Births on March 1

Vladislaus II of Hungary (d. 1516)

Vladislaus II, also known as Vladislav, Władysław or Wladislas (1 March 1456 – 13 March 1516; Hungarian: II. Ulászló), was King of Bohemia from 1471 to 1516, and King of Hungary and Croatia from 1490 to 1516. As the eldest son of Casimir IV Jagiellon, he was expected to inherit Poland and Lithuania. George of Poděbrady, the Hussite ruler of Bohemia, offered to make Vladislaus his heir in 1468. Poděbrady needed Casimir IV's support against the rebellious Catholic noblemen and their ally, Matthias Corvinus, king of Hungary. The Diet of Bohemia elected Vladislaus king after Poděbrady's death, but he could only rule Bohemia proper, because Matthias (whom the Catholic nobles had elected king) occupied Moravia, Silesia and both Lusatias. Vladislaus tried to reconquer the four provinces with his father's assistance, but Matthias repelled them.

Vladislaus and Matthias divided the Crown of Bohemia in the Peace of Olomouc in 1479. The Estates of the realm had strengthened their position during the war between the two kings. Vladislaus's attempts to promote the Catholics caused a rebellion in Prague and other towns in 1483, forcing him to acknowledge the dominance of the Hussites in the municipal assemblies. The Diet confirmed the right of the Bohemian noblemen and commoners to freely adhere either to Hussitism or Catholicism in 1485. After Matthias Corvinus seized Silesian duchies to grant them to his illegitimate son, John Corvinus, Vladislaus made new alliances against him in the late 1480s.

Vladislaus (whose mother, Elizabeth of Habsburg, was the sister of Matthias's predecessor) laid claim to Hungary after Matthias's death. The Diet of Hungary elected him king after his supporters defeated John Corvinus. The other two claimants, Maximilian of Habsburg and Vladislaus's brother, John Albert, invaded Hungary, but they could not assert their claim and made peace with Vladislaus in 1491. He settled in Buda, enabling the Estates of Bohemia, Moravia, Silesia and both Lusatias to take full charge of state administration. Like previously in Bohemia, also in Hungary Vladislaus always approved the decisions of the Royal Council, hence his Hungarian nickname "Dobzse László" (from Czech král Dobře, in Latin rex Bene – "King Very Well"). Due to the concessions he had made before his election, the royal treasury could not finance a standing army and Matthias Corvinus's Black Army was dissolved after a rebellion, although the Ottomans made regular raids against the southern border and after 1493 even annexed territories in Croatia.