575th birth anniversary of Hungary’s King Matthias

Árpád János Potápi, state secretary at the prime minister’s office, marked the 575th birth anniversary of Hungary’s King Matthias in Cluj (Kolozsvár), in central Romania, the city where the renaissance king was born on February 23, 1443.

In his address, Potápi noted that several peoples in the region consider Matthias Corvinus as one of their own; “his name today means the same in Hungarian, Croatian, Czech and Romanian: to rebuild the former glory of the region”. He added that Matthias’s message is that nations in the region should set aside disputes and start building a future together.

Matthias realised that a country needs to be strong and confident to survive and that peoples in central Europe can only maintain their Christian traditions together, Potápi said.

The celebration was held at the Sapientia Hungarian University, as an opening event to a commemorative programme dubbed Matthias Days in the city.

King Matthias ruled Hungary from 1458 until his death in 1490.

Photo: Wikimedia Commons

Source: MTI