Magyar Zoltán

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

SAINT’S DEATH

Saint foretells his/her own death

Gerald: Saint foretells his own martyrdom: GE I:12; GE II:48, 51.; EC:545.

Kinga: Saint foretells her own death: KI I:61, 62.

Foretelling the time of death

Gerald: Saint foretells the time of his own martyrdom: GE II:51.; EC:545.

Elizabeth: Saint foretells the time of her death: EL I:3; EL IV:IV.35; EL V:30; EL VII:8.I.

Helen: Saint foretells the time of her own death: HE:7.

Margaret: Saint foretells the exact time of her death: MA I:I.125; MA II:I.58, 59.

The Virgin Mary foretells the day of saint’s death

Kinga: The Virgin Mary appears to Kinga and tells her the day of her death: KI I:63.

Heavenly apparitions preceding saint’s death

Elizabeth: Christ appears to saint before her death and summons her to himself: EL VIII:38.

Kinga: The Virgin Mary appears to Kinga and tells her the day of her death: KI I:63. A voice from heaven wakes up a nun from her sleep to tell her the hour of Kinga’s death: KI I:66. More saints appear to Kinga before her death: KI I:63, 65.

Helen: On the night before her death saint is visited by Jesus Christ: HE:21.

Margaret: Heavenly apparition foretells Margaret’s death and apotheosis in the vision of a nun: MA I:II.3-4; Ransanus:XVI.15.

St. Stephen places the country under the protection of the Holy Virgin

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

Saint on the death bed

Elizabeth: Saint drives off the devil of temptation on her death bed: EL IV:IV.34; EL V:30; EL VIII:38, 41; Temesvari: 98.24; Radocsay: 343 (Kassa/Kosice: high altar of St. Elizabeth). Saint sings sweetly on her death bed: EL IV:IV.32; EL V:30; EL VII:8.II.

Martyrdom

Benedict: Martyrdom: saint is murdered by robbers: AN:7; ST I:10; ST III:15.

Gerald: Saint is martyred. Heathen Hungarians murder him: they force saint onto a cart which they push down from a rocky promomtory, 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; EC:545;AnjouLeg-GE: plate 6.

Elizabeth: Miracles occur at the site of the martyrdom of saint’s mother: EL V:1.

Margaret: Desire for martyrdom: MA II:I.34.

Signs of saint’s death

Kinga: In the hour of saint’s death the skies open: KI I:63, 65. In the hour of saint’s death a column of clouds is seen which reaches from the earth up into heaven: KI I: 63, 68. In the hour of saint’s death a radiating light is seen which floods the whole convent: KI I:67. Saint’s spirit leaves her body in the shape of a bright star: KI I:63. Saint’s spirit leaves her body in the shape of a maiden wearing a jewelled mitre: KI I:65. Saint’s spirit leaves her body in the shape of the solar disc ascending to heaven: KI I:67.

Margaret: More persons have a dream vision announcing saint’s death: MA I:II.2; MA II:II.3.

Vision. On saint’s death a bright star leaves the convent and ascends to heaven: MA I:II.6-7.

A pleasant scent is perceived at the saint’s funeral

Stephen: At the saint’s burial a sweet scent can be perceived: EC:499. Saint’s tomb often gives off a sweet scent: ST III:43; Temesvari: 52.38.

Ladislas: During saint’s burial a sweet scent can be perceived: LA:11; Bonfini: 2.4.290; EC:402; AnjouLeg-LA: plate 22.

Elizabeth: Saint’s body gives off a sweet scent at her death: EL I:4; EL VII:8.V; EL VIII:39; Bonfini: 2.7.335; Temesvari: 98.24; EC:645.

Kinga: Saint’s corpse gives off a pleasant scent: KI I:63, 63.

Margaret: Saint’s body gives off a pleasant scent on the catafalque and in the grave-hole: MA I:I.139, 141; MA II:I.59, II.2.

