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JosephSmithSr.
So shall it be with my father: he shall be called a prince over his posterity, holding the keys of the patriarchal priesthood over the kingdom of God on earth, even the Church of the Latter Day Saints, and he shall sit in the general assembly of patriarchs, even in council with the Ancient of Days when he shall sit and all the patriarchs with him and shall enjoy his right and authority under the direction of the Ancient of Days. |
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HUNGARY, King Bela Masodik Tak
1108 - 1141 (33 years) 
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Name HUNGARY, Bela Masodik Tak Prefix King Birth 1108 Esztergom, Komárom, Hungary 
Gender Male _TAG Request Submitted for Permission _TAG Temple Death 13 Feb 1141 Székesfehérvár, Fejér, Hungary Burial 23 Feb 1141 Székesfehérvár, Fejér, Hungary Headstones 
Submit Headstone Photo Person ID I47345 Joseph Smith Sr and Lucy Mack Smith Last Modified 19 Aug 2021
Father HUNGARY, Duke Almos , b. Abt 1075, Esztergom, Komárom, Hungary Esztergom, Komárom, Hungaryd. 1 Sep 1127, Istanbul, Fatih, İstanbul, Turkey (Age 52 years) Mother KIEV, Princess Predislava Svyatopolkovna , b. 1075, Polatski Rayon, Vitebsk, Belarus, Soviet Union Polatski Rayon, Vitebsk, Belarus, Soviet Uniond. 1116, Polotsk, Vitebsk, Russia (Age 41 years) Marriage 11 Aug 1104 Family ID F24211 Group Sheet | Family Chart
Family SERBIA, Princess Ilona Jereha Nemanjics , b. Abt 1115, Beograd, Serbia Beograd, Serbiad. 1157, Székesfehérvár, Fejér, Hungary (Age 42 years) Marriage 28 Apr 1129 
Children4 sons and 2 daughters Family ID F24481 Group Sheet | Family Chart Last Modified 24 Jan 2022
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At least one living or private individual is linked to this item - Details withheld.
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Notes - BIO: King of Hungary, 1131-41. Blinded, 1113.
** from http://fmg.ac/Projects/MedLands/HUNGARY.htm#BelaIIB, as of 11/24/2014
BÉLA, son of ÁLMOS Prince of Hungary & his wife Predslava Sviatopolkovna of Kiev ([1109-13 Feb 1141, bur Székesfehérvár). He was blinded, together with his father, on the orders of his uncle King Kálmán and took refuge in the monastery of Pécsvárad[655]. The Chronicon Posoniense records that "Almus dux et Bela filius eius" were blinded in 1117[656]. He was appointed heir to the throne by his first cousin King István II in [1129][657]. He succeeded in 1131 as BÉLA II "Vak/the Blind" King of Hungary, crowned 28 Apr 1131, one of the rare exceptions of succession to a throne by a blind person in the Balkan region. The Chronicle of Otto of Freising records that the succession of "Bela Almi filio" was challenged by his cousin Boris[658]. King Béla was under the influence of his domineering wife who took an active part in the government of the country. A charter dated 3 Sep 1138 records the confirmation of his father´s donation by "Rege Bela secundo, bonæ memoriæ Almi ducis filio, cum Helena regina" to "ecclesiam…Martyris Margarethæ…Demesiensi"[659]. The Annales Gradicenses record the death in 1141 of "Bela rex Ungarorum" and the accession of his son[660]. The Chronicon Dubnicense records the death "Id Feb" in 1141 of "Bela cecus" and his burial "Albe"[661]. The necrology of Admunt records the death "Id Feb" of "Bela rex"[662]. The Gesta Hungarorum records that King Béla reigned for nine years and two months and was buried at Székesfehérvár[663]. The Chronica Ungarorum records the death in 1140 of "rex Bela" and his burial "in Alba"[664]. The Chronicon Varadiense records the death "Id Feb" in 1141 of "rex Bela cæcus filius ducis Almus" and his burial "Albæ"[665].
