Captain Apor, the leader of the Hungarian army wears a Turul bird as a crest on his flag, shield and chest (Illuminated Chronicle)
Apor, sitting on a white horse, leads the Hungarian army, while Botond duels with a Greek warrior before the walls of Constantinople. Emperor Constantine VII and his wife, Helena Lekapene watch the events over the broken city gate (Illuminated Chronicle)

Apor was a Hungarian tribal chieftain, who, according to the Illuminated Chronicle, led a campaign against the Byzantine Empire in 959, where the legend of Botond takes place. He was the ancestor of the gens Apor.[1]

The Apor family of Transylvanian nobility traditionally trace their origins to him. In his work Lusus Mundi, 17th-18th century historian Baron Péter Apor de Altorja claims such descent. Also, acknowledging that no surviving written sources explicitly state so, he proposed that Apor was a legitimate son of Hungary's Grand Prince Árpád.[2]

References

  1. ^ Gyula Kristó, ed. (1994). Korai magyar történeti lexikon (9-14- század). Akadémiai Kiadó, Budapest. ISBN 963-05-6722-9.
  2. ^ Monumenta Hungariae historica. 2. osztály, Irók (in Latin). 1863.
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