Editing Louis II of Hungary

{{Short description|King of Hungary and Croatia from 1516 to 1526}}
{{Infobox royalty
| name         = Louis II
| image        = Hans Krell - Portrait of King Louis II of Hungary (c.1526).jpg
| caption      = Portrait by [[Hans Krell]], 1526
| succession   = [[King of Hungary]] and [[King of Croatia|Croatia]]
| reign        = 13 March 1516 – 29 August 1526
| coronation   = 4 June 1508
| predecessor  = [[Vladislaus II of Bohemia and Hungary|Vladislaus II]]
| successor    = [[Ferdinand I, Holy Roman Emperor|Ferdinand I]]<br />[[John Zápolya]]
| regent       = 
| succession1  = [[King of Bohemia]]
| reign1       = 13 March 1516 – 29 August 1526
| coronation1  = 11 March 1509
| predecessor1 = [[Vladislaus II of Bohemia and Hungary|Vladislaus II]]
| successor1   = [[Ferdinand I, Holy Roman Emperor|Ferdinand I]]
| succession2  = 
| reign2       = 
| coronation2  = 
| predecessor2 = 
| successor2   = 
| spouse       = {{marriage|[[Mary of Hungary (governor of the Netherlands)|Mary of Austria]]|1515}}
| issue        = [[Janos Wass]] (illegitimate)
| house        = [[Jagiellon]]
| father       = [[Vladislaus II of Bohemia and Hungary]]
| mother       = [[Anne of Foix-Candale]]
| birth_date   = 1 July 1506
| birth_place  = [[Buda]], [[Kingdom of Hungary]]<br />{{small|(now Budapest, Hungary)}}
| death_date   = {{Death date and age|1526|8|29|1506|7|1|df=y}}
| death_place  = [[Mohács]], Kingdom of Hungary
| burial_place = [[Székesfehérvár Cathedral]]
| religion     = [[Catholic Church]]
| signature    = Signatur Ludwig II. (Böhmen und Ungarn).PNG
}}
'''Louis II''' ({{langx|hu|II. Lajos}}; {{langx|cs|Ludvík Jagellonský}}; {{langx|hr|Ludovik II.}}; {{langx|sk|Ľudovít II.}}; 1 July 1506 – 29 August 1526) was [[King of Hungary]], [[King of Croatia|Croatia]] and [[King of Bohemia|Bohemia]] from 1516 to 1526. He died during the [[Battle of Mohács]] fighting the [[Ottoman Empire|Ottomans]], whose victory led to the Ottoman [[Ottoman Hungary|annexation]] of large parts of Hungary.

== Early life ==
At his premature birth in Buda on 1 July 1506, the court doctors kept him alive by slaying animals and wrapping him in their warm carcasses as a primitive incubator.{{sfn|Rady|2015|p=76}} He was the only son of [[Vladislaus II of Hungary|Vladislaus II]] [[Jagiellon dynasty|Jagiellon]] and his third wife, [[Anne of Foix-Candale]].{{sfn|Cazacu|2017|p=204}}

==Coronation==
Vladislaus II took steps to ensure a smooth succession by arranging for the boy to be crowned in his own lifetime; the coronation of Louis as [[king of Hungary]] took place on 4 June 1508 in [[Székesfehérvár Basilica]], and his coronation as [[king of Bohemia]] was held on 11 March 1509 in [[St. Vitus Cathedral]] in [[Prague]].

=== King of Hungary and Croatia ===
{{Main|First Congress of Vienna}}
[[File:Bernhard Strigel 004.jpg|thumb|left|Young Louis II, about 1515, by Bernhard Strigel]]In 1515 Louis II was married to [[Mary of Hungary (governor of the Netherlands)|Mary of Austria]], granddaughter of [[Maximilian I, Holy Roman Emperor|Emperor Maximilian I]], as stipulated by the [[First Congress of Vienna]] in 1515. His sister [[Anne of Bohemia and Hungary|Anne]] was married to Mary's brother [[Ferdinand I, Holy Roman Emperor|Ferdinand]], then a governor on behalf of his brother [[Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor|Charles V]], and later Emperor Ferdinand I.
During the greater part of his reign he was the puppet of the magnates and kept in such penury that he was often obliged to pawn his jewels to get enough food and clothing. His guardians, Cardinal [[Tamás Bakócz]] and Count [[George, Margrave of Brandenburg-Ansbach|George Brandenburg-Ansbach]], shamefully neglected him, squandered the royal revenues and distracted the whole kingdom with their endless dissensions. Matters grew even worse on the death of Cardinal Bakócz, when the magnates [[István Báthory]], [[John Zápolya]] and [[István Werbőczy]] fought each other furiously, and used the diets as their tools.<ref>{{Cite EB1911|wstitle= Louis II. of Hungary | volume= 17 |last= Bain |first= Robert Nisbet |author-link= Robert Nisbet Bain| pages = 49–50 |short= 1 }}</ref>

