1.
Banknotes of the Hungarian forint
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Hungarian forint paper money is part of the physical form of the current Hungarian currency, the Hungarian forint. The forint paper money consists exclusively of banknotes, during its history, denominations ranging from 10 to 20,000 forint were put into circulation in correspondence with the inflation which raised needs for higher denominations. Recently, commemorative banknotes were issued as well, in 1946, the first series of forint banknotes were put into circulation with the denominations of 10 Ft and 100 Ft. As a consequence of their quality, many counterfeit appeared in a short time. From 1947, a series of banknotes were designed and put into circulation. These banknotes were printed until 1996 with different coat of arms, between 1997 and 2001, a new series of banknotes were issued with improved security features. The notes share the size of 154 ×70 mm. The banknotes are printed by the Hungarian Banknote Printing Corp. in Budapest on the manufactured by the Diósgyőr Papermill in Miskolc. The Hungarian National Bank has announced the withdrawal of the 1000 forint notes issued prior to 2006 and this affects the 1000 forint note from the current series, but without the red metallic strip on the obverse side, i. e. also the Millennium issue. These notes remained in circulation until August 31,2007, after this period, the note may be refused for payment. However, commercial banks may exchange these notes thereafter, the Hungarian National Bank will continue to exchange these notes for twenty years, until August 31,2027. The 200 forint notes were replaced with a new 200 forint coin in 2009
2.
Coins of the Hungarian forint
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Hungarian forint coins are part of the physical form of current Hungarian currency, the Hungarian forint. Modern forint coins have been struck since 1946 and reflect the changes of post-World War II Hungarian history, after the trauma of the Second World War and the hyperinflation of the pengő the Hungarian government had to face the problems of introducing a new currency. In the case of coins this meant that they had to express stability, the first coins minted in 1946 were made of copper alloys in the case of the fillér coins and aluminium in the case of the 1 &2 forint coins. Although the forint was based on standard, only silver coins were minted in the first 2 years,5 forint coins made of good quality silver were put into circulation. However, the government fear of hoarding these coins convinced the national bank to lower the mass, finally, no silver 5 forint coins were minted for general circulation after 1947. The 5 &50 fillér coins were first minted in 1948 and were made of aluminium, commemorative coins appeared early, the first being a series of 3 coins in 1948 to commemorate the centennial of the 1848 revolution. In 1949 the communist party took power in every field of politics, the countrys name was changed to Hungarian Peoples Republic which replaced the former name on the coins. The Kossuths coat of arms was replaced with the Rákosis one, the 2,10 and 20 fillér coins were made of aluminium after 1950. As a consequence of the Hungarian Revolution of 1956 the coat of arms was changed again, in 1992, a new series of coins was introduced with denominations of 1,2,5,10,20,50 and 100 Forint. Production of the 2 and 5 fillér ceased in 1992, with all fillér coins withdrawn from circulation by 1999. From 1996, a bimetallic 100 Forint coin was minted to replace the 1992 version, since the latter was considered to be too big and ugly by many, the 200 Forint coin was made of.500 fine silver. From 1994, mass minting of the 200 Forint coin was stopped, however, small issues for collector purposes were minted until 1998, when both the 1992 type 100 Forint and the 200 Forint coins were withdrawn from circulation. The 1 and 2 Forint coins were withdrawn from circulation on March 1,2008 and this was announced by the Hungarian National Bank in September 2007, pointing out that the cost of minting them is too high, approximately 4 times their face value. When paying with cash, the total is to be rounded to 5 Forint, the 200 forint notes have been replaced with a new 200 forint coin in 2009. The Chain Bridge was chosen in a poll between October 13 and October 26,2008 to be on the coin. The coin entered circulation on 15 June 2009, reportedly, the 1 Forint coin was illegally exported to Canada in significant amounts, as the tiny coin could be used in place of genuine tokens for entry at the underground railways automatic gates. This was a profitable venture that lasted until the machines were reprogrammed. The 50 Forint coin is confused with the UK50 pence coin by some vending machines in the UK, according to Hungarys new constitution, effective as of 1 January 2012, the countrys official name changes from Magyar Köztársaság to Magyarország
3.
