Böszörmény
Encyclopedia
Böszörmény, also Izmaelita (Hysmaelita / Ismaili
) or Szerecsen (Saracenus), is a name for the Muslim
s who lived in the Kingdom of Hungary
in the 10-13th centuries. Some of the böszörmény probably joined the federation of the seven Magyar tribes
during the 9th century, and later smaller groups of Muslims arrived to the Carpathian Basin
. They were engaged in trading but some of them were employed as mercenaries by the kings of Hungary
. Their rights were gradually restricted from the 11th century on, and they were persuaded to accept baptism, following the establishment of the Christian
Kingdom of Hungary
. They disappeared (probably became Christian) by the end of the 13th century.
, but toponyms
suggest that Muslim (káliz: khalyzians
) people arrived also from Khwarezm
; these latter (or part of them) may have formed one of the three tribes of the Kabar
s who joined the federation of the Magyar tribes in the 9th century.
The Arab historian and geographer, al-Mas'ūdī recorded in the 10th century that the heads of the tribal confederation had welcomed Muslim merchants and the merchants could even convert some of the Magyars into Islam
. Al-Bakrī also mentioned that the Magyars ransomed the Muslims who had been captured in the neighboring countries. In the 10th century, Ibrahim ibn Yaqub
described the Muslim merchants who arrived to Prague
from the territories of the Magyars and traded with slaves
and tin
. The Gesta Hungarorum
recorded that lots of Muslims arrived to the Carpathian Basin from Volga Bulgaria during the reign of Taksony
, Grand Prince of the Magyars (c. 955 - before 972) and they settled down there.
The work of the Muslim traveler, Abu Hamid al-Garnati, who spent three years in the kingdom (1150-1153), proves that the Muslims living in the Kingdom of Hungary were composed of two groups: the Khwarezm
ians and the Maghrebians (Böszörmény). He was entrusted by King Géza II of Hungary
to recruit soldiers among the Maghrebians (Böszörmény) living east of the Carpathian Basin. The Byzantine historian, John Kinnamos
mentioned that káliz warriors were captured during the war between the kingdom and the Byzantine Empire in 1165 and the Emperor Manuel I Komnenos
removed some of them to Byzantine territories.
and in region where the Drava
joines the Danube
. Other significant groups of Muslims lived in and around Pest, in the Nyírség (around Hajdúböszörmény
) and around Nyitra
(today Nitra in Slovakia).
The Arab geographer, Yaqut al-Hamawi
mentioned that Muslims from the Kingdom of Hungary were studying in Aleppo
in the beginning of the 13th century. The students arrived to Aleppo from a frontier region of the kingdom where the Moslims lived in 30 settlements.
by the beginning of the 13th century.
Royal decrees issued in the second half of the 11th century by the kings of Hungary persecuted the Muslims, requiring their conversion into Christianity. King Ladislaus I of Hungary commanded that converted Muslims who continued to follow their former customs were to be removed from their original settlements. King Coloman of Hungary ordered that each Muslim settlement had to build a church, and he prohibited marriage between Muslims. Probably in the next century, the kings also prohibited the building of walls around Muslim settlements.
By the period of King Géza II (1141-1162), the káliz people could practise their faith only in secrecy. The "Maghrebian" soldiers followed Islam openly, but it was Abu Hamid al-Garnati who taught them several Islamic traditions. Upon his request, the king even permitted to the "Magrhrebians" to have concubines.
of King Andrew II
prohibited the employment of Muslims as minters and tax collectors. The king, however, continued to employ them in his administration. On 3 March 1231, Pope Gregory IX
requested the prelates of the kingdom to protest against this practise and also authorized them to use ecclesiastical penalties for this reason. In the same year, King Andrew had to confirm the provisions of the Golden Bull but he still employed Muslims. Therefore, on 25 February 1232, Archbishop Robert of Esztergom placed the Kingdom of Hungary under an interdict
and excommunicated some high dignitaries of the king. Pope Gregory IX sent a legate to the kingdom who reached an agreement with King Andrew on 20 August 1233 in Bereg.
