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Koppány

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Koppány (Cupan)
Execution of Koppány as depicted in the Illuminated Chronicle
Duke of Somogy
Reignafter 972 - 997 or 998
PredecessorZerind the Bald (?)
Successornone
Bornbefore 965
Died997 or 998
near Veszprém or in Somogy
DynastyÁrpád dynasty
FatherZerind the Bald

Koppány, also known as Cupan, was the Duke of Somogy in Hungary in the late 10th century. According to modern scholars' consensual view, he was a member of the royal Árpád dynasty. Koppány was the lord of the southern region of Transdanubia during the reign of Géza, Grand Prince of the Hungarians, who ruled between 972 and 997. After the death of Géza, Koppány laid claim to the throne against Géza's devout Christian son, Stephen. His claim was mainly supported by pagan Hungarians, but the royal army routed him near Veszprém. Koppány was killed either in the battle or in his duchy to where he fled from the battlefield. His corps was cut in four pieces to be displayed on the walls of four major strongholds—Győr, Veszprém, Esztergom and Gyulafehérvár (now Alba Iulia, Romania)—of Hungary.

Family

He was the son of Zerind the Bald, according to the 14th-century Illuminated Chronicle.[1] Although no primary source mentions that Koppány was descended from Álmos and Árpád, the first grand princes of the Hungarians, his attempt to seize the throne shows that he was a member of the ruling dynasty.[2] However, historians debate which of the four or five sons of Árpád was Koppány's ancestor.[3] For instance, historians Gyula Kristó, László Szegfű and György Szabados say that Koppány was most probably descended from Árpád's oldest son, Tarkatzus,[4][5] but Kornél Bakay (who identified Zerind the Bald with Ladislas the Bald) writes that Árpád's youngest son, Zoltán, was Koppány's forefather.[6] The exact date of Koppány's birth cannot be determined.[7] He seems to have been born between around 950 and 965, because his claim to the throne in 997 shows that he was the oldest member of the Árpád dynasty at that time.[8]

Duke of Somogy

The 14th-century Illuminated Chronicle recorded that "Duke Cupan ... held sway over a duchy"[9] (ducatum tenebat, in Latin) during the reign of Géza, Grand Prince of the Hungarians.[10] Géza, who ascended the throne around 972, was described as a cruel monarch in late 11th-century legends.[11] His fame, along with the fact that only few late-10th-century members of the royal family are known, suggests that Géza had his most kinsmen murdered during his rule, according to historian Pál Engel.[12]

Nevertheless, even if Géza carried out a purge among his kinsmen, Koppány survived it.[12] According to the Illuminated Chronicle, he was "Duke of Symigium", or Somogy.[12][13] Two late sources—the 15th-cenntury Osvát Laskai and an unknown 16th-century Carthusian monk—mentioned that Koppány had also been the lord of Zala.[14] Based on the sources, modern historians agree that Koppány administered the southwestern region of Transdanubia, most probably between Lake Balaton and the river Dráva.[12][15][16][4] György Szabados says that Koppány's father had already dominated Somogy and Zala,[17] but László Kontler writes that Koppány received his duchy from Grand Prince Géza as a compensation after Géza made his own son, Stephen, his heir.[15]

Rebellion and death

A bearded crowned man wearing a lance and the orb and cross
Portrayal of Stephen, Grand Prince of the Hungarians, whom Koppány unsuccessfully tried to dethrone, on the Hungarian coronation pall from 1031

Grand Prince Géza died in 997.[18] Either in the same or the next year, Koppány revolted against Géza's successor, Stephen, claiming the throne and Géza's widow, Sarolt, for himself.[19][20] His claim to the throne shows that he denied Stephen's right to succeed his father, considering himself the lawful heir to Géza in accordance with the traditional principle of seniority in contrast with the Christian law of primogeniture.[18][4] Koppány's effort to marry the late grand prince's widow was in line with the pagan custom of levirate marriage, but was deemed an incestuous attempt.[19][21] Koppány's both claims suggest that he was pagan when Géza died or he inclined to paganism even if he had been baptised.[4]

