page_title: Coloman, King of Hungary
section_title: Expansion, internal conflicts and legislation (1096–1105)
hierarchical_section_title: Coloman, King of Hungary / Reign / Expansion, internal conflicts and legislation (1096–1105)
caption_attribution_description: English: Photo of Pacta conventa (Croatia) (a.k.a. 'Qualiter'), from a Budapest museum. This photo was published in book "Tropismena i trojezična kultura hrvatskoga srednjovjekovlja" by Eduard Hercigonja, parts of are available on the internet. Hrvatski: Fotografija Pacte convente (Qualiter), iz muzeja u Budimpešti. Ova slika je objavljena u knjizi Eduard Hercigonja: "Tropismena i trojezična kultura hrvatskoga srednjovjekovlja", dijelovi koje su dostupni na internetu.
context_page_description: Coloman the Learned, also the Book-Lover or the Bookish was King of Hungary from 1095 and King of Croatia from 1097 until his death. Because Coloman and his younger brother Álmos were underage when their father Géza I died, their uncle Ladislaus I ascended the throne in 1077. Ladislaus prepared Coloman—who was "half-blind and humpbacked", according to late medieval Hungarian chronicles—for a church career, and Coloman was eventually appointed bishop of Eger or Várad in the early 1090s. The dying King Ladislaus preferred Álmos to Coloman when nominating his heir in early 1095. Coloman fled from Hungary but returned around 19 July 1095 when his uncle died. He was crowned in early 1096; the circumstances of his accession to the throne are unknown. He granted the Hungarian Duchy—one-third of the Kingdom of Hungary—to Álmos.
  In the year of Coloman's coronation, at least five large groups of crusaders arrived in Hungary on their way to the Holy Land. He annihilated the bands who were entering his kingdom unauthorized or pillaging the countryside, but the main crusader army crossed Hungary without incident. He invaded Croatia in 1097, defeating its last native king Petar Svačić.
context_section_description: After Coloman's victories over the crusaders, Henry IV, Holy Roman Emperor, whom Ladislaus I had supported against Pope Urban II in his last years, wrote a letter to Duke Álmos. The emperor stated that Coloman had neglected imperial interests "because of his own necessities", and asked the duke to intervene on his behalf. However, Coloman—a former bishop—abandoned his predecessor's foreign policy and supported the pope. Historian Gyula Kristó writes that Álmos's close relationship with Emperor Henry may also have influenced Coloman's decision. Coloman married Felicia, a daughter of Roger I of Sicily—a close ally of the Holy See—in 1097. Her sister Constance had married Conrad, the elder son of Emperor Henry IV, after he allied with the pope against his father.
  Coloman invaded Croatia in 1097. Ladislaus I had already occupied most of the country, but Petar Svačić, the last native king of Croatia, resisted him in the Kapela Mountains. Petar Svačić died fighting against Coloman's army in the Battle of Gvozd Mountain. The Hungarian troops reached the Adriatic Sea and occupied Biograd na Moru, an important port. Threatened by the advance of Coloman's army, the citizens of the towns of Trogir and Split swore fidelity to the Doge of Venice, Vitale Michiel, who had sailed to Dalmatia. Having no fleet, Coloman sent envoys with a letter to the doge to "remove all the former misunderstandings concerning what is due to one of us or the other by right of our predecessors". Their agreement of 1098—the so-called Conventio Amicitiae—determined the spheres of interest of each party by allotting the coastal regions of Croatia to Hungary and Dalmatia to the Republic of Venice.
  Taking advantage of Coloman's absence, Álmos began to conspire against the king and mustered his armies. Coloman returned from Croatia and marched his army towards his brother's duchy in 1098. The two armies met at Tiszavárkony, with only the river Tisza separating them. However, the commanders of the two troops started negotiations and decided not to fight each other, compelling the king and the duke to make peace.
  [Coloman] and his army marched to [Tiszavárkony] against [Álmos], and [Álmos] drew near to [Tiszavárkony] from the opposite direction, and between them was the river [Tisza]. But loyal Hungarians sought to bring about a truce, in order that they could talk with each other, and they said: "Why do we fight? If they defeat us in battle, we shall die; and if they escape, they will flee: in times past our fathers fought against each other and brothers against brothers, and they died. Nor do we see any ground for fighting. Let those two fight if fighting pleases them; and whichever of them shall win, let us take as lord." Having taken this decision, the chief men dispersed. When Grak told [Coloman] of their decision and Ilia informed [Álmos], they kept the peace, though it was not by their own will.
  — The Hungarian Illuminated Chronicle
  Grand Prince Svyatopolk II of Kiev sent his son Iaroslav—who was the husband of one of Coloman's nieces—to Hungary to seek assistance against the princes of the westernmost regions of Rus' in 1099. Iaroslav persuaded Coloman to intervene in the conflict. Coloman and his army crossed the Carpathian Mountains and laid siege to Peremyshl (Przemyśl, Poland)—the seat of Volodar Rostislavich, one of the rebellious princes. David Igorevich, one of Volodar Rostislavich's allies, persuaded the Cumans to attack the Hungarians. In the ensuing battle, the Hungarian army was soundly defeated. The Illuminated Chronicle says that "[r]arely did Hungarians suffer such slaughter as in this battle". According to the Russian Primary Chronicle, many Hungarians "were drowned, some in the Vyagro and others in the San", after the battle. Coloman himself narrowly escaped from the battlefield through the valley of the San. Shortly after his return from Rus', Coloman hastened towards the Bohemian border to assist the dukes of Moravia—Svatopluk and Otto—against Duke Bretislaus II of Bohemia. He had a meeting with Bretislaus on the border river Olšava "in t
caption: The 14th-century manuscript of the Pacta conventa
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