The story of Hungary 13

The story of Hungary 13

But the young duke was not fated to realize the hopes of his fond

father. In the very year (1031), and on the very day, say the

chronicles, on which Stephen intended to have his son annointed before

the nation as his successor, the mysterious edict of divine Providence

suddenly took him away. In place of the crown of terrestrial power, his

unstained life, nipped in the bud, was to be rewarded by the glory of

everlasting salvation.

 

This sad blow prostrated the aged king, who had already been ailing,

throwing him on his bed, and from that moment up to the day of his

death he was unable to recover either his bodily or mental strength.

Bereft of all hope and left to himself with his great sorrow and

harassing doubts, he looked about him irresolutely for one on whose

shoulders the cares of royalty should rest after his departure. The

descendants of his uncle Michael were still living, and his choice fell

upon them, they being rightfully entitled to succeed to the throne.

But he was foiled in his intention by the opposition of the court,

where the foreigners rallying round Queen Gisella had obtained the

mastery, and where they now resorted to every evil scheme to compel the

decrepit king to designate as his successor Duke Peter, who resided at

the court, and was the son of one of the king’s sisters, and Ottone

Urseolo, the Doge of Venice. He finally yielded, and by this act the

vessel of State which he had piloted for nearly half a century with a

strong arm and great circumspection, was drawn into a most dangerous

current. Stephen was the founder of the kingdom of Hungary; to others

was left the inheritance of defending and strengthening it. He died

in 1038 on Mary’s Ascension Day, the anniversary of the same day on

which, thirty-eight years before, he had placed the crown on his head.

On the day of his death Stephen gathered about him his courtiers and

the magnates of the land, and commended the realm to their care, but,

as if distrustful of them, he, in his last prayer, placed both the

church and the kingdom founded by him under the patronage of the Holy

Virgin Mary. Five centuries later Stephen was canonized and placed

upon the calendar of saints by the Church of Rome, and the event of

the exaltation of their first king and apostle was celebrated as a

great national holiday by the people. Time has preserved St. Stephen’s

right hand and the crown which his piety earned for him, but the

brightest and noblest monument he erected to himself is the creation

of a commonwealth whose free institutions, unimpaired strength and

independence have survived the storms of nearly nine centuries.

 

[Illustration]

 

[Illustration]

 

 

 

 

CHAPTER VII.

 

THE KINGS OF THE HOUSE OF ÁRPÁD.

 

 

The crown of St. Stephen remained in the dynastic family of Árpád

for three centuries. The kings of this dynasty erected, upon the

foundations laid by the first great king of that house, the proud and

enduring structure of the Hungarian Church and State. The liberty of

the nation and the independence of the country were maintained by

these rulers against the ever-recurring attacks of both the Eastern

and Western empires, and the paternal meddling of the popes, as

well as against the barbarians invading Europe from the East, whose

devastations menaced the complete destruction of every thing that lay

in their path.

 

But while they repulsed with an ever-ready and strong arm all hostile

attacks—from whatever quarter they might come—they willingly extended

the right hand of friendship and hospitality to those who came to

settle in the country with peaceful intentions, and brought with them

the valued seeds of Western culture. The Hungarians themselves could be

but with difficulty weaned from their ancient customs, and they still

continued to be the martial element of the country, inured to war and

laying down their lives on fields of battle; but the populations which

had emigrated from the West, protected by royal immunities, were the

fathers of a busy and prosperous city-life, and laid the foundations

of civilization in Hungary. A few monumental memorials, spared by the

hand of time, proclaim to this day the artistic taste and wealth of

those remote centuries, and the scant words to be found in ancient and

decayed parchments speak loudly, and with no uncertain sound, of the

cities of that time as busy marts of industrial activity and thriving

commerce. From the list of the annual revenues of one of the Árpáds,

Béla III., and those of the country in the twelfth century, which was

submitted by him when asking for the hand of the daughter of the French

king, the civilized West learned with amazement of the enormous wealth

of the king ruling near the eastern confines of the Western world. The

king’s wealth was but a reflex of the prosperity of the people. During

the era of the Árpáds Hungary surpassed many a Western country in power

and wealth, and in the work of civilization either kept pace with them

or faithfully followed in their footsteps. These three hundred years

produced great kings, who, distinguished by their abilities, character,

and achievements, made the country strong and flourishing; but this

era produced also weak and frivolous rulers, whose faults will forever

darken their memory. Posterity, however, cherishes the memory of all

with equal piety, and is accustomed to look at the entire period in

the light of the lustre of the great kings only. No wonder, therefore,

if the ancient chroniclers, in describing the events of that era, are

led by their piety to weave into the text gorgeous tales and legends

for the purpose of enhancing the glory of the great kings, and of

palliating the shortcomings of those kings who were weak and frail.

