The reconstruction of South-Eastern Europe

THE RECONSTRUCTION OF

With the advance of the Turks and the disappearance of the independent Serbian States, the migration of Serbians to South Hungary increased enormously. The last of the Serbian despotsStephen Lazarevic and George Brankovicacknowledged the suzerainty of the Hungarian kings in order to resist the Turks more effectively, and became possessed of vast territories in South Hungary. Being in need of labourers for the cultivation of these great possessions they encouraged the immigration of Serbs into these districts, where they exercised quite a sovereign power. During the reign of King Matthew Corvinus in the second half of the fifteenth century, the Serbian population became predominant in Syrmia and South Hungary. In one year alone—in 1480—over 60,000 Serbians emigrated thither, and King Matthew himself stated in a letter addressed to the Pope in 1483 that during the last four years about 200,000 Serbians had emigrated to his realm. The Magyars, who had previously inhabited these thinly populated provinces, emigrated northward, fearing an invasion of the Turks or avoiding the neighbourhood of the Serbians. Therefore since the middle of the sixteenth century, South Hungary with Syrmia, Croatia and Slavonia possessed a thoroughly Serbo-Croatian character.

Relying upon the Serbs for the protection of his realm, King Matthew in 1471 granted autonomy to the Serbs living in South Hungary

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