The Moravians (

Old Slavic Old Church Slavonic or Old Slavonic () was the first Slavic literary language. Historians credit the 9th-century Byzantine missionaries Saints Cyril and Methodius with standardizing the language and using it in translating the Bible and other ...

self-designation ''Moravljane'', sk, Moravania, cz, Moravané) were a West Slavic tribe in the

Early Middle Ages The Early Middle Ages (or early medieval period), sometimes controversially referred to as the Dark Ages, is typically regarded by historians as lasting from the late 5th or early 6th century to the 10th century. They marked the start of the Mi ...

. Although it is not known exactly when the Moravian tribe was founded, Czech historian

Dušan Třeštík Dušan Třeštík (1 August 1933 – 23 August 2007) was a Czech historian. He specialized in medieval history ( Dark Ages (500–1000)) of the Czech lands and theory of history. Třeštík was born in 1933 in Sobědruhy, now a part of the city ...

claimed that the tribe was formed between the turn of the 6th century to the 7th century, around the same time as the other Slavic tribes. In the 9th century Moravians settled mainly around the historic region of

Moravia Moravia ( , also , ; cs, Morava ; german: link=yes, Mähren ; pl, Morawy ; szl, Morawa; la, Moravia) is a historical region in the east of the Czech Republic and one of three historical Czech lands, with Bohemia and Czech Silesia. The ...

and

Western Slovakia Western Slovakia ( sk, Západné Slovensko) is one of the four NUTS-2 Regions of Slovakia. It was created at the same time as were the Nitra, Trnava and Trenčín regions. Western Slovakia is the most populated of the four regions of Slovakia and ...

, but also in parts of

Lower Austria Lower Austria (german: Niederösterreich; Austro-Bavarian: ''Niedaöstareich'', ''Niedaestareich'') is one of the nine states of Austria, located in the northeastern corner of the country. Since 1986, the capital of Lower Austria has been Sankt P ...

(up to the

Danube The Danube ( ; ) is a river that was once a long-standing frontier of the Roman Empire and today connects 10 European countries, running through their territories or being a border. Originating in Germany, the Danube flows southeast for , pa ...

) and Upper

Hungary Hungary ( hu, Magyarország ) is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning of the Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the south, Cr ...

. The first known mention of the Moravians was in the

Annales Regni Francorum The ''Royal Frankish Annals'' (Latin: ''Annales regni Francorum''), also called the ''Annales Laurissenses maiores'' ('Greater Lorsch Annals'), are a series of annals composed in Latin in the Carolingian Francia, recording year-by-year the state ...

in 822 AD. The tribe was located by the

Bavarian Geographer The epithet "Bavarian Geographer" ( la, Geographus Bavarus) is the conventional name for the anonymous author of a short Latin medieval text containing a list of the tribes in Central- Eastern Europe, headed (). The name "Bavarian Geographer" was ...

(as ''Marharii'') between the tribe of the Bohemians and the tribe of the

Bulgarians Bulgarians ( bg, българи, Bǎlgari, ) are a nation and South Slavic ethnic group native to Bulgaria and the rest of Southeast Europe. Etymology Bulgarians derive their ethnonym from the Bulgars. Their name is not completely underst ...

. In the 9th century Moravians gain control over neighbouring Nitra and founded the realm of

Great Moravia Great Moravia ( la, Regnum Marahensium; el, Μεγάλη Μοραβία, ''Meghálī Moravía''; cz, Velká Morava ; sk, Veľká Morava ; pl, Wielkie Morawy), or simply Moravia, was the first major state that was predominantly West Slavic to ...

, ruled by the Mojmír dynasty until the 10th century. After the breakup of the Moravian realm the Moravian tribe was divided between the

Duchy of Bohemia The Duchy of Bohemia, also later referred to in English as the Czech Duchy, ( cs, České knížectví) was a monarchy and a principality of the Holy Roman Empire in Central Europe during the Early and High Middle Ages. It was formed around 870 b ...

and

Principality of Hungary The (Grand) Principality of HungaryS. Wise BauerThe history of the medieval world: from the conversion of Constantine to the First Crusade W. W. Norton & Company, 2010, p. 586George H. HodosThe East-Central European region: an historical outline ...

. The western Moravians were assimilated by the Czechs and presently identify as

Czechs The Czechs ( cs, Češi, ; singular Czech, masculine: ''Čech'' , singular feminine: ''Češka'' ), or the Czech people (), are a West Slavic ethnic group and a nation native to the Czech Republic in Central Europe, who share a common ancestry, ...

(see

Moravians (ethnic group) Moravians ( cs, Moravané or colloquially , outdated ) are a West Slavic ethnographic group from the Moravia region of the Czech Republic, who speak the Moravian dialects of Czech or Common Czech or a mixed form of both. Along with the Siles ...

). The modern nation of the

Slovaks The Slovaks ( sk, Slováci, singular: ''Slovák'', feminine: ''Slovenka'', plural: ''Slovenky'') are a West Slavic ethnic group and nation native to Slovakia who share a common ancestry, culture, history and speak Slovak. In Slovakia, 4.4 mi ...

was formed out of the eastern part of the Moravian tribe within the

Kingdom of Hungary The Kingdom of Hungary was a monarchy in Central Europe that existed for nearly a millennium, from the Middle Ages into the 20th century. The Principality of Hungary emerged as a Christian kingdom upon the Coronation of the Hungarian monarch, c ...

References

Sources

* (German) * Lubomír E. Havlík: ''Svatopluk Veliký, král Moravanů a Slovanů'' vatopluk the Great. King of the Moravians and Slavs Jota, Brno 1994, . (Czech) * (Czech) * (Czech) * Dušan Třeštík: ''Vznik Velké Moravy. Moravané, Čechové a střední Evropa v letech 791–871'' he Founding of Great Moravia. Moravians, Czechs and Middle Europe in the years 791–871 Nakladatelství Lidové noviny, o.O. 2010, (Czech) * {{Slavic ethnic groups (VII-XII century) Medieval Slovakia West Slavic tribes

See also

References

Sources