=== King of Bohemia===
As king of Bohemia, Louis became known as "Ludovicus the Child".<ref>http://www.dejepis.com/ucebnice/cesky-stat-za-jagelloncu/ Czech State under Jagellonian Dynasty</ref> The first [[thaler]] coins were minted during his reign in [[Bohemia]], later giving the name to the [[dollar]]s used in different countries. These correctly style him as "LVDOVICVS•PRIM•D:GRACIA•REX•BO*" (Louis the First, by the grace of God King of Bohemia).

== War with the Ottomans ==
[[File:Nádasdy Mausoleum - II. Lajos király.jpg|left|thumb|King Louis II of Hungary ([[Nádasdy Mausoleum]], 1664)]]
After his father's death in 1516, the minor Louis II ascended to the throne of [[Kingdom of Hungary|Hungary]] and Croatia. Louis was adopted by the [[Holy Roman Emperor]] Maximilian I in 1515. When Maximilian I died in 1519, Louis's cousin [[George, Margrave of Brandenburg-Ansbach]], became his legal guardian.

Following the accession to the Ottoman throne of [[Suleiman the Magnificent|Suleiman I]], the sultan sent Behram Çavuş as an ambassador to Louis II to collect the annual tribute that Hungary had been subjected to, and Louis refused to pay. According to some accounts, he also had the Ottoman ambassador executed and sent the head to the Sultan, but there is no evidence for this. Rather, Çavuş was kept waiting years, virtually imprisoned in Buda, by way of revenge for Suleiman's father, Selim I, who from 1513 to 1519 had forced the Hungarian envoy Barnabás Bélayban, Ban of Serim, to travel with him on his campaigns into Persia and Egypt, and to find time to ask for financial help from western countries against the Ottomans.<ref>Bárány, Attila: ''A szulejmani ajánlat'' (Suleiman's offers to Hungary 1521–1526). Máriabesenyő, 2014, Attractor kiadó, https://issuu.com/dorian07/docs/b__r__ny_attila_-_szulejm__ni_aj__n </ref> Louis believed that the [[Papal States]] and other Christian States including [[Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor]], would help him. This hastened the fall of Hungary.

Hungary was in a state of near anarchy in 1520 under the rule of the magnates. The king's finances were a shambles; he borrowed to meet his household expenses despite the fact that they totaled about one-third of the national income. The country's defenses weakened as border guards went unpaid, fortresses fell into disrepair, and initiatives to increase taxes to reinforce defenses were stifled. By 1521 Sultan Suleiman the Magnificent was well aware of Hungary's weakness.

The Ottoman Empire declared war on the Kingdom of Hungary, Suleiman postponed his plan to besiege [[Rhodes]] and made an expedition to [[Belgrade]]. Louis and his wife Mary requested military aid from other European countries. His uncle, King Sigismund of Poland, and his brother-in-law, Archduke Ferdinand, were willing to help. Ferdinand dispatched 3,000 infantry troops and some artillery while preparing to mobilize the Austrian estates, while Sigismund promised to send footmen.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Pálosfalvi |first1=Tamás |title=From Nicopolis to Mohács: A History of Ottoman-Hungarian Warfare, 1389–1526 |date=24 September 2018 |publisher=BRILL |isbn=978-90-04-37565-9 |page=385 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=QJByDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA385 |access-date=17 December 2021 |language=en}}</ref> The coordination process totally failed though. Mary, although a determined leader, caused distrust by relying on non-Hungarian advisors while Louis lacked vigour, which his nobles realized.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Hamann |first1=Brigitte |title=Die Habsburger: ein biographisches Lexikon |date=1988 |publisher=Piper |isbn=978-3-492-03163-9 |page=284 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=jKdnAAAAMAAJ |access-date=17 December 2021 |language=de}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Kohler |first1=Alfred |title=Ferdinand I., 1503-1564: Fürst, König und Kaiser |date=2003 |publisher=C.H.Beck |isbn=978-3-406-50278-1 |page=110 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=1cVR2wbob0AC&pg=PA110 |access-date=15 December 2021 |language=de}}</ref> The Austrian military aid, although seemingly strengthening the border, even had the undesired effect of dissolving the unified leadership that the ''ban'' had held until that time.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Fodor |first1=Pál |last2=David |first2=Geza |title=Ottomans, Hungarians, and Habsburgs in Central Europe: The Military Confines in the Era of Ottoman Conquest |date=26 July 2021 |publisher=BRILL |isbn=978-90-04-49229-5 |page=15 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=DYxFEAAAQBAJ&pg=PA15 |access-date=17 December 2021 |language=en}}</ref> 

