St. Stephen Harding is regarded as the founder of the Cistercian monasteries. St. Stephen was a saint whose conversion brought the Hungarian nation to the Church. Because St Stephen is the very first martyr of the newly founded Church of Jesus Christ, he is given the title of Protomartyr or first martyr of the Early Church.. Stephen was born in the eleventh century at Sherborne in Dorsetshire, England. He was educated at Sherborne Abbey and traveled to Scotland, Paris, and Rome. Feast Day of St. Stephen, King of Hungary (967-1038) The first canonized confessor King King Stephen’s instructions to his son, Emeric, who died before he could ascend the throne: My dearest son, if you desire to honor the royal crown, I advise, I counsel, I urge you above all things to maintain… Father of Saint Emeric; brought Saint Gerard Sagredo to tutor his son. Stephen was born a pagan, but as a youth, he and his father, Duke Geza, were baptized by the Bohemian bishop St. Adalbert of Prague. Organized dioceses, and founded monasteries. Born. Popes began making such decrees in the tenth century. He was, therefore, the Clovis of Hungary, but with this difference: Clovis converted but was far from being a saint, while St. Stephen became a true saint. St. Stephen of Hungary (975-1038) played an important role in Christianizing his country. Canonization, in its most exact historical sense [citation needed], is a papal declaration that the Catholic faithful may venerate a particular deceased member of the church. At the age of twenty Stephen married Gisela, the sister of the Emperor St… The direct descendants of Clovis were not saints, but the son of St. Stephen, Amelric, became a saint. Crowned king on Christmas Day 1001 by Emperor Otto III by authority of Pope Sylvester II. Stephen united the Magyars into a single nation, suppressing revolts led by pagan nobles. Many consider the first Saint of the Early Church to be the Thief on the Cross after all did not Jesus himself promise the Good Thief paradise that very day.

969 at Esztergom, Hungary; Died On the way home from his travel, he stopped at an abbey near Molesmes and was so impressed that he … St Stephen is considered a saint and a martyr in many Christian denominations.