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Menumorut

January 01, 1970

For the residential district that was most likely the source of the name, see Menumorut, Satu Mare.

Menumorut or Menumorout (Modern Hungarian: Ménmarót) was the ruler of the lands between the rivers Mureș, Someș and Tisza at the time of the Hungarian conquest of the Carpathian Basin around 900, according to the Gesta Hungarorum, a Hungarian chronicle written after 1150 by an unidentified author, referred to as Anonymus. Historians debate whether Menumorut was an actual ruler or a fictional character created by the author, since the Gesta tells of multiple figures, including Menumorut, who are not identified in any other primary sources, and does not name any of the enemies of the invading Hungarians written of in other contemporary accounts of the invasion. According to Anonymus, Menumorut's duchy was populated primarily with Khazars and Székelys, and he acknowledged the suzerainty of the (unnamed) ruling Byzantine Emperor at the time.

Background edit

Early history of the Magyars edit

Further information: Gesta Hungarorum
 
The first page of the sole manuscript preserving the text of the Gesta Hungarorum, the only chronicle which mentions Menumorut

The most important source of the Magyars' early history is a work known as De Administrando Imperio, written by the Byzantine Emperor Constantine VII around 952.[1] According to the emperor, the Magyars "lived together with" the Khazars "for three years, and fought in alliance"[2] with them for an unspecified time.[3] The text suggests that the Magyars were once subjected to the Khazar Khaganate, the dominant power of the lands between the rivers Dnieper and Volga, but modern historians debate whether their subjection lasted only for a couple of years, as the emperor states, or for a longer period.[3][4] [5] In the same area, three or four local variants of the Saltovo-Mayaki archaeological culture, which represented semi-nomadic groups, emerged in the western regions of the Eurasian steppes in the second half of the 8th century.[6][7]

Internal strife and attacks by neighboring tribes caused the decline of the Khaganate in the early 9th century.[8] The Magyars were among the Khazars' subject peoples who seceded, settling in the Pontic steppes to the north of the Black Sea.[9] According to Emperor Constantine VII, the Kabars, who "were of the race"[10] of the Khazars, also rebelled against the Khaganate and joined the Magyars.[11] This event occurred before 881, because in that year the Magyars and the Kabars invaded East Francia, according to the longer version of the Annals of Salzburg.[12] The Magyars also intervened in a war between Bulgaria and the Byzantine Empire on the latter's behalf in about 894.[13] The Bulgarians formed an alliance with the Pechenegs, who dwelled in the lands east of the Magyars, and they jointly invaded the Pontic steppes and defeated the Magyars, forcing them to move to the Carpathian Basin in search for a new homeland.[14][15]

Their conquest of the Carpathian Basin is the principal subject of the Gesta Hungarorum.[16] The Gesta was written after 1150 by an unidentified author, who is referred to as Anonymus in modern scholars' works.[16][17] He wrote primarily of the Magyars' battles with six local rulers, including Menumorut, who are not named in other annals and chronicles.[18][19] On the other hand, Anonymus did not write of Svatopluk I of Moravia, Luitpold of Bavaria, and other local rulers whose fights with the conquering Magyars were described in late 9th-century or early 10th-century sources.[20]

Crișana on the eve of the Hungarian Conquest edit

Further information: Crișana § Middle_Ages

Burial sites unearthed at Valea lui Mihai and other sites along the Ier River containing remains of horses show that the Avars settled in Crișana shortly after their arrival in the Carpathian Basin in 567.[21] However, few belt mounts decorated with griffins and tendrils or other such features of later Avar craftsmanship have been found in the same region.[22] A distinct group of barrow cemeteries, or tumuli—the so-called "Nușfalău–Someșeni" cemeteries—appeared in the lands bordering on "Late Avar" cemeteries in the 8th century.[23] In contrast with the Avars, who practised inhumation, the populations using these cemeteries cremated their dead.[24] "Nușfalău–Someșeni" cemeteries show similarities to some in the East Slavic territories, but they yielded items similar to examples unearthed in West Slavic sites and to "Late Avar" belt mounts.[25][26]

The Avars' power collapsed after Charlemagne and his commanders launched a series of campaigns against the western regions of the Carpathian Basin between 788 and 803.[27][28] However, Avar groups survived the destruction of their empire: Regino of Prüm wrote that the Magyars first "roamed the wildernesses of the Pannonians and the Avars"[29] in the Carpathian Basin after their flight from the Pontic steppes.[30][31] According to historian András Róna-Tas, these wildernesses of the Avars (solitudo Avarorum) were situated in the plains along the rivers Tisza and Danube, including Crișana.[32]

The collapse of the Avar Khaganate enabled the development of "Great" Moravia, a Slavic polity which emerged in the region of the Middle Danube.[33] Svatopluk I of Moravia, who reigned from 870 to 894, expanded his authority over a large region.[34][35] Svatopluk's empire included Crişana, according to historian Gyula Kristó, since Emperor Constantine's reference to "great Moravia, the unbaptized"[36] describes the rivers Timiș, Mureș, Criș, Tisza and Toutis as within its territory.[37][38] Archaeologist Alexandru Madgearu [ro] rejects Kristó's theory, because no archaeological finds from the late 9th century evidence Moravian influence in Crișana.[39]

The Bulgarians also benefited from the fall of the Avar Khaganate.[40] One of the military commanders of Omurtag of Bulgaria drowned in the Tisza, showing that Omurtag, who ruled between 814 and 831, attempted to expand his authority towards this river.[41] The Bulgarians allied with the Franks and invaded Moravia in both 863 and 883.[41] Based on sources from around 870, the Persian scholar Gardizi wrote of two peoples, the Nandarin and the Mirdāt,[42] whose lands were ten days' journey apart.[41] Historians István Bóna and György Györffy identify the Nandarins as Bulgarians (because nándor was the Hungarian exonym for the Bulgarians), and the Mirdāt as Moravians.[41][43] If their identifications are valid, the distance between Bulgaria and Moravia was about 250 to 300 kilometres (160 to 190 mi) circa 870.[43]

