no priesthood, and their sacrifices consisted of animals only, mostly horses. But the oath was kept
sacred among them, and their marriages were monogamous, and inaugurated with religious rites.
The first acquaintance with Christianity the Magyars made through their connections with
the Byzantine court, without any further consequences. But after settling in Hungary, where they
were surrounded on all sides by Christian nations, they were compelled, in 950, by the emperor,
Otto I., to allow the bishop of Passau to send missionaries into their country; and various
circumstances contributed to make this mission a rapid and complete success. Their prince, Geyza,
had married a daughter of the Transylvanian prince, Gyula, and this princess, Savolta, had been
educated in the Christian faith. Thus Geyza felt friendly towards the Christians; and as soon as this
became known, Christianity broke forth from the mass of the population like flowers from the earth
when spring has come. The people which the Magyars had subdued when settling in Hungary, and
the captives whom they had carried along with them from Bulgaria and Moravia, were Christians.
Hitherto these Christians had concealed their religion from fear of their rulers, and their children
had been baptized clandestinely; but now they assembled in great multitudes around the missionaries,
and the entrance of Christianity into Hungary looked like a triumphal march.^134
Political disturbances afterwards interrupted this progress, but only for a short time. Adalbert
of Prague visited the country, and made a great impression. He baptized Geyza’s son, Voik, born
in 961, and gave him the name of Stephanus, 994. Adalbert’s pupil, Rodla, remained for a longer
period in the country, and was held in so high esteem by the people, that they afterwards would
not let him go. When Stephanus ascended the throne in 997, he determined at once to establish
Christianity as the sole religion of his realm, and ordered that all Magyars should be baptized, and
that all Christian slaves should be set free. This, however, caused a rising of the pagan party under
the head of Kuppa, a relative of Stephanus; but Kuppa was defeated at Veszprim, and the order
had to be obeyed.
Stephanus’ marriage with Gisela, a relative of the emperor, Otto III., brought him in still
closer contact with the German empire, and he, like Mieczyslav of Poland, borrowed the whole
ecclesiastical organization from the German church. Ten bishoprics were formed, and placed under
the authority of the archbishop of Gran on the Danube (which is still the seat of the primate of
Hungary); churches were built, schools and monasteries were founded, and rich revenues were
procured for their support; the clergy was declared the first order in rank, and the Latin language
was made the official language not only in ecclesiastical, but also in secular matters. As a reward
for his zeal, Stephanus was presented by Pope Silvester II. with a golden crown, and, in the year
1000, he was solemnly crowned king by the archbishop of Gran, while a papal bull conferred on
him the title of "His Apostolic Majesty." And, indeed, Stephanus was the apostle of the Magyars.
As most of the priests and monks, called from Germany, did not understand the language of the
people, the king himself travelled about from town to town, preached, prayed, and exhorted all to
keep the Lord’s Day, the fast, and other Christian duties. Nevertheless, it took a long time before
Christianity really took hold of the Magyars, chiefly on account of the deep gulf created between
the priests and their flocks, partly by the difference of language, partly by the exceptional position
which Stephanus had given the clergy in the community, and which the clergy soon learned to
(^134) See the letter from Bishop Pilgrin of Passau to Pope Benedict VI. in Mansi, Concil. I.