Mary of Hungary, Queen of Naples

Mary of Hungary (c. 1257 – 25 March 1323), of the Árpád dynasty, was Queen of Naples and Queen of Albania by marriage to King Charles II. She was a daughter of Stephen V of Hungary and his wife Elizabeth the Cuman. Mary served as regent in Provence in 1290–1294 and in Naples in 1295–96, 1296–98, and 1302, during the absences of her husband.

Mary was the second of six children. Her sisters Elizabeth and Catherine both became Queen of Serbia. Another sister, Anna, married Andronikos II Palaiologos. Mary's only brother was Ladislaus IV of Hungary.

Mary was 12 years old when she wed Charles II of Naples in Naples on 6 August 1270. The marriage was intended to be a double alliance between Naples and Hungary to support the intended conquest of Byzantium by Naples, but it did not serve its purpose as her brother in 1272 made an alliance with Byzantium as well. Maria accompanied Charles on his trips and spent 1278-82 in Provence with her consort. In 1284, she made her first political act: when Charles was taken captive by Aragon, she made the decision to free the Aragonese prisoner Beatrice of Hohenstaufen.

In 1285, Charles became monarch but remained in an Aragonese prison. She did not take part in the regency for him in Naples, but remained in Provence, where she did take part in the administration from time to time, though she was not formal regent. In 1288, she took part in the negotiations of her consort's release, and the same year, she made a peace treaty with Aragon. Charles was released the same year, and they returned to Naples together.

In 1290-94, she was regent for him in Provence.

On 10 July 1290, Mary's brother, King Ladislaus IV of Hungary was murdered by three Cuman assassins,. Since Ladislaus had died childless, the question now was who would succeed him: in addition to Mary, her sisters Catherine and Elisabeth believed that they had claims, as did the children of the youngest sister, Anna. In addition, the crown was already claimed by Ladislaus' cousin Andrew the Venetian, who was the next heir according to agnatic descent. Andrew was summoned from Vienna by Archbishop Lodomer, who crowned him King Andrew III on 23 July with the Holy Crown of Hungary in Székesfehérvár, the traditional site for Hungarian coronations.

However, Mary refused to accept Andrew's right to the crown, because in her view his father Stephen the Posthumous had been a bastard, and thus not a legitimate member of the House of Árpád (the royal family of Hungary). Stephen had been born to the third wife of King Andrew II after her husband's death, and was not recognised by his elder half-brothers, including Mary's grandfather Béla IV. In April 1291, Mary declared her own claim to the throne. The Babonići, Frankopans, Šubići, and other leading Croatian and Slavonian noble families seemingly accepted her as the lawful monarch, although as events showed their loyalty in fact vacillated between her and Andrew III. In January 1292, she transferred her claim to Hungary to her son, the 18-year-old Charles Martel Charles was then set up by Pope Nicholas IV and the church party as the titular King of Hungary (1290–1295) as the successor of Mary's brother.

Andrew III was unable to give full attention to the conflict with Mary and Charles, because he was engaged in a conflict with another challenger, Albert of Austria. In the ensuing war, Andrew recovered from Albert several important towns and fortresses - including Pozsony (Bratislava) and Sopron - which had previously been held by the powerful Kőszegi family. After the Peace of Hainburg, which concluded the war, was signed on 26 August, the Kőszegis threw their support to Mary's party. They rose up in open rebellion against Andrew in spring 1292, acknowledging Charles Martel as King of Hungary. Andrew´s troops subdued the rebellion by July, but in August the Kőszegis captured and imprisoned him; he was freed only four months later.