Under the agreement, the Muslims and the Jews
could not hold royal offices and they were obliged to wear distinctive cloths. However, the king did not fulfil all the provisions of the agreement and therefore he was excommunicated but he was absolved soon. On 10 December 1239, Pope Gregory IX even authorized King Béla IV of Hungary
to lease his revenues to non-Christians.
Nevertheless, following the Mongol invasion of the kingdom
(1241-1242) references to the Muslims in the kingdom became scarce. In 1290, King Ladislaus IV of Hungary appointed a former Muslim, Mizse to the office of the Palatine.
The böszörmény denomination is preserved as a family name and in toponyms, such as Hajdúböszörmény.
Ismaili
' is a branch of Shia Islam. It is the second largest branch of Shia Islam, after the Twelvers...
) or Szerecsen (Saracenus), is a name for the Muslim
Muslim
A Muslim, also spelled Moslem, is an adherent of Islam, a monotheistic, Abrahamic religion based on the Quran, which Muslims consider the verbatim word of God as revealed to prophet Muhammad. "Muslim" is the Arabic term for "submitter" .Muslims believe that God is one and incomparable...
s who lived in the Kingdom of Hungary
Kingdom of Hungary
The Kingdom of Hungary comprised present-day Hungary, Slovakia and Croatia , Transylvania , Carpatho Ruthenia , Vojvodina , Burgenland , and other smaller territories surrounding present-day Hungary's borders...
in the 10-13th centuries. Some of the böszörmény probably joined the federation of the seven Magyar tribes
Magyar tribes
The Magyar tribes were the fundamental political units whose framework the Hungarians lived within, until these clans from Asia, more accurately from the region of Ural Mountains, invaded the Carpathian Basin and established the Principality of Hungary.The locality in which the Hungarians, the...
during the 9th century, and later smaller groups of Muslims arrived to the Carpathian Basin
Pannonian Basin
The Pannonian Basin or Carpathian Basin is a large basin in East-Central Europe.The geomorphological term Pannonian Plain is more widely used for roughly the same region though with a somewhat different sense - meaning only the lowlands, the plain that remained when the Pliocene Pannonian Sea dried...
. They were engaged in trading but some of them were employed as mercenaries by the kings of Hungary
King of Hungary
The King of Hungary was the head of state of the Kingdom of Hungary from 1000 to 1918.The style of title "Apostolic King" was confirmed by Pope Clement XIII in 1758 and used afterwards by all the Kings of Hungary, so after this date the kings are referred to as "Apostolic King of...
. Their rights were gradually restricted from the 11th century on, and they were persuaded to accept baptism, following the establishment of the Christian
Christian
A Christian is a person who adheres to Christianity, an Abrahamic, monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth as recorded in the Canonical gospels and the letters of the New Testament...
Kingdom of Hungary
Kingdom of Hungary
The Kingdom of Hungary comprised present-day Hungary, Slovakia and Croatia , Transylvania , Carpatho Ruthenia , Vojvodina , Burgenland , and other smaller territories surrounding present-day Hungary's borders...
. They disappeared (probably became Christian) by the end of the 13th century.
Their origins
Modern authors claim that several groups of Muslims migrated to the Carpathian Basin in the course of the 10th-12th centuries; therefore, the Muslims living in the Kingdom of Hungary were composed of various ethnic groups. Most of them must have arrived from Volga BulgariaVolga Bulgaria
Volga Bulgaria, or Volga–Kama Bolghar, is a historic Bulgar state that existed between the seventh and thirteenth centuries around the confluence of the Volga and Kama rivers in what is now Russia.-Origin:...
