The war between father and firstborne son 1264-65

The events of the year 1264 completely shed light on the character of the two opposing kings. István is
immature and violent. When his father pursues the evil robber Ponith, he overturns the judgment and
declares that he will return all his possessions if he succeeds to the throne. He seizes his mother's
estates in his part of the country, Besztercz, Radna, lays hands on the goods of his aunt, Anna, the
widow of Rastizsláv, and even donated the county of his younger brother Béla. Béla, on the other hand,
is careful and calculating. He wants to win the war without a battle; he wins for himself those in whom
István trusted the most. He also wants to show that if the older son is unworthy of the throne and the
love of his parents, there is another son whose followers can count on his protection after his death.
This is the meaning of Béla's giving his son the benefit of his own estates: the castles of Baranya,
Somogy, Zala and Vasmeyök, Sopron, Mosony, Bratislava and Nyitra. Even the queen takes part in the
preparation against István. At her own expense, she built a fine castle "on an abandoned mountain of
the Pilis forest," and this castle, Visegrád, was donated to her by her husband as an eternal possession
along with the Pilis ispan. The purpose of this donation is indicated by the point in the papal
confirmation, according to which the queen can give it as a gift during her lifetime or leave it after her
death to the child who was most obedient to her.7 Ottokár, now Béla's son-in-law and ally, served as
external support. He even hires mercenaries from among the pagan Lithuanians against his son and
heir.

Suddenly, unexpectedly, the Kun princes turned against István, who was staying in Transylvania. The
Transylvanian voivode joined them and the attacked king was trapped in the Black Hill castle in
Bárczaság. His wife and children were besieged in the castle of Pataki, captured and handed over to
their greatest enemy, Princess Anna, who kept them under strict custody in the castle of Turócz.

Only a few brave men have joined the cause of the young king, but they are among the best. In
particular, the levants of the clans of the Csák, the Guthkeled, the Kökényesi Rénolds and the
Miskolczoks showed their loyalty and self-sacrifice, they broke out of the besieged castle, defeated the
leader of the enemy army, Lőrincz, son of Kemeny, one of the most famous dalias of the time, and
Transylvania was regained again for gentlemen. After the first success, confidence returned: the
wavering people sided with the winner. István's army comes to Hungary, defeats the Cumans, captures
comes Ernyé, from the Ákos family, Béla's military leader, and at the beginning of 1265, as soon as
spring came, he marched straight to the center of the country to fight with the old king's strong army.

This campaign also had to take place in the valleys of the hill range surrounding Pest from the east, just
like the one in 1074, in which Géza and László defeated Salamon at Mogyoród, and just like the spring
campaign of 1849. Now Béla the duke of Mácsó, Henrik Németujvári, the palatine, and Preuszlin, the
German knight, appear as the old king's leaders. The decisive battle was fought at Ilsvaszeg in March
1265. The young king personally fought there at the head of his warriors.
 No uniform, vivid picture of this battle has survived, as the old chronicles have immortalized the battle
of Mogyoród, which is so similar in many ways. However, the diplomas have preserved many unique
features. In particular, István likes to always return to the battle that secured the throne for him and his
son. As he rewards his followers, he lists their great deeds of valor. Master Rénold (Bastech) threw
Henrik from his horse with his spear before his eyes and took him prisoner. The brave man was
wounded in his left eye there, and the worthy reward for his heroic deed was a donation to Rozgony
from Abau, Tuzsér from Szabolcs and other cattle.8 János, son of Csobánka, fought valiantly and
captured three good brave men. As a reward, he received Halász in Heves. 9 Master Pous captured
Henrik Bán's son, Iván, who later became so famous. 10 The young king himself passed the test of his
bravery. A valor knight charged at him with a flag on his spear, but his spear broke into the saddle of
István, who used the favorable moment to throw his enemy from the saddle. The worthy pride of this
triumphant young king and his partisans was nourished by such heroic actions, which point to real
chivalry, as if the spear played the main role.

After a hard fight, István won a complete victory. The old king also had many good men in his camp;
but even Béla's sincere followers lost their trust after so many failures, so that the Germans who fought
there complained that their leader Preuszlin had been betrayed by the Hungarians.11 They said that the
German mercenary leader was killed by István himself. Outside, he was captured along with the
Palatine's two sons and many other gentlemen. The victory was complete. Béla no longer had an army.
It was recorded that István defeated his father in four battles in one year as a special stroke of luck.

As a winner, István showed great moderation. He agreed that as long as his father lived, he would have
priority. He no longer had to worry that he would be attacked again, and he willingly accepted the
intercession of Archbishop Fülöp of Esztergom. Already on March 28, Béla sent IV. to Pope Clement,
who occupied his seat in the countryside at the time.12 The bargaining, and even the internal war,
lasted much longer: it was not until June 21, 1266 that the pope confirmed the treaty between the two
kings, which had been signed in March.

This contract does not cause any change in the ownership status. In this regard, it confirms the
agreement of 1262. The two rulers met on the island of the rabbits, in the middle of the two parts of
the country, and the father accepted his son back into his love, "just as a father used to love his dear
son." István, on the other hand, received filial love and obedience.

