List of wars involving Hungary

• Between 899–970, according to contemporary sources, the researchers count 47 (38 to West and 9 to East)[1] raids in different parts of Europe. From these campaigns only 8 were unsuccessful and the others ended with success.[2]
• Many tributes were paid to the Hungarians.
• Many times the rulers of Europe hired the Hungarian warriors against each other.
• The most significant result of the Battle of Pressburg is that the Hungarians secured their lands in 907, prevented a future German invasion, the Germans did not attack Hungarian land until 1030.
• The Hungarians also used a preemptive war against the Germans and the German unification.
• A Hungarian army was defeated in German land at the Battle of Lechfeld in 955. Seven years later Otto I was rewarded for stopping the Hungarians and he was crowned Emperor by Pope John XII in 962 and the Holy Roman Empire (962–1806) was established.[1]
• The Hungarian military presence stabilized the Hungarian state in the Carpathian Basin.

• The Hungarians were in alliance with Krum of Bulgaria against Emperor Nikephoros.[3]

• Almost all the army of Berengar I of Italy was annihilated.
• The Hungarian invasion resulted in the burning of many cities, like Feltre, Vercelli, Modena and monasteries like the monastery in Nonantola and attacking even Venice.

• Berengar I of Italy accepts to pay tribute. He started to pay to the Hungarian tribute regularly, and until his death in 924, and in exchange the Hungarians helped him against every enemies that he had. The Hungarians became Berengar's friends.
• The returning Hungarian army had a role also in the conquering of Pannonia, as part of the Hungarian conquest of the Carpathian Basin, from the Bavarians by the Hungarians in late 900.

• Battle of Laibach

• Both sides suffered a heavy casualties at the Battle of Laibach, Duke Eberhard and Duke Gottfried died.
• After the battle, Hungarian raid to Carinthia, Carniola, Styria.

• Battle of Ennsburg
• Battle of Regensburg
• Battle of Lengenfeld

Battle of Pressburg (painting by Peter Johann Nepomuk Geiger, 1850)

• After the Battle of Pressburg the victorious Hungarians defeated other Bavarian armies at Ennsburg, Regensburg, Lengenfeld.

• The most significant result of the Battle of Pressburg is that the Hungarians secured the lands they gained during the Hungarian conquest of the Carpathian Basin, and prevented a future German invasion, the Germans did not attack Hungary until 1030.
• This battle is considered one of the most significant battles in the history of Hungary. The Hungarian victory forced the new Bavarian prince, Luitpold's son, Arnulf to conclude a peace treaty, the prince recognized the loss of Pannonia and Ostmark, pushing Hungary's borders deep in Bavarian territory, the river Enns became borderline, paid tribute, and agreed to let the Hungarian armies, which went to war against Germany or other countries in Western Europe, to pass through the duchies lands.
• The establishment of the future Kingdom of Hungary.

• After this victory the Hungarian campaigns against the German duchies continued until 910, the battles of Augsburg and Rednitz, ended with disastrous German defeats, after which the German king Louis the Child concluded peace with the Principality of Hungary, accepting to pay tribute to the latter, and recognizing the Hungarian territorial gains during the war.[1]

• Hungarian troops are helping Simeon I of Bulgaria to defeat the Byzantines in the great Battle of Acheloos.[4][5]

• Despite the German victory, the German losses were heavy, among them many nobles: Conrad, Duke of Lorraine, etc.[6]
• Bulcsú, Lehel, and Sur are hanged in Regensburg.[7]

• Upon destruction of the Hungarian forces, the German army proclaimed Otto I father of the fatherland and emperor.[8] In 962, on the strength of this, Otto I went to Rome and had himself crowned Holy Roman Emperor by Pope John XII.[9]
• End of the Hungarian invasions towards the West.

• Hungarian leader named Kisa was defeated by Časlav, the Prince of Serbia.

• A Hungarian army defeated Časlav, the Prince of Serbia by avenge of the widow of Kisa.

• End of the Hungarian invasions of Europe.

• The Hungarians supported Henry II, Duke of Bavaria against Otto II, Holy Roman Emperor, thus the Hungarians raided several times the territories of Piligrim, Bishop of Passau from the fortress of Melk.[10]
• Leopold I, Margrave of Austria launched a counter-attack and besieged and occupied Melk, which forced Géza, Grand Prince of Hungary to withdraw Hungarian forces from the territories west of the Vienna Woods and Khalenberg.[10]
• Later, Géza, Grand Prince of Hungary renounced the lands west of the river Leitha in his peace treaty of 996 with Henry IV of Bavaria. The river Leitha became the historic border between the Kingdom of Hungary and the Holy Roman Empire.

• "Gyula" meant the second highest title in Hungarian tribal confederation. Gyula's ancestor was among the seven chieftains of the conquering Hungarians, who finally settled in Transylvania. Gyula's family ruled Transylvania in Gyulafehérvár (Alba Iulia). Gyula II was baptised in Constantinople around 952.
• After the coronation King Stephen I asserted his claim to rule all lands dominated by Hungarian lords.

• King Stephen I personally led his army against his maternal uncle, and Gyula III surrendered without a fight, Gyula III and his family was captured.
• Transylvania was incorporated with the Kingdom of Hungary.
• The establishment of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Transylvania in 1009.

1029 (?)

• Battle of the River Bug

• The Hungarians occupied Vienna.[11]

• Battle of Ménfő

Battle of Ménfő, on the right side of the picture Emperor Henry III gives thanks for victory, on the left a soldier executes King Samuel Aba (Chronicon Pictum, 1358)

• During this rebellion, Vata gained power over a group of rebels who wished to abolish Christian rule and revert to paganism.
• Bishop Gerard of Csanád invited Vazul's exiled sons to the country.

• Prince Andrew and Levente returned to Hungary from their exile and quickly gained popular support for the throne, especially among the pagan populace, despite the fact that Andrew was Christian (Levente had remained pagan). On their return, a rebellion began, which Andrew and Levente initially supported. The princes accepted the claims of the rebellers in exchange for fighting against King Peter.

• King Peter decided to flee from Hungary and take refuge in Austria. Andrew's envoys tricked the king before he reached the frontier. King Peter fled to a fortified manor at Zámoly, but his opponents captured him. King Peter was blinded, which caused his death.
• The pagans slaughtered priests and Bishop Gerard of Csanád.
• Prince Andrew pronounced himself king.
• King Andrew soon broke with his pagan supporters, restored Christianity and declared pagan rites illegal.

• 1051
• 1052

• Battle of Vértes
• Siege of Pressburg

• Battle of Moson

• King Solomon of Hungary and Prince Géza of Hungary helped to his brother-in-law to Demetrius Zvonimir of Croatia to recapture Dalmatia from the Carinthians.

• Battle of Kerlés / Cserhalom

Saint Ladislaus is fighting a duel with a Cuman warrior (Chronicon Pictum, 1358)

• Pecheneg troops pillaged Syrmia in 1071. The king and the duke suspected that the soldiers of the Byzantine garrison at Belgrade incited the marauders against Hungary, they decided to attack the fortress.
• The Hungarian army crossed the river Sava, although the Byzantines used Greek fire against their boats. The Hungarians defeated the Pechenegs who helped the Byzantines to relief the siege. Finally the Hungarians took Belgrade after a siege of three months.
• King Solomon and Prince Géza marched along the valley of the river Great Morava as far as Niš. The Hungarians seized the Byzantine city without any resistance.[14]

• Battle of Mogyoród

Battle of Mogyoród (Chronicon Pictum, 1358)

• King Saint Ladislaus planned to make peace and an agreement with Solomon, the former king of Hungary, but Solomon soon began conspiring against Ladislaus, and Ladislaus imprisoned him.

• The first five Hungarian saints, including the first king of Hungary, Stephen I, and Stephen's son, Emeric, were canonized during Ladislaus's reign. Ladislaus released Solomon at the time of the ceremony. After his release, Solomon made a final effort to regain his crown. He persuaded a Cuman chieftain, Kutesk, to invade Hungary. Solomon promised Kutesk, that he would give him the right of possession over the province of Transylvania and would take his daughter as wife. King Ladislaus defeated the invaders.
• At the head of a large contingent Solomon joined a huge army of Cumans and Pechenegs who invaded the Byzantine Empire in 1087. The Byzantines routed the invaders, Solomon seems to have died fighting in the battlefield.

