Veszprémvölgy: A Greek Monastery Beyond the Byzantine Political Sphere

The Greek monastery of Veszprémvölgy is a mysterious case in the early history of Hungary. Its foundation is recorded in a twelfth-century copy of an earlier charter written in Greek with a supplement and confirmation in Latin. Both the source and the historical context of the establishment were the subject of a long dispute among modern scholars. The lack of dating and the language of the document raise numerous questions about the identity of the founder (Prince Géza, Stephen I, or the Greek metropolitan of Hungary?) and the reasons for a Greek nunnery in Hungary. Furthermore, the supplementary Latin text of the twelfth-century copy refers to an anonymous “Greek” patron of the foundation, who has also attracted the attention of modern scholars. Nevertheless, although the charter is relatively short, both the Greek and Latin texts provide valuable details of the monastery’s landed property and economic background. Given the complexity of the entire affair concerning the foundation and the early history of the nunnery, this paper limits the scope of investigation. What patterns did the representation of the Hungarian sovereign follow in the (lost) original document? How did the founder use Byzantine, Western, and local concepts to organise the monastic community and its economic network? Through these questions, this paper attempts to explore the nature of cultural and political relations between the Byzantine Empire and the Kingdom of Hungary in the early eleventh century.