Lords, knights, kings and emperors...

[BLOODUK]

holy sh......... thats alot of text!

[Gorgoroth]

Originally posted by BLOODUK
holy sh......... thats alot of text!


Indeed, but he was a great king. Hungary was one of the strongest European nation while he was the king.
:cool:

Check out this map:
http://www.akm.externet.hu/km/terkep/adatok/vt4.htm

[Arjenvs]

Originally posted by Gorgoroth
Indeed, but he was a great king. Hungary was one of the strongest European nation while he was the king.
:cool:

Check out this map:
http://www.akm.externet.hu/km/terkep/adatok/vt4.htm

Nice maybe.....but for me too much to read......

can´t you post some smaller posts about these heroes? Cause maybe then there are people who actually read it.....:angel:

:cheers:

[Cork2]

Frederick I (Barbarossa)
German King and Roman Emperor, son of Frederick of Swabia (d. 1147) and Judith, daughter of Henry the Black; born c. 1123; died 10 June, 1190. Connected maternally with the Guelphs, he seemed destined to effect a reconciliation between them and the Ghibellines. In 1146 he had already roused public attention by a determined and victorious war against Duke Conrad of Zähringen. On 4 March, 1152, after having been designated by Conrad III as his successor, he was elected German king, unopposed, and crowned at Aachen on 9 March. Taking Charles the Great as his ideal of a German emperor, Frederick determined to expand his supremacy to its utmost limits. This explains his ecclesiastical policy. With astonishing firmness his bold spirit pursued the aims it had once marked out for itself. Though no scholar, Frederick surprises us by the clearness and cleverness of his speech, by his rapid comprehension and decision, and by his well-reasoned and logical policy. A born ruler, he considered it his duty to secure for his subjects the blessings of peace. The majesty of his personal appearance was combined with attractive kindliness. Though shrewd and calculating, he had at times fits of uncontrolled passion. However, he was sufficiently master of himself to restrain his anger if the object to be attained was endangered by an outburst. Such a man naturally excited the admiration and invited the confidence of his fellow-men.

The sense of national unity that grew out of the rivalries existing in the crusading armies found in him an ideal for its enthusiasm. In public opinion Frederick found the support which was lacking to his predecessors, Lothair and Conrad. The German people loved their king, who soon after his coronation visited the various parts of his realm and manfully exerted himself to establish internal peace. There was no reason why the secular princes of his empire should oppose the newly chosen king; his naturally conservative mind knew how to deal with existing forces. Of the princes, whose power was already approaching sovereignty, he demanded only respect for the existing order. He sought also to unite the interests of the German princes, especially those of the House of Guelph with the interests of the empire. The Gregorian, hierarchical party in Germany was in a state of complete dissolution. From the bishops Frederick had no reason to fear radical opposition to his policy towards the Church, dissatisfaction with the papal administration in Germany being then widespread. He succeeded in recovering the influence formerly exercised by the German king in the selection of bishops. Many powerful men were at that time to be found among the German clergy, prominent among them being the provost of Hildesheim, Rainald von Dassel, consecrated Archbishop of Cologne in May, 1156, and made chancellor of the empire. For eleven years he was the most faithful counsellor of Frederick. Rainald was a formidable opponent of the papacy; in him the bishop almost wholly disappears in the statesman. Similar to Frederick in character, he vigorously supported the anti-hierarchical policy of the emperor. Another prelate, also a stanch supporter of the king, was Wichmann, Archbishop of Magdeburg, more of a soldier than a bishop, and uncanonically promoted from the See of Zeitz to the Archbishopric of Magdeburg. Thus assisted by the various estates of the empire, Frederick sought to make the power of the crown as independent as possible. This he did by vigorously furthering the interests of his ancestral house. The administrators of his family property, the ministeriales, were not only managers of great estates, but at the same time an ever-ready body of warriors. The negotiations between the king and the pope concerning the appointment to the See of Magdeburg revealed for the first time a radical difference between the policies of the Church and the State. During these stormy controversies, forerunners of the approaching tempest, Frederick was strengthened in his views regarding the superiority of the royal over the papal power, chiefly through intercourse with the leading jurists of the University of Bologna. The conception of the dignity of the Roman emperor placed before him by these men confirmed him in his claims to the supremacy of the German kings over the Church, which he based upon the rights exercised by them during the Carlovingian period. The whole internal and external policy of Frederick was controlled by the idea of restoring the ancient imperium mundi. In Northern Italy, where many prosperous communes had acquired independence, the former imperial suzerainty had passed away. Frederick failed to see that in these cities a new political factor was developing, and underrated the powers of resistance of these free municipal republics. Concerned only with immediate advantages, he sought to recover the regalia (income from vacant sees and benefices), which the cities had gradually usurped, and to utilize them in persuing his imperial policy. The conduct of Frederick in Northern Italy and the mistaken concept of the relations between Church and State could not fail to bring about a conflict with the papacy. In this conflict for supremacy in Northern Italy, the pope was forced to prove that he was able to defend the position of equality with the king, which the papal see had acquired, and in this way to gain a complete victory over the emperor. The king, a deeply religious man, was, indeed, convinced that the secular and ecclesiastical power should co-operate with each other, but he made it clear that even the pope should respect in him the imperial lord. If Frederick became master of Italy, the pope would have to acknowledge this supremacy. In the beginning, it seemed probable that Frederick would triumph. The pope needed German help. Threatened by the Normans from without, he was not even secure in his own city, which governed itself through a senate elected by popular vote and tolerated the revolutionary Arnold of Brescia within its walls. It was in these circumstances that the Treaty of Constance was signed between the pope and the king (March, 1153). This treaty was aimed against the enemies of the pope both in Rome and Southern Italy. In return the pope promised to crown Frederick emperor and to help him against his enemies.

In October, 1154, Frederick began his march Romewards. Owing to the weakness of his army, the king did not succeed at this time in subjecting to his power Northern Italy and the rebellious city of Milan. In 1155 he went on with his army to Rome, where he met the newly elected Pope Adrian IV, who maintained himself in Rome with difficulty and was anxiously awaiting the arrival of the German king. Frederick could not establish permanent order in Rome. The Treaty of Constance, promising the pope help against the Romans and Normans, was therefore not carried out. In On 18 June, 1155, after having delivered Arnold of Brescia into the pope's hands, Frederick was crowned as Roman emperor in spite of the opposition of the rebellious Romans. In Southern, as in Northern, Italy Frederick made little progress during this Italian expedition. During the years 1155-1158, Frederick reached the height of his power, and energetically safeguarded the tranquillity of his realm. The difficult Bavarian question, replete with imminent danger of war, was successfully settled; Henry Jasomirgott surrendered Bavaria to Henry the Lion and in return received Austria as an independent duchy, a step that was pregnant with consequences for the future of Germany. Frederick's policy was also successful along the eastern and western boundaries of his empire. His suzerainty in Burgundy was, in the main, re-established, after Frederick, with the consent of the Curia, had separated from Adela von Bohburg, and married Beatrice, the heiress of Burgundy. On his eastern frontier, he succeeded more and more in Germanizing and Christianizing the local tribes. In this respect, Henry the Lion was the chief pioneer of the future imperial policy. Frederick maintained amicable relations with Denmark, Poland, and Hungary. Impelled by his proud consciousness of authority, which found expression at the Diet of Würzburg (1157), Frederick undertook a second Italian campaign in 1158. In the meantime, conditions had changed in Italy; the pope, from being an opponent of the Normans, had become their ally. The friendly relations between the pope and emperor had suffered a shock after the Diet of Besançon (1157). On that occasion the papal legate had called the imperial dignity a benefice (beneficium) of the popes. The expression was ambiguous, since the Latin word beneficium might mean either a personal benefit or a feudal concession. There is no doubt, however, that the indignant German princes were right in understanding it to be an assertion of the superiority of the popes over the emperors. In sharp denial of this claim, Frederick defended his imperial sovereignty. The relations between pope and emperor became more strained. Pope Adrian was considering the excommunication of the emperor, when his death relieved the existing tension. Relying on his own resources, Frederick now began another campaign against the cities of Northern Italy. Milan succumbed after a short siege (7 Sept., 1158 ). At the Diet of Roncaglia the emperor undertook to define with precision the rights of the empire as against its subject rulers and cities, also to restore the earlier strong suzerainty by the appointment of imperial officials (podestà) in the North Italian cities. His intention was to establish peace, but the Lombards failed to understand this and openly rebelled. During his war with the city of Cremona occurred the disputed papal election of 1159. As supreme protector of Christendom, Frederick claimed the right to decide this quarrel. Of course, had he been able to enforce his claims it would have been a proof of the supremacy of the empire. The Synod of Pavia, assembled by Frederick in Feb., 1160, decided in favour of Victor IV. Thereupon, as Victor's protector, Frederick undertook to win over to the cause of this antipope the other rulers of Europe. Milan, in the meantime, had surrendered (March, 1162) and met with a fearful castigation.

