October 20, 1700 AD, Buda Castle.
The majestic Buda Castle is located on the Castle Hill of the ancient Hungarian city of Buda on the west bank of the Danube River. The castle was built in 1247 by King Béla IV of Hungary to resist the invasion of the Mongols. Later, King Sigismund of the Luxembourg Dynasty (Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire, King of Hungary and Croatia, and King of Bohemia) changed the original building into a Gothic Kingdom. After 1541 until October 17, 1700, the castle belonged to the Ottoman Empire and was used as a military camp and mosque.
Today, this majestic castle belongs to Archduke Henry de Mancini, the liberator of Hungary, the defender of Christianity, and one who will definitely become a saint in the future!
The Austrian army led by Archduke Henry already felt a little "fighting crazy". After winning the epic victory in the Lakeside-Danube Battle, they did not stop advancing. Instead, they advanced all the way, chasing the Ottomans. The remnants of the empire were defeated and advanced towards the hinterland of Hungary!
The Austrian army captured the Djerburg Fortress on October 14th, and the Tautaubany Pass on October 16th... By October 17th, they were under the rule of the Ottoman Empire in Buda and Pest. Amid the cheers of Hungarian urban residents who had lived for more than a hundred years, they entered Buda and Pest as liberators.
However, Archduke Henry was not dazzled by the victory... He did not want to be the European version of Li Zicheng, so he did not station his troops in Buda and Pest. Instead, the two cities were ordered to elect their own representatives and municipal governments - which meant that Archduke Henry had granted Buda and Pest autonomy!
But...why would he do this?
It seems that he is not the owner of the crown of St. Stephen, His Majesty the Holy Apostle of the Kingdom of Hungary, right?
So who now owns the crown of St. Stephen?
Just as the Austrian army, which had been fighting for many days, set up camp on the plains under Buda Castle and Castle Hill, they were taking a short rest. The question of who owns the crown of St. Stephen became the most important concern for the senior generals in the Austrian army and the upper Hungarian nobles who came from Bratislava, as well as the lower Hungarian nobles who came from Buda and Pest. The question... of course, Archduke Henry himself didn't care at all about the Crown of St. Stephen, he didn't even know where it was?
Moreover, marching and fighting for several days was extremely tiring, and the pampered banker Grand Duke was exhausted. He had to take a good rest and make up for the lost sleep, so he slept all day long, even lying in the castle during the day. sleeping on desk in office...
"What do prince, earl, and grand duke mean? Is he a king?"
In the Church of Our Lady (Matthew Church) at the foot of Castle Hill, Cardinal Ferdinand Verbest, who had just accompanied Mary Anne from Bratislava, listened to Henry’s story relayed by Prince Karl and Count Eugen. The Archduke's words sounded ambiguous to Westerners, so he still asked questions in confusion.
He, a "China expert," was confused, and a bunch of Hungarian knights who didn't even know who Zhao Kuangyin was were even more confused. They opened their throats and started shouting.
"Yes, prince, count... should the Grand Duke be the King of Hungary?"
"Yeah, why can't he be right? If it's true, then let's do it. If not, we'll find someone else to do it!"
"Yes, being a king cannot be forced... I have always only forced others to be slaves. I have never heard of forcing others to be kings!"
What they said makes sense, you can't force others to be kings! Zhao Guangyi and Zhao Pu are so bad, why did they force Zhao Kuangyin to become emperor?
Now what does Archduke Henry mean by hesitating?
Everyone's eyes were on Archduke Henry's wife, Mary Anne.
Mary Anne frowned tightly, obviously also thinking about Archduke Henry's true thoughts... This Henry is good at everything, but he is a little timid, afraid of wolves before and tigers behind!
No, it’s not about wolves or tigers, it’s about the Roman Emperor Louis I!
But the Hungarian aristocrats who never knew that the sky was high and high were not afraid of Louis I... In the eyes of Westerners like Mary Anne, this nation seemed to think too highly of itself.
Of course, Hungarians' habit of valuing themselves is more or less a habit of Western Europeans. They were originally a nomadic people from the East. In the tenth century AD, they began to feudalize and established a relatively unified country. As a result, they became the object of competition between the Roman Catholic Church and the Orthodox Church, so they were highly praised. .
At that time, the ruler of Hungary, Duke Geisada, chose the Roman Catholic Church and asked his son Wojke to marry the daughter of Duke Henry II of Bavaria. Later, Wojk changed his name to Stephen when he was baptized, which is Istvan in Hungarian. . Later, Stephen led all Hungarians to convert to the Roman Catholic Church, which greatly gained the Pope's face, so he was awarded the Stephen Crown (symbolizing Hungary's independence) and the title of Holy Apostolic King.
Due to the flattery of the Holy See, the Hungarian nobles are a little dizzy... Their kings are all Holy Apostles. As the younger brothers of His Majesty the Holy Apostle, of course they are also very awesome!
Therefore, this group of people was not very willing to join the Holy Roman Empire in the early years, and now it is estimated that they are not very willing to become the Hungarian province of the Roman Empire.
Therefore, it is unlikely that Louis the Great could easily take Hungary... Besides, he did not liberate Hungary!
"Henry doesn't want to be an apostle king," Mary Anne already understood her husband's thoughts, she said with a smile, "because his status is a bit special... His biological father is the emperor of the Eastern Ming Empire!
If he were crowned king, it would arouse alarm in Rome. If there is a misunderstanding with Rome, it will affect our actions to liberate the entire Balkans and Constantinople! "
"Grand Duchess, you said you want to liberate the entire Balkans and Constantinople?" Count Eugen was stunned. He had no idea such a thing existed.
In fact, neither Archduke Henry, Count Eugen, nor John Churchill thought about liberating the entire Balkans and Constantinople - if it came to that step, Henry would not be the King of Hungary and the Archduke of Austria, but It's the emperor of the Eastern Roman Empire!
Then he and Emperor Louis should not fight?
Moreover, the territory of the Balkan Peninsula seems to have little oil and water! That is to say, the Danube River Basin is slightly better - the Danube River leads directly to the Black Sea, and its navigation capacity is not weak. The economies along the way are relatively developed, making it a golden waterway. If the Danube River Basin region from Lower Austria to the east can be pinched together, there may be considerable economic value.
But the rest of the Balkan Peninsula...that is, Istanbul, which is stuck on the Black Sea and the Mediterranean Sea, has some value.
But the fruit of Istanbul was so tough that Archduke Henry didn’t even want to touch it.
Therefore, liberating the entire Balkans and regaining Constantinople was not in Henry, Eugen, and Churchill's plans at all.
Mary Anne had a different idea. She nodded and said: "Of course we should act together with the Roman Empire, the Rakshasa Empire, and the Kingdom of Poland, with the goal of liberating the entire Balkan Peninsula and regaining Constantinople... .This is of course also Henry’s goal!
The reason why he did not want to wear the crown of St. Stephen was that he was worried that becoming the king of Hungary would cause dissatisfaction in the West! "
It seems to make sense!
Prince Carl frowned and asked: "Mom, are we going to give the St. Stephen's crown to someone else?"
How unwilling this is!
"No," Mary Anne shook her head resolutely, her face darkened, and she said sternly: "This is the crown given to us by God, no one else dares to covet it!"
She paused and then said: "Since it is not convenient for Henry to wear the crown of St. Stephen, then...I, Marie Anne de Bourbon, the daughter of the Roman Emperor Louis I, and the wife of the Austrian Archduke Henry I , willing to replace Henry as the Holy Apostle King of Hungary!”
