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5. Queen Beatrix
Beatrice of Aragon (1457–1508), daughter of King Ferdinand I of Naples, married the Hungarian King in 1476 and is perhaps Hungary’s best-known medieval queen. She has always, however, been overshadowed by the radiant figure of Matthias. The King’s historian Antonio Bonfini was hostile to her, and he set the tone for subsequent Hungarian historiography. The queen has never been popular in Hungary. There were several reasons for this, chief among them her inability to provide an heir. She also did everything she could to prevent the King's illegitimate son John Corvin from even being considered for the throne, and attempted to take it herself after Matthias' death. Beatrice wielded considerable political influence through her estates and revenues, which she also used to patronise Italian arts and humanists. Having grown up in the Neapolitan court, the Queen was sensitive to the arts and scholarship, and was in close contact with humanists. She also dominated musical affairs in the Buda court and seems to have exercised, by example, a considerable effect on her husband’s arts patronage and the development of his Italian contacts.
After Matthias’ death, the Queen Dowager set her sights on power on her own account, but was neutralised by the offer of what turned out to be a feigned marriage by the new king Wladislaw II Jagiello. Nonetheless, Beatrice remained in Hungary for another ten years until 1500, never giving up hope of getting close to power. She lived in Esztergom, close to Buda, enjoying to her substantial queen’s income right to the end and keeping under her wing her nephew, the child Ippolito d’Este, who she installed as Archbishop of Esztergom, the highest (and wealthiest) ecclesiastical seat in Hungary. Beatrice lived in Hungary for a total of 24 years. On her return she died in the Castle Capuano in Naples in 1508.
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