Béla III of Hungary

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Béla III
Andrew II, King of Hungary
  • Constance, Queen of Bohemia
    • DynastyÁrpád dynasty
    FatherGéza II of Hungary
    MotherEuphrosyne of Kiev
    ReligionRoman Catholic

    Béla III (

    despotes. He was betrothed to the Emperor's daughter, Maria. Béla's patrimony caused armed conflicts between the Byzantine Empire and the Kingdom of Hungary between 1164 and 1167, because Stephen III attempted to hinder the Byzantines from taking control of Croatia, Dalmatia and Sirmium. Béla-Alexios, who was designated as Emperor Manuel's heir in 1165, took part in three Byzantine campaigns against Hungary. His betrothal to the emperor's daughter was dissolved after her brother, Alexios, was born in 1169. The emperor deprived Béla of his high title, granting him the inferior rank of kaisar
    .

    Stephen III died on 4 March 1172, and Béla decided to return to Hungary. Before his departure, he pledged that he would never make war against the Byzantine Empire. Although the Hungarian

    Archbishop of Kalocsa crowned him king on 18 January 1173, with Pope Alexander III's approval. Béla fought with his younger brother, Géza, whom he held in captivity for more than a decade. Taking advantage of the internal conflicts in the Byzantine Empire after Emperor Manuel's death, Béla reoccupied Croatia, Dalmatia and Sirmium between 1180 and 1181. He occupied the Principality of Halych
    in 1188, but it was lost within two years.

    Béla promoted the use of written records during his reign. Hungarian chronicles from the 14th century even state that he was responsible for the establishment of the Royal Chancery. The royal palace built in Esztergom during his reign was the first example of Gothic architecture in Central Europe. He was the wealthiest European monarch of his time, according to a list of his revenues, but the reliability of the list is questioned.

    Early life

    Childhood (c. 1148–1163)

    A man wearing a crown sits on the throne with a scepter and an orb in his hands
    The seal of Béla's father, Géza II of Hungary

    Béla was the second son of Géza II of Hungary and Géza's wife, Euphrosyne of Kiev.[1][2] The date of his birth was not recorded.[1][2] Studies of his bones show that Béla died in 1196 at around 49 years old, so he must have been born around 1148.[2]

    The contemporaneous

    Syrmium was also part of Béla's patrimony, or if he only acquired it after his father's death is subject to scholarly debates.[6][8][10][11] According to historian Warren Treadgold, Béla's patrimony also included Bosnia.[11] The exact date of Géza II's grant cannot be determined, but according to Makk, Béla seems to have received his duchy around 1161.[6]

    Géza II, who died on 31 May 1162, was succeeded by his first-born son,

    Byzantine Emperor, Manuel I Komnenos, supported the uncles' takeover, but Stephen III returned to Hungary and regained his crown by force in the middle of 1163.[11] Béla probably remained neutral during his brother's conflict with their uncles, because there is no report of Béla's activities in 1162 and 1163.[14]

    In 1163, Emperor Manuel signed a peace treaty with Stephen III, in which he renounced his support of Stephen's opponents.[14][16] In exchange, Stephen III agreed to send Béla to Constantinople, and to allow the Byzantines to take possession of Béla's duchy.[8][10] The Emperor also promised that he would betroth his daughter, Maria, to Béla.[11][17]

    "When [Emperor Manuel I] came [to Belgrade] and realized that it was then impossible for [Stephen IV] to rule the Hungarians' land (for already they had hastily installed [Stephen III] son of [Géza II] again), he turned to something else. As stated, he desired with all his might to lay claim to Hungary, which is situated in the midst of the western nations. He therefore intended to unite in marriage Béla, who was [Géza II]'s son after [Stephen III], to his own daughter Maria."

