Géza I Géza I Géza I ' onMouseout='HidePop("12036")' href="http://www.absoluteastronomy.com/topics/Ladislaus_I_of_Hungary">Ladislaus
Saint Ladislaus I was King of Hungary from 1077 until his death, "who greatly expanded the boundaries of the kingdom and consolidated it internally; no other Hungarian king was so generally beloved by the people"...
was proclaimed king. Coloman and his younger brother,
ÁlmosÁlmos was a Hungarian prince, the son of King Géza I of Hungary, brother of King Kálmán. He held several governmental posts in the Kingdom of Hungary....
were educated in the court of their uncle.
King Ladislaus wanted Álmos to succeed him as king of Hungary, and wished to make Coloman a bishop. Therefore, Coloman was educated pursuant to the clerical traditions and acquired his subsequently famous learning, which earned him the appellation "
the Book-lover".
Pursuant to the chronicles, King Ladislaus appointed Coloman to bishop of
Eger----Eger is a city in northern Hungary, the county seat of Heves, east of the Mátra Mountains. Eger is best known for its castle, thermal baths, historic buildings , and red and white wines...
or
NagyváradOradea is the capital city of Bihor County, in Crişana, Romania. The city proper has a population of 206,614 census; this does not include areas from the metropolitan area, outside the municipality; they bring the total urban area population to approximately 260,000...
. However, Coloman did not want to live an ecclesiastical life, and in 1095, when King Ladislaus named officially Álmos as his heir, Coloman escaped to Poland. When Coloman came back followed by Polish troops provided to him by Duke Władysław I Herman of Poland, King Ladislaus died on 29 July 1095. Shortly afterwards, Coloman made an agreement with his brother, under which Álmos acknowledged his reign but received
"Tercia pars Regni" (
i.e. one third of the Kingdom of Hungary) as appanage from the new king. Coloman was crowned only in the beginning of 1096.
Facing the Crusaders
Shortly after his coronation, Coloman had to face the problems the
CrusaderThe Crusades were a series of religiously-sanctioned military campaigns waged by much of Latin Christian Europe, particularly the Franks of France and the Holy Roman Empire. The specific crusades to restore Christian control of the Holy Land were fought over a period of nearly 200 years, between...
armies caused while passing through Hungary. Although the armies led by
Walter the PennilessWalter Sans Avoir also mistakenly known as the Penniless, was the lord of Boissy-sans-Avoir in the Ile-de-France. As lieutenant to Peter the Hermit he co-led the People's Crusade at the beginning of the First Crusade...
passed peacefully through the country in May 1096, but the next hordes led by
Peter the HermitPeter the Hermit was a priest of Amiens and a key figure during the First Crusade.-Before 1096:According to Anna Comnena, he had attempted to go on a pilgrimage to Jerusalem before 1096, but was prevented by the Seljuk Turks from reaching his goal and was tortured.Sources differ as to whether he...
occupied the fortress of
ZimonyZemun is a town in Serbia and one of the 17 municipalities which constitute the City of Belgrade, the country's capital...
and they withdrew only when Coloman's armies were approaching them.
Shortly afterwards, the troops of a German knight called Folkmar were pillaging the territories of the Hungarian County of
NyitraNitra is a city in western Slovakia, situated at the foot of Zobor Mountain in the valley of the river Nitra. With a population of 85,000, it is the fourth largest city in Slovakia. Nitra is also one of the oldest cities in Slovakia and the country's earliest political and cultural center...
, while the German priest
GottschalkGottschalk is a German name, literally translating to "servant of God".people called Gottschalk:*Godescalc of Benevento, 8th-century Lombard duke...
's hordes were ravaging the Transdanubian region of the kingdom. Coloman managed to rout both of the armies and he denied the entrance of the new armies led by
Emicho of LeiningenCount Emicho , was a count in the Rhineland in the late 11th century and the leader of the "German Crusade" in 1096...
and Guillaume de Melun, but the Crusaders laid siege to the fortress of
MosonMoson was a historic administrative county of the Kingdom of Hungary in present-day eastern Austria and north-western Hungary, on the right side of the Danube river...
defended by Coloman. Coloman could only break out and win over the Crusaders just after a six week long defence.
On 20 September 1096, Coloman made an agreement with Duke
Godfrey V of Lower LorraineGodfrey of Bouillon was a medieval knight who was one of the leaders of the First Crusade from 1096 until his death. He was the Lord of Bouillon, from which he took his byname, from 1076 and the Duke of Lower Lorraine from 1087...
, the leader of the next army. Under their agreement, Coloman took hostages (including Godfrey's brother,
BaldwinBaldwin I of Jerusalem, formerly Baldwin I of Edessa, born Baldwin of Boulogne , 1058? - 2 April 1118, was one of the leaders of the First Crusade, who became the first Count of Edessa and then the second ruler and first titled King of Jerusalem...
