A Byzantine–Hungarian War was fought between Byzantine and Hungarian forces in the
Balkans
The Balkans ( ), also known as the Balkan Peninsula, is a geographical area in southeastern Europe with various geographical and historical definitions. The region takes its name from the Balkan Mountains that stretch throughout the who ...
from 1180 to 1185. Taking advantage of the internal conflicts in the Byzantine Empire after Emperor
Manuel's death,
Béla III of Hungary
Béla III ( hu, III. Béla, hr, Bela III, sk, Belo III; 114823 April 1196) was King of Hungary and Croatia between 1172 and 1196. He was the second son of King Géza II and Géza's wife, Euphrosyne of Kiev. Around 1161, Géza granted Béla a ...
reoccupied
Croatia
, image_flag = Flag of Croatia.svg
, image_coat = Coat of arms of Croatia.svg
, anthem = "Lijepa naša domovino"("Our Beautiful Homeland")
, image_map =
, map_caption =
, capit ...
,
Dalmatia and
Syrmia, restoring Hungarian suzerainty over these territories after fourteen years.
Background
During the reign of Emperor
Manuel I Komnenos (r. 1143–1180), the Byzantine Empire was a constant threat to Hungary's sovereignty along the southern border. The
Balkans
The Balkans ( ), also known as the Balkan Peninsula, is a geographical area in southeastern Europe with various geographical and historical definitions. The region takes its name from the Balkan Mountains that stretch throughout the who ...
served as a
buffer zone between the two powers. The vassal state
Grand Principality of Serbia
Grand Principality of Serbia ( sr, Великожупанска Србија, Velikožupanska Srbija), or Rascia ( sr, Рашка, Raška), was a medieval Serbian state that existed from the second half of the 11th century up until 1217, when it ...
rebelled in 1149, forcing Manuel to interrupt his preparations for an invasion of
Southern Italy and invade Serbia in 1149. Manuel's active foreign policy in the Balkans escalated
brief wars between the Byzantine Empire and the Kingdom of Hungary in the period between 1149 and 1155, during the reign of
Géza II of Hungary
Géza II ( hu, II. Géza; hr, Gejza II; sk, Gejza II; 113031 May 1162) was King of Hungary and Croatia from 1141 to 1162. He was the oldest son of Béla the Blind and his wife, Helena of Serbia. When his father died, Géza was still a child a ...
.
Géza II died in May 1162. His fifteen-year-old son
Stephen III ascended the Hungarian throne, but his two uncles, anti-kings
Ladislaus II (1162–1163) then
Stephen IV (1163), who had joined the court of the Byzantine Empire and enjoyed the support of Manuel, challenged his right to the crown. A
civil war
A civil war or intrastate war is a war between organized groups within the same state (or country).
The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies ...
broke out between Stephen III and his uncles. The army of Stephen III, along with German mercenaries, defeated his uncle Stephen IV in June 1163. Although Stephen III remained the only legitimate monarch in Hungary, the civil war was followed by a large-scale Byzantine invasion of Hungary. Stephen III was obliged to renounce Syrmia (Sirmium) in favor of the Byzantine Empire, but only after Manuel promised that he would never support his uncle Stephen IV. Clashes and border conflicts between Hungary and the Byzantium lasted until 1167, when Stephen III had to renounce Dalmatia, Croatia and Syrmia to the Byzantine Empire. Prior to that, these lands belonged to the
appanage
An appanage, or apanage (; french: apanage ), is the grant of an estate, title, office or other thing of value to a younger child of a sovereign, who would otherwise have no inheritance under the system of primogeniture. It was common in much o ...
of Stephen's younger brother Béla, who was sent to
Constantinople
la, Constantinopolis ota, قسطنطينيه
, alternate_name = Byzantion (earlier Greek name), Nova Roma ("New Rome"), Miklagard/Miklagarth (Old Norse), Tsargrad ( Slavic), Qustantiniya ( Arabic), Basileuousa ("Queen of Cities"), Megalopolis ( ...
in accordance with the peace treaty between Stephen III and Manuel. Béla ascended his brother in the Hungarian throne in 1172. Before his departure, he pledged that he would never make war against the Byzantine Empire. Until Manuel's death, no further confrontation took place between the two countries; Béla even sent reinforcements to Manuel to help him fight against the
Seljuks
The Seljuk dynasty, or Seljukids ( ; fa, سلجوقیان ''Saljuqian'', alternatively spelled as Seljuqs or Saljuqs), also known as Seljuk Turks, Seljuk Turkomans "The defeat in August 1071 of the Byzantine emperor Romanos Diogenes
by the Turk ...
in 1176.
