Vladislaus II of Bohemia and Hungary

Vladislaus II
King of Hungary
Reign 1490 – 1516
Predecessor Matthias Corvinus
Successor Louis II
King of Bohemia
Reign 1471 – 1516
Predecessor George of Podebrady
Successor Louis II
Spouse Barbara of Brandenburg
Beatrice of Naples
Anne de Foix
Issue
Anne, Queen of the Romans
Louis II of Hungary
House Jagiellon dynasty
Father Casimir IV Jagiellon
Mother Elizabeth of Bohemia
Born 1 March 1456
Kraków, Kingdom of Poland
Died 13 March 1516
Buda, Kingdom of Hungary
Burial Székesfehérvár
This article refers to the 15th century Jagiellon monarch. For his grandfather who founded the dynasty, see Władysław II Jagiełło. For other monarchs with similar names, see Ladislaus Jagiello (disambiguation) or Ladislaus (disambiguation).

Vladislaus II, also known as Ladislaus Jagiellon (Czech: Vladislav Jagellonský, Hungarian: II. Ulászló, Polish: Władysław II Jagiellończyk, Croatian: Vladislav Jagelović, Slovak: Vladislav Jagelovský); (1 March 1456, Kraków, Poland – 13 March 1516, Buda, Hungary) was King of Bohemia from 1471 and King of Hungary from 1490 until his death in 1516.[1] He was also a knight of the Order of the Dragon.

Contents

Biography

King of Bohemia

Vladislaus was born on 1 March 1456, the son of King Casimir IV of Poland and Great Duke of Lithuania, the then head of the ruling Jagiellon dynasty of Poland, and of Elizabeth of Hungary, daughter of the Duke Albert II of Germany, King of Hungary and Bohemia. He was christened as the namesake of his grandfather King Władysław Jagiełło of Poland and Lithuania, maternal uncle King Ladislaus the Posthumous of Bohemia and his late paternal uncle Władysław III of Poland, an earlier king of Hungary.

He was proposed for the Bohemian throne by the widow of the previous king, George of Poděbrady, and was crowned the King of Bohemia (Vladislav) on 22 August 1471. The period after the death of George of Poděbrady was a time of conflict for the Bohemian throne and Vladislaus was unable to confront it. At the time of his arrival in Prague, he was only fifteen years old and significantly dominated by his advisers. The succession conflict was settled in 1479 in the Peace of Olomouc, which allowed both Vladislaus and Matthias Corvinus to use the title "King of Bohemia." Vladislaus would reign in Bohemia proper, while Matthias gained Moravia, Silesia, and the two Lusatias. The deal also stipulated that in case of Matthias' death, Vladislaus would pay 400,000 gold (contemporary currency, not "gold") for the entirety of the Bohemian lands. However, this payment was not made once Vladislaus became King of Hungary after the death of Matthias.

The "Kutnohorian deal" in 1485 practically eliminated Vladislaus' power and granted it to the nobles. The deal in its original form would have been in effect for 31 years, but was extended in 1512 to "all times."

King of Hungary

Great chaos overcame in Hungary when the King Matthias Corvinus died without heir in 1490. His illegitime son John Corvin wasn't recognized by the Hungarian nobility, and after being forced to retreat, they called Vladislaus to Hungary, as his mother was the sister of the long ago deceased King Ladislaus V of Hungary, grandson of the legendary King Sigismund of Hungary. Vladislaus then was crowned King of Hungary on 18 September 1490. No regnal number was used by Vladislaus at the time, but works of reference retrospectively assigned him various ordinals for each of his kingdoms. The most usual number is II because before him there was only one Władysław on the Hungarian throne, his paternal uncle. Though counting the Hungarian and Bohemian translations of his name he was also the seventh Ladislas (VII) on the Hungarian throne and the fifth Vladislav (V) on the Bohemian throne.

Vladislaus immediately moved to Hungary, and there he lived the rest of his life, having his court and all his children born in the palace of Buda. The Hungarian nobility reigned and took many important decisions in his name, and, his role as monarch soon passed to be in a second plan. Stephen Zápolya, the archbishop Tamás Bakócz and George Szatmári continued with the Turkish wars plans, and tried then to maintain the Kingdom that fell in a severe economical crisis after Matthias's death. Vladislaus was a cheerful man, but after his third wife's death, he fell in a severe depression and almost retired from all the official issues. Then he gained the nickname of "Vladislaus Bene" (Polish: Władysław Dobrze, Hungarian: Dobzse László, Czech: král Dobře) because to almost any request he answered, "Bene" (Latin for "(It's) well").

During his reign (1490–1516), the Hungarian royal power declined in favour of the Hungarian magnates, who used their power to curtail the peasants’ freedom.[2] His reign in Hungary was largely stable, although Hungary was under consistent border pressure from the Ottoman Empire and went through the revolt of György Dózsa. On March 11, 1500 Czech Council adopted a new municipal constitution that limited royal power and Vladislav signed it in 1502 (hence it is known as Vladislav municipal constitution).[3] Additionally, he oversaw the construction (1493–1502) of the enormous Vladislav Hall atop the palace at the Prague Castle.

Vladislaus died two weeks after his 60th birthday on 13th march 1516 in the city of Buda. His funeral was held 6 days after that in the city of Székesfehérvár's main cathedral, where all the Kings of Hungary were used to be buried. His son was previously crowned as King of Hungary in 1508 and in 1509 as King of Bohemia before his father died, so the succession was assured. Before he died, Vladislaus called Tamás Bakócz, John Bornemissza and George Hohenzollern, and named them the bearers and custodiers of the young prince Louis. The monarch left after his death a Kingdom in political ruins and with a debt of 403,000 Hungarian Florins.

Marriages and issue

He was married three times, first in 1476 at Frankfurt/Oder to Barbara of Brandenburg, daughter of Albert III Achilles, Elector of Brandenburg, child widow of Silesian Piast Henry XI of Głogów, then to the widow of Matthias, Beatrice of Naples, daughter of Ferdinand I of Naples. His third wife, Anne de Foix, was crowned on September 29, 1502 when she about 18 years of age and he was 46. She gave birth to his only surviving legitimate children, Anna of Bohemia and Hungary and Louis II of Hungary and Bohemia and died less than 4 years later in 1506, from complications resulting from the birth of Louis.

After his death, Vladislaus' ten-year-old son Louis succeeded him on the thrones of both Bohemia and Hungary. His daughter Anna was married in 1515 to the future emperor Ferdinand of Austria, a grandson of Emperor Maximilian I. Therefore, after the death of Louis at the Battle of Mohács, the succession devolved through Anna to the cadet line of eastern Habsburgs.

Titles

His titles according to the laws in 1492: King of Hungary, Bohemia, Dalmatia, Croatia, Slavonia, Rama, Serbia, Galicia, Lodomeria, Cumania and Bulgaria, Prince of Silesia and Luxembourg, Margrave of Moravia and Lusatia.[4]

Ancestors

References

  1. ^ Encyclopædia Britannica
  2. ^ http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/170596/Dozsa-Rebellion
  3. ^ Buchvaldek, Miroslav (1987) (in Czech). Československé dějiny v datech (2nd ed.). Prague: Svoboda. pp. 714. 
  4. ^ 1000ev.hu (Hungarian)
Vladislaus II of Bohemia and Hungary
Born: 1 March 1456 Died: 13 March 1516
Regnal titles
Preceded by
George of Podebrady
King of Bohemia
1471–1516
Succeeded by
Louis II
Preceded by
Matthias Corvinus
King of Hungary
1490–1516
Succeeded by
Louis II