Aba is a noble kindred (''genus'') of the

Kingdom of Hungary The Kingdom of Hungary was a monarchy in Central Europe that existed for nearly a millennium, from the Middle Ages into the 20th century. The Principality of Hungary emerged as a Christian kingdom upon the coronation of the first king Stephen ...

which according to the ''

Gesta Hungarorum ''Gesta Hungarorum'', or ''The Deeds of the Hungarians'', is the earliest book about Hungarian history which has survived for posterity. Its genre is not chronicle, but ''gesta'', meaning "deeds" or "acts", which is a medieval entertaining li ...

'' ("The Deeds of the Hungarians" part 32) derives from Pata (Latin: Pota) who was a nephew to Ed and Edemen and the ancestor of Samuel Aba. Some modern scholars have proposed that the family's ancestors may have been among the tribal leaders of the

Kabar The Kabars ( el, Κάβαροι), also known as Qavars (Qabars) or Khavars were Khazar rebels who joined the Magyar confederation possibly in the 9th century as well as the Rus' Khaganate. Sources The Byzantine Emperor Constantine VII is the ...

s (three nomadic tribes that joined the tribal federation of the Magyars in the 9th century).Peter F. Sugar, Péter Hanák,

Tibor Frank Tibor Frank (3 February 1948 – 15 September 2022) was a Hungarian historian who was professor of history at the School of English and American Studies of the Faculty of Humanities of the Eötvös Loránd University (ELTE). He was director ...

, A History of Hungary, Indiana University Press, 1994 page 1

/ref> The ''

Gesta Hunnorum et Hungarorum The ''Gesta Hunnorum et Hungarorum'Reader's encyclopedia of Eastern European literature'', 1993, Robert B. Pynsent, Sonia I. Kanikova, p. 529. (Latin: "Deeds of the Huns and Hungarians") is a medieval chronicle written mainly by Simon of Kéz ...

'' ("The Deeds of the Huns and the Hungarians", 1282–85) connects the family to

Attila the Hun Attila (, ; ), frequently called Attila the Hun, was the ruler of the Huns from 434 until his death in March 453. He was also the leader of a tribal empire consisting of Huns, Ostrogoths, Alans, and Bulgars, among others, in Central and Ea ...

. The Gesta Hungarorum mentions that Ed and Edemen received land possession around the forest of the

Mátra The Mátra ( sk, Matra) is a mountain range in northern Hungary, between the towns Gyöngyös and Eger. The country's highest peak, Kékestető (1014 m), belongs to this mountain range. The Mátra is part of the North Hungarian Mountains ...

Mountains, especially in Gyöngyöspata –

Heves County Heves county ( hu, Heves megye, ) lies in northern Hungary, between the right bank of the river Tisza and the Mátra and Bükk mountains. It shares borders with the Hungarian counties Pest, Nógrád, Borsod-Abaúj-Zemplén and Jász-Nagykun-S ...

, after the conquest of the

Carpathian Basin The Pannonian Basin, or Carpathian Basin, is a large basin situated in south-east Central Europe. The geomorphological term Pannonian Plain is more widely used for roughly the same region though with a somewhat different sense, with only th ...

by the Magyars (around 895). Pata built a castle in their forest where centuries later Oliver, Pata's descendant through Samuel Aba was slain by the descendants of Ed and Edemen during the reign of Ladislaus IV.

Notable Members

Prince Shaba who wed Princess Sarolta the daughter of

Géza, Grand Prince of the Hungarians Géza ( 940 – 997), also Gejza, was Grand Prince of the Hungarians from the early 970s. He was the son of Grand Prince Taksony and his OrientalKhazar, Pecheneg or Volga Bulgarianwife. He married Sarolt, a daughter of an Eastern Orthodox Hu ...

Samuel Aba Samuel Aba ( hu, Aba Sámuel; before 990 or 1009 – 5 July 1044) reigned as King of Hungary between 1041 and 1044. He was born to a prominent family with extensive domains in the region of the Mátra Hills. Based on reports in the ''Gesta H ...

was the most prominent member of the family who became

King of Hungary The King of Hungary ( hu, magyar király) was the ruling head of state of the Kingdom of Hungary from 1000 (or 1001) to 1918. The style of title "Apostolic King of Hungary" (''Apostoli Magyar Király'') was endorsed by Pope Clement XIII in 175 ...

(1041–1044). The ''gens'' may have been named after him. Oliver of the House of Aba who inherited Pata's Castle in the forest of the Mátra was slain there by the descendants of Ed and Edemen during the reign of Ladislaus IV. Makján Aba was Palatine of Hungary in the 13th century and a staunch supporter of Ladislaus IV.

Amade Aba Amadeus Aba or Amade Aba ( hu, Aba Amadé; sk, Omodej Aba; ? – 5 September 1311) was a Hungarian oligarch in the Kingdom of Hungary who ruled ''de facto'' independently the northern and north-eastern counties of the kingdom (today parts of ...

is another prominent descendant of the family; he held several castles and possessions on the northern and north-eastern parts of the kingdom in the first decade of the 14th century.

Branches

The ''gens'' divided into several families in the course of the centuries. Today there are nineteen noble families that directly descend from the Royal House of Aba, and belong to Clan Aba – “Genus Aba”. They are: Athinai, Báthory of the Clan Aba, Báthory de Gagy, Bertóthy, Budaméry, Csirke, Csobánka, Frichi, Gagyi, Hedry, Keczer, Kompolthi, Laczkffy de Nádasd, Lapispataky, Rhédey, Sennyey,

Sirokay Sirokay is a Hungarian surname Hungarian names include surnames and given names. Some people have more than one given name, but only one is normally used. In the Hungarian language, whether written or spoken, names are invariably given in the " ...

, Somosy de Somos, Vendéghy and Vitéz. Various members of the Rhédey von Kis-Rhéde branch of Genus Aba held many royal offices and acquired many hereditary titles. Among them – Voivod (Dukes) and Princes of Transylvania, Counts of Rhédey von Kis-Rhéde, Hereditary Count Palatines of the Holy Roman Empire, Papal Count Palatines of the Lateran Palace and Countess von Hohenstein.

Sources

* Kristó, Gyula (editor): Korai Magyar Történeti Lexikon – 9–14. század ''(Encyclopedia of the Early Hungarian History – 9–14th centuries)''; Akadémiai Kiadó, 1994, Budapest; .

References

External links

House of Aba Genealogy
{{Noble kindreds in the Kingdom of Hungary Hungarian nobility

Notable Members

Branches

Sources

See also

References

External links