Fajsz was the son of Jutas, Árpád's fourth son. According to the principle of seniority, he was the Hungarian Grand Duke (Kende) from 948 to 955.
About the life of Árpáden Fajsz, only the events during his brief reign from 948 to 955, which was to last for the further course of Hungarian history, have been handed down. The main source is anonymous, who was around 1190 as a chronicler and notary Bélas III. worked.
The East Frankish King Otto I subdued Bohemia between 946 and 950. Boleslav, Duke of Bohemia, submitted to Ottonian suzerainty and paid him annual tributes until his death (972). As early as 951, Otto succeeded in conquering northern Italy, the widowed East Frankish king soon married the former queen of Italy, Adelheid, and since then has also ruled as king of Italy. As a result, the Hungarians lost important allies on the one hand and their staging areas for their raids in East and West Francia on the other. For up to his submission, Boleslav I tolerated the Hungarian military campaigns through Bohemia, and from 942 the former Italian king Hugo von Arles also permitted the Hungarians to march through his territories.
Otto I, on the other hand, vigorously prevented the Hungarians from raiding west and Fajsz therefore only received tributes from Byzantium and Bulgaria, which, however, no longer covered the material needs of the grand duke, the tribal chiefs and the armed entourage. The Hungarian upper class was therefore in an existential crisis and had to find new ways to secure its power.
As early as 948, Fajsz "Karchas" Bulcsú, the third highest Hungarian dignitary, and Tormás (935-975), a great-grandson of Arpad, sent to Constantinople to conclude a peace treaty with Byzantium. Bulcsú and Tormás were baptized by Emperor Constantine VII Porphyrogennetos, the former received the title of patrician, the latter was awarded the title of friend. However, the conversion of Hungarians to Christianity was not only for religious reasons, but also for political reasons, since Byzantium needed a strong ally against the Bulgarians.
As a result of the successfully executed raids by the Bavarian duke Heinrich, the younger brother of Otto I, on western Hungary, Fajsz was forced to renew the five-year peace treaty with Byzantium. For this reason, the second highest dignitary of the Hungarians, the Gyula - probably Prince Zombor († around 960), Harka's son - traveled to Byzantium in 953, on the one hand to renew the peace treaty and on the other hand to promote the conversion of the Hungarians to the Greek rite. The treaty was renewed, the Gyula was baptized by the emperor and Byzantium sent more Greek or Slavic priests to Hungary.
The rapidly progressing conversion of the Hungarians to (Orthodox) Christianity came to a standstill as early as 954, since the rebels in the East Frankish kingdom around Liudolf von Schwaben - son of Otto I - and Konrad the Red - son-in-law of Otto I - asked the Hungarians for help against their king asked. Just one year later, Bavarian nobles led the (West) Hungarian army under Bulcsús leadership into the East Frankish Empire. However, on August 10, 955, the East Frankish army defeated the Hungarians in the Battle of Lechfeld near Augsburg, and the Hungarian commanders Bulcsú, Lél and Sur were executed in Regensburg shortly afterwards.
As a result of the defeat at Lechfeld, a political turning point was initiated in Hungary in 955. Fajsz, who had probably adopted (Orthodox) Christianity himself, was held politically responsible for the defeat and replaced as Grand Duke of the Hungarians by Zoltán's son Taksony. His further fate is not known. His family and his followers, but also those of Bulcsús, Léls and Surs were ousted from any political power, so that from 955 only the descendants of Tarhos, Árpád's second eldest son and above all the descendants of Zoltán, Árpád's youngest son, held political power exercised power in Hungary.
After receiving information from Otto I about the extent of the Hungarian defeat, Constantine VII stopped all tribute payments. He had to pay tribute to the Grand Duchess Olga since 957 and initiated the conversion of Kievan Rus' to (Orthodox) Christianity. The new rulers of Hungary turned away from Byzantium and sought a settlement with the East Frankish Empire.
Source: Wikipedia