Béla IV of Hungary
Béla IV known as Béla the Great, was King of Hungary and Croatia between 1235 and 1270, Duke of Styria from 1254 to 1258. Being the oldest son of King Andrew II, he was crowned upon the initiative of a group of influential noblemen in his father's lifetime in 1214, his father, who opposed Béla's coronation, refused to give him a province to rule until 1220. In this year, Béla was appointed Duke of Slavonia with jurisdiction in Croatia and Dalmatia. Around the same time, Béla married a daughter of Theodore I Laskaris, Emperor of Nicaea. From 1226, he governed Transylvania with the title Duke, he supported Christian missions among the pagan Cumans who dwelled in the plains to the east of his province. Some Cuman chieftains acknowledged his suzerainty and he adopted the title of King of Cumania in 1233. King Andrew died on 21 September 1235 and Béla succeeded him, he attempted to restore royal authority. For this purpose, he revised his predecessors' land grants and reclaimed former royal estates, causing discontent among the noblemen and the prelates.
The Mongols invaded Hungary and annihilated Béla's army in the Battle of Mohi on 11 April 1241. He escaped from the battlefield, but a Mongol detachment chased him from town to town as far as Trogir on the coast of the Adriatic Sea. Although he survived the invasion, the Mongols devastated the country before their unexpected withdrawal in March 1242. Béla introduced radical reforms, he allowed the barons and the prelates to erect stone fortresses and to set up their private armed forces. He promoted the development of fortified towns. During his reign, thousands of colonists arrived from the Holy Roman Empire and other neighboring regions to settle in the depopulated lands. Béla's efforts to rebuild his devastated country won him the epithet of "second founder of the state", he set up a defensive alliance against the Mongols, which included Daniil Romanovich, Prince of Halych, Boleslaw the Chaste, Duke of Cracow and other Ruthenian and Polish princes. His allies supported him in occupying the Duchy of Styria in 1254, but it was lost to King Ottokar II of Bohemia six years later.
During Béla's reign, a wide buffer zone—which included Bosnia and other newly conquered regions—was established along the southern frontier of Hungary in the 1250s. Béla's relationship with his oldest son and heir, became tense in the early 1260s, because the elderly king favored his daughter Anna and his youngest child, Béla, Duke of Slavonia, he was forced to cede the territories of the Kingdom of Hungary east of the river Danube to Stephen, which caused a civil war lasting until 1266. Béla's family was famed for his piety: he died as a Franciscan tertiary, the veneration of his three saintly daughters—Kunigunda and Margaret—was confirmed by the Holy See. Béla was the oldest son of King Andrew II of Hungary by Gertrude of Merania, he was born in the second half of 1206. Upon King Andrew's initiative, Pope Innocent III had appealed to the Hungarian prelates and barons on 7 June to swear an oath of loyalty to the King's future son. Queen Gertrude showed blatant favoritism towards her German relatives and courtiers, causing widespread discontent among the native lords.
Taking advantage of her husband's campaign in the distant Principality of Halych, a group of aggrieved noblemen seized and murdered her in the forests of the Pilis Hills on 28 September 1213. King Andrew only punished one of the conspirators, a certain Count Peter, after his return from Halych. Although Béla was a child when his mother was assassinated, he never forgot her and declared his deep respect for her in many of his royal charters. In his correspondence with his sister, the noted Franciscan saint, Elizabeth of Hungary, he was counseled to restrain his anger at the nobles for the death of their mother. Andrew II betrothed Béla to an unnamed daughter of Tzar Boril of Bulgaria in 1213 or 1214, but their engagement was broken. In 1214, the King requested the Pope to excommunicate some unnamed lords who were planning to crown Béla king. So, the eight-year-old Béla was crowned in the same year, but his father did not grant him a province to rule. Furthermore, when leaving for a Crusade to the Holy Land in August 1217, King Andrew appointed John, Archbishop of Esztergom, to represent him during his absence.
During this period, Béla stayed with his maternal uncle Berthold of Merania in Steyr in the Holy Roman Empire. Andrew II returned from the Holy Land in late 1218, he had arranged the engagement of Béla and Maria, a daughter of Theodore I Laskaris, Emperor of Nicaea. She accompanied King Andrew to Hungary and Béla married her in 1220; the senior king ceded the lands between the Adriatic Sea and the Dráva River—Croatia and Slavonia—to Béla in 1220. A letter of 1222 of Pope Honorius III reveals that "some wicked men" had forced Andrew II to share his realms with his heir. Béla styled himself as "King Andrew's son and King" in his charters. Béla separated from his wife in the first half of 1222 upon his father's demand. However, Pope Honorius refused to declare the marriage illegal. Béla took refuge in Austria from his father's anger, he returned, together with his wife, only after the prelates had in the first half of 1223 persuaded his father to forgive him. Having returned to his Duchy of Slavonia, Béla launched a campaign against Domald of Sidraga, a rebellious Dalmatian nobleman, captured Domald's fortress at Klis.
