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 : 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 ) .