I. Szent István - Saint Stephen 997-1038
He is konown as the founder of the Hungarian state. He was crowned in 1001 and got the crown from the pope. This is the oldest royal crown in Europe which still exists. We got it back in 1978 from the USA and now it is exhibited in the Parlia-ment.
I. László, 1077-1095 ( St. Ladislaus)
He was fighting against those nomadic Hungarians who did not want to accept the new religion, the Roman Catholic religion, and who decided to remain pagans, but finally, Ladislaus defeated them. The Cumanians wanted to occupy the southern part of Hungary but Ladislaus was able to defeat the Cumanians as well. He was not only an excellent politican but and outsatnding soldiers, too. In 1091 he occupied Croatia and annexed it to Hungary. He entered into an alliance with Emperor Henry IV. First of all he stabilized Christianity in Hungary and with strict laws tightened public security in the country.
Könyves Kálmán, 1095 -1116 (King Coloman the Beauclerc)
He was supposed to be a priest oroginally, that is why he has got his nickname "Booklover". He occupied Dalmatia and regulated our relationship with Croatia. Hungarian women bless him, because it was he who forbade women being burnt as witches. There were countries in Europe and in other continents as well where women were still burned as witches centuries later. This law was introduced in Hungary as early as in the beginning of the 12th century.
II. András, 1205 - 1253 (King Andrew II )
He led a Crusade to the Holy Land, to Jerusalem. He issued the Golden Charter in 1222, based on the English Magna Charta, which was issued 7 years earlier. His daughter Elisabeth was canonized later on and played an important role in German history as the wife of Louis of Thüringia.
IV. Béla, 1235-1270 ( King Béla IV)
He was one of the most important kings in our history. When we started we called St. Stephen a "statefounder", Béla IV considered the "second statefounder" of our country. During his reign Hungary suffered from the Mongols and Tatars. Almost the whole country was destroyed and more than half of the population died out. After the invasion the king ordered houses and castles to be built of stone everywhere in Hungary in order to be defended next time. He managed to rebuild the country and completed the dream of his father - he moved the royal court from Esztergom to Buda in the middle of the 13th century. In other words during his lifetime Buda became the capital of Hungary.
Nagy Lajos, 1342- 1382 ( King Louis the Great)
He occupied huge territories and attached them to the country. We have never had as much land as we had during his reign. At that time the natural borders of Hunga-ry were the Adriatic-, the Black- and the the Baltic Seas.He did a lot for religion and supported culture. He founded the first university in Hungary in 1367 which still exists.
Hunyadi János, 1446-1456 ( John Hunyadi)
He was not a king but an outstanding personality in Hungarian history. He was the Governor of Hungary for 10 years. In the battle at Nándorfehérvár ( Belgrade) Hunyadi won, therefore the Hungarians could stop the Turks for 70 years and in this way the Hungarians saved Europe from the Moslems for this period. The battle was over at noontime 12 o'clock, so the Pope ordered to ring the bells all over the Christian world at noon, so that is why you can hear the bells ringing everywhere, even today. We commemorate his victory dating back to 1456. Two weeks after his victory he died of plague and soon after that his younger son was elected King of Hungary.
Mátyás, 1458-1490 ( King Matthias)
His reign was the golden period of medieval Hungary. He had a very centralized power supported by his very strong, professional army. This was called the "Black Army".The population was 4 million just like the population of England at that time. Hungary was one of the most important and respected countries in Central Europe. His third wife was Italian, and because of her relations with the Medicis in Italy, the Hungarian royal court became the center of Renaissance art in Europe.
Bethlen Gábor, 1613 -1629 ( Gábor Bethlen)
He was an excellent politican and participated in the 30 Years War on the side of the Protestants. His clever foreign policiy and efficient internal policy secured the independence of Transylvania for a long time. His period is considered as the "Golden Age" or "Highlight" of Transylvania.
II. Rákóczi Ferenc, 1703-1711 ( Prince Francis Rákóczi II)
Both his grandfathers, his mother and his step-father participated in different conspiracies, revolutions and wars against the Hapsburgs for Hungary's freedom and independence. This background supported him in becomin the leader of the most important freedom fight in the 18th century in Hungary.
Kossuth Lajos, 1848-49 ( Louis Kossuth)
He was an outstanding personality in Hungary in the 19th century as the leader of the Revolution and War of Independence against the Hapsburgs. Many of those Hungarian soldiers who served in the Hapsburg army deserted and joined the revolution. After many great victories they were finally defeated in 1849, but Kossuth really did great job, he organized the new Hungarian Government, founded the National P, established the Parliament, established the Independent Hungarian Ministries etc.. Kossuth had to go into exile and went to the USA to Philadelphia where he became a senator. He was the second foreigner in the world, after La Fayette, who was allowed to deliver a speech in the U.S.senate. He has several statues in the U.S. and a small town in Illinois is actually named after him. He died in Turin, Italy.
