Agnes of Antioch

12th-century queen consort of Hungary

Agnes of Antioch

Queen consort of Hungary[1][2]
Tenure| 4 March 1172 – c. 1184
Coronation| 13 January 1173

Born| c. 1154
Died| c. 1184
Burial|

Székesfehérvár Basilica
reburied at Matthias Church

Spouse| Béla III of Hungary
Issue|

* Emeric, King of Hungary
* Byzantine Empress Margaret
* Andrew II, King of Hungary
* Constance, Queen of Bohemia

House| House of Châtillon
House of Árpád
Father| Raynald of Châtillon
Mother| Constance, Princess of Antioch

Agnes of Antioch (c. 1154 – c. 1184), also known as Anna of Antioch and Anne de Châtillon, was Queen of Hungary from 1172 until 1184 as the first wife of Béla III.[3]

The accidental discovery of her intact tomb during the Hungarian Revolution of 1848 provided an opportunity for patriotic demonstrations. She was the only 12th-century Hungarian queen whose remains were studied by scientists, and her appearance was reconstructed.

## Life[edit]

She was the daughter of Raynald of Châtillon and Constance, Princess of Antioch.[4][5]

The exact date of her birth is uncertain. It is assumed that she was born soon after the secret marriage of her parents, which took place before May 1153. The most common belief in historiography was that Agnes was born in 1154.[6] At the baptism she probably received the name of Agnes.[7]

### Early life and marriage[edit]

Her father was captured by the Muslims in November 1160 and was confined in Aleppo for the next fifteen years. Agnes's mother Princess Constance died c. 1163/67, and around 1170 Agnes went to Constantinople, where her older half-sister, Maria of Antioch, had been living as the wife of the Byzantine Emperor Manuel I Comnenus.[8] On the Emperor's request, Agnes was married to Caesar Alexios (born prince Béla of Hungary),[9] who had been engaged to the Emperor's daughter, Maria Comnena, until the birth of Manuel's son, Alexios, in 1166. The wedding date of Agnes and Alexios is unknown; is believed that may have occurred about 1168[10] and no later than 1172.[11] In historiography, there are two precise dates for the wedding: September 1169[12] and March 1171.[13]

She received the name Anna in the imperial court. In the Hungarian documents she always appeared with her new name, probably because Agnes was an uncommon name at that time.[14]

### Queen of Hungary[edit]

The new couple went on a pilgrimage to Jerusalem where they made a donation for the Knights Hospitaller. In the summer, after the death of King Stephen III of Hungary (4 March 1172), her husband ascended the throne as King Béla III, and they moved to Hungary. Anna was crowned queen alongside her husband at the Cathedral Basilica of Saint Stephen in Székesfehérvár on 13 January 1173.[15]

The spread of French cultural patterns in the Kingdom of Hungary is attributed to Anna/Agnes.[16]

The queen's activities were also connected with the presence in Hungary of the first Cistercian monks, who came from Burgundy. Anna could keep in touch with Burgundian Cistercians through ancestral linkages. The first Cistercian monastery in Hungary, founded in 1182, was in fact closely associated with three Cistercian abbeys located near Pontigny and the surrounding estates belonged to the Donzy family, from which Anna descended.[17]

### Issue[edit]

During her marriage, Anna gave birth to at least six[18] children:

* King Emeric of Hungary (1174 – 30 September/November 1204).
* Margaret (1175 – after 1223), wife firstly of Emperor Isaac II Angelos, secondly of King Boniface I of Thessalonica and thirdly of Nicholas I of Saint-Omer.
* King Andrew II of Hungary (c. 1177 – 21 September 1235).
* Salomon (died young).
* Stephen (died young).
* Constance (c. 1180 – 6 December 1240), wife of king Ottokar I of Bohemia.[19][20]

Anna was the ancestress of all subsequent kings of Hungary, as well as the Hungarian princesses, and by marriage of the Piast duchesses St. Kinga and Bl. Jolenta of Poland. In addition, from her descended the kings of Bohemia from the Přemyslid, Luxembourg, Jagiellon and Habsburg families.[21]

### Death[edit]

Tomb of Agnes and her husband, Béla III of Hungary (Matthias Church, Budapest)

Anna's death date was not recorded in any contemporary source, but it is assumed that she died in the year 1184,[22] although it is possible she died a little earlier than that.[23]

## Influence[edit]

Bathing and public baths were important in Komnenos-era Constantinople that she and her husband both grew up in. Anna introduced the practice of public bathing to Hungary, having been also raised in Antioch, when at least four bathhouses were operating in the city.[24] The earliest known bath in medieval Hungary is a foundation that was laid by her.

## Burial[edit]

Anna was buried at Cathedral Basilica of Saint Stephen in Székesfehérvár. Her remains were confidently identified by archeologists during late-19th-century excavations at the ruined cathedral of Székesfehérvár. Her remains were afterwards reinterred at the Mathias Church in Budapest, with those of her husband.

