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Birth:          ABT 1015 Esztergom, K-Esztergom, Jungary
Death:          AFT 6 Jul 1060 Winsselburg, Zircz, Veszprem, Hungary
Burial:         BEF 31 Dec 1060 Tihany, Veszprem, Hungary

Notes
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andrew_I_of_Hungary
Andrew I the White or the Catholic (Hungarian: I. Fehér or Katolikus András or Endre; 
c. 1015 – Zirc, before 6 December 1060) was King of Hungary from 1046 to 1060. He 
descended from a younger branch of the Árpád dynasty. After spending fifteen years 
in exile, he ascended the throne during an extensive revolt of the pagan Hungarians. 
He strengthened the position of Christianity in the Kingdom of Hungary and 
successfully defended its independence against the Holy Roman Empire.

His efforts to ensure the succession of his son, Solomon, resulted in the open revolt of 
his brother, Béla. Béla dethroned Andrew by force in 1060. Andrew suffered severe 
injuries during the fighting and died before his brother was crowned king.
Early life[edit]

Childhood (c. 1015–1031)[edit]

Medieval sources provide two contradictory reports of the parents of Andrew, and his 
two brothers, Levente and Béla.[1] For instance, the Chronicle of Zagreb and Saint 
Gerard's Life[1] write that their father was Vazul, a grandson of Taksony, Grand Prince 
of the Hungarians (r. c. 955–c. 970).[2] The Illuminated Chronicle and other medieval 
sources write of Vazul's relationship with "some girl" from the Tátony clan who bore 
his sons, who thus "were not born of a true marriage-bed".[3][4] According to a 
concurrent tradition, which has been preserved by most chronicles, the three princes 
were the sons of Vazul's brother, Ladislas the Bald.[1] Modern historians, who reject 
the latter report, agree that Andrew and his brothers were the sons of Vazul and his 
concubine from the Tátony clan.[1][5][6][7] According to the historian Gyula Kristó, 
Andrew was the second among Vazul's three sons. He writes that Andrew was born 
around 1015.[5]

In exile (1031–1046)[edit]

According to medieval chronicles, Vazul was blinded during the reign of his cousin, 
King Stephen I, the first Christian monarch of Hungary (r. 997–1038).[8] The king 
ordered Vazul's mutilation after the death, in 1031, of Emeric, his only son surviving 
infancy.[8][9] The contemporary Annals of Altaich writes that the king himself ordered 
the mutilation of one of his kinsmen, who had strong claim to the throne, in an attempt 
to ensure a peaceful succession to his own sister's son, Peter Orseolo.[10][6] The 
same source adds that the king expelled his blinded cousin's three sons from 
Hungary.[1] According to the contrasting report of the Hungarian chronicles, King 
Stephen wanted to save the young princes' lives from their enemies in the royal court 
and "counselled them with all speed"[11] to depart from Hungary.[5]

Having his own son died in his father's life, and having no other sons, Stephen, the 
king of good memory, who was the maternal uncle of [Peter Orseolo], adopted and 
appointed him as heir to his kingdom. For his kinsman's son disagreed with him on this, 
[Stephen] had him blinded, even if he was worthier of the kingdom, and sent his little 
sons into exile.

—?Annals of Altaich[12]

Exiled from Hungary, Andrew and his brothers settled in the court of Duke Oldrich of 
Bohemia (r. 1012–1033).[7] Here they came across King Mieszko II of Poland (r. 
1025–1031, 1032–1034)[7] who likewise took refuge in Bohemia after his opponents 
had expelled him from his kingdom.[13] The Polish monarch regained his crown and 
returned to Poland in 1032.[14] Andrew, Béla and Levente, whose "condition of life 
was poor and mean"[15] in Bohemia, followed Mieszko II who received them "kindly 
and honourably"[15] in Poland.[5][7] After the youngest among them, Béla, married a 
daughter of Mieszko II, Andrew and Levente decided to depart from Poland, because 
they "felt that they would be living in Poland under their brother's shadow",[16] 
according to Simon of Kéza.[17]