    — John Kinnamos: Deeds of John and Manuel Comnenus[18]

    Despotes Alexios (1163–1169)

    Byzantine Emperor Manuel I Komnenos
    —Béla-Alexios was the Emperor's designated heir between 1165 and 1169

    Emperor Manuel dispatched

    despotes ("lord"), which only emperors had used before that time.[20][21] Béla's betrothal to the emperor's daughter was also officially announced.[19]

    Stephen III invaded Syrmium in the summer of 1164.[22][23] Emperor Manuel led his armies against Stephen, stating that he arrived "not to wage war on the Hungarians but to recover his land for Béla",[24] according to Kinnamos.[23] Béla-Alexios—along with his uncle, Stephen IV, and their distant relative, Stephanos Kalamanos—accompanied the emperor during the campaign.[25] Before long, a new peace treaty was signed, once again forcing Stephen III to renounce Béla's duchy.[11][26] A Byzantine army occupied Syrmium, which was organized into a Byzantine theme, or district.[27]

    Stephen III launched a new invasion against Syrmium in the spring of 1165.

    Zimony (now Zemun in Serbia), Béla persuaded the emperor to prohibit the execution of the Hungarian soldiers who were captured in the fortress.[30] A Byzantine army also occupied Dalmatia.[29] A new peace treaty between Stephen III and Emperor Manuel followed, which confirmed the emperor's suzerainty in Béla's former duchy.[31] Dalmatia and Bosnia were soon converted into Byzantine themes.[29]

    Emperor Manuel ceremoniously made his daughter and Béla-Alexios his heirs, and forced the Byzantine notables to swear an oath of fidelity to them in the autumn of 1165.

    King of Sicily, William II, in the autumn of 1166.[35]

    A new war broke out between Hungary and the Byzantine Empire in 1167, because Béla-Alexios "claimed the kingdom"[37] of his brother, according to the contemporaneous Rahewin.[38] Henry of Mügeln also wrote that many Hungarians joined and served the army of Béla-Alexios, stating that "the Kingdom of Hungary belonged to him [Béla-Alexios] by right".[39] On 8 July 1167, the Byzantine army annihilated the Hungarian troops in the Battle of Sirmium.[38][40] A peace treaty was signed, which put an end to the period of wars between Hungary and the Byzantine Empire, and confirmed the dominion of the Byzantine Empire over central Dalmatia, Bosnia and Syrmium.[40]

    Kaisar Alexios (1169–1172)

    Emperor Manuel's wife, Maria of Antioch, gave birth to a son named Alexios on 14 September 1169.[41][42] The emperor dissolved his daughter's betrothal to Béla-Alexios.[41] The emperor also removed Béla-Alexios's title of despotes, but granted him the inferior rank of kaisar.[41][43] In the spring of 1170, Béla-Alexios married the emperor's sister-in-law, Agnes of Antioch.[41][43] The couple went on a pilgrimage to the Holy Land.[43] In Jerusalem, they donated 10,000 bezants to the Knights Hospitaller in compensation for their hospitality.[43][44] In the charter of grant, Béla-Alexios styled himself "Lord A., Duke of Hungary, Dalmatia and Croatia", ignoring the title that the emperor had recently bestowed upon him.[41]

    Reign

    facial reconstruction, King Béla III of Hungary
    Facial reconstruction of King Béla III of Hungary at an exhibition of the Institute of Hungarian Research (Emese Gábor, 2023)

    Coronation (1172–1173)

    Béla's brother, Stephen III, died on 4 March 1172.

    Sardica (now Sophia in Bulgaria).[48][40] They demanded that "Béla be dispatched to them as king", because "the principle of justice looked toward him" after his brother's death,[49] according to Kinnamos.[48][40] Kinnamos also said that Emperor Manuel made Béla king after Béla "promised an oath to observe for the whole course of his life whatever would be beneficial"[50] to the emperor and the Byzantines.[48] A letter written by the Byzantine Emperor Isaac II Angelos in 1196 says that on the same occasion, Béla pledged that he would never support the Serbians if they fought against the Byzantine Empire.[48]

    Béla and his wife arrived in

    Archbishop of Kalocsa to anoint Béla king and "place the crown on his head".[57] Béla's coronation took place on 18 January 1173.[45] He issued a charter confirming the right of the archbishops of Esztergom to crown the Hungarian monarchs.[58] The unification of the so-called "Greek" and "Latin" crowns into the Holy Crown of Hungary seems to have occurred during his reign.[59]

    Conflicts (1173–1178)

    Archbishop Lucas fell out of favor with Béla, and was ignored by him in the first years of his reign.

