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On 6 April 1490 a whole nation mourned. Mátyás, King of Hungary suddenly passed away in Vienna. Supposedly he got a stroke, but there was a possibility of poisoning. Nobody knows. However one thing was certain. The late king’s body didn’t buried yet, but the race for the hungarian crown already begun.
The last minutes of King Mátyás
Mátyás had a son, János, who was named after his famous grandfather, János Hunyadi, the „Turk beater”. But he was only a legitimised bastard, the love child of King Mátyás and a commoner, Borbála Edelpeck. Mátyás originally intended him for the Church, but on losing all hope of offspring from his queen, Beatrix of Aragon, determined, towards the end of his life, to make the youth his successor on the throne. He loaded him with honours and riches until he was by far the wealthiest magnate in the land. Mátyás also created him a prince title with vast apanages made the commandants of all the fortresses in the kingdom take an oath of allegiance to him, and arranged a marriage for him with Bianca Maria Sforza of Milan. There was only one thing left: publicly declare János as his successor. But that didn’t happen, because Mátyás sudden death.
The young János Corvin
Before his father’s funeral János summoned Pál Kinizsi, the leader of the famous Black Army. János was a clever man, he knew, that it is impossible to win the hungarian crown without the support of the army. Kinizsi was beholden to Mátyás, because he was a simple miller boy, before the late king acknowledged his strength and recruited him to the army. He assured the prince of his support, but he was worried about the mercenaries’s payment. The treasury was almost empty and the current state of the kingdom was also uncertain. But János thought about that. He already started to negiotiate with the ambassador of Milan. At last his father-in-law was willing to help him with gold in exchange some trade agreement in the future. And the ambassador warned János: the dowager queen, Beatrix also started to scheme for the crown.
Queen Beatrix of Aragon
Beatrix was always envious of János and his mother. She also thought they are responsible for her infertibility. So she wanted to do everything to prevent János, that he simply inherit the crown. Therefore she offered marriage to Vladislav II, King of Bohemia and invited him to the hungarian throne. Most hungarian barons and prelates also preferred him, because János was too similar to his father. He was clever, cunning and hardly impressionable. They didn’t want a second Mátyás. Howewer the rule of Vladislav in Bohemia had indicated that he would respect their liberties.
King Vladislav II of Bohemia
Nevertheless not just Vladislav had chance to win the throne. His younger brother John Albert of Poland also wanted to grab the opportunity. Because they both were the grandchildren of the late King Albert of Hungary and the descendants of Emperor Sigismund as well. They had rightful claim for the hungarian crown.
John Albrecht of Poland
Not much after the royal funeral in Buda Vladislav started his offensive. His army succesfully sieged Alamóc (Olomouc) and Börén (Brno) during the summer. The bohemian army rapidly marched toward Pozsony (Bratislava). The Black Army led by Kinizsi and the loyal barons tried to to prevent the siege, therefore they encountered with the enemy near Bazin (Pezinok) on 1 August 1490. The battle was won by the hungarians and Vladislav died on the battlefield. János had luck, because when John Albert was informed about his brother’s death he changed his mind. He thought, that Bohemia is easier target, than Hungary. So the polish king immediately sent emissary to János: if the prince support his right to the bohemian crown and later he is willing to discuss about border revision in Silesia, he’ll acknowledge him as the king of Hungary. János accepted the deal. Seeing, that all of her influence was gone, Queen Beatrix fled to his brother, King Frederick's court in Naples and lived there until her death.
His followers found the dead body of Vladislav II after the Battle of Bazin
But before the prince thought, he finally consolidated his power a new and more dangerous contestant appeared: the Holy Roman Emperor himself, Frederick III. Back in 1463 he and King Mátyás signed the Treaty of Bécsújhely (Wiener Neustadt). It was settled that if Mátyás die without a legitimate son, his kingdom would pass to the Habsburgs. And now the Emperor came to claim the hungarian crown to his son, Maximilian. Hearing the news János offered pardon to every baron, who is willing to help him against the germans. Because they didn’t want to be part of an owerpowered Habsburg empire the resistant lords and barons accepted the amnesty. Finally János could unite the whole country. Now the question was: can he defend Hungary and this newly made unity against the foreign invaders?
Frederick III of the Holy Roman Empire
The german army crossed the hungarian border in October 1490. According to the scout’s report Frederick's army was four times bigger than the Black Army. The Emperor's plan was simple. First he wanted to occupy Bécs (Vienna), then Pozsony (Bratislava) and finally Buda. Therefore János tried to concentrate every resources to fortify Bécs. They accumulated enough food, manpower and weapons, that they could hold the city for a year. The city was fortified, the countryside was burned and the hungarian flotilla also supported the defenders. These conditions waited the germans when they started the siege on 28 October 1490. But they didn’t bear with the defenders. Soon they had supply and morale problems. János sent light cavalry forces to destroy the german supply lines behind Frederick’s army. Besides the hungarian flotilla prevented support via the Danube. And the winter also arrived and it was harsher then ever. To mock the attackers the hungarians made big bonfires across the city and held big feast on the walls. The smell of the roasted beef meat just made the germans crazier. Desertion was daily and some czech mercenaries almost burned their campsite because the cold. Frederick wanted to prevent the complete catasthrope, therefore he initiated negotiations with János. Finally on 25 February 1491 they signed the Treaty of Bécs. Frederick acknowledged the prince as the new King of Hungary, in exchange János released Silesia as a vassal state and renovated the Triety of Bécsújhely. If he die without a legitimate heir, the Habsburgs will inherit the hungarian crown.
The Siege of Bécs in 1490
Finally on 6 April 1491, one year after his father’s death, János Corvin, the legitimised bastard, was crowned in Székesfehérvár as King János of Hungary.
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