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)

CHAPTER TWO – Historical background

were laid to rest at various locations, usually where they had founded (or funded) a church. One has to wonder, however, after 1038, why it took until 1116 for a royal burial to occur at Székesfehérvár?

We know that after István

’s death,

his two maternal nephews succeeded him on the Hungarian throne between 1038 and 1046: Péter Orseolo

was

buried in 1046 at Pécs

and

Sámuel

Aba

was buried in 1044, initially at Feldebrő,

then

later at Abasár.

Each

was laid to rest at a church they founded (or funded). As for explaining the cases after 1046, a new factor must be considered. From 1046 to 1301, when the dynasty came to an end, the male line of the Árpáds

held

the throne. They were all descendants of István

’s nephew,

Vazul

(István and

Vazul’s common grandfather was Taksony,

Grand

Prince of Hungary). Prince Vazul had

been blinded by István

himself

and had exiled Vazul’s sons, Eevente, András

and

Béla.

He

did this because after Imre’s death, having no other sons, he had designated his maternal nephew, Péter as

his official successor, which understandably prompted Vazul - the paternal nephew - to supposedly plan an assassination plot against István.

In

any case, Péter

Orseolo

governed

the kingdom so unsuccessfully that he was driven away twice: his second reign was swept away by a pagan rebellion, which restored the paternal succession of the Árpáds,

and

Vazul’s sons finally returned. Of those sons, András

I

(1046-1060) and Béla

I

(1060-1063) became kings, and their sons succeeded them: András

’ eldest

son, Salamon

(1063- 1074), Bêlas

two

eldest sons Géza

(Magnus)

1(1074-1077) and (Saint) László I

(1077-1095). Out of those listed however, neither planned to be laid to rest near Saint István:

András I

was buried at Tihany,

Béla I at Szekszárd,

Géza I

at Vác,

and

Saint László

at

Nagyvárad

(today:

Oradea, Romania).

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