Magyar Zoltán

Legends of Early Hungarian Saints: type- and motif-index

King Stephen I.

BIRTH, UPBRINGING

Birth

Dream of supreme chieftain Géza: an angelic apparition/the Virgin Mary announces to him that a son will be born to him who will be anointed king: ST I:5; ST III: 5.; Hymn I:2.4; Ransanus: IX.2-3 (the Virgin Mary); Bonfini: 2.2.10; Temesvari: 52.23-24; EC:494; VD: plate 1.

Dream of saint’s mother, Sarolt: St. Stephen Martyr appears to her before childbirth to announce to her that she is to bear a son who will receive a crown, will be anointed king; instructs her to baptize her son to his name: ST III:8; Ransanus:IX.4; Bonfini:2.1.30; Temesvari:52.25; EC:494.; CP: p. 37.

Saint is baptized by St. Adalbert: ST I:8; ST III:9; Temesvari: 52.25; VD: plate 2.

Upbringing

Saint Adalbert is the tutor of young Stephen: ST I:8; ST III:9; GE II:13.

CONVERSION, SPREADING OF CHRISTIANITY

The legend of the Holy Crown. Stephen becomes the Christian king of Hungary. Stephen sends abbot Asrik to Rome to solicit a crown from the pope. Pope Sylvester II intends to send a crown to the prince of Poland but an angelic vision in his dream reveals to him that the following day envoys of an unknown people would arrive to him and their ruler is the one worthy of the diadem, since he converted many in his realm. Due to the dream, the pope sends the crown to the Hungarian ruler: ST III:18-21; Temesvari:52.29-30; EC:497-498; VD:plate 3.

Saint converts the Hungarians to Christianity: ST II:4; MA I:I.73; Hymn I:3.2-3; VD: plate 4.

Saint orders the burial alive of a pagan nobleman and his wife because they refuse to convert: Anonymus: 57.

Saint crushes the insurrection of pagan Hungarians and orders the execution by quartering of their leader: ST I:9; ST II:5; ST III:12; CP:64; CH:63; Ransanus: IX.11; Thuroczy: 55; Bonfini: 2.1.100-125; Temesvári: 52.28; EC:496; CP: p. 39.

Support, donations to the Church: ST I:12-13, 17, 22, 25; ST II:5, 6; ST III:13, 23, 26-27, 39; GE I:3; GE II:35, 43; CH:63; Ransanus: IX.14; Bonfini: 2.1.175-275; Temesvari: 52.28.

Saint’s wife, the saintly Gisella, also offers generous donations to the Church: ST I:15; ST III:22; CP:67.

Foundations

Church foundations (Székesfehérvár, Óbuda, Gyulafehérvár, Marosvár, Constantinople etc.): ST I:17, 19; ST II:6, ST III:26, 30; GE I:3; GE II:35; CP:66, 67, 70; Thuroczy: 58; Bonfini: 2.1.230, 2.1.250; Temesvari: 17.26, 52.28.,31; CP: p. 42.

Monastic foundations (Pannonhalma, Bakonybél, Pécsvárad, Oroszlámos): ST I:11, 13, 22; ST II:5; ST III:13, 16, 34; GE II:25; CP:64; Temesvari:52.31.

Foundation of diaconias for pilgrims (Rome, Jerusalem): ST I:19; ST II:7; ST III:30; Bonfini: 2.1.230, 2.1.250; Temesvari: 52.31.

Püspökségek alapítása: ST I:6; ST II:12; ST III:23.

Saint visits the churches founded by him yearly, examines their state, orders their restoration: ST I:16; SRT III:23; CP:67; CH:63; Thuroczy:58; EC:496.

Saint names the saintly monk Maurus bishop: EM:6.

Saint persuades St. Gerald to prolong his stay in Hungary and invests him bishop: GE II:15; AnjouLeg-GE: plate 1.

Saint aids pilgrims: ST III:32.

Saint composes a manual of Christian morals for his son (Exhortations): ST I:25; ST III:39; EM:1.

PIETY, PROVISION, HUMILITY

Piety

Saint is always serious, almost never laughs: ST I:26; ST III:40.

Saint often spends the night in prayer: ST I:20; ST III:14, 37.

Secret adherence to orthodoxy. Saint converts to orthodoxy under the influence of St. Sava, but keeps it secret: Hodinka: 484-486.

Provision

Saint often gives alms to the poor: ST I:21, 22, 25; ST III:14, 32, 33, 34, 39; CP:67; CH:63; Ransanus: IX.14; Thuroczy: 58; Bonfini: 2.1.245, 2.1.275; Temesvari: 52.32,38.

Humility

Saint humbly suffers that the poor thronging to receive his alms tear his beard: ST I:21, ST III:33; Hymn I:3.4; Temesvari: 52.32; EC:497.

