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When Matthias Corvinus saw the light of day, 580 years ago, not even the Fates standing by his side thought that he would become one of the most important kings of Hungary and that, during his 32-year reign, Hungary would know the most extensive expansion in its history.
Matthias Corvinus was born on February 23, 1443 to a Romanian father, Iancu de Hunedoara or Janos Hunyadi, and a Hungarian mother, Elisabeta Silaghi or Szilágyi Erzsébe, in a room of a house in central-western Cluj, a house that is preserved in good condition even today and which attracts tens of thousands of visitors annually, although it is not set up as a museum and access inside is not allowed for tourists.
Besides the controversy of the room where little Matthias was born, there is another one, related to the reason for the birth of the future king in Cluj. As a rule, it is said that the place was not chosen, that the birth happened accidentally, while Elisabeta Szilagyi was traveling, but another hypothesis claims that the city was specially chosen for the birth, as a result of an alliance that Iancu de Hunedoara had with the people of Cluj.
"The truth, it seems, is that his father, the great commander of the army, Iancu de Hunedoara or Janos Hunyadi, was in a perpetual war with the great nobility, who did not recognize his real qualities as a great leader, not having a great noble family tree, and he brought his wife here on purpose, so that she would give birth in a safe place and be guarded by the people of Cluj. Why?! Because he had an alliance with the city of Cluj. And here is what reinforces this statement: after the peasant revolt of Bobalna between 1437-1438, in which the people of Cluj participated, after its defeat, all the privileges of the people of Cluj were taken away by the noblemen, but they received them back in 1444, with the intervention of Iancu de Hunedoara," Cluj historian Vladimir Alexandru Bogosavlievici told AGERPRES.
The Matthias Corvinus House (or Mehffy House) is probably the most famous house in Cluj-Napoca, both in the country and especially abroad. Although the number of tourists it attracts annually is impressive, as many as tens of thousands, the house where King Matthias was born on February 23, 1443, cannot be visited, at least not officially. And its interior decorations have nothing that reminds of the famous king.
"It is the Mehffy House, a great winegrower, very rich. This house was located exactly at the entrance to the old Cluj, in the 7-hectare Cluj. So, not everyone lived here in that period and not everyone had a stone house. In general, the houses, in that period, were made of wood. Unfortunately, we cannot say that it is a memorial house. It belongs to the University of Art and Design and it has no object to bring to mind the illustrious king, and the entrance is very difficult. In general, tourists see it from the outside, because, let's be honest, inside you would see some rooms that have been transformed into classrooms and not much else," says Vladimir Alexandru Bogosavlievici with dissatisfaction.
In April 2021, the Minister of Development, Public Works and Administration, Cseke Attila, stated that he intends to restore the house where Matthias Corvinus was born.
"It is an ambitious project, one absolutely natural and necessary for the oldest building in Cluj-Napoca and the most famous and which can become a much bigger tourist attraction than it is today, by this complete restoration, by opening this house to the public, which should have a mark related to the one who was King Matthias Corvinus, but where the artistic and didactic activity should also be preserved. This investment will be carried out in its entirety by the Ministry of Development through the National Investment Company, meaning all the approval, the design procedure, it is a historical monument, there are special laws involved. We want this house to be put forward. A possibility must be created to pay tribute to the fact that King Matthias Corvinus was born in this house, but it can also be an extraordinary tourist attraction. The opening of this house to tourists can create a different perspective for Cluj, it can be introduced into the tourist circuit and for this, a possibility of presentation, an exhibition, a memorial room must be created inside, experts will tell us. I believe it is an opportunity," announced Cseke Attila.
Historians maintain that Matthias Corvinus had one of the largest libraries in Europe, which housed the largest European collection of historical chronicles and philosophical and scientific works from the 15th century, with over 5,000 copies, each copy worth more than 1,000 gold Florentine florin.AGERPRES