Belgrade and many strategic castles in Serbia were captured by the Ottomans. This was disastrous for Louis' kingdom; without the strategically important cities of [[Belgrade]] and [[Šabac]], Hungary, including [[Buda]], was open to further Turkish conquests.

[[File:Bohemia, Joachimsthaler 1525 Electrotype Copy. VF. Reverse..jpg|thumb|200px|Joachimsthaler of the Kingdom of Bohemia (1525) was the first thaler (dollar). This is its reverse side, with the Bohemian Lion and the name of Louis / Ludovicus.]]

After the siege of Rhodes, in 1526 Suleiman made a second expedition to subdue all of Hungary. 
Around the middle of July, the young King departed from Buda, determined to "either fight back the invaders or be crushed once and for all".{{sfn|Pálosfalvi|2018|p=385}} Louis made a tactical error when he tried to stop the Ottoman army in an open field battle with a medieval army, insufficient firearms, and obsolete tactics. On 29 August 1526, Louis led his forces against Suleiman in the disastrous [[Battle of Mohács]]. The Hungarian army was surrounded by Ottoman cavalry in a [[pincer movement]], and in the center the Hungarian heavy knights and infantry were repulsed and suffered heavy casualties, especially from the well-positioned Ottoman cannons and well-armed and trained [[Janissary]] [[musketeers]].
[[File:El_descubrimiento_del_cuerpo_del_rey_Luis_II,_por_Bertalan_Székely.jpg|left|thumb|250x250px|The discovery of the body of King Louis II after the [[Battle of Mohács]]. The 20-year-old king died when he fell backwards off his horse while trying to ride up a steep ravine of the Csele stream. ([[Bertalan Székely]], 1860)]]
Nearly the entire Hungarian Royal army was destroyed in nearly 2 hours on the battlefield. During the retreat, the twenty-year-old king died when he fell backwards off his horse while trying to ride up a steep ravine of the Csele stream.  He fell into the stream and, due to the weight of his armor, he was unable to stand up and drowned.{{sfn|Agnew|2013|p=59}} [[Suleiman the Magnificent]] expressed regret at the death of his young adversary. Upon encountering the lifeless body of King Louis, the Sultan is said to have lamented: "I came indeed in arms against him; but it was not my wish that he should be thus cut off before he scarcely tasted the sweets of life and royalty."<ref>{{cite journal|journal=National Geographic|last=Severy|first=Merle |title=The World of Süleyman the Magnificent |location=Washington, D.C. |publisher=National Geographic Society |date=November 1987 |pages=580 |volume=172|issue=5 |issn=0027-9358}}</ref>

After the death of Louis, Ferdinand (as husband to Louis' sister Anna), contested for the crown of Bohemia and Hungary. His bid for Hungary split the opinion of the magnates, with the majority electing [[John Zápolya]]. This split would later cause the majority of Hungary to be ruled under the Ottomans.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Heer |first=Friedrich |url=http://archive.org/details/holyromanempire0000heer |title=The Holy Roman Empire |publisher=Phoenix Giant |year=1995 |isbn=978-1-85799-367-7 |location=London |pages=177 |language=en}}</ref>{{sfn|Johnson|2011|p=75}}

== Jagiellons bloodline ==
Although Louis II's marriage remained childless, he probably had an illegitimate child with his mother's former [[lady-in-waiting]], [[Angelitha Wass]]. This son was called [[János Wass|John]] (János in [[Hungarian language|Hungarian]]). This name appears in sources in [[Vienna]] as either [[János Wass]] or [[János Wass|János Lanthos]]. The former surname  is his mother's maiden name. The latter surname may refer to his occupation. "Lanthos" means "lutenist", or "[[bard]]". He received incomes from the [[Royal Treasury]] regularly. He had further offspring.

