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Andrew I the White or the Catholic (Hungarian: I. Fehér or Katolikus András or Endre; c. 1015 – Zirc, before 6 December 1060) was King of Hungary from 1046 to 1060. He descended from a younger branch of the Árpád dynasty. After spending fifteen years in exile, he ascended the throne during an extensive revolt of the pagan Hungarians. He strengthened the position of Christianity in the Kingdom of Hungary and successfully defended its independence against the Holy Roman Empire.
His efforts to ensure the succession of his son, Solomon, resulted in the open revolt of his brother, Béla. Béla dethroned Andrew by force in 1060. Andrew suffered severe injuries during the fighting and died before his brother was crowned king.

Medieval sources provide two contradictory reports of the parents of Andrew, and his two brothers, Levente and Béla.^[1] For instance, the Chronicle of Zagreb and Saint Gerard's Life^[1] write that their father was Vazul, a grandson of Taksony, Grand Prince of the Hungarians (r. c. 955–c. 970).^[2] The Illuminated Chronicle and other medieval sources write of Vazul's relationship with "some girl" from the Tátony clan who bore his sons, who thus "were not born of a true marriage-bed".^[3][4] According to a concurrent tradition, which has been preserved by most chronicles, the three princes were the sons of Vazul's brother, Ladislas the Bald.^[1] Modern historians, who reject the latter report, agree that Andrew and his brothers were the sons of Vazul and his concubine from the Tátony clan.^[1][5][6][7] According to the historian Gyula Kristó, Andrew was the second among Vazul's three sons. He writes that Andrew was born around 1015

Anastasia of Kiev (c. 1023 – 1074/1096) was Queen of Hungary as the wife of King Andrew the White. She was the eldest daughter of Grand Prince Yaroslav I the Wise of Kiev and Ingigerd of Sweden, and the older sister of Anne of Kiev, Queen consort of Henry I of France.

Vazul, or also Vászoly,^[1] (before 997–1031 or 1032) was a member of the House of Árpád, a grandson of Taksony, Grand Prince of the Hungarians. Otherwise, the only certain information of his life, that he was kept in captivity and blinded in the fortress of Nyitra (Nitra, Slovakia) in the last years of the reign of his cousin, King Stephen I of Hungary. Modern historians, including György Györffy, do not exclude that he had earlier been Duke of Nyitra. He is the forefather of nearly all Kings of Hungary who reigned after 1046.

Vazul was a son^[2] of Michael, who was the younger son of Grand Prince Taksony.^[3] His mother's name is unknown.^[3] According to the Györffy, it is "probable" that she was a Bulgarian princess, a relative of Samuel of Bulgaria.^[4] Györffy also writes that Vazul was still a child around 997.^[5] His name derived from the Greek Basileios which implies that he was baptized according to Byzantine rite.^[6]

Michael (Hungarian: Mihály;^[1] after 960–995 or c. 997) was a member of the House of Árpád, a younger son of Taksony, Grand Prince of the Hungarians. Most details of his life are uncertain. Almost all kings of Hungary after 1046 descended from him.^[2]
According to the Hungarian historian, György Györffy, Michael received a ducatus or duchy from his brother, Grand Prince Géza. Slovak historians specify that he administered the "Duchy of Nitra" between around 971 and 997. However, neither of these theories have universally been accepted by historians.


Taksony (Hungarian pronunciation: [ˈtɒkʃoɲ]; 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.

Taksony was the son of Zoltán (the third grand prince of the Hungarians), according to the Gesta Hungarorum (written around 1200).^[1] The same source adds that Taksony's mother was an unnamed daughter of Menumorut, a local ruler defeated by the conquering Hungarians^[2] shortly before 907.^[3] Its unknown author also says that Taksony was born "in the year of Our Lord's incarnation 931".^[4][5] The Gesta Hungarorum reports that Zoltán abdicated in favor of Taksony in 947,^[6] three years before his own death.^[7]

Zoltán (Hungarian pronunciation: [ˈzoltaːn]; c. 880 or 903 – c. 950), also Zolta,^[1][2] is mentioned in the Gesta Hungarorum as the third Grand Prince of the Hungarians who succeeded his father Árpád around 907. Although modern historians tend to deny this report on his reign, because other chronicles do not list him among the Hungarian rulers, there is consensus that even if Zoltán never ascended the throne, all monarchs ruling in Hungary from the House of Árpád after around 955 were descended from him.

Árpád (Hungarian pronunciation: [ˈaːrpaːd]; c. 845 – c. 907) was the head of the confederation of the Hungarian tribes at the turn of the 9th and 10th centuries. He might have been either the sacred ruler or kende of the Hungarians, or their military leader or gyula, although most details of his life are debated by historians, because different sources contain contradictory information. Despite this, many Hungarians refer to him as the "founder of our country", and Árpád's preeminent role in the Hungarian conquest of the Carpathian Basin has been emphasized by some later chronicles. The dynasty descending from Árpád ruled the Kingdom of Hungary until 1301.

Árpád was the son of Álmos who is mentioned as the first head of the confederation of the Hungarian tribes by all Hungarian chronicles.^[1][2] His mother's name and family are unknown.^[3] According to historian Gyula Kristó, Árpád was born around 845.^[4] His name derived from the Hungarian word for barley (árpa).^[4]

Álmos (Hungarian pronunciation: [ˈaːlmoʃ]), also Almos^[1] or Almus,^[2] (c. 820–c. 895) was – according to the uniform account of Hungarian chronicles – the first head of the "loose federation"^[3] of the Hungarian tribes from around 850. Whether he was the sacred ruler (kende) of the Hungarians, or their military leader (gyula) is subject to scholarly debate. He apparently accepted the Khazar khagan's suzerainty in the first decade of his reign, but the Hungarians acted independently of the Khazars from around 860. The 14th-century Illuminated Chronicle narrates that he was murdered in Transylvania at the beginning of the Hungarian conquest of the Carpathian Basin around 895.

Ügyek (second half of the 8th century – first half of the 9th century), also known as Ugek, was – according to the chronicler Anonymus (or "Master P.") – the father of Álmos, the first High Prince of the Magyars. However, according to a conflicting source, Simon of Kéza (writing about five to eight decades later), Előd was the father of Álmos.
The wife of Ügyek was Emese, who had seen a divine dream of a Turul bird that flew over her and impregnated her before Álmos's birth, according to the myth.
It is said, speculated or at least possible that the earlier High Princes of the Magyars were also descendants of the Hun Khans, as well as other Turkic peoples, and through them from some daughters of Emperors of China.

Emese was daughter of Prince Önedbelia of Dentumoger and the mother of High Prince Álmos in Hungarian historical mythology, thus, she was the ancestress of the Árpád dynasty, the dynasty which founded the Hungarian Kingdom. Due to a lack of reliable source material, it is difficult to separate the legends concerning Emese from her actual role as a historical person.
Emese is also a feminine Hungarian name. Its meaning is mother or breastfeeder. The word originates from the Old Turkic eme, ana or ene, which mean mother, just like the Hungarian word anya.^[1]