Vladislaus II of Hungary

Born 1 March 1456, eldest son of Casimir IV Jagiellon and expected to inherit Poland, Vladislaus instead became heir to George of Poděbrady's Bohemia in 1468 when the Hussite ruler needed Polish backing against Catholic rebels and Matthias Corvinus. Elected King of Bohemia in 1471, he controlled only Bohemia proper while Matthias held Moravia, Silesia, and both Lusatias; attempts to retake them failed, ending in the 1479 Peace of Olomouc that split the Crown lands. A decade of war had empowered the estates, and when Vladislaus tried favoring Catholics in 1483, Prague rebelled until he conceded Hussite dominance; by 1485 the Diet guaranteed free choice between faiths. After Matthias died in 1490, Vladislaus - whose mother Elizabeth of Austria was Matthias's predecessor's sister - claimed Hungary and won election after his supporters crushed John Corvinus; rival claimants Maximilian of Austria and his own brother John I Albert invaded but made peace in 1491. Settling in Buda, he let the estates of both kingdoms govern while he approved every council decision without question, earning the Hungarian nickname "Dobzse László" - King Very Well. Pre-election concessions