Miklos ZrA-nyi the Elder (died 1566) and his great-grandson and namesake (died 1664), the general, politician, poet and educated man of the world, are the topics of this work, not only as great names in Hungarian history but also as European figures of inestimable charisma. Numerous texts from the culture of the Old Reich bear witness to thisa ' reports, poems, flyers, sermons, stories, novels - and also dramas such as Theodor KArnera (TM)s tragedy. These proceedings of an international conference document the exact state of research and provide a wide-reaching reconstruction of the foundations, forms, stages and perspectives of this reputation, concentrating on accessing known and unknown works from German literature.

In the later fifteenth century, the Kingdom of Hungary became the first land outside Italy to embrace the Renaissance, thanks to its king, Matthias Corvinus, and his humanist advisors, Janos Vitez and Janus Pannonius. Matthias created one of the most famous libraries in the Western World, the Bibliotheca Corviniana, rivaled in importance only by the Vatican. The court became home to many Italian humanists, and through his friendship with Lorenzo the Magnificent, Matthias obtained the services of such great Florentine artists as Andrea del Verrocchio, Benedetto da Maiano, and Filippino Lippi. After Matthias's death in 1490, interest in Renaissance art was continued by his widowed Neapolitan queen, Beatrice of Aragon, and by his successors Vladislav I and Louis II Jagiello.

The twenty-one essays collected in this volume provide a window onto recent research on the development of humanism and art in the Hungary of Matthias Corvinus and his successors. Richly illustrated with new photography, this book eloquently documents and explores the unique role played by the Hungarian court in the cultural history of Renaissance Europe.