[Matilda], the "Great Countess" of Tuscany, celebrated for her zeal on behalf of the Popes against the Emperor Henry IV., and for the donation of her possessions to the Church, which gave rise to a contest after her death (1046-1115).
[Matilda] or Maud, daughter of Henry I. of England and wife of the Emperor Henry V., on whose decease she was married to Geoffrey Plantagenet of Anjou and became mother of Henry II.; on the death of her father succeeded to the English throne, but was supplanted by Stephen, whom she defeated and who finally defeated her (1103-1167).
[Matadore], the athlete who kills the bull in a bull-fight.
[Matsys, Quentin], a Flemish painter, originally a blacksmith, did altar-pieces and genre paintings (1466-1530).
[Mattathias], a Jewish priest, the father of the Maccabees, who in 170 B.C., when asked by a Syrian embassy to offer sacrifice to the Syrian gods, not only refused to do so, but slew with his own hand the Jew that stepped forward to do it for him, and then fell upon the embassy that required the act; upon which he rushed with his five sons into the wilderness of Judea and called upon all to follow him who had any regard for the Lord; this was the first step in the war of the Maccabees, the immediate issue of which was to the Jew the achievement of an independence which he had not enjoyed for 400 years.
[Matterhorn], a sharp Alpine peak 14,700 ft., on the Swiss-Italian border, difficult of ascent; first scaled by Whymper 1865.
[Matthew], a publican, by the Sea of Tiberias, who being called became a disciple and eventually an apostle of Christ; generally represented in Christian art as an old man with a large flowing beard, often occupied in writing his gospel, with an angel standing by.
[Matthew, Gospel according to], written not later than 62 A.D., is the earliest record we possess of the ministry and teaching of Christ, and is believed to have been originally a mere collection of His sayings and parables; was written in Aramaic, the spoken language of the Jews at the period, of which the version we have in Greek is a translation, as some think by Matthew himself; its aim is to show that Jesus of Nazareth is the Messiah promised in the Old Testament, in a form, however, which led to His rejection by the Jews, and their consequent rejection by Him, to the proclamation of His gospel among the Gentiles (chap. xxviii. 19, 20).
[Matthias Corvinus], conqueror and patron of learning, born at Klausenburg; was elected King of Hungary 1458; though arbitrary in his measures, he promoted commerce, dispensed justice, fostered culture, and observed sound finance; he founded the University of Buda-Pesth, an observatory, and great library, but his reign was full of wars; for nine years he fought the Turks and took from them Bosnia, Moldavia, and Wallachia; from 1470 till 1478 the struggle was with Bohemia, from which he wrested Moravia, Silesia, and Lusatia; then followed war with Frederick III., the capture of Vienna 1485, and a large part of Austria 1487; he made Vienna his capital, and died there (1443-1490).
[Maturin, Charles Robert], novelist, a poor curate in Dublin, where he died; wrote "The Fatal Revenge" and other extravagant tales, and produced one successful tragedy, "Bertram," 1816 (1782-1824).