, but toponyms
Toponymy
Toponymy is the scientific study of place names , their origins, meanings, use and typology. The word "toponymy" is derived from the Greek words tópos and ónoma . Toponymy is itself a branch of onomastics, the study of names of all kinds...
suggest that Muslim (káliz: khalyzians
Khalyzians
The Chalyzians or Khalyzians or Khalis or Khwalis The Chalyzians or Khalyzians or Khalis or Khwalis The Chalyzians or Khalyzians or Khalis or Khwalis (Arabic: Khwarezmian, Byzantine Greek: Χαλίσιοι, Khalisioi, Magyar: Kaliz were a people mentioned by the 12th-century Byzantine historian John...
) people arrived also from Khwarezm
Khwarezm
Khwarezm, or Chorasmia, is a large oasis region on the Amu Darya river delta in western Central Asia, which borders to the north the Aral Sea, to the east the Kyzylkum desert, to the south the Karakum desert and to the west the Ustyurt Plateau...
; these latter (or part of them) may have formed one of the three tribes of the Kabar
Kabar
The Khavars or erroneously Kabars were Khazarians, therefore Turkic people who joined to the Magyars in the 8th century.- History :...
s who joined the federation of the Magyar tribes in the 9th century.
The Arab historian and geographer, al-Mas'ūdī recorded in the 10th century that the heads of the tribal confederation had welcomed Muslim merchants and the merchants could even convert some of the Magyars into Islam
Islam
Islam . The most common are and . : Arabic pronunciation varies regionally. The first vowel ranges from ~~. The second vowel ranges from ~~~...
. Al-Bakrī also mentioned that the Magyars ransomed the Muslims who had been captured in the neighboring countries. In the 10th century, Ibrahim ibn Yaqub
Abraham ben Jacob
Abraham ben Jacob, better known under his Arabic name of Ibrâhîm ibn Ya`qûb was a 10th century Hispano-Arabic, plausibly Sephardi Jewish, traveller, probably a merchant, whose brief may have included diplomacy and espionage...
described the Muslim merchants who arrived to Prague
Prague
Prague is the capital and largest city of the Czech Republic. Situated in the north-west of the country on the Vltava river, the city is home to about 1.3 million people, while its metropolitan area is estimated to have a population of over 2.3 million...
from the territories of the Magyars and traded with slaves
Slavery
Slavery is a system under which people are treated as property to be bought and sold, and are forced to work. Slaves can be held against their will from the time of their capture, purchase or birth, and deprived of the right to leave, to refuse to work, or to demand compensation...
and tin
Tin
Tin is a chemical element with the symbol Sn and atomic number 50. It is a main group metal in group 14 of the periodic table. Tin shows chemical similarity to both neighboring group 14 elements, germanium and lead and has two possible oxidation states, +2 and the slightly more stable +4...
. The Gesta Hungarorum
Gesta Hungarorum
Gesta Hungarorum is a record of early Hungarian history by an unknown author who describes himself as Anonymi Bele Regis Notarii , but is generally cited as Anonymus...
recorded that lots of Muslims arrived to the Carpathian Basin from Volga Bulgaria during the reign of Taksony
Taksony of Hungary
Taksony , Grand Prince of the Hungarians .Taksony was the son of Zoltán , the fourth son of Árpád, the second Grand Prince of the Hungarians...
, Grand Prince of the Magyars (c. 955 - before 972) and they settled down there.
The work of the Muslim traveler, Abu Hamid al-Garnati, who spent three years in the kingdom (1150-1153), proves that the Muslims living in the Kingdom of Hungary were composed of two groups: the Khwarezm
Khwarezm
Khwarezm, or Chorasmia, is a large oasis region on the Amu Darya river delta in western Central Asia, which borders to the north the Aral Sea, to the east the Kyzylkum desert, to the south the Karakum desert and to the west the Ustyurt Plateau...
ians and the Maghrebians (Böszörmény). He was entrusted by King Géza II of Hungary
Géza II of Hungary
Géza II , , King of Hungary, King of Croatia, Dalmatia and Rama . He ascended the throne as a child and during his minority the kingdom was governed by his mother and uncle...
to recruit soldiers among the Maghrebians (Böszörmény) living east of the Carpathian Basin. The Byzantine historian, John Kinnamos
John Kinnamos
Joannes Kinnamos or John Cinnamus was a Greek historian. He was imperial secretary to Emperor Manuel I , whom he accompanied on his campaigns in Europe and Asia Minor...
mentioned that káliz warriors were captured during the war between the kingdom and the Byzantine Empire in 1165 and the Emperor Manuel I Komnenos
Manuel I Komnenos
Manuel I Komnenos was a Byzantine Emperor of the 12th century who reigned over a crucial turning point in the history of Byzantium and the Mediterranean....
removed some of them to Byzantine territories.