Anonymus's narration edit

Menumorut and his duchy edit

 
Menumorut's duchy ("Kazárország" or Khazars' Land) on a Hungarian map (from the 1890s) based on the Gesta Hungarorum

Menumorut ruled an area bordered by the rivers Tisza, Mureș, Someș, and the Igyfon Wood at the time of the Magyars' invasion, according to the Gesta Hungarorum.[44][45][46][16] Anonymus also wrote that "the peoples that are called Kozár",[45] identified by historians as Khazars, inhabited this realm, together with the Székelys.[47][16][19] Menumorut's main fortress was located at Biharia, according to Anonymus.[48] An early medieval fortress was found here,[16] and some historians (including Sălăgean) have identified it as Menumorut's capital,[16] although others (for instance, Florin Curta) argue that nothing proves that the fortress was built before the 10th century.[49][50] Anonymus wrote that Menumorut was the grandson of one "Prince Marót" (whose name was derived from the ancient Hungarian exonym for the Moravians), who he states was ruler of Crișana in the times of Attila the Hun.[51][47] According to the Gesta, Menumorut communicated "haughtily with a Bulgarian heart"[52] with the Magyars' envoys, informing them that "the emperor of Constantinople"[53] was his lord.[16][51]

The Gesta describes Menumorut as a polygamist, stating that he "had many concubines".[45][16] Anonymus even suggested that Menumorut's name was connected to the Hungarian word for stallion (mén) because of his womanizing nature.[54] According to historian Neagu Djuvara, Menumorut's name is a Hungarian form of a Turkic (possibly Bulgar) proper name, but he does not give a suggestion.[55]

The Hungarian conquest edit

Further information: Hungarian conquest of the Carpathian Basin

The Magyars entered the Carpathian Basin through the Northern Carpathians, according to the Gesta Hungarorum.[56][57] After conquering the northeastern region, their leader, Grand Prince Árpád, sent two envoys, Ősbő and Velek, to Menumorut, demanding "the land from the Someș River to the border of Nyírség, up to the Meseș Gates".[58][48] Menumorut received Árpád's envoys amicably, but refused to yield, stating that the Byzantine Emperor guaranteed him rule over the land.[51] Ősbő and Velek returned to Árpád and informed him of Menumorut's refusal.[59]

Árpád dispatched three commanders, Tas, Szabolcs, and Tétény, to invade Menumorut's duchy, according to Anonymus.[59] They crossed the Tisza "at the ford of Lád"[53] and marched towards the Someș.[59] They halted at a place near the future village of Szabolcs, where "almost all the inhabitants of the land surrendered of their own will",[53] giving their sons as hostages to them.[59] Menomorut did not dare to launch a counter-attack, since more and more of his subjects were voluntarily yielding to the Magyar leaders.[59] Upon Szabolcs's orders, an earthen fortress was built, which was named after him,[60] and the three Magyar commanders "appointed from among the inhabitants of the land many serving men to that castle"[61] and manned the fortress with Magyar warriors under the command of a lieutenant.[60]

After this, Anonymus continues, a division of the Magyar army advanced towards the Meseș Gates, under the command of Szabolcs and Tas, and occupied the fortress of Satu Mare, while a second division, led by Tétény, "conquered a great number of people"[62] in the Nyírség.[60] The two divisions rejoined at the Meseș Gates, where "the dwellers of the land built stone gateways and a great obstacle of trees"[62] in accordance with the Magyar leaders' orders to defend the borders of their newly conquered lands.[63] Anonymus emphasizes that the three Magyar commanders were very proud that "they had subjected almost all the nations"[64] of Menumorut's duchy.[63] Tas and Szabolcs decided to return to Árpád, "subduing the whole people from the Someș River to the Criș River"[65] on their way.[63] Menumorut was at this point planning to escape to the Byzantine Empire, but his warriors prevented Szabolcs and Tas from crossing the Criş at Szeghalom, thus forcing the Magyars to temporarily retreat.[63]

After the first campaign against Menumorut, the Magyars fought with Salan (who was the lord of the lands between the Tisza and the Danube), with the Bohemians, and with Glad (the lord of the Banat), and conquered Pannonia, according to the Gesta.[66] Árpád once again dispatched Ősbő and Velek, at the head of a new army, against Menumorut's remaining lands after the birth of his son, Zoltán.[63] Ősbő and Velek crossed the Tisza and halted at the river Kórógy, where the Székelys, "who were previously the peoples"[67] of Attila the Hun, according to Anonymus, voluntarily joined them.[68] Their united armies crossed the Criş River and encamped on the banks of one of its tributaries.[69] Their arrival frightened Menumorut, who left "a host of warriors" in Biharia and "betook himself and his wife and daughter to the groves"[70] of the Igyfon Wood.[69] Ősbő and Velek laid siege to Biharia, which was defended by "warriors gathered from diverse nations", for twelve days.[70][69] During the siege, twenty Magyar, fifteen Székely warriors, and 125 of Menumorut's soldiers were killed.[69] On the 13th day, after the besiegers made preparations for putting ladders to the wall, the defenders decided to surrender, and opened the gates of the fortress.[71]

Having been informed of the fall of his capital, Anonymus continues, Menumorut surrendered and agreed to give his daughter in marriage to Zoltán.[71] Árpád accepted this offer, allowing Menumorut to continue his rule over Biharia till the end of his life.[71] Árpád "gave the county of Zaránd"[72] to Velek, and the fortress of Veszprém to Ősbő, in reward for their services during the war against Menumorut.[71] Menumorut "died without a son" not long before 907, leaving "his whole kingdom in peace"[72] to his son-in-law, Zoltán.[71]