 

The history of those three centuries may be divided into three periods.

The first, comprising the first two centuries, may be called the

heroic period of the young kingdom, in the course of which both the

foreign and domestic foes were triumphantly resisted, the attacks of

the neighboring nations repulsed, and the risings of paganism quelled.

The second comprises the early part of the thirteenth century. During

this period the royal power entered upon a state of decay, and was no

longer able either to secure respect for the law or the execution of

its behests. At this time too the nobility extorted from royalty a

charter called the Golden Bull, confirming their immunities. During the

third period an oligarchy, recruited from the ranks of the nobility,

rose to power, and became the scourge of the nation, defying the royal

authority and trampling upon all law. The licentiousness of this class

ruined the country, which was then very near becoming a prey of the

Mongols, who made an unexpected invasion. The realm, however, was saved

from utter destruction by the devotion of one of her great kings and a

happy conjuncture of circumstances.

 

The misgivings which filled Stephen’s soul when he closed his eyes in

eternal sleep soon proved to have been well founded. Four years had

hardly elapsed after his death when the armies of the German emperor

were already marching on Hungary, and in another four years paganism

arose in a formidable rebellion, with the avowed purpose of destroying

the new church and kingdom.

 

Peter (1038-1046), Stephen’s successor, who was of foreign descent and

of a proud and frivolous nature, despised the rude and uncivilized

Hungarians. He surrounded himself with foreigners, German and Italian

immigrants, who divided amongst themselves the chief dignities of the

State, preyed upon the prosperity of the country, and ruined the morals

of the people. The nation did not tolerate his misrule very long. The

fierce hatred and exasperation with which they looked at every thing

foreign found its vent against Peter, whom they drove from the country

and then elected in his place one of their own nation, Samuel Aba

(1041-1044), the late king’s brother-in-law. Peter did not renounce

his lost power, but asked the help of the German emperor, which he

readily obtained. The Emperor Henry III. opened with his German troops

the way to the forfeited throne, and Samuel Aba, who marched against

him, having fallen on the battle-field, Peter for the second time had

the crown of St. Stephen placed on his brow, but this time he took the

oath of fealty to the German emperor. Thus did Hungary for the moment

become a vassal state of the German empire. But the vassalage was

short, for hardly had the emperor withdrawn from the country when the

passionate wrath of the nation rose higher than ever against Peter.

This time, however, the wrath was not alone against his person, but

menaced destruction to every thing opposed to the ancient order of

things, and produced a bitter contest against both Christianity and the

royal dignity. Peter would have fain escaped now from his persecutors,

but he was captured, thrown into prison, and deprived of his sight, and

then, from the depth of his misery, he vainly bewailed the giddiness

which had conjured up the storm of passions that had deprived him of

his throne, his eyesight, and liberty.

 

[Illustration: THE PEOPLE, SEDUCED BY VATHA, CLAIM THE RE-ESTABLISHMENT

OF PAGANISM.]

 

The leader of the pagan rebellion was Vatha. At his command firebrands

were thrown into the churches and monasteries, the crosses were

demolished, and every thing proclaiming the new faith was reduced

to ruins; and by his advice ambassadors were sent to the dukes of

the house of Árpád, who, after Stephen’s death, had sought refuge

in foreign countries, to summon them to return to the country and

restore there the old order. King Andrew I. (1046-1061), to whom the

supreme power had been offered, and who, during his exile in Russia,

had married the daughter of the Prince of Kiev, immediately obeyed the

summons, not, however to submit to the behests of paganism, but to rule

in accordance with the principles and in the spirit of his illustrious

kinsman, King Stephen. For a while, indeed, he was compelled to bear

with the outbreaks, massacres, and devastations of paganism, but as

soon as he felt secure in his new power, and especially after having

taken up his residence in Stuhlweissenburg, then the capital of

the country, where he was able to collect around him the Christian

inhabitants of the West, who lived there in large numbers, he at once

turned his arms against the pagan rebels. He dispersed their armies,

captured their leaders, and crushed the rebellion with merciless severity.