fs_temp_image_crop

of Hungary, Taksony 1 2 3a 4a 5a

Birth Name of Hungary, Taksony
Gender male
Age at Death 54 years

Narrative

Sources:

1. Abbrev: Pullen010502.FTW
Title: Pullen010502.FTW
Note:
Call number:
Text: Date of Import: Jan 5, 2002

Events

Event Date Place Description Sources
Birth 918 Esztergom, Esztergom Megye, Hungary   6a
Death 972 Székesfehérvár, Fejér, Magyarország   6b

Age: 54y

Parents

Relation to main person Name Birth date Death date Relation within this family (if not by birth)
Father , Zolta896949
Mother lanya, Szaloka Marot900957
         of Hungary, Taksony 918 972

Families

Family of of Hungary, Taksony and von Cumans, Agnes
Married Wife von Cumans, Agnes ( * about 929 + 1025 )
   
Event Date Place Description Sources
Marriage 947     1
  Children
Name Birth Date Death Date
Arpad of Hungary, Géza949997-02-01
of Hungary, Mihaly Duke of Nyitra, Regent of Poland955997-02-01
of Obotrites, Sophia Arpad-Hazi9551017
of Hungary, Agnes959
von Itter von Arneberg Wirl, Mechtild Hedwig Gepa960
of Hungary, Beatrix961
Judit, Tolma9661026

Source References

  1. http://wc.rootsweb.com/cgi-bin/igm.cgi?op=PED&db=jdp-fam&id=I82101&style=TABLE
  2. Errol Bevan: http://wc.rootsweb.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/igm.cgi?op=PED&db=bevangenealogy&id=I32734&style=TABLE @ RootsWeb Ancestries of Errol S. BEVAN and Hollie C. ATKINSON BEVAN to ADAM and EVE including REINHARDT and BLOCKER Cousins and more
  3. Errol Bevan: http://wc.rootsweb.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/igm.cgi?op=GET&db=bevangenealogy&id=I8531 @ RootsWeb Ancestries of Errol S. BEVAN and Hollie C. ATKINSON BEVAN to ADAM and EVE including REINHARDT and BLOCKER Cousins and more
      • Source text:

        # ID: I8531
        # Name: Taksony, Prince Of HUNGARY
        # Surname: HUNGARY
        # Given Name: Taksony, Prince Of
        # Sex: M
        # Birth: 0931 in Of Szekesfehervar, Fejer, Hungary
        # Death: 0972
        # Ancestral File #: 881B-55
        # LDS Baptism: 18 Jan 1939
        # Endowment: 15 Nov 1939 Temple: SLAKE
        # Sealing Child: 2 Dec 1980 Temple: SLAKE 1
        # Note:

        Name Suffix: Prince O Hungary
        Ancestral File Number: 881B-55

        2
        # Change Date: 3 Apr 2007 at 01:00:00

        Father: Zoltan, Prince Of HUNGARY b: 0896 in Of Pannonia
        Mother: Men, Princess Of BIHAR b: ABT 0900 in Of Bihar, Bihar, Hungary

        Marriage 1 Miss Princess Of The KUMANS b: 0932 in Of Cumania

        * Married: 0947
        * Note: _UID4EEFECAB80355142B5DD6A61DE028BD4B8B7

        Children

        1. Has Children Geza, Prince Of HUNGARY b: ABT 0949 in Of Esztergom, Komarom-Esztergom, Hungary
        2. Has No Children Agnes, Princess Of HUNGARY b: ABT 0959 in Of Esztergom, Komarom-Esztergom, Hungary
        3. Has No Children Beatrix, Princess Of HUNGARY b: ABT 0961 in Of Esztergom, Komarom-Esztergom, Hungary
        4. Has Children Mihaly, Prince Of HUNGARY b: 0955 in Of Esztergom, Komarom-Esztergom, Hungary
        5. Has Children Michael b: ABT 0957

         

        Sources:

        1. Repository:
        Name: Family History Library
        Salt Lake City, UT 84150 USA
        Title: Ordinance Index (TM)
        Author: The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
        2. Repository:
        Name: Family History Library
        Salt Lake City, Utah 84150 USA
        Title: Ancestral File (R)
        Author: The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
        Publication: Copyright (c) 1987, June 1998, data as of 5 January 1998

