H. Kolba Judit szerk.: Historical Exhibition of the Hungarian National Museum Guide 2 - From the Foundation of the State until the Expulsion of the Ottomans - The history of Hungary in the 11th to 17th centuries (Budapest, 2005)

ROOM 5 - The Age of Matthias Hunyadi (second half of the 15th century)

34. Renaissance capital, Buda, Royal Palace, after 1460 Matthias's coins. Matthias's monetary reform in 1468 put an end to the system of the annual renewal of the money, and by a firm determination of the precious-metal content of coins he prevented a further decline in the value of money. During his reign the minting of groats, ended almost 100 years previously, was reintroduced. The deliberate representation of the Blessed Virgin Mary, the Patrona Hungáriáé, on his gold and silver coins remained a constant motif of Hungarian coins for centuries. Among the royal decrees giving legal force to Diet decisions, the collection of laws prepared for the Diet of 1485 and entitled Decretum Maius (The Greater Law) has a special place. (It also appeared in print.) The decree, running to seventy-eight paragraphs, summarized the royal decrees issued previously, regulated the despatch of legal proceedings, increased the role of the counties against the great estates and circumscribed the palatine's rights. As a result of the personal policy of Matthias, new men were raised to the ranks of the aristocracy, taking their place alongside the old landowning families. By means of grants of estates, these men, holding public and court offices, became the most important men in the country. Shown here is a deed of gift to the Szapolyai brothers, who, emerging from the ranks of the lesser nobility, enjoyed great careers. In this document the brothers receive from the king as a reward for services rendered in the fight against heretics (Bohemian Hussites) and the Poles (in which they distinguished themselves) the pledge of the castle of Trencsén (Trencín). The diploma was corroborated by the signature of the monarch in his own hand. THE ROYAL COURT Matthias devoted a considerable part of his income to the patronage of arts and letters. His education and personal tastes certainly inclined him towards them, but he also used them to increase his authority. After Italy and Dalmatia (the latter was under direct Italian influence), Renaissance art appeared first in Hungary. In its strengthening Matthias's marriage to Neapolitan princess Beatrix of Aragon played a considerable role. The early Hungarian Renaissance has an all'antica character. On all'antica buildings (made on the basis of Ancient Roman prototypes), the separately carved elements, door- and window-frames had a special role. Its introduction was made possible by the adopting of the Italian division of work, separating the work of masons from that of stone-carvers. The building activity of Matthias was characterized by the co-existence of Late Gothic and Renaissance decorative elements. During his large-scale building activities, the eastern and western wings of the Buda palace were transformed, and a Renaissance terraced garden built. The fragments unearthed in the course of the excavations of the palace manifest the richness of its Renaissance carvings, making reconstruction of the destroyed door- and win-