Samuel Aba of Hungary
Encyclopedia
Samuel Aba (died on 6 July 1044), King of Hungary
(1041–1044), Palatine of Hungary
(c. 1009-c. 1038).
, Castle Gonce / Castle Abaújvár
, County of Aba. He married his older cousin Sarolta, the youngest daughter of Prince Géza of the Hungarian Árpád dynasty and his second wife, Adelaide of Poland, a sister of Prince Mieszko I of Poland
, born circa 950, d. after 997.)
Some historians claim that Samuel Aba was the leader of the Kabar tribe in the early 11th century. It is also presumed by the same group that he was a member of the Khazar Jewry but (formally) converted to Christianity with his entire tribe when he married Sarolta. Even though he acted as a Christian and even founded a monastery in Abasár, converting to Christianity was mainly a political move for him, and he was not really a religious man.
During the reign of Stephen I of Hungary, who was the first Christian King of Hungary, Samuel Aba became Palatine of the Kingdom of Hungary. After the death of Stephen I of Hungary the new ruler, Peter Urseolo of Hungary (Stephen's nephew) continued to strengthen the feudal Christian state and removed Samuel from the royal court for not supporting him enough. Many of the people were opposed to Christianity and feared that Peter would make the Hungarian kingdom subservient to the Holy Roman Empire; so they supported Samuel who might have had an active role in deposing Peter.
Peter fled Hungary, and Samuel became king in 1041. He had many of Peter's supporters killed or tortured, and he abolished several laws made by Peter. This sheds some light on who his supporters might have been: since he abolished the laws that mainly affected the poor people and commoners, and in chronicles he was criticised for socializing with the peasants instead of the nobles, it is likely that he was supported by the lower classes who still held their Pagan beliefs.
Samuel knew that he could remain on the throne only if he could make peace with Henry III, Holy Roman Emperor, who was Peter's main ally. He succeeded in this in 1043, but had to pay a heavy price: Hungary lost some of its territories to Henry and had to pay tribute.
Because of the tribute paid to Henry and the abolishing of taxes, Samuel had to look for sources of money. He claimed back the donations the preceding kings gave to the Church, and made the bishops pay taxes. This was in keeping with his intentions of diminishing the role and power of the Church. (According to some sources he and his followers were excommunicated by the pope).
In several ways Samuel's rule meant a relapse from Feudalism to a tribal society. He was less and less popular, and was opposed by the Church, by the nobles, who resented him favouring the commoners, and by Henry III, who was furious that Samuel did not keep all the points of their peace treaty. Peter, with the help of Henry, attacked Samuel, and defeated him in the Battle of Ménfő
, near Győr
. Samuel fled to the East. Contemporary sources offer different opinions about his fate; some say he was captured and killed by Peter and Henry, others say he reached the Tisza river and was killed there by Hungarians who opposed him. He was buried in the monastery he founded at Abasár.
There are no further data about what happened to his wife and sons, but his family, the Aba clan continued to be one of the most influential clans of Northern Hungary, where their name is preserved in the name of Abaúj-Torna county (today its Hungarian half is a part of Borsod-Abaúj-Zemplén and its Slovakian half forms the region of Abov), and that of several villages.
Csaba and Aladar, were Attila's legitimate sons by Justa Grata Honoria
, the daughter of the emperor Honorius. Csaba in turn had two sons, Edemen and Ed. Edemen entered Pannonia with his father's and mother's great entourage (his mother being a Chorasminian) when the Hungarians came back for the second time, whereas Ed remained in Scythia with his father. Csaba is the ancestor of the clan of Aba.[1]
—Gesta Hunnorum et Hungarorum[2]
NOTE: Honoria was the only daughter of later Emperor Constantius III
and Galla Placidia
. She had an older, maternal half-brother by the first marriage of Placidia to Ataulf
of the Visigoths. Theodosius, her half-brother, was born in Barcelona
by the end of 414. Theodosius died early in the following year, thus eliminating an opportunity for a Romano-Visigothic line. Honoria also had a full brother, Valentinian III
. He was born in 419.
