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Géza II

Géza II
Gejza2 UH.jpg
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.


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