The Basilica of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary () was a

basilica In Ancient Roman architecture, a basilica (Greek Basiliké) was a large public building with multiple functions that was typically built alongside the town's forum. The basilica was in the Latin West equivalent to a stoa in the Greek Eas ...

Székesfehérvár Székesfehérvár (; ; ; ; Serbian language, Serbian: ''Стони Београд''; ), known colloquially as Fehérvár (), is a city in central Hungary, and the country's ninth-largest city. It is the Regions of Hungary, regional capital of C ...

(),

Hungary Hungary is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning much of the Pannonian Basin, Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the south, Croatia and ...

. From the year 1000 until 1527, it was the site of the coronation of the Hungarian monarch. After the

Ottomans Ottoman may refer to: * Osman I, historically known in English as "Ottoman I", founder of the Ottoman Empire * Osman II, historically known in English as "Ottoman II" * Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire (), also called the Turkish Empir ...

occupied the city in 1543, coronations of the Hungarian monarch moved elsewhere; the building was extensively damaged in a fire in 1601. It was replaced by the Cathedral Basilica of Székesfehérvár in 1777.

Background

The Basilica of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary was built in the late 1010s by Saint Stephen I, the first

King of Hungary The King of Hungary () was the Monarchy, ruling head of state of the Kingdom of Hungary from 1000 (or 1001) to 1918. The style of title "Apostolic King of Hungary" (''Magyarország apostoli királya'') was endorsed by Pope Clement XIII in 1758 ...

. It was never episcopal, but it was used as the principal church of the rulers of Hungary. The basilica was the most significant place of the Kingdom of Hungary in the Middle Ages, as it contained the crown jewels, including the throne, the

Holy Crown of Hungary The Holy Crown of Hungary ( , ), also known as the Crown of Saint Stephen, named in honour of Saint Stephen I of Hungary, was the coronation crown used by the Kingdom of Hungary for most of its existence; kings were crowned with it since the tw ...

, the treasury and the archives. 37 kings and 39

queens Queens is the largest by area of the Boroughs of New York City, five boroughs of New York City, coextensive with Queens County, in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York. Located near the western end of Long Island, it is bordered by the ...

were crowned in this basilica and 15 were buried in it. In 1543, the Turks occupied Székesfehérvár. The royal graves were ransacked and the basilica was used to store gunpowder, while St. Martin's Cathedral in Pozsony (today Bratislava, Slovakia) became the new coronation site. In 1601, the building was destroyed by fire.Historical past
Phillips, Adrian; Scotchmer, Jo: ''Hungary'', Bradt Travel Guides, 2010.Bedford, Neal; Dunford, Lisa; Fallon, Steve: ''Hungary'', Lonely Planet, 2009. During this time, the Ottoman rule of the city was interrupted for about one year. Its ruins were demolished and used for the construction of the new episcopal residence and for the reconstruction of another old church which in the 18th century became the cathedral of the Diocese of Szekesfehervar, erected in 1777. In the late 1930s, St. Stephen's Mausoleum was erected behind the Basilica's ruined

apse In architecture, an apse (: apses; from Latin , 'arch, vault'; from Ancient Greek , , 'arch'; sometimes written apsis; : apsides) is a semicircular recess covered with a hemispherical Vault (architecture), vault or semi-dome, also known as an ' ...

Coronations

List of Hungarian monarchs who were crowned in Royal Basilica of Székesfehérvár. * Stephen I (1000) * Peter (1038) *

Samuel Samuel is a figure who, in the narratives of the Hebrew Bible, plays a key role in the transition from the biblical judges to the United Kingdom of Israel under Saul, and again in the monarchy's transition from Saul to David. He is venera ...

(1044) * Andrew I (1046) * Béla I (1060) *

Solomon Solomon (), also called Jedidiah, was the fourth monarch of the Kingdom of Israel (united monarchy), Kingdom of Israel and Judah, according to the Hebrew Bible. The successor of his father David, he is described as having been the penultimate ...

(1063) * Géza I (1075) * Ladislaus I (1081) * Coloman (1095) * Stephen II (1116) * Béla II (1131) * Stephen III (1162) * Ladislaus II (1162) * Stephen IV (1163) * Béla III (1173) * Ladislaus III (1204) * Andrew II (1205) * Béla IV (1235) *

Stephen V Stephen V may refer to: *Pope Stephen IV, aka Stephen V, Pope from 816 to 817 *Pope Stephen V (885–891) *Stephen V of Hungary (born before 1239 – 1272), King of Hungary and Croatia, Duke of Styria *Stephen V Báthory (1430–1493), Hungarian co ...