The successes of the emperor excited the envy of the other European rulers. Pope Alexander III, animated with the spirit of Gregory VII, refused to acknowledge the imperial supremacy. Around the pope gathered all the enemies of Frederick. The universal papal power was destined to triumph over the idea of a universal imperial power. The Western rulers were determined to resist every attempt to re-establish the imperial hegemony in the West. Frederick was again left to his own resources and, after a short sojourn in Germany, undertook a new expedition to Italy (1163). For a time the death of the antipope, Victor IV, gave rise to hopes of a reconciliation between Frederick and Alexander III, but soon the emperor recognized another antipope, Paschal III. At the same time an anti-imperial alliance, the Lombard League, was formed by the cities of Verona, Vicenza, and Padua; it was joined by Venice, Constantinople, and Sicily. Internal troubles caused by the schism prevented the emperor from coping successfully with the famous League. Some of the German clergy, moreover, had espoused the cause of Alexander III, and Frederick was unable to overcome their opposition. Nevertheless, he again left Germany (1166), marched through the disaffected cities of Northern Italy, and accompanied by the antipope, entered Rome. There a deadly fever destroyed his army, while behind him the Lombard insurrection assumed more dangerous proportions. Lengthy negotiations followed, and the emperor again attempted to overthrow the coalition of the League and Pope Alexander (1174). The great battle of Legnano (29 May, 1176) destroyed the imperial hopes, and left Frederick willing to enter on negotiations for peace. The most important result of the ensuing treaty of Venice (1177) was the failure of the emperor to establish his supremacy over the pope; and in acknowledging the complete equality of Alexander, whom he now recognized as pope, Frederick confessed the defeat of the imperial pretensions.

While Frederick was fighting in Northern Italy, the head of the Guelphs, Henry the Lion, had refused to give him armed assistance. Now he openly rebelled against Frederick. The emperor overthrew Henry, and henceforth aimed at impeding the growth of his powerful vassals by dividing the dukedoms as much as possible. Bavaria, without Styria however, was at this time granted to the Guelph house of Wittelsbach, which act naturally revived the feud between the Houses of Guelph and Hohenstaufen.

The Treaty of Constance (25 June, 1183) between Frederick and the Lombards deprived the pope of his important ally, the combined cities of Northern Italy. Shortly afterwards, Frederick's son Henry married Constance, the Norman princess of Sicily. The papacy was now threatened both from the north and the south. Friendly relations between the pope and the emperor were also endangered by complaints about the exercise of the Jus spolii and the collection of the tithes by laymen. The coronation of Frederick's son Henry as King of Italy (27 Jan., 1186) led to an open rupture. The political weakness of the papacy was offset to some extent by the fact that Philipp von Heinsberg, Archbishop of Cologne and a powerful prince, became the champion of the pope. By skilful management and with the aid of a majority of the German bishops Frederick evaded the threatening peril.

The death of Urban III and the election of Gregory VIII brought about a change in the dealings of the Curia with the empire, owing chiefly to the gloomy reports from the Holy Land.

At the Diet of Mainz in 1188, Frederick took the cross, and on 11 May, 1189, started for Palestine. On 10 June, 1190, he met with a sudden death while crossing the River Saleph in Asia Minor.

[Gorgoroth]

Whooo my old topic! :cheers:
*bump*

Maybe some of you would share some infos about great kings and emperors! :cool:

[Finellach]

Originally posted by Gorgoroth
[b]... in 1091, his sister Helen, the widowed queen of Croatia, appealed to him for help against the murderers of her husband. He marched in, restored some sort of order, and established the see of Zagreb. But when Helen died childless he annexed Croatia and Dalmatia...


