Batu Khan and Nogai Khan, the Descendants Genghis Khan, in Hungary…
"100 Days of Jókai Mór" February 1- April 30, 2025
Hungarian History Post 5 of 10
Saint Stephen’s Basilica in Budapest is a fantastic venue for chamber, choral, and organ concerts, which are held almost every day. If you are ever in Budapest - A MUST!!!
And now - a third - and not final - invasion from the East… Hungary was an integral part of the Hun and Magyar empires - with the invaders staying and creating a new life for themselves in the Great Hungarian Plain. Not so with the Mongols, whose fateful victory at the Battle of Muhi (April 11, 1241) in eastern Hungary altered Hungarian history irreversibly. They crossed the Carpathian Mountains through the Veretskyi Pass (the one my dad crossed in search of clues for all those invasions from the East) and continued their raids on Hungary between 1241 and 1286, with catastrophic engagements occurring in 1254, 1259, and 1264 - a quarter of Hungary’s population was wiped out - some communities disappearing forever… The raids began with Batu Khan, grandson of Genghis Khan, founder of the Golden Horde, which incorporated Russia for 200 years, and ended with Nogai Khan, ruler of the Golden Horde during its greatest expanse.
Hungarian history and chronicles survived during these catastrophic times in two Catholic abbeys, which successfully resisted Mongol attacks - Pannonhalma, founded in 996 by grand prince Géza, the father of King Stephen - and Tihany, founded in 1055 by King Andrew of Hungary.
I visited both - a humbling experience…
Please enjoy these links - AMAZING sites to visit!!!
https://whc.unesco.org/en/list/758/
https://eng.tihanyiapatsag.hu/history/
“Mongol Invasion” image depicting the enslavement of Hungarians from Johannes de Thurocz's (c. 1435 - 1489) “Chronica Hungarorum.” Hungary’s first secular historian, he chronicled the Mongol invasion period of Hungarian history - a copy of his chronicle is held at the Pannonhalma Abbey, which successfully resisted the Mongol invasion.
Pannonhalma Abbey, with its spectacular library, a UNESCO World Heritage site.
Tihany Abbey on the bank of Lake Balaton, largest lake in Central Europe.
Neither abbey survived the fourth invasion from the East - the Turks - in my next comment… The current buildings of the abbeys were constructed during the Austrian occupation - we are getting close to 1848…
