helpless survivors of the Battle

 

Who were the gyászmagyars?

According to tradition, the gyászmagyars were the survivors of the Battle of Lechfeld (955). As they were despised by the society, they lost all their possessions and, wandering from tent to tent, they had to live as beggars, and even their descendants became beggars. Finally Stephen I of Hungary had mercy on them and placed them in the monastery of St. Lazarus in the outskirts of Esztergom. The monastery contributed to the establishment of the Order of Saint Lazarus, a hospitaller order centred on their charism of caring for those afflicted with leprosy.