EFL - Enciclopedia delle Famiglie Lombarde

'''From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia''' '''Daughter of Kuthen'' ' She was born in about 1239/40, a daughter of Kuthen, leader of th e Kun (or Kuni) clan of Cumans, and his wife whose identity has not be en estasblished. The Cumans were the western tribes of the Kipchaks. T he Kipchaks were a confederation of Turkic peoples who spoke the Kipch ak language. Her people followed a Shamanist religion and were conside red Pagans by their contemporary Christians of Europe. In 1238, Kuthe n led the Kuni and a number of other clans in invading the Kingdom o f Hungary while fleeing from the advancing hordes of the Mongol Empire . In time, Béla IV of Hungary negotiated an alliance with Kuthen an d his people, granting them asylum in exchange for their conversion t o the Roman Catholic Church and loyalty to the King. The agreement wa s sealed with the betrothal of Elizabeth to Stephen, eldest son of Bé la IV. The agreement seems to have occurred while Stephen was an infan t. Elizabeth was unlikely to have been older than her future husband . In 1241, the Mongol invasion of Europe under the leadership of Bat u Khan and Subutai began, with Hungary among its primary targets. Kuth en was assassinated by Hungarian nobles fearing he would lead a defect ion to the other side. Béla IV and the Hungarian forces suffered a c rushing defeat at the Battle of Mohi (11 April 1241). The King fled t o the Duchy of Austria while Batu Khan and Subutai tried to set up th e Mongol occupation of Hungary until the end of 1242. However news eve ntually reached them that their overlord Ögedei Khan, Khagan of the M ongol Empire, had died in 1241. His widow Töregene Khatun was servin g as regent until a successor could be elected in a Kurultai. Batu dec ided to return to Karakorum for the Kurultai. He called off the invasi on, and Mongol troops were withdrawn from most of Europe, thus evacuat ing Hungary. '''Princess of Hungary''' Béla IV returned from Austri a following the Mongol evacuation. Upon his return to power, Béla beg an rebuilding his country, including a massive construction campaign w hich produced the system of castles as a defense against the threat o f a Mongol return. Kuthen was deceased but the betrothal was still i n effect. Elizabeth was converted to Roman Catholicism in preparatio n of her marriage. The marriage of Stephen and Elizabeth occurred in 1 253. The groom was twelve-years-old and the bride close in age to him . In 1262, Stephen convinced his father to give him twenty-nine count ies as a reward of assistance in the war against Ottokar II of Bohemia . He was crowned junior co-ruler and in practice ruled his regions a s a separate kingdom, setting up his own capital and adopting foreig n policies directly contrary to those of his father. Elizabeth was no w his Queen. '''Queen consort''' Béla IV died on 3 May 1270. Stephe n succeeded him as senior King. Among his successes were the conclusio n of the war against Ottokar II of Bohemia. According to the Peace o f Pressburg (2 July 1271, Stephen renounced his claims on parts of pre sent-day Austria and Slovenia while Ottokar renounced his claims on te rritories of Hungary briefly conquered by him during the war. Stephe n died on 6 August 1272. Elizabeth became Regent for their ten-year-ol d son Ladislaus IV of Hungary. Her regency lasted until 1277 and saw p alace revolutions and civil wars. Her upbringing of her son would cau se further problems for his reign. Ladislaus favored the society of th e "semi-pagan" Cumans, from whom he was descended through his mother . He wore Cuman dress as his court wear, surrounded himself with Cuma n concubines and thus alienated the Hungarian nobility. His later atte mpts to regain Hungarian loyalty instead alienated parts of the Cumans . He was murdered in his tent by Cumans while camped in Bihar county o n 10 July 1290. By that time Elizabeth herself seems to have also bee n deceased. There is no mention of her in the reign of his successor A ndrew III of Hungary. There is a tradition that she died in the year 1 290. '''Sources''' Encyclopædia Britannica Eleventh Edition '''Ext ernal links''' A listing of descendants of Árpád dynasty, includin g her husband and children Her listing in "Medieval lands" by Charle s Cawley. The project "involves extracting and analysing detailed info rmation from primary sources, including contemporary chronicles, cartu laries, necrologies and testaments." Her profile in Peerage.com Retrie ved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elizabeth_the_Cuman" http://f mg.ac/projects/medlands/TURKS.htm daughter (1240-after 1290). Her mar riage was agreed as part of King Béla's arrangements for settling th e Kumans on empty land on either side of the River Tisza [Macartney (1 962), Chapter 2]. She was baptised with the name ELISABETH. Regent fo r her son King László IV 1272, she was hated by the Hungarians [Fine , J. V. A. (1994) ''The Late Medieval Balkans, A Critical Survey fro m the Late Twelfth Century to the Ottoman Conquest'' (Ann Arbour, Univ ersity of Michigan Press), p. 204, and Macartney (1962), Chapter 2] . m (1253) ISTVÁN of Hungary, son of BÉLA IV King of Hungary & his w ife Maria Laskarina of Nikaia (18 Oct 1239-1 Aug 1272, Csepel Island , Dominican Monastery). He succeeded his father in 1270 as ISTVÁN V K ing of Hungary.