Catherine of Hungary (, ; c. 1256 – after 1314) was a Queen consort of Serbia by her marriage to
Stefan Dragutin
Stefan Dragutin ( sr-Cyrl, Стефан Драгутин, ; died 12 March 1316), was List of Serbian monarchs, King of Serbia from 1276 to 1282. From 1282, he ruled a Realm of Stefan Dragutin, separate kingdom which included northern Serbia, and ...
. Catherine was the second daughter of
Stephen V of Hungary and his wife
Elizabeth, daughter of Seyhan, chieftain of the
Cumans
The Cumans or Kumans were a Turkic people, Turkic nomadic people from Central Asia comprising the western branch of the Cumania, Cuman–Kipchak confederation who spoke the Cuman language. They are referred to as Polovtsians (''Polovtsy'') in Ru ...
.
Family
Catherine was the second of six children. Her sister
Elizabeth also became a Queen of Serbia, by her marriage to Stephen Dragutin's brother,
Stefan Milutin. Catherine's brother was
Ladislaus IV of Hungary.
Catherine's paternal grandparents were
Béla IV of Hungary
Béla IV (1206 – 3 May 1270) was King of Hungary and King of Croatia, Croatia between 1235 and 1270, and Duke of Styria from 1254 to 1258. As the oldest son of Andrew II of Hungary, King Andrew II, he was crowned upon the initiative of a group ...
and his wife
Maria Laskarina.
Queenship
The efforts of Catherine's grandfather,
Bela IV of Hungary to secure his southern boundary while moving toward the Adriatic included establishing leaders in
Srem (
John Angelos) and
Slavonia
Slavonia (; ) is, with Dalmatia, Croatia proper, and Istria County, Istria, one of the four Regions of Croatia, historical regions of Croatia. Located in the Pannonian Plain and taking up the east of the country, it roughly corresponds with f ...
(
Rostislav Mikhailovich) who were not only capable but also closely connected to the royal family. It is quite reasonable that an effective way to at least neutralize
Serbia
, image_flag = Flag of Serbia.svg
, national_motto =
, image_coat = Coat of arms of Serbia.svg
, national_anthem = ()
, image_map =
, map_caption = Location of Serbia (gree ...
under Uroš would be to connect him through dynastic marriage to Hungarian nobility, whether by diplomacy or force. Such use of dynastic marriage occurred, for example, in 1268 when
Stephen Uroš I of Serbia unsuccessfully attempted to conquer
Macva (Macsó). The result was the marriage of Catherine to his son
Stephen Dragutin of Serbia in c.1268. A detailed reexamination of the relations between
Hungary
Hungary is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning much of the Pannonian Basin, Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the south, Croatia and ...
and Serbia in the period 1240-1265, and especially around 1250, would be expected to show that the marriage of
Helen of Anjou and Stephen Uros was a natural outcome of political factors. Such a study would also aid in illuminating later developments in Hungarian-Serbian relations.
For example, it is well known that Dragutin was given
Mačva,
Usora and
Soli by his brother-in-law
Ladislas IV of Hungary after yielding the Serbian throne to his brother Milutin in 1282. It has been assumed that he was known as King of Srem because these territories south of the Sava included those which at one time were called
Sirmia ulterior by the Hungarians, even though only Sirmia citerior between the Sava and Danube was normally known as Srem. Dragutin received many of these lands due to his marriage to Catherine.
Catherine's children were heirs to the throne of
Hungary
Hungary is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning much of the Pannonian Basin, Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the south, Croatia and ...
when Catherine's brother Ladislaus died childless, after neglecting his wife,
Elizabeth of Sicily, for the sake of their Cuman family. However, Catherine's children did not inherit Hungary, her distant cousin,
Andrew III of Hungary inherited instead, though his claim was in question because other European monarchs believed that Hungary was in their possession. However, Catherine's son
Stefan Vladislav II of Syrmia was always a pretender to Hungary even after the death of Andrew III in 1301. Catherine and her son were in competition with her nephews. Catherine's nephew,
Charles Martel of Anjou gave them the province of
Slavonia
Slavonia (; ) is, with Dalmatia, Croatia proper, and Istria County, Istria, one of the four Regions of Croatia, historical regions of Croatia. Located in the Pannonian Plain and taking up the east of the country, it roughly corresponds with f ...
even though it did not belong to him.
A Byzantine envoy who visited the Serbian court about 1268 to participate in ultimately failed negotiations for a marriage alliance wrote of the conditions at court disparagingly:
:''The Great King
rošas he is called, lives a simple life in such a way that would be a disgrace for a middling official in Constantinople; the king's Hungarian daughter-in-law
atalinworks at her spinning wheel in a cheap dress; the household eats like a pack of hunters or sheep-stealers.''
Near the end of his life, Catherine's husband separated from his Hungarian friends, gained from their marriage and strengthened his connections in Serbia. He later became a monk and changed his name to Teoktist. He died in 1316 and was buried in the Đurđevi Stupovi monastery near Novi Pazar.
Catherine herself died sometime after 1314, others are not sure when she died.
Catherine Árpád
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Issue
Catherine and Stefan Dragutin had three children:
* Stefan Vladislav II
* Elizabeth of Serbia
*Urošica
Urošica ( sr-Cyrl, Урошица; fl. 1285 – before 1316) was a Serbian prince and Orthodox monk, a member of the Nemanjić dynasty. He was the younger son of Stefan Dragutin of Serbia, Stefan Dragutin, Kingdom of Serbia (medieval), King of Se ...
, monk.
References
Sources
* Живковић В
"Реконструкција биографије Кателине Арпад, супруге краља Драгутина"
Археон 5, Часопис Архива Војводине, Нови Сад 2022, 177-192. (RECONSTRUCTION OF THE BIOGRAPHY OF CATHERINE OF HUNGARY, QUEEN OF SERBIA)
* Живковић В
"Угарска принцеза Јелисавета Арпад"
у: Седам векова од упокојења Светог краља Милутина - тематски зборник. ур. Влада Станковић, Драгољуб Марјановић. Врање: Свеправославно друштво "Преподобни Јустин Ћелијски и Врањски", 2022, 110-124. (eng. Hungarian Princess Jelisaveta Arpad)
*
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Catherine Of Hungary, Queen Of Serbia
Hungarian princesses
14th-century Serbian royalty
Medieval Serbian royal consorts
House of Árpád
Nemanjić dynasty
Year of birth uncertain
People of Cuman descent
14th-century Serbian women
14th-century Hungarian people
14th-century Hungarian women
Daughters of kings
Queens consort of Serbia
Mothers of Serbian monarchs