Early Slavs settled in the eastern and southern parts of the former Roman province of Pannonia. The term ''Lower Pannonia'' ( la, Pannonia inferior, hu, Alsó-pannoniai grófság, sh-Latn-Cyrl, Donja Panonija, Доња Панонија, sl, Spodnja Panonija) was used to designate those areas of the

Pannonian plain The Pannonian Basin, or Carpathian Basin, is a large basin situated in south-east Central Europe. The geomorphological term Pannonian Plain is more widely used for roughly the same region though with a somewhat different sense, with only th ...

that lie to the east and south of the river

Rába The Rába (german: Raab; hu, Rába; sl, