King of Hungary

The King of Hungary (Hungarian: magyar király) was the head of state of the Kingdom of Hungary from 1000 (or 1001) to 1918.

Origins

The first King of Hungary, Stephen I was crowned on 25 December 1000 (or 1 January 1001) with the crown Pope Sylvester II had sent him with the consent of the Holy Roman Emperor Otto III.

Following King Stephen I's coronation, all the monarchs of Hungary used the title of king. Although Stephen Bocskai and Francis II Rákóczi were proclaimed Prince of Hungary, but their legitimacy was not generally accepted, either in the Kingdom of Hungary.

International status

The Kings of Hungary were sovereign monarchs, ie, they did not submit themselves to others. Although Emperors and Sultans of the Ottoman Empire sometimes claimed supremacy over the Kings of Hungary, but only some of them, and only in specific historical situations, did homage to foreign monarchs.

The Kings of Hungary, as heads of the Archiregnum Hungaricum ("High Kingdom of Hungary"), also tried to extend their supremacy over the rulers of the neighbouring countries and provinces during the 13th-16th centuries. Although these claims were usually rejected, but some foreign monarchs were obliged to swear fidelity to the King of Hungary. In any case, these rulers have to be differentiated from the dignitaries of the Kingdom of Hungary who governed provinces (e.g., Transylvania, Croatia, Slavonia and Dalmatia), since the latters were not vassals but high-officers of the kings.

From 1097 onwards, the Kings of Hungary were also Kings of Croatia, because of the political union of the the two states.

Claims to supremacy over them

Holy Roman Emperors

In 1045, King Peter I did homage to the Emperor Henry III, but the king was dethronised in 1046, and his successor, King Andrew I did not accept the Emperor's supremacy. The Emperor's successor, King Henry IV of Germany acknowledged the independence of the Kingdom of Hungary in the peace concluded with King Andrew I in 1058.

King Solomon also swore allegiance to King Henry IV of Germany in 1074, but by that time he had been ruling over only some counties of the kingdom and he abdicated in 1081. King Solomon's opponent, King Ladislaus I never recognised the Emperor's claims.

During the Mongol invasion of Hungary (tatárjárás), in 1041, King Béla IV accepted Emperor Frederick II's supremacy in case the Emperor would provide him military assistance against the Mongols who had defeated him and had been pillaging his kingdom. However, Frederick II failed him and did not intervene in the struggle, and King Béla IV was absolved of his oath by Pope Innocent IV in 1245. Eventually, King Rudolf I of Germany referred to King Béla IV's oath when he invested, in 1290, his son, Duke Albert I of Austria with the Kingdom of Hungary that he regarded as a derelict fiefdom after King Ladislaus IV's death. However, Duke Albert I waived his claim already in 1291 in the peace he concluded with King Andrew III of Hungary.

Afterwards, the Holy Roman Emperors never claimed the allegiance of the Kings of Hungary.

Byzantine Emperors

Byzantine Emperors, as heirs to the ancient Roman Emperors, tended to regard themselves as heads of the Christian Commonwealth (oikumené). However, they could rarely enforce their claims. In case of the Kingdom of Hungary, only King Stephen IV accepted the supremacy of a Byzantine Emperor, swearing allegiance to Emperor Manuel I Komnenos in 1163, but only after he had been expelled from Hungary.

Sultans of the Ottoman Empire

In 1529, King John I visit Sultan Suleiman I, who had been supported him against his opponent, King Ferdinand I, and swore allegiance to the Sultan.

Sultan Suleiman I, having occupied the Central parts of the Kingdom of Hungary, invested, in 1541, King John I's son King John II Sigismund with the Eastern territories of the kingdom, who governed his realm by the Sultan's grace.

However, King John I's and King John II Sigismund's rule extended over only parts of the kingdom, and their opponents from the House of Habsburg never accepted the Sultan's supremacy over their territories.

In 1605, Sultan Ahmed I sent a royal crown to Stephen Bocskai, who had been proclaimed Prince of Hungary by the Estates, but he never was crowned.

Titles

During the centuries, the Kings of Hungary acquired or claimed the crowns of several neighbouring countries, and they began to use the royal titles connected to those countries. By the time of the last kings, their precise style was: "By the Grace of God, Apostolic King of Hungary, Dalmatia, Croatia, Slavonia, Rama, Serbia, Galicia, Lodomeria, Cumania and Bulgaria, Grand Prince of Transylvania, Count of the Szeklers".

The "Apostolic King" title was confirmed by Pope Clement XIII in 1758 and used afterwards by all the Kings of Hungary.

The title of "King of Slavonia" referred to the territories between the Drava and the Sava Rivers and was used by Ladislaus I for the first time. It was also Ladislaus I who adopted the title "King of Croatia" in 1091. Coloman the Book-lover added the phrase "King of Dalmatia" to the royal style in 1105.

The title "King of Rama", referring to the claim to Bosnia, was firstly used by Béla II in 1136. It was Emeric I who adopted the title "King of Serbia". The phrase "King of Galicia" was used to indicate the supremacy over Halych, while the title "King of Lodomeria" referred to Volhynia; both titles were adopted by Andrew II in 1205. In 1233, Béla IV began to use the title "King of Cumania" wich expressed the rule over the territories settled by the Cumans at that time.

Sources

• Korai Magyar Történeti Lexikon (9-14. század), főszerkesztő: Kristó, Gyula, szerkesztők: Engel, Pál és Makk, Ferenc (Akadémiai Kiadó, Budapest, 1994)
• Magyarország Történeti Kronológiája I-III. – A kezdetektől 1526-ig; 1526-1848, 1848-1944, főszerkesztő: Benda, Kálmán (Akadémiai Kiadó, Budapest, 1981, 1982, 1993)
• Magyar Történelmi Fogalomtár I-II. – A-K; L-ZS, főszerkesztő: Bán, Péter (Gondolat, Budapest, 1989)

References

Category: History of Hungary