King of Hungary and Croatia from 1141 to 1162
Geza II
(
Hungarian
:
II. Geza
;
Croatian
:
Gejza II.
;
Slovak
:
Gejza II.
; 1130 – 31 May 1162) was
King of Hungary
and
Croatia
from 1141 to 1162. He was the oldest son of
Bela the Blind
and his wife,
Helena of Serbia
. When his father died, Geza was still a child and he started ruling under the guardianship of his mother and her brother,
Belo?
. A pretender to the throne,
Boris Kalamanos
, who had already claimed Hungary during Bela the Blind's reign, temporarily captured
Pressburg
(now Bratislava in
Slovakia
) with the assistance of German mercenaries in early 1146. In retaliation, Geza, who came of age in the same year, invaded Austria and routed
Henry Jasomirgott
,
Margrave of Austria
, in the
Battle of the Fischa
.
Although the German?Hungarian relations remained tense, no major confrontations occurred when the German
crusaders
marched through Hungary in June 1147. Two months later,
Louis VII of France
and his crusaders arrived, along with Boris Kalamanos who attempted to take advantage of the crusade to return to Hungary. Louis VII refused to
extradite
Boris to Geza, but prevented the pretender from contacting his supporters in Hungary and managed to shepherd him to
Constantinople
with the rest of the crusaders. Geza joined the coalition that Louis VII and
Roger II of Sicily
formed against
Conrad III of Germany
and
Byzantine emperor
Manuel I Komnenos
.
Geza intervened at least six times in battles for control of
Kiev
on behalf of
Iziaslav II
either by sending reinforcements or by personally leading his troops to the
Kievan Rus'
between 1148 and 1155. He also
waged war
against the
Byzantine Empire
numerous times on behalf of his allies, including his cousins who ruled over
Serbia
, but could not prevent the Byzantines from restoring their suzerainty. Conflicts eventually emerged between Geza and his brothers,
Stephen
and
Ladislaus
, who both took flight from Hungary and settled in Emperor Manuel's court in Constantinople. Geza supported
Frederick I
between 1158 and 1160, against the
Lombard's
by providing auxiliary troops. After the
cardinals
who supported Emperor Frederick I elected
Victor IV
as pope, Geza acknowledged his legitimacy in 1160, but within a year he had changed sides and concluded a
concordat
with Victor IV's opponent,
Pope Alexander III
. Before his death, Geza organized a separate
appanage
duchy for his younger son,
Bela
.
The ancestors of the
Transylvanian Saxons
came to Hungary during Geza's reign. Western European knights and Muslim warriors from the
Pontic steppes
also settled in Hungary during this period. Geza supposedly even allowed his Muslim soldiers to take concubines.
Early years
[
edit
]
Geza was born the eldest son of
Bela the Blind
, a cousin of King
Stephen II of Hungary
, and
Helena of Serbia
in 1130.
Geza's father had been blinded, together with his rebellious father,
Almos
, in the 1110s on the order of Stephen II's father,
Coloman, King of Hungary
, who wanted to ensure Stephen's succession.
When Geza was born, his parents lived on an estate that King Stephen had granted them in
Tolna
.
Geza's father succeeded King Stephen in the spring of 1131.
In the same year, Queen Helena took Geza and his younger brother,
Ladislaus
, to an assembly held at
Arad
, where she ordered the massacre of sixty-eight noblemen "by whose counsel the King had been blinded",
[6]
according to the
Illuminated Chronicle
.
Reign
[
edit
]
Minor king (1141?1146)
[
edit
]
King Bela died on 13 February 1141 and Geza succeeded him without opposition.
The eleven-year-old Geza was crowned king on 16 February.
During his
regency
, his mother and her brother,
Belo?
, ruled the kingdom in the first years of his reign.
One of Geza's first charters, issued in 1141, confirmed the privileges of the citizens of
Split
in
Dalmatia
.
In the charter, Geza is titled as "
By the Grace of God
, King of Hungary, Dalmatia, Croatia and
Rama
".
According to historian Paul Stephenson, the towns of central Dalmatia?including
?ibenik
and
Trogir
?accepted Geza's
suzerainty
after a Hungarian invasion around 1142.