• King Demetrius Zvonimir of Croatia was a member of the House of Trpimirović, he married Helen of Hungary from the Árpád dynasty in 1063. Helen was a Hungarian princess, daughter of King Béla I of Hungary, and sister to King Ladislaus I of Hungary. There was no living male member of the House of Trpimirović in 1091, civil war broke out in Croatia.

• The widow of King Zvonimir, Helen tried to keep her power in Croatia during the succession crisis. Several Dalmatian cities and Croatian nobles around Helen asked King Ladislaus I to help Helen and offered him the Croatian throne, which was seen as rightfully his by inheritance rights.
• In 1091 Ladislaus I crossed the Drava river and conquered the entire province of Slavonia without encountering opposition, Ladislaus I had success in his campaign, yet he wasn't able to establish his control over entire Croatia.
• Ladislaus I appointed his nephew Prince Álmos to administer the controlled area of Croatia, established the Diocese of Zagreb as a symbol of his new authority and went back to Hungary.
• Petar Snačić uprised against the Hungarian rule between 1093–1097.

• The Cumans invaded and plundered Hungary leading by chieftain Kapolcs, they broke first in Transylvania, then the territory between the Danube and Tisza rivers. The Cumans tried to leave Hungary with their huge booty and prisoners, but King Ladislaus I reached and defeated them near the Temes river.[16]
• King Ladislaus I offered the Christianity for the Cuman survivors, the majority of them accepted, thus the king settled them in Jászság, in the Kingdom of Hungary.[16]

• The rumor of the losing battle reached the Cuman camp, the Cumans threatened King Ladislaus I with revenge and demanded to free the Cuman prisoners.[16]

• King Ladislaus I marched to the Hungarian border to prevent the next invasion. The two army clashed near Severin / Szörényvár, the Hungarian army was victorious, King Saint Ladislaus killed Ákos, the Cuman chieftain.[16]

• King Ladislaus I blamed the Ruthenians for the invasion of the Cumans, he stated the Cumans were incited by them. In retaliation, Ladislaus I invaded the neighboring Rus' principalities, forcing the Ruthenians to ask "for mercy" and to promise "that they would be faithful to him in all things".[17]

• When King Coloman of Hungary seized Croatia, Vitale I Michiel, Doge of Venice asked an ally against the Normans who threatened the Dalmatian cities. A huge Hungarian army was transported to Apulia by the Venetian navy, they defeated the Normans, the Hungarians captured Brindisi and Monopoli, thus the Normans was retreated from Dalmatia. The Hungarian army plundered the land and retreated after three months leaving the cities in the hand of the Venetians.[18]

• The first group of crusaders was led by Walter Sans Avoir with 150,000 troops. King Coloman received them in a friendly way and allowed them into the kingdom. They proceeded through Hungary without any major conflicts, the only incident occurred near the Hungarian–Byzantine border at Zimony.[19]
• The next group was headed by Peter the Hermit with 40,000 troops. King Coloman permitted them to enter Hungary only after Peter pledged that he would prevent them from pillaging the countryside, but Peter could not keep his promise, the crusaders plundered and raped locals. They reached Zimony, where they learned of the story of the previous conflict. The crusaders besieged and took the town, where they massacred many thousand Hungarians. They only withdrew when Coloman's troops approached them.[19]
• The third band of crusaders was led by Folkmar with 12,000 men reached Nyitra and when they saw the richness of the countryside they began plundering the region. These were soon routed by the local Hungarians.[19]
• A fourth army that came to Moson was led by Gottschalk with 15,000 men. They camped near Pannonhalma, to seize food and wine, the crusaders made frequent pillaging raids against the nearby settlements. King Coloman attacked and massacred the majority of them. The crusader mob of Gottschalk fled with 3,000 men from Hungary.[19]
• Following these incidents, King Coloman forbade the crusaders who arrived under the leadership of Count Emicho with 200,000 men to enter Hungary. The crusaders besieged Moson, their catapults destroyed the walls in two places, enabling them to storm into the fortress. King Coloman defended the fortress. After six weeks the morale of the crusader mob began to fail, which inspired the Hungarians, a panic broke out among the attackers that enabled the garrison to carry out a sortie and rout them, and most of the mob was slaughtered or drowned in the river. [19]
• The first crusader army organized by the Holy See was led by Godfrey of Bouillon with 80,000 troops. King Coloman agreed to meet with Godfrey in Sopron. The king allowed the crusaders to march through his kingdom but stipulated that Godfrey's younger brother Baldwin and his family should stay with him as hostages. The crusaders passed through Hungary peacefully along the right bank of the Danube, King Coloman and his army followed them on the left bank. He only released his hostages after all the crusaders had crossed the river Sava. The uneventful march of the main crusader army across Hungary established Coloman's good reputation throughout Europe.[19]

