The Magyars, originally a steppe people from Asia, are the founders of Hungary. They are
LANGUAGE
The Magyar language, generally called Hungarian, belongs to the ugric branch of the Finno-ugric family. it contains many ancient Turkic words, especially relating to animal husbandry and political and military organization.
History
The Magyars along the Don River were under pressure from the Turkic Pechenegs. In the late ninth century the Magyars, under Arpad (see sidebar), became involved in the competition for control of eastern Europe when the Byzantines under Eastern Roman Emperor Leo VI paid them to attack the Turkic Bulgars, led by Simeon I. Although they had initial success, they suffered losses when Simeon in turn hired Pechenegs as mercenaries. With continuing pressure from the Pechenegs the Magyars relocated to the Hungarian plain, the territory known in ancient times as Pannonia (roughly modern Hungary), in about 895. There they campaigned successfully against Vlachs and against Slavs, among them the Moravians, whom they defeated in 906 or 907.
After Arpad’s death in 907, dukes of the Arpad dynasty ruled the Magyars. Over the next years the Magyar horsemen carried out raids in central and western Europe—including Bremen in present-day northwestern Germany, Orleans in present-day central France, and Constantinople in present-day Turkey. They did not suffer a major defeat until 955, when King Otto I of Germany (later the Holy Roman Emperor) defeated them on the Lechfeld, a plain along the Lech River in Bavaria.
Geza, a duke of Hungary, encouraged Christianity among his people. His son, stephen, succeeded him, he was anointed as King Stephen I in 1000, which can be considered the beginning of modern Hungary (see Hungarians: nationality). He was later canonized as a saint.
972 Prince Geza accepted the new faith while, however, retaining the old, as he continued to sacrifice to pagan idols despite reprimands from Otto’s missionaries.
Magyars time line
C. E.
830 Magyar and Khazar clans unite in tribal confederation. c. 895 Magyars under Arpad settle in Hungary.
906 or 907 Magyars defeat Moravians.
955 Magyars defeated by Germans on the Lechfeld.
1000 Stephen I anointed first king of Hungary.
King Stephen, to avoid German influence, adopted Christianity directly from the pope. He worked to convert other Magyar leaders in part to establish his overlordship and subsume them under his rule.
CULTURE (see also Finno-Ugrians; Turkics)
Economy
Until migrating to central Europe the Magyars lived a nomadic way of life similar to that of other steppe peoples. Their warriors fought with bow and arrows from horseback, as did most steppe warriors, such as the Huns and Avars. They had a stratified society, in which elites owned huge herds of cattle and sheep that were herded for them by peasants. Magyars traded in Islamic silver and horses.
An account by the Jewish traveler Ibrahim ibn Yaqub mentions Magyars (whom he calls Turks) trading in the city of Prague in Bohemia (present-day Czech Republic). He says they traded goods (perhaps horses and cattle) and coins for slaves, tin, and various kinds of fur.
After the creation of the Hungarian state in the reign of Geza elaborate public buildings were erected, and other trappings of civilization were adopted, as Magyars made a rapid transition from a steppe warrior to an early medieval society. stephen abolished tribal divisions among his people and did away with pagan customs involving dynastic succession. Magyar ethnicity became dominant, with slavic elements subsumed into the new Hungarian identity.
The material culture of the early Magyar state (called the Bialobrdo culture after a site in Croatia) combined many influences, including Slav-Avar (a mixture of Slavic and Avar styles), Magyar, and Moravian. Its metalwork is characterized by plaited wire jewelry, sheetwork pendants, snake-headed bracelets, and S-shaped temple rings (rings suspended from a headband). Motifs of this style survived into the late Middle Ages and have been used in recent folk costumes.
Conversion of the Magyars to Christianity was spearheaded by Otto I, emperor of Germany. In
The Magyars settled in territory that became parts of other modern nations, especially Croatia, Romania, Slovakia, Ukraine, and Serbia. Those Magyar descendants in Romania, living mostly in the area of the former Magyar Autonomous Region, are called Szekely (Szeklers), meaning “frontier guards.” The name was applied to them because they had been sent to Transylvania to protect Hungary’s eastern frontier region.
Further Reading
Gyorgy Balazs. The Magyars: The Birth of a European Nation (Portland, Ore.: International Specialized Book Service, 1989).
Ida Miriam Bobula. Origin of the Hungarian Nation.
(Astor, Fla.: Danubian, 1982).
Laszlo Kontler. A History of Hungary: Millennium in Central Europe (Basingstoke, U. K.: Palgrave Macmillan, 2003)
Gyula Laslo. The Magyars: Their Life and Civilization.
(Budapest: Corvina, 1999).
Paul Lendvai. The Hungarians: A Thousand Years of Victory in Defeat (Princeton, N. J.: Princeton University Press, 2003).
