Archaeologists have confirmed that a skeleton with severe injuries found under a Budapest convent belongs to Béla of Macsó, a 13th-century Hungarian duke murdered in a power struggle. The remains, excavated in 1915 and rediscovered in 2018, reveal details of a brutal attack by multiple assailants. Modern forensic analysis, including DNA and injury reconstruction, aligns with historical records of his assassination on Margaret Island.
In November 1272, Béla of Macsó, a 29-year-old grandson of King Béla IV, was assassinated on Margaret Island in the Danube River near Budapest amid a feud for the Hungarian throne. Historical records from 13th-century Austria describe him as "struck down in miserable slaughter on an island near Buda," with his limbs "cut into pieces" and gathered by his sister and aunt.
The skeleton was unearthed in 1915 during excavations of a Dominican convent on the island, built by King Béla IV. Researchers at the time suspected it was Béla's remains due to the trauma evident on the bones, but lacked technology to confirm. The skeleton was lost during the Second World War and rediscovered in 2018 in a wooden box at the Hungarian Museum of Natural History, prompting renewed analysis.
Forensic examination revealed nine injuries to the head and face and 17 to the rest of the body, all inflicted at the time of death. "There were so many more serious injuries than would be necessary to kill somebody," says Martin Trautmann at the University of Helsinki in Finland. Using an educational model skeleton, Trautmann's team reconstructed the attack: two or three assailants approached from the front and sides, with Béla blocking blows with his arms. He fell, cracking his skull, then fought using his left leg while lying on his side until stabbed through the spinal column. Additional head and face wounds followed, possibly fatal, though he may have bled to death. "There was a lot of bleeding," Trautmann notes.
Radiocarbon dating places the death in the mid-13th century. Dental plaque analysis indicates a luxurious diet of cooked wheat semolina and baked wheat bread. DNA confirms Béla as a fourth-generation descendant of King Béla III and an eighth-generation relative of 13th-century Russian prince Dmitry Alexandrovich. Genetic markers show Eastern Mediterranean origins on his mother's side and Scandinavian on his father's, with physical traits including dark skin, dark curly hair, and light brown eyes.
The study illuminates a sparse historical event, says independent medieval historian Tamás Kádár in Budapest. "The fact that his body was hacked apart, and perhaps even further mutilated after death, undoubtedly indicates great hostility and hatred," Kádár states. "The primary aim was to kill Béla, to eliminate him. The main goal was his prompt and certain death."