What if Matthias Corvinus could secure the inheritance of his illegitimate son?

What if Matthias Corvinus could secure the inheritance of his illegitimate son?

The War of the Hungarian Succession (1490–1494) was a war of succession triggered by the death of King Matthias Corvinus I of Hungary and Croatia (reigned 1458-1490).

Matthias Corvinus died unexpectedly in Vienna in 1490. By the time the nobles gathered to elect his successor, four candidates had already announced their succession to the throne. Matthias Corvinus' illegitimate son, John Corvin, inherited the family estate. Maximilian of Habsburg refers to the 1463 Treaty of Peace in Vina Neustadt, which stipulated that if Matthias died without a legal heir, Emperor Frederick or his heir would inherit Hungary. Vladislaus of Bohemia claimed that Hungary was the eldest son of the sister of Matthias' predecessor, Ladislaus. However, his parents, wanting to secure a separate field for each of their sons, proposed Vladislaus's younger brother John Albert.

The Hungarian nobility and bishop preferred Vladislavs because his rule in Bohemia showed that he would respect their freedom. Colvin attempted to seize the throne by force, but he was defeated at Csontmező at Csontmező by Fladislaus's supporters Stephen Barthori and Paul Kinizzi. As governor of Croatia and Dalmatia, Colvin was then tasked with defending Hungary's southern border against the Ottoman Turks. Vladislavus was crowned king on September 18 in Székesfehérvár. After the coronation of Vladislaus, John Albert did not abandon Hungary. In September, he captured Eger and besieged Casa (Košice, Slovakia). Maximilian of the Habsburgs also invaded Hungary and occupied Sumbaheli, Veszprem, and Székesfehérvár at the end of November. Vladislavs' supporters relieved Kasa of his duties in early December, and 18,000 Hungarian-Czech navies under the command of Stephen Zaporia defeated John Albert at the Battle of Eperjes (Prešov in Slovakia), forcing him to relinquish sovereignty over Hungary.

Meanwhile, Vladislavs' army expelled Maximilian troops from the Habsburgs from Hungary. In the Presburg and Pact, Vladislavs renounced all the territories conquered by Matthias Corvinus in Austria and recognized that the Habsburgs had the right to inherit Hungary and Bohemia if he died without a son. Although Vladislaus assured that Moravian, Silesian, and Lusatia would be subordinate to the Hungarian crown until the sums stipulated in the Treaty of Olomouc (1479) were paid to the Hungarian treasury, the three-tiered meeting of the Bohemian crown held that the union of individuals under his rule invalidated the provision.

Although the succession dispute itself was effectively resolved in late 1491, the war was far from over as the Ottoman Empire attempted to take advantage of the internal instability of Hungary and Croatia through invasion to gain territory, while the Black Army defected due to a lack of wages. In early September 1491, the first Ottoman invasion of Hungary was repulsed at the Battle of Vöpil. The Black Army was sent to the south to fight the Ottoman invasion. While waiting for their wages, they seek plunder in the region. The National Assembly ordered Paul Kinizzi to stop plundering at all costs. In late August 1492, he arrived in Szegdnik Halasfalu and dispersed the Black Army led by Haugwitz. The Turks watched the battle from the other side of the Danube. Of the 8,000 members, 2,000 were able to flee to Styria and continue to plunder the countryside. The remaining mercenaries were integrated into local garrisons, such as those in Nándorfehérvár (Belgrade). They were so frustrated with their finances that they allied themselves with the Ottoman Mihaloğlu Ali Bey to secretly run the fortress of his Sultan Bayezid II. When their plans surfaced, Paul Kinizzi intervened in May 1494 before taking action. He arrested the captain and his crew for treason and starved them to death. With the defeat of the last Ottoman army at Villach, the disappearance of the Black Army ended the war.