Dózsa, György

▪ Hungarian noble

born 1470

died July 20, 1514

      nobleman, soldier of fortune, and leader of the Hungarian Dózsa Rebellion of 1514. After having won a reputation for valour in the Turkish wars, Dózsa was appointed (1514) to lead a new crusade against the Muslims. Thousands of peasants volunteered to serve him, but once assembled, without food or clothing, they began to voice grievances against landlords. At harvesttime, when the peasants refused to reap the fields, landlords sent armed retainers against them. Under Dózsa's leadership, the peasants turned the conflict into a war of extermination against the landlords and finally into a full-scale revolution. Thousands of the nobility were killed and hundreds of manor houses were burned. The fortresses of Arad, Lippa, and Világos fell to rebel forces under Dózsa, and Buda itself was threatened. Aided by feudal levies and mercenaries hired from abroad, the government finally destroyed the rebels. Dózsa was taken prisoner and executed.

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