Margaret of Hungary

Margaret of Hungary, OP (Margit in Hungarian; 27 January 1242 – 18 January 1270) was a Dominican nun and the daughter of King Béla IV of Hungary and Maria Laskarina. She was the younger sister of Kinga of Poland (Kunegunda) and Yolanda of Poland and, through her father, the niece of the famed Elizabeth of Hungary. She also had an older sister with the same name, who died before she was born.

Life Margaret was born in Klis Fortress in the Kingdom of Croatia, the eighth and last daughter (9th of 10 children) of the royal couple. They resided there during the first Mongol invasion of Hungary as her father was also ruler of this land. Her parents vowed that if Hungary was liberated from the Mongols, they would dedicate the child to religion.

The three-year-old Margaret was entrusted by her parents to the Dominican monastery at Veszprém in 1245. Six years later she was transferred to the Monastery of the Blessed Virgin founded by her parents on Nyulak Szigete (Rabbit Island) near Buda (today Margaret Island, named after her, and a part of Budapest; the ruins of the monastery can still be seen). She spent the rest of her life there, dedicating herself to religion and opposing all attempts of her father to arrange a political marriage for her with King Ottokar II of Bohemia.

She appears to have taken solemn vows when she was eighteen years old. She died on 18 January 1270.

Veneration Margaret of Hungary, by Diego de Robles (c. 16th century). Santo Domingo Convent, Quito. She was venerated as a saint soon after her death, e.g., a church dedicated to her in Bocfolde, Zala County, appears in documents dated 1426. Steps were taken to procure her canonization shortly after her death, at the request of her brother King Stephen V. The necessary investigations were taken up between 1270 and 1276, but the canonization process was not successful, even though 74 miracles were ascribed to her intercession, most of them referring to curing illnesses, even someone coming back from the dead. Among those giving testimony were 27 people for whom miracles had been wrought. Unsuccessful attempts to canonize her were also made in 1640 and 1770. She was finally canonized by Pope Pius XII on 19 November 1943,

The Latin-English edition of her Life, legend and canonization documents: Legenda vetus, acta processus canonizationis et miracula sanctae Margaritae de Hungaria / The oldest legend, acts of the canonization process, and miracles of Saint Margaret of Hungary. eds.Ildikó Csepregi, Gábor Klaniczay, Bence Péterfi, C Clifford Flanigan, Louis Perraud, Budapest: CEU Press, 2018

Ancestry