Desiderius Hédervári de Világosvár was a Hungarian medieval nobleman and soldier, one of the first members of the prestigious Hédervári family. He held important positions in the queenly court since the 1320s. He sacrificed himself protecting King Charles I in the Battle of Posada.
A detail of a miniature in the Illuminated Chronicle, which depicts Desiderius' heroic death during the Battle of Posada (wearing royal armor and crown with Angevin crest)
Világos Castle, today ruins near Șiria, Romania
Dezső sacrifices himself protecting Charles Robert, by József Molnár, oil on canvas in 1855
Charles I, also known as Charles Robert, was King of Hungary and Croatia from 1308 to his death. He was a member of the Capetian House of Anjou and the only son of Charles Martel, Prince of Salerno. His father was the eldest son of Charles II of Naples and Mary of Hungary. Mary laid claim to Hungary after her brother, Ladislaus IV of Hungary, died in 1290, but the Hungarian prelates and lords elected her cousin, Andrew III, king. Instead of abandoning her claim to Hungary, she transferred it to her son, Charles Martel, and after his death in 1295, to her grandson, Charles. On the other hand, her husband, Charles II of Naples, made their third son, Robert, heir to the Kingdom of Naples, thus disinheriting Charles.
Charles depicted in the Illuminated Chronicle
Charles's arrival in Hungary, depicted in the Illuminated Chronicle
King Charles Robert as depicted in the Chronica Hungarorum
The Battle of Rozgony depicted in the Illuminated Chronicle: in this battle, Charles defeated the sons of Amadeus Aba on 15 June 1312
