Everything about Andrew Ii Of Hungary totally explained
Andrew II the Jerosolimitan (
Hungarian:
Jeruzsálemi II András/Endre,
Croatian:
Andrija I. Slovak:
Ondrej) (c.
1177 –
21 September,
1235),
King of Hungary and
Croatia (1205-1235),
Prince of Halych (1188-1189, 1208-1209),
Duke of Croatia and
Dalmatia (1197-1199, 1200-1203). He was the younger son of King
Béla III of Hungary, who invested him with the government of the
Principality of Halych. However, the boyars of Halych rebelled against his rule and expelled the Hungarian troops. Following their father's death, Andrew continuously conspired against his brother, King
Emeric of Hungary who had to grant him the government of
Croatia and
Dalmatia. When his brother and his infant son died, Andrew ascended the throne and started to grant royal domains to his partisans. He participated in the
Fifth Crusade but he couldn't achieve any major military success. He was obliged to issue the
Golden Bull confirming the privileges of the noblemen of Hungary and later he was also obliged to confirm the special privileges of the clergy. During his long reign, he'd several quarrels with his sons.
The turbulent duke
Andrew was the second son of King
Béla III and his first wife,
Agnes of Antioch. As younger son, Andrew had no hope to inherite the
Kingdom of Hungary from his father who wanted to ensure the inheritance of his elder son,
Emeric and had him crowned already in
1182.
Nevertheless, when Prince
Volodymyr II of Halych, who had been expelled from his country by his subjects, fled to
Hungary seeking for assistance in
1188, King Béla III had him arrested and occupied his principality and he invested Andrew with
Halych. The child Andrew's rule in Halych must have been only nominal; he even didn't visit his principality. In any case, his rule became unpopular soon, because the Hungarian soldiers were violent and they often violated the
Eastern Orthodox churches. Although, the young prince's troops could get the mastery in
1189 when the
boyars of
Halych rose against his rule, but shortly afterwards Prince Volodymyr II managed to escape from his captivity and he expelled the Hungarian troops from Halych.
On
23 April 1196, King Béla III died and he left the
Kingdom of Hungary unportioned to his eldest son, Emeric, while Andrew inherited a large amount of money in order to fulfill his father's
Crusader oath. However, Andrew used the money to recruit followers among the barons and also sought the assistance of
Leopold V, Duke of Austria. In December
1197, Andrew's troops defeated King Emeric's armies in a battle near to
Macsek in
December 1197. Following Andrew's victory, the king was obliged to transfer the government of the Duchies of
Croatia and
Dalmatia to Andrew.
In the beginning of
1198,
Pope Innocent III requested Andrew to fulfill his father's last will and lead a
Crusade to the
Holy Land. However, instead of a Crusade, Andrew made a campaign against the neighbouring provinces and occupied
Zahumlje and
Rama. Andrew also went on conspiring with some prelates against his brother, but King Emeric was informed on Andrew's plans and he personally arrested
Bishop Boleszlo of Vác, one of Andrew's main supporters, and he also deprived his brother's followers (
for example,
Palatine Mog) of their dignities. In the summer of
1199, King Emeric defeated Andrew in the
Battle of Rád and Andrew had to fleed to Austria. Finally, the two brothers made peace with the mediation of the Papal Legate Gregory, and the king granted again the government of Croatia and Dalmatia to his brother.
Around
1200, Andrew married
Gertrude, a daughter of
Berthold IV, Duke of Merania. It was probably his wife who persuaded him to conspire against his brother again, but when King Emeric, who had realised that Andrew's troops outnumbered his armies, went unarmed, wearing only the
crown and the
sceptre, to Andrew's camp near
Varasd, Andrew surrendered voluntarily on the spur of the scene. The king had his brother arrested, but Andrew managed to escape shortly afterwards.
Nevertheless, the king become more and more ill, and wanted to secure the ascension of his young son,
Ladislaus, who had been crowned on
26 August 1204. Shortly afterwards, the king reconciled with Andrew whom he appointed to govern the kingdom during his son's minority. After his brother's death on 30 September/November
1204, Andrew took over the government of the kingdom as his nephew's tutor and he also seized the money his brother had deposited on behalf of the child Ladislaus. The Dowager Queen
Constance was anxious about her son's life and she escaped with King Ladislaus to the court of
Leopold VI, Duke of Austria. Andrew made preparations for a war against
Austria, but the child king died on
7 May 1205, thus Andrew inherited the throne.
Novæ institutiones
Andrew was crowned by
Archbishop John of Kalocsa on
29 May 1205 in
Székesfehérvár, but before the coronation, he'd to take an oath. Andrew made a radical alteration in the internal policy followed by his predecessors and he began to bestow the royal estates to his partisans. He called this new policy
novæ institutiones in his deeds, and he declared that
"Nothing can set bounds to generosity of the Royal Majesty, and the best measure of grants, for a monarch, is immeasurableness". He gave away everything - money, villages, domains, whole counties - to the utter impoverishment of the treasury. Andrew was generous primarily with his wife's
German relatives and followers, which caused discontent among his subjects.