Hungarian troops assisted Prince
Volodimerko of Halych
?who had been the ally of Geza's father against the pretender
Boris
?when Great Prince
Vsevolod II of Kiev
invaded
Halych
in 1144.
Although the Hungarian auxiliaries "were of no use whatsoever", according to the
Hypatian Codex
, the grand prince could not occupy Volodimerko's principality.
Boris was the son of
Eufemia of Kiev
, King
Coloman of Hungary
's second wife, whom the king expelled on the charge of
adultery
before Boris's birth.
According to the chronicler Bishop
Otto of Freising
, Boris approached
Conrad III of Germany
to seek his assistance against Geza at the end of 1145.
Upon the recommendation of
Vladislav II of Bohemia
, the German monarch authorized Boris to muster an army of mercenaries in
Bavaria
and
Austria
.
Boris stormed Hungary and took the fortress of
Pressburg
(present-day Bratislava in
Slovakia
).
The royal forces soon imposed a blockade on the fortress and convinced Boris's mercenaries to surrender without resistance in exchange for compensation.
The Hungarians blamed Conrad III for Boris's attack and decided to invade the Holy Roman Empire.
Before crossing the river
Lajta
(now Leitha in Austria), which marked the western border of Hungary, the sixteen-year-old Geza was girded with a sword in token of his
coming of age
.
In the
Battle of the Fischa
on 11 September, the Hungarian army under the command of Geza and Belo? routed the German troops led by
Henry Jasomirgott
,
Margrave of Austria
.
Crusaders' march across Hungary (1146?1147)
[
edit
]
Geza married
Euphrosyne
, sister of Grand Prince
Iziaslav II of Kiev
, in the second half of 1146.
German?Hungarian relations remained tense
as Boris attempted to take advantage of Conrad III's decision to lead a crusade to the
Holy Land
through Hungary.
However Geza, who knew that "he could conquer more easily by gold than by force, poured out much money among the
Germans
and thus escaped an attack from them,"
[20]
according to the chronicler
Odo of Deuil
.
The German crusaders marched across Hungary without major incident in June 1147.
The
Illuminated Chronicle
relates that some Hungarian noblemen promised Boris "if he could make his way into the kingdom, many would take him for their lord and, deserting the King, would cleave to him."
[23]
Boris convinced two French noblemen to assist by hiding him among the French crusaders who followed the Germans towards the Holy Land.
King
Louis VII of France
and his crusaders arrived in Hungary in August.
Geza learnt that his opponent was with the French and demanded his
extradition
.
Although Louis VII rejected this demand, he held Boris in custody and "took him out of Hungary,"
[25]
according to Odo of Deuil.
Having left Hungary, Boris settled in the
Byzantine Empire
.
Active foreign policy (1147?1155)
[
edit
]
Disputes among European powers led to the formation of two coalitions in the late 1140s.
One alliance was formed by the
Byzantine Emperor
Manuel I Komnenos
and Conrad III
against
Roger II of Sicily
who had invaded Byzantine territories.
Geza sided with Roger II and his allies, including the rebellious German prince,
Welf VI
and
Uro? II of Serbia
.
Geza sent reinforcements to his brother-in-law, Grand Prince Iziaslav II, against Prince
Vladimir of Chernigov
in the spring of 1148.
The
Grand Principality of Serbia
rebelled in 1149, forcing Emperor Manuel I to interrupt his preparations for an invasion of Southern Italy and invade Serbia in 1149.
According to the emperor's
panegyrist
Theodore Prodromus
, Hungarian forces supported the Serbs during the emperor's campaign.
The
Hypatian Codex
says that Geza referred to his war against Emperor Manuel when excusing himself for refusing to send reinforcements to Iziaslav II whom
Yuri Dolgorukiy
,
Prince of Suzdal
, expelled from
Kiev
in August 1149.
Hungarian auxiliaries supported Iziaslav II to reoccupy Kiev in the early spring of 1150, but before long Yuri Dolgorukiy expelled Iziaslav from the town.
