Mary of Hungary, Queen of Naples

See also Mary of Hungary and Maria of Hungary (disambiguation).

Mary of Hungary
Queen consort of Naples
Tenure	1285 – 5 May 1309
Spouse	Charles II of Naples
Issue
Charles Martel of Anjou Louis of Toulouse Robert of Naples Philip I, Prince of Taranto Raymond Berengar of Andria Peter Tempesta John, Duke of Durazzo Margaret, Countess of Anjou and Maine Blanche, Queen of Aragon Eleanor, Queen of Sicily Maria, Queen of Majorca Beatrice, Countess of Andria
House	Árpád dynasty (by birth) House of Anjou (by marriage)
Father	Stephen V of Hungary
Mother	Elizabeth the Cuman
Born	c. 1257
Died	25 March 1323 Naples
Burial	Santa Maria Donna Regina, Naples

Mary of Hungary (c. 1257 – 25 March 1323), of the Árpád dynasty, was Queen consort of the Kingdom of Naples. She was a daughter of Stephen V of Hungary and his wife Elizabeth the Cuman.

Family

Mary's mother followed the Shamanist religion, like other Cumans. She was considered a Pagan by contemporary Christians of Europe and Elizabeth had to convert to Catholicism in order to marry Maria's father, Stephen.

Mary was the second of six children. Her sisters, Elizabeth and Catherine both became Queen of Serbia. Another sister, Anna married Andronikos II Palaiologos. Mary's only brother was Ladislaus IV of Hungary.

Her paternal grandparents were Béla IV of Hungary and his wife Maria Laskarina. Her maternal grandparents were Köten^{[citation needed]}, leader of a tribe of Cumans and Mstislawna [of Halicz ?], a Russian noblewoman, who may have royal connections.

Life

In 1270, when Mary was only twelve years of age, she married the future Charles II of Naples ^[1] (1254–1309), the eldest son and heir of Charles I of Sicily and his wife Beatrice of Provence.

On the 10 July 1290, Mary's brother, Ladislaus IV of Hungary died childless. The question now was who would succeed him: he had four sisters, three of them outlived him, all four had married powerful rulers and all four had had their own children. On the 21 September 1290, Mary claimed the throne of Hungary. She was up against her two sisters, Catherine and Elisabeth, and their children, plus the children of her younger sister Anna. Mary was crowned queen by a Papal legate in Naples 1291, but transferred her rights to her eldest son, Charles Martel of Anjou.^[2] The Pope confirmed her sole rights in Hungary on the 30 August 1295. However, Catherine's son, Stephen Vladislav II of Syrmia, was still a dangerous rival for Maria and Charles Martel. In the end, Charles Martel gave his cousin Slavonia as a compromise.

Charles Martel was only titular King of Hungary, it was Mary's grandson who became King, Charles I of Hungary. Ultimately the claims of the sisters Mary and Catherine were united in a common descendant when the pair's great-great-granddaughter, Mary of Hungary, ascended to the Hungarian throne in 1382. When the line of Charles Martel and the Angevins in Hungary died out, it was Sigismund, a remote descendant of Bela IV, whose family succeeded.

During 1290, Mary's sister Elisabeth fled from Bohemia with her son because her husband had lost favour and was executed, Mary allowed Elisabeth and her son to stay in Naples with her, before she became a nun, but escaped and remarried to Stephen Uroš II Milutin of Serbia (brother of Catherine's husband) Elizabeth's stay in Naples is documented during July 1300.^[3]

Mary's husband died in August 1309, Maria was now a widow. She lived in Naples for the rest of her life, where she died on 25 March 1323, she was buried in Naples at the Santa Maria Donna Regina.

Children

Mary, Charles and their children

Mary and her husband, Charles had fourteen children:

1. Charles Martel of Anjou (1271–1295), titular King of Hungary
2. Saint Louis of Toulouse (February 9, 1275, Nocera – August 19, 1298, Chateau de Brignoles), Bishop of Toulouse
3. Robert I of Naples, (1277–1343)King of Naples
4. Philip I of Taranto, (1278–1331)Prince of Achaea and Taranto, Despot of Romania, Lord of Durazzo, titular Emperor of Constantinople
5. Raymond Berengar (1281–1307), Count of Provence, Prince of Piedmont and Andria
6. John (1283 – aft. March 16, 1308), a priest
7. Tristan (1284–bef. 1288)
8. Peter (1291 – August 29, 1315, Battle of Montecatini), Count of Gravina
9. John of Gravina (1294 – April 5, 1336, Naples), Duke of Durazzo, Prince of Achaea, and Count of Gravina, married March 1318 (divorced 1321) Matilda of Hainaut (November 29, 1293–1336), and married secondly November 14, 1321 Agnes of Périgord (d. 1345)
10. Marguerite of Anjou and Maine (1273 – December 31, 1299), Countess of Anjou and Maine, married at Corbeil August 16, 1290 Charles of Valois, brother of king of France, and became ancestress of the Valois dynasty
11. Blanche of Anjou (1280 – October 14, 1310, Barcelona), married at Villebertran November 1, 1295 James II of Aragon
12. Eleanor of Anjou, (August 1289 – August 9, 1341, Monastery of St. Nicholas, Arene, Elis), married at Messina May 17, 1302 Frederick III of Sicily
13. Maria of Naples (1290 – c. 1346), married at Palma de Majorca September 20, 1304 Sancho I of Majorca, married 1326 Jaime de Ejerica (1298 – April 1335)
14. Beatrice (1295 – c. 1321), married April 1305 Azzo VIII, Margrave d'Este (d. 1308), married 1309 Bertrand III of Baux, Count of Andria (d. 1351)

Ancestry

See also

• Cuman people
• Cumania

References

1. ^ Maria of Hungary
2. ^ HUNGARY KINGS, Medieval Lands
3. ^ Translation of Elisabeth's article on Czech Wikipedia, with further references
4. ^ Ancestors of Maria of Hungary

Preceded by Margaret of Burgundy

Queen Consort of Naples 1285 – 5 May 1309

Succeeded by Sancha of Majorca

Persondata
Name	Maria Arpad Of Hungary
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	1257
Place of birth
Date of death	25 March 1323
Place of death	Naples