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Matthias Corvinus

January 07, 2023

Matthias Corvinus, also called Matthias I (Hungarian: Hunyadi Mátyás, Romanian: Matia/Matei Corvin, Croatian: Matija/Matijaš Korvin, Slovak: Matej Korvín, Czech: Matyáš Korvín; 23 February 1443 – 6 April 1490), was King of Hungary and Croatia from 1458 to 1490. After conducting several military campaigns, he was elected King of Bohemia in 1469 and adopted the title Duke of Austria in 1487. He was the son of John Hunyadi, Regent of Hungary, who died in 1456. In 1457, Matthias was imprisoned along with his older brother, Ladislaus Hunyadi, on the orders of King Ladislaus the Posthumous. Ladislaus Hunyadi was executed, causing a rebellion that forced King Ladislaus to flee Hungary. After the King died unexpectedly, Matthias's uncle Michael Szilágyi persuaded the Estates to unanimously proclaim the 14-year-old Matthias as king on 24 January 1458. He began his rule under his uncle's guardianship, but he took effective control of government within two weeks.

Matthias Corvinus
Portrait by Andrea Mantegna
King of Hungary and Croatia
Reign24 January 1458 – 6 April 1490
Coronation29 April 1464
PredecessorLadislaus V
SuccessorVladislaus II
RegentMichael Szilágyi (1458)
King of Bohemia
contested by George and Vladislaus II
Reign1469–1490
PredecessorGeorge
SuccessorVladislaus II
Duke of Austria
contested by Frederick V
Reign1487–1490
PredecessorFrederick V
SuccessorFrederick V
Born23 February 1443
Kolozsvár, Kingdom of Hungary (now Cluj-Napoca, Romania)
Died6 April 1490(1490-04-06) (aged 47)
Vienna, Austria
Burial
Royal Basilica, Székesfehérvár
Spouse
IssueJohn Corvinus (illegitimate)
HouseHunyadi
FatherJohn Hunyadi
MotherElizabeth Szilágyi
ReligionRoman Catholic
Signature

As king, Matthias waged wars against the Czech mercenaries who dominated Upper Hungary (today parts of Slovakia and Northern Hungary) and against Frederick III, Holy Roman Emperor, who claimed Hungary for himself. In this period, the Ottoman Empire conquered Serbia and Bosnia, terminating the zone of buffer states along the southern frontiers of the Kingdom of Hungary. Matthias signed a peace treaty with Frederick III in 1463, acknowledging the Emperor's right to style himself King of Hungary. The Emperor returned the Holy Crown of Hungary with which Matthias was crowned on 29 April 1464. In this year, Matthias invaded the territories that had recently been occupied by the Ottomans and seized fortresses in Bosnia. He soon realized he could expect no substantial aid from the Christian powers and gave up his anti-Ottoman policy.

Matthias introduced new taxes and regularly set taxation at extraordinary levels. These measures caused a rebellion in Transylvania in 1467, but he subdued the rebels. The next year, Matthias declared war on George of Poděbrady, the Hussite King of Bohemia, and conquered Moravia, Silesia, and Lausitz, but he could not occupy Bohemia proper. The Catholic Estates proclaimed him King of Bohemia on 3 May 1469, but the Hussite lords refused to yield to him even after the death of their leader George of Poděbrady in 1471. Instead, they elected Vladislaus Jagiellon, the eldest son of Casimir IV of Poland. A group of Hungarian prelates and lords offered the throne to Vladislaus's younger brother Casimir, but Matthias overcame their rebellion. Having routed the united troops of Casimir IV and Vladislaus at Breslau in Silesia (now Wrocław in Poland) in late 1474, Matthias turned against the Ottomans, who had devastated the eastern parts of Hungary. He sent reinforcements to Stephen the Great, Prince of Moldavia, enabling Stephen to repel a series of Ottoman invasions in the late 1470s. In 1476, Matthias besieged and seized Šabac, an important Ottoman border fort. He concluded a peace treaty with Vladislaus Jagiellon in 1478, confirming the division of the Lands of the Bohemian Crown between them. Matthias waged a war against Emperor Frederick and occupied Lower Austria between 1482 and 1487.

Matthias established one of the earliest professional standing armies of medieval Europe (the Black Army of Hungary), reformed the administration of justice, reduced the power of the barons, and promoted the careers of talented individuals chosen for their abilities rather than their social statuses. Matthias patronized art and science; his royal library, the Bibliotheca Corviniana, was one of the largest collections of books in Europe. With his patronage, Hungary became the first country to embrace the Renaissance from Italy. As Matthias the Just, the monarch who wandered among his subjects in disguise, he remains a popular hero of Hungarian and Slovak[1] folk tales.

Early life

 
The house where Matthias Corvinus was born in Kolozsvár (present-day Cluj-Napoca, Romania)
 
Matthias Corvinus as young monarch. Museum of Sforza Castle, Milan, Italy.

Childhood (1443–1457)

Matthias was born in Kolozsvár (now Cluj-Napoca in Romania) on 23 February 1443.[2][3] He was the second son of John Hunyadi and his wife, Elizabeth Szilágyi.[2][4] Matthias' education was managed by his mother due to his father's absence.[2] Many of the most learned men of Central Europe—including Gregory of Sanok and John Vitéz—frequented John Hunyadi's court when Matthias was a child.[5] Gregory of Sanok, a former tutor of King Vladislaus III of Poland, was Matthias's only teacher whose name is known.[6] Under these scholars' influences, Matthias became an enthusiastic supporter of Renaissance humanism.[7][8]

As a child, Matthias learnt many languages and read classical literature, especially military treatises.[6] According to Antonio Bonfini, Matthias "was versed in all the tongues of Europe", with the exceptions of Turkish and Greek.[9] Although this was an exaggeration, it is without doubt that Matthias spoke Hungarian, Latin, Italian, Polish, Czech, and German.[6][10] Bonfini also wrote that he needed an interpreter to speak with a POW during his Moldavian campaign.[11] On the other hand, the late 16th-century Polish historian Krzystoff Warszewiecki wrote that Matthias had been able to understand the Romanian language of the envoys of Stephen the Great, Prince of Moldavia.[12]

According to a treaty between John Hunyadi and Đurađ Branković, Despot of Serbia, Matthias and the Despot's granddaughter Elizabeth of Celje were engaged on 7 August 1451.[13][14] Elizabeth was the daughter of Ulrich II, Count of Celje, who was related to King Ladislaus the Posthumous and an opponent of Matthias's father.[15][16] Because of new conflicts between Hunyadi and Ulrich of Celje, the marriage of their children only took place in 1455.[17] Elizabeth settled in the Hunyadis' estates but Matthias was soon sent to the royal court, implying that their marriage was a hidden exchange of hostages between their families.[15] Elizabeth died before the end of 1455.[15]

John Hunyadi died on 11 August 1456, less than three weeks after his greatest victory over the Ottomans in Belgrade.[18] John's elder son—Matthias's brother—Ladislaus became the head of the family.[15][19] Ladislaus's conflict with Ulrich of Celje ended with Ulrich's capture and assassination on 9 November.[20][21][22] Under duress, the King promised he would never take his revenge against the Hunyadis for Ulrich's killing.[23] However, the murder turned most barons—including Palatine Ladislaus Garai, Judge royal Ladislaus Pálóci, and Nicholas Újlaki, Voivode of Transylvania—against Ladislaus Hunyadi.[23] Taking advantage of their resentment, the King had the Hunyadi brothers imprisoned in Buda on 14 March 1457.[21][24] The royal council condemned them to death for high treason and Ladislaus Hunyadi was beheaded on 16 March.[25]

Matthias was held in captivity in a small house in Buda.[23][26] His mother and her brother Michael Szilágyi staged a rebellion against the King and occupied large territories in the regions to the east of the river Tisza.[23][24] King Ladislaus fled to Vienna in mid-1457, and from Vienna to Prague in September, taking Matthias with him.[21][27][28] The civil war between the rebels and the barons loyal to the monarch continued until the sudden death of the young King on 23 November 1457.[23] Thereafter the Hussite Regent of Bohemia—George of Poděbrady—held Matthias captive.[29]

 
King Matthias' arrival in Buda – a painting by Henrik Weber

Election as king (1457–1458)

King Ladislaus died childless in 1457.[30][31] His elder sister, Anna, and her husband, William III, Landgrave of Thuringia, laid claim to his inheritance but received no support from the Estates.[30] The Diet of Hungary was convoked to Pest to elect a new king in January 1458.[32] Pope Calixtus III's legate Cardinal Juan Carvajal, who had been John Hunyadi's admirer, began openly campaigning for Matthias.[32][33]

The election of Matthias as king was the only way of avoiding a protracted civil war.[32] Ladislaus Garai was the first baron to yield.[33] At a meeting with Matthias's mother and uncle, he promised that he and his allies would promote Matthias's election, and Michael Szilágyi promised that his nephew would never seek vengeance for Ladislaus Hunyadi's execution.[32][33] They also agreed that Matthias would marry the Palatine's daughter Anna—his executed brother's bride.[32][33]

Michael Szilágyi arrived at the Diet with 15,000 troops, intimidating the barons who assembled in Buda.[21][32] Stirred up by Szilágyi, the noblemen gathered on the frozen River Danube and unanimously proclaimed the 14-year-old Matthias king on 24 January.[32][34][35] At the same time, the Diet elected his uncle as regent.[33][35]

Reign

Early rule and consolidation (1458–1464)

See also: Peace Treaty of Wiener Neustadt
 
George of Poděbrady and Matthias Corvinus—a painting by Mikoláš Aleš

Matthias's election was the first time that a member of the nobility mounted the royal throne in Hungary.[26] Michael Szilágyi sent John Vitéz to Prague to discuss the terms of Matthias's release with George of Poděbrady.[36] Poděbrady—whose daughter Kunigunda Matthias promised to marry—agreed to release his future son-in-law for a ransom of 60,000 gold florins.[37][38] Matthias was surrendered to the Hungarian delegates in Strážnice on 9 February.[36] With Poděbrady's mediation, he was reconciled with John Jiskra of Brandýs, the commander of the Czech mercenaries who dominated most of Upper Hungary.[39][40]

Matthias made his state entry into Buda five days later.[41][42] He ceremoniously sat on the throne in the Church of Our Lady, but was not crowned, because the Holy Crown of Hungary had been in the possession of Frederick III, Holy Roman Emperor for almost two decades.[41][43] The 14-year-old monarch administered state affairs independently from the outset, although he reaffirmed his uncle's position as Regent.[44][45] For instance, Matthias instructed the citizens of Nagyszeben (now Sibiu in Romania) to reconcile their differences with Vlad Dracula, Prince of Wallachia on 3 March.[45]

Jiskra was the first baron who turned against Matthias.[39] He offered the throne to Casimir IV of Poland—the husband of King Ladislaus V's younger sister Elisabeth—in late March but the General sejm of Poland rejected his offer.[39] Matthias's commander Sebastian Rozgonyi defeated Jiskra's soldiers at Sárospatak but the Ottomans' invasion of Serbia in April forced Matthias to conclude an armistice with the Czechs.[35][46][47] They were allowed to keep Sáros Castle (now Šariš Castle, Slovakia) and other fortified places in Upper Hungary.[48] Matthias sent two prelates—August Salánki, Bishop of Győr, and Vincent Szilasi, Bishop of Vác—to Prague to crown George of Poděbrady king.[39] Upon their demand, the "heretic" Poděbrady swore loyalty to the Holy See.[39]

 
Matthias's golden florin depicting Madonna and Child, and King Saint Ladislaus

Matthias's first Diet assembled in Pest in May 1458.[49] The Estates passed almost fifty decrees that were ratified by Matthias—instead of the Regent—on 8 June.[50] One decree prescribed that the King "must call and hold, and order to be held, a diet of all the gentlemen of the realm in person"[51] every year on Whitsunday.[49] Matthias held more than 25 Diets during his reign and convoked the Estates more frequently than his predecessors, especially between 1458 and 1476.[49][52][53] The Diets were controlled by the barons, whom Matthias appointed and dismissed at will.[49][54] For instance, he dismissed Palatine Ladislaus Garai and persuaded Michael Szilágyi to resign from the Regency after they entered into a league in the summer of 1458.[55][38] The King appointed Michael Ország, who had been his father's close supporter, as the new Palatine.[56] Most of Matthias's barons were descended from old aristocratic families but he also promoted the careers of members of the lesser nobility, or even of skilful commoners.[57][58] For instance, the noble Zápolya brothers Emeric and Stephen owed their fortunes to Matthias's favour.[59]

Matthias's ordinary revenues amounted around 250,000 golden florins per year when his reign began.[60] A decree passed at the Diet of 1458 explicitly prohibited the imposition of extraordinary taxes.[61] However, an extraordinary tax—one golden florin per each porta or peasant household—was levied late that year.[61][62] The Ottomans occupied the fort of Golubac in Serbia in August 1458; Matthias ordered the mobilization of all noblemen.[63][35] He made a raid into Ottoman territory and defeated the enemy forces in minor skirmishes.[35] King Stephen Thomas of Bosnia accepted Matthias's suzerainty.[63] Matthias authorized his new vassal's son Stephen Tomašević to take possession of the parts of Serbia that had not been occupied by the Ottomans.[63]

At the turn of 1458 and 1459, Matthias held a Diet at Szeged to prepare for a war against the Ottoman Empire.[64] However, gossip about a conspiracy compelled him to return to Buda.[65] The rumours proved to be true because at least 30 barons—including Ladislaus Garai, Nicholas Újlaki, and Ladislaus Kanizsai—met in Németújvár (now Güssing in Austria) and offered the throne to Emperor Frederick III on 17 February 1459.[35][38][66] Even George of Poděbrady turned against Matthias when Frederick promised him to make him governor of the Holy Roman Empire.[67] Although the joint troops of the Emperor and the rebellious lords defeated a royal army at Körmend on 27 March, Garai had by that time died, Újlaki and Sigismund Szentgyörgyvölgyi soon entered into negotiations with Matthias' envoys.Újlaki became indifferent, Szentgyörgyvölgyi joined to Matthias.[66] Skirmishes along the western borderlands lasted for several months, preventing Matthias from providing military assistance to Tomašević against the Ottomans.[64] The latter took Smederevo on 29 June, completing the conquest of Serbia.[68][69]

 
John Jiskra of Brandýs—a picture by Mikoláš Aleš

Jiskra swore an oath of loyalty to Emperor Frederick on 10 March 1460.[64] Pope Pius II offered to mediate a peace treaty between the Emperor and Matthias.[38] Podedébrandy also realised he need to support Matthias or at least had to be indifferent. He sent his daughter to Buda also offered his assistance.[70][71] The representatives of the Emperor and Matthias signed a truce in Olomouc in April 1460.[35] The Pope soon offered financial support for an anti-Ottoman campaign.[64] However, John Jiskra returned from Poland, renewing the armed conflicts with Czech mercenaries in early 1460.[64] Matthias seized a newly erected fort from the Czechs but he could not force them to obey him.[64] The costs of his five-month-long campaign in Upper Hungary were paid for by an extraordinary tax.[72] Matthias entered into an alliance with the Emperor's rebellious brother Albert VI, Archduke of Austria.[73] George of Poděbrady sided with the Emperor, although the marriage of his daughter—who became known as Catherine in Hungary—to Matthias was celebrated on 1 May 1461(married 1461 to 1464).[61][74] Relations between Matthias and his father-in-law deteriorated because of the Czech mercenaries' continued presence in Upper Hungary.[75] Matthias launched a new campaign against them after the Diet authorized him to collect an extraordinary tax in mid-1461.[76] However, he did not defeat Jiskra, who even captured Késmárk (now Kežmarok, Slovakia).[48]

