Editing Stephen I of Hungary (section)

== Legacy ==

=== Founder of Hungary ===
[[File:10000 HUF 2014 ob.jpg|left|thumb|300x300px|King Saint Stephen on the 10,000 forint [[Banknotes of the Hungarian forint|Hungarian banknote]] (1998–)]]
[[File:5 Pengő - Miklós Horthy Death of St. Stephen 1938.png|thumb|left|300x300px|[[Silver coin]]: 5 Pengő, Death of St. Stephen 1938]]
Stephen has always been considered one of the most important statesmen in the history of Hungary.{{sfn|Kristó|Makk|1996|p=51}} His main achievement was the establishment of a Christian state that ensured that the Hungarians survived in the Carpathian Basin, in contrast to the [[Huns]], [[Pannonian Avars|Avars]] and other peoples who had previously controlled the same territory.{{sfn|Kristó|Makk|1996|p=51}} As Bryan Cartledge emphasizes, Stephen also gave his kingdom "forty years of relative peace and sound but unspectacular rule".{{sfn|Cartledge|2011|p=17}}

His successors, including those descended from Vazul, were eager to emphasize their devotion to Stephen's achievements.{{sfn|Lenkey|2003|p=106}} Although Vazul's son, [[Andrew I of Hungary]], secured the throne due to a [[Vata pagan uprising|pagan uprising]], he prohibited pagan rites and declared that his subjects should "live in all things according to the law which King St. Stephen had taught them", according to the 14th-century ''Illuminated Chronicle''.{{sfn|Lenkey|2003|p=106}}<ref>''The Hungarian Illuminated Chronicle'' (ch. 60.86), p. 113.</ref> In [[Kingdom of Hungary (1000–1526)|medieval Hungary]], communities that claimed a privileged status or attempted to preserve their own "[[Privilege (law)|liberties]]" often declared that the origin of their special status was to be attributed to King Saint Stephen.{{sfn|Tringli|2001|p=129}} An example is a 1347 letter from the people of [[Táp]] telling the king about their grievances against the Pannonhalma Archabbey and stating that the taxes levied upon them by the abbot contradicted "the liberty granted to them in the time of King Saint Stephen".{{sfn|Tringli|2001|p=139}}

=== Sainthood ===
{{Infobox saint
|name=King Saint Stephen
|feast_day=16 August<br />20 August (in Hungary)<br />2 September (1686–1969)<br />30 May (his Holy Dexter in Hungary)
|venerated_in=[[Catholic Church]]<br />[[Eastern Orthodox Church]]
|image= StefanIHongarije.jpeg
|imagesize=
|caption=
|titles=King and Confessor
|beatified_date=
|beatified_place=
|beatified_by=
|canonized_date=20 August 1083
|canonized_place=[[Székesfehérvár]]
|canonized_by=[[Pope Gregory VII]]
|attributes=[[Holy Crown of Hungary|Crown]]; [[Sceptre]]; [[Globus cruciger|globe]]
|patronage=Hungary, kings, masons, stonecutters, stonemason, bricklayers, protector against child death
|major_shrine=[[St. Stephen's Basilica]]<br />[[Budapest]], Hungary
|suppressed_date=
|issues=
}}
Stephen's cult emerged after the long period of anarchy characterizing the rule of his immediate successors.{{sfn|Magyar|1996|p=24}}<ref name='Diós'>{{cite web |last=Diós |first=István |title=Szent István király [King Saint Stephen] |work=A szentek élete [Lives of Saints] |publisher=Szent István Társulat |url=http://www.katolikus.hu/szentek/0820.html |access-date=18 August 2013 |archive-date=20 June 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180620002407/http://www.katolikus.hu/szentek/0820.html |url-status=dead }}</ref> However, there is no evidence that Stephen became an object of veneration before his canonization.{{sfn|Klaniczay|2002|p=127}} For instance, the first member of the royal family to be named after him, [[Stephen II of Hungary|Stephen II]], was born in the early 12th century.{{sfn|Klaniczay|2002|p=129}}

Stephen's canonization was initiated by Vazul's grandson, King [[Ladislaus I of Hungary]], who had consolidated his authority by capturing and imprisoning his cousin, [[Solomon, King of Hungary|Solomon]].{{sfn|Engel|2001|pp=32–33}}{{sfn|Kristó|2001|p=35}} According to Bishop Hartvic, the canonization was "decreed by apostolic letter, by order of the Roman see",<ref>''Hartvic, Life of King Stephen of Hungary'' (ch. 24.), p. 393.</ref> suggesting that the ceremony was permitted by Pope Gregory VII.{{sfn|Klaniczay|2002|p=125}} The ceremony started at Stephen's tomb, where on 15 August 1083 masses of believers began three days of fasting and praying.{{sfn|Klaniczay|2002|p=124}} Legend tells that Stephen's coffin could not be opened until King Ladislaus held Solomon in captivity at [[Visegrád]].{{sfn|Klaniczay|2002|p=124}} The opening of Stephen's tomb was followed by the occurrence of healing miracles, according to Stephen's legends.{{sfn|Kristó|2001|p=35}} Historian Kristó attributes the healings either to [[Folie à deux|mass psychosis]] or deception.{{sfn|Kristó|2001|p=35}} Stephen's legends also say that his "balsam-scented" remains were elevated from the coffin, which was filled with "rose-colored water", on 20 August.{{sfn|Klaniczay|2002|p=124}} On the same day, Stephen's son, Emeric, and the bishop of Csanád, Gerard, were also canonized.{{sfn|Engel|2001|p=33}}

{{Blockquote|Having completed the office of [[Vespers]] the third day, everyone expected the favors of divine mercy through the merit of the blessed man; suddenly with Christ visiting his masses, the signs of miracles poured forth from heaven throughout the whole of the holy house. Their multitude, which that night were too many to count, brings to mind the answer from the [[Gospel of Matthew|Gospel]] which the [[Redeemer (Christianity)|Savior of the world]] confided to [[John the Baptist|John]], who asked through messengers whether he was [[Jewish messianism|the one who was to come]]: ''the blind see, the lame walk, the deaf hear, the lepers are cleansed'', the crippled are set straight, the paralyzed are cured...|Hartvic, ''Life of King Stephen of Hungary''<ref>Hartvic, ''Life of King Stephen of Hungary'' (ch. 24.), pp. 393–394.</ref>}}

Stephen's first legend, the so-called ''Greater Legend'', was written between 1077 and 1083.{{sfn|Berend|2001|p=375}} It provided an idealized portrait of the king,{{sfn|Györffy|1994|p=90}} one who dedicated himself and his kingdom to the Virgin Mary.{{sfn|Berend|2001|p=375}} However, Stephen's ''Lesser Legend''{{mdash}}composed around 1100,{{sfn|Györffy|1994|p=90}} under King [[Coloman, King of Hungary|Coloman]]{{sfn|Berend|2001|p=375}}{{mdash}}emphasized Stephen's severity.{{sfn|Györffy|1994|p=90}} A third legend, also composed during King Coloman's reign by Bishop Hartvic, was based on the two existing legends.{{sfn|Berend|2001|p=375}} Sanctioned in 1201 by [[Pope Innocent III]], Hartvic's work served as Stephen's official legend.{{sfn|Berend|2001|p=375}} Gábor Klaniczay wrote that Stephen's legends "opened a new chapter in the legends of holy rulers as a genre", suggesting that a monarch can achieve sainthood through actively using his royal powers.{{sfn|Klaniczay|2002|p=136}} Stephen was the first triumphant ''[[Miles Christianus|miles Christi]]'' ("Christ's soldier") among the canonized monarchs.{{sfn|Klaniczay|2002|p=134}} He was also a "[[Confessor of the Faith|confessor king]]", one who had not suffered martyrdom, whose cult was sanctioned, in contrast with earlier holy monarchs.{{sfn|Klaniczay|2002|p=16}}

Stephen's cult spread beyond the borders of Hungary. Initially, he was primarily venerated in Scheyern and [[Bamberg]], in Bavaria, but his relics were also taken to [[Aachen]], [[Cologne]], [[Montecassino]] and [[Namur]].<ref name='Diós'/> Upon the [[Siege of Buda (1686)|liberation]] of [[Buda]] from the Ottoman Turks, [[Pope Innocent XI]] expanded King Saint Stephen's cult to the entire Catholic Church in 1686,<ref name='Diós'/> and declared 2 September his [[feast day]].{{sfn|Butler|Cumming|Burns|1998|p=160}}<ref name='Diós'/> As the feast of Saint [[Joachim]] was moved, in 1969, from 16 August,<ref>"Calendarium Romanum" (Libreria Editrice Vaticana 1969), pp. 98 and 135</ref> the day immediately following the day of Stephen's death, Stephen's feast was moved to that date.<ref>"Calendarium Romanum" (Libreria Editrice Vaticana, 1969), pp. 100, 137</ref> Stephen is venerated as the patron saint of Hungary,<ref name='Diós'/> and regarded as the protector of kings, masons, stonecutters, stonemasons and bricklayers,{{sfn|Guiley|2001|p=314}} and also of children suffering from severe illnesses.{{sfn|Guiley|2001|p=314}} His canonization was recognized by [[Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople|Ecumenical Patriarch]] [[Bartholomew I of Constantinople]] in 2000.<ref name=Uj_Ember>{{cite journal |last=Papp |first=Tamás |title=Az ortodox egyház is szentként tiszteli: Országalapító királyunk és a keleti hagyományok kapcsolatáról [Venerated also by the Orthodox Church: On the connections between our king founding our state and the Oriental traditions] |journal=Új Ember |volume=34–35 |issue=LXI |location=Budapest |date=21 August 2005 |language=hu |url=http://ujember.katolikus.hu/Archivum/2005.08.21/0201.html |issn=1418-1657 |access-date=19 August 2013 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140429044126/http://ujember.katolikus.hu/Archivum/2005.08.21/0201.html |archive-date=29 April 2014 }}</ref> In the calendar of the Hungarian Catholic Church, Stephen's feast is observed on 20 August, the day on which his relics were [[translation (relics)|translated]].<ref name='Diós'/> In addition, a separate feast day (30 May) is dedicated to his "Holy Dexter".<ref name='Diós'/>

=== Holy Dexter ===

[[File:Budapest bazylika sw Stefana 20.jpg|thumb|alt=A mumified hand, with a strip decorated with pearls on it, in a gilded box|The Holy Right displayed in [[St. Stephen's Basilica]], Budapest]]

Stephen's intact dexter, or right hand ({{langx|hu|Szent Jobb}}), became the subject of a cult.{{sfn|Engel|2001|p=33}}{{sfn|Csorba|2004|p=7}} A cleric named Mercurius stole it, but it was discovered on 30 May 1084 in [[Bihar County]].{{sfn|Klaniczay|2002|p=124}} The theft of sacred relics, or ''[[furta sacra]]'', had by that time become a popular topic of saints' biographies.{{sfn|Klaniczay|2002|p=146}} Bishop Hartvic described the discovery of Stephen's right hand in accordance with this tradition, referring to adventures and visions.{{sfn|Klaniczay|2002|p=146}} An abbey erected in Bihar County (now [[Sâniob]], Romania) was named after and dedicated to the veneration of the Holy Dexter.{{sfn|Engel|2001|p=33}}

{{Blockquote|Why is it, brothers, that his other limbs having become disjointed and, his flesh having been reduced to dust, wholly separated, only the right hand, its skin and [[sinews]] adhering to the bones, preserved the beauty of wholeness? I surmise that the inscrutability of divine judgement sought to proclaim by the extraordinary nature of this fact nothing less than that the work of love and alms surpasses the measure of all other virtues.&nbsp;... The right hand of the blessed man was deservedly exempt from [[putrefaction]], because always reflourishing from the flower of kindness it was never empty from giving gifts to nourish the poor.|Hartvic, ''Life of King Stephen of Hungary''<ref>Hartvic, ''Life of King Stephen of Hungary'' (ch. 27.), p. 396.</ref>}}

The Holy Dexter was kept for centuries in the Szentjobb Abbey, except during the Mongol invasion of 1241 and 1242, when it was transferred to Ragusa (now [[Dubrovnik]], Croatia).{{sfn|Csorba|2004|p=7}} The relic was then taken to Székesfehérvár around 1420.{{sfn|Csorba|2004|p=7}} Following the [[Ottoman Hungary|Ottoman occupation]] of the central territories of the Kingdom of Hungary in the mid-16th&nbsp;century, it was guarded in many places, including [[Bosnia]], Ragusa and Vienna.<ref name='Szent_Jobb'>{{cite web |title=A Szent Jobb története [History of the Holy Dexter] |work=Szent István Bazilika: Történet [St. Stephen's Basilica: History] |publisher=Szent István Bazilika, Budapest |year=1991 |url=http://www.bazilika.biz/a-szent-jobb-tortenete/a-szent-jobb-tortenete |access-date=19 August 2013 |archive-date=15 August 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130815041150/http://www.bazilika.biz/a-szent-jobb-tortenete/a-szent-jobb-tortenete |url-status=dead }}</ref> It was returned to Hungary in 1771, when Queen [[Maria Theresa]] donated it to the cloister of the [[Sisters of Loreto]] in Buda.<ref name='Szent_Jobb'/> It was kept in [[Buda Castle]]'s St. Sigismund Chapel between around 1900 and 1944, in a cave near [[Salzburg]] in 1944 and 1945, and again by the Sisters of Loreto in Buda, between 1945 and 1950. Finally, since 1950, the Holy Dexter has been in [[St. Stephen's Basilica]] in Budapest.<ref name='Szent_Jobb'/> An annual procession celebrating the relic was instituted in 1938, and continued until 1950, when the procession was forbidden by the Communist government. It was resumed in 1988.<ref name='Szent_Jobb'/>

=== ''Admonitions'' ===
{{Main|Admonitions}}
According to Stephen's ''Greater Legend'', the king "himself compiled a book for his son on moral education".{{sfn|Györffy|1994|pp=166–167}} This work, now known as ''Admonitions'' or ''De institutione morum'',{{sfn|Györffy|1994|p=166}} was preserved in manuscripts written in the [[Late Middle Ages]].  Although scholars debate whether it can actually be attributed to the king or a cleric, most of them agree that it was composed in the first decades of the 11th&nbsp;century.{{sfn|Berend|Laszlovszky|Szakács|2007|p=343}}{{sfn|Györffy|1994|p=167}}

The ''Admonitions'' argues that kingship is inseparably connected with the Catholic faith.{{sfn|Berend|Laszlovszky|Szakács|2007|p=343}}{{sfn|Györffy|1994|p=167}} Its author emphasized that a monarch is required to make donations to the Church and regularly consult his prelates, but is entitled to punish clergymen who do wrong.{{sfn|Berend|Laszlovszky|Szakács|2007|p=343}} One of its basic ideas was that a sovereign has to cooperate with the "pillars of his rule", meaning the prelates, aristocrats, ''ispáns'' and warriors.{{sfn|Györffy|1994|p=167}}

{{Blockquote|My dearest son, if you desire to honor the royal crown, I advise, I counsel, I urge you above all things to maintain the Catholic and Apostolic faith with such diligence and care that you may be an example for all those placed under you by God, and that all the clergy may rightly call you a man of true Christian profession. Failing to do this, you may be sure that you will not be called a Christian or a son of the Church. Indeed, in the royal palace, after the faith itself, the Church holds second place, first constituted and spread through the whole world by His members, the apostles and holy fathers, And though she always produced fresh offspring, nevertheless in certain places she is regarded as ancient. However, dearest son, even now in our kingdom the Church is proclaimed as young and newly planted; and for that reason she needs more prudent and trustworthy guardians lest a benefit which the divine mercy bestowed on us undeservedly should be destroyed and annihilated through your idleness, indolence or neglect.|Stephen's ''Admonitions'' to his son, Emeric{{sfn|O'Malley|1995|pp=46–47}}}}

=== In arts ===
[[File:Свјетлопис живописа Св. Стјепана угарског у крипти храма Св. Саве у Биограду.jpg|thumb|alt=A mumified hand, with a strip decorated with pearls on it, in a gilded box|[[Church of Saint Sava]], [[Belgrade]]]]

King St Stephen has been a popular theme in [[Hungarian poetry]] since the end of the 13th century.<ref name=Pomogats>{{cite journal |last=Pomogáts |first=Béla |title=St. Stephen in Hungarian poetry |journal=Kisebbségkutatás / Minorities' research |volume=9 |issue=3 |location=Budapest |year=2000 |url=http://www.hhrf.org/kisebbsegkutatas/mr_03/cikk.php?id=1233 |access-date=13 February 2015 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141003225533/http://www.hhrf.org/kisebbsegkutatas/mr_03/cikk.php?id=1233 |archive-date=3 October 2014 }}</ref> The earliest poems were religious [[hymn]]s which portrayed the holy king as the apostle of the Hungarians. Secular poetry, especially poems written for his feast day, followed a similar pattern, emphasizing Stephen's role as the first king of Hungary.<ref name=Pomogats/> Poets described Stephen as the symbol of national identity and independence and of the ability of the Hungarian nation to survive historical cataclysms during the [[Hungarian People's Republic|Communist regime]] between 1949 and 1989.<ref name=Pomogats/>

A popular hymn, still sung in the churches, was first recorded in the late {{nobr|18th century}}.<ref name=Pomogats/> It hails King St. Stephen as "radiant star of Hungarians".<ref name=Pomogats/> [[Ludwig van Beethoven]] composed his ''[[King Stephen (Beethoven)|King Stephen Overture]]'' for the inauguration of the Hungarian theatre in [[Pest, Hungary|Pest]] in 1812.<ref name=Keller>{{cite web |last=Keller |first=James M. |title=Beethoven: Overture to King Stephen, Opus 117 |publisher=San Francisco Symphony |year=2013 |url=http://www.sfsymphony.org/Watch-Listen-Learn/Read-Program-Notes/Program-Notes/BEETHOVEN-%C2%A0Overture-to-King-Stephen,-Opus-117-%E2%94%82-Ma.aspx |access-date=13 February 2015 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140121071008/http://www.sfsymphony.org/Watch-Listen-Learn/Read-Program-Notes/Program-Notes/BEETHOVEN-%C2%A0Overture-to-King-Stephen%2C-Opus-117-%E2%94%82-Ma.aspx |archive-date=21 January 2014 }}</ref> According to musician James M. Keller, "[t]he descending unisons that open the ''King Stephen Overture'' would seem to prefigure the opening of the ''[[Symphony No. 9 (Beethoven)|Ninth Symphony]]''{{nobr|; ...}} [a]nd then a later theme, introduced by flutes and clarinets, seems almost to be a {{nobr|variation ...}} of the famous ''Ode 'To Joy''' melody of the Ninth Symphony's finale".<ref name=Keller/> Hungarian composer [[Ferenc Erkel]] named his last complete [[opera]] from 1885, ''István király'' ("King Stephen"), after him.<ref>{{cite web|last=Bóka |first=Gábor |title=István király – a kottától az operáig [King Stephen – from sheet music to the opera] |publisher=Opera-Világ |date=13 August 2013 |url=http://operavilag.net/interjuk/istvan-kiraly-a-kottatol-az-eloadasig/ |access-date=17 February 2015}}</ref> In 1938, [[Zoltán Kodály]] wrote a choral piece titled ''Ének Szent István Királyhoz'' ("Hymn to King Stephen").<ref name=Breuer>{{cite book|last=Breuer|first=János|title=Kodály-kalauz |year=1982 |publisher=Zeneműkiadó |isbn=978-0-328-47359-5 |pages=293, 318}}</ref>  In 1983, Levente Szörényi and [[János Bródy]] composed a [[rock opera]]—''[[István, a király]]'' ("Stephen, the King")—about the early years of his reign. Seventeen years later, in 2000, Szörényi composed a sequel called ''Veled, Uram!'' ("You, Sir").<ref>{{cite web|url=https://translate.google.com/translate?hl=en&sl=hu&u=http://vivalamusical.hu/kritikak/veled-uram&prev=/search%3Fq%3DVeled,%2BUram!%26biw%3D800%26bih%3D403|title=Veled, Uram! Izgalmas királydráma a Tháliában? (You, Sir! King of the exciting drama Thalia Theatre?)|author=Christopher Rechtenwald|date=18 April 2012|publisher=Viva la Musical}}</ref>