Bonyhád: Origin of its name

There is much speculation about the origin of Bonyhád's name.

The most likely source is that it was named after someone named Bonyha who was the nephew of Hungary's king St. István (975 - 1038). The "d" ending is sometimes  a diminutive in Hungarian.

King St. István is revered in Hungary since he orchestrated conversion of the pagan Hungarians to Christianity.

His close relative and Bonyha's father Gyula, who was a powerful regional ruler in what was then Eastern Hungary, rebelled against conversion and István inheriting the power after Géza died.

Gyula was arrested and forcibly converted. Bonyha was exiled to the area now called Tolna Region where Bonyhad is located.

Furthermore, Kopppány (b. 950), who also claimed the throne and was slain for it, ruled Transdanubia including Tolna Region.

The above was learned from an email forwarded by Susan Kleinlehrer (Lowy) and extract from Tanulmányok Bonyhád történetéből (Studies about the History of Bonyhad): a book co-authored by Imre Solymár,  a highly regarded Hungarian historian from Bonyhad. The Bonyhad library is named after him.

Shabbat Shalom,

Larry