Muslim territories in the Kingdom of Hungary
The Muslims settled down in several groups in the Carpathian Basin. Their largest communities lived in the southern parts of the Kingdom of Hungary in SyrmiaSyrmia
Syrmia is a fertile region of the Pannonian Plain in Europe, between the Danube and Sava rivers. It is divided between Serbia in the east and Croatia in the west....
and in region where the Drava
Drava
Drava or Drave is a river in southern Central Europe, a tributary of the Danube. It sources in Toblach/Dobbiaco, Italy, and flows east through East Tirol and Carinthia in Austria, into Slovenia , and then southeast, passing through Croatia and forming most of the border between Croatia and...
joines the Danube
Danube
The Danube is a river in the Central Europe and the Europe's second longest river after the Volga. It is classified as an international waterway....
. Other significant groups of Muslims lived in and around Pest, in the Nyírség (around Hajdúböszörmény
Hajdúböszörmény
Hajdúböszörmény is a city in North Eastern Hungary with a population of approximately 30,000 people. It has a unique circular plan to the streets that is supposed to have originated as a defense from invasion or attack...
) and around Nyitra
Nitra
Nitra is a city in western Slovakia, situated at the foot of Zobor Mountain in the valley of the river Nitra. With a population of about 83,572, it is the fifth largest city in Slovakia. Nitra is also one of the oldest cities in Slovakia and the country's earliest political and cultural center...
(today Nitra in Slovakia).
The Arab geographer, Yaqut al-Hamawi
Yaqut al-Hamawi
Yāqūt ibn-'Abdullah al-Rūmī al-Hamawī) was an Islamic biographer and geographer renowned for his encyclopedic writings on the Muslim world. "al-Rumi" refers to his Greek descent; "al-Hamawi" means that he is from Hama, Syria, and ibn-Abdullah is a reference to his father's name, Abdullah...
mentioned that Muslims from the Kingdom of Hungary were studying in Aleppo
Aleppo
Aleppo is the largest city in Syria and the capital of Aleppo Governorate, the most populous Syrian governorate. With an official population of 2,301,570 , expanding to over 2.5 million in the metropolitan area, it is also one of the largest cities in the Levant...
in the beginning of the 13th century. The students arrived to Aleppo from a frontier region of the kingdom where the Moslims lived in 30 settlements.
The Muslims' life in the kingdom
Most of the Muslims in the Kingdom of Hungary were engaged in trading and they were rich enough to lease royal properties in the 13th century. Other Muslims were employed in the king's army and took part in the wars against the Byzantine Empire. Yaqut al-Hamawi's work proves that the Muslim population spoke the Hungarian languageHungarian language
Hungarian is a Uralic language, part of the Ugric group. With some 14 million speakers, it is one of the most widely spoken non-Indo-European languages in Europe....
by the beginning of the 13th century.
Royal decrees issued in the second half of the 11th century by the kings of Hungary persecuted the Muslims, requiring their conversion into Christianity. King Ladislaus I of Hungary commanded that converted Muslims who continued to follow their former customs were to be removed from their original settlements. King Coloman of Hungary ordered that each Muslim settlement had to build a church, and he prohibited marriage between Muslims. Probably in the next century, the kings also prohibited the building of walls around Muslim settlements.
By the period of King Géza II (1141-1162), the káliz people could practise their faith only in secrecy. The "Maghrebian" soldiers followed Islam openly, but it was Abu Hamid al-Garnati who taught them several Islamic traditions. Upon his request, the king even permitted to the "Magrhrebians" to have concubines.