During the 11th, 12th and 13th centuries the clan Aba itself split into several associated families and each took their surnames from the estates or a manor that they possessed at that time. The Rhédey family took its name from the estate of 'Kisréde' (now Nagyréde) of Heves County, Hungary.
There are nineteen noble families that directly descend from the Royal House of Aba, and belong to Clan Aba - “Genus Aba”. They are: Athinai, Báthory, Báthory de Gagy, Berthóty, Budaméry, Csirke, Csobánka, Frichi, Gagyi, Hedry, Keczer, Kompolthi, Kõszeghi, Laczkffy de Nádasd, Lapispataky, Rhédey, Sirokay, Somosy de Somos, Vendéghy and Vitéz.
King of Hungary
The King of Hungary was the head of state of the Kingdom of Hungary from 1000 to 1918.The style of title "Apostolic King" was confirmed by Pope Clement XIII in 1758 and used afterwards by all the Kings of Hungary, so after this date the kings are referred to as "Apostolic King of...
(1041–1044), Palatine of Hungary
Hungary
Hungary , officially the Republic of Hungary , is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is situated in the Carpathian Basin and is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine and Romania to the east, Serbia and Croatia to the south, Slovenia to the southwest and Austria to the west. The...
(c. 1009-c. 1038).
King of Hungary
Samuel was from Northern HungaryNorthern Hungary
Northern Hungary is a region in Hungary. As a statistical region it includes the counties Borsod-Abaúj-Zemplén, Heves and Nógrád, but in colloquial speech it usually also refers to Szabolcs-Szatmár-Bereg county. The region is actually in the north-eastern part of the country, but the northwestern...
, Castle Gonce / Castle Abaújvár
Abaújvár
Abaújvár is a village in Hungary, next to the Slovakian border. It lies northeast of Miskolc.-History:In the 11th century, the village belonged to the Aba clan, one of the most important Hungarian families of the time, and was first mentioned in 1046, but presumably an earth castle stood here...
, County of Aba. He married his older cousin Sarolta, the youngest daughter of Prince Géza of the Hungarian Árpád dynasty and his second wife, Adelaide of Poland, a sister of Prince Mieszko I of Poland
Mieszko I of Poland
Mieszko I , was a Duke of the Polans from about 960 until his death. A member of the Piast dynasty, he was son of Siemomysł; grandchild of Lestek; father of Bolesław I the Brave, the first crowned King of Poland; likely father of Świętosława , a Nordic Queen; and grandfather of her son, Cnut the...
, born circa 950, d. after 997.)
Some historians claim that Samuel Aba was the leader of the Kabar tribe in the early 11th century. It is also presumed by the same group that he was a member of the Khazar Jewry but (formally) converted to Christianity with his entire tribe when he married Sarolta. Even though he acted as a Christian and even founded a monastery in Abasár, converting to Christianity was mainly a political move for him, and he was not really a religious man.
During the reign of Stephen I of Hungary, who was the first Christian King of Hungary, Samuel Aba became Palatine of the Kingdom of Hungary. After the death of Stephen I of Hungary the new ruler, Peter Urseolo of Hungary (Stephen's nephew) continued to strengthen the feudal Christian state and removed Samuel from the royal court for not supporting him enough. Many of the people were opposed to Christianity and feared that Peter would make the Hungarian kingdom subservient to the Holy Roman Empire; so they supported Samuel who might have had an active role in deposing Peter.
Peter fled Hungary, and Samuel became king in 1041. He had many of Peter's supporters killed or tortured, and he abolished several laws made by Peter. This sheds some light on who his supporters might have been: since he abolished the laws that mainly affected the poor people and commoners, and in chronicles he was criticised for socializing with the peasants instead of the nobles, it is likely that he was supported by the lower classes who still held their Pagan beliefs.
Samuel knew that he could remain on the throne only if he could make peace with Henry III, Holy Roman Emperor, who was Peter's main ally. He succeeded in this in 1043, but had to pay a heavy price: Hungary lost some of its territories to Henry and had to pay tribute.
Because of the tribute paid to Henry and the abolishing of taxes, Samuel had to look for sources of money. He claimed back the donations the preceding kings gave to the Church, and made the bishops pay taxes. This was in keeping with his intentions of diminishing the role and power of the Church. (According to some sources he and his followers were excommunicated by the pope).
