Matthias Corvinus (Civ6)

Matthias Corvinus
Introduced in Gathering Storm
Other names	King of Hungary, Croatia, and Bohemia, and Duke of Austria
Civilizations	Hungarian
Leader bonus - Raven King
Levied city-state units gain +2 Movement and +5 Combat Strength, and can be upgraded at a 75% discount in Gold and resources. Levying troops from a city-state grants 2 Envoys with that city-state. Gain the Black Army unique unit with Castles.
Leader agenda - Raven Banner
Will often levy troops from city-states, and likes those who do the same. Dislikes civilizations that shun use of these mercenaries.
Religion
	Catholicism

Back to Leaders (Civ6)

"Dead is Matthias; Justice is lost."

Matthias Corvinus (23 February 1443 – 6 April 1490), known in Hungarian as Hunyadi Mátyás, was the King of Hungary and Croatia from 1458 to 1490. He leads the Hungarians in Civilization VI: Gathering Storm.

Matthias Corvinus uses the flowing rivers near his cities to recruit cavalry and city-states in his quest for domination.

Intro

Mighty Matthias, your feats at arms are matched only by the depths of your knowledge. Let your mighty Black Army serve as your strong hand in the battlefield, both as sword against your enemies and as shield protecting your faithful people, and ages to come will utter your name in awe.

In-Game

Matthias Corvinus's unique agenda is Raven Banner. He often Levies units from city-states and likes leaders who do the same.

His leader ability is Raven King. He gains 2 Envoys with a city-state when he Levies units from it, and Levied units receive +2 Movement and +5 Combat Strength and can be upgraded at 25% of the normal resource and Gold costs. It also allows him to produce the Black Army, a unique unit that replaces the Courser, is unlocked with Castles, and gains +3 Combat Strength for each adjacent levied unit.

Detailed Approach

Hungary gains Production towards Districts and buildings in districts directly across a River from their City Centers. This aids them in developing cities rapidly so that they can spend more time producing military units. Matthias Corvinus gets two unique Cavalry units. The Black Army upgrades into their second unique unit, the Huszár, allowing them to dominate with their powerful military for a long period of the game. Matthias Corvinus' ability towards leveraging City-States gives Hungary's conquest extra units that help on the path towards victory. The Thermal Bath helps maintain the conquered cities by providing Amenities and preventing revolt.

Lines

Matthias Corvinus is voiced by Gabor Varga. He speaks Medieval Hungarian.

Voiced

Agenda-based Approval: The quickest way to success is to levy the strengths of your little allies, wouldn't you agree? (Hamar siker titka kicsiny szövetségesid megerősítése.. nemde?)

Agenda-based Disapproval: They say you pay your auxiliaries in patriotism. That and two pennies will buy them a beer. (Mondják, csupán hazaszeretettel fizeted segédhadaidat. Ebbűl és két garasbúl megvan a sörük.)

Attacked: Surely you had to know that one day there would be war between us. (Tudhattad volna, hogy egy napon háborúság támad miköztünk.)
[Note: In Modern Hungarian, háborúság would be háború, and miköztünk would be replaced by the more common word közöttünk.]

Declares War: Your insolence has provoked this war, and I shall be happy to lead the Black Army to victory over you. (Pimaszságod okozá e háborúságot, és én boldogan viszem ellened győzelemre a Fekete Sereget.)
[Note: In Modern Hungarian, the first sentence would be "Pimaszságod okozta ezt a háborút."]

Defeated: Today you wear the victor's laurels, but can you keep what you have taken? (Ma még a győzelem koszorúját hordod, de megtudod-é tartani, amit szereztél?)

Greeting: I am Matthias. I am King of Hungary, scourge of my foes, and defender of the faithful. Greetings. (Mátyás vagyok. Én vagyok Magyarországnak királya, ellenségeim ostora, az igaz híveknek védelmezője. Üdvözöllek.)

Quote from Civilopedia: Dead is Matthias; Justice is lost. (Meghalt Mátyás. Oda az igazság.)
[Note: The English quote is probably taken from Britannica, which describes it as a "popular saying." A similar proverb is listed in the Hungarian book Book of Hungarian Proverbs by János Erdélyi.]

Unvoiced

Accepts Player's Declaration of Friendship: Yes! There are few rulers who understand the burden of kings as well as you. I am glad to call you a friend.

Rejects Player's Declaration of Friendship: A king must choose his friends with great caution. It is not time for me to call you that.

Accepts Player's Delegation: Thank you for the gifts of your delegation, and may your generosity be blessed.

Rejects Player's Delegation: We need no gifts nor their implicit obligations. Hungary is rich enough.

Accepts Player's Trade: A generous offer! I accept with a grateful heart.

Rejects Player's Trade: It would be beneath a prince's dignity to accept this offer.

Delegation: I am sending you gifts worthy of a prince: Fine lace, a crossbow emblazoned with your heraldry, and paprikash made from my family's recipe.

Denounced by Player: You are a lawless snake, a grasping vulture, who would see the world cower before you. Know that I will never fear you!

Denounces Player: You pursue power—always and only power—but Hungary will resist you to the bitter end.

Too Many Troops Near His Border: The scouts of my armies have spent days following the progress of your armies near the border. Move them away from Hungary.