The envoys of Matthias and Emperor Frederick agreed the terms of peace treaty on 3 April 1462.[35] According to the agreement, the Emperor was to return the Holy Crown of Hungary for 80,000 golden florins, but his right to use the title King of Hungary along with Matthias was confirmed.[35][70] In accordance with the treaty, the Emperor adopted Matthias, which granted him the right to succeed his "son" if Matthias died without a legitimate heir.[70][77] Within a month, Jiskra yielded to Matthias.[77] He surrendered all the forts he held in Upper Hungary to the King's representatives; as compensation he received a large domain near the Tisza and Arad and 25,000 golden florins.[It happened before peace treaty with Frederick] [48] To pay the large amounts stipulated in his treaties with the Emperor and Jiskra, Matthias collected an extraordinary tax with the consent of the Royal Council.[78] The Diet, which assembled in mid-1462, confirmed this decision but only after 9 prelates and 19 barons promised that no extraordinary taxes would be introduced thereafter.[78] Through hiring mercenaries among Jiskra's companions, Matthias began organizing a professional army, which became known as the "Black Army" in following decades.[79] The peace treaty made in Wiener-Neustadt 19 July 1463.[80]

The Ottoman Sultan Mehmed II invaded Wallachia in early 1462.[81][69] He did not conquer the country but the Wallachian boyars dethroned the anti-Ottoman Vlad Dracula, replacing him with the Sultan's favorite, Radu the Fair.[81][82] The new Prince was willing to grant concessions to the Transylvanian Saxon merchants, who had come into bitter conflict with Vlad Dracula.[83] The latter sought assistance from Matthias and they met in Brassó (now Brașov, Romania) in November.[84] However, the Saxons presented Matthias with a letter allegedly written by Vlad Dracula to Sultan Mehmed, in which the Prince offered his support to the Ottomans.[81] [85] Convinced of Vlad Dracula's treachery, Matthias had him imprisoned.[81]

In preparation for a war against the Ottomans, Matthias held a Diet at Tolna in March 1463.[86] Although the Estates authorized him to levy a one-florin extraordinary tax, he did not intervene when Mehmed II invaded Bosnia in June.[87] In a month, the Ottomans murdered King Stephen Tomašević and conquered the whole country.[31][88] Matthias only adopted an offensive foreign policy after the terms of his peace with Emperor Frederick were ratified in Wiener Neustadt on 19 July 1463.[89] He led his troops to Bosnia and conquered Jajce and other forts in its northern parts.[90] The conquered regions were organized into new defensive provinces, the banates of Jajce and Srebrenik.[90][91] Matthias was assisted by Stjepan Vukčić Kosača, Grand Duke of Bosnia, who controlled the area of modern and Old Hercegovina. A former vassal to the Bosnian kings, Stjepan accepted Matthias's suzerainty.[90][92]

Queen Catherine died in early 1464 during preparations for her husband's coronation with the Holy Crown, which had been returned by Emperor Frederick.[93] The ceremony was carried out in full accordance with the customary law of Hungary on 29 March 1464; Archbishop of Esztergom Dénes Szécsi ceremoniously put the Holy Crown on Matthias's head in Székesfehérvár.[93][77][94] At the Diet assembled on this occasion, the newly crowned King confirmed the liberties of the nobility.[95] Hereafter the legality of Matthias's reign could not be questioned.[94]

First reforms and internal conflicts (1464–1467)

 
Matthias's signature and royal stamp
 
Matthias's golden florin depicting King Saint Ladislaus and Matthias's coat-of-arms

Political reforms

Matthias dismissed his Chief Chancellor Archbishop Szécsi, replacing him with Stephen Várdai, Archbishop of Kalocsa, and John Vitéz.[96] Both prelates bore the title of Chief and Secret Chancellor, but Várdai was the actual leader of the Royal Chancery.[97][98] Around the same time, Matthias united the superior courts of justice—the Court of Royal Special Presence and the Court of Personal Presence—into one supreme court.[96][99] The new supreme court diminished the authority of the traditional courts presided over by the barons and contributed to the professionalization of the administration of justice.[100] He appointed Albert Hangácsi, Bishop of Csanád as the first Chief Justice.[101][102]

Sultan Mehmed II returned to Bosnia and laid siege to Jajce in July 1464.[90][103] Matthias began assembling his troops along the river Sava, forcing the Sultan to raise the siege on 24 August.[103] Matthias and his army crossed the river and seized Srebrnica.[104] He also besieged Zvornik but the arrival of a large Ottoman army forced him to withdraw to Hungary.[105] The following year, Matthias forced Stefan Vukčić, who had transferred Makarska Krajina to the Republic of Venice, to establish Hungarian garrisons in his forts along the river Neretva.[106]

Dénes Szécsi died in 1465 and John Vitéz became the new Archbishop of Esztergom.[107][108] Matthias replaced the two Voivodes of Transylvania—Nicholas Újlaki and John Pongrác of Dengeleg—with Counts Sigismund and John Szentgyörgyi, and Bertold Ellerbach.[109] Although Újlaki preserved his office of Ban of Macsó, the King appointed Peter Szokoli to administer the province together with the old Ban.[110]

Matthias convoked the Diet to make preparations for an anti-Ottoman campaign in 1466.[110] For the same purpose, he received subsidies from Pope Paul II.[111][112] However, Matthias had realized that no substantial aid could be expected from the Christian powers and tacitly gave up his anti-Ottoman foreign policy.[113] He did not invade Ottoman territory and the Ottomans did not make major incursions into Hungary, implying that he signed a peace treaty with Mehmed II's envoy who arrived in Hungary in 1465.[114]

Matthias visited Slavonia and dismissed the two Bans Nicholas Újlaki and Emeric Zápolya, replacing them with Jan Vitovec and John Tuz in 1466.[109] Early the following year, he mounted a campaign in Upper Hungary against a band of Czech mercenaries who were under the command of Ján Švehla and had seized Kosztolány (now Veľké Kostoľany in Slovakia).[78][115] Matthias routed them and had Švehla and his 150 comrades hanged.[78][77]

Economic reforms

Main article: Economic Reforms of Matthias Corvinus

At the Diet of March 1467, two traditional taxes were renamed; the chamber's profit was thereafter collected as tax of the royal treasury and the thirtieth as the Crown's customs.[116] Because of this change, all previous tax exemptions became void, increasing state revenues.[77][117] Matthias set about centralizing the administration of royal revenues. He entrusted the administration of the Crown's customs to John Ernuszt, a converted Jewish merchant.[118] Within two years, Ernuszt was responsible for the collection of all ordinary and extraordinary taxes, and the management of the salt mines.[119]

Matthias's tax reform caused a revolt in Transylvania.[120][96] The representatives of the "Three Nations" of the province—the noblemen, the Saxons and the Székelys—formed an alliance against the King in Kolozsmonostor (now Mănăștur district in Cluj-Napoca, Romania) on 18 August, stating that they were willing to fight for the freedom of Hungary.[96][110] Matthias assembled his troops immediately and hastened to the province.[121] The rebels surrendered without resistance but Matthias severely punished their leaders, many of whom were impaled, beheaded, or mercilessly tortured upon his orders.[96][122] Suspecting that Stephen the Great had supported the rebellion, Matthias invaded Moldavia.[96][123] However, Stephen's forces routed Matthias's at the Battle of Baia on 15 December 1467.[96][123] Matthias suffered severe injuries, forcing him to return to Hungary.[123][124]

War for the Lands of the Bohemian Crown (1468–1479)

Further information: Bohemian War (1468–1478)
 
Renaissance portrait of Matthias Corvinus, King of Hungary, (marble relief by Giovanni Dalmata (attributed to), Benedetto da Maiano (previous attribution) 1476)

Matthias's former brother-in-law Victor of Poděbrady invaded Austria in early 1468.[125][126] Emperor Frederick appealed to Matthias for support, hinting at the possibility of Matthias's election as King of the Romans—first step towards the imperial throne.[125] Matthias declared war on Victor's father King George of Bohemia on 31 March.[126] He said he also wanted to help the Czech Catholic lords against their "heretic monarch" whom the Pope had excommunicated.[127] Matthias expelled the Czech troops from Austria and invaded Moravia and Silesia.[74][126] He took an active part in the fighting; he was injured during the siege of Třebíč in May 1468 and was captured at Chrudim while spying out the enemy camp in disguise in February 1469.[128] On the latter occasion, he was released because he made his custodians believe he was a local Czech groom.[128]

The Diet of 1468 authorized Matthias to levy an extraordinary tax to finance the new war, but only after 8 prelates and 13 secular lords pledged on the King's behalf that he would not demand such charges in the future.[129] Matthias also exercised royal prerogatives to increase his revenues.[129] For instance, he ordered a Palatine's eyre in a county, the cost of which were to be covered by the local inhabitants but soon authorized the county to redeem the cancellation of this irksome duty.[129]

The Czech Catholics, who were led by Zdeněk of Šternberk, joined forces with Matthias in February 1469.[130] Their united troops were encircled at Vilémov by George of Poděbrady's army.[74][131] In fear of being captured, Matthias opened negotiations with his former father-in-law.[131] They met in a nearby hovel, where Matthias persuaded George of Poděbrady to sign an armistice promising that he would mediate a reconciliation between the moderate Hussites and the Holy See.[74][131] Their next meeting took place in Olomouc in April.[130] Here the papal legates came forward with demands including the appointment of a Catholic Archbishop to the See of Prague, which could not be accepted by George of Poděbrady.[131][130] The Czech Catholic Estates elected Matthias King of Bohemia in Olomouc on 3 May but he was never crowned.[132][133] Moravia, Silesia and Lusatia soon accepted his rule but Bohemia proper remained faithful to George of Poděbrady.[134][135] The Estates of Bohemia even acknowledged the right of Vladislaus Jagiello, the eldest son of Casimir IV of Poland, to succeed king George of Poděbrady.[134][77]

 
Conquests of Matthias Corvinus in Central Europe

Matthias's relations with Frederick III had in the meantime deteriorated because the Emperor accused Matthias of allowing the Ottomans to march through Slavonia when raiding the Emperor's realms.[135] The Frangepan family, whose domains in Croatia were exposed to Ottoman raids, entered into negotiations with the Emperor and the Republic of Venice.[136][137] In 1469, Matthias sent an army to Croatia to prevent the Venetians from seizing the Adriatic coastal town Senj.[138]

Matthias expelled George of Poděbrady's troops from Silesia.[134] Matthias's army was encircled and routed at Uherský Brod on 2 November, forcing him to withdraw to Hungary.[77] Matthias soon ordered the collection of an extraordinary tax without holding a Diet, raising widespread discontent among the Hungarian Estates.[139] He visited Emperor Frederick in Vienna on 11 February 1470, hoping the Emperor would contribute to the costs of the war against Poděbrady.[140] Although the negotiations lasted for a month, no compromise was worked out.[140] The Emperor also refused to commit himself to promoting Matthias's election as King of the Romans.[140] After a month, Matthias left Vienna without taking formal leave of Frederick III.[141]

Having realised the Hungarian Estates' growing dissatisfaction, Matthias held a Diet in November.[139] The Diet again authorized him to levy an extraordinary tax, stipulating that the sum of all taxes payable per porta could not exceed one florin.[139] The Estates also made it clear that they opposed the war in Bohemia.[139] George of Poděbrady died on 22 March 1471.[142] The Diet of Bohemia proper elected Vladislaus Jagiello king on 27 May.[143] The papal legate Lorenzo Roverella soon declared Vladislaus's election void and confirmed Matthias's position as King of Bohemia, but the Imperial Diet refused Matthias's claim.[144][145]

Matthias was staying in Moravia when he was informed that a group of Hungarian prelates and barons had offered the throne to Casimir, a younger son of King Casimir IV of Poland.[146] The conspiracy was initiated by Archbishop John Vitéz and his nephew Janus Pannonius, Bishop of Pécs, who opposed war against the Catholic Vladislaus Jagiellon.[147] Initially, their plan was supported by the majority of the Estates, but nobody dared to rebel against Matthias, enabling him to return to Hungary without resistance.[148] Matthias held a Diet and promised to refrain from levying taxes without the consent of the Estates and to convoke the Diet in each year.[146] His promises remedied most of the Estates' grievances and almost 50 barons and prelates confirmed their loyalty to him on 21 September.[149][150] Casimir Jagiellon invaded on 2 October 1471.[77] With Bishop Janus Pannonius's support, he seized Nyitra (now Nitra in Slovakia), but only two barons, John Rozgonyi and Nicholas Perényi, joined him.[150][151][152] Within five months Prince Casimir withdrew from Hungary, Bishop Janus Pannonius died while fleeing, and Archbishop John Vitéz was forbidden to leave his see.[150][151] Matthias appointed the Silesian Johann Beckensloer to administer the Archdiocese of Esztergom.[150] Vitéz died and Beckensloer succeeded him in a year.[151]

The Ottomans had meanwhile seized the Hungarian forts along the river Nertva.[153] Matthias nominated the wealthy baron Nicholas Újlaki as King of Bosnia in 1471, entrusting the defence of the province to him.[151] Uzun Hassan, head of the Aq Qoyunlu Turkmens, proposed an anti-Ottoman alliance to Matthias but he refrained from attacking the Ottoman Empire.[154] Matthias supported the Austrian noblemen who rebelled against Emperor Frederick in 1472.[155] The following year, Matthias, Casimir IV and Vladislaus entered into negotiations on the terms of a peace treaty, but the discussions lasted for months.[77][152] Matthias tried to unify the government of Silesia, which consisted of dozens of smaller duchies, through appointing a captain-general.[156] However, the Estates refused to elect his candidate Duke Frederick I of Liegnitz.[156]

 
Matthias's great coat-of-arms. In the middle are personal coat of arms of Matthias Corvinus (Quartered: 1. Hungary's two-barred cross, 2. Árpád dynasty, 3. Bohemia, and 4. Hunyadi family) and that of his wife Beatrice of Naples (Quartered: 1. and 4. Arpad dynasty – France ancient – Jerusalem Impaled; 2. and 3. Aragon), above them a royal crown. On the outer edge there are coat of arms of various lands, beginning from the top clockwise they are: Bohemia, Luxemburg, Lower Lusatia, Moravia, Austria, Galicia–Volhynia, Silesia, Dalmatia-Croatia, Beszterce county

Ali Bey Mihaloğlu, Bey of Smederevo, pillaged eastern parts of Hungary, destroyed Várad, and took 16,000 prisoners with him in January 1474.[157] The next month, the envoys of Matthias and Casimir IV signed a peace treaty and a three-year truce between Matthias and Vladislaus Jagiellon was also declared.[158] Within a month, however, Vladislaus entered into an alliance with Emperor Frederick and Casimir IV joined them.[158][152] Casimir IV and Vladislaus invaded Silesia and laid siege to Matthias in Breslau (now Wrocław in Poland) in October.[152] He prevented the besiegers from accumulating provisions, forcing them to raise the siege.[159] Thereafter the Silesian Estates willingly elected Matthias's new candidate Stephen Zápolya as captain-general.[156] The Moravian Estates elected Ctibor Tovačovský as captain-general.[160] Matthias confirmed this decision, although Tovačovský had been Vladislaus Jagiellon's partisan.[160]

The Ottomans invaded Wallachia and Moldavia at the end of 1474.[161] Matthias sent reinforcements under the command of Blaise Magyar to Stephen the Great.[162] Their united forces routed the invaders in the Battle of Vaslui on 10 January 1475.[163] Fearing a new Ottoman invasion, the Prince of Moldavia swore fealty to Matthias on 15 August.[161] Sultan Mehmed II proposed peace but Matthias refused him.[161] Instead, he stormed into Ottoman territory and captured Šabac, an important fort on the river Száva, on 15 February 1476.[164][165] During the siege, Matthias barely escaped capture while he was watching the fortress from a boat.[166]

For unknown reasons, Archbishop Johann Beckensloer left Hungary, taking the treasury of the Esztergom See with him in early 1476.[159][167] He fled to Vienna and offered his funds to the Emperor.[168] Matthias accused the Emperor of having incited the Archbishop against him.[168]

Mehmed II launched a campaign against Moldavia in the summer of 1476.[163] Although he won the Battle of Valea Albă on 26 July, the lack of provisions forced him to retreat.[169] Matthias sent auxiliary troops to Moldavia under the command of Vlad Dracula—whom he had released—and Stephen Báthory [165][170] The allied forces defeated an Ottoman army at the Siret River in August.[171] With Hungarian and Moldavian support, Vlad Dracula was reinstalled as Prince of Wallachia but he was killed fighting against his opponent Basarab Laiotă.[172][173]

Matthias's bride Beatrice of Naples arrived in Hungary in late 1476.[174] Matthias married her in Buda on 22 December that year.[174] The Queen soon established a rigid etiquette, making direct contacts between the King and his subjects more difficult.[175] According to Bonfini, Matthias also "improved his board and manner of life, introduced sumptuous banquets, disdaining humility at home and beautified the dining rooms" after his marriage.[176] According to a contemporaneous record, around that time Matthias's revenues amounted about 500,000 florins, half of which derived from the tax of the royal treasury and the extraordinary tax.[177]

Matthias concluded an alliance with the Teutonic Knights and the Bishopric of Ermland against Poland in March 1477.[159] However, instead of Poland, he declared war on Emperor Frederick after he learnt that the Emperor had confirmed Vladislaus Jagiellon's position as King of Bohemia and Prince-elector.[159][178] Matthias invaded Lower Austria and imposed a blockade on Vienna.[179] Vladislaus Jagiellon denied to support the Emperor, forcing him to seek reconciliation with Matthias.[179] With the mediation of Pope Sixtus IV, Venice, and Ferdinand I of Naples, Matthias concluded a peace treaty with Frederick III, which was signed on 1 December.[179][180] The Emperor promised to confirm Matthias as the lawful ruler of Bohemia and to pay him an indemnity of 100,000 florins.[178][179][181] They met in Korneuburg where Frederick III installed Matthias as King of Bohemia and Matthias swore loyalty to the Emperor.[182]

Negotiations between the envoys of Matthias and Vladislaus Jagiellon accelerated during the next few months.[183] The first draft of a treaty was agreed upon on 28 March 1478, and the text was completed by the end of 1477.[115] The treaty authorized both monarchs to use the title of King of Bohemia—although Vladislaus could omit to style Matthias as such in their correspondence—and the Lands of the Bohemian Crown were divided between them; Vladislaus ruled in Bohemia proper and Matthias in Moravia, Silesia and Lusatia.[159][144] They solemnly ratified the peace treaty at their meeting in Olomouc on 21 July.[115]

War for Austria (1479–1487)

Further information: Austrian–Hungarian War (1477–1488), Siege of Vienna (1485), and Siege of Wiener Neustadt
 
Coat of arms of Matthias Corvinus, guarded by Black Army heavy infantry. Matthias Church, Budapest. The damaged art relic was renovated in 1893.

