First years (1382–1384) Louis the Great died on 10 September 1382. Cardinal
Demetrius,
Archbishop of Esztergom, crowned Mary "king" with the
Holy Crown of Hungary in
Székesfehérvár on 17 September, a day after her father's burial. Mary's title and her rapid coronation in the absence of her fiancé, Sigismund, show that her mother and her mother's supporters wanted to emphasize Mary's role as monarch and to postpone or even hinder Sigismund's coronation. The queen mother, Elizabeth, assumed
regency.
Palatine Nicholas Garai and Cardinal Demetrius became her main advisors. Most of Louis's barons preserved their offices; the queen mother only dismissed the
master of the cupbearers,
George Czudar, and his brother
Peter,
voivode of Ruthenia. According to the 15th-century historian
Jan Długosz, the Czudar brothers surrendered forts to the Lithuanians, who had "[h]eavily bribed" them. Queen Elizabeth had Peter Czudar imprisoned before 1{ November; her
charters only stated that he "had obviously been disloyal" without specifying the reasons for his arrest. All royal charters issued during the first six months of Mary's reign emphasized that she had lawfully inherited her father's crown. However, most
Hungarian noblemen were strongly opposed to the very idea of a female monarch. They regarded
Charles III of Naples as Louis the Great's legitimate heir because Charles was the last male offspring of the
Capetian House of Anjou except for his own son Ladislaus. Charles could not openly lay claim to Hungary, because his rival for the
Kingdom of Naples,
Louis I, Duke of Anjouwho was
Charles VI of France's unclehad invaded Southern Italy in the previous year. Noblemen from
Greater Poland offered to pay homage to either Mary or Jadwiga at a meeting in
Radomsko on 25 November 1382, but they stipulated that the queen and her husband should live in Poland. The assembly of the nobility of
Lesser Poland passed a similar resolution in
Wiślica on 12 December. On the latter occasion, in response to Queen Elizabeth's demand, the noblemen also promised that they would not pay homage to anyone else than either Mary or Jadwiga. Mary's fiancé, Sigismund, who had stayed in Poland, returned to Hungary.
Bodzanta,
Archbishop of Gniezno, the
Nałęcz family, and their allies in Greater Poland favoured a native prince,
SiemowitIV of Masovia. To avoid a civil war, Queen Elizabeth sent envoys to the Polish noblemen's next assembly which met in
Sieradz in late February 1383. Her envoys absolved the Poles from their 1382 oath of loyalty to Mary on 28 March 1383, announcing that the queen mother would send her younger daughter, Jadwiga, to Poland.
John of Palisna,
Prior of Vrana, rose up in open rebellion against the rule of Mary and her mother in the spring of 1383. The queens made
Stephen Lackfi Ban of Croatia. The royal army marched to Croatia and laid siege to
Vrana, forcing John of Palisna to flee to
Bosnia. The defenders of Vrana surrendered to Mary, who had been present during the siege along with her mother, on 4 November 1383. To strengthen Mary's position against Charles of Naples, Queen Elizabeth sent her envoys to France and opened negotiations on the marriage of Mary to the younger brother of CharlesVI of France, Louis, who had once been engaged to Mary's sister, Catherine. Mary and the queen mother only left Croatia and
Slavonia early next year. Queen Elizabeth replaced Stephen Lackfi with
Thomas Szentgyörgyi, who used draconian measures to put an end to a conspiracy against the queens in
Zadar in May 1384. Although the last
Diet was held in the early 1350s, the queens convoked a Diet to deal with the grievances of the noblemen. Mary confirmed her father's decrees of 1351 summarizing the noblemen's privileges on 22 June 1384. The negotiations of Mary's marriage in France caused a new rift within the Hungarian nobility, because the
Lackfis,
Nicholas Zámbó and
Nicholas Szécsi and other high officers, who had been appointed during Louis the Great's reign, continued to support Mary's fiancé, Sigismund, in accordance with Louis the Great's will. The queen mother replaced them with Nicholas Garai's supporters in August 1384. The prelates were also opposed to the French marriage because the French supported Clement VII whom the Hungarian clergy considered an
antipope. Mary's sister, Jadwiga, went to Poland where she was crowned on 16 October 1384. Cardinal Demetrius, who had accompanied Jadwiga to Poland, remained absent from the queens' court after his return to Hungary. The royal government could not properly function during his absence because he was the keeper of the royal seal.
