page_title: Stephen III of Hungary
section_title: Struggle for the throne (1162–1164)
hierarchical_section_title: Stephen III of Hungary / Reign / Struggle for the throne (1162–1164)
caption_attribution_description: English: “The Robbing of the Crown Jewel” Magyar: A korona elrablása. Miniatúra a Képes Krónikában (1358) A Képes krónika legtöbbet vitatott miniatúrája. A miniatúrát hosszú ideig IV. István elrabolja a koronát címmel jelölték, azonban a krónika egy másik miniatúráján bizonyosan IV. István látható ezért – mivel nehezen képzelhető el, hogy IV. Istvánt kétszer ábrázolták – ma az az elfogadott nézet, hogy a trónon ülő alak II. László, a kezében koronát tartó főpap valószínűleg a kalocsai érseket ábrázolja. A László füléhez hajoló alak azonosításához semmilyen támpont nincs. A háttérben lejátszódó jelenet értelmezéséhez a krónika szövege semmilyen segítséget nem ad. A Szent Korona kutatóinak egy része az ábrázolás alapján feltételezi azt, hogy a Szent Korona az 1160-as években a bizánci udvarba került és ekkor bizonyos változtatásokat is elvégeztek rajta.
context_page_description: Stephen III was King of Hungary and Croatia between 1162 and 1172. He was crowned king in early June 1162, shortly after the death of his father, Géza II. However, his two uncles, Ladislaus and Stephen, who had joined the court of the Byzantine Empire, challenged his right to the crown. Only six weeks after his coronation, the Byzantine Emperor Manuel I Komnenos launched an expedition against Hungary, forcing the Hungarian lords to accept Ladislaus' rule. Stephen sought refuge in Austria, but returned and seized Pressburg. Ladislaus, who died on 14 January 1163, was succeeded by Stephen's younger uncle and namesake, Stephen IV, without resistance, but his rule was unpopular. The young Stephen defeated his uncle on 19 June 1163 and expelled him from Hungary.
  Stephen IV attempted to regain his throne with Emperor Manuel I's support, but the latter made peace with Stephen III. He agreed to send his younger brother, Béla, to Constantinople and to allow the Byzantines to seize Béla's duchy, which included Croatia, Dalmatia and Sirmium.
context_section_description: Géza II died on 31 May 1162. Lucas, Archbishop of Esztergom, crowned the 15-year-old Stephen king without delay. On hearing of Géza II's death, Emperor Manuel hastened towards Hungary, because he "put a high value on the overlordship" of the country, according to the Byzantine historian John Kinnamos. Another Byzantine historian, Niketas Choniates, wrote that the Emperor decided to support the young King's uncle and namesake, Stephen, to acquire the throne in the hope that "he might receive the undisputed and guaranteed possession" of Sirmium and Zimony (now Zemun in Serbia) from his protégé. When supporting the claim of the late King's brother to the crown, the Emperor referred to "the law of the Hungarians" which prescribed that the crown should pass "always to the survivors of brothers", according to Kinnamos. 
  Emperor Manuel dispatched an army to Hungary which advanced as far as Haram (now Ram, Serbia) where his envoys opened negotiations with the Hungarian barons. Bribed by the Byzantines and fearful of an invasion by the Emperor, the magnates agreed to accept Ladislaus, who was the older of the young King's two uncles, as a "compromise candidate". The young Stephen's army was routed at Kapuvár. He fled from Hungary and sought refuge in Austria six weeks after his coronation. Archbishop Lucas was one of the few who remained loyal to the young monarch, refusing to crown his uncle. After Mikó, Archbishop of Kalocsa, performed Ladislaus's coronation, Archbishop Lucas even excommunicated the usurper, stating that he had unlawfully seized the crown from his nephew.
  Stephen III returned from Austria and captured Pressburg. He could not take advantage of his uncle's death on 14 January 1163, because Ladislaus II was succeeded by his younger brother, Stephen IV. However, Stephen IV's unveiled support for the interests of the Byzantine Empire caused discontent among the Hungarian barons. The young Stephen mustered an army of the barons who had deserted his uncle and supplemented it with German mercenaries. Stephen III defeated his uncle at Székesfehérvár on 19 June 1163. The elder Stephen was captured, but Stephen III released him upon the advice of Archbishop Lucas. The archbishop, along with the Dowager Queen Euphrosyne, remained the young monarch's principal advisors throughout his reign. The dethroned Stephen IV first fled to the Holy Roman Empire, but left shortly afterwards for the Byzantine Empire, where Emperor Manuel again promised him support.
caption: Stephen III's uncle, Ladislaus II usurps the throne (from the Illuminated Chronicle)
exif: {"Image Make": "FUJIFILM", "Image Model": "FinePix S5600", "Image Orientation": "Horizontal (normal)", "Image XResolution": "72", "Image YResolution": "72", "Image ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Image Software": "Digital Camera FinePix S5600   Ver1.00", "Image DateTime": "2007:04:13 20:34:06", "Image YCbCrPositioning": "Co-sited", "Image Copyright": "", "Image ExifOffset": "252", "Thumbnail Compression": "JPEG (old-style)", "Thumbnail XResolution": "72", "Thumbnail YResolution": "72", "Thumbnail ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormat": "1259", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormatLength": "10834", "Thumbnail YCbCrPositioning": "Co-sited", "EXIF ExposureTime": "1/400", "EXIF FNumber": "71/10", "EXIF ExposureProgram": "Program Normal", "EXIF ISOSpeedRatings": "64", "EXIF ExifVersion": "0220", "EXIF DateTimeOriginal": "2007:03:13 13:32:17", "EXIF DateTimeDigitized": "2007:03:13 13:32:17", "EXIF ComponentsConfiguration": "YCbCr", "EXIF CompressedBitsPerPixel": "2", "EXIF ShutterSpeedValue": "173/20", "EXIF ApertureValue": "57/10", "EXIF BrightnessValue": "543/50", "EXIF ExposureBiasValue": "0", "EXIF MaxApertureValue": "17/5", "EXIF MeteringMode": "Pattern", "EXIF LightSource": "Unknown", "EXIF Flash": "Flash did not fire, auto mode", "EXIF FocalLength": "63/10", "EXIF FlashPixVersion": "0100", "EXIF ColorSpace": "sRGB", "EXIF ExifImageWidth": "1297", "EXIF ExifImageLength": "1238", "Interoperability InteroperabilityIndex": "R98", "Interoperability InteroperabilityVersion": "[48, 49, 48, 48]", "EXIF InteroperabilityOffset": "1118", "EXIF FocalPlaneXResolution": "4442", "EXIF FocalPlaneYResolution": "4442", "EXIF FocalPlaneResolutionUnit": "3", "EXIF SensingMethod": "One-chip color area", "EXIF FileSource": "Digital Camera", "EXIF SceneType": "Directly Photographed", "EXIF CustomRendered": "Custom", "EXIF ExposureMode": "Auto Exposure", "EXIF WhiteBalance": "Auto", "EXIF SceneCaptureType": "Standard", "EXIF Sharpness": "Normal", "EXIF SubjectDistanceRange": "0"}