In the nearly contemporaneous deed of foundation of the Pannonhalma Archabbey, Stephen mentioned that "a certain county named Somogy" attempted to dethrone him after Grand Prince Géza's death.[22] The late 11th-century Lesser Legend of King St Stephen declared that "certain noblemen whose hearts were inclined to idle banquets" turned against Stephen after his ascension to the throne.[23][24] Both sources imply that Koppány started the war against Stephen.[25] He started to "plunder Stephen's castles, plunder his properties [and] murder his servants", according to the Lesser Legend.[23] The same source added that Koppány laid siege to Veszprém, but Stephen collected his army, marched to the fortress and annihilated Koppány's troops.[23] The German knights who had settled in Hungary after Stephen married Gisela of Bavaria in 996 played a preeminent role in the victory of the royal army.[26][18] The commander of the royal army, Vecelin, was also one of the German immigrants.[27] The deed of foundation of the Pannonhalma monastery even referred to the civil war as a fight between "the Germans and the Hungarians".[22][27]

Koppány was killed by Vecelin in the battle near Veszprém, according to Chapter 64 of the Illuminated Chronicle.[26][28] On the other hand, Chapter 40 of the same source says that Vecelin killed Koppány in Somogy.[29] If the latter report is valid, Koppány fled from the battlefield after his defeat at Veszprém, but the royal army cheased him and he was murdered in his duchy.[30] On Stephen's order, Koppány's body was quartered and its parts were hung over the walls of Esztergom, Veszprém, Győr and Gyulafehérvár (present-day Alba Iulia in Romania).[28]

References

  1. ^ Szabados 2011, pp. 240, 243–244.
  2. ^ Szabados 2011, p. 243.
  3. ^ Szabados 2011, pp. 243–251.
  4. ^ a b c d Kristó 2001, p. 18.
  5. ^ Szegfű 1994, p. 368.
  6. ^ Szabados 2011, pp. 247, 251.
  7. ^ Szabados 2011, p. 251.
  8. ^ Szabados 2011, pp. 251–252.
  9. ^ The Hungarian Illuminated Chronicle (ch. 39.64), p. 105.
  10. ^ Szabados 2011, p. 252.
  11. ^ Engel 2001, pp. 26, 387.
  12. ^ a b c d Engel 2001, p. 26.
  13. ^ Szabados 2011, pp. 240, 252.
  14. ^ Szabados 2011, pp. 240, 242.
  15. ^ a b Kontler 1999, p. 53.
  16. ^ Szabados 2011, pp. 253, 256.
  17. ^ Szabados 2011, p. 253.
  18. ^ a b c Cartledge 2011, p. 11.
  19. ^ a b Engel 2001, p. 27.
  20. ^ Szabados 2011, pp. 261–265.
  21. ^ Kristó 2001, pp. 18–19.
  22. ^ a b Szabados 2011, p. 241.
  23. ^ a b c Kristó 2001, p. 19.
  24. ^ Szabados 2011, p. 242.
  25. ^ Szabados 2011, p. 266.
  26. ^ a b Engel 2001, pp. 26, 39.
  27. ^ a b Engel 2001, p. 39.
  28. ^ a b Kristó 2001, p. 20.
  29. ^ Szabados 2011, p. 267.
  30. ^ Szabados 2011, pp. 267–268.

Sources

Primary sources

  • The Hungarian Illuminated Chronicle: Chronica de Gestis Hungarorum (Edited by Dezső Dercsényi) (1970). Corvina, Taplinger Publishing. ISBN 0-8008-4015-1.

Secondary sources

  • Cartledge, Bryan (2011). The Will to Survive: A History of Hungary. C. Hurst & Co. ISBN 978-1-84904-112-6. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)
  • Engel, Pál (2001). The Realm of St Stephen: A History of Medieval Hungary, 895–1526. I.B. Tauris Publishers. ISBN 1-86064-061-3. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)
  • Kontler, László (1999). Millennium in Central Europe: A History of Hungary. Atlantisz Publishing House. ISBN 963-9165-37-9. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)
  • Kristó, Gyula (2001). "The Life of King Stephen the Saint". In Zsoldos, Attila (ed.). Saint Stephen and His Country: A Newborn Kingdom in Central Europe – Hungary. Lucidus Kiadó. pp. 15–36. ISBN 963-86163-9-3. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)
  • Szabados, György (2011). Magyar államalapítások a IX-X. században [Foundations of the Hungarian States in the 9th–10th Centuries] (in Hungarian). Szegedi Középkorász Műhely. ISBN 978-963-08-2083-7. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)
  • Szegfű, László (1994). "Koppány". 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. 368. ISBN 963-05-6722-9. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)

Further reading

  • Györffy, György (1994). King Saint Stephen of Hungary. Atlantic Research and Publications. ISBN 0-88033-300-6.

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