Levedi

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Levedi
voivode of the Hungarians
Levedi.jpg
Modern portrait by Tulipán Tamás
Reignearly 9th century (?)
SuccessorÁlmos (?)
SpouseKhazar princess
Issuenone

Levedi, or Lebed,[1][2][3] Levedias, Lebedias, and Lebedi[4] was a Hungarian chieftain, the first known chieftain of the Hungarians.[5][6][7][8]

According to Constantine VII Porphyrogenitus' De administrando imperio, because of the alliance and the courage shown by the Hungarian people in all the wars they fought with the Khazars, Levedi, the first voivode of the Hungarians, who was also famous for his valor, was given a Khazar princess in marriage "so that she might have children by him".[9] However, as it turned out, Levedi did not produce offspring with this lady.

Later, after the Khazars defeated the Perchengs and forced them to resettle in the land of the Hungarians, whom they defeated and split in two, the Khazars picked Levedi, the "first among the Hungarians"[9] and sought to make him the prince of the Hungarian tribes so that he "may be obedient to the [Khazars'] word and [their] command". Thus, according to Constantine, the Khazar khagan initiated the centralization of the command of the Hungarian tribes in order to strengthen his own suzerainty over them.[10][11] Levedi, however, refused, because he wasn't "strong enough for this rule". Instead, Constantine claims, Levedi proposed another Hungarian voivode, Álmos or his son Árpád as prince of the Hungarians.

The Magyar settlement between the Volga river and the Urals the mountains were named Lebedia, soon to become Levedia, after Levedi.[12][1][13][14]

Name and title[]

The only source of Levedi's life is the De administrando imperio,[15] a book written by the Byzantine Emperor Constantine Porphyrogenitus around 950.[16] According to one theory, the name is derived from the common Slavic word "Lebedi", swan.[17] According to historian Omeljan Pritsak, Levedi's name―which was actually a title―derived from the Turkic expression "alp edi", or "brave lord".[15][a] The Hungarian historian Gyula Kristó, who refuses Pritsak's theory, says that Levedi's name is connected to the Hungarian verb "lesz" ("be").[15] Other scholars agree that the origin of the name is probably Finno-Ugric.[23][24] It derives from "the participle of the old lesz ('will be') verb lës (meaning levő - 'being') with the diminutive suffix -di."[24] A similar proper name (Lewedi) was recorded in a Hungarian charter, issued in 1138.[25]

It has also been put forward that the land, Lebedi, did not derive its name from the chieftain, but the other way around. Thus, the voivode had gotten his name from the land.[17] However, Kristó says that this would be in contrast with the source and the Hungarian practice of giving names.[17]

In De administrando imperio[]

In the De administrando imperio Levedi is said to be one of the voivode of one of the seven clans of Hungarians, who lived together with the Khazars for a period of time. They are said to have fought in alliance with the Khazars in all their wars. Then, because of the courage of the Hungarians and their alliance, the chagan-prince (Khazar khan) gave a noble Khazar lady (i.e. not a member of the Khan's family) in marriage to their first voivode Levedi. The Hungarians, who had lived together with the Khazars, as a separate entity, and fought valiantly with them, had shown the Khagan their people's illustriousness and courage, and he gave the first among them a princess to marry. However, Levedi had no children by her. The Percheng, said by Constantine to have been previously called Kangar (Κάγγαρ), after being defeated and displaced by the Khazars into the Hungarians' land, waged war against the Hungarians and, Constantine continues, the Hungarians were defeated and forced to leave their homeland (in fact, it was the Magyars' intervention in a conflict between the First Bulgarian Empire and the Byzantine Empire that caused a joint counter-invasion by the Bulgars and Pechenegs[26]). He then says that the Hungarians (who Constantine erroneously calls Turks throughout) split into two parts: one went to Persia (Περσία) and the other, together with their chieftain Levedi, settled westward. The Khazar khan sent a message to the Hungarians. He required that Levedi be sent to him. Levedi accepted and went to the khan. He asked the chagan why he sent for him, and the latter replied: "We have invited you upon this account, in order that, since you are noble and wise and valorous and first among the [Hungarians], we may appoint you prince of your nation, and you may be obedient to our word and our command." But he, in reply, answered the chagan: "Your regard and purpose for me I highly esteem and express to you suitable thanks, but since I am not strong enough for this rule, I cannot obey you; on the other hand, however, there is a voivode other than me, called [Álmos], and he has a son called [Árpád]; let one of these, rather, either that [Álmos] or his son [Árpád], be made prince, and be obedient to your word." The chagan was satisfied by the proposal, and sent him back with some of his men. After discussing the matter with his people, they together chose Árpád as their prince. They chose him because he was of superior parts, and greatly admired for his wisdom. They raised him on a shield and made him their prince. Years later, the Perchenegs fell on the Hungarians, and drove them out with their prince Árpád. In turn, the Hungarians drove out the inhabitants of great Moravia and settled in their land. Up to the time when Constantine is writing, he says, they weren't attacked again by their enemies the Perchenegs anymore.[9]