Hungary
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Hungary is a unitary parliamentary republic in Central Europe. With about 10 million inhabitants, Hungary is a member state of the European Union. The official language is Hungarian, which is the most widely spoken language in Europe. Hungarys capital and largest metropolis is Budapest, a significant economic hub, major urban areas include Debrecen, Szeged, Miskolc, Pécs and Győr. His great-grandson Stephen I ascended to the throne in 1000, converting the country to a Christian kingdom, by the 12th century, Hungary became a middle power within the Western world, reaching a golden age by the 15th century. Hungarys current borders were established in 1920 by the Treaty of Trianon after World War I, when the country lost 71% of its territory, 58% of its population, following the interwar period, Hungary joined the Axis Powers in World War II, suffering significant damage and casualties. Hungary became a state of the Soviet Union, which contributed to the establishment of a four-decade-long communist dictatorship. On 23 October 1989, Hungary became again a democratic parliamentary republic, in the 21st century, Hungary is a middle power and has the worlds 57th largest economy by nominal GDP, as well as the 58th largest by PPP, out of 188 countries measured by the IMF. As a substantial actor in several industrial and technological sectors, it is both the worlds 36th largest exporter and importer of goods, Hungary is a high-income economy with a very high standard of living. It keeps up a security and universal health care system. Hungary joined the European Union in 2004 and part of the Schengen Area since 2007, Hungary is a member of the United Nations, NATO, WTO, World Bank, the AIIB, the Council of Europe and Visegrád Group. Well known for its cultural history, Hungary has been contributed significantly to arts, music, literature, sports and science. Hungary is the 11th most popular country as a tourist destination in Europe and it is home to the largest thermal water cave system, the second largest thermal lake in the world, the largest lake in Central Europe, and the largest natural grasslands in Europe. The H in the name of Hungary is most likely due to historical associations with the Huns. The rest of the word comes from the Latinized form of Medieval Greek Oungroi, according to an explanation the Greek name was borrowed from Proto-Slavic Ǫgǔri, in turn borrowed from Oghur-Turkic Onogur. Onogur was the name for the tribes who later joined the Bulgar tribal confederacy that ruled the eastern parts of Hungary after the Avars. The Hungarians likely belonged to the Onogur tribal alliance and it is possible they became its ethnic majority. The Hungarian endonym is Magyarország, composed of magyar and ország, the word magyar is taken from the name of one of the seven major semi-nomadic Hungarian tribes, magyeri
4.
Central bank
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A central bank, reserve bank, or monetary authority is an institution that manages a states currency, money supply, and interest rates. Central banks also usually oversee the commercial banking system of their respective countries, Central banks in most developed nations are institutionally designed to be independent from political interference. Still, limited control by the executive and legislative bodies usually exists, prior to the 17th century most money was commodity money, typically gold or silver. However, promises to pay were widely circulated and accepted as value at least five hundred years earlier in both Europe and Asia. The Song dynasty was the first to issue generally circulating paper currency, in 1455, in an effort to control inflation, the succeeding Ming Dynasty ended the use of paper money and closed much of Chinese trade. The Bank of Amsterdam, established in the Dutch Republic in 1609, is considered to be the forerunner to modern central banks. The Wisselbanks innovations helped lay the foundations for the birth and development of the banking system that now plays a vital role in the worlds economy. Along with a number of local banks, it performed many functions of a central banking system. Lucien Gillard calls it the European guilder, and Adam Smith devotes many pages to explaining how the bank guilder works, the model of the Wisselbank as a state bank was adapted throughout Europe, including the Bank of Sweden and the Bank of England. Established by Dutch-Latvian Johan Palmstruch in 1668, Sveriges Riksbank is often considered by many as the worlds oldest central bank, the lenders would give the government cash and also issue notes against the government bonds, which could be lent again. A Royal Charter was granted on 27 July through the passage of the Tonnage Act 1694, the bank was given exclusive possession of the governments balances, and was the only limited-liability corporation allowed to issue banknotes. The £1. 2M was raised in 12 days, half of this was used to rebuild the Navy and these modern central banking functions evolved slowly through the 18th and 19th centuries. The currency crisis of 1797, caused by panicked depositors withdrawing from the Bank led to the government suspending convertibility of notes into specie payment. The bank was accused by the bullionists of causing the exchange rate to fall from over issuing banknotes. Nevertheless, it was clear that the Bank was being treated as an organ of the state, henry Thornton, a merchant banker and monetary theorist has been described as the father of the modern central bank. An opponent of the real bills doctrine, he was a defender of the bullionist position, thorntons process of monetary expansion anticipated the theories of Knut Wicksell regarding the cumulative process which restates the Quantity Theory in a theoretically coherent form. Until the mid-nineteenth century, commercial banks were able to issue their own banknotes, many consider the origins of the central bank to lie with the passage of the Bank Charter Act of 1844. Under this law, authorisation to issue new banknotes was restricted to the Bank of England, at the same time, the Bank of England was restricted to issue new banknotes only if they were 100% backed by gold or up to £14 million in government debt
5.
