The Eighth Tribe, 1976 (3. évfolyam, 1-12. szám)
1976-10-01 / 10. szám
October, 1976 THE EIGHTH TRIBE Page 3 ST. Gerard (GELLÉRT) AND HIS MARTYRDOM 930 YEARS AGO S. B. Vardy, Ph.D. Duquesne University The significance of the Christianization of Hungary upon the future of the Magyar nation hardly needs any explanation. Following their conquest of the Carpathian Basin in the latter part of the 9th century, the Magyars continued to adhere to their traditional animistic (pagan) faith, and did so for about another century. This was understandable, for one does not change one’s faith and culture overnight. But by sticking to their old faith, they were increasingly looked upon by their Christian neighbors as an alien and undesirable people in the midst of Christian Europe, who must either be rooted out, or converted to Christianity. Thus, by their stubborn attachment to the faith of their fathers the Magyars were endangering their national existence, and at the same time they were also missing out on the benefits of the higher form of civilization literacy, education, architecture, urbanization, etc.) that Christianization entailed. Consequently when Prince Géza (972-997) and his son Vajk, later to be known as St. Stephen (997- 1038), opted for the Christianization of their people, they were doing the right thing. On the one hand, they thus prevented the eventual extermination or assimilation of the Magyars by the collective forces of Christian Europe (as it happened to a number of other nations), and on the other, they opened Hungary's gates to the spiritual, intellectual and material benefits of Christian Civilization. Although King St. Stephen was undoubtedly the most significant single force behind the Christianization of Hungary, he alone could never have carried out this great undertaking. He needed devoted and able foreign clergymen to accomplish this work. The most significant of these collaborators and helpers included St. Adalbert (ca. 956-997), who may have been responsible for baptizing St. Stephen himself; Anastasius, the Abbot of Pannonhalma and the first Archbishop of Esztergom (Cardinal Mindszenty’s first predecessor) ; Radla, a close friend of St. Adalbert and the man who was responsible for inviting St. Gerard to Hungary; Astrik, the Abbot of Pécsvárad and the Archbishop of Kalocsa, who in the year 1000 brought the Hungarian Holy Crown to St. Stephen as a gift from Pope Sylvester II; and finally St. Gerard (Hung. Gellert) himself, the tutor of St. Stephen’s son St. Emeric (Imre), and subsequently the Bishop of Csanád, who was destined to die a martyr’s death in his adopted country. The role of St. Gerard in the spreading and consolidation of Christianity in Hungary, particularly in the areas east of the Danube, was quite considerable. The popularity of his name, however, is probably due less to what he did or did not do, but what was done to him. For his martyrdom, at the hands of those Hungarians who were still unwilling to exchange the faith of their fathers for the faith of Jesus Christ, served as a rallying point for those others who looked upon the acceptance of Christianity as the only viable alternative in their nation’s struggle to survive and to flourish. Born into a Venetian noble family around 980, Gerard was educated at the Monastery of St. George in his home city, as well as at the famed school of Bologna that subsequently became perhaps the first university in Europe. Given his social background and education, his opportunities for advancement were almost unlimited. In fact, soon after his return to Venice, he was elected the Abbot of the Monastery of St. George (1012-1015). But Gerard was not satisfied with living the easy life of a cultured clergyman. He wanted to work for Christianity. It was while traveling towards the Holy Land, where he hoped to advance the cause of his faith, that he met King St. Stephen’s ambassador, Radla, who then persuaded him to continue his travels by way of Hungary. He agreed to a short detour, and thus by the end of 1015 we find him in the royal court of Esztergom. His intended short visit, however, turned into a rather long stay that lasted for three decades, right up to his martyr death in 1046. Initially King St. Stephen simply asked Gerard to serve as a tutor to his son Emeric, which he did for the next eight years. But during that period he was
