Editing Louis I of Hungary (section)

=== Wars in the Balkans (1358–1370)===
{{See also|Hungarian–Ottoman War (1366–1367)|Hungarian–Ottoman War (1375–1377)}}
Serbia [[Fall of the Serbian Empire#Background|started to disintegrate]] after the death of Stefan Dušan.{{sfn|Fine|1994|p=345}} According to Matteo Villani, an unidentified Serbian lord sought Hungarian assistance against his more powerful (and also unnamed) enemy in the late 1350s.{{sfn|Fine|1994|p=346}}{{sfn|Engel|2001|p=164}} Historians [[John Van Antwerp Fine, Jr.|John V. A. Fine]] and Pál Engel write that the Serbian lord was a member of the [[Rastislalić noble family|Rastislalić]] family;{{sfn|Fine|1994|p=346}}{{sfn|Engel|2001|p=164}} [[Gyula Kristó]] and [[Iván Bertényi]] identify him as [[Lazar of Serbia|Lazar Hrebeljanović]].{{sfn|Kristó|1988|p=145}}{{sfn|Bertényi|1989|p=90}} Royal charters of 1358 show that Hungarian troops fought in Serbia in October 1358.{{sfn|Kristó|1988|p=145}} The next summer Louis also marched to Serbia, but [[Stefan Uroš V]] of Serbia avoided battle.{{sfn|Fine|1994|p=346}}{{sfn|Kristó|1988|pp=146–147}}

Louis and the royal army stayed in Transylvania in November 1359 and January 1360, implying that he planned a military expedition against [[Wallachia]] or another neighboring territory.{{sfn|Kristó|1988|p=148}} A charter of 1360 said that a [[Romanians|Romanian]] [[voivode]], [[Dragoș, Voivode of Moldavia#Origins|Dragoș of Giulești]], restored Louis's suzerainty in [[Principality of Moldavia|Moldavia]] after a rebellion of local Romanians.{{sfn|Spinei|1986|p=201}} According to most [[Principality of Moldavia|Moldavian]] chronicles, [[Dragoș]], who is sometimes identified with Dragoș of Giulești and sometimes as Dragoș of Bedeu, departed "from the Hungarian country, from [[Voivodeship of Maramureș|Maramureș]]" at the head of his retinue, crossed the [[Carpathian Mountains]] while chasing an [[aurochs]] and settled in the valley of the [[Moldova River]] in 1359.{{sfn|Spinei|1986|pp=196–197}} The same chronicles presented this [[Foundation of Moldavia#'Dismounting' by Dragoș|"dismounting" by Dragoș]] as a decisive step towards the development of the [[Principality of Moldavia]].{{sfn|Spinei|1986|pp=196, 199}} Another Romanian voivode, [[Bogdan I of Moldavia|Bogdan]], who had rebelled against Louis and plundered the estates of the Romanian landowners loyal to the king already in the 1340s, departed from Hungary and invaded Moldavia in the early 1360s.{{sfn|Spinei|1986|pp=205, 207}} Bogdan expelled the descendants of Louis's vassal, Dragoș, from the principality.{{sfn|Spinei|1986|pp=205, 207}} According to [[John of Küküllő]], Louis launched several expeditions against Bogdan, but their dates cannot be determined.{{sfn|Engel|2001|p=166}} Bogdan ruled Moldavia as an independent prince.{{sfn|Engel|2001|p=166}}{{sfn|Sălăgean|2005|p=201}}

Upon the pope's request, Louis sent Hungarian troops to relieve [[Bologna]], which was besieged by [[Bernabò Visconti]]'s troops.{{sfn|Kristó|1988|p=148}} After Visconti lifted the siege, Louis's mercenaries pillaged the region and refused to cooperate with the [[papal legate]]; Louis had the commander of the army imprisoned.{{sfn|Kristó|1988|pp=148–149}} After a conflict emerged between Emperor Charles IV and [[Rudolf IV, Duke of Austria]], rumors spread about a conspiracy to dethrone the emperor in favor of Louis or Rudolf.{{sfn|Kristó|1988|p=149}}{{sfn|Knoll|1972|p=212}} Charles IV, Rudolf IV and Louis met in [[Trnava|Nagyszombat]] (now Trnava in Slovakia) in May.{{sfn|Knoll|1972|p=212}} The emperor and the duke mutually surrendered their claims to the other party's realms.{{sfn|Kristó|1988|p=149}} Louis also persuaded the emperor to renounce his suzerainty over the [[Duchy of Masovia|Duchy of Płock]] in Poland.{{sfn|Knoll|1972|p=212}}

