Louis II of Hungary
The Ottoman Sultan Suleiman the Magnificent annihilated the Hungarian royal army in the Battle of Mohács on 29 August 1526. King Louis II of Hungary drowned in a stream fleeing from the battlefield. The Diet of Hungary elected the wealthy Count John Zápolyathe son of Martinuzzi's patroness, Hedwigking in November, but the most powerful barons ignored this decision and proclaimed Ferdinand of Habsburg the lawful monarch in December. A civil war broke out and a supporter of Ferdinand, Gáspár Serédy, pillaged the Sajólád Monastery shortly before Martinuzzi returned to Hungary.