1131–1141 Hungary Silver Denar of Béla II The Blind

Would You Kill Your Uncle If He Stabbed Your Eyes Out?

For most Americans, the only “Béla” from Hungary they know anything about is Béla Lugosi, the late actor best remembered for portraying Count Dracula in the classic 1931 film Dracula as well as many other roles in horror films throughout the 1930s, ’40s, and ‘50s. Lugosi was so identified with his role as the vampire count that following his death in 1956, he was buried in his vampire costume! But there’s another Hungarian Béla you should know about, King Béla II, and his story is more terrifying than anything the Hollywood script writers could have concocted during Lugosi’s time on the silver screen!

Nearly 900 years after Béla II’s story was written in blood across medieval Hungary, you can transport yourself back to that time with this Silver Dinar struck during Béla’s reign from 1131 to 1141. Although around 12 mm in diameter, these coins have stunningly crisp strikes and remain in relatively good shape, reminiscent of the Middle Ages from which they came from with the religious cross imagery.

The Early Life Of Béla The Blind

Fate proved to be a harsh mistress for Béla. His father was Duke Álmos, the younger brother of King Coloman of Hungary. Throughout Coloman’s reign from 1095 to 1116, Álmos plotted and schemed of ways to usurp power from his older brother. After the fifth unsuccessful attempt in 1114, Coloman could no longer control his rage. He had Álmos arrested, seized his lands, had him blinded, and then banished him to a monastery. Coloman didn’t stop there, however. He also had Béla, then only around 5 years old, blinded along with his father and locked him away within the cold, unloving walls of a monastery. In fact, Coloman had ordered his henchmen to castrate the boy, but the goon in charge of the punishment was unable to lower himself to that level of depravity and “merely” blinded him instead. It was through this heinous act that Béla acquired his nickname: Béla the Blind.

Béla’s New Lease On Life

Upon Coloman’s death in 1116, his son, the teenaged Stephen II, ascended to the throne. The lad would reign as Stephen II until 1131. Coloman had actually crowned him king in 1105 as a countermeasure against his brother’s scheming so if anything did happen to him, he would have denied Álmos the throne. Through most of his life, Stephen believed that Béla had been killed during his father’s reign. Upon discovering that Béla was alive, he immediately released him, granted him a piece of land, and arranged for a marriage between his cousin and Princess Helena of Serbia. Perhaps wracked with guilt by his father’s actions, Stephen put aside his royal duties and lived as a monk during the last years of his life. He died of dysentery in the spring of 1131, and, because he died childless, the next in the line of royal succession fell to Béla, who reigned jointly with his wife.

Victory In Death

Béla proved to be a miserable king. His wife and her brother acted as his eyes and were the real power behind the throne. Years of seclusion and abuse had taken their toll on Béla, however, and he lapsed into an unrelenting alcoholic daze for most of his reign from 1131 to 1141, often granting requests to favorites when he was drunk and nearly incapacitated. He died at the age of 31 or 32 of the effects of his lifelong addiction to alcohol, leaving the throne to his adolescent son. In death he finally achieved victory as his descendants rehabilitated his legacy and painted his uncle as a bloodthirsty tyrant.

Order Now, Quantities Are Limited

Each 1131–1141 Hungary Silver Denar of Béla II The Blind available here comes beautifully housed in a mid-sized coin album, a great way to display this historic piece that has been torn from the bloody pages of Central Europe in the Middle Ages. Quantities are limited, however, so get yours now!