| Principality of Hungary Magyar Nagyfejedelemség (hu) |
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| Capital | Not specified | |||
| Government | Principality | |||
| Grand Prince | Árpád (c. 895 - c. 907) | |||
| Zoltán (c. 907 - c. 947) | ||||
| Fajsz (c. 947 - c. 955) | ||||
| Taksony (c. 955 - c. 972) | ||||
| Géza (972 - 997) | ||||
| Stephen (997 - 1000) | ||||
| Historical era | Middle ages | |||
| - Established | 9th century | |||
| - ended at the coronation of Stephen I |
25 December 1000 or 1 January 1001 |
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The Principality of Hungary[1][2][3][4][5][6][7] or Duchy of Hungary[8][9] (Hungarian: Magyar Nagyfejedelemség) was the first documented Hungarian state, a tribal alliance in the Carpathian Basin,[10][11][12][13] established 895 or 896,[14][15][10][16][17] following the 9th-century Magyar invasion of Pannonia.
The Magyars (Hungarians), a semi-nomadic group of people led by Árpád formed the Principality of Hungary at the very end of the 9th century,[2] arriving from Etelköz, their earlier principality east of the Carpathians.[18]
The principality was succeeded by the Christian kingdom of Hungary with the coronation of Stephen I in AD 1000.
In contemporary Byzantine sources, the territory of the Hungarian tribal alliance was also known as in Greek as "Western Tourkia", because of its allegiance to the Khazar Khaganate.[19][20] The Hungarian historiography also calls the entire period from 896 to 1000 "the age of principality".[16]
Contents |
| History of Hungary | |
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This article is part of a series |
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| Prehistory | |
| Prehistoric Pannonia | |
| Prehistoric Magyars | |
| Early history | |
| Roman Pannonia | |
| Magyar invasion | |
| Middle Ages (896–1541) | |
| Principality of Hungary (896–1000) |
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| Medieval Kingdom of Hungary (1000–1538) |
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| Turkish wars (1366–1526) |
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| Early Modern history | |
| Habsburg Kingdom of Hungary (1538–1867) |
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| Eastern Hungarian Kingdom (1538–1570) |
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| Ottoman Hungary (1541–1699) |
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| Principality of Transylvania (1570–1711) |
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| Late modern period |
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| Rákóczi's War (1703–1711) |
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| Revolution of 1848 | |
| Austria-Hungary (1867–1918) |
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| Lands of the Crown of Saint Stephen | |
| Hungary in World War I | |
| Interwar period (1918–41) |
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| Kingdom of Hungary (1920-1946) |
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| World War II | |
| Contemporary history (1946 to present) |
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| Republic of Hungary (1946–49) |
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| People's Republic (1949–89) |
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| Revolution of 1956 | |
| Republic of Hungary (since 1989) |
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| Topical | |
| Church history | |
| Military history | |
| Music history | |
| Jewish history | |
| Székely people | |
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Hungary Portal |
On the eve of the arrival of the Magyars, East Francia, the First Bulgarian Empire and Great Moravia (a vassal state of East Francia)[21] ruled the territory of the Carpathian Basin. This area had been sparsely populated,[3][22] since Charlemagne’s destruction of the Avar state in 803 and the Magyars (Hungarians) were able to move in virtually unopposed, peacefully.[23] The freshly unified Hungarians led by Árpád settled in the Carpathian Basin starting in 895. This now highly-centralized and controlled[24] principality, initially a warrior-state,[1] with a new-found military force, conducted vigorous raids from Constantinople to as far away as central Spain and the periodic attacks lasted till 970.
