Buzád Hahót

[...] They are sprung from the counts of Orlamund. The first to come was called Hadolch, whose son was called by the like name of Hadolch and also Arnold. From them sprang Banus Buzad. The people of this country could not pronounce Hadolch, and so he was called by the similar name of Hohold. [...]

— Illuminated Chronicle[2]

Buzád was born into the Buzád branch of the Hahót clan, the son of Buzád I (died 1192).[3] According to magister Ákos, the founder of the Hahót kindred was Buzád's grandfather, a certain German knight Hahold I, who himself was a descendant of the Counts of Weimar-Orlamünde and settled down in the Kingdom of Hungary in 1163 upon the invitation of Stephen III of Hungary to fight against his usurper uncle Stephen IV of Hungary and his allies, the Csáks. Buzád's brother was Arnold I (died c. 1234), who erected the family monastery at Hahót. Buzád had four sons from his unidentified wife: Buzád III (his presumptive heir, who, however, predeceased his father around November 1239), Csák I, Voivode of Transylvania, Tristan and Lancelot.[4]

According to a non-authentic charter, Buzád served as the Ispán (comes) of Győr County in 1209.[5] There is no record of him receiving any official positions for the coming two decades. He functioned as the Ispán of Bihar County in 1222.[6] After that he was the head of Pozsony County between 1222 and 1224.[7] During that time there were emerging tensions between King Andrew II of Hungary and his son, Béla. The latter rebelled against his father's rule. Buzád became a supporter of Béla, as a result of which he had to follow his lord into exile to Austria in 1223. After reconciliation between father and son, he returned to Hungary and became the Ispán of Vas County in 1225.[3]

Buzád served as the Ban of Severin from 1226 to c. 1232, when Béla governed Transylvania de facto independently from the king, holding the title of Duke of Transylvania.[1] In 1233, he called himself "former ban" (Latin: quondam banus) in a charter, as a result former archontological and genealogical works of Hungarian historians (e. g. János Karácsonyi and Mór Wertner) referred to him as the Ban of Slavonia (1226–1228/9), nevertheless it is more likely that Buzád held the office of Ban of Severin, because of his close relationship with Béla, and there is also reason to believe he came into contact during that period with the Dominican friars, who were engaged in proselytizing among the Cuman people.[8] Buzád served as Ispán of Sopron County in 1232,[9] for this reason historian Attila Zsoldos considered he left Béla's court to return Andrew's loyalty by that year.[10]

Buzád came from the most powerful Bánfi family [sic] in Hungary. He had grown up when he was trespassing his riches and fame, and he left his rank on his sons, and with great enthusiasm he commenced a monastic life in the Dominican order. As he gained experience in secular sciences, he soon became a tireless propagator of God's Word. When the Tartars [Mongols] broke into Hungary, and they perished the servants of God with exceptional cruelty, the Prior commanded their monks to flee, but Buzád did not care about the threat to his life, asking him to let stay and console the Christian people. He was so persistently asking for his [the Prior] permission, that he could stay. After his companions were in safe, Buzád set out to die for Christ and encouraged the people to do the same. When the Tatars' troops were nearby, the handful of flocks were blessed [by Buzád] with glorious intentions of the glorious death endured for Christ. He himself in the church, as if in a crucifixion, prayed with prowess at the altar. So he offered himself for an entirely burnt sacrifice, and he was killed on 8 December 1243 [sic]. After the barbarians retreated, the returning brothers found his beheaded corpse, which was pierced with spears, and they mourned him very. One brother had mourned Buzád for three days, while he did not take food and drink, when he was astonished, and heard the mourned martyr say to him, "Did not Christ had to suffer before entering his glory? The sufferings of the present time are not proportionate to the future glory. " The brother was no longer mourned for that, but rejoiced.

— Gábor Hevenesi: Ungaricae Sanctitatis Indicia (1692)

Around 1233, Buzád joined the Dominican Order, giving up his political career and forsaking all property. As a charter dated 14 February 1233 mentioned, he already lived in a monastery at Pest. Then his eldest son Buzád III inherited his main estate and centre Szabar.[11] According to tradition narrated by a contemporary chronicler Thomas of Cantimpré, not willing to leave the monastery, the invading Mongols killed Buzád before the altar in the middle of April 1241, shortly after the disastrous Battle of Mohi. Buzád was beatified by the Roman Catholic Church because of his martyrdom and self-sacrifice.[3] The narration of his martyrdom was preserved by Jesuit scholar and theologian Gábor Hevenesi at the end of the 17th century in his work Ungaricae Sanctitatis Indicia (1692).

In honor of Hahót, a wooden sculpture was erected in 2009 at Hahót, Zala County, which village was founded by his clan. The lifesize statue depicts the noble, with one hand holding a sword and a Latin cross in the other, referring to his secular and ecclesiastical careers. László Vigh, a member of the Hungarian National Assembly, gave a speech during consecration, where he said the youth should follow persons who lived out their lives with God's love and honest work, instead of false role models.[12]

• (in Hungarian) Markó, László (2006). A magyar állam főméltóságai Szent Istvántól napjainkig – Életrajzi Lexikon ("The High Officers of the Hungarian State from Saint Stephen to the Present Days – A Biographical Encyclopedia") (2nd edition); Helikon Kiadó Kft., Budapest; ISBN 963-547-085-1.
• (in Hungarian) Vándor, László (1996). "Boldog Buzád. Gondolatok középkorkutatásunkról, kulturális emlékeinkről az egyetlen és méltatlanul elfeledett középkori zalai szent kapcsán. Pannon Tükör, 1996 Vol. 1. No. 1. pp. 48–50.
• (in Hungarian) Zsoldos, Attila (2011). Magyarország világi archontológiája, 1000–1301 ("Secular Archontology of Hungary, 1000–1301"). História, MTA Történettudományi Intézete. Budapest. ISBN 978-963-9627-38-3
• (in Hungarian) Zsoldos, Attila (2016). "Béla erdélyi herceg bárói [The Barons of Béla, Duke of Transylvania]". In Dáné, Veronka; Lupescu-Makó, Mária; Sipos, Gábor. Testimono litterarum. Tanulmányok Jakó Zsigmond tiszteletére (in Hungarian). Erdélyi Múzeum Egyesület, Cluj-Napoca. pp. 441–449. ISBN 978-606-739-054-4.