Cserni Jovan Uprising

The Jovan Cserni(His name was Jovan Nenad. He was also called Black Jovan (Serbian: Црни Јован; Hungarian: Cserni Jován), Jovan the Black (Јован Црни, German: Johann der Schwarze), or the Black Man (Црни Човек) or Emperor Jovan (Цар Јован). Đorđe Branković (1645–1711) called him Jovan Črnović (Јован Чpновић).) Uprising (1526-1527), also known as the Serbian Uprising in the South, was a movement led by Jovan Cserni, a Serbian paramilitary group in the South, who were settled by the Hungarian King János Szapolyai(John Zápolya)

Urising of Cserni Jovan (in the pink area 1526-1527)

Some historians and history books still judge the movement led by Jovan Cserni as a peasant uprising and compare it to the Hungarian Peasant War led by György Dózsa. The nobles had already branded Jovan Cserni as a peasant leader during the uprising. The motivation for this unjust judgment was that a significant portion of the nobility did not want to recognize the privileges granted to the Serbian soldiers, because in this way the Serbian soldiers would have been exempted from the burdens of the landlords and would have been directly accountable to the king only with obedience. In the first half of the 16th century, the powerful lords who were also opposed to the king often cursed and slandered their enemies, so the privileged Serbian paramilitary forces, who also had the rank of minor nobility[1], were called peasants. The nobility of the South, who had been forced to flee due to the Turkish invasions, wanted to return to their old estates after the Battle of Mohács, but the Serbs did not let them return, although they had no right to do so, and treated the lands allocated to them as if they had been theirs by ancestral right for a long time.[2] The enraged nobles, seeing such "comers" usurping their lands, also branded the Serbs as peasants. What makes this event even more than a simple peasant uprising is that the Serbs also turned against the Hungarian peasants of the South, who were also forced to flee by the war. The conflicts led to the Hungarian peasants fighting together with the lords against Jovan Cserni, who had deprived them of their right to free movement in 1514.

Estates of Zaapolya family

The Southern Region, which had actively participated in the uprising of György Dózsa, had not yet recovered from the shock of the suppression of the peasant war. The region, already devastated during 1514, was invaded by the Turks who captured Nándorfehérvár in 1521, causing even greater destruction. The soldiers of Jovan Cserni were just as aggressive as the Ottoman conquerors, so the peasants had one more reason to take up arms against the Serbs.

The Hungarian lords were not driven to act against Jovan Cserni solely by fear of their feudal rights, but also by xenophobia, which reached its peak in the country after the Mohács disaster. The Serbian insurgents also preferred to attack the Hungarian population, but at the same time, other non-Serbians could not hope for mercy from them either, although Hungary was not the only place where this happened at the time. Considering this, the Jovan Cserni Uprising was also an ethnic clash between the state-forming Hungarians and the Serbian minority. The lasting antagonism with the Serbs continued to exist because of this and other previous clashes. This was exacerbated by the fact that the Habsburgs wanted to use this antagonism against the Hungarians to their advantage. In 1526, Ferdinand I successfully turned Jovan Cserni against Szapolyai, and from then on, the Habsburgs played the "Serbian card" several more times.

Prelude

Hungary already had numerous national minorities before the founding of the state, primarily in the peripheral areas. However, no trace of a Serbian population can be found until the 12th century. The first Serbian dispersals arrive in the 1130s, as King Béla II's wife, Ilona, ​​is the daughter of a Serbian prince. Hungary supported the Serbian aspirations for independence against the Eastern Roman Empire. Although the Árpád rulers attempted to force the Serbian state into dependence, this in itself did not result in any serious conflict between the two states, and relations were essentially undisturbed.

