Charles I, also known as Charles Robert (Hungarian: Károly Róbert; Croatian: Karlo Robert; Slovak: Karol Róbert; 1288 – 16 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 Charles Martel, Prince of Salerno. His father was the eldest son of Charles II of Naples and Mary of Hungary. Mary laid claim to Hungary after her brother, Ladislaus IV of Hungary, died in 1290, but the Hungarian prelates and lords elected her cousin, Andrew III, king. Instead of abandoning her claim to Hungary, she transferred it to her son, Charles Martel, and after his death in 1295, to her grandson, Charles. On the other hand, her husband, Charles II of Naples, made their third son, Robert, heir to the Kingdom of Naples, thus disinheriting Charles.
Charles came to the Kingdom of Hungary upon the invitation of an influential Croatian lord, Paul Šubić, in August 1300. Andrew III died on 14 January 1301, and within four months Charles was crowned king, but with a provisional crown instead of the Holy Crown of Hungary. Most Hungarian noblemen refused to yield to him and elected Wenceslaus of Bohemia king. Charles withdrew to the southern regions of the kingdom. Pope Boniface VIII acknowledged Charles as the lawful king in 1303, but Charles was unable to strengthen his position against his opponent. Wenceslaus abdicated in favor of Otto of Bavaria in 1305. Because it had no central government, the Kingdom of Hungary had disintegrated into a dozen provinces, each headed by a powerful nobleman, or oligarch. One of those oligarchs, Ladislaus III Kán, captured and imprisoned Otto of Bavaria in 1307. Charles was elected king in Pest on 27 November 1308, but his rule remained nominal in most parts of his kingdom even after he was crowned with the Holy Crown on 27 August 1310.
Charles won his first decisive victory in the Battle of Rozgony (at present-day Rozhanovce in Slovakia) on 15 June 1312. After that, his troops seized most fortresses of the powerful Aba family. During the next decade, Charles restored royal power primarily with the assistance of the prelates and lesser noblemen in most regions of the kingdom. After the death of the most powerful oligarch, Matthew Csák, in 1321, Charles became the undisputed ruler of the whole kingdom, with the exception of Croatia where local noblemen were able to preserve their autonomous status. He was not able to hinder the development of Wallachia into an independent principality after his defeat in the Battle of Posada in 1330. Charles's contemporaries described his defeat in that battle as a punishment from God for his cruel revenge against the family of Felician Záh who had attempted to slaughter the royal family.
Charles rarely made perpetual land grants, instead introduced a system of "office fiefs", whereby his officials enjoyed significant revenues, but only for the time they held a royal office, which ensured their loyalty. In the second half of his reign, Charles did not hold Diets and administered his kingdom with absolute power. He established the Order of Saint George, which was the first secular order of knights. He promoted the opening of new gold mines, which made Hungary the largest producer of gold in Europe. The first Hungarian gold coins were minted during his reign. At the congress of Visegrád in 1335, he mediated a reconciliation between two neighboring monarchs, John of Bohemia and Casimir III of Poland. Treaties signed at the same congress also contributed to the development of new commercial routes linking Hungary with Western Europe. Charles's efforts to reunite Hungary, together with his administrative and economic reforms, established the basis for the achievements of his successor, Louis the Great.
