In August the young prince, but eighteen years of age, with a splendid
retinue, made his public entry into Ghent. His commanding person and the
elegance of his manners, attracted universal admiration. His subjects
rallied with enthusiasm around him, and, guided by his prowess, in a
continued warfare of five years, drove the invading French from their
territories. But death, the goal to which every one tends, was suddenly
and unexpectedly reached by Mary. She died the 7th of August, 1479,
leaving two infant children, Philip and Margaret.
The Emperor Frederic also succeeded, by diplomatic cunning, in convening
the diet of electors and choosing Maximilian as his successor to the
imperial throne. Frederic and Maximilian now united in the endeavor to
recover Austria from the King of Hungary. The German princes, however,
notwithstanding the summons of the emperor, refused to take any part in
the private quarrels of Austria, and thus the battle would have to be
fought between the troops of Maximilian and of Matthias. Maximilian
prudently decided that it would be better to purchase the redemption of
the territory with money than with blood. The affair was in negotiation
when Matthias was taken sick and died the 15th of July, 1490.
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