Assesment of Historians edit

Many historians debate the reliability of the reports of the Gesta concerning Menumorut and the other opponents of the Magyars who are not named in other primary sources.[19][73][74] Kristó writes that Anonymus, who had little information of the real conditions of the Carpathian Basin around 900, could only turn "to one thing when he outlined the history of the Hungarian conquest: his own imagination,"[73] and György Györffy says that Menumorut was one of the personalities whom Anonymus invented and named after a location.[75] The existence of two villages named "Morut's house" (Marótlaka in Hungarian) and a clan Morut in Bihar County in the 13th century is well-documented, proving that at least one Morut had settled in this region.[75] Carlile Aylmer Macartney writes that the majority of events that the Gesta mentions in connection with Menumorut are "a simple repetition, with variants" of the story of Salan in the same chronicle, showing that Anonymus "had little material on which to work" when writing about Menumorut.[76] Historian Ryszard Grzesik [pl] says that Menumorut "never existed and never ruled over Bihar", but "it was not an invented person".[77]

See also edit

Footnotes edit

  1. ^ Róna-Tas 1999, pp. 52–53.
  2. ^ Constantine Porphyrogenitus: De Administrando Imperio (ch. 38), p. 171.
  3. ^ a b Kristó 1996, p. 131.
  4. ^ Róna-Tas 1999, pp. 321–322.
  5. ^ Spinei 2009, pp. 47–49.
  6. ^ Spinei 2009, p. 49.
  7. ^ Róna-Tas 1999, p. 139.
  8. ^ Spinei 2009, p. 50.
  9. ^ Pop 1996, pp. 55–57.
  10. ^ Constantine Porphyrogenitus: De Administrando Imperio (ch. 39), p. 175.
  11. ^ Kristó 1996, p. 149.
  12. ^ Kristó 1996, p. 150.
  13. ^ Róna-Tas 1999, p. 331.
  14. ^ Kristó 1996, pp. 187–189.
  15. ^ Spinei 2009, p. 66.
  16. ^ a b c d e f g h Sălăgean 2005, p. 140.
  17. ^ Madgearu 2005, pp. 16–20.
  18. ^ Györffy 1988, pp. 68–72.
  19. ^ a b c Engel 2001, p. 11.
  20. ^ Györffy 1988, p. 39.
  21. ^ Bóna 1994, pp. 92–93.
  22. ^ Bóna 1994, p. 93.
  23. ^ Barford 2001, p. 76.
  24. ^ Barford 2001, p. 89.
  25. ^ Barford 2001, p. 206.
  26. ^ Bóna 1994, p. 101.
  27. ^ Róna-Tas 1999, p. 263.
  28. ^ Barford 2001, p. 263.
  29. ^ The Chronicle of Regino of Prüm (year 889), p. 205.
  30. ^ Kristó 1996, p. 180.
  31. ^ Róna-Tas 1999, p. 264.
  32. ^ Róna-Tas 1999, pp. 264–265.
  33. ^ Barford 2001, p. 109.
  34. ^ Barford 2001, pp. 110, 399.
  35. ^ Engel 2001, p. 4.
  36. ^ Constantine Porphyrogenitus: De Administrando Imperio (ch. 40), p. 177.
  37. ^ Kristó 1996, p. 192.
  38. ^ Madgearu 2005, p. 126.
  39. ^ Madgearu 2005, p. 127.
  40. ^ Sălăgean 2005, p. 133.
  41. ^ a b c d Bóna 1994, p. 103.
  42. ^ Macartney 1968, p. 207.
  43. ^ a b Györffy 1988, p. 68.
  44. ^ Georgescu 1991, p. 14.
  45. ^ a b c Anonymus, Notary of King Béla: The Deeds of the Hungarians (ch. 11.), p. 33.
  46. ^ Pop 1996, p. 95.
  47. ^ a b Györffy 1988, p. 84.
  48. ^ a b Pop 1996, p. 104.
  49. ^ Curta 2001, p. 149.
  50. ^ Gáll 2013, p. 51.
  51. ^ a b c Pop 1996, p. 105.
  52. ^ Anonymus, Notary of King Béla: The Deeds of the Hungarians (ch. 51.), p. 113.
  53. ^ a b c Anonymus, Notary of King Béla: The Deeds of the Hungarians (ch. 20.), p. 53.
  54. ^ Kordé 1994, p. 451.
  55. ^ Djuvara 2012, pp. 21–22.
  56. ^ Pop 1996, p. 67.
  57. ^ Spinei 2009, pp. 71–72.
  58. ^ Anonymus, Notary of King Béla: The Deeds of the Hungarians (ch. 19.), p. 51.
  59. ^ a b c d e Pop 1996, p. 106.
  60. ^ a b c Pop 1996, p. 107.
  61. ^ Anonymus, Notary of King Béla: The Deeds of the Hungarians (ch. 21.), p. 55.
  62. ^ a b Anonymus, Notary of King Béla: The Deeds of the Hungarians (ch. 22.), p. 57.
  63. ^ a b c d e Pop 1996, p. 108.
  64. ^ Anonymus, Notary of King Béla: The Deeds of the Hungarians (ch. 23.), p. 59.
  65. ^ Anonymus, Notary of King Béla: The Deeds of the Hungarians (ch. 28.), p. 65.
  66. ^ Madgearu 2005, p. 22.
  67. ^ Anonymus, Notary of King Béla: The Deeds of the Hungarians (ch. 50.), p. 109.
  68. ^ Pop 1996, pp. 108–109.
  69. ^ a b c d Pop 1996, p. 109.
  70. ^ a b Anonymus, Notary of King Béla: The Deeds of the Hungarians (ch. 51.), p. 111.
  71. ^ a b c d e Pop 1996, p. 110.
  72. ^ a b Anonymus, Notary of King Béla: The Deeds of the Hungarians (ch. 52.), p. 115.
  73. ^ a b Kristó 2003, p. 32.
  74. ^ Róna-Tas 1999, p. 59.
  75. ^ a b Györffy 1988, pp. 83–84, 94.
  76. ^ Macartney 1953, p. 78.
  77. ^ Grzesik 2016, p. 28.

