John Hunyadi

John Hunyadi (c. 1406 – 11 August 1456) was a major Hungarian military commander and statesman in the 1400s, acting as regent of the Kingdom of Hungary from 1446 to 1453 while King Ladislaus V was still a child. Contemporary sources generally agree that he came from a noble family with Wallachian roots. His campaigns against the Ottoman Empire earned him the nickname "Turk-buster" from the people of his time.

Hunyadi honed his military abilities along Hungary’s southern border, where Ottoman raids were frequent. He was made Ban of Szörény in 1439, and by 1441 he held the posts of Voivode of Transylvania, Count of the Székelys, and Chief Captain of Nándorfehérvár (modern-day Belgrade), along with authority over several southern counties, putting him in charge of frontier defense. He adopted the Hussite tactic of using wagons in battle, hired professional soldiers, and also rallied local peasants to fight invaders. These methods led to his early victories against Ottoman raiders in the early 1440s.

In 1442, Hunyadi won four battles against the Ottomans, two of them decisive. In March, he defeated Mezid Bey’s raiding force at the Battle of Szeben in Transylvania. That September, he crushed a large Ottoman army led by Beylerbey Şehabeddin, the Provincial Governor of Rumelia. This was the first time a European army had overcome such a substantial Ottoman force, which included not just raiders but provincial cavalry under their own sanjak beys and the elite janissaries. Although he lost at the Battle of Varna in 1444 and the Second Battle of Kosovo in 1448, his successful "Long Campaign" through the Balkan Mountains in 1443–44 and his defense of Belgrade in 1456 against the sultan’s personal command cemented his reputation as a great general. The pope ordered church bells to ring at noon across Europe, calling the faithful to pray for the fighters, and Christian bells still ring at noon to mark the Belgrade victory.

Hunyadi was also a skilled politician. He took part in the civil war of the early 1440s between supporters of Wladislas I and the young Ladislaus V, siding with Wladislas. Popular among the lesser nobility, he was chosen by the Diet of Hungary in 1445 as one of seven "Captains in Chief" to run state affairs until Ladislaus V—now accepted as king by all—came of age. The next Diet elevated him to sole regent with the title of governor. When he resigned in 1452, the king granted him the first hereditary title in the kingdom: perpetual count of Beszterce (Bistrița). By then one of Hungary’s richest landowners, he kept his influence in the Diet until his death.

Called "Athleta Christi" (Christ’s Champion) by Pope Pius II, Hunyadi died about three weeks after his triumph at Belgrade, succumbing to an epidemic that swept through the crusader camp. His victories kept the Ottomans from invading Hungary for over sixty years. His fame helped secure the election of his son, Matthias Corvinus, as king by the Diet in 1457. Hunyadi remains a popular historical figure among Hungarians, Romanians, Serbs, Bulgarians, Croats, and other peoples of the region.