• Born: 1149, Esztergom, Komarom-Esztergom, Hungary
• Married (1): 1172
• Married (2): Between 1185 and 1186
• Died: 23 Apr 1196, Constantinople, Byzantium
• Buried: Székesfehérvár, Hungary

  Research Notes:

The Chronicon Zagrabiense names "dux Stephanus postea rex, secundus…rex Wela, tertius…dux Arpad, quartus…dux Geyza" as the four sons of "Gexcha rex". The Chronicon Dubnicense names "Stephanum et Belam, Arpad et Geysam" as the four sons of "Geysa". The Chronicon Varadiense names "primus…rex Bela, tertius…dux Arpad, quartus…dux Geysa" as the four sons of "Geysa rex" (omitting reference to the second son). Niketas Choniates names "Stephanum et Belam" as the two sons of "Hunnorum princeps Iazas". A genealogy written by Vilhelm Abbot of Æbelholt records that “Ingeburgis (matris Waldemari regis) soror, filia Izizlaui regis alia” married “regi Hungarie”, by whom she had “Bela modernum regem Hungarie” who married “sororem regis Francie”. The Chronicon Posoniense records that "Bela frater eius" returned from Greece and succeeded King István.

Designated Duke of Croatia and Dalmatia by his father in 1162. Under the peace treaty signed in 1164 between his brother István III and Emperor Manuel I, Béla was confirmed as Duke of Croatia and Dalmatia, and sent to Constantinople (where he converted to the Greek Orthodox religion and adopted the name ALEXIOS) as István's acknowledged successor.

He was installed as Duke of Szerem by his brother in 1165. The emperor granted him the title despot, betrothed him to his daughter and acknowledged him as his heir in Byzantium. The record of the synod of 1166 records the presence of “imperatore domino Manuele Comneno...despota...genero...eius domino Alexio...regi...”. In 1169, when his own son Alexios Komnenos was born, Béla was demoted from despot to cæsar. The betrothal was terminated, although Béla remained in Constantinople as a member of the imperial family until 1172, when he succeeded his brother as BÉLA III King of Hungary and reconverted to Roman Catholicism. He was crowned 13 Jan 1174. "Bela III secundi Geyzæ regis filius…Ungariæ, Dalmatiæ, Croatiæ, Ramæque rex" confirmed the possessions of the church of Zagreb by charter dated 1175, witnessed by "Farcasio palatino comite, Subano Bano…". He remained a loyal ally of Byzantium until the death of Emperor Manuel in 1181, even sending troops to help the emperor fight the Seljuks of Konya in Anatolia in 1176. He recovered Dalmatia, part of Croatia and the region of Sirmium in 1181. Following the murder in 1182 of Maria of Antioch, who was Emperor Manuel's widow and the older half-sister of King Béla's first wife, Béla invaded Byzantine territory in 1183, occupying Beograd and Branicevo/Barancs. He formed an alliance with Stefan Nemanja Grand Župan of Serbia, sacked Niš and Sardika [Sofija], and moved into Thrace. His relative status as a monarch is shown by his statement of revenues, sent to France during the negotiations for his third marriage, which showed that they were equal to those of his French and English counterparts and only inferior to those of the two emperors. The Gesta Hungarorum records that "Bela Græcus" "rid the country of robbers and brigands" and introduced the practice of submitting petitions in written form, as at the Roman Curia. Béla III King of Hungary granted "totam terram pertinentem ad comitatum Modrus" to "comitis Bartholomæi de Veglia" by charter dated 1193, witnessed by "Dominico curiali comite et eodem de Budrugensi, Andres comite de Suprum, Both comite de Bohar, Egidio comite de Sala, Fulcone comite de Vosvar, --- comite Sanegg [Macario comite de Zaunuch]".

The Chronicle of Alberic de Trois-Fontaines records the death "1196…in cena Domini" of "rex Hungarie Bela". The Chronicon Varadiense records the death "IX Kal May" in 1190 of "rex Bela tertius filius Geysæ" and his burial "Albæ". The Chronicon Dubnicense records the death "IX Kal May" in 1190 of "Bela" and his burial "in Albensi ecclesia". The necrology of Admunt records the death "VIII Kal Mai" of "Bel rex Ungarorum". The Gesta Hungarorum records that "Bela Græcus" was buried at Székesfehérvár. ¹