Great Moravia
Battle with the Hungarian nomads by L. Gyula
Great Moravia became the second early Slavic state formation, after the short-lived “state” of Samo.
And it was Moravia that became the cradle of Slavic writing, the one we use today.
The actual name "Slavs," as well as the "appearance of the Slavs" in the Roman civilization, when they were recorded, originated in sixth-century sources by Jordanes and Procopius, when both authors could have personally encountered representatives of this people. The latter, a military man and secretary to the general Belisarius, personally observed them among the Roman troops in Italy.
Thanks to these authors, we know about the initial stories Early Slavs. Archaeological data, despite the vast amount of excavations and work, adds little to our understanding of the early origins of the Slavs.
It is methodologically important that when the Slavs embarked on their historical development, neighboring ethnic agricultural formations were at a more advanced stage of development, meaning that most of them had begun to form states. The early Slavs were threatened by nomads, who were both cohesive and organized due to their way of life. This significantly complicated the emergence of Slavic states proper.
prehistory
However, in the 9th century, the first consolidation began among the Slavic tribe – the Moravians, whose name of the tribal association corresponds to the Morava River, a tributary of the Danube.
The complexity of Slavic state formation stemmed from the fact that the clan organization had no need for external governance, such as a prince and retinue. However, without this external system, early state unification could not have occurred. All Slavic unions (sclavinia) were temporary, when necessary for security, and were disavowed when the threat abated.
Neither princely power in the sense of external governing force, nor the power of this power, the retinue, could yet take shape among the Slavs.
Having a chieftain doesn't make one equal to a prince. A chieftain, most often, like Kiy, is the head of a tribe or clan, who leads a tribal militia, not a retinue or "thousand best warriors"—a militia.
The Slavic tribal agricultural organization had no need for either chainmail or swords, and this society did not possess such technologies, as archaeology clearly confirms. There was no need for additional weaponry beyond that used in production: the axe was ubiquitous; the spear, bow, and arrows were used for hunting. In the 9th century, the following reliably recorded weapons were discovered in the Moravian territory: an axe, a spear, a knife, and spurs. However, combinations of weaponry in graves are extremely rare; most often, a single type is found. 63% of graves lack equestrian attributes.
As for the nomadic peoples with whom the Slavs had contact, due to the development of military technologies and governance structures, the nomads, as a warrior society, dominated the farmers. The Avars and Proto-Bulgarians had a more advanced system of governance (technologies) for warfare.
However, an external threat always contributes to the consolidation of communities, and it also influenced the consolidation of the Moravians.
The temporary weakening of the Avar Khagan in the mid-7th century, following failures during military campaigns against Byzantium, allowed the conquered ethnic groups—the nomadic Turks (Bulgars) and Slavs—to begin a struggle against them. This resulted in the formation of the first Slavic pro-state entity, Samo. The southern reaches of the Morava River and the area where it flows into the Danube comprise the lands of modern-day Slovakia and Austria. This is also confirmed by archaeological evidence: there are no traces of Avars in the western part of the Morava River.
But after Samo's death—probably unreported—the Avars were able to consolidate in the face of external threats and went on the offensive. The territory where the Avars roamed was the Tisza River basin, a left tributary of the Danube originating in Transcarpathia; the area between the Tisza and Danube, opposite the former Roman province of Moesia Superior with its fortress cities of Sirmium and Sigtuna; the right bank of the Danube to the confluence of the Drava, i.e., the northeastern part of the Roman province of Pannonia; and the territories located north of it.
Whether the Moravian tribes living to the west fell under Avar control or not is uncertain, but the eighth century was turbulent for the Avars. Internal strife prevented them from consolidating. As early as the late seventh century, the Bulgars entered into a power struggle with the Avars but lost. This allowed Charlemagne to wage war against them, the second largest after the war against the Saxons. According to Abbot Einhard, it lasted from 791 to 803. The Avars incurred Charlemagne's wrath by supporting his opponents in Bavaria in 788. The first campaign of 791 failed to resolve the problem; the Franks suffered a loss of livestock, presumably a similar situation among their opponents. Charles managed to reach an agreement with the Slavic prince of Carinthia, Voinomir, who took part in the campaign of 795. All the Avar nobility perished in the battles, and the Franks seized enormous wealth in the "ring," the Avar fortifications:
Pannonia became completely uninhabited, and the place where the Khagan's residence was is now so deserted that there is no trace left that people ever lived here.