The situation changed significantly with the rise of the Anjou, who followed the Árpáds. Charles Robert, while also fighting to consolidate his throne, had a disagreement with the Serbian king Stephen II. At the end of Stephen's reign, in 1319, there was a war between Serbia and Hungary, but Stephen III (Decsánszki) was already at peace with the Hungarians. A few years later, however, fighting broke out again between the two countries. Although the Serbs surrendered to their northern neighbor a few times, they successfully repelled several attempts at conquest. In this region, the Serbs had a very effective cavalry, which far surpassed that of the Hungarians, and most of the Hungarian forces that entered Serbia were destroyed. The conflicts became most acute during the reign of Stephen IV (Dušán): the Serbian state was at its peak at that time, and it was he who gave rise to the opposition. Stephen IV. Stephen began to forcibly convert the South Slavic Catholics to Orthodox Christianity, which earned the indignation of Pope Innocent VI, who turned to King Louis I. Louis therefore wanted to have his planned campaign in Serbia declared a crusade in 1355.

After the death of Stephen IV, his state was divided, and Louis had his fiefdom recognized by the voivode of Northern Serbia, Lazar Hrebeljanovic. For the next almost three decades, Louis led a series of crusades against the “half-faithful” Orthodox Balkan Slavs (against the Serbs and the Bulgarians as well). His violent conversions turned the Serbs against him, which was bad news because a new enemy had emerged in Europe – the Ottoman Turks.

The Turks, who followed the Islamic religion, continued their campaigns against Christian European states under this pretext, but for the time being they only attacked Constantinople, as well as the Serbs, Bulgarians and Albanians. Pope Orbán V saw that the crusades against the Orthodox should be suspended for the time being and all forces should be concentrated against the Turks in the Balkans. Louis himself saw this as a good thing, but since his first wars with the Turks were not too intense, he did not see any particular reason for concern from the Turkish expansion and continued to convert the Orthodox. This is why the Serbs and Bulgarians did not support the Hungarian kings, but vice versa, the Turks against Hungary. The Ottoman army later also willingly used the Serbian cavalry, which often proved to be better than the Turkish cavalry.

In the 15th century, the Serbian-Hungarian conflict took a new direction, and this time the two peoples would face each other on a much more serious level, which would become the source of future clashes. In 1389, in the Battle of Rigómeze, the Turks defeated the Serbs and their Balkan allies who supported them, which determined the fate of the region until 1913. Due to the Turkish attacks, many Serbs headed for Hungary and settled in the Southern Region, primarily in the territory of today's Vojvodina. Although there was no peace here either, because the Turkish attacks increasingly hit the southern regions from the end of the 14th century, the Serbs were essentially better protected, especially those who settled further north.[1] The Serbs fought with the Hungarians against the Turks, and they began to provide defense for the Southern Region. Of course, Serbs also fought on the side of the Turks. Serbia first becomes a vassal of the Turkish Sultan, then as one of his provinces. Some of the Serbs convert to Islam, but not as en masse as the Bosniaks, and many retain their language, but Christian Serbs also serve among the Turks.

Reorganising of the Serbs

The Transylvanian voivode János Szapolyai had fought a lot against the Turks since his youth, so he got to know the Serbs serving in the border fortresses. Like others, Szapolyai found them to be reliable and tenacious warriors, so he kept many Serbs in his service in the Transylvanian army. They also fought and defended Nándorfehérvár from the Sultan's armies during Szapolyai's campaign in Wallachia in 1522.

Márkó Szkublics died a heroic death under Zimony, and a voivode from Vencsánc, Pál Bakith, settled in Hungary and immediately entered the service of Louis II.

Szapolyai had a servant on horseback, whose origins are unknown. He claimed to be descended from Serbian rulers, but according to some opinions he was the son of a simple goatherd from Szerems. He was Jovan Cserni, who was nicknamed the “Black Man” because of a large birthmark that covered most of his body. Szapolyai also held him in high esteem because of his handsome and strong appearance, and he was also his obedient servant. He gained great respect among his Serbian compatriots, but in everyday life he was a rather wild, extravagant and reckless man. His merits were enhanced by his bravery in the Battle of Mohács.

