Budapest’s History

The Romans came to Hungary in the 1st Century and called the area of Budapest, Aquincum, because of the abundance of thermal springs.  In the 4th Century, the Roman Empire began to decline, they were unable to withstand the increasing Hun attacks and so retreated from the area.  The new Hun Empire, with its leader King Attila, took over control of the region.  A new castle was built on the banks of the Danube, but after the death of Attila, his empire disintegrated and subsequently the Avars, Germans and Slavs settled in the region.  In the 9th Century, the Magyar tribes, led by Prince Arpad, designated the region of Obuda, which had been the throne of King Attila, as their seat. This area is now part of Budapest, however, they virtually ignored the strategic value of Buda Hill.   

The Turel is a mythical bird, similar to a hawk or falcon. Legend tells us, that when the Magyars migrated out of Central Asia in 896 AD, this bird was amongst their numbers. Flying ahead of the Magyars, the turel dropped its sword, (because of course, all turels carry swords), but it is said to have dropped its sword in what is now modern day Budapest, to indicate to the Magyars that this was the area where they should settle.

In the year 1000, Stephen, (who had been born the Grand Prince Vajk, of the Arpad dynasty, and was later baptised as Stephen), was now the Grand Prince of the Hungarians. He had a choice to make, he could either ally himself with the Holy Roman Empire to the West, or the Byzantine Empire to the south.  He chose an alliance with the Holy Roman Emperor, and was recognized by Pope Sylvester II, he became King Stephen I of Hungary.  This act is thought to have been the creation of the Hungarian Nation.  The successive Kings from the Arpad Dynasty continued to rule Hungary for the next 300 years, until 1301. King Stephen was later canonised as a saint. 

The Tatar, or Mongol, invasion of 1241 devastated Hungary, and it is estimated that six out of ten settlements in the lowlands were destroyed.  This included Obuda and Pest.  Much of the country’s farmland was laid to waste at this time. Around one third of the population is thought to have perished, either directly at the hands of the Tatars/Mongols, or through starvation. Soon afterwards, King Bela IV realised the need for defence, and built a new castle on what is now known as Castle Hill, on the right bank of the Danube. This he protected with defensive walls, and in doing so he created the city of Buda. He moved the citizens to these newly protected areas, so that they could repel any further attacks. 

The Hungarian Kingdom in the later Middle Ages, was a large and wealthy country.  Between the years 1301 and 1526, the rulers of five different royal dynasties sat on the Hungarian throne. These were the houses of Anjou, who were related to the Arpad dynasty through the female line and who possessed the crown from 1301-1395, followed by the house of Luxemburg from 1387-1437, the Habsburgs from 1438-1457 and finally the Jagiello’s from 1440-1444 and again from 1490-1526.  So, although we are talking about Hungry, the rulers of the Hungarians were very much from other European countries.  Many of these rulers also ruled other domains, such as Poland, Bohemia, Austria, Naples and the Holy Roman Empire.  The reason this worked is that, just like the Holy Roman Empire, the countries or areas remained separate and were ruled by local leaders, who maintained local laws and customs.  Hungary at this time stretched from the Adriatic Sea to Moldavia. 

Hungary was booming in the 14th and 15th Centuries; parish churches and monasteries were erected in many of the towns and cities.  All the technical, scientific and artistic innovations of the age reached Hungary, although somewhat slower than they arrived in other regions of Europe.  By the end of 14th Century, they had mechanical clocks, and the first printing press was in operation in 1473, a few years before Caxton started his press in London.

The Hungarian kings had a policy of expansion, meaning they were usually at war with their neighbours, and in the 14th and 15th Centuries were fighting on many fronts. The lands they seized by force never remained under their control for long.  Their most famous conquest may have been the capture of Vienna in 1485, under King Matthias I, but they only held the city for five years.  

At the end of the 14th Century, the Kingdom of Hungary became the recipient of attacks, where it had always previously been the aggressor. In the 1390’s, Ottoman troops appeared on its southern borders and made raids into the country.  The balance of power was shifting, and Hungary was required to constantly defend its territories. King Matthias I of Hungary ruled from 1443-1490. He was also King of Croatia, and was elected King of Bohemia in 1469, but could not hold it. During his reign, he waged war on the Czech mercenaries who controlled upper Hungary and he also fought Frederick III, Holy Roman Emperor, who wanted Hungary for himself.  It was also during King Matthias’s reign that Buda saw its medieval heyday. Many of the higher nobility and senior clergy lived in Buda, the royal palace on Castle Hill was again rebuilt with splendid banquet rooms and ornamental gardens, Italian scholars and artists jointed the court, and Buda was a central city in European culture. As if all this wasn’t enough to keep King Matthias busy, the Ottoman Empire conquered Serbia and Bosnia, taking over control of the lands to the south, and bringing them right up to the Hungarian border.  

At the start of the 16th Century, Buda was a prosperous town with a population of around 13,000 - 15,000 people. Hungarian history is made from the peaks and troughs of events, and a cataclysm was about to occur. The Hungarian nation had successfully fought off the attacks of the Ottomans over 100 years, but finally, in the 1520’s, they were overwhelmed.  In the Battle of Mohacs, which lasted only an hour and a half, the Hungarian army was decimated by the Ottoman forces. King Louis II of Hungary died on the battlefield, and with his death came the end of the medieval Kingdom of Hungary. The country was split in two and then three, with part of it coming under the Habsburg rulers, part under Ottoman occupation, and part under the Principality of Transylvania.  The Turks looted Buda, and carried off anything of value. After the Turkish conquest, many Hungarian and German inhabitants fled Buda, as more and more Turks arrived.  

The fall of Buda, and its conquest by the Ottomans, sent shock waves throughout Western Europe.  A number of attempts were made to retake the land, and a Holy Alliance was formed under Pope Innocent XI and siege was laid at the Buda Castle, which lasted 75 days.  The last Ottoman ruler, Pasha Abdurrahman, died fighting on Castle Hill. Buda was liberated, but it was also reduced to rubble and thousands of dead bodies lined the streets. Buda was retaken on the 2nd of September 1686. 

Although Buda and the Hungarian lands had been liberated, it did not regain its role as an independent country. The ruling House of Habsburg laid claim to the Hungarian Crown, and in 1687 they assembled a company of Hungarian nobles who agreed to the Habsburg Emperor’s claim.  The result was that the Hungarian lands, with the exception of Transylvania, became the domain of the Habsburg crown with the sovereign residing in Vienna. Buda and Pest were reduced to provincial towns, whose political role was the administration of the Hungarian domain, on behalf of the Habsburg Emperor. For the next 50 years, Buda and Pest were under construction and rebuilt. The architectural style of the early 18th Century was Baroque, and even today, it is this style which gives Buda its character.  

It’s hard to leave Budapest before its second heyday, and while I would love to talk about the 1848 revolution, which ended with the Austro-Hungarian Compromise of 1867 when the Austro-Hungarian Empire was created, or how Buda and Pest finally joined to become Budapest in 1873, how the art deco movement was known as Art Nouveau, (new art in French), or Modernism, and how this era transformed many of Budapest’s buildings, the tragedy of World War I, and  how much Budapest suffered during World War II and its Soviet occupation afterwards, which lasted until the Hungarian Revolution of 1956.  I could get lost in the tragedy of this country and its bravery and resilience. Any of these discussions could occupy hours and fill books, but they all are sadly out of my time period and beyond the scope of this project.