the text - Corvinus Library - Hungarian History

systematic introduction of these people, on among others - the lands
of the Cistertian Abbey. The Turkish menace tightened the links
between the Hungarian kingdom and its southern Slav neighbours.
From the 14th century on, the Serbian Principality bore the brunt of
the Turkish attacks; so they sought an alliance with their northern
neighbor, the Hungarian Kingdom. In 1404, Sigismond, King of
Hungary, entered into an alliance with Istvan Lazarovich, the
reigning Serbian prince who became the king's vassal in exchange
for military assistance. In the meantime, as they needed more and
more help, the Principality left the defense of several of their most
important forts to the Hungarian soldiers. In 1427 they ceded
Nandorfehervar (present-day Belgrade) and several forts in the
province of Macso to the Hungarian Kingdom. The aristocrats and
noblemen who lost their estates to the Turkish expansion received
land in Hungary. Istvan Lazarovich himself and later Gyorgy
Brankovich, both reigning princes, received substantial estates in
Hungary where they also settled Serbians. But these were not only
their men; they were also true refugees. The oldest such settlements
are Kiskeve and Rackeve on the Island of Csepel where the Easternrite
Catholics enjoyed full freedom of religion and a tax-exempt
status. Independently of the above process, in the course of the 15th
century, an important number of Serbian refugees settled in
Hungary's southern border counties. Their numbers increased
significantly after Serbia's fall to the Turks in 1459. Thus, in 1464,
King Mathias settled several tens of thousands of Serbs in Nagylak
and the region along the Maros (river). His policy was greatly
influenced by his counting on these Serbs as future soldiers. Some
five-thousand Serbian cavalrymen served in his famous "Black
Army". The boatmen, crucial to the defense of his southern borders,
were also almost exclusively Serbians. By that time, the Serbian
population in our country - settlers or refugees - numbered over
200,000; it was augmented by another 100,000 under the reign of
Ulaszlo I and Louis II *1.
King Mathias gave tax-exempt status to the refugees also. A
1481 document gives an insight into his thinking : "...they should
prosper under the reign of the Holy Crown and that their example be
followed by others living under Turkish rule. Noting the exceptional
treatment enjoyed by those who came before them, they should be
ready to come into our land."
Thus were formed on Hungarian soil the most important
settlements along the Danube and other rivers in Tolna county, in the
vicinity of Pest and Buda, in Rackeve and Szentendre, to name just
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