Stephen I of Hungary

Stephan I (Latin Stephanus I; Hungarian I. István; in Slovak, Štefan I.; Esztergom, c. 975-ib. or Székesfehérvár, August 15, 1038), called "the Holy" or "the Great", was the last great prince of the Hungarians (997-1000 /1001) and the first king of Hungary (1000/1001-1038). The year of his birth is uncertain, but sources suggest that he was born in or after 975 in Esztergom; His original name was Vajk, of pagan origin. The date of his baptism is also not known. He was the only son of Grand Prince Géza and Sarolta, a princess descended from a distinguished family of gyulas. Although his parents were baptized before his birth, Stephen was the first member of the Árpad dynasty to be devoted to Christianity. He married Gisela of Bavaria, originally from the Ottonian imperial dynasty.

After succeeding his father in 997, Stephen disputed the throne with his kinsman Cupan, who was supported by a large number of pagan warriors. With the help of foreign knights such as Vencelin, the brothers Hont and Pázmány, and Magyar troops, Stephen defeated Cupan. He was crowned on December 25, 1000 or January 1, 1001 with a crown sent by Pope Silvester II. Through a series of wars against semi-independent tribes and chieftains—including the Black Magyars and his uncle Gyula III "the Younger"—he unified the Carpathian Basin. He protected the kingdom's independence from him by forcing out the invading troops of Emperor Conrad II in 1030.

Stephen established an archbishopric, six bishoprics and three Benedictine monasteries and thus the Catholic Church in Hungary developed independently of the Holy Roman archbishops. He encouraged the spread of Christianity with severe penalties if "Christian customs" were ignored. His local administration system was based on counties organized around fortresses and administered by royal officials. Due to the relative peace during his reign, Hungary became a preferred route for pilgrims and traders traveling between Western Europe and the Holy Land or Constantinople.

She outlived all her children. He died on August 15, 1038 and was buried in a basilica built in Székesfehérvár and dedicated to the Virgin Mary. His death was followed by civil wars that lasted for decades. He was canonized by Pope Gregory VII in 1083, along with his son Emeric and Bishop Gerard of Csanád. Stephen is a popular saint in Hungary and neighboring territories and his feast day (celebrated on August 20) is also a public holiday commemorating the founding of the Hungarian state.

Early Years

The birth of Stephen according to a miniature of the Illuminated Chronicle.

The date of birth is uncertain because it is not recorded in contemporary documents. Hungarian and Polish chronicles written centuries later give three different years: 967, 969 and 975. The unanimous testimony of three hagiographies from the end of the century 11th or early 12th century and other Hungarian sources state that Stephen was "still in his teens" in 997 and corroborate the reliability of the later date (975). The Lesser Legend of King Stephen ( Legenda minor S. Stephani regis) indicates that Stephen was born in Esztergom, which implies that his birth occurred after 972 because his father, Géza, Grand Prince of the Hungarians, had chosen that location as his royal residence in that year. Géza forced his subjects to convert to Christianity, but he never stopped worshiping pagan gods. Both the Greatest Legend of the r ey Stephen ( Legenda maior ) as the near-contemporaneous chronicle of Tietmaro of Merseburg depicted Géza as a cruel and despotic monarch who ruthlessly consolidated his authority over the Hungarian rebel leaders.

Hungarian chronicles agree that his mother was Sarolta, daughter of Gyula II, a Hungarian warlord with jurisdiction over Transylvania or a wide region at the confluence of the Tisza and Maros (Mureș) rivers. Many historians—such as Pál Engel and Gyula Kristó—propose that the life of Gyula II is identical to that of a certain "Gylas", who was baptized in Constantinople around 952 and "remained faithful to Christianity", according to the Byzantine chronicler John Escilitzes. However, this identification is not accepted by the rest of the researchers; for example, György Györffy claimed that Gylas was not Sarolta's father, but rather her younger brother. Unlike the Hungarian sources, the Hungarian-Polish Chronicle (Chronicon Hungarico-Polonicum) and other later Polish manuscripts indicate that Stephen's mother was Adelaide (Adelajda or Adelhaid), a little-known sister of Duke Miecislaus I of Poland, but the reliability of this document is not accepted by Györffy.

Esteban's birth name was Vajk, which comes from the Turkic voice baj, meaning "hero", "master", "prince" or "rich". Archaeologist Gyula László speculated that this is proof that Stephen was of Turkic (rather than Magyar, originating from Finno-Ugric tribes) ancestry and probably spoke the language. The Greater Legend of King Stephen narrates who was baptized by Bishop Adalbert of Prague, who remained at the court of Géza several times between 983 and 994. However, the Legend of Saint Adalbert —almost contemporary and written by Bruno of Querfurt — does not mention the christening. Likewise, the date of the baptism is unknown: Györffy maintains that Stephen was baptized shortly after birth, while Kristó asserts that he received the baptism just before his father's death in 997.

The official hagiography of Stephen—written by Bishop Arduino (Hartvik) and approved by Pope Innocent III—narrates that in his childhood "he was satisfactorily instructed in the knowledge of the art of grammar". This implies that he studied Latin, but there is some skepticism on the part of Kristó because few kings of this time learned to write. The other two hagiographies of the XI century they talk about his study of grammar and only indicate that he received "an education appropriate for a little prince". Kristó mentions that the latter only refers to physical training, such as participation in hunts and military actions. According to the Illuminated Chronicle (Chronicon Pictum), one of his tutors was "Count Deodatus", originally from Italy and who years later founded a monastery in Tata.