At saint’s burial a choir of angels is heard

Stephen: At the saint’s burial a choir of angels is heard: EC:49. At the saint’s tomb angelic singing is often heard during the night: ST III:43; Temesvari: 52.38.

Emeric: At saint’s death a choir of angels is heard: EM:13.

Elizabeth: Heavenly bird (angel) sings with saint on her death bed: EL IV:32; EL V:30; EL VII:8.II; EL VIII:38, 41; Temesvari: 98.24; EC:645. In the hour of saint’s death sweet singing/angelic singing is heard: EL I:3; EL VII:8.III. While saint is laid out on her catafalque, a flock of birds (a host of angels) gathers on the church roof and sing sweet tunes: EL IV:IV.37; EL V:30; EL VIII:40, 42; Temesvari: 98.24; EC:645-646.

Angels, saints take the saint’s soul to heaven

Stephen: 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).

Emeric: Angels take saint’s spirit to heaven: EM:13; ST III:39; AnjouLeg-EM: plate 5.; Radocsay: 389 (the Mateóc altarpiece dedicated to Sts. Stephen and Emeric).

Ladislas: During saint’s burial the mass of the dead is sung, but angels drown out the chant singing the Credo: Temesvari: 15.23; EC:402.

Elizabeth: Saint’s spirit is carried to heaven by angels: Temesvari: 98.24.

Kinga: A nun sees the hands, covered in scarves, of two saints descending in the hour of Kinga’s death: KI I:63. More persons testify to having seen angels and saints take Kinga’s soul to heaven: KI I:63, 64, 65, 67, 68. Saint’s spirit is carried to heaven by saints: KI I:63, 65. Saint’s spirit is carried to heaven by angels: KI I:63, 64, 68.

Margaret: Vision. Margaret’s soul is taken to heaven by angels: Ransanus: XVI.15.

Saint’s corpse

Elizabeth: Saint’s corpse does not suffer rigor mortis: EL I:4.

Kinga: Saint’s corpse gleams with miraculous white light: KI I:63, 63.

Helen: All wounds on saint’s body are scarred and healed before her death: HE:20.

Margaret: In the moment of her death saint’s face radiates a supernatural light: MA I:I.131, 136; Ransanus: XVI.15. Saint’s corpse is rosier, more vivid than it had been in her lifetime: MA I:I.136; MA II:II.1.

Animal directs to the site of the corpse

Benedict: Animal directs to the site of the corpse. Saint’s corpse is thrown into a river; its location is shown by an eagle that sits for a whole year on the riverbank, as if watching over something: AN:7.

Saint’s remains go by themselves to the burial-place of their own choosing

Ladislas: Saint is to be buried in a burial-place not of his own choosing, but the cart carrying the body sets out without animal or human power towards the site chosen by the saint, Nagyvárad: LA:10; Madas:6.1.2.; 8.1.3.; 11.1.; Temesvari:15.1.3.; Laskai:49.2.1. Bonfini: 2.4.285-290; Temesvari: 15.23; EC:402; AnjouLeg-LA: plate 119.; CP: p. 101; Vienna MS of Legenda Aurea, 1477. Angels surrounds saint’s funeral vehicle: Madas:10.1.1.3. Angels carry saint’s funeral vehicle to the burial place: Temesvari:14.3.; Laskai: 48.2.2.

Saint’s bloodstains cannot be removed

Gerald: For six years the bloodstains cannot be washed off from the rock where saint’s head was crushed: GE II:52; Thuroczy: 67; Bonfini: 2.2.155. Bloodstains are not even washed off by the spring floods of the Danube: GE II:52; Thuroczy: 67; Bonfini: 2.2.155.; EC:545.

Three years’ mourning

Ladislas: Three years’ mourning int he country after the saint’s death: LA:9; Madas:6.1.1.; 10.1.2.; Temesvari:14.2.3.; Laskai:48.2.2.; 49.2.1.

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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