After the capture of Szávaszentdemeter, the Szerém region practically came under Turkish rule, but Szapolyai had already made plans to regain it. The Turkish attack displaced the Serbs living there from this area, who retreated north to the regions of Subotica and Bács.

Szapolyai saw that it would be worthwhile to reorganize the border fortress line with them, which had completely collapsed between 1521–22. At the same time, these elements also represented a settler force, because the Turks had penetrated so deeply into Hungarian territory that many regions of the Great Plain were also depopulated.

The Uprising

Szapolyai settled Serbian groups in the areas of Bács, Solymos, Lippa, Karánsebes, Subotica, Timisoara and Lugos. Since Jován Cserni already had great authority among them, he entrusted him with the leadership of the Serbs, more precisely, he gave him the voivodeship power over the Bács, while Radics Bosics controlled the Serbs of Karánsebes and Lugos.

Serbs also settled in several areas of Bácska and the Banat, but their entry encountered very serious obstacles from the very beginning. With the Turkish retreat, many Hungarian peasants and nobles also wanted to return, primarily to Bács. However, the returnees found the Serbs here, and although the king had indicated which area they could occupy, many of them, resisting this, chose land for themselves at will. Jován Cserni did the same. Jovan and his horsemen attacked the Turks roaming around Subotica and Bács, who were occupying, among other things, the estates of Bálint Török. As soon as he drove them away, he declared that this territory was his property acquired by force of arms.

Közben sűrűsödtek az összecsapások a parasztok és a nemesek, valamint a rácok között a területekért, és a Délvidéken a helyzet egyre forróbb lett, mialatt a másik oldalon már német csapatok gyülekeztek a határon, és a törökök folytatták betöréseiket.

László Csáky, a nobleman from the south, also attempted an attack on Jovan, for which he paid with his head. By then, the peasants and nobles had all joined forces against the Serbs. This event is extremely incredible, because these individuals were mortal enemies of each other in 1514.

The lords then accused Jovan of wanting to ally with the Turks against Hungary, and therefore a crusade should be launched against him as soon as possible. Jovan was furious at this, and after defeating Csáky, he openly rebelled against Szapolyai, proclaiming himself the ruler of Szeremség and the Tsar of Bácska and Bánság.

By then, he had a large army (about 15 thousand people) at his disposal, and he maintained a separate capital in Subotica. He was surrounded by familiars: Radoszláv Cselnik was the deputy commander of the former Voivode of Szerems, Fabian Literat and Jovan Dolics of Irig served as bannermen, and Voivode Szubota Verlics was the tsar's treasurer and palatine.

To strengthen his power, the Serbian Tsar built palanquins and earthworks in his territory, and later even minted money for himself in Subotica.[1][2]

With the organization of Miklós Perényi and Gerendi, a significant army was already ready in Transylvania to attack the Serbs. Bishop János Perényi and Gosztonyi began a fierce agitation, the latter also encouraged the Saxons of Sibiu and Brasov to fight against Jovan's men, because in his opinion the Serbs killed everyone indiscriminately. This was partly true, because due to the clashes that developed in the Southern Region, the Serbs began to be cruel to the Hungarian peasants, and they even executed more than one.

The Transylvanian forces gathering in Gyula were joined by the rebel serfs from the Tisza region (their leaders were priests and teachers, as well as nobles), 16 Gyula horsemen and the serfs of the manor with separate captains. The Tisza people were also affected by Jovan's attack, so they voluntarily sided with Perényi.

