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Árpád (; 845 – 907) was the head of the confederation of the
Magyar tribes The Magyar tribes ( , hu, magyar törzsek) or Hungarian clans were the fundamental political units within whose framework the Hungarians (Magyars) lived, before the Hungarian conquest of the Carpathian Basin and the subsequent established the ...
at the turn of the 9th and 10th centuries. He might have been either the sacred ruler or '' kende'' of 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 ...
, or their military leader or '' gyula'', although most details of his life are debated by historians, because different sources contain contradictory information. Despite this, many Hungarians refer to him as the "founder of our country", and Árpád's preeminent role in the Hungarian conquest of the Carpathian Basin has been emphasized by some later chronicles. The dynasty descending from Árpád ruled 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 Hungarian monarch, c ...
until 1301.


Biography


Early life

Árpád was the son of Álmos who is mentioned as the first head of the confederation of the
Magyar tribes The Magyar tribes ( , hu, magyar törzsek) or Hungarian clans were the fundamental political units within whose framework the Hungarians (Magyars) lived, before the Hungarian conquest of the Carpathian Basin and the subsequent established the ...
by all Hungarian chronicles. His mother's name and family are unknown. According to historian Gyula Kristó, Árpád was born around 845. His name derived from the Hungarian word for
barley Barley (''Hordeum vulgare''), a member of the grass family, is a major cereal grain grown in temperate climates globally. It was one of the first cultivated grains, particularly in Eurasia as early as 10,000 years ago. Globally 70% of barley p ...
, ''árpa''. The
Byzantine Emperor This is a list of the Byzantine emperors from the foundation of Constantinople in 330 AD, which marks the conventional start of the Eastern Roman Empire, to its fall to the Ottoman Empire in 1453 AD. Only the emperors who were recognized as ...
Constantine Porphyrogenitus (r. 913–959) states that the Hungarians "had never at any time had any other prince" before Árpád, which is in sharp contrast to the Hungarian chronicles' report of the position of Árpád's father.''Constantine Porphyrogenitus: De Administrando Imperio'' (ch. 38), p. 173. In Porphyrogenitus's narration, the Khazar
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, Khakhan ...
initiated the centralization of the command of the Hungarian tribes in order to strengthen his own suzerainty over them. The khagan initially wanted to appoint a chieftain named
Levedi Levedi, or Lebed, Levedias, Lebedias, and Lebedi was a Hungarian chieftain, the first known chieftain of the Hungarians. According to Constantine VII Porphyrogenitus' ''De administrando imperio'', because of the alliance and the courage shown by ...
to lead the Hungarians. However, Levedi did not accept this offer and suggested that either Álmos or Árpád should be promoted instead of him. The khagan approached the Hungarians with this new proposal. They preferred Árpád to his father, because he was "greatly admired for wisdom and counsel and valour, and capable of this rule". Thereafter, Árpád was made "prince according to the custom ... of the Chazars, by lifting him upon a shield." Constantine Porphyrogenitus erroneously refers to the Magyars as Turks. This was a misnomer, as while the Magyars do have some Turkic genetic and cultural influence, and their historical social structure was of Turkic origin, they are not a Turkic people. The reliability of the Byzantine emperor's report of Árpád's election is debated by modern historians: for instance, Victor Spinei states that it is "rather vague and scarcely credible", but András Róna-Tas writes that its core is reliable. The latter historian adds that Árpád's election was promoted by Álmos, who forced Levedi to renounce his position as ''kende''. Accordingly, in Róna-Tas's view, Árpád succeeded Levedi as sacred ruler, or ''kende'', which enabled his father to preserve his own position as the actual leader of the Hungarians, or ''gyula''.