m (28 Aug 1127) JELENA of Serbia, daughter of UROŠ I Grand Župan of Serbia & his wife Anna [Diogenissa] (after 1109-after 1146). A charter dated 3 Sep 1138 records the confirmation of his father´s donation by "Rege Bela secundo, bonæ memoriæ Almi ducis filio, cum Helena regina" to "ecclesiam…Martyris Margarethæ…Demesiensi"[666]. The primary source which confirms her parentage has not yet been identified. She brought part of northern Serbia, probably north-eastern Bosnia and Mačva/Macsói, to Hungary as her dowry[667]. She led a campaign of revenge against the magnates alleged to have permitted the blinding of her husband, including the execution of 68 magnates at a meeting in Arad in [1131/32][668].
King Béla II & his wife had six children:
1. ERSZÉBET ([1128]-before 1155). m ([1136/40]) as his first wife, MIESZKO III Prince of Greater Poland, son of BOLESŁAW III "Krzywousty/Wrymouth" Prince of Poland & his second wife Salome von Berg-Schelklingen ([1126/27]-13 Mar 1202).
2. GÉZA ([1130]-3 May 1162). He succeeded in 1141 as GÉZA II King of Hungary.
3. LÁSZLÓ ([1132]-14 Nov 1163). He succeeded in 1162 as LÁSZLÓ II King of Hungary. m (divorced before 1148) as her first husband, JUDYTA of Poland, daughter of BOLESŁAW III "Krzywousty/Wrymouth" Prince of Poland & his second wife Salome von Berg-Schelklingen ([1133]-8 Jul [1171/75], bur Brandenburg Cathedral). She married secondly (6 Jan 1148) as his first wife, Otto von Brandenburg, who succeeded his father in 1170 as Otto I Markgraf von Brandenburg.
4. ISTVÁN ([1132/33]-murdered Semlin 11 Apr 1165, bur Székesfehérvár). He succeeded his brother in 1163 as ISTVÁN IV King of Hungary. m (1156 or 1158) MARIA Komnene, daughter of ISAAKIOS Komnenos & his first wife Theodora [Kamaterina] ([1144]-1190).
5. ÁLMOS (1134-before 1138).
6. ZSÓFIA ([1136/37]-). Nun at Admont. Betrothed (11 Jun 1139) to HEINRICH BERENGAR von Staufen, son of KONRAD II King of Germany & his second wife Gertrud von Sulzbach ([1136/37]-1150 after Feb).
** from The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Medieval Civilization (A. Grabois), p 106--
Bela II, the Blind (d 1141) King of Hungary (1131-41). The son of Almos, he was blinded during his father's revolt against Stephen II. Exiled to Constantinople, he returned to Hungary at Stephen's death to be crowned king. Most of his reign was spent in contending with Prince Boris, Stephen's half-brother, who claimed the crown and was supported by the Germans. The nobility was behind him in the struggle to free Hungary from its dependence on the empire, and he was able to secure his position and the inheritance to his son Geza II without opposition.
** from Wikipedia listing for Béla II of Hungary, as of 11/24/2014
Béla the Blind (Hungarian: Vak Béla; Croatian: Bela Slijepi; Slovak: Belo Slepý; c. 1109 – 13 February 1141) was King of Hungary and Croatia from 1131. He was blinded along with his rebellious father Álmos on the order of Álmos's brother, King Coloman of Hungary. Béla grew up in monasteries during the reign of Coloman's son Stephen II. The childless king arranged Béla's marriage with Helena of Rascia, who would become her husband's co-ruler throughout his reign.
Béla was crowned king at least two months after the death of Stephen II, implying that his accession to the throne did not happen without opposition. Two violent purges were carried out among the partisans of his predecessors to strengthen Béla's rule. King Coloman's alleged son Boris tried to dethrone Béla but the king and his allies defeated the pretender's troops in 1132. In the second half of Béla's reign, Hungary adopted an active foreign policy. Bosnia and Split seem to have accepted Béla's suzerainty around 1136.
