The Eighth Tribe, 1978 (5. évfolyam, 1-12. szám)
1978-01-01 / 1. szám
January, 1978 THE EIGHTH TRIBE Page 5 those days are now gone, and the well-being of the Hungarian minorities in Roumania, Czechoslovakia, Yugoslavia, Austria and the Soviet Union is now a legitimate topic of conversation, and this is true even for the highest levels of Hungarian intellectual and political leadership. Moreover, this concern is also reflected in Hungary’s foreign relations with these states — with the (understandable) exception of the Soviet Union. This change, by the way, is the byproduct of the general liberalization process that began in the early 1960’s and that ultimately transformed Hungary into the most progressive state among Russia’s East European satellites. Naturally, this transformation is known and appreciated first of all by those who have an ongoing contact with Hungary. Yet, it should also be evident to those whose contacts are only occasional and brief. The latter, however, generally fail to realize that the changes they see constitute only the peak of an iceberg, a late and only partially visible manifestation of a process that began in the early or mid- 1960’s, which shows itself also in the form of a healthier official attitude toward patriotism and toward the whole nationality question. Based on the recognition of the errors of the early or “heroic” age of communist rule in Hungary, this new orientation recognizes the need for a healthy national consciousness; a consciousness that is free from the simple and often harmful chauvinism of the earlier decades of this century, but one that takes cognizance of the constructive influences of a nation’s pride in its past, as well as of the existence of a natural fellowship (brotherhood) among members of the same nation — even if political misfortunes and great power politics had cut them apart, and forced some of them to live under foreign THE MAGYARS IN HISTORY by S. B. Vardy, Ph.D. Professor of History — continued — CHAPTER XIII ST. STEPHEN AND THE FOUNDATIONS OF HUNGARIAN CHRISTIANITY (His Kingship, his Crown, his Faith and his Church) As has been shown, however feeble these may have been, the early foundations of Hungarian Christianity were laid down not by St. Stephen, but rather by his father Prince Géza. These foundations included the conversion of Géza, his family and many of his immediate followers. But more than this, they also included the establishment of the first centers of the new faith, the most important of which was the Benedictine Abbey of Pannonhalma. The foundation of Pannonhalma was paralleled by the coming of the first missionary bishops to Hungary, two of whom received permanent sees almost immediately upon Stephen’s assumption to the throne in 977 A.D. Established at the main centers of princely (later royal) power, these bishoprics came to be located at Veszprém and at Esztergom. Their territorial limits and jurisdictions, however, were not defined until sometime later in Stephen’s rule. Simultaneously with the establishment of these initial bases of his future Christianizing efforts, Stephen also went ahead with the building of a power-structure for himself and for his centralizing efforts in Hungary. In light of the understandable animosity and unreliability of many of the tribal and clan leaders, who were still hoping to prevent the triumph of royal centralization and thereby save their own powers, initially this new power-structure was built largely on alien elements, mostly German knights, who had already proven their loyalty and usefulness in their success against Koppány. For this reason a number of Stephen’s German knights (e.g. Chunt — Hont, Paznan — Pázmány, Őrzi — Orczy, Hermann, Vecelin of Wasserburg, etc.) were invested with large estates, including some of those duchies (ducatus, ducati) that normally should have been given to various members of the Árpád Dynasty. Having thus consolidated his hold over Western Hungary, and having established the nucleus of his power base, Hungary’s young ruler 75