Hungarian chronicles have preserved a story full of fabulous or anachronistic details 
of the two brothers' ensuing wanderings.[17] For instance, they narrate that Andrew 
and Levente were captured by Cumans,[17] but the latter only arrived in Europe in the 
1050s.[18] Having faced many hardships, Andrew and Levente established themselves 
in the court of Yaroslav the Wise, Grand Prince of Kiev (r. 1019–1054) in the late 
1030s. The grand prince gave his daughter, Anastasia in marriage to Andrew.[17] 
Kristó writes that Andrew, who had up to that time remained pagan, was baptized on 
this occasion.[19]

Having received permission from [the Polish monarch, Andrew and Levente] left their 
brother [Béla] behind and made their way to the King of Lodomeria, who did not 
receive them. Since they had nowhere to lay their head, they went from there to the 
[Cumans]. Seeing that they were persons of excellent bearing, the [Cumans] thought 
that they had come to spy out the land, and unless a captive Hungarian had 
recognized them, they should certainly have killed them; but they kept them with them 
for some time. Then they departed thence to Russia.

Return to Hungary (1046)[edit]

In the meantime, King Peter Orseolo, who had succeeded King Stephen in Hungary in 
1038, alienated many lords and prelates from himself, especially when he solemnly 
recognized the suzerainty of the Holy Roman Emperor, Henry III in 1045.[6][21] 
According to the Illuminated Chronicle, the discontented lords, "seeing the sufferings 
of their people",[22] assembled in Csanád (Cenad, Romania).[23] They agreed to send 
envoys to Andrew and Levente to Kiev in order to persuade them to return to 
Hungary.[19] Fearing "some treacherous ambush",[24] the two brothers only set out 
after the agents they had sent to Hungary confirmed that the Hungarians were ripe for 
an uprising against the king.[19]

By the time the two brothers decided to return, a revolt had broken out in Hungary.
[25] It was dominated by pagans who captured many clergymen and mercilessly 
slaughtered them.[6] Andrew and Levente met the rebels at Abaújvár.[19] The 
Illuminated Chronicle narrates how the pagans urged the dukes "to allow the whole 
people to live according to the rites of the pagans, to kill the bishops and the clergy, 
to destroy the churches, to throw off the Christian faith and to worship idols".[24][19] 
The same source adds that Andrew and Levente gave in to all their demands, "for 
otherwise they would not fight"[24] for them against King Peter.[19][26]

The Annals of Altaich states that Andrew "savagely raged against the flock of the 
Holy Church".[26][27] Even so, Bishop Gerard of Csanád and four other prelates were 
ready to join Andrew, but the pagans captured and slaughtered three of them 
(including Gerard) at Buda.[23][28] King Peter decided to flee from Hungary and take 
refugee in Austria.[23] However, Andrew's envoys tricked the king to return before he 
reached the frontier, and they captured and blinded him.[23][29]

Reign[edit]

Coronation (1046–1047)[edit]

Most Hungarian lords and the prelates opposed the restoration of paganism.[21][30] 
They preferred the devout Christian Andrew to his pagan brother Levente,[21] even if, 
at least according to Kristó and Steinhübel, the latter was the eldest among Vazul's 
three sons.[31][32] The Hungarian chronicles write that Levente, who died in short 
time, did not oppose his brother's ascension to the throne.[32][23] The three bishops 
who had survived the pagan uprising crowned Andrew in Székesfehérvár in the last 
quarter of 1046 or in the spring of 1047.[23][33] Historian Ferenc Makk writes that 
Andrew was crowned with a crown that the Byzantine Emperor Constantine IX 
Monomachos had sent to him.[33] Nine enamelled plaques from this golden crown 
were unearthed in Nyitraivánka (Ivanka pri Nitre, Slovakia) in the 19th century.[34] 
Andrew soon broke with his pagan supporters, restored Christianity and declared 
pagan rites illegal.[26][30] According to Kosztolnyik, Andrew's epithets (the White or 
the Catholic) are connected to these events.[35]

Having now been made secure against all disturbances from enemies, Duke Andreas 
received the crown of kingship in the royal city of Alba. No more than three bishops 
who had escaped that great slaughter of the Christians performed the ceremony of 
coronation in the year of our Lord 1047. He made proclamation to all his people that 
under pain of death they should lay aside the pagan rites which had formerly been 
permitted to them, and that they should return to the true faith of Christ and live in all 
things according to the law which King St Stephen had taught them.

