Elizabeth the Cuman – The Cuman Queen of Hungary (Part one)

Elizabeth of the Cumans was one of the most interesting medieval queens of Hungary. Not only did she rule as regent, but she also came from a very different background than the other medieval Hungarian queens did. Elizabeth came from the Cumans, a nomadic, pagan Turkic tribe.

Background

The Cumans originated in Central Asia and eventually migrated into the lands of Kyivan Rus. From the late 11th through the 12th centuries, many Rus princes married Cuman women. The Cuman brides were baptised into Orthodox Christianity and received Christian names. When the Mongols invaded Kyivan Rus in 1237, the Cumans fled further west, and many settled in Hungary. The first group of Cumans arrived there in 1239. They were under the leadership of the chieftain, Kuthen. Soon, Kuthen was baptised into Roman Catholicism, and he and his people were granted privileges and benefits by the Hungarian King, Bela IV. However, many native Hungarians felt threatened by the Cumans. In 1241, Kuthen and many other Cumans were killed by armed Hungarians and Germans. The surviving Cumans fled Hungary and settled in the Bulgarian plains. In 1246, King Bela needed military support and called the Cumans back to Hungary.

Nothing is known about Elizabeth the Cuman’s early years. Even the names of her parents and her birth name are not known. She most likely belonged to the group of Cumans who came back to Hungary in 1246. She was most likely a daughter of one of the most prominent men in this group.

Elizabeth was born around 1239/1240, probably the same age as, or a little younger than, her future husband. Even though her exact parentage is not known, two men are suggested as her father. The first one is the aforementioned Kuthen, and the second one is Zeyhan. The latter appears in charters of King Bela and is described as the leader of the Cumans. Zeyhan appears to have been Kuthen’s successor. Due to the dates, Zeyhan is more likely to be Elizabeth’s father.

Marriage

In 1246, King Bela of Hungary wanted to enter a formal alliance with the Cumans against the Mongols. He decided to betroth his eldest son and heir, Stephen, to a daughter of a Cuman chieftain. The chosen bride was baptised into the Roman Catholic Church and renamed Elizabeth, possibly after Bela’s late sister, St. Elizabeth of Hungary, who had already been canonised. The exact date of the marriage is not known. It may have happened as early as 1246 or 1247, when Elizabeth and Stephen would have been about 6 to 8 years old. The year 1254 is also mentioned as a year of their marriage. It is possible that a betrothal and symbolic marriage took place in 1246 or 1247, and in 1254, when the couple were about fourteen or fifteen years old, the marriage was formalised and consummated.

The decision for the Hungarian King to marry his heir to a pagan was seen as scandalous, even though the bride had been baptised prior to the wedding. Pope Alexander IV wrote to Bela, stating that a union between a pagan and a Christian is unlawful. Bela defended his decision, saying, “For the purpose of the defence of Christian faith, we joined our firstborn son with a certain Cuman in marital union.” Even though the wedding ceremony was Christian, the Cumans attending the wedding were said to have practised one of their customs there, by cutting a dog in half with a sword. They then took an oath on the dog that they would serve the King and defend Hungary against invaders. They then cut the dog into pieces to show what would happen to someone who broke the oath.

Wife of Stephen V

In 1258, Stephen was appointed Duke of Styria by his father. In July 1260, Stephen and Bela went to battle against King Ottokar II of Bohemia. The Bohemian King was victorious at the Battle of Kressenbrunn, and Stephen lost Styria to him. The next year, Bela and Ottokar signed a peace treaty. Bela formally renounced Styria to Ottokar and arranged for the Bohemian King to marry his niece, Kunigunda. Stephen opposed the reconciliation with Bohemia and was upset that his father had handed his lands over to Ottokar.

In August 1260, Stephen returned to Transylvania, which he had ruled earlier. However, he was never able to forget about his father’s pact with Bohemia. In the early 1260s, the relationship between Stephen and Bela deteriorated. Stephen even began to fear that his father would disinherit him. Soon, father and son were openly at odds with each other. Bela was supported against Stephen by one of his older daughters, Anna, and his younger son, Bela.

Stephen and King Bela eventually decided to split the Kingdom of Hungary between them. Bela kept the western parts of the kingdom, while Stephen ruled the lands east of the Danube. Around this time, in 1262, Stephen was crowned as Junior King of Hungary. Elizabeth was titled as Junior Queen. In 1264, she confirmed donations in the county of Borsod under the titles Junior Queen of Hungary and Duchess of Transylvania. An inventory before Stephen became King mentions that Elizabeth paid her jester with silk fabrics from Lucca worth one and a half marks.

Elizabeth seems to have played a strong role at her husband’s court. The Cumans were very influential at Stephen’s court. Stephen and Elizabeth helped the Cumans integrate into Hungary’s elite, and more marriages between native Hungarians and the Cumans occurred. Elizabeth’s sister married the Hungarian nobleman, Gregory III Monoszlo. Elizabeth must have been around Stephen a lot, since their children were born during this time. She bore six children before her husband became sole King: daughters Elizabeth, Catherine, Maria, and Anna between 1255 and 1260, and sons, Ladislaus in 1262, and Andrew in 1268.

Stephen and Bela’s agreement did not last for long. Stephen eventually took possession of some lands that belonged to his mother, Maria Laskarina, and his sister, Anna. In the autumn of 1264, Bela’s army besieged the castle of Sarospatak and took Elizabeth and her children captive. Bela and Stephen eventually signed a peace treaty in 1266, but confidence was never restored between them.

King Bela died on 3 May 1270, and Stephen became the sole King of Hungary, as Stephen V. He was crowned on 17 May 1270, at Szekesfehervar, and Elizabeth was soon crowned too.

Stephen’s reign was brief and turbulent. Soon after the old King’s death, Stephen’s sister, Anna, seized the royal treasury and took it with her to Bohemia. In the summer of 1272, Jaochim Gutkeled, who Stephen had earlier appointed Ban of Slavonia, turned against him. In June, Jaochim abducted Stephen’s eldest son, Ladislaus, and held him captive in the fortress of Koprivnica. Stephen besieged Koprivnica, but could not take it. During the failed siege, Stephen fell ill. He died on 6 August 1272.

Read part two here.