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
In 1192, King Béla III celebrated the greatest holiday in the history of both his country and family: Pope Celestine III (1191-1198) canonized King László I. Part of the recognition was directed toward his descendant who requested it. It is no coincidence that Lászlós canonization was initiated by Béla: it was he who merged the cult found in the Árpád family tradition with the Byzantine reverence passed on from Piroska (Saint Irene), who had been cultivating her fathers memory, to her son, Manuel, and finally to him. And thus, the Árpád Dynasty came to be known as the “Dynasty of Holy Kings”. Based on all of the above, it is quite clear how vast the Árpád Dynasty’s dynastic connections were. The Árpáds ’ goal with their conscious dynasty-building was to build family ties as closely knit as possible, to gain powerful allies. They were successful in their efforts and shortly after taking up Christianity, they had become one of the most influential royal families with far-reaching family connections, securing a powerful position for the Kingdom of Hungary within Europe (Figure 10). 54
