Great Moravia and the Vlachs, The Principality of Nitra

Kopany, St. Margaret church, 9 st, the only remaining Great Moravian Building Martin Eggers represents German speaking scholars, who proposed a plausi le !two regna! thesis,"#$% which were accordingly to him situated &ar to the southeast o& modern Moravia. 'ike Bo a, Eggers insists that (wenti ald)s principality crystalli*ed south o& the Sava in modern Bosnia. +n the other hand he disagrees that Sirmium was his principal residence. Eggers believes that the centre of Rastislav's realm was located in the Great an!bian "asin in urbs Morisena #modern $sanad, Maroswar% based on the so!rce Vita maior S.Gerhardi. ,tili*ing archeological evidence as well as impressive array o& written sources, Eggers posits that, &ollowing the de&eat o& the -vars, .arolingian rulers shored up pree/isting ulwarks in Great 0anu ian Basin to protect the central 0anu ian asin against eastern intruders. 1hese ramparts, 223 km in length, &ormed an arc east o& the 0anu e and 1is*a starting northeast o& Budapest running eastward, ending sharply southward near 4yiregyha*a &inally reaching 0anu e 5ust opposite to the con&luence with southern Morava river. Based on the archeological evidence he elieves that Moravians &rom the south were settled in the enclosing area ehind the ramparts y 6ranks. .harles 7. Bowlus is -merican historian who reconstructed military in&rastructure o& southeastern marchers o& the .arolingian Empire ased on recent research concerning the nature o& 6rankish war&are and logistical system that support it and care&ul study o& the evidence derived &rom itineraries, land grants and prosopography in #992."#3%"##% 1he research resulted in conclusion that relatively large ody o& relia le evidence in 6rankish charters and deeds demonstrated that mem ers o& leading marcher kindreds can e documented in .arantania and thus .arantania ecame center o& gravity o& the system o& marcher lordships on the east o& Bavaria.

People
1he inha itants o& Great Moravia were designated Slovene, which is an old Slavic word meaning the !Slavs!."citation needed% 1he same name was used y the ancestors o& Slovaks, Slovenes and Slavonians at that time and the present8day native names o& these nations 9&or e/ample Slovensko, the Slovak name o& Slovakia: are still derived &rom the root Slovene.";% <eople o& Great Moravia were sometimes re&erred to as !Moravian peoples! y Slavic te/ts, and !Sclavi! 9i.e. the Slavs:, !=inidi! 9another name &or the Slavs:, !Moravian Slavs! or !Moravians! y 'atin te/ts. % Muslim geographers, when descri ing the inha itants o& Great Moravia, mentioned that They are a numerous people and their dress resembles that of the Arabs, consisting of turban and shirt and overcoat. They have cultivated lands and seeds and vineyards (...). They state that their number is greater than that of the Rum (Vlachs, !") and that they are a separate nation. The greater part of their trade is #ith Arabia. >-hmad i n 7ustah";?%

Great Moravia @AAB93? Great Moravia was a Slavic state that e/isted in .entral Europe &rom the 9th century to the early #3th century. 1here is some controversy as to the actual location o& its core territory. -ccording to the greater weight o& scholars, its core area lay on oth sides o& the Morava river, the territory o& today)s western Slovakia and in Moravia and Bohemia 9today)s .*ech 7epu lic:"$%, ut the entity may have also e/tended"whenC% into what are today parts o& Dungary, <oland, -ustria, Slovenia, .roatia, Ser ia, 7omania, ,kraine and Germany."A%"E%"2%"page needed%"?%"page needed% -ccording to Slovak historian 7ichard Marsina, Great Moravia was inha ited y the ancestors o& modern Moravians and Slovaks,";% although, there is no continuity in politics, culture, or written language etween this early Slavic polity and the modern Slovak nation."@% -ccording to alternate theories, the core territory o& Great Moravia was situated South o& the 0anu e river, in Slavonia or in the southern parts o& the .arpathian Basin."9% "#3% Great Moravia was &ounded when, in @AA, Mo5mFr G uni&ied two neigh ouring states y &orce"clari&ication needed%"du ious B discuss%, re&erred to in modern historiography as the !<rincipality o& 4itra! and the !<rincipality o& Moravia!."A%"##%"#$% 1he rulers o& the emerging state periodically"whenC% su mitted to the kings o& East 6rancia, signaling an ina ility to reach &ull independence."clari&ication needed% l .ultural development resulted &rom the mission o& Saints .yril and Methodius, who came during the reign o& <rince 7astislav in @?A. 1he empire reached its greatest territorial e/tent under Svatopluk G 9@;#B@9E:, although the orders o& his dominions are still under de ate. De also received a letter &rom y <ope Hohn IGGG who styled him !king! Svatopluk. httpJKKen.wikipedia.orgKwikiKGreatLMoravia

httpJKKwww.nitralive.skKin&o8o8nitreKhistoria.html =eakened y internal struggle"#A% and &reMuent wars with the .arolingian Empire, Great Moravia was ultimately overrun y the Dungarians, who invaded the .arpathian Basin around @9?. Gts remnants were divided etween <oland, Dungary, Bohemia and the Doly 7oman Empire. -lthough some contemporary sources mention that Great Moravia vanished and the Moravian castles were a andoned &or a century, archaeological research and toponyms suggest that there was continuity in the Slavic population in the valleys o& the rivers o& the Gnner =estern .arpathians."#E%"#2% Most castles and towns survived the destruction o& the state,"A%"#?% ut the identi&ication o& some castles is still de ated and some scholars even claim that Great Moravia disappeared without trace."#;% Great Moravia le&t ehind a lasting legacy in .entral and Eastern Europe. 1he Glagolitic script and its

successor .yrillic were disseminated to other Slavic countries, charting a new path in their cultural development. 1he administrative system o& Great Moravia may have in&luenced the development o& the administration o& medieval Dungary. Great Moravia also ecame a &avorite issue in the .*ech and Slovak romantic nationalism o& the #9th century."#$% "edit% 4ame 1he designation !Great Moravia! 9!NOPQRS NTUVWXV!: originally stems &rom the work 0e -dministrando Gmperio written y the By*antine Emperor .onstantine IGG <orphyrogenitos around 923 9and actually, his work is the only primary source that uses the ad5ective !Great! when re&erring to the polity:."#@%"#9%"$3% -lthough the name Great Moravia is used y the modern historiography to re&er to a medieval polity in the northern part o& the .arpathian Basin, the Emperor himsel& re&erred to a di&&erent country, located south o& or in the southern part o& the .arpathian Basin or he mismatched the location."citation needed% 1he word !Great Moravia! used y modern authors not only re&ers to present8day Moravia, ut to a country situated on oth sides o& the Morava river whose capital was also plausi ly called Morava."$#% -lternatively, !Moravia! could also re&er to country whose capital was Morava. Gt is not always clear whether an early medieval written source names a country or a town called Morava. 1he ad5ective !Great! nowadays denotes Moravia plus the anne/ed territories. Some authors"whoC% interpret the original meaning as !distant!, ecause By*antine te/ts used to distinguish etween two countries o& the same name using the attri ute !little! &or the territory closer to the By*antine Empire 9such as the Morava rivers in Ser ia: and !great! &or the more distant territory 9such as the Morava river etween Moravia and Slovakia:."#?% 1he ad5ective !NOPQRS! may also mean !old! in By*antine te/ts"9%"#3%"$$%"$A% and some scholars argue"whoC% +ld Moravia is the correct name. 1he names o& Great Moravia in other languages are IeYkZ Morava in Slovak, IelkZ Morava in .*ech, Gro[m\hren in German, ]^_`abcbdef`g in Bulgarian, Ielika Moravska 9]^_`ae hbdefiae: in Ser ian, and morva &e5edelemsjg"#@% in Dungarian. Gn English, the &orms Moravia"?% Greater Moravia and Moravia Magna are also used. 1he use o& the term 9Great: Slovak Empire instead o& Great Moravia is promoted y some Slovak authors"whoC% who attempt to de&ine it as an early Slovak state."$E% 1he use o& this term would contradict the theory that the distinct Slavic nations had not yet emerged y the 9th century and the culture and language o& various Slavic tri es in central Europe were indistinguisha le &rom each other. "$2% "edit% Distory "edit% 6oundation 1he &ormation o& Great Moravia resulted &rom the political and social development that is documented y archaeological &indings, ut scarcely descri ed y contemporary chroniclers."$?% 1he &irst state o& the Slavs living on the Middle 0anu e was Samo)s 7ealm, a tri al con&ederation e/isting etween ?$A and ?2@."$;% Gt encompassed the territories o& Moravia, Slovakia, 'ower -ustria, .arantania, Sor ia at the El e, and pro a ly also Bohemia, which lies etween Sor ia and other parts o& the realm. -lthough this tri al con&ederation plausi ly did not survive its &ounder, it created &avora le conditions &or the &ormation o& the local Slavic aristocracy."citation needed% Graves dated to the period a&ter King Samo)s death show that the -vars returned to some o& their lost

territories and they even could e/pand their area o& settlement not only over the western parts o& the present8day Slovakia ut also over the Iienna Basin. -rchaeological evidence &rom this period identi&ies the emergence o& the so8called !gri&&in and tendril! archaeological culture in the ?;3s, initially interpreted to represent a new migration o& steppe nomads, 9possi ly +nogurs::,"$A% ut now an in vivo development is &avored." y whomC%"citation needed% Dowever, archaeological &indings &rom the same period 9such as an e/Muisite no le tom in Blatnica: also indicate &ormation o& a Slavic upper class on the territory that later ecame the nucleus o& Great Moravia."A% Gn the late @th century, the Morava river asin and present8day western Slovakia, inha ited y the Slavs and situated at the 6rankish order, &lourished economically."citation needed% .onstruction o& numerous river valley settlements as well as hill &orts indicates that political integration was driven y regional strongmen protected y their armed retinues. 1he Blatnica8Mikulice hori*on, a rich archaeological culture partially inspired y the contemporaneous .arolingian and -var art, arose &rom this economic and political development."A%"?% Gn the ;93s, the Slavs who had settled on the middle 0anu e overthrew the -var yoke in connection with .harlemagne)s campaigns against the -vars. "citation needed% 6urther centrali*ation o& power and progress in creation o& state structures o& the Slavs living in this region &ollowed. -s a result, two ma5or states emergedJ the Moravian <rincipality originally situated in present8day southeastern Moravia and westernmost Slovakia 9with the pro a le center in Mikulice:"2% and the <rincipality o& 4itra, located in present8day western and central Slovakia 9with the center in 4itra:."A%";%"##% Moravian legates were sent to 6rankish emperors in @## and @#2."?% Gn @$$, the 7oyal 6rankish -nnals record that the Marvani paid homage to the 6rankish Emperor at the 0iet in 6rank&urtJ"$@% -t this assem ly, he Kthe kingK gave audience also to the delegates sent with presents to him y all the Eastern Slavonic people, namely, y the + otrites, Sor s, Ieleti, .*ech, Moravians and <rkdecents and the -vars settled in <annonia. >-nnales regni 6rancorum"$9%"A3% 1he &irst Moravian ruler known y name, Mo5mFr G, was apti*ed in @A# y 7eginhar, ishop o& <assau. "E% 1here is not much in&ormation in the contemporary primary sources 9only two remarks in a =estern documents: a out the polity re&erred to as the !<rincipality o& 4itra! y later historians."A#% 4evertheless, during the &irst decades o& the 9th century, the Slavic people living in the north8western parts o& the .arpathian Basin were under the rule o& a prince <ri ina whose seat was in 4itra."$A% Gn @$@, <rince <ri ina, although pro a ly still a pagan himsel&, uilt the &irst .hristian church &or his wi&e and German inha itants within the orders o& his principality in his possession called 4itrava."A$%"AA% Gn @AA, Mo5mFr G e/pelled <ri ina"AE% &rom 4itra and the two principalities ecame

united under the same ruler."A%";% E/cavations revealed that at least three 4itrian castles 9<o edim, lingov, and +strZ skala: were destroyed around the time o& the conMuest 9i.e., around the time when <ri ina was e/pelled &rom his possession:."A% But <ri ina escaped to the 6ranks and their king 'ouis the German granted him parts o& <annonia around the (ala 7iver, re&erred usually in modern works as the Balaton <rincipality."A2% "edit% -&ter uni&ication 7astislav as an +rthodo/ Saint 9modern depiction:=hat modern historians designate as !Great! Moravia arose around @A3 when Mo5mFr uni&ied the Slavic tri es settled north o& the 0anu e and e/tended the Moravian supremacy over them."A#% =hen Mo5mFr G endeavoured to secede &rom the supremacy o& the king o& East 6rancia in @E?, King 'ouis the German deposed him and assisted Mo5mFr)s nephew, 7astislav 9@E?B@;3: in acMuiring the throne."#@%"A?% -lthough he was originally chosen y the 6rankish king, the new monarch pursued an independent policy. -&ter stopping a 6rankish attack in @22, he also sought to weaken in&luence o& 6rankish priests preaching in his realm. 7astislav asked the By*antine Emperor Michael GGG to send teachers who would interpret .hristianity in the Slavic vernacular. By esta lishing relations with .onstantinople, 7astislav wanted to weaken in&luence o& 6rankish preachers, who served the interests o& the 6rankish Emperor."A;% De also desired to counter an anti8Moravian alliance recently concluded etween the 6ranks and Bulgarians."A;% ,pon 7astislav)s reMuest, two rothers, By*antine o&&icials and missionaries Saints .yril and Methodius came in @?A. .yril developed the &irst Slavic alpha et and translated the Gospel into the +ld .hurch Slavonic

language. 1e/ts translated or written y .yril and Methodius are considered to e the oldest literature in the Slavic languages. 7astislav was also preoccupied with the security and administration o& his state. 4umerous &orti&ied castles uilt throughout the country are dated to his reign and some o& them 9e.g., 0owina, sometimes identi&ied with 0evFn .astle:"##%"$?% are also mentioned in connection with 7astislav y 6rankish chronicles."A@%"A9% Moravia was militarily and economically power&ul enough to e treated as an eMual to the East 6ranksh 7ealm,"E3% and 7atislav was a le to intervene in the power struggles in 6rankia. 7astislav supported .arloman in his re ellion against his &ather, 'ouis the German, and was thus given the Balaton <rincipality in 'ower <annonia a&ter its ruler, <ri ina was killed y .arloman. 1he Magyar tri es invaded the .arpathian Basin &or the &irst time during his reign, in @?#, and a&terwards, the Magyars were occasionally hired y several rulers o& the territory in order to intervene in their wars against the opposite party."E#% 0uring 7astislav)s reign, the <rincipality o& 4itra was given to his nephew Svatopluk as an appanage. "##% 1he re ellious prince allied himsel& with the 6ranks and overthrew his uncle in @;3. 1he eginning o& Svatopluk Gms reign was tur ulent as his &ormer 6rankish allies re&used to leave the western part o& his empire. 1he young prince was even taken captive y the 6ranks and the country rallied around SlavomFr who led an uprising against the invaders in @;#. Svatopluk was &inally released and took over the command o& the insurgents, driving the 6ranks &rom Great Moravia. Gn the su seMuent years, he success&ully de&ended the independence o& his realm &rom Eastern 6rancia and su 5ected many neigh oring lands. Similarly to his predecessor, Svatopluk G 9@;#B@9E: assumed the title o& the king 9re/:. 0uring his reign, the Great Moravian Empire reached its greatest territorial e/tent, when not only present8day Moravia and Slovakia ut also present8day northern and central Dungary, 'ower -ustria, Bohemia, Silesia, 'usatia, southern <oland and northern Ser ia elonged to the empire, ut the e/act orders o& his domains are still disputed y modern authors."A%"E$% Svatopluk also withstood attacks o& Magyar tri es"#$% and the Bulgarian Empire, although sometimes it was he who hired the Magyars when waging war against East 6rancia."EA% Gn @@3, <ope Hohn IGGG issued the ull Gndustriae 1uae, y which he set up an independent ecclesiastical province in Great Moravia with -rch ishop Methodius 9Sv\tn Metod: as its head. De also named the German cleric =iching the Bishop o& 4itra, and +ld .hurch Slavonic was recogni*ed as the &ourth liturgical language, along with 'atin, Greek and De rew. "edit% 0ecline and &all -&ter the death o& King Svatopluk in @9E, his sons Mo5mFr GG 9@9E893?C: and Svatopluk GG succeeded him as the King o& Great Moravia and the <rince o& 4itra respectively."##% Dowever, they started to Muarrel &or domination o& the whole empire. =eakened y an internal con&lict as well as y constant war&are with Eastern 6rancia, Great Moravia lost most o& its peripheral territories. 1he death o& Svatopluk and su seMuent internal stri&e allowed Bohemia to shake o&& the Moravian yoke."?% Gn the meantime, the Magyar tri es, having su&&ered a catastrophic de&eat &rom the similarly nomadic <echenegs, le&t their territories east o& the .arpathian Mountains, invaded the .arpathian Basin and started to occupy the territory gradually around @9?."EE% 1heir armies advance may have een promoted y continuous wars among the countries o& the region whose rulers still hired them occasionally to intervene in their struggles."E2% 1he Bavarians and the Moravians accused each other o& having &ormed alliances, even y !taking oath upon dogs and wolves!, with the Magyars."E?%"E;% 1he ishop 'iutprand o& .remona relates that in 933, the Magyars gathering a very great army, demand &or themselves the people o& the Moravians that King -rnul& has su 5ugated through their valouro 9...: >'iutprand o& .remona"E@% Both Mo5mFr GG and Svatopluk GG pro a ly died in attles with the Magyars etween 93E and 93;

ecause their names are not mentioned in written sources a&ter 93?. Gn three attles 9Huly EB2 and -ugust 9, 93;: near <ress urg, the Magyars routed Bavarian armies. Distorians traditionally put this year as the date o& the reakup o& the Great Moravian Empire. 1he archaeological evidence &or the destruction and a andonment 9lasting &or a century or so in many cases: o& the Moravian strongholds at this time is eloMuent."?% 1he &irst 9oldest: legend o& Saint 4aum also relates that the Magyars occupied the Moravian land and devastated it. 1hose Ko& the MoraviansK not captured y the Magyars, ran to the Bulgars. -nd their depopulated land remained in the hand o& the Magyars. >1he &irst legend o& Saint 4aum"E@% -lthough the source cited a ove and other sources mention that Great Moravia disappeared without trace and its inha itants le&t &or the Bulgars, .roats and Magyars &ollowing the latters) victories, ut archaeological researches and toponyms s!ggest the contin!ity of &lavic pop!lation in the valleys of the rivers of the 'nner (estern $arpathians)*+,-*+.- Toponyms may prove that the nomadic Magyars occ!pied the (estern Pannonian Plain in present/day &lova0ia, while the hills were inhabited by a mi1ed #&lav and 2!ngarian% pop!lation and people living in the valleys of the mo!ntains spo0e &lavic lang!age)*,3Moreover, there are sporadic re&erences to Great Moravia &rom later yearsJ in 9$EK9$2, oth 6olkuin in his Gesta a . 'o iensium and 7uotger in -rchiepiscopi .oloniensis Iita Brunonis"23% mention Great Moravia."$#% 6rom 9$2 until 9A#, there are several re&erences to certain counts Mo5mFr and Svatopluk in o&&icial documents &rom Sal* urg, though the origin o& the two no les is not clear. 1here are some in&ormation o& +lgo o& Morava &rom 7urikid ruling Maravia in 9E389E9 with some assistance &rom neigh oring <oland, possi ly &rom Siemomysp."2#% Gn 9E$, Magyar warriors captured in -l -ndalus said that Moravia is the northern neigh or o& their people. 1he &ate o& the northern and western parts o& &ormer Great Moravia in the #3th century is thus largely unclear. 1he western part o& the Great Moravian core territory 9present8day Moravia: ecame the 6rankish March o& Moravia. +riginally a u&&er against Magyar attacks, the march ecame o solete a&ter the Battle o& 'ech&eld 9922:. -&ter the attle, it was given to the Bohemian duke Boleslav G. Gn 999 it was taken over y <oland under Boleslav G o& <oland and returned to Bohemia in #3#9. -s &or the eastern part o& the Great Moravian core territory 9present8day Slovakia:, its southernmost parts &ell under domination o& the old Magyar qrpZd dynasty a&ter 922."2$% 1he rest remained under the rule o& the local Slavic aristocracy"2A% and was gradually";% integrated into the Kingdom o& Dungary in a process &inished in the #Eth century."2$%"2E% Gn #333 or #33#, all o& present8day Slovakia was taken over y <oland under Boleslav G and much o& this territory ecame part o& the Kingdom o& Dungary y #3A#."#$%"2$% Since the #3th century, the population o& Slovakia has een evolving into the present8day Slovaks.";% "edit% 1erritory 1here is a di&&iculty in esta lishing an adeMuate de&inition and identi&ication o& the inha itants in the territory o& Great Moravia."22% 1he historical record is anything ut precise on this Muestion."22% 1he structure o& the state itsel& does not provide etter answers as it is likely that it was a loose structure o& &ederated principalities."22% 1he Moravian state underwent considera le e/pansion, especially in the @;3s, under Svatopluk G."?% Gn the @;3s or @@3s, the Moravians made a id to e/tend their power northwards across the .arpathians to the road &ertile lands in Silesia and 'esser <oland."?% 1here is little clear archaeological or written evidence, however, o& a permanent e/tension o& Moravian centrali*ation o& power in 'esser <oland or to the west in Silesia, or 9as has een claimed y some historians"whoC%: into <annonia."?% Gndeed