In several ways Samuel's rule meant a relapse from Feudalism to a tribal society. He was less and less popular, and was opposed by the Church, by the nobles, who resented him favouring the commoners, and by Henry III, who was furious that Samuel did not keep all the points of their peace treaty. Peter, with the help of Henry, attacked Samuel, and defeated him in the Battle of Ménfő
Battle of Ménfo
The Battle of Ménfő was an important battle in the early history of the Kingdom of Hungary. Fought in 1044 at Ménfő, near Győr, between an army of mostly Germans and Hungarians , it was a victory for the Germans and thus for Westernising influences in Hungary.The Emperor Henry III invaded Hungary...
, near Győr
Gyor
-Climate:-Main sights:The ancient core of the city is Káptalan Hill at the confluence of three rivers: the Danube, Rába and Rábca. Püspökvár, the residence of Győr’s bishops can be easily recognised by its incomplete tower. Győr’s oldest buildings are the 13th-century dwelling tower and the...
. Samuel fled to the East. Contemporary sources offer different opinions about his fate; some say he was captured and killed by Peter and Henry, others say he reached the Tisza river and was killed there by Hungarians who opposed him. He was buried in the monastery he founded at Abasár.
There are no further data about what happened to his wife and sons, but his family, the Aba clan continued to be one of the most influential clans of Northern Hungary, where their name is preserved in the name of Abaúj-Torna county (today its Hungarian half is a part of Borsod-Abaúj-Zemplén and its Slovakian half forms the region of Abov), and that of several villages.
Marriage and children
- Sarolta (? – ?), a daughter of GézaGéza of HungaryGéza , 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...
, High Prince of the Magyars and his wife Adelajda, sister of Prince Mieszko I of PolandMieszko I of PolandMieszko I , was a Duke of the Polans from about 960 until his death. A member of the Piast dynasty, he was son of Siemomysł; grandchild of Lestek; father of Bolesław I the Brave, the first crowned King of Poland; likely father of Świętosława , a Nordic Queen; and grandfather of her son, Cnut the...
Legacy
The Hungarian noble clan of Aba (Genus Aba), was already a very powerful clan in Hungary in the 9th century. The Gesta Hunnorum et Hungarorum ("The Deeds of the Huns and the Hungarians") connects the family to Attila the Hun.Csaba and Aladar, were Attila's legitimate sons by Justa Grata Honoria
Justa Grata Honoria
Justa Grata Honoria, commonly referred to during her lifetime as Honoria, was the older sister of the Western Roman Emperor Valentinian III. Coins attest that she was granted the title of Augusta not long after the ascension of her brother in 426....
, the daughter of the emperor Honorius. Csaba in turn had two sons, Edemen and Ed. Edemen entered Pannonia with his father's and mother's great entourage (his mother being a Chorasminian) when the Hungarians came back for the second time, whereas Ed remained in Scythia with his father. Csaba is the ancestor of the clan of Aba.[1]
—Gesta Hunnorum et Hungarorum[2]
NOTE: Honoria was the only daughter of later Emperor Constantius III
Constantius III
Flavius Constantius , commonly known as Constantius III, was Western Roman Emperor for seven months in 421. A prominent general and politician, he was the power behind the throne for much of the 410s, and in 421 briefly became co-emperor of the Western Empire with Honorius.- Early life and rise to...
and Galla Placidia
Galla Placidia
Aelia Galla Placidia , daughter of the Roman Emperor Theodosius I, was the Regent for Emperor Valentinian III from 423 until his majority in 437, and a major force in Roman politics for most of her life...
. She had an older, maternal half-brother by the first marriage of Placidia to Ataulf
Ataulf
Ataulf was king of the Visigoths from 410 to 415...
of the Visigoths. Theodosius, her half-brother, was born in Barcelona
Barcelona
Barcelona is the second largest city in Spain after Madrid, and the capital of Catalonia, with a population of 1,621,537 within its administrative limits on a land area of...
by the end of 414. Theodosius died early in the following year, thus eliminating an opportunity for a Romano-Visigothic line. Honoria also had a full brother, Valentinian III
Valentinian III
-Family:Valentinian was born in the western capital of Ravenna, the only son of Galla Placidia and Flavius Constantius. The former was the younger half-sister of the western emperor Honorius, and the latter was at the time Patrician and the power behind the throne....
