Hungary, till, at the close of László IV.'s reign, a Wallachian Knes or chief, with his followers, joined the colony, and became its acknowledged head. He built the town of Kampelungen, and being speedily followed by more of his countrymen, laid the foundations of the modern state of Wallachia, which practically repudiated all allegiance to Hungary, whenever the King was not powerful enough to enforce respect for his claims. The remaining part of ancient Kumania (now Moldavia and Bessarabia) was in time again thinly peopled by Kumans and a few Wallachs, but the growth of the state was much checked by the repeated attacks of the Tatars, to whom it could offer little effectual resistance. So much then for the states which though mentioned in the title of her kings, were practically well-nigh independent of Hungary.

There were on the other hand certain provinces, called anciently 'partes subjectæ,' but more recently, 'partes adnexæ,' whose relation to the Hungarian state it will be well to consider. They were closely united to Hungary, so closely, indeed, as in some instances to be omitted from the title, and yet were not entirely one with her. The most important of these, Transylvania, was indeed considered as an integral part of Hungary, though to their mutual disadvantage, it was not incorporated with the parent state. In the general distribution of the conquered lands, it had fallen to the share of Tuhutum, and was held by him on conditions doubtless the same as those attaching to the possessions of the other chiefs. But, owing to its isolated condition, surrounded by wild and warlike neighbours, it may have been found necessary to give it a more independent and central government; and though Tuhutum's successor, Prince Gyula, struggled in vain for entire independence, the relations of Transylvania with Hungary continued to be of a nature all the more peculiar from the complexity of its own internal organization. For Transylvania was not even united in itself, but comprised three states, each almost as independent of the other as the whole was of Hungary, it having been always St. Stephen's policy to allow each nationality to retain as far as possible its own constitution. In the west, then, were settled the Magyars; in the east, the Székels; in the middle, the Saxons, and scattered among these were Wallachs, the remains of the original inhabitants. On the conquest of Gyula the younger, the western or Magyar portion received a constitution and laws similar to those of Hungary, and was governed by a Vajda or Stattholder, appointed by the King, instead of an hereditary prince. The Vajda was the chief judge in time of peace, the general in time of war. He occupied the left wing in the battle, at the head of his troops, and ranked fourth in order among the great nobles of the kingdom at the Diet. The Székels on the other hand, retained their own patriarchal constitution, even after their union with Hungary. They were divided into six tribes, and were all free, all noble, and all bound to serve in war. In consideration of their being always under arms, and guarding the eastern frontier against all enemies, they were not required to pay any tax to the Hungarian

government. But in time of war they furnished a contingent to the King, and on his accession and marriage, as well as at the birth of his children, they presented him with a certain number of oxen, a tenth part of which were handed over to the Archbishop of Gran.* The Székels were commanded by their Count, who was chosen by the King, and, like the Vajda, united in himself the office of general, judge, and regent.

The Saxons had at first no ruler of their own, but were placed under the jurisdiction of the Hungarian Vajda. This arrangement, however, seems not to have been satisfactory to them; and on their complaining to András II., he gave them the autonomy they desired, making them immediately subject to himself, and appointing the Count of Hermannstadt to be his vice-regent. The privileges granted to the Saxons, as the German settlers were indiscriminately called, were very great. They were allowed to choose their own magistrates and other civil officers; they had the right of forbidding any foreigner to settle in their district; they enjoyed the use of the royal forest; and three times a year, for eight days, they might fetch salt from the royal mines gratis. They paid tithes, not to the Bishop of Gyulafehérvár,† in whose diocese lay part at least of their territory, but to their own clergy, chosen by themselves; and, as a further mark of honour and distinction, they had their own peculiar state seal. They paid a yearly tribute to the King, and furnished a contingent of five hundred men, except in the case of foreign war, when, if the King led them in person they sent one hundred, but if his place were supplied by a noble, only fifty men. The principal district inhabited by the Saxons was in the middle of Transylvania, but there were other small colonies in different parts, and these were subject to the ruler of the district in which they lived, Count or Vajda, as the case might be. This was also the general fate of the descendants of the old Roman colonists or ancient Dacians, who, under the name of Wallachs, were to be met with throughout Transylvania. Little is known of their condition, but they probably found themselves better off under the Vajda than under the more exclusive Counts. Where many of them were congregated they had a chief or Knes, as he was called; and in time, as the power of the nobles increased in Hungary, many a Wallachian Knes was enrolled among the Hungarian nobility. Indeed, to do them justice, the Hungarians seem to have been animated by a desire of acting fairly by these ancient inhabitants of the conquered country; and they would no doubt have been glad to receive them as brothers, in spite of the difference in language and manners, had not the Wallachs belonged to the Greek Church. This more than anything else tended to prevent the amalgamation of the two races.