The last Byzantine–Hungarian war
The death of Emperor Manuel on 24 September 1180 left the Byzantine Empire in an extremely difficult political situation. His eleven-year-old son
Alexios II Komnenos succeeded him, but the imperial power was held by regents, his mother
Maria of Antioch and the ''
prōtosebastos''
Alexios Komnenos (a namesake cousin of the child monarch). The following period was characterized by internal struggles within the elite, while Manuel's daughter
Maria Komnene (once engaged to Béla III) also contested her half-brother's right to the crown.
Recovery of the lost provinces
Taking advantage of the internal conflicts in the Byzantine Empire, Béla III launched a campaign in the autumn of 1180 in order to restore the Hungarian suzerainty in Dalmatia. The king entrusted his
palatine
A palatine or palatinus (in Latin; plural ''palatini''; cf. derivative spellings below) is a high-level official attached to imperial or royal courts in Europe since Roman times. Farkas Gatal
Farkas from the kindred Gatal ( hu, Gatal nembeli Farkas; died after 1183) was a Hungarian lord in the second half of the 12th century, who served as Palatine of Hungary from around 1177 to 1183.
Family
Farkas (Forcos) was born into the ''gens'' ...
to lead the Hungarian troops till the
Adriatic Sea
The Adriatic Sea () is a body of water separating the Italian Peninsula from the Balkan Peninsula. The Adriatic is the northernmost arm of the Mediterranean Sea, extending from the Strait of Otranto (where it connects to the Ionian Sea) to t ...
. Within six months, Béla had restored his suzerainty in Dalmatia, but no detailed contemporaneous accounts of the events exist. The citizens of
Split
Split(s) or The Split may refer to:
Places
* Split, Croatia, the largest coastal city in Croatia
* Split Island, Canada, an island in the Hudson Bay
* Split Island, Falkland Islands
* Split Island, Fiji, better known as Hạfliua
Arts, entertai ...
and
Zadar
Zadar ( , ; historically known as Zara (from Venetian and Italian: ); see also other names), is the oldest continuously inhabited Croatian city. It is situated on the Adriatic Sea, at the northwestern part of Ravni Kotari region. Zadar ser ...
also accepted Béla's suzerainty in late 1180 or early 1181. The latter revolted against the Venetian rule, supported by the presence of the Hungarian army. Historian
John V. A. Fine wrote that Béla retook suzerainty of Dalmatia "seemingly without bloodshed and with imperial consent", because the Byzantine authorities preferred that Béla rule the province rather than the
Republic of Venice
The Republic of Venice ( vec, Repùblega de Venèsia) or Venetian Republic ( vec, Repùblega Vèneta, links=no), traditionally known as La Serenissima ( en, Most Serene Republic of Venice, italics=yes; vec, Serenìsima Repùblega de Venèsia, ...
. Ferenc Makk refused this standpoint, because the "Byzantium was not threatened by Venice in Dalmatia at the time", for instance, Doge
Orio Mastropiero
Orio Mastropiero (died 13 June 1192), forename sometimes rendered as Aurio and surname as Malipiero, was a Venetian statesman who served as the doge of Venice from 1178 to 1192.
He was elected by the Council of Forty in 1178 following the retireme ...
unsuccessfully attempted to regain Zadar from the Hungarians years later, in 1187. Nevertheless, Béla indeed retook suzerainty of Dalmatia seemingly without serious confrontation. Farkas Gatal resided in Zadar in March 1181. Because of the internal struggle, the Byzantine Empire was unable to mount serious resistance. In addition,
Kilij Arslan II, the
Seljuk Sultan of Rûm seized most of the southern coast of
Asia Minor
Anatolia, tr, Anadolu Yarımadası), and the Anatolian plateau, also known as Asia Minor, is a large peninsula in Western Asia and the westernmost protrusion of the Asian continent. It constitutes the major part of modern-day Turkey. The re ...
from the empire around the same time.
Béla III immediately intended to reorganize the royal administration in Croatia and Dalmatia. His confidant
Denis was installed as Ban of Slavonia in 1181. He was also styled as "Ban of Croatia and Dalmatia", then "governor of
maritime parts" in 1183, and "Ban of Maritime Provinces" ( hr, Primorje, hu, Tengermellék) in 1184, which reflect he had jurisdiction over all Croatia and Dalmatia, and his suzerainty extended until the river
Danube
The Danube ( ; ) is a river that was once a long-standing frontier of the Roman Empire and today connects 10 European countries, running through their territories or being a border. Originating in Germany, the Danube flows southeast for , p ...
