When and where was Matthias Corvinus born?
Matthias Corvinus was born in Kolozsvár, now Cluj-Napoca in Romania, on the 23rd of February 1443. He was the second son of John Hunyadi and his wife Elizabeth Szilágyi.
Questions about Matthias Corvinus
Short answers, pulled from the story.
How did Matthias Corvinus become King of Hungary?
The noblemen gathered on the frozen River Danube and unanimously proclaimed the 14-year-old Matthias king on the 24th of January 1458. His uncle Michael Szilágyi arrived at the Diet with 15,000 troops to intimidate the barons who assembled in Buda.
What languages could Matthias Corvinus speak?
Matthias spoke Hungarian, Latin, Italian, Polish, Czech, and German according to Antonio Bonfini. The late 16th-century Polish historian Krzystoff Warszewiecki wrote that Matthias had been able to understand the Romanian language of the envoys of Stephen the Great, Prince of Moldavia.
Who were the wives of Matthias Corvinus?
His first wife Elizabeth of Celje died before the end of 1455 and his second wife Catherine of Poděbrady died in childbirth in January or February 1464. His third wife Beatrice of Naples survived him and returned to Naples where she died in 1508.
When did Matthias Corvinus die and how old was he?
Matthias died in the morning of the 6th of April 1490 after suffering for two days following a meal of rotten figs. He was born on the 23rd of February 1443 making him 47 years old at the time of his death.