Hunyadi

The front view of the Hunyad Castle

Hunyadi (also Hunyady in historical sources) is a Hungarian^[1] noble family of either Wallachian^[2] or Cuman^[3] origin.

Their Vlach ancestry is the subject of much heated debate but two contemporary authors have made this claim.^[4][5] Both authors suggest the Hunyadi family descended from Vlachs who converted to Catholicism. This was not uncommon in the days of the Hunyadis and many Hungarian noble families had some Vlach ancestry for this reason. Intermarriage between the two did not even become controversial until after the Ottoman wars.

The first recorded member of the family was Serbe (also called Serb, Serban or Sorb) who settled in Hunyad county in Transylvania from Wallachia. His son Vojk (alternatively spelled as Voyk or Vajk in English, Voicu in Romanian, Vajk in Hungarian), who had adopted Catholicism and the name László, became ennobled in 1409 and received the estate of Hunyad Castle (now Hunedoara in Romania, then Hunyadvár, now Vajdahunyad in Hungarian) which was to become the hereditary seat of the family.

Origin of the name Corvin

Personal Coat of arms – note the raven depicted on the escutcheon, the origin of the name Corvinus

The origins of the name Corvin are still unclear. There exist a number of theories on the etymology of the Corvin name. The most widely accepted theory is that Corvin refers to the Corvus which appears on their coat of arms, however a connection to the Kovin/(Kubin, Keve in Hungarian; Covinum in Latin) town - "in Corvino vico, as Bonfini wrote" - is also possible.

The origins of the Coat of Arms of the Hunyadi family, which depicts a raven holding a golden ring in its beak, are unclear. The Silesian Annals state that when a raven carried off a ring King Matthias had removed from his finger, Matthias chased the bird down and slew him, retrieving the ring, and in commemoration of this event he took the raven as a symbol for his signet sign.

Others think that the Coat of Arms was derived from another property of the family, Raven’s Rock (Hollókő in Hungarian). Another legend says that when young Matthias was in prison in Prague his mother was able to send him a letter with a raven (that is why the Hungarian Postal Service had a raven as its symbol for more than a century).

Other theories say the raven is an ancient Turkic totem bird, like turul (a kind of falcon) for the Arpads. This coat of arms was used by Matthias's ancestors far earlier than he did. So this interpretation could also explain the family's possibly Cuman origin.

Hunyadi family tree

Matthias Corvin

Hunyadi battleship

The second battleship of the Ersatz Monarch class of the Austro-Hungarian Navy (officially known as Schiff IX) was to be named Hunyadi. The ship was never completed due to the outbreak of World War One which interrupted all major warship construction in Austria-Hungary.

Notable members

• John Hunyadi (1387-1456), second son of Vojk. A successful soldier, he became Voivod of Transylvania and Captain General and Regent of Hungary.
• László Hunyadi (1433-1457), eldest son of John Hunyadi, Hungarian statesman and warrior. Subject of an opera by Ferenc Erkel.
• King Matthias Corvinus of Hungary (1443-1490), second son of John Hunyadi, ruled Hungary^[6] from 1458 to 1490 and also Moravia and Silesia from 1469 to 1490.
• János Corvinus, son of King Matthias Corvinus, duke of Głogów (Silesia) and ban of Croatia and Slavonia.

References

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