Miklós Kásler - Zoltán Szentirmay (szerk.): Identifying the Árpád Dynasty Skeletons Interred in the Matthias Church. Applying data from historical, archaeological, anthropological, radiological, morphological, radiocarbon dating and genetic research (Budapest, 2021)

Foreword

I did not understand on what basis the Hungarian king, the apostolic king, convened an ecclesiastical synod, and how he could adopt ecclesiastical laws as Saint László

did

(known in English as King St. Ladislaus I of Hungary) at the synod of Pannonhalma

and

Szabolcs, and Sigismund of Luxemburg between 1414 and 1418 in Constance between three living popes.

It was not entirely clear how it is possible that in Chronicon Pictum,

the Illuminated Chronicle, under the illumination depicting Vazul being blinded, Saint István

lying

in bed blesses the sons of Vazul.

Neither was it clear how it is possible that the pagan insurgents call back the three sons of Vazul,

two

of whom were known to have had religious education, entered into Christian marriages, practised their religion, then after returning to their home country they consolidated the country without any major battles. Was it a pagan revolt? Did they avenge the tyranny of the “Italians”? Or both? Why and how Saint Imre (known in English as Saint Emeric)

passed

away was not clear for me either, who through his mother Gisella

was

a descendant of the extinct Saxon dynasty, just like Conrad II of the Salian dynasty, who rose to the throne. It is an eerie coincidence that Conrad attacks the country in 1030, and the Hungarians claim a decisive victory, presumably led by Saint Imre, who then passes away immediately after this. Was he murdered?

I did not understand the official explanation why the Mongols left the territory of the Kingdom of Hungary. The explanation was that Batu Khan returned to Karakorum for the election of the Great Khan. This argument is not solid enough, since we know from The Secret History of the Mongols that there were doubts as to the origin of Jochi, the eldest son of Genghis Khan, so his son Batu could not 9