Sources edit

Primary sources edit

  • Anonymus, Notary of King Béla: The Deeds of the Hungarians (Edited, Translated and Annotated by Martyn Rady and László Veszprémy) (2010). In: Rady, Martyn; Veszprémy, László; Bak, János M. (2010); Anonymus and Master Roger; CEU Press; ISBN 978-963-9776-95-1.
  • Constantine Porphyrogenitus: De Administrando Imperio (Greek text edited by Gyula Moravcsik, English translation b Romillyi J. H. Jenkins) (1967). Dumbarton Oaks Center for Byzantine Studies. ISBN 0-88402-021-5.
  • The Chronicle of Regino of Prüm (2009). In: History and Politics in Late Carolingian and Ottonian Europe: The Chronicle of Regino of Prüm and Adalbert of Magdeburg (Translated and annotated by Simon MacLean); Manchester University Press; ISBN 978-0-7190-7135-5.

Secondary sources edit

  • Barford, P. M. (2001). The Early Slavs: Culture and Society in Early Medieval Eastern Europe. Cornell University Press. ISBN 0-8014-3977-9.
  • Boia, Lucian (2001). History and Myth in Romanian Consciousness (Translated by James Christian Brown). CEU Press. ISBN 963-9116-96-3.
  • Bóna, István (1994). "The Hungarian–Slav Period (895–1172)". In Köpeczi, Béla; Barta, Gábor; Bóna, István; Makkai, László; Szász, Zoltán; Borus, Judit (eds.). History of Transylvania. Akadémiai Kiadó. pp. 109–177. ISBN 963-05-6703-2.
  • Brook, Kevin Alan (2006). The Jews of Khazaria. Rowman & Littlefield. ISBN 978-0-7425-4982-1.
  • Curta, Florin (2001). "Transylvania around A.D. 1000". In Urbańczyk, Przemysław (ed.). Europe around the year 1000. Wydawn. DiG. pp. 141–165. ISBN 978-837-1-8121-18.
  • Djuvara, Neagu (2012). A Concise History of Romania. Cross Meridian. ISBN 978-1-4781-3204-2.
  • Engel, Pál (2001). The Realm of St Stephen: A History of Medieval Hungary, 895–1526. I.B. Tauris Publishers. ISBN 1-86064-061-3.
  • Gáll, Erwin (2013). Az Erdélyi-medence, a Partium és a Bánság 10-11. századi temetői [10th-11th-century Cemeteries from the Transylvanian Basin, the Partium and the Banat] (in Hungarian). Szegedi Tudományegyetem Régészeti Tanszéke, Magyar Nemzeti Múzeum, Magyar Tudományos Akadémia Bölcsészettudományi Kutatóközpont Régészeti Intézet. ISBN 978-963-306-197-8.
  • Georgescu, Vlad (1991). The Romanians: A History. Ohio State University Press. ISBN 0-8142-0511-9.
  • Grzesik, Ryszard (2016). "Blasi and Pastores Romanorum in the Gesta Hungarorum by an Anonymous Notary". Res Historica. 41: 25–34. doi:10.17951/rh.2016.0.25.
  • Györffy, György (1988). Anonymus: Rejtély vagy történeti forrás [Anonymous: An Enigma or a Source for History] (in Hungarian). Akadémiai Kiadó. ISBN 963-05-4868-2.
  • Kristó, Gyula (1996). Hungarian History in the Ninth Century. Szegedi Középkorász Muhely. ISBN 963-482-113-8.
  • Kristó, Gyula (2003). Early Transylvania (895-1324). Lucidus Kiadó. ISBN 963-9465-12-7.
  • Kordé, Zoltán (1994). "Ménmarót". In Kristó, Gyula; Engel, Pál; Makk, Ferenc (eds.). Korai magyar történeti lexikon (9–14. század) [Encyclopedia of the Early Hungarian History (9th–14th centuries)] (in Hungarian). Akadémiai Kiadó. p. 451. ISBN 963-05-6722-9.
  • Macartney, C. A. (1953). The Medieval Hungarian Historians: A Critical & Analytical Guide. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-0-521-08051-4.
  • Macartney, C. A. (1968). The Magyars in the Ninth Century. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-0-521-08070-5.
  • Madgearu, Alexandru (2005). The Romanians in the Anonymous Gesta Hungarorum: Truth and Fiction. Romanian Cultural Institute, Center for Transylvanian Studies. ISBN 973-7784-01-4.
  • Pop, Ioan-Aurel (1996). Romanians and Hungarians from the 9th to the 14th Century: The Genesis of the Transylvanian Medieval State. Centrul de Studii Transilvane, Fundația Culturală Română. ISBN 973-577-037-7.
  • Róna-Tas, András (1999). Hungarians and Europe in the Early Middle Ages: An Introduction to Early Hungarian History (Translated by Nicholas Bodoczky). CEU Press. ISBN 978-963-9116-48-1.
  • Sălăgean, Tudor (2005). "Romanian Society in the Early Middle Ages (9th–14th Centuries AD)". In Pop, Ioan-Aurel; Bolovan, Ioan (eds.). History of Romania: Compendium. Romanian Cultural Institute (Center for Transylvanian Studies). pp. 133–207. ISBN 978-973-7784-12-4.
  • Sălăgean, Tudor (2016). Transylvania in the Second Half of the Thirteenth Century: The Rise of the Congregational System. ISBN 978-90-04-24362-0.
  • Spinei, Victor (2003). The Great Migrations in the East and South East of Europe from the Ninth to the Thirteenth Century (Translated by Dana Bădulescu). ISBN 973-85894-5-2.
  • Spinei, Victor (2009). The Romanians and the Turkic Nomads North of the Danube Delta from the Tenth to the Mid-Thirteenth century. Koninklijke Brill NV. ISBN 978-90-04-17536-5.

