Corvinus, Matthias

CORVINUS, MATTHIAS. - Born perhaps in 1440 at Cluj, son of John Hunyadi, regent of Hungary; 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 the oligarchic opposition after some time; and on 24 January 1458 he was elected king. When he felt secure at home, he turned his attention to the war against the Turks in the name of the interests of all European Christendom, but he obtained only some help from the pontiff Pius II and from Venice; thus he found himself in the end exhausted by the effort, and the nobles raised their heads again against their king.

M. C. also thought of assuming the imperial crown in order to be able to 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 make enemies of the prince-electors. When he died, on 6 April 1490, nothing remained of his work because it was too bold and improvised, 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, opened printing houses, etc.: the royal residences of Buda and Visegrád were sanctuaries of art. His legislation, inspired by criteria of justice against the abuses of the nobles over the poor, is also very important. He married an Italian princess: Beatrice, daughter of Ferdinand of Aragon, king of Naples.

Paolo Brezzi