= Béla III = '''Béla III''' was the king of [[Hungary/Monarchs#Kingdom_of_Hungary|Hungary]] and [[Croatia/Monarchs#Kingdom_of_Hungary_and_Croatia|Croatia]]. <> ---- == 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. In 1187, the principality of Halych was caught up in a succession crisis and then captured by [[Ukraine/Roman|Roman]]; '''Vladimir II''' (''Володимир''), one of the claimants, came to Béla pleading for aid. He instead imprisoned Vladimir and seized the principality for himself. He dispatched his son [[Hungary/AndrewII|Andrew]] to rule as prince, while he himself claimed the title [[Ukraine/Monarchs#Kingdom_of_Ruthenia|king of Galicia]]. In 1190 Vladimir escaped and, with [[Poland/CasimirII|Polish]] aid, recaptured the principality. Béla declared his intent to launch a crusade but died shortly after in 1196. ---- CategoryRicottone