The Coronation of Stephen I — Hungary Becomes a Christian Kingdom
Stephen I was crowned King of Hungary at Esztergom around Christmas 1000 or New Year 1001, with a crown sent by Pope Sylvester II with the approval of Emperor Otto III. The Magyars had arrived in the Carpathian basin around 895 and had raided Europe as far as Spain and southern Italy for half a century, until crushing defeats at Lechfeld in 955 and on the Bosphorus in 970 ended it. Stephen's father Géza had begun the settlement, accepting baptism for political reasons and inviting missionaries. Stephen, baptised Vajk, succeeded in 997 and had to fight for it. Hungarian succession followed seniority within the clan, and his kinsman Koppány claimed both the throne and Géza's widow by that custom. Stephen defeated him with Bavarian heavy cavalry and had his body quartered and displayed at four fortresses. The crown was the point of the coronation. By receiving it from the pope rather than from the emperor, Stephen established that Hungary was a sovereign kingdom rather than a fief of the Holy Roman Empire — a distinction Hungarians have insisted on ever since. He then built a state: ten bishoprics, an archbishopric at Esztergom, monasteries, a county system under royal officials, a coinage, laws written in Latin, and compulsory church attendance and tithes. He suppressed the pagan reaction and settled the wandering clans on land. His only surviving son Emeric was killed hunting in 1031, and the succession collapsed into decades of conflict after his death in 1038. He was canonised in 1083.
- Year: 1000 CE
- Category: Political