, who would become the first king of Jerusalem) and he mustered his own army to guard the progress; therefore the Crusader armies passed through the kingdom peacefully.
Alleged campaigns in Croatia
Coloman changed Hungary's foreign policy. While his predecessor had asked for the
Holy Roman EmperorThe Holy Roman Emperor is a term used by historians to denote a Middle Ages ruler, who as German King had in addition received the title of "Emperor of the Romans" from the Pope of the Holy Roman Church, and after the 16th century, the elected monarch governing the Holy Roman Empire, a Central...
's help (instead of the pope's) when waging war on
CroatiaCroatia , officially the Republic of Croatia , is a country in southeast Europe, at the crossroads of the Pannonian Plain, the Balkans, and the Mediterranean Sea. Its capital is Zagreb...
, Coloman wanted to stay on good terms with the
Holy SeeThe Holy See is the episcopal jurisdiction of the Bishop of Rome, commonly known as the Pope, and is the preeminent episcopal see of the Catholic Church, forming the central government of the Church. As such, diplomatically, and in other spheres the Holy See acts and speaks for the whole Catholic...
. In the spring of 1097, he married
FeliciaFelicia of Sicily was a Queen Consort of Hungary.Felicia was the eldest daughter of Count Roger I of Sicily, and his second wife, Eremburga of Mortain...
, a daughter of Count
Roger I of SicilyRoger I , called Bosso and the Great Count, was the Norman Count of Sicily from 1071 to 1101. He was the last great leader of the Norman conquest of southern Italy.-Conquest of Calabria and Sicily:...
who was a close ally of the popes.
Shortly afterwards, Coloman led his armies against
Petar SvačićPetar Svačić was elected king by Croatian feudal lords in 1093. Petar's seat of power was based in Knin. His rule was marked by a struggle for control of the country with Hungary. During his reign he was able to expel Prince Álmos from Slavonia, and unite Croatia to the river Drava...
, who had been proclaimed king of Croatia, and won a decisive victory over the Croat armies at the
Battle of Gvozd MountainThe Battle of Gvozd Mountain took place in the year 1097 and was fought on Petrova gora in central Croatia, between the army of Croatian king Petar Svačić and King Coloman I of Hungary...
, and reoccupied the country.
In 1097, he made good Hungary’s claim to Croatia by overthrowing King Petar Svačić of Croatia, and by 1102 Coloman controlled the greater part of Dalmatia.
According to the
pacta conventaPacta conventa was an alleged agreement concluded in 1102 between King Coloman of Hungary and the Croatian nobility. While some claim it was a voluntary union of the two crowns, leaving Croatia as a sovereign state, others argue that Hungary simply annexed Croatia outright and forced an agreement...
, this marked both the end of an independent Kingdom of Croatia and the absorption, albeit incomplete, of the conquered territories into the Kingdom of Hungary. King Coloman of Hungary created a personal union between the Kingdom of Croatia and Hungary. However, some historians dispute its authenticity and claim that the document is a forgery and that Hungary seized Croatia and it became a province, while Croatian historiography mostly accepts it as authentic; a Croatian proponent of the document being forgery is
Nada KlaićNada Klaić was a Croatian historian. She was influential and controversial Croatian medievalist of the 20th century.-Academic career:...
. According to this "pacta", the coronation was preceded by an agreement between Coloman and the representatives of the greatest Croatian families, under which he and his successors would govern Croatia as a separate kingdom and they would acknowledge the special privileges and customs of the kingdom. Albeit there is no undoubtedley genuine document of the personal union, and medieval sources mention the absorption into the Hungarian kingdom.
According to Croatian scholar M. Barada, almost everything stated about Svačić family is pure legend, and Hungarian scholar Sándor Szilagyi stated that Petar Svačić never existed, since the only source which mentions him, Simon Kézai's
Magyar Krónika, is not reliable and there is no contemporary mention of Svačić's alleged uprising .
The Pacta Conventa is most likely a late medieval forgery, not a twelfth-century source. Its source of inspiration must have been the political and social developments that had taken place over a 300-year period following the conquest of Ladislav I and Coloman.
While Coloman was far away in Croatia, his brother, Álmos, who had governed Croatia during the reign of Ladislaus I, rose against him in Hungary. However, the barons wanted to avoid the internal struggle and obliged Coloman and Álmos to confirm their former agreement under which Álmos could maintain his duchy while he accepted Coloman's rule. In 1105, Coloman led his armies to
DalmatiaDalmatia , is a region on the eastern coast of the Adriatic Sea and is situated in modern Croatia. It spreads between the island of Rab in the northwest and the Bay of Kotor, in Montenegro, in the southeast...
and occupied the Dalmatian towns and islands that had belonged to
VeniceVenice is a city in northern Italy, the capital of the region Veneto, a population of 271,367 . Together with Padua, the city is included in the Padua-Venice Metropolitan Area . The city historically was an independent nation...
