Maeatae

The Maeatae are classified as a Celtic tribe or confederation of tribes. They lived in Britain in present-day northern Scotland and are discussed as Celts or Scots. The Boresti, Vacomagi, and Verturiones were possibly part of this group, which formed by about 200 C. E.

Known also as Hungarians, although modern Hungarians are an ethnic mix. The terms Magyar and Hungarian are used interchangeably, although in modern usage Magyar is sometimes used to distinguish the Hungarianspeaking population of Hungary from other minorities. (Sometimes the Magyars are referred to as Huns; although they may have had some ancestors from among the Huns, the two peoples had a different tradition.)

Origins

The nomadic proto-Magyars were related to Finno-Ugrians living in the western Ural Mountain region of western Siberia. By the fifth century C. E. they roamed southwestward to the region of the Caspian Sea and had considerable contacts with Turkic Khazars. It was under the influence of the Khazars that the “crystallization” of Magyar identity took place. Among their early rulers were elites from among the Turkics. At some point they too adopted a nomadic way of life on the steppes. By 830 they had reached the west bank of the Don River in Europe (present-day western Russia), about which time they formed a tribal confederacy of seven related clans: the Kari, Kasi, Kurt-Djarmat, Magyari (Madjary), Nyek (Nyak), Taryan, and Yeno. In the early ninth century three dissident clans of Turkic Khazars, known as Kavars (Kabars), joined them. The 10 tribes formed the on oghur (Ten Arrows) confederation (the name of which has been theorized to be the source of the name Hungary).

Arpad: National hero of Hungary

Arpad was born in 869 C. E. According to legend he was elected chieftain of the Magyar tribe at the ceremonial sacrifice of his father, whose blood was then shared among the Magyar leaders. Arpad ruled an alliance of seven Magyar tribes and three Khazar tribes, chosen to lead them to a new homeland across the Carpathian Mountains because of pressure from the Pechenegs. In the course of their migration they encountered Byzantines, Bulgars, Vlachs, and Slavs, including the Moravians, before settling on the Hungarian plain. Arpad died in 907; after his death dukes of the house of Arpad ruled what would evolve into modern Hungary. Stephen I became the first king of the Arpad dynasty in 1000, and Andrew III, who died in 1301, was the last. Arpad’s children were Tarhos (Tarkascu), Jeleg, Jutas (Jutosca),and Zolta (Zaltasz).

Arpad appears in many Hungarian legends and folklore as a brave leader on the battlefield against the Magyars’ enemies.