Hungarian Aristocracy

"Your Majesty, this is the historical document you requested regarding Andrew II's golden bull."

A rare guest was present in the Hofburg Palace library today.

Laszlo took an old-looking book from the old servant managing the library, sat down at the desk, and began to read it.

A golden bull was not something that could be easily issued; many monarchs used it only once in their lifetime, and its content was bound to have a profound impact on the country.

For example, the golden bull issued by Charles IV established the Elector system and recognized the independent power of the princes.

Today, describing the Holy Roman Empire as a loose collection of sand would be a compliment.

Andrew II's golden bull was even worse; this edict actually granted nobles the legal right to rebel against the king.

Laszlo had no idea how these words were combined.

However, he still found something he wanted to see in this document—the Hungarian noble bloodline theory.

In Hungary, so-called nobles were powerful lords who enjoyed various privileges and held seats in Parliament.

Noble status required hereditary succession, and one had to trace their family tree to prove that their ancestors were legitimate nobles to enjoy all the rights recognized in the golden bull.

This led to the formation of a relatively closed elite class in Hungary.

Over several hundred years of evolution, although lower-ranking nobles still held some privileges, their political rights were often low, and their finances were relatively strained, forcing them to rely on great nobles for remuneration and protection.

In addition, there were some wealthy and influential families and landlords who, due to bloodline restrictions, often suffered bullying from nobles but had no room for advancement.

This situation was largely fixed, but now there was one major exception—the Hunyadi Family.

Hunyadi Janos came from a lower-ranking noble family; his father was just a small knight who, due to his military achievements on the battlefield, was granted "Hunyadi Castle" by the king, and the family was thus named Hunyadi.

When Janos was young, King Sigismund, in order to counterbalance the kingdom's great nobles, promoted sons of lower-ranking nobles.

Janos was chosen to serve as Sigismund's guard and accompanied him to Rome for his coronation.

Later, when the Ottoman invaded, Janos rose through the ranks due to his military achievements, eventually becoming the border guard officer of the kingdom's eastern region.

The Hunyadi Family's territory also gradually expanded through successive grants, and by the time of Albrecht II, Janos continued to achieve military feats and receive continuous grants.

By the time Laszlo ascended the throne, the Hunyadi Family had risen from an obscure minor noble family to become Hungary's undisputed largest noble family, and this was even after Janos had repeatedly declined grants.

The Hunyadi Family controlled the territories of four counties in Transylvania, accounting for almost a quarter of the kingdom's eastern territory.

It is hard to say whether this was raising a tiger to be a future menace, but Laszlo clearly realized that a fierce man like Janos was indeed rare in the world, and promoting lower-ranking nobles was still the most effective way to counter the great nobles.

He also planned to go a step further on this basis.

As for wealthy merchants and landlords, he had to ruthlessly squeeze money from them to fill Hungary's empty treasury.

When he closed the book, Laszlo already had the answer in his heart.

He walked out of the library, summoned a servant, and ordered a Privy Council meeting to be convened.

Soon, the ministers put aside their affairs and rushed to the palace to meet Laszlo.

In the Privy Council meeting hall, Clemens Targut, the acting chairman of the Privy Council and Eyczing's assistant, attended the meeting on his behalf.

He was an experienced diplomat from Alsace and Eyczing's most trusted assistant.

The other attendees remained unchanged: Court Chancellor Aeneas, Finance Minister Jacob Fugger, and Marshal Adolf.

The High Justice of the Imperial Court was an important bishop from Vienna, who in principle held a seat, but Laszlo did not truly place the Court under the Privy Council's jurisdiction, but rather made it directly accountable to him as Emperor.

In addition, the temporarily established position of Royal Advisor also had the right to attend Privy Council meetings, but since Nicholas was elected Pope, Laszlo had not appointed a new advisor to fill this position.

"Gentlemen, this is my last Privy Council meeting before I leave Vienna," Laszlo began, "This trip to Hungary to convene Parliament is, in principle, just a normal meeting, but the Hungarian nobles make me very dissatisfied."

"Your Majesty, are you referring to their tax evasion and trade disruption? This matter has also had a considerable impact on our Austrian economy."

Jacob nodded in agreement, deeply convinced that the Hungarian nobles were indeed not good people.

"I think what worries His Majesty should also be the Hungarian nobles' resistance and fierce opposition to German immigrants, right?"

Clemens also had some understanding of the Hungarian noble problem.

"And the army, Hungarian noble private armies are rampant, and now the Hungarian Border Guard is also riddled with factions.

If not handled well, it could cause big trouble."

Adolf could almost be said to have fought alongside the Hungarian Border Guard for decades.

Back on the front lines against the Ottoman, he had many interactions with this army, and later in the Crusade, Bohemia, and Italian battlefields, this army was never absent.

However, this army obviously needs to change now.

"Is Your Majesty worried that the nobles will control local politics, weaken your ruling authority, and divide the country?"

Aeneas also had some insights into administrative management now; although Austria also had nobles, these nobles were not entirely without fulfilling their duties.

In the state assemblies, these nobles contributed a lot to Austria, unlike Hungary, where if they said they wouldn't pay money, you really couldn't get a single copper coin from them.

After listening, Laszlo sighed deeply; compared to Austria, Hungary was simply riddled with holes.

"Hungary needs a reform!" Laszlo cheered up and said firmly, but this firmness did not last too long, "However, we need stability even more. So all this must be carefully planned and slowly implemented."

"Adolf, let's first talk about the military affairs I am most concerned about," Laszlo looked at the old marshal and presented his idea to him, "The Hungarian nobles resist taxes, and now maintaining the Hungarian Border Guard is a heavy burden. I plan to establish a new system to alleviate the pressure."

"Please speak, Your Majesty."

Adolf was a little curious; the Emperor always had some novel ideas, but what would this idea be this time?