Further reading edit

  • Klepper, Nicolae (2005). Romania: An Illustrated History. Hippocrene Books. ISBN 0-7818-0935-5.
  • Nägler, Thomas (2005). "Transylvania between 900 and 1300". In Pop, Ioan-Aurel; Nägler, Thomas (eds.). The History of Transylvania, Vol. I. (Until 1541). Romanian Cultural Institute (Center for Transylvanian Studies). pp. 198–231. ISBN 973-7784-00-6.
  • Pop, Ioan-Aurel (2013). "De manibus Valachorum scismaticorum...": Romanians and Power in the Mediaeval Kingdom of Hungary: The Thirteenth and Fourteenth Centuries. Peter Lang. ISBN 978-3-631-64866-7.

External links edit

  • Duchy of Menumorut (map)

January 01, 1970
menumorut, residential, district, that, most, likely, source, name, satu, mare, menumorout, modern, hungarian, ménmarót, ruler, lands, between, rivers, mureș, someș, tisza, time, hungarian, conquest, carpathian, basin, around, according, gesta, hungarorum, hun. For the residential district that was most likely the source of the name see Menumorut Satu Mare Menumorut or Menumorout Modern Hungarian Menmarot was the ruler of the lands between the rivers Mureș Someș and Tisza at the time of the Hungarian conquest of the Carpathian Basin around 900 according to the Gesta Hungarorum a Hungarian chronicle written after 1150 by an unidentified author referred to as Anonymus Historians debate whether Menumorut was an actual ruler or a fictional character created by the author since the Gesta tells of multiple figures including Menumorut who are not identified in any other primary sources and does not name any of the enemies of the invading Hungarians written of in other contemporary accounts of the invasion According to Anonymus Menumorut s duchy was populated primarily with Khazars and Szekelys and he acknowledged the suzerainty of the unnamed ruling Byzantine Emperor at the time Contents 1 Background 1 1 Early history of the Magyars 1 2 Crișana on the eve of the Hungarian Conquest 2 Anonymus s narration 2 1 Menumorut and his duchy 2 2 The Hungarian conquest 3 Assesment of Historians 4 See also 5 Footnotes 6 Sources 6 1 Primary sources 6 2 Secondary sources 7 Further reading 8 External linksBackground editEarly history of the Magyars edit Further information Gesta Hungarorum nbsp The first page of the sole manuscript preserving the text of the Gesta Hungarorum the only chronicle which mentions Menumorut The most important source of the Magyars early history is a work known as De Administrando Imperio written by the Byzantine Emperor Constantine VII around 952 1 According to the emperor the Magyars lived together with the Khazars for three years and fought in alliance 2 with them for an unspecified time 3 The text suggests that the Magyars were once subjected to the Khazar Khaganate the dominant power of the lands between the rivers Dnieper and Volga but modern historians debate whether their subjection lasted only for a couple of years as the emperor states or for a longer period 3 4 5 In the same area three or four local variants of the Saltovo Mayaki archaeological culture which represented semi nomadic groups emerged in the western regions of the Eurasian steppes in the second half of the 8th century 6 7 Internal strife and attacks by neighboring tribes caused the decline of the Khaganate in the early 9th century 8 The Magyars were among the Khazars subject peoples who seceded settling in the Pontic steppes to the north of the Black Sea 9 According to Emperor Constantine VII the Kabars who were of the race 10 of the Khazars also rebelled against the Khaganate and joined the Magyars 11 This event occurred before 881 because in that year the Magyars and the Kabars invaded East Francia according to the longer version of the Annals of Salzburg 12 The Magyars also intervened in a war between Bulgaria and the Byzantine Empire on the latter s behalf in about 894 13 The Bulgarians formed an alliance with the Pechenegs who dwelled in the lands east of the Magyars and they jointly invaded the Pontic steppes and defeated the Magyars forcing them to move to the Carpathian Basin in search for a new homeland 14 15 Their conquest of the Carpathian Basin is the principal subject of the Gesta Hungarorum 16 The Gesta was written after 1150 by an unidentified author who is referred to as Anonymus in modern scholars works 16 17 He wrote primarily of the Magyars battles with six local rulers including Menumorut who are not named in other annals and chronicles 18 19 On the other hand Anonymus did not write of Svatopluk I of Moravia Luitpold of Bavaria and other local rulers whose fights with the conquering Magyars were described in late 9th century or early 10th century sources 20 Crișana on the eve of the Hungarian Conquest edit Further information Crișana Middle Ages Burial sites unearthed at Valea lui Mihai and other sites along the Ier River containing remains of horses show that the Avars settled in Crișana shortly after their arrival in the Carpathian Basin in 567 21 However few belt mounts decorated with griffins and tendrils or other such features of later Avar craftsmanship have been found in the same region 22 A distinct group of barrow cemeteries or tumuli the so called Nușfalău Someșeni cemeteries appeared in the lands bordering on Late Avar cemeteries in the 8th century 23 In contrast with the Avars who practised inhumation the populations using these cemeteries cremated their dead 24 Nușfalău Someșeni cemeteries show similarities to some in the East