In this vast territory there remained a small population, the same Avars and Slavs.
Map of the settlement of the Western Slavs at the end of the 8th century.
The border river between the Slavs and the Frankish Avar March in the north was the Dyja River (Czech: Dyje, German: Thaya), which flows parallel to the Danube from west to east and flows into the Morava, which flows from north to south and flows into the Danube, where Bratislava is located.
In the 6th century, this was the border of the Roman Empire and the Khaganate; the Roman border once passed here, and the straight line distance to modern Vienna is 55 km (88 km by motorway).
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During the Frankish-Avar wars, two principalities, or chiefdoms, emerged here: one, Nitra, led by Pribin, and the other, Moravian proper, led by Mojmir. Sources are silent on the details. Researchers speculate that this was due to external circumstances; perhaps we are witnessing a situation similar to that of the Slavinia in the Balkans or the Western Slavs, when the so-called "princes" were merely tribal leaders. Most likely, these territories stopped paying tribute to the Avars and came under the protection of the Frankish Empire.
In 822, Moravian representatives attended the Diet in Germany. Both principalities received missionaries: Pribin in 830 from Salzburg, and Mojmir in 831. At the same time, Mojmir began a struggle against Pribin, possibly under the sign of "baptism," which led to his expulsion in 833 and the unification of both parts of the Moravian tribe under his rule.
The Moravian Principality attempted to gain complete independence during the period of turmoil in the Frankish state, after the death of Louis the Pious, from 840 to 843. Louis the German (804-876), who received control of the eastern part of the empire, immediately took up problems on the border, undertaking a campaign against Mojmir, and without resistance replaced him with his nephew Rostislav in 846.
Rostislav, some time later, in 855, captured the territory between the rivers Dia and Danube, moving the border with the East Frankish state further south.
This is how the so-called Great Moravia came to be, because it wasn't called that during its existence, but acquired its name later. The term appeared in Emperor Constantine Porphyrogenitus's (908–959) work, "On the Administration of the Empire." He most likely learned it from Hungarian ambassadors, who, to emphasize their conquests, referred to the country they had destroyed as "Great."
The territory of this country in the 30s of the 9th century is the middle Danube region, with neighbors in the west – the Czechs and Bavaria, in the south – Carinthia, controlled by the Franks, in the east – Pannonia, in the southeast – Bulgaria (Dacia), in the north – the Vistula region.
Louis launched a campaign against the growing strength of Moravia, but to no avail. Later, in 864, the Bulgarian Tsar Boris, as an ally of the Franks, was prepared to strike from the southeast, but Louis himself besieged Rostislav in the city of Divin (Bratislava), forcing him to swear allegiance to the Frankish emperor, along with all the optimates. The resulting treaty stipulated the active Christianization of the Slavs. The problems Louis faced, including the Norman invasion, gave the Moravian principality an opportunity to actively expand its borders.
As in most ethnic groups where Christianization took place, it was initially accepted by the leaders, and even then with caution; polygamy continued to be a common occurrence among the Moravians; Christianity penetrated the masses of the people slowly.
The Moravian community was more of a confederation than a unified state entity, let alone a monarchy. The Principality of Nitra, seemingly conquered, once again appears independent, but connected to Moravia.
That is why Saint Methodius asked the Pope for a bull addressed to Rostislav, Svyatopolk and Kotsel, the son of Pribin.
The elite of these ethnic groups, under the influence of the more developed Frankish society, unlike their ordinary fellow tribesmen, took part more often in the internal struggle within the empire than in dealing with their own problems.
In 862, when civil strife began in the empire, Rostislav joined Carloman against Emperor Louis, and it was perhaps he who attracted the Hungarians, who first appeared in Western Europe.
