Stephen I of Hungary

Stephen I of Hungary “Stephen of Hungary” redirects here. For other people death caused civil wars which lasted for decades. He of the same name, see Stephen of Hungary (disambigua- was canonized, together with his son, Emeric, and Bishop tion). Gerard of Csanád, in 1083. Stephen is a popular saint in “Szent István” redirects here. For the dreadnought of the Hungary and the neighboring territories. In Hungary, his Austro-Hungarian Navy, see SMS Szent István. feast day (celebrated on 20 August) is also a public holi- day commemorating the foundation of the state. Stephen I, also Saint Stephen (Hungarian: Szent István király; Latin: Sanctus Stephanus;[1] Slovak: Štefan I. or Štefan Veľký; c. 975 – 15 August 1038) was the last 1 Early years (c. 975–997) Grand Prince of the Hungarians between 997 and 1000 or 1001, and the first King of Hungary from 1000 or 1001 until his death in 1038. The year of his birth is uncertain, but many details of his life suggest that he was born in or after 975 in Esztergom. At his birth, he was given the pagan name Vajk. The date of his baptism is unknown. He was the only son of Grand Prince Géza and his wife, Sarolt, who was descended from the prominent family of the gyulas. Although both of his parents were baptized, Stephen was the first member of his family to become a devout Christian. He married Gisela of Bavaria, a scion of the imperial Ottonian dynasty. After succeeding his father in 997, Stephen had to fight for the throne against his relative, Koppány, who was sup- ported by large numbers of pagan warriors. He defeated Koppány mainly with the assistance of foreign knights, including Vecelin, Hont and Pázmány, but also with help from native lords. He was crowned on 25 December 1000 or 1 January 1001 with a crown sent by Pope Sylvester II. In a series of wars against semi-independent tribes and chieftains—including the Black Hungarians and his un- cle, Gyula the Younger—he unified the Carpathian Basin. He protected the independence of his kingdom by forcing the invading troops of Conrad II, Holy Roman Emperor to withdraw from Hungary in 1030. Stephen established at least one archbishopric, six bish- oprics and three Benedictine monasteries; thus the Church in Hungary developed independently of the arch- bishops of the Holy Roman Empire. He ensured the spread of Christianity with severe punishments for ignor- ing Christian customs. His system of local administration was based on counties organized around fortresses and administered by royal officials. Hungary, which enjoyed a lasting period of peace during his reign, became a pre- ferred route for pilgrims and merchants traveling between Western Europe and the Holy Land or Constantinople. Stephen’s birth depicted in the Illuminated Chronicle He survived all of his children. He died on 15 Au- gust 1038 and was buried in his new basilica, built in The date of Stephen’s birth is uncertain, because it was Székesfehérvár and dedicated to the Holy Virgin. His not recorded in contemporaneous documents.[2] Hungar- ian and Polish chronicles written centuries later give three 1 2 1 EARLY YEARS (C. 975–997) different years: 967, 969 and 975.[3] The unanimous testimony of his legends and other Hungarian sources, which state that Stephen was “still an adolescent”[4] in 997, substantiate the reliability of the later year (975).[2][3] Stephen’s Lesser Legend adds that he was born in Esztergom.[2][3][5] His place of birth also implies that he was born after 972, because his father, Géza, Grand Prince of the Hungarians, chose Esztergom as royal res- idence around that year.[2] Géza promoted the spread of Christianity among his subjects by force, but never ceased worshipping pagan gods.[6][7] Both his son’s Greater Leg- end and the nearly contemporaneous Thietmar of Merse- burg described Géza as a cruel monarch, suggesting that he was a despot who mercilessly consolidated his author- ity over the rebellious Hungarian lords.[7][8] Hungarian chronicles unanimously report that Stephen’s mother was Sarolt, a daughter of Gyula, a Hungar- ian chieftain with jurisdiction either in Transylvania[9] or in the wider region of the confluence of the rivers Tisza and Maros.[10] Many historians—including Pál Engel and Gyula Kristó—propose that her father was identical with “Gylas”, who had around 952 been baptized in Constantinople and “remained faithful to Christianity”,[11] according to the Byzantine chronicler, John Skylitzes.[12][13] However, this identification is not unanimously accepted; for instance, historian György Györffy says that it was not Sarolt’s father, but his younger brother who was baptized in the Byzantine Baptism of Vajk, painting by Gyula Benczúr capital.