Saint washes the feet of the poor: Temesvari: 52.32.

Saint washes the feet of pilgrims: ST I:20; ST III:32.

Saint directs a penitent sinner to the tomb of his son Emeric, deeming him worthier than himself: EM:17-18; Temesvari:92.34; AnjouLeg-EM: plate 7.

Secrecy

Saint secretly observes his son Emeric’s nightly devotions through a crevice in the wall, but keeps it secret: EM:1; AnjouLeg-EM: plate 1.

Saint forbids a witness to tell anybody about having seen him levitate during prayer: ST III:37; Bonfini: 2.1.310; Temesvari: 52.36.

Bishop Maurus

He is the only one among the monks who does not interrupt his prayers at the arrival of the king: EM:6.

He suffers calumny in humble resignation: EM:6.

PROTECTION

Saint recognizes the right person to perform the task asked by him: ST II:9.

Saint has an intimation in his dream of the enemy’s raid (heathen Pechenegs); he alerts his people in time to seek refuge: ST I:23; ST II:9; ST II:35; Bonfini: 2.1.250-255; Temesvari:52.35.

Saint defeats the intruding enemy: ST II:9.

As an effect of saint’s prayer pseudo-envoys appear with false orders and summon home the army of the Holy Roman emperor preparing to attack Hungary: ST I:24; ST III:36.

HEALING

Saint cures a man by sending him bread, fruit and herbs: ST I:23; ST III:35; Temesvari:52.35.

Saint cures by the placing of hands: Radocsay: 389 (the Mateóc altarpiece dedicated to St. Stephen and St. Emeric);

PUNISHMENT, MALEDICTION, RETRIBUTION

The legend of the sixty Pechenegs. Sixty Pechenegs come to Hungary to visit the king, but some of the king’s men rob them and kill a number of them. Stephen tracks down the culprits and orders that they be hanged in pairs by the roadside in all parts of the country: ST II:10; ST III:38; Bonfini:2.1.315-325.

The king orders the flaying alive of a court justice for false judgement: Laskai:76, 77.

A hired murderer wants to slay the sleeping king but drops his sword and Stephen is awakened by the sound. He pardons the man begging for his mercy, but punishes the abettors by having their hands cut off: ST II:11; ST III:41; Bonfini: 2.2.325-330.

The Csanád folk legend. The commander of the army, Csanád defeats the governor of the southern province of the country who rebelled against the king, aided by a miraculous apparition (Saint George). Another warrior claims the victory for himself, but Csanád demonstrates his valour and the rightfulness of his claim by showing the cut-out tongue of the rebel commander whom he slew in battle. King Stephen punishes the would-be hero and appoints Csanád governor of the province which will duly be named after him: GE II:8-15.

SIGNS OF SANCTITY

Saint is taller than his men and subjects: Hymn I:2.6.

Levitation. During prayer saint’s body hovers above the ground: ST III:37; Bonfini: 2.1.310.; EC:495.

During prayer the saint’s body and tent hovers above ground: ST III: 37, Bonfini: 2.1.310; Temesvári: 52.36.

During saint’s devotions angels visit him: Temesvári: 52.36.

Saint is crowned by angels: Thuroczy: the woodcut of the chronicle’s Augsburg edition; Kerny: 9, 13 (iconography: coloured woodcut; the image on the seal of Simon Erdődy, bishop of Zagreb).

MIRACLES

It snows in summer; as a result, the king is converted: Hodinka:484-486.

SAINT’S DEATH, ELEVATION, TRANSLATION OF REMAINS

Saint’s death

Before his death, saint places Hungary under the patronage of the Virgin Mary: ST III:25, 43; Bonfini:2.1.335; Temesvári:52.37; EC:499.

Saint’s spirit is carried to heaven by an angel/by a host of angels: Kadar: 447-448 (the relief on St. Stephen’s sarcophagus in the Székesfehérvár cathedral); Hymn I:3.6; Radocsay: 389 (the Mateóc altarpiece, dedicated to Sts. Stephen and Emeric).

At the saint’s burial a choir of angels is heard: EC:499.

At the saint’s burial a sweet scent can be perceived: EC:499.

At the saint’s tomb angelic voices are frequently heard during the night: ST III:43; Temesvari:52.38.

Saint’s tomb often gives off a sweet scent: ST III:43; Temesvari: 52.38.

Elevation

Immobility. At the elevation of saint’s body the coffin lid cannot be removed until, bidding the advice of a saintly nun, the dethroned king Solomon is set free: ST III:44; Bonfini: 2.1.360.

At the elevation, upon removal of coffin lid a sweet scent floods the church: ST II:12; ST III:46; Bonfini: 2.1.375; EC:499.

