On 13 February 1476, Emperor Frederick III of the Holy Roman Empire issued a letter of refuge to Archbishop Johann Beckensloer (PECKENSCHLAGER) of Esztergom, who had fled Hungary with a total of 300,000 forints in cash along with lots of gold and silver jewelry. He was Archbishop of Esztergom, Chancellor and Privy Chancellor of King Matthias Corvinus of Hungary.
He was from a German middle-class family in Boroszló (Wroclaw). His father was a wheelmaker or broad-cloth merchant who gained nobility in 1430. Others say he was the son of a blacksmith. All three of his sons by his first marriage became priests.
Johann came to Hungary through his brother. Along with Vitéz János and Janus Pannonius, he helped to win over the lords to Matthias, but in 1459 he joined the rebels and defended Vienna with the German-Roman Emperor Frederick III.
He invaded the country and took Pápa and the castle of Ugod. In 1461, having voluntarily surrendered to Matthias, he regained his ecclesiastical title. In 1464-1465 he was provost of Pécs and abbot of Pécsvárad and between 1465-1468 bishop of Várad.
Johann was more a secular warlord than a spiritual leader and archbishop. He was renowned for his extraordinary physical strength. This archbishop loved creature comforts and used the secret passage of his predecessor to visit his concubines.
He took part in the Moldavian campaign on the side of Matthias. He was bishop of Eger between 1468-1474. He had a Gothic bishop’s palace built in Eger. He was an influential adviser to Matthias and the exposer of the Vitéz conspiracy. Between 1474-1476 he was chancellor-general and at the same time archbishop of Esztergom. He was the 46th Archbishop of Esztergom.
When Matthias began to ignore him in favor of Gábor of Verona, he fled to Emperor Frederick III on 13 February 1476 under the pretext of a pilgrimage to Aachen. He took with him the most valuable items and manuscripts of the treasury of Esztergom and Eger. From the stolen property he lent the Emperor 47,000 gold florins.
He joined Emperor Frederick III, to whom he acted as adviser and financier. From 22 March 1477, he was coadjutor to the seriously ill bishop of Vienna, Leo of Spaur. On 14 January 1482, he became John III, Archbishop of Salzburg, and in 1487 he became Archbishop.
Beck was unpopular with the populace. He was a diplomat for Emperor Frederick III, working abroad, in Styria and the Netherlands. On 21 June 1486, the Emperor appointed him governor of Austria (Upper and Lower), Styria, Carinthia, Carniola, Istria, and the Karst. From May 1486 he was responsible for the recruitment of Imperial mercenaries in the war against the Hungarian king.
As an advisor to Frederick, he made an alliance with the Jagiellons against Matthias. After Matthias’s successful campaign, in 1488, he concluded a truce at Styrian Castle on behalf of the Emperor. His last years were spent on the Hohensalzburg Fortress, which he was determined to expand.
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