796
edits
Changes
no edit summary
[[File: MagyarInvasions.jpg|300px|thumbnail|left|Map Showing the Dates and Locations of the Magyar Invasions: the Shaded Area is Roughly Equivalent to the Modern Nation-States of Hungary and Romania]]__NOTOC__
Although geographically smaller and less populated than other European kingdoms, the Kingdom of Hungary played an extremely important role in the development of European history and geopolitics. During the Medieval Period, Hungary served as an important conduit between the Western and the Eastern/Orthodox European civilizations. Although the Hungarians joined the Roman Catholic Church after they converted to Christianity in the mid-tenth century and were therefore directly tied to the Western world, they maintained close ties to the Russians, Bulgarians, and Greeks of the Orthodox world. The Hungarians played a major role in the organization of the failed Fifth Crusade, and the Kingdom of Hungary served as a buffer zone for Western Europe from the Mongol and Ottoman invasions. The Kingdom of Hungary was also important in modern European geo-politics, comprising part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire and later being one of the Axis Powers in World War II.
The manner by which this small yet influential kingdom came to be was completely different than its European peers. The Kingdom of Hungary formed as the end result of the Magyar raids in the tenth century. The Magyars were nomadic raiders who settled in the Carpathian Basin and established a dynasty as they wrought destruction to both West and East Europe. Eventually, though, the Magyars became sedentary, accepted the culture of Europe, and became Europeans themselves, establishing the Kingdom of Hungary in the process.
===The Rule of St. Stephen===
[[File: St_Stephen_17th_century.jpg|300px250px|thumbnail|left|Seventh Century Painting of Stephen I, the King of Hungary (ruled 997-1038)]]
Stephen I was the first Magyar monarch to take the title “King of Hungary” and is today viewed by Hungarians as the patron saint of their country. Stephen brutally repressed all opposition within his kingdom and expanded his predecessors’ policies of diplomatic marriages and alliances with other European monarchs. He continued to foster good relations with the Holy Roman Empire and other German kingdoms, but also made diplomatic inroads with Hungary’s Orthodox neighbors. Stephen aided Basil II of Byzantium (ruled 976-1025) against the Bulgars<ref> Engel, p. 28</ref> and made peace with the powerful Rus’ principalities, namely Valdimir the Grand Prince of Kiev (reigned 980-1015).
“For Vladimir was fond of his followers, and consulted them concerning matters of administration, wars, and government. He lived at peace with neighboring Princes, Boleslav of Poland, Stephen of Hungary, and Udalrich of Bohemia, and there was amity and friendship among them.” <ref> Cross, Samuel Hazzard, and Olgerd P. Serbowitz-Wetzor, eds, and trans. <i> The Russian Primary Chronicle: Laurentian Text.</i> (Cambridge, Massachusetts: The Mediaeval Academy of America, 2012), p. 122</ref>
Perhaps most important, Stephen continued his predecessor’s policy of building the Church hierarchy in Hungary. Stephen had German, Italian, and French priests imported to Hungary to help in his project and to minister to the peasantry, many of whom were still pagans during his rule. Eventually ten dioceses and two archbishoprics of the Catholic Church were founded during Stephen’s rule, which along with his aggressive anti-pagan laws helped ensure that Hungary would become a Catholic kingdom. <ref> Engel, pgs. 42-45</ref>
===Conclusion===
The later Arpad Dynasty was consumed with internal conflict and was victim of the Mongol invasion of 1241, which led to the termination of the dynasty in 1301; but the political foundations the Arpad kings put in place persisted until World War II. The Kingdom of Hungary began as little more than a warrior coalition of Magyar nomads, but over the course of the tenth century it evolved into a legitimate European dynasty. The early Arpad princes and kings laid the foundations of the Hungarian state by cultivating good relations with their powerful Western and Orthodox neighbors and by becoming active members of the Roman Catholic Church. The Magyars’ brutality helped them win their land, yet it was their political acumen that mad made them members of the European community.
===References===
[[Category: European History]] [[Category: Medieval History]] [[Category: History of the Middle Ages]] [[Category: Hungarian History]] [[Category:Wikis]]
