CONSTANCE OF HUNGARY(Hungarian Boldog Konstancia) (the year of birth is unknown - † after 1287), Princess of Halych, since 1246 was the wife of Prince Lev Daniilovich of Halych, the second son of Prince Daniil Romanovich of Halych

Father

  • Béla IV, King of Hungary (1235–1270)

Mother

  • Maria Laskarina, daughter of Theodore I Laskaris, Emperor of Nicaea (1204–1221)

Biography

Constance came from the Hungarian royal family of Arpad and was one of the daughters of Bela IV. It is possible to establish the approximate date of her birth by indirect data: the dates of her marriage and the birth of children. Roughly she was born in the second half of the 1230s. [1, p. 372] Sometimes in the literature a more precise date is called: 1234/35. Probably, even before reaching adulthood, she was married to the "King of Rus". For a long time in Polish historiography existed the point of viewbased on the news of Jan Dlugosz [III, p. 269], according to which Constance was given in marriage to Daniil Romanovich of Halych [I, s. 55; V, s. 256-257; VI, s. 71, 80]. Recently, however, researchers have come to the conclusion that Constance was the wife of Daniil's son Lev Danilovich. The unconditional political background of this marriage is evidenced not only by the fact that Bela IV married his daughter before her coming of age, but also by the political situation in Halych Rus. Judging by the data of the Ipatiev Chronicle, Daniil Romanovich unsuccessfully wooed one of his sons, probably Lev, to one of the daughters of the Hungarian king back in 1240, but was refused [II, cl. 785-787, 789]. It is noteworthy that the chronicle does not directly say which of the sons Daniil was going to marry, but the description of the journey of Lev from Hungary back to his father and their meeting in Wlodava allows us to conclude that it was he who was wooed [1, p. 371].

After the return of Daniil Romanovich from the Horde as a Mongol lennik in 1246, the international situation has changed radically, and Bela IV himself would woo his daughter to Lev. After negotiations in Altsohl, Daniil agreed to the marriage, which was to become and, in fact, became for many years a link between the Arpads and the Romanovichs. There are several points of view as to when exactly the wedding of Lev Danilovich and Constance took place. T. Shenga, relying on the itinerary of Bela IV, believes that the marriage was concluded in September 1246, more precisely between September 11 and 27 [5, p. 250, 263; 7, p. 588-594]. D. Dombrowski, based the bulls of Pope Innocent IV, proposes the date of the wedding to be between 1246 and 1247. [IV, N. 21, 25; 1, p. 371]. P. Malinyak attributes the emergence of this matrimonial union to a later time, according to the researcher, the marriage was concluded in August 1247 [6, s. 127-133]. There is also a version based on the record of the Halych-Volyn Chronicle that Constance became the wife of Lev Danilovich only in 1250 [4, p. 166] or 1251 [2, p. 127; 8, s. 31]. However, this dating should be recognized as erroneous [1, p. 372].

In marriage, Lev and Constance had three children: Yuri, the future Halych-Volyn prince and the second "King of Rus", as well as daughters Elena and Svyatoslava. Until recently, Anastasia, the wife of Siemovit Kuyavsky, was also considered the daughter of Lev Danilovich, but, according to the latest genealogical data, she was the daughter of Lev's half-brother, Mstislav Danilovich [ibid, p. 232-240].

Constance died after 1277/78. Unfortunately, it is not possible to establish a more precise date of her death due to the lack of information in the sources.

Sons [3, s. 197–232]

Children

Sources

I. Zіmorovich B. Potrіinii L'vіv. Leopolis Triplex. Per. z latin. N. Tsar'ovoї; Nauk. koment. ІI.Mits'ka; Vіdp. red. O. Shishka. L'vіv, 2002.

III. Polnoe sobranie russkikh letopisei. T. II. Ipat'evskaia letopis'. M., 2001.III. Dlugosz J.  Opera omnia / ed. A.Przezdziecki. Cracoviae, 1887. T.I. p. 269

IV. Documenta Pontificum Romanorum historiam Ucrainae illustrantia (1075–1700). Vol. I: 1075–1700, wyd. Athanasius G. Welykyj. Romae, 1953.

V. Kromer M. De origine et rebus gestis polonorum libri XXX

VI. Okolski Sz. Russia florida rosis et liliis. Leopoli, 1646.

Bibliography

1.      Dombrovskii D. Genealogiia Mstislavichei. Pervye pokoleniia (do nachala XIV v.) / Per. s pol'skogo i vstup. slovo k rus. izd. K.Iu. Erusalimskogo, O.A. Ostapchuk. SPb., 2015

2.      Almasi T. A tizenharmadik század története. Szekszárd, 2000.

3.      Dąbrowski D. Rodowód Romanowiczów książąt halicko-wołyńskich. Poznań-Wrocław, 2002.

4.      ErdélyiL. Árpádkor; a magyar állam, társadalom, müvelödés legrégibb története 1301-ig. 2008.

5.      Font M. Árpád-házi királyok és Rurikida fejedelmek. Szeged, 2005.

6.      Maliniak P. K sobášnej politike Bela IV. Dynastická svadba vo Zvolene a jej reflexie v historiografii // Historický časopis. 2008. Vol. 56. Č. 1. S. 125–135.

7.      Senga T. IV. Béla külpolitikája és IV. Ince pápához intézett "tatár-levele"// Szazadok. Budapest, 1987.V. 121. Nr. 4. 588–594 o.

8.      Vaníček V. Velké dějiny zemí Koruny české. Sv.III: 1250–1310 Praha, 2002.

Internet Resources 

1. Dlugosz J.  Opera omnia / ed. A.Przezdziecki. Cracoviae, 1887.