Holiness and asceticism: Saint Margaret of Hungary (1242–1270)

Kerékjártó, Ágnes and Klima, Gyula (2022) Holiness and asceticism: Saint Margaret of Hungary (1242–1270). In: Kings and Saints : The Age of the Árpáds. Publications of the Institute of Hungarian Research (6). Magyarságkutató Intézet; Szent István Király Múzeum, Budapest, Székesfehérvár, pp. 171-192. ISBN 9786156117656

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Abstract

Saint Margaret of Hungary was born on 27 January 1242, at a time when Hungary was in desperate need of exemplary personalities. She was the ninth child King Béla IV of Hungary (1206-1270) and the Byzantine imperial princess Maria Laskarina (1206-1270), during the Mongol invasion. Her birth was preceded by tragic historical and family events. On 11 April 1241, the country perished at the Battle of Muhi. King Béla was forced to flee for his life on horseback and sought help from the Austrian Prince Frederick of Babenberg (1211-1246). However, instead of ensuring protection, Frederick robbed and blackmailed him. After his ally’s betrayal, Béla, his wife, six daughters and his son Stephen set off for Zagreb. On the way, her younger brother, Prince Kálmán, died of the grave injuries he had sustained at Muhi. The heroic prince was buried in secret in the Dominican monastery of Mary Magdalene in Chazma [Čazma, Croatia]. Protected by the rest of his faithful, Béla continued his journey towards the Adriatic Sea, the army of Kadan Khan pursuing him. Finally, he took his family to safety in the rock fortress of Klissza (today: Klis, Croatia) in Dalmatia. Here, an outbreak of the bubonic plague took the lives of their two daughters, thirteen-year-old Catherine and St. Margaret’s namesake, sixteen year old Margaret. They were laid to rest in a single stone coffin in the cathedral of Spalato (today: Split, Croatia). Under the dark shadow of their country’s ruination as the queen was expecting their ninth child, they vowed to dedicate their unborn child, if a girl, to God in thanks for the deliverance of themselves and Hungary.

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