According to legends about Stephen, Grand Prince Géza called an assembly of the Magyar chiefs and warriors when the young man "passed into the first stage of adolescence" or the age of 14 or 15. Géza named Stephen as his successor and those present swore allegiance to the heir. Györffy also claims, without identifying sources, that Géza appointed his son to rule the "duchy of Nyitra" around the same time. Slovak historians—including Ján Steinhübel and Ján Lukačka—concur with Györffy's view and speculate that Stephen ruled Nyitra (now Nitra) from about 995 AD.

Géza arranged the marriage of his son to Gisela—daughter of Henry II, Duke of Bavaria—in or after 995. This alliance established the first family link between a Hungarian ruler and a Western European ruling house, as Gisela was closely associated with the imperial Ottonian dynasty. According to oral tradition preserved at Scheyern Abbey in Bavaria, the ceremony took place at Scheyern Castle and was officiated by Bishop Adalbert. Gisela was escorted to her new home by Bavarian knights. Many of them received land grants from her husband, settled in Hungary, and helped strengthen Stephen's military position.Györffy indicates that the prince and his wife "presumably" settled in Nyitra after their marriage.

Reign

Territories under the control of the Hungarian tribes at the beginning of the century.X.

Grand Prince (997-1000)

Géza died in 997 and Stephen convened an assembly in Esztergom where its participants declared him a great prince. Initially, he controlled only the northwestern regions of the Carpathian Basin; the rest of the territory was still under the control of other tribal leaders. Stephen's accession to the throne was based on the principle of primogeniture, which states that a tribal leader could only be succeeded by his first son. On the other hand, this contradicted the tradition of these Hungarian peoples, according to which Géza must have been succeeded by the oldest member of the Árpad dynasty, who at the time was Cupan (Latin name for Koppány). Cupan, who held the title of duke de Somogy, had for many years administered the Transdanubian regions south of Lake Balaton.

Cupan claimed Géza's widow, Sarolta, to comply with the pagan custom of levirate marriage and announced his claim to the throne. Although it is not impossible that Cupan was also baptized, in 972 most of his supporters were pagans and opposed to the Christianity practiced by Stephen and his predominantly German entourage. A 1002 letter addressed to Pannonhalma Abbey mentions a war between "the Germans and the Hungarians" when referring to armed conflicts between Stephen and Cupan. Even so, Györffy mentions that oszlar («Alanos»), besenyő («Pechenegs»), kér, among others, were they integrated into significant auxiliary units and groups of Hungarian warriors who fought in Stephen's army.

Cupan execution after his defeat before Esteban (Illuminated Chronicle).

Kristó claimed that the entire conflict between Stephen and Cupan was just a dispute between two members of the Árpad dynasty, with no consequences on other Hungarian tribal leaders. Cupan and his troops invaded the northern regions of Transdanubia, seized several of Stephen's fortresses and plundered their lands. According to the Illuminated Chronicle, Stephen "girded on his sword for the first time", and sent the brothers Hont and Pázmány to command his personal guard (as military leaders or duces) and Vencelin —a German knight who had arrived in Hungary in the reign of Géza— at the head of the royal army. The Acts of the Huns and the Hungarians (Gesta Hunnorum et Hungarorum) by Simón de Kéza and the Illuminated Chronicle report that Hont and Pázmány were "knights of Swabian origin" who settled in Hungary in the time of Géza or in the early years of Stephen's reign. On the other hand, Lukačka and other Slovak historians claim that Hont and Pázmá ny were 'Slovakian' nobles who had joined Stephen when he ruled Nyitra.

Cupan was besieging Veszprém when he was informed of the arrival of Stephen's army. In the ensuing battle, Stephen won a decisive victory over his enemies. Cupan was killed on the battlefield (possibly by Vencelinus) and his The body was dismembered and its limbs were displayed at the gates of the forts of Esztergom, Győr, Gyulafehérvár (Alba Iulia) and Veszprém to frighten those who conspired against the monarch.

Stephen invaded the duchy of Cupan and granted large estates to his own followers. He also ordered that Cupan's former subjects should pay tithes to Pannonhalma Abbey, a fact documented in that monastery's charter, though it contains interpolations. That same document states that at that time "there were no other bishoprics and monasteries in Hungary"; but the near-contemporary Bishop Tietmarus of Merseburg wrote that Stephen "established bishoprics in his realm" before he was crowned king. If this last report being valid, the dioceses of Veszprém and Győr are the most likely candidates, according to historian Gábor Thoroczkay.

Coronation (1000-1001)

They were receiving the papal envoy with his crown in a modern artistic representation (Pieter-Jozef Verhaghen, 1770).

By ordering the display of a part of Cupan's corpse in Gyulafehérvár—the seat of his maternal uncle, Gyula III "the Younger"—Stephen asserted his claim to reign over the lands dominated by Hungarian leaders and also he decided to strengthen his international status by adopting the title of king. However, the exact circumstances of his coronation and its political consequences are a matter of debate among scholars.

