the kingdom of Hungary was formed and consolidated as a part of Latin Christendom during the eleventh and twelfth centuries. Hungary was at the intersection of three cultures: the Roman Christian, Byzantine and nomad; and its development was influenced by each. The Hungarian tribal confederation, which included Finno-Ugric and Turkic groups, moved into the Carpathian basin in the late ninth century, mixing with the local Slavic population. Their culture was that of a nomad steppe people. In 1000, Hungary was not yet unified and its people were mostly pagans, whose chiefs had given up raiding neighbouring countries for plunder barely fifty years before. By 1200, social and economic structures had radically changed, and Hungary was a united and powerful kingdom, with ambitions of and modest successes in expansion. A latecomer to Christendom, Hungary was integrated by the end of the twelfth century. The two main elements of this process of transformation were Christianization and the building of royal power and government. Hungary’s development fits into the pattern of emerging Christian states in the Scandinavian and east-central European region.

Until the early fourteenth century, the dynasty that ruled Hungary was the house of Àrpàd, whose first Christian king was Stephen I (Istvàn, 997–1038). Christianization and royal power were linked from the beginning. Stephen’s father Gèza had invited missionaries to convert the population of the country and had strengthened his power at the expense of clan leaders. Stephen continued these policies, extending royal power eastward, and created both an ecclesiastical and a royal territorial organization. The strong ties between clerics and royal power were evident during the reigns of Stephen and his successors: ecclesiastics filled important roles in the royal council and diplomacy.