In autumn, Geza led his army against
Volodimirko of Halych
, who was Yuri Dolgorukiy's close ally.
He captured
Sanok
, but Volodimirko bribed the Hungarian commanders, who persuaded Geza to leave Halych before November.
A "countless allied force of Hungarian cavalry as well as of the
heterodox
Chalisoi
"
[36]
had supported the Serbs in the same year, according to the contemporaneous
John Kinnamos
, but the Byzantine army routed their united troops on the river
Tara
in September.
The Byzantine victory forced Uro? II of Serbia to acknowledge the emperor's suzerainty.
Emperor Manuel launched a retaliatory campaign against Hungary and ravaged the lands between the rivers
Sava
and Danube.
Assisted by Byzantine troops, the pretender Boris also broke into Hungary and devastated the valley of the river
Temes
.
Geza, who had just returned from Halych, did not want to "involve the remaining Hungarian force in destruction"
[42]
and sued for peace.
The peace treaty was signed in late 1150 or early 1151.
Geza met Henry Jasomirgott which contributed to the normalization of their strained relations in 1151.
He sent reinforcements to Iziaslav II who again reoccupied Kiev before April 1151.
Three months later, Volodimirko of Halych routed a Hungarian army that was marching towards Kiev.
Frederick Barbarossa
, the newly elected
King of Germany
, demanded the German princes' consent to wage war against Hungary at the
Imperial Diet
of June 1152, but the princes refused him "for certain obscure reasons",
[45]
according to
Otto of Freising
.
Geza invaded Halych in the summer of 1152.
The united armies of Geza and Iziaslav defeated Volodimirko's troops at the
San River
, forcing Volodimirko to sign a peace treaty with Iziaslav.
Pope Eugenius III
sent his envoys to Hungary to strengthen the "faith and discipline" of the Hungarian church.
Geza forbade the papal envoys to enter Hungary, which shows that his relationship with the
Holy See
had deteriorated.
Geza planned to invade
Paristrion
?the Byzantine province along the Lower Danube?in the spring of 1153.
According to John Kinnamos, Geza sought vengeance for Manuel's invasion of 1150;
on the other hand, Michael of Thessalonica wrote that Geza prevented Emperor Manuel from invading Southern Italy.
However, the emperor, who had been informed of Geza's plan, marched to the Danube.
Geza sent his envoys to the emperor and a new peace treaty was signed in
Sardica
(now Sofia in Bulgaria).
In accordance with the peace treaty, the Byzantines released their Hungarian prisoners of wars, according to
Ab? H?mid al-Gharn?t?
, a Muslim traveler from
Granada
who lived in Hungary between 1150 and 1153.
Ab? H?mid stated that every country feared Geza's attack, "because of the many armies he has at his disposal and his great courage".
[49]
The Muslim traveler observed that Geza employed
Muslim soldiers
who had been recruited from among the peoples of the Eurasian steppes.
Ab? H?mid even urged the soldiers to make "every effort to go on
jihad
" with Geza "for thus
God
[would] set down the merit of Holy War to [their] account".
[52]
Geza allowed his Muslim subjects to take concubines, which stirred up the Hungarian clergy.
He also invited Western European (primarily German) knights to settle in Hungary.
For instance, he made a land grant to two knights, named Gottfried and Albert, who had "abandoned their homeland" upon his invitation in the 1150s.
Some years earlier, one Hezelo of Merkstein sold his patrimony in the region of
Aachen
before departing to Hungary from where he never returned to his homeland.
According to the
Diploma Andreanum
of 1224, which spelled out the privileges of the
Transylvanian Saxons
, their ancestors were invited by Geza to settle in southern
Transylvania
.
Pope Anastasius IV
declared Geza's rule in Dalmatia unlawful in October 1154.
Emperor Manuel's cousin,
Andronikos Komnenos
, who administered
Belgrade
,
Brani?evo
and
Ni?
sent a letter to Geza in 1154, offering to hand over those towns to Geza in exchange for Geza's support against the emperor.
Geza sent his envoys to Sicily to sign a new alliance with
William I of Sicily
around the end of the year, but William I was fighting with his rebellious subjects.
