Overview
Maria Laskarina (c. 1206 – 16 July or 24 June 1270) was a Greek Queen consort of Hungary by marriage to Béla IV of Hungary. She was the daughter of Theodore I Laskaris and Anna Komnena Angelina.
Life
She was a younger sister of Irene Lascarina, first Empress consort of John III Doukas Vatatzes. Theodore married his eldest daughter to his designated heir in 1212. Theodore was widowed in the same year and proceeded to marriages with Philippa of Armenia and Marie de Courtenay. However John was never displaced in succession.
As a younger daughter, the marriage of Maria was not intended to add a potential husband in the line of succession to the throne. Instead it secured a marital alliance with the Kingdom of Hungary.
In 1218, Maria was married to prince Béla of Hungary, and became Roman Catholic, converting from Greek Orthodoxy, her religion by birth. Bride and groom were about twelve-years-old. Her husband was the eldest son of Andrew II of Hungary and Gertrude of Merania.
From Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0).