modern historiography has tended to Muestion the &ormer claims o& huge neigh oring territories permanently anne/ed y the Moravian state."?% 1hus, it is under de ate whether the !Balaton <rincipality! 9administered pro a ly y counts appointed y the King o& East 6rancia during this period: or parts o& the .arpathian Basin east o& the rivers 0anu e and 1is*a 91isa: 9!the territories o& the -vars!: were ever controlled y King Svatopluk."E$% German historians Gol erg and 7euter oth suggests that Moravia did, in &act, control lower <annonia 9modern Dungarian 1ransdanu ia:, perhaps on two occasionsJ @2@8@?A 9when .arloman gave it to 7atislav &or his support against 'ouis the German, and again in @@28@9$ when Svatopoluk clashed with -rnul&."2?%"2;% -s &or the history o& Bohemia>anne/ed y Great Moravia &or eleven years 9&rom @@A to @9E:,"E% the crucial year is @92, when the Bohemians roke away &rom the empire and ecame vassals o& -rnul& o& .arinthia. Gndependent Bohemia, ruled y the dynasty o& <remyslids, egan to gradually emerge. "edit% -lternative theories 91he Dungarian point o& view: -n alternative theory, proposed y Gmre Bo a independently o& the similar theories o& earlier authors 9e.g., 0aniele 6arlatti, Gelasius 0o ner working in the #@th century: in the #9;3s, suggests that the core territory o& the empire was situated south o& the 0anu e river in <annoniaKSlavonia."2@% 1he theory is ased on Bo a)s reading o& primary written sources 9e.g., 0e administrando imperio, the Bavarian Geographer and -nnales 6uldenses:, which in his opinion were ignored"29% y other 9.*ech and Slovak: historians &or various reasons, including nationalism."?3% . Moreover, he also utili*ed the results o& archaeological researches and his knowledge o& Slavic studies. - short summary o& his statements and their criticism &ollowsJ Bo a claimed that some primary sources 9e.g., 0e administrando imperio, the Bavarian Geographer: clearly locate the territory o& Great Moravia south o& the 0anu e and other primary sources do not contradict them. Dis opponents pointed out that some sources 9i.e., the -nnales 6uldenses: cited y Bo a were written y &oreigners !at a considera le distance &rom the events narrated! and their understanding o& geography is not very precise."?#% Gt is also true that some o& the primary sources 9such as 'i&e o& Methodius and 'i&e o& St. .lement o& +hrid, re&erred also y Bo a: seem to contradict Bo a)s theory."?#% 6or e/ample, the escape o& the Slavonic priests to Bulgaria, as descri ed in the primary sources, indicates that Great Moravia was not located south o& the 0anu e."?#% Bo a also emphasi*ed that Saint Methodius was made -rch ishop o& Syrmium, a town south o& the 0anu e. 1he opposite view states that the see in Syrmium was only sym olic, ecause Syrmium had &ormerly een the see o& an archdiocese in the past,"?#% ut Bo a and his &ollowers indicated that Method)s consecration &or a sym olic see would have violated canon law in the 9th century."2@% Bo a)s opponents also pointed out that the church claimed y Bo a to e the resting place o& Methodius in Syrmium turned out to e &ounded two hundred years a&ter Methodius) death and no medieval settlement e/isted in Syrmium e&ore -0 #333."?#% Gn addition, Bo a argued that the continuity o& the Slavonic liturgy and the uninterrupted use o& Glagolitic alpha et in the .atholic .hurch can e proven south o& the 0anu e, while such tradition did not e/ist uninterruptedly north o& the 0anu e. Gn reality, the Slavonic liturgy survived in some places north o& the 0anu e until #39;."E% Bo a claimed that this tradition came to the Monastery o& SZ*ava &rom Iyshhorod in the Kievan 7us). Great Moravia was o&ten mentioned as Sclavonia in the primary sources and this denomination may have survived the &all o& the empire in the name o& Slavonia 9a territory south o& the 0anu e: until the $3th century. But Bo a)s opponents pointed out that the same 'atin name Sclavonia also re&erred to Slovakia and those northern parts o& Dungary that were inha ited y Slavs.";% +n the other hand, the 'atin denomination Sclavonia &or the territories o& present8day Slovakia was documented only in #2#$. "?$% -nother o& Bo a)s claims was that archaeological &indings attri uted to the Moravians north o& the

0anu e should e reclassi&ied ecause they show clear nomadic characteristics 9i.e., men and their horses uried together:. But these characteristics are known only &rom some o& the earliest graveyards, &rom the regions in&luenced y the nomad -vars."A%"?A% 1here is also a !sharp contrast in the archaeological record! etween the politically and economically developed regions o& Moravia and Slovakia 9the location o& Bo a)s opponents: on the one hand, and the sparsely populated Slavonia 9Bo a)s location: on the other hand."?#% Gn #9@A, the Hapanese Senga 1oru, ased on the primary sources, argued that Great Moravia was located around the territory where the 0rava 5oins the 0anu e, i.e., south o& and in the southern parts o& the .arpathian Basin on oth sides o& the 0anu e."?E% De also stated that another polity named Moravia 9without the ad5ective !Great!: e/isted in the 9th century in the territory o& present8day Moravia and in the western regions o& present8day Slovakia, and the two polities were uni&ied y Svatopluk G."?E% Gn the #993s, the Dungarian historian, the late Gyula Krists also mentioned that some sources allow to suppose that Great Moravia was located around the Great Morava 7iver, south o& the 0anu e."$A% 'ater, he stated that some primary sources re&er to the e/istence o& two Moravian polities 9!Great Moravia! and !Moravia!: lying on the territories where Senga 1oru located them."#E% "edit% <eople 1he inha itants o& Great Moravia were designated Slovene, which is an old Slavic word meaning the !Slavs!."citation needed% 1he same name was used y the ancestors o& Slovaks, Slovenes and Slavonians at that time and the present8day native names o& these nations 9&or e/ample Slovensko, the Slovak name o& Slovakia: are still derived &rom the root Slovene.";% <eople o& Great Moravia were sometimes re&erred to as !Moravian peoples! y Slavic te/ts, and !Sclavi! 9i.e. the Slavs:, !=inidi! 9another name &or the Slavs:, !Moravian Slavs! or !Moravians! y 'atin te/ts. -s in all medieval states, li&e in Great Moravia was di&&icult compared to the modern standardsJ E3 percent o& men and ?3 percent o& women died e&ore reaching the age o& E3."?% Dowever, Great Moravian cemeteries also document rich nutrition and advanced health care. Gnha itants o& Great Moravia even had etter teeth than people todayJ a third o& the e/amined skeletons had no caries or lost teeth."?% Muslim geographers, when descri ing the inha itants o& Great Moravia, mentioned that 1hey are a numerous people and their dress resem les that o& the -ra s, consisting o& tur an and shirt and overcoat. 1hey have cultivated lands and seeds and vineyards 9...:. 1hey state that their num er is greater than that o& the 7um and that they are a separate nation. 1he greater part o& their trade is with -ra ia. >-hmad i n 7ustah"?2% "edit% Government and society Great Moravia was ruled y a hereditary monarch &rom the Douse o& Mo5mFr."??% De was aided y a council o& no lemen. 1he heir o& the dynasty resided in 4itra, ruling the <rincipality o& 4itra as an appanage.";%"##% De en5oyed a great deal o& autonomy, as documented y the <apal correspondence that addressed 7astislav and his heir Svatopluk in the same way. Some parts o& the Great Moravian territory were ruled y vassal princes, such as Borivo5 G o& Bohemia. 1he realm was &urther divided into counties, headed y tupans."??% 1he num er o& counties is estimated to have een ## at the eginning o& the 9th century and A3 in the second hal& o& the 9th century."??% 1his system also in&luenced the later Dungarian administrative division, o&ten with the same castles serving as the seats o& a county oth under the Great Moravian and under the later Dungarian rule."A%"#?% Dowever, historians have not

reached a consensus yet, &or e/ample, whether administrative units in the Kingdom o& Dungary 9e.g., the vZrmegye: &ollowed &oreign 9Bulgarian, Moravian or German: patterns or the administrative system was an internal innovation."?;% 1he process o& &eudali*ation in Great Moravia was o viously not a general phenomenon ut it cannot e denied especially during its highest &lourishment during the reign o& King Sv\topluk."veri&ication needed%"?@% Most o& the population was &ormed y &reemen, who were o liged to pay an annual ta/."??% Slavery and &eudal dependency are also recorded."??%"?9% -lthough no relevant historical source has een retained which would prove the e/istence o& the so called hereditary aristocracy &rom the period o& Great Moravia, written sources suggest the e/istence o& duke)s retinues and aristocracy, the mem ers o& which were the most important dignitaries and administrators 9representatives: o& the castle organi*ation."veri&ication needed%"?@% "edit% =ar&are Iery little is known a out the Great Moravian way o& war&are. Earlier By*antine sources mention the 5avelin as the &avorite weapon o& Slavic warriors.";3% Great Moravia also pro a ly employed spear and a/e armed in&antry, including the power&ul royal odyguard called dru*hina."??% 1he dru*hina was a princely retinue composed o& pro&essional warriors, who were responsi le &or collecting tri ute and punishing wrongdoers."?% Gn general, Slavs used cavalry rarely, which made them particularly vulnera le to the Magyar horse archers. 0espite a relative scarcity o& horses among the Slavs, a contemporary -ra traveler reported that Svatopluk G had plenty o& riding horses."?A% 1he Great Moravian heavy cavalry emulated the contemporary 6rankish predecessors o& knights, with the e/pensive eMuipment that only the highest social strata could a&&ord."?A% 6acing larger and etter eMuipped 6rankish armies, Slavs o&ten pre&erred am ushes, skirmishes, and raids to regular attles.";3% -n important element o& Great Moravian de&ense was to hide ehind strong &orti&ications, which were di&&icult to esiege with the then prevailing &orms o& military organi*ation. 6or e/ample, a 6rankish chronicler wrote with awe a out !7astislav)s indescri a le &ortress! that stopped a 6rankish invasion. ";#% 1he army was led y the king or, in case o& his a sence, y a commander8in8chie& called voivode. "??% "edit% .ulture "edit% -rchitecture 7uins o& a Great Moravian castle in 0ucovjGreat Moravia had an e/ceptionally developed system o& &ortresses and &orti&ied towns.";#% 1he Geographus Bavarus 9the !Bavarian Geographer!:, when listing the neigh ouring territories, mentioned Beheimare, where #2 civitates are situated. 1he Marharii have ## civitates. 1he territories o& the Iulgari are e/tensive and populated y many people and they have 2 civitateso they do not need civitates, ecause they num er so many people. 1here are people, called Merehanos, having A3 civitates. >0escription o& .ities and 'ands 4orth o& the 0anu e";$% 1he a ove sentences o& the medikval author are sometimes interpreted that A3 out o& the E# Great Moravian castles 9civitates: were situated on the territory o& present8day Slovakia and the remaining ## in Moravia.";A% 1hese num ers are also corro orated y archaeological evidence. 1he only castles which are mentioned y name in written te/ts are 4itrawa 9@$@o identi&ied with 4itra:, 0owina 9@?Eo sometimes identi&ied with 0evFn .astle: and Bre*alauspurc 993;o usually identi&ied with Bratislava .astle:.";E%"A$%";2%";?% Some sources claim that ,*hhorod in ,kraine 993A: was also a &ortress o& the empire. Many other castles were identi&ied y e/cavations. -lthough location o& the Great Moravian capital has not een sa&ely identi&ied, the &orti&ied town o& Mikulice with its palace and #$ churches is the most widely accepted candidate."2%";;% Dowever, it is

&air to note that early medieval kings spent a signi&icant part o& their lives campaigning and traveling around their realms due to the lack o& relia le administrative capacities. Gt is thus very likely that they also resided &rom time to time in other important royal estates."2$% 6or instance, 0evFn .astle is sometimes identi&ied with a !&ortress o& <rince 7astislav! mentioned in the -nnales 6uldenses."##%"$?%

.hurch o& St. Margret in Kopany, Slovakia 8 the only remaining Great Moravian uilding. Mikulice was &orti&ied in the ;th century and it later developed into a large 9$ kmu: agglomeration composed o& various villages and &orts, spread over several river islands."2%";#% 1he area enclosed y the &orti&ications was only slightly smaller than the area o& the contemporary 6rankish Emperor)s capital o& 7egens urg.";#% 1he population, estimated at $,333, lived o&& trade and cra&ts."2$% Mikulice was also a &oremost religious center, with the &irst stone churches uilt around @33.";;% 1he largest among them was a three8nave asilica with the inside dimensions A2 m y 9 m and a separate aptistery."2%"$?% 1he only church sa&ely identi&ied as Great Moravian and at the same time still remaining a ove ground is situated in near y Kopany.";@% 4itra, the second center o& the Empire, was ruled autonomously y the heir o& the dynasty as an appanage.";%"##% 4itra consisted o& &ive large &orti&ied settlements and twenty speciali*ed cra&tsmen)s villages, making it a real metropolis o& its times. .ra&ts included production o& lu/ury goods, such as 5ewelry and glass. 1he agglomeration was surrounded y a num er o& smaller &orts and religious uildings 9e.g. in 0ratovce and (o or:. Bratislava .astle had a stone two8story palace and a spacious three8nave asilica, uilt in the mid89th century."A% E/cavations o& the cemetery situated y the asilica rought &indings o& the Great Moravian 5ewelry, similar in style and Muality to that &rom Mikulice."A% 1he castle)s name was &irst recorded in 93;, during the &all o& Great Moravia, as Bre*alauspurc."$A% 1his name literally means !Braslav)s .astle! and Braslav o& <annonia was a count appointed y King -rnul& o& East 6rancia."$A% 1he sturdy 0evFn .astle, in vicinity o& Bratislava, guarded Great Moravia against &reMuent attacks &rom the =est."A% -lthough some authors claim that it was uilt only later as a stronghold o& the Kings o& Dungary,";9%"@3% e/cavations have unearthed an older Slavic &orti&ied settlement &ounded in the @th century."A% 0uring the Great Moravian period, 0evFn .astle was a seat o& a local lord, whose retainers were uried around a stone .hristian church."A% 1hese two castles were rein&orced y smaller &orti&ications in 0evFnska 4ovZ Ies, Sv\tn Hur, and elsewhere. Most Great Moravian castles were rather large hill &orts, &orti&ied y wooden palisades, stone walls and in some cases, moats. 1he typical Great Moravian ramparts com ined an outer drystone wall with an internal tim er structure &illed with earth."?% 1he &orti&ications usually &ormed several contiguous enclosures, with the elite uildings concentrated in the center and cra&ts in the outer enclosures."?% Most uildings were made o& tim er, ut ecclesiastical and residential parts were made o& stone. Sometimes, earlier, prehistoric 90evFn .astle: or 7oman 9Bratislava .astle: &orti&ications were integrated. -t least some churches 9e.g. in Bratislava, 0evFn .astle, and 4itra: were decorated y &rescoes, plausi ly painted y Gtalian masters since the chemical composition o& colors was the same as in northern Gtaly."A% Gn 4itra and Mikulice, several castles and settlements &ormed a huge &orti&ied ur an agglomeration. Many castles served as regional administrative centers, ruled y a local no leman."A% 6or e/ample, 0ucovj was the center o& the IZh river valley and (emplFn .astle controlled the (emplFn region. 1heir &orm was pro a ly inspired y .arolingian estates called curtis.

"A% 1he largest castles were usually protected y a chain o& smaller &orts. Smaller &orts 9e.g. Beckov .astle: were also uilt to protect trade routes and to provide shelter &or peasants in case o& a military attack. +nly &ew e/amples o& Great Moravian architecture are &ully preserved or reconstructed. 1he only still standing uilding is the church in Kopany, though several other early medieval churches 9&or e/ample in KostoYany pod 1ri eom, Michalovce, and 4itra: may e Great Moravian too."A% 1wo open air museums, in ModrZ near ,herskj Dradivtw and in 0ucovj, are devoted to the Great Moravian architecture. "edit% 7eligion 0ue to the lack o& written documents, very little is known a out the original Slavic religion and mythology. Several cult places used prior the .hristiani*ation are known &rom Moravia 9Mikulice and <ohansko:. Dowever, we do not know what these o 5ects, such as a ring ditch with a &ire, a horse sacri&ice, or human lim s ritually uried in a cemetery, meant &or Great Moravians."E% - cult o 5ect in Mikulice was used until the evangeli*ation o& the Moravian elite in the mid89th century and idols in <ohansko were raised on the site o& a demolished church during the pagan acklash in the #3th century. "E% 1he period o& the Great Moravian ascent in European history is associated more with the spread o& .hristianity.

@?$ .E Be&ore rothers and missionaries .onstantine 9later .yril: and Methodius 9 aptismal name unknown: le&t By*antium &or Great Moravia, .onstantine designed a script he said was suita le to represent the Slavic sounds. 1he rothers used it to translate passages &rom the Greek versions o& the 4ew 1estament, liturgy, and the 7oman law into the south8eastern version o& the Slavic language that they knew. 1he ela orate literary language o& those te/ts is now called +ld .hurch Slavic in order to distinguish it &rom the conversational language o& the time 9called Slavic or +ld Slavic: and &rom a religious language partly ased on it that developed in the Slavic By*antine and +rthodo/ .hurches several centuries later, which is now called .hurch Slavic. 9See ta le at ottom.: .entral Europe, Gtaly, the Balkans <urple x East 6rankso green x core and possi ly e/panded Great Moraviao mar led x ,gric 9later Dungarian: tri eso dark gray x Bulgariao lue x By*antiumo red dots x 7ome and .onstantinople, centers o& two competing rites o& .hristianity. @?A .E .onstantine and Methodius arrive in Great Moravia. -lthough slightly di&&erent &rom the western version o& the Slavic language used in .entral Europe, .onstantine and Methodius)s language is easy to understand there in the 9th century. 1he German clergy report on them to the Iatican charging them with the use o& an unsanctioned liturgical language. @?; .E .onstantine and Methodius arrive in 7ome. Methodius convinces <ope -drian GG that he respects the =estern 97oman: 7ite in his liturgy and that the use o& Slavic is appropriate. -drian GG approves the use o& 9+ld .hurch: Slavic liturgy. .onstantine enters a monastery in 7ome, accepts the name .yril, and

dies the &ollowing year. 1he script he has designed is later named .yrillics a&ter him. Gt develops into the modern Bulgarian, Ser ian, 7ussian, and similar alpha ets. @;3 .E Methodius goes to 7ome again, <ope -drian GG consecrates him as -rch ishop o& Sirmium 9e&&ectively, Great Moravia and lands to the south o& it: and recon&irms Slavic as a sanctioned language o& liturgy.

