Angevin Queens of Hungary: 1/6
Maria of Bytom, Queen of Hungary (c.1290s-15 December 1317)
Maria of Bytom was a member of Poland’s Piast dynasty by birth. She was the only daughter of Casimir, Duke of Bytom, a duchy in the Polish region of Silesia, and his wife, Helena, whose origins are unknown, but possibly Russian or Lithuanian. Maria had 5 brothers. Her birth year is a mystery, her husband was born in 1288, so she was probably around his age or a little younger. She married in 1306, and according to Canon Law, she had to be 12 at the youngest. So she was probably born sometime between 1288 and 1294.
Maria married King Charles I of Hungary in 1306. This marriage strengthened Polish-Hungarian ties, and consolidated an agreement of the two counties against the neighboring kingdom of Bohemia. She was most likely his first wife. Some sources state that Charles was previously married to Maria, daughter of a king of Galicia, but her existence seems unlikely. If Charles did plan to marry Maria of Galicia, she most likely died before the marriage could take place.
At the time of the marriage, Charles of Anjou was however, King of Hungary in name only. He was a grandson of King Charles II of Naples and Maria of Hungary, one of the last members of Hungary’s native Arpad dynasty. Charles’ father once tried to claim the crown of Hungary, but he died before he could do so. Even though Charles of Anjou was first crowned king in 1301, he rule was contested by King Wenceslaus III of Bohemia (see Premyslid Queens bios) and later Otto III, Duke of Bavaria (Grandson of Bela IV, forth-to-last Arpad King of Hungary). Otto of Bavaria abdicated in 1308, making Charles the undisputed king of Hungary, with Maria of Bytom as his queen consort.
Very little is known about Maria of Bytom, she seems to have not played a powerful role at court. There remains just two documents issued by her. Maria most likely had no children, although some later sources say that she had two daughters, Catherine and Elizabeth, who married Polish dukes in Silesia. Some sources say that Charles third wife, Elizabeth of Poland was their mother, and some say they might have been illegitimate offspring of King Charles instead. There is also the possibility that they had no relation to Charles. Katherine, Duchess of Swidnica, certainly existed, but some sources say her parentage is unknown. The other Elizabeth, was said to marry someone only identified as “Boleslaw of Opole”. Some historians concluded that he was the same person as Boleslaw II, Duke of Niemodlin, but he was recorded to have never married. It is possible that a marriage between Elizabeth and Boleslaw was planed, but never took place. The existence of this Elizabeth of Hungary is disputed.
Maria died in her mid-twenties of unrecorded causes on 15 December, 1317. She was buried at Szekesfehervar Basilica. Her husband remarried twice more.
