Individual Details

Death

Gertrude was killed in 1213, by Hungarian noblemen (magnates), who were jealous over the advancement of her German relatives at court. The terms Nobilissimus (most noble) and nobilissima familia (most noble family) have been used since the 11th century for the King of Hungary and his family, but it were then only a few, among them also Gertrude, which were mentioned in official documents as such.
While the king was in battle, Gertrude gave out Hungarian land as "gifts" to her favorites. According to medieval chroniclers, one third of the country was given away but the magnates got it back after the queen's death. Thus, Hungary did not prosper. During the frequent absence of her husband, the queen was regent and, as Dietrich von Apolda states, conducted the affairs of the kingdom "like a man". In 1206 her younger brother Berthold was installed as Archbishop of Kalocsa, in 1212 he was also appointed Voivode of Transylvania.
While King Andrew was campaigning Galicia, the Hungarian nobles decided to get rid of the queen and in 1213 on a hunt with Berthold and their guest Duke Leopold VI of Austria in the Pilis Mountains, she was killed. Gertrude's body was torn to pieces, her brother and Duke Leopold narrowly escaped with their lives. Due to the current political situation most of her murderers remained unpunished during the rule of Andrew II. Only Gertrude's son King Béla IV took revenge after his accession to the throne.
Gertrude's tomb was of a Gothic style. Her tomb was excavated between 1967 and 1980.[3]
On Gertrude's death, Andrew married Yolanda de Courtenay.

Marriage

Her parents wanted their daughters to all make important political marriages, which would create alliances for Duke Berthold IV. Gertrude married the Árpád prince Andrew II, younger son of late King Béla III of Hungary, before 1203. Andrew thereby took sides in the conflict over the German throne, joining his father-in-law in his support of Duke Philip of Swabia, while his elder brother King Emeric of Hungary backed King Otto IV of Germany. The couple had five children:
Anna Maria of Hungary (c. 1204 – 1237), wife of Tzar Ivan Asen II of Bulgaria
King Béla IV of Hungary (1206 – 3 May 1270)
Saint Elisabeth of Hungary (1207 – 10 November 1231), wife of Landgraf Louis IV of Thuringia
King Coloman of Galicia-Lodomeria (1208 – June 1241)
Prince Andrew II of Halych (c. 1210 – 1234)
Ambitious Gertrude exerted much political influence over her husband. It was probably she who persuaded Andrew to conspire against his brother again, but when King Emeric, who had realised that Andrew's troops outnumbered his armies, went unarmed, wearing only the crown and the sceptre, to Andrew's camp near Varasd, Andrew surrendered voluntarily on the spur of the scene. The king had his brother arrested, but Andrew managed to escape shortly afterwards. During this time, Gertrude was sent back to her father. Things improved for her, when Prince Andrew took over the government of the Hungarian kingdom upon the death of King Emeric in 1204, officially as regent for his minor nephew Ladislaus III, who nevertheless died driven in exile one year later.