Dr. Szabó Lajos: Nők a magyar sportban (A Sportmúzeum Kincsei 3. Budapest, 2003)

WOMEN AND SPORTS IN HUNGARY IN THE EARLY MEDIEVAL AGES As evidenced by Hungary's documented history of 1000 years, women have played an important role in the country's political, religious and cultural life since the very beginning. Yet these roles were not up-front by nature and did not manifest in daily politics. Before the Hungarians conquered the Carpathian basin, the family structure in Hungarian tribes was typically patriarchal, while male dominance was somewhat offset by a wife's aristocratic ancestry or the promise of a lavish dowry. By taking up Western Christianity, Hungarians declared their land „The Country of Virgin Mary (Regnum Marianum) and „Maria" (the Holy Mother, Our Lady) frequently appeared in settlement names or as the patron saint of churches and key figure in altar paintings. At the time when the state organization of Hungary was established, the wives of prince Géza and his son, King Stephen I, played a decisive role in that process since these marriages also functioned as diplomatic treaties due to the brides' ancestry. Géza's marriage to Charlotte of Bulgaria still reflected Byzantine orientation and rapprochement to the Orthodox ch urch. In the second part of his reign, Géza, however, switched the countries cultural and political orientation by turning to the West and raising his son, Vajk (or Stephen by his Christian name) as a Western Christian. Stephen's marriage to Bavarian princess Giselle generated an influx of Western culture and customs into Hungary's royal court. Hungary's first church organization was established in Giselle's town, Veszprém, and only the second one was the Abbey on St. Martin hill, known today as the Abbey of Pannonhalma, which functioned as a seminary. The Western queen, her Western habits and the knights who came to Hungary in her court were often the targets of „pagan" Hungarians. In the late 13th century, knight tilts that reflected Western customs and aimed at developing fighting skills were sometimes accompanied by running and jumping races, too. On rare occasions, women and young girls also participated in those races. A certificate dated 1263 says that King Stephen V gave a gift of silk and fine cloth to Yolanta, the daughter of the chief falconer, appreciating her victory over the king's daughter in running and jumping. Among the princesses of the Árpád house, Elizabeth, daughter of Andrew II and Margaret, daughter of Béla IV are two of the most respected saints of the Catholic church due to their helpful and self-sacrificing behavior. A painting from the era shows Maria, the daughter of Louis I (1342-1382) of the Anjou dynasty, and her husband, Sigismund of Luxembourg playing a ball game. Originally, Louis I named Maria as his successor and she was crowned in 1382. Still she was deprived of the throne in 1385 as female line inheritance was not approved. Then she was reinstated due to the lack of an appropriate male sovereign, while the final solution was Maria's marriage to German-Roman emperor Sigismund of Luxembourg in 1387.