Kingdom of Hungary (1000–1301)
Former Central European monarchy (1000–1301) / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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The Kingdom of Hungary (Latin: Regnum Hungariae, Hungarian: Magyar Királyság) came into existence in Central Europe when Stephen I, Grand Prince of the Hungarians, was crowned king in 1000 or 1001. He reinforced central authority and forced his subjects to accept Christianity. Although all written sources emphasize only the role played by German and Italian knights and clerics in the process, a significant part of the Hungarian vocabulary for agriculture, religion, and state matters was taken from Slavic languages. Civil wars and pagan uprisings, along with attempts by the Holy Roman emperors to expand their authority over Hungary, jeopardized the new monarchy. The monarchy stabilized during the reigns of Ladislaus I (1077–1095) and Coloman (1095–1116). These rulers occupied Croatia and Dalmatia with the support of a part of the local population. Both realms retained their autonomous position. The successors of Ladislaus and Coloman—especially Béla II (1131–1141), Béla III (1176–1196), Andrew II (1205–1235), and Béla IV (1235–1270)—continued this policy of expansion towards the Balkan Peninsula and the lands east of the Carpathian Mountains, transforming their kingdom into one of the major powers of medieval Europe.
Kingdom of Hungary | |||||||||||||
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1000–1301 Árpád dynasty | |||||||||||||
Coat of arms of the 13th century
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Status | In union with Croatia | ||||||||||||
Capital | Esztergom (until 1256)[4] Székesfehérvár (place of diets, royal seat, crowning and burial site) Buda (since 1256)[5] | ||||||||||||
Common languages | Latin (ceremonial/liturgical/administrative),[6] Hungarian, Croatian, German, Slavic dialects, Cuman, Vlach | ||||||||||||
Religion |
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Demonym(s) | Hungarian | ||||||||||||
Government | Feudal monarchy | ||||||||||||
King | |||||||||||||
• 1000–1038 (first) | Stephen I | ||||||||||||
• 1290–1301 (the last king of Árpáds) | Andrew III | ||||||||||||
Palatine | |||||||||||||
• c. 1009–1038 (first) | Samuel Aba | ||||||||||||
• 1298–1299 (the last palatine of the Árpád reign) | Roland Rátót | ||||||||||||
Legislature | Parlamentum Generale (since 1290s)[7] | ||||||||||||
Historical era | Medieval | ||||||||||||
• Established | 1000 | ||||||||||||
1102 | |||||||||||||
1222 | |||||||||||||
1224 | |||||||||||||
1238-1239 | |||||||||||||
1241-1242 | |||||||||||||
1285-1286 | |||||||||||||
1301 | |||||||||||||
Area | |||||||||||||
1200[8] | 282,870 km2 (109,220 sq mi) | ||||||||||||
Population | |||||||||||||
• 1200[9] | 2,000,000 | ||||||||||||
ISO 3166 code | HU | ||||||||||||
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Rich in uncultivated lands, silver, gold, and salt deposits, Hungary became the preferred destination of mainly German, Italian, and French colonists. These immigrants were mostly peasants who settled in villages, but some were craftsmen and merchants, who established most of the cities of the Kingdom. Their arrival played a key role in the shaping of an urban lifestyle, habits, and culture in medieval Hungary. The location of the kingdom at the crossroads of international trade routes favored the coexistence of several cultures. Romanesque, Gothic, and Renaissance buildings and literary works written in Latin prove the predominantly Roman Catholic character of the culture; but Orthodox, and even non-Christian ethnic minority communities also existed. Latin was the language of legislation, administration and the judiciary, but "linguistic pluralism"[10] contributed to the survival of many tongues, including a great variety of Slavic dialects.
