Regency
As soon as Jaochim Gutkeled heard of Stephen’s death, he set out for Szekesfehervar with Ladislaus to get him crowned. Elizabeth joined him, which angered Stephen’s supporters, and they accused her of conspiring against her husband. Elizabeth may have sided with Gutkeled because she wished to free her son. Stephen’s Master of the Treasury, and Elizabeth’s brother-in-law, Egidius Monoszlo, laid siege to Szekesfehervar Palace, where Elizabeth and Ladislaus were staying, in late August 1272. Monoszlo wanted to rescue Ladislaus from the rivalling faction’s influence. The siege failed, and his army was routed by Getkeled’s troops. Monoszlo, apparently fearing Elizabeth’s revenge, fled to Pressburg (today Bratislava) with his brother Gregory, who was married to Elizabeth’s sister.
On 3 September 1272, Elizabeth’s ten-year-old son was crowned as King Ladislaus IV of Hungary at Szekesfehervar. Since he was underage, Elizabeth assumed the regency. She was the first Hungarian queen to be formally named as regent during a minority, although some earlier queens, Anastasia of Kyiv, Helena of Serbia, and Euphrosyne of Kyiv, were known to exercise power on their underage sons’ behalf. However, Elizabeth appears to be a nominal regent, and noble families such as the Gutkeleds, Heders, and Csaks were known to wield the real power.
Elizabeth’s regency was unstable. Due to the king’s minority, multiple noble factions fought over who would control Hungary. One of the men seeking power was Bela, Duke of Macso, who was the son of Stephen’s sister, Anna. In November 1272, Elizabeth and the royal council held a conference at Margaret Island in Buda. During this meeting, Bela met with the powerful Hungarian nobleman, Henry Koszegi. A heated argument broke out between them, and Henry right then and there killed Bela and cut his body to pieces. Elizabeth and her council ordered no retaliation against Henry. Soon afterwards, Bela’s lands were distributed amongst Henry and his most powerful supporters.
Elizabeth’s first seal dates from 1273. The inscription on the seal calls Elizabeth “daughter of the emperor of the Cumans”. By referring to her father as “emperor”, Elizabeth may have believed this would project a greater image of power. She also may have seen her father, who was probably a khan, as an equivalent to an emperor in the Christian world. Elizabeth also appears alongside Ladislaus on coins minted during his reign, showing her importance as Queen Mother.
The power struggles continued in 1274. In June of that year, another Hungarian nobleman, Peter Csak, removed Jaochim Getkeled and Henry Koszegi from power. Gutkeled and Koszegi retaliated by seizing Elizabeth and Ladislaus and holding them captive. Peter Csak quickly freed the king and queen mother, but Gutkeled and Koszegi then captured Elizabeth’s younger son, Andrew, and took him to Slavonia to rule that region in his name. It is possible they wanted to set up the younger prince as a rival king to Ladislaus. This did not last long, for Henry Koszegi was killed in battle against Peter Csak that September, and Csak freed Andrew, who remained Duke of Slavonia. Andrew died at around the age of ten in 1278. However, later, at least two men claimed to be him.
Elizabeth’s regency lasted until the council declared Ladislaus of age in 1277, at age 15. Her regency is regarded as a very unstable period, due to noblemen taking advantage of the king’s minority and vying for power against one another. Between 1272 and 1276, the office of the Palatine, one of the most powerful positions at court, was held by six different men. Elizabeth is usually criticised for favouring the Cumans, and some even questioned the sincerity of her Christianity. Her Cuman origin was seen as a convenient weapon opponents could use against her. In Bohemia, which was at odds with Hungary at the time, Bruno, the Bishop of Olomouc, wrote in his letters that Elizabeth was a Cuman and came from a pagan family. However, Elizabeth made multiple donations to churches for the salvation of herself and her family.
Later Life
Ladislaus favoured the Cumans for much of his reign. He was known to often wear Cuman dress, and he followed Cuman customs. Ladislaus also had many Cuman concubines and neglected his wife, Isabella of Naples. His favouring of the Cumans made him very unpopular with the Hungarian nobility and further destabilised his reign.
Elizabeth and Ladislaus were not always on good terms, and sometimes they even supported opposing noble factions. Ladislaus, however, seems to have trusted his mother for the most part. In 1279, he made her governor of Spis, and in 1280, he appointed her as governor of Masco and Bosnia. She held the title of Duchess of Macso until 1284. Around the late thirteenth century, heretical movements were growing in these areas, and Elizabeth promised the papal legate, Philip of Fermo, that she would take measures against these movements. Eventually, Elizabeth was accused of seizing church property, which may have forced her to resign as governor. In 1284, Ladislaus issued a charter in which he urged Elizabeth to return the lands she occupied illegally to the Bishop of Zagreb.
Not much is known about Elizabeth’s final years. Her last known action was the issuance of a charter in which she wished the Dominicans would pray for the salvation of her soul and for those of other members of the royal family. This charter was issued in May 1290.
Ladislaus remained an unpopular ruler, and eventually he even lost favour with the Cumans. In July 1290, he was assassinated by one of his favourite Cuman warriors. It is hard to say if Elizabeth was still alive at this time, as she is not mentioned again. Ladislaus left no children, and his cousin, Andrew, became the new King of Hungary. Andrew died in 1301, and with him, Hungary’s royal Arpad dynasty died out. Charles of Anjou, the great-grandson of Elizabeth through her daughter, Maria, eventually became King of Hungary and founded the Angevin dynasty.
It is not known when Elizabeth died. She is thought to have died in 1290, shortly before or after her son, and she is believed to have lived no later than 1295. Because there are no records of her death, there is also no mention of her burial in written sources. It is thought that Elizabeth was most likely buried at the Dominican Nunnery on Margaret Island, where her husband was known to have been buried.
Elizabeth is often regarded as only a nominal regent caught in the hands of the various warring magnates. However, the fact that she later governed Bosnia, Macso, and Slavonia suggests that she could have been a capable ruler. Elizabeth is the only Arpadian queen to be appointed as a regional governor. She appears to have been much more powerful as governor than she was as regent, even though we do not know much about her rule. As a medieval European queen consort from a very different background than other queens, a regent during a tumultuous time, and a woman trusted to govern a province, Elizabeth the Cuman deserves much more attention from historians.
Sources
Mielke, Christopher; “Every hyacinth the garden wears: the material culture of medieval queens of Hungary (1000-1395)”
Mielke, Christopher; “No Country for Old Women: Burial Practices and Patterns of Hungarian Queens of the Arpad Dynasty (975-1301)”
Mielke, Christopher; The Archaeology and Material Culture of Queenship in Medieval Hungary, 1000-1395
Orsagova, Zuzana; “Maria Laskaris and Elisabeth the Cuman: Two Examples of Arpadian Queenship”
“Elizabeth of the Cumans” on epistolae.ctl.columbia.edu
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