## References[edit]

1. ^ "Bela III | biography - king of Hungary | Britannica.com". britannica.com. Retrieved 22 August 2015.
2. ^ Busk, W. (1855). Mediæval popes, emperors, kings, and crusaders: or, Germany, Italy and Palestine, from A. D. 1125 to 1268. Hookham & sons. p. 157. Retrieved 22 August 2015.
3. ^ Fülep, Ferenc (March 1969). "The Hungarian National Museum, Budapest: "The History of Hungary from the Hungarian Conquest up to 1849"". Museum International. 22 (1): 25–38. doi:10.1111/j.1468-0033.1969.tb01724.x. ISSN 1350-0775.
4. ^ Bernard Hamilton, The Leper King and His Heirs: Baldwin IV and the Crusader Kingdom of Jerusalem, (Cambridge University Press, 2000), 104-105.
5. ^ Guida Myrl Jackson-Laufer, Women Rulers Throughout the Ages: An Illustrated Guide, (ABC-CLIO, 1999), 104.
6. ^ M. Wertner: Az Árpádok családi története, Nagy-Becskerek 1892, p. 359; History of Hungary, ed. E. Pamlenyi, London 1975, p. 60, 608; J. Louda, M. MacLagan: Lines of Succession: Heraldry of the Royal Families of Europe, ed. II, London 1999, table 89.
7. ^ Chronicler Alberic of Trois-Fontaines named Agnes one of the three daughters born from Constance and Raynald who was also the wife of the King of Hungary Béla (Chronica Albrici Monachi Trium Fontium [in:] Monumenta Germaniae Historica, XXIII, Hannover 1874, pp. 849–850). By contrast, in a fragmentary manuscript preserved from Lignages d'Outre-Mer and stored in the Vatican Library (Vaticanus Latinus 7806, Il parentado de Beimonte principe 9, fol. 172), are mentioned only two daughters from Constance and Raynald, who are named Joanna and Maria.
8. ^ S. Runciman: A History of the Crusades, t. II, Harmandsworth 1978, p. 365.
9. ^ Christopher Mielke, The Archaeology and Material Culture of Queenship in Medieval Hungary, 1000–1395, (Palgrave Macmillan, 2021), 92.
10. ^ W. Dworzaczek: Genealogia, Warsaw 1959, table 84.
11. ^ V. ö. Városy: Antiochiai Anna királyné, "Századok. A Magyar Történelmi Társulat Közlönye", 1886, p. 866.
12. ^ P. Gautier: Les lettres de Grégoire, higoumène d'Oxia, "Revue des études byzantines", 31–32, 1973, p. 206: After the birth of the heir to Byzantine throne, the Emperor broke off the engagement between his daughter Maria and Caesar Alexios (later Bela III) and as a compensation he was married with the sister of Empress Maria of Antioch.
13. ^ L. Garland, A. Stone: Maria Porphyrogenita, daughter of Manuel I Comnenus [in:] De Imperatoribus Romanis: An Online Encyclopedia of Roman Rulers and Their Families 2006 [retrieved 30 March 2015]: Agnes was visiting Constantinople with her brother Bohemond III of Antioch when she was engaged.
14. ^ M. Wertner: Az Árpádok családi története, Nagybecskerek 1892, p. 358.
15. ^ A magyar királyok koronázótemploma in: www.szikm.hu Archived September 5, 2013, at the Wayback Machine [retrieved 30 March 2015].
16. ^ G. Lukács: La Hongrie et la civilisation, Paris 1929, p. 361; A. Echols, M. Williams: An annotated index of medieval women, New York-Oxford 1992, p. 53; G. Moravcsik: Byzantium and the Magyars, Budapest–Amsterdam 1970, p. 129; G. Klaniczay: The chaste prince and the athleta patriae [in:] G. Klaniczay: Holy Rulers and Blessed Princesses. Dynastic Cults in Medieval Central Europe, Budapest 2002, p. 184. In many publications emphasizes, however, that Béla III followed the Western European model after his life at the Byzantine court of Manuel I.
17. ^ M. M. de Cevins: Les implantations cisterciennes en Hongrie médiévale [in:] Unanimité et diversité cisterciennes, ed. Nicole Bouter, Saint-Étienne 2000, pp. 458–459; F. L. Hervay, Ciszterciek [in:] G. Kristo (ed.): Korai magyar térténeti lexikon, Budapest 1994, p. 473, 479-480.
18. ^ Ildikó Hankó: Királyaink tömegsírban, 2004, attributed a seventh child to Anna, an unnamed daughter. K. Éry, A.Marcsik, J. Nemeskéri, F. Szalai: Embertani vizsgálatok III. Béla és Antiochiai Anna földi maradványán [in:] 150 éve történt? III. Béla és Antiochiai Anna sírjának fellelése, Székesfehérvár 1999, p. 11.
19. ^ Wihoda 2015, p. 299.
20. ^ W. Dworzaczek, Genealogia, Warsaw 1959, table 84.
21. ^ D. Piwowarczyk: Słynni rycerze Europy. Rycerze Chrystusa, Warsaw 2007, p. 309.
22. ^ W. Dworzaczek: Genealogia, Warszawa 1959, table 84; A. Echols, M. Williams: An annotated index of medieval women, New York-Oxford 1992, p. 53.
23. ^ M. Wertner: Az Árpádok családi története, Nagy-Becskerek 1892, p. 356; Ildikó Hankó: Királyaink tömegsírban, 2004 - year 1183.
24. ^ Mielke, Christopher; Znorovszky, Andrea-Bianka, eds. (2020). Same Bodies, Different Women 'Other' Women in the Middle Ages and the Early Modern Period. Budapest: Trivent Medieval. pp. 118–122. ISBN 978-615-81222-3-8. OCLC 1351984057.

## Sources[edit]

* Korai Magyar Történeti Lexikon (9-14. század), főszerkesztő: Kristó Gyula, szerkesztők: Engel Pál és Makk Ferenc (Akadémiai Kiadó, Budapest, 1994)
* Wihoda, Martin (2015). Vladislaus Henry: The Formation of Moravian Identity. BRILL. ISBN 978-9004303836.

Royal titles

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Title last held by

Maria Komnene |  Queen consort of Hungary
1172 – c. 1184  | Vacant

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Margaret of France

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