And in 870, Carloman (830–880) invaded Moravia. Svatopluk, or, as Liutprand of Cremona called him, Centebald, concluded a separate peace with him, captured Rostislav, and handed him over to Carloman. He was soon arrested, and in 871 he was sent to Moravia as an agent of Frankish policy.
But he cleverly found a way out of the situation and again stood at the head of the Moravians, although among his entourage there were a large number of Bavarians, in whose company he spent time.
The Moravian prince did not have nearly the same strength as the Franks, so he had to constantly maneuver, fighting off the emperor’s excessive claims; he was still forced to pay tribute, as was the case in 873, when he defeated the Germans.
This is how the so-called Great Moravia came to be, because it wasn't called that during its existence, but acquired its name later. This term was coined in Emperor Constantine Porphyrogenitus's (908–959) work, "On the Administration of the Empire." He most likely learned it from Hungarian ambassadors, who, to emphasize their conquests, referred to the country they had destroyed as "Great."
The territory of this country is the middle Danube region, in the west the neighbors are the Czechs and Bavaria, in the south is Carinthia, controlled by the Franks, in the east is Pannonia, in the southeast is Bulgaria (Dacia), in the north is the Vistula region.
The acquisition of Slavic writing
Historically, scattered missionaries, both Frankish and Greek, operated in this territory. Rostislav, who was in constant contact with his western neighbors, understood the political importance of carrying out Christianization under his personal control. Historians are unclear as to what Rostislav sought by appealing alternately to the pope and the emperor of Constantinople for the dispatch of priests. Modern scholars reject the modernization-style interpretation of the historical process, which would reduce everything to a struggle between two churches, something absent from this period. It is possible that the prince of Great Moravia's direct appeal to both the pope and the patriarch was an attempt to "resolve the issue" over the head of the Frankish emperor, whose vassal he was already forced to be.
In the end, an embassy of little significance for the Roman Empire was sent to Rostislav in the person of the philosopher Constantine and his brother Methodius, a former military man and strategos of some Slavic region in Byzantium, hence his knowledge of the Slavic language.
The Roman Empire had no need to translate its services into other languages, because while in the western part of the former Roman Empire the liturgy was conducted in Latin, in Byzantium it was in Greek. On the contrary, linguistic assimilation was always an important factor in imperial policy. The nobility of neighboring, half-Turkic, half-Slavic Bulgaria, taken hostage by Constantinople, adopted the language, faith, and customs of the Romans.
The arriving teachers of faith protested the "heresy of three languages" preached by German priests, who believed that only Latin, Greek, and Hebrew were acceptable for services.
They actively trained local priests in the Slavic language, preparing a strong group of future fighters for the faith and active disseminators of the Slavic language and writing.
While Rostislav was greatly burdened by the German and Bavarian priests who, due to their proximity, had overrun the Moravian territory, Svyatopolk was, so to speak, a pro-Westerner, which requires some explanation. His entourage included many Bavarians, and the prince may have seen examples of governance in his western neighbors that the Slavs of that period could not have. The East Frankish Empire was already a military-service state, on the path to early feudalism, while the Moravians were a society of neighboring communities with strong elements of "communal democracy." Thus, we know that the communities, not the prince, decided on tribute payments, and they also carried them out. This is because the Frankish campaigns in their lands were extremely devastating.
Svyatopolk understood that such a force could only be resisted by adopting, in modern terms, military technologies, but the state of his society did not allow this to be done.
Despite the dispute over where the Slavic alphabet originated, it should be noted that it actually came into use in Moravia. Church services in Slavic, translations of works, including the Byzantine legal text "The Law of Judgment for People," the Old Testament, and so on.
Monument to Svyatopolk. Bratislava. Slovakia.
With Svyatopolk's rise to power, difficult times arose for the use of Church services in Slavonic. Even Pope John VIII appealed to the prince, emphasizing that services in a Slavic language understandable to the flock were an important component of Christianization:
If you and your nobles prefer to hear the liturgy in Latin, I command that the liturgy be celebrated for you only in Latin.