According to Tietmarus of Merseburg, Stephen received the crown "with the favor and persuasion" of Emperor Otto III (r. 996–1002), implying that Stephen accepted the imperial suzerainty before his coronation. However, the legends of Stephen emphasize that Pope Sylvester II (r. 999-1003) gave him his crown. Kristó and other historians point out that the pope and emperor were close allies and that the legends are reliable: Stephen "received the crown and consecration" from the Roman pontiff, but not without the emperor's consent. Approximately 75 years after the coronation, Pope Gregory VII (r. 1075–1085)—in his plans to claim suzerainty of Hungary—declared that Stephen had "devotedly offered and delivered" that country "to Saint Peter" (i.e., to the Holy See). According to contradictory testimony, the Greater Legend of King Stephen, the monarch actually gave Hungary "to the Virgin Mary". Modern historians—Pál Engel, Miklós Molnár, among others—maintain that Stephen always reiterated his sovereignty and never accepted papal or imperial suzerainty. To prove this, Ferenc Makk indicated the dates of his letters do not coincide with the regnal years of contemporary emperors, which would otherwise prove that he would have been their vassal. Furthermore, Stephen stated in the preamble to his First Law Book that he ruled his kingdom "by the will of God".

Portrait of Stephen in the crowning mantle of the Hungarian kings (1031).

The exact date of the coronation is unknown. According to later Hungarian tradition, Stephen was crowned on the first day of the second millennium, which may refer to either December 25, 1000 or January 1, 1001. Details of Stephen's coronation—documented in his Leyenda mayor—suggest that the ceremony, which possibly took place in Esztergom or Székesfehérvár, followed the rite of the German kings; that is, Stephen was anointed with oil consecrated during the ceremony. A portrait from 1031—preserved in his royal cloak—shows that his crown had an arrangement of precious stones similar to the Holy Roman Emperor's diadem.

Like his crown, Stephen regarded the banner pole as an important symbol of his sovereignty. For example, the first coins he struck bore the inscription lancea regis ("the king's pole") and represented an arm holding a pole with the standard. According to the contemporary chronicler Adémar de Chabannes, Emperor Otto III gave Géza a pole as a token of his right to "enjoy the possession of his country with the utmost freedom". Stephen used several titles in his letters: Ungarorum rex ("king of the Hungarians"), Pannoniorum rex ("king of the Pannonians") or Hungarie rex ("King of Hungary").

Consolidation (1001-c. 1009)

Although Stephen's authority did not derive from his coronation, the ceremony granted him the international legitimacy of a Christian monarch who ruled his realm "by the Grace of God". Legend has it that the king established an archiepiscopal seat in Esztergom shortly after his coronation. This act allowed the Hungarian Catholic Church to become independent from the prelates of the Holy Roman Empire. Pannonhalma from 1002. According to historian Gábor Thoroczkay, Stephen also created the diocese of Kalocsa in 1001. In the early years of his reign, the monarch invited foreign priests to evangelize his domains and missionaries sympathetic to the late Adalbert of Prague arrived., Radla and Anastasius. The presence of an unidentified "archbishop of the Hungarians" at the Frankfurt synod of 1007 and the consecration of an altar in Bamberg in 1012 by Archbishop Anastasius show that the king's prelates maintained a good relationship with the clergy of the Holy Roman Empire.

The transformation of Hungary into a Christian state was one of Stephen's main concerns during his reign. Although the conversion of the Hungarians had begun in his father's time, only Stephen systematically forced his subjects to abandon the rituals pagans. His legislative activity was closely related to foreign Christian customs. For example, his First Law Book—written in the early years of his reign and considered Hungary's first legal text— it includes several provisions that decree the observance of holidays and confession before death. Other laws protected property rights, the interests of widows and orphans, and regulated the status of serfs.

If anyone has such a hardened heart—God does not allow any Christian—who does not want to confess his faults as the priest advises, he will lie without divine service or charity as an infidel. If their relatives and neighbors do not call the priest—and therefore let the unbeliever die—they must make prayers and offer gifts [to the church], but their relatives will cleanse their neglect with fasting according to the criteria of the priests. Those who perish suddenly will be buried with ecclesiastical honors; for the divine judgment is hidden from us and [permanence] unknown.

Laws of King Stephen I.

The king's troops capture Gyula III "the Young One" (Illuminated Chronicle).

Many Hungarian leaders did not recognize Stephen's suzerainty even after the coronation. The new king began by attacking the domains of his uncle, Gyula III "the Younger", whose kingdom "was larger and richer", according to the Illuminated Chronicle. Thus, he invaded Transylvania and captured Gyula and his family between 1002 and 1003. The Annals of Hildesheim (written at the same time) add that, after the conquest, Stephen converted his uncle's country "to the Christian faith by force". Consequently, historians date the creation of the Diocese of Transylvania to this period. Kristó, Györffy and other Hungarian historians argue that Gyula's life is similar to that of a man named Prokui—who was also Stephen's uncle, according to Tietmaro of Merseburg—and therefore Gyula possibly escaped after captivity and sought refuge in the domain of the duke of Poland., Boleslaus I "the Brave" (r. 992-1025).

