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- BIOGRAPHY
Béla was born about 1148, the son of Geisa II, king of Hungary, and Jewfrosinija/Euphrosyne of Kiev, and younger brother of Stefan III, king of Hungary. In 1164 Manuel I Komnenos, emperor of Byzantium, concluded a treaty with Stefan III by which Béla was given the Croatian and Dalmatian territories and sent to Constantinople to be educated at the imperial court. Manuel, who had no legitimate sons, intended that Béla should marry his daughter Maria Komnena and eventually succeed him as emperor. Béla received a Greek name, Alexius, and the title of despot.
When Alexios II Komnenos was born as a son of Manuel and his second wife Maria of Antioch, Béla's marriage to Maria Komnena was voided. However Manuel helped negotiate another marriage for him, this time to Agnes of Antioch, daughter of Renaud de Châtillon, prince of Antioch, and Constance, princess of Antioch. Agnes was the half-sister of Maria of Antioch. Béla and Agnes had two sons and two daughters, all of whom would have progeny.
In 1173 Béla succeeded his brother Stefan III and was crowned under the influence of Emperor Manuel. As the new king, Béla adopted Catholicism and selected his son Emmerich as his successor. He was a powerful ruler, and his court was counted among the most brilliant in Europe.
Agnes died in 1184, and in 1185 Béla married Marguerite de France, daughter of Louis VII, king of France. There was no progeny from this marriage.
Béla was a warrior by nature and training, and the death of Emperor Manuel in 1180 left him free to expand Hungarian power in the Balkans. Hungarian troops invaded Byzantine territory at some time before 1183. Béla's attempt to recover Dalmatia led the kingdom of Hungary into two wars against the republic of Venice, but these finally achieved little. He also aided the Serbs against the Byzantine empire. At the time of his death on 23 April 1196 Béla was assisting Alexios III Komnenos Angelos, emperor of Byzantium, in a war against Bulgaria. He was succeeded by both his sons in turn, Emmerich and András II.
His remains were confidently identified by archaeologists during late 19th century excavations at the ruined cathedral of Székesfehérvár where the Arpád monarchs had been crowned and buried. Béla's exceptional height, as documented by contemporary sources, rendered the identification certain. Based on the examination of his skeleton he must have been over two metres tall, a really outstanding height at that time. His remains were afterwards reinterred at the Matthias Church in Budapest, with those of his second wife Agnes.
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