History of Hungary - Early History

Early History

The oldest archaeological site in Hungary is Vértesszőlős where in 1965 palaeolithic Oldowan pebble tools, and an early human fossil, nicknamed "Samu", a 350,000-year-old Homo Erectus was discovered.

The Roman Empire conquered territory west of the Danube between 35 and 9 BCE From 9 BC to the end of the 4th century AD Pannonia, the western part of the basin was part of the Roman Empire. In the final stages of the expansion of the Roman empire, for a short while the Carpathian Basin fell under Mediterranean influence Greco-Roman civilization - town centers, paved roads, and written sources were all part of the advances to which the "Migration of Peoples" put an end.

After the Western Roman Empire collapsed under the stress of the migration of Germanic tribes and Carpian pressure, the Migration Period continued bringing many invaders to Europe. Among the first to arrive were the Huns, who built up a powerful empire under Attila in 435 CE. Attila the Hun was regarded in past centuries as an ancestral ruler of the Hungarians, but this is now considered to be erroneous. It is believed that the origin of the name "Hungary" does not come from the Central Asian Hun nomadic invaders, but rather originated from the 7th century, when Magyar tribes were part of a Bulgar alliance called On-Ogour, which in Bulgar Turkic meant "(the) Ten Arrows". After Hunnish rule faded, the Germanic Ostrogoths, Lombards then Slavs came to Pannonia, and the Gepids had a presence in the eastern part of the Carpathian Basin for about 100 years. In the 560s the Avars founded the Avar Khaganate, a state which maintained supremacy in the region for more than two centuries and had the military power to launch attacks against its neighboring empires. The Avar Khaganate was weakened by constant wars and outside pressure, and the Franks under Charlemagne managed to defeat the Avars, ending their 250-year rule. In the middle of the 9th century, the Slavic Balaton Principality, also known as Lower Pannonia, was established by the Franks as a frontier march when they destroyed the Avar state in the western part of the Pannonian plain; however this vassal state was destroyed in 900 by Hungarian tribes. Much of early Hungarian history is recorded in the following Hungarian chronicles, retelling the early legends and history of the Huns, Magyars and the Kingdom of Hungary:

• Anonymi Gesta Hungarorum (Anonymous "Deeds of the Hungarians") by Magister P. (around 1200)
• Gesta Hunnorum et Hungarorum or Gesta Hungarorum (II) ("Deeds of the Huns and Hungarians" or just "Deeds of the Hungarians") by Simon of Kéza (late 13th century)
• Chronicon Pictum ("Illuminated Chronicle") (late 14th century)
• Chronicle of the Hungarians by Johannes de Thurocz (1480s)