Emperor Frederick only paid off half of the indemnity due to Matthias according to their treaty of 1477.[182][184] Matthias concluded a treaty with the Swiss Confederacy on 26 March 1479, hindering the recruitment of Swiss mercenaries by the Emperor.[182] He also entered into an alliance with Archbishop of Salzburg Bernhard II of Rohr, who allowed him to take possession of the fortresses of the Archbishopric in Carinthia, Carniola and Styria.[178][185][186]

An Ottoman army supported by Basarab Țepeluș of Wallachia invaded Transylvania and set fire to Szászváros (now Orăștie in Romania) in late 1479.[187][162] Stephen Báthory and Paul Kinizsi annihilated the marauders in the Battle of Breadfield on 13 October.[162][188] Matthias united the command of all forts along the Danube to the west of Belgrade in the hand of Paul Kinizsi to improve the defence of the southern frontier.[79] Matthias sent reinforcements to Stephen the Great, who invaded pro-Ottoman Wallachia in early 1480; Matthias launched a campaign as far as Sarajevo in Bosnia in November.[189][162] He set up five defensive provinces, or banates, centred around the forts of Szörényvár (now Drobeta-Turnu Severin in Romania), Belgrade, Šabac, Srebrenik and Jajce.[79] The next year, Matthias initiated a criminal case against the Frankapans, the Zrinskis and other leading Croatian and Slavonian magnates for their alleged participation in the 1471 conspiracy.[138] Most barons were pardoned as soon as they consented to the introduction of a new land tax.[138] In 1481, for a loan of 100,000 florins, Matthias seized the town of Mautern in Styria and Sankt Pölten in Lower Austria from Friedrich Mauerkircher, one of the two candidates to the Bishopric of Passau.[186]

Sultan Mehmed II died on 3 May 1481.[190] A civil war ensued in the Ottoman Empire between his sons Bayezid II and Cem.[191] Defeated, Cem fled to Rhodes, where the Knights Hospitaller kept him in custody.[191] Matthias claimed Cem's custody in the hope of using him to gain concessions from Bayezid, but Venice and Pope Innocent VIII strongly opposed this plan.[191] In late 1481, Hungarian auxiliary troops supported Matthias's father-in-law Ferdinand I of Naples to reoccupy Otranto, which had been lost to the Ottomans the year before.[192]

Although the "Black Army" had already laid siege to Hainburg an der Donau in January 1482, Matthias officially declared a new war on Emperor Frederick three months later.[178] He directed the siege in person from the end of June and the town fell to him in October.[193] In the next three months, Matthias also captured Sankt Veit an der Glan, Enzersdorf an der Fischa, and Kőszeg.[193] The papal legate, Bartolomeo Maraschi tried to mediate a peace treaty between Matthias and the Emperor, but Matthias refused.[193] Instead, he signed a five-year truce with Sultan Bayezid.[192]

Matthias's marriage to Beatrice of Naples did not produce sons; he tried to strengthen the position of his illegitimate son John Corvinus.[194] The child received Sáros Castle and inherited the extensive domains of his grandmother Elizabeth Szilágyi with his father's consent.[194] Matthias also forced Victor of Poděbrady to renounce the Duchy of Troppau in Silesia in favour of John Corvinus in 1485.[195] Queen Beatrice opposed Matthias's favouritism towards his son.[195] Even so, Matthias nominated her eight-year-old nephew Ippolito d'Este Archbishop of Esztergom.[196] The Pope refused to confirm the child's appointment for years.[197] The "Black Army" encircled Vienna in January 1485.[198] The siege lasted for five months and ended with the triumphal entry of Matthias, at the head of 8,000 veterans, into Vienna on 1 June.[198] The King soon moved the royal court to the newly conquered town.[115] He summoned the Estates of Lower Austria to Vienna and forced them to swear loyalty to him.[199]

Matthias, by the grace of God, king of Hungary, Bohemia, Dalmatia, Croatia, Rama, Serbia, Galicia, Lodomeria, Cumania, and Bulgaria, Duke of Silesia and Luxemburg and Margrave of Moravia and Lusatia, for the everlasting memory of the matter. It is fitting that kings and princes who by heavenly decree are placed at the summit of the highest office, be adorned not only by arms but also by laws and that the people subjected to them, as well as the reins of authority, are restrained by the strength of good and stable institutions rather than by the harshness of absolute power and reprehensible abuse.

Preamble to the Decretum Maius[200]

Upon the monarch's initiative, the Diet of 1485 passed the so-called Decretum maius, a systematic law-code which replaced many previous contradictory decrees.[201][202] The law-code introduced substantial reforms in the administration of justice; the Palatine's eyre and the extraordinary county assemblies were abolished, which strengthened the position of the county courts.[201] Matthias also decreed that in cases of the monarch's absence or minority, the Palatine was authorized to rule as Regent.[201]

Emperor Frederick persuaded six of the seven Prince-electors of the Holy Roman Empire to proclaim his son Maximilian King of the Romans on 16 February 1486.[203] The Emperor, however, had failed to invite the King of Bohemia—either Matthias or Vladislaus Jagiellon—to the assembly.[203][183] In an attempt to prevail on Vladislaus to protest, Matthias invited him to a personal meeting.[183][204] Although they formed an alliance in Jihlava in September, the Estates of Bohemia refused to confirm it and Vladislaus recognized Maximilian's election.[204]

In the meantime Matthias continued his war against the Emperor.[205] The "Black Army" seized several towns in Lower Austria, including Laa an der Thaya, and Stein in 1485 and 1486.[205] He set up his chancery for Lower Austria in 1486 but he never introduced a separate seal for this realm.[199] Matthias assumed the title of Duke of Austria at the Diet of the Lower Austrian Estates in Ebenfurth in 1487.[206] He appointed Stephen Zápolya captain-general, Urban Nagylucsei administrator of the Archdiocese of Vienna, and entrusted the defence of the occupied towns and forts to Hungarian and Bohemian captains, but otherwise continued to employ Emperor Frederick's officials who accepted his rule.[206][207] Wiener Neustadt, the last town resisting Matthias in Lower Austria, fell to him on 17 August 1487.[178][205] He started negotiations with Duke Albert III of Saxony, who arrived at the head of the imperial army to fight for Emperor Frederick III.[205] They signed a six-month armistice in Sankt Pölten on 16 December, which ended the war.[205][208] Matthias offered Emperor Frederick and his son prince Maximilian, the return of Austrian provinces and Vienna, if they would renounce the treaty of 1463 and accept Matthias as Frederic's designated heir and probable the inheritor of the title of Holy Roman Emperor. Before this was settled though, Matthias died in Vienna in 1490.[209]

Last years (1487–1490)

 
Europe at the end of the reign of King Matthias

According to the contemporaneous Philippe de Commines, Matthias's subjects feared their King in the last years of his life because he rarely showed mercy towards those he suspected of treachery.[210] He had Archbishop Peter Váradi imprisoned in 1484 and ordered the execution of his Chancellor of Bohemia Jaroslav Boskovic in 1485.[211][212] He also imprisoned Nicholas Bánfi, a member of a magnate family, in 1487, although he had earlier avoided punishing the old aristocracy.[213] Bánfi's imprisonment seems to have been connected to his marriage to a daughter of John the Mad, Duke of Glogau because Matthias tried to seize this duchy for John Corvinus.[213] John the Mad entered into an alliance with the Duke of Münsterberg Henry of Poděbrady, and declared a war on Matthias on 9 May.[214][215] Six month later, the Black Army invaded and occupied his duchy.[214]

In the meantime, the citizens of Ancona, a town in the Papal States, hoisted Matthias's flag in the hope he would protect them against Venice.[216] Pope Innocent VIII soon protested, but Matthias refused to reject the overture, stating that the link between him and the town would never harm the interests of the Holy See.[216] He also sent an auxiliary troop to his father-in-law, who was waging a war against the Holy See and Venice.[217] The 1482 truce between Hungary and the Ottoman Empire was prolonged for two years in 1488.[218][214] On this occasion, it was stipulated that the Ottomans were to refrain from invading Wallachia and Moldavia.[218] The following year, Matthias granted two domains to Stephen the Great of Moldavia in Transylvania.[187]

Matthias, who suffered from gout, could not walk and was carried in a litter after March 1489.[219][220] Hereafter, his succession caused bitter conflicts between Queen Beatrice and John Corvinus.[220] Matthias asked Beatrice's brother Alfonso, Duke of Calabria, to persuade her not to strive for the Crown, stating that the "Hungarian people are capable of killing up unto the last man rather than submit to the government of a woman".[221][222] To strengthen his illegitimate son's position, Matthias even proposed withdrawing from Austria and to confirm Emperor Frederick's right to succeed him, provided the Emperor was willing to grant Croatia and Bosnia to John Corvinus with the title of king.[223][222]

Matthias participated in the lengthy Palm Sunday ceremony in Vienna in 1490, although he had felt so ill that morning that he could not eat breakfast.[219][224] Around noon, he tasted a fig that proved to be rotten and he became very agitated and suddenly felt faint.[225] The next day he was unable to speak.[225] After two days of suffering, Matthias died in the morning of 6 April.[225][224] According to Professor Frigyes Korányi, Matthias died of a stroke; Dr. Herwig Egert does not exclude the possibility of poisoning.[225] Matthias's funeral was held in St. Stephen's Cathedral, Vienna and he was buried in Székesfehérvár Cathedral on 24 or 25 April 1490.[226][227]

Patronage

Renaissance king

 
Matthias's illegitimate son, John Corvinus triumphed in Vienna in 1485

Matthias was the first non-Italian monarch promoting the spread of Renaissance style in his realm.[7][8] His marriage to Beatrice of Naples strengthened the influence of contemporaneous Italian art and scholarship,[228] and it was under his reign that Hungary became the first land outside Italy to embrace the Renaissance.[229] The earliest appearance of Renaissance style buildings and works outside Italy were in Hungary.[230][231] The Italian scholar Marsilio Ficino introduced Matthias to Plato's ideas of a philosopher-king uniting wisdom and strength in himself, which fascinated Matthias.[232] Matthias is the main character in Aurelio Lippo Brandolini's Republics and Kingdoms Compared, a dialogue on the comparison of the two forms of government.[233][234] According to Brandolini, Matthias said a monarch "is at the head of the law and rules over it" when summing up his own concepts of state.[234]

Matthias also cultivated traditional art.[235] Hungarian epic poems and lyric songs were often sung at his court.[235] He was proud of his role as the defender of Roman Catholicism against the Ottomans and the Hussites.[236] He initiated theological debates, for instance on the doctrine of the Immaculate Conception, and surpassed both the Pope and his legate "with regard to religious observance", according to the latter.[237] Matthias issued coins in the 1460s bearing an image of the Virgin Mary, demonstrating his special devotion to her cult.[238]

Upon Matthias's initiative, Archbishop John Vitéz and Bishop Janus Pannonius persuaded Pope Paul II to authorize them to set up a university in Pressburg (now Bratislava in Slovakia) on 29 May 1465.[239][77] The Academia Istropolitana was closed shortly after the Archbishop's death.[240][241] Matthias was contemplating establishing a new university in Buda but this plan was not accomplished.[240]

Building projects and arts

Further information: Buda Castle and Visegrád

Matthias started at least two major building projects.[242] The works in Buda and Visegrád began in about 1479.[243] Two new wings and a hanging garden were built at the royal castle of Buda, and the palace at Visegrád was rebuilt in Renaissance style.[243][244] Matthias appointed the Italian Chimenti Camicia and the Dalmatian Giovanni Dalmata to direct these projects.[243]

Matthias commissioned the leading Italian artists of his age to embellish his palaces: for instance, the sculptor Benedetto da Majano and the painters Filippino Lippi and Andrea Mantegna worked for him.[245] A copy of Mantegna's portrait of Matthias survived.[246] In the spring of 1485, Matthias decided to commission Leonardo da Vinci to paint a Madonna to him.[247] Matthias also hired the Italian military engineer Aristotele Fioravanti to direct the rebuilding of the forts along the southern frontier.[248] He had new monasteries built in Late Gothic style for the Franciscans in Kolozsvár, Szeged and Hunyad, and for the Paulines in Fejéregyháza.[236][249]

The court of Matthias had a musical establishment of high quality. The master of the Papal Chapel Bartolomeo Maraschi described Matthias's chapel choir as the best he had ever heard. Composers such as Josquin Dor and Johannes de Stokem spent time in Matthias's court,[250] and numerous Italian musicians visited it.[251] A late remark by Pal Várdai [hu], Archbishop of Esztergom, implies that the influential composer Josquin des Prez was active in Matthias' court for years in the 1480s, but Várdai may have mistaken him for someone else, and there no documentary evidence that places him there.[252][251]

Royal library

Main article: Bibliotheca Corviniana
 
The Royal Palace in Buda, engraving from the 1480s
 
The Renaissance palaces of the summer residence at Visegrád, engraving from the 1480s

Matthias started the systematic collection of books after the arrival of his first librarian, Galeotto Marzio, a friend of Janus Pannonius from Ferrara in around 1465.[253][254] The exchange of letters between Taddeo Ugoleto, who succeeded Marzio in 1471, and Francesco Bandini contributed to the development of the royal library because the latter regularly informed his friend of new manuscripts.[253] Matthias also employed scriptors, illuminators, and book-binders.[255] Although the exact number of his books is unknown, his Bibliotheca Corviniana was one of Europe's largest collections of books when he died.[256]

According to Marcus Tanne, the surviving 216 volumes of the King's library "show that Matthias had the literary tastes of a classic 'alpha male'", who preferred secular books to devotional works. For instance, a Latin translation of Xenophon's biography of Cyrus the Great, Quintus Curtius Rufus's book of Alexander the Great, and a military treatise by the contemporaneous Roberto Valturio survived. Matthias enjoyed reading, as demonstrated by a letter in which he thanked the Italian scholar Pomponio Leto who had sent him Silius Italicus's work of the Second Punic War.[257]

Patron of scholars

Matthias enjoyed the company of Humanists and had lively discussions on various topics with them.[258] The fame of his magnanimity encouraged many scholars—mostly Italian—to settle in Buda.[228] Antonio Bonfini, Pietro Ranzano, Bartolomeo Fonzio, and Francesco Bandini spent many years in Matthias's court.[259][258] This circle of educated men introduced the ideas of Neoplatonism to Hungary.[260][261]

