The Magyars, in the four centuries after…

The Magyars, in the four centuries after their migration into the Pannonian Basin, gradually develop from a loose confederation of pagan marauders into a recognized kingdom.

This kingdom, which becomes known as Hungary, is led by the Árpád Dynasty and is firmly allied to the Christian West.

Eventually the Árpád line dies out, however, and Hungary again descends into anarchy, with the most powerful nobles vying for control.

The bonds linking the seven Magyar tribes had grown frail soon after the migration into the Carpathian Basin.

At this time, Europe is weak and disunited, and for more than half a century Magyar bands have raided Bavaria, Moravia, Italy, Constantinople, and lands as far away as the Pyrenees.

Sometimes fighting as mercenaries and sometimes lured by spoils alone, the Magyar bands loot towns and take captives for labor, ransom, or sale on the slave market.

The emperor in Constantinople and European princes pay the Magyars annual tribute.

In 955, however, German and Czech armies under the Holy Roman Empire's King Otto I destroy  a Magyar force near Augsburg.

The defeat effectively ends Magyar raids on the West, and in 970 the East Roman Empire halts Magyar incursions toward the East.