He studied jurisprudence at Bologna, and later received minor orders, but never became a priest.
In 1327 he was solicitor of the episcopal court at Basel, and shortly after, while clerk to Bishop Berthold von Buchecke, held a similar position in Strasbourg.
It is an important contribution to Alsatian and Habsburg history and for the times in which Matthias lived.
For the voluminous literature on this controversy see August Potthast, Bibliotheca Kin.
Among the editions are: It has also been edited from a Vienna and a Vatican manuscript in Abhandlungen der Gesellschaft der Wissenschaften, xxxvii-viii (Göttingen, 1891-2), and translated into German by Grandaur (Leipzig, 1892).