Like all intellectuals of his age, Matthias was convinced that the movements and combinations of the stars and planets exercised influence on individuals' life and on the history of nations.[262] Galeotto Marzio described him as "king and astrologer", and Antonio Bonfini said Matthias "never did anything without consulting the stars".[263] Upon his request, the famous astronomers of the age, Johannes Regiomontanus and Marcin Bylica, set up an observatory in Buda and installed it with astrolabes and celestial globes.[237] Regiomontanus dedicated his book on navigation that was used by Christopher Columbus to Matthias.[228] The King appointed Bylica as his advisor in 1468.[264] According to Scott E. Hendrix, "establishing a prominent astrologer as his political advisor provided an anxiety-reduction mechanism that boosted morale for the political elites within his realm while strengthening his sense of control in the face of the multiple adversities the Hungarians faced" in his reign.[265]

Family

When Matthias was 12, his family arranged for him to marry Elizabeth of Celje who was also a child when their marriage took place in 1455.[15] She died in September before the marriage was consummated.[15][269] His second wife Catherine of Poděbrady was born in 1449.[3] She died in childbirth in January or February 1464.[3][61] The child did not survive.[61]

Matthias approached Emperor Frederick to suggest a new bride for him among Frederick's relatives.[93] Frederick II, Elector of Brandenburg proposed one of his daughters to Matthias but the Hungarian Estates opposed this plan.[93] In an attempt to enter into an alliance with King Casimir IV of Poland, Matthias proposed to the King's daughter Hedvig but he was refused.[270][271] During the 1470 meeting of Emperor Frederick and Matthias, a marriage between Matthias and the Emperor's five-year-old daughter Kunigunde of Austria was also discussed, but the Emperor was not willing to commit himself to the marriage.[272]

Matthias's third wife Beatrice of Naples was born in 1457.[273] Their engagement was announced in Breslau on 30 October 1474, during the siege of the town by Casimir IV and Vladislaus Jagiellon.[274] Her dowry amounted to 200,000 gold pieces.[275] Beatrice survived her husband and returned to Naples where she died in 1508.[276]

Matthias's only known child John Corvinus was born out of wedlock in 1473.[277][278] His mother Barbara Edelpöck—the daughter of a citizen of Stein in Lower Austria—met the King in early 1470.[277] John Corvinus died on 12 October 1504.[3]

Legacy

According to Marcus Tanner, Matthias ruled "a European superpower" at the end of his reign.[279] His conquests, however, were lost within months of his death.[280] The burghers of Breslau soon murdered his captain Heinz Dompnig.[199] The Emperor's rule in Vienna and Wiener Neustadt was restored without resistance.[281]

Stephen Zápolya said the King's death relieved "Hungary of the trouble and oppression from which it had suffered so far".[282] Royal authority quickly diminished because various claimants—John Corvinus, Maximilian of the Romans, Vladislaus Jagiellon, and the latter's younger brother, John Albert—were fighting for the crown.[283][284] Vladislaus Jagiellon triumphed because the barons regarded him as a weak ruler and he gained the support of Matthias's wealthy widow by promising to marry her.[283][282] Vladislaus was elected king after he promised he would abolish all "harmful innovations" introduced by Matthias, especially the extraordinary tax.[285] Vladislaus could not finance the maintenance of the Black Army and the unpaid mercenaries began plundering the countryside.[283] A royal force led by Paul Kinizsi eliminated them on the river Száva in 1492.[283][286]

The burden of Matthias's wars and splendid royal court mainly fell on the peasants, who paid at least 85% of the taxes.[287][288] The Chronicle of Dubnic, written in eastern Hungary in 1479, says "widows and orphans" cursed the King for the high taxes.[289] However, stories about "Matthias the Just", who wandered in disguise throughout his realm to deliver justice to his subjects, seem to have spread during Matthias's reign.[290] The saying "Dead is Matthias, lost is justice" became popular soon after his death, reflecting that commoners were more likely to have received a fair trial in Matthias's reign than under his successors.[202][291] Matthias is also the subject of popular folk tales in Croatia, Hungary, Serbia, and Slovenia.[292] For instance, King Matjaž is one of the sleeping kings of Slovenian folklore.[293][292]

In popular culture

Gallery

  •  

    Matthias I (Chronica Hungarorum)

  •  

    Matthias Corvinus depicted in Johannes de Thurocz's Chronica Hungarorum

  •  

    Matthias as young monarch (after a contemporary miniature from the Corviniana collection of the British Museum)

  •  

    The roughly 50-year-old Matthias in the style of Constantine the Great (contemporary sculpture from Buda Castle)

  •  

    Matthias Corvinus from a Corvina Codex

  •  

    The triumphant Matthias (painting by Gyula Benczúr in 1919, Hungarian National Gallery, Budapest)

  •  

    King Matthias receives the Papal Legates (painting by Gyula Benczúr in 1915)

  •  

    This stove tile depicts King Matthias (from Buda Castle, 1480)

  •  

    Coat of arms of Corvinus on the old Townhall of Görlitz as a sign that Görlitz belonged to the Hungarian crown under King Matthias (1488)

References

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Further reading

  • Bárány, Attila; Györkös, Attila, eds. (2008). Matthias and his Legacy: Cultural and Political Encounters between East and West. University of Debrecen. ISBN 978-963-473-276-1.
  • Birnbaum, Marianna D. (1996). The Orb and the Pen: Janus Pannonius, Matthias Corvinus and the Buda Court. Balassi Kiadó. ISBN 963-506-087-4.
  • ANTONIUS DE BONFINIS:DE REGE MATHIA RERUM UNGARICARUM DECADES A LIBRO IX. DECADIS III.USQUE AD LIBRUM VIII. DECADIS IV. In: Rerum Ungaricum decades. https://vmek.oszk.hu/mobil/konyvoldal.phtml?id=20375#_home
  • Farbaky, Péter; Spekner, Enikő; Szende, Katalin; et al., eds. (2008). Matthias Corvinus, the King: Tradition and Renewal in the Hungarian Royal Court 1458–1490. Budapest History Museum. ISBN 978-963-9340-69-5.
  • Farbaky, Peter; Waldman, Louis A. (2011). Italy & Hungary: Humanism and Art in the Early Renaissance. Harvard University Press. ISBN 9780674063464.
  • Feuer-Tóth, Rózsa (1990). Art and Humanism in Hungary in the Age of Matthias Corvinus. Akadémiai Kiadó. ISBN 963-05-5646-4.
  • Gastgeber, Christian; Mitsiou, Ekaterini; Pop, Ioan-Aurel; Popović, Mihailo; Preiser-Kapeller, Johannes; Simon, Alexandru (2011). Matthias Corvinus und seine Zeit: Europa am Übergang vom Mittelalter zur Neuzeit zwischen Wien und Konstantinopel [Matthias Corvinus and His Time: Europe in Transition from the Middle Ages to Modern Times between Vienna and Constantinople] (in German). David Brown Book Company. ISBN 978-3-7001-6891-1.
  • Klaniczay, Tibor; Jankovics, József (1994). Matthias Corvinus and the Humanism in Central Europe. Balassi Kiadó. ISBN 963-7873-72-4.
  • Marzio, Galeotto: De egregie, sapienter, iocose dictis ac factis regis Mathiae ad ducem lohannem eius filium liber[Of the most brilliant, wisely, and jestly sayings and deeds of king Mathias to duke John his son] / Galeottus Narniensis Martius; ed Ladislaus Juhász Lipsiae : Teubner, 1934. https://vmek.oszk.hu/mobil/konyvoldal.phtml?id=20034#_home

External links

 
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Matthias Corvinus.
  • , a folk tale reflecting Matthias' wisdom and sense of justice
  • Bibliotheca Corviniana Digitalis – National Széchényi Library, Hungary
  • Map of Europe in 1500.
  • "Matthias Corvinus" . Catholic Encyclopedia. 1913.
Matthias Corvinus
Born: 23 February 1443  Died: 6 April 1490
Regnal titles
Vacant
Title last held by
Ladislaus V 		King of Hungary and Croatia
1458–1490 		Succeeded by
Preceded by — DISPUTED —
King of Bohemia
1469–1490
Disputed by George and Vladislaus II
Preceded by — DISPUTED —
Duke of Austria
1487–1490
Disputed by Frederick V 		Succeeded by

