# BELIEFS, RELIGION #### THE BELIEFS OF THE PAGAN HUNGARIANS THE BEGINNING OF CHRISTIAN CONVERSION ### THE BELIEFS OF THE PAGAN HUNGARIANS The Hungarians' world of beliefs is known from the art and ethnographic data from the time of the Conquest, but certain historical sources, sagas and archaeological observations have helped in its reconstruction. The religion of the conquering Hungarians - despite the fact that they met monotheic (Christian, Jewish, Muslim) religions in the course of their history - was basically shamanism. This is a rather complicated world of beliefs. The duties of the central personality, the shaman (the Hungarian name for it is "táltos" [magic steed]), might have been very varied. Many phenomena connected with the shamans, known from today's beliefs, (such as babies born with teeth, meeting ghosts during a trance, climbing the tree of life or grappling with each other) can be found among peoples in Siberia as well. The traces of this belief are not plentiful, most of them are related to the cult of the dead. The sacrifice of horses and the tradition of horse burials are known from archaeological findings. These are verified by the written sources mentioning the sacrifice of the white horse, drinking mare's milk and the compact sealed with blood (which is a symbol of the greatest sacrifice, that of life-force, among strange peoples to gain kinship). The basis of this religion was a belief in life after death. Graves were dug on the far side of water - relative to their dwelling-places - and the legs of the dead were directed to the east, towards the rising Sun. The dead were buried with their everyday objects and supplements relating to ranks. The decorating motifs on these had their own meanings: e.g.: representations of animal shapes gave proof of totemism, which could refer to kinship with animal ancestors. Totemism may have been an important factor in the religion of the ancient Hungarians; evidence pointing to this are the legends of origin: the myths of the Turul-bird and the magic stag. Vegetative ornamentation and the conventionalised tree of life refer to the universe. There are common elements in the beliefs of the Hungarians and that of the Finno-Ugric people, the basis of which is shamanism and a world concept with three spheres connected by the tree of life. The upper sphere is the world of gods, planets (Sun, Moon), stars (with the North Star in the center) and good spirits - the place of Heaven, the empire of Light. Its main personality is Demiurgos, the creative god. The middle sphere is the world of humans and other supernatural creatures who live outside the circles of man: ghosts, phantoms, demons of diseases and forest and water goblins. The tree of life (tree of the world) originates in this sphere. Its branches - forming the axis of the world - hold up the tent-like sky, which is perforated, and this is the origin of the stars. Its foliage has seven (nine) regions. The roots of the tree, in contrast to the upper world - as its reflection - reach into the lower sphere. The underworld, the hell, this dark region over the grave is always the living-place of evil spirits and the devil. It also has seven (nine) regions, like the upper world. According to a modern folk belief, which relates back to the ancient religion, an ordinary person can only hear about the tree of life. It can only be found by someone if they are born with an extra bone and did not eat or drink food other than milk till the age of seven. This person is the shaman, who is committed to his task from birth. There are two significant events in his initiation ceremony: there is the introduction to the ghosts, that is, the climbing of the shaman tree, symbolising the tree of life; on the other hand, the libation to the gods, that is, drinking the blood of the sacrificial animals. By the help of his connections with the ghosts, he gives advice to the community, he explains the meaning of dreams, he mediates between the living and the dead, he heals people, he can drive away malevolent spirits by incantation, he can search for lost spirits and bring them back. Shamans conduct animal sacrifices, they inquire about the cause of the rage of a furious ancestor, and knows the ways of reconciliation. They play an important role at fertility ceremonies. The belief in god-kings developed from the ancestors' cult, too. According to this, gods are the dead ancestors of the living chief prince. The development of this cult among the Hungarians might have started in the age of prince Álmos. The memory of his murder might refer to this. The Turul legend (or in other words: Emese saga) might have been formed at that time, too, which indicates that glorious rulers would descend from the Turul ancestor. At the beginning of the 9th century the Hungarians living in Etelköz (at the lower reach of the river Don) met the Alan-Bulgarian culture, traded with the Arabs, the Persians, the Byzantines. They were also plundering in Franc provinces and imposed taxes on the neighbouring Slavic peoples. This region was the meeting point of the great religions of the world: the Khazars believed in Jewish teachings, the Muslims of Iran and the followers of Byzantine Christianity also made contact with the Hungarians. Nevertheless the Hungarians remained unambiguously pagan right up to the end of the 9th century - as the Byzantine emperor, Leo the Wise, and Muslim sources testify. After adopting Christianity, the pagan world of beliefs was gradually pushed into the background. The former view of the world, the belief in loyal heroes loosened, but it survived in other forms: legends, myths, rhymes, motifs in tales and ritual songs. People preserved their mythological beliefs in folk art. The religion of the Hungarians, who occupied the Carpathian Basin, - just like their farming and social structure - drastically changed in the 10th century. ### THE BEGINNING