    Seljuks, but their united forces suffered defeat in the Battle of Myriokephalon on 17 September 1176.[64][65][66]

    Géza tried to persuade Soběslav II of Bohemia to help him meet

    Frederick I, Holy Roman Emperor, but Soběslav seized Géza and handed him over to Béla in 1177.[64][63] Béla once again imprisoned his brother, and he also put their mother, Euphrosyne, in confinement.[64][63] In retaliation for Soběslav's role in Géza's capture, Emperor Frederick dethroned Soběslav and appointed another member of the Přemyslid dynasty, Frederick, to the position of duke.[63] The Holy Roman Emperor ordered the new Duke of Austria, Leopold V, to storm Bohemia.[63] Béla soon intervened, threatening Leopold V with an invasion, which forced Leopold to leave Bohemia.[67]

    Expansion and reforms (1178–1194)

    Béla's long-time favorite, Andrew, Archbishop of Kalocsa, insulted him around 1178.[68][69] Béla soon deprived him and his supporter, the Provost of Székesfehérvár Chapter, of their offices and seized the Archbishop's revenues.[69][68] Pope Alexander III punished Béla with ecclesiastic sanctions, but Béla reconciled with Archbishop Lucas of Esztergom, who absolved him and excommunicated Andrew of Kalocsa.[68] The conflict ended with a compromise mediated by the Holy See: Andrew asked Béla to pardon him, and Béla restored him to his position of archbishop.[69]

    Upon Béla's invitation,

    Bulkeszi (now Maglić in Serbia), Béla sponsored the baptism of a German "guest settler" in that village.[72][73]

    A man wearing a crown sits on the throne with a scepter and an orb in his hands
    Béla III's seal

    In the imperial court of Constantinople, Béla learnt the importance of a well-organized administration.

    Illuminated Chronicle, Béla "introduced the same form of addressing petitions as was customary in the Roman and imperial court",[75] which suggests that the Royal Chancery began functioning as a separate office during his reign.[76][74][77] He emphasized the importance of written records, ordering in 1181 that a charter was to be issued for all transactions proceeding in his presence.[76][74][77]

    Emperor Manuel I died on 24 September 1180.

    John V. A. Fine writes that Béla retook suzerainty of Dalmatia "seemingly without bloodshed and with imperial consent", because the Byzantine authorities preferred that Béla rule the province rather than the Republic of Venice.[79]

    The details of the reconquest of Syrmium are also obscure.

    Saint Ivan of Rila, and ordered it "to be transported with great honors to his land and to be laid down with honor in the church"[88] of Esztergom, according to the saint's Life from the Sofia Prologue.[86] Makk writes that Béla withdrew from the regions south of the Danube, but historian Paul Stephenson says that Béla preserved these lands.[86][89]

    Andronikos Komnenos murdered Emperor Alexios II in late 1183.[89] The contemporaneous Eustathius of Thessalonica writes that Andronikos's opponents sent letters to many monarchs, including Béla III, urging them to attack Andronikos.[90] According to Ansbert and other Western European chroniclers, Béla invaded the Byzantine Empire in early 1185.[90] After Andronikos I fell in September, Béla signed a peace treaty with the new emperor, Isaac II Angelos.[91] Isaac married Béla's daughter, Margaret, and Béla granted the region of Niš and Barancs to Isaac as his daughter's dowry.[92][93] The relics of Saint Ivan of Rila were also returned to Sardica on this occasion.[92] Béla married Margaret of France, a sister of Philip II of France, in the summer of 1186.[94]

    Foundation of the Szentgotthárd Abbey. Painting by Stephan Dorfmeister (c. 1795)

    Prince of Vladimir-in-Volhynia, soon occupied Halych, but Béla invaded the principality and expelled him.[95][96] Instead of restoring Vladimir Yaroslavich to his former position, Béla imprisoned him and granted control of Halych to Andrew, who was Béla's younger son.[97][98] As a token of his conquest, Béla styled himself as King of Galicia. .[97]

    In the summer of 1189, German

    Balkan Peninsula.[99][100] At Frederick's request, Béla released his imprisoned brother, Géza, who joined the crusaders and left Hungary.[99][96] Béla mediated a peace treaty between Frederick I and Isaac II, whose mutual distrust had almost caused war between the German crusaders and the Byzantines.[99]

    Vladimir Yaroslavich escaped from captivity in early 1189 or 1190.