Wars with the Holy Roman Empire (1047–1053)[edit]

The contemporaneous Hermann of Reichenau narrates that Andrew "sent frequent 
envoys with humble entreaties" to Emperor Henry III, proposing "an annual tribute and 
faithful service"[37] if the emperor recognized his reign.[38] Andrew persuaded his 
brother, Béla, to return from Poland to Hungary in 1048.[39] He also granted his 
brother one third of the kingdom[39][40] with the title of duke.[30] Béla's duchy 
comprised two regions which were centered on Nyitra (Nitra, Slovakia) and Bihar 
(Biharia, Romania).[39][30]

Skirmishes on the frontier between Hungary and the Holy Roman Empire first occurred 
in 1050.[41] Emperor Henry invaded Hungary in August[29] 1051, but Andrew and 
Béla successfully applied scorched earth tactics against the imperial troops and 
forced them to withdraw.[41][30] Legend says that the Vértes Hills near 
Székesfehérvár were named after the armours – vért in Hungarian – which were 
discarded by the retreating German soldiers.[30]

Andrew initiated new peace negotiations with the emperor and promised to pay an 
annual tribute, but his offers were refused.[41] Next summer, the emperor returned to 
Hungary and laid siege to Pressburg (Bratislava, Slovakia).[29] Zotmund, "a most 
skilful swimmer"[42] scuttled the emperor's ships.[29][41] After Pope Leo IX mediated 
a peace treaty, the emperor lifted the siege and withdrew from Hungary.[29][41] 
Andrew soon refused to fulfill his promises made under duress,[41] and even allied 
with Conrad I, Duke of Bavaria, a prominent opponent of Emperor Henry III.[43]

Because Andreas, the king of the Hungarians was less and less inclined to send 
envoys and to make promises concerning a peace treaty, [the emperor] laid siege to 
the fortress of Pressburg and for a long time attacked it with various machines of war. 
Since, however, God aided the besieged, who anxiously called on Him, his efforts 
were always frustrated and he could by no means capture it. Meanwhile the lord Pope 
Leo had intervened at the request of Andreas to make peace and he called on the 
emperor to end the siege. Since [the pope] found [the emperor] in all respects in 
agreement with him, while discovering that Andreas on the contrary was less obedient 
to his advice, he was angry and threatened the latter with excommunincation for 
mocking the apostolic see.

Succession crisis and death (1053–1060)[edit]

Andrew's queen, Anastasia, gave birth to a son, named Solomon in 1053.[45] Andrew 
attempted to make his son's succession secure, even against his brother, Béla, who 
had strong claim to succeed Andrew according to the traditional principle of seniority.
[46]

 The scene at Tiszavárkony depicted in the Illuminated Chronicle: the paralyzed 
Andrew forces his brother, Béla to choose between the crown and the sword
The brothers' relationship did not deteriorate immediately after Solomon's birth.[47] In 
the deed of the foundation of the Tihany Abbey, a Benedictine monastery established 
in 1055 by Andrew, Duke Béla was listed among the lords witnessing the act.[47] This 
charter, although primarily written in Latin, contains the earliest extant text – 
Feheruuaru rea meneh hodu utu rea ("on the military road which leads to Fehérvár") – 
written in Hungarian.[48] Andrew also established a lavra for Orthodox hermits in 
Tihany and an Orthodox monastery near Visegrád.[49] The Third Book of Law of King 
Ladislaus I of Hungary (r. 1077–1095) refers to an "estate survey of the judge Sarkas" 
under "King Andrew and Duke Béla".[50][51] According to György Györffy, the serfs of 
the royal domains were registered during this survey which took place around 1056.
[51]

