Grand Prince of the Magyars
Encyclopedia
Grand Prince was the title used by contemporary sources to name the leader of the federation of the Hungarian (Magyar) tribes
Magyar tribes
The Magyar tribes were the fundamental political units whose framework the Hungarians lived within, until these clans from Asia, more accurately from the region of Ural Mountains, invaded the Carpathian Basin and established the Principality of Hungary.The locality in which the Hungarians, the...

 in the tenth century.

The title

The Grand Prince () was probably elected by the leaders of the federation of the seven Magyar tribes
Magyar tribes
The Magyar tribes were the fundamental political units whose framework the Hungarians lived within, until these clans from Asia, more accurately from the region of Ural Mountains, invaded the Carpathian Basin and established the Principality of Hungary.The locality in which the Hungarians, the...

, and, the three Kabar
Kabar
The Khavars or erroneously Kabars were Khazarians, therefore Turkic people who joined to the Magyars  in the 8th century.- History :...

 tribes (dissident Khazar tribes) that joined the Magyars after 881. However, the first Grand Prince, Álmos
High Prince Álmos
Álmos , the first Grand Prince of the Magyars . The Gesta Hungarorum records that his father was Ügyek, while the Chronicon Pictum mentions his father as Előd ; his mother was Emese.-Birth:The medieval chronicle recounts the story of his...

, father of Árpád
Árpád
Árpád was the second Grand Prince of the Hungarians . Under his rule the Hungarian people settled in the Carpathian basin. The dynasty descending from him ruled the Hungarian tribes and later the Kingdom of Hungary until 1301...

, was more likely appointed by the Khagan
Khagan
Khagan or qagan , alternatively spelled kagan, khaghan, qaghan, or chagan, is a title of imperial rank in the Mongolian and Turkic languages equal to the status of emperor and someone who rules a khaganate...

 of the Khazars
Khazars
The Khazars were semi-nomadic Turkic people who established one of the largest polities of medieval Eurasia, with the capital of Atil and territory comprising much of modern-day European Russia, western Kazakhstan, eastern Ukraine, Azerbaijan, large portions of the northern Caucasus , parts of...

. It is still under discussion whether the Grand Prince was the spiritual leader of the federation (), the military commander of the Magyar tribes
Magyar tribes
The Magyar tribes were the fundamental political units whose framework the Hungarians lived within, until these clans from Asia, more accurately from the region of Ural Mountains, invaded the Carpathian Basin and established the Principality of Hungary.The locality in which the Hungarians, the...

 (), or, the title was a new creation.

When the Magyars were pushed out of and moved to the Carpathian Basin
Pannonian Basin
The Pannonian Basin or Carpathian Basin is a large basin in East-Central Europe.The geomorphological term Pannonian Plain is more widely used for roughly the same region though with a somewhat different sense - meaning only the lowlands, the plain that remained when the Pliocene Pannonian Sea dried...

 (), the Grand Prince's power seemed to be decreasing. By the time of Géza
Géza of Hungary
Géza , Grand Prince of the Hungarians .Géza was the son of Taksony of Hungary, Grand Prince of the Hungarians and his Pecheneg or Bulgar wife. Géza's marriage with Sarolt, the daughter of Gyula of Transylvania, was arranged by his father.After his father's death , Géza followed him as Grand Prince...

, Transylvania
Transylvania
Transylvania is a historical region in the central part of Romania. Bounded on the east and south by the Carpathian mountain range, historical Transylvania extended in the west to the Apuseni Mountains; however, the term sometimes encompasses not only Transylvania proper, but also the historical...

 had been ruled by a (semi-)independent leader (). Stephen () had to conquer not only the territories of the , but also the lands of Ahtum
Ahtum
Ahtum, also Achtum or Ajtony , was a local ruler in the region of Banat in the first decades of the 11th century. King Saint Stephen I of Hungary sent Csanád - one of Ahtum’s former retainers - to fight against him...

 () and the Black Magyars
Black Magyars
Black Magyars were a independent group of the Magyars before and after the Hungarian conquest of the Carpathian Basin at the end of the 9th century...

.

The title disappeared by the coronation of Stephen I () on 25 December 1000 or 1 January 1001.