• During the campaign of Apulia, an agreement was made with the Doge of Venice, that part of Dalmatia up to Zadar / Zára would remain in the possession of Venice, King Coloman of Hungary occupied the part further south.[20]

• Petar Snačić was elected king by Croatian feudal lords in 1093. Petar's seat of power was based in Knin. Petar Snačić's uprised against the Hungarian rule between 1093–1097.

• King Ladislaus I of Hungary died in 1095, leaving his nephew King Coloman of Hungary to continue the Croatian campaign. Coloman, as was the case with Ladislaus I before him, wasn't seen as a conqueror but rather as a pretender to the Croatian throne.

• Coloman assembled a large army to press his claim on the throne and in 1097 defeated King Petar's troops in the Battle of Gvozd Mountain, who was killed in battle.

• King Coloman was crowned in Biograd na Moru in 1102 and the title now claimed by Coloman was "King of Hungary, Dalmatia, and Croatia".

• King Coloman created a personal union between the kingdoms of Hungary and Croatia (1102–1918).

• Bohemond I, Prince of Taranto and Antioch attacked the Byzantine Empire with a huge Norman army from Southern Italy. Alexios I Komnenos defended his country at the east side of the Adriatic Sea, meantime he asked Hungarian and Venetian aid. The Venetian navy transported the Hungarian army to Apulia and the Hungarians devastated the land of Bohemond I and they captured Brindisi and Monopoli. In the beginning of the next year the Hungarians went home and left the cities in the hand of the Venetians like during the campaign of 1095.[21]
• Treaty of Devol.

Iaroslav from Vladimir

Byzantine Empire

• Military balance maintained.

• The Hungarian auxiliary troops were commanded by Palatine Ampud, and Leustach Rátót, Voivode of Transylvania sent by King Béla III of Hungary to fight along the Byzantines against the Seljuks.

• Main Seljuk army routed.
• Sultanate of Rum's capital city sacked.

• Géza, Prince of Hungary, the younger brother of King Béla III joined by a contingent of 2,000 men to Frederick Barbarossa to participate in the Third Crusade.
• About 5,000 Imperials and Hungarians under Duke Frederick joined the Siege of Acre in October.

Bosnia

• Venetians and Crusaders sacked the city

1233–1234

• Battle of Bethsaida

King Andrew II at the head of his crusader army (Chronicon Pictum, 1358)

• Battle of Isaszeg

• Death of Ottokar II of Bohemia.
• Rudolph I of Habsburg got the Austrian throne.
• Decisive event for the history of Central Europe for the following centuries. The battle marked the beginning of the ascendancy of the House of Habsburg in Austria and Central Europe.

• Battle of Lake Hód

Cumans arriving to Hungary (Chronicon Pictum, 1358)

• Árpáds were winning militarily, but Andrew III's death in 1301 extinguished the Árpád dynasty and triggered the Árpád war of succession in Hungary (1301–1308)
• Paul I Šubić of Bribir became de facto independent ruler of Croatia

• Charles Robert of Anjou became Hungarian king

• Battle of Rozgony

• Centralization of the Hungarian Kingdom

• The Wallachian army led by Basarab, formed of cavalry, peasants and foot archers, ambushed and defeated the 30,000-strong Hungarian army, in a mountainous region

• The Golden Horde was pushed back behind the Dniester River, the Golden Horde's control of the lands between the Eastern Carpathians and the Black Sea weakened
• The establishment of Moldavia in 1346 as a Hungarian vassal state.

 Padua
Republic of Genoa
Duchy of Austria

• Moldavia became a Hungarian vassal.
• King Sigismund of Hungary occupied Suceava the capital of Stephen I of Moldavia.

• King Sigismund of Hungary had experience fighting with the Ottomans, but the French knights refused his battle plan. The French knights rushed to the Ottoman lines, while the other allies stayed with the Hungarian forces under King Sigismund, this caused confusion and divided the strength of the Crusader army.