January 07, 2023
matthias, corvinus, also, called, matthias, hungarian, hunyadi, mátyás, romanian, matia, matei, corvin, croatian, matija, matijaš, korvin, slovak, matej, korvín, czech, matyáš, korvín, february, 1443, april, 1490, king, hungary, croatia, from, 1458, 1490, afte. Matthias Corvinus also called Matthias I Hungarian Hunyadi Matyas Romanian Matia Matei Corvin Croatian Matija Matijas Korvin Slovak Matej Korvin Czech Matyas Korvin 23 February 1443 6 April 1490 was King of Hungary and Croatia from 1458 to 1490 After conducting several military campaigns he was elected King of Bohemia in 1469 and adopted the title Duke of Austria in 1487 He was the son of John Hunyadi Regent of Hungary who died in 1456 In 1457 Matthias was imprisoned along with his older brother Ladislaus Hunyadi on the orders of King Ladislaus the Posthumous Ladislaus Hunyadi was executed causing a rebellion that forced King Ladislaus to flee Hungary After the King died unexpectedly Matthias s uncle Michael Szilagyi persuaded the Estates to unanimously proclaim the 14 year old Matthias as king on 24 January 1458 He began his rule under his uncle s guardianship but he took effective control of government within two weeks Matthias CorvinusPortrait by Andrea MantegnaKing of Hungary and CroatiaReign24 January 1458 6 April 1490Coronation29 April 1464PredecessorLadislaus VSuccessorVladislaus IIRegentMichael Szilagyi 1458 King of Bohemiacontested by George and Vladislaus IIReign1469 1490PredecessorGeorgeSuccessorVladislaus IIDuke of Austriacontested by Frederick VReign1487 1490PredecessorFrederick VSuccessorFrederick VBorn23 February 1443Kolozsvar Kingdom of Hungary now Cluj Napoca Romania Died6 April 1490 1490 04 06 aged 47 Vienna AustriaBurialRoyal Basilica SzekesfehervarSpouseElizabeth of CeljeCatherine of PodebradyBeatrice of NaplesIssueJohn Corvinus illegitimate HouseHunyadiFatherJohn HunyadiMotherElizabeth SzilagyiReligionRoman CatholicSignatureAs king Matthias waged wars against the Czech mercenaries who dominated Upper Hungary today parts of Slovakia and Northern Hungary and against Frederick III Holy Roman Emperor who claimed Hungary for himself In this period the Ottoman Empire conquered Serbia and Bosnia terminating the zone of buffer states along the southern frontiers of the Kingdom of Hungary Matthias signed a peace treaty with Frederick III in 1463 acknowledging the Emperor s right to style himself King of Hungary The Emperor returned the Holy Crown of Hungary with which Matthias was crowned on 29 April 1464 In this year Matthias invaded the territories that had recently been occupied by the Ottomans and seized fortresses in Bosnia He soon realized he could expect no substantial aid from the Christian powers and gave up his anti Ottoman policy Matthias introduced new taxes and regularly set taxation at extraordinary levels These measures caused a rebellion in Transylvania in 1467 but he subdued the rebels The next year Matthias declared war on George of Podebrady the Hussite King of Bohemia and conquered Moravia Silesia and Lausitz but he could not occupy Bohemia proper The Catholic Estates proclaimed him King of Bohemia on 3 May 1469 but the Hussite lords refused to yield to him even after the death of their leader George of Podebrady in 1471 Instead they elected Vladislaus Jagiellon the eldest son of Casimir IV of Poland A group of Hungarian prelates and lords offered the throne to Vladislaus s younger brother Casimir but Matthias overcame their rebellion Having routed the united troops of Casimir IV and Vladislaus at Breslau in Silesia now Wroclaw in Poland in late 1474 Matthias turned against the Ottomans who had devastated the eastern parts of Hungary He sent reinforcements to Stephen the Great Prince of Moldavia enabling Stephen to repel a series of Ottoman invasions in the late 1470s In 1476 Matthias besieged and seized Sabac an important Ottoman border fort He concluded a peace treaty with Vladislaus Jagiellon in 1478 confirming the division of the Lands of the Bohemian Crown between them Matthias waged a war against Emperor Frederick and occupied Lower Austria between 1482 and 1487 Matthias established one of the earliest professional standing armies of medieval Europe the Black Army of Hungary reformed the administration of justice reduced the power of the barons and promoted the careers of talented individuals chosen for their abilities rather than their social statuses Matthias patronized art and science his royal library the Bibliotheca Corviniana was one of the largest collections of books in Europe With his patronage Hungary became the first country to embrace the Renaissance from Italy As Matthias the Just the monarch who wandered among his subjects in disguise he remains a popular hero of Hungarian and Slovak 1 folk tales Contents 1 Early life 1 1 Childhood 1443 1457 1 2 Election as king 1457 1458 2 Reign 2 1 Early rule and consolidation 1458 1464 2 2 First reforms and internal conflicts 1464 1467 2 2 1 Political reforms 2 2 2 Economic reforms 2 3 War for the Lands of the Bohemian Crown 1468 1479 2 4 War for Austria 1479 1487 2 5 Last years 1487 1490 3 Patronage 3 1 Renaissance king 3 2 Building projects and arts 3 3 Royal library 3 4 Patron of scholars 4 Family 5 Legacy 6 In popular culture 7 Gallery 8 References 9 Sources 10 Further reading 11 External linksEarly life Edit The house where Matthias Corvinus was born in Kolozsvar present day Cluj Napoca Romania Matthias Corvinus as young monarch Museum of Sforza Castle Milan Italy Childhood 1443 1457 Edit Matthias was born in Kolozsvar now Cluj Napoca in Romania on 23 February 1443 2 3 He was the second son of John Hunyadi and his wife Elizabeth Szilagyi 2 4 Matthias education was managed by his mother due to his father s absence 2 Many of the most learned men of Central Europe including Gregory of Sanok and John Vitez frequented John Hunyadi s court when Matthias was a child 5 Gregory of Sanok a former tutor of King Vladislaus III of Poland was Matthias s only teacher whose name is known 6 Under these scholars influences Matthias became an enthusiastic supporter of Renaissance humanism 7 8 As a child Matthias learnt many languages and read classical literature especially military treatises 6 According to Antonio Bonfini Matthias was versed in all the tongues of Europe with the exceptions of Turkish and Greek 9 Although this was an exaggeration it is without doubt that Matthias spoke Hungarian Latin Italian Polish Czech and German 6 10 Bonfini also wrote that he needed an interpreter to speak with a POW during his Moldavian campaign 11 On the other hand the late 16th century Polish historian Krzystoff Warszewiecki wrote that Matthias had been able to understand the Romanian language of the envoys of Stephen the Great Prince of Moldavia 12 According to a treaty between John Hunyadi and Đurađ Brankovic Despot of Serbia Matthias and the Despot s granddaughter Elizabeth of Celje were engaged on 7 August 1451 13 14 Elizabeth was the daughter of Ulrich II Count of Celje who was related to King Ladislaus the Posthumous and an opponent of Matthias s father 15 16 Because of new conflicts between Hunyadi and Ulrich of Celje the marriage of their children only took place in 1455 17 Elizabeth settled in the Hunyadis estates but Matthias was soon sent to the royal court implying that their marriage was a hidden exchange of hostages between their families 15 Elizabeth died before the end of 1455 15 John Hunyadi died on 11 August 1456 less than three weeks after his greatest victory over the Ottomans in Belgrade 18 John s elder son Matthias s brother Ladislaus became the head of the family 15 19 Ladislaus s conflict with Ulrich of Celje ended with Ulrich s capture and assassination on 9 November 20 21 22 Under duress the King promised he would never take his revenge against the Hunyadis for Ulrich s killing 23 However the murder turned most barons including Palatine Ladislaus Garai Judge royal Ladislaus Paloci and Nicholas Ujlaki Voivode of Transylvania against Ladislaus Hunyadi 23 Taking advantage of their resentment the King had the Hunyadi brothers imprisoned in Buda on 14 March 1457 21 24 The royal council condemned them to death for high treason and Ladislaus Hunyadi was beheaded on 16 March 25 Matthias was held in captivity in a small house in Buda 23 26 His mother and her brother Michael Szilagyi staged a rebellion against the King and occupied large territories in the regions to the east of the river Tisza 23 24 King Ladislaus fled to Vienna in mid 1457 and from Vienna to Prague in September taking Matthias with him 21 27 28 The civil war between the rebels and the barons loyal to the monarch continued until the sudden death of the young King on 23 November 1457 23 Thereafter the Hussite Regent of Bohemia George of Podebrady held Matthias captive 29 King Matthias arrival in Buda a painting by Henrik Weber Election as king 1457 1458 Edit King Ladislaus died childless in 1457 30 31 His elder sister Anna and her husband William III Landgrave of Thuringia laid claim to his inheritance but received no support from the Estates 30 The Diet of Hungary was convoked to Pest to elect a new king in January 1458 32 Pope Calixtus III s legate Cardinal Juan Carvajal who had been John Hunyadi s admirer began openly campaigning for Matthias 32 33 The election of Matthias as king was the only way of avoiding a protracted civil war 32 Ladislaus Garai was the first baron to yield 33 At a meeting with Matthias s mother and uncle he promised that he and his allies would promote Matthias s election and Michael Szilagyi promised that his nephew would never seek vengeance for Ladislaus Hunyadi s execution 32 33 They also agreed that Matthias would marry the Palatine s daughter Anna his executed brother s bride 32 33 Michael Szilagyi arrived at the Diet with 15 000 troops intimidating the barons who assembled in Buda 21 32 Stirred up by Szilagyi the noblemen gathered on the frozen River Danube and unanimously proclaimed the 14 year old Matthias king on 24 January 32 34 35 At the same time the Diet elected his uncle as regent 33 35 Reign EditEarly rule and consolidation 1458 1464 Edit See also Peace Treaty of Wiener Neustadt George of Podebrady and Matthias Corvinus a painting by Mikolas Ales Matthias s election was the first time that a member of the nobility mounted the royal throne in Hungary 26 Michael Szilagyi sent John Vitez to Prague to discuss the terms of Matthias s release with George of Podebrady 36 Podebrady whose daughter Kunigunda Matthias promised to marry agreed to release his future son in law for a ransom of 60 000 gold florins 37 38 Matthias was surrendered to the Hungarian delegates in Straznice on 9 February 36 With Podebrady s mediation he was reconciled with John Jiskra of Brandys the commander of the Czech mercenaries who dominated most of Upper Hungary 39 40 Matthias made his state entry into Buda five days later 41 42 He ceremoniously sat on the throne in the Church of Our Lady but was not crowned because the Holy Crown of Hungary had been in the possession of Frederick III Holy Roman Emperor for almost two decades 41 43 The 14 year old monarch administered state affairs independently from the outset although he reaffirmed his uncle s position as Regent 44 45 For instance Matthias instructed the citizens of Nagyszeben now Sibiu in Romania to reconcile their differences with Vlad Dracula Prince of Wallachia on 3 March 45 Jiskra was the first baron who turned against Matthias 39 He offered the throne to Casimir IV of Poland the husband of King Ladislaus V s younger sister Elisabeth in late March but the General sejm of Poland rejected his offer 39 Matthias s commander Sebastian Rozgonyi defeated Jiskra s soldiers at Sarospatak but the Ottomans invasion of Serbia in April forced Matthias to conclude an armistice with the Czechs 35 46 47 They were allowed to keep Saros Castle now Saris Castle Slovakia and other fortified places in Upper Hungary 48 Matthias sent two prelates August Salanki Bishop of Gyor and Vincent Szilasi Bishop of Vac to Prague to crown George of Podebrady king 39 Upon their demand the heretic Podebrady swore loyalty to the Holy See 39 Matthias s golden florin depicting Madonna and Child and King Saint Ladislaus Matthias s first Diet assembled in Pest in May 1458 49 The Estates passed almost fifty decrees that were ratified by Matthias instead of the Regent on 8 June 50 One decree prescribed that the King must call and hold and order to be held a diet of all the gentlemen of the realm in person 51 every year on Whitsunday 49 Matthias held more than 25 Diets during his reign and convoked the Estates more frequently than his predecessors especially between 1458 and 1476 49 52 53 The Diets were controlled by the barons whom Matthias appointed and dismissed at will 49 54 For instance he dismissed Palatine Ladislaus Garai and persuaded Michael Szilagyi to resign from the Regency after they entered into a league in the summer of 1458 55 38 The King appointed Michael Orszag who had been his father s close supporter as the new Palatine 56 Most of Matthias s barons were descended from old aristocratic families but he also promoted the careers of members of the lesser nobility or even of skilful commoners 57 58 For instance the noble Zapolya brothers Emeric and Stephen owed their fortunes to Matthias s favour 59 Matthias s ordinary revenues amounted around 250 000 golden florins per year when his reign began 60 A decree passed at the Diet of 1458 explicitly prohibited the imposition of extraordinary taxes 61 However an extraordinary tax one golden florin per each porta or peasant household was levied late that year 61 62 The Ottomans occupied the fort of Golubac in Serbia in August 1458 Matthias ordered the mobilization of all noblemen 63 35 He made a raid into Ottoman territory and defeated the enemy forces in minor skirmishes 35 King Stephen Thomas of Bosnia accepted Matthias s suzerainty 63 Matthias authorized his new vassal s son Stephen Tomasevic to take possession of the parts of Serbia that had not been occupied by the Ottomans 63 At the turn of 1458 and 1459 Matthias held a Diet at Szeged to prepare for a war against the Ottoman Empire 64 However gossip about a conspiracy compelled him to return to Buda 65 The rumours proved to be true because at least 30 barons including Ladislaus Garai Nicholas Ujlaki and Ladislaus Kanizsai met in Nemetujvar now Gussing in Austria and offered the throne to Emperor Frederick III on 17 February 1459 35 38 66 Even George of Podebrady turned against Matthias when Frederick promised him to make him governor of the Holy Roman Empire 67 Although the joint troops of the Emperor and the rebellious lords defeated a royal army at Kormend on 27 March Garai had by that time died Ujlaki and Sigismund Szentgyorgyvolgyi soon entered into negotiations with Matthias envoys Ujlaki became indifferent Szentgyorgyvolgyi joined to Matthias 66 Skirmishes along the western borderlands lasted for several months preventing Matthias from providing military assistance to Tomasevic against the Ottomans 64 The latter took Smederevo on 29 June completing the conquest of Serbia 68 69 John Jiskra of Brandys a picture by Mikolas Ales Jiskra swore an oath of loyalty to Emperor Frederick on 10 March 1460 64 Pope Pius II offered to mediate a peace treaty between the Emperor and Matthias 38 Podedebrandy also realised he need to support Matthias or at least had to be indifferent He sent his daughter to Buda also offered his assistance 70 71 The representatives of the Emperor and Matthias signed a truce in Olomouc in April 1460 35 The Pope soon offered financial support for an anti Ottoman campaign 64 However John Jiskra returned from Poland renewing the armed conflicts with Czech mercenaries in early 1460 64 Matthias seized a newly erected fort from the Czechs but he could not force them to obey him 64 The costs of his five month long campaign in Upper Hungary were paid for by an extraordinary tax 72 Matthias entered into an alliance with the Emperor s rebellious brother Albert VI Archduke of Austria 73 George of Podebrady sided with the Emperor although the marriage of his daughter who became known as Catherine in Hungary to Matthias was celebrated on 1 May 1461 married 1461 to 1464 61 74 Relations between Matthias and his father in law deteriorated because of the Czech mercenaries continued presence in Upper Hungary 75 Matthias launched a new campaign against them after the Diet authorized him to collect an extraordinary tax in mid 1461 76 However he did not defeat Jiskra who even captured Kesmark now Kezmarok Slovakia 48 The envoys of Matthias and Emperor Frederick agreed the terms of peace treaty on 3 April 1462 35 According to the agreement the Emperor was to return the Holy Crown of Hungary for 80 000 golden florins but his right to use the title King of Hungary along with Matthias was confirmed 35 70 In accordance with the treaty the Emperor adopted Matthias which granted him the right to succeed his son if Matthias died without a legitimate heir 70 77 Within a month Jiskra yielded to Matthias 77 He surrendered all the forts he held in Upper Hungary to the King s representatives as compensation he received a large domain near the Tisza and Arad and 25 000 golden florins It happened before peace treaty with Frederick 48 To pay the large amounts stipulated in his treaties with the Emperor and Jiskra Matthias collected an extraordinary tax with the consent of the Royal Council 78 The Diet which assembled in mid 1462 confirmed this decision but only after 9 prelates and 19 barons promised that no extraordinary taxes would be introduced thereafter 78 Through hiring mercenaries among Jiskra s companions Matthias began organizing a professional army which became known as the Black Army in following decades 79 The peace treaty made in Wiener Neustadt 19 July 1463 80 The Ottoman Sultan Mehmed II invaded Wallachia in early 1462 81 69 He did not