Hungarian National Bank
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The Hungarian National Bank is the central bank of Hungary and as such part of the European System of Central Banks. The Hungarian National Bank was established in 1924 and succeeded the Royal Hungarian State Bank, the Hungarian National Bank lays special emphasis on its international relations and on participation in the professional forums of international economic institutions and financial organisations. The Governor of the Hungarian National Bank is appointed by the President of Hungary at the proposal of the Prime Minister for a six-year term, the most important decision-making body of the Hungarian National Bank is the Monetary Council. Its building is located in Liberty Square, in the Inner City of Budapest, the MNB maintains a medium-term inflation target of around 3%. This is somewhat higher than the accepted level of inflation for price stability in Europe. Hungarys Central Bank Act states, The primary objective of the MNB shall be to achieve, without prejudice to its primary objective, the MNB shall support the economic policy of the Government using the monetary policy instruments at its disposal. Demonetised or damaged currency can be exchanged in the head office as well as its two regional offices. In the Austria-Hungary era the Austro-Hungarian Bank was the bank of the Monarchy, but after World War I, it was dissolved. The first independent Hungarian central bank, the National Bank of Hungary, commenced operations on 24 June 1924, Hungarys Central Bank Act founded the Hungarian National Bank. The October 1991 Act on the National Bank of Hungary reinstated central bank independence, the Act LVIII of 2001 on the Magyar Nemzeti Bank established the Hungarian government and the MNB as the policy makers determining the exchange-rate regime. Since 26 February 2008, the forint has floated freely against the euro, on 20 May 2016, Fitch Ratings upgraded Hungarys corresponding debt status to BBB-, assigning a stable outlook to the rating. Economy of Hungary Hungarian forint Official site of Magyar Nemzeti Bank
6.
Mint (facility)
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A mint is an industrial facility which manufactures coins that can be used in currency. The history of mints correlates closely with the history of coins, in the beginning, hammered coinage or cast coinage were the chief means of coin minting, with resulting production runs numbering as little as the hundreds or thousands. In modern mints, coin dies are manufactured in large numbers, with the mass production of currency, the production cost is weighed when minting coins. For example, it costs the United States Mint much less than 25 cents to make a quarter, metals were well suited to represent wealth, owing to their great intrinsic value and their durability, divisibility and rarity. The first mint was established in Lydia in the 7th century BC, for coining gold, silver. The Lydian innovation of manufacturing coins under the authority of the spread to neighboring Greece. Some of the earliest Greek mints were within city-states on Greek islands such as Crete, at about the same time, coins and mints appeared independently in China and spread to Korea and Japan. The manufacture of coins in the Roman Empire, dating from about the 4th century BC, the origin of the word mint is ascribed to the manufacture of silver coin at Rome in 269 BC at the temple of Juno Moneta. This goddess became the personification of money, and her name was applied both to money and to its place of manufacture, Roman mints were spread widely across the Empire, and were sometimes used for propaganda purposes. The populace often learned of a new Roman Emperor when coins appeared with the new Emperors portrait, Ancient coins were made by casting in moulds or by striking between engraved dies. The Romans cast their larger copper coins in clay moulds carrying distinctive markings, not because they knew nothing of striking, casting is now used only by counterfeiters. The most ancient coins were cast in bulletshaped or conical moulds, the blank or unmarked piece of metal was placed on a small anvil, and the die was held in position with tongs. The reverse or lower side of the received a rectangular mark made by the sharp edges of the little anvil. Subsequently the anvil was marked in ways, and decorated with letters and figures of beasts. The spherical blanks soon gave place to lenticular-shaped ones, the blank was made red-hot and struck between cold dies. One blow was usually insufficient, and the method was similar to that used in striking medals in high relief. With the substitution of iron for bronze as the material for dies, about 300 AD, in the Middle Ages bars of metal were cast and hammered out on an anvil. Portions of the sheets were then cut out with shears
7.