The Wallachs were represented at the Diet, which was the only common bond of union of the three political nations of Transylvania, and met to discuss only such subjects as affected the whole province at large. The first recorded Diet of Transylvania is that held by András † Weissenburg.

* Esztergom.

III. at Gyulafehérvár in 1291; but there is little probability of its having been actually the first, though the previous Diets may have been held by the Vajda, instead of the King in person. Besides attending the general Diet, each of the three political nations had its own assembly for the regulation of its internal affairs, according to its own constitution; and all the nobles of whatever nationality had the right to appear at the yearly Diet of all Hungary, held sometimes at Stuhlweissenburg, sometimes at Pest.

The political constitution of Transylvania, is, in its general features, a type of that enjoyed by all the annexed provinces of Hungary. One of these was the Bánát of Szörény, lying immediately to the south of Transylvania, between the Danube and Aluta. Like Wallachia, it had formed part of ancient Kumania, but desolated as it was by the Mongols, Béla had done more than take nominal possession of it. Being just on the frontier, it was important as a defence for Transylvania against her warlike neighbours; and Béla, anxious to have it in good hands, had at first placed it as well as great part of the rest of Kumania, under the government and protection of the Knights of St. John. But, from some unknown cause, perhaps because they could not fulfil the terms of the agreement, their occupation of the province did not last long; and the King appointed a Ban, to whom he also confided the government of the lately-won bit of Bulgaria, which afforded the Kings of Hungary the only pretext they had for styling themselves Kings of Bulgaria. The population of Szörény was a very sparse as well as mixed one, consisting of Wallachs, Kumans, and Bulgarians, but it was garrisoned by Magyars and Székels. Rama, a part of Bosnia, had become Hungarian property in the reign of Blind Béla, having been the marriage-portion of his wife Helena. Of the Bánát of Macsó, the northern part of old Servia, lying between the Morava and Drina, little is known, save that it belonged to the Greek Church. But it seems to have been a province of some importance, since Béla IV.'s son-in-law Rostislaw did not consider it beneath his dignity to become its first Ban.

Much more important, however, to the Hungarian Crown, was the possession of Dalmatia and Kroatia, which, as the Duchy of Sclavonia,' frequently formed the appanage of the Crown Prince. Sclavonia' it was called, owing to its chiefly Sclavonic population, but it must be borne in mind that it had no connection, save that of proximity, with the Sclavonia of the present day, lying between the Drave and the Save, which received its name at a much later period. In the thirteenth century, modern Sclavonia comprised the counties Szyrmia, Posega, Werschetz and the military frontier. It was no annexed province, but an integral part of Hungary, having been taken by 'Arpád himself; and Hungarian territory it remained till the time of the Turkish conquests. At the time of which we are writing, however, the name of Sclavonia was given not only to the whole dukedom, but also particularly to one part of it, the present Hungarian Kroatia, which had been taken by