.
Wars with the neighbouring countries
In the beginning of 1099, Coloman allied himself with his cousins, Duke
Svatopluk of MoraviaSvatopluk the Lion was the duke of Bohemia from 1107 to his assassination. He was a son of Otto I of Olomouc and Euphemia of Hungary and grandson of Bretislaus I of Bohemia....
and Duke Otto II of Moravia against Duke
Břetislav II of BohemiaBretislaus II was the duke of Bohemia from 14 September 1092 until his death. He was the eldest son of King Vratislaus II and Adelaide, daughter of Andrew I of Hungary. He was a major enemy of paganism....
, but he had a meeting, on 29 May, with Břetislav II in
Uherský BrodUherský Brod is a town in the Zlín Region of the Czech Republic. It is situated in the south-east of Moravia . It lies in the Vizovice Highlands and near the White Carpathian Mountains ....
where they made a peace.
In the second half of 1099, Coloman led his armies against Prince Vasilko of Terebovl and laid siege to the fortress of
PeremyslPrzemyśl is a city in south-eastern Poland with 66,756 inhabitants, as of June 2009. In 2006, it became part of the Subcarpathian Voivodeship; it was previously the capital of Przemyśl Voivodeship....
, but he was defeated by the
CumanCumans were a nomadic Turkic people who inhabited a shifting area north of the Black Sea known as Cumania along the Volga River. They eventually settled to the west of the Black Sea, influencing the politics of Bulgaria, Serbia, Hungary, Moldavia, and Wallachia...
allies of the prince.
Coloman as legislator
One of his most famous laws was half a millennium ahead of its time:
De strigis vero quae non sunt, nulla amplius quaestio fiat (As for the matter of witches, there is no such thing, therefore no further investigations or trials are to be held).
Coloman's court was a center of learning and literature. Bishop Hartvik's
Life of St. StephenSaint Stephen I was Grand Prince of the Hungarians and the first King of Hungary ....
, a chronicle of Hungary, the shorter of the extant Legends of St. Gellért, and several collections of laws all stem from his reign.
In the synod of
TarcalTarcal is a village on the eastern edge of Borsod-Abaúj-Zemplén county, northern Hungary, in the famous Tokaj-Hegyalja wine district, from Miskolc.- Geography :...
, the prelates and barons of the kingdom revised the laws of the preceding kings, and Coloman issued new decrees. The new decrees reduced the severity of the laws of King Ladislaus I, but they also contained provisions against the
JewThe Jews , also known as the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group originating in the Israelites or Hebrews of the Ancient Near East. The Jewish ethnicity, nationality, and religion are strongly interrelated, as Judaism is the traditional faith of the Jewish nation...
s and the
Muslim:A Muslim , , is an adherent of the religion of Islam. The feminine form is Muslimah . Literally, the word means "one who submits ". Muslim is the participle of the same verb of which Islam is the infinitive. Muslims believe that there is only one God, translated in Arabic as Allah...
s (
böszörmény).
Internal wars with his brother
Coloman had his son,
StephenStephen II , King of Hungary. He was crowned as a child during his father's lifetime who wanted to ensure Stephen's succession against his brother, Duke Álmos. Stephen's reign was characterized by frequent struggles with the neighbouring countries...
crowned in 1105, which resulted in the open rebellion of his brother,
Duke ÁlmosÁlmos was a Hungarian prince, the son of King Géza I of Hungary, brother of King Kálmán. He held several governmental posts in the Kingdom of Hungary....
, who went to the court of
Henry IV, Holy Roman EmperorHenry IV was King of Germany from 1056 and Holy Roman Emperor from 1084 until his forced abdication in 1105. He was the third emperor of the Salian dynasty and one of the most powerful and important figures of the 11th century...
. But the emperor was engaged with the rebellion of his own son, the future Emperor
Henry VHenry V was King of Germany and Holy Roman Emperor , the fourth and last ruler of the Salian dynasty. Henry's reign coincided with the final phase of the great Investiture Controversy, which had pitted pope against emperor...
, thus Duke Álmos had to come back to Hungary and accept Coloman's rule.
But Álmos did not give up his claims, and escaped to Poland and made an agreement with Duke Bolesław III who declared war against Coloman. However, Coloman sent envoys to the duke of Poland and convinced him to make an alliance against the Holy Roman Empire; therefore Álmos was obliged to return to Hungary and ask for the king's pardon.
