Árpád

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Árpád (c. 845 – c. 907), the second High Prince of the Magyars (c. 895 – c. 907).

His life

Árpád was the son of Álmos, leader of the Hungarian tribal federation; his mother's name and descent is unknown.

In 894, Árpád and Kurszán negotiated together with the representatives of the Byzantine emperor, Leo VI the Wise the terms under which the confederation of the Magyar tribes was willing to assist the Byzantine Empire against Emperor Simeon I of Bulgaria.

In the spring of next year, the Magyar tribes attacked the Bulgarian Empire and defeated Emperor Simeon I of Bulgaria obliging him to conclude peace with the Byzantine Empire. Emperor Simeon, however, entered into an alliance with the Pechenegs, who were the eastern neighbours of the Hungarian federation, and he made an attack against the Magyar troops. In the Battle of Southern Buh Simeon I defeated their army; shortly afterwards, the Pechenegs attacked and pillaged their territories. The Magyar tribes were obliged to leave Etelköz and move to the Carpathian Basin where they settled down (Honfoglalás).

. The catastrophic defeats during the wars with the Bulgarian Empire and the Pechenegs caused Álmos' death, who was probably either assassinated or sacrificed. The leaders of the seven Hungarian tribes proclaimed Árpád to High Prince of the Magyars; therefore Árpád is considered traditionally to lead the Honfoglalás ("the occupation of the country"). In 896 the Hungarian tribes occupied the Upper Tisza river, from there they undertook numerous looting raids in central and western Europe, and in 900/901 they moved to Pannonia. The Magyars entering the Pannonian fields in 896 represented about 200,000–250,000 people.

Based on Arabic sources, Árpád's title seems to have been kende or gyula. In that time kende was the spiritual leader of the Magyar tribes, while the gyula led their military campaigns. According to legends, Árpád is also said to have been holding the first "parliamentary" session with 40 other "nobles" on horseback before 900 AD.

Children

Tarhos (Tarkacsu) (? – ?)
Üllő (Jeleg or Jeleg) (? – ?)
Jutocsa (Jutas) (? – ?)
Zoltan of Hungary (? – ?)

Legacy

Although he is not considered the founder of the Kingdom of Hungary – that was his descendant Stephen I –, he is generally thought of as the forefather of Hungarians and is often affectionally mentioned as our father Árpád. Árpád was the founder of the dynasty named after him, which would rule over the kingdom of Hungary till 1301.

Sources

Ancestral Roots of Certain American Colonists Who Came to America Before 1700 by Frederick Lewis Weis, Line 243-1.
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)
Kristó, Gyula: A Kárpát-medence és a magyarság régmúltja (1301-ig) (Szegedi Középkortörténeti Könyvtár, Szeged, 1993)
Magyarország Történeti Kronológiája I. – A kezdetektől 1526-ig, főszerkesztő: Benda Kálmán (Akadémiai Kiadó, Budapest, 1981)

References

External links

Árpád, painting from the 19th century

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Last updated on Tuesday January 15, 2008 at 05:48:05 PST (GMT -0800)
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