'Andrew I' (''I. András'') born c.
1014, died
1061,
Zirc,
Hungary) was King of
Hungary 1047-1061.
He was from a younger branch of the
Árpád dynasty, and born as son of
Vazul, former lord of Gran and regions mostly corresponding to today's
Slovakia, and
Katun Anastazya of Bulgaria. Hungarian tribal society was not in favor of
primogeniture, but of
agnatic seniority as order of succession, which made other males of the Árpád dynasty, cadet lines, dangerous to the incumbent king. Andrew's branch of the dynasty had long been rivals to the elder branch, which
Stephen I of Hungary and his father belonged to. For the previous half century, the rivalry had centered mostly on the conflict between paganism and Christianity, represented (and utilized), respectively, by the younger and elder branch. The elder branch went extinct in the male line in 1038, which opened new opportunities to the younger, surviving male line; because Hungarian clan society still believed in inheritance through the male line. Stephen's female-line successors Samuel Aba and Peter Urseolo felt it necessary to suppress the rival family. Andrew's mother was probably the woman who reportedly was a daughter of the
Tsar of Bulgaria.
A period of dynastic struggle following the death of
Stephan I in 1038 was concluded after the death of
Peter Urseolo, as Andrew I took the Hungarian throne for his branch of the Árpád dynasty.

Tihany abbey, burial place of Andrew.
Under
Sámuel Aba's rule Andrew and his brothers
Levente and
Béla had been exiled from Hungary, fearing for their lives. First having fled to
Bohemia, they continued to
Poland where Béla married into that royal family. Andrew and Levente, possibly feeling overshadowed by their brother, continued on, settling in
Kiev and Andrew married Anastasia, a daughter of Grand Duke
Yaroslav the Great.
Their return to Hungary in 1046 sparked the
Vatha pagan rising, where Andrew through pagan support managed to wrest the crown from
Peter Urseolo. Andrew was crowned in 1047 and had strengthened his rule by military success, in part thanks to pagan support. Nevertheless, he continued the policies of Christianization that had previously been in place. As a Hungarian king Andrew still remained allies with his former hosts in exile, the
Kievan Rus'.
Relations with the Holy Roman Empire remained tense. The previous king, Peter Urseolo, had been a close ally of Emperor
Henry III, and during his latter reign, Hungary had become a vassal of the Holy Roman Empire. Henry now undertook two largely unsuccessful campaigns against Hungary, in 1051 and again in 1052. Andrew then formed an alliance in 1053 with
Conrad II, Duke of Bavaria, supporting the opposition against the emperor.
In 1057 Andrew tried to ensure his succession, by having his five-year-old son
Solomon crowned as king. This proved unsuccessful, as several years later Andrew's brother
Béla I managed to unseat Andrew at the
Theben Pass and gain the throne, if only for a short time.
Andrew and his family are buried in the
Tihany abbey, founded by him on the shores of
Lake Balaton.
His son never properly managed to establish himself as king; Andrew's brother Bela's younger gradually took over, particularly because neither of his sons (Solomon and David) left surviving male descent behind. Andrew's daughter
Adelaide Arpad married Duke
Vratislav II of
Bohemia, and her other daughter,
Judith Premyslid, married
Wladyslaw I, Duke of Poland and became mother of
Boleslaw III, Duke of Poland (1085-1138) (great-grandson of Andrew). Thus, Andrew's line continues in the
Piast dynasty and not in Hungary.