STEPHEN I, KING OF HUNGARY, ST.

Reigned 997 to Aug. 15, 1038; b. Esztergom, between 970 and 975; (translation of relics to Buda celebrated in Hungary, August 20). Stephen is generally considered the real founder of the state of hungary. A descendant of Árpád, conqueror of the country, Stephen was the son of Géza, ruler (dux ) of Hungary. Born a pagan and called Vajk, he was baptized in his early youth and received the name Stephen (in Hungarian, István ). He married Gisela, sister of the future Emperor henry ii. In 997 Stephen succeeded his father, and on Christmas day 1000, he had himself crowned king with a crown sent, at his request, by Pope sylvester ii. By conviction as well as from political considerations, Stephen was a fervent Christian and a staunch supporter of the Church. benedictines were entrusted with the task of converting the Hungarians and with the organization of the Hungarian Church. By the time of Stephen's death two archbishoprics, Esztergom (Gran) and Kalocsa; eight bishoprics [Csanád, Eger, Bihar (Nagyvárad), Pécs, Györ, Fehérvár (Alba Julia), Veszprém, and Vac]; and numerous monasteries bore witness to their activity. Stephen was aware that his seminomadic people could survive only if they embraced Christianity. He eliminated all the pagan representatives of the old order with grim determination and quite ruthless methods to achieve this integration into the Christian commonwealth; he transformed the tribal state into a "modern" feudal state of Western pattern (see feudalism). Nothing shows Stephen's genius better than that, while relying heavily on foreign missionaries and knights, he could assert Hungary's independence from its neighbors. Stephen was canonized in 1083. The Legenda maior (late 11th century), the Legenda minor (early 12th century), and the legend written by a Bishop Hartvik deal with his life. Stephen is conventionally credited with the authorship of a moralizing Mirror of Princes, written for the use of his son.

Feast: Sept. 2.

Bibliography: a. f. gombos, Catalogus fontium historiae Hungaricae, 3 v. (Budapest 1937–38). g. bÓnis, István király (Budapest 1956), best monograph but it neglects the religious aspects. b. hÓman, Szent István (Budapest 1938). Archivum Europae centro-orientalis 4 (1938), contains relevant articles in Eng., Fr., Ger., Ital. and Lat. j. l. baudot and l. chaussin, Vies des saints et des bienheureux selon l'ordre du calendrier avec l'historique des fêtes, ed. by the Benedictines of Paris, 12 v. (Paris 1935–56); v. 13, suppl. and table générale (1959) 9:48–52. d. sinor, History of Hungary (New York 1959). j. bak, Lexikon für Theologie und Kirche, ed. j. hofer and k. rahner (Freiburg 1957–65) 9:1048.

[d. sinor]