The songs played on lutes turned sorrowful all over Hungary immediately. The
people of the country, nobles and common people, rich and poor, all wept
together over the death of the blessed king. With many tears and cries did
they mourn the merciful father of the orphans. For grief and sadness did
they dress in mourning. Young men and virgins did not dance for three years.
The musical instruments which played sweet melodies became silent. Everyone,
every faithful heart mourned him with great, inconsolable lamentation.
-- Mark Kalt's Illustrated Chronicle, written ~1360s,
describing the death of the first King of Hungary, St. Istvan
The body was preserved and embalmed according to the traditions of the time; the entrails buried at the church in Buda, the heart placed in a vessel decorated with images of the Hungarian Saints and sent to Kassa - to honour the people of northern Hungary, as per Matthias' wishes - and there buried at the Cathedral of St. Elizabeth. The body was placed on display in the Palace chapel for three days for all men, nobles, freemen, serfs and foreigners of all ranks to pay their final respects to the well-respected King.
On the Sunday a final service was held for the King. Present were the seven of the Bishops of Bihar, Csanád, Eger, Esztergom, Gyõr, Kalocsa, Pécs, Vác and Veszprém, the Papal Legate, the entire Royal family excepting the Duke of Athens, the highest ranking executive officials, the Bans of each of Hungary's extended territories, particularly Pertko and Matko Talovac of Croatia and Slavonia, the heads of each of the sixty Baronial families, Bessarab the Voivode of Wallachia, Hunyadi the Voivode of Transylvania, and various other foreign dignitaries.
The next morning, the funeral procession was to depart, on a circuitous route which would take several weeks to reach the King's final resting place. From Buda, the funeral would travel north to Vác, and then west to Esztergom, the heart and soul of the Christian Church in Hungary. The procession would then continue up the Danube to Gyõr, south overland to Veszprém, and finally east to Székesfehérvár. Matthias would be buried in the ancient capital of Hungary, the White City, the burial ground of Kings. The coffin would remain at each location for one day, and two at Esztergom, for citizens to pay respects and for the local clergy to offer prayers on behalf of Matthias' soul.
Lead by the Archbishop, the followers would include the seven Bishops of Hungary, seventy official mourners, the former Queen and certain other royal family members, and the late King's personal staff. The Prince would remain in Buda.
***
The Monday evening, following the day's funeral parade through the streets attended by thousands of mourners, a great feast was held in the Palace in honour of the late monarch. This had been one of his final wishes, that there be some pleasurable occasion to offset the grief. Ugo had announced that there was instead to be six days of feasting, and one of fasting and prayer. After this, the Coronation, and after that the army would begin its march south.
The great hall was abustle with the noise of eating and talking, of cutlery and cups, and of chairs scraping the floor. Minstrels quietly played some mild tune. At the head of the hall, and raised one step, was the royal table, where sat the Prince and prominent officials and advisors, and the more important foreign dignitaries. Behind them was the ladies table where sat the Queen and the ladies of the extended royal family. In front of the Prince, in the body of the hall, sat the remainder of the guests, some hundred and fifty people all told, the aristocratic cream of central Europe. Contrary to custom, on this special occasion women were allowed to eat with the men, although at separate and more distantly located tables, for it was still impolite for ladies to view the eating habits of men close up.
Prayers were said before and after the twelve courses, the prior one taking the form almost of mass and proceeding for an hour.
The Archbishop, many confided amongst themselves later,
had probably already eaten.
After the feast, the food and tables were cleared away, and moderate, respectful entertainment brought in. The men and women were allowed to mix, and could stand and mingle, or sit and converse. Servants wandered the hall with further food and drink on platters.
The Duke of Athens had remained in Greece, more interested in bolstering the city's defences against unexpected attack. His young wife, however, had returned, arriving only the previous day.
"Cousin, how pleasant to see you." greeted the Regent, as Princess Katalin came into view.
"My lord," she said politely, swallowed a sob, hugged him briefly, and set off without another word to find her mother. Queen Ersebet hadn't spoken to her nephew since the death, except for a few polite words at the Sunday funeral ceremony. Perhaps she still blamed him for waking the frail old man, which had directly preceeded his sickening death.
