• Born: 1176, Esztergom, Komarom-Esztergom, Hungary
• Married (1): Before 1203
• Married (2): Feb 1215
• Married (3): 14 May 1234, Székesfehérvár, Hungary
• Died: 21 Sep 1235

  Research Notes:

The Chronicon Varadiense names "primus…dux Henricus…secundus dux Andreas…tertius dux Salamon et quartus…dux Stephanus" as the four sons of "rex Bela tertius filius Geysæ". The Chronicle of Alberic de Trois-Fontaines names (in order) "Haymericum et Andream…et duas reginas Constantiam de Boemia et Margaretam de Grecia" as children of "rex Bela de Hungaria" and his wife Agnes. After the accession of his brother, András demanded Croatia and Dalmatia as an appanage but this was refused. He revolted, and by 1198 obtained his demands and became Duke of Croatia and Dalmatia. He and subsequent dukes acted as the king of Hungary's deputy in the kingdom of Croatia. "Andreas, tertii Belæ regis filius…Dalmatiæ, Croatiæ, Ramæ, Culmæque dux" appointed "Pharensi episcopum" by charter dated 1198, witnessed by "Andrea Bano, comite Macharia, comite Ioseph, comite Marco, comite Andronico filio Bani camerario ducis Wenceslao…". He conquered western Hum [Hercegovina] as far as the river Neretva in 1198. The Continuatio Admuntensis records that he was arrested in 1203, suspected of plotting to take over the kingdom, and imprisoned "in palacio Strigoniensi quod alio nomine Gran vocatur".

He ousted his nephew in 1205 and succeeded as ANDRÁS II King of Hungary. He played an active part in the dismemberment of Galich-Volynia after the death of Roman Mstislavich Prince of Galich in 1205, Hungary and Poland eventually agreeing the division of the territories between them under the treaty of Spisz in 1214, although Hungary expelled Poland from Peremyshl and Lyubachev in 1215/1216. In 1211, King András hired the Order of Teutonic Knights, who had been expelled back to Europe from Palestine, to defend the eastern frontier of Transylvania against the Kumans, but they attempted to establish their autonomy there under the protection of the Pope. King András set sail from Split for Palestine on crusade in Oct 1217, but left Acre in early 1218 having achieved little besides acquiring a small collection of religious relics. He returned by the land route, via Constantinople, but at the end of 1218 he was seized in Bulgarian territory and released only after agreeing the marriage of his daughter to Ivan Asen II Tsar of Bulgaria. He threatened war with Serbia after Grand Župan Stefan was crowned king of Serbia by the papal legate in 1217, claiming that he alone had the right to this title, but did not carry out the threat. King András's abuses caused the Hungarian nobles to rebel in 1222 and forced him to issue the Golden Bull, a charter defining the rights of the nobility and restricting the king's right to appoint foreigners to office without the consent of the Council. According to Goldstein, this reform was forced by the rebellion of the lower nobility in Croatia. King András expelled the Teutonic Knights in 1225 on the pretext of their having disobeyed his orders. In 1227, Bortz Khan of the Kumans swore allegiance to the king of Hungary after ordering the baptism of his people, rex Cumaniæ being added to the titles of the Hungarian king soon after. King András attacked north-west Bulgaria in 1232 and recaptured Beograd and Branicevo/Barancs which he had been forced to cede as part of the dowry of his daughter Maria. He crossed the Danube into Wallachia where the Hungarians created a Banate in the Severin region.

The Chronicon Dubnicense records the death in 1235 of "Andreas filius Bele" and his burial "in monasterio de Egrus". The Chronicon Zagrabiense records the death "XI Kal Oct" in 1235 of "rex Andreas filius regis Belæ III" and his burial "in monasterio suo Egres". The Chronicle of Alberic de Trois-Fontaines records the death in 1235 of "Andreas rex Hungarie" and his burial "in civitate Waradino". ¹