Description

Solomon (1053–1087) was King of Hungary from 1063. The elder son of Andrew I, he was crowned during his father's lifetime in 1057 or 1058. Forced to flee when his uncle, Béla I, dethroned Andrew in 1060, Solomon returned with German support and was crowned again in 1063. He married Judith, sister of Henry IV, Holy Roman Emperor. In 1064, Solomon made an agreement with his cousins, the sons of Béla I, who acknowledged his rule in exchange for a separate duchy.

Solomon and his cousins initially fought together against external enemies but their relationship soured in the early 1070s. After his defeat at the Battle of Mogyoród on March 14, 1074, Solomon could only hold a small area along Hungary's western frontiers. He abdicated in 1081 but was later arrested for plotting against his successor, Ladislaus.

Freed during the canonization of Stephen I in 1083, Solomon allied with the Pechenegs to reclaim his throne but was defeated. He reportedly died on a plundering raid in the Byzantine Empire, though later legends claim he became a hermit in Pula, Croatia.