Helena of Hungary, Duchess of Austria

Helena of Hungary
Duchess consort of Austria
Duchess Helena, Babenberger Stammbaum, Klosterneuburg Monastery
Born	c. 1155
Died	(1199-12-25)25 December 1199
Burial	Heiligenkreuz Abbey
Spouse	Leopold V, Duke of Austria
Issue	Frederick I Leopold VI Agnes of Austria Bertha of Austria
House	Árpád
Father	Géza II of Hungary
Mother	Euphrosyne of Kiev

Helena (Ilona) of Hungary (c. 1155 – 25 December 1199), a member of the royal Árpád dynasty, was Duchess of Austria from 1177 and Styria from 1192 to 1194 by her marriage with the Babenberg duke Leopold V of Austria.

Biography

Helena was the daughter of King Géza II of Hungary and his wife, Euphrosyne of Kiev, a daughter of Grand Prince Mstislav I of Kiev by his second wife, Liubava Dmitrievna. Little is known of her life or character. The only clear facts about her life are that at Pentecost 1174 she was married to Leopold V of Austria. The marriage reflected the westward orientation of the Hungarian House of Árpád in view of the expansionist politics of the Byzantine emperor Manuel I Komnenos. Leopold's sister Agnes had already married King Stephen III of Hungary, Helena's elder brother who had died in 1172.

Helena and Leopold had issue; he died on 31 December 1194 as a result of a horse accident. Helena died five years later in 1199^{[citation needed]} and was buried beside her husband in Heiligenkreuz Abbey.

Marriage and children

By her marriage to Duke Leopold V, Helena had at least two (possibly as many as four) children:

• Frederick I (d. 16 April 1198)
• Leopold VI (d. 28 July 1230)
• ?Agnes
• ?Bertha

Footnotes

This page was last edited on 14 April 2024, at 05:00