    Frankopan family.[105] This is the earliest certain example of an office being granted as a hereditary dignity in the Kingdom of Hungary.[106]

    Last years (1194–1196)

    In 1194, Béla appointed his eldest son, Emeric, who had already been crowned as the future king, to administer Croatia and Dalmatia.[107][108] After a united Bulgarian, Cumanian and Vlach army defeated the Byzantines in the Battle of Arcadiopolis in 1194, Béla was willing to assist the Byzantine Empire.[109][110] However, his campaign was cancelled, because Béla's son-in-law, Emperor Isaac II, was dethroned by Alexios III Angelos in April 1195.[111][112] Henry VI, Holy Roman Emperor, was planning to launch a campaign against the Byzantine Empire on behalf of the dethroned emperor, but Béla prohibited his subjects from joining Henry.[113]

    Béla took the cross as a token of his desire to lead a crusade to the Holy Land.

    R-SUR51 > R-ARP.[116][117]

    Family

    King Béla's III tomb

    Béla's first wife, Agnes, was the daughter of Raynald of Châtillon, Prince of Antioch, and Raynald's wife, Constance of Antioch.[118] Agnes was born around 1149 and died around 1184.[43] At the time of her marriage in 1170, she was renamed Anna in Constantinople.[43][41]

    Béla's and Agnes-Anna's first child,

    Nicholas I of Saint Omer after the death of Boniface, but scholar Peter Lock says that Saint Omer's wife and Margaret–Maria were not identical.[123][124]

    The second son of Béla and Agnes-Anna, Andrew, was born around 1177.[125] His two younger brothers, Solomon and Stephen, did not survive infancy.[126] Their younger sister, Constance, married King Ottokar I of Bohemia in about 1198.[124] A third daughter of Béla and Agnes-Anna, whose name is unknown, died in infancy.[126]

    After the death of Agnes-Anna, Béla proposed to Theodora, a granddaughter of Emperor Manuel I's sister, Theodora Komnene.

    Duke of Saxony, but Henry II of England, Matilda's grandfather, hindered this marriage.[91] Finally, Béla married Henry II's widowed daughter-in-law, Margaret of France, in the summer of 1186.[91] She was the daughter of Louis VII of France.[127] Queen Margaret outlived Béla, and moved to the Holy Land after his death.[107]

    Legacy

    Béla was one of the most eminent medieval monarchs of Hungary.

    Árpádians, but also marked the end of an epoch", according to historian Pál Engel.[15] His establishment of the Royal Chancery contributed to the "expansion of written records" in Hungary; the first charters issued by barons appeared in the 1190s.[129][130] According to a contemporaneous list of Béla's revenues, his yearly income amounted to almost 170,000 marks (about 23 tonnes of pure silver).[131][132] If the list is reliable, his income surpassed the revenues of the contemporaneous Kings of France and England, but the reliability of the list has been questioned by many historians, including Pál Engel.[131][133][134]

    In about 1190, after a fire destroyed Esztergom, Béla invited French masons to rebuild the royal palace and the cathedral.[69][135] The masons introduced new architectural forms; the new royal palace and cathedral were the earliest examples of Gothic architecture in Central Europe.[135][136] Coins depicting a two-barred cross, which was primarily used in the Church of the Byzantine Empire, were minted from around 1190, suggesting that the so-called "double cross" became part of the Hungarian royal heraldry under Béla III.[137]