Neapolitan threat (1384–1385) Louis I of Anjou died on 10 September 1384, enabling his rival, CharlesIII of Naples, to stabilize his rule in Southern Italy during the next months. The consolidation of CharlesIII's position in Naples also contributed to the formation of a party of noblemen who supported his claim to Hungary.
John Horvat,
Ban of Macsó (now
Mačva in Serbia), and his brother,
Paul,
Bishop of Zagreb, were the leading figures of their movement. Sigismund of Luxembourg tried to persuade the queen mother to consent to his marriage to Mary, but she refused him. He left Hungary in early 1385. The queens and their supporters initiated negotiations with the representatives of the opposition, but no reconciliation was reached at their meeting in
Požega in the spring of 1385. After a French delegation came to Hungary in May 1385, Mary was engaged to Louis of France. Louis of France thereafter signed his letters "Louis of France, King of Hungary", according to
Jean Froissart. In the same month, the queen mother dismissed Stephen Lackfi, accusing him of high treason. She also sent letters to Zagreb and other places in the kingdom, forbidding the local inhabitants to support Lackfi, Nicholas Szécsi, Bishop Paul Horvat and their relatives. John and Paul Horvat and their allies formally offered the crown to CharlesIII of Naples and invited him to Hungary in August. In the same month, Mary confirmed TvrtkoI of Bosnia's acquisition of
Kotor in Dalmatia. Sigismund stormed into Upper Hungary, accompanied by his cousins,
Jobst and
Prokop of Moravia, and occupied
Pozsony County. The queen mother replaced Nicholas Garai with Nicholas Szécsi, and made Stephen Lackfi voivode of Transylvania and Nicholas Zámbó
master of the treasury. Charles III of Naples landed at
Senj in Dalmatia in September 1385 and marched to Zagreb. Sigismund of Luxembourg came to Buda and persuaded the queen mother to give her consent to his marriage to Mary. The marriage took place in Buda in October, but Sigismund was not crowned king and received no governmental function. The queen mother convoked a new Diet and Mary again confirmed the noblemen's liberties, but the queens' rule remained unpopular. Sigismund left Buda and mortgaged the territories west of the River
Vág to his Moravian cousins. Charles of Naples had meanwhile left Zagreb, stating that he wanted to restore peace and public order in Hungary.
Charles's reign (1385–1386) , Many noblemen joined Charles of Naples who marched towards Buda. Mary and her mother received him ceremoniously before he reached Buda, and he entered the capital in the two queens' company in early December 1385. Mary renounced the crown without resistance in the middle of December out of fear that Charles would kill her. Charles first adopted the title governor, but the Diet elected him king. Charles was crowned king of Hungary in Székesfehérvár on 31 December 1385. According to the contemporaneous
Lorenzo de Monacis, Mary and her mother, who attended Charles's coronation, visited Louis the Great's tomb during the ceremony where they burst into tears because of their ill fate. Charles did not detain Mary and her mother who continued to live in the royal palace in Buda. Queen Elizabeth and Nicholas Garai decided to get rid of Charles. They persuaded
Blaise Forgách, the
master of the cupbearers, to join them, promising him the domain of
Gimes (now Jelenec in Slovakia) if he murdered the king. Upon Queen Elizabeth's request, Charles visited her and her daughter on 7 February 1386. During the meeting, Blaise Forgách attacked the king, seriously injuring him on the head. The wounded King Charles was carried to
Visegrád where he died on 24 February.
