How a Hungarian King Humiliated the Holy Roman Emperor and Nearly Seized the Throne
Matthias Corvinus, King of Hungary, spent over a decade systematically dismantling the power of Holy Roman Emperor Frederick III. By deploying his elite Black Army, Matthias captured Vienna and forced the Emperor into a humiliating exile. Yet, this dramatic military triumph vanished almost instantly upon the king's sudden death.
The conflict between Matthias Corvinus and Frederick III was rooted in a long-standing rivalry over the Hungarian throne. Following the 1463 Treaty of Wiener Neustadt, tensions simmered until 1477, when Frederick allied with Vladislaus Jagiellon, the successor to the Bohemian throne. Enraged by this diplomatic slight, Matthias launched a full-scale invasion of Austrian lands. His military success relied heavily on the Black Army, a formidable standing mercenary force led by commanders like Stephen V Báthory and Lawrence of Ilok, which proved far superior to the Habsburgs' limited martial resources.
By 1483, the situation for Frederick had become dire. He was forced to flee his residence at the Hofburg in Vienna, eventually seeking refuge in Wiener Neustadt. Matthias’ forces besieged the fortress for 18 months, capturing it in 1487. Even after the Nuremberg Diet appointed Duke Albrecht III of Saxony as supreme commander of the imperial army, the Habsburgs struggled. Albrecht found his own forces poorly equipped and unable to mount an effective defense, eventually advising the Emperor that a compromise with Matthias was the only rational path forward. An armistice was finally reached in St. Pölten in December 1488.
Matthias’ ultimate ambition was to secure his legacy by forcing Frederick and his son, Maximilian, to recognize him as the designated heir to the Holy Roman Empire. However, these plans collapsed when Matthias died from a stroke on 6 April 1490. With his illegitimate son, John Corvinus, unable to claim the throne and the Hungarian nobility unwilling to defend the centralized system Matthias had built, his territorial gains were quickly reversed. The Habsburgs eventually regained their lands, setting the stage for their long-term dominance through strategic marriage alliances, which culminated in the 1515 First Congress of Vienna and the eventual consolidation of the transnational Habsburg monarchy following the 1526 Battle of Mohács.