    Notes

    1. ^ a b Makk 1994, p. 91.
    2. ^ a b c Kristó & Makk 1996, p. 204.
    3. ^ Deeds of John and Manuel Comnenus by John Kinnamos (5.5), p. 163.
    4. ^ Makk 1989, pp. 77, 123.
    5. ^ Deeds of John and Manuel Comnenus by John Kinnamos (5.17), p. 187.
    6. ^ a b c Makk 1989, p. 77.
    7. ^ Stephenson 2000, pp. 198, 251.
    8. ^ a b c Magdalino 1993, p. 79.
    9. ^ Makk 1989, pp. 77, 155.
    10. ^ a b Curta 2006, p. 332.
    11. ^ a b c d e Treadgold 1997, p. 646.
    12. ^ Makk 1989, p. 79.
    13. ^ Deeds of John and Manuel Comnenus by John Kinnamos (5.6), p. 165.
    14. ^ a b c d Kristó & Makk 1996, p. 205.
    15. ^ a b c Engel 2001, p. 52.
    16. ^ Makk 1994, p. 86.
    17. ^ Fine 1991, p. 240.
    18. ^ Deeds of John and Manuel Comnenus by John Kinnamos (5.5), p. 163.
    19. ^ a b c Makk 1989, p. 86.
    20. ^ Kristó & Makk 1996, p. 206.
    21. ^ Stephenson 2000, p. 251.
    22. ^ Makk 1989, p. 90.
    23. ^ a b Stephenson 2000, p. 252.
    24. ^ Deeds of John and Manuel Comnenus by John Kinnamos (5.6), p. 165.
    25. ^ Makk 1989, pp. 68, 90.
    26. ^ a b Makk 1989, p. 91.
    27. ^ Makk 1989, pp. 91–92.
    28. ^ Curta 2006, p. 333.
    29. ^ a b c d e Makk 1989, p. 92.
    30. ^ Kristó & Makk 1996, p. 207.
    31. ^ Fine 1991, p. 241.
    32. ^ Stephenson 2000, p. 257.
    33. ^ O City of Byzantium, Annals of Niketas Choniates (4.137), p. 78.
    34. ^ Makk 1989, p. 97.
    35. ^ a b Makk 1989, p. 99.
    36. ^ Stephenson 2000, p. 258.
    37. ^ The Deeds of Frederick Barbarossa (Appendix) p. 337.
    38. ^ a b Makk 1989, p. 100.
    39. ^ Makk 1989, p. 101.
    40. ^ a b c d Fine 1991, p. 242.
    41. ^ a b c d e f Makk 1989, p. 106.
    42. ^ Treadgold 1997, p. 647.
    43. ^ a b c d e f g Kristó & Makk 1996, p. 209.
    44. ^ Magdalino 1993, p. 81.
    45. ^ a b Bartl et al. 2002, p. 29.
    46. ^ a b Engel 2001, p. 53.
    47. ^ Stephenson 2000, pp. 267–268.
    48. ^ a b c d e Makk 1989, p. 107.
    49. ^ Deeds of John and Manuel Comnenus by John Kinnamos (6.11), p. 214.
    50. ^ Deeds of John and Manuel Comnenus by John Kinnamos (6.11), pp. 214–215.
    51. ^ a b Kristó & Makk 1996, p. 210.
    52. ^ a b Makk 1989, p. 108.
    53. ^ a b Kristó & Makk 1996, p. 211.
    54. ^ a b Berend, Urbańczyk & Wiszewski 2013, p. 383.
    55. ^ Berend, Urbańczyk & Wiszewski 2013, pp. 178, 202.
    56. ^ Makk 1989, pp. 108, 110.
    57. ^ a b Makk 1989, p. 109.
    58. ^ Kristó & Makk 1996, pp. 212–213.
    59. ^ Berend, Urbańczyk & Wiszewski 2013, pp. 151–152.
    60. ^ a b Kristó & Makk 1996, p. 212.
    61. ^ Kristó & Makk 1981, p. 63.
    62. ^ Makk 1989, pp. 108, 111.
    63. ^ a b c d e Makk 1989, p. 111.
    64. ^ a b c Kristó & Makk 1996, p. 213.
    65. ^ Magdalino 1993, pp. 96, 98.
    66. ^ Makk 1989, p. 113.
    67. ^ Makk 1989, p. 112.
    68. ^ a b c Makk 1989, p. 114.
    69. ^ a b c d e Kristó & Makk 1996, p. 214.
    70. ^ Berend, Urbańczyk & Wiszewski 2013, p. 359.
    71. ^ Kristó & Makk 1996, p. 215.
    72. ^ Kristó & Makk 1996, p. 219.
    73. ^ Kristó & Makk 1981, p. 86.
