King, few, if any, being hereditary, and even the magnates
could not prevent the monarch giving away any part of his dominions.

Wars with Russia and Poland occupied the first years after the
accession of Andrew, and much discontent was occasioned in the country
by the imperious character of Gertrude his Queen, who ruled over her
husband, and caused her relatives and friends to be raised to the
highest places in the State. The marriage of the young princess
Elizabeth to Louis, son of the Landgrave of Thuringia, was solemnized
with great pomp at Presburg, in 1212. The period of prosperity to
Hungary which had followed the birth of this child made the people
look upon her as one favored by heaven, and her singular virtues
helped to confirm the superstition; her life has formed the groundwork
of one of the most beautiful of saintly legends, and after her death
she was canonized as St. Elizabeth of Hungary.

At her nuptials, Queen Gertrude, assuming the authority of her
husband, not only presented the ambassadors of the Landgrave with rich
presents of gold, silver, and jewels, but bid them tell their lord
that if a long life were granted to her she would send them still
greater wealth. The following year Andrew accompanied his son Coloman
into Poland, to celebrate his marriage with a daughter of the duke,
and intrusted the regency during his absence to Gertrude and her
relations. Time and opportunity favored a conspiracy against the
imperious Queen, and the first attack was made on her brother, the
Archbishop of Colocza. He, however, escaped with his life, and in
revenge he induced the Pope (Honorius) to lay Hungary under an
interdict.

The people, however, showed small regard for the denunciations of a
distant pontiff, and, irritated by fresh offences, committed by
brothers of the Queen, in which Gertrude herself appears to have
participated, they murdered her in her own palace, and her children
only escaped by the care and fidelity of their tutor. Their uncles
fled from the country, carrying with them a large amount of treasure
collected by Andrew, who bitterly complained of their ingratitude in a
letter to the holy see.

The King shortly afterward married the daughter of Peter of Courtenay,
Count of Auxerre, and made a vow to raise another crusade. The Latin
Emperor of Constantinople dying about this time, the choice of a
successor lay between the Hungarian King and his new father-in-law. It
fell upon Andrew, and he