Béla I the Boxer or the Wisent (, ; – 11 September 1063) was
King of Hungary
The King of Hungary () was the Monarchy, ruling head of state of the Kingdom of Hungary from 1000 (or 1001) to 1918. The style of title "Apostolic King of Hungary" (''Magyarország apostoli királya'') was endorsed by Pope Clement XIII in 1758 ...
from 1060 until his death. He descended from a younger branch of the
Árpád dynasty
The Árpád dynasty consisted of the members of the royal House of Árpád (), also known as Árpáds (, ). They were the ruling dynasty of the Principality of Hungary in the 9th and 10th centuries and of the Kingdom of Hungary from 1000 to 130 ...
. Béla's
baptismal name
A Christian name, sometimes referred to as a baptismal name, is a religious name, religious personal personal name, name given on the occasion of a Christian baptism, though now most often given by parents at birth. In Anglosphere, English-spe ...
was Adalbert. He left Hungary in 1031, together with his brothers,
Levente and
Andrew
Andrew is the English form of the given name, common in many countries. The word is derived from the , ''Andreas'', itself related to ''aner/andros'', "man" (as opposed to "woman"), thus meaning "manly" and, as consequence, "brave", "strong", "c ...
, after the execution of their father,
Vazul. Béla settled in
Poland
Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It extends from the Baltic Sea in the north to the Sudetes and Carpathian Mountains in the south, bordered by Lithuania and Russia to the northeast, Belarus and Ukrai ...
and married
Richeza (or Adelaide), daughter of
Polish king
Mieszko II Lambert
Mieszko II Lambert (; c. 990 – 10/11 May 1034) was List of Polish monarchs, King of Kingdom of Poland (1025–1031), Poland from 1025 to 1031 and Duchy of Poland (c. 960–1025), Duke from 1032 until his death.
He was the second son of Boles� ...
.
He returned to his homeland upon the invitation of his brother Andrew, who had in the meantime been crowned King of Hungary. Andrew assigned the administration of the so-called ''
ducatus'' or "duchy", which encompassed around one-third of the territory of the
Kingdom of Hungary
The Kingdom of Hungary was a monarchy in Central Europe that existed for nearly a millennium, from 1000 to 1946 and was a key part of the Habsburg monarchy from 1526-1918. The Principality of Hungary emerged as a Christian kingdom upon the Coro ...
, to Béla. The two brothers' relationship became tense when Andrew had his own son,
Solomon
Solomon (), also called Jedidiah, was the fourth monarch of the Kingdom of Israel (united monarchy), Kingdom of Israel and Judah, according to the Hebrew Bible. The successor of his father David, he is described as having been the penultimate ...
, crowned king, and forced Béla to publicly confirm Solomon's right to the throne in 1057 or 1058. Béla, assisted by his
Polish relatives, rebelled against his brother and dethroned him in 1060. He introduced monetary reform and subdued the last uprising aimed at the restoration of paganism in Hungary. Béla was fatally injured when his throne collapsed while he was sitting on it.
Life
Childhood (before 1031)
Most Hungarian chronicles, including
Simon of Kéza's ''
Gesta Hungarorum
''Gesta Hungarorum'', or ''The Deeds of the Hungarians'', is the earliest book about Kingdom of Hungary, Hungarian history which has survived for posterity. Its genre is not chronicle, but ''gesta'', meaning "deeds" or "acts", which is a medie ...
'' and the ''
Illuminated Chronicle
The ''Chronicon Pictum'' or ''Illuminated Chronicle'' (, , , also referred to as the ''Illustrated Chronicle'', ''Chronica Hungarorum'', ''Chronicon Hungarie Pictum'', ''Chronica Picta'' or ''Chronica de Gestis Hungarorum'') is a medieval illust ...
'', record that Béla's father was
Ladislas the Bald, a cousin of
Stephen
Stephen or Steven is an English given name, first name. It is particularly significant to Christianity, Christians, as it belonged to Saint Stephen ( ), an early disciple and deacon who, according to the Book of Acts, was stoned to death; he is w ...
, the first
King of Hungary
The King of Hungary () was the Monarchy, ruling head of state of the Kingdom of Hungary from 1000 (or 1001) to 1918. The style of title "Apostolic King of Hungary" (''Magyarország apostoli királya'') was endorsed by Pope Clement XIII in 1758 ...
