The Raven King; Matthias Corvinus and the Fate of His Lost Library

by Marcus Tanner

• ISBN13: 9780300120349
• ISBN10: 0300120346
• Format: Trade Book
• Copyright: 2008-07-01
• Publisher: Yale University Press

Summary

Seizing the Hungarian throne at the age of fifteen, Matthias Corvinus, the "Raven King," was an effervescent presence on the fifteenth-century stage. A successful warrior and munificent art patron, he sought to leave as symbols of his strategic and humanist ambitions a strong, unified country, splendid palaces, and the most magnificent library in Christendom. But Hungary, invaded by Turkey after Matthias's death in 1490, yielded its treasures, and the Raven King's exquisite library of two thousand volumes, witness to a golden cultural age, was dispersed first across Europe and then the world.The quest to recover this collection of sumptuously illuminated scripts provoked and tantalized generations of princes, cardinals, collectors, and scholars and imbued Hungarians with the mythical conviction that the restoration of the lost library would seal their country's rebirth. In this thrilling and absorbing account, drawing on a wealth of original sources in several languages, Marcus Tanner tracks the destiny of the Raven King and his magnificent bequest, uncovering the remarkable story of a life and library almost lost to history.

Author Biography

Marcus Tanner is a journalist and writer, editor of the Balkan Investigative Reporting Network, and a leader-writer for the Independent. His previous books include Croatia, Ireland's Holy Wars, and The Last of the Celts, all published by Yale University Press.

Table of Contents

List of Illustrations	p. vii
Acknowledgements	p. ix
Preface	p. x
Map of Hungary in the fifteenth century	p. xxi
'Deep inside the palace'	p. 1
Beyond the forest	p. 20
'I delight in everything that's new'	p. 33
'Ceaselessly entangled in warfare'	p. 58
Beatrice	p. 77
'The Emperor has fled'	p. 95
The librarian Ugoleto	p. 108
'A glutton for books'	p. 125
Collapse	p. 141
'Who can restrain their tears?'	p. 168
The walls of the Seraglio	p. 189
Epilogue: 'Matjaz will ride out'	p. 210
Appendix	p. 216
Notes	p. 225
Select bibliography	p. 245
Index	p. 253
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