• Ottomans defeat Crusades and no new Anti-Ottoman alliance is formed till the 1440s.
• Ottomans maintain pressure on Constantinople, tightened control over the Balkans, and became a greater threat to central Europe.
• Collapse of Second Bulgarian Empire.

• Battle of Dobor

• King Sigismund achieved a decisive victory over Tvrtko II of Bosnia, 126 members of Bosnian nobility were massacred.

• King Sigismund founded the Order of the Dragon as a celebration of the reoccupation of Bosnia and Dalmatia when he married Barbara of Cilli.

• John Hunyadi marked his third victory over the Ottomans after the relief of Smederevo (1437) and the defeat of Ishak Beg midway between Semendria and Belgrade (1441).

• John Hunyadi and his 15,000 men defeated the 80,000-strong army of Begler Bey Sehabeddin at Zajkány (Zeicani), near the Iron Gate of the Danube river.

• Hunyadi gained a huge booty. He put lots of treasures and weapons on a wagon that ten horses could hardly pull and sent it to King Vladislaus I of Hungary to Buda.

• Vladislaus I of Hungary, the young king, ignoring Hunyadi's advice, rushed 500 of his Polish knights against the Ottoman center. They attempted to overrun the Janissary infantry and take Murad II prisoner, and almost succeeded, but in front of Murad's tent Vladislaus's horse either fell, and the king was slain.
• Murad's casualties at Varna were so heavy, it was not until three days later that he realized he was victorious.
• The Ottoman victory in Varna, followed by the Ottoman victory in the Second Battle of Kosovo in 1448, deterred the European states from sending any substantial military assistance to the Byzantines during the Ottoman Siege of Constantinople in 1453.

• John Hunyadi deprived Vlad II Dracul from the Wallachian throne, because Vlad II Dracul captured Hunyadi after the Battle of Varna.

• Hunyadi placed Vladislav II on the throne of Wallachia.
• Hunyadi also drove a small Ottoman army out of Wallachia.

• The Siege of Belgrade was a major issue for the entire Europe, especially after the fall of Constantinople in 1453. The fall of the fortress city of Belgrade would have opened the gates of Europe to the Turks and that would have certainly changed the history of the world.
• The Battle of Belgrade deserves to be remembered. Hungarians played a key role in the defense of Europe against the invasion of the Turks in the 15th century.
• Pope Callixtus III ordered the bells of every European church to be rung every day at noon, as a call for believers to pray for the defenders of the city. But because in many European countries the news of victory arrived before the Pope's order for prayer, the ringing of the church bells was believed to be in celebration of the victory. Therefore, the significance of the church bells ringing is now the commemoration of Hunyadi's victory against the Turks.
• Plague broke out in the camp, from which John Hunyadi himself died three weeks later.

• The Ottomans lured the small advancing army of Michael Szilágyi into a trap at Pojejena. Michael Szilágyi was being captured by Ali Bey Mihaloğlu. Michael Szilágyi was transferred to Constantinople, he was decapitated by the orders of the Sultan.

• Battle of Baia / Moldvabánya

• Hungary defeats the highly outnumbered Ottoman army in Transylvania. Ottoman casualties were extremely high. The battle was the most significant victory for the Hungarians against the raiding Ottomans, and as a result, the Ottoman Turks did not attack southern Hungary and Transylvania for many years thereafter.

• At the end of the campaign, Hungary controlled all of Upper Austria as well, which remained under the control of King Matthias until his death, in 1490.

• The Black Army captures Vienna. The city is then merged into Hungary from 1485 to 1490. where Matthias moved his royal court.

• City surrenders

• Austria ceded the western lands of Lower Austria, Styria and Carinthia to the Kingdom of Hungary.

• Royal power declined in favour of the magnates, who used their power to curtail the peasants' freedom. Gyorgy led a revolt but was eventually caught, tortured, and executed and became known as a martyr or a dangerous criminal.[37]

• Decisive downward turning point in Hungarian history.
• Destruction of the Kingdom of Hungary as an independent and powerful European nation.
• The territory of Hungary was split into two parts in 1529 and into three parts in 1541.
• Around two hundred years of constant warfare with and between two empires, Habsburg and Ottoman, turned Hungary into a perpetual battlefield. The countryside was regularly ravaged by armies moving back and forth devastating the population.