He organized the last all-European crusade in 1396, put an end to the Great Western Schism in 1417, and began the fight against Hussitism. The peasant revolt led by Budai Nagy Antal broke out at the very end of his reign. The reign of King Zsigmond of Hungary was not without its struggles, political intrigues, and events: it is no coincidence that the last ruler of the House of Luxembourg is considered one of the most important figures of late medieval Europe.

With the death of King Louis the Great, the last male heir of the Hungarian House of Anjou died, leaving the throne to the monarch’s two daughters, Hedvig and Mária. The former became Queen of Poland, the latter of Hungary, and at the same time, the competition for their hands began: who would marry Mary and become the new King of Hungary?

There were several contenders for the throne, but in the end, at the cost of intrigues and sacrifices, Zsigmond, who also risked his physical safety, rallied the barons behind him, so in 1385 he married Maria and on the last day of March 1387 he was crowned King of Hungary and Croatia by Himházi Benedek, Bishop of Veszprém in Székesfehérvár. The coronation was not performed by the archbishop of Esztergom, but the event was different from the previous custom.

“The day before, Zsigmond swore an oath to abide by the points laid down by the chief priests and barons as conditions for his coronation. (This unusual act became customary for the kings who reigned after Zsigmond. ) Accordingly, the future king undertook to preserve the ancient freedoms of the country; protect the rights of all; grant a general amnesty; cancel his donations; annul family contracts made for his accession; appoint only Hungarians to the royal council and offices; not to donate lands to foreigners, nor to ask the Pope for ecclesiastical benefices for them. These obligations were not very new compared to the practice in other countries at that time. But the real content of the contract came later: Zsigmond had to ally with the lords who had made him king, and at the same time he empowered them to enforce his promise by force in case of non-compliance”. ( C. Tóth Norbert)

Zsigmond made a pact (“League”) with certain groups of barons for the throne, as the dwindling royal power no longer allowed him to play politics independently of everyone else. According to the agreement, Lackfi István became the new palatine. Although Zsigmond won the crown, he was forced to cooperate with the League and satisfy the territorial demands of the barons. The castle system, which had been restored at the beginning of the Angevin era, collapsed because Zsigmond donated half of the royal estates. At the death of Louis the Great, the king still ruled over 160 of the country’s 300 castles, but under Zsigmond’s reign, this number was reduced to 70. However, the system of noble counties was strengthened.

It was during this period that the vast estates of the magnates began to emerge. About 20 percent of the country’s castles remained in royal hands. As can be seen from the above, the ruler’s hands were tied by the barons, but he was still able to gradually strengthen his position. He supported the organization of the nobility into an order by including them in the Diet, while at the same time strengthening their role in the counties.

Highly educated and sociable (he spoke seven languages and was a fan of jousting), one of the most important measures and moments of Zsigmond of Luxembourg’s reign was to support the development of cities with privileges. He carried out large building projects in Visegrád, Buda and Székesfehérvár. In Buda, from the late 1370s, King Louis the Great began building a large palace, which Zsigmond continued on an even larger scale, finally moving his court to Buda in 1408. In the center of the country, he founded the first university in the capital. At the request of the monarch, Pope Boniface IX issued the first charter of the University of Óbuda on October 6, 1395.

The now-ruined Buda Palace complex was once a wonder to behold. It can be said that Buda was the center of Europe at that time, where emperors, kings, and princes were received. For the first time in history, the German Imperial Diet was convened outside the borders of the Holy Roman Empire, in Pozsony (Bratislava, Pressburg). In 1397-1409 he had a hunting lodge built on the shore of Lake Öreg in Tata (the fortress was later rebuilt by King Matthias Corvinus on the model of Italian moated castles).

Zsigmond enacted progressive laws, brought the church under his control, and taxed church property. He favored practical innovations that brought new ways of thinking in institutions, systems, and military technology. He seized the thrones of Croatia, Germany, and Bohemia (making him the most famous ruler in contemporary Europe).

The monarch tried to consolidate his power in Hungary. He raised new men to the baronial rank, such loyal lords as Cillei Hermann, Ozorai Pipó, and Stiborici Stibor, but the rise of the Báthory, Rozgonyi, Tallóci, and Garai families also began at this time. Since he brought to power common nobles instead of barons, the whole League was against him already in 1401. He was captured, but Garai Miklós heroically gave himself up as a hostage in exchange for the king. On one of these perilous occasions, Tar Lőrinc saved Zsigmond’s life, fighting against several foes, while receiving heavy wounds.

After Zsigmond regained the throne, the Garai-Cille League was formed, bringing together the royal barons. As a result of this agreement, Zsigmond, widowed by the death of his pregnant wife Mária in a riding accident in 1395, broke off his engagement to Margaret Piast, Princess of Brieg, in 1401 and in the same year became engaged to Cillei Borbála, whom he married in 1405.

To consolidate his position, Zsigmond tried to place the Hungarian Church, primarily as a source of material resources, at the service of royal power. In 1404, he issued a decree making the issuance of papal bulls subject to royal concession (placetum regium – royal right of veto), which meant that even the pope’s decrees could only be promulgated in the country with the king’s consent.

The economic development of the 14th century led to an increase in the number and population of towns, especially the free royal towns. There were only a few free royal cities, such as Buda, Pozsony, Bártfa, Eperjes, and Kassa, but the urban development in Hungary was significant in comparison with itself. In 1407 Pásztó became a market town where Tar Lőrinc was the landlord. Since the inhabitants of these towns were obliged to support Zsigmond, they played an important role in the political stabilization, as none of them wanted to be subordinated to the nobility or lose their privileges.

The monarch increased the number of walled cities, encouraged trade between cities, and ordered the standardization of weights and measures. The standard weights and measures remained those used in Buda (Article I of Act I of 1405: “that the weights and measures of fluvial and solid bodies throughout the country shall be applied to the weights and measures of the city of Buda”). His economic laws were a kind of early mercantilism, imposing protective duties on foreign merchants, who were only allowed to sell their goods in larger quantities, while domestic merchants were free to trade. The prohibition of the export of precious metals and all unprocessed ores and the import of salt served to increase royal revenues.

In 1405, the king issued municipal decrees, laws that strengthened the position of towns and their citizens; among other things, he confirmed the right of towns to judge their inhabitants independently and gave their judges the right to use the sword. The preamble to the decrees of 1405 already raised villages to the status of market towns and rural towns to the status of cities, and ordered the construction of defensive walls. In 1435, the fourth order, the bourgeoisie, was represented in the Diet.

In 1408, Zsigmond created the Order of the Dragon with 24 baronial families to strengthen the Royal League and fight the Turks. Its members, as barons, were given a seat in the royal council and were also granted estates. Read more about the Order here:

https://www.hungarianottomanwars.com/swords-and-sabers/ceremonial-sword-of-the-dragon-order/