Although Andronius Komnenus's plot was discovered and he was captured, Geza invaded the Byzantine Empire and
laid siege to Brani?evo
in late 1154.
After hearing of the imprisonment of Andronikus Komnenos, Geza abandoned the siege and returned to Hungary.
A Byzantine general,
Basil Tzintziluces
, launched an attack on the Hungarian army, but Geza annihilated the Byzantine forces before returning to Hungary.
In early 1155, the Byzantine and Hungarian envoys signed a new peace treaty.
In the same year, a Byzantine army expelled Geza's ally,
Desa
, from Serbia and restored Uro? II, who had promised that he would not enter into an alliance with Hungary.
Last years (1155?1162)
[
edit
]
Frederick Barbarossa, who had been crowned Holy Roman Emperor, received the envoys of Manuel I in
Nuremberg
in July 1156.
The Byzantine envoys proposed a joint invasion of Hungary, but Barbarossa refused their offer.
On 16 September, Barbarossa stipulated that the dukes of Austria were to support the Holy Roman emperors during a war against Hungary in
his charter by which he elevated Austria to a duchy
, showing that the relationship between Hungary and the Holy Roman Empire was still tense.
Barbarossa's close advisor,
Daniel
,
Bishop of Prague
, visited Hungary in the summer of 1157.
On this occasion, Geza promised that he would support Barbarossa with auxiliary troops if the emperor invaded Italy.
According to the nearly contemporaneous
Rahewin
, Geza's youngest brother,
Stephen
, began conspiring with their uncle, Belo?, and other lords of the realm.
To avoid a civil war, Geza first ordered the persecution of Stephen's supporters, then had his rebellious brother expelled from the kingdom and later sentenced him to death.
Niketas Choniates
also recorded that Stephen had been "forced to flee from the murderous clutches" of Geza.
[69]
Geza's uncle, Belo?, was not mentioned in royal charters issued after March 1157, which suggest that he had left Hungary after that date.
During the summer of 1157, Stephen fled to the Holy Roman Empire, seeking Emperor Frederick's protection.
Frederick Barbarossa demanded to be made arbitrator in Geza's conflict with Stephen, he accepted the demand and sent envoys to Regensburg in January 1158.
However, Barbarossa "decided to defer the settlement to a more suitable time"
[72]
and departed for his campaign against the
Lombards
in Italy.
In accordance with his former promise, Geza sent a unit of between 500?600 archers to accompany the emperor on his campaign.
Before long, Geza's brother, Stephen, left for the Byzantine Empire and settled in
Constantinople
where he married Emperor Manuel's niece
Maria Komnene
.
Within two years, he was joined by his brother, Ladislaus, who also fled from Hungary around 1160.
Frederick Barbarossa forced the Italian towns to surrender in September 1158.
However,
Milan
and
Crema
again rose up in open rebellion against the emperor's rule after the
Diet of Roncaglia
ordered the restoration of imperial rights, including the emperor's rights to levy taxes in the Northern Italian towns.
Geza sent his envoys to Barbarossa's camp and promised to dispatch further reinforcements against the rebellious towns.
The death of
Pope Adrian IV
on 1 September 1159 caused a
schism
, because the college of the
cardinals
was divided: the majority of the cardinals was opposed to Barbarossa's policy, but a minority supported him.
The first group elected
Alexander III
pope, but Barbarossa's supporters chose
Victor IV
.
Emperor Frederick summoned a
synod to Pavia
to put an end to the schism.
Geza sent his envoys to the church council where Victor IV was declared the lawful pope in February 1160.
However,
Lucas, Archbishop of Esztergom
, remained loyal to Alexander III and persuaded Geza to start negotiations with the representatives of Alexander III.
Geza only decided to change sides after most European monarchs, including the kings of Sicily, England and France, joined Alexander III.
Geza's envoys announced his decision to Alexander III in early 1161, but Geza only informed the emperor of his recognition of Alexander III in the autumn of the same year.
Geza's and Alexander III's envoys signed a
concordat
in the summer of 1161.