. He was born in 419.
During the 11th, 12th and 13th centuries the clan Aba itself split into several associated families and each took their surnames from the estates or a manor that they possessed at that time. The Rhédey family took its name from the estate of 'Kisréde' (now Nagyréde) of Heves County, Hungary.
There are nineteen noble families that directly descend from the Royal House of Aba, and belong to Clan Aba - “Genus Aba”. They are: Athinai, Báthory, Báthory de Gagy, Berthóty, Budaméry, Csirke, Csobánka, Frichi, Gagyi, Hedry, Keczer, Kompolthi, Kõszeghi, Laczkffy de Nádasd, Lapispataky, Rhédey, Sirokay, Somosy de Somos, Vendéghy and Vitéz.
See also
- Aba (family)Aba (family)Aba is the name of a Genus Aba in the Kingdom of Hungary. Their ancestors may have been among the tribal leaders of the Kabars...
- Aba nemzetség Hungarian
- Palatine Amade AbaAmade AbaAmade Aba, sometimes Amadeus Aba was a Hungarian oligarch in the Kingdom of Hungary who ruled de facto independently the northern and north-eastern counties of the kingdom...
- Stephen I of Hungary
- Nikolas Aba - Ban of Dalmatia and Croatia (1272–1273)
- List of rulers of Transylvania
- Klaudia Rhédey de Kis-Rhéde
- Upper nobility (Kingdom of Hungary)Upper nobility (Kingdom of Hungary)The upper nobility was the highest stratum of the temporal society in the Kingdom of Hungary until the 20th century. In the course of the 11-15th centuries, only people who held specific high offices in the royal administration or in the Royal Households were distinguished by law within the...
- AbaújvárAbaújvárAbaújvár is a village in Hungary, next to the Slovakian border. It lies northeast of Miskolc.-History:In the 11th century, the village belonged to the Aba clan, one of the most important Hungarian families of the time, and was first mentioned in 1046, but presumably an earth castle stood here...
- Battle of RozgonyBattle of RozgonyThe Battle of Rozgony or Battle of Rozhanovce was fought between King Charles I of Hungary and the family of Palatine Amade Aba on June 15, 1312, on the Rozgony field. Chronicon Pictum described it as the "most cruel battle since the Mongol invasion of Europe"...
- Borsod-Abaúj-ZemplénBorsod-Abaúj-ZemplénBorsod-Abaúj-Zemplén is the name of an administrative county in north-eastern Hungary , on the border with Slovakia. It shares borders with the Hungarian counties Nógrád, Heves, Hajdú-Bihar and Szabolcs-Szatmár-Bereg. The capital of Borsod-Abaúj-Zemplén county is Miskolc...
- Palatine (Kingdom of Hungary)
- Western Roman EmpireWestern Roman EmpireThe Western Roman Empire was the western half of the Roman Empire after its division by Diocletian in 285; the other half of the Roman Empire was the Eastern Roman Empire, commonly referred to today as the Byzantine Empire....
- Byzantine EmpireByzantine EmpireThe Byzantine Empire was the Eastern Roman Empire during the periods of Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, centred on the capital of Constantinople. Known simply as the Roman Empire or Romania to its inhabitants and neighbours, the Empire was the direct continuation of the Ancient Roman State...
- Byzantine Emperors
- Descent from Genghis KhanDescent from Genghis KhanDescent from Genghis Khan is traceable primarily in Central Asia. His four sons and other immediate descendants are famous by names and by deeds. Later Asian potentates attempted to claim descent from the House of Borjigin even on flimsy grounds. In the 14th century, valid sources all but dried...
Sources
- 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)
- Siebmachers Wappenbuch Die Wappen des Adels von Ungarn …
- Almanach de Gotha < http://www.almanachdegotha.org/id163.html >< http://www.almanachdegotha.org/id191.html >.