CORVINO, MATTIA. – Born perhaps in 1440 at Cluj to Giovanni Hunyadi, Hungarian regent; the premature death of his father (1456) opened the way to dynastic and family struggles, but he was able, through the wealth of his house, to overcome, after some time, the oligarchic opposition; and on 24 January 1458 he was elected king. When he felt secure within his realm, he turned his attention to war against the Turks in the name of the interests of all European Christendom, but he obtained only limited aid from Pope Pius II and Venice; thus he found himself exhausted by the effort and the nobles rose again against their king.
M. C. also thought of taking the imperial crown so that he might conduct the anti-Muslim crusade with greater prestige; this led him to intervene in German affairs, to fight against the Habsburgs (he even occupied Vienna and Lower Austria, pushing as far as Trieste), and to incur the enmity of the prince-electors. When he died on 6 April 1490, nothing remained of his work because it was too bold and ill-conceived, nor was the illegitimate son who succeeded him worthy of him. An undeniable merit of M. C. was the introduction of the Renaissance into Hungary: he summoned Italian writers and artists, collected manuscripts, established printing houses, etc.; the courts of Buda and Visegrád were sanctuaries of art. Also of great importance was his legislation, inspired by principles of justice against the nobles’ claims upon the poor. He married an Italian princess: Beatrice, daughter of Ferdinand of Aragon, king of Naples.