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14. Contenders for the Throne

The loss of the King, though expected, came as a shock, and the country was seized by fear and confusion, exacerbated by the large number of contenders for the throne: John Corvin from the Hunyadi family; Maximilian, son of Frederick III and King of the Germans from the Habsburgs; and two from the house of Jagiello: Wladislaw, King of Bohemia, and his younger brother John Albert, Crown Prince of Poland. John Corvin, having attracted little support, tried to take the throne by force, but was defeated at Csonthegy and was forced to withdraw. It was Wladislaw, after winning the support of Queen Beatrice through a promise of marriage, who the Diet unanimously elected. The King of Bohemia accepted the election terms in the Farkashida pact, and was crowned King of Hungary at Székesfehérvár in September 1490. The other two claimants to the throne obliged him to fight a war which lasted more than a year, Maximilian attacking from the west and John Albert from the north east. In all, the struggle for Matthias’ legacy lasted nearly two years, ending with the Peace of Pozsony signed with the Habsburgs in November 1491, and the bloody battle near Eperjes, which destroyed John Albert’s army. Wladislaw II (1490–1516) had consolidated his reign, and that of the Jagiello dynasty.