Austrian–Hungarian War (1477–88)

The Austrian–Hungarian War was a conflict between 1477 and 1488, when the Duchy of Austria was at war with the Kingdom of Hungary. The war was fought between the Hungarian king Matthias Corvinus and the Austrian duke Frederick III. The war resulted in significant gains for Matthias, which humiliated Frederick, but which were reversed upon Matthias' early death in 1490.

The Conflict
Matthias and Frederick had been rivals stretching back to Matthias' succession as king of Hungary in 1458. At this time, Frederick held the Holy Crown of Hungary and was a candidate for becoming Hungarian king himself. The two finally settled their disagreements in 1463 with the Treaty of Wiener Neustadt, in which Frederick recognized the de facto king of Hungary and returned the crown to Matthias for a heavy ransom.

In 1468, Matthias instigated a war with George of Poděbrad, on the pretext of protecting Catholicism in Bohemia. Welcomed by the Germans of Silesia and the Catholic Czechs of Moravia, Matthias acquired these territories for himself and pronounced himself the Czech king. Never able to seize Prague however, Matthias' war would drag on with Poděbrad's successor Vladislaus, until the latter recognized Matthias' gains in 1478.

Frederick, at the start of the Bohemian war, had assisted Matthias against the Hussites. Contributing very little however, Frederick soon came to reverse his role and forged an alliance Poděbrad's successor Vladislaus. Angered by this action and recalling previous insults, Matthias proceeded to press for a peace with Vladislaus and prepared for a war with Austria.

The Habsburgs - although diplomatically a powerful force - were relatively weak when it came to martial affairs. They had few resources that could contend with the Black Army, which conquered most of the Austrian territories east of the Alps. Following the occupation of Vienna and other cities, the war came to an end with an armistice in 1488, although the Habsburgs rankled with the peace. In 1490, Matthias' unexpected death led to a reversal of his gains, with Matthias' son John being too young to succeed and the Hungarian nobles too selfish to protect the monarchy.

Battles
Some of the most notable battles of the period of the Austrian-Hungarian war include:
 * Siege of Hainburg
 * Second siege of Hainburg
 * Battle of Leitzersdorf
 * Siege of Vienna (1485)
 * Siege of Kaiserebersdorf
 * Siege of Retz
 * Siege of Wiener Neustadt

Aftermath
In 1491, the Peace of Pressburg was signed between Frederick's son Maximilian I and Vladislaus II, who was elected Matthias' successor in Hungary. The treaty arranged for the return of Matthias' conquests, and the agreement that Maximilian would succeed Vladislaus should he produce no heir. This did not happen because Louis II was born in 1506, but Maximilian did exert significant pressure on the Jagiellonians with the 1515 First Congress of Vienna in which they arranged two royal weddings that advanced the Habsburg succession agenda.

During his reign in Hungary, the new Polish king would go on to undo many of Matthias' efforts, unmaking the reformed system of taxation, the standing army, and the centralized authority of the monarch. Hungary's nobles would act in complicity with this, contributing to the weakening of the country until 1526, when Hungary was defeated by the Turks and a German monarch elected (Maximilian's grandson, Ferdinand I).