Vata or Vatha () was a Hungarian noble, lord of the castle of Békés and chief of a tribe in Körösvidék (today

Crișana Crișana ( hu, Körösvidék, german: Kreischgebiet) is a geographical and historical region in north-western Romania, named after the Criș (Körös) River and its three tributaries: the Crișul Alb, Crișul Negru, and Crișul Repede. In Rom ...

). He is known for being the leader of the

Vata pagan uprising The Vata pagan uprising () was a Hungarian rebellion which, in 1046, brought about the overthrow of King Peter Urseolo, the martyrdom of Bishop Gerard of Csanád and the reinstatement of the Árpád dynasty on the Hungarian throne. Backgroun ...

Life

Alternative theories suggest that he was of

Pecheneg The Pechenegs () or Patzinaks tr, Peçenek(ler), Middle Turkic: , ro, Pecenegi, russian: Печенег(и), uk, Печеніг(и), hu, Besenyő(k), gr, Πατζινάκοι, Πετσενέγοι, Πατζινακίται, ka, პაჭ ...

origin. To preserve his position, he formally adopted Christianity at the start of his reign, although

Peter Orseolo Peter Orseolo, or Peter the Venetian ( hu, Velencei Péter; 1010 or 1011 – 1046, or late 1050s), was the King of Hungary twice. He first succeeded his uncle, King Stephen I, in 1038. His favoritism towards his foreign courtiers caused an u ...

attempted to remove him from power because of his well-known pagan lifestyle.

Uprising

In 1046, the nobility called back

Vazul Vazul, or Vászoly, (before 997–1031 or 1032) was a member of the House of Árpád, a grandson of Taksony, Grand Prince of the Hungarians. The only other certain information about his life is that he was kept in captivity and blinded in the fo ...

's sons from the

Kievan Rus' Kievan Rusʹ, also known as Kyivan Rusʹ ( orv, , Rusĭ, or , , ; Old Norse: ''Garðaríki''), was a state in Eastern and Northern Europe from the late 9th to the mid-13th century.John Channon & Robert Hudson, ''Penguin Historical Atlas of ...

for a rebellion against Peter Orseolo, who swore to "fill this land with foreigners and give it to the Germans" according to the

Illuminated Chronicle The ''Chronicon Pictum'' (Latin for "illustrated chronicle", English: ''Illuminated Chronicle'' or ''Vienna Illuminated Chronicle'', hu, Képes Krónika, sk, Obrázková kronika, german: Illustrierte Chronik, also referred to as '' Chronica Hun ...

.''Mark of Kalt: Chronicon Pictum'' https://mek.oszk.hu/10600/10642/10642.htm Using this opportunity, Vata started another uprising in Eastern Hungary with the purpose of Dechristianizing the kingdom. At

Abaújvár Abaújvár is a village in northeastern Hungary, next to the Slovak border. It lies northeast of Miskolc, and 18 km south of Košice (Kassa), Slovakia. History In addition to Gyöngyöspata in Heves County, from the 11th–14th centuries A ...

, his mob met with the newly arrived brothers and demanded them to "let the whole people live according to pagan customs, let them kill the bishops and the churchmen, ruin the churches, drop the Christian faith and respect idols". Having no other choice, they had to accept it. During the chaos,

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 ...

, enemy of Peter was thought to be a clergyman of him and was executed. The king tried to escape into Austria, but was blinded possibly by Vata's followers. The younger brother,

Andrew Andrew is the English form of a given name common in many countries. In the 1990s, it was among the top ten most popular names given to boys in List of countries where English is an official language, English-speaking countries. "Andrew" is freq ...

was crowned king and defeated the pagan rebels who supported the older brother

Levente Levente (between 1010 and 1015 – 1047) was a member of the House of Árpád, a great-grandson of Taksony, Grand Prince of the Hungarians. He was expelled from Hungary in 1031 or 1032, and spent many years in Bohemia, Poland and the Kievan Rus ...

, who didn't convert to

Christianity Christianity is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth. It is the world's largest and most widespread religion with roughly 2.38 billion followers representing one-third of the global pop ...

Later life

Vata retained his position afterwards by submitting to Andrew and serving him until death. His only known child is John, who later led another pagan uprising in 1061.

References

Sources

* * {{Authority control 11th-century Hungarian nobility