Justina Szilágyi

First marriage

Justina's first husband, Wenceslas (also known as Ladislaus) Pongrác of Szentmiklós, was a member of a prominent noble family that held estates in Upper Hungary (now Slovakia).^{[note 3][6][14]} The marriage, contracted shortly before 1474,^[14] strengthened the position of her cousin, Matthias Corvinus, in the northern regions of his kingdom.^[8] Wenceslas held the fortress of Strečno and the town of Žilina, but Corvinus compelled him to exchange them for estates in Transylvania, including Gornești, which had been confiscated from the Erdélyi of Somkerék and Suki families following their participation in a rebellion against Corvinus in 1467. Unlike the estates in Upper Hungary, which Wenceslas had held in his own right, the newly acquired Transylvanian estates were held jointly by him and Justina.^[6] The marriage was short-lived, as Wenceslas died in 1474. Nevertheless, royal charters from the following year until Justina's death almost invariably referred to her as Wenceslas's widow.^[14] The newly acquired Transylvanian estates became a source of continuing legal disputes, as the Erdélyi and Suki families repeatedly sought to recover them from Justina.^[6]

Second marriage

Justina married Vlad the Impaler, also known as Dracula, in 1475 or 1476.^[8][6][15] Vlad had ruled Wallachia briefly in 1448 and again from 1456 to 1462. In 1462, his half-brother, Radu the Handsome, forced him, with Ottoman support, to seek refuge in Transylvania. Despite having recently married Corvinus's unnamed kinswoman, Vlad was arrested there on Corvinus's orders in November.^{[note 4][note 5][19]} To justify the arrest, Corvinus produced letters purportedly written by Vlad in which he allegedly offered to support an Ottoman invasion of Transylvania. The historians Matei Cazacu and Radu Florescu regard the letters as probable forgeries.^[20][21]

Vlad was initially imprisoned at Visegrád, but was later transferred to Pest, where he lived under house arrest with his wife and sons.^[22] Fyodor Kuritsyn, an ambassador of Ivan III of Russia to Corvinus in the early 1480s, wrote that Vlad and his wife had lived together for ten years, suggesting that Vlad's first wife died in either 1472 or 1473.^[23] Meanwhile, Radu the Handsome sought to balance Ottoman and Hungarian interests, paying tribute to the Sultan while acknowledging Corvinus's suzerainty. His rule was challenged by a new claimant, Basarab Laiotă, who invaded Wallachia with the support of Stephen III of Moldavia. By the time Radu died of illness in January 1475, Basarab had seized much of the principality. He soon sought a reconciliation with the Ottomans.^[24]

Corvinus released Vlad at the request of Stephen III, who had concluded an alliance with the Hungarian king and sworn fealty to him. Vlad's release took place before 18 July 1475, when Florius Reverella, the envoy of the Duke of Ferrara, recorded that Corvinus had recognized Vlad as the lawful ruler of Wallachia.^[25][26] Corvinus arranged Vlad's marriage to his cousin Justina to strengthen the dynastic alliance between Hungary and Wallachia.^[8] After Basarab made peace with Hungary, Corvinus ultimately withdrew his support for Vlad's attempt to regain the Wallachian throne. Vlad nevertheless took part in Corvinus's campaign against the Ottomans in Bosnia.^[27] He also acquired a house in Pécs in southern Hungary, which soon became known as Drakwlyaháza ("Dracula's house").^{[note 6][29]}

Vlad settled in Transylvania in early 1476. That summer, Basarab supported Mehmed's campaign against Moldavia. In response, Stephen Báthory, Corvinus's voivode of Transylvania, backed Vlad's invasion of Wallachia in October or November. Basarab was forced to flee to the Ottoman Empire.^[30] Vlad was installed as voivode in early November. He sent envoys to Brașov requesting carpenters to help him build a new residence in Târgoviște. Hasan suggests that "this request stemmed from Vlad's desire to provide his wife with a comfortable home located closer to Hungary or Transylvania", although it is unclear whether Justina ever joined her husband in Wallachia.^[31] Vlad's third reign was short-lived. Around Christmas 1476, Basarab returned to Wallachia with Ottoman support and defeated him. Sources differ as to the circumstances of Vlad's death: according to some accounts, he was killed in battle, while others state that he was slain by his own men.^[32] After Vlad's violent death, Justina was widowed for a second time.^[31] According to Hasan and Cazacu, Justina was the mother of Vlad's second son and namesake, who became the ancestor of the Hungarian noble Drakwla family.^[33][15] In contrast, Fedeles writes that Vlad and Justina's marriage was childless.^[11] At an unknown date, Justina granted Vlad's house in Pécs to one of her retainers, Dénes, "in reward for his faithful service".^[28]

Third and fourth marriages

Justina's third and fourth marriages strengthened her claims to the Transylvanian estates.^[8] In early 1478, members of the Erdélyi family brought a lawsuit against her over the castle of Gornești and the surrounding villages. Matthias Corvinus upheld his cousin's possession of the estates, and Justina later married Paul Suki, a nephew of Michael Suki, from whom part of the property had been confiscated. She is recorded as Suki's wife on 26 January 1479. He died later that year, after which disputes arose between Justina and his relatives. About two years later, Justina married John Erdélyi of Somkerék, son of Stephen Erdélyi, a former vice-voivode of Transylvania. The marriage, in turn, strengthened the Erdélyi family's claim to the confiscated estates. John outlived Justina, who died sometime after 13 June 1497.^[31] None of the marriages produced children.^[8]