The Hungarian Research Institute has initiated a historic project to identify the more than 500 year old remains of King Matthias of Hungary, and give him the opportunity for a worthy burial.
Miklós Kásler, director of the National Institute of Oncology and Minister of Human Resources, informed the public in a Facebook video that the Hungarian Research Institute is examining the remains of the Hunyadi family.
In the video, Kásler can be seen with his team at the Church of the Order of St. Paul, where János Corvinus, the biological son of Matthias (Mátyás) Corvinus, is buried.
Kásler said that with the help of archaeogenetic technology, the Institute can determine the family’s paternal genes. This will not only provide them with the answers to questions regarding the family’s origins, but it will give them the ability to identify the bones of Matthias I among those located in the ossuary of Székesfehérvár.
The more than 500 year old remains of the famous king will finally be identified.
Matthias I, born Mátyás Hunyadi but known also as Matthias Corvinus, Mátyás Corvin, and Mátyás the Just, is among the most revered Hungarian kings of all time.
The statue of King Matthias on Budapest’s Heroes’s Square. Photo by Csaba Jászai/MTVA
He was the first noble without dynastic ancestry or relationship to mount the Hungarian throne, as his father, the great military leader János Hunyadi, had led the country only as regent.
Mátyás successfully stabilized the country, which had been under turmoil due to a lack of leadership, and focused his power on repelling the Ottoman Empire, which was standing at his doorstep.
His extensive successes could be listed in length, but it is enough to know that he pushed the medieval Hungarian economy into full gear, and created one of the earliest professional standing armies in history; the Black Army.
It was this fabled force which helped him wage so many successful wars past Hungary’s borders, which he had no problem funding thanks to his revolutionary finance and tax reforms.
Today, King Matthias lives on in countless Hungarian folk tales and legends surrounding his life, as well as within the great legacy he built with his many accomplishments during his rule.
Minister Kásler believes that by located his remains, Matthias the Just will finally receive the burial he wished for, worthy of a king.
In the featured photo, a bust of King Matthias in Somorja (Samorin), Slovakia. Photo by Csaba Krizsán/MTI
