When it comes to famous Hungarian figures, everyone thinks of von the "father of computers". Neumann, or the Romantic musician Franz Neumann. Liszt? is the national hero Rakozzi. Ferenc, or the legendary poet Petofi? For many Hungarians, the great figures who have influenced thousands of years of Hungarian history are neither musicians nor poets, but are revered by them as the founder of the state, the monarch of István
In the last issue, we briefly talked about The contribution of István to the Kingdom of Hungary, of course, the water drops and stones are not a day's work, and the whole of Hungary can establish a kingdom into the early feudal state form or stem from the joint efforts of several generations of Hungarian grand dukes
After nearly a hundred years of efforts since the Magyars, the ancestors of the Hungarian nation, settled in the Carpathian Basin in 896, the fruits of the Kingdom of Hungary were eventually ripened here in István I
Location of the Kingdom of Hungary
But King István I's exploits did not stop there, he not only gained recognition from the Western world during his term of office, integrating the Kingdom of Hungary into the Cultural Circles of Western Europe; he also carried out a series of institutional establishments and reforms, establishing and improving the Hungarian state form
So who was this Ishwan I? In this issue, we will focus on the wonderful life of King István I of the Kingdom of Hungary and talk about the development of the Hungarian state during the time of István I
István I
István I was not the hungarian monarch's original name, he was originally named Voyk, the only son of the previous Archduke Geissa of the Arpad dynasty of Hungary
So in 997, after he succeeded his father as the last Grand Duke, he was officially called "Ishtwan I", of course, in addition to his status as king, he also had another name, called "Saint. István"
saint. István is his name in Hungarian, and in English he is called Saint. Stephen. From this we know that his life is also very much related to the development of Christianity
Image of István I
How? As we all know, the word "holy" appears in the names of European people, basically not religious people, or "great people" who have contributed to the development of Christianity.
Including saying that many place names in Europe are the same: for example, if someone Zhang San is listed as a saint in the Catholic Church, then after death, the place of martyrdom or burial or birth will be named "Saint Zhang San Village" or "Saint Zhang SanCheng", and then the villagers here are likely to be named after Saint So-and-so in the future
And the Holy One we're going to talk about today. István is naturally not a "saint" named after his place of birth, in fact he is the benevolent brother who has been ordained by the Catholic Church
saint. István
After István's death, he was posthumously canonized as a saint by the Roman Catholic Church in 1038 and became the patron saint of Hungary. Thus his "holy" word can be regarded as a firm foothold
And his other name is "St. John's. Stephen", on the other hand, comes from his baptism, because he was baptized as a child, and was baptized, so he received the same title as "religious name"
Statue of István
Usually this title is used by famous figures in the development of Christianity, such as St. Paul, St. Peter and so on. And this St. Stephen is also a famous martyr of Christianity, and named a St. Stephen's Day after him (the second day of Christmas)
And another name is "St. István" is derived from the first martyr, St. Stephen (István is Stefvan's Hungarian interpretation)
The Sanctuary of St. Stephen
So, St. . Stephen/St. The "holy" in István's name is a symbol of his Catholic status, just as the "von" in later German names is a symbol of nobility
Thus this István I was not only a statesman monarch (the last Archduke of Hungary and the first King of Hungary), but also an important figure in the development of Catholicism in Hungary
And his life trajectory is also destined to advance parallel with these two main lines...
Young and promising
István was born in 970, a year in which his father, Geisa, had not yet become Grand Duke, and their family still lived in Esztergom, Principality of Hungary (the city of Esztergom in present-day Republic of Hungary).
Of course, at this time, István was still called Voyik, and he was renamed István after his formal baptism. Later, in order not to confuse everyone, we will collectively call him István
Two years later (972), Geisa, the father of István, defeated his rivals, slaughtered the family members, and forcibly became grand duke, followed by a series of thunderous maneuvers, which consolidated the political foundation and began to open relations with the Western countries (see The Difficult Statehood of Hungary for details!). The Birth of the Kingdom of Hungary in the Feudal State - A Brief History of Hungary 5)
Archduke Geisa
Another 25 years later (997), at the age of 27, Ishtwan I succeeded his father, Grand Duke of Gessa, as the last Grand Duke of the Arpad dynasty
But at the time of the transition of power after Gesa's death, there was a rebellion against Catholicization in the country, and Ishtwan, who had just taken the throne on an unstable footing, panicked and helpless
At that time, István was entrenched in the Pannonia Plain in northwestern Hungary, while the rest of Hungary was still in the hands of other chiefs, so István could only rely on foreign warriors and some local nobles to defeat the local rebel forces supported by pagan warriors
Pannonia Plains
In other words, the rebellion was both an opportunity and a challenge for István: the challenge is easy to understand, what is the opportunity? According to the later historical development, we know that after he successfully put down the rebellion, he quickly changed from a force in the country to a monarch with real power and real control over the whole country!
In 997, István, who had befriended the Western countries as a child, had to turn to the Holy Roman Empire, which had just risen at that time, and with the help of the Bavarian army and the Catholic Church, with the support of the local nobles who had sided with the royal power at home, the young István spent two or three years to calm down the internal hidden dangers
Since then, the objective conditions for Hungary to be able to establish a state have matured, the whole country has been incorporated under the unified royal decree, and its founding process has begun, and the younger István has become famous at a young age!