The territory [of Duke Boleslao I] included a certain village [aldea], located near the border with the Hungarians. His guardian was Mr. Prokui, an uncle of the Hungarian king. In the past and more recently, Prokui had been expelled from his land by the king, his wife was taken captive. When he could not release her, his nephew fixed his unconditional release, even though he was the enemy of Prokui. I've never heard of someone who showed such restraint towards a defeated enemy. Because of this, God repeatedly granted him victory, not only in the above-mentioned quarter, but also in others.

Chronicon from Tietmaro de Merseburg.

About a hundred years later, the "Anonymous Gaul" chronicler also mentioned the armed conflicts between Stephen and Boleslaus, documenting that the latter "defeated the Hungarians in battle and seized all their lands as far as the Danube". Györffy indicates that the chronicler's report refers to the Polish occupation of the valley of the Morava river—a tributary of the Danube—in the 1010s. On the other hand, the Hungarian-Polish Chronicle states that Boleslaus occupied large territories north of the Danube and east of the Morava as far as Esztergom in the early XI century. According to Steinhübel, this The latter source shows that a significant part of the areas that now form Slovakia were under Polish rule between 1002 and 1030. In opposition to the Slovak historian's hypothesis, Györffy mentions that this late chronicle "in which one absurd event follows another" contradicts any events documented in other 11th century fonts.

Stephen defeats Kean, "duke of the Bulgarians and Slavs" (Illuminated Chronicle).

The Illuminated Chronicle narrates that Stephen "led his army against Kean, duke of the Bulgars and Slavs, whose lands are strongly fortified by their natural location" after the occupation of the country of Gyula According to several historians—Zoltán Lenkey, Gábor Thoroczkay, among others—Kean was the head of a small state located in the southern territories of Transylvania and in about 1003 Stephen occupied his country. Györffy and other historians indicate that the chronicle preserved the memory of Stephen's campaign against Bulgaria in the late 1010s.

Furthermore, the identity of the "Black Magyars"—mentioned by Bruno of Querfurt and Adémar de Chabannes as part of the opponents of Stephen's proselytizing policies—is uncertain. Györffy locates their domains to the east of the Tisza river, but Thoroczkay indicates that they lived in the southern parts of Transdanubia. Bruno of Querfurt's account of the forced conversion of the Black Magyars shows that Stephen conquered their lands around 1009, before the arrival of "the first mission" in Hungary. of Saint Peter" —Cardinal Azo, the new apostolic legate. The latter attended a meeting in Győr where the royal decree determining the borders of the bishopric, recently established in Pécs on August 23, 1009, was sanctioned.

The diocese of Eger was also established in that year. According to Thoroczkay, "it is very likely" that the creation of the bishopric was related to the conversion of the Kabar, an ethnic group of Khazar origin, and their leader. after this event, the chief of the kabar—Samuel Aba or his father—married a younger (unnamed) sister of the king. The Aba clan was the most powerful of the Magyar families that joined Stephen and supported him in his efforts to establish a Christian monarchy. The manuscripts of "King Bela's notary", Simon of Kéza, and Hungarian chroniclers of Bár-Kalán, Csák, and other noble families of the XIII descendants of Hungarian tribal leaders indicate that different Magyar families were also involved in the process.

Stephen established a territorial administrative system with the creation of counties. Each was headed by a royal official known as an ispán and their administrative unit was organized around a royal fortress. At that time, most of the fortifications were earthworks, but the castles in Esztergom, Székesfehérvár and Veszprém were stone constructions. The forts that served as the county's administrative headquarters also became the core of the church organization. The settlements developed around them and the markets they held each Sunday were important local economic centers. Two-thirds of each county belonged to their former owners (especially the nobility) and the rest were listed in the name of the king.

Conflicts with Poland and Bulgaria (c. 1009-1018)

Pope Benedict VIII crowning Emperor Henry II in 1014. Miniature of Speculum historiale Vincent de Beauvais, copy of the s.XV.

Henry II—Gisela's older brother and Stephen's brother-in-law—became King of Germany in 1002 and Emperor in 1013. The friendly relationship between Henry II and Stephen allowed the western borderlands of Hungary to experience a period of peace in the first decades of the XI century. Hungary in 1004, Stephen was able to keep peace with Germany and convinced his brothers-in-law to negotiate an agreement. In about 1009, he gave his younger sister in marriage to the Doge of Venice Ottone Orseolo (r. 1008–1026), an ally close relationship with the Byzantine Emperor Basil II (r. 976-1025), suggesting that Hungary's relationship with the Byzantine Empire was also peaceful. Furthermore, the alliance between Hungary and the Holy Roman Empire led to a war with Poland that lasted From C. 1014 to 1018. The Poles overran the Hungarian outposts along the Morava River. Györffy and Kristó mention that a Pecheneg raid into Transylvania also took place in this period—the record of which has been preserved in the Stephen legends—, because the Pechenegs were allies of the Polish duke's brother-in-law, Grand Prince Sviatopolk I of kyiv (r. 1015-1019).