         

         

      • Citation:

        bevangenealogyservices@hotmail.com

  4. Foundation for Medieval Genealogy - TAKSONY
      • Source text:

        TAKSONY, son of ZOLTÁN Prince of Hungary & his wife --- (-[970/72]). The De Administrando Imperio of Konstantinos Porphyrogenetos names "Taxin" as the son of "Arpade…quartus Zaltas filium", another passage stating that "omnes quidem Arpade filii mortui sunt" survived by "eorum nepotibus Phale et Tase cum patrueli eorum Taxi"[233]. The Gestis Hungarorum Liber records the birth of "dux Zulta…filium…Tocsun" in 931[234]. He allied the Magyars with the Pechenegs [Kumans], to whom he gave land around the River Tisza, in order to strengthen his armed forces and secure the defences of his western border[235]. Liutprand records "Taxis Hungariorum rex" invading Italy with his army[236]. The Magyars were defeated in battle by Otto I King of Germany at Augsburg in 955[237]. The Gesta Hungarorum names "Tocsun" as leader of a Hungarian raid into Greece and Bulgaria, recorded after its report of the defeat at Augsburg, but states that this was their last raid "while living as pagans"[238]. From about this time, he was accepted as TAKSONY Prince of Hungary.

        m (947) ---, from the Pechenegs. The Gestis Hungarorum Liber records that "dux Zulta" arranged the marriage of his son "Tocsun" with "uxorem de terra Cumanorum"[239]. Horváth states that, in allying himself with the Pechenegs, Prince Taksony brought back a wife for himself from their land[240].

        Prince Taksony had [three] children:

        1. GÉZA ([940/45]-1 Feb 997). The Kronika Węgiersko-Polska names "Geyzan, Mychlemum et caluum Ladislaum" as the three sons of "Thoxon"[241]. The Gestis Hungarorum Liber names "Geysam, quantum ducem Hungarie" as son of "dux Tocsun"[242]. He succeeded his father in [970] as Prince of Hungary.

        - see below.

        2. MIHÁLY ([940/45]-[976/78]). The Chronicon Varadiense names "dux Geisa, pater B. Stephani, secundus…Michael dux" as the two sons of "Toxin"[243]. The Kronika Węgiersko-Polska names "Geyzan, Mychlemum et caluum Ladislaum" as the three sons of "Thoxon"[244]. The Gesta Hungarorum names "Mihal…frater Geichæ" when referring to his two sons[245]. Duke between March and Gran. m ([970/75]) as her first husband, ADELAJDA [Adleta] of Poland, daughter of [ZIEMOMYSŁ Duke in Poland] & his [second wife ---] ([950/60]-after 997). The primary source which confirms her first marriage has not yet been identified. According to Europäische Stammtafeln[246], Adelajda was the daughter not sister of Mieszko I Prince of Poland, although the primary source on which this is based has not yet been identified. If this is correct, she was an otherwise unrecorded daughter by his first wife (name not known), assuming that Prince Mieszko's marriage to Dobroslawa of Bohemia is correctly dated to 965. Adelajda's birth date range is estimated from the supposed dates of birth of her two sons by her first husband (before his death in [976/78]) and of her three known daughters by her second marriage after [985]. The birth date range appears chronologically more consistent with her having been the daughter, rather than sister, of Mieszko, but this would be in direct contradiction to the sources quoted below. If she was Mieszko's sister, it is likely that they did not share the same mother, assuming that the estimated birth dates of Mieszko and Adelajda are both accurate. After her first husband died, she married secondly ([980]) her husband's older brother Prince Géza, a marriage which may have been arranged in accordance with the Magyar tradition that the oldest male relative should marry the widow of a deceased relative and take care of his children. The Annales Kamenzenses record that "Mesco…rex Polanorum…sororem…Atleydem" married "Iesse rex Ungarie"[247]. The Breve chronicon Silesiæ names "Adilheidem" as sister of "primo dux Mesco", adding that she married "Jesse rex Ungarie"[248]. The Kronika Węgiersko-Polska records that "Iesse" married "sororem Meschonis ducis…Athleitam", adding that she was a Christian and converted her husband to Christianity[249]. Duke Mihály & his wife had two known children:

        a) LÁSZLÓ "Szár/the Bald" (-1029). The Gesta Hungarorum names "Wazul et Zar Ladislaum" as the sons of "Mihal…frater Geichæ"[250]. The Chronicon Varadiense names "ducem…Vazul et ducem Ladislaum calvum" as the two sons of "Michael dux"[251]. Duke between March and Gran. m ([1000]) PREMISLAVA Vladimirovna of Kiev, illegitimate daughter of VLADIMIR I "Velikiy/the Great" Sviatopolkovich Grand Prince of Kiev & his mistress --- (-[1015]). Baumgarten names the wife of Duke László and gives her origin but only cites one secondary source in support[252]. The primary source which confirms her parentage and marriage has not yet been identified. László & his wife had one child:

        i) BONUSLO (-1048). The Chronicon Varadiense names "Bonuzulo" as the son of "dux…Ladislaus calvus"[253]. Duke between March and Gran.

        b) VÁSZOLY [Vazúl] (-early 1037). The Gesta Hungarorum names "Wazul et Zar Ladislaum" as the sons of "Mihal…frater Geichæ"[254]. The Chronicon Varadiense names "ducem…Vazul et ducem Ladislaum calvum" as the two sons of "Michael dux"[255]. Duke between March and Gran.

        - see below, (after the descendants of Prince Géza).

        3. [LÁSZLÓ . The Kronika Węgiersko-Polska names "Geyzan, Mychlemum et caluum Ladislaum" as the three sons of "Thoxon", adding that "Ladislaus" had "tres filios…Andream, Belam et Leventem"[256], demonstrating that the source confused him with Vászoly son of Mihály (see above).]

        Citations:
        [233] Konstantinos Porphyrogenitos De Administrando Imperio 40, p. 175.
        [234] Gestis Hungarorum Liber 55, p. 51.
        [235] Horváth, András Pálóczi (1989) Pechenegs, Cumans, Iasians: Steppe peoples in medieval Hungary (Corvina), pp. 7 and 10. This marriage is not mentioned in ES II 153.
        [236] Liudprandi Antapodosis V.33, MGH SS III, p. 336.
        [237] Thietmar 2.10 and 2.11, pp. 97-8.
        [238] Simonis de Kéza Gesta Hungarorum 42, pp. 99-101.
        [239] Gestis Hungarorum Liber 57, p. 53.
        [240] Horváth (1989), p. 10. This marriage is not mentioned in ES II 153.
        [241] Bielowski, A. (ed.) (1864) Monumenta Poloniæ Historica (Lwów) Kronika Węgiersko-Polska, De sancto rege Ladislao, p. 488.
        [242] Gestis Hungarorum Liber 57, p. 54.
        [243] Florianus, M. (ed.) (1884) Chronicon Dubnicense, Historiæ Hungaricæ fontes domestici, Pars prima, Scriptores, Vol. III (Leipzig) Chronicon Varadiense, 2, p. 251.
        [244] Kronika Węgiersko-Polska, De sancto rege Ladislao, p. 488.
        [245] Simonis de Kéza Gesta Hungarorum 43, p. 101.
        [246] ES II 153. She is not shown in ES II 120.
        [247] Pertz, G. H. (ed.) (1866) Annales Poloniæ, Scriptores rerum Germanicarum in usum scholarum (Hannover), Annales Kamenzenses, p. 7.
        [248] Breve chronicon Silesiæ, Silesiacarum Scriptores I, p. 34.
        [249] Kronika Węgiersko-Polska, De sancto rege Ladislao, 3, pp. 498-9.
        [250] Simonis de Kéza Gesta Hungarorum 43, p. 101.
        [251] Chronicon Varadiense, 2, p. 251. [252] Baumgarten (1927), p. 8, citing Genealogia J. Pistori Niddani, p. 761.
        [253] Chronicon Varadiense, 2, p. 251.
        [254] Simonis de Kéza Gesta Hungarorum 43, p. 101.
        [255] Chronicon Varadiense, 2, p. 251.
        [256] Kronika Węgiersko-Polska, De sancto rege Ladislao, pp. 488-9.