    74. ^ a b c Kristó & Makk 1996, p. 217.
    75. ^ The Hungarian Illuminated Chronicle (ch. 171.122), p. 139.
    76. ^ a b Rady 2000, p. 66.
    77. ^ a b Kontler 1999, p. 71.
    78. ^ Makk 1989, p. 115.
    79. ^ a b Fine 1991, p. 289.
    80. ^ Stephenson 2000, pp. 281–282.
    81. ^ Magaš 2007, p. 57.
    82. ^ Archdeacon Thomas of Split: History of the Bishops of Salona and Split (ch. 22.), p. 131.
    83. ^ a b Stephenson 2000, p. 281.
    84. ^ a b Makk 1989, p. 116.
    85. ^ Treadgold 1997, pp. 652–653.
    86. ^ a b c Makk 1989, p. 117.
    87. ^ Curta 2006, pp. 334–335.
    88. ^ Life of John of Rila from the Stishen (Sofia) Prologue, p. 266.
    89. ^ a b Stephenson 2000, p. 282.
    90. ^ a b c d Makk 1989, p. 119.
    91. ^ a b c d e f Makk 1989, p. 120.
    92. ^ a b Curta 2006, p. 335.
    93. ^ a b c d e Stephenson 2000, p. 283.
    94. ^ Kristó & Makk 1996, p. 220.
    95. ^ a b Dimnik 2003, p. 191.
    96. ^ a b c d e f Engel 2001, p. 54.
    97. ^ a b c d Makk 1989, p. 121.
    98. ^ Dimnik 2003, p. 193.
    99. ^ a b c d Makk 1989, p. 122.
    100. ^ Stephenson 2000, p. 294.
    101. ^ Dimnik 2003, pp. 193–194.
    102. ^ Treadgold 1997, p. 121.
    103. ^ a b c Makk 1989, p. 123.
    104. ^ Berend, Urbańczyk & Wiszewski 2013, p. 192.
    105. ^ Curta 2006, p. 347.
    106. ^ Rady 2000, p. 30.
    107. ^ a b c d e Kristó & Makk 1996, p. 222.
    108. ^ Magaš 2007, p. 58.
    109. ^ Treadgold 1997, p. 659.
    110. ^ Stephenson 2000, p. 303.
    111. ^ Makk 1989, pp. 123–124.
    112. ^ Stephenson 2000, pp. 303–304.
    113. ^ Makk 1989, p. 124.
    114. ^ a b Berend, Urbańczyk & Wiszewski 2013, p. 234.
    115. ^ Bartl et al. 2002, p. 30.
    116. doi:10.1007/s12520-018-0609-7
    117. PMID 32636469
    118. ^ Runciman 1952, p. 365, Appendix 3.
    119. ^ Kristó & Makk 1996, p. 209, Appendix 4.
    120. ^ Kristó & Makk 1996, p. 220, Appendix 4.
    121. ^ Treadgold 1997, pp. 660, 665–666.
    122. ^ Lock 1995, p. 37.
    123. ^ Lock 1995, p. 371.
    124. ^ a b Kristó & Makk 1996, p. Appendix 4.
    125. ^ Kristó & Makk 1996, p. 229, Appendix 4.
    126. ^ a b Makk 1994, p. 92.
    127. ^ Kontler 1999, p. 74.
    128. ^ Kristó & Makk 1996, p. 190, Appendices 2–3.
    129. ^ Engel 2001, p. 122.
    130. ^ Berend, Urbańczyk & Wiszewski 2013, p. 220.
    131. ^ a b Engel 2001, p. 61.
    132. ^ Molnár 2001, p. 46.
    133. ^ Kontler 1999, p. 70.
    134. ^ Berend, Urbańczyk & Wiszewski 2013, p. 287.
    135. ^ a b Berend, Urbańczyk & Wiszewski 2013, p. 209.
    136. ^ Kontler 1999, p. 72.
    137. ^ Berend, Urbańczyk & Wiszewski 2013, p. 317.

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    Further reading

    Béla III of Hungary
    House of Árpád
    Born: 1148 Died: 23 April 1196
    Regnal titles
    New creation
    Duke of Croatia and Dalmatia

    c. 1161–1172     		Vacant
    Title next held by
    Emeric
    Preceded by
    Croatia

    1172–1196     		Succeeded by
    Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Béla_III_of_Hungary&oldid=1213743907"