the town, it was not until 15 years later in 1541 that they returned to occupy it. The Turks then set about turning Buda into a provincial capital in the Ottoman Empire. Some legacies of their rule, such as the thermal baths remain to this day.

The Turks remained in Buda and Pest for almost 150 years. It was only in 1686 that they were driven out following a destructive siege lasting one and a half months. The liberated Buda and Pest were mere shells with tiny populations The towns would slowly recover, but the Hungarians had not gained their independence with the expulsion of the Turks, merely exchanging one occupier for another, the Habsburgs.

Oppressor Replaces Oppressor

The Habsburgs placed Hungary under military rule and tried to ensure that the Hungarian nobility remained loyal to their new Catholic rulers by persecuting Protestants in a heavy handed fashion. Squabbling within the native nobility did little to help the situation. Eventually the Hungarians rebelled under Ferenc Rákóczi, although again they were defeated following an eight year struggle. Whilst this turmoil did little to help Buda and Pest recover their stature and former prosperity, the Habsburgs had recognised the strategic importance of Buda as a prime economic and strategic base.

Following the war they ploughed great amounts of money and effort into developing the towns. Development was particularly notable during the reign of Empress Maria Theresa (1740-80). This period brought a closer integration of the Austrian Habsburgs and the Hungarians, particularly amongst the nobility and wealthy estate owners. Pest developed into a wealthy town with the influx of money and the increase of commercial activity. The Danube also played an important role in the movement of goods throughout Central and South-eastern Europe. As a trading centre, Pest attracted a new wave of immigrants, such as the Serbs and Jews. This influx added a new dimension to the development of the towns, and even today, the legacy of this rich cultural diversity can be found in parts of Budapest, particularly the old Jewish quarter in the seventh district (VII).

During most of the eighteenth and earlier nineteenth centuries, Hungary remained reasonably calm, acquiring an image as the breadbasket of the Habsburg Empire (Hungary was still an overwhelmingly agricultural nation). The development of Buda and Pest continued, influenced by modern city planning elsewhere. The great boulevards that you can wander down today were the results of a design rethink following major flooding of the Danube basin in 1838.

Progressive Hungarians, particularly Count István Széchenyi, also left their mark during this period. Széchenyi had been greatly influence by what he had learnt while travelling abroad, especially in England. Consequently, he was determined to drag Hungary into the modern age. The most well known of his legacies is the Chain Bridge (Lánchíd), the first permanent stone crossing over the Danube. Without doubt, the bridge's construction helped to draw Buda and Pest ever closer, thereby encouraging further growth in the region (above: Miklós Barabás' 'laying of the foundation stone of the Chain Bridge' 1842).

This period of progress coincided with an awakening of the national spirit, spurred on by the revolutionary movements in other parts of Europe. Many Hungarians were frustrated that they had little independence within their own land and that much of the day to day administration was run under the auspices of the Habsburgs. Pest, which had become a magnet for the Hungarian gentry, was thus becoming the centre of a nationalist reawakening.