Hus, John 361chases took on an obvious social snobbery. Consequently,
rulers maintained forests for their exclusive use. This sys-
tem excluded the peasantry from hunting and tried to
confine it to shameful and illegal poaching with the
threat of serious consequences if caught.
Hunting literature arose in the 14th century; its great
classic was the Book of the Hunt of Gaston Phébus
(1331–91), lord of Foix-Béarn, from 1387. This work
contained information on the natural history of the ANI-
MALSto be hunted. It described the world of raising and
training dogs. Phébus dwelled on the virtues of the chase,
indeed, asserting that all hunters—rich or poor, great or
small—would eventually gain a kind of afterlife in par-
adise where they could hunt.
Further reading:Frederick II, The Art of Falconry,ed.
and trans. Casey A. Wood and F. Marjorie (Stanford,
Calif.: Stanford University Press, 1943); John Cummins,
The Hound and the Hawk: The Art of Medieval Hunting
(London: Weidenfeld and Nicolson, 1988); John M.
Gilbert, Hunting and Hunting Reserves in Medieval Scotland
(Edinburgh: J. Donald, 1979); Marcelle Thiébaux, The
Stag of Love: The Chase in Medieval Literature(Ithaca,
N.Y.: Cornell University Press, 1974).
Hunyadi, John Corvinus(János, Johannes, John de
Hunyad)(ca. 1387–1456)regent of Hungary, commander
of the Hungarian army
Born about 1387, Hunyadi spent his youth at the court of
the emperor SIGISMUND and distinguished himself in
arms from an early age. The last years of Sigismund and
the short reign of his son-in-law, Albert (1437–39), wit-
nessed increasing Turkish pressure in southern HUNGARY.
Under both John Hunyadi had held military commands
as voivode of TRANSYLVANIAand as captain of Belgrade in- From 1441 on Hunyadi was constantly in the field
and inflicted several defeats on the OTTOMANS in
1442–43. By 1444 Hunyadi forced the Ottoman sultan
MURADto agree to a truce. For the first time since their
invasions in the late 14th century, the TURKShad been
thwarted by a Hungarian army. However, the king of
Poland and Hungary, Ladislas I (r. 1440–44), violated the
truce and in 1444 led a Hungarian army to a great slaugh-
ter at the Battle of Varna, where Hunyadi barely escaped
with his life.
HUNYADI AS REGENT
The death of the king again produced a domestic crisis in
Hungary. The new king, Ladislas V Posthumous (r.
1453–57), was a minor, and Hunyadi was appointed
regent of Hungary in 1446. In the face of seditious activi-
ties by bands of soldiers in the north and jealous threats
from the nobility, Hunyadi skillfully maintained political
order by playing off the interests of the lesser nobility
against those of the great magnates. He also reformed the
Hungarian army into an effective fighting force, which
was devoted to him.
After the Turkish capture of CONSTANTINOPLE in
1453, Hungary again became the main target of the Turk-
ish armies. Hunyadi defeated the army of Sultan MEHMED
II at Belgrade in 1456 earning the title “defender of the
faith” from the pope. Three weeks later, however, Hun-
yadi died of the PLAGUEon August 11, 1456. After King
Ladislas died in 1457, the Hungarians elected John Hun-
yadi’s second son, Matthias CORVINUS, king of Hungary
and under his rule Hungary flourished culturally and
materially.
Further reading:P. Engel, “János Hunyadi: The Deci-
sive Years,” in From Hunyadi to Rákóczi,ed. János M. Bak
and Béla K. Kiraly (New York: Columbia University Press,
1981), 99–119; Joseph Held, Hunyadi: Legend and Reality
(New York: Columbia University Press, 1985).Hus, John(Jan Huss)(ca. 1369–1415) martyr to a reli-
gious and nationalistic movement in Bohemia
Born about 1369 Jan Hus was a professor and preacher at
the University of PRAGUE. He agreed with the liturgical
and ecclesiastical ideas and provocative actions of his
compatriots Milícˇ of Krome ̆rˇízˇ (d. 1374) and Matthew of
Janov (d. 1394). The source for their ideas was the workA young man hawking, Giacomo Jaquerio (15th century),
Castello della Manta, Manta, Italy(Alinari / Art Resource)