Economy of Hungary
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The Hungarian economy is the 57th-largest economy in the world with $265.037 billion annual output, and ranks 49th in the world in terms of GDP per capita measured by purchasing power parity. Hungary is a market economy with a heavy emphasis on foreign trade. The country had more than $100 billion of exports in 2015, with a trade surplus of $9.003 billion, of which 79% went to the EU. Hungarys productive capacity is more than 80% privately owned, with 39. 1% overall taxation, on the expenditure side, household consumption is the main component of GDP and accounts for 50% of its total, followed by gross fixed capital formation with 22% and government expenditure with 20%. As of 2015, the key trading partners of Hungary were Germany, Austria, Romania, Slovakia, France, Italy, Poland, major industries include food processing, pharmaceuticals, motor vehicles, information technology, chemicals, metallurgy, machinery, electrical goods, and tourism. Hungary is the largest electronics producer in Central and Eastern Europe, electronics manufacturing and research are among the main drivers of innovation and economic growth in the country. In the past 20 years Hungary has also grown into a center for mobile technology, information security. The unemployment rate was 4. 3% in January 2017, down from 11% during the crisis of 2007–08. Hungary is part of the European single market which represents more than 508 million consumers, several domestic commercial policies are determined by agreements among European Union members and by EU legislation. Large Hungarian companies are included in the BUX, the Hungarian stock market index listed on Budapest Stock Exchange, well-known companies include the Fortune Global 500 firms MOL Group, the OTP Bank, Gedeon Richter Plc. Magyar Telekom, CIG Pannonia, FHB Bank, Zwack Unicum, besides these, Hungary has large number of specialised small and medium enterprises, for example many automotive industry suppliers and technology start ups, among others. Budapest is the financial and business capital of Hungary. 4%, on the national level, Budapest is the primary city of Hungary for business, accounting for 39% of the national income. The city had a gross metropolitan product of more than $100 billion in 2015, Budapest is also among the Top100 GDP performing cities in the world, as measured by PricewaterhouseCoopers. In a global city competitiveness ranking by EIU, Budapest is ranked above Tel Aviv, Lisbon, Moscow and Johannesburg, the Hungarian National Bank—founded in 1924, after the dissolution of Austro-Hungarian Empire—is currently focusing on price stability with an inflation target of 3%. In the age of feudalism the key factor was land. The new economic and social orders created private ownership of land, there are three forms of existence, the royal, ecclesiastical and secular private estate. The royal estate of the dynasty had evolved from the tribal lands. The origin of the private holdings dates back to the conquest tribal common estates
8.
