Description

In 2017, the Hungarian National Bank launched a new coin series featuring the Saints of the House of Árpád. The first coin in the series was dedicated to Saint Margaret of the House of Árpád.

Saint Margaret of Hungary (Margit in Hungarian; 1242–1270), was a Dominican nun and daughter of King Béla IV of Hungary and Maria Laskarina. Born in Klis Fortress during the Mongol invasion of Hungary, she was dedicated to a religious life from an early age as part of her parents' vow for Hungary's liberation. At three, she was placed in the Dominican monastery at Veszprém and later transferred to the Monastery of the Blessed Virgin on Rabbit Island (now Margaret Island in Budapest), where she spent her life in devout service and refused all attempts at arranged marriages.

Margaret took solemn vows at eighteen and was known for her rigorous self-discipline and penance, wearing an iron girdle and performing the most menial tasks in the convent. Her severe practices likely contributed to her early death at twenty-seven. Despite early veneration and several attempts at canonization, it was not until 1943 that she was officially canonized by Pope Pius XII. Today, her feast day is celebrated on January 18, and her relics are preserved in various locations in Hungary. Margaret is often depicted in art as a Dominican nun holding a white lily and a book.

Engraver: Enikő Szöllőssy