Andrew III of Hungary

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Andrew III
King of Hungary
Reign 12901301
Consort Agnes of Austria

Andrew III the Venetian (Hungarian: III. (Velencei) András/Endre, Croatian: Andrija II, Slovak: Ondrej III) (c. 1265, Venice, Italy14 January 1301, Buda, Hungary), king of Hungary and Croatia (1290-1301).

Contents

[edit] Early years

He was a grandson of Andrew II of Hungary (reigned 1205-35), being the only son of Andrew II's youngest and posthumous son (possibly illegitimate), Stephen who was born of the old king's third marriage with Beatrice d'Este. His mother was Tomasina Morosini, descendant of a patrician family of Venice. After the death of his father (1272), he was educated with his Venetian relatives.

In 1278, Ivan Kőszegi, an aristocrat who held several strongholds in the Western part of the kingdom of Hungary, invited him. Having arrived to the kingdom, Andrew claimed the government of the duchy of Slavonia, but king Ladislaus IV of Hungary refused him. After this failure, Andrew returned to Venice.

In the beginning of 1290 Ivan Kőszegi and Archbishop Lodomer of Esztergom, who had excommunicated king Ladislaus IV of Hungary, invited Andrew to Hungary and offered him the crown. Andrew accepted the offer, but he was arrested by a Hungarian noble, Arnold de genere Hahót who handed him over to Duke Albert I of Austria.

[edit] King of Hungary

On July 10, 1290 king Ladislaus IV of Hungary was assassinated by his own Cuman followers; thus the main branch of the Árpád dynasty became extinct. Andrew, having been informed on the king's death, escaped from Vienna and went to Esztergom, where Archbishop Lodomer crowned him with the Holy Crown on July 23, 1290. After his coronation an assembly of the 'prelates, barons and nobles' of the kingdom of Hungary in Óbuda authorized the new king to reßexamine his predecessor's donations. Andrew was hastily married to a Polish princess, Fenenna of Kujavia.

The legitimacy of Andrew's rule was soon questioned, since his father had been declared bastard by his brothers; therefore the new king had to face several pretenders during his reign. On August 31, 1290 King Rudolph I of Germany, who considered that Hungary belonged to the Holy Roman Empire, invested his son, Duke Albert I of Austria, with the kingdom. An adventurer from Poland also claimed the kingdom, pretending to be Prince Andrew of Slavonia, the younger brother of king Ladislaus IV of Hungary, but his troops were defeated by Andrew's followers. In April 1291 Maria of Hungary, queen of Charles II of Naples, the assassinated king's sister, also announced her claim to the kingdom. She later transferred her claim to her son, Prince Charles Martell of Salerno, and after his death (1295) to her grandson Charles Robert.

In early 1291 Andrew III visited the Eastern part of his kingdom, where the assemblies of the local nobility held in Oradea (Nagyvárad) and Alba Iulia (Gyulafehérvár) accepted his rule. Afterwards he led his armies against Austria and defeated the Austrian troops. Duke Albert I of Austria, in the peace concluded on 26 August, 1291 in Hainburg, renounced his claim to Hungary. In compensation Andrew III promised to demolish several smaller fortresses, held by the Kőszegi clan, on the border of the two countries; thereupon Miklós Kőszegi rebelled against Andrew, in alliance with the Babonić (Babonics) and Frankopan (Frangepán) families, followers of the queen of Naples. The king tried to pacify the rebellion, but he was captured by Miklós Kőszegi and had to pay ransom to regain his freedom.

In 1293 Andrew III invited his mother to Hungary. She successfully negotiated with several rebellious barons (Henrik Kőszegi, Stefan Dragutin), who accepted her son's rule. During 1294 and 1295 Andrew III and his mother lead several campaigns against the followers of Charles Martell.

After the death of his first wife, on February 6, 1296 Andrew III married Agnes of Austria, the daughter of Duke Albert I of Austria. Afterwards, with his father-in-law's support, he managed to defeat the revolt of Miklós Kőszegi and Máté Csák, and occupy the castles of Kőszeg and Pozsony. In 1298 Andrew supported with troops his father-in-law's revolt against King Adolf of Germany.

However,Andrew III never managed to strengthen his position in Hungary, because major parts of the kingdom were held by powerful barons like Miklós Kőszegi, Máté Csák, and László Kán. Moreover, the new Archbishop of Esztergom, Gergely Bicskei, appointed by Pope Benedict VIII in 1298, supported the claims of the Neapolitan pretenders. Although the assembly of the 'prelates, nobles, Saxons and Cumans', held in August, 1298 at Pest, re-confirmed Andrew's reign, the Archbishop soon began to organise the party of the Neapolitan prince, Charles Robert among the prelates. When in the next year the Archbishop openly refused to appear at the assembly held by the 'prelates and nobles', Andrew occupied the estates of the Archbishopric.

In August 1300, Charles Robert landed in Split and managed to take Zagreb with the support of his Croatian followers. Andrew was prevented from counter-attacking by the sudden death of his mother and later by his own mortal disease. He was buried in the Greyfriars Church in Buda.

The death of Andrew III on January 14, 1301, ended the male line of the Árpáds. One of his contemporaries called him 'the last golden twig of the Árpáds'.

[edit] Marriages and children

#1. 19 August/24 September 1290: Fennena of Kujavia (c. 1276 – c. 1295), daughter of prince Ziemomysł of Kujavia and his wife, Salome of Pommerellen

  • Elizabeth (1292 – 6 May 1338, Töss, Switzerland), nun in the Dominican monastery in Töss

#2. 13 February 1296: Agnes of Austria (18 May, 1281 – 10 Juny 1364, Königsfelden), daughter of duke Albert I of Austria (later king Albert I of Germany) and his wife, Elisabeth of Tirol.

[edit] Ancestors

[edit] Legacy

An interregnum followed Andrew's death. Otto III, Duke of Bavaria (Bela V), the future Venceslas III of Bohemia and Charles Robert of Anjou (Charles I) were proclaimed kings by different factions.

After a short interregnum the Angevin dynasty seized power and Charles Robert (grandson of Maria of Hungary, sister of Ladislaus IV of Hungary, and son and heir to Charles Martel) became the recognized king.

Preceded by
Ladislaus IV of Hungary
King of Hungary
12901301
Succeeded by
Wenceslas III of Bohemia
Preceded by
Ladislaus IV of Hungary
King of Croatia
12901301
Succeeded by
Charles I of Hungary

[edit] See also

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