Divisions of another kind, which were to have far graver consequences for the public peace, afflicted Hungary. Members of the same community, sons of the same soil, the Hungarians found themselves divided into two hostile parties, by the ambition of the two kings who had shared the kingdom between them. Colloquies had been frequently held with a view to put an end to this state of things, but the rival princes had looked on them with no friendly eyes. At length an assembly which was held at Kenesche on Lake Balaton agreed to a plan intended to bind up the wounds of the common country. Men’s feelings were soothed, and the two kings concluded an agreement at Grosswardin, in pursuance of which each of them was to retain his titles and possessions; but after the death of Zapolya the whole of Hungary was to be reunited under the sceptre of Ferdinand, even if his rival left an heir. This took place in 1538, and at that time Zapolya had neither wife nor children. Was this a subject of regret with him? Had he a desire to perpetuate in his own family the sceptre of a portion of Hungary? However this might be, he married in 1539 Isabella, daughter of the king of Poland; and in 1541, as he lay seriously ill and on his death-bed, word was brought to him that he had a son. Delighted at the news, he sent for the bishop of Grosswardin, George Martinuzzi, a Dalmatian who was at once warrior, monk, diplomatist, and prelate, Peter Petrovich, and Joeroek de Enged. The bishop, perceiving the secret wishes of the prince, encouraged him to violate the agreement made with Ferdinand. Zapolya named these three persons guardians of his son, and added—‘Take care not to give up my states to Ferdinand,’ a formidable legacy for the new-born child. The Queen Isabella seized upon some pretext for breaking the compact, had her son John Sigismund proclaimed king of Hungary, and feeling herself incapable of resisting the power of Ferdinand placed herself with the young prince under the protection of the Sultan. Thus was fidelity, the faith of treaties and of oaths, trampled under foot by the ambition of this new dynasty. Its dishonesty was plain.[573]