OF CHRISTIAN CONVERSION Large scale Christian conversion might have begun when leaders Bulcsú and Gyula were baptised in Constantinople in the middle of the 10th century. Arriving home, Gyula brought Hierotheos, the devout monk, who was consecrated bishop by the Byzantine patriarch, to Hungary. Organised conversion started and it was given a stimulus when Gyula's daughter, Sharolt, was married to chief prince Géza. The ruler - father of later king István (Stephen) - showed the Hungarian people a new direction, when he realised that the Hungarians needed to exercise a peaceful policy. The plundering campaigns against neighbouring people had to be stopped, otherwise the country was liable to be destroyed by stronger superpowers at some stage. The main aspect of Géza's foreign policy was his striving for peace, as the threatening behaviour of the Byzantine empire was a real danger for the country. The chief prince, to stabilize the situation of the tribal alliance, opened up towards the west. He sent his ministers to the Holy Roman Emperor, Otto I, in spring of 972 to ask whether he supported the conversion of Hungarians to Christianity. The emperor said yes, and a monk from St Gallen, called Bruno, (who was consecrated converting bishop of the Hungarians by the archbishop of Mainz) arrived in Hungary together with the ministers bringing the reply. In the autumn of 972 Bruno started the conversion of people, and he was the one who baptised chief prince Géza. In a very short time he converted a great number of Hungarians with the help of the priests who were sent to the country by Pilgrim, archbishop of Passau. From a letter sent to Pope Benedict VI in around 973-974 we learn that 5000 men and women had already adopted Christianity. The letter also mentions that the building of churches had begun in Hungary. In Esztergom, his newly chosen residence, Géza had not only a castle but also a chapel built for the principal family. The chapel was built in honour of István, the first martyr (his name was given to his son, Vajk, in baptism - later he became king István [Stephen]). Bruno of St Gallen and his circles were the founders of St Gallen (Gallus) monastery, and in Pannonia, around Savaria, the propagators of the cult of St Martin, bishop of Tours, who was born at the beginning of the 4th century. Their memory is reflected in Hungarian St Gallen place names and the establishment of a Benedictian monastery on mount St Martin (Pannonhalma). After chief prince Géza's death (997) his nephew, prince Koppány, lay his claims for the throne. He could demand the title of leader of the Árpád tribes and chief prince for himself according to the traditional theory of succession (levirate). In compliance with pagan traditions he wanted to marry Géza's widow, too. Koppány did not intend to accept the fact that in accordance with the Christian prerogative of the first-born son (primogeniture), he could not have accessed to power. Thus before prince István's initiation to chief prince, he took up arms and many of the free men joined him. The fight of István and Koppány was destined to decide the future fate of the Hungarians. The rebels represented the old order, they fought for tribal autonomy, ancient rights and the pagan religion. The rebel leader and his army marched to Veszprém. István and his loyal troops launched an attack against them from the fortress of Esztergom. The attempt to lead Hungary out of the way of development that Géza had already started failed with István's victory over Koppány. Neither Géza, nor István could control the pagans without the help of foreign monks, priests and knights. The situation of conversion drastically changed in 1000, when Pope Sylvester II sent István a crown and his apostolic blessing. With the coronation of István at Esztergom, Hungary joined the Christian community of European peoples. King István opened the gates to all the preachers. All of the first prelates in Hungary came from abroad and queen Gisella also played an important role in spreading Christianity. The young king started to organise the permanent Hungarian church: he divided Transdanubia into three bishoprics with centers at Pécs, Győr and Veszprém., and established the archbishopric of Esztergom to supervise them. Between the rivers Danube and Tisza the church district of Eger was set up, and in the eastern territories the archbishopric of Kalocsa was established before 1015. In the western regions of the country a set of monasteries were set up: in 996 on mount St Martin (later Pannonhalma), around 1015 at Pécsvárad, in 1019 at Zalavár and Zobor, around 1020 at Bakonybél. The last church district, founded by István, was the bishopric of Csanád, the head of which was Gerald, the learned Benedictian theologian from Venice. István undertook his organization of the church with great caution. This is clear from the fact that monks Zoerard-Andrew and Benedict, who came to the country - and later became martyrs - were sent to the northern areas, near Nyitra. Bishop Gerald - who was canonised together with István in 1038 - was directed to the southern part of the country, where Christianity had already taken roots due to Byzantine conversion. Missionary activities and pastoral duties of the Orthodox church were performed first of all by Slav monks and temporal priests who spoke Hungarian. Church organisation had already been completed during the life time of the first king of the Hungarians, St Stephen, but the dangers threatening Christianity did not pass. This was shown by the murderous attempt against the elderly king and the subsequent revenge: prince Vazul was passed over; his sons, prince Andrew, Béla and Levente, were exiled (later they were going to play an important role in the history of the Árpád dynasty); the conspiracy against the successor to the throne, István's nephew, king Peter from Venice, and numerous pagan revolts. |