Arpad Feszty 1856-1914, Arrival of the Hungarian is a painting by Arpad Feszty depicting the Magyar conquest in 896 A.D. Photograph retrieved from fineartamerica.com
By Rachel Steigerwald
Located between Latin Christendom to the west, the Byzantine Empire to the south and nomadic “pagans” to the east, the Kingdom of Hungary under the Arpad Dynasty (1000-1301) was an important frontier region in Europe. In addition to its proximity to a variety of neighbors, the Kingdom of Hungary was shaped by its access to major trade routes including those along the Danube River. As a result, Hungary was among the most ethnically, linguistically, and religiously diverse kingdoms in Europe for several centuries. The Medieval Kingdom of Hungary is therefore a particularly useful case for studying global interactions during the Middle Ages. Nevertheless, Hungary’s interreligious, intercultural, and interlinguistic exchanges placed it among the much broader processes of globalization taking place across the medieval world that has often been overlooked by English language scholarship.
The perception among scholars that the Middle Ages are indeed an important piece of “Global History” is itself only a few decades old.[1] However, even among the more recent scholarship about the Global Middle Ages, the most attention is given to only a few of the most powerful empires and most extensive trade routes, such as the conquests of the Mongols and the Silk Roads.[2] Of course these are important, as they had the greatest and most wide-reaching influence on interactions between peoples. There are also far more sources available from areas with more impressive administrative capabilities and large populations. However, if we are to reconstruct the Middle Ages as a piece of Global History, societies that have been neglected by historians in the past should no longer be excluded. It is interdisciplinary evidence from places that are perceived as less important, more remote, or even marginal that truly illuminate the interconnectedness of the Medieval world.
Medieval Hungary’s exceptional diversity and global connections can be most directly attributed to its characteristics as a “frontier society.”[3] In this context, a frontier is a contact zone or middle ground between cultures, rather than a distinct border.[4] More specifically, Hungary between 1000 and 1301 CE was on the “frontier of Christendom,” in that it was a point of intersection between ‘Pagan’ Turkic Nomads, Eastern Orthodox Christians, and Latin Christians.[5] The blending of populations, cultures, and religions constantly occurred, as did “arbitration, negotiation, trade, and other peaceful dealings.”[6] [7] Although Hungary’s rulers and their government were decidedly Roman Catholic, the country as a whole was profoundly influenced by all three religious traditions of its neighbors. The Kingdom of Hungary could not be described as tolerant as the word is used today, but coexistence between diverse peoples within the frontier zone is apparent in primary sources, archaeological discoveries, and linguistic evidence.
In addition to Hungary’s position as a frontier between contrasting societies, its geography and climate further encouraged the movement of individuals and a variety of goods. In general, the Carpathian Basin is suitable for most economic activities and the supply of food was relatively reliable throughout the Arpadian Age.[8] Natural resources, such as fresh water, wood, and minerals were also plentiful.[9] In fact, throughout these centuries, there was likely far more arable land than there were people to cultivate it, which encouraged the development of a heterogeneous population.[10] Within Hungary, the topography was suitable for the creation of interregional or ‘provincial’ roads.[11] Rivers such as the Danube, and mountain passes such as the Verecke, made long-distance travel and trade manageable.[12] The climate of Hungary is somewhat continental, particularly in Eastern Transylvania and the highlands of present-day Slovakia.[13] Such climates are characterized by significant variations in temperature and rainfall over the course of the year. However, the seasonal variations in temperature and precipitation were apparently not so extreme as to become a barrier to cereal production, as historic evidence demonstrates that trade and travel likely occurred throughout the majority of the year.[14]
Politically, the Kingdom of Hungary had a tradition of mobility and flexible alliances. At some point before the Magyar Tribes had settled in the Carpathian Basin, they were a subordinate of the Khazar Khaganate and were allied with them against Byzantium.[15] However, after the year 1000, the Arpads were closely linked to and influenced by the Byzantine Empire, with King Bela III being raised in Constantinople and nearly marrying the emperor’s daughter.[16] By the twelfth century the Kings of Hungary also had a close relationship with the Premyslid dynasty of Bohemia through a series of strategic marriages.[17]
In the thirteenth century, the Arpads became more directly involved with the Latin Church as it became more strategically important. The Arpads installed the Teutonic Order in the southeast early in the thirteenth century to defend areas vulnerable to attack from the adjoining Cuman lands. The Order was forcibly expelled in 1225 when they asserted political autonomy, despite protest from the Church.[18] Two decades later, the Knights Hospitaller were installed on Hungary’s eastern border for defensive purposes, by which point most of the Cumans had settled and the much larger Mongol threat loomed.[19] In summary, Hungary often manipulated its position as a frontier zone with the Catholic Church for its own benefit, but not at the expense of its own power. This self-serving relationship with the Church is also illustrated by King Bela IV’s letter to Pope Innocent IV asking for aid against a potential second Mongol invasion for the sake of Christendom.[20] In the letter, he writes “…we hasten to flee to the worthy vicar of Christ…so that what we all fear will not happen to us, or rather, through us, to you and the rest of Christendom,” despite a significant presence of pagans, Muslims, and Jews in his own lands.[21] As shown by this situation, the King’s concern was less likely the defense of Christendom, but rather his own sovereignty. The Mongols were indeed a threat to the Sovereignty of Hungary, whereas the Cumans were not by the thirteenth century.
