When the Hungarian king Andrew III died without an heir in 1301, the network of intermarriages that defined medieval European politics all but guaranteed a struggle for succession among several royal houses. Through his Hungarian grandmother, the eleven-year-old Caroberto of Naples exerted his claim to the throne and was crowned Charles I of Hungary, establishing a new dynasty. During Charles I's reign and that of his son, Louis the Great, Hungary established a centralized, wealthy state whose power extended into Croatia, Poland, and the Mediterranean, with leadership of Hungary and Poland questioned once again when Louis's daughters, Mary and Hedvig, were placed in the direct line of succession.
The Angevins in Hungary 1301-1395 presents not only the history of the Capetian House of Anjou's reign in the Kingdom of Hungary, but also the family's ruling framework in Naples and Italy and the changing relationship between its Italian and Hungarian branches. It also explores the Hungarian branch's rule in Poland and central Europe, its connections to the Hungarian House of Árpád, and its interactions with the Ottoman Empire and the Mongols. Drawing on sources ranging from traditional records to newly digitized international archives, author Eniko Csukovits brings unprecedented clarity to the history of medieval Hungary, revealing not only how the House of Anjou shaped Hungarian history but also how its demise redrew Europe's dynastic map.
Restoring medieval Hungary's prominence within medieval Europe's international landscape of politics and court culture, The Angevins in Hungary 1301-1395 tells the story of the rise and fall of Hungary's kings and queens at a time of historical transition.