According to that treaty, Geza promised that he would not depose or transfer prelates without the consent of the Holy See; on the other hand, the pope acknowledged that no papal legates could be sent to Hungary without the king's permission and the Hungarian prelates were only allowed to appeal to the Holy See with the king's consent.
He also signed a truce for five years with the Byzantine Empire.
Shortly before his death, Geza granted Dalmatia, Croatia and other territories to his younger son,
Bela
, as an appanage duchy.
Geza died on 31 May 1162 and was buried in
Szekesfehervar
.
Family
[
edit
]
Ancestors of Geza II of Hungary
|
---|
|
Geza's wife,
Euphrosyne of Kiev
, was a daughter of Grand Prince
Mstislav I of Kiev
.
She survived Geza and died around 1193.
Their first child,
Stephen
, was born in the summer of 1147; he succeeded Geza in 1162.
His younger brother,
Bela
, was born in about 1148; he inherited Hungary after the death of Stephen in 1172.
Geza's third son and namesake,
Geza
, was born in the 1150s.
The youngest son of Geza and Euphrosyne, Arpad, did not survive childhood.
Geza's and Euphrosyne's oldest daughter,
Elizabeth
, was given in marriage to
Frederick of Bohemia
, who was the heir to
Vladislaus II, Duke of Bohemia
, in 1157.
The second daughter, Odola, married Vladislaus II of Bohemia's younger son, Sviatopluk, in 1164.
The third daughter of Geza and Euphrosyne,
Helena
, became the wife of
Leopold V of Austria
in 1174.
References
[
edit
]
- ^
The Hungarian Illuminated Chronicle
(ch. 160.114), p. 136.
- ^
Odo of Deuil: De Profectione Ludovici VII in Orientem: The Journey of Louis VII to the East
, p. 35.
- ^
The Hungarian Illuminated Chronicle
(ch. 166.120), p. 138.
- ^
Odo of Deuil: De Profectione Ludovici VII in Orientem: The Journey of Louis VII to the East
, p. 35.
- ^
Deeds of John and Manuel Comnenus by John Kinnamos
(3.8), p. 86.
- ^
Deeds of John and Manuel Comnenus by John Kinnamos
(3.11), p. 94.
- ^
The Deeds of Frederick Barbarossa
(2.6), p. 119.
- ^
The Travels of Ab? H?mid al-Andalus? al-Gharn?t?, 1130?1155
, pp. 82?83.
- ^
The Travels of Ab? H?mid al-Andalus? al-Gharn?t?, 1130?1155
, p. 81.
- ^
O City of Byzantium, Annals of Niketas Choniates
(4.126), p. 72.
- ^
The Deeds of Frederick Barbarossa
(3.13), p. 188.
Sources
[
edit
]
Primary sources
[
edit
]
- Archdeacon Thomas of Split: History of the Bishops of Salona and Split
(Latin text by Olga Peri?, edited, translated and annotated by Damir Karbi?, Mirjana Matijevi? Sokol and James Ross Sweeney) (2006). CEU Press.
ISBN
963-7326-59-6
.
- O City of Byzantium, Annals of Niketas Choniat?s
(Translated by Harry J. Magoulias) (1984). Wayne State University Press.
ISBN
978-0-8143-1764-8
.
- Odo of Deuil: De Profectione Ludovici VII in Orientem: The Journey of Louis VII to the East
(Edited with an English Translation by Virginia Gingerick Berry) (1948). Columbia University Press.
- Deeds of John and Manuel Comnenus by John Kinnamos
(Translated by Charles M. Brand) (1976). Columbia University Press.
ISBN
0-231-04080-6
.
- The Deeds of Frederick Barbarossa by Otto of Freising and his Continuator, Rahewin
(Translated and annotated with an introduction by Charles Christopher Mierow with the collaboration of Richard Emery) (2004). Columbia University Press.
ISBN
0-231-13419-3
.
- "The Travels of Ab? H?mid al-Andalus? al-Gharn?t?, 1130?1155". In
Ibn Fadl?n: Ibn Fadl?n and the Land of Darnkess: Arab Travellers in the Far North
(Translated with an Introduction by Paul Lunde and Caroline Stone) (2012). Penguin Books.
