Medieval Hungary King Bela III Byzantine Follis Type 1172 AD . High grade

Description: Rare coin, please check the pictures to determine the grade. Bla III(Hungarian:III. Bla,Croatian:Bela III,Slovak:Belo III;c.1148 23 April 1196) wasKing of HungaryandCroatiabetween 1172 and 1196. He was the second son of KingGza IIand Gza's wife,Euphrosyne of Kiev. Around 1161, Gza granted Bla a duchy, which includedCroatia, centralDalmatiaand possiblySirmium. In accordance with a peace treaty between his elder brother,Stephen III, who succeeded their father in 1162, and theByzantine EmperorManuel I Komnenos, Bla moved toConstantinoplein 1163. He was renamed toAlexios, and the emperor granted him the newly created seniorcourt titleofdespotes. He was betrothed to the Emperor's daughter,Maria. Bla's patrimony caused armed conflicts between theByzantine Empireand theKingdom of Hungarybetween 1164 and 1167, because Stephen III attempted to hinder the Byzantines from taking control of Croatia, Dalmatia and Sirmium. Bla-Alexios, who was designated as Emperor Manuel's heir in 1165, took part in three Byzantine campaigns against Hungary. His betrothal to the emperor's daughter was dissolved after her brother,Alexios, was born in 1169. The emperor deprived Bla of his high title, granting him the inferior rank ofkaisar Stephen III died on 4 March 1172, and Bla decided to return to Hungary. Before his departure, he pledged that he would never make war against the Byzantine Empire. Although the Hungarianprelatesand lords unanimously proclaimed Bla king,Lucas, Archbishop of Esztergomopposed his coronation because of Bla's allegedsimony. Finally, theArchbishop of Kalocsacrowned him king on 18 January 1173, withPope Alexander III's approval. Bla fought with his younger brother,Gza, whom he held in captivity for more than a decade. Taking advantage of the internal conflicts in the Byzantine Empire after Emperor Manuel's death, Bla reoccupied Croatia, Dalmatia and Sirmium between 1180 and 1181. He occupied thePrincipality of Halychin 1188, but it was lost within two years. Bla promoted the use of written records during his reign. Hungarian chronicles from the 14th century even state that he was responsible for the establishment of the Royal Chancery. The royal palace built inEsztergomduring his reign was the first example ofGothic architectureinCentral Europe. He was the wealthiest European monarch of his time, according toa list of his revenues, but the reliability of the list is questioned. Early life Childhood (c.11481163) The seal of Bla's father,Gza II of Hungary Bla was the second son ofGza II of Hungaryand Gza's wife,Euphrosyne of Kiev.The date of his birth was not recorded.Studies of his bones show that Bla died in 1196 at around 49 years old, so he must have been born around 1148. The contemporaneousJohn Kinnamos's reference to "the territory which his father, while still alive, had apportioned"to Bla shows that Gza II granted a distinct territory as anappanageto his younger son.Bla's patrimony certainly included the central parts ofDalmatia, (which includedibenik,Split, andTrogir, which had accepted the suzerainty of the Kings of Hungary for decades), because Kinnamos mentioned the province "as Bla's heritage".HistoriansFerenc MakkandGyula Moravcsikagree that Bla also receivedCroatiafrom his father.WhetherSyrmiumwas also part of Bla's patrimony, or if he only acquired it after his father's death is subject to scholarly debates.According to historianWarren Treadgold, Bla's patrimony also includedBosnia.The exact date of Gza II's grant cannot be determined, but according to Makk, Bla seems to have received his duchy around 1161. Gza II, who died on 31 May 1162, was succeeded by his first-born son,Stephen III.Stephen III seems to have confirmed Bla's possession of the duchy, because Kinnamos referred to the land which was "long before granted"[13]to Bla by Gza and Stephen.Shortly after his ascension to the throne, Stephen III was expelled by his uncles,Ladislaus IIandStephen IV.TheByzantine Emperor,Manuel I Komnenos, supported the uncles' takeover, but Stephen III returned to Hungary and regained his crown by force in the