János Zápolya was born around 1487 to István Zápolya and Jadwiga of Cieszyn. The Zápolya were an influential noble family in Hungary, with István's elder brother, Imre, becoming the Palatine of Hungary, the highest ranking official after the king. 1/10
The death of the king of Hungary in 1490 led to the election of Polish prince Władysław as king. István Zápolya was among his supporters, and he would later become Palatine of Hungary as well. Władysław, however, had to make a treaty with the Habsburgs to confirm his claim. 2/10
The treaty allowed for the Austrian Habsburgs to succeed Władysław in case he died without legitimate male heir. But this led to opposition from Hungarians. In 1505 at the Diet of Rákos, János Zápolya moved the motion to ban foreign princes from ruling Hungary. 3/10
Though the motion passed, the king opposed it. The question of Habsburg succession got delayed when Władysław's son, Lajos, was born in 1506. But Władysław also agreed to marry his other child, elder daughter Anna, to the Habsburg prince, Ferdinand. 4/10
After his father's death in 1499, János Zápolya emerged as a prominent noble in the pro Hungarian faction of Hungary. In 1511, King Władysław appointed János as the voivode of Transylvania, the eastern part of Hungary, where he had to suppress rebellions. 5/10
Lajos succeeded as king in 1516. Still too young to rule, he had to depend on others to rule. Among them was the new Palatine of Hungary, István Báthori. The rivalry between Báthori and Zápolya was among the factors in the loss of Belgrade to the Ottomans in 1521. 6/10
The situation worsened in 1526, when the Ottomans attacked again at Mohács. Among the dead were György Zápolya, the younger brother of János Zápolya, and the Hungarian king Lajos. Though the Ottomans left, the kingdom of Hungary was in complete disarray. 7/10
János was crowned king, but another faction proclaimed the Habsburg prince, Ferdinand (and Władysław's son-in-law) as king. János sought the support of the Ottomans, who returned to Hungary and invaded Austria, besieging the Habsburg capital, Vienna, in 1529. 8/10
The Ottomans took over central Hungary with its capital, Buda. János ruled the eastern parts centred around Transylvania as Ottomans vassals, while the Habsburgs controlled the western and northern part. Bohemia and Croatia also went to the Habsburgs. 9/10
János died in 1540 and was succeeded by his son. His part of Hungary evolved into Ottoman principality of Transylvania. Habsburgs recaptured Hungary by 1699, but after their collapse in 1918, the three divisions became part of Slovakia, Hungary and Romania (Transylvania). 10/10
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Petronila was born in 1136 to Ramiro, King of Aragon, and Agnes d'Aquitaine. In 1137, her father left for a monastery, while her mother retired to an abbey, making her the de facto Queen of Aragon. This tragic abandonment can be traced to a very odd will drafted in 1131. 1/10
Petronila's uncle, Alfonso, was the king of Aragon and Navarre. He decided to leave his kingdoms to the Orders of the Temple (Knights Templar), St John of Jerusalem (Knights Hospitaller) and the Holy Sepulchre. Unsurprisingly, when he died in 1134, his will was rejected. 2/10
Vímara Peres was born around 820 to Pedro Theón. Not much is known about his youth or of his father, who some speculate was a son of a king of Asturias. Sometime in the 860s, Peres was given the task of repopulating a city. 1/10
Portus Cale was an ancient settlement at the mouth of the Douro River that flows into the Atlantic Ocean. It had its origins in the Celtic times when the Callaeci / Gallaeci tribe inhabited the area. The tribe also gave the name to the region - Galicia. 2/10
Louis was born in 1187 to Philippe, King of France and Isabelle de Hainaut, Countess of Artois. Early in his reign, King Philippe had sought to extend royal power over France, since his control was limited only to an area around Paris and Orléans. 1/10
In 1183, the king seized Vermandois after its ruling house, a cadet branch of the French royal house, had died out. But this led to a protracted struggle with the Counties of Flanders and Hainaut, which also had a bearing on the fate of the County of Artois. 2/10
Dirk was born around 980 to Arnulf and Liutgard de Luxembourg. In 988, Arnulf succeeded his father as the imperial count in western Frisia, but died soon in 993. Frisia was a region in the north western end of the Holy Roman Empire. 1/10
Before the Holy Roman Empire came into being, a Germanic tribe, the Frisians, lived in the region before they were subjugated by the Franks. But the region was also contested by the Danes and the Vikings from the north, with Danes like Godefrid also ruling in Frisia. 2/10
Adélaïde de Bourgogne was born around 931 to Rudolf, King of Upper Burgundy, and Berta of Swabia. King Rudolf had been locked in a struggle for (northern) Italy with Berengar of Friuli and Hugues de Vienne, with Rudolf becoming king of Italy between 922 and 925. 1/10
Berengar had been killed in 924, but Hugues managed to take Italy from Rudolf later on with local support. But by 933, the two made peace with Rudolf gaining Lower Burgundy from Hugues, while Adélaïde was betrothed to Lothar, son of Hugues. 2/10
Robert was born around 972 to Hugues "Capet", Count of Orléans and Paris and Adelais de Poitou. Hugues was one of the most powerful nobles in West Francia (France), which was ruled by Lothaire of Carolingian dynasty, the dynasty which had been ruling the Franks since 751. 1/10
The Carolingian dynasty had reached its peak in 800 when Lothaire's ancestor was crowned Emperor in Rome. But after its division into three branches of the family in 843, it started to lose its prominence. By Lothaire's time both Middle & East Frankish lines had died out. 2/10