Gyula III

Gyula III, also Iula or Gyula the Younger, Geula or Gyla, was an early medieval ruler in Transylvania ( – 1003/1004). Around 1003, he and his family were attacked, dispossessed and captured by King Stephen I of Hungary (1000/1001-1038). The name " Gyula" was also a title, the second highest rank in Hungarian tribal confederation.

According to Gyula Kristó, his actual name was probably Prokui. However, certain historians like István Bóna disagree with this identification.

Family

Hungarian chronicles preserved contradictory reports of Gyula's family. According to the ''Gesta Hungarorum'', Gyula, or "the younger Gyula", was the son of Zombor and nephew of the elder Gyula. The same chronicle said that Zombor's grandfather, Tétényone of the seven chieftains of the Magyars, or Hungarians, at the time of their conquest of the Carpathian Basinhad defeated Gelou, the Vlach ruler of Transylvania, forcing Gelou's Slav and Vlach subjects to yield to him. Historian Florin Curta writes that the ''Gesta Hungarorum'' presented Gyula's family based on a local legend which "seems to have been blown out of proportions and linked to an earlier confusion between a family name and the name of a military rank gyula''">gyula_(title).html" ;"title="' gyula''in the Magyar tribes">Magyar federation of tribes". Historian Gyula Kristó">gyula (title)">gyula''">gyula_(title).html" ;"title="'gyula (title)">gyula''in the Magyar federation of tribes". Historian Gyula Kristó says that the Anonymus (notary of Béla III)">anonymous writer of the ''Gesta'' arbitrarily made a connection between the noble Gyula-Zombor kindred of Pest and Nógrád County (former)">Nógrád counties and the family of the ''gyulas'' of Transylvania when writing about Gyula's ancestors. Simon of Kéza's ''Gesta Hunnorum et Hungarorum'' listed one Gyula among the seven chieftains of the conquering Hungarians, stating that "[a]lthough he came into Pannonia with the others, Gyula finally settled in Transylvania." Finally, the 14th- and 15th-century chronicles (including the ''Illuminated Chronicle'') distinguished three Gyulas, among whom the first Gyulaone of the seven Magyar chieftains"found a great city which had been built in former times by the Romans"''The Hungarian Illuminated Chronicle'' (ch. 30), p. 100. while he was hunting in Transylvania. The great city is identified as Gyulafehérvár (now Alba Iulia in Romania).

The 10th-century Byzantine Emperor Constantine Porphyrogenitus wrote of a Hungarian leader, titled ''gyula'', who was second in rank among the leaders of the federation of the Hungarian tribes. The Byzantine historian, John Skylitzes mentioned a "chieftain of the Turks",''John Skylitzes: A Synopsis of Byzantine History'' (ch. 11.5.), p. 312. or Hungarians, named Gylas, who was baptised in Constantinople around 952. Skylitzes also stated that Gylas "remained faithful to Christianity" and did not invade the Byzantine Empire after his baptism.

One view is that Transylvania in the 10th century seems to have been an independent principality which was governed by a line of princes who were invariably called ''Gyula''; they were the successors, and perhaps also the descendants, of the '' gyula'' who had been the military leader of the Hungarian tribal federation at the time of the conquest of the Carpathian Basin. Another view is that the family of the ''gyula''s moved to Transylvania only after 970. The Romanian historian Vlad Georgescu argues that Gyula (Gyla) seems to have been of Pecheneg origin, since Byzantine sources speak of the existence of a Petcheneg tribe called ''Gylas''; a life of the monarch-saint Stephen I also mentions battles with Pechenegs in the heart of Transylvania.Before he could be crowned king of Hungary in title and in fact, the young Prince Stephen, whose mother was Gyula's sister Sarolt according to the almost contemporary '' Annales Hildesheimenses (“The Annals of Hildesheim”)'', had to battle to overcome rebellious lords led by, among others, his relative and rival Koppány. The ''Chronicon Pictum ("Illuminated Chronicle")'' narrates that Stephen inflicted a devastating defeat upon Koppány whose corpse was quartered. One quarter of Koppány's body was delivered to Gyula at his Alba Iulia (in Hungarian, ''Gyulafehérvár'' ‘Gyula’s White Castle’) residence in Transylvania. This quarter of the corpse was pinned to the gate of Alba Iulia.

In 1003 (maybe in 1002 or 1004), Stephen, who had been crowned in 1000 or 1001, personally led his army against his maternal uncle, and Gyula surrendered without a fight. The Romanian historian Florin Curta suggests that the only contemporary source to mention Stephen's attack against ''“rex Geula”'' is the ''Annales Hildesheimenses''. On the other hand, Thietmar of Merseburg (975-1018) refers to another character ''(Procui)'' who was King Stephen's uncle and whose land was occupied by the king. Florin Curta argues that ''Procui'' cannot possibly be the same as Gyula: according to the 13th century ''Gesta Ungarorum'', Gyula was captured by King Stephen I and kept in prison for the rest of his life; by contrast, ''Procui'' was expelled from his estates, given back his wife, and later appointed warden of a frontier fort by King Boleslav I of Poland. The name ''Procui'' is probably of Slavic origin.

See also

* Ajtony
*Gesta Hungarorum
*Gyula (title)
* History of Transylvania
* Kingdom of Hungary in the Middle Ages
* Koppány
* Romania in the Early Middle Ages
*Stephen I of Hungary
*Principality of Hungary

Notes

References

Sources

Primary sources

*''Anonymus, Notary of King Béla: The Deeds of the Hungarians'' (Edited, Translated and Annotated by Martyn Rady and László Veszprémy) (2010). In: Rady, Martyn; Veszprémy, László; Bak, János M. (2010); ''Anonymus and Master Roger''; CEU Press; .
*''Ottonian Germany: The'' Chronicon ''of Thietmar of Merseburg'' (Translated and annotated by David A. Warner) (2001). Manchester University Press. .
*''Simon of Kéza: The Deeds of the Hungarians'' (Edited and translated by László Veszprémy and Frank Schaer with a study by Jenő Szűcs) (1999). CEU Press. .
*''The Hungarian Illuminated Chronicle:'' Chronica de Gestis Hungarorum (Edited by Dezső Dercsényi) (1970). Corvina, Taplinger Publishing. .

Secondary sources

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10th-century Hungarian people
11th-century Hungarian people
Political office-holders in Transylvania
Magyar tribal chieftains
Medieval Transylvanian people
Gesta Hungarorum