      • Citation:

        http://fmg.ac/Projects/MedLands/HUNGARY.htm#Taksonydied970A

  5. Wikipedia -Taksony of Hungary
      • Source text:

        Taksony ([ˈtɒkʃoɲ], also Taxis or Tocsun;[1] before or around 931 – early 970s) was the Grand Prince of the Hungarians after their catastrophic defeat in the 955 Battle of Lechfeld. In his youth he had participated in plundering raids in Western Europe, but during his reign the Hungarians only targeted the Byzantine Empire. The Gesta Hungarorum recounts that significant Muslim and Pecheneg groups settled in Hungary under Taksony.

        Early life
        Taksony was the son of Zoltán, according to the Gesta Hungarorum (written around 1200).[2] The same source adds that Taksony's mother was an unnamed daughter of Menumorut, a local ruler defeated by the conquering Hungarians[3] shortly before 907.[4] Its unknown author also says that Taksony was born "in the year of Our Lord's incarnation 931".[5][6] The Gesta Hungarorum reports that Zoltán abdicated in favor of Taksony in 947,[7] three years before his own death.[8]

        However, modern historians have challenged existing information on Taksony's early life. A nearly-contemporaneous source—Liudprand of Cremona's Retribution[9]—narrates that Taksony led a plundering raid against Italy in 947, which suggests that he was born considerably earlier than 931.[6] His father's reign was preserved only in the Gesta Hungarorum; its anonymous author lists Zoltán among the grand princes, and all later Hungarian monarchs were descended from him.[10] The Byzantine Emperor Constantine VII Porphyrogenitus wrote around 950 that Fajsz, Taksony's cousin, was grand prince of the Hungarians at that time.[11]

        In that time Taxis, king of the Hungarians came to Italy with a large army. Berengar gave him ten measures of coins not from his own money, but from an exaction on the churches and paupers.

        — Liudprand of Cremona: Retribution[12]
        Reign
        A later source, Johannes Aventinus,[3] writes that Taksony fought in the Battle of Lechfeld on August 10, 955. There, future Holy Roman Emperor Otto I routed an 8,000-strong Hungarian army.[13] If this report is reliable, Taksony was one of the few Hungarian leaders to survive the battlefield.[3] Modern historians, including Zoltán Kordé[3] and Gyula Kristó,[6] suggest that Fajsz abdicated in favor of Taksony around that time. After that battle the Hungarians' plundering raids in Western Europe stopped, and they were forced to retreat from the lands between the Enns and Traisen rivers.[14] However, the Hungarians continued their incursions into the Byzantine Empire until the 970s.[15][14]

        According to the Gesta Hungarorum, "a great host of Muslims" arrived in Hungary "from the land of Bular"[16][17] under Taksony.[18] The contemporaneous Ibrahim ibn Yaqub also recorded the presence of Muslim merchants from Hungary in Prague in 965.[19][20] Anonymus also writes of the arrival of Pechenegs during Taksony's reign; he granted them "a land to dwell in the region of Kemej as far as the Tisza".[16][21] The only sign of a Hungarian connection with Western Europe under Taksony is a report by Liudprand of Cremona.[19] He writes about Zacheus, whom Pope John XII consecrated bishop and "sent to the Hungarians in order to preach that they should attack"[22] the Germans in 963.[19][23] However, there is no evidence that Zacheus ever arrived in Hungary.[19] Taksony arranged the marriage of his elder son Géza to Sarolt, daughter of Gyula of Transylvania,[19] before his death during the early 970s.[19]

        Family
        Taksony's marriage to a woman "from the land of the Cumans"[16] was arranged by his father, according to the Gesta Hungarorum.[3][6] Although this reference to the Cumans is anachronistic, modern historians argue that the Gesta seems to have preserved the memory of the Turkic—Khazar, Pecheneg or Volga Bulgarian—origin of Taksony's wife.[3][6] Historian György Györffy proposes that a Pecheneg chieftain, Tonuzoba, who received estates from Taksony near the river Tisza, was related to Taksony's wife.[24] The names of two of Taksony's sons (Géza and Michael) have been preserved.[25] The following family tree presents Taksony's ancestry and his offspring.[26]