When Ferdinand heard about the Serbian uprising, he saw this as a good opportunity to undermine Szapolyai's power and force him between two fires. He obviously knew that Szapolyai would not act consistently and harshly against the uprising, and because of this, many of his loyalists had already lost confidence in him (although among those organizing against the Serbs were also the voivode's old sworn enemies, such as István Báthory). If he continued to provoke Jovan, even more and more Hungarians would turn against Szapolyai. In addition, he could easily defeat him and even secure his side, because there was a possibility that Suleiman would not stand idly by if Austria attacked Szapolyai's kingdom. At the beginning of 1527, Ferdinand's armies had not yet set out against Hungary when Ferenc Révay, the archduke's envoy, was in Subotica with gifts, which the Serbian Tsar could not resist. He promised Jovan a lot of money in Ferdinand's name, and left him the southern border fortresses occupied by the Turks, as well as the territory he owned, as an heir. Jovan pledged to be loyal to the Habsburgs, to persecute all of Szapolyai's followers, and even to occupy Transylvania for Ferdinand.

Triumph of Cerni

Szapolyai also heard of the alliance between the Hungarians and Austria, and he could no longer tolerate this, because it became obvious that his power was also in danger.

In May, Jovan Cserni issued a proclamation calling on the Hungarians to surrender to Ferdinand, because Szapolyai was an ally of the Turks. Szapolyai then ordered Perényi to crush the uprising. Perényi immediately set out from Transylvania with his army, which was joined by peasants and noble rebels, along with reinforcements from the Saxon cities. Jovan Cserni did not remain idle, but defeated Perényi in the Battle of Szőlős, so badly that he could barely escape.

The Serbian insurgents set out from Timisoara on their Transylvanian campaign. As a result, they burned the lands of the Saxons all the way to Szaszváros. The Serbs from Hátszeg joined their uprising, but there were also Romanians of Orthodox faith living in this area. Jovan's men, despite belonging to the same denomination, did not spare the Romanians, but brutally massacred many of them. They then ravaged the region of Gyula, where George of Brandenburg, one of the pro-Habsburg nobles, had estates. The peasants of Gyula had already defied the Serbian attacks with arms and continued their fight. This clearly shows that the Serbs had no regard for those on Ferdinand's side: they killed and robbed everyone who was not of Serbian nationality. The Hungarian Civil War began at the beginning, but perhaps the bloodiest chapter of the entire conflict was the Serbian uprising, which caused the supporters of both camps to join forces, for once putting aside their differences, to free themselves from the increasingly vile army of the South. Although this alliance was natural at the time, because real partisanship only began later, when the supporters of the two kings actually came into sharp opposition, in 1534 they nevertheless produced a never-to-be-repeated alliance against Lodovico Gritti, who was considered a common enemy of all of them, just as they were now against Jovan Cserni.

Repression of the uprising

Although Jovan Cserni had organized a strong army, he began to demoralize after the victory at Szőlős and the ravages of Southern Transylvania. The Serbs plundered more and more and shed more blood, while the popular insurgents led by priests, nobles, simple teachers, captains, and even peasant captains and peasant leaders constantly tore and harassed the insurgents. Ferdinand's followers in the South, hoping that their lord would stop the Serbian leader who was also in his service, flooded the Archduke with messages pleading and begging him to stop the insurgents. Upon hearing of the terrible crimes, Ferdinand did not delay in sending János Hoberdanecz to Szeged, where Jovan was partying. Although he did not send the requested artillery equipment or give any gifts, he tried to persuade the Rác leader to stop torturing the Hungarian population, to stay in Szeged, and to fight against the Turks instead, but only when the Archduke entered Hungary with his armies. Since Jovan did not receive any gifts, he rejected Hoberdanecz's request, and the terror continued in the Southern Region, and the insurgents also attacked Croatia.

Török Bálint led an attack on Subotica on the orders of Szapolyai. The soldiers marched as far as Báta, but Jovan Cserni sensed their intentions and immediately launched a preemptive strike, killing most of the soldiers and driving Török and his remaining warriors away in disgrace.