Struggles for Halych
During the first years of his reign, Andrew was occupied with the discords within the Principality of Halych. In
1205, he lead his armies to the principality to ensure the rule of the child Prince
Danylo. Following his campaign, he adopted the title of
"King of Galicia and Lodomeria" referring to his supremacy over the two neighbouring principalities. In the beginning of the next year, the child Danylo was again expelled from Halych but Andrew denied to give assistance to him because the child prince's opponent, Prince
Volodymyr III Igorevych had bribed him. Nevertheless, in the same year, he made a campaign in Halych and gave assistance to Prince
Roman Igorevych to acquire the throne.
In
1208, taking advantage of the quarrel between Prince Roman Igorevych and his boyars, Andrew occupied Halych and appointed a regent to govern the principality in his name, but Prince Volodymyr III Igorevych managed to reconquer his principality already in the following year.
A group of the aristocrats of his court, scandalised by Andrew's generosity towards his wife's relatives and followers, planned to offer the throne to his cousins, who had been living in the court of the Emperor
Theodore I Lascaris of
Nicea, but their envoy was arrested and Andrew could overcome the conspiracy. In
1211, he granted the
Burzenland to the
Teutonic Knights in order to ensure the security of the southeastern borders of his kingdom against the
Cumans. However, the Teutonic Knights began to establish a country independent of the
King of Hungary.
In
1211, Andrew provided military assistance to Prince Danylo to reoccupy Halych. Moreover, in the following year, Andrew lead his armies personally to Halych to repulse the attack of Prince
Mstilav of Peresopnytsia against Prince Danylo. Shortly afterwards, Prince Danylo, was obliged to leave his country and he sought again Andrew's assistance. Andrew left for his campaign in the summer
1213 when he was informed that a group of conspirators had murdered his queen on
28 September and he'd to return.
Following his return, he ordered the execution only the leader of the conspirators and he forgave the other members of the group, which resulted in the emerging antipaty of his son,
Béla. Nevertheless, in
1214, Andrew had his son crowned.
In the summer of
1214, Andrew had a meeting with Grand Duke
Leszek I of Poland and they agreed that they'd divide the Principality of Halych between Hungary and Poland. Their allied troops occupied the neighbouring principality which was granted to Andrew's younger son,
Coloman. However, Andrew denied to transfer the agreed territories to Duke Leszek I who made an alliance with Prince
Mstilav of Novgorod and they drove away Andrew's troops from the principality.
Shortly afterwards, Andrew made an alliance again with Leszek I and they occupied Halych where again Andrew's son was appointed to prince.
In the meantime, Andrew began to deal with the problems of the southern borders of his kingdom. In
1214, the Hungarian troops annexed
Nándorfehérvár and
Barancs from the
Bulgarian Empire.
In February
1215, Andrew married
Yolanda, the niece of
Henry I, the Emperor of
Constantinople. When the Emperor Henry I died on
11 July 1216, Andrew was planning to acquire the imperial throne, but the barons of the
Latin Empire proclaimed his father-in-law,
Peter of Courtenay their emperor.
Nevertheles, Andrew decided to fulfill his father's oath and made preparations for a
Crusade. He agreed with the
Republic of Venice to undertake the delivery of his troops to the
Holy Land, in exchange he renounced the supremacy over
Zára on behalf of the Republic. Andrew and his troops embarked on
23 August 1217 in
Spalato. They landed on
9 October on
Cyprus from where they sailed to
Acre. The well-mounted army fought on the
Jordan River on
November 10,
1217 but had fruitless assaults on the fortresses of the
Lebanon and on
Mount Tabor. Afterwards, Andrew spent his time collecting alleged relics.
Andrew set home on (
January 18,
1218). On the way home, he negotiated with King
Levon I of Armenia, the Emperor
Theodore I Laskaris of
Nicaea and Tsar
Ivan Asen II of Bulgaria and arranged several marriage contracts between his children and the courts he visited. When he was staying in
Nicaea, his cousins, who had been living there, made an unsuccessful attempt to take his life.
The Golden Bull and the Diploma Andreanum
On his return, he found its kingdom in
anarchy. While he'd been away in the
Holy Land, even his regent,
Archbishop John of Esztergom had been obliged to leave the country and his treasury had been exhausted. He tried to collect money by using new instruments, such as introducing new taxes, undermining the currency and leasing his income to
Jews and
Muslims which increased his unpopularity.
His foreign policy was also a total failure. In August
1219, his younger son, Coloman, who had been crowned King of Halych, was expelled from his kingdom by Prince Mstilav of Novgorod. Andrew had to make peace with the Prince of Novgorod and he also engaged his youngest son,
Andrew with one of his opponent's daughter.
