Új Magyar Út, 1953 (4. évfolyam, 1-12. szám)
1953-07-01 / 7-8. szám
DOMINIC Q. KOSÁRV King Stephen “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 stronghanded, 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, but 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 investure 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, and it is even today the supreme symbol of authority.” (Dominic G. Kosáry, Ph. D., A History of Hungary, Cleveland—New York, 1941, pp. 19-21* Enek Szent István királyhoz Ah, hol vagy, magyarok Tündöklő csillaga. Ki voltál valaha Országunk istápja? Hol vagy, István király? Téged magyar kíván. Gyászos öltözetben Teelőtted sírván. Rólad emlékezvén Csordulnak könnyei, Búval harmatoznak Szomorú mezei. Lankadnak szüntelen Vitézlő karjai. Nem szűnnek iszonyú Sírástól szemei. 8
