Lawrence, Bishop Of Csanád
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

Lawrence (; died after 1113) was a prelate in the
Kingdom of Hungary The Kingdom of Hungary was a monarchy in Central Europe that existed for nearly a millennium, from 1000 to 1946 and was a key part of the Habsburg monarchy from 1526-1918. The Principality of Hungary emerged as a Christian kingdom upon the Coro ...
at the turn of the 11th and 12th centuries, who served as
Bishop of Csanád A bishop is an ordained member of the clergy who is entrusted with a position of authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance and administration of dioceses. The role ...
from around 1083 to 1113.


Career

According to the ''
Long Life of Saint Gerard The ''Long Life of Saint Gerard'' (), also known as ''Long Life of Saint Gerald'' or ''Passion of Saint Gerard'', is the hagiography of Bishop Gerard of Csanád, who was murdered by pagan Hungarians in 1046. The longer version of his legends was c ...
'', Lawrence was the fifth bishop of the Diocese of Csanád, i.e. he held the dignity after
Gerard Gerard is a masculine forename of Proto-Germanic language, Proto-Germanic origin, variations of which exist in many Germanic and Romance languages. Like many other Germanic name, early Germanic names, it is dithematic, consisting of two meaningful ...
(1030–1046), Maurus (1046–1053) and two unidentified bishops. Under his episcopal reign, Gerard was canonized in 1083, at the initiative of King
Ladislaus I of Hungary Ladislaus I (, , , ; 1040 – 29 July 1095), also known as Saint Ladislas, was King of Hungary from 1077 and King of Croatia from 1091. He was the second son of King Béla I of Hungary and Richeza of Poland, Queen of Hungary, Richeza (or Adela ...
. Gerard's holy relics were placed in the cathedral of
Csanád Csanád, also Chanadinus, or Cenad, was the first head ''(comes)'' of Csanád County in the Kingdom of Hungary in the first decades of the 11th century. Csanád defeated and killed Ajtony who had ruled over the region now known as Banat (in R ...
(today Cenad, Romania) on 24 February 1084. The
Cumans The Cumans or Kumans were a Turkic people, Turkic nomadic people from Central Asia comprising the western branch of the Cumania, Cuman–Kipchak confederation who spoke the Cuman language. They are referred to as Polovtsians (''Polovtsy'') in Ru ...
invaded and plundered the eastern part of the kingdom, including the territory of the Diocese of Csanád, in 1091. Lawrence attended the
Synod of Szabolcs The synod of Szabolcs was an assembly of the prelates of the Kingdom of Hungary which met at the fortress of Szabolcs on 21 May 1092. It was presided over by King Ladislaus I of Hungary. The synod passed decrees which regulated the life of both cl ...
in 1092, presided over by Ladislaus I, which passed decrees which regulated the life of both clergymen and laymen, several aspects of liturgy and Church administration. Lawrence's name is mentioned among the testimonies by two royal charters of
Coloman, King of Hungary Coloman the Learned, also the Book-Lover or the Bookish (; ; ; 10703February 1116), was King of Hungary from 1095 and King of Croatia from 1097 until his death. Because Coloman and his younger brother Álmos, Duke of Croatia, Álmos were undera ...
issued regarding the
Zobor Abbey Zobor Abbey was a Benedictine monastery established at Zobor (today part of Nitra, Slovakia) in the Kingdom of Hungary. The abbey was first mentioned by royal charters issued in 1111 and 1113, during the rule of Coloman, King of Hungary Colo ...
in 1111 and 1113. He was succeeded by Bestertius prior to 1138. The 14th-century ''
Illuminated Chronicle The ''Chronicon Pictum'' or ''Illuminated Chronicle'' (, , , also referred to as the ''Illustrated Chronicle'', ''Chronica Hungarorum'', ''Chronicon Hungarie Pictum'', ''Chronica Picta'' or ''Chronica de Gestis Hungarorum'') is a medieval illust ...
'' mentions that two bishops –
Koppány Koppány, also called Cupan was a Hungarian lord in the late 10th century and leader of pagans opposing the Christianization of Hungary. As the duke of Somogy, he laid claim to the throne based on the traditional idea of seniority, but was defea ...
and a certain Lawrence – participated in Coloman's military campaign against the western principalities of the
Kievan Rus' Kievan Rus', also known as Kyivan Rus,. * was the first East Slavs, East Slavic state and later an amalgam of principalities in Eastern Europe from the late 9th to the mid-13th century.John Channon & Robert Hudson, ''Penguin Historical At ...
in 1099. The Hungarians suffered a serious defeat, when the hired Cumans attacked their camp at Peremyshl (present-day Przemyśl,
Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It extends from the Baltic Sea in the north to the Sudetes and Carpathian Mountains in the south, bordered by Lithuania and Russia to the northeast, Belarus and Ukrai ...
). Both Koppány and Lawrence were killed during the skirmish.''The Hungarian Illuminated Chronicle'' (ch. 145), pp. 268–269. The late 12th-century ''
Annales Posonienses The ''Annales Posonienses'' or Annals of Pressburg () are the only extant early medieval annals written in the Kingdom of Hungary. However, they are rather a collection of notes which, as the historian Carlile Aylmer Macartney emphasizes, "hardly" ...
'' also mentions that Koppány was killed by the Cumans in 1100 (correctly, 1099), but Lawrence's death in the same year is not connected to the campaign. If this Lawrence is identical with the bishop of Csanád (no other Lawrence is mentioned in the era, except for
the archbishop "The Archbishop" is the third episode of the first series of the BBC sitcom ''Blackadder'' (''The Black Adder''). It is set in Kingdom of England, England in the late 15th century, and follows the exploits of the fictitious Prince Edmund (Blacka ...
of the same name), it is possible that the bishop in the late 11th century and in the 1110s are two persons, and Lawrence (I) was succeeded by Lawrence (II) after the former perished in Rus' in 1099.


References


Sources


Primary sources

*


Secondary studies

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Lawrence of Csanad 11th-century Hungarian people 12th-century Hungarian people Bishops of Csanád 11th-century Roman Catholic bishops in Hungary 12th-century Roman Catholic bishops in Hungary