Géza II

Géza II
Géza's royal seal
King of Hungary and Croatia
Reign	1141–1162
Coronation	16 February 1141
Predecessor	Béla II
Successor	Stephen III
Regent	Helena of Rascia
Born	1130 Tolna
Died	31 May 1162 (aged 31–32)
Burial	Székesfehérvár Basilica
Spouse	Euphrosyne of Kiev
Issue	Stephen III Béla III Elisabeth, Duchess of Bohemia Prince Géza Árpád Odola Helena, Duchess of Austria Margaret
Dynasty	Árpád dynasty
Father	Béla II of Hungary
Mother	Helena of Rascia
Religion	Roman Catholic

Géza II (Hungarian: II. Géza; Croatian: Gejza II; Slovak: Gejza II; 1130 – 31 May 1162) was King of Hungary and Croatia from 1141 to 1162. He was the oldest son of Béla the Blind and his wife, Helena of Rascia. When his father died, Géza was still a child and he started ruling under the guardianship of his mother and her brother, Beloš. A pretender to the throne, Boris Kalamanos, who had already claimed Hungary during Béla the Blind's reign, temporarily captured Pressburg (now Bratislava in Slovakia) with the assistance of German mercenaries in early 1146. In retaliation, Géza, who came of age in the same year, invaded Austria and routed Henry Jasomirgott, Margrave of Austria, in the Battle of the Fischa.

Although the German–Hungarian relations remained tense, no major confrontations occurred when the German crusaders marched through Hungary in June 1147. Two months later, Louis VII of France and his crusaders arrived, along with Boris Kalamanos who attempted to take advantage of the crusade to return to Hungary. Louis VII refused to extradite Boris to Géza, but prevented the pretender from coming into contacts with his supporters in Hungary and took him to Constantinople. Géza joined the coalition that Louis VII and Roger II of Sicily formed against Conrad III of Germany and the Byzantine Emperor Manuel I Komnenos. The ancestors of the Transylvanian Saxons came to Hungary during Géza's reign. Western European knights and Muslim warriors from the Pontic steppes also settled in Hungary in this period. Géza even allowed his Muslim soldiers to take concubines.