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King Béla IV of Hungary: a monarch in a period of crisis and recovery

Balázs Nagy

It is difficult to draw a personal portrait of a medieval ruler because both the original sources and the later historiography typically focus on the events of public history. The details of private lives usually remain hidden. Modern historical research can sketch a profile of a medieval personality based on surviving sources, which usually reflect the political figure more than the whole complex personality.

In his youth Béla IV had strong ambitions and a distinct concept of how to govern the country that he had inherited from his ancestors, the Árpád dynasty. The course of history, however, confronted him with a very different challenge than he expected. He was the ruler who attempted to resist the onslaught of the Mongols in 1241–1242. This was almost a complete disaster; in one decisive battle he lost the main forces of his country, lost almost all the important members of his administration, and the allies he could rely on. He himself was forced to flee and find refuge in Dalmatia. After the retreat of the Mongols, when Béla returned to the country, he found it destroyed and desolate. Béla’s real profile as an able monarch revealed itself in this situation. He was ready to change the main elements of his earlier policy and accommodate himself to the new situation. He made every possible provision to prevent a reported new Mongol campaign against Hungary and to prepare his country in the case of a new attack. In Hungarian historiography and historical memory Béla is usually referred to as the second founder of the country. It is not the task of this essay to decide if that claim is true or not, but Béla certainly was a true-born politician of exceptional abilities. He contributed significantly to the modernization of his country in the second half of the thirteenth century. The portrait takes the form of an interview with a professor of history about King Béla IV and the significance of his reign.