After completing his studies, Constantine and his disciples traveled via Venice to Constantinople, but there he learned of a coup d'état in the Roman Empire. He then accepted the pope's offer and traveled with his disciples to Rome, where they were ordained. Constantine died in Rome, and his brother Methodius, as some scholars suggest, cunningly gained ecclesiastical authority in Pannonia. This was unacceptable to the Bavarian clergy; after all, it was a question of revenue. Methodius and his supporters were imprisoned and subjected to all manner of torture. But in 873, he was released under pressure from the pope. He moved to Moravia, but there, too, he clashed with Svatopluk, for the reasons discussed above.
Church services in Slavonic strengthened Bishop Methodius's authority, leading to inevitable friction with the secular authorities, as occurred in all newly Christianized countries. This was especially true because, in Methodius's view, Svyatopolk behaved un-Christianly, reveling in carousing and debauchery like most barbarian leaders. Methodius evaded all the machinations of his opponents, including with the support of Ivan VIII. Indeed, based on the few sources we have, the use of Slavonic facilitated missionary work and the active Christianization of the Slavs.
Dying in 885, Methodius appointed the Moravian Gorazd as his successor. But Svyatopolk began repressing supporters of the Slavic liturgy, encouraging the strengthening of the Latins. Their flight, particularly to Bulgaria, contributed to the rapid development of Slavic writing.
Svyatopolk expands his power
After recognizing the authority of the Frankish emperor, Svyatopolk immediately attacked the Vistulians, a Polish tribe, forcing them to pay him tribute:
...the archon of Moravia, Sfendopolk, wrote Constantine Porphyrogenitus, was courageous and terrible to the peoples who were neighboring him.
Margrave Arnulf of Carinthia and Pannonia, son of Emperor Carloman, intrigued with the Bulgarians against Svatopluk. In 882, the Bulgarians attacked Moravia but were defeated, and Moravia gained control of the area between the Tisza and Danube rivers, the "Empty Land," where, sparsely populated, Hungarian hordes were already appearing, raiding along the Danube. Simultaneously, Svatopluk attacked part of former Pannonia, now part of the German March, against Arnulf, but concluded peace with him.
As early as 870, the Czechs acknowledged, one must assume, a formal dependence on Svyatopolk, but gradually this power grew stronger, and his protege, the Czech prince Bořivoj, was baptized in 883. The attempt to baptize the Czechs failed the first time; they expelled Bořivoj, which forced Svyatopolk to forcibly return him to Bohemia: thus he strengthened the power of one prince, contrary to the Sejm (national assembly) and the council of princes, the tribal leaders of the Czechs.
It's highly significant that Bořivoj built a princely fortress, Prague Castle, on the site of his assembly, the Diet Field. After his death, Svatopluk himself ascended the throne in 889. In 890, with the approval of the empire, whose policies he aligned himself with, he subjugated the Czechs, forcing them to pay tribute. Svatopluk also subjugated the Upper Lusatian Serbs.
Territory of Great Moravia. Source: History of Europe in 8 volumes. Vol. 2. Moscow, 1992.
Despite acknowledging himself as a vassal of the East Frankish Empire, the new emperor, Arnulf (850–899), and his longtime adversary, carried out devastating raids on Moravia in 892 and 893, drawing the Pannonian prince Vratislav and the nomadic Hungarians into the attack. Liutprand of Cremona wrote of this situation:
He called upon the Hungarian people—greedy, ferocious, ignorant of the Almighty God, but well versed in all manner of crimes and insatiable in murder and robbery—to come to his aid; if one can even call aid what soon after his death turned into a grave disaster…
All who saw the consequences of these actions, which seemed correct to the Emperor Arnulf, turned into enormous problems for his country.
These authors noted that the Hungarians in this situation conducted a "reconnaissance in force," saw who lived in these territories, understood how to pass through the Carpathians, and tested the strength of their future enemies.
But for some reason in 894 the Hungarians sided with Svyatopolk.
To be continued ...
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