The Eighth Tribe, 1976 (3. évfolyam, 1-12. szám)
1976-05-01 / 5. szám
May, 1976 THE EIGHTH TRIBE Page 5 Editor’s Note: The EIGHTH TRIBE continues to publish the History of the Hungarian Nation. All references in the presentation apply to Hungary as it was prior to the Trianon Treaty of 1918. THE HISTORY OF THE HUNGARIAN NATION THE AGE OF THE ÁRPÁDS (1000-1301) The acceptance of the Faith depended largely upon the hereditary chieftains of pagan tribes. In the case of the Magyars, Prince Géza or Geyza, a great grandson of Árpád, reestablished the authority of his family. Besides his achievements in unification, his move to tie his people’s fate to Christianity proved a turning-point in Hungarian history. Hungary became an adjunct not of eastern Orthodox, but of Western European civilization, thus determining the country’s character for the future. Prince Géza’s initiative was prompted by purely political intuition. He recognized the change of the European balance of power. But his son, baptized István, grew up to be a devout Christian. As King, he established the Christian Hungarian state, and with great political wisdom outlined the course to be followed in relation to other peoples in Europe. The first of the Árpáds to be canonized by Rome, he begins the history of European, Christian Hungary. Two principal factors contributed to the great change in the history of the peoples of East-Central Europe at the new millennium. These were: the reform spirit of Cluny and the newly established central power of the Princes. The Polish and Bohemian kingdoms also sprang into existence under national dynasties. The Hungarian House of Árpád became extinct in 1301, the Czech Przemyslides in 1306, and the Polish Piasts in 1370. The development of these three states may thus seem analogous, yet their respective political strength and measure of independence varied. Bohemia, for instance, even if autonomous, remained a part of the German Empire, while Poland won its independence from Germany only after considerable time had elapsed. In sharp contrast, the independence of the Hungarian state in the Carpathian Basin was complete. It successfully withstood the political and military interference of the Emperors, and unquestionably became the most substantial entity in East-Central Europe. Medieval legends picture the first Hungarian King as a pious, praying old man of colorless character, but this was only in the imagination of the good monks. King Stephen (997-1038), called the Saint, was a strong-handed, determined man. He ruthlessly broke up all opposition, both the pagan uprising in Transdanubia and the revolt against royal power in Transylvania. He proceeded along his prearranged path without hesitation, yet he was no reckless reformer, discounting tradition. He systematically established new institutions, gradually replacing the old with the new. He worked incessantly and sincerely for Christianity, but did not entirely destroy age-old customs. The old common law continued to prevail to some extent, and on Christian church walls one may find pagan motifs. During St. Stephen’s reign, the new, Western forms of life were smoothly adjusted to specific conditions. The King was no mere imitator; he may have minted money after the pattern of his Bavarian father-in-law, hut his two important codes of law express in greater part his own independent conceptions. No one state was his model; he merely built a typically Christian kingdom, adapting all good practice to peculiar Hungarian needs. Throughout the Middle Ages, his people recognized him as the great founder, sentimentally crediting him with all ‘‘good” institutions, including even many of later date. Stephen was in his twentieth year when Géza died in 997. While his father saw in Christianity and in the Western orientation only a political weapon, Stephen accepted with heart and mind the new Christian culture. First he dealt drastically with his pagan relatives who refused to recognize his authority. Thus he suppressed by force an elder chieftain of the Árpád dynasty, who claimed, by the pagan custom of seniority, supreme authority and Géza’s widow for himself. His own rule established, Stephen turned to the Pope for his investiture as a Christian King, and for his crown, the Pope alone having the power to confer the title, ’’King by the Grace of God,” to the ruler of an independent country. Emperors had the right to confer the title of king only upon one of their vassal princes, and it carried with it no hereditary rights, being only for the lifetime of the person. A special envoy brought the crown sent by Pope Sylvester II, together with an Apostolic Cross, to be borne before his royal person, in recognition of his organizing work. The Crown, the upper part of the present-day Holy Crown, was placed on the head of Stephen on Christmas Day in the year 1000. Since then, for more than nine hundred years it has been used in crowning all Hungarian kings. Thus the Kingdom of Hungary was born at the opening of a new millennium. The time was favorable for the creation of a new, independent Christian state.
