King of Hungary IV Bela

Family/Spouse: Princess of Byzantium Maria Laskarina. Maria was born in 1206 in Nicaea, Bursa, Turkey; died in 1270. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

1. King of Hungary Stephen (Istvan), V was born in Dec 1239 in Budapest, Hungary; died on 6 Aug 1272 in Budapest, Hungary.

Notes:

Hungarian Endre, or Andras. King of Hungary (1205-35) whose reign was marked by controversy with barons and the great feudatories and by the issuance of the Golden Bull of 1222 (q.v.), which has been called the Hungarian Magna Carta.

The son of Bela III, Andrew succeeded Laszlo III, his elder brother's son, on the throne in 1205. Powerful landed interests forced Andrew to spend royal funds so recklessly that the crown was soon impoverished and dependent on the feudatories, who soon reduced Hungary to a state of near anarchy. Objecting to the prodigality of the German followers of Andrew's first wife, Gertrude of Meran, rebellious nobles murdered her in 1213. Four years later, with an army of 15,000 men, Andrew set off on an ill-fated Crusade to the Holy Land. After his return the barons forced him to agree to the Golden Bull, which became an important source of the Hungarian constitution. It limited royal rights and prerogatives, confirmed basic rights of small holders and nobles, guaranteed justice for all, and promised to improve the coinage. Under it, nobles had the right to resist by force any royal decree.

During Andrew's reign the Teutonic Knights, who had occupied parts of Transylvania for 14 years, came into conflict with both royal and ecclesiastical authority, and the order was expelled from Hungary in 1225. Andrew's daughter by Gertrude was canonized as St. Elizabeth of Hungary.

Andrew married Gertrude von Meran in 1203. Gertrude was born about 1185 in Andechs, Starnberg, Bayern, Germany; died on 28 Sep 1213. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

III married Agnes de Chatillon in 1168 in Constantinople, Turkey. Agnes was born about 1150 in Versailles, France; died about 1184. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

II married Euphrosyne. Euphrosyne (daughter of Grand Duke of Kyiv Mstislav I Vladimirovich and Lyubava Dmitrievna) was born in 1130; died in 1186. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]