Couple of facts regarding this:
Fact 1. Dmitar Zonimir was not murdered, he died by natural death
Fact 2. Jelana(Helena) wife of Dmitar Zvonimir tried to institute her brother Laszlo as King of Croatia claiming her husband was the last of Trpimiriovic dynasty and she as his wife is the only posibble heir. That was not true since Stjepan son of Petar Kresmir's brother Castimir was still alive and was living in a monestary. Dmitar and Jelena had a son Radovan, but he died at young age.
Fact 3. Croatia was never annexed
Fact 4. Laszlo succeeded to take the title of Slavonia from 1091. -1095.
Fact 5. After death of Stjepan II Croatian nobility chose another King which was Petar Svacic (1093. - 1097.). Hungarian's sent an army in Croatia and the two armies met in battle. King Petar died, but Croatia was far to be deafeated. Both sides seeing the strenght of the other signed an agreement in 1102. with which the title of Croatia goes to Arpadovic(Arpad) family. From that moment Croatia and Hungary where in personal union.
In this arrangement, the king was a common ruler to both Croatia and Hungary according to the principle of personal union. From that time a Croato-Hungarian state was created, in which Dalmatia, Croatia and Slavonia maintained their internal administration and elements of statehood. They had their bans (dukes), viceroys, separate territory and even minted their own currency - the banovac.

[Gorgoroth]

I dont really know the croatian part, but the rest is sorta right

From the Catholic encyclopedia:
"Native rulers reigned until 1102, when the last, Peter Svachich, died in defence of his county, and Croatia offered the crown to King Coloman of Hungary. The Croats, represented by twelve deputies, administered the oath and stipulated that the new monarch should observe the Constitution and rights of the Croats, exercise the judicial power only when on Croatian soil, and allow no Hungarian to settle upon Croatian territory. This agreement was only partially kept. Croatia was ruled by the Arpád dynasty from 1102 to 1301, but was not made a part of Hungary. The monarchs never resided permanently in Croatia, but were represented by bans, who as supreme administrators of the kingdom, convened the legislature, exercised the highest judicial power in the State, and commanded the army. The national "sabor regulated the coinage and silver. The Arpád rulers introduced the feudal system in opposition to public opinion, reorganized the nobility, and gave the lands taken from the peasants (kmet) to the holders of titles. During the reign of Croatian rulers the Church flourished. The primas (primate) held the office of chancellor of State and the bishops were the principal advisers, spiritual and temporal, of the kings. There were nine bishoprics. Under the Arpád rulers, a change was made, and new sees were erected suffragan to the ecclesiastical province of Hungary."

[Finellach]

Yes that would be correct and in spirit to what I said.

Btw. you could write something about Nikola Subic Zrinski or his grandson with the same name Nikola Zrinski or as they are known in Hungary by their Hungarian name versions Miklos Zriny. ;)

[Gorgoroth]

Good idea, I will! :)

[Gorgoroth]

Count Miklós Zrínyi (1508-1566)


Croatian and Hungarian hero was a son of Miklós Zrínyi and Ilona Karlovics. He distinguished himself at the siege of Vienna in 1529, and in 1542 saved the imperial army from defeat before Pest by intervening with 400 Croats, for which service he was appointed ban of Croatia.

In 1542 he routed the Turks at Somlyo. In 1543 he married Catherine Frangipan, who placed the whole of her vast estates at his disposal. The Emperor Ferdinand also gave him large possessions in Hungary, and henceforth the Zrinyis became as much Magyar as Croatian magnates. In 1556 Zrinyi won a series of victories over the Turks, culminating in the battle of Babócsa. The Croatians, however, overwhelmed their ban with reproaches for neglecting them to fight for the Magyars, and the emperor simultaneously deprived him of the captaincy of Upper Croatia and sent 10,000 men to aid the Croats, while the Magyars were left without any help, whereupon Zrinyi resigned the banship (1561). In 1563, on the coronation of the Emperor Maximilian as king of Hungary, Zrinyi attended the ceremony at the head of 3000 Croatian and Magyar mounted noblemen, in the vain hope of obtaining the dignity of palatine, vacant by the death of Thomas Nadasdy. Shortly after marrying (in 1564) his second wife, Eva Rosenberg, a great Bohemian heiress, he hastened southwards to defend the frontier, defeated the Turks at Segesd, and in 1566 from August 5 to September 7 heroically defended the little fortress of Szigetvar against the whole Turkish host, led by Suleiman the Magnificent in person, perishing with every member of the garrison in a last desperate sortie.
.

