The house Strada Sextil Puscariu 1 in Cluj-Napoca is considered to be
the birthplace of Matthias Corvinus, who was King of Hungary and Croatia. A
metal plaque on the facade has the following text in Romanian and English
language:
Potrivit traditiei istorice in aceasta casa s-a nascut
Matei Corvin
fiul marelui ostean
Iancu de Hunedoara
voievod al Transilvaniei si guvernator al Ungariei
Romanul Matei Corvin este considerat
datorita infaptuirilor din timpul domniei sale
1458 - 1490
cel mai mare rege al Ungariei
----------------------------------------------------
Acording to historical tradition
this is the house where
Matthias Corvinus
the son of the great voivode of Transilvania
and governor of Hungary
Iancu of Hunedoara
was born
The romanian Matthias Corvinus is considered
the greatest of all Hungarian kings
due to his achievements during his reign
1458 - 1490
Matthias Corvinus
"Matthias Corvinus, also called Matthias I (Hungarian: Hunyadi Mátyás,
Romanian: Matia/Matei Corvin, Croatian: Matija/Matijaš Korvin, Slovak: Matej
Korvín, Czech: Matyáš Korvín; 23 February 1443 – 6 April 1490), was King of
Hungary and Croatia from 1458 to 1490. After conducting several military
campaigns, he was elected King of Bohemia in 1469 and adopted the title Duke
of Austria in 1487. He was the son of John Hunyadi, Regent of Hungary, who
died in 1456. In 1457, Matthias was imprisoned along with his older brother,
Ladislaus Hunyadi, on the orders of King Ladislaus the Posthumous. Ladislaus
Hunyadi was executed, causing a rebellion that forced King Ladislaus to flee
Hungary. After the King died unexpectedly, Matthias's uncle Michael Szilágyi
persuaded the Estates to unanimously proclaim the 14-year-old Matthias as
king on 24 January 1458. He began his rule under his uncle's guardianship,
but he took effective control of government within two weeks.
As king, Matthias waged wars against the Czech mercenaries who dominated
Upper Hungary (today parts of Slovakia and Northern Hungary) and against
Frederick III, Holy Roman Emperor, who claimed Hungary for himself. In this
period, the Ottoman Empire conquered Serbia and Bosnia, terminating the zone
of buffer states along the southern frontiers of the Kingdom of Hungary.
Matthias signed a peace treaty with Frederick III in 1463, acknowledging the
Emperor's right to style himself King of Hungary. The Emperor returned the
Holy Crown of Hungary with which Matthias was crowned on 29 April 1464. In
this year, Matthias invaded the territories that had recently been occupied
by the Ottomans and seized fortresses in Bosnia. He soon realized he could
expect no substantial aid from the Christian powers and gave up his
anti-Ottoman policy.
Matthias introduced new taxes and regularly set taxation at extraordinary
levels. These measures caused a rebellion in Transylvania in 1467, but he
subdued the rebels. The next year, Matthias declared war on George of
Podebrady, the Hussite King of Bohemia, and conquered Moravia, Silesia, and
Lusatia, but he could not occupy Bohemia proper. The Catholic Estates
proclaimed him King of Bohemia on 3 May 1469, but the Hussite lords refused
to yield to him even after the death of their leader George of Podebrady in
1471. Instead, they elected Vladislaus Jagiellon, the eldest son of Casimir
IV of Poland. A group of Hungarian prelates and lords offered the throne to
Vladislaus's younger brother Casimir, but Matthias overcame their rebellion.
Having routed the united troops of Casimir IV and Vladislaus at Breslau in
Silesia (now Wroclaw in Poland) in late 1474, Matthias turned against the
Ottomans, who had devastated the eastern parts of Hungary. He sent
reinforcements to Stephen the Great, Prince of Moldavia, enabling Stephen to
repel a series of Ottoman invasions in the late 1470s. In 1476, Matthias
besieged and seized Šabac, an important Ottoman border fort. He concluded a
peace treaty with Vladislaus Jagiellon in 1478, confirming the division of
the Lands of the Bohemian Crown between them. Matthias waged a war against
Emperor Frederick and occupied Lower Austria between 1482 and 1487.
Matthias established one of the earliest professional standing armies of
medieval Europe (the Black Army of Hungary), reformed the administration of
justice, reduced the power of the barons, and promoted the careers of
talented individuals chosen for their abilities rather than their social
statuses. Matthias patronized art and science; his royal library, the
Bibliotheca Corviniana, was one of the largest collections of books in
Europe. With his patronage, Hungary became the first country to embrace the
Renaissance from Italy. As Matthias the Just, the monarch who wandered among
his subjects in disguise, he remains a popular hero of Hungarian and Slovak
folk tales."
Source and further information:
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Matthias_Corvinus