Domald's domains were confiscated
Tomasina Morosini
Tomasina Morosini, Duchess of Slavonia, was a member of the prominent Venetian Morosini family. Her son was the Venetian King of Hungary, she was the daughter of Patrician of Venice. In 1263 she married Stephen the Posthumous, Prince of Hungary in Venice where he was living in exile, his paternity was disputed by his brothers born from their father's earlier marriage and he was not recognized as heir presumptive to the Hungarian throne. Tomasina gave birth to a son, Andrew III, King of Hungary, named after his grandfather, Andrew II, she supported her son's claim to the Hungarian throne. After the death of King Ladislaus IV, Prince Andrew succeeded to gain the kingdom and he was crowned King of Hungary in the name of Andrew III in 1290, he appointed her Princess of Slavonia. She was poisoned in 1300, shortly before her son's death on 14 January 1301, rumoured to have been caused by poisoning, he was the last king of the House of Árpád. Cawley, Medieval Lands Project/Venice/Tomasina Morosini, Medieval Lands database, Foundation for Medieval Genealogy Cawley, Medieval Lands Project/Hungary Kings Genealogy, Medieval Lands database, Foundation for Medieval Genealogy
Andrew III of Hungary
Andrew III the Venetian was King of Hungary and Croatia between 1290 and 1301. His father, Stephen the Posthumous, was the posthumous son of Andrew II of Hungary although Stephen's brothers considered him a bastard. Andrew grew up in Venice, first arrived in Hungary upon the invitation of a rebellious baron, Ivan Kőszegi, in 1278. Kőszegi tried to play Andrew off against Ladislaus IV of Hungary, but the conspiracy collapsed and Andrew returned to Venice. Being the last male member of the House of Árpád, Andrew was elected king after the death of King Ladislaus IV in 1290, he was the first Hungarian monarch to issue a coronation diploma confirming the privileges of the noblemen and the clergy. At least three pretenders—Albert of Austria, Mary of Hungary, an adventurer—challenged his claim to the throne. Andrew expelled the adventurer from Hungary and forced Albert of Austria to conclude a peace within a year, but Mary of Hungary and her descendants did not renounce their claim; the Hungarian bishops and Andrew's maternal family from Venice were his principal supporters, but the leading Croatian and Slavonian lords were opposed to his rule.
Hungary was in a state of constant anarchy during Andrew's reign. The Kőszegis, the Csáks, other powerful families autonomously governed their domains, rising up nearly every year in open rebellion against Andrew. With Andrew's death, the House of Árpád became extinct. A civil war ensued which lasted for more than two decades and ended with the victory of Mary of Hungary's grandson, Charles Robert. Andrew was the son of Stephen the Posthumous, the self-styled Duke of Slavonia, his second wife, Tomasina Morosini. Andrew's father was born to Beatrice D'Este, the third wife of Andrew II of Hungary, after the king's death. However, Andrew II's two elder sons, Béla IV of Hungary and Coloman of Halych, accused Beatrice D'Este of adultery and refused to acknowledge Stephen the Posthumous as their legitimate brother. Andrew's mother, Tomasina Morosini, was the daughter of wealthy Venetian patrician Michele Morosini; the exact date of Andrew's birth is unknown. According to historians Tibor Almási, Gyula Kristó, Attila Zsoldos, he was born in about 1265.
Stephen the Posthumous nominated his wife's two kinsmen, including her brother Albertino Morosini, as Andrew's guardians before his death in 1272. Andrew came to Hungary for the first time in 1278 at the invitation of a powerful lord, Ivan Kőszegi. Kőszegi wanted to play Andrew off against Ladislaus IV of Hungary. Andrew, the only male member of the royal family besides the king, adopted the title of "Duke of Slavonia and Croatia" and marched as far as Lake Balaton. Andrew achieved nothing and went back to Venice in autumn. Andrew returned to Hungary at the beginning of 1290. On this occasion, Archbishop of Esztergom urged him to come, since the archbishop wanted to dethrone the excommunicated Ladislaus IV with the assistance of Ivan Kőszegi. Before Andrew was successful, Arnold Hahót, an enemy of the Kőszegis, invited him to the fort of Štrigova and captured him. Hahót sent Andrew to Vienna, where Duke of Austria, held him in captivity. Three Cuman assassins murdered Ladislaus IV on 10 July 1290, Archbishop Lodomer subsequently dispatched two monks to Vienna to inform Andrew of the king's death.
