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Birth:          ABT  845 of Pannonia
Death:          ABT  907 Obuda, Pest, Hungary

Notes
led emigration from the Dnieper steppes in 889 to conquer Hungary and Transylvania 
by 895
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/%C3%81rp%C3%A1d
Árpád (Hungarian pronunciation: ['a?rpa?d]; c. 845 – c. 907) was the head of the 
confederation of the Hungarian tribes at the turn of the 9th and 10th centuries. He 
might have been either the sacred ruler or kende of the Hungarians, or their military 
leader or gyula, although most details of his life are debated by historians, because 
different sources contain contradictory information. Despite this, many Hungarians 
refer to him as the "founder of our country", and Árpád's preeminent role in the 
Hungarian conquest of the Carpathian Basin has been emphasized by some later 
chronicles. The dynasty descending from Árpád ruled the Kingdom of Hungary until 
1301.
Biography[edit]

Early life[edit]

Further information: Álmos

Árpád was the son of Álmos who is mentioned as the first head of the confederation of 
the Hungarian tribes by all Hungarian chronicles.[1][2] His mother's name and family 
are unknown.[3] According to historian Gyula Kristó, Árpád was born around 845.[4] 
His name derived from the Hungarian word for barley (árpa).[4]

The Byzantine Emperor Constantine Porphyrogenitus (r. 913–959) states that the 
Hungarians "had never at any time had any other prince" before Árpád, which is in 
sharp contrast to the Hungarian chronicles' report of the position of Árpád's father.[5]
[6] In Porphyrogenitus's narration, the Khazar khagan initiated the centralization of the 
command of the Hungarian tribes in order to strengthen his own suzerainty over them.
[7][8] The khagan initially wanted to appoint a chieftain named Levedi to lead the 
Hungarians.[9] However, Levedi did not accept this offer and suggested that either 
Álmos or Árpád should be promoted instead of him.[7] The khagan approached the 
Hungarians with this new proposal.[10] They preferred Árpád to his father, because he 
was "greatly admired for wisdom and counsel and valour, and capable of this rule".[5]
[7] Thereafter, Árpád was made "prince according to the custom ... of the Chazars, by 
lifting him upon a shield."[5][10] Constantine Porphyrogenitus refers to Árpád as "great 
prince of Turkey" (referring to Hungary) (Greek: ? µ??a? ??????a? ?????).[11][12]
[13]

The reliability of the Byzantine emperor's report of Árpád's election is debated by 
modern historians: for instance, Victor Spinei states that it is "rather vague and 
scarcely credible", but András Róna-Tas writes that its core is reliable.[7][14] The 
latter historian adds that Árpád's election was promoted by Álmos who forced Levedi 
kende to renounce. Accordingly, in Róna-Tas's view, Árpád succeeded Levedi as 
sacred ruler or kende, which enabled his father to preserve his own position of the 
actual leader of the Hungarians or gyula.[14]

Towards the Hungarian Conquest[edit]

Further information: Hungarian conquest of the Carpathian Basin, Kurszán, and 
Liüntika

The earliest reliable source of Árpád's life is an early 10th-century document, the 
Continuation of the Chronicle by George the Monk.[4][15][16] It narrates that the 
Byzantine Emperor Leo VI the Wise (r. 886–912) sent his envoy Nicetas Sclerus to the 
Hungarians in 894 or 895 "to give presents" and incite them against the Bulgarian 
Empire.[16] Sclerus met with their two leaders, Árpád and Kurszán, at the Lower 
Danube.[16][17] Sclerus's mission succeeded: a Hungarian army soon crossed the 
Danube on Byzantine ships against Bulgaria.[17][18] An interpolation in 
Porphyrogenitus's text suggests that the invading Hungarians were under the 
command of Árpád's son, Liüntika.[17]

The positions held by Árpád and Kurszán at the time of their negotiations with Sclerus 
are debated by historians. Spinei wrote that Árpád was the gyula, and Kurszán was 
the kende.[17] In contrast, Kristó said that Kurszán was the gyula and Árpád 
represented his father, Álmos kende.[16] [19]

At that time, the Bulgarians had disregarded the peace treaty and were raiding through 
the Thracian countryside. Justice pursued them for breaking their oath to Christ our 
God, the emperor of all, and they quickly met up with their punishment. While our 
forces were engaged against the Saracens, divine Providence led the [Hungarians], in 
place of the Romans, to campaign against the Bulgarians. Our Majesty's fleet of ships 
supported them and ferried them across the Danube. [Providence] sent them out 
against the army of the Bulgarians that had so wickedly taken up arms against 
Christians and, as though they were public executioners, they decisively defeated 
them in three engagements, so that the Christian Romans might not willingly stain 
themselves with the blood of the Christian Bulgarians.