Slavic territories but they yielded items similar to examples unearthed in West Slavic sites and to Late Avar belt mounts 25 26 The Avars power collapsed after Charlemagne and his commanders launched a series of campaigns against the western regions of the Carpathian Basin between 788 and 803 27 28 However Avar groups survived the destruction of their empire Regino of Prum wrote that the Magyars first roamed the wildernesses of the Pannonians and the Avars 29 in the Carpathian Basin after their flight from the Pontic steppes 30 31 According to historian Andras Rona Tas these wildernesses of the Avars solitudo Avarorum were situated in the plains along the rivers Tisza and Danube including Crișana 32 The collapse of the Avar Khaganate enabled the development of Great Moravia a Slavic polity which emerged in the region of the Middle Danube 33 Svatopluk I of Moravia who reigned from 870 to 894 expanded his authority over a large region 34 35 Svatopluk s empire included Crisana according to historian Gyula Kristo since Emperor Constantine s reference to great Moravia the unbaptized 36 describes the rivers Timiș Mureș Criș Tisza and Toutis as within its territory 37 38 Archaeologist Alexandru Madgearu ro rejects Kristo s theory because no archaeological finds from the late 9th century evidence Moravian influence in Crișana 39 The Bulgarians also benefited from the fall of the Avar Khaganate 40 One of the military commanders of Omurtag of Bulgaria drowned in the Tisza showing that Omurtag who ruled between 814 and 831 attempted to expand his authority towards this river 41 The Bulgarians allied with the Franks and invaded Moravia in both 863 and 883 41 Based on sources from around 870 the Persian scholar Gardizi wrote of two peoples the Nandarin and the Mirdat 42 whose lands were ten days journey apart 41 Historians Istvan Bona and Gyorgy Gyorffy identify the Nandarins as Bulgarians because nandor was the Hungarian exonym for the Bulgarians and the Mirdat as Moravians 41 43 If their identifications are valid the distance between Bulgaria and Moravia was about 250 to 300 kilometres 160 to 190 mi circa 870 43 Anonymus s narration editMenumorut and his duchy edit nbsp Menumorut s duchy Kazarorszag or Khazars Land on a Hungarian map from the 1890s based on the Gesta Hungarorum Menumorut ruled an area bordered by the rivers Tisza Mureș Someș and the Igyfon Wood at the time of the Magyars invasion according to the Gesta Hungarorum 44 45 46 16 Anonymus also wrote that the peoples that are called Kozar 45 identified by historians as Khazars inhabited this realm together with the Szekelys 47 16 19 Menumorut s main fortress was located at Biharia according to Anonymus 48 An early medieval fortress was found here 16 and some historians including Sălăgean have identified it as Menumorut s capital 16 although others for instance Florin Curta argue that nothing proves that the fortress was built before the 10th century 49 50 Anonymus wrote that Menumorut was the grandson of one Prince Marot whose name was derived from the ancient Hungarian exonym for the Moravians who he states was ruler of Crișana in the times of Attila the Hun 51 47 According to the Gesta Menumorut communicated haughtily with a Bulgarian heart 52 with the Magyars envoys informing them that the emperor of Constantinople 53 was his lord 16 51 The Gesta describes Menumorut as a polygamist stating that he had many concubines 45 16 Anonymus even suggested that Menumorut s name was connected to the Hungarian word for stallion men because of his womanizing nature 54 According to historian Neagu Djuvara Menumorut s name is a Hungarian form of a Turkic possibly Bulgar proper name but he does not give a suggestion 55 The Hungarian conquest edit Further information Hungarian conquest of the Carpathian Basin The Magyars entered the Carpathian Basin through the Northern Carpathians according to the Gesta Hungarorum 56 57 After conquering the northeastern region their leader Grand Prince Arpad sent two envoys Osbo and Velek to Menumorut demanding the land from the Someș River to the border of Nyirseg up to the Meseș Gates 58 48 Menumorut received Arpad s envoys amicably but refused to yield stating that the Byzantine Emperor guaranteed him rule over the land 51 Osbo and Velek returned to Arpad and informed him of Menumorut s refusal 59 Arpad dispatched three commanders Tas Szabolcs and Teteny to invade Menumorut s duchy according to Anonymus 59 They crossed the Tisza at the ford of Lad 53 and marched towards the Someș 59 They halted at a place near the future village of Szabolcs where almost all the inhabitants of the land surrendered of their own will 53 giving their sons as hostages to them 59 Menomorut did not dare to launch a counter attack since more and more of his subjects were voluntarily yielding to the Magyar leaders 59 Upon Szabolcs s orders an earthen fortress was built which was named after him 60 and the three Magyar commanders appointed from among the inhabitants of the land many serving men to that castle 61 and manned the fortress with Magyar warriors under the command of a lieutenant 60 After this Anonymus continues a division of the Magyar army advanced towards the Meseș Gates under the command of Szabolcs and Tas and occupied the fortress of Satu Mare while a second division led by Teteny conquered a great number of people 62 in the Nyirseg 60 The two divisions rejoined at the Meseș Gates where the dwellers of the land built