The hostilities between Poland and the Holy Roman Empire ended with the Peace of Bautzen on January 30, 1018. Months later, five hundred Hungarian horsemen accompanied Duke Boleslaus to kyiv, indicating that Hungary was possibly included in the treaty of peace. Makk claimed that the Peace of Bautzen forced Boleslaus to hand over the territories he had occupied in the Morava valley to Stephen. According to the documents of Leodovino (Leodvin), first known bishop of Bihar (r. c. 1050- c. 1060), Stephen allied with the Byzantines and led a military expedition against the "barbarians" on the Balkan peninsula. Byzantine and Hungarian troops occupied "Caesarius", which Györffy identifies as the present-day Macedonian city of Ohrid. Leodovino's report hints that Stephen joined the Byzantines at the end of the war of conquest of Bulgaria in 1018. However, the exact date of his expedition is uncertain. Györffy argues that, only in the last year of that war, Stephen directed his troops against the Bulgarians.

Internal policies (1018-1024)

Modern statue of Bishop Gerardo de Csanád and his disciple, Prince Emerico, in Székesfehérvár.

Bishop Leodovino testified that the king had appropriated the relics of several saints in "Caesarios" during his campaign in the Balkans, including Saint George and Nicholas of Mira. He donated them to a new three-nave basilica dedicated to to the Virgin Mary in Székesfehérvár, where he also established a cathedral chapter and the country's new capital. His decision was influenced by the opening, in 1018 or 1019, of a new pilgrimage route that bypassed Esztergom, the former capital. The new route connected Western Europe and the Holy Land via Hungary. The monarch frequently met pilgrims and this contributed to the spread of his fame throughout Europe. For example, Abbot Odilo of Cluny wrote in a letter to Stephen that "those who have returned from the sanctuary of our Lord" testified to his "passion" for "the honor of our divine religion". The king also created four hostels for pilgrims in Constantinople, Jerusalem, Ravenna and Rome.

[Almost] all [people coming] from Italy and Galia who wished to go to the Sepulchre of the Lord in Jerusalem left the usual route, which was by sea and made their way through the country of King Stephen. He made the safe way for all, received as brothers all who saw and gave them great gifts. This [s] acci[ons] allowed[s] many people, nobles and plebeyos, to go to Jerusalem.

The Five Stories Books by Rodolfo «the Calvo».

In addition to pilgrims, traders used the new route through Hungary when traveling between Constantinople and Western Europe. Stephen legends tell of sixty Pechenegs with important goods traveling to Hungary, but were attacked by Hungarian border guards The king ordered these soldiers executed to demonstrate his "determination to preserve internal peace". Regular coinage began in Hungary in the 1020s. Silver dinars bearing the effigy of the monarch and the inscriptions stephanus rex ("King Stephen") and regia civitas ("royal city ») were popular in contemporary Europe, as evidenced by forged copies unearthed in Sweden.

The king convinced some pilgrims and merchants to settle in Hungary. Gerard — a Benedictine monk who arrived from the Republic of Venice between 1020 and 1026 — planned to continue his journey to the Holy Land, but decided to stay in the country afterwards. of his meeting with Stephen. At this time, the monarch also ordered the construction of a number of Benedictine monasteries, including the abbeys of Pécsvárad, Zalavár, and Bakonybél.

The hagiography Passion of Saint Gerardi (Legenda maior S. Gerardi) mentions a confrontation between Stephen and Ahtum (Ajtony), a voivode in the region of the Maros river. Many historians date the event to the late 1020s, although Györffy and other scholars estimate that it occurred a decade earlier. The conflict arose when Ahtum—who "had obtained his power from the Greeks", according to the Passion of Saint Gerard—imposed a tax on the salt trade towards his side of the river. The king sent a large army led by Csanád against Ahtum, who was killed in battle. His domain became a Hungarian county and the king created a new bishopric at Csanád (Cenad), the former capital of Ahtum which was renamed after the commander of the victorious army. According to the Annals of Pressburg (Annales Posonienses), the Venetian Gerardo was consecrated as the first bishop of the new diocese in 1030.

Conflicts with the Holy Roman Empire (1024-1031)

Emperor Henry II died on 13 July 1024 and was succeeded by a distant relative, Conrad II (r. 1024-1039), who adopted an offensive foreign policy. In 1026 Conrad II expelled Venice from the Doge Otto Orseolo—Stephen's sister's husband—and persuaded the Bavarians to proclaim his son, Henry, as Duke of those domains in 1027, although Stephen's son, Emeric, had dynastic rights to the duchy of Bavaria on his mother's side. Conrad II planned a marriage alliance with the Byzantine Empire and sent one of his advisers, Bishop Werner of Strasbourg, to Constantinople. In the autumn of 1027, the bishop pretended to travel as a common pilgrim, but Stephen—who had been informed of his purposes—barred their entry into the country. Conrad II's biographer, Wipo of Burgundy, wrote that the Bavarians incited skirmishes along the common borders of Hungary and the Holy Roman Empire in 1029, which which led to a rapid deterioration of relations s between the two.

Conrad II personally commanded his armies into Hungary in June 1030 and plundered the lands west of the Rába river. However, according to the Annals of Niederalteich, he returned to Germany "without troops and without to meet [their objectives], because the army was threatened by famine and was captured by the Hungarians in Vienna" as a result of the scorched earth tactic employed by the Hungarians. Hostilities ceased after Conrad II surrendered the lands between the rivers Lajta and Fischa to Hungary in the summer of 1031.