Grand Princes of the Magyars

  • Álmos
    High Prince Álmos
    Álmos , the first Grand Prince of the Magyars . The Gesta Hungarorum records that his father was Ügyek, while the Chronicon Pictum mentions his father as Előd ; his mother was Emese.-Birth:The medieval chronicle recounts the story of his...

     (c. 820
    820
    Year 820 was a leap year starting on Sunday of the Julian calendar.- Asia :* Tahir, the son of a slave, is rewarded with the governorship of Khurasan for supporting the caliphate...

     - c. 850
    850
    Year 850 was a common year starting on Wednesday of the Julian calendar.- Asia :* Emperor Montoku succeeds Emperor Nimmyō as Emperor of Japan.- Europe :...

    )
  • Árpád
    Árpád
    Árpád was the second Grand Prince of the Hungarians . Under his rule the Hungarian people settled in the Carpathian basin. The dynasty descending from him ruled the Hungarian tribes and later the Kingdom of Hungary until 1301...

     (c. 850
    850
    Year 850 was a common year starting on Wednesday of the Julian calendar.- Asia :* Emperor Montoku succeeds Emperor Nimmyō as Emperor of Japan.- Europe :...

    – c. 907
    907
    Year 907 was a common year starting on Thursday of the Julian calendar.- Asia :* Oleg leads the Kievan Rus' in a campaign against Constantinople ....

    )
  • Solt
    Zoltán of Hungary
    Zoltán , also known as Zaltas and Solt, according to the mediaeval chronicles, was the third Grand Prince of the Magyars from 907 to 947.He was the youngest son of Árpád...

     (c. 907
    907
    Year 907 was a common year starting on Thursday of the Julian calendar.- Asia :* Oleg leads the Kievan Rus' in a campaign against Constantinople ....

     – c. 948
    948
    Year 948 was a leap year starting on Saturday of the Julian calendar.- Africa :* The Nri Kingdom in what is now Southeastern Nigeria is started by Eri.- Asia :...

    )
  • Fajsz
    Fajsz
    Fajsz , also known as Fali or Falicsi, Grand Prince of the Magyars .Fajsz was the son of Jutas, the third son of Árpád, and ruled over the Magyar tribes at the time of the Byzantine Emperor Kōnstantinos Porhyrogennētos....

     (c. 948
    948
    Year 948 was a leap year starting on Saturday of the Julian calendar.- Africa :* The Nri Kingdom in what is now Southeastern Nigeria is started by Eri.- Asia :...

    )
  • Taksony
    Taksony of Hungary
    Taksony , Grand Prince of the Hungarians .Taksony was the son of Zoltán , the fourth son of Árpád, the second Grand Prince of the Hungarians...

     (c. 955
    955
    Year 955 was a common year starting on Monday of the Julian calendar.- Europe :* August 10 – Battle of Lechfeld: Otto I the Great defeats the Magyars, halting their westward expansion and ending the threat to Germany.* Eadwig becomes King of England.- Religion :* December 16 – Pope...

     – c. 973
    973
    Year 973 was a common year starting on Wednesday of the Julian calendar.- Europe :* Edgar of England is crowned king by Saint Dunstan.* Otto II becomes Holy Roman Emperor and King of Germany....

    )
  • Géza
    Géza of Hungary
    Géza , Grand Prince of the Hungarians .Géza was the son of Taksony of Hungary, Grand Prince of the Hungarians and his Pecheneg or Bulgar wife. Géza's marriage with Sarolt, the daughter of Gyula of Transylvania, was arranged by his father.After his father's death , Géza followed him as Grand Prince...

     (c. 973
    973
    Year 973 was a common year starting on Wednesday of the Julian calendar.- Europe :* Edgar of England is crowned king by Saint Dunstan.* Otto II becomes Holy Roman Emperor and King of Germany....

     – 997
    997
    Year 997 was a common year starting on Friday of the Julian calendar.- Europe :* First documented reference to the City of Gdańsk....

    )
  • Stephen (Vajk) (997
    997
    Year 997 was a common year starting on Friday of the Julian calendar.- Europe :* First documented reference to the City of Gdańsk....

     – 1000/1001)

Sources

  • 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)
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