Constantine notes that the Hungarians raised Árpád on the shield in the manner of the Khazars. Indeed, the historical social structure of the Hungarians was of Turkic origin.[21] The Hungarian language is abundant in words of Turkic origin, and the Hungarians do have some Turkic genetic and cultural influence. However, they are not a Turkic people.[27] On the other hand, as expressed by Constantine, they lived among the Khazars, fighting in all their wars, and the first among them, Levedi, was given a Khazar princess in marriage.

Levedi bore the title "voivode", which is of Slavic origin.[28] When using that title, Porphyrogenitus always referred to the heads of the seven Hungarian tribes.[29] Historian Dezső Paizs says that Levedi was the head of specifically the Megyer tribe (one of the seven ancestral Hungarian tribes), but his theory has not been widely accepted.[30]

References[]

  1. ^ a b Northern Magill, Frank (1998). Dictionary of World Biography Volume 2. Fitzroy Dearborn Publishers. p. 86. ISBN 9781579580414.
  2. ^ Lukinich, Imre (1968). A History of Hungary in Biographical Sketches. Books for Libraries Press. pp. 7–9. ISBN 9780836906356.
  3. ^ Bartha, Antal (1976). Hungarian Society in the 9th and 10th Centuries Volume 85. Akadémiai Kiadó. p. 48. ISBN 9789630503082.
  4. ^ Nagy, Sándor (1973). The Forgotten Cradle of the Hungarian Culture. Patria Pub. p. 136. ISBN 9780919368040.
  5. ^ Pop, Ioan Aurel; Csorvási, Veronica (1996). Romanians and Hungarians from the 9th to the 14th Century The Genesis of the Transylvanian Medieval State. Centrul de Studii Transilvane; Fundația Culturală Român. pp. 62, 227. ISBN 9789735770372.
  6. ^ Mekhon Ben-Tsevî shel yad Yitsh.ak. Ben-Tsevî (Yerûšālayim) (2007). The World of the Khazars New Perspectives. Brill. p. 274. ISBN 9789004160422. It is related that sometime earlier the Khazar ruler wanted to promote Levedi, a Hungarian chieftain to become the first arkhon among the Hungarians.
  7. ^ Frank Northern Magill (2007). Great Events from History: Ancient and Medieval Series: 951-1500. Salem Press. p. 1212. [...] the temporary settlements of Levedia and Etelköz. The former is called after Levedi, the first Hungarian chieftain to be mentioned by name.
  8. ^ Gyula Moravcsik, Constantine Porphyrogenitus de Administrando Imperio, Dumbarton Oaks Center for Byzantine Studies, 1967, p 171
  9. ^ a b c Constantine Porphyrogenitus: De Administrando Imperio (ch. 38), p. 171.
  10. ^ Kristó 1996, pp. 160–161.
  11. ^ Spinei 2003, p. 33.
  12. ^ "Grozer Traditional Recurve Bows Hungary".
  13. ^ Klaniczay, Gábor (2002). Holy Rulers and Blessed Princesses Dynastic Cults in Medieval Central Europe. Reaktion Books. p. 435. ISBN 9780521420181.
  14. ^ Klaniczay, Gábor (2002). Piroska and the Pantokrator Dynastic Memory, Healing and Salvation in Komnenian Constantinople. Central European University Press. p. 146. ISBN 9789633862971.
  15. ^ a b c Kristó 1996, p. 112.
  16. ^ Engel 2001, p. 8.
  17. ^ a b c Kristó 1996, p. 107.
  18. ^ Gy Ránki, György Ránki, ed. (1984). Hungarian History--world History. Akadémiai K VIII. p. 10. ISBN 9789630539975.
  19. ^ Pop, Ioan Aurel; Csorvási, Veronica (1996). Romanians and Hungarians from the 9th to the 14th Century The Genesis of the Transylvanian Medieval State. Fundația Culturală Română; Centrul de Studii Transilvane. p. 62. ISBN 9789735770372. The majority of the Hungarian tribe names were of Turkic origin and signified, in many cases, a certain rank.
  20. ^ a b Marcantonio, Angela; Nummenaho, Pirjo; Salvagni, Michela (2001). "The "Ugric-Turkic Battle": A Critical Review" (PDF). Linguistica Uralica. 2. Retrieved 8 October 2017.
  21. ^ a b Köpeczi, Béla; Makkai, László; Mócsy, András; Kiralý, Béla K.; Kovrig, Bennett; Szász, Zoltán; Barta, Gábor (2001). Transylvania in the medieval Hungarian kingdom (896-1526) (Volume 1 of History of Transylvania ed.). New York: Social Science Monographs, University of Michigan, Columbia University Press, East European Monographs. pp. 415–416. ISBN 0880334797.
  22. ^ Jenkins, Romilly James Heald (1967). De Administrando Imperio by Constantine VII Porphyrogenitus. Corpus fontium historiae Byzantinae (New, revised ed.). Washington, D.C.: Dumbarton Oaks Center for Byzantine Studies. p. 65. ISBN 978-0-88402-021-9. Retrieved 28 August 2013.
  23. ^ Alfried Wieczorek, Hans-Martin Hinz, ed. (2000). Europe's Centre Around AD 1000. Theiss. p. 370. ISBN 9783806215496.
  24. ^ a b Kósa, László (1999). A Companion to Hungarian Studies. Akadémiai Kiadó. p. 43. ISBN 9789630576772.
  25. ^ Kristó 1996, p. 370.
  26. ^ Spinei 2003, pp. 51–52.
  27. ^ A MAGYAROK TÜRK MEGNEVEZÉSE BÍBORBANSZÜLETETT KONSTANTINOS DE ADMINISTRANDOIMPERIO CÍMÛ MUNKÁJÁBAN - Takács Zoltán Bálint, SAVARIAA VAS MEGYEI MÚZEUMOK ÉRTESÍTÕJE28 SZOMBATHELY, 2004, pp. 317–333 [1]
  28. ^ Kristó 1996, p. 115.
  29. ^ Kristó 1996, p. 114.
  30. ^ Kristó 1996, p. 9.

