voivode of Transylvania, Miklós Ujlaki, who had been concerned in the
judicial murder of Matthias's brother László, and hated the Hunyadis as
semi-foreign upstarts, were fiercely opposed to Matthias's election,
they were not strong enough to resist the manifest wish of the nation,
supported as it was by Matthias's uncle Mihály Szilágyi at the head of
15,000 veterans. On the 24th of January 1458, 40,000 Hungarian noblemen,
assembled on the ice of the frozen Danube, unanimously elected Matthias
Hunyadi king of Hungary, and on the 14th of February the new king made
his state entry into Buda.
The realm at this time was environed by perils. The Turks and the
Venetians threatened it from the south, the emperor Frederick III. from
the west, and Casimir IV. of Poland from the north, both Frederick and
Casimir claiming the throne. The Czech mercenaries under Giszkra held
the northern counties and from thence plundered those in the centre.
Meanwhile Matthias's friends had only pacified the hostile dignitaries
by engaging to marry the daughter of the palatine Garai to their
nominee, whereas Matthias not unnaturally refused to marry into the
family of one of his brother's murderers, and on the 9th of February
confirmed his previous nuptial contract with the daughter of George
Podebrad, who shortly afterwards was elected king of Bohemia (March 2,
1458). Throughout 1458 the struggle between the young king and the
magnates, reinforced by Matthias's own uncle and guardian Szilágyi, was
acute. But Matthias, who began by deposing Garai and dismissing
Szilágyi, and then proceeded to levy a tax, without the consent of the
Diet, in order to hire mercenaries, easily prevailed. Nor did these
complications prevent him from recovering the fortress of Galamboc from
the Turks, successfully invading Servia, and reasserting the suzerainty
of the Hungarian crown over Bosnia. In the following year there was a
fresh rebellion, when the emperor Frederick was actually crowned king by
the malcontents at Vienna-Neustadt (March 4, 1459); but Matthias drove
him out, and Pope Pius II. intervened so as to leave Matthias free to
engage in a projected crusade against the Turks, which subsequent
political complications, however, rendered impossible. From 1461 to 1465
the career of Matthias was a perpetual struggle punctuated by truces.
Having come to an understanding with his father-in-law Podebrad, he was
able to turn his arms against the emperor Frederick, and in April 1462
Frederick restored the holy crown for 60,000 ducats and was allowed to
retain certain Hungarian counties with the title of king; in return for
which concessions, extorted from Matthias by the necessity of coping
with a simultaneous rebellion of the Magyar noble in league with
Podebrad's son Victorinus, the emperor recognized Matthias as the actual
sovereign of Hungary. Only now was Matthias able to turn against the
Turks, who were again threatening the southern provinces. He began by
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account