Béla IV of Hungary, King of Hungary

Other Events and Attributes:

• Crowned: 1235; In 1235, he was crowned the King of Hungary.
• Reign: From 1235 to 1270; King of Hungary
• Military: 1241; The Mongol horde attacked Hungary laying it to waste. Despite King Béla's heroic resistance, all of Hungary would have been lost, except that the horde was withdrawn. Once free of this threat, he set about rebuilding Hungary.
• Title(s): 1254; He became the Duke of Styria.

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He restored the authority of the crown and removed his father's advisors, replacing them with men of integrity and good will.

Béla married Maria Laskarina about 1218. Maria (daughter of Theodore I Komnenos Lascaris, Emperor of the East and Anna Angelina) was born about 1206; died in 1270. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

Redlich (1942) gives their marriage as about 1224.

1. Stephen V, King of Hungary and Croatia was born in Dec 1239 in Hungary; died on 1 Aug 1272.

Other Events and Attributes:

• General Information: Andrew was also the King of Galicia. He was known as Andrew of Jerusalem.
• Title(s): 1188; He ruled the Principality of Halych from 1188 until 1189/1190, and 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, and the boyars (or noblemen) expelled him. Béla III willed property and money to Andrew, obliging him to lead a crusade to the Holy Land
• Crowned: 1197; Andrew forced his elder brother, King Emeric of Hungary, to cede Croatia and Dalmatia as an appanage to him in 1197.
• Reign: From 1205 to 1235; King of Hungary
• History: 1213; Andrew II made an abortive attempt to conquer Galicia. His crusades to the Holy Land likewise won little glory for the crown. His wife, the Meranian Gertrude, ran a lavish, wasteful household. Andrew II's rule triggered widespread unrest, and in 1213 Gertrude was assassinated by a high-level conspiracy. The king's inefficacy was further testified to by the fact that he was unable to punish the assassins.
• Crowned: 1214; He was crowned the King of Galacia in 1214.
• Military: From 1217 to 1218; He joined the fifth crusade.
• Charter/Grant/Gift: 1222; Andrew II's political opponents formed an alliance, forcing him to ratify the Golden Bull of 1222, named for the golden seal which hung from it. The document guaranteed rights to the servientes which had formerly only been enjoyed by the owners of great estates and also contained the famous "clause of resistance", whereby if the king failed to keep his word, the nobles were invested with the right to resist and oppose him without charge of disloyalty. The Golden Bull of 1222 for all purposes determined the principle of equality between nobles and occupied a central place in the thought of the Hungarian aristocracy for centuries. Although subsequently repealed, the clause of resistance initiated the long-term practice of throwing open the acts of the king to question. Because of the seminal role it played in the development of national constitutionality, the Golden Bull has frequently been likened to the Magna Charta of 1215, underscoring certain clear parallels in the constitutional development of Hungary and England.
• Last Full Review: 16 Oct 2020

Notes:

Death: Redlich (1942) gives his death date as about 7 March 1235.

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Andrew married Gertrude of Merania before 1203. Gertrude (daughter of Berthold VI, Duke of the Coast Meran and Agnes von Groitzsch-Rochlitz) was born about 1185; died on 28 Sep 1213 in Hungary. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events and Attributes:

• General Information: Her name is also spelt Gertrude von Meran.
• Last Full Review: 16 Oct 2020

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Died:
She was murdered because her blatant favoritism towards her German kinsmen and courtiers stirred up discontent among the native lords.

Other Events and Attributes:

• Crowned: 1173; In 1173, he was crowned King of Hungary.
• Reign: From 1173 to 1196; King of Hungary

Notes:

Death" Redlich (1942) and Weis (1982) give his death date as 18 April 1196.

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Béla married Agnes de Châtillon-sur-Loing about 1171. Agnes (daughter of Renaud de Châtillon, Prince of Antioch and Constance of Antioch) was born in 1153; died in 1184 in Hungary. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events and Attributes:

• Military: He was a crusader.

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His full titles were: Count of Andechs; Mrsgrave of Istria; and Duke of Croatia, Dalmatia, and the Coast Meran.

Berthold married Agnes von Groitzsch-Rochlitz in 1170. Agnes (daughter of Dedo V "the Strong", Count in the Groitzsch-Rochlitz and Mathilde von Heinsberg) died on 25 Mar 1195. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events and Attributes:

• Crowned: 1141; In 1141, he was crowned the King of Hungary.
• Reign: From 1141 to 1161; King of Hungary

Notes:

Death: Moriarty (1952) gives his death date as 31 May 1161.

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Géza married Euphrosyne Mstislawna of Kiev in 1146. Euphrosyne (daughter of Mstislav I of Kiev "the Great", Grand Prince of Kiev and Ljubava Saviditsch) was born in 1130; died in 1171. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

Death: Weis (1982) gives her death date as 1175/76.

Other Events and Attributes:

• General Information: He went on the Second Crusade, and remained in the Holy Land. He was also the Lord of Krale in Moab.

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Died:
He was killed by Saladin's own hand after the Battle of Hattin.

Renaud married Constance of Antioch in 1152/53. Constance (daughter of Behémond II, Prince of Antioch and Taranto and Alice de Rethel, Princess of Jerusalem) was born in 1127; died in 1163. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

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She was a Princess and heiress of Antioch.

Other Events and Attributes:

• General Information: His full title was Count of Andechs, Innsbrook and Wolfratschausen and Margrave of Istria.
• Last Full Review: 15 Jul 2020

Berthold married Hedwig von Formbach-Putten in 1152. Hedwig (daughter of Echbert II, Count of Formbach-Puttin and Newburg and Wilibirg von Steirermark) died on 16 Jul 1174. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

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She was the heiress of the lordship of Newburg.

Other Events and Attributes:

• Land/House: 1157; He inherited the Castle of Groitzsch.

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He was also the Margrave of Niederlausitz and the Count of Eilenburg.

Dedo married Mathilde von Heinsberg before 1160. Mathilde (daughter of Goswin II, Count of Heinsberg and Falkenburg and Adeidis von Sommerschenburg) died on 10 Jan 1189. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]