[[File:Reliquienkruz.jpg|thumb|upright|Relic cross of Louis in the [[Imperial Treasury, Vienna]]]]

Louis decided to convert the [[Jews in Hungary]] to Catholicism around 1360.{{sfn|Patai|1996|p=56}} After experiencing resistance, he expelled them from his realms.{{sfn|Patai|1996|p=56}}{{sfn|Engel|2001|p=173}} Their [[immovable property]] was confiscated, but they were allowed to take their [[personal property]] with them and also to recover the loans they had made.{{sfn|Patai|1996|pp=56–57}} No [[pogrom]] took place, which was unusual in Europe in the 14th century, according to historian [[Raphael Patai]].{{sfn|Patai|1996|p=57}}

Emperor Charles IV and Rudolf IV of Austria signed a treaty of alliance against the patriarch of [[Aquileia]], who was Louis's ally, in August 1361.{{sfn|Kristó|1988|p=149}}{{sfn|Solymosi|Körmendi|1981|p=217}} Fearing the formation of a coalition along the western borders of Hungary, Louis asked his former enemy, Louis of Taranto (Joanna I's husband), to send at least one of his brothers to Buda, and mediated a reconciliation between Rudolph IV and the patriarch.{{sfn|Kristó|1988|pp=149–150}} At a meeting with Louis's envoys in Prague, Emperor Charles made an insulting remark about Louis's mother, stating that she "was shameless",<ref name="Długosz_1363_p312">''The Annals of Jan Długosz'' (A.D. 1363), p. 312.</ref> according to [[Jan Długosz]]'s chronicle.{{sfn|Engel|2001|p=171}}{{sfn|Kristó|1988|p=150}} Louis demanded an apology, but the emperor did not answer.{{sfn|Knoll|1972|p=212}}

In preparation for a war against Bohemia, Louis ordered the mobilization of the royal army and marched to [[Trenčín|Trencsén]] (now Trenčín in Slovakia).{{sfn|Engel|2001|p=171}}{{sfn|Knoll|1972|p=213}} However, his supposed allies (Rudolf IV of Austria, [[Meinhard III, Count of Gorizia-Tyrol|Meinhard III of Tyrol]] and Casimir III of Poland) failed to join him, and the emperor initiated negotiations that lasted for months with the mediation of Casimir III.{{sfn|Knoll|1972|p=213}} Louis was finally reconciled with Charles IV at their meeting in [[Uherské Hradiště]] on 8 May 1363.{{sfn|Knoll|1972|p=213}}

Louis invaded Bosnia from two directions in the spring of 1363.{{sfn|Fine|1994|p=369}}{{sfn|Kristó|1988|p=151}} An army under the command of Palatine [[Nicholas Kont]] and [[Nicholas Apáti]], [[Archbishop of Esztergom]], laid siege to [[Srebrenica]], but the fortress did not surrender.{{sfn|Kristó|1988|p=151}} As the royal seal was stolen during the siege, a new seal was made and all Louis's former charters were to be confirmed with the new seal.{{sfn|Kristó|1988|p=151}} The army under Louis's personal command besieged [[Sokolac]] in July, but could not capture it.{{sfn|Kristó|1988|p=151}} Hungarian troops returned to Hungary in the same month.{{sfn|Kristó|1988|p=151}} [[Pope Urban V]] proclaimed a crusade against the Muslim powers of the Mediterraneum upon [[Peter I of Cyprus]]'s request on 31 March 1363.{{sfn|Geanakoplos|1975|p=74}} [[Urban V]] urged Louis to join the crusade, emphasizing that he was a powerful monarch, a devout Christian, and "well-placed to help".{{sfn|Housley|1984|p=200}} The next month the pope levied a three-year tithe on the church revenues in Hungary and asked Louis to support the papal officials to collect the tax.{{sfn|Housley|1984|p=200}} However, Louis made every effort to hinder the activities of the papal tax collectors, stating that he needed resources to cover the costs of his future wars against the infidels and the pope's enemies in Italy.{{sfn|Housley|1984|pp=200–201}}

[[File:Baba Vida Klearchos 4.jpg|thumb |left |alt=The entrance of a fortress built of stone  | The [[Baba Vida|medieval fortress]] of [[Vidin]] in Bulgaria, the seat of Louis's governors between 1365 and 1369 ]]