The predominance of royal estates initially assured the sovereign's preeminent position, but the alienation of royal lands gave rise to the emergence of a self-conscious group of lesser landholders, known as "royal servants". They forced Andrew II to issue his Golden Bull of 1222, "one of the first examples of constitutional limits being placed on the powers of a European monarch" (Francis Fukuyama).[11] The kingdom received a major blow from the Mongol invasion of 1241–42. Thereafter, Cuman and Jassic groups settled in the central lowlands, and colonists arrived from Moravia, Poland, and other nearby countries. The erection of fortresses by landlords, promoted by the monarchs after the withdrawal of the Mongols, led to the development of semi-autonomous "provinces" dominated by powerful magnates. Some of these magnates even challenged the authority of Andrew III (1290–1301), the last male descendant of the native Árpád dynasty. His death was followed by a period of interregnum and anarchy. Central power was re-established only in the early 1320s.
The Magyars, or Hungarians, conquered the Carpathian Basin at the turn of the 9th and 10th centuries.[12] Here they found a predominantly Slavic-speaking population.[13] From their new homeland, they launched plundering raids against East Francia, Italy, and other regions of Europe.[14][15] Their raids were halted by the future Holy Roman Emperor Otto I, who defeated them at the Battle of Lechfeld in 955.[16]
Hungarians lived in patrilineal families,[17] which were organized into clans that formed tribes.[18] The tribal confederation was headed by the grand prince, always a member of the family descending from Árpád, the Hungarians' leader around the time of their "land-taking".[19] Contemporary authors described the Hungarians as nomads, but Ibn Rusta and others added that they also cultivated arable land.[20] The great number of borrowings from Slavic languages[lower-alpha 2] prove that the Hungarians adopted new techniques and a more settled lifestyle in Central Europe.[22] The cohabitation of Hungarians and local ethnic groups is also reflected in the assemblages of the "Bijelo Brdo culture",[23] which emerged in the mid-10th century.[24] Archaeological finds—a few objects with short inscriptions—indicate the use of a special runiform script in medieval Hungary. The inscriptions have not been deciphered, and the script was probably never used for administrative or legislative purposes.[25]
Although they were pagan, the Hungarians demonstrated a tolerant attitude towards Christians, Jews, and Muslims.[26] Muslim, Jewish, and Hungarian merchants from Hungary regularly visited the fairs at Prague, exchanging gold and Byzantine gold coins for slaves, tin, and fur. To Pereyaslavets, an important emporium on the Lower Danube, the Hungarians brought horses and silver.[27] The Byzantine Church was the first to successfully proselytize among their leaders: in 948 the horka, and around 952 the gyula, were baptized in Constantinople.[19][28] In contrast, the grand prince Géza who ruled from the early 970s received baptism into the Latin Church.[29] He erected fortresses and invited foreign warriors to develop a new army based on heavy cavalry.[29][30] Géza also arranged the marriage of his son, Stephen, with Giselle of Bavaria, a princess from the family of the Holy Roman emperors.[29][31]
When Géza died in 997,[32] his son had to fight for his succession with Koppány, the eldest member of the House of Árpád.[33] Assisted by German heavy cavalry,[34] Stephen emerged the victor in the decisive battle of the conflict in 998.[33][35] He applied for a royal crown to Pope Sylvester II (r. 999–1003), who granted his request with the consent of Emperor Otto III.[36]
King St Stephen (1000–1038)
Stephen was crowned the first king of Hungary on either December 25, 1000, or January 1, 1001.[35] He consolidated his rule through a series of wars against semi-independent local rulers, including his maternal uncle, Gyula, and the powerful tribal chief, Ajtony.[35][34] He proved his kingdom's military strength when he repelled an invasion by Conrad II, Holy Roman Emperor, in 1030.[37][38] Marshlands, other natural obstacles, and barricades made of stone, earth, or timber provided defense at the kingdom's borders.[39] A wide zone known as gyepü was intentionally left uninhabited for defensive purposes along the frontiers.[39]