They wanted to radically prevent the main cause of the last war: real or perceived partiality in litigation.
Each king takes action in his own part of the country in lawsuits initiated against the other's subjects, in
the presence of a commissioned baron of the other king. The kings conduct these cases in three terms:
in the middle of Lent, on Lady's Day (Sept. 8) and on St. Nicholas' Day (Dec. 6). Thus, there will be three
legal days instead of the previous St. Stephen's Day, and lawsuits can be settled quickly. This is also
facilitated by the fact that the parties must appear in person. It is for the convenience of the inhabitants
of the country that it is not allowed to summon the people of entire towns or villages, only the
landlords, the bailiffs and the criminals themselves. In this way, the right of royal majesty expressed in
winemaking is shared equally between the two.

It is the same with the other sovereign rights. On István Béla's property, he does not collect taxes, he
does not demand crops or their redemption. István does not force the people of his barons to build
castles or make improvements, and he does not impose any burden on them under this term. He does
not demand a ride from them or money in return. He does not stay with the people of István's barons
or nobles, nor does he demand conversion on this ground. If you move into their premises intact, you
pay in cash for food, hay, litter and wood, which you cannot do without. And if, despite this provision,
one of his barons stays with those peoples, he is obliged to pay double the cost and damage. On the
other hand, István accepts the same.

On his part and on the part of the queen, he promises not to tempt or receive the Kunis and his son's
barons, nobles and other people, except the peasants. Equally, István also promises that he will only
accept Pór people, "who will relocate for the purpose of settlement". This provision is not only a clear
proof of the peasants' right to move freely, but also a very important piece of information regarding the
importance they still place, a quarter of a century after the Tatar invasion, on depopulation. Under the
conditions at the time, this provision undoubtedly favored István. His part of the country still hasn't
recovered from the great loss of life. In Transylvania, there are still whole old courtier villages left empty
and uninhabited.

"If any evil-doer passes from our realm to our son, or vice versa, each of us, if called upon, is obliged to
punish them adequately." The return of the goods and lands taken from each other should take place as
quickly as possible, and in such a way that a representative of Béla's son is also present on Béla's
property, and vice versa.

Finally, Béla even includes his family and allies in the peace. These are: the Queen Mother, Prince Béla,
Duke of Slavonia, Princess Anna of Mácsó and her son Béla, King Ottokár, Duke Boleszló of Cracow and
Boleszló Gnezda, Lynznik, son of Duke Kázmér. The executor is, of course, the archbishop of Esztergom,
the ultima ratio: excommunication. 13

According to these agreements, peace existed undisturbed until Béla's death. As offensive as they were
to the royal dignity, the old king, having learned from so many military misfortunes, gave up hope of
changing them. However, this equality in rights and duties, which was established by the peace treaties,
was so rigid that not only in terms of power, but also in terms of authority and respect, no distinction
was made between the old restorer of the country and his warrior son. When the golden bull allows the
nobles to pass from Endre to Béla, he adds with a sense of fairness: "as from the greater to the lesser."
The fourth article of the 1267 law, which otherwise corresponds verbatim to point 18 of the Golden Bull,
does not even make this minor distinction in favor of Béla.

The older feuds for the throne usually had some national or ecclesiastical background. The one that
István supported, in its entire origin and course, was only similar to the one that Endre once waged
against Imre. It is not justified by anything but military success. Not only did he humiliate the royal
majesty, but he was at the great detriment of the country's military power, hindering its progress, which
had begun since the Tatar invasion, and which warranted such high hopes. In this regard, we must not
only take into account the great, fruitless bloodshed, the desolation, robbery, and the wasted cost.
Even more important than this, the anarchy became legal, so that if the armed, powerful criminal sided
with the winning party, he could not only count on impunity, but even received a reward. The main
cause of the partisanship, violence, and moral corruption of the lords, which almost ruined our country
until the Anjou period, must be found in the disloyalty that the victory of the heir to the throne legalized
and almost made a merit.

There was only one consequence of these dangerous internal battles, which proved to be useful for the
country. The nobles and gentlemen now did not have to hope that the king would fail: let him love
them more; mutual jealousy made the kings completely dependent on their warriors and barons. What
one gave to his followers, the other could not deny them. Although the peace agreements prohibit the
diversion of party loyalists, they still had to face a certain competition in this regard. In the bloody soil
of the fraternal war, the freedom of the nobility was once again strengthened by the arbitrary
government of Béla and the tattered and torn tree of the Tatar invasion. The letter of freedom of 1267
grew directly out of the battles of 1265. The freedom of the lords and nobles was once wide in Hungary,
and the time came when not the royal power, but precisely this common, unified freedom became the
main element of cohesion here.

Wenzel, Árpádk. uj okmt. III. 94–96. This is the story of the creation of Visegrád Castle. Confirmation
of Pope Orbán in Orvieto, dated July 15, 1264. [BACK]

1270. Wenzel, Árpádk. new Okmt. XIII. 12–18 The Rozgonyis originate from Rénold's family.[BACK]

Fejér, Codex Dipl. IV/III. 416.[BACK]

U. there, 410.[BACK]
 Continuatio Vindob. Mon. Germ. IX. 703. Chron. Clausterneoburg. u. there, 843. Historia annorum
1264–1279. u. there. 660. All three Austrian sources date this war to 1267. However, the diplomas
contradict this. As early as 1266, István rewarded his followers for their merits in the battle of Ilsvaszeg.
Fejér, id. h. 345–346. etc.[BACK]

Theiner, Monum. I. 279.[BACK]

This peace treaty was published by Wenzel, Árpádk. uj Okmt. III. 128–131. This literally matches
István's confirmation certificate, u. there, 136. [BACK]