Árpád
Grand Prince of the Magyars
Statue of Árpád
Reign	c. 895 – c. 907
Predecessor	Álmos
Successor	Zoltán
Father	Álmos
Mother	Unknown
Born	c. 845
Died	c. 907

Árpád (c. 840 – c. 907)^[1] was the second Grand Prince of the Hungarians (Magyars) (c. 895 – c. 907 or 907). Under his rule the Hungarian people settled in the Carpathian basin. The dynasty descending from him ruled the Principality of Hungary and later the Kingdom of Hungary until 1301.

His life[link]

Árpád was the son of Grand Prince Álmos (Grand Prince of the Magyars), leader of the Hungarian tribal federation; his mother's name and descent is unknown.^{[citation needed]} According to a Hungarian legends, he was a son of an Émésé and Turul (Sacred Hawk), following the old concept of "son of heaven", "Tanyu" or "Shanyu", same title of his supposed ancestor Attila.

The Magyars led by Árpád crossing the Carpathians - a detail of the Arrival of the Hungarians by Árpád Feszty et al. oil on canvas cyclorama (Ópusztaszer National Memorial Site, Hungary)

The emergence of the Magyar tribes and their leaders is a specific period in the history of the Hungarian people that refers to the time starting from when the Hungarians were considered a people separate and identifiable from other Ugric speakers (1000-500 BC) up until their occupation and settlement of the Carpathian Basin around 896 AD (Hungarian: Honfoglalás).^[2] According to Koestler^[3] the Onogurs were led by Prince Árpad, breaking part of the Khazars empire. Árpad led 10 tribes (Onogurs) doing what was known as the second hun invasion in Europe.^[4] The ten tribes were: 3 tribes (Ság, Ladány, Berény-Tárkány) settled in Hungarian Transilvania plus 7 tribes (Megyer/Magyar/Madar/Madjar/Muageris, Jenő, Keszi, Nyék, Kér, Tarján e Kürt/Kubat/Kubrat) settled in Panonia

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, requiring him to conclude peace with the Byzantine Empire. Emperor Simeon, however, entered into an alliance with the Pechenegs, the eastern neighbours of the Hungarian tribal federation. They then made an attack against the Magyar armies. In the Battle of Southern Buh, Emperor Simeon I defeated their army; shortly afterwards, the Pechenegs attacked and pillaged their territories. The Magyar tribes were required to leave Etelköz and move to the Carpathian Basin where they settled down (Honfoglalás).

The circumstances of Álmos' death are uncertain. The leaders of the seven Hungarian tribes proclaimed Árpád to Grand Prince of the Magyars.^[5]

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.^[6] The Magyars entering the Pannonian fields in 896 may have represented about 200,000–250,000 people. He settled in what is now Hungary in about 900, though the Hungarians continued to ravage western Europe til their defeat by Emperor Otto I in 955.

Based on Arabic sources, Árpád's title seems to have been kende^[7] 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 held the first "parliamentary" session with 40 other "nobles" on horseback before 900 AD.

Children[link]

Grand Prince Árpád's statue in Budapest

Árpád's wife, oil on canvas

• Liüntika (Levente), Prince of Hungary ?, living 895
• Tarkatzus (Tarhos), the father of:
  • Teveli, the father of:
    • Tormás (Termatzus), lived in Byzantium, k.i.a. August 955, the father of:
      • Koppány, Duke in Somogy, k.i.a. 997/998
• Jelek (Üllő), "the Epicure", the father:
  • Ezelekh
• Jutotzas (Jutas), the father of:
  • Falitzi (Fajsz), Prince of Hungary (948-955), died c. 955
  • Tas, living in 950
• Zoltán of Hungary (? – c. 947)
  • Taksony of Hungary (? – c. 972)

Legacy[link]

Although the founder of the Kingdom of Hungary was not Árpád (as he lived a century earlier) - but his descendant Saint Stephen I –, he is generally thought of as the forefather of Hungarians and is often affectionally mentioned as our father Árpád (Hungarian: Árpád apánk). Árpád was the founder of the dynasty named after him, which would rule over the kingdom of Hungary till 1301.

In popular culture[link]

Film[link]

Árpád was played by Franco Nero in the 1996 film The Conquest.

Sources[link]

• 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)
• http://genealogy.euweb.cz/arpad/arpad1.html

See also[link]

• Árpáds
• Hungarian prehistory
• History of Hungary

References[link]

• Árpád Hungarian Wikipedia

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Árpád

• Árpád, painting from the 19th century