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Béla of Macsó
Béla of Macsó
Duke of Macsó
Reign	1262–1272
Predecessor	Rostislav Mikhailovich
Successor	Roland I Rátót
Duke of Bosnia
Reign	1266/1271–1272
Predecessor	Michael of Bosnia
Successor	Stephen Gutkeled
Born	after 1243
Died	November 1272; Margaret Island, Hungary
House	Olgovichi
Father	Rostislav Mikhailovich
Mother	Anna of Hungary

Béla of Macsó (after 1243 – November 1272)^[1] was a member of the Olgovichi clan. He was Duke of Macsó (1262–1272) and of Bosnia (1266/1271–1272); and thus he governed the southern provinces of the Kingdom of Hungary.^[2]

Béla was the son of Duke Rostislav of Macsó and his wife, Anna, a daughter of King Béla IV of Hungary.^[1] When Duke Rostislav died in 1262, his lands were divided between his sons: Béla inherited the Banate of Macsó (including Belgrade and the Braničevo province), and his brother, Michael inherited their father’s part of Bosnia.^[3] King Béla IV, having made these assignments to his grandsons, decided also to make some further changes in his peripheral territories, and assigned Slavonia, Dalmatia, and Croatia, which until then had all been under his elder son and heir, Stephen V, to a younger son named Béla.^[3]

Stephen V was infuriated and immediately revolted against his father;^[3] during the ensuing war, Béla and his mother assisted Béla IV.^[1] His grandfather and uncle (Béla IV and Stephen V) concluded a peace on 5 December 1262,^[3] and according to the peace the kingdom was divided, the latter acquiring the territories east of the river Danube^[2] as “junior king”.^[4] After the peace, Stephen V occupied the possessions which Béla and his brother had inherited from their father in the eastern parts of the kingdom (the former royal possessions in Bereg County and the Castle of Füzér).^[2] Their mother submitted a formal complaint against her brother to Pope Urban IV, but the "junior king" did not hand back their possessions.^[2]

In December 1264, the troops of Béla IV invaded the parts of the kingdom which had been ruled by the “junior king”.^[2] The “senior king” appointed the young Béla (his grandson) to lead one of his troops, but the actual leader of the royal army was Henry Kőszegi.^[2] In the Battle of Isaszeg, Stephen V defeated his father’s troops, and Béla fled from the battle-field.^[2]

The two kings (Béla’s grandfather and uncle) concluded a new peace on March 23, 1266 on the Margaret Island and affirmed the former division of the Kingdom of Hungary between them.^[2] By that time Béla’s brother, Michael had died, and thus Béla inherited the parts of Bosnia his brother had been ruling before his death.^[2] In 1268, King Stefan Uroš I of Serbia led his troops to plunder Macsó, and the Serbs did considerable damage before Hungarian help came.^[3] The Hungarian troops sent by Béla’s grandfather then managed to capture Stefan Uroš himself, and the Serbian king was forced to purchase his release.^[3]

When his grandfather died on May 3, 1270, Béla did not follow the example of his mother and his grandfather’s other partisans (among them Henry Kőszegi), who escaped to the court of her son-in-law, King Otakar II of Bohemia.^[2] And indeed, Béla assisted his uncle, King Stephen V against the Czech king and his followers.^[2]

And at the Castle of Moson, he /Peter de genere Csák/ rescued Duke Béla (our dear cousin who had been fighting to the best of his ability) from the hands of our enemies who were endeavoring to kill him cruelly with all their might.
— King Ladislaus IV’s Charter of 1274 to Master Peter de genere Csák^[5]

After King Stephen V had died on August 6, 1272, and his son, the young Ladislaus IV ascended the throne, King Béla IV’s former partisans (among them Béla’s mother and Henry Kőszegi) returned to Hungary.^[2] Thenceforward, several fractions of the leading nobles were competing with each other, and all of them were endeavoring to acquire the control over the government of the kingdom.^[1] In November, the members of Henry Kőszegi’s retinue killed Béla (who was the young king’s closest adult male relative at that time) following a sharp dispute.^[2]

After his murder, Béla’s domains were divided among the members of the leading noble families.^[2]

Ancestors

Ancestors of Béla of Macsó

16. Sviatoslav III Vsevolodovich, grand prince of Kiev

8. Vsevolod IV Sviatoslavich, grand prince of Kiev

17. Maria Vasilkovna of Polotsk

4. Mikhail II Vsevolodovich, grand prince of Kiev

18. Casimir II, prince of Cracow

9. Maria/Anastasia of Poland

19. Helena of Moravia

2. Rostislav Mikhailovich, duke of Macsó

20. Mstislav II Izyaslavich, grand prince of Kiev

10. Roman Mstislavich, prince of Volhynia and Halych

5. Elena/Maria Romanovna of Halych

22. Rurik Rostislavich, grand prince of Kiev

11. Predslava Rurikovna of Kiev

23. Anna Yurievna of Turov

1. Béla of Macsó

24. Béla III, king of Hungary

12. Andrew II, king of Hungary

25. Agnes of Antioch

6. Béla IV, king of Hungary

26. Berthold IV, duke of Merania

13. Gertrude of Merania

27. Agnes of Wettin

3. Anna of Hungary

28. Unknown Laskaris

14. Theodore I, emperor of Nicaea

7. Maria Laskarina

30. Alexios III, emperor of Byzantinum

15. Anna Komnena Angelina

31. Euphrosyne Doukaina Kamatera

Footnotes

^ ^a ^b ^c ^d Kristó, Gyula; Engel, Pál; Makk, Ferenc. Korai magyar történeti lexikon (9-14. század).
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h ⁱ ^j ^k ^l ^m ⁿ Zsoldos, Attila. Családi ügy - IV. Béla és István ifjabb király viszálya az 1260-as években.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f Fine, John V. A. (1987). The Late Medieval Balkans - A Critical Survey from the Late Twelfth Century to the Ottoman Conquest. University of Michigan Press. ISBN 9780472100798.
^ Kontler, László. Millennium in Central Europe - A History of Hungary.
^ Kristó, Gyula. Középkori históriák oklevelekben (1002-1410).

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Regnal titles
Béla of Macsó Olgovichi Born: after 1243 Died: November 1272
Preceded by Rostislav	Duke of Macsó 1262–1272	Succeeded by Roland Rátót as Ban of Macsó
Preceded by Michael	Duke of Bosnia 1266/1271–1272	Succeeded by Stephen Gutkeled as Ban of Bosnia