The analysis of the economic, social, legal and religious position of non-Christians in Hungary has implications for the study of medieval frontier societies, minorities, identity and the nature of exclusion from and integration into society.

The situation of non-Christians in Hungary was unique within contemporary Latin Christendom in two respects. First, three groups of non-Christians were present as late as the thirteenth century: Jews, Muslims and ‘pagans’. Second, they did not become part of the kingdom through conquest. Hungary was a frontier kingdom, but not primarily a conquest kingdom in the eleventh to thirteenth centuries. The non-Christian population migrated to Hungary, rather than being forced to become a part of it, as was the case (with minor exceptions) in Iberia, Prussia and other medieval frontier areas.

Keeping this singularity in mind, a brief summary of the results of this study is necessary before drawing more general conclusions. In order to gain a satisfactory picture, we need to consider the interplay between the economic, social, legal, political and religious realities. Hungary was not a case of ‘tolerance due to economic necessity’. Non-Christians certainly played economic roles, even important ones, but they were not irreplaceable. They did not exclusively fill any occupation or role. The same monetary functions were held by Jews, Muslims and Christians, and there was no need for middlemen between Christians and another culture (as opposed to Reconquest Iberia).