Restoration and capture (1386–1387) Mary was restored to the throne, with her mother ruling in her name. The queen mother informed the citizens of
Kőszeg already on 14 February 1386 that "Queen Mary had regained the Holy Crown". However, the Horvat brothers rose up in open rebellion on behalf of the murdered king's son,
Ladislaus of Naples. Mary's husband, Sigismund, and his brother, Wenceslaus, invaded Upper Hungary in April. After weeks of negotiations, the queens acknowledged Sigismund's position as consort in a
treaty which was signed in
Győr in early May. They also confirmed Sigismund's mortgage of the lands west of the Vág to Jobst and Prokop of Moravia. After the treaty was signed, the queens returned to Buda and Sigismund went to Bohemia, suggesting that he was dissatisfied with the treaty. defending his sovereign Mary and her mother Elizabeth from the Croatians. By
Mihály Kovács. Queen Elizabeth, who according to the 15th-century historian
Johannes de Thurocz was "driven by folly", decided to visit the southern counties of the kingdom that were controlled by supporters of Ladislaus of Naples. The queen mother and Mary set out for
Đakovo, accompanied by Nicholas Garai and a modest following around 15 July. However, John Horvát, John of Palisna and their retainers ambushed and attacked the queens and their retinue at
Gorjani on 25 July 1387. The queens' small entourage fought the attackers, but all were killed or captured. Blaise Forgách and Nicholas Garai were beheaded and their heads were thrown into the queens' carriage. Elizabeth took all the blame for the rebellion and begged the attackers to spare her daughter's life, according to Johannes deThurocz's account. in prison, as painted by
Soma Orlai Petrich. Mary and her mother were imprisoned. They were held in captivity in
Gomnec Castle, which was a fortress of the Bishopric of Zagreb. In the queens' absence, the barons of the realm convoked a Diet under the newly carved "seal of the regnicoles". On Queen Mary's behalf, they promised a general pardon, but the Horvats refused to submit. The two queens were dragged to Krupa, and from there to
Novigrad Castle on the coast of the
Adriatic Sea. The barons or the Diet elected Stephen Lackfi palatine and made Sigismund of Luxembourg regent. John Horvat's henchmen strangled Queen Elizabeth in Mary's presence in early January. In the same month, Sigismund invaded Slavonia, but could not defeat the rebels. Taking advantage of the anarchy in Hungary, Polish troops invaded Lodomeria and Halych in February. Only
Vladislaus II of Opole, who claimed the two realms for himself, protested against their action. Sigismund was crowned king on 31 }March as it was decided that the kingdom could no longer be without an effective ruler. One of his supporters,
Ivan of Krk, laid siege to Novigrad Castle with the assistance of a Venetian fleet, which was under the command of Giovanni Barbarigo. They captured the castle and liberated Mary on 4 June 1387. She was especially grateful to Barbarigo; she
knighted him and granted an annuity of 600 golden florins to him.
Husband's co-ruler (1387–1395) Mary met her husband in Zagreb on 4 July 1387. She officially remained Sigismund's co-ruler until the end of her life, but her influence on government was minimal. Sigismund's land grants were always confirmed with Mary's great seal during the first year of their common rule, but thereafter the grantees rarely sought her confirmation. Royal charters counted her regnal years not from her ascension, but from her husband's coronation. Nevertheless, according to
Johannes de Thurocz, Mary persuaded her husband to
dismember John Horvat who was captured in July 1394 although Sigismund would have been willing to spare his life. Mary was pregnant when she decided to venture out alone on a hunt in a Buda forest on 17 May 1395. Her horse tripped, threw her and fell on top of her. The trauma induced labor and she gave birth
prematurely to a son. The queen succumbed to the fatal injuries; being far from any kind of assistance, her son died as well. She was buried in the cathedral of Várad (now
Oradea in Romania). Mary's sister, Jadwiga, claimed the Hungarian crown, but Sigismund retained it without much difficulty. ==Ancestors==