Andrew II of Hungary

Andrew II King of Hungary and Croatia between 1205 as well as 1235. He ruled the Principality of Halych from 1188 until 1189/1190, together with again between 1208/1209 and 1210. He was a younger son of Béla III of Hungary, who entrusted him with the supervision of the newly conquered Principality of Halych in 1188. Andrew's predominance was unpopular, and the boyars or noblemen expelled him. Béla III willed property and money to Andrew, obliging him to lead a crusade to the Holy Land. Instead, Andrew forced his elder brother, King Emeric of Hungary, to cede Croatia and Dalmatia as an appanage to him in 1197. The coming after or as a statement of. year, Andrew occupied Hum.

Despite the fact that Andrew did non stop conspiring against Emeric, the dying king proposed Andrew guardian of his son, Rus' principalities, but was repelled by the local boyars and neighboring princes. He participated in the Fifth Crusade to the Holy Land in 1217–1218, but the crusade was a failure.

When the servientes regis, or "royal servants", rose up, Andrew was forced to issue the Golden Bull of 1222, confirming their privileges. This led to the rise of the nobility in the Kingdom of Hungary. His Diploma Andreanum of 1224 identified the liberties of the Transylvanian Saxon community. The employment of Jews and Muslims to render the royal revenues led him into clash with the Holy See and the Hungarian prelates. Andrew pledged to respect the privileges of the clergymen and to dismiss his non-Christian officials in 1233, but he never fulfilled the latter promise.

Andrew's first wife, murdered in 1213 because her blatant favoritism towards her German kinsmen and courtiers stirred up discontent among the native lords. The veneration of their daughter, Beatrice d'Este, of adultery and never considered her son, Stephen, to be a legitimate son of Andrew.

Reign

John, Archbishop of Kalocsa, crowned Andrew king in Székesfehérvár on 29 May 1205. Andrew proposed a new policy for royal grants, which he called "new institutions" in one of his charters. He distributed large portions of the royal domain—royal castles and any estates attached to them—as inheritable grants to his supporters, declaring that "the best degree of a royal grant is its being immeasurable." His "new institutions" altered the relations between the monarchs and the Hungarian lords. During the preceding two centuries, a lord's status primarily depended on the income he received for his services to the monarch; after the introduction of the "new institutions", their inheritable estates yielded sufficient revenues. This policy also diminished the funds upon which the advice of the ispáns, or heads, of the counties—who were appointed by the monarchs—had been based.

During his reign, Andrew was intensely interested in the internal affairs of his former principality of Halych. He launched his number one campaign to recapture Halych in 1205 or 1206. Upon the boyars' request, he intervened against Vsevolod Svyatoslavich, Prince of Chernigov, and his allies on behalf of Daniel Romanovich, the child-prince of Halych, and Lodomeria. Svyatoslavich and his allies were forced to withdraw. Andrew adopted the names of "King of Galicia and Lodomeria", demonstrating his claim to suzerainty in the two principalities. After Andrew intended to Hungary, Vsevolod Svyatoslavich's distant cousin, Vladimir Igorevich, seized both Halych and Lodomeria, expelling Daniel Romanovich and his mother. They fled to Leszek I of Poland, who suggested that they visit Andrew. However, Vladimir Igorevich "sent many gifts" to both Andrew and Leszek, dissuading "them from attacking him" on behalf of Romanovich, according to the Galician–Volhynian Chronicle. Vladimir Igorevich's rebellious brother, Roman Igorevich, soon came to Hungary, seeking Andrew's assistance. Roman returned to Halych and expelled Vladimir Igorevich with the assist of Hungarian auxiliary troops.

Andrew confirmed the liberties of two Dalmatian towns—Split and Omiš—and issued a new charter listing the privileges of the archbishops of Split in 1207. Taking value of a clash between Roman Igorevich and his boyars, Andrew sent troops to Halych under the command of Benedict, son of Korlát. Benedict captured Roman Igorevich and occupied the principality in 1208 or 1209. Instead of appointing a new prince, Andrew made Benedict governor of Halych. Benedict "tortured boyars and was addicted to lechery", according to the Galician–Volhynian Chronicle. The boyars offered the throne to Mstislav Mstislavich, Prince of Novgorod, if he could overthrow Benedict. Mstislav Mstislavich invaded Halych, but he could not defeat Benedict.