Great Moravia overlaid with Slovakia)s 9&ull dark line:, -ustria)s, .*ech 7epu lic)s, and Dungary)s, 9lighter dash8dotted lines: modern outlines. 0ark shading x Moravia 9le&t: and 4itra 9right:o lighter x united and e/panded Great Moraviao light shading x possi le largest e/pansion. @;A .E <artly to placate German ishops and get them to release imprisoned Methodius, <ope Hohn IGGG ans Slavic liturgy. @@3 .E Methodius is in 7ome once more, argues success&ully &or the use o& Slavic in church. <ope Hohn IGGG recon&irms him as arch ishop and allows Slavic liturgy again. @@2 .E -rch ishop Methodius dies, the German clergy secure <ope Stephen I)s an on Slavic liturgy and e/pel Methodius)s disciples &rom Great Moravia y ne/t year. 1he Iatican does not allow a language o& liturgy other than 'atin 9Greek and De rew: again until #9?2. 1he .yrillic script never returns to Slovakia and .entral Europe, ut soon egins to spread &rom By*antium and the Balkans along the Black Sea to ,kraine and 7ussia.

'anguage 4ote +ld Slavic or -ncient Slavic 9or Slavonic: Sometimes used a out the Slavic language e&ore ca. 933 .E. Slavic 9or Slavonic: - historical language until ca. the #3th century, or a modern language &amily. +ld .hurch Slavic 9or Slavonic: Slavs) religious language &rom @?A .Eo eradicated in .entral Europe a&ter @@2, ut retained in the Balkans. .hurch Slavic 9or Slavonic: By*antine and +rthodo/ religious language that developed &rom +ld .hurch Slavic in the $nd millennium. 4rchaeologists find Great Moravian rot!nda

2 -ugust $3#3 <ohansko, South Moravia, -ug E 9.1K: 8 .*ech archaeologists have une/pectedly &ound the remains o& a Great Moravian rotunda in the <ohansko settlement, Hiri Machacek, archaeology pro&essor &rom Masaryk ,niversity in Brno, said =ednesday. 1his has een the &irst Great Moravia church discovered a&ter A3 years in the .*ech 7epu lic. 1he &irst remains o& the church were &ound two years ago, however, later on it was revealed that the stone uilding had a circular shape si/ meters in diameter and there&ore was a rotunda. !Gt has turned out now that <ohansko, too, had its own rotunda. 1hese uildings were characteristic o& Great Moravian centres. 1he &ind has raised the historical importance o& <ohansko,! Machacek said. Gt has een only the second stone church revealed in the location. 4o ody e/pected a church to e on the site. -rchaeologists have een doing e/cavations close to it &or decades. Some $33 graves have een &ound near the church. E/cavations have een done in @3 o& them so &ar, revealing various items including earrings and an old a/e. <ohansko, which may e translated as !<agan <lace!, dating to the 9th century -0, is one o& the ma5or centres o& Great Moravia. Most o& the uildings was made o& wood. E/cavations in the location started some 23 years ago. Gn near y Mikulcice, #$ stone churches &rom the Great Moravian Empire have een &ound so &ar. E/cavations around the rotunda in <ohansko continue and may ring new surprising &inds, Machacek elieves. &amo5s Empire #678/6.9#:%%
$t #as located in present%day !oravia, Slovakia and &o#er Austria (probably also #estern 'ohemia, Sorbia at the (lbe

()*+), and temporarily the Slavs in ,arinthia). Samo, a -rankish merchant, #as the first Slav ruler (king) in history kno#n by nameJ 678J Samo is made king o& the Slavs a&ter a success&ul insurrection o& the Slavs 9archeological &indings suggest that at Bratislava80evFn: against -var rule in this region. c. 673J St. -rmand, a Belgian apostle and Benedict monk, is a religious missionary &or the Slavs living a ove the 0anu e 9the &irst one known y name in Slovakia:. 68+J Battle at =ogastis urg 9an unknown castle:J Samo de&eats the 6rankish king 0ago ert and su seMuently invades 1huringia 9in present8day Germany: several times. 686J Samo is de&eated y the 1huringian duke 7adul&. 6,+J 7adul&, a&ter he has created an own independent state, comes to terms with Samoms Empire. 6.99C:J Samo dies.

4n obsc!re period #6.9 ; late 9th cent!ry%

6.9 B late 9th cent!ryJ 1he &urther history o& the empire o& Samo and o& the -vars is unknown. -rchaeological &indings suggest that Samoms Empire pro a ly ceased to e/ist, ecause the -vars returned to southern Slovakia and entered into a sym iosis with the Slavs. +ther parts o& Slovakia, however, remain under Slavic in&luence. 1he Slav settlements o& Samoms Empire are largely identical with those o& the later Moravian and 4itrian principalities 9see elow:, so that the e/istence o& some unknown Slavic states covering this o scure period is pro a le in this territory. <,. 8 <9,J .hristiani*ation activities per&ormed y -nglo8Sa/on B Grish8Scottish missions 9starting &rom Bavaria: reaches its height and reaches Slovak territory.

Nitrian Principality, Moravian Principality and the fall of the 4vars #late 9th cent!ry / 988%
$nd hal& o& the 9th cent!ryJ .astles 9actually &orti&ied settlements: arise in present8day Moravia and Slovakia 9in Slovakia, this happens all over the present8day Slovak territory, even in the mountains and in the east:. -t the same time, archaelogy shows that a social jlite starts to arise 9 oth in Moravia and in Slovakia:, and that the cultural in&luence o& the 6rankish Empire is strong. $ Slav principalities are emergingJ 1he 4itrian <rincipality "initially in todayms western and central Slovakia and in parts o& northern central Dungaryo see @33 B @A3o &irst written re&erence in @$@o center at 4itra % and the Moravian <rincipality "originally in todayms eastern southern Moravia and a strip o& western Slovakia, &irst written re&erence in @$$o center may e at Mikulice 9today at the Moravian8Slovak order:%. 1hey pro a ly arise as the result o& activities aimed at li eration &rom the -vars. -rchaeological &indings suggest that 4itrian principality surely e/isted already around ;;2, ut it had to do homage to the -vars 9see ;92:. <99J 1he -var =ar 9;@@K;9# 8 ;9?K@3A: etween the 6rankish and the -var Empire egins, a&ter Bavaria 9up to the Enns river at that time: has een anne/ed y the 6rankish king .harlemagne. <arallely .harlemagne &ights against the Sa/ons 9;;$8@3E:, 0anes 9@3@8@#3:, Slavs at the El e and the .*echs 9;@98@3?: <3=J 1he 6rankish Empire and the -var Empire do not reach an agreement concerning their common order. -s a result, see ;9#. <3+J 1he -var =ar enters into a new phase B the 6rankish Empire tries to e/pand in <annonia and starts a series o& attacks against the -vars. 6rom Septem er to 4ovem er .harlemagne starts a success&ul attack along oth sides o& the 0anu e and he returns home a&ter he has reached the mouth o& the 7Z a 9and the IZh: 7iver. -s a result he e/tends 6rankish territory up to the =iener =ald. .harlemagne undertakes this attack together with ysome Slavsy B may e Ser s or Moravians and 4itrians or .*echso i& they were Moravians and 4itrians, then this marks the end o& -var supremacy over them, see also ;92. <3+9some sources:J zEastern 7ugiay, i.e. the territory etween the 0anu e and the 0y5e 7ivers, is granted to the arising Moravian principality, may e as a reward &or help provided to .harlemagne in the -var =ar. -ccording to other sources this territory was only anne/ed to Moravia in @2A8@2E. <3.J 1he main leader o& the -vars B the kaghan B is assassinated ecause o& the ad course o& the war against the 6rankish Empire since ;9# and the resulting internal &euds o& -var commanders. 1aking advantage o& these internal &euds, the Slavs &rom the arising principalities o& 4itra and Moravia get rid o& -var supremacy 9i& it did not happen already 9see: in ;9#:, and the leader o& the westernmost part o& the -var Empire 9may e identical with the person (odan B see @3A: more or less etrays the remaining -vars, thus ena ling a small 6rankish troop led y the 9till today unknown: Slav z=onomyrusy B &or the &irst time 8 to penetrate to the capital o& the -vars in <annonia 9may e in todayms northern Ser ia:, to devastate it, and to

capture the legendary -var treasury. 1his will also ena le the success&ul 6rankish campaign ne/t year. <3.K<36J 1he leader o& the western -vars comes to .harlemagne together with many -vars. 1hey are christiani*ed and sent home. Gt is pro a le that also the Slavs around the 6rankish Empire, who were also mostly more or less vassals o& the 6rankish Empire, were christiani*ed as well at the end o& the @th century. <36J =hen <ippin, the son o& .harlemagne, comes to present8day northern Ser ia to de&initively de&eat the -vars, their newly elected kaghan capitulates, ut a large part o& the -vars, who disagree with this, retreat to the east 9 ehind the 1is*a 7iver:. <ippin devastates the -var capital once again 9see ;92:. .harlemagne declares the -var =ar terminated, ut in reality it will go on uno&&icially during the &ollowing years. 6rom now on, the -var territory splits in $ parts B the western 9christiani*ed: one will e under 6rankish in&luence and the eastern one under the in&luence o& Bulgaria. 0uring the &irst decades o& the 9th century the -var Empire will cease 9last re&erence in @$$, see elow:. -lso in ;9?, a synod o& ysome ishopsy is convened y <ippin to a military camp at the 0anu e in the conMuered <annonia to discuss .hristiani*ation and ecclesiastic organi*ation o& the newly8su 5ugated areas. 1he resulting organi*ation is as &ollowsJ the -Muileian patriarchate is responsi le &or the territory to the south o& the 0rave 7iver, the ishop o& Sal* urg 9see also ;9@: is responsi le &or the territory etween the 0rave and the 7Z a 7iver 9i. e. 'ower <annonia:, and the ishop o& <assau 9&ounded c. ;A9: is responsi le &or the territory to the north o& the 0rave, i. e. ,pper <annonia plus present8day Slovakia, Moravia and parts o& 'ower -ustria a ove the 0anu e. {uarrels will arise concerning this division, ut it will e con&irmed in @## y .harlemagne. -nyway, East 6rankish priests ecome the main .hristian missionaries in Slovakia and Moravia, although there will e also missionaries &rom the By*antine 0almatia and &rom -Muileia 9in Gtaly:. -&ter ;9?, the conMuered territory is also divided among $ yprae&ecti provinciarum, comites etiam atMue legatiy, Gerold 9to the north o& the 0rave 7iver: and duke Erich o& 6riaul 9to the south o& the 0rave river:. <3<94ovem er:J Some 9pro a ly western: -vars do homage to the 6rankish king at Deristelli. <39J Great Sal* urg is declared an arch ishopric, the ishopric o& <assau thus eing su ordinated to Sal* urg. 1he &irst arch ishops o& Sal* urg will e -rno ;9@8@$#, -dalram @$#8@A?, 'iutprand @A?8@29, -dalwin @298@;A, -dal ert @;A, and 0ietmar G @;A893;. 1he ishops o& <assau in the 9th century will e Datto @3?8 @#;, 7eginhar @#@8@A@, Dartwig @E38@??, Ermanrich @??8@;E, Engelmar @;28@99, =iching @9@8@99, and 7ichar @99893A. 1he &irst order y .harlemagne to -rno is to undertake .hristiani*ation missions. <33J -n uprising o& the western -vars against the 6rankish in&luence arises and is de&eated in the same year 9or @3$K@3A:. c. 9==J 6irst stone constructions 8 churches and rotundas (and one basilica in Mikulice[at present-day Moravian-Slovak border]) appear in settlements along the March 9Morava: 7iver. 1hese might have arisen under the in&luence o& Grish8 Scottish or o& By*antine 0almatian missionaries. 4ote that they arose e&ore 9see: @?A. See also @$@. c. 9==8968J - new phase o& .hristiani*ation takes place in present8day Slovakia and Moravia. Gt is characteri*ed y a stronger penetration o& .hristianity than during the previous centuries. Gt has een ena led y the de&eat o& the -vars. eginning o& the 3th cent!ryJ 7emainings o& the -vars survive in southern Slovakia in the region around KomZrno. c. 9==898=J 1he territory o& the 4itrian primcipality e/pands and comprises whole present8day Slovakia, western 7uthenia and parts o& present8day northern Dungary. 1he iggest centers &ound till today areJ in western SlovakiaJ4itra, Bratislava 9parts 0evFnska 4ovZ Ies, 0evFn:, <o edimo in eastern Slovakia and 7utheniaJ Brekov and (emplFno and in northern present8day DungaryJ 6elde r|. Gt is possi le that eastern Slovakia and 7uthenia ecame parts o& the principality only later 9that is already as parts o& 9see elow: Great Moravia:, however Slavic castles were there in the early 9 th century. 9=8J 1he -vars de&initively stop to e 6rankish enemies, a&ter .harlemagne has sent a troop to <annonia and z(odan, the <rince o& <annoniay has done homage to .harlemagne. (odan is accompanied y many Slavs and -vars, who also do homage to the king. 9=,J 1he eastern -vars are attacked and de&eated y Bulgaria. Gn this connection the -vars reveal that the cause o& the end o& the -var Empire were internal Muarrels, corruption and hard drinking o& wine. 9=. or 9=6J +ne o& the 9may e eastern: -var leaders, 1heodorus, asks .harlemagne 9since @33 called yemperory: to allow the -vars, who 8 e/hausted y &ights with the Slavs 9yin&estationes Sclavorumy , esp. @3$8@32: 8 cannot live in their old seats anymore, to settle etween S*om athely and .arnuntum, i. e. at the eastern 6rankish order, as a small 6rankish u&&er state against the Slavs o& the Moravian and 4itrian principalities. .harlemagne complies with the reMuest. 1he remaining 9eastern: -vars will e de&eated y Slavs andKor disappear in the Bulgarian Empire. 6rom now on, the -vars are no relevant &actor in <annonia anymore. -t the end o& the year, the 6rankish Empire issues a 9Eth: an on the e/port o& weapons to the Slavs and the -vars 9previous such ans &or the Slavs appeared in ;;9, ;@# and @3A, another one will appear in @##:. 1hese ans show that the power o& the Slavic <rinces is Muite high already.

9=.J 1he Bavarian historian Hohannes -ventinus 9#E;;8#2AE: will write in the #?th century that in @32 the Bratislava .astle was repaired during the reign o& its lord, <rince Iratislav, 9on the place o& the ruins o& an old 7oman settlement allegedly called <isonium: and was named =ratissla urgium. G& this is true, <rince Iratislav is 8 a&ter Samo 9see ?2@: 8 only the second Slavic historical &igure known &rom the Middle 0anu e region. 9=6J Moravia is not mentioned among the countries paying homage to the 6rankish Empire in .harlemagnems .rdinatio imperii. 9++J .harlemagne sends troops to <annonia to settle Muarrels etween the -vars and the Slavs zsettled around the 0anu ey. 1his might e the &irst historic re&erence to todayms Slovaks 9princeps -varum et tudunum et alii primores ac duces Sclavorum circa 0anu iam ha itantium:. 6rankish troops succeed in this and ring to -achen representatives o& oth parties. Gt is unknown how .harlemagne then solved the Muarrels o& the two parties. 9+<J 1he new 6rankish emperor 'ouis the <ious puts the &ollowing territories under ycontroly o& his son, the Bavarian king 'ouis the GermanJ Bavaria, .arinthia, Bohemia, -varia and Slavs living to the east o& Bavaria 9 'aioariam et ,arentanos et 'oheimos et Avaros at/ue Sclavves, /ui ab orientali parte 'aioariae sunt :. 4ote however that in reality only Bavaria was a direct part o& the 6rankish Empire. 977J <articipants o& the diet at 6rank&urt , who are doing homage to the 6rankish emperor, are B among others B the am assadors o& the 9already Slavi*i*ed: -vars, the Moravians 9Marvanorum: and the Bohemians. 1his is the last re&erence to the -vars and the &irst re&erence to the Moravians in history. c. 97.J <ri ina 9<riwina, <rivina, <riuuinna: ecomes the <rince o& the 4itrian <rincipality 9see $nd hal& o& the @th century:. 979J Gn 4itra 94itrava: 8 in the 4itrian <rincipality 9Slovakia: B a church is consecrated y -dalram, the arch ishop o& Sal* urg 9see ;9?, ;9@:. 1his is the &irst written re&erence to a .hristian church o& =estern and Eastern Slavs 9the te/t is the .onversio Bagoariorum et .arantanorum 9@;3::. Gt is disputed whether <ri ina himsel& had een already apti*ed or not or whether he was apti*ed only y Grish8Scottish missionaries, which was considered an insu&&icient aptism y the 6ranconians, ecause it was done using ordinary water. Gn any case he will e 9re: apti*ed in 1raismauer a&ter he has een e/pelled &rom 4itra 9see @AA:. 973J 'ouis the German divides central Europe as &ollowsJ 1he Bishopric o& <assau receives present8day Moravia and Slovakia 9yterritory to the west o& the 7a ica and 7a a riversy: and the -rch ishopric o& Sal* urg <annonia a ove the 0rave river 9ythe territories to the east and to the south o& the a ove mentioned riversy:. c.98=9some sources 988:J Mo5mFr G 9Moimay, Moymar: ecomes the <rince o& the Moravian principality. 98+J-ccording to the .onversio Bagoariorum et .arantanorum 9@;3:, 7eginhar, the Bishop o& <assau, apti*es all the Moravians 9 y which however the military leaders o& the Moravians are meant:. See also ;9?.

Great Moravia #988 / 3=<>37=>3..% and the "alaton principality #983/ 9<6>3=+%
Great Moravia /Politics

Mo?m@r ' #988 / 9,6%

c. 988J Mo5mFr G, the duke o& the Moravian principality 9 apti*ed pro a ly a&ter @#@:, anne/es the 4itrian <rincipality, thus creating a new state known as zGreat Moraviay 9see 9E@892$:. <ri ina, the duke o& the 4itrian <rincipality, and his &ollowers, is e/pelled &rom 4itra 9see .J Balaton principality:. Source o& this in&ormation is the .onversio Bagoariorum et .arantanorum 9@;3:. 1he 4itrian <rincipality immediately ecomes an apanage principality within Great Moravia and will e ruled y mem ers o& the ruling Moravian family. Some castles of the itrian principality! such as "obedim and #ingov! are destroyed (temporarily). 9,89or around 9.=A some sources say @#;:J 1he undated anonymous document y0escriptio, .ivitatum et 7egionum ad septentrionalem plagam 0anu itiy 9called the Bavarian Geograph: descri es territories situated to the north o& the 0anu e and neigh oring on the East 6rankish Empire. Gt mentions that the Slavs in present8day Slovakia "the Merehanos% have A3, in Moravia "the Marharii% ##, in Bohemia #2, and Bulgaria "Iulgarii regio% has 2 castles 9or rather castle counties:. -rchaelogical &inds o& castles 9&orti&ied settlements: &rom the Mo5mFr G period almost e/actly con&irm these num ers. +lder sources assumed that the original te/t was written in @#; and the part on the Merehanos was added only in @@$8@@AK@@9, so that the Merehanos is only another name &or the Marharii a&ter they have e/panded their territory mainly to Slovakia and =islania.

