Hungarian Christianity

The presence of Christianity in Hungary can certainly be established as dating back to the 2nd century CE. A decorated casket-mount depicting the marriage at Cana and other scenes from the Bible was unearthed at Intercisa. The first Christians were non-Hungarian immigrants, particularly from Syria, Italy and Greece. No Christian churches dated before the 4th century have been excavated, implying that Christian liturgy was celebrated in private homes. After Constantine decreed Christanity to be the religion of the Roman Empire, Hungarian Christian cemeteries became separated from the pagan necropolises. Barbarian incursions forced a significant portion of the Romanized population to flee Hungary in the 5th century, but some Christians remained. A Christian community flourished in the region of a former Roman fortress at Keszthely in the Avar (a large coalition of steppe peoples which dominated Hungary in this era) Khaganate. The local basilica with three apses was used and possibly reconstructed in the second half of the 6th century. Pressured by the armies of Charlemagne, the Avar khagan converted to Christianity in 805. A Byzantine list of newly formed Hungarian dioceses mentions the Avars among other Christian peoples under the popes' jurisdiction. After this, Avar power quickly disintegrated. Cemeteries display the traits of the growing Christianization of Hungary beginning in the 830s. Commoners were still buried near sacred groves, but the orientation of their graves was now west–east, indicative of Christian practice. Offerings of food and drink almost disappeared from gravesites in the 860s. The Magyars invaded Hungary, destroyed Moravia, and defeated the Bavarians between 900 and 907.[91] Theotmar, Archbishop of Salzburg, recorded that they destroyed Christian churches. Part of the local population survived the Magyar conquest and the Magyars captured Christians during their raids in Europe, but the role of the local Christians and the Christian prisoners in the Magyars' conversion is undocumented. In 972 Emperor Otto I sent Bishop Bruno (possibly Bishop Prunwart) to Hungary. The Bishop credited with the baptism of Hungarian Grand Prince Géza and many of his subjects. Géza remained half-pagan but did launch military campaigns against the pagan chieftains, promoted Christianity, and stabilized the region's central authority. Géza died in 997, leaving Hungary to his devout Christian son, Stephen. Stephen began to systematically Christianize Hungary. He established at least eight bishoprics and six monasteries, making magnanimous grants to them. Stephen outlawed pagan practices and prescribed the adoption of a Christian way of life. After Stephen I's nephew Peter assumed the throne, a popular uprising began. The Annales Altahenses described the rebels, who captured and blinded Peter, as pagans who murdered clerics and foreigners. The three bishops who survived the uprising crowned Peter's Christian younger brother, Andrew. Dynastic conflicts continued, but archaeological evidence reveals the general adoption of Christian customs by around 1100.