Béla II

king of Hungary

Also known as: Béla the Blind, Vak Béla

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History

Béla II (born c. 1109—died Feb. 13, 1141) was the king of Hungary (1131–41). He was the son of Prince Álmos, the younger brother of King Coloman (Hungarian: Kálmán).

Álmos rose up against Coloman on several occasions. Coloman had Álmos and Béla blinded to secure the throne for his own son Stephen. When the latter assumed the throne as Stephen II in 1116, he not only took over the care of Béla but, having no children of his own, made him his successor. Upon Stephen’s death in 1131, his cousin was crowned Béla II. Béla’s wife, Ilona, daughter of Uroš I, grand prince of Serbia, actually exercised power with the help of the Royal Council. In 1132 the diet of Arad dismissed the nobles who had participated in the blinding of Álmos and Béla.

Béla’s army defeated Boris, Coloman’s supposed son, who claimed the throne with the support of Hungarian dissident exiles and a Polish-Russian army. He regained Spalato (now Split, Croatia) from the Venetians and occupied part of Serbia and Bosnia.