John Corvinus in the context of "Duke of Głogów"

The House of Hunyadi was one of the most powerful noble families in the Kingdom of Hungary during the 15th century. A member of the family, Matthias Corvinus, was King of Hungary from 1458 until 1490, King of Bohemia (ruling in Moravia, Lower Lusatia, Upper Lusatia, and Silesia) from 1469 until 1490, and Duke of Austria from 1487 until 1490. His illegitimate son, John Corvinus, ruled the Duchy of Troppau from 1485 until 1501, and five further Silesian duchies, including Bytom, Głubczyce, Loslau, Racibórz, and Tost, from 1485 until 1490. The Hunyadi coat-of-arms depicted a raven with a golden ring in its beak.

The founder of the family, Voyk, received the eponymous Hunyad Castle (in present-day Hunedoara, Romania) from Sigismund, King of Hungary, in 1409. His ethnicity is the subject of scholarly debate. Some modern historians describe him as a Vlach, or Romanian, knez or boyar, from either Wallachia or Transylvania. Others describe him as a Cuman or Slav nobleman. According to the 15th-century historian, Johannes de Thurocz, Voyk moved from Wallachia to Transylvania. Voyk's oldest son, John Hunyadi, was often mentioned as a "Vlach" by his contemporaries.

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

Vladislaus and Matthias divided the lands of the Crown of Bohemia at the Peace of Olomouc in 1479. The estates of the realm had strengthened their position during the decade-long Bohemian-Hungarian War (1468–1478) known as the war between both kings. Vladislaus's attempts to promote the Roman Catholics caused a rebellion in the capital of Prague and other towns in 1483 that forced him to acknowledge the dominance of the Hussites in the municipal assemblies. The Diet confirmed the right of the Bohemian noblemen and commoners to adhere freely to the religious faith of Hussitism or Roman Catholicism in 1485. After Matthias seized the Silesian duchies to grant them to his illegitimate son, John Corvinus, Vladislaus made new alliances against him in the late 1480s.