Her father, ruler in the former Principality of Nitra at the time of her birth, fled to Poland during dynastical struggles with his brother King Andrew I.
Béla's daughter Sophia initially was engaged to Margrave William of Meissen, who had been sent to Hungary with an Imperial army by Dowager Empress Agnes of Poitou.
Her husband, a loyal supporter of the German royal Salian dynasty, made use of his excellent contacts with the Hungarian ruler and enlarged his Istrian territories against the resistance of the Patriarchs of Aquileia and the Republic of Venice.
By 1063, he held extended estates along the Adriatic coast down to Fiume (Rijeka) which later were elevated to the Duchy of Merania; his possessions were officially confirmed by King Henry IV of Germany.
Magnus supported the rebellious Saxon count Otto of Nordheim and was arrested by the forces of King Henry IV; he even remained in captivity when he succeeded his father as duke in 1072.