Matthias Hunyadi was indisputably the greatest man of his day, and one of the greatest monarchs who ever reigned. The precocity and universality of his genius impress one the most. Like Napoleon, with whom he has often been compared, he was equally illustrious as a soldier, a statesman, an orator, a legislator and an administrator. But in all moral qualities the brilliant adventurer of the 15th was infinitely superior to the brilliant adventurer of the 19th century. Though naturally passionate, Matthias's self-control was almost superhuman, and throughout his stormy life, with his innumerable experiences of ingratitude and treachery, he never was guilty of a single cruel or vindictive action. His capacity for work was inexhaustible. Frequently half his nights were spent in reading, after the labour of his most strenuous days. There was no branch of knowledge in which he did not take an absorbing interest, no polite art which he did not cultivate and encourage. His camp was a school of chivalry, his court a nursery of poets and artists. Matthias was a middle-sized, broad-shouldered man of martial bearing, with a large fleshy nose, hair reaching to his heels, and the clean-shaven, heavy chinned face of an early Roman emperor. See Vilmós Fraknói, _King Matthias Hunyadi_ (Hung., Budapest, 1890, German ed., Freiburg, 1891); Ignácz Acsády, _History of the Hungarian Realm_ (Hung. vol. i., Budapest, 1904); József Teleki, _The Age of the Hunyadis in Hungary_ (Hung., vols. 3-5, Budapest, 1852-1890); V. Fraknói, _Life of János Vitéz_ (Hung. Budapest 1879); Karl Schober, _Die Eroberung Niederösterreichs durch Matthias Corvinus_ (Vienna, 1879); János Huszár, _Matthias's Black Army_ (Hung. Budapest, 1890); Antonio Bonfini, _Rerum hungaricarum decades_ (7th ed., Leipzig, 1771); Aeneas Sylvius, _Opera_ (Frankfort, 1707); _The Correspondence of King Matthias_ (Hung. and Lat., Budapest, 1893); V. Fraknói, _The Embassies of Cardinal Carvajal to Hungary_ (Hung., Budapest, 1889); Marzio Galeotti, _De egregie sapienter et jocose, dictis ac factis Matthiae regis (Script. reg. hung. I.)_ (Vienna, 1746). Of the above the first is the best general sketch and is rich in notes; the second somewhat chauvinistic but excellently written; the third the best work for scholars; the seventh, eighth and eleventh are valuable as being by contemporaries. (R. N. B.)