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King Matjaž
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
King Matjaž/Mátyás/Matijaš (Slovene: Kralj Matjaž, Hungarian: Mátyás király, Croatian: Kralj Matijaš) is a legendary king in Slovenia, Hungary, Croatia and in some other countries, based on pre-Christian traditions of Carantania[1] and in course of centuries gradually linked to a real-life king, Matthias Corvinus of Hungary, who lived in the second half of the 15th century.[2] He has also been linked to the leader of the peasant's army that fought against the Turks in the Battle of Kokovo in July 1478.[3] A number of folk poems and stories about King Matjaž are known, the earliest ones originating in the western Slovene area of Tolmin from the 16th century.[4] He is mainly represented as the king who is just and a defender of his people, and the bringer of the golden age of prosperity.[1] It has been assumed that the legend was the basis for the name of the 1573 peasants' revolt leader Matija Gubec, actually named Ambrož Gubec.[5][6]
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