conquer the country but the Wallachian boyars dethroned the anti Ottoman Vlad Dracula replacing him with the Sultan s favorite Radu the Fair 81 82 The new Prince was willing to grant concessions to the Transylvanian Saxon merchants who had come into bitter conflict with Vlad Dracula 83 The latter sought assistance from Matthias and they met in Brasso now Brașov Romania in November 84 However the Saxons presented Matthias with a letter allegedly written by Vlad Dracula to Sultan Mehmed in which the Prince offered his support to the Ottomans 81 85 Convinced of Vlad Dracula s treachery Matthias had him imprisoned 81 In preparation for a war against the Ottomans Matthias held a Diet at Tolna in March 1463 86 Although the Estates authorized him to levy a one florin extraordinary tax he did not intervene when Mehmed II invaded Bosnia in June 87 In a month the Ottomans murdered King Stephen Tomasevic and conquered the whole country 31 88 Matthias only adopted an offensive foreign policy after the terms of his peace with Emperor Frederick were ratified in Wiener Neustadt on 19 July 1463 89 He led his troops to Bosnia and conquered Jajce and other forts in its northern parts 90 The conquered regions were organized into new defensive provinces the banates of Jajce and Srebrenik 90 91 Matthias was assisted by Stjepan Vukcic Kosaca Grand Duke of Bosnia who controlled the area of modern and Old Hercegovina A former vassal to the Bosnian kings Stjepan accepted Matthias s suzerainty 90 92 Queen Catherine died in early 1464 during preparations for her husband s coronation with the Holy Crown which had been returned by Emperor Frederick 93 The ceremony was carried out in full accordance with the customary law of Hungary on 29 March 1464 Archbishop of Esztergom Denes Szecsi ceremoniously put the Holy Crown on Matthias s head in Szekesfehervar 93 77 94 At the Diet assembled on this occasion the newly crowned King confirmed the liberties of the nobility 95 Hereafter the legality of Matthias s reign could not be questioned 94 First reforms and internal conflicts 1464 1467 Edit Matthias s signature and royal stamp Matthias s golden florin depicting King Saint Ladislaus and Matthias s coat of arms Political reforms Edit Matthias dismissed his Chief Chancellor Archbishop Szecsi replacing him with Stephen Vardai Archbishop of Kalocsa and John Vitez 96 Both prelates bore the title of Chief and Secret Chancellor but Vardai was the actual leader of the Royal Chancery 97 98 Around the same time Matthias united the superior courts of justice the Court of Royal Special Presence and the Court of Personal Presence into one supreme court 96 99 The new supreme court diminished the authority of the traditional courts presided over by the barons and contributed to the professionalization of the administration of justice 100 He appointed Albert Hangacsi Bishop of Csanad as the first Chief Justice 101 102 Sultan Mehmed II returned to Bosnia and laid siege to Jajce in July 1464 90 103 Matthias began assembling his troops along the river Sava forcing the Sultan to raise the siege on 24 August 103 Matthias and his army crossed the river and seized Srebrnica 104 He also besieged Zvornik but the arrival of a large Ottoman army forced him to withdraw to Hungary 105 The following year Matthias forced Stefan Vukcic who had transferred Makarska Krajina to the Republic of Venice to establish Hungarian garrisons in his forts along the river Neretva 106 Denes Szecsi died in 1465 and John Vitez became the new Archbishop of Esztergom 107 108 Matthias replaced the two Voivodes of Transylvania Nicholas Ujlaki and John Pongrac of Dengeleg with Counts Sigismund and John Szentgyorgyi and Bertold Ellerbach 109 Although Ujlaki preserved his office of Ban of Macso the King appointed Peter Szokoli to administer the province together with the old Ban 110 Matthias convoked the Diet to make preparations for an anti Ottoman campaign in 1466 110 For the same purpose he received subsidies from Pope Paul II 111 112 However Matthias had realized that no substantial aid could be expected from the Christian powers and tacitly gave up his anti Ottoman foreign policy 113 He did not invade Ottoman territory and the Ottomans did not make major incursions into Hungary implying that he signed a peace treaty with Mehmed II s envoy who arrived in Hungary in 1465 114 Matthias visited Slavonia and dismissed the two Bans Nicholas Ujlaki and Emeric Zapolya replacing them with Jan Vitovec and John Tuz in 1466 109 Early the following year he mounted a campaign in Upper Hungary against a band of Czech mercenaries who were under the command of Jan Svehla and had seized Kosztolany now Veľke Kostoľany in Slovakia 78 115 Matthias routed them and had Svehla and his 150 comrades hanged 78 77 Economic reforms Edit Main article Economic Reforms of Matthias Corvinus At the Diet of March 1467 two traditional taxes were renamed the chamber s profit was thereafter collected as tax of the royal treasury and the thirtieth as the Crown s customs 116 Because of this change all previous tax exemptions became void increasing state revenues 77 117 Matthias set about centralizing the administration of royal revenues He entrusted the administration of the Crown s customs to John Ernuszt a converted Jewish merchant 118 Within two years Ernuszt was responsible for the collection of all ordinary and extraordinary taxes and the management of the salt mines 119 Matthias s tax reform caused a revolt in Transylvania 120 96 The representatives of the Three Nations of the province the noblemen the Saxons and the Szekelys formed an alliance against the King in Kolozsmonostor now Mănăștur district in Cluj Napoca Romania on 18 August stating that they were willing to fight for the freedom of Hungary 96 110 Matthias assembled his troops immediately and hastened to the province 121 The rebels surrendered without resistance but Matthias severely punished their leaders many of whom were impaled beheaded or mercilessly tortured upon his orders 96 122 Suspecting that Stephen the Great had supported the rebellion Matthias invaded Moldavia 96 123 However Stephen s forces routed Matthias s at the Battle of Baia on 15 December 1467 96 123 Matthias suffered severe injuries forcing him to return to Hungary 123 124 War for the Lands of the Bohemian Crown 1468 1479 Edit Further information Bohemian War 1468 1478 Renaissance portrait of Matthias Corvinus King of Hungary marble relief by Giovanni Dalmata attributed to Benedetto da Maiano previous attribution 1476 Matthias s former brother in law Victor of Podebrady invaded Austria in early 1468 125 126 Emperor Frederick appealed to Matthias for support hinting at the possibility of Matthias s election as King of the Romans first step towards the imperial throne 125 Matthias declared war on Victor s father King George of Bohemia on 31 March 126 He said he also wanted to help the Czech Catholic lords against their heretic monarch whom the Pope had excommunicated 127 Matthias expelled the Czech troops from Austria and invaded Moravia and Silesia 74 126 He took an active part in the fighting he was injured during the siege of Trebic in May 1468 and was captured at Chrudim while spying out the enemy camp in disguise in February 1469 128 On the latter occasion he was released because he made his custodians believe he was a local Czech groom 128 The Diet of 1468 authorized Matthias to levy an extraordinary tax to finance the new war but only after 8 prelates and 13 secular lords pledged on the King s behalf that he would not demand such charges in the future 129 Matthias also exercised royal prerogatives to increase his revenues 129 For instance he ordered a Palatine s eyre in a county the cost of which were to be covered by the local inhabitants but soon authorized the county to redeem the cancellation of this irksome duty 129 The Czech Catholics who were led by Zdenek of Sternberk joined forces with Matthias in February 1469 130 Their united troops were encircled at Vilemov by George of Podebrady s army 74 131 In fear of being captured Matthias opened negotiations with his former father in law 131 They met in a nearby hovel where Matthias persuaded George of Podebrady to sign an armistice promising that he would mediate a reconciliation between the moderate Hussites and the Holy See 74 131 Their next meeting took place in Olomouc in April 130 Here the papal legates came forward with demands including the appointment of a Catholic Archbishop to the See of Prague which could not be accepted by George of Podebrady 131 130 The Czech Catholic Estates elected Matthias King of Bohemia in Olomouc on 3 May but he was never crowned 132 133 Moravia Silesia and Lusatia soon accepted his rule but Bohemia proper remained faithful to George of Podebrady 134 135 The Estates of Bohemia even acknowledged the right of Vladislaus Jagiello the eldest son of Casimir IV of Poland to succeed king George of Podebrady 134 77 Conquests of Matthias Corvinus in Central Europe Matthias s relations with Frederick III had in the meantime deteriorated because the Emperor accused Matthias of allowing the Ottomans to march through Slavonia when raiding the Emperor s realms 135 The Frangepan family whose domains in Croatia were exposed to Ottoman raids entered into negotiations with the Emperor and the Republic of Venice 136 137 In 1469 Matthias sent an army to Croatia to prevent the Venetians from seizing the Adriatic coastal town Senj 138 Matthias expelled George of Podebrady s troops from Silesia 134 Matthias s army was encircled and routed at Uhersky Brod on 2 November forcing him to withdraw to Hungary 77 Matthias soon ordered the collection of an extraordinary tax without holding a Diet raising widespread discontent among the Hungarian Estates 139 He visited Emperor Frederick in Vienna on 11 February 1470 hoping the Emperor would contribute to the costs of the war against Podebrady 140 Although the negotiations lasted for a month no compromise was worked out 140 The Emperor also refused to commit himself to promoting Matthias s election as King of the Romans 140 After a month Matthias left Vienna without taking formal leave of Frederick III 141 Having realised the Hungarian Estates growing dissatisfaction Matthias held a Diet in November 139 The Diet again authorized him to levy an extraordinary tax stipulating that the sum of all taxes payable per porta could not exceed one florin 139 The Estates also made it clear that they opposed the war in Bohemia 139 George of Podebrady died on 22 March 1471 142 The Diet of Bohemia proper elected Vladislaus Jagiello king on 27 May 143 The papal legate Lorenzo Roverella soon declared Vladislaus s election void and confirmed Matthias s position as King of Bohemia but the Imperial Diet refused Matthias s claim 144 145 Matthias was staying in Moravia when he was informed that a group of Hungarian prelates and barons had offered the throne to Casimir a younger son of King Casimir IV of Poland 146 The conspiracy was initiated by Archbishop John Vitez and his nephew Janus Pannonius Bishop of Pecs who opposed war against the Catholic Vladislaus Jagiellon 147 Initially their plan was supported by the majority of the Estates but nobody dared to rebel against Matthias enabling him to return to Hungary without resistance 148 Matthias held a Diet and promised to refrain from levying taxes without the consent of the Estates and to convoke the Diet in each year 146 His promises remedied most of the Estates grievances and almost 50 barons and prelates confirmed their loyalty to him on 21 September 149 150 Casimir Jagiellon invaded on 2 October 1471 77 With Bishop Janus Pannonius s support he seized Nyitra now Nitra in Slovakia but only two barons John Rozgonyi and Nicholas Perenyi joined him 150 151 152 Within five months Prince Casimir withdrew from Hungary Bishop Janus Pannonius died while fleeing and Archbishop John Vitez was forbidden to leave his see 150 151 Matthias appointed the Silesian Johann Beckensloer to administer the Archdiocese of Esztergom 150 Vitez died and Beckensloer succeeded him in a year 151 The Ottomans had meanwhile seized the Hungarian forts along the river Nertva 153 Matthias nominated the wealthy baron Nicholas Ujlaki as King of Bosnia in 1471 entrusting the defence of the province to him 151 Uzun Hassan head of the Aq Qoyunlu Turkmens proposed an anti Ottoman alliance to Matthias but he refrained from attacking the Ottoman Empire 154 Matthias supported the Austrian noblemen who rebelled against Emperor Frederick in 1472 155 The following year Matthias Casimir IV and Vladislaus entered into negotiations on the terms of a peace treaty but the discussions lasted for months 77 152 Matthias tried to unify the government of Silesia which consisted of dozens of smaller duchies through appointing a captain general 156 However the Estates refused to elect his candidate Duke Frederick I of Liegnitz 156 Matthias s great coat of arms In the middle are personal coat of arms of Matthias Corvinus Quartered 1 Hungary s two barred cross 2 Arpad dynasty 3 Bohemia and 4 Hunyadi family and that of his wife Beatrice of Naples Quartered 1 and 4 Arpad dynasty France ancient Jerusalem Impaled 2 and 3 Aragon above them a royal crown On the outer edge there are coat of arms of various lands beginning from the top clockwise they are Bohemia Luxemburg Lower Lusatia Moravia Austria Galicia Volhynia Silesia Dalmatia Croatia Beszterce county Ali Bey Mihaloglu Bey of Smederevo pillaged eastern parts of Hungary destroyed Varad and took 16 000 prisoners with him in January 1474 157 The next month the envoys of Matthias and Casimir IV signed a peace treaty and a three year truce between Matthias and Vladislaus Jagiellon was also declared 158 Within a month however Vladislaus entered into an alliance with Emperor Frederick and Casimir IV joined them 158 152 Casimir IV and Vladislaus invaded Silesia and laid siege to Matthias in Breslau now Wroclaw in Poland in October 152 He prevented the besiegers from accumulating provisions forcing them to raise the siege 159 Thereafter the Silesian Estates willingly elected Matthias s new candidate Stephen Zapolya as captain general 156 The Moravian Estates elected Ctibor Tovacovsky as captain general 160 Matthias confirmed this decision although Tovacovsky had been Vladislaus Jagiellon s partisan 160 The Ottomans invaded Wallachia and Moldavia at the end of 1474 161 Matthias sent reinforcements under the command of Blaise Magyar to Stephen the Great 162 Their united forces routed the invaders in the Battle of Vaslui on 10 January 1475 163 Fearing a new Ottoman invasion the Prince of Moldavia swore fealty to Matthias on 15 August 161 Sultan Mehmed II proposed peace but Matthias refused him 161 Instead he stormed into Ottoman territory and captured Sabac an important fort on the river Szava on 15 February 1476 164 165 During the siege Matthias barely escaped capture while he was watching the fortress from a boat 166 For unknown reasons Archbishop Johann Beckensloer left Hungary taking the treasury of the Esztergom See with him in early 1476 159 167 He fled to Vienna and offered his funds to the Emperor 168 Matthias accused the Emperor of having incited the Archbishop against him 168 Mehmed II launched a campaign against Moldavia in the summer of 1476 163 Although he won the Battle of Valea Albă on 26 July the lack of provisions forced him to retreat 169 Matthias sent auxiliary troops to Moldavia under the command of Vlad Dracula whom he had released and Stephen Bathory 165 170 The allied forces defeated an Ottoman army at the Siret River in August 171 With Hungarian and Moldavian support Vlad Dracula was reinstalled as Prince of Wallachia but he was killed fighting against his opponent Basarab Laiotă 172 173 Matthias s bride Beatrice of Naples arrived in Hungary in late 1476 174 Matthias married her in Buda on 22 December that year 174 The Queen soon established a rigid etiquette making direct contacts between the King and his subjects more difficult 175 According to Bonfini Matthias also improved his board and manner of life introduced sumptuous banquets disdaining humility at home and beautified the dining rooms after his marriage 176 According to a contemporaneous record around that time Matthias s revenues amounted about 500 000 florins half of which derived from the tax of the royal treasury and the extraordinary tax 177 Matthias concluded an alliance with the Teutonic Knights and the Bishopric of Ermland against Poland in March 1477 159 However instead of Poland he declared war on Emperor Frederick after he learnt that the Emperor had confirmed Vladislaus Jagiellon s position as King of Bohemia and Prince elector 159 178 Matthias invaded Lower Austria and imposed a blockade on Vienna 179 Vladislaus Jagiellon denied to support the Emperor forcing him to seek reconciliation with Matthias 179 With the mediation of Pope Sixtus IV Venice and Ferdinand I of Naples Matthias concluded a peace treaty with Frederick III which was signed on 1 December 179 180 The Emperor promised to confirm Matthias as the lawful ruler of Bohemia and to pay him an indemnity of 100 000 florins 178 179 181 They met in Korneuburg where Frederick III installed Matthias as King of Bohemia and Matthias swore loyalty to the Emperor 182 Negotiations between the envoys of Matthias and Vladislaus Jagiellon accelerated during the next few months 183 The first draft of a treaty was agreed upon on 28 March 1478 and the text was completed by the end of 1477 115 The treaty authorized both monarchs to use the title of King of Bohemia although Vladislaus could omit to style Matthias as such in their correspondence and the Lands of the Bohemian Crown were divided between them Vladislaus ruled in Bohemia proper and Matthias in Moravia Silesia and Lusatia 159 144 They solemnly ratified the peace treaty at their meeting in Olomouc on 21 July 115 War for Austria 1479 1487 Edit Further information Austrian