Early years until 1131
Béla was the only son of Duke Álmos—the younger brother of King Coloman of Hungary—by his wife, Predslava of Kiev.[1] Historians Gyula Kristó and Ferenc Makk write that Béla was born between 1108 and 1110.[2][3] Álmos devised several plots to dethrone his brother.[4] In retaliation, the king deprived Álmos of his ducatus or "duchy" between 1105 and 1108.[5][6] Álmos did not give up his ambitions and King Coloman had him and the child Béla blinded between 1112 and 1115 to secure a peaceful succession for his own son, Stephen.[7][4] According to one of the two versions of these events recorded in the Illuminated Chronicle, the king even ordered that Béla should be castrated but the soldier who was charged with this task refused to execute the order.[3][4]
Dömös monastery
[The] King took the Duke and his infant son Bela and blinded them. He also gave orders that the infant Bela should be castrated. But the man who was instructed to blind them feared God and the sterility of the royal line, and therefore he castrated a dog and brought its testicles to the King.
—The Hungarian Illuminated Chronicle[8]
After their blinding, Álmos lived in the monastery of Dömös, which he had founded.[3] Kristó and Makk write that it is probable that Béla lived with his father in the monastery.[3][2] The Annales Posonienses relates that "the child was growing in the reign of King Coloman's son, Stephen", who ascended the throne in 1116.[9] Having hatched a failed plot against the king, Álmos left the monastery and fled to Constantinople in about 1125.[10][11] For unknown reasons, Béla did not follow his father to the Byzantine Empire.[10] The Illuminated Chronicle narrates that he was kept "concealed in Hungary from the fury"[12] of the king.[10] Béla settled in the Pécsvárad Abbey, whose abbot sheltered him in secret.[10]
Álmos died in exile on 1 September 1127.[13] According to the Illuminated Chronicle, Béla's partisans "revealed to the King, who believed him to have died after his blinding, that Béla was alive".[12][10] On hearing this, King Stephen II "rejoiced with great joy, for he knew beyond doubt that he would have no heir".[12][10] The king even arranged Béla's marriage with Helena of Rascia and granted Tolna to the couple around 1129.[14][15] King Stephen II died in early 1131.[15] A late source—the Ottoman Turkish chronicle known as Tarih-i Üngürüs or The History of the Hungarians—narrates that Béla ascended the throne after his predecessor's nephew, Saul whom Stephen II had nominated as his heir had died.[16] Béla II was crowned in Székesfehérvár on 28 April, substantiating the reliability of this report.[10] However, no scholarly consensus on the exact circumstances of Béla's ascension exists. According to Gyula Kristó, Béla was crowned after a civil war between his and Saul's partisans, but Pál Engel does not mention any conflict related to Béla's succession.[10][17]
Reign
Consolidation (1131–1132)
Béla's blindness prevented him from administering his kingdom without assistance.[17][18] He put his trust in his wife and her brother Beloš.[18] Both royal and private charters from Béla's reign emphasize Queen Helena's pre-eminent role in the decision-making process, proving that the king regarded his wife as his co-ruler.[19] According to the Illuminated Chronicle, at "an assembly of the realm near Arad"[20] in early to mid-1131, Queen Helena ordered the slaughter of all noblemen who were accused of having suggested the blinding of her husband to King Coloman.[17][21] Béla distributed the goods of the executed magnates between the newly established Arad Chapter and the early 11th-century Óbuda Chapter.[22]
Béla's was on good terms with the Holy Roman Empire, jeopardizing the interests of Boleslaw III of Poland who had been warring with the empire.[23] The Polish monarch decided to support a pretender to the Hungarian crown named Boris.[23] Boris was born to King Coloman's second wife Euphemia of Kiev after his mother was repudiated for adultery.[17] After Boris arrived in Poland, a number of Hungarian noblemen joined him.[24] Others sent messengers to Boris "to invite him that he should come and with their help claim the kingdom for himself",[25] according to the Illuminated Chronicle.[26][24]