Louis signed a treaty with Emperor Charles and Rudolf IV of Austria in [[Brno]] in early 1364, which put an end to their conflicts.{{sfn|Knoll|1972|p=215}} In September, Louis visited Kraków to attend the [[Congress of Kraków|large congress]] where [[Peter I of Cyprus]] attempted to persuade a dozen European monarchs to join the crusade.{{sfn|Knoll|1972|p=216-217}} Louis was the only monarch to promise assistance, but later failed to fulfill his promise.{{sfn|Geanakoplos|1975|p=74}}{{sfn|Housley|1984|p=201}} At the congress, Casimir III of Poland confirmed Louis's right to succeed him in Poland if he died without a male issue.{{sfn|Knoll|1972|p=220}} Louis, who had not fathered a son either, invited a distant relative of his, [[Charles III of Naples|Charles of Durazzo]], to Hungary in 1364, but did not make the young prince his official heir.{{sfn|Goldstone|2009|p=182}} Louis allowed the Jews to return to Hungary in the same year; legal proceedings between the Jews and those who had seized their houses lasted for years.{{sfn|Patai|1996|p=58}}

Louis assembled his armies in [[Temesvár]] (now Timișoara in Romania) in February 1365.{{sfn|Kristó|1988|p=152}} According to a royal charter that year, he was planning to invade Wallachia because the new voivode, [[Vladislav I of Wallachia|Vladislav Vlaicu]], had refused to obey him.{{sfn|Kristó|1988|p=152}} However, he ended up heading a campaign against the [[Bulgaria]]n [[Tsardom of Vidin]] and its ruler [[Ivan Sratsimir of Bulgaria|Ivan Sratsimir]], which suggests that Vladislav Vlaicu had in the meantime yielded to him.{{sfn|Kristó|1988|p=152}} Louis seized [[Vidin]] and imprisoned Ivan Stratsimir in May or June.{{sfn|Божилов|1994|pp=202–203}}{{sfn|Fine|1994|pp=366–367}} Within three months, his troops [[Hungarian occupation of Vidin|occupied Ivan Stratsimir's realm]], which was organized into a separate border province, or [[Ban (title)|banate]], under the command of Hungarian lords.{{sfn|Божилов|1994|pp=202–203}}{{sfn|Bertényi|1989|pp=93–94}}

[[File:Nagy Lajos király törökellenes harcait megörökítő kép, a St. Lambrecht-apátságban, 1420.jpg|alt=King Louis I of Hungary, Ottomans, Turks, battle, fight, horse, vow, foundation, Mariazell, church, St.Lambert's Abbey, medieval, chronicle, book, illumination, illustration, history|thumb|400x400px|The picture immortalizing the battles of King Louis the Great against the [[Ottoman Empire|Ottomans]] and the vow made to found the [[Mariazell Basilica|Mariazell Abbey]] in celebration of their success ([[St. Lambert's Abbey]], 1420)]]

The [[Byzantine Emperor]], [[John V Palaiologos]] visited Louis in Buda in early 1366, seeking his assistance against the [[Ottoman Turks]], who had set foot in Europe.{{sfn|Geanakoplos|1975|pp=75–76}}{{sfn|Housley|1984|p=202}} This was the first occasion that a Byzantine Emperor left his empire to plead for a foreign monarch's assistance.{{sfn|Geanakoplos|1975|p=76}} According to Louis's physician, [[Giovanni Conversini]], at his first meeting with Louis, the emperor refused to dismount and to take off his hat, which offended Louis.{{sfn|Setton|1976|p=299}}{{sfn|Kristó|1988|p=156}} John V pledged that he would promote the union of the Byzantine Church with the Papacy, and Louis promised to send him help, but neither the emperor nor Louis fulfilled their promises.{{sfn|Housley|1984|p=202}}{{sfn|Setton|1976|p=299}} Pope Urban encouraged Louis not to send help to Constantinople before the emperor guaranteed the Church union.{{sfn|Housley|1984|p=202}}

[[File:Louisdehongrie.jpg|thumb|upright|Louis's coat of arms showing, clockwise from upper left: the ancient arms of Hungary [[dimidiation|dimidiated]] with France; the Polish eagle; the Dalmatian lions' heads; the modern arms of Hungary.]]

