Saint Ladislaus legend
Encyclopedia
Hungary
Hungary , officially the Republic of Hungary , is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is situated in the Carpathian Basin and is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine and Romania to the east, Serbia and Croatia to the south, Slovenia to the southwest and Austria to the west. The...
during the 14th to 16th century.
Historical background
Ladislaus I of Hungary was a chivalrous king in Hungary in the 11th century. Before becoming the ruler, together with his brother Géza, and king Solomon of HungarySolomon of Hungary
Solomon , King of Hungary . He was crowned as a child during his father's lifetime in order to ensure his succession, but his uncle Béla managed to dethrone his father and ascend to the throne...
, he fought in Transylvania against armies of Pechenegs and Cumans
Cumans
The Cumans were Turkic nomadic people comprising the western branch of the Cuman-Kipchak confederation. After Mongol invasion , they decided to seek asylum in Hungary, and subsequently to Bulgaria...
invading from the steppe
Steppe
In physical geography, steppe is an ecoregion, in the montane grasslands and shrublands and temperate grasslands, savannas, and shrublands biomes, characterized by grassland plains without trees apart from those near rivers and lakes...
s. In the story illustrated by the murals, at the Kerlés battlefield Ladislaus observed that a warrior tried to abduct a Hungarian girl. The royal saint pursued and overcame the warrior and liberated the girl.
Sequence of the images in the Saint Ladislaus legend mural
The sequence of the events portrayed is generally similar all over the churches in medieval HungaryHungary
Hungary , officially the Republic of Hungary , is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is situated in the Carpathian Basin and is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine and Romania to the east, Serbia and Croatia to the south, Slovenia to the southwest and Austria to the west. The...
.
- Saint Ladislaus riding his horse in the battlefield catches sight of a pagan warrior holding a Hungarian girl in his saddle.
- Saint Ladislaus begins to pursue him.
- In the last metres before Saint Ladislaus could reach the pagan to stab him, he could not catch up to him
- Saint Ladislaus shouts to the girl: "Catch hold of the pagan at his belt and jump to the ground!"
- The girl does so, and the two warriors, the king and the pagan, begin wrestling.
- Saint Ladislaus can not subdue him, therefore the girl helps the king. She cuts the pagan's Achilles tendonAchilles tendonThe Achilles tendon , also known as the calcaneal tendon or the tendo calcaneus, is a tendon of the posterior leg. It serves to attach the plantaris, gastrocnemius and soleus muscles to the calcaneus bone.- Anatomy :The Achilles is the tendonous extension of 3 muscles in the lower leg:...
. - Saint Ladislaus beheads the pagan with the help of the girl.
- In the last scene Saint Ladislaus is resting in the arms of the girl.
The Saint Ladislaus legend in the medieval churches of Hungary
Archaeologist Gyula László collected the documents of fifty churches all around the Carpathian basin, where mural had been painted in medieval churches in Hungary. Some of them had been demolished (for example the churches at Homoródszentmárton and Homoródokland), but some of them had been copied in 19th century sketches by József Huszka. These are preserved in the National Heritage Protection Office in Hungary.Most of the murals were painted during the reigns of Charles I of Hungary
Charles I of Hungary
Charles I , also known as Charles Robert , was the first King of Hungary and Croatia of the House of Anjou. He was also descended from the old Hungarian Árpád dynasty. His claim to the throne of Hungary was contested by several pretenders...
, Louis I of Hungary, and Sigismund, Holy Roman Emperor
Sigismund, Holy Roman Emperor
Sigismund of Luxemburg KG was King of Hungary, of Croatia from 1387 to 1437, of Bohemia from 1419, and Holy Roman Emperor for four years from 1433 until 1437, the last Emperor of the House of Luxemburg. He was also King of Italy from 1431, and of Germany from 1411...
. During their period of rule Saint Ladislaus became the ideal of the ruler kings therefore these kings chose their burying-place at the cathedral of Nagyvárad.