Rastislav #9,6 / 9<=%

9,6J 'ouis the German, the king o& the newly 9in @EA: created Eastern 6rankish Empire, invades Great Moravia, removes Mo5mFr and makes 7astislav 97astic, 7asticlao, 7astislaus: 9Mo5mFrms nephew: the new king. 7astislav is thus the second king o& the Mo5mFr dynasty. 'ouis permanently seeks to e/tract tri ute &rom Great Moravia and to in&luence its internal a&&airs. c. 9.= B 9..J 7astislav is not su ordinate to 'ouis the German anymore and is even involved in struggles &or power in the East 6rankish Empire helping the adversaries o& 'ouis. Bavarian priests are e/pelled &rom Great Moravia. Gn this connection the Synod o& Main* o& @2$ discusses Bamong other things 8 .hristiani*ation in Great Moravia y 6rankish clergy and states that it is already a .hristian country, although the .hristianity there is yrudey, i.e. only super&icial 9other sources translate this as violent:. 1he decree o& the Synod implies that neither the king nor the Synod have 9presently: power over Great Moravia. mid/3th cent!ryJ Gmportant regional centers o& Great Moravia on the territory of Slovakia are (see also $%%-$&%)' itra (a big center)! (ratislava (proper)! )ev*n (in (ratislava+ several castles+ seat of a prince , maybe of -astislav)! )ucov. (largely de-facto replacing "obedim)! Mu/0a! Star1 2ekov! 3volen-M4tov5! )etva-6alam5rka! #ingov! )reven*k! ari7sk. Sokolovce! (rekov! 6us*n! 3empl*n! 8y7ehrad! 9ronsk1 (e:adik (several castles). . . 9.89some sources:J Slavs 9including Great Moravia: together with the Bulgarians rise against 'ouis the German, ut are de&eated 9.889.,9some sources:J 7astislav occupies the territory etween the 0anu e and the 0y5e 7iver. See ;9#. 9..J 'ouis the German &irst sends a small troop to Bohemia to prevent the Bohemians &rom helping Great Moravia and then invades Great Moravia and is de&eated y 7astislav 9pro a ly at Bratislava80evFn:. 7astislav even devastates the Eastern March o& the East 6rankish Empire. late 9.=msJ Sv\topluk 9Sventopulk, (ventapu:, the nephew o& 7astislav, ecomes the <rince o& 4itra 9see @AA, @?;:. 9.<J .arloman, the count o& the Eastern March and son o& 'ouis the German, loots in Moravia up to the Svratka 7iver. .arloman ecame count o& the Eastern March in @2?, one o& his allies was the unknown yBrynno, petty king o& the =eneds 9Slavs:y, who was settled at the 0anu e. 9.9J 7astislav ecomes an ally o& .arloman in connection with a re ellion o& Bavarian no les 9led y the &ormer count o& the Eastern March count 7at od: against 'ouis the German, the re ellion is de&eated. -&ter @2@, 7astislav receives &rom .arloman north8eastern 1ransdanu ia, i.e. the <ilis region in present8day Dungary. 96=896+K968J .arloman 8 again supported y 7astislav 8 together with the Bavarian magnate Ernest &ight against .arlomanms &ather 'ouis the German 8 supported y <ri ina 8 and conMuer large parts o& his empire 9yas &ar as the river Gnny:. Gn this connection, Great Moravian troops invade the Balaton principality and <ri ina dies 9or is killed: in @?#. Ernest is de&eated in @?#, .arloman in @?A. 968K96,J .yril and Methodius arrive. &ee

"%

967J 6irst invasions o& the nomadic old Dungarians against the East 6rankish Empire B the old Dungarians are in <annonia &or the &irst time 9see @@#:. 96,J 7astislav, esieged at the 0evFn castle 90owina, present8day Bratislava80evFn:, is temporarily &orced y 'ouis the German to acknowledge his supremacy over Great Moravia, ut in the ne/t year, he is again 'ouisms enemy and an ally o& his enemies. 1his is the &irst written re&erence to the important archaeological site B the 0evFn .astle in Bratislava. 96.8966J Gn @?2, 'ouis the German reorgani*es the administration o& his empire and divides it among his A sons. Dis son .arloman ecomes the administrator o& East 6rankish marches situated along the 0anu e 9zagainst the Slavsy: and in Bavaria. Gn @??, 'ouis 5unior, another 'ouis the Germanms son, some o& whose territories have een shi&ted to .arloman, starts a re ellion against his &ather and asks 7astislav to help him, ut 7astislav re&uses to do this. 1his is considered to e a proo& o& 7astislav}s independence on the 6rankish Empire. 96<J 7astislav con&ers in &ie& to Sv\topluk all eastern parts o& Great Moravia, i.e. asically present8day Slovakia, 9see late @23ms, @AA: in connection with an 9unsuccess&ul: East 6rankish attack to Great Moravia. 1hus Great Moravia is actually divided in two parts. 96989639spring:J .arloman undertakes looting raids in Great Moravia, trying to take advantage o& the @?; division. 9639-ugust:J 'ouis the German launches a huge campaign against all Slavs settled at the 6rankish order. 6or e/ample, his son .harles is sent to Moravia to &ight against 7astislav and his other son .arloman to 4itra to &ight against Sv\topluk, oth 7astislav and Sv\topluk de&eat the enemies 9although Great Moravia is devastated considera ly:.

9<= 9 eginning o&:J 1he <ope makes Methodius 9see "% :the <opems legate and arch ishop o& <annonia and Great Moravia.

East Bran0ish occ!pation #winter 9<=>9<+%

9<=J Sv\topluk changes his mind and acknowledges East 6rankish supremacy over his 4itrian principality. De has 7astislav 9attempting to have Sv\topluk killed: captured and gives him up to the 6ranks 9in 4ovem er, he is linded and imprisoned &or li&e:. 1he 6ranks 9.arloman: occupy 7astislavms western part o& Great Moravia 9see @AA, @?;: and send own people there 9esp. the counts =ilhelm and Engelschalk: to rule present8day Moravia. Sv\topluk, having hoped to ecome the ruler o& whole Great Moravia 9i.e. incl. present8day Moravia:, re&uses to accept this occupation and he 8 as well as Methodius 9 see "% : 8 are imprisoned.

&lavom@r #9<+%
9<+9summer:J 6acing a Great Moravian uprising against 6rankish supremacy in the summer, led y the priest Slavomir &rom the Mo5mFr dynasty who is proclaimed <rince o& Great Moravia, the 6ranks try to use Sv\topluk, released &rom prison, to help them to suppress the insurrection as the leader o& 6rankish troops sent to Great Moravia. But Sv\topluk de&ects to the other side, totally de&eats the East 6ranconians 9Bavarians: and ecomes king 9actually <rince: o& Great Moravia. Sv\toplukms victory means the end o& supremacy o& the East 6rankish king and ishops in Great Moravia.

&vCtopl!0 #9<+ / 93,%

9<=K9<+J 7astislav dies while he is still a prisoner o& 'ouis the German. 9<+9+cto er:J Gn southern Bohemia, Bavarian troops attack a Great Moravian wedding suit ringing a Bohemian ride to Great Moravia 9pro a ly a ride &or Sv\topluk: and capture ??E horses and shields. Great Moravia pro a ly conducts retaliatory attack, which in turn lead to 6rankish invasions in 9see: @;$. 9<7J Sv\topluk de&eats $ invasions o& 'ouis the GermanJ Gn May an invasion o& 1huringians and Sa/ons, which &ailed that much, that even Moravian women were a le to eat the enemies with ludgeons. Gn the summer, the upset 'ouis sends the 1huringians and Sa/ons together with other 6ranks 9led y the Bishop -rno and Sigihart, the a ot o& the 6ulda monastery: as well as Bavarians 9led y .arloman: to Great Moravia again, ut the 1huringianBSa/on86rankish troops are totally de&eated and the Bavarians, sent to loot in Great Moravia during the &ights, are also de&eated y a surprising capture o& their guards and ships, anchored on the 0anu e and waiting &or the return o& the Bavarians. 9<=)sJ Sv\topluk uilds up pro&essional armored cavalry units. 1o support these, he reorgani*es Moravian society, esta lishing a model that would later e &ollowed in ";emyslid (ohemia. c. 9<8J -n in&ormant providing in&ormation &or a ook o& -l&red the Great, the king o& the English =esse/, collects in&ormation in .entral Europe. 1he ook 'ook hich is ,alled .rosius written in @@@8@9;, provides a per&ect description o& central Europe and a con&irmation o& the then localisation o& Great Moravia. De writes that the western neigh ors o& the Moravians are the 1huringians, the Bohemians and a part o& the Bavarianso the .arinthians are to the south on the other side o& the 0anu eo and the =islanians are the "north%eastern neigh ours. 1o the east o& the .arinthians there is a waste land "present8day central and eastern Dungary% and ehind the waste land there is Bulgaria. 1he waste land etween .arinthia and Bulgaria is also mentioned in another place in the te/t, where it is descri ed as eing situated to the north o& Gstria, which in turn is to the north o& 0almatia. 9<,J 1he <eace o& 6orchheim is concluded etween Sv\toplukms envoys 9led y the priest Hohn o& Ienice: and 'ouis the German in return &or regular payments 9other sourcesJ one8time payment: to 'ouis. 6rom now on, Sv\topluk can egin to conMuer huge new territories 9see .: :, thus turning Great Moravia into an empire 9also called Sv\toplukms Empire:. 9<.J Gn the course o& his campaign against the y<rince o& =islania 9Iistule country:y 9@;E8@;9:, Sv\topluk conMuers =islania 9see .::. 9<6J -&ter the death o& 'ouis the German, the East 6rankish Empire is divided among his A sons. +ne o& his sons, .arloman, receives Bavaria, <annonia, .arinthia and B only as a 6rankish am ition 8 ecomes responsi le &or the ykingdoms o& the Slavs and o& the Bohemiansy 9i. e. Great Moravia and Bohemia:. Gn addition, -rnul& o& .arinthia, the illegitimate son o& .arloman, ecomes the margrave o& .arinthia 9i.e. app. the territory to the south o& the Eastern March:. late 9<3 or early 99=J Great Moravia tries to su divide its territory into dioceses &or the &irst time. 1he 'atin clergy manages to persuade Sv\topluk and his dukes to elect =iching the &irst ishop o& Great Moravia. Dis seat will e 4itra 9in Slovakia:. 1hus, 4itra ecomes a ishopric and =iching Methodiusm only known su&&ragan. 99=J 1he pope, in his letter Gndustriae tuae 9see .::, complies with Sv\toplukms reMuest and Great Moravia is given as &ie& to St <eter 9i.e. to the <apacy:. Gn terms o& international law, this patronage makes Great Moravia eMual to other independent countries and domination y the East 6rankish Empire is re5ected. 6rom now on Sv\topluk is a ykingy not only de8&acto 9i.

e. as Great Moravian chie& <rince:, ut also de iure. 99=J Elsewhere, .harles GGG the 6at 9@;?8 @@;:, the youngest son o& 'ouis the German, ecomes the neigh oring king o& Great Moravia a&ter the death o& .arloman. Gn @@# he is granted the title emperor. Gn @@$ 9a&ter the death o& his $nd rother: he ecomes the only king o& the East 6rankish Empire. -rnul& o& .atinthia is still the count 9margrave: o& .arinthia 9see @;?:. 99=9some sourcesJ e&ore 9<3:J Sv\topluk anne/es Silesia 9see .::. c. 99+J 1he &irst monastery is &ounded in Slovakia in 4itra on the (o or hill. Gt is a Benedictine monastery. c. 99+J Sv\topluk anne/es present8day Dungary to the east o& the 0anu e and to the south o& the 1is*a 91isa: river . See @@$. 9Some sources ignore this event and say that this territory was only conMuered in @@$:. 99+J 1he nomadic old Dungarians seen in the .arpathian asin &or a second time 9see @?$: 8 this time close to Iienna 8 per&orming their looting raids. Methodius meets them on his way to .onstantinople. 997 J Sv\topluk invades the East March o& the East 6rankish Empire as an ally o& .harles GGG the 6at 9see @@3: in order to support the 6rankish count -ri o9n:, and, in addition, Sv\topluk de&eats the Bulgarianss trying to retake their territories conMuered y Sv\topluk in 9see: @@#. Gn detail, the &ollowing happenedJ .harles the 6at had replaced the sons o& the counts =ilhelm and Engelschalk 9see also @;3: in the East March y count -ri o. -s a result, serious con&licts arose in the East March, the sons o& =ilhelm and Engelschalk decided to get rid o& -ri o y &orce, and Sv\topluk ecame -ri oms ally. Su seMuently, the sons o& =. -nd E. e/pelled -ri o, Sv\topluk invaded the properties o& the Engelschalk &amily ehind the Kamp river, and .harles the 6at appointed -ri o a count again. 1he =ilhelms and Engelschalks escaped to their ally, -rnul& o& .arinthia 9see @;?:, in <annonia, started to prepare an attack against Sv\topluk 9see however @@A:, and -rnul& persuaded the Bulgarians to attack Sv\topluk. 9989some sources 9978998:J Sv\topluk}s troops invade <annonia 9territory o& -rnul& o& .arinthia:, devastate and occupy it 9&or the moment only preliminarily 8 with military garrisons:. See @@E 99,J Gn the summer, Sv\topluk invades <annonia again 9 ecause -rnul& tries to reconMuer it:, de&eats the East 6ranconians at the attle at the 7a a river, and devastates ad5acent territories around the Balaton lake. Su seMuently, in the autumn, .harles the 6at 9see @@$ summer: negotiates with Sv\topluk pro a ly on the .huom erg 9mons .omianus: near the =iener =ald in the East March. 1he arch ishop Methodius pro a ly also participates in the negotiations. -s a result, permanent peace is concluded etween the East 6ranconians and Great Moravians, and Sv\topluk is allowed to anne/ present8day western Dungary 91ransdanu ia, more e/actly, the territory etween the 0rave 7iver in the south, =iener =ald in the west, Great Moravia in the north and the 0anu e in the east:. <arallely, .harlesm vassal, <rince Braslav 9see also @9?:, is granted the territory etween the 0rave and the Sava river, and -rnul& o& .arinthia 9see @;?, @@2, @@;: Bavaria. 99.J Sv\topluk makes peace with -rnul& o& .arinthia 9who is already planning to ecome the king o& the East 6rankish Empire 8 see @@;:, partly also ecause Sv\topluk is the god&ather o& -rnul&ms 9illegitimate: son (uenti olch 9(uenti old, i. e. Sv\topluk:, the later king o& 'orraine. 99.9-pril ?:J 0eath o& arch ishop Methodius, the main critic o& Sv\toplukms personal li&e. 99<J Elsewhere, -rnul& o& .arinthia ecomes the king o& the East 6rankish Empire 9till 0ec. @99: a&ter the deposition o& .harles GGG the 6at. 9999or 993)' (o;ivo<! the "rince of (ohemia! dies! and Sv=topluk becomes also the ruler of (ohemia in the name of (o;ivo<>s minor sons. 999 8 993J 1ensions arise etween Sv\topluk and -rnul& o& .arinthia, the new East 6rankish king 9see @@;:, who is o&ten at the Blatnohrad castle 9see . and @@E: in order to prevent Sv\topluk &rom looting in south8western 1ransdanu ia. See also @938 e&ore the Easter. 9939some sources:J 1he old Dungarians seen in the .arpathian Basin &or a third time 9see also @?$, @@#:. 1hey loot in Great Moravia and in the East 6rankish Empire. 93=9 e&ore the Easter:J Sv\topluk concludes 9a short8lived: peace with -rnul& o& .arinthia on the y+muntesperchy Dill 9may e present8day -mandhegy8<annonhalma or +muntesdor&: where also an assem ly o& the East 6rankish no les takes place. -s a result, the East 6ranconians 9-rnul&: accept Sv\toplukms anne/ation o& Bohemia. Su seMuently, Sv\topluk also anne/es 'usatia 9ne/t to Bohemia:. Gn addition, at +muntesperch Sv\topluk 9on reMuest o& the <ope Stephen IG through the mediation o& ishop =iching in 4itra: persuades -rnul& to come to 7ome to help the <ope to &ight against -ra pirates. 93+J 4ew tensions arise etween Sv\topluk and -rnul& o& .arinthia, pro a ly ecause o& Sv\toplukms anne/ation o& 'usatia 9see @93:. =iching leaves 4itra and ecomes a servant o& -rnul& o& .arinthia 9according to some sources, this happens only

in Huly @9$: and in @9$ he will e appointed king -rnul&)s .hancellor. -rnul& sends envoys 9incl. =iching: to Sv\topluk to renew the peace etween them, which is renewed &ormally, ut see @9$. 937J -rnul&, moving &rom ,lm to the East March, asks Sv\topluk to come to meet him, ut Sv\topluk ignores this and even &ights against the East 6ranconians in <annonia, so that -rnul& decides to launch a large attack against Great Moravia 9see elow:. 937 9Huly:J 6rankish, Bavarian, Swa ian troops and troops o& Braslav 9see e. g. @9?:, sent y -rnul& o& .arinthia, attack Great Moravia &or # month. Dungarian troops have to e added to -rnul&ms troops, ecause the original troops turn out to e insu&&icient. -rnul&ms troops &ail to de&eat Great Moravia, so they only maraud in the country, and they even have to &ree the old Dungarians, who have een esieged y Great Moravians. 937 9Septem er: B 9389spring:J -rnul& }s envoys visit the Bulgarian tsar Iladimir to ask him to impose a lockade on e/ports o& 1ransylvanian salt to Great Moravia 9389summer:J Sv\topluk de&eats -rnul& o& .arinthia, a&ter he has marauded in Great Moravia again. 1his time, the reason &or -rnul&ms attack was that the no le &amilies o& the son o& Engelschalk 9who had kidnapped -rnul&ms daughter: and o& his uncle =ilhelm 9see @@$: started to ecome allies o& Great Moravia and -rnul& wanted to prevent this

Mo?m@r '' #93, ; c) 3=6% and the fall of Great Moravia #3=</3=9%
93,9summer:J Sv\topluk dies, his son Mo5mFr GG ecomes the new king and his son Sv\topluk GG is con&erred the 4itrian <rincipality 9see e. g. @AA:. Gn @92 or @9?, the $ sons will &all out with each other, thus weakening the empire. Sv\topluk GG is supported y the Bavarians. Gt is not sure whether Sv\topluk had a Ard son at this time 9some sources suggest that yes and that he was called <redslav 9<redeslaus: and received another principality within Great Moravia, may e Bratislava 9see under Distory o& Bratislava:. Some rare sources suggest that Sv\topluk GG was the new king, and not Mo5mFr GG. 'ater legends 9the Kosmos .hronicle: say that Sv\topluk did not die, ut went to a monastery at the (o or hill in 4itra 93,9autumn:J 1he old Dungarians, taking advantage o& the new situation in Great Moravia, undertake intensive looting raids there 9acording to some less relia le sourcesJ -s a result Great Moravia looses <annonia:. Gn addition, Mo5mFr GG concludes peace with -rnul& o& .arinthia and pro a ly renounces to <annonia, i.e. present8day western Dungary 9de&initively lost to the old Dungarians in @9?: 93.J Bohemia reaks away &rom Great Moravia 9gets rid o& Great Moravian troops: and at the diet in 7egens urg, in Huly, pays homage to -rnul& o& .arinthia, the king o& the East 6rankish Empire, and promises to e his vassals. 936J +ld Dungarians &rom -sia settle in the region around the 1is*a 7iver and easily conMuer southeastern parts o& Great Moravia in the 1is*a region. -s a result, the East 6rankish king -rnul& o& .arinthia charges his Slav vassal Braslav 9Br\slav, Bra*lawo until then a 'ower <annonian <rince since @@39C:Ko&&icially 9see: @@E : with the administration o& south8western 1ransdanu ia with a center in Blatnohrad 9see 0:. 1his territory will e however also conMuered y the old Dungarians in 93# 9see 0:. Braslav is pro a ly the person who gave the Slovak capital Bratislava its German name Bre*alauspurc 9see 93;:, later <ress urg, and may e also its new Slovak name Bratislava, which might suggest that he 9or a person o& the same name: was a lord o& Bratislava castle in the late 9th century. See also c. 992K#33$ 93690ecem er:J Envoys o& Great Moravia visit -rnul& and ask him not to violate mutual peace agreements y providing asylum &or re&ugees &rom Great Moravia 9i. e. may e Bohemians:. -rnul& con&irms his &riendship towards Great Moravia. 93<9 eginning o&:J 'usatia pays homage to -rnul& o& .arinthia in Sal* urg 9see @92: 9i. e. reaks away &rom Great Moravia: as the Sa/on 'iudolphines attack along the Saale and the Davel rivers 93<9some sources @99:J -nother delegation &rom Bohemia 9see @92: appears in 7egens urg and complains a out oppression y the Moravians. <erhaps as a result, Mo5mFr GG &ails to recapture Bohemia. 93<J Sv\topluk GG visits -rnul& o& .arinthia in =orms. -rnul& ecomes his ally 939J Mo5mFr GG attacks Sv\topluk GG, ut -rnul& sends Bavarian troops led y the no les 'iut ald and -ri o to help Sv\topluk GG, so that Mo5mFr GG is temporarily de&eated. 1he Muarrels etween the $ rothers are &omented y the Bavarians count -ri o 9see also @@$: and his son Gsanrich 9son8in8law o& king -rnul& o& .arinthia:, who were o&ten seen at the central court o& Great Moraviams rulers. 939J Mo5mFr GG asks the <ope Hohn G~ to send legates to enhance the independence o& the Great Moravian ecclesiastic province, ecause a&ter ishop =ichingms departure in @9#, there was no ishop, and a&ter Methodiusm death in @@2 no arch ishop. Bavarian ishops 9and especially =iching, who was to ecome the ishop o& <assau, which happened in Septem er @9@: are against this, ecause they consider Great Moravia ytheiry territory. See @99

