Liüntika or Levente (? - before 907) was a Hungarian tribal chieftain, the eldest son of Grand Prince

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 ...

. As a military leader he participated in the Hungarian Conquest (''Honfoglalás'', "Hometaking").

Positions

According to the state structure of Goktürks and

Khazars The Khazars ; 突厥可薩 ''Tūjué Kěsà'', () were a nomadic Turkic people who, in the late 6th century CE, established a major commercial empire covering the southeastern section of modern European Russia, southern Ukraine, Crimea, a ...

the Crown Prince reigned over the joined people. This is in line with the sources, where Liüntika appeared as leader of the

Kabars The Kabars (), also known as Qavars (Qabars) or Khavars, were Khazar rebels who joined Magyar tribes and the Rus' Khaganate confederations in the 9th century CE. Sources The Byzantine Emperor Constantine VII is the principal source of the Kaba ...

. The Kabars was the last ethnic group who joined to the Hungarian people. According to

Byzantine Emperor The foundation of Constantinople in 330 AD marks the conventional start of the Eastern Roman Empire, which Fall of Constantinople, fell to the Ottoman Empire in 1453 AD. Only the emperors who were recognized as legitimate rulers and exercised s ...

Constantine VII the Purple-born – following the narrative of horka Bulcsú – a leader ''(archon)'' ruled the three tribes of the Kabars, even at the time of the Emperor. Constantine viewed that Lüntika was this leader during the Conquest.Györffy György. István király és műve. Gondolat Budapest 1983.

Life

Liüntika, with the Kabar people, fought against the

First Bulgarian Empire The First Bulgarian Empire (; was a medieval state that existed in Southeastern Europe between the 7th and 11th centuries AD. It was founded in 680–681 after part of the Bulgars, led by Asparuh of Bulgaria, Asparuh, moved south to the northe ...

, while his father, Árpád started an offensive with the main army in alliance with the Great Moravian Empire against

Pannonia Pannonia (, ) was a Roman province, province of the Roman Empire bounded on the north and east by the Danube, on the west by Noricum and upper Roman Italy, Italy, and on the southward by Dalmatia (Roman province), Dalmatia and upper Moesia. It ...

and the Bulgarian border in the

Great Hungarian Plain The Great Hungarian Plain (also known as Alföld or Great Alföld, or ) is a plain occupying the majority of the modern territory of Hungary. It is the largest part of the wider Pannonian Plain (however, the Great Hungarian Plain was not par ...

. After the Conquest probably he became leader of

Moravia Moravia ( ; ) is a historical region in the eastern Czech Republic, roughly encompassing its territory within the Danube River's drainage basin. It is one of three historical Czech lands, with Bohemia and Czech Silesia. The medieval and early ...

, because there was a moravian castle near to the firth of

Thaya The Thaya (, ) is a river in the Czech Republic and Austria, a right tributary of the Morava (river), Morava River. It flows through the South Moravian Region in the Czech Republic and through Lower Austria in Austria. It is formed by the conflue ...

Břeclav Břeclav (; ) is a town in the South Moravian Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 25,000 inhabitants. Located at the Czech-Austrian state border and near the Czech–Slovak state border, it is an important railway hub. Administrative divis ...

(Lundenburg) appeared as ''Laventenburch'' in a source dated 1054. His uncertain identity was increased by Constantine VII who mentioned him as son of Árpád during the Bulgarian campaigns, but later, when he lists Árpád's descendants, Liüntika is not listed among children of the grand prince. It has also tried to explain that Liüntika/Levente lost his life during the campaign and had no descendants. This seems to contradict the aforementioned place name of Laventenburch. In other opinions his identity is same with one of other four sons, he was identified mostly with the second eldest son, Tarhacsi/Tarkacsu/Tarkatzus/Tarhos. Péter Földes has a special theory for the contradiction: the "''árpád''" word meant a function, which first used by Grand Prince

Álmos Álmos (), also Almos or Almus ( 820 – 895), was—according to the uniform account of Hungarian chronicles—the first head of the "loose federation" of the Hungarian tribes from around 850. Whether he was the Sacred king, sacred ruler (''k ...

, father of Árpád. He gave this name to his first-born child, the prospective heir. According to Földes the two interpretations could then be mixed, Liüntika was son of „''Árpád Álmos''”, so he could be the younger brother of Grand Prince Árpád, not his son.Földes Péter: Ha az ősi krónikák igazat mondanak, Bp., 1982

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Liuntika Magyar tribal chieftains House of Árpád 9th-century Hungarian people