Stephen developed a state similar to the monarchies of contemporary Western Europe.[35] Counties, the basic units of administration, were districts organized around fortresses and headed by royal officials known as ispáns, or counts.[34][40] Most of the early medieval fortresses were made of earth and timber.[41] Stephen founded dioceses and at least one archbishopric, and established Benedictine monasteries.[34] He prescribed that every tenth village was to build a parish church.[40] The earliest churches were simple wood constructions,[42] but the royal basilica at Székesfehérvár was built in Romanesque style.[43] With the introduction of the Catholic church hierarchy, Latin emerged as the dominant language of ecclesiastic life and state administration, although some royal charters were likely written in Greek.[lower-alpha 3] The bishops were required to supply the local clergy with liturgical books, and the kings regularly donated codices to monasteries. The earliest extant literary works were composed in Latin during Stephen's reign.[25] Bishop Gerard of Csanád, who had come from Venice, completed a Latin commentary on a chapter in the Book of Daniel in Hungary.[45] Stephen's views on state administration were summarized around 1015 in a mirror for princes known as Admonitions.[37] Stating that "the country that has only one language and one custom is weak and fragile", he emphasized the advantages of the arrival of foreigners, or "guests".[46] His laws were aimed at the adoption, even by force, of a Christian way of life.[47] He especially protected Christian marriage against polygamy and other traditional customs.[42] Decorated belts and other items of pagan fashion also disappeared.[48] Commoners started to wear long woolen coats, but wealthy men persisted in wearing their silk kaftans decorated with furs.[48]
If any warrior debased by lewdness abducts a girl to be his wife without the consent of her parents, we decreed that the girl should be returned to her parents, even if he did anything by force to her, and the abductor shall pay ten steers for the abduction, although he may afterwards have made peace with the girl's parents.
Stephen I:27, 1000–1038[49]
From a legal perspective, Hungarian society was divided into freemen and serfs, but intermediate groups also existed.[50] All freemen had the legal capacity to own property, to sue, and to be sued.[51] Most of them were bound to the monarch or to a wealthier landlord, and only "guests" could freely move.[51] Among freemen living in lands attached to a fortress, the castle warriors served in the army, and the castle folk cultivated the lands, forged weapons, or rendered other services.[52][53] All freemen were to pay a special tax, the freemen's pennies—eight denars per person per year—to the monarchs.[54][55] Peasants known as udvornici were exempt from this tax, being somewhat transitory between the status of freemen and of serf.[56] Serfs theoretically lacked the legal status available to freemen,[57] but in practice they had their own property: they cultivated their masters' land with their own tools, and kept 50–66 percent of the harvest for themselves.[58] Stephen's laws and charters suggest that most commoners lived in sedentary communities which formed villages.[59] An average village was made up of no more than 40 semi-sunken timber huts with a corner hearth.[59] The huts were surrounded by large courtyards. Ditches separated them, keeping the animals away and enabling the growing of grains and vegetables.[60] Many of the villages were named after a profession,[lower-alpha 4] implying that the villagers were required to render a specific service to their lords.[59]
Pagan revolts, wars, and consolidation (1038–1116)
Stephen I survived his son, Emeric, which caused a four-decade crisis.[61][62] Stephen considered his cousin, Vazul, unsuitable for the throne and named his own sister's son, the Venetian Peter Orseolo, as his heir.[38][63] After Vazul was blinded and his three sons were expelled, Peter succeeded his uncle without opposition in 1038.[38] Peter's preference for his foreign courtiers led to a rebellion, which ended with his deposition in favor of a native lord, Samuel Aba, who was related to the royal family.[58][63] Supported by Emperor Henry III, Peter returned and expelled Samuel in 1044.[38] During his second rule, Peter accepted the emperor's suzerainty.[38] His rule ended with a new rebellion, this time aimed at the restoration of paganism. There were many lords who opposed the destruction of the Christian monarchy. They proposed the crown to Andrew, one of Vazul's sons, who returned to Hungary, defeated Peter and suppressed the pagans in 1046.[64] His cooperation with his brother, Béla, a talented military commander, ensured the Hungarians' victory over Emperor Henry III, who attempted to conquer the kingdom two times: in 1050 and 1053.[65]
