Stephen V of Hungary
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King Stephen V of Hungary (Hungarian: V. István, Croatian: Stjepan VI., Slovak: Štefan V) (before October 18 1239, Buda, Hungary – August 6 1272, Csepel Island, Hungary), king of Hungary and Croatia (1246-1272) and duke of Styria (1258-1260).
He was the elder son of Bela IV of Hungary and his queen, Maria Laskarina, a daughter of Theodore I Lascaris of the Empire of Nicaea and Anna Angelina.
In the second year after his birth, on April 11, 1241, the Mongolian troops defeated his father's army in the Battle of Mohi. After the disastrous battle, the royal family had to escape to Trogir, a well-fortified city in Dalmatia. They could only return to Hungary after the unexpected withdrawal of the Mongol forces from Europe.
In 1246 Stephen, as junior king, was crowned and his father entrusted him with the government of Croatia, Slavonia and Dalmatia, but the three provinces were de facto governed by Ban Stephen de genere Gut-Keled. Stephen's father, attempting to bind the powerful but pagan Cuman tribes more closely to the dynasty, arranged for Stephen's marriage, as a youth (about 1253), to Elizabeth, the daughter of a Cuman chieftain.
In 1257 Stephen, as crowned junior king, demanded his father to divide the kingdom between themselves and recruited an army against the senior king. Finally, in 1258 Bela IV ceded him the government of Transylvania. In 1258 Stephen V took part in his father's military campaign against the Styrians who had rebelled against the rule of the king of Hungary. After the succesfull campaign, Bela IV appointed him to duke of Styria. His government, however, was unpopular among his new subjects, who rebelled against him with the support of King Otakar II of Bohemia. Stephen and his father started an attack against the territories of Otakar I, but his troops were defeated on July 12, 1260 in the Battle of Kroissenbrunn. In the Peace of Bratislava (Pozsony) the kings of Hungary renounced the duchy of Styria in favour of the king of Bohemia.
As crown prince Stephen had exhibited considerable ability, but also a disquieting restlessness and violence. He was appointed duke of Transylvania, then duke of Styria. After the loss of Styria he became duke of Transylvania again. In 1262 Stephen convinced his father Béla to give him twenty-nine counties as a reward of assistance in the war against Ottokar II of Bohemia; hence Hungary was virtually divided into two kingdoms. Stephen was crowned junior king of Hungary. Though Hungary was de facto divided into two kingdoms the legal unity remained, because Stephen theoretically ruled by the grace of God and by the will his father. He subsequently seized the southern banate of Macsó and defeated his father in the ensuing civil war. In 1268 he undertook an expedition against the Bulgarians, penetrating as far as Veliko Tarnovo and styling himself as king of Bulgaria.
To secure foreign support, he formed a double matrimonial alliance with the Angevins, chief partisans of the pope. The first of these was the marriage in 1270 of his daughter Maria of Hungary to Charles II of Naples (they became grandparents of Charles I of Hungary). The second alliance was the marriage of Stephen's infant son Ladislaus to Charles II's sister Elisabeth.
Byzantine Emperor Andronicus II Palaeologus married Anna, another of Stephen's daughters. Serbian king Stefan Dragutin married Katerina, yet another of Stephan's daughters.
Adversaries of Stephen, especially Ottokar II of Bohemia, believed that Stephen was too great a friend of the mighty Cumans (who could field 16,000 men) to be a true Catholic. Ottokar endeavoured with the aid of the Hungarian malcontents to conquer the western provinces of Hungary but they were utterly routed by Stephen in 1271 near Mosony. Ottokar relinquished all his conquests the same year in the peace of Pressburg.
Stephen died suddenly as he was raising an army to rescue his kidnapped infant son Ladislaus from his rebellious vassals.
[edit] Children
He and his wife Elizabeth the Cuman were parents to six known children:
- Elisabeth of Hungary (c. 1255 - 1313). Married firstly Zavis Vítkovci, Lord of Rozmberka, Skalitz and Falkenstein. Married secondly king Stefan Uroš II Milutin of Serbia.
- Catherine of Hungary (c. 1256 - after 1314). Married Stefan Dragutin of Serbia, king of Srem.
- Maria of Hungary (c. 1257 - 25 March, 1323). Married king Charles II of Naples.
- Anna of Hungary (c. 1260 - 1281). Married Andronikos II Palaiologos, Emperor of Constantinople.
- Ladislas IV of Hungary (August, 1262 - 10 July, 1290).
- Andrew (András), Duke of Slavonia (1268 - 1278)
| Preceded by Bela IV | King of Hungary 1270–1272 | Succeeded by Ladislaus IV |
| Preceded by Bela III | King of Croatia 1270–1272 | Succeeded by Ladislaus III |
[edit] References
- This article incorporates text from the Encyclopædia Britannica Eleventh Edition, a publication now in the public domain.
[edit] External links
- A listing of descendants of Árpád dynasty, including him and his siblings
- His listing in "Medieval lands" by Charles Cawley. The project "involves extracting and analysing detailed information from primary sources, including contemporary chronicles, cartularies, necrologies and testaments."
cs:Štěpán V. Uherský de:Stephan V. (Ungarn) el:Στέφανος Ε' της Ουγγαρίας es:Esteban V de Hungría eo:Stefano la 5-a (Hungario) fr:Étienne V de Hongrie hr:Stjepan V., hrvatsko-ugarski kralj it:Stefano V d'Ungheria hu:V. István nl:Stefanus V van Hongarije ja:イシュトヴァーン5世 pl:Stefan V Arpadowicz pt:Estêvão V da Hungria sk:Štefan V. (Uhorsko) sv:Stefan V av Ungern