Andrew suffered a stroke which paralyzed him.[45] In an attempt to strengthen his 
son's claim to the throne, he had the child Solomon crowned in the one-year-long 
period beginning in the autumn of 1057.[45] For the same purpose, Andrew also 
arranged the engagement of his son with Judith – a daughter of the late Emperor Henry 
III, and sister of the new German monarch, Henry IV (r. 1056–1105) – in September 
1058.[52] Thereafter, according to an episode narrated by most Hungarian chronicles, 
the king invited Duke Béla to a meeting at Tiszavárkony.[53] At their meeting, Andrew 
seemingly offered his brother to freely choose between a crown and a sword, which 
were the symbols of the kingdom and the ducatus, respectively.[54] Duke Béla, who 
had previously been informed by his partisans in Andrew's court that he would be 
murdered on the king's order if he opted for the crown, chose the sword.[54]

However, Béla, who actually had no intention of renouncing his claim to succeed his 
brother in favor of his nephew, fled to Poland and sought military assistance from 
Duke Boleslaus II of Poland (r. 1058–1079).[54][55] With Duke Boleslaus's support, 
Béla returned to Hungary at the head of Polish troops.[56] On the other hand, the 
Dowager Empress Agnes – who governed the Holy Roman Empire in the name of her 
minor son, Henry IV – sent Bavarian, Bohemian and Saxon troops to assist Andrew.[56]

The decisive battle was fought in the regions east of the river Tisza.[45] Andrew 
suffered injuries and lost the battle.[45][54] He attempted to flee to the Holy Roman 
Empire, but his brother's partisans routed his retinue at Moson.[45] The Annals of 
Niederaltaich narrates that wagons and horses trampled him in the battlefield.[57] 
Deadly wounded in the battlefield, Andrew was seized and taken by his brother's 
partisans to Zirc[45] where "he was treated with neglect",[58] according to the 
Illuminated Chronicle.[57] Andrew died in the royal manor there before his brother was 
crowned king on 6 December 1060.[59] Andrew was buried in the crypt of the church 
of the Tihany Abbey.[60]

Family[edit]

Andrew's wife, Anastasia, was the daughter of Grand Duke Yaroslav I the Wise of 
Kiev by his wife, Ingegerd, who herself was the daughter of King Olof Skötkonung of 
Sweden.[61] Andrew married Anastasia, who was born in about 1020, around 1038.
[17] Their first child, Adelaide was born around 1040.[62] She became the wife of 
Vratislaus II of Bohemia, who was initially Duke and, from 1085, King of Bohemia.[63]
[64] Andrew and Anastasia's first son, Solomon, was born in 1053, their second son, 
David, some years later.[63] Neither Solomon nor David fathered sons; the male line of 
Andrew's family died out with their death by the end of the 11th century.[45]

King Salomon and David, his brother, never had children, and the seed of King 
Andreas perished with them. We believe that this was by an act of God; for on his first 
return with Levente, his brother, to Hungary, Andreas with the purpose of gaining the 
kingdom permitted the ungodly Vatha and other most evil men to kill the saintly Gerard 
and many Christians.

Medieval chronicles write that Andrew had a natural son, named George, "by a 
concubine"[66] from the village of Pilismarót.[67] Since his name was popular among 
Orthodox believers, Gyula Kristó says that his mother may have been a Russian lady-
in-waiting of Andrew's queen.[67] The theory that the Clan Drummond in Scotland was 
descended from George is not widely accepted by scholars.[68]


Parents
ARPAD Vazul (Basil) (Ladislas) "the Bald" (ABT  977 - 1037)
____ Katun (ABT  972 - )

Siblings
____ Bela I (ABT 1010 - 1063)
ARPAD Andrew (Andras) I (ABT 1015 - AFT 6 Jul 1060)

Marriage To YAROSLAVNA Anastasiya Agmunda (1022 - AFT 1074)
    m. ABT 1037 

Notes

Parents
WLADIMIROWWITSCH Jaroslaw (Jaroslav) (Yaroslav) I "the Wise" Mudry ( 980 - 20 Feb 1054)
OLAFSDOTTIR Ingegerd (Ingegreda) (1001 - 10 Feb 1050)

Children by YAROSLAVNA Anastasiya Agmunda 1022 - AFT 1074
____ Adelaide (Adelaida) (ABT 1040 - 27 Jan 1062)

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