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Hungary Reconstruction
Bela realized that reconstruction would require the
magnates'
support, so he abandoned his attempts to recover former
crown
lands. Instead, he granted crown lands to his supporters,
reorganized the army by replacing light archers with heavy
cavalry, and granted the magnates concessions to redevelop
their
lands and construct stone-and-mortar castles that would
withstand
enemy sieges. Bela repopulated the country with a wave of
immigrants, transforming royal castles into towns and
populating
them with Germans, Italians, and Jews. Mining began anew,
farming
methods improved, and crafts and commerce developed in the
towns.
After Bela's reconstruction program, the magnates, with
their new
fortifications, emerged as Hungary's most powerful
political
force. However, by the end of the thirteenth century, they
were
fighting each other and carving out petty principalities.
King Bela IV died in 1270, and the Árpad line expired
in
1301 when Andrew III, who strove with some success to
limit the
magnates' power, unexpectedly died without a male heir.
Anarchy
characterized Hungary as factions of magnates vied for
control.
Data as of September 1989
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