View source for Levedi

{{Expand Hungarian|Levedi fejedelem|date=June 2013}}
{{Infobox royalty
| title          =[[voivode]] of the [[Hungarians]]
| name =Levedi
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| succession    =
| reign         =early 9th century (?)
| coronation    =
| predecessor   =
| successor     =[[Álmos]] (?)
| spouse         =
| issue          =
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| father         =
| mother         =
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'''Levedi''', or '''Levedias''', '''Lebedias''', and '''Lebedi'''{{citation needed|date = July 2015}} was the first known [[voivode]] of the [[Hungarian people|Hungarians]].<ref>Gyula Moravcsik, [https://books.google.com/books?id=3al15wpFWiMC&printsec=frontcover&dq=Constantine+Porphyrogenitus+de+Administrando+Imperio&hl=en&sa=X&ei=eFOqUeu0M8qT0AXygoH4DQ&ved=0CDQQ6AEwAA Constantine Porphyrogenitus de Administrando Imperio], Dumbarton Oaks Center for Byzantine Studies, 1967, p 171</ref> Levedi's wife was a [[Khazar]] princess, and he was close to the Khazar ruling dynasty. He may himself have been part Khazar. According to [[Constantine VII|Constantine VII Porphyrogenitus']] ''[[De administrando imperio]]'', the Khazars sought to make Levedi the paramount ruler of all the Hungarian tribes, but he refused, possibly because he was childless or because his close ties to the Khazar government were resented by other Magyar leaders. Instead, Levedi proposed [[Álmos]] and his son [[Árpád]] as leaders of the Magyars. The [[Hungarian people|Magyar]] settlement between the [[Volga]] river and the [[Urals]] the mountains were named ''Lebedia'' soon to become ''Levedia'' after Levedi.<ref>http://www.grozerarchery.com/magyar.htm</ref>

== Name and title ==

The only source of Levedi's life is the ''[[De administrando imperio]]'',{{sfn|Kristó|1996|p=112}} a book written by the [[Byzantine Emperor]] [[Constantine Porphyrogenitus]] around 950.{{sfn|Engel|2001|p=8}} According to historian [[Omeljan Pritsak]], Levedi's name, which was actually a title, derived from the [[Turkic languages|Turkic]] expression ''"alp edi"'', or "brave lord".{{sfn|Kristó|1996|p=112}} The Hungarian historian [[Gyula Kristó]], who refuses Pritsak's theory, says that Levedi's name is connected to the Hungarian verb ''"lesz"'' ("be").{{sfn|Kristó|1996|p=112}} A similar proper name (Lewedi) was recorded in a Hungarian charter, issued in 1138.{{sfn|Kristó|1996|p=112}}

When writing about Levedi, Porphyrogenitus emphasized "the illustriousness of his race".<ref>''Constantine Porphyrogenitus: De Administrando Imperio'' (ch. 38), p. 171.</ref>{{sfn|Kristó|1996|p=9}} Porphyrogenitus's narration suggests that Levedi was born between around 800 and 815, because he seems to have been older than [[Álmos]] who was born in the 820s.{{sfn|Kristó|1996|p=114}} Levedi bore the title "[[voivode]]", which is of [[Slavic languages|Slavic]] origin.{{sfn|Kristó|1996|p=115}} When using that title, Porphyrogenitus always referred to the heads of the seven Magyar tribes.{{sfn|Kristó|1996|p=114}} Historian Dezső Paizs says that Levedi was the head of the Megyer tribe, but his theory has not been widely accepted.{{sfn|Kristó|1996|p=9}}

== References ==
{{Reflist|3}}

== Sources ==

=== Primary sources ===
{{Refbegin}}
* ''Constantine Porphyrogenitus: De Administrando Imperio'' (Greek text edited by Gyula Moravcsik, English translation by Romillyi J. H. Jenkins) (1967). Dumbarton Oaks Center for Byzantine Studies. ISBN 0-88402-021-5.
{{Refend}}

=== Secondary sources ===
{{Refbegin}}
* {{cite book |last1=Berend |first1=Nora |last2=Urbańczyk |first2=Przemysław |last3=Wiszewski |first3=Przemysław |year=2013 |title=Central Europe in the High Middle Ages: Bohemia, Hungary and Poland, c. 900-c. 1300 |publisher= Cambridge University Press |isbn=978-0-521-78156-5 |ref=harv}}
* {{cite book |last=Cartledge |first=Bryan |year=2011|title=The Will to Survive: A History of Hungary |publisher=C. Hurst & Co. |isbn=978-1-84904-112-6|ref=harv}}
* {{cite book |last=Engel |first=Pál |year=2001|title=The Realm of St Stephen: A History of Medieval Hungary, 895–1526 |publisher= I.B. Tauris Publishers |isbn=1-86064-061-3|ref=harv}}
* {{cite book |last=Kristó |first=Gyula |year= 1996  |title=Hungarian History in the Ninth Century |publisher= Szegedi Középkorász Muhely |isbn=963-482-113-8 |ref=harv}}
* {{cite book |last=Róna-Tas |first=András |year= 1999  |title=Hungarians and Europe in the Early Middle Ages: An Introduction to Early Hungarian History (Translated by Nicholas Bodoczky) |publisher=CEU Press |isbn=978-963-9116-48-1|ref=harv}}
* {{cite book |last=Spinei |first=Victor |year=2003  |title=The Great Migrations in the East and South East of Europe from the Ninth to the Thirteenth Century (Translated by Dana Badulescu) |isbn=973-85894-5-2|ref=harv}}
{{Refend}}

[[Category:Khazars]]
[[Category:History of the Hungarians]]
[[Category:Hungarian prehistory]]
[[Category:9th-century Hungarian people]]
[[Category:9th-century rulers in Europe]]
[[Category:Magyar tribal chieftains]]

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