Árpád Dynasty - 12th Century

12th Century

King Coloman deprived his brother, Álmos of his duchy (the Tercia pars regni) in 1107. He caught his second wife, Eufemia of Kiev in adultery; she was divorced and sent back to Kiev around 1114. Eufemia bore a son, named Boris in Kiev, but King Coloman refused to accept him as his son. Around 1115, the king had Duke Álmos and his son, King Béla blinded in order to ensure the succession of his own son, King Stephen II (1116–1131).

King Stephen II did not father any sons and his sister's son Saul was proclaimed heir to his throne instead of the blind Duke Béla. When King Stephen II died on March 1, 1131 his blind cousin managed nevertheless to acquire the throne. King Béla II (1131–1141) strengthened his rule by defeating King Coloman's alleged son, Boris, who endeavoured to deprive him of the throne with foreign military assistance. King Béla II occupied some territories in Bosnia and he conceded the new territory in appanage to his younger son, Ladislaus. Henceforward, members of the Árpád dynasty governed southern or eastern provinces (i.e., Slavonia, Croatia and Transylvania) of the kingdom instead of the Tercia pars regni.

During the reign of King Géza II (1141–1162), the Bishop Otto of Freising recorded that all the Hungarians "are so obedient to the monarch that not only irritating him by open opposition but even offending him by concealed whispers would be considered for felony by them". His son, King Stephen III (1162–1172) had to struggle for his throne against his uncles, Kings Ladislaus II (1162–1163) and Stephen IV (1163–1165), who rebelled against him with the assistance of the Byzantine Empire. During his reign, the Emperor Manuel I Komnenos occupied the southern provinces of the kingdom on the pretext that the king's brother, Béla (the Despotes Alexius) lived in his court. As the fiancé of the Emperor's only daughter, "Despotes Alexius" was the heir presumptive to the Emperor for a short period (1165–1169).

Following the death of King Stephen III, King Béla III (1173–1196) ascended the throne but he had imprisoned his brother, Géza in order to secure his rule. King Béla III, who had been educated in the Byzantine Empire, was the first king who used the "double cross" as the symbol of the Kingdom of Hungary. In 1188, Béla occupied Halych, whose prince had been dethroned by his boyars, and granted the principality to his second son Andrew, but his rule became unpopular and the Hungarian troops were expelled from Halych in 1189.

On June 27, 1192, the third member of the dynasty, King Ladislaus I was canonized in Várad (today Oradea in Romania).

King Béla III bequeathed his kingdom intact to his elder son King Emeric (1196–1204), but the new king had to concede Croatia and Dalmatia in appanage to his brother Andrew who had rebelled against him.