Matthias Corvinus

Matthias Corvinus (1443-90), King of Hungary, was born in Transylvania, being the younger son of John Hunyadi, who died in 1456, after being governor of Hungary 1446-53. On John's death, his eldest son, Ladislaus, was executed by Ladislaus, King of Hungary and Bohemia, and Matthias was imprisoned at Prague. In 1458 Matthias was elected to the throne, but was not crowned till six years later. He drove out the Turks, fought with the king of Bohemia, quelled the insubordination of his own magnates, and fought with Frederick III. and took Vienna, which he made his capital. He was an ambitious man, and bent on conquest, but was a great patron of arts and letters, and founded an university, observatory, and library. His rule was arbitrary, and his wars caused him to tax his people heavily.