The establishment of Hungary
After the stabilization of the country, the near-established Ishtwan continued to pursue the Catholicization policy that began with his father, and quickly integrated into the civilized world of Western Europe
István
With István's initiative, his throne was officially recognized by the Catholic world in 1000 AD, and according to tradition, on Christmas Day of that year (December 25), István was officially crowned King of Hungary
On this day, under the auspices of Pope Sylvester II, the venue was solemn and solemn, and István was pious and respectful. According to christian tradition, István claimed that his throne was "a gift from God."
Pope Sylvester II
It includes saying that its territory is also nominally given by God or God's spokesman on earth. In fact, Ishtwan's rule was based on the occupation and plundering of the lands of rebel chiefs and traditional tribal clans during times of civil strife, in addition to traditional royal territories
These lands greatly expanded his ruling territory, and of course, in order to make these lands "legitimate", he donated a large amount of money and land to these Catholic forces, and only then did religious people come forward to "testify" about the legitimacy of their territories.
István's coronation ceremony was no different from the general process in Europe at that time, and it is worth mentioning that the items used for coronation at that time became "holy relics" in later generations, such as the Holy Right Hand, the Crown of St. István, the hipster at the time of coronation, the sword and the oath
After this, István was officially crowned as the first king of Hungary on December 25, 1000 AD, thus beginning the history of the Kingdom of Hungary, and because this day is the end of the year 1000, some people think that the beginning of the Kingdom of Hungary should be calculated from 1001, of course, this is the wisdom of the wise
Medieval coronation
After István's coronation, its territories, both inherent in the royal family and those occupied by plunder, became "legal" territories, thus creating the conditions for the organization of the state and leading the Czech Republic and Poland around Hungary into feudal kingdoms
After the settlement of the internal hungarian rebellion and local forces, the traditional Hungarian tribal form was eliminated autonomously, and tribes and clans were scattered, so that István had to organize a new unit "state" based on the region to build the country
In 1003, Hungary occupied Transinia, expanding the country's territory. István then embarked on a series of development initiatives after the establishment of the state
National development
During the reign of Ishtwan I, the primitive Magyars completed the final transformation from nomadic tribes to feudal states, and the landmark event was that Ishtwan I abolished the old method of dividing people by clan and introduced the system of administrative districts (the establishment of king provinces).
At the same time, he also enforced the Catholic faith among hungarians and completed the unification of internal thought. Some of these initiatives we will talk about:
At that time, after the disappearance of traditional tribes, István I introduced a castle-centered state system, which was presumably the system he learned from the Slavs from Charlemagne
Inside the Kingdom of Hungary
So many Hungarian states are named after Slavic, like Chonglad, Nogorade, etc.; and some Hungarian-named states are mostly named after the first officials of the cantons, such as Szolnok, Jonald, Saborci, etc
Don't underestimate the simple state system, which is actually the most important step in the establishment of the feudal state, because the underlying code behind it is actually "centralization": the monarch appoints officials to govern, allowing the country to enter bureaucracy
At the same time, through artificial manipulation, Ishtwan I also brought the most populous and resourced regions of the country under his control, firmly consolidating his rule
Another thread parallel to political development is religion and, more precisely, the expansion of Catholic power. With the support of the monarch himself, ecclesiastical organizations gradually developed and infiltrated the whole country
Medieval church
At that time, religious people were not only able to preach at the folk level, but also the monarch generously donated a large amount of money and land, which made them often forced the mission to be unscrupulous
Although the means are unbearable, the result for the monarch is beautiful: new ideas, new fashions, new morals and new ways of life have been established throughout the country, which is simply from the royal family to the people, and the whole of Hungary has made great strides in feudalization!
All of this is not to be listed, under the reign of István I, the entire Hungarian state flourished and quickly integrated into the civilized world of Western Europe
Hero Twilight
In 1027 AD, István I seized the region of Slovakia under the control of the weak and incompetent Polish king Mieszko II.
Meshko II
In 1030 AD, István I repelled the attack of the Holy Roman Emperor Conrad II and consolidated the Kingdom of Hungary
Conrad II
However, in 1031, Ishtwan's only surviving son, Imre, died prematurely after being wounded during a hunt, and Ishtewan I, who had lost his crown prince, was deeply saddened and his health deteriorated.
At that time, isit wan i's cousin Vazur became the most qualified heir in the family, but he was suspected of being biased towards paganism, so Ishwan I did not allow him to succeed to the throne
István I later succeeded his nephew, Orseoro Peter the Venetian. In order to relieve the troubles, Vazur was captured and blind, and three of Vazur's sons were expelled from Hungary
But no one expected that it was these measures that would have led to a long period of civil war, infidel riots and foreign invasions in the already thriving Hungary after the death of Ishtwan I
On 15 August 1038, István I died in Esztergom and was buried in Seksborg. After his death, people evaluated István I: he was brilliant, started an era, and was a national hero of Hungary!
After his death in 1083, István I was proclaimed a Catholic saint by the Church, so people kept his hand in the church of St. István in the city of Budapest, known as the "Holy Right Hand"!
The great fashion he wore and the sword he wore, as well as the oath he wore at the time of his coronation, was passed down to future generations, until the last monarch of the Habsburg dynasty, which was an indispensable thing in the coronation ceremony of the Hungarian king
Crown of St. István
Later generations also set up a Saint Stephen's Day, which is designated as August 16 every year (Hungarians often celebrate August 20). The crown he used for his coronation, which was given by Sylvester II, is known as the "Crown of St. Stephen" and has become a national treasure of Hungary.
István I on the Forint coin
Today, István I's various monuments and statues are widely available throughout Hungary. In 2014, Hungary also had his head printed on the 10,000 FORINT coin issued...