. Historian Judit Gál considered after Béla recovered Dalmatia, Hungary's territories beyond the
Drava were initially consolidated under a single ban after 1183. Simultaneously with Denis' appointment,
Maurus Győr was installed as "governor of the whole coastal province" already by February 1181, when resided in Zadar and was involved in a verdict about some possession rights. Accordingly, Maurus functioned as the deputy of Denis, supervising the coastal territories along the Adriatic Sea. King Béla also sought to re-establish pro-Hungarian ecclesiastical organization in Dalmatia: the 13th-century chronicler
Thomas the Archdeacon
Thomas the Archdeacon ( la, Thomas Archidiaconus; it, Tommaso Arcidiacono; hr, Toma Arhiđakon; c. 1200 – 8 May 1268), also known as Thomas of Spalato ( la, Thomas Spalatensis, hu, Spalatói Tamás), was a Roman Catholic cleric, historian and ...
narrates that the monarch wished the burghers of Split to elect a Hungarian national as
archbishop of Split
The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Split-Makarska ( hr, Splitsko-makarska nadbiskupija; la, Archidioecesis Spalatensis-Macarscensis) is a Metropolitan archdiocese of the Latin Rite of the Roman Catholic church in Croatia and Montenegro. in order to fill the dignity. However, the citizens refused to elect the king's protegee and physician
Peter
Peter may refer to:
People
* List of people named Peter, a list of people and fictional characters with the given name
* Peter (given name)
** Saint Peter (died 60s), apostle of Jesus, leader of the early Christian Church
* Peter (surname), a sur ...
and petitioned to the
Holy See
The Holy See ( lat, Sancta Sedes, ; it, Santa Sede ), also called the See of Rome, Petrine See or Apostolic See, is the jurisdiction of the Pope in his role as the bishop of Rome. It includes the apostolic episcopal see of the Diocese of R ...
. In 1181,
Pope Alexander III urged Béla III to respect the burghers of Split's privilege to free elect of their archbishop. Under the pressure of the Hungarians, despite the intervention of the
Roman Curia, Peter was elected Archbishop of Split by the local citizens in 1185. Nevertheless, Peter already acted as ''de facto'' prelate in the previous years, and royal charters in Hungary styled him as Archbishop of Split since 1180.
Simultaneously with the recovery of Croatia and Dalmatia, the Hungarian army marched into Syrmia too, but the details of the reconquest of the province in the Central Balkans are also obscure. Béla's troops seized and ravaged the region of
Belgrade and
Barancs (now Braničevo in Serbia). Thereafter, the Hungarian army advanced as far as to the
Morava Valley
The Morava Valley ( sr, Поморавље / ''Pomoravlje'', ), is a general term which in its widest sense marks valleys of any of three Morava rivers in Serbia: the West Morava (West Morava Valley), the South Morava ( South Morava Valley) and ...
. It took place in the summer of 1181 at the latest.
Andronikos Komnenos, marching to
Constantinople
la, Constantinopolis ota, قسطنطينيه
, alternate_name = Byzantion (earlier Greek name), Nova Roma ("New Rome"), Miklagard/Miklagarth (Old Norse), Tsargrad ( Slavic), Qustantiniya ( Arabic), Basileuousa ("Queen of Cities"), Megalopolis ( ...
with an army, accused Maria of Antioch, the mother and regent of the young Byzantine Emperor, Alexios II, of inciting Bélaher brother-in-lawto ravage the region of Belgrade and Barancs in May 1182, implying that Béla had by that time occupied Syrmia.
Interference in the Byzantine civil war
After gaining control of Constantinople and the order to
massacre of the Latins in the spring of 1182, Andronikos Komnenos had poisoned Maria Komnene and her husband
Renier of Montferrat
Renier or Rénier may refer to:
Given name:
* Renier Botha (born 1992), South African rugby union player
* Renier Coetzee PS, General Officer in the South African Army
* François Renier Duminy (1747–1811), French mariner, navigator, cartograph ...
, while the dowager empress Maria of Antioch was arrested and imprisoned. The empress tried to seek help from her brother-in-law Béla III, according to the verdict. Andronikos had Alexios II sign the order for his mother's execution and Maria was strangled in her prison in late 1182.
Taking advantage of the emerging anarchy in the Byzantine Empire, Béla advanced as far as
Niš
Niš (; sr-Cyrl, Ниш, ; names in other languages) is the third largest city in Serbia and the administrative center of the Nišava District. It is located in southern part of Serbia. , the city proper has a population of 183,164, while ...