93989339winter:J 1he Bavarians B upset y Mo5mFr GGms reMuest to the <ope 9see a ove: 8 devastate Great Moravia. 9339early spring:J -&ter the retreat o& the Bavarians, Mo5mFr GG esieges Sv\topluk GG at some castle 9339spring:J 1he Bavarians attack Great Moravia again, this time to help Sv\topluk GG 9see a ove:. 1hey &ree him and take him to Bavaria. Su seMuently, in Bavaria, Gsanrich 9see @9@: revolting against -rnul& is de&eated y -rnul& at the Mautern &ortress, ut Gsanrich manages to &lee 9during his transport to a tri unal o& 7egens urg: to Great Moravia, and &rom there B supported y Mo5mFr GG B he occupies some territory o& the East 6rankish Empire, which he can keep &or some time, ecause -rnul& dies in @99 and due to internal pro lems o& the East 6ranconians B see also 93#. Gsanrichms re ellion ena les that the arrival o& papal legates in Great Moravia 9see elow: is carried on without di&&iculties 9339some sources 933:J Based on the 9see: @9@ reMuest, the three papal legates come to Great Moravia and consecrate &our ishops and one arch ishop &or Great Moravia 9whose names are unknown today:. Gt is only known that one o& the seats o& these persons is again 4itra. Gn addition, &rom Great Moravia, the legates re uke the Bavarian ishops to stop 5oining up the 9heathen: old Dungarians 9they claim that the old Dungarians had attacked the 'om ardy in @99, ecause the Bavarians had ought o&& them:. -t the end o& @99, the Bavarian ishops send a letter to the <ope, where they complain that the <ope has appointed the Great Moravian ishops and that it is not true that they would cooperate with the old Dungarians and that , on the contrary, Great Moravia has attacked Bavaria together with the old Dungarians in @99, and that, e&ore the old Dungarians invaded the 'om ardy in @99, they made a truce with the Great Moravians and together they devastated <annonia 3==J Elsewhere, -rnul& o& .arinthia is succeeded y his son 'ousi the .hild 993389##: on the East 6rankish throne 3==9spring:J -&ter their campaign to the 'om ardy 9see @99:, the old Dungarians do not return to the 1is*a 7iver 9see @9?:, ut stay in <annonia 9todayms western Dungary:. 3==9spring:J 1he Bavarians together with the .*echs 9Bohemians: maraud A weeks in Great Moravia. 3==9late summer:J 1he old Dungarians attack Bavaria pro a ly with Great Moravians as temporary alliesB in late summer 933, they undertake a looting attack along the 0anu e up to the Enns river without a Bavarian reaction. -nother group devastates a region ne/t to <assau, ut they are de&eated y count 'iut ald. 3== 8 3=+9-pril:J 1he old Dungarians conMuer Braslavms territory 9see @9?: and 9may e partly together with the Great Moravians: devastate <annonia and .arinthia. 3=+J 6acing Dungarian attacks, the East 6rankish Empire 9'ouis the .hild: and Great Moravia 9Mo5mFr GG: make peace 8at the eginning o& the year, envoys o& Mo5mFr GG go to a diet o& Bavarian no les where the conditions are agreed upon. Gn the autumn the envoys o& the 6rankish Gmperial 0iet 97ichar 8 the ishop o& <assau8 and count ,lrich: visit Mo5mFr GG, who has to con&irm the peace in person. 1he peace also includes an e/change o& Gsanrich 9who had &led to Mo5mFr GG: &or another person B may e Sv\topluk GG 9see @99 spring:. 1his peace means that &or the &irst time in history the Bavarians recogni*ed the independence o& Great Moravia, and it also put an end to Great Moraviams hostilities with the .*echs 9Bohemians:. 3=7J Great Moravians de&eat the old Dungarians who invade the center o& Great Moravia &or the &irst time. 3=8 or 3=,9some sources:J Great Moravia is de&eated y the old Dungarians. 3=,J 1he Bavarians stop the old Dungarians west o& the =iener =ald and kill the Dungarian chie&tain Kusala during the &ollowing negotiations. -s a result, there will e a Dungarian revenge in 9see: 93?K93;, and Kusalams death strengthens the position o& the chie&tain qrpZd 9d. -round 93;:, the &ounder o& the -rpZd dynasty ruling over the Dungarians till #A3#. 3=.83=6J 1he 7a&&elstetten customs tari&&, set up y Bavaria and the East March, re&ers to a central !market o& the Moravians! as availa le &or Bavarian merchants and does not mention the old Dungarians, which suggests that they have no in&luence in Great Moravia yet 3=6J 1he old Dungarians are de&eated y Great Moravians in several attles 9in which Mo5mFr GG pro a ly dies:. -ccording to one 9not very relia le: Dungarian chronicle &rom c. #$@2, the Dungarians de&eat Great Moravia at the decisive attle near BZnhida 9in which some Sv\topluk dies "however, the author con&uses all names%: and at a castle near S*o B historians thus assume that Sv\topluk GG dies in 93?, provided that he has returned &rom Bavaria to Great Moravia e&ore 93? 9see e. g. 93#:. 6urthermore, the Dungarians de&eat the Bavarians in several attles. 6urthermore, in Huly, the Dungarians make a campaign to Sa/ony and pro a ly pass through 9the de&eatedC: Great Moravia. 3=<9Huly E82 and -ugust 9:J 1hree Battles at Bratislava 9Bre*alauspurc: "the Bavar8Dungarian =ar%J 1he Bavarians, led y duke 'uitpold, are totally de&eated y the Dungarians, led y 0ursak and Bogat. 'uitpold, 1eotmar 9the ishop o& Sal* urg:, ,do 9the ishop o& 6reising:, Sacharias 9the ishop o& S\ en: and many Bavarian counts die in these attles 9especially on Huly E:. -s a result, the 6rankish East March ceases and is occupied y the Dungarians 993;8922:. Most historical sources

do not mention the Great Moravians in this connection, who are thus o&ten regarded as a spent &orce. +ne historical source however says that many Great Moravian warriors &ighting together with the Bavarians were killed in this attle . -nyway, in connection with the -ugust 9 attle, it is indirectly mentioned that, e&ore the attle, Dungarian territory ended at the 0anu e in southwestern Slovakia. 1here&ore, the attle o& -ugust 9 is considered the end o& Great Moravia. 1here are however re&erences to Moravia 9which may e should not e re&erred to as Great anymore: &rom a time years later, e. g. 9see: 9$E and 9E$, they pro a ly re&er mainly to present8day western Moravia, =islania, and northern Slovakia and Moravia and some other individual surviving centers. Many Great Moravian priests &lee to Bohemia. 3=99some sources wrongly 3=6:J 1wo separate Dungarian armies make campaigns to their new allies, the Sor ian Glomaci 9in German 0alemin*ier, 0alamanter, 0almaten, 0almatier:, to help them to &ight against the Sa/ons and pro a ly pass through Great Moravia, which suggests that the central power in Great Moravia can e de&initively considered de&eated and that centrali*ed Great Moravian authority collapsed in the late summer o& 93; indeed. Great Moravia / $yril and Methodi!s 96+9C:J 7astislav asks the <ope 4icholas G in 7ome to send teachers to educate local 9rather than East 6rankish, i. e. German: clergy that would e loyal to the Mo5mir 0ynasty 9other sourcesJ De wants Slav missionaries and a Slav ishop:. 7astislav intended to reduce East 6rankish in&luence, which is not a surprise, ecause since @E?, there have een permanent tensions etween Great Moravia and the East 6rankish Empire 8 the home country o& the 6rankish clergy &rom Sal* urg and <assau. 1he reMuest is ignored. <ro a ly also in @?#, 0almatian By*antine clerics 9also active in Great Moravia, see ;9?: may have suggested approaching the By*antine Emperor Michael GGG instead, see @?$. 96+ or 967J Gn his message sent to the By*antine emperor Michael GGG 9who was the $nd .hristian head at that time: in .onstantinople, 7astislav asks Michael GGG to send a Slav ishop and Slav teachers to educate local clergy 9z +ur country has een apti*ed and we have no teacher that would lead us, educate us and e/plain to us the holy ooks, ecause we understand neither the Greek, nor the 'atin language. . So send us teachers that could e/plain to us the words o& ooks and their meanings. . .y:. 1he emperor complies with the reMuest and chooses .onstantine 9 e&ore @2; an e/perienced teacher and philologist, @2;8 @?# diplomat with the -ra s and Kha*ars, pro a ly since @?@ called z.yrily: as the teacher. .onstantine in turn chooses as his assistants his rother Methodius 9around @23 an e/perienced administrator o& a Slav province in the By*antine Empire: as well as several students who were supposed to ecome priests. Both rothers are sons o& a Greek &ather and a Slav mother and were orn in 1hessalonike , the $nd iggest By*antine town and a region inha ited y many Slavs at that time. Be&ore their departure to Great Moravia 9@?A:, .onstantine chooses what we today call the +ld .hurch Slavonic as the language he will use in Great Moravia. +riginally this was the language 9Slav dialect: used y Slav intellectuals &rom the region o& 1hessalonike 9the language o& the -egean Macedonians:, ut during the Great Moravian mission the te/ts written in the language acMuired many &eatures o& the language 9dialect: used in Great Moravia 9hence sometimes called +ld Slovak:. De also set up a script to e a le to write te/ts in +ld .hurch Slavonic needed in Great Moravia 9!sclavinicae litterae!, later called the Glagolithic alpha et: and , still in .onstantinople, he translates some liturgical and i lical te/ts 9these early te/ts however have not een preserved:. .onstantine and Methodius are thus considered &ounders o& Slavonic 9and Slovak: literature. 4ote that the By*antine emperor did not send a ishop 9who can ordain people: to Great Moravia to avoid con&licts with 7ome 9see also @?; summer:. 9689summer or autumn: or 96,9spring: "traditionally Huly 2 @?A%J .onstantine and Methodius arrive in Great Moravia. 1hey settle in an unknown town. Besides their &irst translations 9see @?#:, they ring the remains o& the &ormer <ope .lement G, which .onstantine had &ound in @?3 or @?# in .herson, to Great Moravia . 1hey also ring the sym ol o& By*antine cross 9todayms national em lem o& Slovakia: to Great Moravia. 4ote that .onstantine and Methodius did 4+1 ring .hristianity to the already christiani*ed Great Moravia 9see e. g. ;9?, @A#, @2$:. 968 B 96<J Gn Great Moravia, 9in @?AC: .onstantine &ounds and leads the Great Moravian -cademy, where &uture Slav administrators and priests are prepared. Gt ecomes a center o& Slav religious and pro&ane literature, and some $33 students will have graduated &rom it when it ceases in @@2. Gts location is unknown, recent archaelogical research however shows that there was an ecclesiastic school at 0evFn 9in todayms Bratislava:. Bavarian 9East 6rankish: clerics in Great Moravia, representing the western 9'atin: .hristianity, are upset with the success o& the $ missionaries, representing the eastern 9By*antine, Greek: .hristianity, and they claim that the liturgy can only e in 'atin, Greek or De rew, i. e. in the languages o& the <ilate inscription on the cross o& Hesus .hrist. Gn the .anon o& St. 0imitris, written e&ore @?@, .onstantine and Method e/press their regret at the attacks o& the 'atin .hristians and state that Great Moravian society is still z ar ariany. 1he two rothers continue to translate and to write ooks B most importantly, they translate the 6our Gospels into the Slavonic language 9the Ard language a&ter Iulgata and =ul&ilms translation:. 1he divine services per&ormed y the two rothers in Great Moravia are ased on the eastern liturgy, ut adapted to the 7oman 9western: one. 96<9summer:J .onstantine, Methodius and their students 9with 7astislavms and Sv\toplukms consent: go to 7ome in order to o tain ordination o& their students and the <opems consent to the Slav liturgical language 9+ld .hurch Slavonic: as well as to

the Great Moravian -cademy 9since Great Moravia was considered a part of the -oman patriarchate). ?n their @ay to -ome! they make a stop in the (alaton pricipality of "rince 6oce0 and shortly teach the Slavonic script in his principality (also 6oce0 himself). 96<9autumn:J .onstantine and Methodius leave <annonia together with some 23 new students &rom the Balaton principality and arrive in Ienice. Gn Ienice, .onstantine pu licly de&ends the use o& the Slavonic language 9+ld .hurch Slavonic: as a liturgical language in &ront o& Gtalian priests , ecause until then only the 'atin, Greek and De rew language were accepted as liturgical languages in the world 9see also @?A8@?;:. Gn Ienice they &ound out that Michael GGG has een killed and their supporter in the By*antine empire, the patriarch <hotius, has een replaced y his rival Ggnatius. Su seMuently, however, .onstantine receives an invitation o& <ope 4icholas G to 7ome, which is pro a ly due to the &act that he carries with him the remains o& <ope .lement G 9see @?A summer or autumn: and that he has some &riends in 7ome 9e. g. Bishop -rsenius:. 96<89699winter8 March:J Gn late @?;, they are thriumphantly welcomed y the new <ope -drian GG 9<ope 4icholas G died in 4ovem er @?;:. 1heir entire mission in Great Moravia is approved J -t .hristmas the translations o& the Bi le are put on the altar in the St. <eter asilica in 7ome and the translations o& liturgical te/ts are put on the main altar o& the asilica Maria Maggiore to show sym olically their acceptance y 7ome, in 6e ruary @?@ Methodius and three o& .onstantinems students 9Gora*d, .lement, 4ahum: are ordained and two ecome deacons , and in March @?@ the Slavonic liturgy is approved. 4ote that it will only happen in the $3th century again that other liturgical languages than 'atin, Greek or 'atin are allowed y the <ope in the world. 969J .onstantine, Methodius and their students stay in 7ome and continue their work 9esp. 1ranslations:. 1heir so5ourn in 7ome complicates the relations etween the <ope and .onstantinople. 969 8 963J -t the end o& @?@, .onstantine &alls ill, ecomes monk in a monastery 9where he pro a ly takes the religious name .yril 9Kyrillos: on his death ed: and dies on 6e ruary #E @?9. +ne week later, he is uried in the St. .lement Basilica. Methodius will take on his work. 1here is practically no asis &or the assertion o& the document yTranslatio0 that .onstantine was made a ishop. 963' An Bune! Methodius is sent back to Creat Moravia @ith a letter addressed to the Slavic "rinces -astislav! Sv=topluk and 6oce0 (in present-day Moravia! Slovakia! south8western Dungary, respectively: in which the <ope charges him with teaching and translating &urther te/ts. +ne o& the reasons &or such a letter was that Bavarian 9East 6rankish: clergy simply did not accept popems approval o& .yril and Methodiusm activities in Great Moravia and <annonia 9territories o& the Sal* urg arch ishopric:, especially not now when the 6ranks tried to e/pand their territory 9see e. g. @?9 -ugust:. 1hus, when Methodius arrives in the Balaton principality in Septem er and is una le to found there an academy due to opposition by (avarian clergy! at the end of the year the prompt 6oce0 sends him back to -ome to ask for higher authoriDation! i. e. to be appointed a "annonian bishop. 6oce0 hopes that! through the creation of a "annonian archdiocese under Methodius, Bavarian supremacy in his Balaton principality would decrease. 9<= 9 eginning o&:J -&ter long hesitation, the <ope decides to make Methodius the <opems legate and arch ishop o& <annonia and Great Moravia 9i.e. not only ishop and not only o& <annonia: with his seat at Sirmium 9Sremska Mitrovica:. 1his implies that the ancient archdiocese o& Sirmium B destroyed in 9see: 2@$ 8 has een revived and Great Moravia is not the responsi ility o& Bavarian clergy anymore. 1he reason &or popems hesitation has een that <annonia was already under the control o& the arch ishop o& Sal* urg, the ishop o& <assau 9=iener =ald:, the -Muileian patriarch 9 etween the 0rave and the Sava rivers: and partly the Bulgarians 9they have conMuered Sirmium in @$;K@$@:. 1he reason &or this sudden decision has een that the <ope has &ound out that Bulgaria had sent envoys to the ecclesiastic council in .onstantinople in order to 5oin the .onstantinople patriarchate, whereas until @;3 the Bulgarians have een doing the opposite B they were trying to de&er to 7ome 9the <ope: ecause they wanted to decrease their dependence on the neigh oring Byyantine Empire. Gn the spring e&ore the Easter, Methodius is sent ack to Creat Moravia @ith a (second) papal letter addressed to the Slavic "rinces -astislav! Sv=topluk and 6oce0. 9<= 9summer:J Bavarian 9East 6rankish: ishops have Methodius B when returning to Great Moravia B captured in 1ransdanu ia. De is rought to 7egens urg, tortured and sentenced to prison in Swa ia pro a ly in 7eichenau 9other sourcesJ Ellwangen: in 4ovem er. 1he Bavarians thus do not accept Methodiusm new post as arch ishop. 0uring the trial, the Bavarian ishops} tri unal 9pro a ly led y 'ouis the German himsel&: uses the z.onversio Bagoariorum et .arantorumy, a document written y the Bavarian arch ishop -dalwin shortly e&ore the trial, in which one can read how Sal* urg has christiani*ed Great Moravia and .arinthia, and that the only pro lem is allegedly Methodius and his new Slav script, Slav language and ooks. 1oday, the document is an important source o& in&ormation on the history o& Great Moravia and <annonia. 9<= 8 9<7J 6rom his prison, Methodius writes many letters to the <ope and to Great Moravia. Gnitially, 7ome cannot help Methodius, ecause it &irst needs the support o& Sv\toplukms Great Moravia, which only ecomes possi le in 9see: @;$, when he de&eats the East 6ranconians.

