The high medieval Kingdom of Hungary was a regional power in Central Europe. It came into existence 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 and religion 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.
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" 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). 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.
Background
The Magyars, or Hungarians, conquered the Carpathian Basin at the turn of the 9th and 10th centuries. Here they found a predominantly Slavic-speaking population. From their new homeland, they launched plundering raids against East Francia, Italy, and other regions of Europe. Their raids were halted by the future Holy Roman Emperor Otto I, who defeated them at the Battle of Lechfeld in 955.
Hungarians lived in patrilineal families, which were organized into clans that formed tribes. 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". Contemporary authors described the Hungarians as nomads, but Ibn Rusta and others added that they also cultivated arable land. The great number of borrowings from Slavic languages prove that the Hungarians adopted new techniques and a more settled lifestyle in Central Europe. The cohabitation of Hungarians and local ethnic groups is also reflected in the assemblages of the "Bijelo Brdo culture", which emerged in the mid-10th century. 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.
Although they were pagan, the Hungarians demonstrated a tolerant attitude towards Christians, Jews, and Muslims. 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. 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. In contrast, the grand prince Géza who ruled from the early 970s received baptism into the Latin Church. He erected fortresses and invited foreign warriors to develop a new army based on heavy cavalry. Géza also arranged the marriage of his son, Stephen, with Giselle of Bavaria, a princess from the family of the Holy Roman emperors.
When Géza died in 997, his son had to fight for his succession with Koppány, the eldest member of the House of Árpád. Assisted by German heavy cavalry, Stephen emerged the victor in the decisive battle of the conflict in 998. He applied for a royal crown to Pope Sylvester II (r. 999–1003), who granted his request with the consent of Emperor Otto III.
"Patrimonial" kingdom
King St Stephen (1000–1038)
Stephen was crowned the first king of Hungary on either 25 December 1000, or 1 January 1001. 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. He proved his kingdom's military strength when he repelled an invasion by Conrad II, Holy Roman Emperor, in 1030. Marshlands, other natural obstacles, and barricades made of stone, earth, or timber provided defense at the kingdom's borders. A wide zone known as gyepü was intentionally left uninhabited for defensive purposes along the frontiers.
Stephen developed a state similar to the monarchies of contemporary Western Europe. Counties, the basic units of administration, were districts organized around fortresses and headed by royal officials known as ispáns, or counts. Most of the early medieval fortresses were made of earth and timber. Stephen founded dioceses and at least one archbishopric, and established Benedictine monasteries. He prescribed that every tenth village was to build a parish church. The earliest churches were simple wood constructions, but the royal basilica at Székesfehérvár was built in Romanesque style. 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. 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. Bishop Gerard of Csanád, who had come from Venice, completed a Latin commentary on a chapter in the Book of Daniel in Hungary. Stephen's views on state administration were summarized around 1015 in a mirror for princes known as Admonitions. 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". His laws were aimed at the adoption, even by force, of a Christian way of life. He especially protected Christian marriage against polygamy and other traditional customs. Decorated belts and other items of pagan fashion also disappeared. Commoners started to wear long woolen coats, but wealthy men persisted in wearing their silk kaftans decorated with furs.
King Stephen's Decree on the Abduction of Girls
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
From a legal perspective, Hungarian society was divided into freemen and serfs, but intermediate groups also existed. All freemen had the legal capacity to own property, to sue, and to be sued. Most of them were bound to the monarch or to a wealthier landlord, and only "guests" could freely move. 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. All freemen were to pay a special tax, the freemen's pennies—eight denars per person per year—to the monarchs. Peasants known as udvornici were exempt from this tax, being somewhat transitory between the status of freemen and of serf. Serfs theoretically lacked the legal status available to freemen, 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. Stephen's laws and charters suggest that most commoners lived in sedentary communities which formed villages. An average village was made up of no more than 40 semi-sunken timber huts with a corner hearth. The huts were surrounded by large courtyards. Ditches separated them, keeping the animals away and enabling the growing of grains and vegetables. Many of the villages were named after a profession, implying that the villagers were required to render a specific service to their lords.
Pagan revolts, wars, and consolidation (1038–1116)
Stephen I outlived his son, Emeric, which caused a four-decade long crisis. Stephen considered his cousin, Vazul, unsuitable for the throne and named his own sister's son, the Venetian Peter Orseolo, as his heir. After Vazul was blinded and his three sons were expelled, Peter succeeded his uncle without opposition in 1038. 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. Supported by Emperor Henry III, Peter returned and expelled Samuel in 1044. During his second rule, Peter accepted the emperor's suzerainty. 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. 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.
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. Bishop Maurus of Pécs wrote his Life of the hermits Benedict and Andrew Zorard—the earliest Hungarian hagiography—around this time. The young king and his cousins cooperated for almost a decade; for instance, they jointly defeated the Pechenegs plundering Transylvania in 1068. 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. Ladislaus promulgated laws that prescribed draconian punishments against criminals. His laws also regulated the payment of customs duties, of tolls payable at fairs and fords, and of the tithes. He forbade Jews from holding Christian serfs, and introduced laws aiming at the conversion of local Muslims, who were known as Böszörménys.
King Ladislaus' Decree on Merchants and Traders Buying Stolen Goods
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
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. Ladislaus's sister, Helena, and several noblemen (mainly from northern Croatia) supported his claim. Ladislaus's troops occupied the lowlands, but a native claimant, Petar Snačić, resisted in the Petrova Mounts. Nevertheless, Croatia and Hungary remained closely connected for more than nine centuries. Ladislaus I appointed his nephew, Álmos, to administer Croatia. Although a younger son, Álmos was also favored by the king against his brother, Coloman, for the succession. Even so, Coloman succeeded his uncle in 1095, while Álmos received a separate duchy under his brother's suzerainty. Throughout Coloman's reign, the brothers' relationship remained tense, which finally led to the blinding of Álmos and his infant son Béla.
Coloman routed two bands of crusaders (the perpetrators of the Rhineland massacres) who were plundering the Western borderlands, and defeated Petar Snačić in Croatia. The late 14th-century Pacta conventa states that Coloman was crowned king of Croatia after concluding an agreement with twelve local noblemen. Although most probably a forgery, the document reflects the actual status of Croatia proper, which was never incorporated into Hungary. In contrast, the region known as Slavonia, between the Petrova Mounts and the river Dráva, became closely connected to Hungary. Here many Hungarian noblemen received land grants from the monarchs. 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. In Croatia and Slavonia, the sovereign was represented by governors bearing the title ban. Likewise, a royal official, the voivode, administered Transylvania, the eastern borderland of the kingdom. 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.