. However, many of the same sources add that it "is sometimes claimed" that Béla and his two brothers
Levente and
Andrew
Andrew is the English form of the given name, common in many countries. The word is derived from the , ''Andreas'', itself related to ''aner/andros'', "man" (as opposed to "woman"), thus meaning "manly" and, as consequence, "brave", "strong", "c ...
were in fact the sons of Ladislaus the Bald's brother,
Vazul. The chronicles also refer to gossip claiming that the three brothers were their father's illegitimate sons, born to "a girl from the Tátony clan". Modern historians, who accept
the latter reports' reliability, unanimously write that the three brothers were the sons of Vazul and his
concubine
Concubinage is an interpersonal relationship, interpersonal and Intimate relationship, sexual relationship between two people in which the couple does not want to, or cannot, enter into a full marriage. Concubinage and marriage are often regarde ...
.
Béla was born between 1015 and 1020. It is debated whether Béla was a second or a third son. The former view is represented, for example, by the Polish historian Wincenty Swoboda, and the latter by the Hungarian scholars Gyula Kristó and Ferenc Makk. Kristó and Makk write that Béla's name "most probably" derived from the
Turkish adjective ''bujla'' ("noble"). However, the name may also be connected to the
Slavic word for white ''(bjelij)'' or to the Biblical name
Bela.
In exile (1031 – c. 1048)
King Stephen's only son who survived infancy,
Emeric, died on 2 September 1031. Thereafter, Vazul had the strongest claim to succeed the King. However, the monarch, suspecting that Vazul inclined towards paganism, favored his own sister's son,
Peter Orseolo. In order to ensure his nephew's succession, Stephen had Vazul blinded. Béla and his two brothers fled from the kingdom.
They first settled in
Bohemia
Bohemia ( ; ; ) is the westernmost and largest historical region of the Czech Republic. In a narrow, geographic sense, it roughly encompasses the territories of present-day Czechia that fall within the Elbe River's drainage basin, but historic ...
, but their "condition of life was poor and mean" there. They moved to
Poland
Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It extends from the Baltic Sea in the north to the Sudetes and Carpathian Mountains in the south, bordered by Lithuania and Russia to the northeast, Belarus and Ukrai ...
, where "they received a warm reception"
[''Simon of Kéza: The Deeds of the Hungarians'' (ch. 2.52), p. 121.] from King
Mieszko II. According to the Hungarian chronicles, Béla participated in a Polish expedition against the pagan
Pomeranians and defeated
their duke "in
single combat".
The ''Illuminated Chronicle'' narrates that the Polish monarch "praised the boldness and strength of Duke Béla and bestowed on him all the Pomeranian tribute".
[''The Hungarian Illuminated Chronicle'' (ch. 54.79), p. 111.] The King even gave his daughternamed either
Richeza or Adelaidein marriage to Béla and granted "a goodly quantity of land"
to him. Makk says that Béla was not baptized until just before his marriage; his baptismal name was
Adalbert.
King Mieszko II died in 1034; his son and heir
Casimir
Casimir is a Latin version of the Polish male name Kazimierz (). The original Polish feminine form is Kazimiera, in Latin and other languages rendered as Casimira. It has two possible meanings: "preacher of peace" or alternatively "destroyer of p ...
was forced to leave Poland. A
period of anarchy followed, which lasted at least until 1039 when Casimir returned. According to Kristó and Makk, Béla was staying in Poland during this period; he may even have administered the kingdom in the name of his absent brother-in-law. On the other hand, the Polish historian Manteuffel writes that Béla and his two brothers, in contrast with the unanimous report of the Hungarian chronicles, arrived in Poland only with Casimir, after 1039. It is beyond doubt that Levente and Andrew departed from Poland in about 1038, becauseaccording to the ''Illuminated Chronicle''they did not want to "live the life of hangers-on in the Duke of Poland's court, regarded only as Béla's brothers".
Duke in Hungary (c. 1048–1060)
Upon leaving Poland, Andrew and Levente settled in
Kiev
Kyiv, also Kiev, is the capital and most populous List of cities in Ukraine, city of Ukraine. Located in the north-central part of the country, it straddles both sides of the Dnieper, Dnieper River. As of 1 January 2022, its population was 2, ...
. They returned to Hungary after a
rebellion which was dominated by pagans broke out against King Peter Orseolo in 1046. The King was dethroned, and Andrew was proclaimed king. Levente died in the same year and Andrew, still childless, decided to invite Béla back to Hungary.
Urged by his brother, Béla returned in 1048 and received one-third of the kingdom, with the title of duke. Béla's ''
ducatus'' or "duchy" encompassed large territories along the eastern and northern borders, including the regions of
Nyitra (Nitra,
Slovakia
Slovakia, officially the Slovak Republic, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is bordered by Poland to the north, Ukraine to the east, Hungary to the south, Austria to the west, and the Czech Republic to the northwest. Slovakia's m ...