Unlike other Latin Christian kingdoms, Hungary was unique in that most of its non-Christian subjects settled there voluntarily rather than being incorporated as a result of conquest.[22] In fact, one could reasonably argue based on surviving sources and archaeological evidence that religious uniformity was not its rulers’ first priority. As previously stated, the Kingdom of Hungary was a Latin Christian state which derived its political legitimacy from the Church in Rome. However, in addition to maintaining several alliances with non-Catholic polities, the Arpad rulers had a relaxed approach to imposing the Church’s practices on its subjects, sometimes leading to conflicts between the King and the Pope.[23] While laws discriminating against the Kingdom’s religious minorities and directing their conduct existed, so did those that asserted legal privileges and protections.[24] Although anti-Jewish, Muslim, and “pagan” sentiments and incidents by Christians most definitely occurred, the state’s role in this differed from those of some kingdoms in Western Europe.[25] There is little evidence that state-enforced conversions, expulsions, or any other type of state-sponsored violence against protected minority groups were a regular feature of life in Hungary between 1000 and 1301. As such, the Carpathian Basin quickly became home to different types of Christians, Muslims, Jews, and “pagans.”
Jews had lived in the Carpathian Basin as early as Roman times. However, it is unknown whether there is any continuity between these earlier inhabitants and the Jews of Medieval Hungary. It has also been theorized that some Jewish Khazars joined the Hungarian tribes and settled with them in the 9th century.[26] What is certain though, is that by the 11th century, Jews from east German and West Slavic lands had migrated eastward to Hungary.[27] Their numbers probably increased with each wave of Crusader attacks against them.[28] Throughout the Arpadian age, several small Jewish communities were scattered throughout the country, mostly in the western half, in already-established cities.[29] Most were involved in long-distance trade, other financial functions such as moneylending, and office-holding.[30] Some even became wealthy and held important administrative positions despite both Catholic Canon and Hungarian law.[31] For example, despite multiple laws prohibiting the practice, Jews most definitely served as ispans (counts) and lessees for Arpadian rulers.[32] While the Golden Bull of 1222, an edict issued by Andrew II primarily addressing the rights of the nobility, and its renewal in 1231 stated that “Ishmaelites and Jews shall not be allowed to become counts of the chamber of the mint, of salt, and of tolls [or] nobles of the realm,” this was clearly not strictly enforced.[33] Some surviving charters explicitly mention Jewish and Muslim office-holding.[34] In addition, numerous coins featuring Hebrew letters, perhaps initials, survive, a likely indication that a coin was produced during the office of a Jewish individual.[35] [36]
Muslims also settled in Hungary in small groups over a wide geographic area. However, the history of their settlement and their origins is a mystery.[37] The anonymous author of Deeds of the Hungarians claims that Muslims came from the land of Bular and settled in the tenth century.[38] However, this is generally not accepted as historically sound due to a lack of corroborating sources.[39] Nevertheless, there is archaeological evidence that by the eleventh century at least one Muslim community was present in Hungary.[40] Most likely, this village was part of one of several heterogeneous waves of migration from the eleventh to thirteenth centuries, resulting in the establishment of compact villages that were engaged in farming and regional trade.[41] Like Jews, Muslims also may have held public offices.[42] Additionally, Muslims played a major military role in Hungary until the mid-thirteenth century.[43] Charters, accounts of non-Hungarian Muslims (some of whom may not have actually visited themselves), and archaeological excavations reveal the presence of Muslims in the Hungarian military.[44]
The third and largest of the three non-Christian religious minorities were “pagans.”[45] There were several groups of “pagans” that interacted with, and eventually settled in, Medieval Hungary. The most prominent of these were the Cuman-Kipchaks. These multiethnic tribal confederations were once a significant threat to other Eurasian Steppe Nomads and Eastern Europeans, but found themselves being pushed westward by Mongol conquests in the early thirteenth century.[46] Their religion is not well-understood by historians, but probably included ancestor worship, astrology, and shamanistic practices.[47] Because they did not codify their religious beliefs through writing, the majority of what is known about them comes from Christian missionary writing and examinations of settlements and traditional burials.[48] Regardless, the Cumans were eventually settled under the protection of the King in one bloc in the center of Hungary. Because of this, they were likely able to retain many of their own internal structures.[49] However, soon after their second and permanent arrival in Hungary, they most likely abandoned full-scale nomadism in favor of a more settled, agricultural way of life.[50] Cumans too played a major military role, serving the king most often as cavalry.[51]