Charles was the only son of Charles Martel, Prince of Salerno, and his wife, Clemence of Austria.[1][2] He was born in 1288; the place of his birth is unknown.[1][2][3] Charles Martel was the firstborn son of Charles II of Naples and Charles II's wife, Mary, who was a daughter of Stephen V of Hungary.[4][5] After the death of her brother, Ladislaus IV of Hungary, in 1290, Queen Mary announced her claim to Hungary, stating that the House of Árpád (the royal family of Hungary) had become extinct with Ladislaus's death.[6] However, her father's cousin, Andrew also laid claim to the throne, although his father, Stephen the Posthumous, had been regarded a bastard by all other members of the royal family.[7] For all that, the Hungarian lords and prelates preferred Andrew against Mary and he was crowned king of Hungary on 23 July 1290.[6][8] She transferred her claim to Hungary to Charles Martel in January 1292.[9] The Babonići, Frankopans, Šubići and other Croatian and Slavonian noble families seemingly acknowledged Charles Martel's claim, but in fact their loyalty vacillated between Charles Martel and Andrew III.[10][11]
Charles Martel died in autumn 1295, and his seven-year-old son, Charles, inherited his claim to Hungary.[12][3] Charles would have also been the lawful heir to his grandfather, Charles II of Naples, in accordance with the principles of primogeniture.[12][13] However, Charles II, who preferred his third son, Robert, to his grandson, bestowed the rights of a firstborn son upon Robert on 13 February 1296.[14] Pope Boniface VIII confirmed Charles II's decision on 27 February 1296, excluding the child Charles from succeeding his grandfather in the Kingdom of Naples.[14] Dante Alighieri wrote of "the schemes and frauds that would attack"[15] Charles Martel's family in reference to Robert's alleged manoeuvres to acquire the right to inherit Naples.[16] The 14th-century historian Giovanni Villani also noted that his contemporaries were of the opinion that Robert's claim to Naples was weaker than his nephew's.[16] The jurist Baldus de Ubaldis refrained from setting out his position on the legitimacy of Robert's rule.[16]
Andrew III of Hungary made his maternal uncle, Albertino Morosini, Duke of Slavonia, in July 1299, stirring up the Slavonian and Croatian noblemen to revolt.[17][18] A powerful Croatian baron, Paul Šubić, sent his brother, George, to Italy in early 1300 to convince Charles II of Naples to send his grandson to Hungary to claim the throne in person.[18] The king of Naples accepted the proposal and borrowed 1,300 ounces of gold from Florentine bankers to finance Charles's journey.[9][19] A Neapolitan knight of French origin, Philip Drugeth, accompanied the twelve-year-old Charles to Hungary.[20] They landed at Split in Dalmatia in August 1300.[9][21] From Split, Paul Šubić escorted him to Zagreb where Ugrin Csák swore loyalty to Charles.[22] Charles's opponent, Andrew III of Hungary, died on 14 January 1301.[23] Charles hurried to Esztergom where the Archbishop-elect, Gregory Bicskei, crowned him with a provisional crown before 13 May.[24][25] However, most Hungarians considered Charles's coronation unlawful because customary law required that it should have been performed with the Holy Crown of Hungary in Székesfehérvár.[24][22]
Charles counted his regnal years from this coronation, but Hungary had actually disintegrated into about a dozen independent provinces, each ruled by a powerful lord, or oligarch.[26][27][28] Among them, Matthew Csák dominated the northwestern parts of Hungary (which now form the western territories of present-day Slovakia), Amadeus Aba controlled the northeastern lands, Ivan Kőszegi ruled Transdanubia, and Ladislaus Kán governed Transylvania.[29] Most of those lords refused to accept Charles's rule and proposed the crown to Wenceslaus II of Bohemia's son and namesake, Wenceslaus, whose bride, Elisabeth, was Andrew III's only daughter.[5][30] Although Wenceslaus was crowned with the Holy Crown in Székesfehérvár, the legitimacy of his coronation was also questionable because John Hont-Pázmány, Archbishop of Kalocsa, put the crown on Wenceslaus's head, although customary law authorized the Archbishop of Esztergom to perform the ceremony.[25]
After Wenceslaus's coronation, Charles withdrew to Ugrin Csák's domains in the southern regions of the kingdom.[31] Pope Boniface sent his legate, Niccolo Boccasini, to Hungary.[31] Boccasini convinced the majority of the Hungarian prelates to accept Charles's reign.[31] However, most Hungarian lords continued to oppose Charles because, according to the Illuminated Chronicle,[32] they feared that "the free men of the kingdom should lose their freedom by accepting a king appointed by the Church".[33] Charles laid siege to Buda, the capital of the kingdom, in September 1302, but Ivan Kőszegi relieved the siege.[25] Charles's charters show that he primarily stayed in the southern parts of the kingdom during the next years although he also visited Amadeus Aba in the fortress of Gönc.[26]
