I've added one more hero to the list of the warriors of the Valiant Order of the Hungarian Borderland, he is General Tomori Pál (1475-1526), the leader of the Hungarian army at Mohács...
What was the message to us of Tomori Pál, one of the greatest but forgotten Hungarian generals? We remember him as the general of the Hungarian army at Mohács in 1526 and many people blame him for the defeat, quite wrongly.
Archbishop Tomori did not want to make a career as a high priest. He was born in a gentry family in Abaúj County around 1475. He received a good education, and he could read and write in Latin.
He became a soldier in the service of Bornemissza János. Later, he worked as a notary public, and a comes of the Salt Chamber, holding an office for the king. He was the castellan of Fogaras castle between 1505 and 1514.
In addition to this, he became the castellan of Munkács castle, he held this office until 1518. We know that he took part in the military action of putting down the uprising of the Székely Border guards in 1506, and he was the envoy of the king and visited the Sublime Porte in 1512.
When the Peasant War of Dózsa Görgy broke out in 1514, Voivode Szapolyai János of Transylvania sent him against a peasant army led by Sáleresi Ambrus. Then, he had to scatter the peasants in Bihar County. Finally, Tomori defeated the army of Priest Lőrinc, capturing him at the same time.
Bornemissza János was the castellan of Buda castle, and he appointed Tomori in 1519 as the commander of the fort. Bornemissza ordered him to defend the castle against the multitudes of common noblemen who came to Buda.
These gentry people were restless and they were on the brink of mutiny because of the election of the new Palatine of the country. The Palatine was the second highest rank in the kingdom and the king was still very young. As it turned out, Tomori had to use firearms against the crowd, and disperse them by the sword. With his loyal services, he gained significant wealth.
Before becoming a monk at the age of 38, he had been a member of the royal bodyguard and member of the Order of the Dragon, as he was a high-ranked aristocrat.
There is a sad story that snapped his life in two. He was waiting at the church of Nagyboldogasszony (Holy Mary) at Buda for his 19-year-old young bride to arrive for the wedding but a disaster changed their lives. The coming carriage of the girl had an accident and she died on the spot. It was the point when Tomori decided to become a Franciscan monk in 1520.
(...)
Read more about his fights against the Ottomans and his role in the Battle of Mohács on my page, mainly based on the research of Szibler Gábor, sprinkled with my own additions:
https://www.hungarianottomanwars.com/essays/general-tomori-pal-1475-1526/
