Béla III of Hungary
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Béla III of Hungary (Hungarian: III. Béla, Slovak: Belo III) (born 1148) was the King of Hungary from 1172-1196. He was the son of King Géza II and Euphrosyne, the daughter of Grand Duke Mstislav I of Kiev.
In 1164, the Byzantine Emperor Manuel I Comnenus concluded a treaty with Béla's brother, Stephen III, by which Béla was given the Croatian and Dalmatian territories and sent to Constantinople to be educated at the Imperial court. Manuel, who had no legitimate sons, intended that Béla should marry his daughter, Maria Comnena, and eventually succeed him as Emperor. Béla received a Greek name, Alexius, and the title of despot.
When Alexius II Comnenus was born as a son of Manuel and his second wife Maria of Antioch, Béla's engagement to Maria was cancelled. But Manuel helped negotiate another marriage for him, this time to Agnes of Antioch, daughter of Raynald of Chatillon. Agnes was the half-sister of Maria of Antioch.
Béla succeeded his brother King Stephen III and was crowned under the influence of Emperor Manuel. As the new king, Béla adopted Catholicism and selected his son Emeric as his successor. He was a powerful ruler, and his court was counted among the most brilliant in Europe.
Béla was a warrior by nature and training, and the death of Emperor Manuel in 1180 left him free to expand Hungarian power in the Balkans. Hungarian troops invaded Byzantine territory at some time before 1183. Béla's attempt to recover Dalmatia led the Kingdom of Hungary into two wars against the Republic of Venice, but these finally achieved little. He also aided the Serbs against the Byzantine Empire. At the time of his death Béla was assisting Emperor Isaac II Angelus in a war against Bulgaria. He was succeeded by both of his sons in turn, Emeric and Andrew.
His remains were confidently identified by archeologists during late 19th century excavations at the ruined cathedral of Székesfehérvár where the Árpád monarchs had been crowned and buried. Béla's exceptional height, as documented by contemporary sources, rendered the identification certain. Based on the examination of his skeleton he must have been over two metres tall, a really outstanding height at that time. His remains were afterwards reinterred at the Mathias Church in Budapest, with those of his second wife Agnes.
Through his son Andrew II, Béla is an ancestor of Edward III of England and therefore of the present British Royal Family.
[edit] Family
Béla III was engaged twice and married once.
- Maria Comnena, daughter of Emperor Manuel I Comnenus. They were engaged in 1163; the engagement was broken off in 1169.
- Agnes de Chatillon (1154-1184), daughter of Raynald of Chatillon and Constance of Antioch (joint princes of Antioch). They married in 1172. Their children were:
- King Emeric of Hungary (1174-1204)
- Margaret of Hungary (1175-1223), married Emperor Isaac II Angelus and Boniface of Montferrat.
- King Andrew II of Hungary (1176-1235)
- Salamon, died young
- István, died young
- Konstancia of Hungary (1180-1198), married King Otakar I of Bohemia
- Marguerite of France, daughter of King Louis VII of France, married in 1186, with no issue.
[edit] Sources
- Ostrogorski, Georgjie. History of the Byzantine State, 1986
This article incorporates text from the Encyclopædia Britannica Eleventh Edition, a publication now in the public domain.
| Preceded by: Stephen III |
King of Hungary 1172–1196 |
Succeeded by: Emeric |