European Union
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The European Union is a political and economic union of 28 member states that are located primarily in Europe. It has an area of 4,475,757 km2, the EU has developed an internal single market through a standardised system of laws that apply in all member states. Within the Schengen Area, passport controls have been abolished, a monetary union was established in 1999 and came into full force in 2002, and is composed of 19 EU member states which use the euro currency. The EU operates through a system of supranational and intergovernmental decision-making. The EU traces its origins from the European Coal and Steel Community, the community and its successors have grown in size by the accession of new member states and in power by the addition of policy areas to its remit. While no member state has left the EU or its antecedent organisations, the Maastricht Treaty established the European Union in 1993 and introduced European citizenship. The latest major amendment to the basis of the EU. The EU as a whole is the largest economy in the world, additionally,27 out of 28 EU countries have a very high Human Development Index, according to the United Nations Development Programme. In 2012, the EU was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize, through the Common Foreign and Security Policy, the EU has developed a role in external relations and defence. The union maintains permanent diplomatic missions throughout the world and represents itself at the United Nations, the World Trade Organization, the G7, because of its global influence, the European Union has been described as an emerging superpower. After World War II, European integration was seen as an antidote to the nationalism which had devastated the continent. 1952 saw the creation of the European Coal and Steel Community, the supporters of the Community included Alcide De Gasperi, Jean Monnet, Robert Schuman, and Paul-Henri Spaak. These men and others are credited as the Founding fathers of the European Union. In 1957, Belgium, France, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands and West Germany signed the Treaty of Rome and they also signed another pact creating the European Atomic Energy Community for co-operation in developing nuclear energy. Both treaties came into force in 1958, the EEC and Euratom were created separately from the ECSC, although they shared the same courts and the Common Assembly. The EEC was headed by Walter Hallstein and Euratom was headed by Louis Armand, Euratom was to integrate sectors in nuclear energy while the EEC would develop a customs union among members. During the 1960s, tensions began to show, with France seeking to limit supranational power, Jean Rey presided over the first merged Commission. In 1973, the Communities enlarged to include Denmark, Ireland, Norway had negotiated to join at the same time, but Norwegian voters rejected membership in a referendum
9.
Louis I of Hungary
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Louis I, also Louis the Great or Louis the Hungarian, was King of Hungary and Croatia from 1342 and King of Poland from 1370. He was the first child of Charles I of Hungary and his wife, Elizabeth of Poland, a 1338 treaty between his father and Casimir III of Poland, Louiss maternal uncle, confirmed Louiss right to inherit the Kingdom of Poland if his uncle died without a son. In exchange, Louis was obliged to assist his uncle to reoccupy the lands that Poland had lost in previous decades and he bore the title of Duke of Transylvania between 1339 and 1342 but did not administer the province. Louis was of age when succeeded his father in 1342, and he inherited a centralized kingdom and a rich treasury from his father. He launched two campaigns to the Kingdom of Naples between 1347 and 1350 and his troops occupied large territories on both occasions, and Louis adopted the styles of Neapolitan sovereigns, but the Holy See never recognized his claim. Louiss arbitrary acts and atrocities committed by his mercenaries made his rule unpopular in Southern Italy and he withdrew all his troops from the Kingdom of Naples in 1351. Like his father, Louis administered Hungary with absolute power and used royal prerogatives to grant privileges to his courtiers, however, he also confirmed the liberties of the Hungarian nobility at the Diet of 1351, emphasizing the equal status of all noblemen. At the same Diet, he introduced a system and a uniform rent payable by the peasants to the landowners. He forced the Republic of Venice to renounce the Dalmatian towns in 1358 and he also made several attempts to expand his suzerainty over the rulers of Bosnia, Moldavia, Wallachia, and parts of Bulgaria and Serbia. His attempts to convert his pagan or Orthodox subjects to Catholicism made him unpopular in the Balkan states, Louis established a university in Pécs in 1367, but it was closed within two decades because he did not arrange for sufficient revenues to maintain it. Louis inherited Poland after his uncles death in 1370, since he had no sons, he wanted his subjects to acknowledge the right of his daughters to succeed him in both Hungary and Poland. For this purpose, he issued the Privilege of Koszyce in 1374 spelling out the liberties of Polish noblemen, however, his rule remained unpopular in Poland. In Hungary, he authorized the free cities to delegate jurors to the high court hearing their cases. Suffering from a disease, Louis became even more religious during the last years of his life. At the beginning of the Western Schism, he acknowledged Urban VI as the legitimate pope, after the pope dethroned Joanna I of Naples and made Louiss distant cousin, Charles of Durazzo, king of Naples, Louis helped Charles occupy the kingdom. In Hungarian historiography, Louis was regarded for centuries as the most powerful Hungarian monarch who ruled over an empire whose shores were washed by three seas, born on 5 March 1326, Louis was the third son of Charles I of Hungary and his wife, Elizabeth of Poland. He was named for his fathers uncle, Louis, Bishop of Toulouse, the first-born son of his parents, Charles, died before Louis was born. Louis became his fathers heir after the death of his brother Ladislaus in 1329 and he had a liberal education by the standards of his age and learned French, German and Latin
10.