At the same time, dissensions arose between the Panonian nation [Hungary] and the Bavarians, because of the Bavarians[,] and, as a result, the king [Esteban] of Hungary made many raids and assaults in the kingdom of the Natoric [i.e. of the Bavarians]. Perturbed by this matter, the Conrado Emperor was against the Hungarians with a great army. But the king [Esteban], whose strength was clearly insufficient to deal with the emperor, trusted only in the guardianship of the Lord, whom he asked with prayers and fasts proclaimed through his entire kingdom. Since the emperor could not enter such a fortified kingdom with rivers and forests, he returned [to Germany], after having sufficiently avenged his wound with looting and fires at the frontiers of the kingdom; and his desire was — at a more timely time — to complete the things that had begun. However, his son, King Henry, still a child entrusted to the care of Egilberto, bishop of Frisinga, [when] received a legacy from the king [Esteban] who requested peace; and only with the advice of the princes of the kingdom, and without the knowledge of his father, granted the favor of reconciliation.

The facts of Conrado II from Wipo de Burgundy.

Later Years (1031-1038)

Stephen at the funeral of his son Emerico (Illuminated Chronicle).

Bishop Arduino —Esteban's biographer— narrated that the king, whose sons died in infancy, "contained his sorrow for [their] death with the consolation of having the love of his surviving son", Emerico However, this prince was badly injured in a hunting accident and died in 1031. After the death of his son, the king was never able to "fully recover his former health", according to the Illuminated Chronicle. Kristó explains that this anecdote preserved in the legends of Stephen —in which the king held vigils and washed the feet of the poor— is related to his last years after the loss of his son.

Emeric's death endangered his father's advances to establish a Christian state in Hungary, because Stephen's cousin, Duke Basil (Vazul)—who was also the main claimant to the succession—was suspected., leaned towards paganism. According to the Annals of Altaich (Annales Altahenses), Stephen ignored his cousin's demands and named his sister's son, the Venetian Peter Orseolo, as his heir. The same source adds that Basilio was captured and blinded and his three sons —Levente, Andrés (András) and Bela (Béla)— were expelled from the country. Legends of Esteban say that some members of the court attempted to assassinate the king. According to Kristó, these documents indicate Basilio's active participation and mention his sentence of mutilation. Only later sources (such as the Illuminated Chronicle) add that Basilio's ears were filled with molten lead.

In the view of some historians, the provisions of the Second Law Book on "conspiracy against king and kingdom" imply that the text was promulgated after Basil's unsuccessful plot against Stephen. However, this reasoning has not been accepted by other scholars. Györffy stated that the book was published around 1009 and not later than 1031. Likewise, the authenticity of the decree on tithing is questioned: according to Györffy, it was approved during Stephen's reign, but Berend, Laszlovszky and Szakács say that "it could be a later addition".

Stephen died on 15 August 1038 and was buried in the Székesfehérvár basilica. His reign was followed by a long period of civil wars, religious clashes, and foreign invasions. Political instability ended in 1077 when Ladislaus, Basil's grandson, ascended the throne.

Family

Esteban and his wife Gisela at the foundation of a church in Óbuda (Illuminated Chronicle).

Stephen married Gisela of Bavaria, a daughter of Duke Enrique "el Pendenciero", a nephew of Emperor Otto I. Stephen's mother-in-law was Gisela of Burgundy, a member of the Guelph dynasty. Born around 985, Gisela was younger than her husband and survived him by 26 years. She left Hungary in 1045 and ended her days in 1065 as abbess of Niedernburg Abbey in Passau.

Although the Crónica iluminada states that Stephen "begat many sons", only two of them—Otto and Emeric—are identified by name:

• Oton—called to commemorate Oton III—was possibly born before 1002, but died when he was a child.
• Emeric—who received the name of his motherly uncle, Emperor Henry II—was born approximately in 1007. His Legend written at the beginning of the centuryXII He describes it as a pious prince who preserved his chastity even during his marriage. According to Györffy, Emerico's wife was a relative of the Byzantine Emperor Basil II. His premature death caused the series of internal conflicts that led to the punishment of blindness of Duke Basil and civil wars.

Be obedient to me, my son. You are a child, descendant of wealthy parents, you live between soft pillows, you have been caressed and educated in all kinds of comforts; you have not had any part in the problems of the [military] campaigns or the various attacks of the pagans in which almost all my life have occurred.

Addendum of King Stephen to his son Emerico.

For centuries the origin of Ágata, the wife of Eduardo "the Exile", has been debated and it was hypothesized that she was also the daughter of Esteban. Some Renaissance books claimed that she was the daughter or sister of an "emperor Henry" (probably Henry II or Henry III), but historians consider it unlikely that medieval chronicles were unaware of such information. Modern historians Georgio Pray (Annales Regum Hungariae, 1764), Peter Frederik Suhm (Geschichte Dänmarks, Norwegen und Holsteins, 1777) and István Katona (Historia Critica Regum Hungariae, 1779) suggest that she was the daughter of a brother of Henry II, Bruno of Augsburg—an ecclesiastic described as beatae memoriae, but without known descendants—; while Dániel Cornides (Regum Hungariae, 1778) tried to harmonize German and Hungarian theories and considered Ágata as the daughter of Gisela of Baviera, sister of Henry II and wife of Stephen. This solution continued to be popular. among scholars for much of the 20th century. Gabriel Ronay argues that the tantalizing idea of seeing Margaret of Scotland (Agata's daughter) and Stephen's granddaughter (both canonized by the Catholic Church) does not explain why the king's death triggered a dynastic crisis in Hungary, or at least why Ágata's family did not participate in that dispute. If Stephen and Gisela had been the parents, Ágata's offspring would have had claims to the Hungarian Crown, but there is no indication in Hungarian manuscripts that any of the monarch's children would have survived him. Enrique II were true, Ágata was older that her husband Eduardo of her and, therefore, she was elderly at the time of the birth of her last son, Edgar.In conclusion, most researchers agree not to include her in the family tree of the two Teutonic emperors and the hungarian king

The following genealogy presents the ancestors of Stephen I of Hungary and their relatives mentioned in this article:

♪ Woman of Jazar, Pechenego or Bulgarian origin of the Volga.