        References
        McKitterick, Rosamond; Reuter, Timothy; Fouracre, Paul; Abulafia, David; Allmand, C. T.; Luscombe, David Edward; Jones, Michael; Riley-Smith, Jonathan (23 March 1995). The New Cambridge Medieval History: Volume 3, C.900-c.1024. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 9780521364478 – via Google Books.
        Kristó & Makk 1996, pp. 22, 24.
        Kordé 1994, p. 659.
        Madgearu 2005, p. 26.
        Anonymus, Notary of King Béla: The Deeds of the Hungarians (ch. 55), p. 121.
        Kristó & Makk 1996, p. 24.
        Engel 2001, p. 19.
        Tóth 1994, p. 741.
        Györffy 2002, pp. 212, 220.
        Kristó & Makk 1996, p. 21.
        Kristó & Makk 1996, pp. 22–23.
        Liudprand of Cremona: Retribution (ch. 5.33), p. 194.
        Spinei 2003, p. 81.
        Spinei 2003, p. 82.
        Engel 2001, p. 15.
        Anonymus, Notary of King Béla: The Deeds of the Hungarians (ch. 57), p. 127.
        Györffy 2002, pp. 180, 291.
        Berend 2006, p. 65.
        Kristó & Makk 1996, p. 25.
        Berend 2006, pp. 65–66.
        Spinei 2003, p. 126.
        Liudprand of Cremona: King Otto (ch. 6.), p. 224.
        Berend, Laszlovszky & Szakács 2007, p. 329.
        Györffy 1994, p. 36.
        Kristó & Makk 1996, p. Appendix 1.
        Kristó & Makk 1996, p. Appendices 1–2.
        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; ISBN 978-963-9776-95-1.
        Liudprand of Cremona: Retribution and King Otto (2007). In: The Complete Works of Liudprand of Cremona (Translated by Paolo Squatriti); The Catholic University of Press; ISBN 978-0-8132-1506-8.
        Secondary sources
        Berend, Nora (2006). At the Gate of Christendom: Jews, Muslims and "Pagans" in Medieval Hungary, c. 1000-c.1300. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-0-521-02720-5.
        Berend, Nora; Laszlovszky, József; Szakács, Béla Zsolt (2007). "The kingdom of Hungary". In Berend, Nora (ed.). Christianization and the Rise of Christian Monarchy: Scandinavia, Central Europe and Rus', c.900–1200. Cambridge University Press. pp. 319–368. ISBN 978-0-521-87616-2.
        Engel, Pál (2001). The Realm of St Stephen: A History of Medieval Hungary, 895–1526. I.B. Tauris Publishers. ISBN 1-86064-061-3.
        Györffy, György (1994). King Saint Stephen of Hungary. Atlantic Research and Publications. ISBN 978-0-88033-300-9.
        Györffy, György (2002). A magyarok elődeiről és a honfoglalásról: kortársak és krónikások hiradásai [=On the Forefathers of the Hungarians and their Conquest of the Carpathian Basin: Reports by Contemporaries and Chroniclers] (in Hungarian). Osiris Kiadó. ISBN 963-389-272-4.
        Kordé, Zoltán (1994). "Taksony". In Kristó, Gyula; Engel, Pál; Makk, Ferenc (eds.). Korai magyar történeti lexikon (9–14. század) [=Encyclopedia of the Early Hungarian History (9th–14th centuries)] (in Hungarian). Akadémiai Kiadó. p. 659. ISBN 963-05-6722-9.
        Kristó, Gyula; Makk, Ferenc (1996). Az Árpád-ház uralkodói [=Rulers of the House of Árpád] (in Hungarian). I.P.C. Könyvek. ISBN 963-7930-97-3.
        Madgearu, Alexandru (2005). The Romanians in the Anonymous Gesta Hungarorum: Truth and Fiction. Romanian Cultural Institute, Center for Transylvanian Studies. ISBN 973-7784-01-4.
        Spinei, Victor (2003). The Great Migrations in the East and South East of Europe from the Ninth to the Thirteenth Century. Romanian Cultural Institute (Center for Transylvanian Studies) and Museum of Brăila Istros Publishing House. ISBN 973-85894-5-2.
        Tóth, Sándor László (1994). "Zaltas". In Kristó, Gyula; Engel, Pál; Makk, Ferenc (eds.). Korai magyar történeti lexikon (9–14. század) [=Encyclopedia of the Early Hungarian History (9th–14th centuries)] (in Hungarian). Akadémiai Kiadó. p. 741. ISBN 963-05-6722-9.

