Constance of Hungary

Constance of Hungary (Czech Konstancie Uherská , * around 1177/1180/1181; † December 4 or 6, 1240 in Předklášteří ) came from the second marriage of King Béla III. of Hungary with Agnes of Antioch, daughter of Rainald de Chatillon .

Constance of Hungary, tympanum, Porta Coeli monastery

When the crusade army passed through Hungary in 1189, she was with the Staufer Duke Friedrich VI. betrothed by Swabia , who died of malaria in 1191 on the crusade.

In 1198 she became the second wife of the Bohemian King Ottokar I (also: Otakar, Odacarus) and was around 25 years younger than her husband. When she was not quite eighteen she was married to the newly crowned king, who had previously cast out his wife Adelheid (also: Adela) , who was still living in exile in Meißen with her daughters. Their marriage was declared invalid because the relationship in the 4th degree was too close. Adelheid appealed. It was primarily a political wedding, because through it the king gained a new ally. At this time, Bohemian foreign policy interfered more strongly in European affairs. The king was a sought-after ally on the part of the Staufers , but also of the Guelphs , who both fought for the imperial crown.

The king promised that the marriage would secure the eastern border and provide military aid. The king's ideas worked. Both King Emmerich of Hungary (1196–1204) and Andrew II of Hungary (1205–1235) were among the king's great supporters all along.

Young Konstanze had it very easy in her new environment. Most of the nobles still fondly remembered the rule of their aunt Elisabeth. Their marriage had nine children. Above all, the birth of the first son made the king forget the children from his first marriage. In 1204, however, there was a marital crisis when Ottokar I suffered defeat in foreign policy and the young Vratislav had a fatal accident.

In 1205 Konstanze was expelled from the castle and Adelheid and her children returned at short notice. During the time of the expulsion, however, Konstanze gave birth to another son, whom the king named after the patron saint of the country Václav (Wenceslaus) in 1205 and appointed him as his successor. After the papal curia had decided that the dissolution of Adelheid's marriage was legally binding, the wives again changed at the castle. Adelheid had to leave Bohemia for good and Konstanze became the king's legal wife.

Porta Coeli Monastery

The Brecislawer ( Lundenburger ) province in South Moravia was handed over to Queen Konstanze for its own administration in 1222. After the king's death in 1230, Konstanze turned her attention to Moravia . At Tišnov in Předklášteří she founded a Cistercian monastery in 1233 , which she called Porta Coeli. She spent the last years of her life in seclusion in this monastery. Their wish that this monastery should become the mausoleum of the Moravian Přemyslids did not come true.

progeny

• Judith (also: Jutta), * 1199/1202, † June 2, 1230, church wedding in 1213 with Bernhard II Duke of Carinthia.
• Anna , * 1201/1202/1204, † June 23 or 26 or August 26, 1265, church wedding in 1216 with Henry II of Silesia (the Pious), Duke of Lower Silesia.
• Vratislav, * around 1200, † 1204.
• Agnes, * 1203, † 1211.
• Wenzel I , * 1205, † September 23, 1253, church wedding 1221/1224 with Kunigunde von Hohenstaufen , he was crowned king before his father's death.
• Vratislav (also: Wladislaw), * 1205/1207, † February 18, 1227 or 1228, Margrave of Moravia.
• Přemysl , * 1209, † October 16, 1239, Margrave of Moravia, church wedding 1234 with Margaretha von Meran.
• Blažena (also: Blaschena, Wilhelmina, Vilemína Česká, Guglielma ), * 1210, † August 24, 1281 in Milan, buried in Chiavarelle . She appeared with a son in Milan between 1260 and 1270 and died there in 1281. Nothing is known about her past life and childhood. Since she was buried wearing a scapular , she was probably Cistercian. It is possible that she even lived with her mother in the Cistercian monastery near Tišnov in Předklášteří before her appearance in Milan.
• Agnes (also: Anežka Přemyslovna), * 1205/1207/1211, † March 2 or 6, 1282, resisted marriages, founded a hospital for the poor, a Franciscan monastery and a monastery of the Poor Clares in Prague , where she lived in 1234 Became abbess. It brought about the establishment of the first monastery of the Knights of the Cross with the Red Star, the only Czech order to be established. She had a major influence on the Prague court until her death. Their modesty and piety became legendary. The beatification of Agnes took place in 1874, the canonization in 1989 (feast day March 6th).

predecessor	Office	Successor
Adelheid of Meissen	Queen of Bohemia 1198–1230	Kunigunde of Swabia

Recommended reading

• Peter Csendes: Philipp von Schwaben. A Staufer in the struggle for power. Primus Verlag, Darmstadt 2003, page 110, 185
• Hansmartin Decker-Hauf: The time of the Staufer. History - art - culture. Catalog of the exhibition, Stuttgart 1977, Volume III, page 355
• Jörg K. Hoensch: Premysl Otakar II of Bohemia. The golden king. Verlag Styria, Graz Vienna Cologne 1989, pages 14, 16, 19, 70
• Jiri Kuthan: Premysl Ottokar II. King, builder and patron. Court art in the 13th century. Böhlau Verlag, Weimar 1996, pages 56, 150, 153, 284, 287, 387
• Franz Palacky: History of Bohemia . 1842 Volume II, pages 61, 71, 77, 91
• Karl Rudolf Schnith: Medieval rulers in life pictures. From the Carolingians to the Hohenstaufen. Verlag Styria, Graz Vienna Cologne 1990, page 297
• Andreas Thiele: Narrative genealogical family tables on European history . Volume I, Part 1, RG Fischer Verlag, Frankfurt / Main 1993, plate 82
• Andreas Thiele: Narrative genealogical family tables on European history . Volume II, Part 2 European Imperial, Royal and Princely Houses II Northern, Eastern and Southern Europe. RG Fischer Verlag, 1994, plate 356
• Peter Thorau: Yearbooks of the German Empire under King Heinrich (VII.) Part I. Duncker & Humblot, Berlin 1998, page 243
• Tobias Weller: The marriage policy of the German nobility in the 12th century. Rhenish archive. Böhlau Verlag, Cologne Weimar Vienna 2004, pages 135-136, 178, 190-191, 679-681, 683, 685-686, 816
• Eduard Winkelmann: Yearbooks of German history, Philipp von Schwaben and Otto IV. Von Braunschweig. Verlag von Duncker & Humblot Leipzig 1873 Volume I, pages 188, 443, 540; Volume II, page 271

Web links

Commons : Konstanze von Ungarn  - Collection of pictures, videos and audio files