= Béla III =

'''Béla III''' was the king of [[Hungary/Monarchs#Kingdom_of_Hungary|Hungary]] and [[Croatia/Monarchs#Kingdom_of_Hungary_and_Croatia|Croatia]].

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== History ==

Béla III was a younger son of '''Géza II''' He was granted a duchy of [[WorldHistory/DalmatianCityStates|Dalmatia]] that, either originally or after subsequent conquests, covered [[BosniaHerzegovina/Monarchs#Kingdom_of_Bosnia|Bosnia]] and [[Serbia/Monarchs#Grand_Principality_and_Kingdom_of_Serbia|Syrmia]].

After Géza's death in 1162, his elder brothers [[Hungary/StephenIII|Stephen III]], '''Stephen IV''', and '''Ladislaus II''' would war over the crown. [[WorldHistory/ByzantineEmpire/ManuelI|Manuel I Komnenos]] invaded and successfully forced Hungary to accept suzerainty.

Béla went to the imperial court in [[Turkey/Istanbul|Constantinople]], became a protege of Manuel, and had his duchy ceded to the empire. Stephen would repeatedly attempt to recapture this land, but would be repelled each time. Béla himself led a counterattack in 1166.

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== Reign ==

When [[Ukraine/Roman|Roman the Great]] seized the principality of Halych in 1187, '''Valdimir''' (''Володимир'') fled to Béla's court. Béla ordered the invasion of Halych but placed his son [[Hungary/AndrewII|Andrew]] in power, and imprisoned Vladimir instead. Bela thereafter claimed the title [[Ukraine/Monarchs#Kingdom_of_Ruthenia|king of Galicia]].

Validmir escaped captivity in 1190, fled to the court of [[Poland/CasimirII|Casimir II]], and organized a new invasion to expel Hungary from Galicia.

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== Legacy ==

Béla was directly succeeded by '''Emeric''', but his younger son [[Hungary/AndrewII|Andrew]] would serve as regent for his grandson '''Ladislaus III''' and then reign in his own name.



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