Regisio Division

Hungarian historians have always been particularly fascinated by the throne feuds of their 11th- and 12th-century Árpád rulers. The original division of the Kingdom of Hungary, the disputes between King Solomon and his cousins, Dukes Géza and Ladislaus, and the struggle between King Coloman the Learned and his brother Duke Álmos have left a deep impression on Hungary's national memory, inspiring literary classics, modern screenplays, and scholarly studies like Divisio Regni, in which Dániel Bagi examines Hungary's 11th- and 12th-century dynastic conflicts against the backdrop of their broader Central European context, including comparable conflicts in Poland, Bohemia and Moravia, and the Holy Roman Empire. The book's Latin title ("the division of a kingdom") comes from a passage of scripture which was regularly cited in the Middle Ages, during which time this phrase conveyed two important shades of meaning. While literally referring to geographical divisions and the throne feuds associated with them, it could also connote general civil strife, dissension, and the state of discord created by rival claimants to the throne. This volume is an attempt to analyze the dynastic conflicts of the 11th and 12th centuries from both these perspectives, providing detailed accounts of their historical backgrounds and immediate causes, comparative discussions of territorially distinct specific systems of administration, and critical assessments of the historically distinct notions of social relationships which framed the perceptions of the authors who recorded these throne feuds in the original sources.