'Arpád, lost by András I., re-united to Hungary by Béla I., and by him given to the native Prince Zwonimir, on whose death it was placed by László I. on a footing similar to that of Transylvania, with the unfortunate Prince 'Almos as its ruler. László had also effected the conquest of the chief part of what was then and for some time after strictly called Kroatia, namely the district lying beyond the Save, the modern Turkish Kroatia, comprising great part of Bosnia, with Montenegro as far as the Narenta. This also was placed under the government of Almos, but, though László had not attempted to incorporate the conquered provinces with Hungary, he had attached them ecclesiastically to the latter country by annulling their connection with the Archbishop of Spalatro, and giving them in his stead a Bishop of Agram, who enjoyed all the rights of a Hungarian prelate, and was under the jurisdiction of one or other of the Hungarian Archbishops. László's policy was also pursued by Kálmán, who not only reduced to order the insurgent Kroats, whom 'Almos was too weak to govern, but also made himself master of Dalmatia, the free cities on the sea-coast, and some of the islands. He was the only one of the Hungarian kings crowned in this part of their dominions. He placed the whole province, that is, Kroatia on both sides the Save, and Dalmatia, with the exception as we shall presently see of the islands and sea-board towns, under the government of a Ban, who might be either a Kroat or a Hungarian, and had the same duties to discharge as the Vajda of Transylvania, of whom indeed he took precedence in the Diet. The title of Ban, though subsequently very generally given to the ruler of any dependent province except Transylvania, seems to have been originally peculiar to Kroatia, and was doubtless adopted by Kálmán from a desire to conciliate his new subjects as much as possible. In spite, however, of his conciliatory policy and the protection he gave to the national customs, the laws and constitution of Hungary were soon introduced; a provincial Diet was established, and the Bánát, instead of Zschupanats, was divided into counties, each of which had its Lord-lieutenant or Count. The Ban took the right wing in the army, and the third place at the Hungarian Diet; but though he enjoyed many privileges, he could neither coin money nor ennoble. The Royal Princes, who were sometimes Bans or Dukes of Sclavonia, held the post on exactly the same conditions, in a legal point of view, as the ordinary Ban; and though, by favour of the King, their power was sometimes increased, they were still vassals, and held office only during the King's pleasure. The nobles of Kroatia and Dalmatia had their seats in the general Diet of Hungary, and possessed equal rights with the Hungarian nobility. The tribute paid by the Bánát was decided by the Diet, and consisted, at least in part, of marten-skins. The sea-board towns, Zara, Spalatro, &c., with part of the sea-coast, and the islands of the Adriatic, had never belonged to Dalmatia. Their population was Italian; they were free corporations, and recognized the authority of the Byzantine Emperor, as long as he was able to defend VOL. 9.

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PART 52.

them. On the decline of his power they sought the protection of Venice, as they were always more or less at war with the neighbouring Sclaves. Kálmán brought them under his power, but allowed them to retain their peculiar laws and customs, and gave them great privileges which were not enjoyed by Dalmatia and the Bánát. Andras III. did yet more, giving them in the Counts of Brebir hereditary Bans, who were entirely independent of the Bans of Kroatia and Dalmatia; the only bond of union with Dalmatia being an ecclesiastical one, as the Archbishop of Spalatro was head also of the Church in Dalmatia, and in Kroatia beyond the Save.

It is thus evident that the idea entertained by modern Pan-slavists, of there having ever been a triple kingdom of Kroatia, Dalmatia, and Sclavonia, finds no support from the records left us of the 'Arpád kings or their successors; for the relations of the Bánát to Hungary at the close of the thirteenth century were the same as at the close of the fifteenth.

The union was not a personal one, but the chief part at least of the province had been from the beginning one of Hungary's 'partes adnexæ.' The inhabitants enjoyed more privileges and exemptions even than the Hungarians; they governed themselves, had their own laws and civil arrangements, unless they preferred to exchange them for the Hungarian, and took an equal part with the Hungarians in the choice and coronation of the King, as also in framing the decrees of the general Diet. Such, in few words, were the relations existing between Hungary and all her dependent provinces. She made no attempt to denationalize them by the introduction either of her own language or laws; and they in return were too well satisfied with the treatment they received, to dream of revolting from her. Had they wished to do so, when could they have attempted it with a better chance of success than during the civil wars with which Hungary was so frequently distracted?

We must now turn to Hungary herself. The immediate effect of the Mongolian invasion had been to draw the King and his people closer to one another. But unfortunately, what the country gained by Béla's wise measures, it soon lost again by his wars. For the nobles were not bound to follow him beyond the frontiers; and, to induce them to do so, he was obliged to have recourse, not only to flattery, but to substantial bribes in the shape of offices and estates, which increased their power and independence to an alarming degree. Then again, to replenish the exhausted treasury he was obliged to oppress the people by farming the taxes to Jews, debasing the coinage, &c.; and he had not long to wait before seeing the consequences of these proceedings in discontent and rebellion. But for Béla's foreign wars, Prince István could never have ventured to take up arms against his father, and would certainly not have found so many adherents. The effect of the civil war was to increase yet further the power of the nobles, for both King and Prince vied with one another in lavishly giving away offices and dignities, in order to