9<7 B 9<8J 1he new <ope Hohn IGGG 9<ope since @;$: sends letters to 'ouis the German, .arloman and to the clerics who had tortured and sentenced Methodius to prison 9arch ishop -dalwin, ishop Ermanrich etc.:, in which he reMuires immediate release o& arch ishop Methodius. Gn the winter, he also calls the Bavarian ishops to come with Methodius to 7ome to participate in an ar itration tri unal, ut they re&use. Su seMuently, Sv\topluk shows his interest in Methodius &ate 9see @;38@;$:, so that <ope de&initively decides to act. De sends <aul, the ishop o& -ncona, as a papal legate to negotiate B he is supposed to ring Methodius to <rince Sv\topluk, and to say 9#: to the East 6rankish king 'ouis the German that <annonia is within the 5urisdiction o& the <ope, so that 'ouis must intervene against his Bavarian ishops and in &avor o& the pope, 9$: to the Bavarian ishops that they let Methodius do his work till the end o& @;; and that only then there will e &urther negotiations in 7ome, 9A: to Methodius that he give up the use o& +ld .hurch Slavonic during liturgies. 9<8 9May8summer:J Gn May the negotiations end. -s a result, 9#: Method as arch ishop must give up the territories in <annonia under control o& Bavarian ishops 9so that, in <annonia, he is only arch ishop o& north8eastern 1ransdanu ia 9 etween Balaton and Es*tergom: and o& the Sirmium region:, 9$: +ld .hurch Slavonic cannot e used during liturgies 9e/cept &or readings &rom the Bi le: and 9A: Methodius is released &rom prison 9in the summer:, returns to Great Moravia and is guaranteed no pro lems at least till the end o& @;;. Gn addition, the Great Moravian -cademy renews its work under the leadership o& Methodius. 9<,9summer:J Sv\topluk makes an agreement with 'ouis the German, so that Bavarian priest can continue their work parallely with Methodius. 9<,89<3J 1he leaders o& the 'atin clergy in Great Moravia Hohn o& Ienice 9at the same time Sv\toplukms advisor: and =iching 9a Benedictine monk &rom Swa ia: critici*e Methodius, the leader o& the new Great Moravian clergy, in &ront o& Sv\topluk and provoke many Muarrels. 9<3J Gn the spring, Sv\topluk sends envoys led y Hohn o& Ienice to 7ome to ask the <ope to test Methodius whether he is orthodo/ and whether he teaches correctly. Gn the summer, <ope writes a letter to Sv\topluk, which shows that Hohn o& Ienice, instead o& transmitting Sv\toplukms reMuest, had denounced Methodius. 1he <ope also writes a letter to Methodius, in which he calls him to 7ome 9see @@3 spring: to remove the suspicion that he is teaching wrongly and &urthermore critici*es Methodius ecause he is allegedly using the z ar ariany Slavonic language 9see @;A May8summer:. late 9<3 or early 99=J -&ter the envoys have returned, Great Moravia tries to su divide its territory into dioceses &or the &irst time. 1he 'atin clergy manages to persuade Sv\topluk and his dukes to elect =iching the &irst ishop o& Great Moravia. Dis seat will e 4itra 9in Slovakia:. 1hus, 4itra ecomes a ishopric and =iching Methodiusm only known su&&ragan 9see also @@3summer:. 99= 9spring:J 1he delegation o& Methodius 9see @;9:, sent by Sv=topluk to -ome! includes Eiching and is led by duke 3emi/iDn (SFmi/iD:). 2he delegates are supposed to solve the problems around Methodius and! in addition! to ask the "ope to ackno@ledge Creat Moravia as a vassal of the 9oly See in order to set the seal on the independence of Creat Moravia from the Gast Hrankish Gmpire. 880(summer)' "ope Bohn 8AAA tests Methodius (@hether he is orthodoI! @hether he adheres to the decisions of the J ecclesiastic councils etc. ) and subseKuently confirms his functions as archbishop and papal legate. 9e also tests Eiching. Eiching is subseKuently consecrated as the bishop of itra! @ho is subordinate to the archbishop Methodius. An Bune! the "ope sends a letter called LAndustriae tuaeM to Sv=topluk! in @hich (N) in the introductory part! the "ope complies @ith Sv=topluk>s reKuest! so that Creat Moravia is given as fief to St. "eter (i.e. to the "apacy). An terms of international la@! this patronage makes Creat Moravia eKual to other independent countries and domination by the Gast Hrankish Gmpire is re<ected! (O) the "ope confirms the functions of Methodius and the consecration of Methodius! (&) the "ope orders to send to -ome a further priest (confirmed by Methodius) to be made the bishop of another region of Creat Moravia! so that Methodius and these t@o bishops can consecrate bishops for other regions in Creat Moravia (@hich did not happen [some sources ho@ever say that Methodius had P bishops]! (Q) the "ope orders any clerics not obeying to Methodius to be eIpelled from Creat Moravia! (R) the "ope approves the Slav script (Clagolitic alphabet) and orders that liturgies be held in the Slavic language! eIcept that the Cospel shall be read in Satin first and only then in the Slavic language! and finally (J) orders that the liturgies be held in Satin for Sv=topluk and his dignitaries! because the "ope has been told that they prefer Satin. An addition! the "ope also gives to Method a collection of decrees for Sv=topluk to help him understand the ecclesiastic la@ , in this connection Methodius is mentioned as the archbishop of (the to@n of) Moravia! suggesting that Creat Moravia became a separate archbishopric. 880 - 881' Ehile the ma<ority of the $$% delegation returns to Creat Moravia! Eiching stays in -ome a little bit longer and @rites a falsified letter to the pope! according to @hich Sv=topluk is ordered to eIpel Methodius from Creat Moravia. SubseKuently! Methodius sends a letter to the pope! in @hich he asks him! @hat other letters he had sent to Sv=topluk and @hat po@ers he had given to Eiching. An the spring of $$N the "ope replies that he had not @ritten any other letter than Andustriae tuae to Sv=topluk or to Eiching (see belo@) .

881' 9aving read the "ope>s letter! the upset Methodius deposes Eiching as bishop of itra and charges him @ith missions in L a territory that Sv=topluk only recently anneIedM to Creat Moravia! @hich can only be Eislania (8istula region to the north of Slovakia) , see T). Eiching @ill try to return to itra (e.g. in $$O)! but Methodius> students @ill prevent him from doing so. See also $$R @inter. 881 , 882' Methodius visits (@ith "ope>s consent) the (yDantine emperor and the patriarch "hotius (see e. g. $JP) in Tonstantinople! i. e. An Methodius> home country. ?n his @ay to Tonstantinople! he meets one of the chieftains of the old 9ungarians at the Aron Cate ()erdap! "ortile de Hier). An Tonstantinople! he is @armly received and the emperor keeps one student and one deacon of Methodius as @ell as some of his Slavic books. Methodius returns to Creat Moravia together @ith some envoys of the emperor. 883(March , ?ctober)' Methodius translates almost the entire ?ld 2estament from Creek to the Slavic language! see also $J&-$JP and $$R. 880>s (probably around $$&)' "rince (o;ivo<! the leader of (ohemia! comes to Creat Moravia to be baptiDed by Methodius. 99.J Several months e&ore his death 9see elow:, Methodius &inishes the translation o& the entire Bi le 9see @AA March8 +cto er:. 99.9 e&ore -pril ?:J Methodius B on his death ed B chooses Gora*d as main teacher and his successor &or the Great Moravian -cademy. See @@? 9winterKspring:. 99.9 e&ore -pril ?:J Shortly e&ore Methodiusm death, =iching leaves =islania 9see @@#: and B with Sv\toplukms consent 8 goes to 7ome, where he 9#: denounces Methodius and 9$: on Sv\toplukms reMuest asks &or con&irmation o& <opems patronage over Great Moravia 9see @@3, @@? spring:. See @@28@@?. 99.9-pril ?:J 0eath o& arch ishop Methodius. Gora*d ecomes the new head o& the Great Moravian -cademy. Methodius is uried solemnly in the zwall ehind the altar o& Iirgin Maryy o& the 9today unknown: metropolitan church o& Great Moravia B the urial service is per&ormed according to the Slavic, 'atin, as well as Greek liturgy. Methodius has educated more than $33 priests in Great Moravia. 99.8996J Gn the summer @@2, when the <ope Stephen IGGG learns a out Methodiusm death, he makes =iching ishop o& 4itra again 9see @@#: and pro a ly also zecclesiastic administratory o& Great Moravia 9not however arch ishop and papal legate:, ecause =iching is still in 7ome and in&luences the Doly See. Gn the winter @@28@@? , the <ope sends his letter z{uia te *elo &ideiy, in which he con&irms his patronage over Great Moravia 9see @@3: and condemns B ased on what he has een told y =iching 8 Methodiusm activities. Most importantly, he even claims wrongly that Methodius had sworn in 7ome not to use the Slavic language &or liturgies and ased on this statement &or ids the use o& the Slavic language &or liturgies 9e/cept &or preaching and e/planation o& i lical te/ts: and e/communicates Methodius. -s a result, the 'atin liturgy and German priests are en&orced. See also @@?.

9969winterKspring:J 1he <opems legates 8 ishop 0ominicus and the pres yters Hohn and Stephen B arrive in Great Moravia. -ccording to their accompanying letter, they are mainly supposed to e/plain to Sv\topluk the role o& the 7oman church 9, the ne/t part o& the letter is missing: and to order to Gora*d, zwhom Methodius was so old as to appoint as his successor despite the regulations o& all popesy, to stop teaching at the Great Moravian -cademy until he does not come to 7ome to e/plain everything in person 9 ut Gora*d does not come and the reason as well his &urther li&e are unknown, see also @@?:. 1he legates &ul&ill all their assigned tasks. 996J 1he Great Moravian -cademy 9see @?A: is closed pro a ly during the mission o& the papal legates 9see a ove: and the liMuidation o& the &ollowers o& Gora*d 9and Methodius: is initiated y =iching with the silent consent o& Sv\toplukJ 6irst, all o& them get the chance to change to the 'atin liturgy, then the $33 persons 9students, priests and deacons: who re&use to do so are e/pelled &rom Great Moravia zin the iting wintery 9a&ter they have een imprisoned &irst:. 1he leading &ollowers o& Methodius are Gora*d 9 orn in Slovakia:, .lement, 4ahum 94aum, x9C:.hra r:, Sa as 9Sava: and -ngelar. Gn @@?, in several groups, the e/pelled persons go to Bulgaria 9over Belgrade:, where they will &ound $ academies B at the +hrid lake and in <reslav:o pro a ly &rom there some o& them go to .roatia and 0almatia, later to Ser ia , 7ussia, =islania 9'esser <oland:, and Bohemia. E. g. .lement will ecome the ishop o& Belica 9@9A:, 4aum ecomes teacher at the =hite 'ake, Gora*d 9see @@? winterKspring: may e goes to =islania, and Sa as and -ngelar will ecome &ounders o& Bulgarian literature. -ccording to some sources, some o& the &ollowers are sold to Hews, who ring them to Ienice in order to sell them as slaves there, ut they are saved 9 ought: y the By*antine emperor and rought to .onstantinople. Great Moravia / Territory 988 8 93.Kc. 3=<J 1odayms Slovakia Moravia -ustria 9territory north o& the 0anu e: Dungary 9territory north to

Budapest and 1is*a 91isa: 7iver, e/cept &or the territory to the west o& the <ilis mountains: western 7uthenia. 4ote that westernmost parts o& Moravia pro a ly only ecame parts o& Great Moravia under 7astislav around @E?. 9<, B C3=<J a strip o& a out #33km o& present8day <oland a ove Slovak order 9=islania 8 Iistule Basin with Krakow: 99= 8 C J a strip o& a out #33km o& present8day <oland a ove .*ech order 9Silesia: 99+ B 936J remaining present8day Dungary east o& the 0anu e 91is*a 91isa: valley:, decri ed as ywaste landy or yun apti*ed 9i. e. not .hristiani*ed: great Moraviay at that time 998K99, 8 93,J remaining present8day Dungary 9up to Iienna: 999K93= 8 93.J Bohemia 93= 8 93<J 'usatia C3=<KC37= B C3.. or 333 9Moravia and Cwestern Slovakia:K+==+ 9Slovakia: J may e todayms northern Slovakia 9northern and western: parts o& Moravia C =islania, ut may e only in the &orm o& several principalities. "alaton principality #983/9<6>3=+% $t #as located bet#een the confluence of the 1anube #ith the 1rave River and the Alps (including parts of today2s Styria and parts of today2s Slovenia) and probably the 'alaton lake in the north. 983K9,=J -&ter a distress&ul trek in .entral Europe 9Eastern March till @A?, Bulgaria and .roatia 9@A?8@A9K@E3: and again Eastern March:, <ri ina is con&erred in &ie& the territory around the Balaton 'ake y the 6rankish king 'ouis the German 9until then part o& the .arinthia March within the 6rankish Empire with Slav inha itants: and settles at 9and has uilt: the Blatnohrad 9later called Mosapurc: castle near todayms town o& (alavar in Dungary. Gn the &ollowing years <ri ina will have castles and churches uilt in the new principality and will o tain remarka le results in his e&&orts o& .hristiani*ation in this region under the in&luence o& Sal* urg. -rchaeological &inds and papal documents show that there were close contacts etween Great Moravia and the Balaton <rincipality. 9,6J <ri ina ecomes the 9hereditary: owner o& the principality. 9.=J <ri ina has a castle uilt at the Blatnohrad castle and it is consecrated y 'iutprand 9'iutpram: , the arch ishop o& Sal* urg . De will have #2 other castles uilt in the principality later. 96+J "ribina dies (see Creat Moravia $JN)! his son 6oce0 (CoDil!ThoDilo! TheDilo) will continue his father>s @ork (e. g. construction of some NR other castles). Under 6oce0! (latnohrad becomes a center of Slav education 968' 6oce0 makes the "ope consecrate Methodius as the Bishop o& <annonia. 9<6' 6oce0 dies @hen he participates (as Tarloman>s ally) in an unsuccessful campaign of Tarloman against the )almatian Troats. 9is principality becomes again a part of the Tarinthia March (led by Tarloman>s son Vrnulf of Tarinthia) @ithin the Gast Hrankish Gmpire. 884 - 894' "art of Creat Moravia (see T) ) 896' Civen to (raslav see V) 900-901' TonKuered by the old 9ungarians from (raslav (after the death of Vrnulf of Tarinthia ($WW))

"etween Great Moravia, "ohemia, Poland and 2istoric 2!ngary #3=< / +=8=% !0e DEl #37= ; 3..% r!les so!thern &lova0ia 3=<K37= B 3..J -rchaelogical &indings suggest that the &ormer Great Moravian territory in Slovakia 9e/cept &or southwestern Slovakia, see elow: continues to e/ist and to &lourish in &orm o& individual Slavic 9Slovak: centers. 1here are many settlements on these territories. May e they are still called Moravia 9see 93;, 9E$:. =estern and central northern Slovakia is may e part or under under the in&luence o& =hite .roatia 9see 9E@:, eastern Slovakia is under cultural in&luence o& the Kiew 7us, the Balt and o& certain parts o& <oland. 37=838.J 1he Dungarians esta lish permanent garrisons in southwestern Slovakia. 37= B 3..J 1he Dungarian dukeKcommander 'jl 9'ehel: is the owner and ruler o& the 4itrian principality 9i. e. western and central Slovakia, ut note that only southern Slovakia was under Dungarian control at that time:. Gn 9$3 he and his warriors settled in 4itra 9in parti us 4ittriae:. 1he nomadic Dungarians will not created a centrali*ed state e&ore 922K9;#.

37,J 1he old Dungarians terri ly devastate Moravia 9 e&ore they attack the Sa/ons:. 38.83.=J 1he old Dungarians, starting to lead a settled li&e, egin to settle near Slovak settlements in southern Slovakia , i.e. not in the mountains 3,7J - captured Dungarian &ighter 9in connection with Dungarian raids in Spain: mentions that a countryKtown called Moravia 9Mora i5a: is situated north o& Distoric Dungary. c. 3,983.7J 1he By*antine emperor .onstantine IGG 9ruled 9#$8929: writes his 0e -dministrando Gmperio 9+n the -dministration o& the Empire:, in which he uses the term yhj megalj Mora iay &or the &irst time. 1his term has always een translated as Great Moravia 9or sometimes ,pper Moravia: in history. 6or e/ample, the #;## 'atin translation pu lished in <aris writes e/plicitely "the Greek letters are part o& the Muote%J y. . . magna Moravia 9 X YZ[\]^ _`abcdb)! sive Sphendoploci regio. . . M. 4evertheless, nowadays some scholars 9without knowing more than in #;##: suggest other translations o& zmegalj Moraviay. Gn sum, there are the possi ilities Great K ,pper K 0istant K 6ormer Moravia. -t the time o& .onstantine IGG, the ad5ective megale was pro a ly necessary to distinguish Great Moravia &rom the 'ittle K 'esserK .lose Moravia 9&rom the point o& view o& the By*antine empire:, which arose in the &irst hal& o& the #3 th century around Sirmium. Gn addition, the te/t mentions the ,n apti*ed 9i. e. not .hristiani*ed: Great Moravia, which was asically present8 day eastern Dungary. 6urthermore, the te/t mentions that the principality z=hite .roatiay is 9or may e was around 933: situated to the north o& the old Dungarians 9i.e. in northern Slovakia and Moravia, in Silesia and in 'esser <oland B or only in Silesia, or only in Silesia and 'esser <oland: and that its prince is a vassal o& +tto G. Gt is possi le that northern Slovakia and Moravia was under the in&luence o& this =hite .rotia in the #st hal& o& the #3th century. a&ter 3.=J -s the old Dungarians try to occupy also other parts o& Slovakia 9compare with 9A28923:, they have to &ace the resistance o& local Slovak no les who had gained their position at the time o& Great Moravia. 1he most important o& these are the 94itra: <o*nans &rom present8day north8western Slovakia with properties around 4itra and the Dunts in southern central Slovakia 9a ove the GpeY 7iver:. - special archaeological culture B the Belo rdy culture 8 arises at places where Slovak and Dungarian cultures overlap.

Birst 4rpads #3.. ; 3<+% r!le so!thern &lova0ia

3.=ms' 2he old 9ungarians destroy the strategically important (still) Slovak petty castle of )ucov. (at the 85h -iver in the "ova/sk1 Anovec Mountains). At had been founded in the Ond hal& o& the @33ms in Great Moravia. 3..9-ugust @:J 1roops o& the German king +tto G and .*ech king Boleslav G totally de&eat the old Dungarians, led y 'jl 9'ehel:, Bulcsu and Sur. -s a result, the old Dungarians are &orced to &inally settle in present8day Dungary , until then a completely Slav territory. 1his 9#: permanently divides the northern &rom the southern and the eastern &rom the western Slavs. 1he Slav inha itants on territories occupied y Distoric Dungary are called and call themselves ySlov9i:eney until then, ut &rom then on we can de&initively call them Slovaks 9in present8day Slovakia:, Slovenians 9in present8day Slovenia: and so on. 1he Slovaks call themselves "masculineJ% Slov9i:enin 9since the #2th centuryJ SlovZk:, "&emininJ% Slovenka 9till today:, "ad5ectiveJ% slovenskn 9till today:. 4ote however that many historians de&ine the Sloviene in Slovakia as Slovaks already in the 9 th or earlier centuries. 9$: 1he Dungarian dukes 'jl, Bulcs and Sur are e/ecuted 9a&ter they have een captured y the Germans: and their possessions are occupied y the qrpZds led y 1aksony at that time 9c. 9228c. 9;3:. 1hus the 4itrian principality ecomes part o& the qrpZds) domain only a&ter 922, and not earlier as some later chronicles might suggest. See 92289;#. 9A: 1he nomadic old Dungarians under 1aksony egin to &orm a state 9see 9;#: y integrating the divided tri al lands into larger units, and take over many SlavKSlovak asic e/pressions connected with a civili*ed li&e, e. g. the words &or ta le, window, king, priest, order, county president 9ispZn:, servant, christian, heathen, angel, miller, smith, ... 3.. B 3<+9C:J (oltan 9(altas, (solt, (ulta:, a son o& qrpZd, is the ruler and owner o& the 4itrian principality within an arising Dungarian state led y his son 1aksony 9c. 922 B c. 9;#:. 6rom 922 on, mem ers o& the -rpad &amily will continue to administer the 4itrian principality 9till ##3@:, while other mem ers o& that &amily will e rulers o& 1ransdanu ia and later o& present8day Dungary. -ccording to some less relia le sources, 1aksony and then his son Ge*a were the rulers o& 4itra e&ore 9;# instead. 3..9C: B3339C:J <resent8day Moravia and 9south:western Slovakia may e temporarily elong to Bohemia under the .*ech kings Boleslav G and GG 9see also 9;A, 9;?:. -ccording to some sources most o& Slovakia elongs to Bohemia, according to other sources Slovakia did not elong to Bohemia at all. 1here are some weak archaeological indications &or a partial retreat o& Dungarian inha itants &or this time. Gt is possi le that the qrpZd rulers in 4itra 9Slovakia: accept the .*ech <;emyslids as their lords during this period. Vccording to some sources! Slovakia @as reconKuered by CeDa (see belo@) in the WP%s.

