Prince Corvin János (1473-1504)
An excellent soldier, multilingual (German, Latin, Hungarian, Croatian), and a sophisticated Latinist, the natural son of King Matthias Corvinus...
The illegitimate son of King Matthias and a bourgeois girl from Stein (now part of Krems), Barbara Edelpeck, was born in Buda on 2 April 1473. The boy was surnamed after Matthias’ heraldic animal, the raven (Latin: Corvus), and his first name was given to him in honor of his grandfather, Hunyadi János, the hero of Nándorfehérvár.
He was brought up by his grandmother, Szilágyi Erzsébet, and his mind was trained by Taddeo Ugoletti, head of the Corvina Library. In childhood, his left leg was dislocated and he was lame for the rest of his life. You can read more about the relationship between his mother and King Matthias here:
https://www.hungarianottomanwars.com/essays/borbala-the-lover-of-matthias/
His father initially intended for him to become a priest, and in 1480 he nominated him for the bishop of Győr. But when he found out that Queen Beatrix of Aragon, who had married him in 1476, was unable to bear him a child, he took him to himself and chose him as his successor.
He gave him a growing number of estates, castles, palaces, and titles. Corvin János also became the prince of Silesia and Troppau. In 1485 the citizens of occupied Vienna swore allegiance to him for the first time. Matthias gave his natural son the upbringing befitting an heir to the throne, bestowing on him many titles and estates so that after his death János would have the strength to take the crown.
In November 1487, he married Bianca Sforza of Milan but she was only represented by his agent. Matthias’s wife, Beatrix, was not so fond of her stepson – although her jealousy was unfounded since she did not bear children – and the thwarting of Corvin’s planned marriage to Maria Sforza Bianca (who later became the wife of Emperor Nicholas I) was partly due to her, but there was no open conflict between the prince and the queen.
Thus, Bianca never visited Hungary, and in 1493 the Pope finally dissolved the marriage, which was never consummated. Matthias made all the lords on several occasions swear an oath to support the succession of his illegitimate son, who was by then the richest landowner in the country.
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