A new civil war broke out when Duke Béla claimed the crown for himself in 1059, but his three sons accepted the rule of Solomon, Andrew I's son, in 1063.[66] Bishop Maurus of Pécs wrote his Life of the hermits Benedict and Andrew Zorard—the earliest Hungarian hagiography—around this time.[67] The young king and his cousins cooperated for almost a decade; for instance, they jointly defeated the Pechenegs plundering Transylvania in 1068.[24] The power conflict in the royal family caused a new civil war in 1071. It lasted up to Solomon's abdication in favor of one of his cousins, Ladislaus, in the early 1080s.[68] Ladislaus promulgated laws that prescribed draconian punishments against criminals.[69] His laws also regulated the payment of customs duties, of tolls payable at fairs and fords, and of the tithes.[70] He forbade Jews from holding Christian serfs, and introduced laws aiming at the conversion of local Muslims, who were known as Böszörménys.[71]
No one shall buy or sell except in the market. If, in violation of this anyone buys stolen property, everyone shall perish: the buyer, the seller, and the witnesses. If, however, they agreed to sell something of their own, they shall lose that thing and its price, and the witnesses shall lose as much too. But if the deal was made in the market, and agreement shall be concluded in front of a judge, a toll-gatherer, and witnesses, and if the purchased goods later appear to be stolen, the buyer shall escape penalty ...
Ladislaus II:7, 1077–1095[72]
The death of Ladislaus's brother-in-law King Zvonimir of Croatia, in 1089 or 1090, created an opportunity for him to claim Croatia for himself.[73][74] Ladislaus's sister, Helena, and several noblemen (mainly from northern Croatia) supported his claim.[75][76] Ladislaus's troops occupied the lowlands, but a native claimant, Petar Snačić, resisted in the Petrova Mounts.[74][75][77] Nevertheless, Croatia and Hungary remained closely connected for more than nine centuries.[78] Ladislaus I appointed his nephew, Álmos, to administer Croatia.[74][77] Although a younger son, Álmos was also favored by the king against his brother, Coloman, for the succession.[79] Even so, Coloman succeeded his uncle in 1095, while Álmos received a separate duchy under his brother's suzerainty.[79] Throughout Coloman's reign, the brothers' relationship remained tense, which finally led to the blinding of Álmos and his infant son Béla.[80]
Coloman routed two bands of crusaders (the perpetrators of the Rhineland massacres) who were plundering the Western borderlands,[81] and defeated Petar Snačić in Croatia.[77][82] The late 14th-century Pacta conventa states that Coloman was crowned king of Croatia after concluding an agreement with twelve local noblemen.[83] Although most probably a forgery, the document reflects the actual status of Croatia proper, which was never incorporated into Hungary.[80][84] In contrast, the region known as Slavonia, between the Petrova Mounts and the river Dráva, became closely connected to Hungary.[85] Here many Hungarian noblemen received land grants from the monarchs.[85] Zadar, Split, and other Dalmatian towns also accepted Coloman's suzerainty in 1105, but their right to elect their own bishops and leaders remained unchanged.[86][87] In Croatia and Slavonia, the sovereign was represented by governors bearing the title ban.[85] Likewise, a royal official, the voivode, administered Transylvania, the eastern borderland of the kingdom.[88] The central administration's highest offices developed from the royal household's leading positions. Initially responsible for the management of the royal domains, the palatine emerged as the king's deputy by the early 12th century. His managerial tasks were transferred to a new official who quickly gained the functions of a chief justiciar as judge royal.[89]