Accompanied by Polish and Rus' reinforcements, Boris broke into Hungary in mid-1132.[24] Béla entered into an alliance with Leopold III, Margrave of Austria.[27] Before launching a counter-attack against Boris, Béla convoked a council on the river Sajó.[24] The Illuminated Chronicle relates that the King asked "the eminent men of Hungary" who were present if they knew whether Boris "was a bastard or the son of King Coloman".[25][28] The King's partisans attacked and murdered all those who proved to be "disloyal and divided in their minds"[25] during the meeting.[29] Boris, who thought that the majority of the Hungarian lords supported his claim, in vain sent one of his partisans to Béla's camp to incite the King's retinue to mutiny.[29]
[Samson] proposed to go to the assembly of the King and there openly and publicly insult him. All approved and [Boris] himself, misled by empty hope, gave him great thanks; for he wanted to complete what he had begun, and he thought that after the King had been thus insulted the kingdom would be his. The King had taken up his station near the river [Sajó], and as he sat in his tent with his nobles and soldiers, behold, [Samson] entered and said to the King: "Vile dog, what are you doing with the kingdom? It is better that your lord [Boris] have the kingdom and for your to live in your monastery, as your father did." There was commotion among the nobles of the realm, and Johannes, the son of Otto, the King's notary ... , said to Count Bud: "Why are we waiting? Why do we not seize him?" As they made to seize him, he hastily leapt upon a horse and fled.
—The Hungarian Illuminated Chronicle[30]
Béla tried to persuade the Polish monarch to stop supporting the pretender.[31] However, Boleslaw remained loyal to Boris.[32] In the decisive battle, which was fought on the river Sajó on 22 July 1132, the Hungarian and Austrian troops defeated Boris and his allies.[23][33]
Expansion (1132–1139)
Boleslaw III of Poland could not assist Boris after the Battle of the Sajó.[33] Béla's allies—Soběslav I of Bohemia and Volodimirko of Peremyshl—invaded Poland each year between 1132 and 1135.[23][33] Soběslav regularly—in 1133, 1134, 1137, and 1139—visited Béla's court.[34] The Czech monarch even persuaded Lothar III, Holy Roman Emperor to force Boleslaw III to abandon Boris and recognize Béla's rule in Hungary in August 1135.[33][35]
Hungary adopted an expansionist policy after Boris's attempts to dethrone Béla.[34] The chronicler Thomas the Archdeacon relates that Gaudius, who became Archbishop of Split in 1136, "enjoyed great favor with the kings of Hungary" and "often visited their court".[36][37] The report suggests that Split accepted Béla II's suzerainty around 1136, but this interpretation of the sources is not universally accepted by historians.[37][34] The exact circumstances surrounding the submission of Bosnia are unknown but the region seems to have accepted Béla's suzerainty without resistance by 1137.[38] Historian John V. A. Fine writes that the northeastern regions of the province formed part of Queen Helena's dowry.[18] The Hungarian army penetrated into the valley of the Rama River, a tributary of the Neretva River, in about 1137.[33][17] Although Béla assumed the title King of Rama in token of the new conquest, the permanent occupation of the region is not proven.[17]
Hungarian troops participated in a campaign launched by Grand Prince Yaropolk II of Kiev against Vsevolod of Kiev in 1139.[34][39] Béla strengthened his alliance with the Holy Roman Empire.[34] For this purpose, he gave financial support to Otto of Bamberg's missions among the Pomeranians and arranged the engagement of his daughter Sophia with Henry, son of the new German king Conrad III in June 1139.[34]
Last years (1139–1141)
According to the Hungarian chronicles, in the last few years of his life Béla became a drunkard.[17] His courtiers took advantage of his drunkenness to receive grants from him.[40] When he was in an alcoholic stupor, he sometimes ordered the execution of innocent men.[40] Béla died on 13 February 1141, "on the Ides of February, a Thursday".[41][40] He was buried in the Székesfehérvár Cathedral.[40]
After King Bela had been established in his rule of the kingdom, he indulged himself much with wine. His courtiers found that whatever they asked of the King in his drunkenness he would grant, and after his drunkenness he could not take it back. In his drunkenness he delivered Poch and Saul, who were in religious orders, into the hands of their enemies, and they were killed without cause.