stone gateways and a great obstacle of trees 62 in accordance with the Magyar leaders orders to defend the borders of their newly conquered lands 63 Anonymus emphasizes that the three Magyar commanders were very proud that they had subjected almost all the nations 64 of Menumorut s duchy 63 Tas and Szabolcs decided to return to Arpad subduing the whole people from the Someș River to the Criș River 65 on their way 63 Menumorut was at this point planning to escape to the Byzantine Empire but his warriors prevented Szabolcs and Tas from crossing the Cris at Szeghalom thus forcing the Magyars to temporarily retreat 63 After the first campaign against Menumorut the Magyars fought with Salan who was the lord of the lands between the Tisza and the Danube with the Bohemians and with Glad the lord of the Banat and conquered Pannonia according to the Gesta 66 Arpad once again dispatched Osbo and Velek at the head of a new army against Menumorut s remaining lands after the birth of his son Zoltan 63 Osbo and Velek crossed the Tisza and halted at the river Korogy where the Szekelys who were previously the peoples 67 of Attila the Hun according to Anonymus voluntarily joined them 68 Their united armies crossed the Cris River and encamped on the banks of one of its tributaries 69 Their arrival frightened Menumorut who left a host of warriors in Biharia and betook himself and his wife and daughter to the groves 70 of the Igyfon Wood 69 Osbo and Velek laid siege to Biharia which was defended by warriors gathered from diverse nations for twelve days 70 69 During the siege twenty Magyar fifteen Szekely warriors and 125 of Menumorut s soldiers were killed 69 On the 13th day after the besiegers made preparations for putting ladders to the wall the defenders decided to surrender and opened the gates of the fortress 71 Having been informed of the fall of his capital Anonymus continues Menumorut surrendered and agreed to give his daughter in marriage to Zoltan 71 Arpad accepted this offer allowing Menumorut to continue his rule over Biharia till the end of his life 71 Arpad gave the county of Zarand 72 to Velek and the fortress of Veszprem to Osbo in reward for their services during the war against Menumorut 71 Menumorut died without a son not long before 907 leaving his whole kingdom in peace 72 to his son in law Zoltan 71 Assesment of Historians editMany historians debate the reliability of the reports of the Gesta concerning Menumorut and the other opponents of the Magyars who are not named in other primary sources 19 73 74 Kristo writes that Anonymus who had little information of the real conditions of the Carpathian Basin around 900 could only turn to one thing when he outlined the history of the Hungarian conquest his own imagination 73 and Gyorgy Gyorffy says that Menumorut was one of the personalities whom Anonymus invented and named after a location 75 The existence of two villages named Morut s house Marotlaka in Hungarian and a clan Morut in Bihar County in the 13th century is well documented proving that at least one Morut had settled in this region 75 Carlile Aylmer Macartney writes that the majority of events that the Gesta mentions in connection with Menumorut are a simple repetition with variants of the story of Salan in the same chronicle showing that Anonymus had little material on which to work when writing about Menumorut 76 Historian Ryszard Grzesik pl says that Menumorut never existed and never ruled over Bihar but it was not an invented person 77 See also editGelou Glad duke Laborec Romania in the Early Middle AgesFootnotes edit Rona Tas 1999 pp 52 53 Constantine Porphyrogenitus De Administrando Imperio ch 38 p 171 a b Kristo 1996 p 131 Rona Tas 1999 pp 321 322 Spinei 2009 pp 47 49 Spinei 2009 p 49 Rona Tas 1999 p 139 Spinei 2009 p 50 Pop 1996 pp 55 57 Constantine Porphyrogenitus De Administrando Imperio ch 39 p 175 Kristo 1996 p 149 Kristo 1996 p 150 Rona Tas 1999 p 331 Kristo 1996 pp 187 189 Spinei 2009 p 66 a b c d e f g h Sălăgean 2005 p 140 Madgearu 2005 pp 16 20 Gyorffy 1988 pp 68 72 a b c Engel 2001 p 11 Gyorffy 1988 p 39 Bona 1994 pp 92 93 Bona 1994 p 93 Barford 2001 p 76 Barford 2001 p 89 Barford 2001 p 206 Bona 1994 p 101 Rona Tas 1999 p 263 Barford 2001 p 263 The Chronicle of Regino of Prum year 889 p 205 Kristo 1996 p 180 Rona Tas 1999 p 264 Rona Tas 1999 pp 264 265 Barford 2001 p 109 Barford 2001 pp 110 399 Engel 2001 p 4 Constantine Porphyrogenitus De Administrando Imperio ch 40 p 177 Kristo 1996 p 192 Madgearu 2005 p 126 Madgearu 2005 p 127 Sălăgean 2005 p 133 a b c d Bona 1994 p 103 Macartney 1968 p 207 a b Gyorffy 1988 p 68 Georgescu 1991 p 14 a b c Anonymus Notary of King Bela The Deeds of the Hungarians ch 11 p 33 Pop 1996 p 95 a b Gyorffy 1988 p 84 a b Pop 1996 p 104 Curta 2001 p 149 Gall 2013 p 51 a b c Pop 1996 p 105 Anonymus Notary of King Bela The Deeds of the Hungarians ch 51 p 113 a b c Anonymus Notary of King Bela The Deeds of the Hungarians ch 20 p 53 Korde 1994 p 451 Djuvara 2012 pp 21 22 Pop 1996 p 67 Spinei 2009 pp 71 72 Anonymus Notary of King Bela The Deeds of the Hungarians ch 19 p 51 a b c d e Pop 1996 p 106 a b c Pop 1996 p 107 Anonymus Notary of King Bela The Deeds of the Hungarians ch 21 p 55 a b Anonymus Notary of King Bela The Deeds of the Hungarians ch 22 p 57 a b c d e Pop 1996 p 108 Anonymus Notary of King Bela The Deeds of the Hungarians ch 23 p 59 Anonymus Notary of King Bela The Deeds of the Hungarians ch 28 p 65 Madgearu 2005 p 22 