middle of 1163.Bla probably remained neutral during his brother's conflict with their uncles, because there is no report of Bla's activities in 1162 and 1163. In 1163, Emperor Manuel signed a peace treaty with Stephen III, in which he renounced his support of Stephen's opponents.In exchange, Stephen III agreed to send Bla toConstantinople, and to allow the Byzantines to take possession of Bla's duchy.The Emperor also promised that he would betroth his daughter,Maria, to Bla. "When [Emperor Manuel I] came [toBelgrade] and realized that it was then impossible for [Stephen IV] to rule the Hungarians' land (for already they had hastily installed [Stephen III] son of [Gza II] again), he turned to something else. As stated, he desired with all his might to lay claim to Hungary, which is situated in the midst of the western nations. He therefore intended to unite in marriage Bla, who was [Gza II]'s son after [Stephen III], to his own daughter Maria." John Kinnamos:Deeds of John and Manuel Comnenus DespotesAlexios (11631169) Byzantine EmperorManuel I KomnenosBla-Alexios was the Emperor's designated heir between 1165 and 1169 Emperor Manuel dispatchedsebastosGeorge Palaiologosto escort Bla to theByzantine Empire.Bla arrived in Constantinople around the end of 1163.He was renamed toAlexios, and received the title ofdespotes("lord"), which only emperors had used before that time.Bla's betrothal to the emperor's daughter was also officially announced. Stephen III invaded Syrmium in the summer of 1164.Emperor Manuel led his armies against Stephen, stating that he arrived "not to wage war on the Hungarians but to recover his land for Bla",according to Kinnamos.Bla-Alexiosalong with his uncle, Stephen IV, and their distant relative,Stephanos Kalamanosaccompanied the emperor during the campaign.Before long, a new peace treaty was signed, once again forcing Stephen III to renounce Bla's duchy.A Byzantine army occupied Syrmium, which was organized into a Byzantinetheme, or district. Stephen III launched a new invasion against Syrmium in the spring of 1165.Emperor Manuel directed the counter-attack, and Bla accompanied him again.After the imperial army recapturedZimony(now Zemun in Serbia), Bla persuaded the emperor to prohibit the execution of the Hungarian soldiers who were captured in the fortress.A Byzantine army also occupied Dalmatia.A new peace treaty between Stephen III and Emperor Manuel followed, which confirmed the emperor's suzerainty in Bla's former duchy. Dalmatia and Bosnia were soon converted into Byzantine themes. Emperor Manuel ceremoniously made his daughter and Bla-Alexios his heirs, and forced the Byzantine notables to swear an oath of fidelity to them in the autumn of 1165.Only the emperor's cousin,Andronikos Komnenos, dared to condemn this act, asking, "What madness is this of the emperor to deem everyRomanmale unworthy of his daughter's nuptial bed, to choose before all others this foreigner and interloper to be anemperor of the Romansand to sit above all as master?",according to the nearly contemporaneousNiketas Choniates.Bla-Alexios participated in the 1166Council of Blachernae, together with Emperor Manuel and theEcumenical PatriarchLuke Chrysoberges.In the spring of 1166, Bla-Alexios accompaniedprotostratorAlexios Axouch, who led a Byzantine army against Hungary in retaliation for a new Hungarian invasion of Syrmium.On 11 April 1166, although Bla-Alexios and his bride were related to each other, Emperor Manuel confirmed a decision of the Ecumenical Patriarch, which stated thatmarriages between kin to the seventh degree were void.Manuel even proposed a marriage between his daughter (Bla-Alexios's fiance) and the newKing of Sicily,William II, in the autumn of 1166 A new war broke out between Hungary and the Byzantine Empire in 1167, because Bla-Alexios "claimed the kingdom"of his brother, according to the contemporaneousRahewin.Henry of Mgelnalso wrote that many Hungarians joined and served the army of Bla-Alexios, stating that "the Kingdom of Hungary belonged to him [Bla-Alexios] by right".On 8 July 1167, the Byzantine army annihilated the Hungarian troops in theBattle of Sirmium.A peace