Matthias Corvinus
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Matthias Corvinus, also called Matthias I, was King of Hungary and Croatia from 1458 to 1490. After conducting several military campaigns, he was elected King of Bohemia in 1469 and he was the son of John Hunyadi, Regent of Hungary, who died in 1456. In 1457, Matthias was imprisoned along with his brother, Ladislaus Hunyadi. Ladislaus Hunyadi was executed, causing a rebellion that forced King Ladislaus to flee Hungary, after the King died unexpectedly, Matthiass uncle Michael Szilágyi persuaded the Estates to unanimously proclaim Matthias king on 24 January 1458. He began his rule under his uncles guardianship, but he took control of government within two weeks. As king, Matthias waged wars against the Czech mercenaries who dominated Upper Hungary and against Frederick III, Holy Roman Emperor, in this period, the Ottoman Empire conquered Serbia and Bosnia, terminating the zone of buffer states along the southern frontiers of the Kingdom of Hungary. Matthias signed a treaty with Frederick III in 1463, acknowledging the Emperors right to style himself King of Hungary. The Emperor returned the Holy Crown of Hungary with which Matthias was crowned on 29 April 1464, in this year, Matthias invaded the territories that had recently been occupied by the Ottomans and seized fortresses in Bosnia. He soon realized he could expect no aid from the Christian powers. Matthias introduced new taxes and regularly collected extraordinary taxes and these measures caused a rebellion in Transylvania in 1467, but he subdued the rebels. The next year, Matthias declared war on George of Poděbrady, the Hussite King of Bohemia, and conquered Moravia, Silesia, and Lausitz, but he could not occupy Bohemia proper. The Catholic Estates proclaimed him King of Bohemia on 3 May 1469, instead, they elected Vladislaus Jagiellon, the eldest son of Casimir IV of Poland. A group of Hungarian prelates and lords offered the throne to Vladislauss younger brother Casimir, having routed the united troops of Casimir IV and Vladislaus at Breslau in Silesia in late 1474, Matthias turned against the Ottomans, who had devastated the eastern parts of Hungary. He sent reinforcements to Stephen the Great, Prince of Moldavia, in 1476, Matthias besieged and seized Šabac, an important Ottoman border fort. He concluded a treaty with Vladislaus Jagiellon in 1478, confirming the division of the Lands of the Bohemian Crown between them. Matthias waged a war against Emperor Frederick and occupied Lower Austria between 1482 and 1487, Matthias patronized art and science, his royal library, the Bibliotheca Corviniana, was one of the largest collections of books in Europe. With his patronage, Hungary became the first country to embrace the Renaissance from Italy, as Matthias the Just, the monarch who wandered among his subjects in disguise, he remains a popular hero of Hungarian folk tales. Matthias was born in Kolozsvár on 23 February 1443 and he was the second son of John Hunyadi and his wife, Elisabeth Szilágyi
11.
