Solomon, King of Hungary

Who was Solomon, King of Hungary?

Solomon, also Salomon was King of Hungary from 1063. Being the elder son of Andrew I of Hungary, he was crowned king in his father's lifetime in 1057 or 1058. However, he was forced to flee from Hungary after his uncle, Béla dethroned his father in 1060. Assisted by German troops, Solomon returned and was again crowned king in 1063. On this occasion he married Judith, who was a daughter of the late Henry III, Holy Roman Emperor. Next year he reached an agreement with the three sons of the late Béla I—Géza, Ladislaus and Lampert—who acknowledged his rule, but in exchange received one-third of the kingdom as a separate duchy under his suzerainty.

In the following years, Solomon and his cousins jointly fought against the Czechs, the Cumans and other enemies of the kingdom. However, their relationship deteriorated in the early 1070s and Géza rebelled against him. Solomon could only maintain his rule in a small zone along the western frontiers of Hungary after his defeat in the battle of Mogyoród on 14 March 1074. He officially abdicated in 1081. However, he conspired against Géza's brother and successor, Ladislaus who had him arrested.

He was set free during the canonization process of the first king of Hungary, Stephen I in 1083. In an attempt to regain his crown, Solomon allied with the Pechenegs, but King Ladislaus defeated their invading troops. According to a nearly contemporaneous source, Solomon died on a plundering raid in the Byzantine Empire. Later legends say that he survived and died as a saintly hermit in Pula.