Anonymus Notary of King Bela The Deeds of the Hungarians ch 50 p 109 Pop 1996 pp 108 109 a b c d Pop 1996 p 109 a b Anonymus Notary of King Bela The Deeds of the Hungarians ch 51 p 111 a b c d e Pop 1996 p 110 a b Anonymus Notary of King Bela The Deeds of the Hungarians ch 52 p 115 a b Kristo 2003 p 32 Rona Tas 1999 p 59 a b Gyorffy 1988 pp 83 84 94 Macartney 1953 p 78 Grzesik 2016 p 28 Sources editPrimary sources edit Anonymus Notary of King Bela The Deeds of the Hungarians Edited Translated and Annotated by Martyn Rady and Laszlo Veszpremy 2010 In Rady Martyn Veszpremy Laszlo Bak Janos M 2010 Anonymus and Master Roger CEU Press ISBN 978 963 9776 95 1 Constantine Porphyrogenitus De Administrando Imperio Greek text edited by Gyula Moravcsik English translation b Romillyi J H Jenkins 1967 Dumbarton Oaks Center for Byzantine Studies ISBN 0 88402 021 5 The Chronicle of Regino of Prum 2009 In History and Politics in Late Carolingian and Ottonian Europe The Chronicle of Regino of Prum and Adalbert of Magdeburg Translated and annotated by Simon MacLean Manchester University Press ISBN 978 0 7190 7135 5 Secondary sources edit Barford P M 2001 The Early Slavs Culture and Society in Early Medieval Eastern Europe Cornell University Press ISBN 0 8014 3977 9 Boia Lucian 2001 History and Myth in Romanian Consciousness Translated by James Christian Brown CEU Press ISBN 963 9116 96 3 Bona Istvan 1994 The Hungarian Slav Period 895 1172 In Kopeczi Bela Barta Gabor Bona Istvan Makkai Laszlo Szasz Zoltan Borus Judit eds History of Transylvania Akademiai Kiado pp 109 177 ISBN 963 05 6703 2 Brook Kevin Alan 2006 The Jews of Khazaria Rowman amp Littlefield ISBN 978 0 7425 4982 1 Curta Florin 2001 Transylvania around A D 1000 In Urbanczyk Przemyslaw ed Europe around the year 1000 Wydawn DiG pp 141 165 ISBN 978 837 1 8121 18 Djuvara Neagu 2012 A Concise History of Romania Cross Meridian ISBN 978 1 4781 3204 2 Engel Pal 2001 The Realm of St Stephen A History of Medieval Hungary 895 1526 I B Tauris Publishers ISBN 1 86064 061 3 Gall Erwin 2013 Az Erdelyi medence a Partium es a Bansag 10 11 szazadi temetoi 10th 11th century Cemeteries from the Transylvanian Basin the Partium and the Banat in Hungarian Szegedi Tudomanyegyetem Regeszeti Tanszeke Magyar Nemzeti Muzeum Magyar Tudomanyos Akademia Bolcseszettudomanyi Kutatokozpont Regeszeti Intezet ISBN 978 963 306 197 8 Georgescu Vlad 1991 The Romanians A History Ohio State University Press ISBN 0 8142 0511 9 Grzesik Ryszard 2016 Blasi and Pastores Romanorum in the Gesta Hungarorum by an Anonymous Notary Res Historica 41 25 34 doi 10 17951 rh 2016 0 25 Gyorffy Gyorgy 1988 Anonymus Rejtely vagy torteneti forras Anonymous An Enigma or a Source for History in Hungarian Akademiai Kiado ISBN 963 05 4868 2 Kristo Gyula 1996 Hungarian History in the Ninth Century Szegedi Kozepkorasz Muhely ISBN 963 482 113 8 Kristo Gyula 2003 Early Transylvania 895 1324 Lucidus Kiado ISBN 963 9465 12 7 Korde Zoltan 1994 Menmarot In Kristo Gyula Engel Pal Makk Ferenc eds Korai magyar torteneti lexikon 9 14 szazad Encyclopedia of the Early Hungarian History 9th 14th centuries in Hungarian Akademiai Kiado p 451 ISBN 963 05 6722 9 Macartney C A 1953 The Medieval Hungarian Historians A Critical amp Analytical Guide Cambridge University Press ISBN 978 0 521 08051 4 Macartney C A 1968 The Magyars in the Ninth Century Cambridge University Press ISBN 978 0 521 08070 5 Madgearu Alexandru 2005 The Romanians in the Anonymous Gesta Hungarorum Truth and Fiction Romanian Cultural Institute Center for Transylvanian Studies ISBN 973 7784 01 4 Pop Ioan Aurel 1996 Romanians and Hungarians from the 9th to the 14th Century The Genesis of the Transylvanian Medieval State Centrul de Studii Transilvane Fundația Culturală Romană ISBN 973 577 037 7 Rona Tas Andras 1999 Hungarians and Europe in the Early Middle Ages An Introduction to Early Hungarian History Translated by Nicholas Bodoczky CEU Press ISBN 978 963 9116 48 1 Sălăgean Tudor 2005 Romanian Society in the Early Middle Ages 9th 14th Centuries AD In Pop Ioan Aurel Bolovan Ioan eds History of Romania Compendium Romanian Cultural Institute Center for Transylvanian Studies pp 133 207 ISBN 978 973 7784 12 4 Sălăgean Tudor 2016 Transylvania in the Second Half of the Thirteenth Century The Rise of the Congregational System ISBN 978 90 04 24362 0 Spinei Victor 2003 The Great Migrations in the East and South East of Europe from the Ninth to the Thirteenth Century Translated by Dana Bădulescu ISBN 973 85894 5 2 Spinei Victor 2009 The Romanians and the Turkic Nomads North of the Danube Delta from the Tenth to the Mid Thirteenth century Koninklijke Brill NV ISBN 978 90 04 17536 5 Further reading editKlepper Nicolae 2005 Romania An Illustrated History Hippocrene Books ISBN 0 7818 0935 5 Nagler Thomas 2005 Transylvania between 900 and 1300 In Pop Ioan Aurel Nagler Thomas eds The History of Transylvania Vol I Until 1541 Romanian Cultural Institute Center for Transylvanian Studies pp 198 231 ISBN 973 7784 00 6 Pop Ioan Aurel 2013 De manibus Valachorum scismaticorum Romanians and Power in the Mediaeval Kingdom of Hungary The Thirteenth and Fourteenth Centuries Peter Lang ISBN 978 3 631 64866 7 External links editDuchy of Menumorut map The Map of the Road of the Magyar Conquest According to the Anonymous Notary Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Menumorut amp oldid 1213274557, wikipedia, wiki, book, 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