) and
Bihar
Bihar ( ) is a states and union territories of India, state in Eastern India. It is the list of states and union territories of India by population, second largest state by population, the List of states and union territories of India by are ...
(Biharia,
Romania
Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern and Southeast Europe. It borders Ukraine to the north and east, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, Bulgaria to the south, Moldova to ...
). He possessed a wide range of royal prerogatives, including coinage. The
half-denars minted for him bore the inscription ''BELA DUX'' ("Duke Béla"). According to Steinhübel, the mid-11th-century timber and earth walls of the fortress of Nyitra were erected in Béla's reign.

The two brothers closely collaborated in the subsequent years. According to the ''Illuminated Chronicle'', they together worked out a military strategy against the Germans, who were frequently invading the kingdom in the early 1050s. Ferenc Makk writes that Béla's
epithet
An epithet (, ), also a byname, is a descriptive term (word or phrase) commonly accompanying or occurring in place of the name of a real or fictitious person, place, or thing. It is usually literally descriptive, as in Alfred the Great, Suleima ...
sthe Champion or the
Wisent
The European bison (: bison) (''Bison bonasus'') or the European wood bison, also known as the wisent ( or ), the zubr (), or sometimes colloquially as the European buffalo, is a European species of bison. It is one of two extant species of bi ...
are connected to his fighting against the Germans. The chronicler emphasizes that Andrew and Béla "lived in a great tranquillity of peace" even after Andrew fathered a son,
Solomon
Solomon (), also called Jedidiah, was the fourth monarch of the Kingdom of Israel (united monarchy), Kingdom of Israel and Judah, according to the Hebrew Bible. The successor of his father David, he is described as having been the penultimate ...
, in 1053. Béla was one of the lords witnessing the
deed of the foundation of the
Tihany Abbey, a
Benedictine
The Benedictines, officially the Order of Saint Benedict (, abbreviated as O.S.B. or OSB), are a mainly contemplative monastic order of the Catholic Church for men and for women who follow the Rule of Saint Benedict. Initiated in 529, th ...
monastery that his brother established in 1055.
The two brothers' good relationship deteriorated after King Andrew had the child Solomon crowned king in 1057 or 1058. The coronation was the consequence of the peace negotiations with the
Holy Roman Empire
The Holy Roman Empire, also known as the Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation after 1512, was a polity in Central and Western Europe, usually headed by the Holy Roman Emperor. It developed in the Early Middle Ages, and lasted for a millennium ...
, because the Germans did not acquiesce in a marriage between Solomon and
Judith
The Book of Judith is a deuterocanonical book included in the Septuagint and the Catholic Church, Catholic and Eastern Orthodox Christianity, Christian Old Testament of the Bible but Development of the Hebrew Bible canon, excluded from the ...
the sister of the young German monarch,
Henry IVuntil Solomon's right to succeed his father was declared and publicly confirmed. Thereafter Andrew was determined to secure the throne for his son. He invited Béla to his manor in
Tiszavárkony
Tiszavárkony is a village in Jász-Nagykun-Szolnok county, in the Northern Great Plain region of central Hungary.
Geography
It covers an area of and has a population
Population is a set of humans or other organisms in a given region or a ...
, where the King offered his brother a seemingly free choice between a crown and a sword (which were the symbols of the royal and ducal power, respectively). However, he had ordered that Béla be murdered if he chose the crown. Having been informed of his brother's secret plan by one of his own partisans in the royal court, Béla opted for the sword, but he departed for Poland after the meeting.
He returned to Hungary, in the autumn of 1060, with Polish troops that Duke
Boleslaus the Bold of Poland had provided. Around the same time, German reinforcements arrived in Hungary to assist Andrew against Béla. The ensuing civil war ended with the victory of Béla, who
defeated his brother in two successive battles fought at the river
Tisza
The Tisza, Tysa or Tisa (see below) is one of the major rivers of Central and Eastern Europe. It was once called "the most Hungarian river" because it used to flow entirely within the Kingdom of Hungary. Today, it crosses several national bo ...
and at
Moson. The King was seriously injured and died soon afterward. His partisans took his son, the child Solomon, to
Germany
Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...
.
Reign (1060–1063)
Béla was crowned king in
Székesfehérvár
Székesfehérvár (; ; ; ; Serbian language, Serbian: ''Стони Београд''; ), known colloquially as Fehérvár (), is a city in central Hungary, and the country's ninth-largest city. It is the Regions of Hungary, regional capital of C ...
on 6 December 1060. He ordered that "the wives and sons and all the property of all those who had followed" his nephew to Germany "should be protected and kept safe and sound",
[''The Hungarian Illuminated Chronicle'' (ch. 67.94), p. 116.] which induced many of Solomon's partisans to reconcile themselves to Béla's rule and return to Hungary. He reformed the coinage and introduced "large coins of purest silver"
into circulation. In order to stabilize the new currency, Béla maximized the prices and eliminated the black market. He also ordered that weekly markets should be held on Saturdays, instead of Sundays, in the kingdom. The historian Nora Berend says that the latter measure "may have adversely affected Jewish activities", because
Jews
Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of History of ancient Israel and Judah, ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, rel ...