Hungarian War 1477 1488 Siege of Vienna 1485 and Siege of Wiener Neustadt Coat of arms of Matthias Corvinus guarded by Black Army heavy infantry Matthias Church Budapest The damaged art relic was renovated in 1893 Emperor Frederick only paid off half of the indemnity due to Matthias according to their treaty of 1477 182 184 Matthias concluded a treaty with the Swiss Confederacy on 26 March 1479 hindering the recruitment of Swiss mercenaries by the Emperor 182 He also entered into an alliance with Archbishop of Salzburg Bernhard II of Rohr who allowed him to take possession of the fortresses of the Archbishopric in Carinthia Carniola and Styria 178 185 186 An Ottoman army supported by Basarab Țepeluș of Wallachia invaded Transylvania and set fire to Szaszvaros now Orăștie in Romania in late 1479 187 162 Stephen Bathory and Paul Kinizsi annihilated the marauders in the Battle of Breadfield on 13 October 162 188 Matthias united the command of all forts along the Danube to the west of Belgrade in the hand of Paul Kinizsi to improve the defence of the southern frontier 79 Matthias sent reinforcements to Stephen the Great who invaded pro Ottoman Wallachia in early 1480 Matthias launched a campaign as far as Sarajevo in Bosnia in November 189 162 He set up five defensive provinces or banates centred around the forts of Szorenyvar now Drobeta Turnu Severin in Romania Belgrade Sabac Srebrenik and Jajce 79 The next year Matthias initiated a criminal case against the Frankapans the Zrinskis and other leading Croatian and Slavonian magnates for their alleged participation in the 1471 conspiracy 138 Most barons were pardoned as soon as they consented to the introduction of a new land tax 138 In 1481 for a loan of 100 000 florins Matthias seized the town of Mautern in Styria and Sankt Polten in Lower Austria from Friedrich Mauerkircher one of the two candidates to the Bishopric of Passau 186 Sultan Mehmed II died on 3 May 1481 190 A civil war ensued in the Ottoman Empire between his sons Bayezid II and Cem 191 Defeated Cem fled to Rhodes where the Knights Hospitaller kept him in custody 191 Matthias claimed Cem s custody in the hope of using him to gain concessions from Bayezid but Venice and Pope Innocent VIII strongly opposed this plan 191 In late 1481 Hungarian auxiliary troops supported Matthias s father in law Ferdinand I of Naples to reoccupy Otranto which had been lost to the Ottomans the year before 192 Although the Black Army had already laid siege to Hainburg an der Donau in January 1482 Matthias officially declared a new war on Emperor Frederick three months later 178 He directed the siege in person from the end of June and the town fell to him in October 193 In the next three months Matthias also captured Sankt Veit an der Glan Enzersdorf an der Fischa and Koszeg 193 The papal legate Bartolomeo Maraschi tried to mediate a peace treaty between Matthias and the Emperor but Matthias refused 193 Instead he signed a five year truce with Sultan Bayezid 192 Matthias s marriage to Beatrice of Naples did not produce sons he tried to strengthen the position of his illegitimate son John Corvinus 194 The child received Saros Castle and inherited the extensive domains of his grandmother Elizabeth Szilagyi with his father s consent 194 Matthias also forced Victor of Podebrady to renounce the Duchy of Troppau in Silesia in favour of John Corvinus in 1485 195 Queen Beatrice opposed Matthias s favouritism towards his son 195 Even so Matthias nominated her eight year old nephew Ippolito d Este Archbishop of Esztergom 196 The Pope refused to confirm the child s appointment for years 197 The Black Army encircled Vienna in January 1485 198 The siege lasted for five months and ended with the triumphal entry of Matthias at the head of 8 000 veterans into Vienna on 1 June 198 The King soon moved the royal court to the newly conquered town 115 He summoned the Estates of Lower Austria to Vienna and forced them to swear loyalty to him 199 Matthias by the grace of God king of Hungary Bohemia Dalmatia Croatia Rama Serbia Galicia Lodomeria Cumania and Bulgaria Duke of Silesia and Luxemburg and Margrave of Moravia and Lusatia for the everlasting memory of the matter It is fitting that kings and princes who by heavenly decree are placed at the summit of the highest office be adorned not only by arms but also by laws and that the people subjected to them as well as the reins of authority are restrained by the strength of good and stable institutions rather than by the harshness of absolute power and reprehensible abuse Preamble to the Decretum Maius 200 Upon the monarch s initiative the Diet of 1485 passed the so called Decretum maius a systematic law code which replaced many previous contradictory decrees 201 202 The law code introduced substantial reforms in the administration of justice the Palatine s eyre and the extraordinary county assemblies were abolished which strengthened the position of the county courts 201 Matthias also decreed that in cases of the monarch s absence or minority the Palatine was authorized to rule as Regent 201 Emperor Frederick persuaded six of the seven Prince electors of the Holy Roman Empire to proclaim his son Maximilian King of the Romans on 16 February 1486 203 The Emperor however had failed to invite the King of Bohemia either Matthias or Vladislaus Jagiellon to the assembly 203 183 In an attempt to prevail on Vladislaus to protest Matthias invited him to a personal meeting 183 204 Although they formed an alliance in Jihlava in September the Estates of Bohemia refused to confirm it and Vladislaus recognized Maximilian s election 204 In the meantime Matthias continued his war against the Emperor 205 The Black Army seized several towns in Lower Austria including Laa an der Thaya and Stein in 1485 and 1486 205 He set up his chancery for Lower Austria in 1486 but he never introduced a separate seal for this realm 199 Matthias assumed the title of Duke of Austria at the Diet of the Lower Austrian Estates in Ebenfurth in 1487 206 He appointed Stephen Zapolya captain general Urban Nagylucsei administrator of the Archdiocese of Vienna and entrusted the defence of the occupied towns and forts to Hungarian and Bohemian captains but otherwise continued to employ Emperor Frederick s officials who accepted his rule 206 207 Wiener Neustadt the last town resisting Matthias in Lower Austria fell to him on 17 August 1487 178 205 He started negotiations with Duke Albert III of Saxony who arrived at the head of the imperial army to fight for Emperor Frederick III 205 They signed a six month armistice in Sankt Polten on 16 December which ended the war 205 208 Matthias offered Emperor Frederick and his son prince Maximilian the return of Austrian provinces and Vienna if they would renounce the treaty of 1463 and accept Matthias as Frederic s designated heir and probable the inheritor of the title of Holy Roman Emperor Before this was settled though Matthias died in Vienna in 1490 209 Last years 1487 1490 Edit Europe at the end of the reign of King Matthias According to the contemporaneous Philippe de Commines Matthias s subjects feared their King in the last years of his life because he rarely showed mercy towards those he suspected of treachery 210 He had Archbishop Peter Varadi imprisoned in 1484 and ordered the execution of his Chancellor of Bohemia Jaroslav Boskovic in 1485 211 212 He also imprisoned Nicholas Banfi a member of a magnate family in 1487 although he had earlier avoided punishing the old aristocracy 213 Banfi s imprisonment seems to have been connected to his marriage to a daughter of John the Mad Duke of Glogau because Matthias tried to seize this duchy for John Corvinus 213 John the Mad entered into an alliance with the Duke of Munsterberg Henry of Podebrady and declared a war on Matthias on 9 May 214 215 Six month later the Black Army invaded and occupied his duchy 214 In the meantime the citizens of Ancona a town in the Papal States hoisted Matthias s flag in the hope he would protect them against Venice 216 Pope Innocent VIII soon protested but Matthias refused to reject the overture stating that the link between him and the town would never harm the interests of the Holy See 216 He also sent an auxiliary troop to his father in law who was waging a war against the Holy See and Venice 217 The 1482 truce between Hungary and the Ottoman Empire was prolonged for two years in 1488 218 214 On this occasion it was stipulated that the Ottomans were to refrain from invading Wallachia and Moldavia 218 The following year Matthias granted two domains to Stephen the Great of Moldavia in Transylvania 187 Matthias who suffered from gout could not walk and was carried in a litter after March 1489 219 220 Hereafter his succession caused bitter conflicts between Queen Beatrice and John Corvinus 220 Matthias asked Beatrice s brother Alfonso Duke of Calabria to persuade her not to strive for the Crown stating that the Hungarian people are capable of killing up unto the last man rather than submit to the government of a woman 221 222 To strengthen his illegitimate son s position Matthias even proposed withdrawing from Austria and to confirm Emperor Frederick s right to succeed him provided the Emperor was willing to grant Croatia and Bosnia to John Corvinus with the title of king 223 222 Matthias participated in the lengthy Palm Sunday ceremony in Vienna in 1490 although he had felt so ill that morning that he could not eat breakfast 219 224 Around noon he tasted a fig that proved to be rotten and he became very agitated and suddenly felt faint 225 The next day he was unable to speak 225 After two days of suffering Matthias died in the morning of 6 April 225 224 According to Professor Frigyes Koranyi Matthias died of a stroke Dr Herwig Egert does not exclude the possibility of poisoning 225 Matthias s funeral was held in St Stephen s Cathedral Vienna and he was buried in Szekesfehervar Cathedral on 24 or 25 April 1490 226 227 Patronage EditRenaissance king Edit Matthias s illegitimate son John Corvinus triumphed in Vienna in 1485 Matthias was the first non Italian monarch promoting the spread of Renaissance style in his realm 7 8 His marriage to Beatrice of Naples strengthened the influence of contemporaneous Italian art and scholarship 228 and it was under his reign that Hungary became the first land outside Italy to embrace the Renaissance 229 The earliest appearance of Renaissance style buildings and works outside Italy were in Hungary 230 231 The Italian scholar Marsilio Ficino introduced Matthias to Plato s ideas of a philosopher king uniting wisdom and strength in himself which fascinated Matthias 232 Matthias is the main character in Aurelio Lippo Brandolini s Republics and Kingdoms Compared a dialogue on the comparison of the two forms of government 233 234 According to Brandolini Matthias said a monarch is at the head of the law and rules over it when summing up his own concepts of state 234 Matthias also cultivated traditional art 235 Hungarian epic poems and lyric songs were often sung at his court 235 He was proud of his role as the defender of Roman Catholicism against the Ottomans and the Hussites 236 He initiated theological debates for instance on the doctrine of the Immaculate Conception and surpassed both the Pope and his legate with regard to religious observance according to the latter 237 Matthias issued coins in the 1460s bearing an image of the Virgin Mary demonstrating his special devotion to her cult 238 Upon Matthias s initiative Archbishop John Vitez and Bishop Janus Pannonius persuaded Pope Paul II to authorize them to set up a university in Pressburg now Bratislava in Slovakia on 29 May 1465 239 77 The Academia Istropolitana was closed shortly after the Archbishop s death 240 241 Matthias was contemplating establishing a new university in Buda but this plan was not accomplished 240 Building projects and arts Edit Further information Buda Castle and Visegrad Matthias started at least two major building projects 242 The works in Buda and Visegrad began in about 1479 243 Two new wings and a hanging garden were built at the royal castle of Buda and the palace at Visegrad was rebuilt in Renaissance style 243 244 Matthias appointed the Italian Chimenti Camicia and the Dalmatian Giovanni Dalmata to direct these projects 243 Matthias commissioned the leading Italian artists of his age to embellish his palaces for instance the sculptor Benedetto da Majano and the painters Filippino Lippi and Andrea Mantegna worked for him 245 A copy of Mantegna s portrait of Matthias survived 246 In the spring of 1485 Matthias decided to commission Leonardo da Vinci to paint a Madonna to him 247 Matthias also hired the Italian military engineer Aristotele Fioravanti to direct the rebuilding of the forts along the southern frontier 248 He had new monasteries built in Late Gothic style for the Franciscans in Kolozsvar Szeged and Hunyad and for the Paulines in Fejeregyhaza 236 249 The court of Matthias had a musical establishment of high quality The master of the Papal Chapel Bartolomeo Maraschi described Matthias s chapel choir as the best he had ever heard Composers such as Josquin Dor and Johannes de Stokem spent time in Matthias s court 250 and numerous Italian musicians visited it 251 A late remark by Pal Vardai hu Archbishop of Esztergom implies that the influential composer Josquin des Prez was active in Matthias court for years in the 1480s but Vardai may have mistaken him for someone else and there no documentary evidence that places him there 252 251 Royal library Edit Main article Bibliotheca Corviniana The Royal Palace in Buda engraving from the 1480s The Renaissance palaces of the summer residence at Visegrad engraving from the 1480s Matthias started the systematic collection of books after the arrival of his first librarian Galeotto Marzio a friend of Janus Pannonius from Ferrara in around 1465 253 254 The exchange of letters between Taddeo Ugoleto who succeeded Marzio in 1471 and Francesco Bandini contributed to the development of the royal library because the latter regularly informed his friend of new manuscripts 253 Matthias also employed scriptors illuminators and book binders 255 Although the exact number of his books is unknown his Bibliotheca Corviniana was one of Europe s largest collections of books when he died 256 According to Marcus Tanne the surviving 216 volumes of the King s library show that Matthias had the literary tastes of a classic alpha male who preferred secular books to devotional works For instance a Latin translation of Xenophon s biography of Cyrus the Great Quintus Curtius Rufus s book of Alexander the Great and a military treatise by the contemporaneous Roberto Valturio survived Matthias enjoyed reading as demonstrated by a letter in which he thanked the Italian scholar Pomponio Leto who had sent him Silius Italicus s work of the Second Punic War 257 Patron of scholars Edit Matthias enjoyed the company of Humanists and had lively discussions on various topics with them 258 The fame of his magnanimity encouraged many scholars mostly Italian to settle in Buda 228 Antonio Bonfini Pietro Ranzano Bartolomeo Fonzio and Francesco Bandini spent many years in Matthias s court 259 258 This circle of educated men introduced the ideas of Neoplatonism to Hungary 260 261 Like all intellectuals of his age Matthias was convinced that the movements and combinations of the stars and planets exercised influence on individuals life and on the history of nations 262 Galeotto Marzio described him as king and astrologer and Antonio Bonfini said Matthias never did anything without consulting the stars 263 Upon his request the famous astronomers of the age Johannes Regiomontanus and Marcin Bylica set up an observatory in Buda and installed it with astrolabes and celestial globes 237 Regiomontanus dedicated his book on navigation that was used by Christopher Columbus to Matthias 228 The King appointed Bylica as his advisor in 1468 264 According to Scott E Hendrix establishing a prominent astrologer as his political advisor provided an anxiety reduction mechanism that boosted morale for the political elites within his realm while strengthening his sense of control in the face of the multiple adversities the Hungarians faced in his reign 265 Family EditAncestors of Matthias Corvinus 266 267 268 16 Costea 8 Serbe4 Voyk Hunyadi2 John Hunyadi1 Matthias Corvinus24 Roland Szilagyi12 Nicholas Szilagyi6 Ladislaus Szilagyi3 Elizabeth Szilagyi28 Michael Bellyeni14 Stephen Bellyeni7 Catherina Bellyeni When Matthias was 12 his family arranged for him to marry Elizabeth of Celje who was also a child when their marriage took place in 1455 15 She died in September before the marriage was consummated 15 269 His second wife Catherine of Podebrady was born in 1449 3 She died in childbirth in January or February 1464 3 61 The child did not survive 61 Matthias approached Emperor Frederick to suggest a new bride for him among Frederick s relatives 93 Frederick II Elector of Brandenburg proposed one of his daughters to Matthias but the Hungarian Estates opposed this plan 93 In an attempt to enter into an alliance with King Casimir IV of Poland Matthias proposed to the King s daughter Hedvig but he was refused 270 271 During the 1470 meeting of Emperor Frederick and Matthias a marriage between Matthias and the Emperor s five year old daughter Kunigunde of Austria was also discussed but the Emperor was not willing to commit himself to the marriage 272 Matthias s third wife Beatrice of Naples was born in 1457 273 Their engagement was announced in Breslau on 30 October 1474 during the siege of the town by Casimir IV and Vladislaus Jagiellon 274 Her dowry amounted to 200 000 gold pieces 275 Beatrice survived her husband and returned to Naples where she died in 1508 276 Matthias s only known child John Corvinus was born out of wedlock in 1473 277 278 His mother Barbara Edelpock the daughter of a citizen of Stein in Lower