treaty was signed, which put an end to the period of wars between Hungary and the Byzantine Empire, and confirmed the dominion of the Byzantine Empire over central Dalmatia, Bosnia and Syrmium. KaisarAlexios (11691172) Emperor Manuel's wife,Maria of Antioch, gave birth to a son namedAlexioson 14 September 1169.The emperor dissolved his daughter's betrothal to Bla-Alexios.The emperor also removed Bla-Alexios's title ofdespotes, but granted him the inferior rank ofkaisar.In the spring of 1170, Bla-Alexios married the emperor's sister-in-law,Agnes of Antioch.The couple went on a pilgrimage to theHoly Land.InJerusalem, they donated 10,000bezantsto theKnights Hospitallerin compensation for their hospitality.In the charter of grant, Bla-Alexios styled himself "Lord A., Duke of Hungary, Dalmatia and Croatia", ignoring the title that the emperor had recently bestowed upon him. Reign Coronation (11721173) Bla's brother, Stephen III, died on 4 March 1172.Arnold of Lbeck, who was staying inEsztergom, recorded a rumor suggesting that Stephen had been poisoned by Bla's supporters, but no other source verifies this hearsay.Stephen III's widow,Agnes, left Hungary, although she was pregnant when her husband died.A Hungarian delegation visited Emperor Manuel and Bla inSardica(now Sophia in Bulgaria).They demanded that "Bla be dispatched to them as king", because "the principle of justice looked toward him" after his brother's death,according to Kinnamos.Kinnamos also said that Emperor Manuel made Bla king after Bla "promised an oath to observe for the whole course of his life whatever would be beneficial"to the emperor and the Byzantines.A letter written by the Byzantine EmperorIsaac II Angelosin 1196 says that on the same occasion, Bla pledged that he would never support the Serbians if they fought against the Byzantine Empire. Bla and his wife arrived inSzkesfehrvrin late April or early May.Bla was unanimously elected king by the "dignitaries of the Hungarian kingdom", according to a letter written byPope Alexander IIIin 1179.However, Bla'scoronationwas delayed, becauseLucas, Archbishop of Esztergom, refused to perform it.The archbishop accused the king ofsimony, because Bla had given a precious cloak to his delegate.According to a scholarly theory, Archbishop Lucas also feared that the influence of "schismatics" would increase under Bla's rule.Nevertheless, the majority of the barons and prelates remained loyal to Bla.Bla sought the assistance of the Holy See against the Archbishop Lucas.Upon Bla's request, Pope Alexander III authorized theArchbishop of Kalocsato anoint Bla king and "place the crown on his head".Bla's coronation took place on 18 January 1173.He issued a charter confirming the right of the archbishops of Esztergom to crown the Hungarian monarchs.The unification of the so-called "Greek" and "Latin" crowns into theHoly Crown of Hungaryseems to have occurred during his reign. Conflicts (11731178) Archbishop Lucas fell out of favor with Bla, and was ignored by him in the first years of his reign.Instead of Lucas, the Archbishop of Kalocsa baptized Bla's first-born son,Emeric, in 1174. However, administering sacraments to members of the royal family had always been the archbishops of Esztergom's job.According to a Bohemian chronicle (Continuatio Gerlaci abbatis Milovicensis), Bla imprisoned his younger brother, Gza, but Gza escaped from prison and fled toAustriain 1174 or 1175.Stephen III'sjudge royal,Lawrence, accompanied Gza.WhenHenry Jasomirgott,Duke of Austria, refused to extradite Gza, Bla launched plundering raids into Austria, together withSobslav II, Duke of Bohemia.Meanwhile, Bla sent reinforcements to Emperor Manuel to help him fight against theSeljuks, but their united forces suffered defeat in theBattle of Myriokephalonon 17 September 1176. Gza tried to persuade Sobslav II of Bohemia to help him meetFrederick I, Holy Roman Emperor, but Sobslav seized Gza and handed him over to Bla in 1177.Bla once again imprisoned his brother, and he also put their mother, Euphrosyne, in confinement.In retaliation for Sobslav's role in Gza's capture, Emperor Frederick dethroned Sobslav and appointed