King Stephen I (also known as Saint Stephen) is one of the most important personalities of Hungarian history. He was the founder of the Hungarian state, the first king of Hungary, the first Hungarian Christian king and the establisher of the Hungarian Christian Church.
His father, Duke Géza (AD 945-997) was the great-grandson of chieftain Árpád.
He was elected duke of Hungary around 971. During his reign, he worked on eliminating
the old pagan tribal order, converting the Hungarian nation to Christianity
and strengthening Hungary's relations with the West. At that time Christianity
had already been sporadically present among the Magyars. Géza brought Christian
missionaries to Hungary, mainly German and Czech priests; moreover, he and his
family converted to Christianity. He married a Christian woman, Sarolt, the
daughter of Gyula, the chieftain of the Hungarian tribes settled in Transylvania.
Their only son, Stephen, was born around 970. The boy received the pagan name
Vajk at his birth, but his name was changed to Stephen at his infant baptism,
the name of the first Christian martyr.
Stephen married the deeply religious Giselle, daughter of Henry, prince of Bavaria
in AD 995. After his father's death in AD 997, Stephen was elected duke of Hungary.
At the very beginning of his reign, a pagan revolt led by his pagan relative
Koppány broke out, who planned to kill him, take over the throne and marry his
widowed mother, Sarolt. According to the chronicles, the young Stephen girded
himself with a sword for the first time, gathered his army, asked for God's
help, then defeated the enemy in a battle near Veszprém. The German captain
of his army, Vencellin, killed Koppány in the battle. Not only the Hungarian
throne was at stake in the battle between Stephen and Koppány, but the nation's
religious future as well: paganism or Christianity. With God's help, Stephen
triumphed in the battle and Christianity won. And Hungarians defended Europe
against the pagan invasions in the centuries to come. Thus, formerly pagan Hungarians
became the bulwarks of Christian Europe.
Stephen was crowned king at the end of AD 1000
or the beginning of AD 1001 in Esztergom with a crown sent by Pope Sylvester
II from Rome, meaning that the pope recognized him as a sovereign Christian
king. The independent Kingdom of Hungary had been born.
From the alliance of Hungarian tribes he built up the Hungarian state encompassing the whole Carpathian Basin. The country was divided into royal counties and episcopates. Churches were built in the villages. He founded the Benedictine Abbey of Pannonhalma, the Nunnery of Veszprém, the cathedrals of Székesfehérvár and Esztergom and the Monastery of St. Peter and Paul in Óbuda. Inside the abbeys and monasteries schools were established and thus they became culture centers.
Stephen eliminated pagan customs with just laws and strengthened Christianity. He gave generously to the churches, visited them frequently, and supervised their renovation in person. According to the Illustrated Chronicle of Mark Kalt (one of the most trustworthy documents about early Hungarian history, written between 1358-1370), Stephen carried a purse full of silver dinars on his belt and whenever he saw a poor man, he took care of him personally. After his power was consolidated, Stephen planned to abdicate in the favor of his talented Christian son Imre, and to dedicate his whole life to God.
King Saint Stephen decided and was determined to leave all the pomp of this
world, to lay down the crown of the fleeting earthly kingship and to dedicate
himself to God only. He planned to cast off worldly problems, to spend his life
in quiet peacefulness and contemplation, and to give the crown to his son, Prince
Imre, who was blessed and full of holy virtues and was raised this way.
The last ten years of his reign were marked by personal tragedies and the
political problems arising from them. In 1031 King Stephen's only son Imre died
while hunting wild boar, which made the question of who would succeed Stephen
uncertain. The following years were marked by the political intrigues and violence
that accompanied the struggle to decide the succession.
King Stephen made his sister's son Peter Orseolo heir to the throne. King
Stephen's cousin Vazul rebelled against this decision. In response Stephen had
Vazul's eyes put out and exiled his sons. Before his death Stephen recommended
to the Hungarian lords that Peter should be his successor. King Stephen died
in on August 15, 1038 in Székesfehérvárand he was buried there. According to
the chronicles the country mourned him for three years. He had left a confused
political situation when he quitted this life but could also point to unique
achievements - he had established the Hungarian monarchy and ensured that Hungary
belonged to Europe.
The feast day of King Stephen is celebrated in Hungary on August 20. This is the greatest national feast of the Hungarians, and it is celebrated with beautiful firework displays in Budapest.