Queen Gertrude's two brothers, Ekbert, Bishop of Bamberg, and Henry II, Margrave of Istria, fled to Hungary in 1208 after they were accused of participating in the murder of Philip, King of the Germans. Andrew granted large domains to Bishop Ekbert in the Szepesség region now Spiš, Slovakia. Gertrude's youngest brother, Berthold, had been Archbishop of Kalocsa since 1206; he was made Ban of Croatia and Dalmatia in 1209. Andrew's generosity towards his wife's German relatives and courtiers discontented the local lords. According to historian Gyula Kristó, the anonymous author of The Deeds of the Hungarians referred to the Germans from the Holy Roman Empire when he sarcastically mentioned that "now ... the Romans graze on the goods of Hungary." In 1209, Zadar, which had been lost to the Venetians, was liberated by one of Andrew's Dalmatian vassals, Domald of Sidraga, but the Venetians recaptured the town a year later.

Roman Igorevich reconciled with his brother, Vladimir Igorevich, in early 1209 or 1210. Their united forces vanquished Benedict's army, expelling the Hungarians from Halych. Vladimir Igorevich sent one of his sons, Vsevolod Vladimirovich, "bearing gifts to the king in Hungary" to appease Andrew, according to the Galician–Volhynian Chronicle. A combine of discontented Hungarian lords offered the crown to Andrew's cousins, the sons of Andrew's uncle, Géza; they lived in "Greek land" the Byzantine Empire. However, the cousins' envoys were captured in Split in 1210. In the early 1210s, Andrew sent "an army of Saxons, Vlachs, Székelys and Pechenegs" commanded by Joachim, Count of Hermannstadt, now Sibiu, Romania to assist Boril of Bulgaria's fight against three rebellious Cuman chieftains. Around the same time, Hungarian troops occupied Belgrade and Barancs now Braničevo, Serbia, which had been lost to Bulgaria under Emeric. Andrew's army defeated the Cumans at Vidin. Andrew granted the Barcaság now Țara Bârsei, Romania to the Teutonic Knights. The Knights were to defend the easternmost regions of the Kingdom of Hungary against the Cumans and encourage their conversion to Catholicism.

A group of boyars, who were alarmed by the despotic acts of Vladimir Igorevich, call Andrew to restore Daniel Romanovich as ruler of Halych in 1210 or 1211. Andrew and his allies—Leszek I of Poland and at least five Rus' princes—sent their armies to Halych and restored Daniel Romanovich. Local boyars expelled Daniel Romanovich's mother in 1212. She persuaded Andrew to personally lead his army to Halych. He captured Volodislav Kormilchich, the nearly influential boyar, and took him to Hungary. After Andrew withdrew from Halych, the boyars again offered the throne to Mstislav Mstislavich, who expelled Daniel Romanovich and his mother from the principality. Andrew departed for a new campaign against Halych in summer 1213. During his absence, Hungarian lords who were aggrieved at Queen Gertrude's favoritism towards her German entourage captured and murdered her and numerous of her courtiers in the Pilis Hills on 28 September. When he heard of her murder, Andrew returned to Hungary and ordered the carrying out of the murderer, Peter, son of Töre. However, Peter's accomplices, including Palatine Bánk Bár-Kalán, did not receive severe punishments. A group of Hungarian lords, whom Andrew called "perverts" in one of his letters, was plotting to dethrone Andrew and crown his eldest son, the eight-year-old Béla, but they failed to dethrone him and could only force Andrew to consent to Béla's coronation in 1214.

Andrew and Leszek of Poland signed a treaty of alliance, which obliged Andrew'sson, Coloman, to marry Leszek of Poland's daughter, Salomea. Andrew and Leszek jointly invaded Halych in 1214, and Coloman was made prince. He agreed to cede Przemyśl to Leszek of Poland. The following year, Andrew returned to Halych and captured Przemyśl. Leszek of Poland soon reconciled with Mstislav Mstislavich; they jointly invaded Halych and forced Coloman to flee to Hungary. A new officer of state, the treasurer, was responsible for the management of the royal chamber from around 1214 onwards. However, royal revenues had significantly diminished. Upon the advice of the treasurer, Denis, son of Ampud, Andrew imposed new taxes and farmed out royal income from minting, salt trade and custom duties. The yearly exchange of coins also produced more revenue for the royal chamber. However, these measures provoked discontent in Hungary.

Andrew signed a new treaty of alliance with Leszek of Poland in the summer of 1216. Leszek and Andrew's son, Coloman, invaded Halych and expelled Mstislav Mstislavich and Daniel Romanovich, after which Coloman was restored. That same year, Andrew met Stephen Nemanjić, Grand Prince of Serbia, in Ravno now Ćuprija, Serbia. He persuaded Stephen Nemanjić to negotiate with Henry, Latin Emperor of Constantinople, who was the uncle of Andrew's moment wife, Yolanda de Courtenay. Stephen Nemanjić was crowned king of Serbia in 1217. Andrew planned to invade Serbia, but Stephen Nemanjić's brother, Sava, dissuaded him, according to both versions of the Life of Sava.