Simon of Kéza ( hu, Kézai Simon) was the most famous Hungarian chronicler of the 13th century. He was a priest in the royal court of king

Ladislaus IV of Hungary Ladislaus IV ( hu, IV. (Kun) László, hr, Ladislav IV. Kumanac, sk, Ladislav IV. Kumánsky; 5 August 1262 – 10 July 1290), also known as Ladislaus the Cuman, was King of Hungary and Croatia from 1272 to 1290. His mother, Elizabeth, was ...

. In 1270–1271, bearing the title "master" (''magister''), Simon was part of a diplomatic mission led by

Sixtus of Esztergom Sixtus ( hu, Sükösd or ''Sike''; died 1285 or 1286) was a Hungarian clergyman in the 13th century, who served as a skilled diplomat of King Béla IV of Hungary for decades. Early life Sixtus was presumably born around 1220The assumption of Six ...

. Andrew of Hungary was also a part of this mission. Sent by King

Stephen V of Hungary Stephen V ( hu, V. István, hr, Stjepan V., sk, Štefan V; before 18 October 1239 – 6 August 1272, Csepel Island) was King of Hungary and Croatia between 1270 and 1272, and Duke of Styria from 1258 to 1260. He was the oldest son of Kin ...

to congratulate King

Charles I of Sicily Charles I (early 1226/12277 January 1285), commonly called Charles of Anjou, was a member of the royal Capetian dynasty and the founder of the second House of Anjou. He was Count of Provence (1246–85) and Forcalquier (1246–48, 1256–85) i ...

on the latter's return from the

Eighth Crusade The Eighth Crusade was the second Crusade launched by Louis IX of France, this one against the Hafsid dynasty in Tunisia in 1270. It is also known as the Crusade of Louis IX against Tunis or the Second Crusade of Louis. The Crusade did not see ...

, the delegation travelled via

Naples Naples (; it, Napoli ; nap, Napule ), from grc, Νεάπολις, Neápolis, lit=new city. is the regional capital of Campania and the third-largest city of Italy, after Rome and Milan, with a population of 909,048 within the city's adminis ...

Catona Catona (in the local dialect ''A Catùna'') is an urban district (independent municipality until 1927) of Reggio Calabria, Italy, as part of the 8th district with neighborhoods Salice, Villa San Giuseppe and Rosalì. With about 15,000 inhabita ...

and

Messina Messina (, also , ) is a harbour city and the capital of the Italian Metropolitan City of Messina. It is the third largest city on the island of Sicily, and the 13th largest city in Italy, with a population of more than 219,000 inhabitants in ...

in December and January, then back with Charles to

Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus (legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

in February., at ic–cii. His most important work is ''

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 ...

'', written in

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...

around 1282, in which he gives a vivid description of the history of the

Huns The Huns were a nomadic people who lived in Central Asia, the Caucasus, and Eastern Europe between the 4th and 6th century AD. According to European tradition, they were first reported living east of the Volga River, in an area that was part ...

and 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 Urali ...

(whom he considered relatives), from the legendary beginnings until the contemporary period. As a personal secretary of the king, he worked in the royal archives and collected his material from older chronicles conserved there. The chronicle was first published in print in 1782 in

Buda Buda (; german: Ofen, sh-Latn-Cyrl, separator=" / ", Budim, Будим, Czech and sk, Budín, tr, Budin) was the historic capital of the Kingdom of Hungary and since 1873 has been the western part of the Hungarian capital Budapest, on the ...

. In the 19th century it was translated into Hungarian and became a popular work which helped the development of national consciousness.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Simon of Keza 13th-century Hungarian historians Hungarian chroniclers 13th-century Latin writers Medieval Hungarian diplomats 13th-century diplomats