Ladislaus I of Hungary
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Ladislaus I or Ladislas I, also Saint Ladislaus or Saint Ladislas was King of Hungary from 1077 and King of Croatia from 1091. He was the son of King Béla I of Hungary. Géza and Ladislaus cooperated with Solomon for the next decade, Ladislauss most popular legend, which narrates his fight with a Cuman who abducted a Hungarian girl, is connected to this period. Gézas and Ladislauss relationship with Solomon deteriorated in the early 1070s, Géza was proclaimed king in 1074, but Solomon maintained control of the western regions of his kingdom. During Gézas reign, Ladislaus was his brothers most influential adviser, Géza died in 1077, and his supporters made Ladislaus king. Solomon resisted Ladislaus with the assistance of King Henry IV of Germany, Ladislaus supported Henry IVs opponents during the Investiture Controversy. In 1081, Solomon abdicated and acknowledged Ladislauss reign, but he conspired to regain the royal crown, Ladislaus canonized the first Hungarian saints in 1085. He set Solomon free during the canonization ceremony, after a series of civil wars, Ladislauss main focus was the restoration of public safety. He introduced severe legislation, punishing those who violated property rights with death or mutilation and he occupied almost all Croatia in 1091, which marked the beginning of an expansion period for the medieval Kingdom of Hungary. Ladislauss victories over the Pechenegs and Cumans ensured the security of his kingdoms eastern borders for about 150 years and his relationship with the Holy See deteriorated during the last years of his reign, as the popes claimed that Croatia was their fief, but Ladislaus denied their claims. Ladislaus was canonized on 27 June 1192 by Pope Celestine III, legends depict him as a pious knight-king, the incarnation of the late-medieval Hungarian ideal of chivalry. He is a saint in Hungary and neighboring nations, where many churches are dedicated to him. Ladislaus was the son of the future King Béla I of Hungary and his wife, Richeza. Ladislaus and his brother, Géza, were born in Poland. Ladislauss physical and spiritual makeup testified to Gods gracious will even at his birth, the almost contemporaneous Gallus Anonymus wrote that Ladislaus was raised from childhood in Poland and almost became a Pole in his ways and life. He received a Slavic name, Ladislaus is the Hungarian version of Vladislav, Béla and his family returned to Hungary around 1048. Béla received the so-called Duchy – which encompassed one-third of the kingdom – from his brother, the Illuminated Chronicle mentions that Andrews son, Solomon, was anointed king with the consent of Duke Bela and his sons Geysa and Ladislaus in 1057 or 1058. Béla, who had been Andrews heir before Solomons coronation, left for Poland in 1059 and they returned with Polish reinforcements and began a rebellion against Andrew
12.
Florence
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Florence is the capital city of the Italian region of Tuscany and of the Metropolitan City of Florence. It is the most populous city in Tuscany, with 383,083 inhabitants, Florence was a centre of medieval European trade and finance and one of the wealthiest cities of the time. It is considered the birthplace of the Renaissance, and has called the Athens of the Middle Ages. A turbulent political history includes periods of rule by the powerful Medici family, from 1865 to 1871 the city was the capital of the recently established Kingdom of Italy. The Historic Centre of Florence attracts 13 million tourists each year and it was declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 1982. The city is noted for its culture, Renaissance art and architecture, the city also contains numerous museums and art galleries, such as the Uffizi Gallery and the Palazzo Pitti, and still exerts an influence in the fields of art, culture and politics. Due to Florences artistic and architectural heritage, it has been ranked by Forbes as one of the most beautiful cities in the world, in 2008, the city had the 17th highest average income in Italy. Florence originated as a Roman city, and later, after a period as a flourishing trading and banking medieval commune. According to the Encyclopædia Britannica, it was politically, economically, and culturally one of the most important cities in Europe, the language spoken in the city during the 14th century was, and still is, accepted as the Italian language. Starting from the late Middle Ages, Florentine money—in the form of the gold florin—financed the development of all over Europe, from Britain to Bruges, to Lyon. Florentine bankers financed the English kings during the Hundred Years War and they similarly financed the papacy, including the construction of their provisional capital of Avignon and, after their return to Rome, the reconstruction and Renaissance embellishment of Rome. Florence was home to the Medici, one of European historys most important noble families, Lorenzo de Medici was considered a political and cultural mastermind of Italy in the late 15th century. Two members of the family were popes in the early 16th century, Leo X, catherine de Medici married king Henry II of France and, after his death in 1559, reigned as regent in France. Marie de Medici married Henry IV of France and gave birth to the future king Louis XIII, the Medici reigned as Grand Dukes of Tuscany, starting with Cosimo I de Medici in 1569 and ending with the death of Gian Gastone de Medici in 1737. The Etruscans initially formed in 200 BC the small settlement of Fiesole and it was built in the style of an army camp with the main streets, the cardo and the decumanus, intersecting at the present Piazza della Repubblica. Situated along the Via Cassia, the route between Rome and the north, and within the fertile valley of the Arno, the settlement quickly became an important commercial centre. Peace returned under Lombard rule in the 6th century, Florence was conquered by Charlemagne in 774 and became part of the Duchy of Tuscany, with Lucca as capital. The population began to again and commerce prospered
Hungary