ISBN
978-0-140-45507-6
.
Secondary sources
[
edit
]
- Bartl, Julius; ?i?aj, Viliam; Kohutova, Maria; Letz, Robert; Sege?, Vladimir; ?kvarna, Du?an (2002).
Slovak History: Chronology & Lexicon
. Bolchazy-Carducci Publishers, Slovenske Pedegogicke Nakladatel'stvo.
ISBN
0-86516-444-4
.
- Dimnik, Martin (1994).
The Dynasty of Chernigov, 1054?1146
. Pontifical Institute of Mediaeval Studies.
ISBN
0-88844-116-9
.
- Dimnik, Martin (2003).
The Dynasty of Chernigov, 1146?1246
. Cambridge University Press.
ISBN
978-0-521-03981-9
.
- Engel, Pal (2001).
The Realm of St Stephen: A History of Medieval Hungary, 895?1526
. I.B. Tauris Publishers.
ISBN
1-86064-061-3
.
- Erszegi, Geza; Solymosi, Laszlo (1981). "Az Arpadok kiralysaga, 1000?1301 [The Monarchy of the Arpads, 1000?1301]". In Solymosi, Laszlo (ed.).
Magyarorszag torteneti kronologiaja, I: a kezdetekt?l 1526-ig
[Historical Chronology of Hungary, Volume I: From the Beginning to 1526]
(in Hungarian). Akademiai Kiado. pp. 79?187.
ISBN
963-05-2661-1
.
- Fine, John V. A. Jr.
(1991) [1983].
The Early Medieval Balkans: A Critical Survey from the Sixth to the Late Twelfth Century
. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press.
ISBN
0-472-08149-7
.
- Fugedi, Erik; Bak, Janos M. (2012). "Foreign Knights and Clerks in Early Medieval Hungary". In Berend, Nora (ed.).
The Expansion of Central Europe in the Middle Ages
. Ashgate Variorum. pp. 319?331.
ISBN
978-1-4094-2245-7
.
- Fuhrmann, Horst (1986).
Germany in the high middle ages,
c.
1146?1246
. Cambridge University Press.
ISBN
0-521-31980-3
.
- Kristo, Gyula; Makk, Ferenc (1996).
Az Arpad-haz uralkodoi
[Rulers of the House of Arpad]
(in Hungarian). I.P.C. Konyvek.
ISBN
963-7930-97-3
.
- Kristo, Gyula (2007).
Magyarorszag tortenete 895-1301
[History of Hungary]
(in Hungarian). Osiris.
ISBN
978-963-389-970-0
.
- Makk, Ferenc (1989).
The Arpads and the Comneni: Political Relations between Hungary and Byzantium in the 12th century (Translated by Gyorgy Novak)
. Akademiai Kiado.
ISBN
963-05-5268-X
.
- Makk, Ferenc (1994). "II. Geza". In Kristo, Gyula; Engel, Pal; Makk, Ferenc (eds.).
Korai magyar torteneti lexikon (9?14. szazad)
[Encyclopedia of the Early Hungarian History (9th?14th centuries)]
(in Hungarian). Akademiai Kiado. p. 236.
ISBN
963-05-6722-9
.
- Runciman, Steven
(1952).
A History of the Crusades, Volume II: The Kingdom of Jerusalem and the Frankish East
. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
ISBN
0-521-06162-8
.
- S?l?gean, Tudor (2005). "Romanian Society in the Early Middle Ages (9th?14th Centuries AD)". In Pop, Ioan-Aurel; Bolovan, Ioan (eds.).
History of Romania: Compendium
. Romanian Cultural Institute (Center for Transylvanian Studies). pp. 133?207.
ISBN
978-973-7784-12-4
.
- Stephenson, Paul (2000).
Byzantium's Balkan Frontier: A Political Study of the Northern Balkans, 900?1204
. Cambridge University Press.
ISBN
978-0-521-02756-4
.
Geza II of Hungary
Born:
1130
Died:
31 May 1162
|
Regnal titles
|
Preceded by
|
King of Hungary
and
Croatia
1141?1162
|
Succeeded by
|
|
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International
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National
| |
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People
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