Role Duchess of Austria Name Helena Hungary, | Father Geza II of Hungary Died December 25, 1199 | |
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Issue Frederick ILeopold VIAgnes of AustriaBertha of Austria House House of Arpad (by birth)House of Babenberg (by marriage) Spouse Leopold V, Duke of Austria Children Leopold VI, Duke of Austria, Frederick I, Duke of Austria Parents Geza II of Hungary, Euphrosyne of Kiev Siblings Bela III of Hungary, Stephen III of Hungary Similar People Leopold V - Duke of Austria, Geza II of Hungary, Stephen III of Hungary, Bela III of Hungary, Margaret of Austria - Queen of | ||
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.
Contents
Life
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 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: