It was also the beginning of the golden era for the kingdom: royal power was restored and a policy of conquest made Hungary one of the largest realms in Europe. In addition, the last king of the Arpads dies in 1301 which resulted in 7 years of internal warfare.Īfter these 7 years Charles Robert of house Anjou was elected as the first foreign king. However, in the 13th century the kingdom suffered: the king lost power to his nobles while a Mongol invasion devastated the country in 1241. During the steady 11th – 12th century Hungary became more like a Western European society. His coronation by the pope in 1000 marked the foundation of the kingdom of Hungary. Prince Stephen I accomplished his father plan by consolidating power, reforming the state and establishing Christianity in Hungary.
Here as well, Grand Princes sought a solution in Western European models. The end of raids also resulted in a political challenge: the links between tribes were weakening. After the Magyar defeat in the battle of Lechfeld (955) they started to abandon the tactic of raiding and adopted a Western European style of warfare: heavy and light cavalry mixed with infantry. The Magyars favored quick charges preceded by a volley of arrows. Their army consisted mostly out of light cavalry equipped with an Asian reflex bow which was an heritage from their eastern origin. In order to keep the tribes unified, the Magyars conducted raids all over Europe during the 9th and 10th century. The principality of Hungary was in the beginning little more than a federation of tribes ruled by a descendant of Arpad, called the Grand Prince. Here they finally settled themselves and founded the principality of Hungary. Another war, the Bulgaro-Byzantine war, forced the Magyars to migrate one more time around 896: under their leader Arpad they conquered the few Slavs living in the Carpathian Basin. In the 8th century they moved to the region near the river Don, but moved on to today’s Ukraine after a civil war had broken out in the 9th century. they started to migrate towards Central Europe. when they lived as nomadic hunters in the area between the Volga River and the Ural Mountains. The origins of the Magyars can be traced back to at least 2.000 B.C.
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