Samuel Aba of Hungary

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Samuel Aba (Hungarian: Aba Sámuel; in contemporary foreign sources: King Aba, on his coins: King Samuel) was the third King of Hungary.

Samuel was from Northern Hungary, Castle Gonce / Castle Abaujvar, County of Aba, born circa 1010. He married his older cousine Gisel, the youngest daughter of Prince Géza of the Hungarian Árpád dynasty, and his second wife Adelaide of Poland, born circa 950, d. after 997. Adelaide was the daughter of Prince Mieszko I of Poland, born circa 922, d. 25 May 992. List of Polish monarchs.

Some historian claims that Samuel Aba was the leader of the Kabar tribe in the early 11th century. It is also presumed by the same group that he was Jewish but (formally) converted to Christianity with his entire tribe when he married Gisel. Even though he acted as a Christian and even founded a monastery in Abasár, converting to Christianity was mainly a political move for him, and he was not really a religious man.

During the reign of King Stephen, who was the first christian king of Hungary, Samuel Aba was created Palatine of the Kingdom of Hungary. After the death of King Stephen the new ruler, Peter (Stephen's nephew) continued to strengthen the feudal Christian state and removed Samuel from the royal court for not supporting him enough. Many of the people were opposed to Christianity and feared that Peter would make the Hungarian kingdom subservient to the Holy Roman Empire; so they supported Samuel who might have had an active role in deposing Peter.

Peter fled Hungary, and Samuel became king in 1041. He had many of Peter's supporters killed or tortured, and he abolished several laws made by Peter. This sheds some light on who his supporters might have been: since he abolished the laws that mainly affected the poor people and commoners, and in chronicles he was criticised for socializing with the peasants instead of the nobles, it is likely that he was supported by the lower classes who still held their Pagan beliefs.

Samuel knew that he could remain on the throne only if he could make peace with Henry III, Holy Roman Emperor, who was Peter's main ally. He succeeded in this in 1043, but had to pay a heavy price: Hungary lost some of its territories to Henry and had to pay tribute.

Because of the tribute paid to Henry and the abolishing of taxes, Samuel had to look for sources of money. He claimed back the donations the preceding kings gave to the Church, and made the bishops pay taxes. This was in keeping with his intentions of diminishing the role and power of the Church. (According to some sources he and his followers were excommunicated by the pope).

In several ways Samuel's rule meant a relapse from Feudalism to a tribal society. He was less and less popular, and was opposed by the Church, by the nobles, who resented him favouring the commoners, and by Henry III, who was furious that Samuel did not keep all the points of their peace treaty. Peter, with the help of Henry, attacked Samuel, and defeated him in the battle of Ménfő, near Győr. Samuel fled to the East. Contemporary sources offer different opinions about his fate; some say he was captured and killed by Peter and Henry, others say he reached the Tisza river and was killed there by Hungarians who opposed him. He was buried in the monastery he founded at Abasár.

There are no further data about what happened to his wife and sons, but his family, the Aba clan continued to be one of the most influential clans of Northern Hungary, where their name is preserved in the name of Abaúj-Torna county (today its Hungarian half is a part of Borsod-Abaúj-Zemplén and its Slovakian half forms the region of Abov), and that of several villages.

There are nineteen noble families that directly descend from the Royal House of Aba, and belong to Clan Aba - “Genus Aba”. They are: Athinai, Bathory, Bathory von Gagy, Berthothy, Budamery, Csirke, Csobanka, Frichi, Gagyi, Hedry, Keczer, Kompolthi, Laczkffy de Nadasd, Lapispataky, Rhédey*, Sirokay, Somos, Vendegny and Vitez.

• Francis Rhédey - Prince of Transylvania. Rulers of Transylvania.

• Claudine Rhédey von Kis-Rhéde (September 21, 1812 - October 1, 1841) was the wife of Duke Alexander of Württemberg. Her son, Francis, Duke of Teck was the father of Mary of Teck (26 May 1867 – 24 March 1953), Queen consort to George V of the United Kingdom. Queen Mary was also the Empress of India and Queen of Ireland. Before her accession, she was also Princess of Wales, Duchess of Cornwall and Duchess of York. In her own right she held the title of a Princess of Teck in the Kingdom of Württemberg with the style Her Serene Highness. To her family, she was informally known as "May".

• May, was the grandmother of the present-day Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom, Head of the Commonwealth Realm, the British Commonwealth of Nations.

• The British Royal Family and the House of Windsor

Rhédey* - Rédey, Rédei, Réday, Rédai, Rédaj.

[edit] Sources

• Kristó Gyula – Makk Ferenc: Az Árpád-ház uralkodói (I.P.C., 1996, ISBN 963-7930-97-3)

• NOTE: Certain Slovakian historians claim that Samuel Aba was a ruling prince of the Principality of Nitra (1038 – 1041).

Preceded by Peter Orseolo

King of Hungary 1041-1044

Succeeded by Peter Orseolo