Oratio plenaria et commentarii & Symposia & Orationes officiales [antikvár]

-T-n ¦y,'. IM István Fodor Budapest The IlOOth Anniversary of the Hungarian Conquest A major event in the history of the Hungarian people, the conquest of the Carpathian Basin, has its 1100 anniversary this year. And even though historical sources do not record the exact date of this event, Gyula Pauler, the renowned Hungarian historian concluded from his comparison of various Byzantine, Arabic and Latin sources that the Hungarian troops, led by Árpád, crossed the Carpathian Mountains in 895. This date has since been confirmed by recent historical studies, the only slight modification being that this military operation took place not in the autumn of 895, as Pauler had originally assumed, but in spring, since nomadic people tend to launch major military campaigns in spring. ^ The grand millenary celebration of the last century were nonetheless held a year later, in 896, for the simple reason that the preparation for the celebrations had not been completed on time. This is the main reason that 896 is now generally regarded as the date of the Hungarian conquest. The 19th century historians regarded the Hungarian conquest as one triumphant military campaign. More recent studies have drawn a more realistic picture of this event. According to the written sources Hungarian troops appeared in Pannónia (modem Transdanubia and eastern Austria) increasingly often from 862, intervening in the local armed conflicts and wars between the Franks and the Moravians, alternately as the allies of one or the other side. They were quite familiar with the political and geographic conditions of the Carpathian Basin. In the 9th century this area was not under a uniform political rule: Transdanubia was part of the eastern Prankish empire, southern Transylvania and the southern part of the Great Hungarian Plain stood under Bulgar overlordship, whilst the western part of what is today Slovakia was part of the Moravian Principality. The other territories formed a kind of no man's land, a border region that was often and repeatedly ravaged by various armies. In 894 the Hungarian troops scored two decisive victories. They intervened on Byzantium's side in the Byzantine-Bulgar conflict and in the Lower Danube they defeated the army of Simeon, the Bulgar ruler. In the same year another Hungarian army intervened, on the Moravian side, in the eastern Prankish-Moravian conflict and ravaged the greater part of Transdanubia (Pannónia). Pol-lowing a description of these wars, the sources go on to narrate the march of the main body of the Hungarian army, led by prince Árpád, through the Verecke pass in the north-eastern Carpathians to the Great Hungarian Plain. This event can most probably be dated to spring 895. Obviously, this was no simple raiding expedition, since these were never led by the prince himself. This well-org^ized military action was launched with the express intent of occupying the territory -the campaign itself would be ultimately followed by the settlement of the entire population. This pre-conceived plan for launching the conquest can be more readily understood if set against the background of contemporary Eastern European history. A decisive event occurred in the region of the Ural river and the Caspian Sea I Györffy, Gy. 1975. The Original Landtaking of the Hungarians. Budapest. ¦ ' ' ¦ I ' ¦ ' i ^ ri', Ir