Although Szapolyai's army was defeated at Fönlak, he joined forces with Perényi and launched an attack on Szeged on June 25, thoroughly decimating the insurgents. The peasants were already fighting everywhere against Jovan, whose army, due to demoralization and losses, had only 8,000 soldiers left. Since Ferdinand no longer promised anything, Jovan began to approach Szapolyai again, but in vain, as Szapolyai was determined to have a final showdown, and in accordance with this goal, he commissioned Imre Czibak, the ispán of Timiş county, and the bishop of Várad, to support Perényi with his soldiers and the forces of the people's insurgents, and to restore order in the Subotica and Szeged regions. The two leaders were supported by the peasants of the South, Szeged, Tisza, the Saxons, the voivodes of Karánsebes and Lugos, and the Romanian rebels. The combined forces of Perényi and Czibak destroyed the rebels near Sződfalva near Szeged. Jovan was mortally wounded in Szeged, who fled to Tornyosfalu. To avenge the injuries and defeats he had suffered, Bálint Török set out himself to take revenge on Jovan. Whether he killed or beheaded the not-so-recently powerful Serbian leader while he was still dead is unknown. He then took the severed head to Buda. In the capital, the news of the suppression of the Serbian uprising was greeted with jubilation by a huge crowd. Szapolyai recited Te Deum for the victory in both Buda and Krakow. Jovan's severed head was carried around and then thrown into the Danube.

Aftermath

The Serbian units that fled from Sződfalva also tried to find refuge in Szeged among the city's earthworks, but they were met by the city's citizens and the surrounding peasants.

During the defeat, the Rács fled en masse from the Bács region, while the Bosics Serbs, who remained loyal to Szapolyai throughout, remained unharmed. A Turkish chronicle exaggeratedly reports 20,000 Serbs who fled. These Serbs then offered their services to the Turks. In the battles fought between 1527 and 1528, Ferdinand's armies drove Szapolyai out of the country, who, having received no help from anyone else, turned to Istanbul. The sultan granted the request and pushed his troops into Hungary. Among the invading Turks were Serbs, former marauders of Jovan Cserni, who devastated the Danube-Tisza region with a barbarity reminiscent of the uprising, almost competing with the Turks.

These Serbs fought under Vienna in 1529, and a year later some of them were ordered to Buda, where, together with Turkish reinforcements, they defended the capital from attacks by Wilhelm von Roggendorf, one of Ferdinand's generals.

The lords started the fight, and the uprising broke out because of them, as in 1514. But what is important is that against these rebels, who had the rank of paramilitary but had free legal status, peasants fought voluntarily - even in separate movements, with their own peasant leaders - who had been forced into perpetual serfdom and disenfranchised by the lords just over a decade ago. Now they took up arms together against the Serbs! They had a compelling reason for doing so, precisely because of the atrocities committed by the Serbian rebels, which were almost no different from the devastations of the Turkish conquerors, which had recently affected them.

During the century and a half of their rule in the conquered territories, the Turks also established Serbian paramilitary colonies, which participated in the raids; In response, the border fortress knights responded by destroying these settlements, which still stirred up anger between the two peoples.

Sourches

• Csorba Csaba: Árpád örökében, Magyar Könyvklub–Helikon Kiadó, Budapest, 1996. ISBN 963-548-415-1 Search this book on .
• Kristó Gyula: Az Anjou-kor háborúi, Zrínyi Katonai Kiadó, Budapest, 1988. ISBN 963-326-905-9 Search this book on .
• Magyarország hadtörténete, Zrínyi katonai kiadó, Budapest, 1985, szerk.: Liptai Ervin ISBN 963-32-6337-9 Search this book on .
• Magyarország története, 1526–1686, Főszerk.: Pach Zsigmond Pál, szerk.: R. Várkonyi Ágnes, Akadémia Kiadó, Budapest, 1985. ISBN 963-05-0929-6 Search this book on .
• Mohács – Tanulmányok, szerk.: Rúzsás Lajos és Szakály Ferenc, Akadémia Kiadó, Budapest 1986. ISBN 963-05-3964-0 Search this book on .

References

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