Maria Komnina (Queen of Hungary)

Maria was the youngest daughter of the Sevastocrat Isaac Komnin , son of John II Komnin and the older brother of the Byzantine Emperor Manuel I Komnin , and his first wife Theodora, great-granddaughter of the King of Hungary, Laszlo I.

In 1153, Mary's uncle, Emperor Manuel I, organized her engagement to Friedrich Barbarossa , but the engagement was canceled shortly afterwards. In 1156, her uncle married her to the Duke of Istvan , who fled to his court after an unsuccessful rebellion against his brother, King of Hungary Gesa II .

After the death of Geza II on May 31, 1162, Emperor Manuel I prepared a campaign against Hungary to enthrone Istvan, removing the son of the deceased Geza II - King Istvan III . Nevertheless, the Hungarian barons elected another king of Mary’s brother-in-law, Laszlo II , who granted one third of the kingdom to Mary’s husband.

After the sudden death of King Laszlo II from poison on January 14, 1163, the husband of Mary Istvan IV was proclaimed king, and Mary became Queen of Hungary. However, King Istvan IV was defeated on June 19, 1163 by the troops of his nephew Istvan III and was forced to flee again to Byzantium, where he died on April 11, 1165 .

Mary died in Constantinople in 1190 .

• Kristó Gyula - Makk Ferenc: Az Árpád-ház uralkodói (IPC Könyvek, 1996).
• Korai Magyar Történeti Lexikon (9-14. Század), főszerkesztő: Kristó Gyula, szerkesztők: Engel Pál és Makk Ferenc (Akadémiai Kiadó, Budapest, 1994).