—The Hungarian Illuminated Chronicle[42]
Family
Béla married Helena of Rascia upon the initiation of his cousin, King Stephen II at the beginning of 1129.[47] Helena was a daughter of Uroš I of Rascia and his wife Anna, whose origin is uncertain.[47] Queen Helena gave birth to at least six children.[48] The first of these, the future King Géza II of Hungary, was born in 1130.[1] Three brothers—Ladislaus, Stephen and Álmos—were born in the early 1130s.[1] Sophia, the first daughter of the royal couple, was born around 1135; she died as a nun in Admont Abbey after her engagement with Henry Berengar of Germany was broken.[49] Béla II's youngest daughter Gertrud, who was born in about 1140, married Mieszko III of Poland.[50]
The following family tree presents Béla's ancestors and some of his relatives who are mentioned in the article.[51]
References--see Wikipedia listing directly
Primary sources
Archdeacon Thomas of Split: History of the Bishops of Salona and Split (Latin text by Olga Perić, edited, translated and annotated by Damir Karbić, Mirjana Matijević Sokol and James Ross Sweeney) (2006). CEU Press. ISBN 963-7326-59-6.
The Hungarian Illuminated Chronicle: Chronica de Gestis Hungarorum (Edited by Dezső Dercsényi) (1970). Corvina, Taplinger Publishing. ISBN 0-8008-4015-1.
Secondary sources
Bartl, Július; Čičaj, Viliam; Kohútova, Mária; Letz, Róbert; Segeš, Vladimír; Škvarna, Dušan (2002). Slovak History: Chronology & Lexicon. Bolchazy-Carducci Publishers, Slovenské Pedegogické Nakladatel'stvo. ISBN 0-86516-444-4.
Cartledge, Bryan (2011). The Will to Survive: A History of Hungary. Hurst & Company. ISBN 978-1-84904-112-6.
Dimnik, Martin (1994). The Dynasty of Chernigov, 1054–1146. Pontifical Institute of Mediaeval Studies. ISBN 0-88844-116-9.
Engel, Pál (2001). The Realm of St Stephen: A History of Medieval Hungary, 895–1526. I.B. Tauris Publishers. ISBN 1-86064-061-3.
Fine, John V. A (1991). The Early Medieval Balkans: A Critical Survey from the Sixth to the Late Twelfth century. The University of Michigan Press. ISBN 0-472-08149-7.
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.
Makk, Ferenc (1989). The Árpáds and the Comneni: Political Relations between Hungary and Byzantium in the 12th century (Translated by György Novák). Akadémiai Kiadó. ISBN 963-05-5268-X.
Makk, Ferenc (1994). "II. (Vak) Béla; Ilona; Rurikok". In Kristó, Gyula; Engel, Pál; Makk, Ferenc. Korai magyar történeti lexikon (9–14. század) [=Encyclopedia of the Early Hungarian History (9th–14th centuries)] (in Hungarian). Akadémiai Kiadó. pp. 90–91, 281, 583–589. ISBN 963-05-6722-9.
Manteuffel, Tadeusz (1982). The Formation of the Polish State: The Period of Ducal Rule, 963–1194 (Translated and with an Introduction by Andrew Gorski). Wayne State University Press. ISBN 0-8143-1682-4.
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.
Wiszewski, Przemysław (2010). Domus Bolezlai: Values and Social Identity in Dynastic Traditions of Medieval Poland (c. 966–1138). Brill. ISBN 978-90-04-18142-7.
- BIO: King of Hungary, 1131-41. Blinded, 1113.
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