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In
1456, upon the death of King Iancu, the throne of Hungary
and Romania was contested by various parties, especially
Iancu's eldest son, Laszlo Corvin; the Habsburg King of
Bohemia Ladislaus Posthumus; and a group of barons. With
the beheading of Laszlo and the death (by poisoning?) of
Ladislaus a couple months later, in 1458 the 15 year old
Matei [Matthias] Corvin [1443-1490] became king of
Transilvania and Hungary. Matei surprised the barons by
ruled ably, becoming a very popular king, and
additionally transformed his castle into a noble
residence, adding the beautiful Matei Wing with its
renaissance loggia. He continued his father's strife with
the Turks. Vlad Dracul had been successful against the
Turks along the Danube River, but the Ottoman Empire
replied with a massive invasion of southern Romania (Wallachia).
Vlad fled across the Transilvanian Alps and sought refuge
at Vajdahunyad, where he was thought to be an enemy and
imprisoned for 7 years. While it may be apocryphal, Vlad
is reputed to have impaled mice and spoken with bats
during his detention. The Prince was eventually
recognized as a staunch ally and released. Vlad married
King Matei's cousin's sister, and with the support of the
Hungarian army, successfully drove the Turks out of
Wallachia, albeit temporarily.
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