History of Hungary

Hungary in its modern (post-1946) borders roughly corresponds to the Great Hungarian Plain (the Pannonian Basin) in Central Europe. During the Iron Age, it was located at the crossroads between the cultural spheres of the Celtic tribes (such as the Scordisci, Boii and Veneti), Dalmatian tribes (such as the Dalmatae, Histri and Liburni) and the Germanic tribes (such as the Lugii, Gepids and Marcomanni). The name "Pannonian" comes from Pannonia, a province of the Roman Empire. Only the western part of the territory (the so-called Transdanubia) of modern Hungary formed part of Pannonia. The Roman control collapsed with the Hunnic invasions of 370–410, and Pannonia was part of the Ostrogothic Kingdom during the late 5th to mid 6th century, succeeded by the Avar Khaganate (6th to 9th centuries). The Hungarians took possession of the Carpathian Basin in a pre-planned manner, with a long move-in between 862–895. The Christian Kingdom of Hungary was established in 1000 under King Saint Stephen, ruled by the Árpád dynasty for the following three centuries. In the high medieval period, the kingdom expanded to the Adriatic coast and entered a personal union with Croatia during the reign of King Coloman in 1102. In 1241 during the reign of King Béla IV, Hungary was invaded by the Mongols under Batu Khan. The outnumbered Hungarians were decisively defeated at the Battle of Mohi by the Mongol army. In this invasion more than 500,000 Hungarian people were massacred and the whole kingdom reduced to ashes. The paternal lineage of the ruling Árpád dynasty came to end in 1301, and all of the subsequent kings of Hungary (with the exception of King Matthias Corvinus) were cognatic descendants of the Árpád dynasty. Hungary bore the brunt of the Ottoman wars in Europe during the 15th century. The peak of this struggle took place during the reign of Matthias Corvinus (r. 1458–1490). The Ottoman–Hungarian wars concluded in significant loss of territory and the partition of the kingdom after the Battle of Mohács of 1526.