A figure of crucial importance to scholarship on western and eastern Europe alike, King Coloman (1208–1241) here receives long-overdue scholarly treatment as a key figure of the thirteenth century. The ?rp?d prince ruled over a vast area in Central Europe which remained largely affiliated to the Western Church. Renowned for fighting the Mongol Empire, he had close relations with Pope Gregory IX, and he was a contemporary of Emperor Friedrich II, Philippe Auguste of France, and Henry III of England.