Notes[]

  1. ^ Regardless of its origin, scholars have warned against taking a name's etymology as automatically showing the bearer's ethnicity. The Hungarians cohabited for centuries with the Turkic people, who gave them a significant genetic, linguistic and cultural contribution. About 10% of Hungarian word roots is Turkic; pastoral terms are most Turkic in origin, and agricultural terms are 50% r-Turkic. Many Hungarian names, and also animal and plant names,[18] are of Turkic origin, and tribal names were no exception. Indeed, the majority of tribe names were of Turkic origin.[19] Through the 18th and into the 19th centuries it was debated whether to classify the Hungarian language as Turkic.[20] The historical social structure of the Hungarians itself was of Turkic origin.[21] Likewise, Slavic language also had an influence on Hungarian.[20] In spite of all this, the Magyars are not a Turkic nor a Slavic people.[22]

Sources[]

Primary sources[]

  • Constantine Porphyrogenitus: De Administrando Imperio (Greek text edited by Gyula Moravcsik, English translation by Romillyi J. H. Jenkins) (1967). Dumbarton Oaks Center for Byzantine Studies. ISBN 0-88402-021-5.

Secondary sources[]

  • Berend, Nora; Urbańczyk, Przemysław; Wiszewski, Przemysław (2013). Central Europe in the High Middle Ages: Bohemia, Hungary and Poland, c. 900-c. 1300. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-0-521-78156-5.
  • Cartledge, Bryan (2011). The Will to Survive: A History of Hungary. C. Hurst & Co. ISBN 978-1-84904-112-6.
  • Engel, Pál (2001). The Realm of St Stephen: A History of Medieval Hungary, 895–1526. I.B. Tauris Publishers. ISBN 1-86064-061-3.
  • Kristó, Gyula (1996). Hungarian History in the Ninth Century. Szegedi Középkorász Muhely. ISBN 963-482-113-8.
  • 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.
  • Spinei, Victor (2003). The Great Migrations in the East and South East of Europe from the Ninth to the Thirteenth Century (Translated by Dana Badulescu). ISBN 973-85894-5-2.
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