Andrew I the White or the Catholic (Hungarian: I. Fehér or Katolikus András/Endre; c. 1015 – before 6 December 1060) was King of Hungary from 1046 to 1060. He descended from a younger branch of the Árpád dynasty. After spending fifteen years in exile, he ascended the throne during an extensive revolt from the pagan Hungarians. He strengthened the position of Catholicism in the Kingdom of Hungary and successfully defended its independence against the Holy Roman Empire.
His efforts to ensure the succession of his son, Solomon, resulted in the open revolt of his brother, Béla. Béla dethroned Andrew by force in 1060. Andrew suffered severe injuries during the fighting and died before his brother was crowned king.
Medieval sources provide two contradictory reports of the parents of Andrew, and his two brothers, Levente and Béla. For instance, the Chronicle of Zagreb and Saint Gerard's Life write that their father was Vazul, a grandson of Taksony, Grand Prince of the Hungarians (r. c. 955 – c. 970). The Illuminated Chronicle and other medieval sources write of Vazul's relationship with "some girl" from the Tátony clan who bore his sons, who thus "were not born of a true marriage-bed". According to a concurrent tradition, which has been preserved by most chronicles, the three princes were the sons of Vazul's brother, Ladislas the Bald. Modern historians, who reject the latter report, agree that Andrew and his brothers were the sons of Vazul and his concubine from the Tátony clan. According to the historian Gyula Kristó, Andrew was the second among Vazul's three sons. He writes that Andrew was born around 1015.
According to medieval chronicles, Vazul was blinded during the reign of his cousin, King Stephen I, the first Christian monarch of Hungary (r. 997–1038). The king ordered Vazul's mutilation after the death, in 1031, of Emeric, his only son surviving infancy. The contemporary Annals of Altaich writes that the king himself ordered the mutilation of one of his kinsmen, who had strong claim to the throne, in an attempt to ensure a peaceful succession to his own sister's son, Peter Orseolo. The same source adds that the king expelled his blinded cousin's three sons from Hungary. According to the contrasting report of the Hungarian chronicles, King Stephen wanted to save the young princes' lives from their enemies in the royal court and "counselled them with all speed" to depart from Hungary.
Exiled from Hungary, Andrew and his brothers settled in the court of Duke Oldřich of Bohemia (r. 1012–1033). Here they came across King Mieszko II of Poland (r. 1025–1031, 1032–1034) who likewise took refuge in Bohemia after his opponents had expelled him from his kingdom. The Polish monarch regained his crown and returned to Poland in 1032. Andrew, Béla and Levente, whose "condition of life was poor and mean" in Bohemia, followed Mieszko II who received them "kindly and honourably" in Poland. After the youngest among them, Béla, married a daughter of Mieszko II, Andrew and Levente decided to depart from Poland, because they "felt that they would be living in Poland under their brother's shadow", according to Simon of Kéza.
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