Arrival, Raids
895-970 		Feudaliz., Westerniz.
1196-1301









The Transformation of Hungary into a Christian State, 955-1196



Hungary itself - i.e. the Pannonian basin - was divided into two parts, the western half, under Prince Arpad and his successors, and the eastern half under GYULA Bogat and his successors, lower in rank than the prince, but technically independent. The TISZA river marked the border between both areas.
In the years after the defeat, Hungary both east and west of the Tisza underwent a reform. Gyula ZOMBOR accepted orthodox christianity in 953, had a bishopric established at MITROVICA; Prince TAKSONY requested a missionary bishop from Rome in 961; he encouraged permanent settlement and the introduction of agricultural techniques from Germany; market places were designated.
Only in 996 did Prince VAJK accept baptism and the christian name STEPHEN (Istvan). Stephen was crowned King of Hungary in 1000; in 1003 he conquered the gyula's realm in Transsylvania, unifying Hungary. Archdioceses were established at ESZTERGOM (Gran, suffragan dioceses at Veszprem, Pecs, Gyor, Eger and Vac) and at KALOCSA (suffragan dioceses at Csanad, Gyulafehervar and Bihar. later, Nyitra was added). All Hungarians had to convert to christianity; orthodox christians were converted to catholics, the orthodox bishopric at Mitrovica is not heard of since. Diets were held at SZEKESFEHERVAR, where Hungary's kings were buried in the basilica.
The introduction of christianity had far-reaching consequences. One of them was monogamy - marriage in the princely/royal family was a highly political affair. Now the king could have only one wife, more often than not this was a foreign princess, leaving the Hungarian noble families with little opportunity to intermarry with the royal family.

After Stephen's death in 1038 struggle over succession broke out in which adherents of paganism as well as disaffected Hungarian noblemen fought the protagonists of christianization and foreign influence. In 1046 the pagans were defeated and King ANDREW I reestablished the christian state. Feuds over the succession were commonplace. LADISLAS began the Hungarian policy of interfering in Croatian affairs, and his successor KOLOMAN in 1102 was (also) crowned King of Croatia, Slavonia and Dalmatia, establishing a DYNASTIC UNION between Hungary and Croatia-Slavonia that would last until 1918.

In Hungary the monarchy was omnipotent, owning most of the land and controlling most of it's resources. The population density was low, economically frontier country. The kings invited settlers from western and central Europe, from Byzantium and elsewhere, who brought knowhow helpful to develp the economy.
Several of Hungary's early kings and their relatives weare beatified - SAINT STEPHEN (997-1038) and SAINT LADISLAS (1077-1095) being the most famous. Saint Stephen became Hungary's patron saint.





EXTERNAL
LINKS 		Magyar Conquest of Hungary, from A Short History of Austria-Hungary by H. Wickham-Steed, 1914
Hungary, from Catholic Encyclopedia, 1914 edition
Gran, Archdiocesis of, from Catholic Encyclopedia 1914 edition
Kalocsa-Bacs, Archdiocesis of, from Catholic Encyclopedia, 1914 edition
Saint Stephen, from Patron Saints and from Catholic Encyclopedia , 1914 edition
Saint Ladislaus, from Catholic Encyclopedia, 1914 edition
DOCUMENTS
REFERENCE Peter F. Sugar (ed.), A History of Hungary, Indiana Univ. Press 1990, 432 pp.


This page is part of World History at KMLA
First posted in 2000, last revised on November 11th 2004

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