[9] In contrast with all Hungarian sources, the Polish-Hungarian Chronicle and later Polish sources state that Stephen’s mother was Adelhaid, an otherwise un- to the Illuminated Chronicle, one of his tutors was a Count known sister of Duke Mieszko I of Poland, but the Deodatus from Italy, who later founded a monastery in reliability of this report is not accepted by modern Tata.[20] historians.[14] According to Stephen’s legends, Grand Prince Géza [5][15] He was born as Vajk, which derived from a convoked an assembly of the Hungarian chieftains and Turkic word baj, meaning “hero”, “master”, “prince”, or warriors when Stephen “ascended to the first stage of [3][14] “rich”. Stephen’s Greater Legend narrates that he adolescence”,[19] when he was 14 or 15.[21][22] Géza nom- [16] was baptized by the saintly Bishop Adalbert of Prague, inated Stephen as his successor and all those who were who stayed in Géza’s court several times between 983 present took an oath of loyalty to the young prince.[22] [17][18] and 994. However, St Adalbert’s nearly contem- Györffy also writes, without referring to his source, that poraneous Legend, written by Bruno of Querfurt, does Géza appointed his son to rule the extquotedblNyitra [17][16][18] not mention of the event. Accordingly, the date ducate extquotedbl around that time.[16] Slovak histori- of Stephen’s baptism is unknown: Györffy argues that ans, including Ján Steinhübel and Ján Lukačka, accept [16] Stephen was baptized soon after birth, while Kristó Györffy’s view and propose that Stephen administered proposes that he only received baptism just before his fa- Nyitra (now Nitra, Slovakia) from around 995.[23][24] ther’s death in 997.[18] He was given his baptismal name in honour of the first martyr, Saint Stephen. Upon his father’s initiative, Stephen married Gisela, the daughter of Henry the Wrangler, Duke of Bavaria (r. Stephen’s official biography, written by Bishop Hartvik 955–995) in or after 995.[5][25] This marriage established and sanctioned by Pope Innocent III, narrates that he “was the first family link between a Hungarian ruler and a [19] fully instructed in knowledge of the grammatical art” Western European ruling house,[26] because Gisela was [3] in his childhood, implying that he studied Latin. His closely related to the Ottonian dynasty of the Holy Ro- two other late 11th-century biographies do not mention man Emperors.[18] According to popular tradition pre- Stephen’s grammatical studies. They only state that he served in the Scheyern Abbey in Bavaria, the ceremony “was brought up by receiving an education appropriate took place at the castle of Scheyern and was celebrated [3] for a little prince”. Kristó says that the latter remark by Bishop Adalbert of Prague.[22] Gisela was accom- only refers to Stephen’s physical training, including his panied to her new home by Bavarian knights, many of [3] participation in hunts and military actions. According whom received land grants from her husband and settled 2.1 Grand Prince (997–1000) 3 in Hungary.[27] The arrival of these heavily-armed warriors strengthened Stephen’s military position.[28] Györffy writes that Stephen and his wife “presumably” settled in Nyitra after their marriage.[27] 2 Reign (997–1038) 2.1 Grand Prince (997–1000) See also: Grand Prince of the Hungarians Grand Prince Géza died in 997.[15][29] Stephen convoked an assembly to Esztergom where his supporters declared him grand prince.[30] Initially, he only controlled the northwestern regions of the Carpathian Basin; the rest of the territory was still dominated by tribal chieftains.[31] Stephen’s ascension to the throne was in line with the principle of primogeniture which prescribed that a father was succeeded by his son.[28] On the other hand, it contradicted the traditional idea of seniority, according to which Géza should have been succeeded by the most senior member of the Árpád dynasty, who was Koppány at that time.[28][32] Koppány, who held the title Duke of Somogy,[33] had for many years administered the regions of Transdanubia south of Lake Balaton.[29][26] Koppány's execution after his defeat by Stephen Koppány proposed to Géza’s widow, Sarolt, in ac- cordance with the pagan custom of levirate marriage.[30][34][35] He also announced his claim to the [30] of Kéza's Gesta Hunnorum et Hungarorum and the Illu- throne. Although it is not impossible that Koppány [43] had already in 972 been baptized,[30] most of his support- minated Chronicle, “knights of Swabian origin” who settled in Hungary either under Géza or in the first years ers were pagans, opponents of Christianity represented [31] by Stephen and his predominantly German retinue.[36] of Stephen’s reign. On the other hand, Lukačka and A charter of 1002 for the Pannonhalma Archabbey other Slovak historians say that Hont and Pázmány were even writes of a war between “the Germans and the

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