another member of thePemyslid dynasty,Frederick, to the position of duke.The Holy Roman Emperor ordered the new Duke of Austria,Leopold V, to storm Bohemia.Bla soon intervened, threatening Leopold V with an invasion, which forced Leopold to leave Bohemia. Expansion and reforms (11781194) Bla's long-time favorite,Andrew, Archbishop of Kalocsa, insulted him around 1178.Bla soon deprived him and his supporter, the Provost ofSzkesfehrvr Chapter, of their offices and seized the Archbishop's revenues.Pope Alexander III punished Bla with ecclesiastic sanctions, but Bla reconciled with Archbishop Lucas of Esztergom, who absolved him and excommunicated Andrew of Kalocsa.The conflict ended with a compromise mediated by theHoly See: Andrew asked Bla to pardon him, and Bla restored him to his position of archbishop. Upon Bla's invitation,Cistercianmonks came from France and set up new Cistercian abbeys atEgres,Zirc,SzentgotthrdandPilisbetween 1179 and 1184.In the 1180s, Bla initiated the building of a lofty royal castle and a new cathedral in Esztergom.Nevertheless, he was almost always wandering around the country.According to an inscription on a brick found inBulkeszi(now Magli in Serbia), Bla sponsored the baptism of a German "guest settler" in that village. Bla III's seal In the imperial court of Constantinople, Bla learnt the importance of a well-organized administration.According to theIlluminated Chronicle, Bla "introduced the same form of addressing petitions as was customary in the Roman and imperial court",which suggests that the Royal Chancery began functioning as a separate office during his reign.He emphasized the importance of written records,ordering in 1181that a charter was to be issued for all transactions proceeding in his presence. Emperor Manuel I died on 24 September 1180.Within six months, Bla had restored his suzerainty in Dalmatia, but no detailed contemporaneous accounts of the events exist.The citizens of Split "returned to Hungarian lordship"soon after Manuel's death, according to the 13th-centuryThomas the Archdeacon.Zadaralso accepted Bla's suzerainty in early 1181.HistorianJohn V. A. Finewrites that Bla retook suzerainty of Dalmatia "seemingly without bloodshed and with imperial consent", because the Byzantine authorities preferred that Bla rule the province rather than theRepublic of Venice. The details of the reconquest of Syrmium are also obscure.Andronikos Komnenosaccused the mother of the young Byzantine Emperor, Alexios II, of inciting Blaher brother-in-lawto ravage the region ofBelgradeandBarancs(now Branievo in Serbia) in May 1182, implying that Bla had by that time occupied Syrmium.In the same month, Andronikos Komnenos captured the Dowager Empress and had her murdered by the end of the year.Taking advantage of the emerging anarchy in the Byzantine Empire, Bla advanced as far asNiand Serdica in the first half of 1183.In Sardica, he seized the casket containing the relics ofSaint Ivan of Rila, and ordered it "to be transported with great honors to his land and to be laid down with honor in the church" ofEsztergom, according to the saint'sLife from the Sofia Prologue.Makk writes that Bla withdrew from the regions south of the Danube, but historian Paul Stephenson says that Bla preserved these lands. Andronikos Komnenos murdered Emperor Alexios II in late 1183.The contemporaneousEustathius of Thessalonicawrites that Andronikos's opponents sent letters to many monarchs, including Bla III, urging them to attack Andronikos.According toAnsbertand other Western European chroniclers, Bla invaded the Byzantine Empire in early 1185.After Andronikos I fell in September, Bla signed a peace treaty with the new emperor,Isaac II Angelos.Isaac married Bla's daughter,Margaret, and Bla granted the region of Ni and Barancs to Isaac as his daughter's dowry.The relics of Saint Ivan of Rila were also returned to Sardica on this occasion.Bla marriedMargaret of France, a sister ofPhilip II of France, in the summer of 1186. Foundation of theSzentgotthrd Abbey. Painting by Stephan Dorfmeister (c.1795) Orio Mastropiero,Doge of Venice, laid siege to Zadar in 1187, but the Venetian fleet could not seize