Prince Michael #3<+ ; 33.% r!les in so!thern &lova0ia

c. 3<+J Ge*a, the son o& 1aksony o& qrpZd 9and until then may e the <rince o& 4itra Bsee 922 8 9;#:, ecomes a zGrand <rincey ased at Es*tergom and egins to &orm a uni&ied Dungarian state 9, which will e &inished only y Stephen:. 1ransdanu ia is ruled y himsel&, the 4itrian principality 9Slovakia: is given in &ie& to his rother Michael 9see elow:, in&luence in 1ransylvania is gained through Ge*ams marriage with the daughter o& the 1ransylvanian duke Gyula G, local chie&tains still rule in other parts o& present8day Dungary. -lthough Ge*a is de8&acto only the ruler o& 1ransdanu ia, he is said to have made the -rpad dynasty the ruling dynasty o& Distoric Dungary 99;# 8 #A3#:. 1he -rpad dynasty 9esp. Stephen later: takes over the state administration system &rom the earlier Slav states governed &rom the town o& 4itra. c. 3<+ B 33.J Michael, the rother o& Ge*a, is given the 4itrian principality in &ie& 9see a ove:. Michael}s wi&e is -dela5da 9-delhaid: the zBelekneginiy, the daughter o& the <olish prince Mies*ko G. Since Michael ecomes too power&ul, his elder rother Ge*a has him killed in 992, and Ia*ul and 'adislaus the Bold B&ull o& &ear 8 &lee the country, pro a ly to 7ussia 9'adislaus: and to the <ecenegs 9Ia*ul:, ut then &inally to <oland 9see #33# B #3A3:. -ccording to some less relia le sources Ge*a has Michael killed around 9;; and the su seMuent ruler o& 4itra is Michaelms son 'adislaus the Bold 99;; B 992:. -ccording to less relia le sources, Ge*a has Michael killed around 3<< and the su seMuent rulers o& 4itra were Michaelms widow -dela5da., then his son Ia*ul 9Iasil, Basil: and then B when -dela5da ecame Ge*ams second wi&e in 9@2 8 his other son 'adislaus the Bold 9see also 99;8#33#:. Michaelms supremacy is gradually accepted even y many Slovak magnates in more northern Slovakia. Gn e/change &or accepting Michaelms supremacy, Michael allows e. g the <o*nans 9see a&ter 923: to keep part o& their original possessions situated at the central and northern 4itra asin, in the DradnZ archdeaconry, the ,pper 1uriec region and the 7a5ec asin, and the Dunts to keep their dominant position in the Dont region. 1he <o*nans and the Dunts ecame no les at the court o& Michael o& the qrpZd &amily in 4itra till his death in 992 9see also 99;:. -s opposed to the Dungarians 9see 99;:, the Slovak magnates 9esp. <o*nans and Dunts: 9still: had their .hristian &aith B they were using churches in their &orti&ied courts even in that tur ulent period 9in 4itrianska Blatnica, ivov, Iyvehrad: , the <o*nans took care of the dilapidated (enedictine monastery on the 3obor 9ill (see $$N) and became its secular patrons! and the 9unts in the central Ape0 region had a similar function. c. 3<+J <ilgrim, the ishop o& <assau, undertakes a &irst mission aiming at turning <rince Ge*a to .hristianity and especially to regain the &ormer Great Moravian province 9see @;3: &or the ishopric o& <assau, ut he &ails B 5ust as many o& the su seMuent Bavarian missions 9monk =ol&gang, ishop Brun:. See also 99;. 3<8J 1he ishopric o& <rague is &ounded and according to its &ounding decree it is also responsi le &or western Slovakia 9up to the IZh river:. See also 922 B 999 and 9;?. 3<69-pril $@:J 1he y ishop o& Moraviay, whose name is unknown, and the ishop o& <rague participate at a meeting o& clerics at the seat o& the arch ishop o& Main*. 1his shows that Moravia 9may e identical with present8day Moravia, see 93;, see however 9;A: constitutes a separate diocese 9independent on <rague:. May e the Moravian ishopric was renewed shortly e&ore 9;?. 337 B 33<9C:K+==79C:J Bratislava and surroundings are pro a ly part o& Bavaria 9Doly 7oman Empire: B see 99;K#33$ 33.J .*ech Benedictine missionaries, led y the <rague ishop -dal ert 9Io5tech: 9 ishop since 9@$, see 9;A: and the a ot -strik, arrive in Distoric Dungary on invitation o& <rince Ge*a. -ccording to a later 7ussian source however, -dal ert came to Slovakia and <oland already in 9@$, where he introduced the 'atin liturgy and script, de&initively prohi ited the Slavonic 9z7ussiany: ones 9see @@?: and had ishops not using the 'atin e/pelled or e/ecuted. Prince Va?0 #&tephen% #33. ; 33<% r!les in so!thern &lova0ia 33. B 33<J Ia5k 9since 9;$ or 9see: 99; called Stephen 9 te&an: :, Ge*a 9Ge5*a:ms son, is the ruler o& the 4itrian <rincipality within Distoric Dungary. De pro a ly rings his .hristian wi&e Gisela 9see 992 or #33$, and 99; 6e ruary #: to the old .hristian center o& 4itra 9see e. g. @$@, late @;9, c. @@#: pro a ly that is why he ecomes an ardent .hristiani*er &irst in Slovakia, later in whole Distoric Dungary. 1he young Stephen and the local no les represented y <o*nan and Dunt Muickly develops very close personal relationships 9see 99;: c. 33. or c.+==7 9some sources:J King Stephen marries Gisela, the daughter o& Denry GG the {uarrelsome o& Bavaria. Giselams gi&t or dowry to Stephen is the 'esser 'eitha territory 9incl. Bratislava, Sopron, Steinamager:, which has een Bavarian y e&ore the Battle at Bratislava 993;: and then again a&ter 99#y. See also @9?. 4ote that depending on the source, the year o& this marriage is given as 99EK992, 9928#33#, 99?K99;, end o& 99;, #33$, #33E, or #339K#3#3. 33< 96e ruary #:J Ge*a , the Grand <rince o& Distoric Dungary, dies. De and his son Ia5k 9=aik, =o5k: had een aptised shortly e&ore Ge*ams death y -dal ert, the ishop o& <rague, and oth o& them receive the name Stephen. -ccording to

other sources, Ge*a and his &amily have een aptised already in or shortly a&ter 3<7 y German missionaries led y Brun &rom Sankt Gallen or in 3<, y ishop <ilgrim. 4ote however that already earlier two Dungarian chie&tains have een apti*ed 9Bulosu and Gylas: in .onstantinople 9Eastern .hristians: and some Greek monasteries have een &ounded in present8day Dungary 9e. g. in Ies*prjm:. 33<J -&ter Ge*ams death, KoppZny 9the duke o& Somogy, mem er o& a collateral ranch o& the qrpZds, supported y old Dungarian chie&tain &amilies: voices his claims to ecome the successor o& Ge*a in Es*tergom 9i. e. in 1ransdanu ia, see c. 9;#: and organi*es an open revolt against young Stephen 9the son o& Ge*a, supporter o& western .hristiani*ation and o& a modern state:. Stephen takes shelter in his 4itrian principality with the Slovak dukes <o*nan and Dunt, whose &amilies and retinues also considera ly strengthen Stephen)s military &orce, whose nucleus consists o& German knights 9pro a ly &rom his wi&e Giselle)s retinue:. Stephen also appoints <o*nan and Dunt his ody guards. 6or this purpose, Stephen has a huge &orti&ied military camp 9#3; ha: uilt at Bia at the Dron 7iver, serving as military ase. 1he united armies then de&eat the re ellious KoppZny at Ies*prjm 9some sourcesJ in 99@: , KoppZny is e/ecuted , Stephen gives the camp 9castle: of (*:a to (*:! the son of 9unt! and the in&luence o& the dukes <o*nan and Dunt at Stephenms court in Es*tergom rapidly increases. Both o& them acMuire &urther estates in the 4itrian principality 9esp. around the 0anu e: and in Somogy 9&rom the de&eated KoppZny:, and they will constantly escort Stephen and in&luence all his decisions.

33< ; +==+
33< B +==+J 1he ruler o& the 4itrian principality is unknown. -ccording to some sources it was 'adislaus the Bold 9again B see 9;#8992o see also #33#:. 33< B c. +==6J Stephen creates a uni&ied Distoric Dungary, y su 5ugating 1ransylvania 9 y e/pelling Gyula GG 9<roku5: &rom there in #33A: and other domains which were until then led y Dungarian tri al chie&tains. Stephen introduces the county 9comitatus: system on 9initially some: territories under his control, i. e. territory is divided in counties 9administrative, military and 5udicial entities, &uther divided in castle districts: and the counties are administered y loyal magnates &rom a central county castle. De got to know this administrative system when he ruled in Slovakia 9992899;: and the Slovaks in turn had preserved it &rom the time o& Great Moravia. 1he county castles were o&ten identical with main castles o& &ormer Great Mroavia. 1he &irst counties in Distoric Dungary, e/isting already at the end o& the #3t century, were the Bratislava, 4itra, 1renFn, 1ura, 4ovohrad, KomZrno, Es*tergom, Gy|r and Moson counties, all o& them in present8day Slovakia or at Slovak order 9see 'ist o& traditional regions o& Slovakia:. +=== 90ecem er $2:J Stephen ecomes the &irst king o& Distoric Dungary. De is crowned y order o& <ope Sylvester GG. +=== 90ecem er $2 or shortly a&terwards: J 1he arch ishopric o& Es*tergom is &ounded &or Distoric Dungary on Stephenms reMuest, whose territory is identical with that o& the &omer 4itra ishopric within Great Moravia 9see @@3:, i. e. Slovakia 9e/cept &or easternmost parts: and the region around Es*tergom. 1his again shows that Slovakia was still considered a special territory. 1he diocese will remain largely identical with Slovakia until #;;? e/cept that 9see: c. ###3 the renewed ishopric o& 4itra will e separated &rom it. c. +=== B 9C:+=89J Silver coins are produced in Bratislava. 1hey ear the inscription <reslavva .iv9itas: 9the 1own o& Bratislava: and are pro a ly the &irst coins o& Distoric Dungary. Gt is possi le that the mint ceased or was suspended in #33#, when Bratislava was pro a ly conMuered y <oland 9see elow:. &lova0ia is part of Poland #+==+ ; c) +=8=%A Princes Dadisla!s the "old # +==+/ c) +=73% and VaF!l #c) +=73/ c) +=8=% r!le &lova0ia +==+9or end o& +===:J Slovakia zdown to the 0anu ey 9more e/actly the 4itrian principality: is conMuered y <oland under the <olish <rince Boleslaus G o& <oland, who &ormally conMuers it to protect the rights o& 'adilaus and Ia*ul, the cousins o& the Dungarian king Stephen G, to the 4itrian <rincipality 9see 9;#8992:. +==+9C:J Boleslaus makes one o& that cousins, 'adislaus the Bold 9'adislav 'ysn:, the administrator o& Slovakia +==+J <eace etween Stephen and Boleslaus G o& <oland is made near Es*tergom. ,nder this agreement, Stephen accepts that Slovakia will elong to <oland and that his own cousins will rule in 4itra as retainers o& Boleslaus. c. +==+ B +=8,J -&ter #33#, the hermit and martyr (orard 9Svoradus, Svorad:, orn in =islania 9'esser <oland: or in northern Slovakia, arrives at the (o or monastery 9see @@#: in 4itra, adopts the name -ndrew 9+ndre5, -ndre5: and starts a hermit li&e at Skalka near the town o& 1renFn . De &inally dies in the (o or monastery in #3A#. -&ter his death, his disciple Benedict 9original name Sto5islav: also lives as hermit and martyr at Skalka, until he is killed y mo ers in #3AE. Both (orard and Benedict will e canoni*ed 9declared Saints: in #3@A. 1hey are the &irst Slovak Saints 9a&ter Gora*d: and are urried in 4itra. 1013(?): Boleslaus I of Poland charges Prokuj (Gyula II), expelled by king !ephen fro" #ransyl$ania (see %%&'

())*) , wi!h !he ad"inis!ra!ion of Poland+s sou!hwes!ern border regions (i,e, wes!ern lo$akia), Prokuj-s sea! is in Bra!isla$a or #ren./n and his "ain !ask is !o pro!ec! Poland fro" Ba$arian and 01ech a!!acks, 1015: 2ld3ich, !he Prince of Bohe"ia, in war wi!h Boleslaus I of Poland, de$as!a!es Bra!isla$a 1018: ee ()4) 1019: Presen!'day 5ora$ia (i,e, !he wes!ern par! of !he core of for"er Grea! 5ora$ia) is con6uered by !he Bohe"ian Prince 2ld3ich and !hus defini!i$ely incorpora!ed by Bohe"ia (presen!'day 01ech 7epublic), 8is son B3e!isla$, !he fu!ure Prince of Bohe"ia, is "ade ad"inis!ra!or of presen!'day 5ora$ia, Presen!'day 5ora$ia had been con6uered (probably fro" !he 8ungarians) by Bohe"ia probably in %99, bu! !hen fro" %%% !o ()(% i! was a par! of Poland (Boleslaus I of Poland) +=7.J Boleslaus G o& <oland dies and internal con&licts in <oland arise c. +=73 B c. +=8=J -&ter 'adislaus the Boldms death, his rother Ia*ul is the ruler o& Slovakia as <olish retainer c. +=8=J Stephen reconMuers the 4itrian <rincipality 9i. e. Slovakia: &rom <oland. Ia*ul is imprisoned and in #3A# 9when Stephenms only son Gmre dies: he will e lended in 4itra to prevent him 9as a cousin o& Stephen: &rom ecoming successor to the Dungarian throne. Dowever, Ia*ulms three sons 9'evente, -ndrew 9&uture king: and Bjla 9&uture king: : and 'adislaus the Boldms son 0omoslav 9Bonuslaus: manage to &lee to Bohemia and &rom there to <oland 9Bjla: or to Kiew 9-ndrew and 'evente:. -ccording to other sources however, in +=+9 Boleslaus G o& <oland renounced to Slovak territory through a peace with Stephen and Ia*ul ecame the ruler o& 4itra as a retainer o& Stephen 9not o& Boleslaus: &rom #3#@ till the death o& Gmre in #3A#, when Ia*ul was lended. -ccording to less relia le sources, in #3#@ Boleslaus renounced to Slovakia, then in #3$3 Stephen con&erred the 4itrian principality to his son Gmre 9#3$3 B #3A#:, then to Ia*ul 9#3A#8#3A;K#3A@: and then Ia*ul is lended only a&ter Stephenms death in #3A@ to prevent him &rom ecoming the new king. Vccording to less reliable sources! (oleslaus A conKuered @hole Slovakia in N%%% only for some & years and northern Slovakia (around 2ren*n) till N%N$. 1hus , in #3A3 9or #3#@:, a de&initive incorporation o& Slovakia into the Dungarian state egins 9see also #3E@:. Dowever the Dungarian order will reach the present8day northern order o& western Slovakia only around ##33 and the northern order o& eastern Slovakia only in the early #Eth century. ,ntil then, the Slovaks in northern Slovakia continue to live in the mountain valleys in and around their old &orti&ied castles. See #3A3ms.

1he Ilachs in Great Moravia (ho are the Vlachs of Vlass0o By 0r. Gary Kocurek, #3E S. Georgetown, 7ound 7ock, 1e/as ;@??E <eople o& .*ech ancestry in 1e/as are not representative o& the modern .*ech 7epu lic or o& the &ormer .*echoslovakia as a whole. 7ather, a great many z1e/8.*echsy trace their heritage to the Ilassko region in eastern Moravia 9&igs. #,$:. Ilassko is situated along the northwestern rim o& the .arpathian Mountains, which historically have served as oth a re&uge and a conduit &or immigrating groups o& peoples. Ilassko was largely settled during the #?th .entury y colonist immigrating &rom the east and southeast, and whom were re&erred to at that time as the zIlachs.y Distorical events during the #;th .entury, especially the 1hirty ears =ar, set the stage &or the massive immigration o& people &rom Ilassko to 1e/as a&ter the 7evolution o& #@E@. 6igures +ne and 1wo zIlach,J zIalach,y zIolach,y zIlakhy and other variations o& the term date ack in time nearly $,333 years and re&er to a variety o& z'atini*edy people whose origin is ultimately the 7oman Empire 9Magocsi #99A:. Gn archaic .*ech, &or e/ample, zIlasskoy means Gtaly, and zIalachy re&ers to zGtaliany

97adio <rague #999:. 1oday, only isolated groups o& peoples in the Balkans 9Greece, Macedonia, -l ania, Ser ia, Bulgaria: are re&erred to as Ilachs and these people speak -romanian 9e.g., =ace 1homson #9#E, =inni&rith #9@;, .aragui #999:. 1he 7omanian and Moldavians, who speak another language derived &rom 'atin, 0aco87omanian, represent the largest concentration o& 'atini*ed people o& southeastern Europe. Distorically, 7omanians and Moldavians were known as Ilachs. 1he 7omanian province o& =alachia was named &or the Ialachs and served as their traditional homeland. +ther groups o& Ilachs have een assimilated into the local populations. 1he Ilach culture o& Ilassko was largely destroyed at the end o& the 1hirty ear =ar 9#?E@:. 1he purpose o& this paper is to ask some very simple Muestions. =ho were the Ialachs o& IlasskoC =hat is their relationship, i& any, to other groups o& people called zIalchszC =hat events caused their migration to IlasskoC ,n&ortunately, the answers to these simple Muestions are stymied y the same pro lems that have con&ronted all Ilach research. 6irst, there is little written history a out the Ilachs. Second. +n li&estyle Ilachs were largely nomadic shepherds who lived in remote mountainous locales and were known to travel great distances. Gn &act, Ilachs are tied into the di&&icult mosaic o& Balkans Distory. 6ourth, Ilachs were &amous 9and still are: &or their a ility to assimilate into which ever culture they happened to &ind themselves 9Balamaci #992:. 6or E/ample. Ilachs who migrated into Bosnia readily dropped .hristianity in &avor o& the local Gslam, and the Ilachs who migrated into the Da s urg Empire were zSlavici*edy in oth religion 9+rthodo/ to 7oman .atholic: and language 9=inni&rith #9@;:. 6i&th, the term zIlachy has historically een loosely used y others and o&tentimes re&erred to any outsiders who were shepherds. -lthough conclusive answers are not &orthcoming, it is clear that the history o& Eastern Europe 97omania, Dungary, the Balkans: is at least as important as .*ech history in descri ing the ancestry o& 1e/8.*echs. 1racing the Ilachs 1hough Distory 7oman Era 1he ma/imum e/tent o& the roman Empire in southeastern Europe occurred a&ter #3? -0 when conMuest o& the 0acian people e/tended the empire &rom modern Greece to 7omania. By all accounts, the 'atini*ed people o& the 7oman Empire represented oth a variety o& indigenous people as well as colonists who came into the region 9e.g. Magocsi #99A:. ,nder ar arian pressure, the 7oman 'egions retreated &rom 0acia 9modern 7omania: in $#;. -ccording to at least 7omanian historians, 7oman colonists and the 'atini*ed 0acians retreated into the .arpathian Mountains o& 1ransylvania a&ter the 7oman 'egions withdrew &rom the area. 1his view is supported to the e/tent that archeological evidence does indicate the presence o& 'atin8speaking people in 1ransylvania y at least the @th .entury 9.arragie #999:. By the late Eth .entury, the 7oman Empire was plagued y internal pro lems and, in southeastern Europe. By the incursion o& the Germanic tri es. By the ;th and @th.enturies, the 7oman Empire e/isted only south o& the 0anu e 7iver in the &orm o& the By*antine Empire with its capitol at .onstantinople 96ig.A:. Gn this ethnically diverse closing area o& the 7oman Empire, Ilachs were recogni*ed as those who spoke 'atin, the o&&icial language o& the By*antine Empire until the ?th .entury when Greek came to dominate 9Balamaci #992?:. 1hese original Ilachs pro a ly consisted o& a variety o& ethnic groups, ut who shared the commonality o& having een assimilated in language and culture into the 7oman Empire.

