Andrew I of Hungary
Andrew I the White or the Catholic (Hungarian: I. Fehér or Katolikus András/Endre; c. 1015 – before 6 December 1060) was King of Hungary from 1046 to 1060. He descended from a younger branch of the Árpád dynasty. After he spent fifteen years in exile, an extensive revolt by the pagan Hungarians enabled him to take the throne from King Peter Orseolo. He strengthened the position of Catholicism in the Kingdom of Hungary and successfully defended its independence against the Holy Roman Empire.
"King Andrew I" redirects here. For the political cartoon comparing Andrew Jackson to a king, see King Andrew the First.Andrew I
September 1046 – December 1060
September 1046, Székesfehérvár
c. 1015
before 6 December 1060 (aged 44–45)
Zirc, Kingdom of Hungary
- Adelaide, Duchess of Bohemia
- Solomon, King of Hungary
- David
- George (illegitimate)
a lady from the Clan Tátony
Early life[edit]
Childhood (c. 1015–1031)[edit]
Medieval sources provide two contradictory reports of the parents of Andrew, and his two brothers, Levente and Béla.[1] For instance, the Chronicle of Zagreb and Saint Gerard's Life[1] write that their father was Vazul, a grandson of Taksony, Grand Prince of the Hungarians (r. c. 955 – c. 970).[2] The Illuminated Chronicle and other medieval sources write of Vazul's relationship with "some girl" from the Tátony clan who bore his sons, who thus "were not born of a true marriage-bed".[3][4] According to a concurrent tradition, which has been preserved by most chronicles, the three princes were the sons of Vazul's brother, Ladislas the Bald.[1] Modern historians, who reject the latter report, agree that Andrew and his brothers were the sons of Vazul and his concubine from the Tátony clan.[1][5][6][7] According to the historian Gyula Kristó, Andrew was the second among Vazul's three sons. He writes that Andrew was born around 1015.[5]
In exile (1031–1046)[edit]
According to medieval chronicles, Vazul was blinded during the reign of his cousin, King Stephen I, the first Christian monarch of Hungary (r. 997–1038).[8] The king ordered Vazul's mutilation after the death, in 1031, of Emeric, his only son surviving infancy.[8][9] The contemporary Annals of Altaich writes that the king himself ordered the mutilation of one of his kinsmen, who had strong claim to the throne, in an attempt to ensure a peaceful succession to his own sister's son, Peter Orseolo.[10][6] The same source adds that the king expelled his blinded cousin's three sons from Hungary.[1] According to the contrasting report of the Hungarian chronicles, King Stephen wanted to save the young princes' lives from their enemies in the royal court and "counselled them with all speed"[11] to depart from Hungary.[5]
Reign[edit]
Coronation (1046–1047)[edit]
Most Hungarian lords and the prelates opposed the restoration of paganism.[21][30] They preferred the devout Christian Andrew to his pagan brother Levente,[21] even if, at least according to Kristó and Steinhübel, the latter was the eldest among Vazul's three sons.[31][32] The Hungarian chronicles write that Levente, who died in short time, did not oppose his brother's ascension to the throne.[32][23] The three bishops who had survived the pagan uprising crowned Andrew in Székesfehérvár in the last quarter of 1046 or in the spring of 1047.[23][33] Historian Ferenc Makk writes that Andrew was crowned with a crown that the Byzantine Emperor Constantine IX Monomachos had sent to him.[33] Nine enamelled plaques from this golden crown were unearthed in Nyitraivánka (Ivanka pri Nitre, Slovakia) in the 19th century.[34] Andrew soon broke with his pagan supporters, restored Christianity and declared pagan rites illegal.[26][30] According to Kosztolnyik, Andrew's epithets (the White or the Catholic) are connected to these events.[35]
The plaques of gold from the crown found at Nyitraivánka (Ivanka pri Nitre, Slovakia) – Andrew I was crowned with this crown, according to historian Ferenc Makk.