With the monks' assistance, Andrew hastened to Hungary. Upon Andrew's arrival, his opponents tried to bribe Theodor, Prior of the Székesfehérvár Chapter, not to hand over the Holy Crown of Hungary to the soon-to-be-king, but the prior refused them. Archbishop Lodomer crowned Andrew king in Székesfehérvár on 23 July; the lords and prelates swore loyalty to Andrew only after he issued a charter promising the restoration of internal peace and respect for the privileges of the nobility and the clergymen. He appointed the most powerful noblemen, who had for years administered their domains independently of the monarch, to the highest offices. Amadeus Aba, who dominated the northeastern parts of the kingdom, was made palatine, Ivan Kőszegi, the lord of the western parts of Transdanubia, became master of the treasury, Roland Borsa remained the voivode of Transylvania. Andrew held a diet before 1 September. To put an end to anarchy, the "prelates and noblemen" ordered the destruction of castles, erected without royal permission and the restoration of estates, unlawfully seized to their rightful owners.
Andrew promised. There were several other challengers to Andrew's claim to the throne. Rudolf I of Germany claimed that Hungary escheated to him after Ladislaus IV's childless death, because Ladislaus IV's grandfather, Béla IV of Hungary, had sworn fidelity to Frederick II, Holy Roman Emperor during the Mongol invasion of Hungary. Although Pope Innocent IV had years before freed Béla IV of his oath, Rudolf I of Germany attempted to bestow Hungary on his own son, Albert of Austria, on 31 August; the self-declared "Andrew, Duke of Slavonia"—an adventurer who claimed to be identical to Ladislaus IV's dead younger brother—also challenged King Andrew's right to the crown and stormed into Hungary from Poland. He was shortly thereafter forced to return to Poland. Andrew married Fenenna, the daughter of Ziemomysł of Kuyavia, before the end of 1290. Andrew held a general assembly for the barons and the noblemen of five counties to the east of the river Tisza—Bihar, Szabolcs, Szatmár, Szolnok—at Nagyvárad in early 1291.
The assembly outlawed Stephen Balogsemjén, a staunch supporter of the late Ladislaus IV, for major trespass. From the assembly, Andrew went to Gyulafehérvár (Alba
Beatrice d'Este, Queen of Hungary
Beatrice d'Este was Queen consort of Hungary as the third wife of King Andrew II of Hungary. Beatrice was the only child of Marquis Aldobrandino I of Este but her mother's name and origin is unknown. Since her father died in the year of her birth, she was educated by her uncle, Marquis Azzo VII of Este. In the beginning of 1234, the elderly King Andrew II of Hungary, widowed for the second time in 1233, visited the court of the Este family and fell in love with the young Beatrice, her uncle gave his consent to the marriage only on the condition that both King Andrew and Beatrice renounced the dowry and any claim of her father's inheritance. Their marriage was celebrated on 14 May 1234 in Székesfehérvár, King Andrew promised in their conjugal contract that he would grant 5,000 pounds as marriage portion to Beatrice and Beatrice would receive 1,000 pounds as her annual revenue. However, the relationship between Beatrice and her husband's sons became tense soon. Following her husband's death on 21 September 1235, her stepson, King Béla IV of Hungary ascended the throne and he wanted to banish Beatrice from Hungary.
Moreover, when the widowed Beatrice announced that she had been pregnant, her stepson accused her of adultery and ordered her arrest. Beatrice could escape from Hungary only with the assistance of the ambassadors of Frederick II, Holy Roman Empire who had arrived to the deceased king's funeral, she went to the Holy Roman Empire, where she bore her husband's posthumous son, Stephen whose legitimacy, was never confirmed by his brothers. Following the birth of her child, Beatrice was planning to live in the court of his uncle, but Marquis Azzo VII denied her request, she spent the following years wandering in Italy, she never gave up her son's claims to receive ducal revenues from Hungary. She tried to persuade the Republic of Venice to support her son during the war with Hungary, but the Serenissima promised King Béla IV that it would not support Beatrice and her son in the peace of 30 June 1244. Pope Innocent IV granted her revenues of 35 monasteries in Italy. 14 May 1234: King Andrew II of Hungary Stephen the Posthumous, father of the King Andrew III of Hungary.
