Marosi Ernő (szerk.): On the Stage of Europe. The millennial contribution of Hungary to the idea of European Community (Budapest, 2009)
Veszprémy László: The first centuries
tion to set off on a decisive attack against the Ottoman Empire. At the same time, Matthias was the second person to develop the border fortress system after Sigismund. By organising the hinterland of castles extending to the southern counties, and by increasing the weight and unifying the ban of Macva, the count of Temes, the voivode of Transylvania, and the Ban positions of Croatia-Slavonia-Dalmatia, the border castle line fortified by Italian military engineers defended the country with great success until 1521. The first border fortress line ran from Szörény through Orsova, Belgrade and Szabács through Banja Luka, the Jajce and the Knin to Klis by the Adriatic Sea. The second, inner line 50-150 kilometres away, ran from Temesvár through the region of Srijem/Srem and Bihács to the Dalmatian Zengg. At the same time, typically, one of the largest Hungarian-Ottoman conflicts prior to Mohács in 1479 at Kenyérmező in Transylvania, where Hungary won a victory, is not connected to Matthias and his mercenaries, but to the troops of the court elite. The memories of the rule of King Matthias The era of Matthias has captivated the Hungarians up to the present day: what is the message of the period, when Hungary actively participated in European politics for the last time as an independent state and a strong power with a significant army? Not incidentally, the country took up the fight with the Ottoman empire seemingly successfully, occupied Moravian, Silesian, and Austrian provinces more developed than her, captured Vienna, established one of the most spectacular Renaissance court cultures and most famous Humanist library of its time, the Bibliotheca Corviniana, and on top of all this, these were achieved with a "national" king on the throne. The aim was "to become Corvinus from Hunyadi" - everything served this in internal and external affairs, in the battle fields, in representation and in the arts. It was exactly the representation, the reception of the Renaissance in Hungary that could be considered the most brilliant result of Matthias, which was also highly appreciated by his contemporaries. It is without a doubt an unmatched phenomenon of fifteenth-century Hungarian history that the influence of the Italian Renaissance was such that it preceded most of Europe, and that via Hungary the new artistic trend spread to the surrounding countries. It could also be attributed to the effects of Matthias' state that although his attempts to establish a university failed, even years later foreign contemporaries were convinced that a university "must have" existed in Hungary. The 130-year reign of the Angevin kings, and Sigismund, who was crowned emperor in Rome, suitably prepared the court for the reception of the Renaissance. Matthias, according to the unanimous testimony of his contemporaries, truly experienced Humanist culture; for him it was not simply a role-play or propaganda, but rather the practise of patronage that became an organic part of his life. He recognised that the success of the country required a strong royal power - a dynasty - and his entire reign was accompanied by the fight for the legitimisation of his family and rule, and for the acknowledgement of the succession of his son. It was a grimace of fate that his Italian political connections and family relations did not significantly help him to join mainstream European politics. Neither he nor his son succeeded to make it from "Hunyadi to Corvinus"; in the war against Frederick III, Matthias undoubtedly overestimated the strengths of the country; however, shiny illusions hid reality at times. There is no doubt that the country until Mohács had drawn closer to the Western European countries in many respects, even if the social structures developing here 32