Born in
Hungary in
1385, John Hunyadi became governor of
Transylvania in
1441. In
1444 King
Ladislaus III of
Poland was killed at
Varna fighting
Ottoman Sultan Murad II, and Hunyadi was selected
regent. Hunyadi continued to resist the Turks, delivering a decisive defeat to the armies of Sultan
Muhammad II at
Belgrade in
1456.
Hunyadi died later that year. He is celebrated in Hungary as a national hero, and on hearing of his death, Muhammad II commented, "Although he was my enemy I feel grief over his death, because the world has never seen such a man."