Soltész, István: Árpád-házi királynék Kristó, Gyula - Makk, Ferenc: Az Árpád-ház uralkodói
Andrew II of Hungary
Andrew II known as Andrew of Jerusalem, was King of Hungary and Croatia between 1205 and 1235. He ruled the Principality of Halych from 1188 until 1189/1190, again between 1208/1209 and 1210, he was the younger son of Béla III of Hungary, who entrusted him with the administration of the newly conquered Principality of Halych in 1188. Andrew's rule was unpopular, the boyars expelled him. Béla III willed money to Andrew, obliging him to lead a crusade to the Holy Land. Instead, Andrew forced his elder brother, King Emeric of Hungary, to cede Croatia and Dalmatia as an appanage to him in 1197; the following year, Andrew occupied Hum. Despite the fact that Andrew did not stop conspiring against Emeric, the dying king made Andrew guardian of his son, Ladislaus III, in 1204. After the premature death of Ladislaus, Andrew ascended the throne in 1205. According to historian László Kontler, "t was amidst the socio-political turmoil during reign that the relations, institutional framework and social categories that arose under Stephen I, started to disintegrate in the higher echelons of society" in Hungary.
Andrew introduced a new grants policy, the so-called "new institutions", giving away money and royal estates to his partisans despite the loss of royal revenues. He was the first Hungarian monarch to adopt the title of "King of Halych and Lodomeria", he waged at least a dozen wars to seize the two Rus' principalities, but the local boyars and neighboring princes prevented him from conquering the principalities. He participated in the Fifth Crusade to the Holy Land in 1217 -- 1218; when the servientes regis, or "royal servants", rose up, Andrew was forced to issue the Golden Bull of 1222, confirming their privileges. This led to the rise of the nobility in the Kingdom of Hungary, his Diploma Andreanum of 1224 listed the liberties of the Transylvanian Saxon community. The employment of Jews and Muslims to administer the royal revenues led him into conflict with the Holy See and the Hungarian prelates. Andrew pledged to respect the privileges of the clergymen and to dismiss his non-Christian officials in 1233, but he never fulfilled the latter promise.
Andrew's first wife, Gertrude of Merania, was murdered in 1213 because her blatant favoritism towards her German kinsmen and courtiers stirred up discontent among the native lords. The veneration of their daughter, Elizabeth of Hungary, was confirmed by the Holy See during Andrew's lifetime. After Andrew's death, his sons, Béla and Coloman, accused his third wife, Beatrice d'Este, of adultery and never considered her son, Stephen, to be a legitimate son of Andrew. Andrew was the second son of Béla's first wife, Agnes of Antioch; the year of Andrew's birth is not known, but modern historians agree that he was born around 1177. Andrew was first mentioned in connection to his father's invasion of the Principality of Halych in 1188; that year, Béla III invaded Halych upon the request of its former prince, Vladimir II Yaroslavich, expelled by his subjects. Béla forced Roman Mstislavich, to flee. After conquering Halych, he granted it to Andrew. Béla captured Vladimir Yaroslavich and imprisoned him in Hungary.
After Béla's withdrawal from Halych, Roman Mstislavich returned with the assistance of Rurik Rostislavich, Prince of Belgorod Kievsky. They tried to expel Andrew and his Hungarian retinue, but the Hungarians routed the united forces of Mstislavich and Rostislavich. A group of local boyars offered the throne to Rostislav Ivanovich, a distant cousin of the imprisoned Vladimir Yaroslavich. Béla III sent reinforcements to Halych. Andrew's reign remained unpopular in Halych, because the Hungarian soldiers insulted local women and did not respect Orthodox churches; the local boyars allied with their former prince, Vladimir Yaroslavich, who had escaped from captivity and returned to Halych. Duke Casimir II of Poland supported Vladimir Yaroslavich, they expelled Andrew and his retinue from the principality in August 1189 or 1190. Andrew returned to Hungary after his defeat, he did not receive a separate duchy from his father. On his deathbed, Béla III, who had pledged to lead a crusade to the Holy Land, ordered Andrew to fulfill his vow.
Andrew's father died on 23 April 1196, Andrew's older brother, succeeded him. Andrew used the funds that he inherited from his father to recruit supporters among the Hungarian lords, he formed an alliance with Leopold VI, Duke of Austria, they plotted against Emeric. Their united troops routed the royal army at Mački, Slavonia, in December 1197. Under duress, King Emeric gave Dalmatia to Andrew as an appanage. In practice, Andrew administered Dalmatia as an independent monarch, he granted land and confirmed privileges. He cooperated with the Frankopans, Babonići, other local lords; the Canons Regular of the Holy Sepulchre settled in the province during his rule. Taking advantage of Miroslav of Hum's death, Andrew invaded Hum and occupied at least the land between the Cetina and Neretva rivers, he styled himself, "By the grace of God, Duke of Zadar and of all Dalmatia and Hum" in his charters. Pope Innocent III urged Andrew to lead a crusade the Holy Land, but Andrew hatched a new conspiracy against Emeric with the help of John, Abbot of Pannonhalma, Bishop of Vác, many other prelates and lords.
The Pope threatened him with excommunication if he failed to fulfill his father's vow, but Andrew did not yield. The conspiracy was uncovered on 10 March 1199, when King Emeric seize
