Matthias Corvinus
King of Hungary, son of Jnos Hunyady, born Kolozsvar, 1440; died at Vienna, 1490. After an eventful youth he was proclaimed King of Hungary in 1458 and at once had to contend with Frederick III, who had assumed the title. Matthias was crowned in 1463. He was soon called upon by the pope to take up arms against his father-in-law, George Podiebrad, the deposed king of Bohemia, but was defeated in 1471. Hostilities again broke out with Frederick III and Matthias, who had besieged Vienna in 1411, captured it in 1485. His crusade against the Turks was fruitless. His relations with the Church were good until 1471, but the threatened rupture with the Holy See was happily averted. He introduced the humanities into Hungary, established the Corvinian Library at Buda, reformed taxation, and earned the title of “The Just” for his enactments in judicial affairs.
Fuente: New Catholic Dictionary
Matthias Corvinus
King of Hungary, son of Janos Hunyady and Elizabeth Szilagyi of Horogssey, was born at Kolozsvar 23 Feb., 1440; d. at Vienna, 6 April, 1490. In the house of his father he received along with his brother Ladislaus, a careful education under the supervision of Gregor Sanocki, who taught him the humanities. Johann Vitez, Bishop of Grosswardein from 1445, the friend of Matthias’s father when a boy, and himself an enthusiastic patron and promoter of classical studies, had a decided influence on his education. The checkered career of his father likewise left its imprint on the life of Matthias. On political grounds he was betrothed in 1455 to Elizabeth, the daughter of Count Ulric Czilley, his father’s deadly enemy, with the aim of effecting the reconciliation of the two families. The early death of Elizabeth interfered with this plan, and after the death of Janos Hunyady, Czilley’s emnity was directed against the sons. At the instigation of Czilley and his accomplices, who accused Ladislaus and Matthias Hunyadi of a conspiracy against King Ladislaus V, both were arrested, Ladislaus being executed, and Matthias being taken to Vienna to the court of the king. Later he followed the king to Prague. After the death of King Ladislaus at Prague, Matthias settled down at the court of the Bohemian king, George Podiebrad, who betrothed him to his daughter Catharine. On 23 Jan., 1458, Matthias was proclaimed King of Hungary at Buda, his uncle Michael Szilagyi at the same time being appointed governor for five years. Matthias soon freed himself, however, from the regency of Szilagyi, and took the reins of government into his own hands. At the very beginning of his reign he had to contend with a movement among discontented Hungarians, who offered the crown to the Emperor Frederick III, who had assumed the title of King of Hungary. The quarrel with Frederick lasted till 1462, when an agreement was made by which, among other things, it was settled that if Matthias should die without leaving an heir, Frederick would be authorized to bear the title of King of Hungary as long as he lived. At the same time, Frederick adopted Matthias as his son, and pledged himself to deliver up the Hungarian crown which he had in his possession. The treaty was confirmed by the Hungarian Reichstag and Matthias was crowned king in 1463. Not long before he had married Catharine, the daughter of the Bohemian king Podiebrad, who, however, died at the beginning of 1464. Relations with the Emperor Frederick again became strained; political conditions and, in particular, the question of the Bohemian crown, affected them considerably. The friction between the Holy See and King Podiebrad led to the deposition of the latter, and Matthias was now called upon by the pope to take up arms against the deposed king. In 1468 came the Bohemian expedition of Matthias, elected king by the Catholics of Bohemia. The war continued till the death of Podiebrad in 1471, when the Bohemians, defeating Matthias, chose Wladislaw, son of Casimir, King of Poland, as king. The years up to 1474 were marked by indecisive battles with the Bohemian king and with the Emperor Frederick. An armistice caused a brief cessation of hostilities, but from 1476 relations with the Emperor Frederick grew continually more strained. In 1477 Matthias, invading Austria, besieged Vienna. Peace was effected between Matthias and Frederick by the intervention of the papal legate in 1477, but war soon broke out again, and in 1485 Matthias took Vienna. In the war with the Emperor Frederick, Matthias had in view the Roman crown. In this connexion he was led not merely by the aim of securing for Hungary a leading position in the West of Europe, but also by the design to unite the powers of Europe in a crusade against the Turks. He was obliged, however, to abandon this scheme. Equally fruitless was the plan of a crusade against the Turks; nevertheless he managed to fix a limit to the advance of the Turks, and to strengthen the supremacy of Hungary over Bosnia. In 1463 Bosnia fell again into the hands of the Turks. The victory of Matthias over the Turks in Servia, Bosnia, and Transylvania resulted in 1483 in a truce with the Sultan Bajazet. Matthias’s relations with the Catholic church were good till the year 1471; but the second part of his reign was marked by a series of most serious blunders and acts of violence. In spite of legal enactments, he gave bishoprics to foreigners, and rewarded political services with gifts of church property, which he dealt with as though it were the property of the state. His relations with the Holy See were at first decidedly cordial, but later there was danger of a rupture, which was happily avoided. Under Matthias the humanities made their entry into Hungary. His library in Buda, the Bibliotheca Corviniana, wins just admiration even to-day by virtue of the remnants of it scattered over Europe. During his reign the first printing press in Hungary was established, that at Buda, the first known production of which is the “Chronicle of Buda”, printed in 1473. The arts too, found in Matthias a generous Maecenas. Matthias introduced reforms in the army, in finance, and in the administration of the courts and the law. The reorganization of military affairs was based on the principle of a standing army. With this body, the so-called black troops, he defeated the Turks and the Hussite troops of Giskra, which were laying waste Upper Hungary. In financial affairs, a reform in the mode of taxation was introduced, while his enactments in judicial affairs earned for him among the people the title of “The Just”. In 1476 he married Beatrice, the daughter of the King of Naples, but the union was childless. His exertions to secure the throne for his illegitimate son, Johann Corvinus, were rendered futile by the opposition of Hungary and the plotting of Beatrice. Matthias was buried at Szekes-Fehervar (Stuhlweissenburg).