Religious coexistence and interactions in Hungary was by no means similar to the multiculturalist values of today, but peaceful cohabitation was typically chosen as a more convenient alternative to forced conversion, isolation, or extermination.[52] The only other areas in Medieval Europe that were comparable to Hungary in terms of extent of diversity and coexistence were Spain and Sicily; which have been studied much more extensively.[53] However, Hungary is essential to the study of the Global Middle Ages because it allowed interreligious interaction and assimilation to develop more organically.[54] While by the late Middle Ages, Spain and Sicily underwent dramatic changes in attitudes towards non-Christians, there was no Reconquista or Inquisition in Hungary. Cumans gradually were absorbed into Hungarian society over several centuries through gradual assimilation.[55] Muslims too eventually lost touch with their traditional religion and culture due to an apparently stronger sense of belonging to Hungary than the rest of the Islamic World.[56] Hungarian Jews faced a variety of different circumstances as rulers changed following the end of the Arpad dynasty, but communities continued to exist in some capacity through the present day.[57]
Although the importance of Hungary’s non-Christian population regarding Medieval Hungary’s position in Global History cannot be overstated, global connections were supported by the activities of and policies toward the Christian population as well. In addition to Latin Christians, Eastern Orthodox groups were also present throughout the region. Both groups of Christians apparently saw Hungary as a place in which they could escape political persecution. For example, from neighboring Bohemia, ousted Premyslid rulers such as Frederick, Duke of Bohemia, awaited their opportunity to regain power from Hungary.[58] Also from Bohemia, Slavonic monks who fled persecution under the Spytihnev II in 1055 found safety in Hungary.[59] The Kingdom of Hungary was also home to its fair share of “heretical” Christian groups such as the Bosnian Bogomils throughout its Medieval History.[60] A lack of consensus among Hungary’s Christians was later exposed by the Buda Heresy, a Waldensian movement, following the death of King Andrew II in 1301. Interestingly, this faith which had originated in Western Europe had already been virtually eliminated in most areas by this time.[61]
Even the Kingdom of Hungary’s monastic landscape was exceptionally global in character. By the late eleventh century, the majority of Hungary’s Benedictine, Orthodox, Cistercian, Premonstratensian, and Austin Canons were established along the Danube River, which links Western Europe, the Carpathian Basin, and the Balkans.[62] This was no coincidence. Such ecclesiastical institutions were funded by royal foundations with the intention of assisting long-distance trade and communication, and the care of people living around economically and politically important settlements.[63]
In addition to these four main religious groups, Hungary could be broken down into dozens of smaller cultural groups. A multitude of sources, including contemporary documents and artifacts indicate the presence of Hungarians, Saxons, Italians, Cumans, Pechenegs, Szeklers, Jews, Slavs, Jassic People, and more. One source, the only firsthand account of the Mongol Invasion of Hungary, was written by Master Roger, an Italian. The Epistle to the Sorrowful Lament suggests that some foreigners living Hungary had not only had a complex understanding of its politics, but also a significant amount of admiration and respect for the Kingdom, as evidenced by Master Roger’s repeated defenses of King Bela IV and sorrow over the destruction caused by the “Tatars” in Hungary.[64] Along with this cultural diversity naturally came linguistic diversity. Aside from Hungarian, Latin, several Romance languages, Germanic languages, Slavic Languages, Hebrew, Cuman, Pecheneg, and Jassic were either spoken, written, or used for liturgical purposes between 1000 and 1301. These languages are not only numerous but come from a variety of contrasting language families.
Hungary’s favorable geographic location, climatic conditions, and diverse population with their numerous networks contributed to its growth and integration into the global economy. By the thirteenth century, specialized divisions of labor and a money economy had taken shape.[65] Ordinary occupations in addition to farming and animal husbandry included mining and metallurgy, crafts, professional merchants (ex. apothecaries), regional and long-distance traders, woodland and water managers, religious leaders and monks, stonemasons and builders, government officials, and military roles.[66] Although complete registers are rare, royal revenues were likely made up of minting and coinage, salt mining, precious metals, customs and excise, tolls, church tithes, and land taxes.[67]
Hungary’s diverse population resulted in a diverse range of reasons and destinations for travel. Local, regional, and long distance trade were major motivations for travel throughout Medieval Hungary. Since Hungary supported a variety of specialized occupations, tradespeople often traveled to market towns and cities for apprenticeships.[68] As a result of the region’s diversity and location as a religious crossroads, pilgrimages and crusades were taken from and through Hungary to a variety of sites around Europe, the Mediterranean, and the Islamic World.[69] Lastly, Hungary’s location on the periphery of Christendom and away from the center of the Islamic world made travel even more necessary for religious leaders and other educated people than in other nations. Between 1000 and 1301, Hungary did not have its own university comparable to those of Western Christendom, nor were there any notable education centers of Muslim or Jewish traditions mentioned in the sources.[70] Consequently, these individuals often made a long journey to receive their education.
