King of Hungary, born in Cluj-Napoca, Romania.

Matthias I, or Matthias Corvin born February 24, 1443, Kolozsvár, Transylvania (now Cluj-Napoca in Romania) — died April 6, 1490, Vienna, King of Hungary (1458–90).

Matthias was the second son of a military leader, János Hunyadi. After the death of his father and elder brother, Matthias became heir to a vast landed property and to a great name glorified by the chroniclers of the war against Turkish conquerors. After the death of King Ladislas Posthumus of Austria (Habsburg), and despite dynastic claims of his uncle, the Holy Roman emperor Frederick III, and other pretenders to the throne, a general Diet held in Buda and Pest in January 1458 elected Matthias king.

He spent much of his reign combating the claims of the Habsburg dynasty and attempting to reconstruct the Hungarian state after decades of feudal anarchy. He raised taxes, modernized the army, and codified Hungarian law. After fighting off Turks on Hungary’s southern border, Matthias organized a defensive system against them. He gained control of Bosnia (1463) but lost a struggle with Poland for Bohemia. Long a rival of Emperor Frederick III, he occupied Vienna and other Habsburg lands, but after his death his conquests were lost.