Austria met the King in early 1470 277 John Corvinus died on 12 October 1504 3 Legacy Edit Matthias Corvinus Monument in front of St Michael s Church Cluj Napoca According to Marcus Tanner Matthias ruled a European superpower at the end of his reign 279 His conquests however were lost within months of his death 280 The burghers of Breslau soon murdered his captain Heinz Dompnig 199 The Emperor s rule in Vienna and Wiener Neustadt was restored without resistance 281 Stephen Zapolya said the King s death relieved Hungary of the trouble and oppression from which it had suffered so far 282 Royal authority quickly diminished because various claimants John Corvinus Maximilian of the Romans Vladislaus Jagiellon and the latter s younger brother John Albert were fighting for the crown 283 284 Vladislaus Jagiellon triumphed because the barons regarded him as a weak ruler and he gained the support of Matthias s wealthy widow by promising to marry her 283 282 Vladislaus was elected king after he promised he would abolish all harmful innovations introduced by Matthias especially the extraordinary tax 285 Vladislaus could not finance the maintenance of the Black Army and the unpaid mercenaries began plundering the countryside 283 A royal force led by Paul Kinizsi eliminated them on the river Szava in 1492 283 286 The burden of Matthias s wars and splendid royal court mainly fell on the peasants who paid at least 85 of the taxes 287 288 The Chronicle of Dubnic written in eastern Hungary in 1479 says widows and orphans cursed the King for the high taxes 289 However stories about Matthias the Just who wandered in disguise throughout his realm to deliver justice to his subjects seem to have spread during Matthias s reign 290 The saying Dead is Matthias lost is justice became popular soon after his death reflecting that commoners were more likely to have received a fair trial in Matthias s reign than under his successors 202 291 Matthias is also the subject of popular folk tales in Croatia Hungary Serbia and Slovenia 292 For instance King Matjaz is one of the sleeping kings of Slovenian folklore 293 292 In popular culture EditMatthias Corvinus leads the Hungarian civilization in the Gathering Storm expansion of the 4X video game Civilization VI 294 Gallery Edit Matthias I Chronica Hungarorum Matthias Corvinus depicted in Johannes de Thurocz s Chronica Hungarorum Matthias as young monarch after a contemporary miniature from the Corviniana collection of the British Museum The roughly 50 year old Matthias in the style of Constantine the Great contemporary sculpture from Buda Castle Matthias Corvinus from a Corvina Codex The triumphant Matthias painting by Gyula Benczur in 1919 Hungarian National Gallery Budapest King Matthias receives the Papal Legates painting by Gyula Benczur in 1915 This stove tile depicts King Matthias from Buda Castle 1480 Coat of arms of Corvinus on the old Townhall of Gorlitz as a sign that Gorlitz belonged to the Hungarian crown under King Matthias 1488 References Edit Stanislav Klima Povesti zo Slovenska Kraľ Matej a baca elektronicka kniznica a b c Kubinyi 2008 p 23 a b c d E Kovacs 1990 p 26 Muresanu 2001 p 49 Tanner 2009 pp 27 28 a b c Kubinyi 2008 p 24 a b Kubinyi 2008 p 161 a b Klaniczay 1992 p 165 Tanner 2009 p 28 Tanner 2009 p 28 86 Gereb Laszlo 1959 III Matyas kiraly in Hungarian Magyar Helikon Tolmacs utjan megkerdezte kicsoda honnan jon hova megy s mi okbol van uton Felelte erre tolmacsra nincs szukseg mert o magyar s Erdelybol valo azert jott Moldvaba az esemenyekrol mitsem tudva hogy folkeresse foldjeit melyek felesege oroklott javai Pop 2012 p 5 Muresanu 2001 p 174 Engel 2001 p 292 a b c d e f Kubinyi 2008 p 25 Engel 2001 pp 290 292 Kubinyi 2008 pp 25 26 Engel 2001 pp 280 296 Engel 2001 p 296 Fine 1994 p 569 a b c d Cartledge 2011 p 61 Kubinyi 2008 p 26 a b c d e Engel 2001 p 297 a b Kubinyi 2008 p 27 Tanner 2009 p 49 a b Tanner 2009 p 50 Kubinyi 2008 p 28 E Kovacs 1990 p 30 Kubinyi 2008 p 30 a b Kubinyi 2008 p 29 a b Magas 2007 p 75 a b c d e f g Engel 2001 p 298 a b c d e Kubinyi 2008 p 31 Kubinyi 2008 pp 31 32 a b c d e f g h i Bartl et al 2002 p 51 a b Kubinyi 2008 p 54 Kubinyi 2008 pp 53 54 a b c d Engel 2001 p 299 a b c d e Kubinyi 2008 p 57 Engel 2001 p 300 a b Kubinyi 2008 p 55 E Kovacs 1990 p 32 Engel 2001 pp 282 299 E Kovacs 1990 p 33 a b Kubinyi 2008 p 56 Kubinyi 2008 pp 57 58 Fine 1994 p 573 a b c Kubinyi 2008 p 58 a b c d Engel 2001 p 315 Kubinyi 2008 p 60 Bak et al 1996 p 7 Kubinyi 2008 pp 125 126 E Kovacs 1990 p 51 E Kovacs 1990 p 49 Kubinyi 2008 p 61 Marko 2006 p 244 Engel 2001 pp 311 313 Kubinyi 2008 pp 122 181 Engel 2001 pp 311 312 Tanner 2009 p 63 a b c d e Kubinyi 2008 p 67 Engel 2001 pp 310 311 a b c Fine 1994 p 574 a b c d e f Kubinyi 2008 p 65 Kubinyi 2008 pp 63 65 a b Kubinyi 2008 p 63 Kisfaludy 35 p Fine 1994 p 575 a b Engel 2001 p 301 a b c Cartledge 2011 p 62 Kisfaludy 38 p Kubinyi 2008 p 69 E Kovacs 1990 p 37 a b c d Smahel 2011 p 167 Engel 2001 p 303 Kubinyi 2008 pp 58 68 69 a b c d e f g h i j Bartl et al 2002 p 52 a b c d Kubinyi 2008 p 59 a b c Engel 2001 p 309 Kisfaludy 207 p a b c d Pop 2005 p 264 Florescu amp McNally 1989 pp 150 152 Florescu amp McNally 1989 p 157 Florescu amp McNally 1989 p 156 Babinger 1978 p 208 Kubinyi 2008 p 68 Kubinyi 2008 pp 68 69 71 Fine 1994 pp 584 585 E Kovacs 1990 p 39 a b c d Fine 1994 p 586 Babinger 1978 p 229 Grgin 2003 p 88 a b c d E Kovacs 1990 p 161 a b Kubinyi 2008 p 73 Kubinyi 2008 p 302 a b c d e f g Engel 2001 p 302 Kubinyi 2008 p 74 Kubinyi 2004 p 29 Kubinyi 2008 pp 75 76 Bak 1994 p 73 Kubinyi 2004 p 32 Bonis 1971 p vi a b Babinger 1978 p 231 Babinger 1978 pp 231 232 Babinger 1978 p 232 Fine 1994 pp 586 587 Kubinyi 2008 p 80 Engel 2001 p 449 a b Kubinyi 2008 p 81 a b c Kubinyi 2008 p 82 Kubinyi 2008 pp 81 82 E Kovacs 1990 p 135 Magas 2007 p 76 Engel 2001 p 307 a b c d Bartl et al 2002 p 53 Engel 2001 p 310 Kubinyi 2008 pp 77 78 Kubinyi 2008 p 76 E Kovacs 1990 p 61 Kubinyi 2008 pp 78 82 Kubinyi 2008 pp 82 83 Kubinyi 2008 p 83 a b c Pop 2005 p 266 Kubinyi 2008 p 84 a b Kubinyi 2008 p 85 a b c Engel 2001 p 304 E Kovacs 1990 pp 100 103 a b Kubinyi 2008 p 86 a b c Kubinyi 2008 p 88 a b c E Kovacs 1990 p 103 a b c d Tanner 2009 p 65 Smahel 2011 pp 167 168 Tanner 2009 p 66 a b c E Kovacs 1990 p 104 a b Kubinyi 2008 p 87 Magas 2007 pp 76 77 Fine 1994 p 590 a b c Magas 2007 p 77 a b c d Kubinyi 2008 p 90 a b c Kubinyi 2008 p 89 Tanner 2009 p 79 Smahel 2011 p 168 Boubin 2011 pp 173 174 a b Boubin 2011 p 174 E Kovacs 1990 p 108 a b Tanner 2009 p 70 Kubinyi 2008 pp 91 92 Kubinyi 2008 p 92 Kubinyi 2008 pp 92 93 a b c d E Kovacs 1990 p 158 a b c d Kubinyi 2008 p 93 a b c d Engel 2001 p 305 Fine 1994 p 588 Kubinyi 2008 p 108 Kubinyi 2008 pp 95 96 a b c Kubinyi 2008 p 101 Engel 2001 pp 307 308 a b Kubinyi 2008 p 96 a b c d e Kubinyi 2008 p 97 a b Kubinyi 2008 p 100 a b c Kubinyi 2008 p 109 a b c d Engel 2001 p 308 a b Pop 2005 p 267 Babinger 1978 p 325 a b Kubinyi 2008 p 110 Kubinyi 2008 p 176 Engel 2001 pp 305 306 a b Tanner 2009 p 92 Babinger 1978 pp 351 352 Florescu amp McNally 1989 pp 170 171 Florescu amp McNally 1989 p 171 Florescu amp McNally 1989 pp 171 175 Pop 2005 pp 264 265 a b Kubinyi 2008 p 136 Kubinyi 2008 p 137 Tanner 2009 p 108 E Kovacs 1990 p 67 a b c d e Engel 2001 p 306 a b c d Kubinyi 2008 p 98 E Kovacs 1990 p 118 E Kovacs 1990 p 119 a b c E Kovacs 1990 p 120 a b c E Kovacs 1990 p 109 Cartledge 2011 p 65 Kubinyi 2008 p 99 a b E Kovacs 1990 p 122 a b Dorner 2005 p 318 Babinger 1978 pp 374 376 E Kovacs 1990 p 142 Babinger 1978 p 404 a b c E Kovacs 1990 p 143 a b Kubinyi 2008 p 112 a b c E Kovacs 1990 p 125 a b Engel 2001 p 317 a b Kubinyi 2008 p 143 Engel 2001 p 313 Kubinyi 2008 p 138 a b E Kovacs 1990 p 127 a b c Kubinyi 2008 p 102 Bak et al 1996 p 41 a b c Engel 2001 p 316 a b Bak 1994 p 74 a b Kubinyi 2008 p 146 a b Kubinyi 2008 p 147 a b c d e E Kovacs 1990 p 128 a b Kubinyi 2008 p 103 Marko 2006 p 242 Bartl et al 2002 p 54 Alexander Gillespie 2017 The Causes of War Volume III 1400 CE to 1650 CE Bloomsbury Publishing p 66 ISBN 9781509917662 Kubinyi 2008 p 132 Kubinyi 2008 pp 121 132 Teke 1981 p 310 a b Kubinyi 2008 p 122 a b c Teke 1981 p 315 E Kovacs 1990 p 110 a b E Kovacs 1990 p 149 Teke 1981 p 314 a b E Kovacs 1990 pp 144 145 a b Kubinyi 2008 p 149 a b Tanner 2009 p 138 Tanner 2009 p 137 a b Teke 1981 p 316 Kubinyi 2008 p 148 a b E Kovacs 1990 p 187 a b c d Kubinyi 2008 p 150 Kubinyi 2008 pp 150 151 Teke 1981 p 317 a b c Cartledge 2011 p 67 Waldman amp Farbaky 2011 p Abstract Johnson 2007 p 175 Kaufmann 1995 p 30 Cacioppe 2007 Rubinstein 1991 p 35 a b Kubinyi 2008 p 164 a b Klaniczay 1992 p 173 a b Klaniczay 1992 p 168 a b Tanner 2009 p 99 Kubinyi 2008 p 184 E Kovacs 1990 p 182 a b Kubinyi 2008 p 169 Bak 1994 p 75 E Kovacs 1990 pp 177 180 181 a b c Engel 2001 p 319 E Kovacs 1990 pp 180 181 Kubinyi 2008 pp 171 172 Kubinyi 2008 p 172 Verspohl 2007 p 151 E Kovacs 1990 p 181 Kubinyi 2008 p 183 Fallows 2020 pp 112 113 a b Macey et al 2011 3 Milan and elsewhere 1484 9 Fallows 2020 p 112 a b E Kovacs 1990 pp 183 184 Tanner 2009 p 52 Klaniczay 1992 pp 166 167 Tanner 2009 pp 8 10 Tanner 2009 p 7 a b Klaniczay 1992 p 166 E Kovacs 1990 p 185 Klaniczay 1992 p 167 Engel 2001 p 321 Hendrix 2013 p 59 Hendrix 2013 pp 63 65 Hendrix 2013 p 57 Hendrix 2013 p 58 E Kovacs 1990 p 13 Kubinyi 2008 pp 203 204 Muresanu 2001 pp 43 44 Tanner 2009 p 48 E Kovacs 1990 p 105 Teke 1981 p 290 Tanner 2009 p 78 Tanner 2009 p 80 Teke 1981 p 296 Tanner 2009 p 88 Tanner 2009 p 150 a b Kubinyi 2008 p 134 Tanner 2009 p 94 Tanner 2009 p xi Tanner 2009 p xv Tanner 2009 pp 151 152 a b Engel 2001 p 345 a b c d Cartledge 2011 p 69 Engel 2001 p 344 Bak 1994 p 76 Teke 1981 p 321 Cartledge 2011 pp 66 67 Bak 1994 p 71 Kubinyi 2008 p 166 Kubinyi 2008 pp 174 175 Cartledge 2011 p 63 a b Kubinyi 2008 p 177 Lukacs 2010 pp 371 379 Civilization VI the Official Site News Civilization VI Gathering Storm Matthias Corvinus Leads Hungary Sources EditBabinger Franz 1978 Mehmed the Conqueror and His Time 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246 1645 2 Cacioppe Ron 2007 Marsilio Ficino Magnus of the Renaissance Shaper of Leaders Integral Leadership Review Integral Publishers 7 2 ISSN 1554 0790 Cartledge Bryan 2011 The Will to Survive A History of Hungary C Hurst amp Co ISBN 978 1 84904 112 6 de Cevins Marie Madeleine 2016 Mathias Corvin un roi pour l Europe centrale 1458 1490 in French Les Indes Savantes ISBN 978 2 84654 436 8 Dorner Anton E 2005 Transylvania between stability and crisis 1457 1541 In Pop Ioan Aurel Nagler Thomas eds The History of Transylvania Vol I until 1541 Romanian Cultural Institute pp 299 348 ISBN 973 7784 04 9 Dvorakova Daniela 2019 Barbara Celjska Crna kraljica 1392 1451 in Slovenian Celjska Mohorjeva ISBN 978 961 278 428 7 E Kovacs Peter 1990 Matthias Corvinus in Hungarian Officina Nova ISBN 963 7835 49 0 Engel Pal 2001 The Realm of St Stephen A History of Medieval Hungary 895 1526 I B Tauris Publishers ISBN 1 86064 061 3 Fallows David 2020 2009 Josquin 2nd ed Turnhout Brepols Publishers ISBN 978 2 503 56674 0 Fine John V A 1994 The Late Medieval Balkans A Critical Survey from the Late Twelfth Century to the Ottoman Conquest The University of Michigan Press ISBN 0 472 08260 4 Florescu Radu R McNally Raymond T 1989 Dracula Prince of Many Faces His Life and His Ties Back Bay Books ISBN 978 0 316 28656 5 Grgin Borislav 2003 The Ottoman influences on Croatia in the second half of the fifteenth century Historical Contributions Croatian Institute of History 21 23 87 102 Gella Aleksander 1989 Development of Class Structure in Eastern Europe Poland and Her Southern Neighbors SUNY Press ISBN 978 1 4384 0392 2 Hendrix Scott E 2013 Astrological forecasting and the Turkish menace in the Renaissance Balkans PDF Anthropology Universitatis Miskolciensis 13 2 57 72 ISSN 1452 7243 Johnson Paul 2007 The Renaissance A Short History Random House p 175 ISBN 978 0 307 43255 1 Kaufmann Thomas DeCosta 1995 Court Cloister and City The Art and Culture of Central Europe 1450 1800 University of Chicago Press p 30 ISBN 0 226 42729 3 Kisfaludy Katalin Matthias rex Budapest 1983 Gondolat Klaniczay Tibor 1992 The age of Matthias Corvinus In Porter Roy Teich Mikulas eds The Renaissance in National Context Cambridge University Press pp 164 179 ISBN 0 521 36970 3 Kubinyi Andras 2004 Adatok a Matyas kori kiralyi kancellaria es az 1464 evi kancellariai reform tortenetehez On the history of the Royal Chancellery in the reign of Matthias Corvinus and of the 1464 reform of the chancellery PDF Publicationes Universitatis Miskolciensis Sectio Philosophica in Hungarian Universitatis Miskolciensis IX 1 25 58 ISSN 1219 543X Kubinyi Andras 2008 Matthias Rex Balassi Kiado ISBN 978 963 506 767 1 Lukacs Istvan 2010 King Matthias Corvinus in the Collective Memory of the Slovenian Nation Studia Slavica 55 2 Akademiai Kiado pp 371 379 Macey Patrick Noble Jeremy Dean Jeffrey Reese Gustave 2011 2001 Josquin Lebloitte dit des Prez Grove Music Online Oxford Oxford University Press doi 10 1093 gmo 9781561592630 article 14497 ISBN 978 1 56159 263 0 subscription or UK public library membership required Magas Branka 2007 Croatia Through History SAQI ISBN 978 0 86356 775 9 Marko Laszlo 2006 A magyar allam fomeltosagai Szent Istvantol napjainkig Eletrajzi Lexikon Great Officers of State in Hungary from King Saint Stephen to Our Days A Biographical Encyclopedia in Hungarian Helikon Kiado ISBN 963 547 085 1 Muresanu Camil 2001 John Hunyadi Defender of Christendom The Center for Romanian Studies ISBN 973 9432 18 2 Pop Ioan Aurel 2005 The Romanians in the 14th 16th centuries from the Christian Republic to the Restoration of Dacia In Pop Ioan Aurel Bolovan Ioan eds History of Romania Compendium Romanian Cultural Institute Center for Transylvanian Studies pp 209 314 ISBN 978 973 7784 12 4 Pop Ioan Aurel 2012 The Names in the Family of King Matthias Corvinus From Old Sources to Contemporary Historiography PDF Ethnographica et Folkloristica Carpathica Debreceni Egyetem Neprajzi Tanszek 17 35 11 40 ISSN 0139 0600 Rubinstein Nicolai 1991 Italian political thought 1450 1530 In Burns J H Goldie Mark eds The Cambridge History of Political Thought 1450 1700 Cambridge University Press pp 30 65 ISBN 0 521 24716 0 Smahel Frantisek 2011 The Hussite Revolution 1419 1471 In Panek Jaroslav Tuma Oldrich eds A History of the Czech Lands Charles University in Prague pp 149 169 ISBN 978 80 246 1645 2 Tanner Marcus 2009 The Raven King Matthias Corvinus and the Fate of his Lost Library Yale University Press ISBN 978 0 300 15828 1 Teke Zsuzsa 1981 A kozepkori magyar allam viragzasa es bukasa 1301 1526 1458 1490 Flourishing and Fall of Medieval Hungary 1301 1526 1458 1490 In Solymosi Laszlo ed Magyarorszag torteneti kronologiaja I a kezdetektol 1526 ig Historical Chronology of Hungary Volume I From the Beginning to 1526 in Hungarian Akademiai Kiado pp 79 187 ISBN 963 05 2661 1 Verspohl Franz Joachim 2007 Michelangelo Buonarroti und Leonardo Da Vinci Republikanischer Alltag und Kunstlerkonkurrenz in Florenz zwischen 1501 und 1505 in German Wallstein Verlag ISBN 978 3 8353 0216 7 Waldman Louis Alexander Farbaky Peter 2011 Italy amp Hungary Humanism and Art in the Early Renaissance Harvard University Graduate School of Design ISBN 978 0 674 06346 4 Further reading EditBarany Attila Gyorkos Attila eds 2008 Matthias and his Legacy Cultural and Political Encounters between East and West University of Debrecen ISBN 978 963 473 276 1 Birnbaum Marianna D 1996 The Orb and the Pen Janus Pannonius Matthias Corvinus and the Buda Court Balassi Kiado ISBN 963 506 087 4 ANTONIUS DE BONFINIS DE REGE MATHIA RERUM UNGARICARUM DECADES A LIBRO IX DECADIS III USQUE AD LIBRUM VIII DECADIS IV In Rerum Ungaricum decades https vmek oszk hu mobil konyvoldal phtml id 20375 home Farbaky Peter Spekner Eniko Szende Katalin et al eds 2008 Matthias Corvinus the King Tradition and Renewal in the Hungarian Royal Court 1458 1490 Budapest History Museum ISBN 978 963 9340 69 5 Farbaky Peter Waldman Louis A 2011 Italy amp Hungary Humanism and Art in the Early Renaissance Harvard University Press ISBN 9780674063464 Feuer Toth Rozsa 1990 Art and Humanism in Hungary in the Age of Matthias Corvinus Akademiai Kiado ISBN 963 05 5646 4 Gastgeber Christian Mitsiou Ekaterini Pop Ioan Aurel Popovic Mihailo Preiser Kapeller Johannes Simon Alexandru 2011 Matthias Corvinus und seine Zeit Europa am Ubergang vom Mittelalter zur Neuzeit zwischen Wien und Konstantinopel Matthias Corvinus and His Time Europe in Transition from the Middle Ages to Modern Times between Vienna and Constantinople in German David Brown Book Company ISBN 978 3 7001 6891 1 Klaniczay Tibor Jankovics Jozsef 1994 Matthias Corvinus and the Humanism in Central Europe Balassi Kiado ISBN 963 7873 72 4 Marzio Galeotto De egregie sapienter iocose dictis ac factis regis Mathiae ad ducem lohannem eius filium liber Of the most brilliant wisely and jestly sayings and deeds of king Mathias to duke John his son Galeottus Narniensis Martius ed Ladislaus Juhasz Lipsiae Teubner 1934 https vmek oszk hu mobil konyvoldal phtml id 20034 homeExternal links Edit Hungary portal Wikimedia Commons has media related to Matthias Corvinus The Squash and the Colt a folk tale reflecting Matthias wisdom and sense of justice Bibliotheca Corviniana Digitalis National Szechenyi Library Hungary Map of Europe in 1500 Matthias Corvinus Catholic Encyclopedia 1913 Matthias CorvinusHouse of HunyadiBorn 23 February 1443 Died 6 April 1490Regnal titlesVacantTitle last held byLadislaus V King of Hungary and Croatia1458 1490 Succeeded byVladislaus IIPreceded byGeorge DISPUTED King of Bohemia1469 1490Disputed by George and Vladislaus IIPreceded byFrederick V DISPUTED Duke of Austria1487 1490Disputed by Frederick V Succeeded byFrederick V Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Matthias Corvinus amp oldid 1131352415, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,

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