==Legacy==

North of the town of Mohacs, there is a 5 meter high monument to the memory of Louis II.  It is located near the site of Louis' death at the Csele Stream.  On the monument there is a bronze plaque which depicts Louis falling off his horse.  On the top of the monument there is a figure of a sleeping lion.  Soma Turcsányi, a 
[[Hussar]] lieutenant, at his own expense, constructed the original commemorative column in 1864.  It was reconstructed in 1897.  The monument was restored by the local government in 1986.

== Ancestry ==
{{ahnentafel
|collapsed=yes |align=center
|boxstyle_1=background-color: #fcc;
|boxstyle_2=background-color: #fb9;
|boxstyle_3=background-color: #ffc;
|boxstyle_4=background-color: #bfc;
|boxstyle_5=background-color: #9fe;
|1= 1. '''Louis II, King of Hungary and Bohemia'''
|2= 2. [[Vladislas II of Bohemia and Hungary]]
|3= 3. [[Anna of Foix-Candale]]
|4= 4. [[Casimir IV Jagiellon]]<ref name="ADB-Wladislaw II">{{cite ADB|54|688|696|Wladislaw II.|Priebatsch, Felix|ADB:Wladislaw II.}}</ref>
|5= 5. [[Elizabeth of Austria (1436–1505)|Elisabeth of Austria]]<ref name="ADB-Wladislaw II"/>
|6= 6. [[Gaston de Foix, Count of Candale]]<ref name="Noubel1877">{{cite book |title=Revue de l'Agenais |trans-title=Review of the Agenais |url=https://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k33857g/f498.image |volume=4 |publisher=Société académique d'Agen |editor-first=P. |editor-last=Noubel |year=1877 |pages=496–497}}</ref>
|7= 7. [[Catherine of Foix, Countess of Candale|Catherine of Foix]]<ref name="Noubel1877"/>
|8= 8. [[Władysław II Jagiełło|Vladislaus II Jagiellon]]<ref name="EB-Casimir IV">{{Britannica|97968|Casimir IV, King of Poland}}</ref>
|9= 9. [[Sophia of Halshany]]<ref name="EB-Casimir IV"/>
|10= 10. [[Albert II of Germany|Albert II, King of the Romans]]<ref name="BLKO-Elisabeth">{{BLKO |wstitle=Habsburg, Elisabeth von Oesterreich (Königin von Polen) |volume=6 |page=167}}</ref>
|11= 11. [[Elizabeth of Luxembourg]]<ref name="BLKO-Elisabeth"/>
|12= 12. [[John de Foix, 1st Earl of Kendal]]<ref name="Noubel1877"/>
|13= 13. [[Margaret Kerdeston]]<ref name="Noubel1877"/>
|14= 14. [[Gaston IV, Count of Foix]]<ref name="Noubel1877"/>
|15= 15. [[Eleanor of Navarre]]<ref name="Noubel1877"/>
|16= 16. [[Algirdas|Algirdas, Grand Duke of Lithuania]]<ref name="Potašenko">{{Citation |last=Potašenko |first=Grigorijus |year=2008 |title=Multinational Lithuania: history of ethnic minorities |publisher=Šviesa |isbn=9785430052508 |page=30}}</ref>
|17= 17. [[Uliana of Tver]]<ref name="Potašenko"/>
|18= 18. Andrew Ivanovich of Halshany<ref name="Duczmal">{{cite book |last=Duczmal |first=Małgorzata |title=Jogailaičiai |url=http://www.melc.lt/documents/Sonka_(Sofija)_Alseniske.pdf |location=Vilnius |year=2012 |publisher=[[Mokslo ir enciklopedijų leidybos centras]] |isbn=978-5-420-01703-6 |language=Lithuanian |translator1-first=Birutė |translator1-last=Mikalonienė |translator2-first=Vyturys |translator2-last=Jarutis |page=30 |access-date=2018-11-14 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160305013958/http://www.melc.lt/documents/Sonka_(Sofija)_Alseniske.pdf |archive-date=2016-03-05 |url-status=dead }}</ref>
|19= 19. Alexandra Dmitrievna of Drutsk<ref name="Duczmal"/>
|20= 20. [[Albert IV, Duke of Austria]]<ref name="NDB-Albrecht II">{{NDB|1|154||Albrecht II.|Quirin, Heinz|118501615}}</ref>
|21= 21. [[Joanna Sophia of Bavaria]]<ref name="NDB-Albrecht II"/>
|22= 22. [[Sigismund, Holy Roman Emperor]]<ref name="NDB-Elisabeth">{{NDB|4|441||Elisabeth|Wagner, Hans|136846505}}</ref>
|23= 23. [[Barbara of Cilli]]<ref name="NDB-Elisabeth"/>
|24= 24.[[Gaston I de Foix-Grailly|Gaston I of Foix-Grailly]]<ref name="Noubel1877"/>
|25= 25. Marguerite of Albret<ref name="Noubel1877"/>
|26= 26. Sir Thomas Kerdeston<ref name="ThompsonHansen">{{cite book |first1=Neil D. |last1=Thompson |first2=Charles M. |last2=Hansen |title=The Ancestry of Charles II, King of England |year=2012 |pages=58–63}}</ref>
|27= 27. Elizabeth de la Pole<ref name="ThompsonHansen"/>
|28= 28. [[John I, Count of Foix]]<ref name="Courteault">{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=N_tAAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA23 |title=Gaston IV, comte de Foix, vicomte souverain de Béarn, prince de Navarre, 1423–1472 |last=Courteault |first=Henri |publisher=É. Privat |year=1895 |pages=23 |language=fr}}</ref>
|29= 29. Jeanne d'Albret<ref name="Courteault"/>
|30= 30. [[John II of Aragon and Navarre|John II of Aragon]]<ref name="Cambridge">{{cite book |title=The Cambridge Modern History |editor1-first=A. W. |editor1-last=Ward |editor2-first=G. W. |editor2-last=Prothero |editor3-first=Stanley |editor3-last=Leathes |publisher=Macmillan Company |year=1911 |page=80}}</ref>
|31= 31. [[Blanche I of Navarre]]<ref name="Cambridge"/>
}}

