Matthias Corvinus

Matthias Corvinus
Matthias I Chronica Hungarorum, 1488
King of Hungary and Croatia
Reign	23rd November 1457-6th April 1490
Coronation	29th March 1458
Predecessor	Ladislaus the Posthumous
Successor	Wladyslaw II
Regent	Michael Szilágyi (1457-1460)
Born	23rd February 1443 Cluj-Napoca, Transylvania
Died	6th April 1490 (age 47) Vienna, Austria
Burial	Royal Basilica, Székesfehérvár
Spouse	Catherine Poděbrady of Bohemia m.1461-1464 Margaret of Brandenburg m.1467-1489
Issue	John Corvinus (illegitimate)
House	Hunyadi
Father	John Hunyadi
Mother	Elizabeth Szilágyi
Religion	Roman Catholic
Signature

Matthias Corvinus (Hungarian: Hunyadi Mátyás; Romanian: Matei Corvin; Croatian: Matijaš Korvin) was born in Cluj-Napoca on 23rd February 1443 as the youngest son of John Hunyadi (c.1406-1456), Regent of Hungary and Elizabeth Szilágyi (1410-1483) he was educated by Gregory of Sanok and John Vitéz, he spoke Hungarian, Romanian, Croatian, Polish, Italian and Latin fluently, he later studied German, Czech and Slovak. In 1457, Ladislaus the Posthumous ordered his brother Ladislaus Hunyadi executed, causing a rebellion that forced King Ladislaus to flee the country, the King died childless shortly afterwards, his eldest sister, Anna and her husband William III, Landgrave of Thuringia, claimed Inheritance, but received no support from the Estates.

Conquests of Matthias Corvinus in Central Europe

This stove tile depicts King Matthias

Matthias uncle Count Michael Szilágyi of Bistrița persuaded the Estates to Crown the teenager king on 24th January 1458, in the ceremony he sat on the throne in Székesfehérvár Basilica, but was not crowned because the Holy Crown of Hungary had been in possession of Frederick III, Holy Roman Emperor for almost 2 decades, his Uncle served as Regent, in the beginning of his reign, Matthias waged wars against the Bohemian mercenaries who dominated South Slovakia, Nógrád, Heves and Borsod-Abaúj-Zemplén and against Germany.

Matthias entered an alliance with the Emperor's brother Albert VI, Archduke of Austria and Sigismund, Count of Tyrol. George Poděbrady sided with the Emperor although Matthias married his daughter Catherine in 1461, relations between Matthias and his father-in-law deteriorated because the Czech mercenaries continued presence in Upper Hungary. In this period, the Ottomans conquered Serbia and Bosnia, terminating the zone of buffer states along the borders.

Sultan Mehmed the Conqueror returned to Bosnia and laid siege to Jajce in July 1464. Matthias began assembling his troops along the River Sava, forcing the Sultan to raise the siege on 24 August 1464. Matthias and his army crossed the river and seized Srebrenica, he also besieged Zvornik, but the arrival of a large Ottoman army forced him to withdraw to Hungary. Matthias visited Slavonia and dismissed the 2 Bans Nicholas Újlaki and Emeric Zápolya, replacing them with Jan Vitovec and John Tuz in 1466.

Early the following year, he mounted a campaign in Upper Hungary against Czech mercenaries who were under the command of Ján Švehla and had seized Veľké Kostoľany. Matthias routed them, he had Švehla and his 150 comrades hanged. Matthias introduced new taxes and regularly set taxation, this caused a rebellion inMănăștur district in Cluj-Napoca on 18th August 1467, the rebels surrendered without resistance but Matthias severely punished their leaders, suspecting that Stephen the Great had supported the rebellion, Matthias invaded Moldavia. However, Stephen's forces routed Matthias troops at the Battle of Baia Mare on 15th December 1467.

Matthias former father-in-law George Poděbrady invaded Austria in early 1468. Emperor Frederick appealed to Matthias for support, Matthias declared war against Bohemia, on 31st March 1468, he also wanted to help the Czech Catholic lords against their "renegade monarch", whom the Pope had Excommunicated. Matthias conquered Moravia, Silesia and Lusatia, 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, he was released because his custodians believed he was a local Czech groom.

The Czech Catholics, who were led by Zdeněk Šternberk, joined forces with Matthias in February 1469. Their united troops were encircled at Vilémov by George of Poděbrady's army. In fear of being captured, Matthias opened negotiations with George. Matthias relations with Frederick III had deteriorated because the Emperor accused Matthias of allowing the Ottomans to march through Slavonia when raiding the Emperor's realms. The Frangean family, whose domains in Croatia were exposed to Ottoman raids, entered into negotiations with the Emperor and Republic of Venice.

He visited Emperor Frederick in Vienna on 11th February 1470, negotiating the costs of the war against Poděbrady, although the negotiations lasted for a month, no compromise was worked out. Matthias nominated the wealthy Baron Nicholas Újlaki as King of Bosnia in 1471, Uzun Hassan, Sultan of Aq Qoyunlu, proposed an anti-Ottoman alliance to Matthias but he refrained from attacking the Ottoman Empire. George Poděbrady died on 22nd March 1471, the country was split between Matthias in the East elected on 3rd May 1471 and 15-year-old Wladyslaw Jagiellon former Crown prince of Poland in the West elected on 27th May 1471 and crowned in Prague on 22nd August 1471.

Casimir, Grand Duke of Lithuania and Wladyslaw invaded Silesia and laid siege to Matthias in Wrocław in October 1474, he prevented the besiegers from accumulating provisions, forcing them to raise the siege, the Silesian Estates willingly elected Stephen Zápolya as captain-general and the Moravian Estates elected Ctibor Tovačovský as captain-general. The Ottomans invaded Wallachia and Moldavia at the end of 1474. Matthias sent reinforcements under the command of Blaise Magyar to Stephen the Great, their united forces routed the invaders in the Battle of Vaslui on 10th January 1475, fearing a new Ottoman invasion, the Prince of Moldavia swore fealty to Matthias on 15th August 1475.

Jews in Europa were often used as scapegoat's, their role as moneylenders made them unpopular and some Catholic countries even expelled Jews from their territory. The states in Eastern Europe were more accepting of the Jewish community, especially in Poland and Hungary. He installed the office of “Jewish Prefect” in 1476, with a dedicated militia to enforce his rule to the Jewish people in Hungary. This placed the Jewish communities under the direct control of the crown and consequently, their tax revenue was directed to the royal treasury.

Sultan Mehmed II proposed peace but Matthias refused, the Ottomans won the Battle of Războieni, Neamț on 26th July 1476. Matthias concluded an alliance with the Teutonic Knights and the Prince-bishop of Warmia against Poland in March 1477. However, he invaded Austria instead; after hearing the Emperor confirmed Wladyslaw position as King of Bohemia. Matthias signed a peace treaty on 1st December 1477 in Korneuburg District, the Emperor declared Matthias the ruler of Bohemia and payed him 100,000 florins.

Portrait by Andrea Mantegna

An Ottoman army supported by Basarab IV of Wallachia invaded Transylvania and burned Orăștie in late 1479. Stephen Báthory and Paul Kinizsi annihilated the marauders in the Battle of Subotica on 13th October 1479, Matthias united the command of all forts along the Danube to Belgrade.