In
1220, Andrew entrusted the government of
Slavonia,
Dalmatia and
Croatia to his son, Béla. Andrew also enforced Béla to separate from his wife.
In the beginning of
1222, the discontent
serviens (nobles) came to Andrew's court in large numbers, and they persuaded the king to issue the
Golden Bull which confirmed their privileges, including the right to disobey the King if he acted not in line with the provisions of the Golden Bull (
ius resistendi).
In
1223, the junior King Béla IV took back his wife and escaped to Austria fearing of Andrew's anger. Finally, Andrew made an agreement with his son with the mediation of
Pope Honorius III and the junior king took over again the government of
Slavonia,
Dalmatia and
Croatia. On
6 June 1224 Andrew made a peace with Duke Leopold VI of Austria.
In
1224, Andrew issued the
Diploma Andreanum which unified and ensured the special privileges of the
Transylvanian Saxons. In the same year, Andrew expelled the Teutonic Knights from
Transylvania because they'd ignored his overlordship.
Discords with his son
The junior King Béla IV started, with the authorization of Pope Honorius III, to take back the royal domains in his provinces that Andrew had granted to his partisans during the first half of his reign. Andrew opposed his son's policy and he entrusted Béla with the government of Transylvania while his younger son,
Coloman became the governor of Béla's former provinces.
In the second half of
1226, Andrew lead his armies to Halych on the request of his youngest son, Andrew. Although, Prince Mstilav defeated the royal armies, but finally he agreed to cede the government of the principality to the Hungarian prince.
During
1228, Andrew's two sons started again to take back the former royal domains in their provinces, and they persuaded Andrew to confiscate the estates of the barons who had taken part in the conspiracy against their mother. In
1229, Prince Danylo of Halych expelled Andrew's youngest son from his principality, while
Frederick II, Duke of Austria started to attack the western borders of the kingdom in
1230.
The Agreement of Bereg
Andrew, in contrast with the decisions of the
Fourth Council of the Lateran, often employed
Jews and
Muslims in the royal household. Therefore,
Pope Gregory IX requested him to give up this practise. Finally, Andrew was obliged to confirm the Golden Bull and supplement it with a provision that prohibited the employment of non-Christians and also authorised the
Archbishop of Esztergom to punish the king in case he ignored his promise.
In the second half of
1231, Andrew lead his armies to Halych and managed to ensure his youngest son's rule in the principality. On his return to
Hungary,
Archbishop Robert of Esztergom took his kingdom under interdict and excomunicated the king's major dignitaries because Andrew insisted on the employment of
Jews and
Muslims in his administration. Nevertheless, upon Andrew's request, the Archbishop withdrew the eclesiastic punishments soon and the Pope promised that the dignitaries of the
King of Hungary would never be excommunicated without his special authorization.
On
20 August 1233, Andrew had a meeting with the legate of Pope Gregory IX in the woods of Bereg, and they made an agreement which ensured the privileges of the clergy. In the autumn of the year, he also met with Duke Frederick II of Austria and they agreed to stop the skirmishes on the border, but the Duke soon broke the agreement.
His last years
On
14 May 1234, Andrew, who had lost his second wife in the previous year, married
Beatrice D'Este who was thirty years younger than himself. Because of the new marriage, his relationship enworthened with his sons.
In the summer of
1234, the
Bishop John of Bosnia excommunicated Andrew because he hadn't respected some provisions of the Agreement of Bereg. Andrew appealed to the Pope against the bishop's measure. In the autumn of
1234, Prince Danylo laid siege to the capital of Andrew's youngest son who died during the siege. Thus, the Hungarian supremacy over Halych disappeared.
In the beginning of
1235, Andrew made a campaign against
Austria and enforced Duke Frederick II to make a peace.
He was still alive when one of his daughters,
Elisabeth, who had died some years before, was canonized on
28 May 1235. Before his death, he was absolved from the excommunication; moreover, the Pope also promised that the King of Hungary and his relatives wouldn't be excommunicated without the special permission of the Pope.
Marriages and children
#1. around 1200: Gertrude (? – 8 September 1213), a daughter of
Berthold IV, Duke of Merania and his wife, Agnes of Wettin
Ancestors
Ancestors of Andrew II of Hungary
Sources
Kristó, Gyula - Makk, Ferenc: Az Árpád-ház uralkodói (IPC Könyvek, 1996)
Korai Magyar Történeti Lexikon (9-14. század), főszerkesztő: Kristó, Gyula, szerkesztők: Engel, Pál és Makk, Ferenc (Akadémiai Kiadó, Budapest, 1994)
Magyarország Történeti Kronológiája I. – A kezdetektől 1526-ig, főszerkesztő: Benda, Kálmán (Akadémiai Kiadó, Budapest, 1981)
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