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Birth:          ABT 1010 
Death:          1063 

Notes
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/B%C3%A9la_I_of_Hungary
Béla I the Champion or the Wisent (Hungarian: I. Bajnok or Bölény Béla,[1] Slovak: 
Belo I.; before 1020 – 11 September 1063) was King of Hungary from 1060 until his 
death. He descended from a younger branch of the Árpád dynasty. Béla's baptismal 
name was Adalbert. He left Hungary in 1031, together with his brothers, Levente and 
Andrew, after the execution of their father, Vazul. Béla settled in Poland and married 
Richeza (or Adelaide), daughter of King Mieszko II of Poland.

He returned to his homeland upon the invitation of his brother Andrew, who had in the 
meantime been crowned King of Hungary. Andrew assigned the administration of the 
so-called ducatus or "duchy", which encompassed around one-third of the territory of 
the Kingdom of Hungary, to Béla. The two brothers' relationship became tense when 
Andrew had his own son, Solomon, crowned king, and forced Béla to publicly confirm 
Solomon's right to the throne in 1057 or 1058. Béla, assisted by his Polish relatives, 
rebelled against his brother and dethroned him in 1060. He introduced monetary reform 
and subdued the last uprising aimed at the restoration of paganism in Hungary. Béla 
was fatally injured when his throne collapsed while he was sitting on it.
Life[edit]

Childhood (before 1031)[edit]

Most Hungarian chronicles, including Simon of Kéza's Gesta Hungarorum and the 
Illuminated Chronicle, record that Béla's father was Ladislaus the Bald, a cousin of 
Stephen, the first King of Hungary.[2] However, many of the same sources add that it 
"is sometimes claimed" that Béla and his two brothers—Levente and Andrew—were in 
fact the sons of Ladislaus the Bald's brother, Vazul.[2] The chronicles also refer to 
gossip claiming that the three brothers were their father's illegitimate sons, born to "a 
girl from the Tátony clan".[3][4] Modern historians, who accept the latter reports' 
reliability, unanimously write that the three brothers were the sons of Vazul and his 
concubine.[2]

Béla was born between 1015 and 1020.[5] It is debated whether Béla was a second or 
a third son. The former view is represented, for example, by the Polish historian 
Wincenty Swoboda,[6] and the latter by the Hungarian scholars Gyula Kristó and 
Ferenc Makk.[4] Kristó and Makk write that Béla's name "most probably" derived from 
the Turkish adjective bujla ("noble").[4] However, the name may also be connected to 
the Slavic word for white (bjelij) or to the Biblical name Bela.[4]

In exile (1031 – c. 1048)[edit]

King Stephen's only son who survived infancy, Emeric, died on 2 September 1031.[7]
[8] Thereafter, Vazul had the strongest claim to succeed the King.[9] However, the 
monarch, suspecting that Vazul inclined towards paganism, favored his own sister's 
son, Peter Orseolo.[10] In order to ensure his nephew's succession,[11] Stephen had 
Vazul blinded.[7] Béla and his two brothers fled from the kingdom.[12]

They first settled in Bohemia, but their "condition of life was poor and mean"[13] 
there.[12] They moved to Poland, where "they received a warm reception"[14] from 
King Mieszko II.[15][16] According to the Hungarian chronicles, Béla participated in a 
Polish expedition against the pagan Pomeranians and defeated their duke "in single 
combat".[14][17] The Illuminated Chronicle narrates that the Polish monarch "praised 
the boldness and strength of Duke Béla and bestowed on him all the Pomeranian 
tribute".[18][17] The King even gave his daughter—named either Richeza or Adelaide—
in marriage to Béla[16] and granted "a goodly quantity of land"[18] to him.[17] Makk 
says that Béla was not baptized until just before his marriage;[5] his baptismal name 
was the Germanic[not in citation given] one of Adalbert.[17]
Family[edit]

Béla married, in about 1033, a daughter of King Mieszko II of Poland.[52] According to 
Makk, her name was either Richesa or Adelheid.[5] Their eldest children, Géza and 
Ladislaus—who became kings of Hungary in 1074 and 1077, respectively—were born in 
Poland in the 1040s.[53] Béla's third son, Lampert, was born after Béla's return to 
Hungary.[53]

Lampert was followed by a daughter named Sophia, who was first married to Margrave 
Ulric I of Carniola, and later to Duke Magnus of Saxony.[54] Her younger sister, 
Euphemia, became the wife of Duke Otto I of Olomouc.[53] Béla's third daughter, 
Helena, was the queen of King Demetrius Zvonimir of Croatia.[53] An unnamed 
daughter of Béla became the first wife of a Hungarian nobleman, Lampert of the Clan 
Hont-Pázmány.[53] According to the historian Martin Dimnik, Béla also fathered a fifth 
daughter, Lanka, who was the wife of Prince Rostislav Vladimirovich of Tmutarakan.
[55]

Parents
ARPAD Vazul (Basil) (Ladislas) "the Bald" (ABT  977 - 1037)
____ Katun (ABT  972 - )

Siblings
____ Bela I (ABT 1010 - 1063)
ARPAD Andrew (Andras) I (ABT 1015 - AFT 6 Jul 1060)

Marriage To OF POLAND Richeza (Rixa) (22 Sep 1013 - 21 May 1075)
    m. ABT 1040 

Notes

Parents
____ Mieszko (Mieszylaw) II (ABT  990 - 10 May 1034)
OF PFALZ-LORRAINE Richenza (Rixa) (ABT  995 - 21 Mar 1063)

Children by OF POLAND Richeza (Rixa) 22 Sep 1013 - 21 May 1075
____ Ladislas (Laszlo) I "the Saint" (ABT 1041 - 29 Jul 1095)
OF HUNGARY Sophia (ABT 1041 - )
____ Geza (Geysa) I (ABT 1044 - 25 Apr 1077)

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