Sarolt ( 950 – c. 1008) was the wife of

Géza, Grand Prince of the Hungarians Géza ( 940 – 997), also Gejza, was Grand Prince of the Hungarians from the early 970s. He was the son of Grand Prince Taksony and his OrientalKhazar, Pecheneg or Volga Bulgarianwife. He married Sarolt, a daughter of an Eastern Orthodox Hu ...

. She was born a daughter of Zombor (or

Gyula II Gyula II was a Hungarian tribal leader in the middle of the 10th century. He visited Constantinople, where he was baptized. His baptismal name was Stephen. Life He descended from a family whose members held the hereditary title '' gyula'', which ...

), ''gyula'' of Transylvania, second in rank among the leaders of the Hungarian tribal federation. Sarolt exerted a powerful influence on her husband which allowed her to also influence his government. She was watched with suspicion by

Catholic The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

missionaries. The chronicles accused her of drinking insatiably and even committing manslaughter. Sarolt and her husband received baptism late in life. They raised their son as a Christian and changed his name from Vajk to

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; ...

as a sign of their faith. After her husband's death in 997, one of his distant cousins, Koppány, who declared his claim to the leadership of the Magyars against her son, Stephen (Vajk), wanted to marry Sarolt, referring to the Hungarian tradition. Koppány, nevertheless, was defeated, and shortly afterward Sarolt's son was crowned as the first

King of Hungary The King of Hungary ( hu, magyar király) was the ruling head of state of the Kingdom of Hungary from 1000 (or 1001) to 1918. The style of title "Apostolic King of Hungary" (''Apostoli Magyar Király'') was endorsed by Pope Clement XIII in 175 ...

Ancestry and early life

Sarolt was the daughter of a ''gyula'' who reportedly converted to Byzantine Christianity in

Constantinople la, Constantinopolis ota, قسطنطينيه , alternate_name = Byzantion (earlier Greek name), Nova Roma ("New Rome"), Miklagard/Miklagarth (Old Norse), Tsargrad ( Slavic), Qustantiniya ( Arabic), Basileuousa ("Queen of Cities"), Megalopolis ( ...

after 950, and who then established the first

Christian mission A Christian mission is an organized effort for the propagation of the Christian faith. Missions involve sending individuals and groups across boundaries, most commonly geographical boundaries, to carry on evangelism or other activities, such as ...

in Hungary. It is likely that his family and household, including his daughter Sarolt was baptised in the Byzantine rite, too. It is unsure whether Sarolt's father was named Gyula or Zombor, but he was the ''gyula'' of Transylvania and as such, the second-highest-ranking leader in the Hungarian tribal federation after the

Grand Prince of the Hungarians 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 mentioned Árpád in his book De Administrando Imperio as ', while Bru ...

. He was a grandson of Tétény (also known as Töhötöm or Tühütüm), one of the seven chieftains of the Hungarians who led the seven tribes of the Hungarians when they arrived in the

Carpathian Basin The Pannonian Basin, or Carpathian Basin, is a large Sedimentary basin, basin situated in south-east Central Europe. The Geomorphology, geomorphological term Pannonian Plain is more widely used for roughly the same region though with a somewh ...

. According to the ''

Gesta Hungarorum ''Gesta Hungarorum'', or ''The Deeds of the Hungarians'', is the earliest book about Hungarian history which has survived for posterity. Its genre is not chronicle, but ''gesta'', meaning "deeds" or "acts", which is a medieval entertaining li ...

'', Sarolt had a sister named Karold and a brother. This brother can be identified as

Gyula III Gyula III, also Iula or Gyula the Younger, Geula or Gyla, was an early medieval ruler in Transylvania ( – 1003/1004). Around 1003, he and his family were attacked, dispossessed and captured by King Stephen I of Hungary (1000/1001-1038). The name ...

. Sarolt was born around 950 (based on the birth years of her children). Her name is of Turkic origins (Šar-oldu) and means white

stoat The stoat (''Mustela erminea''), also known as the Eurasian ermine, Beringian ermine and ermine, is a mustelid native to Eurasia and the northern portions of North America. Because of its wide circumpolar distribution, it is listed as Least Conc ...

. She was married to Géza around 970, which was likely also the start of his rule as Grand Prince of the Hungarians. Géza was a great-grandson of

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 '' g ...

, who led the Hungarian tribes during the Hungarian conquest of the Carpathian Basin.

Marriage and children

Married to

(c. 945 – 997) * Judith (? – after 988), wife of the future King

Bolesław I of Poland Boleslav or Bolesław may refer to: In people: * Boleslaw (given name) In geography: *Bolesław, Dąbrowa County, Lesser Poland Voivodeship, Poland *Bolesław, Olkusz County, Lesser Poland Voivodeship, Poland *Bolesław, Silesian Voivodeship, Pol ...

* Margaret (? – after 988), wife of the future Tsar Gavril Radomir of Bulgaria * 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 ...

(967/969/975 – 15 August 1038) * Grimelda (? – after 1026), wife of Otto Orseolo,

Doge of Venice The Doge of Venice ( ; vec, Doxe de Venexia ; it, Doge di Venezia ; all derived from Latin ', "military leader"), sometimes translated as Duke (compare the Italian '), was the chief magistrate and leader of the Republic of Venice between 726 ...

* Sarolt? (? – ?), wife of the future King Samuel Aba of Hungary

Sources

* Kristó Gyula - Makk Ferenc: ''Az Árpád-ház uralkodói'' (IPC Könyvek, 1996) * ''Korai Magyar Történeti Lexikon (9-14. század)'', főszerkesztő: Kristó Gyula, szerkesztők: Engel Pál és Makk Ferenc (Akadémiai Kiadó, Budapest, 1994)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sarolt House of Árpád Hungarian queens consort 10th-century Hungarian people 10th-century Hungarian women 11th-century Hungarian people 11th-century Hungarian women 950 births 1000s deaths Year of birth uncertain Year of death uncertain