Béla IV of Hungary

Béla IV (1206-1270) was the king of Hungary between 1235 and 1270.

Related Topics:
1206 - 1270 - Hungary - 1235

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Béla was the son of King András II and Gertrude of Meran. His mother was murdered by Hungarian magnates in 1213, when he was a boy. His father having failed to avenge Queen Gertrude, it was left to Béla to track down and punish his mother's murderers, a campaign which he finally completed some thirty years after her death.

Related Topics:
András II - Gertrude of Meran - 1213

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In 1218 he was married to Maria Laskarina, the daughter of Emperor Theodore I Lascaris of Nicaea. Their children were:

Related Topics:
1218 - Theodore I Lascaris

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• Kinga, married King Boleslaus V of Poland; canonized by the Roman Catholic Church in 1999
• King István V
• Erzsébet, married Duke Henry XIII of Lower Bavaria
• Margit, canonized by the Roman Catholic Church in 1943 as St. Margaret. She lent her name to Margaret Island.

In 1238, Hungary was invaded by Cuman tribes fleeing the advancing Mongol hordes. Béla sought an alliance with the Cumans, and so he granted them asylum and betrothed his son and heir Stephen to the daughter of a Cuman khan named Kuthen. The Cumans (originally a pagan shamanist people) converted to Christianity and were baptised. They fought beside the Hungarians against the Mongols.

Related Topics:
1238 - Cuman

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Béla tried with little success to reestablish royal preeminence by reacquiring lost crown lands. His efforts, however, created a deep rift between the crown and the magnates just as the Mongols were sweeping westward across Russia toward Europe. Aware of the danger, Béla ordered the magnates and lesser nobles to mobilize. Few responded, and the Mongols routed Béla's army at Mohi on April 11, 1241. His ally Kuthen had been killed by mistrustful Hungarian lords in Pest just prior to the invasion.

Related Topics:
Mongols - Russia - Europe - Mohi - April 11 - 1241

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Béla fled first to Austria, where Duke Frederick of Babenberg held him for ransom, then to Trogir (Dalmatia). The Mongols reduced Hungary's towns and villages to ashes and slaughtered half the population before news arrived in 1242 that the Great Ögedei Khan had died in Karakorum. The Mongols withdrew, sparing Béla and what remained of his kingdom.

Related Topics:
Austria - Frederick - Babenberg - Trogir - Dalmatia - Hungary - 1242 - Ögedei Khan - Karakorum

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After this Béla started the rebuilding of the country, including a massive building campaign which produced the system of castles as defence against the eventual return of the Mongols.

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Béla IV of Hungary: Sources ►