Emeric ( hu, Szent Imre herceg), also ''Emericus,'' ''Emerick, Emery, Emory'', and venerated as Saint Emeric (c. 1007 – 2 September 1031) was the son of King

Stephen I of Hungary Stephen I, also known as King Saint Stephen ( hu, Szent István király ; la, Sanctus Stephanus; sk, Štefan I. or Štefan Veľký; 975 – 15 August 1038), was the last Grand Prince of the Hungarians between 997 and 1000 or 1001, and the f ...

and

Giselle of Bavaria Gisela of Hungary (or Gisele, Gizella and of Bavaria; 985 – 7 May 1065) was the first queen consort of Hungary by marriage to Stephen I of Hungary, and the sister of Henry II, Holy Roman Emperor. She has been beatified by the Catholic Church. ...

Life

Family

Emeric is assumedSauser, E., ''Biographisch-bibliographisches Kirchenlexikon'' (German, title transl. "Biographical-bibliographical encyclopaedia of the Roman Catholic church") Vol. XXI, pub. Bautz, 2003, to be the second son of Stephen I. Named after his maternal uncle Henry II, he was the only one of Stephen's sons who reached adulthood.

Education

Emeric was educated in a strict and ascetic spirit by the Benedictine monk from Venice,

Gerard Gerard is a masculine forename of Proto-Germanic origin, variations of which exist in many Germanic and Romance languages. Like many other early Germanic names, it is dithematic, consisting of two meaningful constituents put together. In this ca ...

, from the age of 15 to 23. He was intended to be the next monarch of Hungary, and his father wrote his '' Admonitions'' to prepare him for this task. His father tried to make Emeric co-heir still in his lifetime. He married in the year 1022. The identity of his wife is disputed. Some say it was

Irene Monomachina Emeric ( hu, Szent Imre herceg), also ''Emericus,'' ''Emerick, Emery, Emory'', and venerated as Saint Emeric (c. 1007 – 2 September 1031) was the son of King Stephen I of Hungary and Giselle of Bavaria. Life Family Emeric is assumedSauser ...

, a relative of Byzantine emperor

Constantine IX Monomachos Constantine IX Monomachos ( grc-x-medieval, Κωνσταντῖνος Μονομάχος, translit=Kōnstantinos IX Monomachos; 1004 – 11 January 1055), reigned as Byzantine emperor from June 1042 to January 1055. Empress Zoë Porphyrogenita ...

, or a female member of the

Argyros family Argyros (, derived from , "silver"), feminine Argyre (), Latinized as Argyrus and Argyra, was the name of a prominent aristocratic family of Roman Emperors of the Byzantine Empire active from the middle of the 9th century until the very end of t ...

to which Byzantine emperor

Romanos III Argyros Romanos III Argyros ( el, Ρωμανός Αργυρός; Latinized Romanus III Argyrus; 968 – 11 April 1034), or Argyropoulos was Byzantine Emperor from 1028 until his death. He was a Byzantine noble and senior official in Constantinople whe ...

belonged. Other say it was Patricissa of Croatia, the daughter of

Krešimir III of Croatia Krešimir III ( la, Cresimir) was King of Croatia from 1000 until his death in 1030. He was from the Trpimirović dynasty and founder of the Krešimirović branch of the family. He was the middle son of former King Stjepan Držislav. Until 102 ...

. Another possible person may have been

Adelaide/Rixa of Poland Richeza of Poland (22 September 1013 – 21 May 1075) was Queen Consort of Hungary by marriage to Béla I of Hungary. Life She was a daughter of King Mieszko II Lambert of Poland, and his wife, Richeza of Lotharingia, granddaughter of Emperor ...

or one of her unnamed sisters.

Death and sainthood

The succession plans of Emeric's father could never be fulfilled: on 2 September 1031, at age 24, Emeric was killed by a

boar The wild boar (''Sus scrofa''), also known as the wild swine, common wild pig, Eurasian wild pig, or simply wild pig, is a suid native to much of Eurasia and North Africa, and has been introduced to the Americas and Oceania. The species is no ...

while hunting. It is assumed that this happened in Hegyközszentimre (presently Sântimreu,

Romania Romania ( ; ro, România ) is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern, and Southeast Europe, Southeastern Europe. It borders Bulgaria to the south, Ukraine to the north, Hungary to the west, S ...

). He was buried in the

Székesfehérvár Basilica The Basilica of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary ( hu, Nagyboldogasszony-bazilika) was a basilica in Székesfehérvár ( la, Alba Regia), Hungary. From the year 1000 until 1527, it was the site of the coronation of the Hungarian monarch. ...

. Several wondrous

healing With physical trauma or disease suffered by an organism, healing involves the repairing of damaged tissue(s), organs and the biological system as a whole and resumption of (normal) functioning. Medicine includes the process by which the cells i ...

s and conversions happened at his grave, so on 5 November 1083 King Ladislaus I unearthed Emeric's bones in a large ceremony, and Emeric was

canonised Canonization is the declaration of a deceased person as an officially recognized saint, specifically, the official act of a Christian communion declaring a person worthy of public veneration and entering their name in the canon catalogue of ...

for his pious life and purity along with his father and Bishop

Gerard of Csanád Gerard or Gerard Sagredo ( hu, Gellért; it, Gerardo di Sagredo; la, Gerardus; 23 April 977/1000 – 29 August 1046) was the first bishop of Csanád in the Kingdom of Hungary from around 1030 to his death. Most information about his life was p ...

Pope Gregory VII Pope Gregory VII ( la, Gregorius VII; 1015 – 25 May 1085), born Hildebrand of Sovana ( it, Ildebrando di Soana), was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 22 April 1073 to his death in 1085. He is venerated as a saint ...

. Emeric is most often pictured in knight's armour with

crown A crown is a traditional form of head adornment, or hat, worn by monarchs as a symbol of their power and dignity. A crown is often, by extension, a symbol of the monarch's government or items endorsed by it. The word itself is used, partic ...

and

lily ''Lilium'' () is a genus of Herbaceous plant, herbaceous flowering plants growing from bulbs, all with large prominent flowers. They are the true lilies. Lilies are a group of flowering plants which are important in culture and literature in mu ...

. It is believed by some Hungarians that Amerigo Vespucci, the Italian explorer and the namesake of the

Americas The Americas, which are sometimes collectively called America, are a landmass comprising the totality of North and South America. The Americas make up most of the land in Earth's Western Hemisphere and comprise the New World. Along with th ...

, was named after the saint, but no proof of this etymology exists.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Emeric 1000s births 1031 deaths House of Árpád Beatified and canonised Árpádians Medieval Hungarian saints Hungarian Roman Catholic saints 11th-century Christian saints Roman Catholic royal saints Canonizations by Pope Gregory VII Deaths due to boar attacks Accidental deaths in Hungary Hunting accident deaths Heirs apparent who never acceded Sons of kings

Life

Family

Education

Death and sainthood

See also

Further reading

References