Béla II the Blind was King of Hungary and Croatia. Béla was the only son of Duke Álmos, the younger brother of King Coloman of Hungary. His mother was Predslava of Kiev. Duke Álmos led several rebellions against his brother, but finally, he and Béla were blinded in 1113. Father and son were living together in the Premonstratensian Monastery of Dömös till 1126, when Duke Álmos tried to organise a conspiracy against King Stephen II, King Coloman's son and heir, but he failed and had to escape to the Byzantine Empire. Following his father's escape, Béla was taken secretly to the Monastery of Pécsvárad by his father's partisans. In 1129, after the death of Duke Álmos, King Stephen was informed that his blind cousin was still living in Hungary, and he invited Béla to his court. Upon the king's request, Béla married Helena, a daughter of Serbian Duke Uroš I of Raška, and the king granted the couple estates near Tolna. On 1 March 1131, the childless king died, and on 28 April, Béla was crowned in Székesfehérvár. As Béla was blind, his wife played a decisive role in governing his kingdom. Shortly after ascending the throne, Queen Helena ordered the massacre of the people she considered responsible for her husband's blinding at an assembly in Arad. She implaced her brother, Beloš, as the count palatine, giving him supreme command over the Hungarian Army and a commendable place in the Hungarian Royal Court. Children of Béla and Helena were: Elisabeth (c. 1129 – before 1155), wife of duke Mieszko III of Poland King Géza II of Hungary (c. 1130 – 3 May 1162) King Ladislaus II of Hungary (1131 – 14 January 1163) King Stephen IV of Hungary (c. 1133 – 11 April 1165) Sophia (c. 1136 – ?), nun at Admont Béla died from the effects of an overindulgence of alcohol.
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