6igures 1hree and 6our 1he remainder o& .entral and Eastern Europe north o& the 0anu e 7iver was occupied y shi&ting groups o& 9#: Slavs, who immigrated into the region during the &irst &ew centuries o& the millennium &rom the northwestern ,kraine, 9$: Germanic tri es 9e.g., Goths, Iandals, Sueves:, 9A: -siatic groups 9e.g., -lans, Duns, -vars:, and 9E: the 1urkic Bulgars who migrated into area in ?;9 9Magocsi #99A:. 1he Ilach Empire and E/pansion 1he By*antine Empire was weakened y 9#: the split o& the 7oman and +rthodo/ .hurches in#32E, 9$: 4orman conMuests o& By*antine territories in Gtaly, 9A: 1urkish conMuests o& By*antine territories in the east eginning in #3;#, and 9E: the seven crusades etween #39? and #$2E 9Magocsi #99A:. -gainst this weakened By*antine Empire, a Ilach 7evolution occurred in ##@23@? in protest against a harsh ta/ imposed on sheep8goat herds and was lead y Gvan and <eter -sen 9Magocsi #99A:. 1his z-senid Empirey or zEmpire o& the Ilachs and Bulgarsy e/isted south o& the 0anu e 7iver within present8day Bulgaria, and reached its *enith etween #$#@ and #$E# 96ig. E:. 1he &irst written record o& Ilachs north o& the 0anu e 7iver 9in 1ransylvania: is in #$#3 9.aragiu #999:. 1his group has een considered as representing a northward in&lu/ o& Ilachs &rom the -senid Empire andKor Ilachs who had previously retreated into the .arpathian Mountains when the 7oman 'egions withdrew. By #$E$, the Ilach Empire was weakened y Mongol invasions. Dowever, Ilachs during the late #$33ms spread eastward to esta lish Moldavia, which alternated as a vassal state o& <oland and the +ttoman 1urks 9Magosci #999:. By the late #Ath .entury as well, continued Ilach migration into the plains north o& the 0anu e gave rise to =alachia in #$93 9Magocsi #999:. =alachia was esta lished as the new zhomelandy o& the Ilachs and as a province o& Dungary 96ig. E:. 6rom #AA3 until #AE3, =alachia, under the rule o& Basara G, e/isted as a nearly independent state. =alachia again emerged as a near independent state ruled y Mircea etween #A@? and #A93. 0uring this period, the .arpathian Mountain range o& Ilassko in Moravia was largely uninha ited, and &ormed the northeastern order o& the Bohemian Kingdom within the Doly 7oman Empire 9Magocsi #99A:. Slovakia was part o& Dungary. 0uring the middle #Eth .entury, Dungary reached its ma/imum e/tent, and Bohemia8Moravia egan its zGolden -gey under .harles GI 9#AE?8#A;@: as he assumed the title o& Emperor o& the Doly 7oman Empire. +ttoman 1urk Era Southeastern Europe was &orever changed y conMuests y the +ttoman 1urks eginning near the close o& the #Eth .entury 96ig. 2:. 1hese conMuests or &ormation o& 1urkish vassal states includeJ Bulgaria in #A9?, -l ania in #E#2, =alachia in #A93 and again in #EE?, Ser ia in #E29, Bosnia in #E?A, Der*egovina in #E??, Moldavia in #2#$, and the other remaining parts o& the By*antine Empire etween #E2A and #E?3 9see summary in Magocsi #99A:. Gnitially, the Ilachs are elieved to have assisted the 1urks y acting as guides and guards through mountain passes that were well known to the Ilach shepherds 9Sugar #9;;:. Gn time, however, Ilachs num ered among those resent&ul o& the 1urkish presence. Gndeed, the most prominent resistance against the +ttomans occurred in the Ilach states o& =alachia and Moldavia. Ilad GG 0racul took =alachia to the status o& semi8independent state etween #EA? and #EE?. Dis son, Ilad GGG 1epes 9the historical &igure &or 0racula o& &iction: used oth diplomatic and rutal means o& war to esta lish =alachia as an independent state etween #E2A and #E?3. -nd again in #E;?. Ste&an the Great maintained Moldavia &ree &rom +ttoman rule &rom #E2; until #23E 9Magocsi #99A:.

E/odus 6rom +ttoman 'ands and Settlement o& Ilassko +ne outcome o& the +ttoman 1urk westward advance and the political insanity that it rought was a ma5or e/odus &rom the conMuered lands accompanied y a massive in&lu/ in Da s urg lands. Gn an early immigration, Slovak peasants in #2#E immigrants to southern Moravia 9Strani and Dro*enkov areas: as a result o& the 0o*sas 7e ellion 9Kann 0avid #9@E:. Gn #2$?, the Dungarians were de&eated y the +ttoman 1urks at Mohac, allowing e/pansion o& the +ttoman Empire to near the orders o& the Da s urg Empire 96ig. 2: 9Magocsi #99A:. -ll that remained o& Dungary was 7oyal Dungary 9including Slovakia:, which was in name ruled y the Da s urgs ut in practice paid tri ute to the +ttoman Empire until #?3#, and acted as the u&&er *one etween the Da s urg and +ttoman Empires. -s a result o& the Dungarian de&eat, huge areas o& the &ormer Dungary were depopulated as .hristian Magyars 9Dungarians:, Ilachs and Slavs 9'argely .roats, Ser s, and Slovaks:, &led into Da s urg lands 9Magocsi #99A:. -nother ma5or e/odus occurred during the 1urkish =ars etween #29A and #?3? when +rthodo/ Ser s and Ilachs &led into the southern part o& 7oyal Dungary 9.roatia: 9Kann 0avid #9@E:. 6igure 6ive 1he &rontier order 97oyal Dungary and ad5acent areas such as Ilassko: etween the +ttoman and Da s urg Empires was the *one o& oth coloni*ation and con&lict etween the great powers. 1he area was su 5ect to &reMuent raids y the 1urks, and the Da s urgs, in turn, attempted to &orti&y this *one with military camps and to welcome the colonists who, i& not completely loyal to the Da s urg, at least regarded the 1urks as the greater enemy. Gn a move that would haunt Da s urgs later during the 1hirty ears =ar 9#?#@8#?E@:, numerous privileges were estowed upon the new colonist, who were typically organi*ed into military ands 9Kann 0avid #9@E, Magocsi #99A:. 1hese rights included 9#: the right to ear arms, 9$: ta/ e/emptions, 9A: election o& their leaders, 9E: no compulsory work &or &eudal lords, and 92: the gra*ing rights 9<odolak #9?9, Sugar #9;;, Kann 0avid #9@E:. Gn Ilassko, these rights were re&erred to as zIalachian 'awy and stood until the 1hirty ears =ar 9<olisensky #9;#:. 1he overall picture that emerges &or the #?th .entury is a massive &lu/ o& people &rom the whole o& southeastern Europe into the orderlands o& the Da s urg Empire as the +ttoman 1urk wave spread westward. -gainst this ackdrop. 1he Ilassko area o& Moravia, which already had ethnic Moravians inha iting the lowlands, received colonists who largely occupied the highlands. -lthough it seems certain that the immigrants were largely shepherds and peasant migrating along the .arpathians &rom Slovakia, it is impossi le to state 5ust which ethnic wave they represented. 1he Ilachs o& Ilassko Because there is no written account that identi&ies the ethnic character o& the Ilachs who settled Ilassko, only indirect evidence can e called upon. 1he evidence includesJ 9#: period re&erence to the people as a distinct group called the Ilachs or =allachians, 9$: some elements o& the language, 9A: surnames, and 9E: the distinctive pastoral culture. <eriod 7e&erences -s early as the #Eth .entury, Ilach shepherds o& a de&inite 7omanian origin are documented as migrating into Slovakia 9<odolak #9?9:. Somewhat later, disorgani*ed ands o& 7omanian Ilachs are noted in the .arpathian Mountain regions o& ,kraine, <oland, and Moravia. 1his initial in&lu/ o&

Ilachs does coincide with the early +ttoman conMuests in the Balkans, ut appears to represent only disorgani*ed ands o& shepherds traveling along the .arpathians and is small in comparison to the later in&lu/ in the #?th .entury. Gn Ilassko, the &irst widespread re&erence to Ilachs occurred during the 1hirty ears =ar and are well documented in 0ostal 9#92?: and <olisensky 9#9;#:. 6or e/ample, Han -mos .omenius wrote in #9?3 zMoravians o& the mountains around Isetin, called =allachians, are a warlike peoplethey re&uses to accept the Da s urg yoke and &or three whole years de&ended their &reedom with the sword.y 'ater, in #?$E, he wrote zthe inha itants o& the lordship o& Isetin and the mountains therea out 9who are called =allachians: continued to resist with arms and could not e rought to deny their &aith or o&&er su missiony Gn #?$@, Hesuit missionaries, in a andoning their attempt to convert the Ilachs to .atholicism, stated that the zinha itants o& Ilassko were Ialachs and hence utterly in&ractory.y (lin town records &rom #?$# re&er to zthe =allachians, who are the local ra le,y -l recht =aldstein, Da s urg Military lord o& Isetin, wrote in #?$# a out the e/pected uprising o& the locals and re&erred to the Ilachs as z=allachiansy against whom he did not have su&&icient support to mount a campaign. - Da s urg commissioner in #?$$, writing a out the local Moravians, stated that zthe people are inclined more to the enemy and the =allachians.y 1he signi&icance o& these period re&erences is that the Ilachs o& Ilassko were oth considered apart &rom the Moravians, and re&erred to as =allachians. =alachia is the 7omanian province and the homeland o& the Ilachs. 1his later distinction is important, ecause, as noted elow, zIlachy came in Moravia to re&er to shepherds in general. 'anguage 'inguists make the argument that the Moravian dialect spoken y the Ilachs had its roots in Slovak, ut that the voca ulary concerning aspects o& the raising o& sheep and goats was 7omanian 9e.g. <odolak #9?9, Dannan #9@@:. Gn &act, there is a clear evolution o& the Ilach language along the .arpathian Mountains. ,krainian Ilachs spoke a language that had a strong 7omanian in&luence. Slovakians Ilachs, in turn, spoke Slovak, ut with a strong ,krainian character. 1he Moravian spoken y the Ilachs in Ilassko had the Slovak character. 1his geographic evolution o& language can e interpreted as an assimilation o& the Ilachs in terms o& language as they migrated into new areas. 1he overall pattern shows a westward migration o& the Ilachs &rom 7omania into Moravia via the .arpathian Mountains and over a time scale signi&icant enough &or local assimilation o& the language to have occurred. 1he only aspect o& the language that remained unchanged throughout the .arpathians was that related to the Ilach style o& sheep and goat tending 9see elow:, and &or which there were no local words that could e used. 1he counter argument88that this geographic sharing o& language would e typical &or any groups into cultural contact88is weakened y the &act that the dri&t in language is in one direction. ,krainian Ilachs do not show a Slovak in&luence, and so &orth. Surnames Danna 9#9@@:, ased upon a compilation o& .*ech names typical o& 1e/as, demonstrated two important points. 6irst, the most common names are not typical o& the .*ech 7epu lic as a whole, ut rather are distinctive o& Ilassko and surrounding areas. Second, many o& these names are not .*ech in origin ut rather 7omanian 9Baca, Balcar, Sandera:, Dungarian 9e.g. +rsak:, Slovakian 9e.g. 6a5kus:, and <olish 9-damcik:. 1he collection o& surnames &rom Ilassko is pro a ly representative o& origins o& peoples who settled in Ilassko, and also coincides with the presumed route traveled y the Ialachs through the .arpathians.

.ulture - remarka le aspect o& Ilachs &ound everywhere along the .arpathian Mountains is that the culture associated with herding remained the same despite the evolution in language 9<odolak #9?9:. -s with those aspects o& language associated with sheep and goat tending, this cultural aspect o& the Ilachs likely did not change ecause there was no competing culture88the Ilach methods and associated rituals o& sheep and goat tending were uniMue and newly introduced y the Ilachs. -lthough sheep and goats were long associated with agriculture practiced in the lowlands ad5acent to the .arpathians, it was the Ilachs that introduced gra*ing in the highlands and the emphasis upon the production o& milk and cheese. <odolak 9#9?9: descri es a set o& methods and rituals o& Ilach herd tending that were not only uniMue ut also essentially identical along the entire elt o& the .arpathian Mountains &rom Moravia to 7omanian and then along the ad5acent mountains into Ser ia and Bulgaria. Similarly, the style o& Ilach log architecture remained the same along the length o& the .arpathians 9<olisensky #9;#:. 1he semi8 nomadic li&estyle practiced today y the Ilachs o& the Balkans 9as descri ed y =ace 1hompson #9#E: seems largely unchanged &rom that o& the #?th .entury or earlier. 1he 1hirty ear =ar =hatever the origin o& the Ilachs o& Ilassko, the 1hirty ear =ar and su seMuent events most pro&oundly changed the Ilach culture, and, as argued in the ne/t section, set the stage &or the ne/t wave o& Ilach immigration. 1he most detailed accounts o& this war in Ilassko are &ound in 0ostal 9#92?: and <olisensky 9#9;#:. 1he 1hirty ear =ar egan in Bohemia in #?#@ with the Battle o& =hite Mountain near <rague. 1he war had numerous roots, ut the primary one was the religious attled etween .atholicism that the Da s urgs deemed to prevail over all their lands and the growing <rotestant movement that had it roots with Han Dus and later re&ormers such ass 'uther and .alvin. =ar spread to Moravia in #?#9 and =aldstein, lord o& Isetin, was appointed military commander &or Da s urg &orces in Moravia. =ith the e/ception o& Ilassko, the Moravians were de&eated in less than two years, with the Moravian government collapsing soon a&ter the Bohemian de&eat at =hite Mountain, and most Moravian towns and villages surrendering to Da s urg Gmperial &orces without a &ight. Gt was the Ilachs, who at this time had largely ecome <rotestants o& one sort o& another and who considered themselves &reer than the lowland Moravians, who proved the thorn in the Da s urg side. Ilach war&are against the Da s urgs consisted o& raids, including those against Malenovice, (lin, and Ialasske Me*irici. =aldstein stated that the Ilachs &ought as a zDordey and Ilach &orces were victorious against the Da s urgs during the initial years o& the war. 0uring portions o& these initial years as well, Ilachs were 5oined y <rotestant Dungarians, and y #?$# all o& Moravia east o& the Morava 7iver was controlled y Ilachs. Dungarian &orces, however, were de&eated y the Da s urgs at +lomouc in late #?$# and withdrew &rom Moravia in #?$$. Ilach &orces were su seMuently su dued in #?$A, accompanied y a series o& pu lic e/ecutions. 7enewed Ilach attacks on Isetin occurred in late #?$A. 1he Dungarians, now aided y the +ttoman 1urks, reentered the =ar, and &ighting occurred as &ar west as Brno. 1he 1urks, however, were an older enemy o& the Ilachs, and the Ilachs did not 5oin their &ormer allies, the Dungarians. - second peace etween Dungary and the Da s urgs was signed in #?$E. 1he Da s urgs sei*ed this opportunity to attack the Ilachs in March #?$E in the mountains west o& Isetin, ut the Ilachs prevailed in what was descri ed as a zslaughtery o& Da s urg &orces. Ilachs captured 'ukov in #?$?, and 5oined y 0anes,

who had entered the war against the Da s urg, also captured Dranice in #?$?. Gn #?$;, =aldsteinms counter8attack &orced the withdrawal o& the 0anish army &rom Moravian, and sent the Ilachs into retreat. By #?A3, Ilachs controlled only their .arpathian strongholds. 1he &inal Ilach uprising occurred in #?E3 when the Swedes invaded Moravia to do attle with the Da s urgs. .om ined Ilach8Swede &orces won ack portions o& Moravia, ut then the Swedes withdrew in #?EA to concentrate on a war with 0enmark. Gn Hanuary #?EE, a massive Da s urg raid was conducted against the Ilachs in the mountains east o& Isetin, 1he Da s urg rout was completed y this time with a attle that culminated in the urning o& Ilach villages 9e.g. Dove*i, Duslenky, Dalenkov, and (dechov:, disarming o& the Ilachs, destruction o& the &ields and livestock, and an estimated $3 percent o& the males o& Isetin were killed or later e/ecuted. Ilachs who &led the area were pursued y the Da s urgs as &ar as into Dungary. ,ltimately, a out one third o& the total Ilach population was killed. =ith the .onscription o& Ilassko on 6e ruary #?, #?EE, a complete registration o& the remaining Ilachs occurred. E/ecution or oath o& allegiance to Da s urg and conversion to .atholicism were the choices. Many Ilachs were e/ecuted during the in&amous e/ecutions o& #?EE in Isetin. By March #?EE, essentially all the remaining Ilachs who had taken re&uge in the high high .arpathians had een pursued and killed. <lague then struck the region in Septem er #?EE. =ar continued with one more attempted invasion o& Moravia y the Swedes and Dungarians. 1he war ended with the <eace o& =estphalia in #?E@. Gn Moravia alone, ?A castles, $$ towns, and AA3 villages had een annihilated during the war. 0estruction o& the Ilach .ulture in Ilassko88Stage8Setting &or Gmmigration 1he net result o& the crushing Ilach de&eat with the close o& the 1hirty ear =ar was the destruction o& Ilach .ulture. 7etri ution y the Da s urg was severe and the Ilassko area remained one o& the most repressed in Europe. - harsh ser&dom was imposed upon the Ilachs. =hole groups o& people and &amilies were relocated. 1a/es were raised to the point 9two8third o& total gross: that e/treme poverty resulted. +verlords were entirely &oreign. Ser&dom was not li&ted until the 7evolution o& #@E@ 9<ech #9?9:, one o& the last places in Europe. Gmmigration to 1e/as egan in earnest in the #@23ms. .onclusion Gn returning to the three simple Muestions posed at the eginning o& this paper, what conclusions can e drawnC =ho were the Ilachs o& IlasskoC 1hey were certainly migrating shepherds &rom Slovakia. G& the period re&erences are taken at &ace value, they were =allachians or 7omanians. 1he complicating &actor, however, is that these Ilachs may have een in migration &or a generation or more and had een assimilated in language and pro a ly through marriage to ,krainians, <oles, and Slovaks. =hat is the relationship to these Ilachs to other Ilachs scattered throughout southeastern EuropeC 6irst, the original Ilachs were not a single ethnic group, although many were 0acian. Ilachs show every inclination toward assimilation, hence, there are Ser ian, Moravian, and 7omanian Ilachs. 1hey are united y a shared history, and language and culture to some degree. 1he strong tie to 7omania e/ists in the historical location o& the Ilach homeland and the continuation o& the 'atin8derived

language there. =hat caused the migration o& the Ilachs into MoraviaK 1he +ttoman 1urks caused the westward migration o& Ilachs and other ethnic groups o& people. Ilach westward migration along the .arpathian Mountains ended in Moravia were the .arpathians terminate. 7e&erences Balamaci, 4.S., #992. 1he Balkan IlachsJ Born to -ssimilateC httpJKK&arsarotul.orgKn##@Lhtm .aragiu, M., #999. Distorical Snapshots. wysiwygJKK#A3KhttpJKKwww.&ree yellow.comK mem ers$K astianKhist.html. 0ostal, 6., #92?.Ialasska povstani *a 1riceltilete Ialky. 4ase Io5sko, <raha, $A; pp. Danna K. #9@@. 1racing Ialach Surnames in 1e/as. Iesnik ; 0ecem er, ##8#$. Kann 7.-. 0avid, (.I., #9@E. 1he <eoples o& the Eastern Da s urg 'ands, #2$?8#9#@. ,niversity o& =ashington <ress, Seattle, 2EA pp. Magocsi, <.7., #99A, Distorical -tlas o& East .entral Europe. ,niversity o& =ashington <ress, Seattle, $#@ pp. <echm S.(., #9?9. 1he .*ech 7evolution o& #@E@. ,niversity o& 4orth .arolina <ress, .hapel Dill, $@? pp. <odolak, H. #9?9. 1he pastoral culture o& the .arpathians as a su 5ect o& an ethnological study. Ethnologia Slavica, v. #, ?;8@$. <olisensky, H.I., #9;#. 1he 1hirty ears =ar, ,niversity o& .ali&ornia <ress, Berkely, A33 pp. 7adio <rague, #999. 'iving .*ech. http.radio.c*KEnglishKlanguageK#@8?899.html Sugar, <.6., #9;;. Southeastern Europe under +ttoman 7ule, #A2E8#@3E. ,niversity o& =ashington <ress, Seattle, A?2 pp. =ace -,H.B. 1homson, M.S., #9#E. 1he 4omads o& the Balkans, an -ccount o& li&e and .ustoms -mong the Ilachs o& 4orthern <indus. Methuen .o., 'ondon. =inni&rith, 1.H., #9;@. 1he IlachsJ 1he Distory o& a Balkan <eople. St Martinms <ress, 4ew ork, #@@ pp.