—?Leo the Wise: Tactics[20]

The Hungarian army defeated the Bulgarians, but the latter hired the Pechenegs 
against them.[17][21] The Bulgarians and Pechenegs simultaneously invaded the 
Hungarians' territories in the western regions of the Pontic steppes in 895 or 896.[22] 
The destruction of their dwelling places by the Pechenegs forced the Hungarians to 
leave for a new homeland across the Carpathian Mountains towards the Pannonian 
Plain.[23]

The Illuminated Chronicle says that Árpád's father Álmos "could not enter Pannonia, 
for he was killed in Erdelw" or Transylvania.[1][24][25] Engel, Kristó and Molnár, who 
accept the reliability of this report, wrote that Álmos's death was a ritual murder, 
similar to the sacrifice of the Khazar khagans in case of a disaster affecting their 
people.[1][23][26] In contrast with them, Róna-Tas states that even if the report on 
Álmos's murder "reflects true event, the only possible explanation would be that Árpád 
or someone in his entourage" killed the aged prince.[24] Spinei rejects the Illuminated 
Chronicle's report on Álmos's murder in Transylvania, because the last mention of 
Álmos in the contrasting narration of the Gesta Hungarorum is connected to a siege of 
Ungvár (Uzhhorod, Ukraine) by the Hungarians.[27] The latter chronicle says that 
Álmos appointed Árpád "as leader and master" of the Hungarians on this occasion.
[28][29]

Reign[edit]

Árpád's name "is completely unknown" to all sources written in East Francia, which 
was one of the main powers of the Carpathian Basin at the turn of the 9th and 10th 
centuries.[12] These sources, including the Annales Alamannici and the Annales 
Eisnidlenses, only mention another Hungarian leader, Kurszán.[12] According to Kristó 
and other historians, these sources suggest that Kurszán must have been the gyula 
commanding the Hungarian forces, while Árpád succeeded his murdered father as the 
sacred kende.[12][31] Proposing a contrasting theory, the Romanian historian Curta 
wrote that Kurszán was the kende and Árpád gyula only succeeded him when Kurszán 
was murdered by Bavarians in 902 or 904.[12][32]

In contrast to nearly contemporaneous sources, Hungarian chronicles written 
centuries after the events—for instance, the Gesta Hungarorum and the Illuminated 
Chronicle—emphasize Árpád's pre-eminent role in the conquest of the Carpathian 
Basin.[1][33] The Gesta Hungarorum also highlights Árpád's military skills and his 
generosity.[34] This chronicle also emphasizes that Tétény, one of the heads of the 
seven Hungarian tribes, acquired "the land of Transylvania for himself and his 
posterity" only after Árpád had authorized him to conquer it.[35][36]

Having crossed the Danube, they encamped beside the Danube as far as 
Budafelhévíz. Hearing this, all the Romans living throughout the land of Pannonia, 
saved their lives by flight. Next day, Prince Árpád and all his leading men with all the 
warriors of Hungary entered the city of King Attila and they saw all the royal palaces, 
some ruined to the foundations, others not, and they admired beyond measure the 
stone buildings and were happier than can be told that they had deserved to take 
without fighting the city of King Attila, of whose line Prince Árpád descended. They 
feasted every day with great joy in the palace of King Attila, sitting alongside one 
another, and all the melodies and sweet sounds of zithers and pipes along with all the 
songs of minstrels were presented to them ... Prince Árpád gave great lands and 
properties to the guests staying with them, and, when they heard this, many guests 
thronged to him and gladly stayed with him.

—?Anonymous: Gesta Hungarorum[37]

The Gesta Hungarorum says that Árpád took "an oath of the leading men and warriors 
of Hungary," and "had his son, Prince Zoltán elevated" to prince in his life.[38][39] 
However, the reliability of this report and the list of the grand princes in the Gesta 
Hungarorum is dubious.[13] For instance, it ignores Fajsz, who ruled when Constantine 
VII Porphyrogenitus was completing his De Administrando Imperio around 950.[40]

Death[edit]

The date of Árpád's death is debated.[41] The Gesta Hungarorum states that he died 
in 907.[1][41] However, Kristó wrote that he actually died in 900 or later because the 
Gesta says 903 is the starting date of the Hungarian "land-taking" instead of its actual 
date around 895.[41] If the Gesta's report on his funeral is reliable, Árpád was buried 
"at the head of a small river that flows through a stone culvert to the city of King 
Attila" where a village, Fehéregyháza, developed near Buda a century later.[38][41]

Legacy[edit]

The Hungarians arrived in their new homeland within the Carpathians under Árpád.[39] 
Árpád is the principal actor in the Gesta Hungarorum, which attributes "almost all 
memorable events" of the "Hungarian land-taking" to him.[42] Furthermore, until the 
extinction of the male line of his dynasty in 1301, Hungary was ruled by "a single line 
of princes", all descending from Árpád.[23] Árpád is still famed among the Hungarians 
as honalapító or the "founder of our country".[39]

Family[edit]

Porphyrogenitus says Árpád "had four sons: first, Tarkatzous; second, Ielech; third, 
Ioutotzas; fourth, Zaltas".[13][39][43] However, he also refers to one "Liuntikas, son 
of" Árpád; Kristó wrote that Liuntikas (Liüntika) was an alternative name of Tarkatzous 
(Tarhos).[39][44] The name and family of the mother of Árpád's sons are unknown.[45] 
The following is a family tree presenting Árpád's ancestors and his descendants to the 
end of the 10th century:[45]

Parents
____ Almos (ABT  820 - ABT  895)
----- ----- ()

Siblings
____ Arpad (ABT  845 - ABT  907)

Marriage To ----- ----- ()
    m.  

Notes


Children by ----- ----- 
OF HUNGARY Zoltan (ABT  880 - ABT  950)

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