The Eighth Tribe, 1976 (3. évfolyam, 1-12. szám)

1976-05-01 / 5. szám

Page 6

THE EIGHTH TRIBE

May, 1976

That King Stephen grasped the opportunity points to a shrewd understanding of the European situation. The Emperor at that time was Otto III, a young and idealistic man who did not pursue his predecessors’ policy of expansion but enthusiastically supported the “idea of Rome” and was in complete accord with the Pope. “They both clung with faith to the idea of a New Rome, a new universal Christian Empire embracing the entire world under the spiritual guidance of the Pope and the Emperor of Rome. Both labored for the realization of the peaceful co-operation of the Christian peoples, and they eagerly accepted as a new and powerful supporter of their endeavors the Hungarian Prince who had appealed to Rome for recognition of his royalty, and whose conscious and consistent policy of peace exactly fitted in with their own conception of universal peace.

The organization of the Church proceeded parallel with that of the state. Many parishes and monasteries, eight dioceses and two archdioceses were founded. A testimony to his work in church organization is given by the first documents ever issued in Hungary. One of these describes the grants given to the Abbey of Panonhalma, which exists to this day.

Clerics from foreign lands were of great assistance to King Stephen in his reform work. The most outstanding among these was the Venetian St. Gerard, known to the Magyars as Gellert. In a pagan uprising, after the king’s death, Gellert was hurled from the hill that stands in the center of the capital and subsequently bore his name. A number of foreign knights, chiefly German, Italian and French, also flocked to Hungary, offering their services to the first Hungarian kings. Some of them founded leading Hungarian families.

Occasionally the King sought the advice of his senate (senatus), composed of influential leaders of church and the people, though his power was not limited by this. His deeds were always governed by Christian ethics, for he was no longer a pagan ruler but one whose aim was to lead his people toward God; Stephen outlined his principles in his “Admonitions” to his son, Prince Imre:

“If you wish the honor of kingship, be peaceloving. Rule over all without anger, pride or hatred, but with love, tenderness, humanity. Remember always that each one of us has the same standing: nothing exalts a man but humility; nothing humiliates more than haughtiness and hatred.... Peaceloving monarchs rule, the rest only tyrannize. Be patient toward all, influential and destitute alike.” Contemporary historians testify that St. Stephen himself kept

these rules. He was merciful to defeated enemies, and provided a haven for countless refugees from other lands. Among these were the two exiled English Princes, Edward and Edmund Ironside, who were given protection and a home in Hungary. Edward, as the last descendant of Alfred the Great, returned to England with his family in 1057, as a pretender to the throne. According to some historians, his wife was Agatha, the daughter of St. Stephen, and Edward’s daughter, St. Margaret of Scotland, was thus allegedly the Hungarian King’s granddaughter.

The new kingdom was capable of strong diplomatic activity and successful military defence. Here, too, Stephen pointed the way for his successors. His attention was not limited to the West, but was turned as well to other Christian countries stretching eastward from the Holy Roman Empire. With the dynasties of these, particularly the Polish and Croatian, he maintained close family ties. His diplomacy embraced all East-Central Europe, paving the way for closer relations between the peoples in the territory extending from the Baltic south to the Adriatic.

King Stephen was the founder of a new principle of peaceful evolution, and his achievements have exerted a strong influence down to our day. During the forty-two years of his reign Hungary’s position became stabilized. The fears of its western neighbors soon changed to admiration. Many a foreign chronicler saw the miraculous in King Stephen’s actions, as if Providence had been behind them: “The Hungarians who but recently fought against Christendom and took thousands as prisoners, now treat Christians as their brethren.”

— To be continued —