Apostolic King of Hungary
| Apostolic King of Hungary | |
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Charles IV
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| Details | |
| Style | His Apostolic Majesty |
| First monarch | Stephen I |
| Last monarch | Charles IV |
| Formation | 25 December 1000 |
| Abolition | 16 November 1918 |
| Residence | Buda Castle |
| Appointer | Hereditary |
| Pretender(s) | Karl von Habsburg |
The King of Hungary (Hungarian: magyar király) was the head of state of the Kingdom of Hungary from 1000 (or 1001) to 1918. The style of title "Apostolic King" was confirmed by Pope Clement XIII in 1758 and used afterwards by all the Kings of Hungary, so after this date the kings are referred to as "Apostolic King of Hungary".
Before 1000 AD, Hungary was not recognized as a kingdom and the ruler of Hungary was styled Grand Prince of the Hungarians. The first King of Hungary, Stephen I. was crowned on 25 December 1000 (or 1 January 1001) with the crown Pope Sylvester II had sent him and with the consent of Otto III, Holy Roman Emperor.
Following King Stephen I's coronation, all the monarchs of Hungary used the title "King". However, not all rulers of Hungary were kings for example Stephen Bocskai and Francis II Rákóczi were proclaimed rulers as "High Princes of Hungary", and there were also three Governors of Hungary, sometimes styled "regents", János Hunyadi, Lajos Kossuth and Miklós Horthy.
From the 13th century a certain process was established to confirm the legitimacy of the King. No person could become the legitimate King of Hungary without fulfilling the following criteria:
This meant a certain level of protection to the integrity of the Kingdom such as that for example stealing the Holy Crown of Hungary was no longer enough to become legitimate King. The first requirement (coronation by the Archbishop of Esztergom) was confirmed by Béla III, who had been crowned by the Archbishop of Kalocsa based on the special authorisation of Pope Alexander III, but after his coronation he declared that his coronation would not harm the customary claim of the Archbishops of Esztergom to crown the kings. In 1211, Pope Innocent III denied to confirm the agreement of Archbishop John of Esztergom and Archbishop Berthold of Kalocsa on the transfer of the claim, and he declared that it is only the Archbishop of Esztergom who is entitled to crown the King of Hungary.
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