Invitation to Capital: I invite your people to learn of the capital of Hungary, but only if you grant me the same right.

Invitation to City: I will personally lead your delegates on a tour of my capital, that they may understand the power of Hungary more fully.

Accepts Invitation from Player: Yes. I agree to your terms on behalf of Hungary.

Civilopedia entry

Matthias Corvinus harnessed his ambition and thirst for glory in the cause of regenerating the Hungarian crown and kingdom. A true prince of the nascent Renaissance, he was both a patron of humanists and a mighty battlefield commander. At the time of his death, the Kingdom of Hungary was the largest of Europe's kingdoms, but these gains could not be maintained and collapse followed his short and glorious life.

Born in Kolozsvár (Cluj in modern Romania) as the second son of the Hungarian nobleman and commander Janos Hunyadi, Matthias inherited the family's holdings upon the death of his father and older brother, who were executed for their involvement in the assassination of an ally of Hungary's then-reigning king, Ladislaus V. But when Ladislaus himself died without heir in 1457, the Diet of Hungary elected the young Matthias to be king, marking the first time a noble had been promoted to the throne. Some nobles of Hungary and the rulers of Europe celebrated this election in the time-honored fashion for contested succession—they launched revolts and wars.

Despite being only fourteen years old, and nominally under the control of a regent, Matthias nonetheless executed his reign under his own terms. One of his first acts, for instance, was to secure a peace between a group of Romanians and Vlad Dracula, Prince of Wallachia (yes, that Vlad Dracula). He was able to successfully wrestle the crown of Hungary away from Emperor Frederick III, and by extending his royal prerogative was able to levy an extraordinary tax to pay for one of the first standing professional national armies in Europe—the famous Black Army. He attempted an extensive reform of the laws and customs of Hungary in order to consolidate administrative rule of his kingdom.

Matthias was often at war. His enemies included the Ottoman Empire and the Holy Roman Empire (he successfully laid siege to Vienna at one point), as well as nobles of Saxony, Moldavia, Bohemia, and Poland. Hungary's position at the nexus of Eastern Europe and on the margins of the Ottoman Empire meant that the shifting dynastic politics of the region, webs of specific prerogatives and customary rights, and ambitious nobility often led to uprisings within his own lands. These he suppressed, brutally.

In addition to being a successful battlefield general, he was also notable for his love of learning. Under his direction, his library in Buda, the Bibliotheca Corviniana, became one of the world's greatest libraries in terms of scope and quality, said to be second only to the Vatican Library. He encouraged and patronized humanists, and his third wife, Beatrice of Naples, is credited with bringing the Renaissance's attitudes to Hungary, marking the first place the Renaissance spread outside of the borders of Italy.

An ardent Catholic, he saw the defense of the faith in both physical and spiritual terms. While this usually took the form of direct conflict with the Ottoman Sultans and the proto-Protestant Hussites of Bohemia, he was not averse to acting against the temporal authority of the church, including dispensing church property on his own authority and supporting factions opposed to the Papal states.

Matthias was married three times, but died without a legitimate heir. His preference was that he be succeeded by his illegitimate son, Janos Corvinus, but Matthias fell sick and died, leaving Hungary open to a new succession crisis, from which Vladislav II, King of Bohemia emerged to rule Hungary.

The impact of his reign is complex. His rapacious taxation of the Hungarian people funded a series of wars designed to extend the limits of his crown lands. Matthias was a canny political player in the region and a true patron of the letters, a lover of learning at a time when that was not yet seen as a virtue of princes. His personal courage and cunning is beyond dispute (once he escaped capture and evaded his pursuers by pretending to be a local groom). He left behind a Hungary whose territory was larger than the one whose throne he ascended, but these gains could not stand. The ruler who tortured and executed suspected rebels is also the man who wrote a code of laws calling for the constraint of the king by laws and institutions to serve as a check on arbitrary authority.

Matthias Corvinus is still remembered fondly in Hungarian folk tales, where he is depicted travelling the countryside in disguise, dispensing justice on behalf of the poor and downtrodden.

Trivia

• Matthias Corvinus's diplomacy screen shows the foothills and wall surrounding Visegrád Castle in Hungary.
• Matthias Corvinus's leader ability and agenda both reference his family name, which derives from corvus (the Latin word for "raven").
• Matthias Corvinus brandishes his dagger when making or targeted for a declaration of war.
• Matthias Corvinus wears a laurel wreath like Trajan's on his head.

Gallery

Concept art of Matthias Corvinus

Matthis Corvinus on the loading screen

An equestrian statue of Matthias Corvinus (which appears to have inspired his in-game model)

Videos

Civilization VI Gathering Storm - First Look Hungary

First Look: Hungary

Related achievements

The Laurels of Virtues and Letters Win a game as Matthias Corvinus Possible translation of this Matthias quote: "Scholars, how happy are you! You strive not after blood-stained glory nor monarchs' crowns, but for the laurels of poetry and virtue."

Shield of Christianity As Hungary, have Christianity as your dominant religion and defeat a unit who's Civilization's dominant religion is not Christianity. Hungary was one of the countries that stopped the Ottomans' advance in the Battle of Vienna.

External links

• https://civilization.com/news/entries/civilization-vi-gathering-storm-hungary-matthias-corvinus-pc-release-date-february-14-2019/