The king lured them both to Buda, where he perfidiously beheaded the
eldest, Ladislaus, for wounding Cilli, in defending himself from an
attack which the implacable count had made upon him, and he also threw
the younger son, Matthias, into a prison.
The widow of Hunniades, the heroic mother of these children, with a
spirit worthy of the wife of her renowned husband, called the nobles to
her aid. They rallied in great numbers, roused to indignation. The
inglorious king, terrified by the storm he had raised, released
Matthias, and fled from Buda to Vienna, pursued by the execrations and
menaces of the Hungarians.
He soon after repaired to Prague, in Bohemia, to solemnize his marriage
with Magdalen, daughter of Charles VII., King of France. He had just
reached the city, and was making preparations for his marriage in
unusual splendor, when he was attacked by a malignant disease, supposed
to be the plague, and died after a sickness of but thirty-six hours. The
unhappy king, who, through the stormy scenes of his short life, had
developed no grandeur of soul, was oppressed with the awfulness of
passing to the final judgment. In the ordinances of the Church he sought
to find solace for a sinful and a troubled spirit.
Pages:
91
92
93
94
95
96
97
98
99
100
101
102
103
104
105
106
107
108
109
110
111
112
113
114
115