the well-fortified town.Vladimir Yaroslavich,Prince of Halych, fled to Hungary at the end of 1188, because his boyars had rebelled.Roman Mstyslavych,Prince of Vladimir-in-Volhynia, soon occupied Halych, but Bla invaded the principality and expelled him.Instead of restoring Vladimir Yaroslavich to his former position, Bla imprisoned him and granted control of Halych toAndrew, who was Bla's younger son.As a token of his conquest, Bla styled himself as King of Galicia. . In the summer of 1189, Germancrusadersmarched through Hungary under the command ofFrederick I, Holy Roman Emperor.Bla welcomed Frederick, and dispatched a troop to escort the crusaders across theBalkan Peninsula.At Frederick's request, Bla released his imprisoned brother, Gza, who joined the crusaders and left Hungary.Bla mediated a peace treaty between Frederick I and Isaac II, whose mutual distrust had almost caused war between the German crusaders and the Byzantines. Vladimir Yaroslavich escaped from captivity in early 1189 or 1190. With the assistance ofCasimir II of Poland, he expelled Andrew from Halych, and regained control of the principality.In 1191, Bla met his son-in-law, Isaac II, inPhilippopolis(now Plovdiv in Bulgaria) and Syrmium, but the results of their negotiations remained unknown.Upon Bla's request, the Holy See approved thecanonizationofLadislaus I of Hungaryin 1192.Bla invaded Serbia at the beginning of 1193.Isaac II demanded the withdrawal of his troops, and threatened Bla with war.At the same time, DogeEnrico Dandoloattempted to occupy Zadar, but failed.In 1193, Bla grantedModru Countyin Croatia toBartholomew of Krk, a member of theFrankopan family.This is the earliest certain example of an office being granted as a hereditary dignity in the Kingdom of Hungary. Last years (11941196) In 1194, Bla appointed his eldest son, Emeric, who had already been crowned as the future king, to administer Croatia and Dalmatia.After a united Bulgarian, Cumanian and Vlach army defeated the Byzantines in theBattle of Arcadiopolisin 1194, Bla was willing to assist the Byzantine Empire.However, his campaign was cancelled, because Bla's son-in-law, Emperor Isaac II, was dethroned byAlexios III Angelosin April 1195.Henry VI, Holy Roman Emperor, was planning to launch a campaign against the Byzantine Empire on behalf of the dethroned emperor, but Bla prohibited his subjects from joining Henry. Bla took the cross as a token of his desire to lead a crusade to the Holy Land.However, he could not fulfill his oath, because he fell ill and died on 23 April 1196.He was buried in theSzkesfehrvr Cathedral.His remains were confidently identified by archeologists during 19th-century excavations, because a contemporaneous sourceRichard of Londonwrote of Bla's exceptional height.Bla's skeleton shows that he was 190 centimetres (75in) tall.Bla's remains were reinterred at theMatthiasChurch in Budapest. Legacy Bla was one of the most eminent medieval monarchs of Hungary.His "rule not only represented the apogee of the kingdom of therpdians, but also marked the end of an epoch", according to historian Pl Engel.His establishment of the Royal Chancery contributed to the "expansion of written records" in Hungary; the first charters issued by barons appeared in the 1190s.According to a contemporaneous list of Bla's revenues, his yearly income amounted to almost 170,000 marks (about 23 tonnes of pure silver).If the list is reliable, his income surpassed the revenues of the contemporaneous Kings of France and England, but the reliability of the list has been questioned by many historians, including Pl Engel. In about 1190, after a fire destroyed Esztergom, Bla invited French masons to rebuild the royal palace and the cathedral.The masons introduced new architectural forms; the new royal palace and cathedral were the earliest examples ofGothic architecturein Central Europe.Coins depicting atwo-barred cross, which was primarily used in the Church of the Byzantine Empire, were minted from around 1190, suggesting that the so-called "double cross" became part of theHungarian royal heraldryunder Bla III.

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