** Györffy mentions that she may have belonged to the Cometopulos dynasty in Bulgaria.

*** Samuel Aba may have been the son of Stephen's sister instead of her husband.

Later influence

Founder of Hungary

In Hungary, Stephen has always been regarded as one of the greatest statesmen in its history. His main achievement was the establishment of a Christian state that ensured the survival of the Hungarians in the Carpathian Basin, unlike the Huns, Avars and other peoples who had occupied the same territory. On this, Bryan Cartledge concludes that Stephen also gave his kingdom "forty years of relative peace and a firm but ordinary reign".

His successors, including the descendants of Duke Basil, were enthusiastically devoted to Stephen's achievements. According to the Illuminated Chronicle of the century XIV, despite the fact that Basil's son Andrés rose to power thanks to a rebellion supported by infidels, he decided to prohibit pagan rites and declared that his subjects "should live in all things that the law of holy King Stephen had told them." In medieval Hungary, communities claiming privileged status or trying to preserve their own "liberties" often argued that the origin of that special character was attributed to Stephen. For example, a 1347 letter from the town of Táp to King Louis I mentions several complaints against Pannonhalma Abbey, including that the taxes the abbot sought to collect from them contradicted "the freedom they had been granted in ancient times." of King Stephen still the Saint".

Veneration

Symbolic portrait of Stephen with his attributes of saint: the crown, the sceptre and the orb.

Retablo of King Stephen dedicating his country to the Virgin Mary and appointing her Patrona Hungariae (Patrona de Hungary) in the Basilica Cathedral of St Stephen in Székesfehérvár (1775).

The cult of Stephen arose after the long period of anarchy that characterized the rule of his immediate successors. However, there is no evidence of veneration of Stephen before his canonization. For example, the first member of the The royal family named after him, Stephen II, was born in the early 12th century.

The canonization process was initiated by Duke Basilio's grandson, King Ladislaus I, who consolidated his power by capturing and imprisoning his cousin Solomon. According to Bishop Arduino, the canonization was "decreed in an apostolic letter, by order of the Roman see", suggesting that the ceremony was permitted by Pope Gregory VII. The event began on August 15, 1083 at the tomb of Stephen, where believers performed three days of fasting and prayer. Legend has it that the coffin could not be opened until Wladislaus I freed Solomon from his captivity in Visegrád. When this happened, many of those present received miracles of healing, according to the same legends. The historian Kristó attributes cures for mass psychosis or deception. Legends of Stephen also indicate that on August 20 his "scented and embalmed" remains rose from the chest, which was filled with "pink water". canonized Emerico and the obi Csanád's spo, Gerardo.

Once the office of Vespers was finished on the third day, everyone expected the favors of divine mercy through [the] merit[s] of the blessed man; suddenly, with Christ visiting his masses, the signs of miracles came out of heaven throughout the holy house. His multitude, who [in] that night was too much to count, brought to memory the Gospel response that the Savior of the world entrusted to John, who asked through messengers if it was the one who was to come: the blind see, the lame walk, the lepers are cleaned, the crippled are straightened, the paralyzed are healed...

The Life of the Holy King Stephen of Hungary by Arduino.

The first legend of Stephen, the so-called Leyenda mayor, was written between 1077 and 1083. This manuscript provided an idealized portrait of the king, who in life dedicated his kingdom and himself to Virgin Mary, but the Minor Legend—composed around 1100 during the reign of Coloman—emphasized Stephen's severity. A third legend, also written in Coloman's time and by the bishop Arduino, was based on the two aforementioned legends and was approved in 1201 by Pope Innocent III as the official hagiography of the saint. Gábor Klaniczay argued that these documents "opened a new chapter in the legends of gender-revered rulers". and suggested that a monarch could achieve sainthood through the "active use" of his royal attributes. According to Church canons, Stephen was the first triumphant miles Christi ("soldier of Christ") among the canonized monarchs; also the first "confessing king" who did not suffer any n martyrdom, in contrast to previous monarchs.

Cult of Stephen spread beyond the borders of Hungary. Initially, he was venerated mainly in Scheyern and Bamberg in Bavaria, but his relics were also brought to Aachen, Cologne, Monte Cassino, and Namur. After the liberation of Buda from the Ottoman Turks, Pope Innocent XI spread the cult of King Stephen throughout the Catholic Church in 1686 and declared September 2 his feast day. In 1969 the feast of Saint Joachim was moved to July 26 and Stephen's feast day changed to Joachim's date of August 16, one day after the king's death. Stephen is revered as the patron saint of Hungary and regarded as the protector of kings, masons, stonecutters, stonecutters and children suffering from serious illnesses. His canonization was recognized by Bartholomew I, Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople, in 2000. In the Hungarian Catholic Church calendar, the feast of Stephen is observed on 20 august day in which his relics were transferred from one locality to another.In addition, another feast day, May 30, is dedicated to his "holy right hand".