The Kingdom of Hungary exemplifies what made the Middle Ages global. Although there is still much more work to be done regarding the Carpathian Basin in this period, there has been a sharp increase in scholarship in recent years decentralizing Western Europe’s place in Global History. With the political barriers of the twentieth century removed and the improvement of archaeological and genetic sciences, it is an exciting time to study Central and Eastern Europe. Translations of documents and excavation of archaeological sites can only increase; and with them, so too will our understanding of the Global Middle Ages and its relevance today.
[1] Catherine Holmes and Naomi Standen, “Introduction: Towards a Global Middle Ages,” Past & Present 238, no. 2 (2018): 1.
[2] Ibid., 6.
[3] Nora Berend, At the gate of Christendom : Jews, Muslims and ‘pagans’ in medieval Hungary, c. 1000-c. 1300 (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2010), 6-41.
[4] Ibid., 7.
[5] Ibid., 23.
[6] Ibid., 11
[7] Ibid., 23.
[8] Jozsef Laszlovszky et al., The Economy of Medieval Hungary (Leiden: Brill, 2018), 39.
[9] Ibid.
[10] Ibid., 48.
[11] Ibid., 67-68.
[12] Ibid., 67.
[13] Ibid., 82.
[14] Ibid.
[15] Norman Golb and Omeljan Pritsak, Khazarian Hebrew Documents of the Tenth Century (Ithaca: Cornell University Press, 1982), 136.
[16] Berend, 31.
[17] Lisa Wolverton, Hastening toward Prague: Power and Society in the Medieval Czech Lands (Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 2001), 234-235.
[18] Berend, 33.
[19] Ibid.
[20] Ibid., 163-171.
[21] Barbara H. Rosenwein, “Letter to Pope Innocent IV C. 1250,” in Reading the Middle Ages: Sources from Europe, Byzantium, and the Islamic World (Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 2018), 388.
[22] Berend, 2.
[23] Ibid., 149-163.
[24] Ibid.
[25] Ibid., 190-223.
[26] Ibid., 60.
[27] Ibid., 61.
[28] Janos M Bak, tran., “Online Decreta Regni Mediaevalis Hungariae. The Laws of the Medieval Kingdom of Hungary,” digitalcommons.usu.edu (USU Libraries, March 18, 2019), 131.
[29] Berend, 62.
[30] Ibid., 110-129.
[31] Ibid., 123-124.
[32] Ibid., 124.
[33] Bak, 167-180; Berend, 123.
[34] Berend, 124.
[35] Ibid., 125.
[36] Ibid.
[37] Ibid., 64.
[38] Janos Bak and Martyn Rady, Anonymus and Master Roger: Deeds of the Hungarians and Epistle to the Sorrowful Lament (Budapest: Central European University Press, 2010), 127.
[39] Berend, 65
[40] Ibid.
[41] Ibid., 133.
[42] Ibid., 121-128.
[43] Ibid., 140
[44] Ibid., 64-68.
[45] Ibid., 68-73.
[46] Ibid., 68-69.
[47] Ibid., 244-246.
[48] Ibid.
[49] Ibid., 96.
[50] Ibid., 136-137.
[51] Ibid., 140.
[52] Katarina Stulrajterova, “Convivenza, Convenienza and Conversion: Islam in Medieval Hungary,” Journal of Islamic Studies 24, no. 2 (2013): 175.
[53] Ibid.
[54] Ibid.
[55] Berend, 244-266.
[56] Ibid., 237-244.
[57] Ibid., 225-237.
[58] Wolverton, 98.
[59] Ibid., 134.
[60] Berend, 58-60.
[61] Britannica Academic, s.v. “Waldenses,” accessed May 12, 2021.
[62] Beatrix Romhányi, “Monasteries along the Danube,” Archaeolingua: Genius Loci: Laszlovszky 60 (2018): 77.
[63] Ibid., 78.
[64] Bak and Rady, 133-227.
[65] Laszlovszky et al., 49.
[66] Ibid., 81-393.
[67] Ibid., 265-278.
[68] Ibid., 65.
[69] Ibid.
[70] Ibid.