Pope Boniface who regarded Hungary as a fief of the Holy See declared Charles the lawful king of Hungary on 31 May 1303.[34][35] He also threatened Wenceslaus with excommunication if he continued to style himself king of Hungary.[36] Wenceslaus, left Hungary in summer 1304, taking the Holy Crown with him.[31] Charles met his cousin, Rudolph III of Austria, in Pressburg (now Bratislava in Slovakia) on 24 August.[31][37] After signing an alliance, they jointly invaded Bohemia in the autumn.[31][38] Wenceslaus who had succeeded his father in Bohemia renounced his claim to Hungary in favor of Otto III, Duke of Bavaria on 9 October 1305.[39]
Otto was crowned with the Holy Crown in Székesfehérvár on 6 December 1305 by Benedict Rád, Bishop of Veszprém, and Anthony, Bishop of Csanád.[39][40][38] He was never able to strengthen his position in Hungary, because only the Kőszegis and the Transylvanian Saxons supported him.[31] Charles seized Esztergom and many fortresses in the northern parts of Hungary (now in Slovakia) in 1306.[41][38] His partisans also occupied Buda in June 1307.[41] Ladislaus Kán, Voivode of Transylvania, seized and imprisoned Otto in Transylvania.[39][42] An assembly of Charles's partisans confirmed Charles's claim to the throne on 10 October, but three powerful lords—Matthew Csák, Ladislaus Kán, and Ivan Kőszegi—were absent from the meeting.[41][38] In 1308, Ladislaus Kán released Otto, who then left Hungary.[42] Otto never ceased styling himself King of Hungary, but he never returned to the country.[41]
Pope Clement V sent a new papal legate, Gentile Portino da Montefiore, to Hungary.[41][43] Montefiore arrived in the summer of 1308.[41] In the next few months, he persuaded the most powerful lords one by one to accept Charles's rule.[41] At the Diet, which was held in the Dominican monastery in Pest, Charles was unanimously proclaimed king on 27 November 1308.[43][44] The delegates sent by Matthew Csák and Ladislaus Kán were also present at the assembly.[44]
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The papal legate convoked the synod of the Hungarian prelates, who declared the monarch inviolable in December 1308.[43][44] They also urged Ladislaus Kán to hand over the Holy Crown to Charles.[44] After Kán refused to do so, the legate consecrated a new crown for Charles.[43] Thomas II, Archbishop of Esztergom crowned Charles king with the new crown in the Church of Our Lady in Buda on 15 or 16 June 1309.[43][45] However, most Hungarians regarded his second coronation invalid.[41] The papal legate excommunicated Ladislaus Kán, who finally agreed to give the Holy Crown to Charles.[43] On 27 August 1310, Archbishop Thomas of Esztergom put the Holy Crown on Charles's head in Székesfehérvár; thus, Charles's third coronation was performed in full accordance with customary law.[41][46][45] However, his rule remained nominal in most parts of his kingdom.[41]
Matthew Csák laid siege Buda in June 1311, and Ladislaus Kán declined to assist the king.[47][46] Charles sent an army to invade Matthew Csák's domains in September, but it achieved nothing.[48] In the same year, Ugrin Csák died, enabling Charles to take possession of the deceased lord's domains, which were situated between Požega in Slavonia and Temesvár (present-day Timișoara in Romania).[49][50] The burghers of Kassa (now Košice in Slovakia) assassinated Amadeus Aba in September 1311.[51] Charles's envoys arbitrated an agreement between Aba's sons and the town, which also prescribed that the Abas withdraw from two counties and allow the noblemen inhabiting their domains to freely join Charles.[51] However, the Abas soon entered into an alliance with Matthew Csák against the king.[49] The united forces of the Abas and Matthew Csák besieged Kassa, but Charles routed them in the Battle of Rozgony (now Rozhanovce in Slovakia) on 15 June 1312.[52][45] Almost half of the noblemen who had served Amadeus Aba fought on Charles's side in the battle.[53] In July, Charles captured the Abas' many fortresses in Abaúj, Torna and Sáros counties, including Füzér, Regéc, and Munkács (now Mukacheve in Ukraine).[54] Thereafter he waged war against Matthew Csák, capturing Nagyszombat (now Trnava in Slovakia) in 1313 and Visegrád in 1315, but was unable to win a decisive victory.[49]
Charles transferred his residence from Buda to Temesvár in early 1315.[55][49] Ladislaus Kán died in 1315, but his sons did not yield to Charles.[56][47] Charles launched a campaign against the Kőszegis in Transdanubia and Slavonia in the first half of 1316.[57][58] Local noblemen joined the royal troops, which contributed to the quick collapse of the Kőszegis' rule in southern parts of their domains.