      • Citation:

        http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taksony_of_Hungary

  6. LSDK-D33 FamilySearch.org
      • Source text:

        aksony, also Taxis or Tocsun; before or around 931 - early 970s) was the Grand Prince of the Hungarians after their catastrophic defeat in the 955 Battle of Lechfeld. In his youth he had participated in plundering raids in Western Europe, but during his reign the Hungarians only targeted the Byzantine Empire. The Gesta Hungarorum recounts that significant Muslim and Pecheneg groups settled in Hungary under Taksony.

        «b»Early life«/b»
        Taksony was the son of Zoltán, according to the Gesta Hungarorum (written around 1200). The same source adds that Taksony's mother was an unnamed daughter of Menumorut, a local ruler defeated by the conquering Hungarians shortly before 907. Its unknown author also says that Taksony was born "in the year of Our Lord's incarnation 931". The Gesta Hungarorum reports that Zoltán abdicated in favor of Taksony in 947, three years before his own death.

        However, modern historians have challenged existing information on Taksony's early life. A nearly-contemporaneous source, Liudprand of Cremona's Retribution, narrates that Taksony led a plundering raid against Italy in 947, which suggests that he was born considerably earlier than 931. His father's reign was preserved only in the Gesta Hungarorum; its anonymous author lists Zoltán among the grand princes, and all later Hungarian monarchs were descended from him. The Byzantine Emperor Constantine VII Porphyrogenitus wrote around 950 that Fajsz, Taksony's cousin, was grand prince of the Hungarians at that time.

        In that time Taxis, king of the Hungarians came to Italy with a large army. Berengar gave him ten measures of coins not from his own money, but from an exaction on the churches and paupers.

        Liudprand of Cremona: Retribution

        «b»Reign«/b»
        A later source, Johannes Aventinus, writes that Taksony fought in the Battle of Lechfeld on August 10, 955. There, future Holy Roman Emperor Otto I routed an 8,000-strong Hungarian army. If this report is reliable, Taksony was one of the few Hungarian leaders to survive the battlefield. Modern historians, including Zoltán Kordé and Gyula Kristó, suggest that Fajsz abdicated in favor of Taksony around that time. After that battle the Hungarians' plundering raids in Western Europe stopped, and they were forced to retreat from the lands between the Enns and Traisen rivers. However, the Hungarians continued their incursions into the Byzantine Empire until the 970s.

        According to the Gesta Hungarorum, "a great host of Muslims" arrived in Hungary "from the land of Bular" under Taksony. The contemporaneous Abraham ben Jacob also recorded the presence of Muslim merchants from Hungary in Prague in 965. Anonymus also writes of the arrival of Pechenegs during Taksony's reign; he granted them "a land to dwell in the region of Kemej as far as the Tisza". The only sign of a Hungarian connection with Western Europe under Taksony is a report by Liudprand of Cremona. He writes about Zacheus, whom Pope John XII consecrated bishop and "sent to the Hungarians in order to preach that they should attack" the Germans in 963. However, there is no evidence that Zacheus ever arrived in Hungary. Taksony arranged the marriage of his elder son Géza to Sarolt, daughter of Gyula of Transylvania, before his death during the early 970s.