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TELEKI, A Hunyadyak kora Magyarorszagon (Pesth, 1852), in Hungarian; i. e. The Age of the Hunyadys in Hungary, 9 vols.; CSANKI, Magyarorszag torteneti folrajza a Hunyadyak koraban (Budapest, 1890), i. e. The Historical Geography of Hungary in the Age of the Hunyadys, 3 vols. have appeared; FRAKNOI, A Hunyadyak es Jagellok kora 1440-56 (Budapest, 1896), Hungarian: i. e. The Age of the Hunyadys and Jagellons; IDEM, Matthias Corvinus, Konig von Ungarn Freiburg im Br., 1891). For information as to church conditions in Hungary see the bibliography of HUNGARY. For Matthias’s relations with the Holy See, see the Latin introduction to Monumenta Vaticana Hungarica; Mathiae Corvini Hungariae regis epistolae ad Romanos pontifices datae et ab eis acceptae (Budapest, 1891). For the foreign politics of Matthias see Monumenta Hungariae Historica, Acta extera, 1458-90 (Budapest, 1875); Matyas Kiraly levelei Kulugyi osztaly (Budapest, 1893-95), i. e. Letters of King Matthias, foreign section, 2 vols.. For information concerning Joannes Corvinus see SCHONHERR, Corvin Janos (Budapest, 1894); concerning Queen Beatrice see BERZEVICZY, Beatrix kiralyne (Budapest, 1908).
A. ALDASY Transcribed by Benjamin F. Hull
The Catholic Encyclopedia, Volume XCopyright © 1911 by Robert Appleton CompanyOnline Edition Copyright © 2003 by K. KnightNihil Obstat, October 1, 1911. Remy Lafort, S.T.D., CensorImprimatur. +John Cardinal Farley, Archbishop of New York
Fuente: Catholic Encyclopedia
Matthias, Corvinus
king of Hungary, second son of John Hunyady (q.v.), was born in 1443, and came to the throne in 1458. His accession was hailed with the utmost enthusiasm over the whole country. But the Hungarian crown at this time was no chaplet of roses; two sovereigns, alike formidable, the one, Mohammed II, from his military talents and immense resources, the other, Frederick III, from his intriguing policy, were busily conspiring against the boy-king. To meet these dangers Matthias rapidly carried out his measures of defense, and, scarcely prepared, fell on the Turks, who had ravaged the country as far as Temesvar, inflicted upon them a bloody defeat, pursued them as far as Bosnia, took the stronghold Jaieza, there liberated 10,000 Christian prisoners, and then returned to Weisenberg, to be crowned with the sacred crown of St. Stephen, in 1464. He next suppressed the disorders of Wallachia and Moldavia; but feeling that his plans were counteracted by the intrigues of the emperor Frederick III to gain possession of Hungary, Matthias besought the assistance of pope Pius II, but to no purpose. After a second successful campaign against the Turks, he turned his attention to the encouragement of arts and letters, and adorned his capital with the works of renowned sculptors, in addition to a library of 50,000 volumes. He sent a large staff of literary men to Italy for the purpose of obtaining copies of valuable MSS. (even now the Collectio Corvina is celebrated), and adorned his court by the presence of the most eminent men of Italy and Germany. He was himself an author of no mean ability, and possessed a delicate appreciation of the fine arts. At the same time the affairs of government were not neglected. The finances were brought into a flourishing condition, industry and commerce were promoted by wise legislation, and justice was strictly administered to peasant and noble alike. But the promptings of his ambition, and the pressure exercised by the Romish party, cast an indelible blot on Matthias’s otherwise spotless escutcheon; he wantonly attacked Podiebrad, his father-in-law, the Hussite king of Bohemia, to wrest from Podiebrad the scepter which he was holding by the declared will of the people. In this action Matthias was influenced especially by pope Pius II and his successor, Paul II. SEE HUSSITES, vol. 4, especially p. 424, Colossians 2. After a bloody contest of seven years’ duration between these kings, the greatest generals of the age, the Hungarian power prevailed, and Moravia, Silesia, and Lusatia were wrested from Bohemia. A third war with the Turks closed as successfully as the former two. The emperor also was humiliated by Matthias, and expiated his guilt in poverty and disgrace. Matthias was suddenly cut down in the midst of his successes at Vienna, April 5,1490. See Butler, Eccles. Hist. 2:165; Gieseler, Eccles. Hist. 3:370 sq. SEE LADISLAUS OF POLAND; SEE PIUS II.