Genetic identification of Árpád Dynasty members from the ossuary of the Royal Basilica at Székesfehérvár

Shotgun sequencing of >400 genomes from the ossuary of the Royal Basilica of Székesfehérvár identified three additional skeletal remains carrying the Árpád Dynasty's Y chromosome haplogroup R-ARP, raising the total known R-ARP+ individuals from four to seven. Kinship and IBD analyses placed these individuals within the dynasty alongside Béla, Duke of Macsó (†1272)—a Rurikid prince and great-great-grandson of King Béla III— and a fetus from a tomb adjacent to Béla III. One of these is King Béla II "the Blind" (1131–1141); a second is a likely second-degree relative of St. Ladislaus (probably an uncle, identity unresolved); the third, buried outside the original Basilica walls, is related to the Árpáds only by Y-haplogroup. The authenticity of Béla, Duke of Macsó's remains was genetically confirmed. IBD also linked Árpáds to conquering Hungarians, Vikings, and the Aba, Báthory, and Corvinus families.

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Publication Details

Journal
iScience
Published
2026-06-12
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.isci.2026.116365
Primary Topic
Ancient and Medieval Archaeology Studies
Type
article
Field-Weighted Citation Impact
0.00

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article

Genetic identification of Árpád Dynasty members from the ossuary of the Royal Basilica at Székesfehérvár

Luca Kis, Miklós Kásler, Zoltán Maróti, Judit Olasz et al.
iScience
Ancient and Medieval Archaeology Studies
article

Genetic identification of Árpád Dynasty members from the ossuary of the Royal Basilica at Székesfehérvár

Luca Kis, Miklós Kásler, Zoltán Maróti, Judit Olasz, Bence Kovács, Alexandra Gînguță, Zsolt Bernert, Balázs Tihanyi, Gergely I. B. Varga, Oszkár Schütz, Péter L. Nagy, Tibor Tőrők, Balázs Holczmann, Michael F. Nagy, Endre Neparáczki, Kitti Maár, Balázs Kertész, Nicholas Rouse, Zoltán Szabó
article en

Abstract

Shotgun sequencing of >400 genomes from the ossuary of the Royal Basilica of Székesfehérvár identified three additional skeletal remains carrying the Árpád Dynasty's Y chromosome haplogroup R-ARP, raising the total known R-ARP+ individuals from four to seven. Kinship and IBD analyses placed these individuals within the dynasty alongside Béla, Duke of Macsó (†1272)—a Rurikid prince and great-great-grandson of King Béla III— and a fetus from a tomb adjacent to Béla III. One of these is King Béla II "the Blind" (1131–1141); a second is a likely second-degree relative of St. Ladislaus (probably an uncle, identity unresolved); the third, buried outside the original Basilica walls, is related to the Árpáds only by Y-haplogroup. The authenticity of Béla, Duke of Macsó's remains was genetically confirmed. IBD also linked Árpáds to conquering Hungarians, Vikings, and the Aba, Báthory, and Corvinus families.

iScienceVol. 29(7)
University of Szeged (HU), Hungarian Natural History Museum (HU), ImmunoGenes (Hungary) (HU), Praxis (United States) (US), Gamax (Hungary) (HU)
Magyar Ösztöndíj Bizottság
Openalex Percentile: Top 3%
Ancient and Medieval Archaeology Studies
DOIOpen Access PDFOpenAlex
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