pro-papal policies of Stephen III. Despite that Béla's claim – beside the Byzantine Empire – was supported by Pope Alexander III too, and it is plausible that Géza and his domestic supporters sought assistance from the rival Holy Roman Empire at the turn of 1172 and 1173, but Frederick I, Holy Roman Emperor was fully engaged with his Italian and Polish campaigns during that time. After a couple of failed attempts, Béla III had them arrested in 1174. He imprisoned his mother too, but Prince Géza and his several partisans – including Lawrence and possibly Stephen, Archbishop of Kalocsa) – escaped from captivity and fled to the court of Henry II, Duke of Austria in 1174 or 1175 to seek protection. When Henry refused to extradite Géza, Béla launched plundering raids into Austria, together with Soběslav II, Duke of Bohemia. A year later, Prince Géza tried to persuade Soběslav II of Bohemia to help him meet Frederick I, Holy Roman Emperor, but Soběslav seized Géza and handed him over to Béla in 1177. Béla once again imprisoned his brother, and he also put their mother, Euphrosyne, in confinement, while a certain ispán Vata was blinded. Prince Géza languished in prison from 1177 to 1189. Euphrosyne was set free in 1186, but she was obliged to leave the kingdom for Constantinople, while Géza remained in captivity. Freedom arrived for him in 1189 due to preparations for the Third Crusade. That year, Frederick Barbarossa, arrived in Hungary and was received by King Béla III. Learning of Prince Géza's predicament via Béla's second spouse Margaret of France, the Holy Roman Emperor asked Béla III to allow the imprisoned Géza to lead a small Hungarian army to the Crusade as an escort, according to Arnold of Lübeck. Béla III allowed this, and 2,000 Hungarian soldiers left for the Holy Land under the leadership of Géza and Bishop Ugrin Csák. Later life Shortly after, Béla III ordered the Hungarian contingent to return from Niš to Hungary, because he did not want to confront with his son-in-law, Emperor Isaac II Angelos, who embroiled conflict with the Holy Roman Emperor during the early phase of the Third Crusade. While the majority of the army led by Ugrin Csák, including six ispáns returned to Hungary, Géza and his small escort, including three ispáns (barons) remained in the crusader army, and participated in the subsequent battles and sieges. Géza