Béla the Blind (; ; ; – 13 February 1141) was King of Hungary and Croatia from 1131 to 1141. He was blinded along with his rebellious father Álmos on the order of Álmos's brother, King Coloman of Hungary. Béla grew up in monasteries during the reign of Coloman's son Stephen II. The childless king arranged Béla's marriage with Helena of Rascia, who would become her husband's co-ruler throughout his reign.
Béla was crowned king at least two months after the death of Stephen II, implying that his accession to the throne did not happen without opposition. Two violent purges were carried out among the partisans of his predecessors to strengthen Béla's rule. King Coloman's alleged son Boris tried to dethrone Béla but the king and his allies defeated the pretender's troops in 1132. In the second half of Béla's reign, Hungary adopted an active foreign policy. Bosnia and Split seem to have accepted Béla's suzerainty around 1136.
Early years until 1131
Béla was the only son of Duke Álmosthe younger brother of King Coloman of Hungaryby his wife, Predslava of Kiev. Historians Gyula Kristó and Ferenc Makk write that Béla was born between 1108 and 1110. Álmos devised several plots to dethrone his brother. In retaliation, the king deprived Álmos of his ducatus or "duchy" between 1105 and 1108. Álmos did not give up his ambitions and King Coloman had him and the child Béla blinded between 1112 and 1115 to secure a peaceful succession for his own son, Stephen. According to one of the two versions of these events recorded in the Illuminated Chronicle, the king even ordered that Béla should be castrated but the soldier who was charged with this task refused to execute the order.
After their blinding, Álmos lived in the monastery of Dömös, which he had founded. Kristó and Makk write that it is probable that Béla lived with his father in the monastery. The Annales Posonienses relates that "the child was growing in the reign of King Coloman's son, Stephen", who ascended the throne in 1116. Having hatched a failed plot against the king, Álmos left the monastery and fled to Constantinople in about 1125. For unknown reasons, Béla did not follow his father to the Byzantine Empire. The Illuminated Chronicle narrates that he was kept "concealed in Hungary from the fury" of the king. Béla settled in the Pécsvárad Abbey, whose abbot sheltered him in secret.
Álmos died in exile on 1 September 1127. According to the Illuminated Chronicle, Béla's partisans "revealed to the King, who believed him to have died after his blinding, that Béla was alive". On hearing this, King Stephen II "rejoiced with great joy, for he knew beyond doubt that he would have no heir". The king even arranged Béla's marriage with Helena of Serbia and granted Tolna to the couple around 1129.
King Stephen II died in early 1131. A late sourcethe Ottoman Turkish chronicle known as Tarih-i Üngürüs or The History of the Hungariansnarrates that Béla ascended the throne after his predecessor's nephew Saul, whom Stephen II had nominated as his heir, had died. Béla II was crowned in Székesfehérvár on 28 April, substantiating the reliability of this report. However, no scholarly consensus on the exact circumstances of Béla's ascension exists. According to Gyula Kristó, Béla was crowned by Archbishop Felician after a civil war between his and Saul's partisans, but Pál Engel does not mention any conflict related to Béla's succession.
Reign
Consolidation (1131–1132)
Béla's blindness prevented him from administering his kingdom without assistance. He put his trust in his wife and her brother Beloš. Both royal and private charters from Béla's reign emphasize Queen Helena's pre-eminent role in the decision-making process, proving that the king regarded his wife as his co-ruler. According to the Illuminated Chronicle, at "an assembly of the realm near Arad" in early to mid-1131, Queen Helena ordered the slaughter of all noblemen who were accused of having suggested the blinding of her husband to King Coloman. Béla distributed the goods of the executed magnates between the newly established Arad Chapter and the early 11th-century Óbuda Chapter.
Béla's was on good terms with the Holy Roman Empire, jeopardizing the interests of Boleslaw III of Poland who had been warring with the empire. The Polish monarch decided to support a pretender to the Hungarian crown named Boris. Boris was born to King Coloman's second wife Euphemia of Kiev after his mother was repudiated for adultery. After Boris arrived in Poland, a number of Hungarian noblemen joined him. Others sent messengers to Boris "to invite him that he should come and with their help claim the kingdom for himself", according to the Illuminated Chronicle.