Towards the Hungarian Conquest

The earliest reliable source of Árpád's life is an early 10th-century document, the '' Continuation of the Chronicle by George the Monk''. It narrates that the Byzantine Emperor Leo VI the Wise (r. 886–912) sent his envoy Nicetas Sclerus to the Hungarians in 894 or 895 "to give presents" and incite them against the
Bulgarian Empire In the medieval history of Europe, Bulgaria's status as the Bulgarian Empire ( bg, Българско царство, ''Balgarsko tsarstvo'' ) occurred in two distinct periods: between the seventh and the eleventh centuries and again between the ...
. Sclerus met with their two leaders, Árpád and Kurszán, at the Lower Danube. Sclerus's mission succeeded: a Hungarian army soon crossed the Danube on Byzantine ships against Bulgaria. An interpolation in Porphyrogenitus's text suggests that the invading Hungarians were under the command of Árpád's son,
Liüntika Liüntika or Levente (? - before 907) was a Hungarian tribal chieftain, the eldest son of Grand Prince Árpád. As a military leader he participated in the Hungarian Conquest (''Honfoglalás'', "Landtaking"). Positions According to the state s ...
. The positions held by Árpád and Kurszán at the time of their negotiations with Sclerus are debated by historians. Spinei wrote that Árpád was the ''gyula'', and Kurszán was the ''kende''. In contrast, Kristó said that Kurszán was the ''gyula'' and Árpád represented his father, Álmos ''kende''. The Hungarian army defeated the Bulgarians, but the latter hired the
Pechenegs 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, პა� ...
against them. The Bulgarians and Pechenegs simultaneously invaded the Hungarians' territories in the western regions of the Pontic steppes in 895 or 896. The destruction of their dwelling places by the Pechenegs forced the Hungarians to leave for a new homeland across the
Carpathian Mountains The Carpathian Mountains or Carpathians () are a range of mountains forming an arc across Central Europe. Roughly long, it is the third-longest European mountain range after the Urals at and the Scandinavian Mountains at . The range stretche ...
towards the Pannonian Plain. The '' Illuminated Chronicle'' says that Árpád's father Álmos "could not enter
Pannonia Pannonia (, ) was a province of the Roman Empire bounded on the north and east by the Danube, coterminous westward with Noricum and upper Italy, and southward with Dalmatia and upper Moesia. Pannonia was located in the territory that is now west ...
, for he was killed in Erdelw" or
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 A ...
. Engel, Kristó and Molnár, who accept the reliability of this report, wrote that Álmos's death was a ritual murder, similar to the sacrifice of the Khazar khagans in case of a disaster affecting their people. In contrast with them, Róna-Tas states that even if the report on Álmos's murder "reflects true event, the only possible explanation would be that Árpád or someone in his entourage" killed the aged prince. Spinei rejects the ''Illuminated Chronicles report on Álmos's murder in Transylvania, because the last mention of Álmos in the contrasting narration of the ''Gesta Hungarorum'' is connected to a siege of Ungvár (Uzhhorod,
Ukraine Ukraine ( uk, Україна, Ukraïna, ) is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the second-largest European country after Russia, which it borders to the east and northeast. Ukraine covers approximately . Prior to the ongoing Russian inva ...
) by the Hungarians. The latter chronicle says that Álmos appointed Árpád "as leader and master" of the Hungarians on this occasion.


Reign

Árpád's name "is completely unknown" to all sources written in
East Francia East Francia (Medieval Latin: ) or the Kingdom of the East Franks () was a successor state of Charlemagne's empire ruled by the Carolingian dynasty until 911. It was created through the Treaty of Verdun (843) which divided the former empire int ...
, which was one of the main powers of the Carpathian Basin at the turn of the 9th and 10th centuries. These sources, including the '' Annales Alamannici'' and the ''Annales Eisnidlenses'', only mention another Hungarian leader, Kurszán. According to Kristó and other historians, these sources suggest that Kurszán must have been the ''gyula'' commanding the Hungarian forces, while Árpád succeeded his murdered father as the sacred ''kende''. Proposing a contrasting theory, the Romanian historian Curta wrote that Kurszán was the ''kende'' and Árpád ''gyula'' only succeeded him when Kurszán was murdered by
Bavaria Bavaria ( ; ), officially the Free State of Bavaria (german: Freistaat Bayern, link=no ), is a state in the south-east of Germany. With an area of , Bavaria is the largest German state by land area, comprising roughly a fifth of the total l ...
ns in 902 or 904. In contrast to nearly contemporaneous sources, Hungarian chronicles written centuries after the eventsfor instance, the '' Gesta Hungarorum'' and the '' Illuminated Chronicle''emphasize Árpád's pre-eminent role in the conquest of the Carpathian Basin. The ''Gesta Hungarorum'' also highlights Árpád's military skills and his generosity. This chronicle also emphasizes that Tétény, one of the heads of the seven Hungarian tribes, acquired "the land of Transylvania for himself and his posterity" only after Árpád had authorized him to conquer it. The ''Gesta Hungarorum'' says that Árpád took "an oath of the leading men and warriors of Hungary," and "had his son, Prince Zoltán elevated" to prince in his life.''Anonymus, Notary of King Béla: The Deeds of the Hungarians'' (ch. 52), p. 115. However, the reliability of this report and the list of the grand princes in the ''Gesta Hungarorum'' is dubious. For instance, it ignores Fajsz, who ruled when Constantine VII Porphyrogenitus was completing his ''De Administrando Imperio'' around 950.