        «b»Family«/b»
        Taksony's marriage to a woman "from the land of the Cumans" was arranged by his father, according to the Gesta Hungarorum. Although this reference to the Cumans is anachronistic, modern historians argue that the Gesta seems to have preserved the memory of the Turkic, Khazar, Pecheneg or Volga Bulgarian, origin of Taksony's wife. Historian György Györffy proposes that a Pecheneg chieftain, Tonuzoba, who received estates from Taksony near the river Tisza, was related to Taksony's wife. The names of two of Taksony's sons (Géza and Michael) have been preserved.

      • Citation:

        https://www.familysearch.org/tree/person/details/LSDK-D33

      • Source text:

        aksony, also Taxis or Tocsun; before or around 931 - early 970s) was the Grand Prince of the Hungarians after their catastrophic defeat in the 955 Battle of Lechfeld. In his youth he had participated in plundering raids in Western Europe, but during his reign the Hungarians only targeted the Byzantine Empire. The Gesta Hungarorum recounts that significant Muslim and Pecheneg groups settled in Hungary under Taksony.

        «b»Early life«/b»
        Taksony was the son of Zoltán, according to the Gesta Hungarorum (written around 1200). The same source adds that Taksony's mother was an unnamed daughter of Menumorut, a local ruler defeated by the conquering Hungarians shortly before 907. Its unknown author also says that Taksony was born "in the year of Our Lord's incarnation 931". The Gesta Hungarorum reports that Zoltán abdicated in favor of Taksony in 947, three years before his own death.

        However, modern historians have challenged existing information on Taksony's early life. A nearly-contemporaneous source, Liudprand of Cremona's Retribution, narrates that Taksony led a plundering raid against Italy in 947, which suggests that he was born considerably earlier than 931. His father's reign was preserved only in the Gesta Hungarorum; its anonymous author lists Zoltán among the grand princes, and all later Hungarian monarchs were descended from him. The Byzantine Emperor Constantine VII Porphyrogenitus wrote around 950 that Fajsz, Taksony's cousin, was grand prince of the Hungarians at that time.

        In that time Taxis, king of the Hungarians came to Italy with a large army. Berengar gave him ten measures of coins not from his own money, but from an exaction on the churches and paupers.

        Liudprand of Cremona: Retribution

        «b»Reign«/b»
        A later source, Johannes Aventinus, writes that Taksony fought in the Battle of Lechfeld on August 10, 955. There, future Holy Roman Emperor Otto I routed an 8,000-strong Hungarian army. If this report is reliable, Taksony was one of the few Hungarian leaders to survive the battlefield. Modern historians, including Zoltán Kordé and Gyula Kristó, suggest that Fajsz abdicated in favor of Taksony around that time. After that battle the Hungarians' plundering raids in Western Europe stopped, and they were forced to retreat from the lands between the Enns and Traisen rivers. However, the Hungarians continued their incursions into the Byzantine Empire until the 970s.

        According to the Gesta Hungarorum, "a great host of Muslims" arrived in Hungary "from the land of Bular" under Taksony. The contemporaneous Abraham ben Jacob also recorded the presence of Muslim merchants from Hungary in Prague in 965. Anonymus also writes of the arrival of Pechenegs during Taksony's reign; he granted them "a land to dwell in the region of Kemej as far as the Tisza". The only sign of a Hungarian connection with Western Europe under Taksony is a report by Liudprand of Cremona. He writes about Zacheus, whom Pope John XII consecrated bishop and "sent to the Hungarians in order to preach that they should attack" the Germans in 963. However, there is no evidence that Zacheus ever arrived in Hungary. Taksony arranged the marriage of his elder son Géza to Sarolt, daughter of Gyula of Transylvania, before his death during the early 970s.

        «b»Family«/b»
        Taksony's marriage to a woman "from the land of the Cumans" was arranged by his father, according to the Gesta Hungarorum. Although this reference to the Cumans is anachronistic, modern historians argue that the Gesta seems to have preserved the memory of the Turkic, Khazar, Pecheneg or Volga Bulgarian, origin of Taksony's wife. Historian György Györffy proposes that a Pecheneg chieftain, Tonuzoba, who received estates from Taksony near the river Tisza, was related to Taksony's wife. The names of two of Taksony's sons (Géza and Michael) have been preserved.

      • Citation:

        https://www.familysearch.org/tree/person/details/LSDK-D33