Catherine of Poděbrady

Catherine of Poděbrady
Queen consort of Hungary and Croatia
Catherine leaving her father and stepmother to live in Hungary
Tenure	1463–1464
Born	11 November 1449 Poděbrady
Died	8 March 1464 (aged 14) Buda
Spouse	Matthias Corvinus of Hungary
House	House of Podiebrad
Father	George of Poděbrady
Mother	Kunigunde of Sternberg

Catherine of Poděbrady (11 November 1449 – 8 March 1464,^[1]) was the first wife of Matthias Corvinus, King of Hungary.

Biography

Catherine and her twin sister Sidonie were born at Poděbrady, to the Bohemian king George of Poděbrady and his first wife, Kunigunde of Šternberk. Kunigunde died from complications of the birth. George of Poděbrady eventually remarried; his second wife, Joanna of Rožmitál, bore George more children, including Ludmila of Poděbrady.

Matthias Corvinus had lost his fiancee, Elisabeth of Cilli, at a young age. On 1 May 1463 he married Catherine at Matthias Church^[2] in Buda. Matthias was eighteen, his bride thirteen. The wedding negotiations had begun in 1458 when Catherine was nine years old. It was agreed that George would make Matthias King of Bohemia if he married Catherine. Soon after the marriage, Catherine left her family and went to live in Hungary with her new husband. Janus Pannonius helped teach Catherine Latin.^[3]

The queen was very young, so she played little part in the politics of her husband's two kingdoms. She died in childbirth at the age of 14. Her child died soon after birth as well. The event caused Matthias to lose hope of siring a legitimate heir. He eventually married Beatrice of Naples, but that marriage also failed to produce an heir. Matthias's only surviving offspring was an illegitimate son, John Corvinus, by a mistress named Barbara.

References

1. Cawley, Charles, BOHEMIA, Medieval Lands, Foundation for Medieval Genealogy, retrieved August 2012,
2. Matthias Church
3. Translation from Czech Wikipedia