Miklos Molnar. A Concise History of Hungary (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2001). Andras Rona-Tas. Hungarians and Europe in the Early Middle Ages: An Introduction to Early Hungarian History. (Budapest: Central European University Press, 1999).
Denis Sinor. History of Hungary (Westport, Conn.: Greenwood, 1976).
Stephen Sisa. The Spirit of Hungary: A Panorama of Hungarian History and Culture (Morristown, N. J.: Vista Court, 1995).
Peter F. Sugar, ed. A History of Hungary (Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1990).
Maltanese: nationality (Maltese; people of Malta)
Malta is made up of a small cluster of islands in the Mediterranean Sea, south of Sicily. The total area of the islands (Malta, Gozo, Kemmuna, Kemmunett, and Filfla) is 122 square miles.
Coralline limestone plateaus make up much of the terrain. Malta’s highest point reaches 784 feet. Malta’s natural resources are limited, with no rivers or lakes; much of the country’s water supply is from desalination plants.
INCEPTION AS A NATION
After being controlled by various powers in ancient times, including the Greeks, Carthaginians, Romans, and Byzantines, Malta was under Arab rule imposed by the Saracens from 870 C. E. until 1090. In that year Normans from Sicily seized control. It existed as a fiefdom of Sicily and of the Holy Roman Empire. In 1530 Emperor Charles V passed Malta to the Knights of Saint John of Jerusalem. The Knights resisted Ottoman Turk (see Turkics) invasions throughout the 16 th century
In 1798 Malta surrendered to the French under Napoleon I Bonaparte. After British occupation in 1800, the Treaty of Paris of 1814 made Malta a British colony In 1921 under British rule Malta was granted a constitution and a locally elected legislature in return for aid in World War I (1914-18). A series of constitutions were enacted and revoked throughout the early 20th century until a constitution granting self-government was reinstated in 1961. By 1964 Malta gained full independence; 10 years later it was declared a republic.
MALTANESE:
NATIONALITY
Nation:
Malta; Republic of Malta (Repubblika ta’ Malta)
Derivation of name:
From Phoenician MLT or "refuge"; possibly related to the Greek and Latin word melitta, "honey"
Government:
Democratic republic
Capital:
Valletta
Language:
Official languages are Maltese (Semitic) and English; Italian is also spoken.
Religion:
More than 95 percent of the population are Catholic.
Earlier inhabitants:
Phoenicians; Greeks; Carthaginians; Romans; Byzantines; Saracens; Normans
Demographics:
About 96 percent of the population of Malta are Maltese; minorities include British, Arabs, French, Normans, Spanish, and Italians.
A Maltese woman hangs laundry in the 1940s. (Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division [LC-USZ62-70798])
CULTURAL IDENTITY
Despite Malta’s geographical location between Europe and Africa as well as the fact that Maltanese speak a Semitic language, the Maltanese identify themselves culturally with Europeans. The Maltanese have shared the same religion and culture with Europe for centuries; the Catholic religion has played, and still plays, a leading role in the molding of the culture. Moreover, because Europeans colonized Malta for a thousand years after the Saracens surrendered the islands to the Normans in 1090, most Maltanese feel culturally closer to Europe.
In a survey carried out in 1995 the Maltenese were asked which of the following they felt most part of: their village or town, their district, their country, the countries of the Mediterranean, Europe, the West, or the world. The results were then compared to the results of a similar survey held in Spain. According to the survey most Maltanese (65 percent) see themselves primarily as citizens of their country and only 6 percent of Maltanese and 2 percent of Spaniards think of themselves as citizens of Europe. Whereas 22 percent of Spaniards identify with the Mediterranean region, only 2 percent of Maltanese do so.
The word ghana (pronounced “an-ney”) refers to Maltese indigenous singing, and ghan-nejja (pronounced “an-ney-ya”), to the singers. Ghana has changed both stylistically and in content over the years; it has become associated largely with three highly stylized genres, in particular with the genre of spirtu pront (or quick spirit, a ritualized, improvised song duel). Current versions are variously viewed by different segments of society The middle and upper classes tend to regard it as quaint folk singing, practiced by working-class men, and consider the forms tainted by the partisan political use made of them by their present “low” practitioners. Its working-class practitioners have seized upon the attention awarded ghana by intellectuals to see it as being somehow part of Maltese cultural identity, a pure entity that they are preserving. By preserving ghana the ghannejja consciously see themselves as “guardians of folklore” and in this role use ghana as a vehicle for statements about cultural traits in Maltese society
Further Reading
Roger Balm. Malta (Granville, Ohio: McDonald & Woodward, 1996).
Warren Berg. Historical Dictionary of Malta (London: Scarecrow, 1995).
Thomas Eccardt. Secrets of the Seven Smallest States of Europe: Andorra, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, Malta, Monaco, San Marino, and Vatican City (New York: Hippocrene, 2004).
Manapii See Menapii.
World History
