own hands, held them firmly as long as he lived.

And he had no easy, idle life of it: for what with the Turks and other enemies, he was very frequently, almost constantly, at war with external foes; and there was also very much to be done to bring things into order within the kingdom. He was by no means satisfied to let things go on as they had been doing. He wanted his people to be educated and cultivated;[Pg 33] for he was highly educated himself, and delighted to surround himself with learned men and distinguished artists.

[Pg 33]

He wanted to have a grand library, a large university, and a learned society of scholars in Buda, that Hungary might take her place among the other nations of Europe in the matter of learning. But he wanted also to improve the condition of trade, arts, and manufactures; and, regardless of expense, he sent to foreign lands, especially Italy, for master-craftsmen to come and train the apprentices, whenever he saw that they needed better teaching than was to be had just then from their fellow-countrymen.

Clocks were by no means common articles at this time in other lands, and the first clock that kept good time in England is said to have been that set up at Hampton Court many years later—that is, in 1530. But in the reign of Matthias, clocks made their appearance on many of the castle towers in Hungary; and, thanks to the king's encouragement and the energetic measures he took, it was not long before Hungarian craftsmen became so famous that the Grand Duke of Moscow asked to have goldsmiths, gun-founders, land-surveyors, miners, architects, and others sent to him from Hungary.

[Pg 34]But where is the use of arts, crafts, and manufactures—how indeed can they flourish—where there is a dearth of food?

[Pg 34]

What with enemies without and enemies within, there were extensive districts in some parts of Hungary, and among them some of the royal domains, which were little better than wildernesses when the king came to the throne. Villages had been burned down, the inhabitants driven away, and the land left desolate in many parts; and in order to tempt the people back, and induce others to come and settle in these deserted spots, the king caused it to be proclaimed at the fairs that land might be had rent-free by those who would undertake to cultivate it, and that for a certain number of years they should be exempt from taxes of all sorts.

The king did all 

 Prev. P 14/67 next