Béla, Duke of Slavonia

Béla (c. 1243 or 1249 –1269) was the youngest and favorite child of King Béla IV of Hungary. His father appointed him Duke of Slavonia in 1260, but he only started to govern his duchy from 1268. He died childless.

Early life

Béla was the youngest child and the second son of King Béla IV of Hungary.[1] His mother was Maria Laskarina, daughter of Theodore I Laskaris, Emperor of Nicaea.[2] The year of his birth is uncertain, but he was his parents' youngest child. [3][4] Taking into account that his sister, Margaret was born in 1242, Mór Wertner, Gyula Kristó and other historians write that Béla was born around 1243.[3] Béla himself stated in a charter of 1269 that "we has not turned twenty-five, we are about twenty", suggesting that he had actually been born around 1249.[5]

King Béla's letter to Pope Innocent IV, which was written in about 1254, contains the first record of Béla's life.[3] The letter refers to a plan of the child Béla's marriage with an unnamed niece of the Pope.[3] However, the marriage never took place.[3]

Duke of Slavonia

His father appointed him Duke of Slavonia in 1260.[6] In addition to Slavonia, Béla's duchy included Croatia and Dalmatia.[7] These lands had been governed by Béla's elder brother, Stephen.[7]

Family

He married Kunigunde of Ascania, daughter of Otto III, Margrave of Brandenburg.[8] After his death, Kunigunde married to Waleran IV, Duke of Limburg.

References
  1. Kristó & Makk 1996, p. 264, Appendix 5.
  2. Kristó & Makk 1996, p. 248, Appendix 5.
  3. Zsoldos 2007, p. 14.
  4. Kristó & Makk 1996, p. 264.
  5. Zsoldos 2007, p. 15.
  6. Érszegi & Solymosi 1981, p. 157.
  7. Fine 1994, p. 175.
  8. Bumke 1991, p. 211.

Sources
  • Bumke, Joachim (1991). Courtly Culture: Literature and Society in the High Middle Ages. Translated by Dunlop, Thomas. University of California Press.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
  • Érszegi, Géza; Solymosi, László (1981). "Az Árpádok királysága, 1000–1301 [The Monarchy of the Árpáds, 1000–1301]". In Solymosi, László (ed.). Magyarország történeti kronológiája, I: a kezdetektől 1526-ig [Historical Chronology of Hungary, Volume I: From the Beginning to 1526] (in Hungarian). Akadémiai Kiadó. pp. 79–187. ISBN 963-05-2661-1.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
  • Fine, John V. A (1994). The Late Medieval Balkans: A Critical Survey from the Late Twelfth Century to the Ottoman Conquest. The University of Michigan Press. ISBN 0-472-08260-4.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
  • Kristó, Gyula; Makk, Ferenc (1996). Az Árpád-ház uralkodói [Rulers of the House of Árpád] (in Hungarian). I.P.C. Könyvek. ISBN 963-7930-97-3.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
  • Zsoldos, Attila (2007). Családi ügy: IV. Béla és István ifjabb király viszálya az 1260-as években [A family affair: The Conflict between Béla IV and King-junior Stephen in the 1260s] (in Hungarian). História, MTA Történettudományi Intézete. ISBN 978-963-9627-15-4.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
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