, who observed the
Sabbath
In Abrahamic religions, the Sabbath () or Shabbat (from Hebrew ) is a day set aside for rest and worship. According to the Book of Exodus, the Sabbath is a day of rest on the seventh day, Ten Commandments, commanded by God to be kept as a Holid ...
, could not work on Saturdays.
Béla decided to discuss his innovations with the representatives of the freemen, and "sent heralds throughout all Hungary to summon two elders with gift of speech from each village to a royal council", according to the ''Illuminated Chronicle''. A great crowd of commoners gathered in
Székesfehérvár
Székesfehérvár (; ; ; ; Serbian language, Serbian: ''Стони Београд''; ), known colloquially as Fehérvár (), is a city in central Hungary, and the country's ninth-largest city. It is the Regions of Hungary, regional capital of C ...
in 1061. They demanded the restoration of paganism and the murder of clergymen, but Béla collected his army and suppressed their uprising within three days. According to Kristó, the rebels might have been led by Vata's son, John.
Béla attempted to conclude a peace treaty with the Holy Roman Empire. For this purpose, shortly after his coronation, he released all German commanders who had assisted his brother during the civil war. However, the young German monarch's advisors refused Béla's proposals. In the summer of 1063, an assembly of the German princes decided to launch a
military expedition against Hungary to restore young Solomon to the throne. Béla was planning to abdicate in favor of his nephew if the latter restored his former ''ducatus'', but he was seriously injured when "his throne broke beneath him"
[''The Hungarian Illuminated Chronicle'' (ch. 68.96), p. 117.] in his manor at
Dömös. The Kingwho was "half-dead",
according to the ''Illuminated Chronicle''was taken to the western borders of his kingdom, where he died at the Kanizsva Creek on 11 September 1063. Béla was buried in the
Benedictine
The Benedictines, officially the Order of Saint Benedict (, abbreviated as O.S.B. or OSB), are a mainly contemplative monastic order of the Catholic Church for men and for women who follow the Rule of Saint Benedict. Initiated in 529, th ...
Szekszárd Abbey, which he had set up in 1061. Following Béla's death, his three sons
Géza,
Ladislaus and
Lampertsought refuge in Poland, and Solomon ascended the throne.
Family
Béla married, in about 1033, a daughter of King
Mieszko II Lambert of Poland. According to Makk, her name was either
Richesa or Adelheid. Their eldest children,
Géza and
Ladislauswho became kings of Hungary in 1074 and 1077, respectivelywere born in Poland in the 1040s. Béla's third son,
Lampert, was born after Béla's return to Hungary.
Lampert was followed by a daughter named
Sophia, who was first married to Margrave
Ulric I of Carniola, and later to Duke
Magnus of Saxony. Her younger sister,
Euphemia, became the wife of Duke
Otto I of Olomouc. Béla's third daughter,
Helena, was the wife of King
Demetrius Zvonimir of Croatia. An unnamed daughter of Béla became the first wife of a Hungarian nobleman,
Lampert of the Clan Hont-Pázmány. According to the historian Martin Dimnik, Béla also fathered a fifth daughter, Lanka, who was the wife of Prince
Rostislav Vladimirovich of Tmutarakan.
The following family tree presents Béla's ancestry, his offspring, and some of his relatives mentioned in the article.
''*A Khazar, Pecheneg or Volga Bulgarian lady.''
''**Györffy writes that she may have been a member of the
Bulgarian Cometopuli dynasty.''
''***Lanka is not mentioned as Béla I's daughter by all specialists.''
References
Sources
Primary sources
*''Simon of Kéza: The Deeds of the Hungarians'' (Edited and translated by László Veszprémy and Frank Schaer with a study by Jenő Szűcs) (1999). CEU Press. .
*''The Hungarian Illuminated Chronicle:'' Chronica de Gestis Hungarorum (Edited by Dezső Dercsényi) (1970). Corvina, Taplinger Publishing. .
Secondary sources
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
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*
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Bela 01 Of Hungary
1010s births
1063 deaths
11th-century Hungarian monarchs
11th-century rebels
Accidental deaths in Hungary
House of Árpád
Kings of Hungary
Hungarian monarchs
Rebel princes