The reliability of the Byzantine emperor's report of Árpád's election is debated by modern historians: for instance, Victor Spinei states that it is "rather vague and scarcely credible", but András Róna-Tas writes that its core is reliable. The latter historian adds that Árpád's election was promoted by Álmos, who forced Levedi to renounce his position as "kende". Accordingly, in Róna-Tas's view, Árpád succeeded Levedi as sacred ruler, or "kende", which enabled his father to preserve his own position as the actual leader of the Hungarians, or "gyula".