Like Ladislaus I, Coloman proved to be a great legislator, but he prescribed less severe punishments than his uncle had done.[90] He ordered that transactions between Christians and Jews were to be put into writing.[91] He prohibited them to hold Christian slaves and introduced a ban on sale of native slaves to places abroad.[92] His laws concerning his Muslim subjects aimed at their conversion; for instance, by obliging them to marry their daughters to Christians.[93] The presence of Jewish and Muslim merchants in the kingdom was due to its position as a crossroad of trading routes leading towards Constantinople, Regensburg, and Kiev.[94] Local trade also existed, which enabled Coloman to collect the marturina, the traditional in-kind tax of Slavonia, in cash.[95] Coloman exempted those who lived on their own estates from the freemen's pennies, and allowed other freemen to redeem half of the tax through services provided.[55] Modern scholars assume that the earliest Hungarian chronicle was composed under Coloman, but it did not survive. This "primary" chronicle is thought to have been expanded and rewritten in accordance with changing political expectations during the 12th century. All scholarly attempts to reconstruct the original text based on chronicles from the 14th and 15th centuries have proved futile.[96][97]
The kingdom was sparsely populated, with an average population density of four or five people per 1 square kilometre (0.39 sq mi).[59] The Olaszi ("Italians") streets or districts in Eger, Pécs and Várad (Oradea, Romania) point at the presence of "guests" speaking a Western Romance language,[lower-alpha 5] while the Németi ("Germans") and Szászi ("Saxons") place names imply German-speaking colonists throughout the entire kingdom.[99] Most subjects of the early medieval Hungarian monarchs were peasants.[100] They only cultivated the most fertile lands, and moved further out when the lands became exhausted.[59] Wheat was the most widely produced crop, but barley, the raw material for home brew, was also grown.[100] Winegrowing flourished and vineyards existed in virtually all settlements with the exception of the highlands. The highest-ranking wines were produced in the Szerémség region (now Srem in Serbia), but the wines of Buda Hills, Hegyalja, Sopron, and Pressburg (Bratislava, Slovakia) were also popular. Fresh or dried fruits were common elements of the peasants' daily diet.[101] Monasteries introduced the systematic growing of fruit trees. In their orchards, the trees were planted in holes dug at regular intervals.[102] Even peasants were allowed to hunt and fish in the royal forests that covered large territories in the kingdom.[103] Animal husbandry remained an important sector of agriculture, and millet and oats were produced for fodder.[100] Both written sources and archaeological evidence indicate that famine was an exceptional phenomenon in medieval Hungary.[104]
Expansion and colonization (1116–1196)
Unsuccessful wars with the Republic of Venice, the Byzantine Empire, and other neighboring states characterized the reign of Coloman's son, Stephen II, who succeeded his father in 1116.[105] The earliest mention of the Székelys—a Hungarian-speaking community of free warriors—is in connection with the young king's first war against the Duchy of Bohemia. The Székelys lived in scattered groups along the borders, but they were moved to the easternmost regions of Transylvania in the 12th century.[106] Stephen II died childless in 1131.[105] His cousin, Duke Álmos' blind son Béla II, succeeded him. During his reign, the kingdom was administered by his wife, Helena of Serbia, who ordered the massacre of the lords whom she blamed for her husband's mutilation.[107] Boris Kalamanos, an alleged son of King Coloman who attempted to seize the throne from Béla II, received no internal support.[105]
If anyone of the rank of count has even in a trivial matter offended against the king or, as sometimes happens, has been unjustly accused of this, an emissary from the court, though he be of very lowly station and unattended, seizes him in the midst of his retinue, puts him in chains, and drags him off to various forms of punishment. No formal sentence is asked of the prince through his peers, ... no opportunity of defending himself is granted the accused, but the will of the prince alone is held by all as sufficient.
