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)

ROOM 5 The Age of Matthias Hunyadi (second half of the 15th century) The Hunyadi family, which possessed huge estates, wanted to preserve its political influence even after the death of János Hunyadi (1456). János Hunyadi's son, Matthias (1458-1490), was not much more than a child when he was elected king by the Diet in 1458. His election was due to his uncle, Mihály Szilágyi, who, supported by his private army, won over a number of aristocrats and prelates. The first years of his rule passed in strengthening his power. Reducing the influence of Szilágyi and the Garai-Újlaki factions, he regained the Holy Crown of Hungary, which, after the infant Ladislas V had been taken to Vienna, had been in the hands of the emperor Frederick III; Matthias paid a ransom of 80,000 gold ducats for it. After 1464, the year he was crowned with the Holy Crown, Matthias could feel himself the legitimate monarch of Hungary in every respect. The reforms of Matthias - the most important being those of the chancellery, the law courts and the treasury - promoted the prevailing of his authority against the aristocrats who sat in the Royal Council, thus sharing in government according to the traditions of the country. With his clever personal policy, he built up almost unlimited royal power. Matthias's Turkish policy was characterized by a real recognition of the balance of forces. In his campaign of 1463-64 he regained the northern part of Bosnia, which had fallen victim to the Turks in 1463. With the banate he created there, he moved the defence line of the Kingdom of Hungary somewhat further to the south. In the border thus formed neither side brought about any change; occasional Turkish raids and Hungarian reprisals chararacterized this period. Among the last-mentioned, the capture of Szabács (èabac) (1476), the victory at Kenyérmező (1479), and the victories at Sarajevo and Szendrő (Smederovo) (1480— 81) stand out. After his coronation in 1464 and the consolidation of the domestic political situation, Matthias became more active in foreign affairs. In 1468, supported by the Holy See, he started a war against George Podjebrad, who had been declared a heretic, but really in order to seize the Bohemian throne. By the Peace of Olmütz in 1479, concluded with George's successor, Wladislas Jagiello, he remained in possession of Moravia, Silesia and Lausitz, which he had in fact conquered, and kept his title King of Bohemia. From 1477 onwards he measured swords with the emperor Frederick III, who was menacing him from the west. After his campaign in the year 1477, Frederick III acknowledged Matthias's King of Bohemia title, which made him an elector of the Holy Roman Empire. As the result of his campaigns of the years between 1482 and 1485, Matthias moved his seat to Vienna, and by 1487 he had became the master of the whole of Lower Austria. With his death in 1490, his conquests melted away. THE GOVERNMENT OF THE COUNTRY By displaying the last chapter of the Buda Chronicle entitled De coronatione regis Maihie (The Coronation of King Matthias), the exhibition marks Matthias's ascending the throne. The Chronicle of the Hungarians, known, after its place of publication, as the Buda Chronicle, was printed in 1473 in the short-lived Buda printing-office of András Hess. Matthias's use of seals was also determined by his coronation in 1464. Before it he used secret, judicial and ring seals, afterwards his double Royal Seal, his second Privy Seal and his Golden Bull. The first two mentioned follow the form usual since the imperial seal of Sigismund. The representation of the king on the Golden Bull shows him in a richly folded mantle - unlike the double Royal Seal - and is nearer to the Late Gothic style. A similar style can be seen in the representations of the Virgin on