Matthias Corvinus

Timeline

1. 1451–1456Kolozsvár (now Cluj-Napoca) · TransylvaniaMatthias grew up at the Hungarian court in the company of his father John Hunyadi, receiving a good Renaissance education, mastering Latin, and becoming skilled in horsemanship, archery, and warfare. Between 1451 and 1456 his father served as regent of Hungary, and Matthias gradually gained exposure to the affairs of the kingdom under his father's protection, personally witnessing the peak of his father's military career around the Battle of Belgrade in 1456.
2. 1456–1458Prague · BohemiaHis father John died of illness in August 1456 shortly after the Battle of Belgrade; his brother Ladislaus Hunyadi was executed by King Ladislaus the Posthumous in the power struggle (March 1457), after which Matthias was detained and taken to Prague. That November King Ladislaus died suddenly, and the Hungarian nobles seized the opportunity to hold an election assembly on the frozen Danube on 24 January 1458, raising the fifteen-year-old Matthias to the throne of Hungary and ending his brief imprisonment.
3. 1458–1460Buda · HungaryAfter acceding in 1458, Matthias quickly displayed political talent, suppressing rebellions of opposing nobles and consolidating royal power. He reformed taxation and the judiciary, promoting officials of non-noble birth to counterbalance the old nobility. In 1459 some nobles proclaimed the Habsburg Frederick III rival king; Matthias swiftly crushed the secession by force, establishing effective control of the kingdom and laying the foundation for decades of brilliance.