The Eighth Tribe, 1978 (5. évfolyam, 1-12. szám)
1978-01-01 / 1. szám
January, 1978 THE EIGHTH TRIBE Page 9 of mankind. Stephen made these principles the foundation stones of his policies, and when undertaking to build a nationwide system of religious institutions, he did so with the aim of fulfilling both the spiritual and material goals of the disciples of Cluny. While there already existed a number of churches and monasteries in the country in the time of Prince Géza (including the abbeys of Pannonhalma and Veszprémvölgye), the establishment of a wide network of religious institutions still fell to King Stephen. In the course of his reign he came to establish two archbishoprics, eight bishoprics and perhaps over half a dozen monasteries to serve as centers of his Christianizing and Westernizing efforts. Of the two archbishoprics, Esztergom was the center of the more civilized Western section of Hungary, where Christianity and royal centralization triumphed much earlier. To this archdiocese belonged the bishoprics of Veszprém, Győr, Pécs, Vác and Eger. The archbishopric of Bács (Kalocsa), on the other hand, was established as a “missionary archdiocese” for the purpose of spreading Christianity in the wilder regions of Eastern Hungary including Transylvania. This eastern section of the country, which included the bishoprics of Marosvár (Csanád), Bihar (Várad) and Fehérvár (Transylvania), was inhabited largely by the so-called “Black Magyars,” who may have been the descendants of such related earlier conquerors as the Huns, Avars and “Avar-Magyars,” and perhaps also of the Turkic speaking Kabars of the Árpádian conquest. Due to their remoteness from centers of European Civilization, these “Black Magyars” (also called “Tisza Magyars” as opposed to the “Danube Magyars” of the West) were much more attached to their traditional faith, culture and customs than their more Europeanized brethren in the West. Among the former, pre-Christian traditions persisted far beyond St. Stephen’s time, which resulted in a number of so-called “pagan rebellions,” including the one led by Vata in the 1040’s. Although reference to the “Black Magyars” ceased after St. Stephen’s death, their shamanistic faith persisted in certain remote regions of the country right into the thirteenth century. Moreover, elements of that faith can still be found in various regional Magyar folk cultures. As Christianization progressed, each of the new archdiocese and diocese came to be divided into four or five districts, headed by archdeacons. These archdeacons were made responsible for the establishment and development of the individual parishes, most of which were composed of about ten villages. Moreover, as St. Stephen’s laws made attendance at various religious functions obligatory, the parishes and 79 St. Stephen’s Crown was never only a Magyar symbol of ruling. It has always been a symbolic head of the Kingdom. That was the reason that the Hungarian Empire was always addressed as the “Magyar Szt. Korona Országai” (Countries of the Hungarian Holy Crown) for which the kings were only the caretakers, the physical representatives (of the Crown). In this sense, the Crown belongs to all of the people living in the Hungarian Basin, and all the people there belong to the Crown: the Magyars, the Slovaks, the Croats, the Ruthenians, the Germans and even the loyal Rumanians and Serbians. It is quite obvious thus that the Crown’s place is in Hungary, and not the USA or any other country. Why is it then that we are objecting to the surrender of the Crown to the present Communist Government in Hungary? It is for the same reasons that we took it out of the country in 1945: 1. We do not trust the Russians, and fear that whenever they will leave Hungary they will take the Crown also. (It happened once with the Germans.) It would be very difficult to get it back. 2. The present Communist Government in Hungary is totally subserviant to the Russians. Hungary is still an occupied Country. The Russians are not there as were the Americans in Germany, as by the peace treaty the Russians had to leave the Country 90 days after they would have pulled out from Austria. They never did. The present Communist dictatorship was not authorized to make changes by the Hungarian people, since it was not chosen by them; but the Russian occupying forces put them over to the Hungarian people by force, after the ’56 revolution. Thus, the Kádár regime does not represent the Hungarian people, neither the Magyars nor the other nationalities. The regime never speaks up for the Hungarian nationalities, not even for the Magyars in the occupied territories. Those people in power now have no allegiance to the Crown. To them, it is only a propaganda tool, a relique of the Past. But ‘Time Passes”, and now we cannot do much in this matter. The Crown is back in Budapest. However, because I am an optimist, I begin to feel that this may be even good for us — that “magical” or “mystical power of the Crown may accelerate the conglomeration of the Hungarian Empire by uniting the inhabitants of the Hungarian Basin in that time proven brotherly love, trust and friendship. • • • Please let me congratulate you to the “Eighth Tribe”. I believe this paper of special interest not only to the people of Hungarian descent, but all the people stemming from the historical Hungary. Dr. Julius V. Molnár Portsmouth, Ohio 45662
