The Battle of Rozgony
or Battle of Rozhanovce was fought between
King
King is the title given to a male monarch in a variety of contexts. The female equivalent is queen, which title is also given to the consort of a king.
*In the context of prehistory, antiquity and contemporary indigenous peoples, the tit ...
Charles Robert of Hungary and the family of
Palatine
A palatine or palatinus (in Latin; plural ''palatini''; cf. derivative spellings below) is a high-level official attached to imperial or royal courts in Europe since Roman times. Amade Aba
Amadeus Aba or Amade Aba ( hu, Aba Amadé; sk, Omodej Aba; ? – 5 September 1311) was a Hungarian oligarch in the Kingdom of Hungary who ruled ''de facto'' independently the northern and north-eastern counties of the kingdom (today parts of ...
[ on 15 June 1312,] on the Rozgony (today Rozhanovce) field. ''Chronicon Pictum
The ''Chronicon Pictum'' ( Latin for "illustrated chronicle", English: ''Illuminated Chronicle'' or ''Vienna Illuminated Chronicle'', hu, Képes Krónika, sk, Obrázková kronika, german: Illustrierte Chronik, also referred to as ''Chronica Hun ...
'' described it as the "most cruel battle since the Mongol invasion of Europe
From the 1220s into the 1240s, the Mongols conquered the Turkic states of Volga Bulgaria, Cumania, Alania, and the Kievan Rus' federation. Following this, they began their invasion into heartland Europe by launching a two-pronged invasion of ...
". Despite many casualties on the King's side, his decisive victory brought an end to the Aba family's rule over the eastern Kingdom of Hungary, weakened his major domestic opponent Máté Csák III
Mate may refer to:
Science
* Mate, one of a pair of animals involved in:
** Mate choice, intersexual selection
** Mating
* Multi-antimicrobial extrusion protein, or MATE, an efflux transporter family of proteins
Person or title
* Friendship
* ...
, and ultimately secured power for Charles Robert of Hungary.
Background
After the senior line of the Árpád dynasty
The Árpád dynasty, consisted of the members of the royal House of Árpád (), also known as Árpáds ( hu, Árpádok, hr, Arpadovići). They were the ruling dynasty of the Principality of Hungary in the 9th and 10th centuries and of the King ...
died out in 1301, the succession to the throne of the Kingdom of Hungary
The Kingdom of Hungary was a monarchy in Central Europe that existed for nearly a millennium, from the Middle Ages into the 20th century. The Principality of Hungary emerged as a Christian kingdom upon the coronation of the first king Stephen ...
became contested by several foreign monarchs and other runners-up. One of them was Charles Robert
Charles I, also known as Charles Robert ( hu, Károly Róbert; hr, Karlo Robert; sk, Karol Róbert; 128816 July 1342) was King of Hungary and Croatia from 1308 to his death. He was a member of the Capetian House of Anjou and the only son of ...
of Anjou Anjou may refer to:
Geography and titles France
* County of Anjou, a historical county in France and predecessor of the Duchy of Anjou
**Count of Anjou, title of nobility
*Duchy of Anjou, a historical duchy and later a province of France
**Duk ...
, the Pope
The pope ( la, papa, from el, πάππας, translit=pappas, 'father'), also known as supreme pontiff ( or ), Roman pontiff () or sovereign pontiff, is the bishop of Rome (or historically the patriarch of Rome), head of the worldwide Cathol ...
's champion. Over several years Charles drove his foreign opponents out of the country and installed himself on the Hungarian throne. At that time central power was weakened in Hungary, and the country was ruled by local warlords lording over smaller principalities and dukedoms. However, his rule remained nominal in many parts of the Kingdom because several powerful magnates, local dukes, and princes still did not recognize him as the supreme king. Initially, Charles's chief adversary was Máté Csák, who controlled several counties
A county is a geographic region of a country used for administrative or other purposesChambers Dictionary, L. Brookes (ed.), 2005, Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd, Edinburgh in certain modern nations. The term is derived from the Old French ...
in western and northern parts of the Hungary. However, eventually he allied himself with the Aba family, which ruled the eastern Hungarian Kingdom.
In 1312, Charles besieged Sáros Castle, (now part of Slovakia - Šariš Castle
Šariš Castle (Slovak language, Slovak: ''Šarišský hrad'', Hungarian language, Hungarian: ''Sáros vára'') is a ruined Gothic_architecture, Gothic and Renaissance_architecture_in_Central_Europe, Renaissance era stone castle above the town of V ...
