Matthias Church

The south tower rises above the old church in Buda Castle; the shield with a raven on its facade repeats the medieval royal coat of arms. The original emblem is kept inside, while its copy remains outside. A small entrance survives by the south wall, known in the city as the Bride Gate; documents do not confirm a connection between this name and real events.

Before us is an active Catholic parish. Its official name is Matthias Church; Masses are still celebrated here. Matthias in the familiar name is not a saint, but the Hungarian king Mátyás Hunyadi Corvinus.

In fourteen sixty-three, he married Kateřina of Poděbrady here, the thirteen-year-old daughter of the Czech king. For Mátyás, this marriage was meant to secure an alliance with Bohemia and provide a legitimate heir. A few months later, Kateřina gave birth to a son. The child died, and the fourteen-year-old queen died soon after childbirth.

A new marriage required twelve years of negotiations. The imperial and Polish families turned him down; without a legitimate son, Mátyás risked leaving the throne without a recognized successor to his dynasty. At last, he reached an agreement with the king of Naples. His daughter, Beatrice of Aragon, was to become queen of Hungary and the mother of an heir.

On December twenty-second, fourteen seventy-six, Mátyás and Beatrice were married in this church. The celebrations continued until Epiphany. Beatrice did not remain a ceremonial figure: her husband admitted her to affairs of state and took the interests of her Neapolitan relatives into account. But in fourteen years of marriage, the couple had no children.

Mátyás tried to pass the throne to János Corvinus, his illegitimate son. After the king's death, Beatrice opposed János: the dowager queen needed to preserve her position, and his accession offered no such promise. She supported another claimant, Władysław II, and he married her, receiving the crown. Władysław then had the marriage declared invalid. Beatrice lost her title, left for Naples, and never returned to Hungary as queen. János Corvinus did not receive the throne either.

Two traces remain of this dynastic story. According to legend, the small entrance on the south side is called the Bride Gate: supposedly, both of Mátyás's wives entered the church through it, though there is no reliable evidence for this. But the royal coat of arms with a raven, the Hunyadi family emblem, certainly stood on the south tower. A copy is now installed outside, while the medieval original is kept inside. At first the tower was called Matthias Tower, then his name passed to the whole church—the very one where the king married twice and never did receive a legitimate heir.