In 1107, Coloman and Bolesław III gave assistance to Duke
Svatopluk of MoraviaSvatopluk the Lion was the duke of Bohemia from 1107 to his assassination. He was a son of Otto I of Olomouc and Euphemia of Hungary and grandson of Bretislaus I of Bohemia....
against Duke
Borivoj II of BohemiaBorivoj II was the duke of Bohemia from 25 December 1100 until May 1107 and from December 1117 until 16 August 1120. He was the younger half-brother and successor of Bretislaus II....
. In the next year, Bolesław III could overcome the rebellion of his brother,
ZbigniewZbigniew , Duke of Poland from 1102 until 1107.-Early years:Zbigniew was the first-born son of Prince Władysław I Herman by a certain Przecława, who apparently belonged to the Prawdzic clan...
with Coloman's help. In the same year, taking advantage of his brother's pilgrimage to the Holy Land, Coloman occupied Álmos' duchy.
In 1108, Coloman visited Dalmatia and confirmed the privileges of Spalatum (Split), Iadera (Zadar), and
TraguriumTragurium is a Catholic titular see, corresponding to present-day Trogir in Croatia. The diocese of Trogir existed from the eleventh century to 1828, when it was suppressed.-Bishops:*Giovanni Orsini...
(Trogir).
When duke Álmos returned from the Holy Land and realised that his duchy had been incorporated into the royal domains, he escaped again to the court of the Holy Roman Emperor. Upon his request, the Emperor
Henry VHenry V was King of Germany and Holy Roman Emperor , the fourth and last ruler of the Salian dynasty. Henry's reign coincided with the final phase of the great Investiture Controversy, which had pitted pope against emperor...
laid siege to
PozsonyBratislava is the capital of the Slovak Republic and, with a population of about 429,000, also the country's largest city. Bratislava is in southwestern Slovakia on both banks of the Danube River...
. Coloman sought the assistance of Duke Bolesław III of Poland, who attacked Bohemia. In November, the emperor made a peace with Coloman, who let his brother come back to his court, but the duchy of Álmos was not to be restored. Shortly afterwards, Coloman set up the bishopric of
NyitraNitra is a city in western Slovakia, situated at the foot of Zobor Mountain in the valley of the river Nitra. With a population of 85,000, it is the fourth largest city in Slovakia. Nitra is also one of the oldest cities in Slovakia and the country's earliest political and cultural center...
.
Last years
In 1112, Coloman married
Eufemia of KievEuphemia of Kiev , Queen Consort of Hungary. Euphemia was the daughter of Grand Prince Vladimir II of Kiev and his second wife whose name and ancestry are unknown. She was married to King Coloman of Hungary around 1112. However, her husband, who had been suffering from a serious disease, caught her...
, daughter of Grand Prince Vladimir II of Kiev. However, a few months later, she was caught in adultery and immediately divorced and sent back to her father. Eufemia bore a son in Kiev, named
BorisBoris Kalamanos was a pretender who claimed the Hungarian throne. He desperately tried to assert his claims with the assistance of Poland, the Holy Roman Empire and the Byzantine Empire, but he failed and died in exile.-His descent:...
in 1112, but Coloman refused to acknowledge him as his son.
Shortly afterwards, Coloman had a meeting with Bolesław III who was going on a pilgrimage to
SzékesfehérvárSzékesfehérvár is a city in central Hungary, located around southwest of Budapest. It is inhabited by 106,346 people , with 138,995 in the direct vicinity, and is the centre of Fejér county and the regional centre of Central Transdanubia. In the Middle Ages the city was a royal residence and...
and
SomogyvárSomogyvár is a village in Somogy county, Hungary.- Geography :Somogyvár can be found south from Lengyeltóti, between Lengyeltóti, Öreglak andSomogyvámos.- History :...
because of having made his brother blind. In 1115, Coloman, who had become more and more ill, also ordered to make Álmos and his infant son,
BélaBéla II the Blind , , King of Hungary . Still as a child, Béla was blinded by his uncle, King Coloman who wanted to ensure the succession of his own son, the future King Stephen II...
blind in order to secure his own son's inheritance.
In August 1115, Venice made an assault against Dalmatia and began to conquer the Dalmatian towns and isles. But Coloman was not able to answer to the aggression, because he died on 3 February 1116. He was buried in
SzékesfehérvárSzékesfehérvár is a city in central Hungary, located around southwest of Budapest. It is inhabited by 106,346 people , with 138,995 in the direct vicinity, and is the centre of Fejér county and the regional centre of Central Transdanubia. In the Middle Ages the city was a royal residence and...
, next to St. Stephen.
Titles
King of Hungary, Slavonia, Croatia, Dalmatia"