The “holy right hand”

Relicario de la «santa diestra» en la basílica de San Esteban en Budapest.

Stephen's right hand (Hungarian: Szent Jobb) became an object of worship. A cleric named Mercury stole it, but it was found on May 30, 1184 in the Bihar county. The theft of holy relics (furta sacra) was a much mentioned topic in the biographies of the saints. Bishop Arduino described the discovery of the right hand according to this tradition, including alleged adventures and visions. An abbey erected in Bihar county (now in Szentjobb/Sâniob) was named after and dedicated to the veneration of the "holy right hand".

Why, brothers, their other members have united and, having remained their flesh reduced to dust, completely separated, only the right hand, their skin and tendons attached to the bones, preserved beauty [in its entirety]? I suppose that the inescrutability of the divine judgment sought to proclaim by the extraordinary nature of this fact nothing less than the work of love and gift exceeds the measure of all other virtues. [...] The right hand of the blessed was deservedly exempt from rottenness, for he always rose from the flower of goodness, and was never empty to give gifts and feed the poor.

The Life of the Holy King Stephen of Hungary by Arduino.

The relic was kept for centuries in Szentjobb Abbey, except during the Mongol invasion of 1241 and 1242 when it was transferred to Ragusa (Dubrovnik) and returned to Székesfehérvár c. 1420. After the Ottoman occupation of the central territories of the Kingdom of Hungary in the mid-16th century, it was guarded in many places—such as Bosnia, Ragusa, and Vienna—and returned to Hungary in 1771 when Queen Maria Teresa donated it to the cloister of the Sisters of Loreto in Buda. The relic was in the chapel of Saint Sigismund in Buda Castle between 1900 and 1944, in a cave near Salzburg in 1944 and 1945, and again with the Loreto sisters between 1945 and 1950. Since 1950, the "holy right hand" has remained in the Basilica of Saint Stephen in Budapest. annual procession displaying the relic, which continued until 1950 when it was banned by the communist government and resumed in 1988.

Admonitions

According to the Greater Legend of King Stephen, the king "compiled by himself a book for his son on moral education". This work, now known as Admonitions or De institutione morum, was preserved in manuscripts copied in the late Middle Ages. Although scholars dispute whether it is indeed possible to attribute to the king or a cleric, most agree that it was composed in the first decades of the 11th century century.

The central argument of the Admonitions is that royalty is intimately linked to the Catholic faith. Its author emphasized that a monarch has an obligation to make donations to the Church and consult regularly to his prelates, but also to apply punishments to clerics who "do evil". One of his basic ideas was that a sovereign should cooperate with the "pillars of his government", that is, prelates, aristocrats, ispán and warriors.

My dearest son, if you wish to honor the royal crown, I advise you, I recommend you, I urge you above all to [that] keep [gas] the Catholic and apostolic faith with such diligence and care [for] that you may be an example of God over all those under yours, and that all the clergy can rightly call you a man of true Christian profession. If you do not, you can be sure that you will not be called a Christian or a child of the Church. In fact, in the royal palace, after faith itself, the Church occupies the second place, first constituted and spread throughout the world by its members, the apostles and the holy fathers. And although she always produced new offspring, [it is always] considered old. However, dear son, even now in our realm[,] the Church is proclaimed as young and newly planted; therefore she needs more prudent and trustworthy guardians, lest a benefit that divine mercy has granted us undeservedly be destroyed and annihilated because of your idleness, indolence or negligence.

Addendum of King Stephen to his son, Emerico.

In the arts

Since the end of the 13th century Stephen has been a popular subject in Hungarian poetry. The earliest compositions were religious hymns who portrayed him as the "apostle of the Hungarians". Secular poetry, especially the verses written for his feast day, followed a similar pattern and emphasized Stephen's role as the first King of Hungary. Poets described him as as the symbol of the national identity, independence and ability of the Hungarian nation to survive communist rule between 1949 and 1989.

A hymn written in the late 18th century century, praising the king as the "radiant star of the Hungarians" is still sung in churches. Ludwig van Beethoven composed the overture King Stephen, or the First Benefactor of Hungary (König Stephan oder Ungarns erster Wohhtäter) for the opening of a theater in Pest in 1812. According to musician James M. Keller, "[t]he falling unisons that begin the King Stephen Overture seemed to prefigure the opening of the Ninth Symphony [...] [and] then a later theme, introduced by flutes and clarinets, seems almost like a variation [...] of the famous melody “Ode to Joy” at the end of the Ninth Symphony ». The Hungarian composer Ferenc Erkel named his last completed opera István király ("King Stephen") in 1885. In 1938, Zoltán Kodály wrote a choral piece called Ének Szent István Királyhoz ("Hymn to King Stephen" In 1983, singers Levente Szörényi and János Bródy composed a rock opera — István, a király ("Stephen, the King") — based on the early years of his reign. Seventeen years later, in 2000, Szörényi released a sequel called Veled, Uram! ("You, sir!").

Consulted bibliography

Primary sources