Béla III of Hungary

Who was Béla III of Hungary?

Béla III was King of Hungary and Croatia. He was educated in the court of the Byzantine Emperor Manuel I who was planning to ensure his succession in the Byzantine Empire till the birth of his own son. Following the death of his elder brother, who had been fighting against the Byzantine Empire, Béla could only ascend to the throne with the assistance of his uncle Emperor Manuel I and Pope Alexander III, because a significant part of the Hungarian aristocracy led by his own mother and the Archbishop of Esztergom preferred his younger brother's succession. Béla was one of the most powerful rulers of Hungary and he was also one of the most wealthy monarchs of Europe of his age: his annual revenue was the equivalent of 23 tonnes of pure silver. This exceeded the income of the French king and was double the receipts of the English Crown. It was probably he who began to organise the Royal Chancellery in Hungary. Through his son, Béla is an ancestor of Philippa of Hainault, wife of Edward III of England.