Magyar Zoltán

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

PAGANS

Conversion of pagans to the Christian faith

Stephen: Orders the burial alive of a pagan nobleman and his wife because they refuse to convert: Anonymus: 57. Crushes the revolt of heathen 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.

Margaret: A heathen Cuman mocks at the miracles performed by Margaret. As a proof, his blind horse regains eyesight. The Cuman converts to the Christian faith: MA II:II.31

Defensive wars against the pagan enemy invading the country

Stephen: 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.

Ladislas: Saint defeats the pagan enemy raiding the country: MA I:I.73; Hymn II: 15th stanza; Ruthenus. Saint defeats the Pechenegs: Temesvári:17.22; AnjouLeg-LA: plate 5; LaszloGy: plate 181 (Bántornya: 2nd cycle). Saint defeats the Cumans: CH:134; Ransanus: XII.6; Thuroczy: 83; EC:398, 400. Saint defeats the Mongols: Hodinka: 466-467, 480-481, 480-481. Saint drives the Mongols out of Moldavia: Moldva I:50. Saint names the river by the battlefield ’Pagan’ (Pogándi, Pogáncs) in memory of a victory over the Cumans: CP:137; Bonfini: 2.4.215.

Kinga: To saint’s prayers two warrior saints emerge and chase away the Mongol hordes: KI I:8. Saint’s prayers protect the nuns from the attack of the Tartars: KI I:34, 39.

Saint fights a demonic enemy (endowed with supernatural abilities)

Ladislas: The Cuman warrior shoots an arrow backwards, with his left hand: LaszloGy: plates 50-52, 71-72, 100-101, 106-108, 187-188, 231, 233-234, 237 (murals). The Cuman warrior belches out fire and smoke: LaszloGy: plates 84-85, 89, 106-110, 137, 152, 174, 176, 182, 207 (murals).

Saint defeats the commander of the enemy in combat

Ladislas: Saint defeats the chief of the Cumans in combat: CP:137; Thuroczy: 84; Bonfini: 2.4.220-230. Saint defeats the commander-in-chief of the Mongols (Batu Khan): Hodinka: 466-467, 480-481, 480-481. Saint slays in combat a pagan (Cuman/Tartar) warrior who has abducted a maiden and sets her free: CP:103; Thuroczy: 76; Bonfini: 2.3.100-135, 235; Hodinka: 466-467, 480-481, 480-481; AnjouLeg-LA: plates 10-14; CP: p. 72; Thuroczy: the cover page of the chronicle’s Augsburg edition; LaszloGy: plate 17 (the initial of the register of Hungarian students of the university of Vienna); LaszloGy: plates 22-246 (61 church mural cycles).

Saint comes to the aid of his people in the battle against the enemy even after death

Ladislas: Helps Hungarians to victory after death: GestaL:9.

Kinga: To saint’s prayers two warrior saints emerge and chase away the Mongol hordes: KI I:8.

Saint is aided by Christ in the fight against the heathen enemy

Ladislas: Saint is aided by Christ in the fight against pagans: LaszloGy: plats 68-69 (murals).

Martyrdom

Gerald: Saint is martyred. Heathen Hungarians murder him: they force him onto a cart which they push down from a promontory, transfix his breast with a spear and crush his head on a rock: GE I:14; GE II:52; MA I:III.8; Thuroczy: 67; Bonfini: 2.2.150-155; AnjouLeg-GE: plate 6.

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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