Montgomery dedicates a plaque to Janos Arany.

What is the link between a small Welsh village of around 1,300 inhabitants and a central European country with a population of about 10 million?

Montgomery in Powys and Hungary have been linked since the 1800s.

One includes Janos Arany, a Hungarian poet who wrote a poem about Edward I of England slaughtering 500 Welsh bards at Montgomery Castle in 1277, which is still studied in Hungary.

A memorial plaque was unveiled in Montgomery on Saturday.

The ballad “A Walesi bárdok” (Welsh Bards) is why Hungarians are so familiar with the town in mid-Wales.

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The poets were said to have been slain because they refused to sing Edward’s praises as a triumphant monarch.

After refusing to write a lyric in honour of Emperor Franz Joseph of Austria, who governed Hungary at the time, Arany published his ballad anonymously.

Karl Jenkins, a Welsh composer, composed a cantata based on the text in 2011.

The poet is depicted on the trilingual plaque in the town centre, which narrates the story of his ballad in English, Hungarian, and Welsh.

It was presented to Montgomery by Hungary in 2019, but owing to the Covid epidemic, it could not be unveiled until now.

The Welsh and Hungarian national anthems were played after the unveiling.

Balint Brunner, the originator of the Welsh-Hungarian cultural movement Magyar Cymru, assisted in the planning of the event.

“I am one of the millions of Hungarian students who have read the poem aloud in class,” he explained.

“Little did I know at the time that I would one day be enthralled by Wales, begin learning the language, and found Magyar Cymru to help develop cultural bridges between Wales and Hungary.”

I certainly did not anticipate Arany’s renowned poetry reappearing in my life.”