The Hungarian Conquest began when Arpad crossed the north-eastern passes of the Carpathians in the autumn of 895. With the main Hungarian army Arpad descended into the plains along the Tisza river. The region they traversed, the Great Hungarian Plain, was largely no man's land, inhabited by scattered remnants of Avars and Hungarians settled during the preceding centuries. The main purpose was to crush the Bulgarian power in the Carpathian Basin, that controlled the southern part of the Great Hungarian Plain and consecutive areas of Transylvania. The Hungarians were fighting for a new homeland, and their national existence. The main battle took place near Alpar between the Danube and the Tisza where Arpad won over the Bulgarian general Salan. A smaller Hungarian army led by Tuhutum defeated the Bulgarian forces near Kolozsvar, and also secured the vital salt mines of Torda. Another Hungarian force under the command of Huba attacked present-day Slovakia, penetrating up to the primeval forest region of Zolyom.

In the meantime Simeon the Bulgarian Tsar concluded an armistice with Byzantines which enabled him to fight back Levente's Hungarian forces. At the same time the Petchenegs pounced on the earlier Hungarian settlements in Etelkoz. The Petchenegs were expelled from their former homelands by the Uz, another Turkic steppe people, thus they were looking for a new homeland just as much as the Hungarians. The Petcheneg attack took the Magyars (i.e. Hungarians) off guard, and their initial losses were heavy. Being a well- organized equestrian people, however, they soon returned to an orderly retreat, moving from Etelkoz towards the protection of the Carpathian Basin and Arpad's armies. By the time they reached Transylvania, Tuhutum's and Levente's forces succeeded to block the advance of the Bulgars. In Transylvania the evacuees from Etelkoz rested and settled in seven groups according to the seven tribes of the Magyars. Had Arpad achieved a less decisive victory over the Bulgars, the Magyars would have had no place to retreat to and the advancing Petchenegs would have destroyed them completely. Still feeling the enormous difficulties, the Magyars decided to make a supreme sacrifice: they ritually killed the aged Almos so that he might appease their God and that his spirit might enter his son, Arpad, who thus became the sole ruler over all the Hungarians.

The gathering of the Hungarian tribes in Transylvania was prompted by both geographical factors and the presence of the Szekelys, a branch of Hungarians who had settled in the Carpathian Basin with the Huns in the fifth century. Having secured their national survival, the Hungarians quickly cleared the Carpathian Basin of all remnants of Bulgarian occupation and established themselves firmly in the area east of the Danube.

At that time the Transdanubian region belonged to the Frankish Empire whose emperor, Arnulf, was at the height of his power. The westernmost part of present-day Slovakia belonged to the Moravians who were engaged in fratricidal struggle between the two sons of Svatopluk. The Magyars preferred to await further developments in the west. They did not have to wait long, as Arnulf intervened in the Moravian civil war. Also in 898, Berengar, king of Lombardy rose against Arnulf who then invoked the assistance of the Hungarians. In the next summer, a Hungarian force invaded northern Italy and won a crushing victory over Berengar. Arnulf died in December 899, and Arpad sent his expeditionary force to occupy Transdanubia and the Moravian segments of Slovakia. By the end of the summer of 900, the entire Carpathian Basin was in the hands of the Magyars and the Hungarian Conquest was complete.

To stabilize the situation, Arpad sent emissaries to the new Frankish emperor, Louis the Child, seeking recognition of the new western frontier. This approach was brusquely rejected by the Frankish Court, whereupon two Hungarian armies invaded Bavaria, and penetrated deep into German territory. The attack prompted the Bavarians for an alliance with the Moravians in 901. The Magyars, however, mounted a preemptive strike against them, and extended the Hungarian territory in Ostmark to the Enns river.

In 902 the Hungarians were able to attend to their own affairs, and had a mass assembly in Pusztaszer where Arpad sorted out the tribal rivalries and allocated the country. The total strength of the Hungarians who entered the Carpathian Basin was at least five hundred thousand. The Szekelys and Avars totaled to about half of that, and there were scattered settlements of Slavs, Gepidas and other ethnic groups as well, forming a nation which was highly organized and well able to take care of itself.

It was necessary to maintain the pressure on the countries surrounding them, so as to prevent them from forming an anti-Hungarian alliance. Thus military excursions were carried out by Hungarian forces of moderate size, coupled with clever diplomacy, in the course of which the Magyars repeatedly intervened in the internal affairs of the German Empire and northern Italy, and altogether dominated the European scene for nearly half a century.

The Hungarians of the Conquest period fought from horseback. They were great archers and had a magnificent composite bow that outdistanced the primitive instruments of the contemporary European soldiers. In addition, they had a superb military organization. They considered themselves the "scourge of God", with a divine mission to chastise the peoples of Europe for their sins.

Arpad died in 907 and was succeeded by his son Solt, a quiet ruler who faded into the background. The fact that his ruling was without any trouble suggests that the dynasty was firmly established. The Magyars imposed a crushing defeat on Louis the Child's imperial army near Augsburg in 910, but they had numerical inferiority. They started looking for allies among the princes of the West. The Hungarians concluded a peace treaty with Berengar, king of Lombardy, in 904, and helped reinstate Duke of Bavaria, Arnulf, after he fell out with the emperor in 913. Through a clever combination of military strategy and diplomacy, the Magyars were able to build up a series of buffer states from Northern Italy to Central Germany which stood between them and the German emperors. The security zone remained intact even though the German king Henry the Fowler severely beat the Hungarians at Merseburg, seriously blowing the Hungarian prestige. To seek compensation the Magyars mounted attacks on Bulgaria and the Eastern Roman Empire, as far as Attica and Constantinople. As a result the Byzantines paid taxes to Hungarians for twenty five years. The third highest ranking member of the Hungarian hierarchy was Bulcsu the horka. A military genius and a shrewd diplomat as well, Bulcsu emerged as the most active leader. On the other side, Otto the Great (936-973) followed Henry the Fowler on the throne. Otto was facing a large scale revolt of the princes of Germany when Bulcsu seized the initiative. He invaded Germany, France, the Pyrenees and swept through the Appenine peninsula, leaving a terrified Europe behind. When in 947 Taksony followed Solt on the throne with Bulcsu at his side, the Magyars were clearly the strongest power in Europe and were able to strike at their enemies at will. However, the power struggle with Otto continued and eventually lead to the savage battle on the Lechfeld, where Bulcsu and Lehel died. Germany lost Henry, the emperor's brother and other members of the imperial family.

From 947 another important member the gyula emerged in the Hungarian hierarchy. His territory lay in Transylvania, and he got baptized in Constantinople. The gyula had misgivings about the aggressive policies of Bulcsu and considered the time ripe to take steps to fit into the Christian community. Even though Hungary was safely established within recognized borders, many felt that it was time to come to terms with their surroundings. But this was a task for another generation which was yet to grow up.

(Compiled and entered by Ferenc Pinter.)
pinter@math1.math.ncku.edu.tw