Eurasian connections
Several scenes of the Saint Ladislaus legend occur in archaeological finds from all over Eurasia. The best known is the Hun-Scythian belt buckle in the HermitageHermitage Museum
The State Hermitage is a museum of art and culture in Saint Petersburg, Russia. One of the largest and oldest museums of the world, it was founded in 1764 by Catherine the Great and has been opened to the public since 1852. Its collections, of which only a small part is on permanent display,...
, Saint Petersburg
Saint Petersburg
Saint Petersburg is a city and a federal subject of Russia located on the Neva River at the head of the Gulf of Finland on the Baltic Sea...
, Russia. There the resting scene can be seen. The most frequently occurring scene is the wrestling without arms. It also occurs, that the horses of the two warriors also fight against each other. Several belt buckles are with this scene from Ordos, China. The wrestling scene also occurs in the silver plate of Vjatka, Siberia.
Mythological interpretation
Before Gyula LászlóGyula László
Gyula László was a Hungarian historian, archaeologist, artist, and university professor....
, Géza Nagy suggested that an ancient Eurasian myth is behind the Christianized mural painting. The old myth is expressed by the fight between the two heroes representing light and darkness. In the literature the ballad of Anna Molnár also is related to the Saint Ladislaus legend.
Further reading
- Bertényi Iván (1996): Szent László kultuszának Anjou-kori történetéhez. (Towards a history of the Saint Ladislaus tradition). Századok, 1996. 985-989. old.
- Gyöngyössy János, Kerny Terézia, Sarudi Sebestyén József (1995): Székelyföldi vártemplomok. (Fortress churches in Székelyföld.) Tájak-Korok-Múzeumok Könyvtára 5. szám, Budapest
- Hankovszky Béla, Kerny Terézia, Móser Zoltán (2000): Ave Rex Ladislaus. (Gloria to Ladislaus king). Paulus Hungarus - Kairosz, Budapest
- Jankovics Marcell (2006): Csillagok között fényességes csillag. A Szent László legenda és a csillagos ég. (Star brighting between stars. The Saint Ladislaus legend and the heavenly constellations.) Méry Ratio Kiadó, Helikon, Budapest
- László Gyula (1993): A Szent László-legenda középkori falképei. (The medieval murals of the Saint Ladislaus legend.) Tájak-Korok-Múzeumok Könyvtára 4. szám, Budapest
- Madas E., Török L., Vargyas L. (1980): Athleta Patriae. Tanulmányok Szent László történetéhez. (Athlete of the Country: Studies of Saint Ladislaus.) Szent István Társulat Kiadó, Budapest ISBN 963-360-124-x
- Madas Edit, Horváth Zoltán György (2008): Középkori prédikációk és falképek Szent László királyról/ San Ladislao d'Ungheria nella predicazione e nei dipinti murali. (Medieval sermons and murals of Saint Ladislaus.) 464. old. Romanika Kiadó, Budapest, ISBN: 978-963-87287-8-4
- Magyar Zoltán (1996): Keresztény lovagoknak oszlopa” (Szent László a magyar kultúrtörténetben) (Column of Christian chavaliers.) Nemzeti Tankönyvkiadó, Budapest
- Mezey lászló (szerk.) (1980): Athleta patriae. Tanulmányok Szent László történetéhez. Budapest
- Bérczi Sz., Bérczi K., Bérczi Zs. (1998): Szent László kifestő. (Saint Ladislaus booklet.) In Hungarian. TKTE and Uniconstant, Piremon Vámospércs
External links
- Canonisation of Saint Ladislaus king.
- About Saint Ladislaus legend.
- The Saint Ladislaus legend in the Unitarian church of Homorodkaracsonyfalva.
- The Saint Ladislaus legend in the Catholic church of Gelence.
- The Saint Ladislaus legend in Codex Érdy.
- The Saint Ladislaus legend in the Encyclopedia of Ethnography.
- Medieval Hungarian Murals.
- Mural in Székelyderzs Unitarian Church: The Saint Ladislaus legend.