Louis stayed in Transylvania between June and September 1366, implying that he waged war against Moldavia.{{sfn|Kristó|1988|pp=156–157}} He [[Decree of Turda|issued a decree]] authorizing the Transylvanian noblemen to pass judgments against "malefactors belonging to any nation, especially Romanians".{{sfn|Pop|2005|p=258}} He also decreed that testimony of a Romanian [[noble knez|knez]] who had received a royal charter of grant weighed the same as that of a nobleman.{{sfn|Makkai|1994|p=215}} In the same year, Louis granted the [[Banate of Severin]] and the [[Fogaras County|district of Fogaras]] to Vladislav Vlaicu of Wallachia, who had accepted his suzerainty.{{sfn|Pop|2005|p=249}}{{sfn|Engel|2001|p=165}} Tvrtko I of Bosnia also accepted Louis's suzerainty after Hungarian troops assisted him in regaining his throne in early 1367.{{sfn|Fine|1994|pp=369–370}}

Louis made attempts to convert his pagan or "schismatic" subjects to Catholicism, even by force.{{sfn|Engel|2001|p=172}} The conversion of the pagan [[Cumans]] who had settled in Hungary a century before was completed during his reign, according to [[John of Küküllő]].{{sfn|Engel|2001|p=172}} After the conquest of Vidin, he sent [[Franciscan]] friars to the new [[Ban (title)|banate]] to convert the local Orthodox population, which caused widespread discontent among the Bulgarians.{{sfn|Fine|1994|p=367}}{{sfn|Kristó|1988|p=157}} In 1366, he ordered that all Serbian priests be converted and rebaptised.{{sfn|Kristó|1988|p=172}} He also decreed that only Roman Catholic noblemen and knezes were allowed to hold landed property in the district of [[Caransebeș|Sebes]] in [[Temes County]].{{sfn|Makkai|1994|p=219}} Louis supported the [[Catholic religious order|religious orders]], especially the Franciscans and the [[Order of Saint Paul the First Hermit|Paulines]], for whom he and his mother set up dozens of new monasteries.{{sfn|Engel|2001|p=171}} Upon Louis's request, Pope Urban V sanctioned the establishment of a university in [[Pécs]] in 1367, with the exception of a faculty of [[theology]].{{sfn|Kontler|1999|p=100}} However, Louis did not arrange for sufficient revenues and the university was closed by 1390.{{sfn|Kontler|1999|p=100}}

Vladislav Vlaicu of Wallachia made an alliance with [[Ivan Shishman of Bulgaria|Ivan Shishman]], a half-brother of the former ruler of Vidin, Ivan Sratsimir.{{sfn|Fine|1994|pp=366–367}}{{sfn|Kristó|1988|p=157}} Their united armies imposed a blockade on Vidin.{{sfn|Kristó|1988|p=158}} Louis marched to the Lower [[Danube]] and ordered Nicholas Lackfi, Voivode of Transylvania, to invade Wallachia in the autumn of 1368.{{sfn|Kristó|1988|p=158}} The voivode's army marched through the valley of the [[Ialomița River]], but the Wallachians ambushed it and killed many Hungarian soldiers, including the voivode.{{sfn|Kristó|1988|pp=158–159}} However, Louis's campaign against Wallachia from the west was successful and Vladislav Vlaicu yield to him in next summer.{{sfn|Kristó|1988|pp=158–159}}{{sfn|Solymosi|Körmendi|1981|p=220}} Upon his initiative, Louis restored Ivan Stratsimir in Vidin.{{sfn|Kristó|1988|p=160}} Ivan Stratsimir swore loyalty to Louis and sent [[Ivan Sratsimir of Bulgaria#Family|his two daughters]] as hostages to Hungary.{{sfn|Fine|1994|p=367}}{{sfn|Kristó|1988|p=160}}

From the late 1360s, Louis suffered from a [[skin disease]] with symptoms similar to [[leprosy]].{{sfn|Engel|2001|p=173}}{{sfn|Kristó|1988|p=162}} Thereafter he became even more zealous and dedicated more time to praying and religious contemplation.{{sfn|Engel|2001|p=173}}{{sfn|Kristó|2002|pp=61–62}} After his meeting with Louis in 1372, the papal legate, [[John de Cardailhac]], stated: "I call God as my witness that I have never seen a monarch more majestic and more {{nobr|powerful ...}} or one who desires peace and calm as much as he."{{sfn|Cartledge|2011|p=41}} He also changed the priorities of his foreign policy and began neglecting the Balkan states.{{sfn|Kristó|1988|p=163}} Casimir III of Poland and Louis signed a treaty against Emperor Charles IV in Buda in February 1369.{{sfn|Knoll|1972|p=231}} At their next meeting in [[Pressburg]] (now Bratislava in Slovakia) in September, [[Albert I, Duke of Bavaria|Albert I of Bavaria]], and [[Rupert I, Elector Palatine|Rupert I of the Palatinate]] joined their coalition against the emperor and the [[Habsburgs]].{{sfn|Solymosi|Körmendi|1981|p=220}}{{sfn|Knoll|1972|p=231}} However, Emperor Charles IV persuaded the two [[Wittelsbachs]] (Albert I and Rupert I) to break off the coalition in September 1370.{{sfn|Knoll|1972|p=232}}