Otto of Freising, The Deeds of Frederick Barbarossa[108]
Béla II's son, Géza II, who ascended the throne in 1141, adopted an active foreign policy. He supported Uroš II of Serbia against Emperor Manuel I Komnenos, and launched at least six military campaigns to the Kievan Rus' against the enemies of his brother-in-law Iziaslav II of Kiev.[109][110] He even recruited Muslim warriors in the Pontic steppes to serve in his army.[111] Abu Hamid al-Gharnati was a Muslim traveler from Al-Andaluz from Granada who travelled around eastern and central Europe. In 1150, he travelled to Hungary, where he lived for 3 years and worked as an advisor in the court of King Géza II. He claimed that "Hungary is one of the countries where life is easiest and best", Hungary had "tremendous abundance and prosperity everywhere", and Hungary was "many times more powerful" than the Byzantine Empire, adding that Géza's troops were "innumerable".[112] While crossing Hungary during the Second Crusade, Otto of Freising noticed Géza's nearly uncontrolled authority over his subjects.[109]
Géza promoted the colonization of the border zones.[39] Flemish, German, Italian, and Walloon "guests" arrived in great numbers and settled in the Szepesség region (Spiš, Slovakia) and in southern Transylvania.[113][114][115] Abu Hamid refers to mountains that "contain lots of silver and gold", which points at the importance of mining and gold panning already around 1150.[116] He also writes of slave trading, mentioning that he bought an attractive slave girl for ten denars, but beautiful slave women were sold for three denars after military campaigns.[92] Archaeological evidence indicates that the large asymmetric heavy plows, capable to turn the soil over, first appeared when the new settlers arrived. As the heavy plows spread, long narrow fields, more suitable to their use, replaced the traditional small square fields in the villages.[117]
Géza was succeeded in 1162 by his eldest son, Stephen III.[105] His uncles, Ladislaus II and Stephen IV, claimed the crown for themselves.[118] Emperor Manuel I Komnenos took advantage of the internal conflicts and forced the young king to cede Dalmatia and the Szerémség to the Byzantines in 1165.[119] Stephen III set an example for the development of towns by granting liberties to the Walloon "guests" in Székesfehérvár, including immunity from the jurisdiction of the local ispán.[48][98][120] When Stephen died childless in 1172, his brother, Béla III, ascended the throne.[121][122] He reconquered Dalmatia and the Szerémség in the 1180s.[123][124]
A contemporary list shows that Béla's total income was the equivalent of 32 tonnes of silver per year,[125] but this number is clearly exaggerated.[113] According to the list, more than 50 percent of his revenues derived from the annual renewal of the silver currency, and from trade-related duties.[126] Austrian custom tariffs of the period indicate that Hungary was a major supplier of grain, leather, timber, wine, wax, honey, fish, cattle, sheep, pigs, copper, tin, lead, iron, and salt.[127] Royal revenues were due either to the royal chamber or to the king as landowner. The distinction between them was of fundamental importance because the ispáns received one third of the chamber revenues collected in their counties. In-kind taxes were typically imposed on vineyards, and herds of pigs or oxen. Some privileged communities paid lump sum taxes to the royal chamber. Examples include the foreign settlers in Transylvania, who were to pay 15,000 marks per year.[128]
Béla emphasized the importance of making records on judicial proceedings, which substantiates reports in later Hungarian chronicles of his order regarding the obligatory use of written petitions.[129] Landowners also started to put their transactions into writing, which led to the appearance of the so-called "places of authentication", such as cathedral chapters and monasteries authorized to issue deeds.[130] Their emergence also evidences the employment of an educated staff.[130] Indeed, students from the kingdom studied at the universities of Paris, Oxford, Bologna, and Padua from the 1150s.[130] Aspects of 12th-century French culture could also be detected in Béla's kingdom.[130] His palace at Esztergom was built in the early Gothic style.[131] Achilles and other names known from the Legend of Troy and the Romance of Alexander (two emblematic works of chivalric culture) were also popular among Hungarian aristocrats.[131] According to the consensual scholarly view, "Master P", the author of the Gesta Hungarorum, a chronicle on the Hungarian "land-taking", was Béla's notary.[97] The earliest text written in Hungarian, known as Funeral Sermon and Prayer, was preserved in the late 12th-century Pray Codex.[132][67]