Koppány

Koppány
Execution of Koppány as depicted in the Illuminated Chronicle
Duke of Somogy
Reign	After 972 - 997 or 998
Predecessor	Zerind the Bald (?)
Successor	None
Born	Before 965
Died	997 or 998 Near Veszprém or in Somogy
Dynasty	Árpád dynasty
Father	Zerind the Bald

Koppány, also known as Cupan, was the Duke of Somogy in Hungary in the late 10th century. According to modern scholars' consensual view, he was a member of the royal Árpád dynasty. Koppány was the lord of the southern region of Transdanubia during the reign of Géza, Grand Prince of the Hungarians, who ruled between the early 970s and 997. After the death of Géza, Koppány laid claim to the throne against Géza's devout Christian son, Stephen. His claim was mainly supported by pagan Hungarians, but the royal army routed his army near Veszprém in 997 or 998. Koppány was killed either in the battle or in his duchy, to which he had fled from the battlefield. His corpse was cut in four pieces to be displayed on the walls of four major strongholds of Hungary, Győr, Veszprém, Esztergom and Gyulafehérvár (now Alba Iulia, Romania).

He was the son of Zerind the Bald, according to the 14th-century Illuminated Chronicle. Although no primary source mentions that Koppány was descended from Álmos or Árpád, the first grand princes of the Hungarians, his attempt to seize the throne shows that he was a member of the Árpád dynasty. Historians debate which of the four or five sons of Árpád was Koppány's ancestor. Historians Gyula Kristó, László Szegfű and György Szabados say that Koppány was probably descended from Árpád's oldest son, Tarkatzus, but Kornél Bakay (who identified Zerind the Bald with Ladislas the Bald) writes that Árpád's youngest son, Zoltán, was Koppány's forefather. The exact date of Koppány's birth cannot be determined. He was allegedly born between around 950 and 965, because his claim to the throne in 997 shows that he was the oldest member of the Árpád dynasty at that time.