== References ==
{{Reflist|2}}

==Sources==
*{{cite book |title=The Czechs and the Lands of the Bohemian Crown |first=Hugh |last=Agnew |publisher=Hoover Institution Press |year=2013 }}
*{{cite book |first=Matei |last=Cazacu |title=Dracula |editor-first=Stephen W. |editor-last=Reinert |publisher=Brill |year=2017    }}
*{{cite book |first=Friedrich |last=Heer |title=The Holy Roman Empire |editor-first= |editor-last= |publisher=Phoenix Giant |year=1995}}
*{{cite book |title=Central Europe: Enemies, Neighbors, Friends |first=Lonnie |last=Johnson |publisher=Oxford University Press |year=2011 }}
*{{cite book |title=Customary Law in Hungary: Courts, Texts, and the Tripartitum |first=Martyn |last=Rady |publisher=Oxford University Press |year=2015 }}

== Bibliography ==
* Takings, Endorser: II. Lajos kinkily fiat (A Son of King Louis II Jagiellon), ''Salado'' (''Periodical Centuries''), pp.& NBS;183–185, 1903

== External links ==
{{commonscat-inline}}

{{s-start}}
{{S-hou | [[House of Jagiellon]] | 1 July | 1506 | 29 August | 1526 }}
{{s-reg}}
{{S-bef|rows=3|before=[[Vladislaus II of Bohemia and Hungary|Vladislaus II]]}}
{{S-ttl|title=[[King of Bohemia]]|years=1516–1526}}
{{S-aft|after=[[Ferdinand I, Holy Roman Emperor|Ferdinand I]]}}
|-
{{S-ttl|rows=2|title=[[King of Hungary]] and [[King of Croatia|Croatia]]|years=1516–1526 }}
{{S-aft|after=[[John Zapolya|John I]]|as=king of Eastern Hungary}}
{{S-aft|after=[[Ferdinand I, Holy Roman Emperor|Ferdinand I]]|as=king of Royal Hungary}}
{{s-end}}
{{Monarchs of Bohemia}}
{{Hungarian kings}}
{{Croatian kings}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Louis 02 of Hungary}}
[[Category:1506 births]]
[[Category:1526 deaths]]
[[Category:16th-century monarchs of Bohemia]]
[[Category:16th-century Hungarian monarchs]]
[[Category:Kings of medieval Bohemia]]
[[Category:Kings of Croatia]]
[[Category:Burials at the Basilica of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary]]
[[Category:Jagiellonian dynasty]]
[[Category:Kings of Hungary]]
[[Category:Knights of the Golden Fleece]]
[[Category:Monarchs killed in action]]
[[Category:Child monarchs from Europe]]