Hungarian conquest of the Carpathian Basin
The Hungarian conquest of the Carpathian Basin,[1] also known as the Hungarian conquest[2] or the Hungarian land-taking[3] (Hungarian: honfoglalás, lit. 'taking/conquest of the homeland'),[4] was a series of historical events ending with the settlement of the Hungarians in Central Europe in the late 9th and early 10th century. Before the arrival of the Hungarians, three early medieval powers, the First Bulgarian Empire, East Francia, and Moravia, had fought each other for control of the Carpathian Basin. They occasionally hired Hungarian horsemen as soldiers. Therefore, the Hungarians who dwelt on the Pontic-Caspian Steppe east of the Carpathian Mountains were familiar with what would become their homeland when their conquest started.
The Hungarian conquest started in the context of a "late or 'small' migration of peoples".[1] The Hungarians took possession of the Carpathian Basin in a pre-planned manner, with a long move-in between 862–895.[5] Other theories assert that the Hungarians crossed the Carpathian Mountains following a joint attack by the Pechenegs and Bulgarians in 894 or 895. They first took control over the lowlands east of the river Danube and attacked and occupied Pannonia (the region to the west of the river) in 900. They exploited internal conflicts in Moravia and annihilated this state sometime between 902 and 906.
The Hungarians strengthened their control over the Carpathian Basin by defeating the Bavarian army in a battle fought at Brezalauspurc on 4 July 907. They launched a series of campaigns to Western Europe between 899 and 955 and also targeted the Byzantine Empire between 943 and 971. However, they gradually settled in the basin and established a Christian monarchy, the Kingdom of Hungary, around 1000.
Sources[edit]
Written sources[edit]
Byzantine authors were the first to record these events.[259] The earliest work is Emperor Leo the Wise's Tactics, finished around 904, which recounts the Bulgarian-Byzantine war of 894–896, a military conflict directly preceding the Hungarians' departure from the Pontic steppes.[260] Nearly contemporary narration[259] can be read in the Continuation of the Chronicle by George the Monk.[261] However, De Administrando Imperio ("On Governing the Empire") provides the most detailed account.[262] It was compiled under the auspices of Emperor Constantine VII Porphyrogenitus in 951 or 952.[263]