King Matjaž

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 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. 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. 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. 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. 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.