Chapter 161 The Hungarian Civil War Breaks Out

Mary was crowned as the Grand Duke of Transylvania. The first order she issued was to divorce Sigismund, followed by declaring Orthodoxy as the official religion and suppressing the status of Catholicism.

In order to gain the support of the people, Mary also issued the first order in Hungary to protect peasants, prohibiting landlords from using harmful lynching on peasants, setting up peasant courts, reducing taxes, etc.

For a time, Transylvania had a new ruler, and all the rebels expressed their loyalty to him. The scattered forces began to unite, and under a new flag, they began to confront Hungary.

Sigismund was speechless when he received the news. He did not expect that his wife, who had disappeared for many days, would run to Transylvania and proclaim herself the Grand Duke. This was rebellion and betrayal of Hungary.

The Bishop of Buda announced the excommunication of Mary and approved Sigismund's divorce from Mary. At the same time, he was declared the only legitimate king of Hungary.

Almost all the nobles and clergy stood on Sigismund's side, including German immigrants and urban residents in Pannonia. Mary only has the support of the Vlachs and local farmers, so I have the advantage no matter how you look at it.

However, the long-term oppression of the Vlachs has made them more united than other ethnic groups. With the Orthodox Church as a bond, the Vlachs, who were originally scattered, have become a fist. It will be painful to hit them.

Moreover, Transylvania is mountainous, and the cavalry is greatly restricted, which is conducive to the local people's guerrilla warfare. The Hungarians will suffer.

The outbreak of civil war in Hungary disrupted Sigismund's plan. Although he is the future heir of the Holy Roman Empire, his core is still Hungary. And because he is often away from Hungary, a unique system of Hungary has emerged - the feudal earl lord who enjoys the royal power in the territory elected by the king and the people represents the king during the king's absence, and also acts as a mediator between the king and the people.

Now for him, stabilizing Hungary is more important than anything else. In order to prevent other countries from taking advantage of the situation, he also sent troops to Belgrade. It is not surprising to know who he is guarding against.

After the Battle of Skopje, several Hungarian nobles demanded that Sigismund be held responsible for the defeat, and even deprived him of his power and placed him under house arrest for several months. If there were no other circumstances, he would have been abolished long ago.

Under the rule of his father-in-law, King Lajos the Great, the entire Kingdom of Hungary reached its peak in the Middle Ages. People at the time commented that "its kingdom's territory reached three oceans (i.e., the Adriatic Sea, the Baltic Sea, and the Black Sea)". Now, the Kingdom of Hungary has ended its heyday during the Angevin Dynasty and entered the period of decline during the Luxembourg Dynasty. The local nobles in Hungary have risen and the royal power has been emptied. Although there has been some development in the economy, culture, and towns, the overall Hungarian royal power has fallen, the nobles have bullied the people, the Hussite War broke out internally, and even the status of the Balkans is about to be surpassed by Wallachia. This is all Sigismund's fault.

Now even his ex-wife dares to challenge him. This is intolerable. Although he is not very good, he has not fallen to the point where anyone can step on him. This is too much of a disregard for him. Now he is exactly the same as Bayezid. If he can't deal with Wallachia, he can't deal with you either. If I don't beat you into a pulp, my last name will be written backwards.

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On Grand Duke Mircea's desk, there is a letter from Trebizond. The ruler of Trebizond, Manuel III, requested an alliance between the two countries.

After stabilizing the internal situation, Manuel's father, Alexius III, set about solving the problem of Turkmen tribes' intrusions. However, due to the long-term destruction of the civil war and the weak national strength, Alexius III was also powerless to do so. The problem of Turkmen looting did not change substantially. In 1355, the Trebizond army was defeated by the Turkmen, and Alexius III himself almost died. Therefore, Alexius III turned to seeking marriage alliance diplomacy to ensure the border security of the empire. The extreme expansion of the power of the Genoese in Trebzon during the reign of Emperor Michael also aroused the vigilance of Alexius III. Alexius III introduced the Venetians to break up the advantages of the Genoese, but the Venetians were also not satisfied with the existing privileges. Instead, they colluded with the Roman Empire and instigated Rome to annex Trebzon in one fell swoop to gain greater benefits. Emperor John V's youngest son Michael Palaiologos led a fleet of three ships to attack Trebzon, but after only five days, the Roman fleet felt that it was too difficult to capture a heavily guarded city with such a large fleet, so it could only retreat in disgrace. Since then, the relationship between Trebzon and Venice has also been repaired.

But at this time, Trebizon was threatened by the Ottomans, and it was about to reach the border. Manuel could only send people to ask for help from Wallachia. I hope Mircea will send troops to rescue.

"Let's talk about it. Should we send troops or not?"

Most ministers refused to send troops. It was better to continue recuperating. Transylvania was fighting against Hungary, and this place was much more important than Trebizond. Why should we go far away?

Besides, Peter was already engaged to Princess Sophia of Palaiologos. What was the point of helping the Komnenos family? Would it make Constantinople suspect that Wallachia was going to form an alliance with Trebizond?

In that case, I won't agree. Anyway, they won't die for a while, and they still have a powerful ally like Georgia, so they don't need him. Let's stabilize Transylvania first.

Mary also sent people to Wallachia to ask for help, and asked for troops in exchange for the city of Belgrade. This gift is not cheap, but it is not easy to take a city that has been slaughtered and heavily guarded. Not to mention Serbia.

For this request, Mircea ordered Peter to send troops to help. With Transylvania, there will be a buffer between Wallachia and Hungary, and Hungary can be weakened.

After receiving the order, Peter allocated 6,000 people to camp on the Danube River, and then did not leave, because one step forward would officially trigger the war.

Having said that, he still had to help in the face of the request. So Peter thought of the way of changing the skin, sending the newly created Dragon Knights and Cossacks to Hungary for looting, and packaging the Negro Legion as mercenaries to enter Transylvania. They also provided 20 cannons and a large number of muskets, which was probably the most they did.