Death

The date of Árpád's death is debated. The ''Gesta Hungarorum'' states that he died in 907. However, Kristó wrote that he actually died in 900 or later because the ''Gesta'' says 903 is the starting date of the Hungarian "land-taking" instead of its actual date around 895. If the ''Gestas report on his funeral is reliable, Árpád was buried "at the head of a small river that flows through a stone culvert to the city of King Attila" where a village, Fehéregyháza, developed near
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 ...
a century later.


Legacy

The Hungarians arrived in their new homeland within the Carpathians under Árpád. Árpád is the principal actor in the ''Gesta Hungarorum'', which attributes "almost all memorable events" of the "Hungarian land-taking" to him. Furthermore, until the extinction of the male line of his dynasty in 1301, Hungary was ruled by "a single line of princes", all descending from Árpád. Árpád is known among Hungarians as ''honalapító'' or the "founder of our homeland".


Family

Porphyrogenitus says Árpád "had four sons: first, ''Tarkatzous''; second, ''Ielech''; third, ''Ioutotzas''; fourth, ''Zaltas''". However, he also refers to one "''Liuntikas'', son of" Árpád; Kristó wrote that Liuntikas (Liüntika) was an alternative name of Tarkatzous (Tarhos).''Constantine Porphyrogenitus: De Administrando Imperio'' (ch. 40), p. 177. The name and family of the mother of Árpád's sons are unknown. The following is a family tree presenting Árpád's ancestors and his descendants to the end of the 10th century: ''*Liüntika and Tarkatzus are supposed to have been identical.''
''**The father of Tas was one of Árpád's four or five sons, but his name is unknown.''
''***All later grand princes and kings of Hungary descended from Taksony.''


See also

* Árpáds * Hungarian prehistory * History of Hungary


Notes


Footnotes


References


Primary sources

*''Anonymus, Notary of King Béla: The Deeds of the Hungarians'' (Edited, Translated and Annotated by Martyn Rady and László Veszprémy) (2010). In: Rady, Martyn; Veszprémy, László; Bak, János M. (2010); ''Anonymus and Master Roger''; CEU Press; . *''Constantine Porphyrogenitus: De Administrando Imperio'' (Greek text edited by Gyula Moravcsik, English translation by Romillyi J. H. Jenkins) (1967). Dumbarton Oaks Center for Byzantine Studies. . *''The Hungarian Illuminated Chronicle:'' Chronica de Gestis Hungarorum (Edited by Dezső Dercsényi) (1970). Corvina, Taplinger Publishing. . *''The Taktika of Leo VI'' (Text, translation, and commentary by George T. Dennis) (2010). Dumbarton Oaks. .


Secondary sources

* * * * * * * * *


External links

*
Árpád, painting from the 19th century
, - {{DEFAULTSORT:Arpad Magyar tribal chieftains House of Árpád Hungarian monarchs Medieval Hungarian nobility 840s births 900s deaths Year of birth uncertain Year of death uncertain 9th-century Hungarian people 10th-century Hungarian people 10th-century rulers in Europe 9th-century rulers in Europe Hungarian prehistory Founding monarchs