Saint’s body is found in a red balmy oil when the grave is opened: ST III:46; Bonfini: 2.1.375; EC:499.

The balm found in saint’s coffin is miraculously renewed. The more is drawn out, the more stems in its place; when the drawn-out oil is spilt back there isn’t more in the coffin than there was before: ST III:46; Bonfini:2.1.375-380.

Translation of remains

Stephen’s right hand is preserved intact, undamaged: ST III:48.

Saint’s right hand with the ring is handed over to a cleric by a youth clad in white (angel); the cleric places it in a monastery founded for the cult of the relic: ST III:48.

RELICS

The Holy Crown (also: St. Stephen’s Crown. Sent to St. Stephen by the pope, it is the symbol of Hungarian statehood): ST III:18-21; Temesvari: 52.29-30; EC:497-498.

The Holy Right Hand (relic of saint’s right hand, preserved to this day): ST III:48-49; CH:63; Thuroczy: 58; Bonfini: 2.1.380-395; Temesvari: 52.38.

THROUGH SAINT’S MERITS (SAINT HELPS AFTER DEATH)

Through saint’s merits diseased are healed

Diseased are healed: ST II:12; ST III:43; EM:17; Temesvari: 52.38.

Blind can see: ST II:12; ST III:44; Bonfini: 2.1.365.

Paralytics are cured: ST II:12; ST III:44, 45; Bonfini: 2.1.365.

Cripples are cured: ST III:44, 45; Bonfini: 2.1.365.

Lame are cured: ST II:12; ST III:44; Bonfini: 2.1.365.

Deaf can hear: ST III:44.

Mute can talk: Bonfini: 2.1.365.

Lepers are healed: ST II:12; ST III:44; Bonfini: 2.1.365.

A gentlewoman suffering from intestinal disease is cured: ST III:47; Bonfini: 2.1.380.

Through saint’s merits dead are risen

Dead are resurrected: ST III:45; Bonfini: 2.1.365; Temesvari: 52.38.

MEMENTOES

Many who were cured on the way to saint’s shrine built high piles of stones which could be seen for a long time by the roadside everywhere in the country. ST III:45.

VISIONS, APPARITIONS

St. Stephen

St. Stephen appears in dream to a penitent pilgrim atoning for his sins and directs him to his son’s burial-place (the apparition to the sinner Conrad): EM:17-18; Temesvari:92.34; Anjou Leg-EM: plate 7.

St. Stephen Martyr

Apparition of St. Stephen Martyr in dream to saint’s mother, announcing her son’s birth and glory (Sarolt’s dream vision): ST III:8; Ransanus: IX.4; Bonfini: 2.1.30; Temesvari: 52.25; EC:494; CP: p. 37.

The Virgin Mary

The Virgin Mary, in a halo of miraculous light, surrounded by heavenly virgins appears to saint’s father and announces the birth and glory of his son (Géza’s dream vision): Ransanus:IX.2-3.

Angel

An angel appears to saint’s father and announces the birth and glory of his son (Géza’s dream vision): ST I:5; ST III:5; Ransanus: IX.2-3; Bonfini: 2.1.10; Temesvari: 52.34-34; VD:1. kép.

An angel appears in dream to the pope and instructs him whom to give the crown (the dream vision of Sylvester II): ST III:18-21; Temesvari: 52.29-30; EC:497-498; VD: plate 3.

St. George

The holy martyr St. George appears in form of a lion to the commander of Stephen’s army and helps him with advice to win a battle (the vision of commander Csanád): GE II:23-24.

Legends of Early Hungarian Saints: type- and motif-index

Tartalomjegyzék

Kiadó: Akadémiai Kiadó

Online megjelenés éve: 2026

ISBN: 978 963 664 185 6

Művelődéstörténet Idegen nyelvű

The work of folklorist Zoltán Magyar throws light on a relatively little-known segment of the dynastyc cult of saints in Central European cultural history. The hagiographies and legends written on different members of the Árpadian dynasty, ruling in Hungary between the 11th and 13th centuries, and their contemporaries endowed with the aura of sanctity, occur not only in their medieval Hungarian legendry but have also become part of the liturgical tradition and the cult of saints on German, Polish and Byzantine soil. The thematic and generic variety of this legendry and its many folkloric implications show close parallels with another major work of medieval European hagiography: the legends of early Irish saints. The type- and motif-index and generatic catalogue compiled by Zoltán Magyar orders the epic tradition, based on 11rh-16th century written sources, of twelve Hungarian royal saints who have become the subject of legends shortly after their death. Beside classification according to the type of legendd heroes and themes, the book also contains an analysis of the biographical data, of the historical sources and of the primary types and motifs of hagiographies.

Hivatkozás: https://mersz.hu/magyar-early-hungarian-saints-type-and-motif-index//

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