Grand Prince ( hu, Nagyfejedelem) was the title used by contemporary sources to name the leader of the federation of the Hungarian tribes in the tenth century.

Constantine VII Constantine VII Porphyrogenitus (; 17 May 905 – 9 November 959) was the fourth Emperor of the Macedonian dynasty of the Byzantine Empire, reigning from 6 June 913 to 9 November 959. He was the son of Emperor Leo VI and his fourth wife, Zoe K ...

mentioned

Árpád Árpád (; 845 – 907) was the head of the confederation of the Magyar tribes at the turn of the 9th and 10th centuries. He might have been either the sacred ruler or '' kende'' of the Hungarians, or their military leader or '' ...

in his book De Administrando Imperio as ', while Bruno of Querfurt referred to

Géza Géza is a Hungarian given name and may refer to any of the following: * Benjamin Géza Affleck * Géza, Grand Prince of the Hungarians * Géza I of Hungary, King of Hungary * Géza II of Hungary, King of Hungary * Géza, son of Géza II of Hunga ...

in his ''Sancti Adalberti Pragensis episcopi et martyris vita altera'' as '. The grand prince (') was probably elected by the leaders of the federation of the seven Hungarian tribes and the three Kabar tribes (dissident

Khazar The Khazars ; he, כּוּזָרִים, Kūzārīm; la, Gazari, or ; zh, 突厥曷薩 ; 突厥可薩 ''Tūjué Kěsà'', () were a semi-nomadic Turkic people that in the late 6th-century CE established a major commercial empire coverin ...

tribes) that joined the Hungarians before 830. However, the first grand prince, Álmos, father of

, was more likely appointed by the

khagan Khagan or Qaghan (Mongolian:; or ''Khagan''; otk, 𐰴𐰍𐰣 ), or , tr, Kağan or ; ug, قاغان, Qaghan, Mongolian Script: ; or ; fa, خاقان ''Khāqān'', alternatively spelled Kağan, Kagan, Khaghan, Kaghan, Khakan, Khakha ...

of the

Khazars The Khazars ; he, כּוּזָרִים, Kūzārīm; la, Gazari, or ; zh, 突厥曷薩 ; 突厥可薩 ''Tūjué Kěsà'', () were a semi- nomadic Turkic people that in the late 6th-century CE established a major commercial empire cover ...

. It is still under discussion whether the grand prince was the spiritual leader of the federation ('), the military commander of the Hungarian tribes (') or the title was a new creation. When the

Hungarians Hungarians, also known as Magyars ( ; hu, magyarok ), are a nation and ethnic group native to Hungary () and historical Hungarian lands who share a common culture, history, ancestry, and language. The Hungarian language belongs to the Uralic ...

were pushed out of ' and moved to 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 ...

('), the grand prince's power seemed to be decreasing. By the time of

Transylvania Transylvania ( ro, Ardeal or ; hu, Erdély; german: Siebenbürgen) is a historical and cultural region in Central Europe, encompassing central Romania. To the east and south its natural border is the Carpathian Mountains, and to the west the ...

had been ruled by a (semi-)independent leader (').

Stephen Stephen or Steven is a common English first name. It is particularly significant to Christians, as it belonged to Saint Stephen ( grc-gre, Στέφανος ), an early disciple and deacon who, according to the Book of Acts, was stoned to death; ...

(') had to conquer not only the territories of the ', but also the lands of Ahtum (') and the Black Magyars. The title disappeared on the coronation of Stephen I (') on 25 December 1000 or 1 January 1001.

Grand princes of the Hungarians

* Álmos (c. 850 – c. 895) *

(c. 895 – c. 907) * Zolta (c. 907 – c. 950) *

Fajsz Fajsz (), also Falicsi (), was Grand Prince of the Hungarians from about 950 to around 955. All information on him comes from ''De administrando imperio'', a book written by the Byzantine Emperor Constantine VII Porphyrogenitus. No other contem ...

(c. 950 – c. 955) * Taksony (c. 955 – c. 970) *

(c. 970 – 997) *

/ Vajk (997 – 1000, became the first king of the Hungarians) It is not known exactly how many grand princes of Hungary ruled between the supposed date of

‘s death (c. 907) and when

ascended to the throne (c. 948), because it seems that the chroniclers of the Hungarian kings, who came from the branch of Solt after 1000, wanted to make the people of the kingdom, to forget the rule between 907 and 950, of the other branches of the

Árpád dynasty The Árpád dynasty, consisted of the members of the royal House of Árpád (), also known as Árpáds ( hu, Árpádok, hr, Arpadovići). They were the ruling dynasty of the Principality of Hungary in the 9th and 10th centuries and of the King ...

, coming from the other 3 sons of

: Tarkacsu/ Liüntika, Jelek, Jutocsa, who, or their offspring probably ruled Hungary during this period, according to the nomadic custom of

agnatic seniority Agnatic seniority is a patrilineal principle of inheritance where the order of succession to the throne prefers the monarch's younger brother over the monarch's own sons. A monarch's children (the next generation) succeed only after the males ...

, used by the Hungarian rulers before 1000.Szabados György: Magyar államalapítások a IX-XI. században; Szegedi Középkori Könyvtár, Szeged, 2011, p. 244 The quietness of the chronicles is the reason why today's historians cannot establish precisely the whole list of the Hungarian grand princes between 907 and 955, and the only known rulers are Solt (from the Hungarian chronicles) and Fajsz from the book of the Byzantine emperor

De Administrando Imperio ''De Administrando Imperio'' ("On the Governance of the Empire") is the Latin title of a Greek-language work written by the 10th-century Eastern Roman Emperor Constantine VII. The Greek title of the work is ("To yown son Romanos"). It is a domes ...

, which preserved a longer list of names from the

-family, than the Hungarian chronicles, preoccupied only with the ruling branch of Solt. The reason of forgetting Fajsz from the Hungarian chronicles was the fact that he was not son of Solt, but of Jutocsa. Without the existence of

, very little would be known about him. The

preserved the name of Fajsz as the Grand Prince of the Hungarians, because it was written during his reign. But the names of the other grand princes, who were not from the branch of Solt, who probably ruled before and after him, are unknown.

References

Sources

* ''Korai Magyar Történeti Lexikon (9-14. század)'', főszerkesztő: Kristó, Gyula, szerkesztők: Engel, Pál és Makk, Ferenc (Akadémiai Kiadó, Budapest, 1994) * Kristó, Gyula: ''A Kárpát-medence és a magyarság régmúltja (1301-ig)'' (Szegedi Középkortörténeti Könyvtár, Szeged, 1993) {{DEFAULTSORT:Grand Prince Of The Hungarians Hungarian royalty 820s establishments 9th-century establishments in Hungary 1000 disestablishments in Europe

Grand princes of the Hungarians

See also

References

Sources