A respected Polish astrologer Marcin Bylica of the Hungarian court elected a chart for the coronation of the young Matthias Corvinus in 1464. Matthias was made King basically to avoid any civil war in Europe at that point in time because he became the king in the year 1458 by when he was only 15 years old. However, the coronation did not take place until the year 1464. Astrologer Bylica was a celebrated astrologer of Corvinus’ court and apparently, the Kingdom looked up to his opinion before making any major decisions. We don’t know if Bylica was consulted by Corvinus before the coronation because he was very young, but the presence of an astrological election chart is enough proof that astrology was accepted in the courts and astrologers were consulted for various matters.
There is some confusion on the web as to when the coronation took place. Some pages mention April 29, 1464 and some places mention March 29, 1464. However, we see that the Sun is at Aries 18°and this is only on March 29, 1464 (Tropical Zodiac).
Before I begin this short essay, I have to thank astrologers Anthony Louis and Tania Daniels for helping me in reading the chart with respect to the position of the planets.
Election chart of Coronation of Matthias Corvinus, March 29, 1464
(https://dhayton.haverford.edu/blog/2011/12/30/the-politics-of-astrology-in-renaissance-hungary/)
Modern day depiction of the election
Apparently, astrologer Marcin Bylica was a contemporary of astrologer, astronomer and mathematician Regiomontanus and hence, it is only safe to assume that Bylica used Regiomontanus houses to cast the election chart. Bylica was not just a contemporary of Regiomontanus but was also closely collaborating with Regiomontanus during the 15th century.
Gemini rising was chosen with the ruler of the 1st house, Mercury in the 11th house of Taurus in conjunction with Mars and Rahu. One wouldn’t consider this as a very favourable election because it indicates so much of conflicts, unexpected troubles and war-like scenarios in the Kingdom. However, we have to notice the prominence of the 10th house. The astrologer has put Mars in the 11th house of victory along with Mercury which indicates victory in wars. The sect-mates Saturn and Jupiter are in favour of the sect and they are placed in the 10th house which further indicates the great conjunction in Pisces. History says that Matthias always succeeded by using both force and diplomacy which indicates the position of both Mars (force) and Saturn).
The presence of Venus, the ruler of the 12th house in the 10th house also indicates running the government through uncertainties and taxes. Matthias levied high tax rates on the people but Venus is also exalted in the 10th house of Pisces which indicates that the reign is going to be long-lived. Another important factor is the position of Saturn. The ruler of the 8th house in the 10th house - troubles but long-lived! Venus, although out of favour of the sect is certainly very dignified due to its exaltation. Tightly placed in between the two benefics will certainly reduce Saturn's maleficence which is already mitigated by the sect of this chart (day). This further increases the longevity of the reign.
The Sun is very strongly placed in Aries in the 11th house. This is a very important placement. Although this shows a lot of heated matters taking prominence at any given point of time; it indicates that the king is very strong. The Sun is the King. We also need to look at the 10th house for the condition of the King and the 10th house is very strong and prominent indicating the king’s reign is very strong despite many problems.
The Moon in the 7th house of Capricorn is in a tight configuration with Venus, Mercury and Jupiter and is applying to the lot of fortune. This also shows that despite a lot of uncertainties and taxes, the Kingdom had taken care of its people. Another point that can prove this statement is that the Moon is not in a hard aspect with any malefic and it is configured to the ruler of the 1st house which is very good in an election chart. Matthias remained king and controlled all the lands he possessed until his death in 1490. So, the election was a really good one.
Image sources:
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Portrait_of_Matthias_Corvinus.jpg