) controlled by the Abas. After the Abas received additional reinforcement from Máté Csák (according to ''Chronicon Pictum'' almost Máté's entire force as well as 1,700 mercenary spear
A spear is a pole weapon consisting of a shaft, usually of wood, with a pointed head. The head may be simply the sharpened end of the shaft itself, as is the case with fire hardened spears, or it may be made of a more durable material fasten ...
men), Charles Robert of Anjou was forced to retreat to the loyal Szepes county (today the region of Spiš
Spiš (Latin: ''Cips/Zepus/Scepus/Scepusia'', german: Zips, hu, Szepesség/Szepes, pl, Spisz) is a region in north-eastern Slovakia, with a very small area in south-eastern Poland (14 villages). Spiš is an informal designation of the territory ...
), whose Saxon inhabitants subsequently reinforced his own troops. The Abas benefited from the retreat. They decided to use the gathered opposition forces to attack the town of Kassa (today Košice) because of its strategic importance, and partially due to the fact that just few months before Charles had Amadeus Aba assassinated by the Kassa's German colonists. Charles marched on Kassa and engaged his adversaries.
The battle
The opposition forces abandoned the siege of Kassa and positioned their troops on a hill near the Tarca (Torysa River
The Torysa (, hu, Tarca) is a river in eastern Slovakia. Its source is in the Levoča Mountains and it flows through the towns of: Lipany, Sabinov, Veľký Šariš, Prešov, and into the Hornád river near Nižná Hutka
Nižná Hutka ( hu, Als ...
). Charles Robert of Hungary was forced to position his troops in flat agricultural land under that hill. Although the numbers are uncertain, the king's army consisted of his own men, an Italian unit of Knights Hospitaller
The Order of Knights of the Hospital of Saint John of Jerusalem ( la, Ordo Fratrum Hospitalis Sancti Ioannis Hierosolymitani), commonly known as the Knights Hospitaller (), was a medieval and early modern Catholic military order. It was headq ...
, and a 1,000-men strong infantry unit of Zipser Saxons. Because of contradicting versions in contemporary chronicles, it is not clear to what extent the Aba family was helped by Máté Csák's forces.
The battle commenced when the rebels made a surprise attack during or just after the Mass
Mass is an intrinsic property of a body. It was traditionally believed to be related to the quantity of matter in a physical body, until the discovery of the atom and particle physics. It was found that different atoms and different eleme ...
in the king's camp. A bloody mêlée
A melee ( or , French: mêlée ) or pell-mell is disorganized hand-to-hand combat in battles fought at abnormally close range with little central control once it starts. In military aviation, a melee has been defined as " air battle in which ...
followed, causing heavy casualties among knights on both sides. At one point, even the king's battle standard was lost and Charles himself had to fight under the standard of the Knights Hospitaller. In the crucial moment of the battle, a reinforcement from Kassa came and saved the king's cause. The rebel army, after it lost its commanders in the battle, was routed.
Aftermath
Some of the key leaders of the Aba (family)
Aba is a noble kindred (''genus'') of the Kingdom of Hungary which according to the ''Gesta Hungarorum'' ("The Deeds of the Hungarians" part 32) derives from Pata (Latin: Pota) who was a nephew to Ed and Edemen and the ancestor of Samuel Aba. S ...
perished in the battle and part of their domain was divided between the King and his loyal followers. The loss of the key ally was also an important blow to Máté Csák. Although he managed to control much of his territories until his death in 1321, his power started to decline just after the battle and he could never again launch any major offensive against the king.
The immediate consequence was that Charles Robert of Hungary gained control over the northeastern part of the country. But the long-term consequences of the victory were even more important. The battle drastically reduced magnates' opposition against him. The King extended his power base and prestige. The position of Charles Robert as King of Hungary
The King of Hungary ( hu, magyar király) was the ruling head of state of the Kingdom of Hungary from 1000 (or 1001) to 1918. The style of title "Apostolic King of Hungary" (''Apostoli Magyar Király'') was endorsed by Pope Clement XIII in 175 ...
was now secured militarily and resistance against his rule came to its end. However, the Angevin rule over Hungary lasted only 74 years and the Abas continued to play an important role in Hungary even during the Angevin administration.
References
Further reading
* Chronicon pictum, Marci de Kalt, Chronica de gestis Hungarorum,
External links
Official Websites:
The Battle of Rozgony
{{DEFAULTSORT:Battle Of Rozgony
Conflicts in 1312
1312 in Europe
14th century in Hungary
Rozgony
History of Košice
History of Hungary
History of Slovakia