(Naissos) and
Sofia
Sofia ( ; bg, София, Sofiya, ) is the capital and largest city of Bulgaria. It is situated in the Sofia Valley at the foot of the Vitosha mountain in the western parts of the country. The city is built west of the Iskar river, and h ...
(Serdica) in the first half of 1183. During the campaign, the Hungarian king allied with the
Serbs
The Serbs ( sr-Cyr, Срби, Srbi, ) are the most numerous South Slavic ethnic group native to the Balkans in Southeastern Europe, who share a common Serbian ancestry, culture, history and language.
The majority of Serbs live in their na ...
of
Rascia and the
Banate of Bosnia, who struggled for their independence and the usurpation of Andronikos Komnenos freed them from subordination to the Byzantine Empire under the leadership of
Stefan Nemanja
Stefan Nemanja (Serbian Cyrillic: , ; – 13 February 1199) was the Grand Prince ( Veliki Župan) of the Serbian Grand Principality (also known as Raška, lat. ) from 1166 to 1196. A member of the Vukanović dynasty, Nemanja founded the Nema ...
and
Ban Kulin, respectively. During the siege, Niš was completely destroyed. In Serdica, Béla III seized the casket containing the relics of
Saint Ivan of Rila
Saint John of Rila, a.k.a. Ivan of Rila (Bulgarian language, Bulgarian: Свети преподобни Йоан Рилски Чудотворец, Svеti prеpodobni Yoan Rilski Chudotvorеts; English language, English: Saint (monk) John of Rila ...
, and ordered it "to be transported with great honors to his land and to be laid down with honor in the church" of
Esztergom
Esztergom ( ; german: Gran; la, Solva or ; sk, Ostrihom, known by alternative names) is a city with county rights in northern Hungary, northwest of the capital Budapest. It lies in Komárom-Esztergom County, on the right bank of the river Dan ...
, according to the saint's ''Life from the Sofia Prologue''. Ferenc Makk considered that Béla withdrew from the regions south of the Danube, but historian Paul Stephenson argued that Béla preserved these lands. According to the Byzantine historian
Niketas Choniates, the Byzantine generals
Alexios Branas
Alexios (or Alexius) Branas or Vranas ( el, ) (died 1187) was a Byzantine nobleman, attempted usurper, and the last Byzantine military leader of the 12th century to gain a notable success against a foreign enemy.
Background
Alexios Branas was a ...
and
Andronikos Lapardas were fighting against the Hungarian troops in the vicinity of Niš in the autumn of 1183. The two generals achieved limited successes along the defense line of the
Balkan Mountains passes and plausibly forced the Hungarians to retreat till the river
Sava
The Sava (; , ; sr-cyr, Сава, hu, Száva) is a river in Central and Southeast Europe, a right-bank and the longest tributary of the Danube. It flows through Slovenia, Croatia and along its border with Bosnia and Herzegovina, and finally t ...
. The Byzantine infighting, however, eventually drove both generals to the interior of the empire within a short time. For instance, Alexios Branas left the Balkans for
Anatolia
Anatolia, tr, Anadolu Yarımadası), and the Anatolian plateau, also known as Asia Minor, is a large peninsula in Western Asia and the westernmost protrusion of the Asian continent. It constitutes the major part of modern-day Turkey. The ...
in the spring of 1184.
Some Hungarian historians – for instance, József Deér and
Gyula Moravcsik
Gyula (Julius) Moravcsik (Budapest, 29 January 1892 – Budapest, 10 December 1972), who usually wrote just as Gy. Moravcsik, was a Hungarian professor of Greek philology and Byzantine history who in 1967 was awarded the Pour le Mérite for Science ...
– claimed that Béla III conducted the 1183 campaign in order to defend and support the interests of the late Manuel's family – Alexios II and Maria of Antioch – against the usurper Andronikos Komnenos. Accordingly, the Hungarian monarch had no intention to expand his realm at the expense of the Byzantine Empire and Béla voluntarily retreat from the central Balkans after the execution of Maria. Ferenc Makk emphasized this theory is not corroborated by the sources. Maria of Antioch sought Béla's direct assistance against Andronikos, encouraging him to devastate Belgrade and Barancs. As her verdict stated, Maria would have been willing to recognize Hungarian territorial claims on certain Byzantine lands in exchange for their support against the usurper. Andronikos Komnenos murdered Emperor Alexios II in September or October 1183, becoming sole ruler of the empire. The contemporaneous
Eustathius of Thessalonica
Eustathius of Thessalonica (or Eustathios of Thessalonike; el, Εὐστάθιος Θεσσαλονίκης; c. 1115 – 1195/6) was a Byzantine Greek scholar and Archbishop of Thessalonica. He is most noted for his contemporary account of the ...
writes that Andronikos's opponents sent letters to many monarchs, including Béla III, urging them to attack Andronikos.