Ugo found himself in conversation with the Bohemian party. He was finally introduced to each of the ladies in turn.
"My lady Katrina," he repeated, kissing her hand but retaining eye contact throughout.
"Where but happier circumstances surrounding our meeting." The next lady was introduced.
"Snejanka, a beautiful name." he kissed her hand and again looked deep into her eyes while he did so.
"My lady," he pardoned himself, and turned to the third, repeating the procedure.
"Lady Elisabet. You should speak with her majesty, she shares your name."
Absently, Ugo glanced around the room and found himself looking towards the knight Bogdan, whom Marczaltövi had engaged in conversation together with the lady Maia.
***
Stjepan Marczaltövi was, at heart, a soldier. Despite his pretences to high society he absolutely thrived on the baser pleasures and, without war to quench his desires, would hungrily accept stories grand or small of other people's adventures. So it was that he found Bogdan's company thoroughly entertaining. The tournament at Sparta was one he had been unable to attend, and the Moldavians it seemed would provide him with ample tales of the joust.
Despite Maia's inescapable good looks, Marczaltövi was more interested in the hearing what Bogdan had to say, and it showed in his conversation. After all, the
lady had not fought, had she!, he scoffed in his head. If ever Maia tried to speak of combats or even of events off the field, the commander would listen politely, but question Bogdan for more details. He asked about the exploits of the other participants, of Sir Gilles and of the Hungarian Sir György, but mostly he wanted hear the adventures of the Moldavian.
***
Ersebet had remained in Buda only for her daughter's sake. The girl had needed rest after her long journey, and was not prepared to set out on another one. Tomorrow they would ride together to Vác, and then remain with the body until it was finally placed in the crypt.
Katalin set off to speak with some of the ladies of the court, the friends of her youth. The Queen sat deliberately alone, remaining at the table where she had eaten. Some enterprising young artists had already written tales of Matthias' life, extolling his virtues and glorifying his achievements. When their improvisation skills deserted them, they returned to the popular old songs of St. Istvan and days of old. The minstrels bothered her. The whole situation bothered her. This was a time for mourning, not for feasting.
Ersebet was only thirty-three years of age; younger in fact than her nephew, the son of Matthias' deceased older sister. And now she was a thirty-three year old widow. Elegant and attractive, but with no hope of remarriage, she would whither and die a spinster. She knew this fact with clarity, and resented it. Most of all she resented the system that would prevent her remarrying and the men who would see her as a widow and not a woman.
***
A woman who resented men with equal, if not greater passion, was currently in conversation with the Queen's daughter. Klára Jedrzejczyk was the daughter of an old court official who had long ago rescinded his duties and remained always at his estate, and a relative of one of the moderately powerful Baronial factions. With the weakest connections, the woman would still manage to get herself into the most exclusive company, which was remarkable given her hobbies. She was by no means beautiful, but had a pretty face, and knew how to dress and act to hide her flaws and be more appealing to the opposite sex. The opposite sex, of course, whom she hated but manipulated remorselessly. She preferred male company for the fawning attention she would receive, wat the same time fanning the flames of her loathing.
Klára had discovered at an early age that she was unable to bear children, and took the time to scientifically confirm this theory with a number of strategic dalliances. Thus it was she was able to use sex as part of her manipulative tools without any unpleasant side effects. What kept her apart from the average peasant whore was the ability to keep her remarkable reputation. It was spotless. She was known as a quiet, virtuous girl, unremarkable. What people didn't know wouldn't hurt them.
***
Ugo thanked the Voivode for his kind words about his uncle.
"The fates of Hungary and Transylvania have always been closely entwined. I pray I am able to live up to the levels of trust established between yourself and the late King," Ugo crossed himself politely.
"I am certain our realms can only grow closer together with time." He had had many other similar conversations and they all tended to blur together. There was no way he was going to discuss matters of state tonight, he thought, and refused to make more than trite comments of expected future friendship. Speaking briefly with Hunyadi, he could not help but remember his uncle's dying words to him, but pushed them out of his mind.
Ugo headed out into the cool night air.
