The first Magyar chieftan to convert to Catholicism was Vajk or Stephen. Pope Silvester II crowned him king of the Hungarians in the year 1000. Stephen then proceeded to convert the Hungarians by force. Having no heir, Stephen willed the nation to the Virgin Mary. A pagan reaction set in after Stephen’s death. Catholicism did not become ascendent for another 50 years. (Click on the pictures to enlarge.)

The Mongol invasion of 1271 left much of the country in ruins and perhaps as many as 3/4 of the population dead. Recovery from this disaster was slow.

The biggest military threat facing Europe at the end of the Middle Ages was the Turkish invasion. The Hungarian General John Hunyadi stopped the Turkish advance at the Battle of Belgrade in 1456, keeping the Turks at bay for another 70 years. Hungary’s most beloved king, Mathias Corvina, son of John Hunyadi, reigned during this interum period. Wanting Hungary to be a thoroughly European nation, he brought in scholars, books and artists from the west. He is also reported to have disguised himself as a peasant in order to investigate how the nobles treated their tenants. He punished any noble who dealt unjustly with his subjects.

The Turks successfully conquered Hungary in about 1526. At the Battle of Mohacs, the Turks had mastered the art of artillery, and the Hungarian generals did not understand this new technology of warfare. The Turks slaughtered the brave Hungarian soldiers by the thousands with cannon fire. The Turks split the country into three sections: a western territory dominated by Austria, a central area that the Turks ruled direct, and Transylvania, which Transylvanian princes ruled as vassals of the Turks. (For what it is worth, Vlad the Impaler, or Count Dracula, is a Transylvanian hero.)

The beginning of the Turkish occupation more or less coincided with the Reformation. Many young Hungarian preachers went to Wittenburg to be trained by Luther and Melanchthon. Mathias Devai became the Hungarian Luther and Stephen Kiss became the Hungarian Melanchthon. Protestantism in Hungary fared better under the Turks than it did later under the Austrians. Many historians believe that the majority of Hungarians embraced Protestantism at this time. The ethnic Germans among the Protestants became Evangelicals (Lutherans) and the ethnic Magyars comprised the Hungarian Reformed Church (influenced by Calvin).