Muslims in the 13th century
The Golden BullGolden Bull of 1222
The Golden Bull of 1222 was a golden bull, or edict, issued by King Andrew II of Hungary. The law established the rights of the Hungarian nobility, including the right to disobey the King when he acted contrary to law . The nobles and the church were freed from all taxes and could not be forced to...
of King Andrew II
Andrew II of Hungary
Andrew II the Jerosolimitan was King of Hungary and Croatia . He was the younger son of King Béla III of Hungary, who invested him with the government of the Principality of Halych...
prohibited the employment of Muslims as minters and tax collectors. The king, however, continued to employ them in his administration. On 3 March 1231, Pope Gregory IX
Pope Gregory IX
Pope Gregory IX, born Ugolino di Conti, was pope from March 19, 1227 to August 22, 1241.The successor of Pope Honorius III , he fully inherited the traditions of Pope Gregory VII and of his uncle Pope Innocent III , and zealously continued their policy of Papal supremacy.-Early life:Ugolino was...
requested the prelates of the kingdom to protest against this practise and also authorized them to use ecclesiastical penalties for this reason. In the same year, King Andrew had to confirm the provisions of the Golden Bull but he still employed Muslims. Therefore, on 25 February 1232, Archbishop Robert of Esztergom placed the Kingdom of Hungary under an interdict
Interdict (Roman Catholic Church)
In Roman Catholic canon law, an interdict is an ecclesiastical censure that excludes from certain rites of the Church individuals or groups, who nonetheless do not cease to be members of the Church.-Distinctions in canon law:...
and excommunicated some high dignitaries of the king. Pope Gregory IX sent a legate to the kingdom who reached an agreement with King Andrew on 20 August 1233 in Bereg.
Under the agreement, the Muslims and the Jews
Jews
The Jews , also known as the Jewish people, are a nation and ethnoreligious group originating in the Israelites or Hebrews of the Ancient Near East. The Jewish ethnicity, nationality, and religion are strongly interrelated, as Judaism is the traditional faith of the Jewish nation...
could not hold royal offices and they were obliged to wear distinctive cloths. However, the king did not fulfil all the provisions of the agreement and therefore he was excommunicated but he was absolved soon. On 10 December 1239, Pope Gregory IX even authorized King Béla IV of Hungary
Béla IV of Hungary
Béla IV , King of Hungary and of Croatia , duke of Styria 1254–58. One of the most famous kings of Hungary, he distinguished himself through his policy of strengthening of the royal power following the example of his grandfather Bela III, and by the rebuilding Hungary after the catastrophe of the...
to lease his revenues to non-Christians.
Nevertheless, following the Mongol invasion of the kingdom
Mongol invasion of Europe
The resumption of the Mongol invasion of Europe, during which the Mongols attacked medieval Rus' principalities and the powers of Poland and Hungary, was marked by the Mongol invasion of Rus starting in 21 December 1237...
(1241-1242) references to the Muslims in the kingdom became scarce. In 1290, King Ladislaus IV of Hungary appointed a former Muslim, Mizse to the office of the Palatine.
The böszörmény denomination is preserved as a family name and in toponyms, such as Hajdúböszörmény.
Sources
- Benda, Kálmán (editor): Magyarország történeti kronológiája (The Historical Chronology of Hungary); Akadémiai Kiadó, 1981, Budapest; ISBN 963-05-2661-1.
- Kristó, Gyula: Nem magyar népek a középkori Magyarországon (Non-Hungarian Peoples in the Medieval Hungary); Lucidus Kiadó, 2003, Budapest; ISBN 963 9465 151.
- Kristó, Gyula (editor): Korai Magyar Történeti Lexikon - 9-14. század (Encyclopedia of the Early Hungarian History - 9-14th centuries); Akadémiai Kiadó, 1994, Budapest; ISBN 963-05-6722-9.
External links
- http://www.magyariszlam.hu/eng/history.html
- http://www.hajduporta.hu/english/index.php?id=page1300