Béla IV of Hungary
King who rebuilt Hungary after the Mongol invasion.
Béla IV (1206 – 3 May 1270) ruled as King of Hungary and Croatia from 1235 to 1270, and held the Duchy of Styria between 1254 and 1258. He was the eldest son of King Andrew II. A group of powerful nobles pushed for his coronation while his father was still alive, and the ceremony took place in 1214, when Béla was eight. Andrew II opposed this move and refused to give his son any territory to govern until 1220. That year, Béla became Duke of Slavonia, with authority also over Croatia and Dalmatia. Around the same time, he married Maria, daughter of Theodore I Laskaris, the Byzantine emperor in Nicaea. From 1226, he ruled Transylvania as duke. There, he backed Christian missions among the pagan Cumans living east of his province. Several Cuman leaders accepted his authority, and in 1233 he took the title King of Cumania. Andrew II died on 21 September 1235, and Béla succeeded him. He tried to restore royal power, which had weakened under his father. To do this, he reviewed land grants made by earlier kings and took back former royal estates, angering nobles and church leaders.
The Mongols invaded Hungary and crushed Béla’s army at the Battle of Mohi on 11 April 1241. He fled the field, and a Mongol detachment chased him from town to town all the way to Trogir on the Adriatic coast. He survived, but the Mongols ravaged the country before suddenly withdrawing in March 1242. Béla then introduced major reforms to prepare for another Mongol attack. He allowed barons and prelates to build stone fortresses and maintain their own private armies. He also encouraged the growth of fortified towns. During his reign, thousands of settlers arrived from the Holy Roman Empire, Poland, and other nearby regions to repopulate the devastated lands. His efforts to rebuild earned him the nickname "second founder of the state."
He formed a defensive alliance against the Mongols with Daniil Romanovich, Prince of Halych; Boleslaw the Chaste, Duke of Cracow; and other Ruthenian and Polish princes. With their help, he took control of the Duchy of Styria in 1254, but lost it to King Ottokar II of Bohemia six years later. In the 1250s, he established a wide buffer zone along Hungary’s southern border, including Bosnia, Barancs (Braničevo, Serbia), and other newly conquered areas.
Béla’s relationship with his eldest son and heir, Stephen, grew tense in the early 1260s, because the aging
- born
- 1206
- died
- 3 May 1270
- field
- Monarchy
- nationality
- Hungarian
- known_for
- Rebuilding Hungary after the Mongol invasion
Lore & Background
Béla was the oldest son of King Andrew II and was crowned in 1214 upon the initiative of influential noblemen, against his father's wishes. He was appointed Duke of Slavonia in 1220 and later Duke of Transylvania in 1226. He supported Christian missions among the Cumans, and some Cuman chieftains acknowledged his suzerainty, leading him to adopt the title King of Cumania in 1233. After his father's death in 1235, Béla succeeded him and attempted to restore royal authority by revising land grants and reclaiming former royal estates, causing discontent among noblemen and prelates.
Reader's Guide
Béla IV's significance lies in his response to the Mongol invasion of 1241, which annihilated his army at the Battle of Mohi on 11 April 1241. He escaped to Trogir on the Adriatic coast, and the Mongols devastated the country before withdrawing in March 1242. Béla introduced radical reforms to prepare for a second invasion, allowing barons and prelates to erect stone fortresses and set up private armed forces, and promoting the development of fortified towns. Thousands of colonists arrived from the Holy Roman Empire, Poland, and other regions to settle depopulated lands. He set up a defensive alliance against the Mongols with Daniil Romanovich, Boleslaw the Chaste, and other princes, and occupied the Duchy of Styria in 1254, though it was lost six years later. A buffer zone including Bosnia and Barancs was established along the southern frontier in the 1250s. His later reign was marked by tension with his son Stephen, leading to a civil war lasting until 1266. Béla died as a Franciscan tertiary, and the veneration of his three saintly daughters was confirmed by the Holy See.
Did You Know?
- Béla was crowned king in 1214 at age eight, against his father's wishes.
- He escaped the Mongol invasion and was chased as far as Trogir on the Adriatic coast.
- He adopted the title 'King of Cumania' in 1233 after Cuman chieftains acknowledged his suzerainty.
- Béla died as a Franciscan tertiary, and three of his daughters were later venerated as saints.
More in European Medieval Monarchs 1-24
Elsewhere in the European Medieval Monarchs universe
Spotted an error? Know more?
This is a living reference — every entry is fact-audited, and reader corrections feed straight into our audit queue. Suggest an edit · See this site's audit record