(1246, 1270) * Ladislaus IV (1272) * Andrew III (1290) * Wenceslaus (1301) * Otto (1305) * Charles I (1310) *

Louis I Louis I may refer to: Cardinals * Louis I, Cardinal of Guise (1527–1578) Counts * Ludwig I, Count of Württemberg (c. 1098–1158) * Louis I of Blois (1172–1205) * Louis I of Flanders (1304–1346) * Louis I of Châtillon (died 13 ...

(1342) * Mary (1382) * Sigismund (1387) * Albert (1437) * Ladislaus V (1440) * Vladislaus I (1440) * Matthias I (1464) * Vladislaus II (1490) * Louis II (1508) * John I (1526) * Ferdinand I (1527)

Burials

Hungarian monarchs and royal family members were buried in Royal Basilica of Székesfehérvár. (Only the list of buried monarchs is complete but the list of buried royal family members is not complete) *Prince Saint Emeric (1031) *King Saint Stephen I (1038) *Queen consort Felicia of Sicily (c. 1102) *King Coloman (1116) *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 ...

(1137), he died in 1127 in

Constantinople Constantinople (#Names of Constantinople, see other names) was a historical city located on the Bosporus that served as the capital of the Roman Empire, Roman, Byzantine Empire, Byzantine, Latin Empire, Latin, and Ottoman Empire, Ottoman empire ...

, his son King Béla II moved back and reburied his remains in 1137 *King Béla II (1141) *King Géza II (1162) *King Ladislaus II (1162) *King Stephen IV (1165) *Queen consort Agnes of Antioch (1184), her remains were later moved with her husband King Béla III *King Béla III (1196), his remains were moved in 1848 and reburied with his wife Agnes of Antioch in the

Matthias Church The Church of the Assumption of the Buda Castle (), more commonly known as the Matthias Church () and more rarely as the Coronation Church of Buda, is a Catholic church in Holy Trinity Square, Budapest, Hungary, in front of the Fisherman's Bastion ...

Budapest Budapest is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns of Hungary, most populous city of Hungary. It is the List of cities in the European Union by population within city limits, tenth-largest city in the European Union by popul ...

in 1898 *King Ladislaus III (1205) *Queen consort Maria of Bytom (1317) *King Charles I (1342) *King

(1342) *Princess Catherine (1378) *Queen consort Elizabeth of Bosnia (1390), wife of King Louis I, she was secretly buried in St Chrysogonus's Church in

Zadar Zadar ( , ), historically known as Zara (from Venetian and Italian, ; see also other names), is the oldest continuously inhabited city in Croatia. It is situated on the Adriatic Sea, at the northwestern part of Ravni Kotari region. Zadar ...

in 1387, Elizabeth's body was moved and reburied in 1390 in the Székesfehérvár Basilica *King Albert (1439) *Queen consort Elizabeth of Luxembourg (1442) *King Matthias I (1490) *King Vladislaus II (1516) *Queen consort Anne of Foix-Candale (1516), she died in 1506 and buried in

Buda Buda (, ) is the part of Budapest, the capital city of Hungary, that lies on the western bank of the Danube. Historically, “Buda” referred only to the royal walled city on Castle Hill (), which was constructed by Béla IV between 1247 and ...

, in 1516 she was reburied with his husband King Vladislaus II *King Louis II (1526) *King John I (1540) Hungarian nobles were also buried in Royal Basilica of Székesfehérvár. (The list is not complete) *

Philip Drugeth Philip Drugeth (also Druget, , , ; ''c''. 1288 – June or July 1327) was a Kingdom of Naples, Neapolitan knight of Kingdom of France, French origin, who accompanied the twelve-year-old pretender Charles I of Hungary, Charles of Anjou to Kingdom o ...

(1327) * Pipo of Ozora (1426)

Gallery

File:A Romkert légi felvétele, Székesfehérvár.jpg, Aerial view of the ruins File:Alba Regalis1601Theatrum Europaeum1667.jpg , Merian's Theatrum Europaeum presents an almost peaceful exit (N) of the Turkish garrison out of an undestroyed Székesfehérvár after the Christian interim reconquest in 1601;
G = "main church" – the basílica File:STAT STVLWEISENBVRG WIE DIE VON CHRISTEN EROBERT WORDEN1601.jpg, Johan Sibmacher's ''"True depiction of the royal city of S., as it was reconquered by the Christians"'' shows the basilica destroyed and burning and some more buildings on fire.

References

{{Authority control Buildings and structures in Székesfehérvár Roman Catholic cathedrals in Hungary Basilica churches in Hungary Buildings and structures in Fejér County Szekesfehervar Szekesfehervar Szekesfehervar Burial sites of the Capetian House of Anjou

Background

Coronations

Burials

Gallery

See also

References