Matthias Corvinus

Matthias Corvinus, king of Hungary, the second son of John Hunyady (q.v.), was born at Klausenburg on 27th March 1443. His father having died, his elder brother was slain and himself imprisoned by order of Ladislaus Posthumus, king of Hungary and Bohemia. After the death of this king Matthias was elected by the magnates to the vacant throne (1458). But it cost him a six years' hard struggle against Turks, Bohemians, the Emperor Frederick III., and disaffected magnates before he could venture to have himself crowned at Stuhlweissenburg. He drove the Turks back across the frontiers of his kingdom, and made himself master of Bosnia (1462), and of Moldavia and Wallachia (1467), before he granted them a truce. This breathing-space Matthias employed in making war upon Podiebrad, king of Bohemia, his own father-in-law, whose crown had been offered to him by the pope. Podiebrad died in 1470, but the war was continued against his successor, Ladislaus of Poland. In the midst of the war the magnates rebelled, because their king disregarded their political rights and influence, and offered his throne to Casimir, brother of Ladislaus. But Matthias managed to appease them, and in 1478 he concluded peace with Ladislaus, obtaining Moravia, Silesia, and Lusatia. Out of this war grew another with Frederick III., in which Matthias besieged and captured Vienna (1485). This he made his capital, and two years later he took possession of a large part of Austria proper. Since 1469 the Turks had renewed their terrible invasions of Hungary; but at length in 1479 they met with just chastisement, at Kenyermezö, at the hands of Stephen Bathori of Transylvania. But Matthias, who died at Vienna on 6th April 1490, was more than an ambitious conqueror. He greatly encouraged arts and letters: he founded the university of Budapest, built an observatory, summoned scholars and artists to his court, adorned his capital with the works of renowned sculptors, employed a staff of literary men in Italy to copy valuable manuscripts, and so founded a magnificent library. This was scattered when the Turks captured Budapest in 1526. The surviving books were restored by the sultan in 1877. At the same time the finances were brought into a flourishing condition, industry and commerce were promoted by wise legislation, and justice was administered strictly to peasant and noble alike. But his rule was arbitrary and his taxes heavy; he wasted much money in pompous display; and he overrode the rights of the magnates.