The movement from a ranked chiefdom society to state society was one of the most important change during this time.[25] In the first time, Magyars retained a semi-nomadic lifestye changing pastures between winter and summer, Hungarians would migrate between winter and summer dwelling-places along a river, finding water for their livestock.[24] According to Györffy's theory[26] from placenames, Árpád's winter quarters -clearly after his occupation of Pannonia in 900- were possibly in 'Árpádváros' (Árpád's town), now a district of Pécs, and his summer quarters -as confirmed by Anonymus- were in Csepel Island.[24] Later, his new summer quarters were in Csallóköz[24] in conformity with this theory, however the exact location of the early center of the state is disputed. According to Gyula Kristó the center was located between Danube and Tisza rivers,[26] however the archeological findings expect the location at the region of Upper Tisza.[26]
Forced by changed economic circumstances, insufficient pasturage to support a nomad society and the impossibility of moving on,[27] the semi-nomadic Hungarian lifestyle began to transform and they adopted settled life. Magyars ceased being semi-nomads and turned to agriculture.[21] However the beginning of conversion of Hungarian society to agriculture can be dated back to the 8th century.[6] The society began to show uniform image, the local Slavic and other populations merged with the Hungarians.[27] The Hungarian tribal leaders and their clans established fortified centers in the country and later their castles became centers of the counties.[23] The whole system of Hungarian villages grew up in the 10th century.[24]
Fajsz and Taksony, the Grand Princes of the Hungarians, began to reform the power structure.[28][29] They invited Christian missionaries for the first time and built forts.[28] Taksony abolished the old center of the Hungarian principality (possibly at Upper Tisza) and sought a new one at Székesfehérvár[29] and Esztergom.[30] Taksony also renewed the old style military attendance, changed the weaponry of the army, implemented large-scale organized resettlements of the Hungarian population.[29]
After the battle of Arcadiopolis, the Byzantine Empire was the primary enemy for the Hungarians.[31] The Byzantine expansion threatened the Hungarians, because the subjugated First Bulgarian Empire were in alliance with the Magyars at that time.[31] The situation became more difficult for the principality when the Byzantine Empire and the Holy Roman Empire made an alliance in 972.[31] In 973, twelve illustrious Magyar envoys, whom probably Géza had assigned, participated in the Diet held by Otto I, Holy Roman Emperor. Géza established closed ties with the Bavarian court, inviting missionaries and marrying his son to Gisela, daughter of the Duke Henry II.[27] Géza of the Árpád dynasty, Grand Prince of the Hungarians, who ruled only part of the united territory, the nominal overlord of all seven Magyar tribes, intended to integrate Hungary into Christian Western Europe, rebuilding the state according to the Western political and social model. Géza's first-born son, Saint Stephen I became the first King of Hungary after defeating his cousin Koppány, who also claimed the throne.
Hungary was emerged on the frontier of Christendom.[27] From the second half of the 10th century, Christianity flourished as Catholic missionaries arrived from Germany. Between 945 and 963, the main office-holders of Principality (the Grand Prince (Taksony), the Gyula, and the Horka) were willing to christen.[32][33] In 973 Géza I and all his household were baptised, and a formal peace concluded with Emperor Otto I, however he remained essentially pagan even after his baptism.[18] Due to Géza's fater, Taksony, Géza was educated to become a pagan prince.[34] The first Hungarian Benedictine monastery was founded in 996 by Prince Géza. During Géza's reign, the nation conclusively renounced its nomadic way of life and within a few decades of the battle of Lechfeld became a Christian kingdom.[18]
Until 907 (or 904), the Hungarian state was controlled by joint rule (shaped from the Khazars). The kingship was divided between the sacral prince[35][36] Kende and the military leader Gyula. It is not known which of the two roles were assigned to Árpád and which to Kurszán. Possibly, after the Kende Kurszán's death, the principality changed its conformation and became a single-head principality led by Árpád. The Byzantine Constantine Porphyrogennetos called Árpád the "ho megas Tourkias archon" (the great prince of Tourkia),[37] and all of the 10th century princes who ruled the country held this title.[5] According to the Agnatic seniority the oldest members of the ruling clan inherited the principality. Likely, the Grand princes of Hungary did not possess superior power, because during the military campaigns to the west and to the south the initially strong[38] princely power had diminished.[37] Moreover, the records did not negotiate Grand Princes in the first half of the 10th century, except in one case, when they mention Taksony as 'king of Hungary' (Taxis-dux, dux Tocsun) in 947.[37] The role of military leaders (Bulcsú, Lél) grew more significant.[37] The princes of the Árpád dynasty bore Turkic names as the majority of the Hungarian tribes.[16]