Chapter 108 The Peasants’ Situation

The relationship between Sigismund and Mary is difficult to improve. There must be a contest between the two sides. Although Sigismund will not pay anything, Mary will definitely pay with her life.

Although Peter can enter the horse training ground under certain conditions, he can't see Queen Mary every day. For this reason, he can only pay more ducats to let the person in charge tell her whereabouts.

"Since you are so generous, why don't you just meet the king directly?" said the person in charge.

"Too many people want to see the king. If this goes on, when will they see him? So I plan to use a different way."

"So that's it"

The person in charge told Sigismund that he would not be here, but Queen Mary would often ride horses here. This is enough for Peter.

Queen Mary died in a horse riding accident when she was six months pregnant, and one body killed two people. Many people suspected that her husband Sigismund did it, but there was no evidence to prove that either he did not do it or he covered it up too well.

After finding out about Mary's itinerary, the next step is to wait for her to appear. After all, he didn't know when Sigismund would take action, but it should be soon.

During this time, Peter also went to Buda to have a look. Agriculture was very good, with a large amount of grain and livestock traded in the market, but the bulk of the trade was taken by the nobles, and the peasants and serfs lived a miserable life.

Hungary's trade was similar to Poland's, both of which were mainly agricultural products. They sent a large amount of grain and primary products to Western Europe in exchange for handicrafts.

The strength of the nobles and the glory of agricultural production are inseparable, but this result led to the formation of an aristocratic democratic state in Hungary and Poland while a monarchical centralized state was formed in Western Europe. The Hungarian nobles made huge profits by exporting agricultural products, but these profits were not used for reproductive investment, let alone expansion. Most of the nobles had no interest in trade, transportation, etc., and were only satisfied with the merchants from all over Europe rushing to their territories and manors.

"No wonder they did not agree to an alliance. It turns out that they have lost the courage to forge ahead."

Peter's evaluation of the Hungarian nobles was sharp. After all, land is the biggest asset. Since there is land, why take risks?

In the suburbs of Pest, a simple Orthodox church stands here. This is for merchants and travelers who do business in Hungary. It is also a secret station of the Andrew Society in Hungary. ,

Under the influence of the dioceses of Wallachia and Transylvania, people in other parts of Hungary gradually converted. But they suffered hostility from the Catholic Church and the nobility. Whether in towns or in the countryside, they would be obstructed from preaching. The same is true for the location of the church. This place was saved with great difficulty.

After Peter prayed here, he chatted with the priest and asked about the difficulties he encountered in Hungary.

The priest told Peter that the Hungarian nobles and the Catholic Church were ostracized. Although the Orthodox Church had taken root, it was mainly in Transylvania, and other places were developing slowly. It was not easy to achieve such results, not to mention that the church insisted on it.

Peter did not say much, but turned around and asked the Wallachian merchants doing business in the local area what goods were the most profitable in Hungary. The merchants answered that it was silk and luxury goods.

Well, it's the same as Poland.

At this time, most of the land in Poland was still forests and swamps, and it would take until the 16th century to be reclaimed. Now Hungary is the real paradise. The Pannonia Plain was one of the most productive places. After being invaded by foreign tribes, it quickly stabilized and became one of the powerful countries in Europe. In the 14th and 15th centuries, the Kingdom of Hungary began to expand foreign trade, especially with Italy and Venice. At the same time, Hungary's industry began to develop, especially the steel, textile and leather industries gradually became one of the pillars of the economy.

Although Wallachia also has fertile land, it has less time for development and is now incomparable to the Great Plain of Hungary. If it forms an alliance with Hungary, the rich grain can be used by him.

Just then, a quarrel broke out outside. Peter looked out and saw several people holding a peasant, followed by a gorgeously dressed landlord and a fierce-looking follower.

"I ask you, when will your family pay back the rent and taxes that have been owed for several years?"

"Master, my family really has nothing left. Can you give me a few more days?"

The master looked at the peasant who was begging desperately, with a sly smile on his face.

"Grace, it's been a month, how long do you want to wait? You really think I'm doing good things, right?"

"Master," the peasant stepped forward and kissed his feet. "Please"

"It's really bad now. Since you can't pay, then use your daughter as collateral!"

"Master..."

Peter looked at this scene and had a new understanding of the situation of Hungarian peasants.

"Who is this person?"

"Sir, he lives in Norfolk nearby. According to their family tree, their ancestors fought with King Stephen, so they were rewarded with a lot of land. With continuous purchases, they are now very famous landlords."

In the pastor's explanation, the most famous thing about this Norfolk master is not his wealth, but his greed. He squeezed the peasants and serfs under him very hard. Not only did they have to give him two-thirds of their annual income, but they also had to work for him four days a week. If you can't make ends meet, you can borrow food from him, but the interest rate is so high that you can't pay it back at all.

"Is this just an isolated case?"

"Almost all Hungarian nobles are like this, but to different degrees."

Hungarian agriculture is based on serfdom. Most of the land belongs to the nobles, and the peasants can only farm on the nobles' territories and provide labor and taxes for the nobles. The status of the peasants is relatively low and they live in poverty.

In the process of Hungary's economic development, agriculture has always occupied a very important position. In the early Middle Ages, Hungarian agriculture was mainly self-sufficient, with only the crops and livestock grown by the peasants themselves to sustain their lives. However, with the growth of the Hungarian population, the area of ​​arable land and pastures of the peasants gradually decreased, which led to difficulties in agricultural production.

In order to solve this problem, the king of Hungary began to grant land to the nobles and the church so that they could start to cultivate these lands. In this process, the peasants began to become tenants of the nobles and the church, and they needed to pay rent to the landowners in exchange for the right to use the land.

In Hungarian rural society, the nobles and the church are the dominant classes, who usually own a lot of land and resources and hold political and economic power. In this case, Hungarian peasants can usually only rely on the protection and support of the landowners to maintain their production and life.

"So that's it," Peter said, and began to think about how to break the Hungarian nobles.