Ever since the beginning of documented human history, there have been many occasions of unfaithfulness occurring between people. The innocent “results” of these actions, bastards if you like, were often subject to ridicule and had to live harsh lives.
Divany.hu has produced an excellent summary of unfaithfulness within the highest circles in Hungarian history; from kings and queens in the middle ages to celebrated writers and poets in the early twentieth century.
Famous Hungarians who were born as bastards
Previously, we mentioned that kids born outside of marriage often had to go through abuse throughout their lives, but that was not always the case. Bastards who were born to wealthy parents did have the chance to live full lives. One such example is the father of Queen Beatrix (wife of Hungarian king Matthias Hunyadi), Alfonz, who inherited his father’s kingdom of Naples even though he himself was a bastard. Popular Hungarian novelist Zsigmond Móricz “found” a little bastard girl on the banks of the Danube and raised her as his own (inspiring works like Árvácska), although there is a suspicion that she was also his lover. Lajos Nagy, the famous Hungarian publicist, was born to an unknown, probably married man and a maid living in absolute poverty: his works reflect the awful conditions he had to endure in his childhood.
A similar fate befell Gyula Reviczky, a poet, who was the bastard child of an aristocrat and a handmaid from Slovakia. Although he was raised by his father’s family, eventually the aristocrat father excluded him from his will and made him live his life in poverty.
Perhaps the most famous Hungarian ever to have been born outside of marriage is Gyula Krúdy: his parents had ten children before they considered marrying each other.
Unfaithful nobles
History knows of four different Hungarian kings who had bastard offsprings. The first on this list was András I (founder of the Tihany Abbey, the founding letter of which contains the first ever written documentation of the Hungarian language) who had a son called György (George). This son was never legitimised but ended up founding the legendary Drummond-clan in the Scottish highlands later on. Another great Hungarian ruler, Károly I (Róbert Károly), offered his bastard son an episcopate in Northern Hungary. The great Matthias himself, the “Just”, had an illegitimate son called John Corvin. He did everything in his power to make the nobles accept John as his heir: an ultimately fruitless effort that led to a minor civil war in the country. The last Hungarian king to have illegitimate offsprings was Lajos II (who happens to be considered the last Hungarian medieval king): his marriage did not bear any children, and it was his bastard son who carried on the Jagiellonian dynasty.
If we take a look at the artistic circles of the late nineteenth century, we encounter a popular tandem: Róza Laborfalvi and her husband, celebrated novelist Mór Jókai. Before the two became a pair, Róza had given birth to a baby girl also named Róza. The father of the child is known to be a famous womaniser of the time, Márton Lendvay: giving birth to that girl was supposed to be Róza’s way of forcing him to get back with her.
It was not successful and, as we all know, Róza ended up with Mór, who apparently had not been aware of the child’s existence prior to their marriage.