[Gorgoroth]

Count Miklos Zrinyi (1620-1664)

Hungarian warrior, statesman and poet, the son of George Zrinyi and Magdalena Szechy, was born at Csakvar. At the court of Peter Pasmany the youth conceived a burning enthusiasm for his native language and literature, although he always placed arms before arts. From 1635 to 1637 he accompanied Szenkveczy, one of the canons of Esztergom, on a long educative tour through Italy. During the next few years he learnt the art of war in defending the Croatian frontier against the Turks, and approved himself one of the first captains of the age. In 1645 he acted against the Swedes in Moravia, equipping an army corps at his own expense. At Szkalec he scattered a Swedish division and took 2000 prisoners. At Eger he saved the emperor, who had been surprised at night in his camp by Wrangel. Subsequently he routed the army of Rakoczy on the Upper Theiss. For his services the emperor appointed him captain of Croatia. On his return from the war he married the wealthy Eusebia Draskovics.

In 1646 he distinguished himself in the Turkish war. At the coronation of Ferdinand IV he carried the sword of state, and was made ban and captain-general of Croatia. In this double capacity he presided over many Croatian diets, always strenuously defending the political rights of the Croats and steadfastly maintaining that as regarded Hungary they were to be looked upon not as panes annexae but as a regnum.

During 1652—53 he was continually fighting against the Turks, yet from his castle at Csáktornya he was in constant communication with the learned world; the Dutch scholar, Jacobus Tollius, even visited him, and has left in his Epistolae itinerariae a lively account of his experiences. Tollius was amazed at the linguistic resources of Zrinyi, who spoke German, Croatian, Hungarian, Turkish and Latin with equal facility. Zrinyi's Latin letters (from which we learn that he was married a second time, to Sophia Lobel) are fluent and agreeable, but largely interspersed with Croatian and Magyar expressions.

The last year of his life was also its most glorious one. He set out to destroy the strongly fortified Turkish bridge at Esseg, and thus cut off the retreat of the Turkish army, re-capturing all the strong fortresses on his way. He destroyed the bridge, but the further pursuance of the campaign was frustrated by the refusal of the imperial generals to co-operate. Still the expedition had covered him with glory. All Europe rang with his praises. It was said that only the Zrinyis had the secret of conquering the Turks. The emperor offered him the title of prince. The pope struck a commemorative medal with the effigy of Zrinyi as a fieldmarshal. The Spanish king sent him the Golden Fleece. The French king created him a peer of France. The Turks, to wipe out the disgrace of the Esseg affair, now laid siege to Uj-Zerin, a fortress which Zrinyi had built, and the imperial troops under Montecuculi looked on while he hastened to relieve it, refusing all assistance, with the result that the fortress fell. It was also by the advice of Montecuculi that the disgraceful peace of Vasvár was concluded. Zrinyi hastened to Vienna to protest against it, but in vain. Zrinyi quitted Vienna in disgust, after assuring the Venetian minister, Sagridino, that he was willing at any moment to assist the Republic against the Turks with 6000 men. He then returned to Csáktornya, and there, on the November 18, was killed by a wild boar which he had twice wounded and recklessly pursued to its lair in the forest swamps, armed only with his hunting-knife.

His poetical works first appeared at Vienna in 1651, under the title of The Siren of the Adriatic (Hung.); but his principal work, Obsidio Szigetiana, the epopoeia of the glorious self-sacrifice of his heroic ancestor of the same name, only appeared in fragments in Magyar literature till Arany took it in hand. It was evidently written under the influence of both Virgil and Tasso, though the author had no time to polish and correct its rough and occasionally somewhat wooden versification. But the fundamental idea--the duty of Hungarian valour to shake off the Turkish yoke, with the help of God--is sublime, and the whole work is intense with martial and religious enthusiasin. It is no unworthy companion of the other epics of the Renaissance period, and had many imitators. Arany first, in 1848, began to recast the Zrinyiad, as he called it, on modern lines, and the work was completed by Antal Vékóny in 1892.