Sophia was the eldest known child of King

Coloman of Hungary Coloman the Learned, also the Book-Lover or the Bookish ( hu, Könyves Kálmán; hr, Koloman; sk, Koloman Učený; 10703February 1116) was King of Hungary from 1095 and King of Croatia from 1097 until his death. Because Coloman and his younge ...

and his wife,

Felicia of Sicily Felicia of SicilyShe’s called ''Felícia'' in Hungarian. (c. 1078—c. 1102) is a name used for one Queen consort of Hungary and Croatia. She was daughter of Count Roger I of Sicily and his second wife, Eremburga of Mortain. She is also called ...

. She was born between 1097 and 1100. Her son

Saul Saul (; he, , ; , ; ) was, according to the Hebrew Bible, the first monarch of the United Kingdom of Israel. His reign, traditionally placed in the late 11th century BCE, supposedly marked the transition of Israel and Judah from a scattered tri ...

was the

heir presumptive An heir presumptive is the person entitled to inherit a throne, peerage, or other hereditary honour, but whose position can be displaced by the birth of an heir apparent or a new heir presumptive with a better claim to the position in question. ...

to her childless brother,

Stephen II of Hungary Stephen II ( hu, II István; hr, Stjepan II; sk, Štefan II; 1101 – early 1131), King of Hungary and Croatia, ruled from 1116 until 1131. His father, King Coloman, had him crowned as a child, thus denying the crown to his uncle Álmos. I ...

Life

Sophia's is one of the three children and the only daughter of

Coloman the Learned Coloman the Learned, also the Book-Lover or the Bookish ( hu, Könyves Kálmán; hr, Koloman; sk, Koloman Učený; 10703February 1116) was King of Hungary from 1095 and King of Croatia from 1097 until his death. Because Coloman and his younge ...

whose name was recorded in the chronicles. Her mother was

, her father's first wife. As her parents' marriage took place in 1097, Sophia could not have been born before that year. According to Kristó, "it is beyond doubt" that she was named after her paternal grandaunt. Her brothers

Stephen Stephen or Steven is a common English first name. It is particularly significant to Christians, as it belonged to Saint Stephen ( grc-gre, Στέφανος ), an early disciple and deacon who, according to the Book of Acts, was stoned to death; ...

and Ladislauswere born in 1101. The only certain fact of her life is the name of her son, Saul. The ''

Illuminated Chronicle The ''Chronicon Pictum'' (Latin for "illustrated chronicle", English: ''Illuminated Chronicle'' or ''Vienna Illuminated Chronicle'', hu, Képes Krónika, sk, Obrázková kronika, german: Illustrierte Chronik, also referred to as ''Chronica Hung ...

'' narrates that her brother, King

, who was childless, "so ordered the succession to the throne that after his death the son of his sister Sophia, by name Saul, should reign."''The Hungarian Illuminated Chronicle'' (ch. 158.112), p. 135. According to historian Márta Font, at that timearound 1130Saul was about fifteen years old, implying that his mother must have been born in 1100 at the latest. Neither the name nor the family of her husband are known.

References

Sources

* * * *''The Hungarian Illuminated Chronicle:'' Chronica de Gestis Hungarorum (Edited by Dezső Dercsényi) (1970). Corvina, Taplinger Publishing. . {{authority control Hungarian princesses House of Árpád 12th-century Hungarian women 12th-century Hungarian people Daughters of kings