End of the conflict
No clashes between Hungary and the Byzantium took place in 1184. There is a scholarly theory that Béla III had signed an armistice with Andronikos in that year, but Makk argued the temporary successes of Alexios Branas forced the Hungarians to sort out their queues due to increased losses and costs. According to
Ansbert and other Western European chroniclers, Béla invaded the Byzantine Empire in early 1185. The
Norman invasion
The Norman Conquest (or the Conquest) was the 11th-century invasion and occupation of England by an army made up of thousands of Normans, Norman, Duchy of Brittany, Breton, County of Flanders, Flemish, and Kingdom of France, French troops, ...
of the Byzantine Empire led by
William II of Sicily
William II (December 115311 November 1189), called the Good, was king of Sicily from 1166 to 1189. From surviving sources William's character is indistinct. Lacking in military enterprise, secluded and pleasure-loving, he seldom emerged from hi ...
took place around the same time, which made the internal political situation of the tyrannically ruling emperor Andronikos impossible. The Hungarians marched into Niš and Sofia again, towards the valley of Morava. According to some scholars, Béla wanted to seize the imperial crown for himself during his 1185 campaign, and proposed a marriage to Theodora Komnene, the widow of Andronikos Lapardas, who lived in a monastery (Béla's first wife,
Agnes of Antioch
Agnes of Antioch ( 1154 – c. 1184) was Queen of Hungary from 1172 until 1184 as the first wife of Béla III.
The accidental discovery of her intact tomb during the Hungarian Revolution of 1848 has provided an opportunity for patriotic demonstr ...
died in 1184). The synod at Constantinople did not contribute to the marriage and did not release Theodora from her nun's vow.
By the summer of 1185, Constantinople was itself threatened by the Norman invasion, which sparked a rebellion in the city, resulting the dethronement and lynching of Andronikos Komnenos in September. He was succeeded by
Isaac II Angelos
Isaac II Angelos or Angelus ( grc-gre, Ἰσαάκιος Κομνηνός Ἄγγελος, ; September 1156 – January 1204) was Byzantine Emperor from 1185 to 1195, and again from 1203 to 1204.
His father Andronikos Doukas Angelos was a ...
, who began negotiations with Béla III and sent his envoys to propose a marriage between him and Béla's ten-year-old daughter
Margaret. Consequently, Béla III signed a peace treaty with Isaac II. The new Byzantine emperor married Margaret in January 1186 at the latest, and Béla granted the region of Niš and Barancs to Isaac as his daughter's dowry. The relics of Saint Ivan of Rila were also returned to Sofia on this occasion. In exchange, the emperor officially renounced Dalmatia and Syrmia. Makk considered Béla's failed proposal to marry Theodora took place after the peace treaty only. Due to the Byzantine–Hungarian alliance, Isaac II successfully repelled the Norman invasion at the
Battle of Demetritzes
The Battle of Demetritzes in 1185 was fought between the Byzantine army and the Normans of the Kingdom of Sicily, who had recently sacked and captured the Byzantine Empire's second city, Thessalonica. It was a decisive Byzantine victory, which ...
in November 1185.
Aftermath
Due to the establishment of Serbia and Bosnia as independent powers in the Balkans, in addition to the successful
uprising of Asen and Peter
__NOTOC__
The Uprising of Asen and Peter ( bg, Въстание на Асен и Петър) was a revolt of Bulgarians and Vlachs living in Moesia and the Balkan Mountains, then the theme of Paristrion of the Byzantine Empire, caused by a tax ...
from 1185 to 1187 which led to the reestablishment of the
Bulgarian Empire, the Byzantine Empire was gradually pushed out of the Balkan region, which also made the Hungarian–Byzantine confrontation of the 12th century obsolete. In the subsequent decade, Béla supported the political aspirations of Isaac II.
References
Sources
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Byzantine-Hungarian War (1180-1185)
1180 in Europe
1181 in Europe
1182 in Europe
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1185 in Europe
1180s in the Byzantine Empire
12th century in Hungary
Byzantine–Hungarian wars
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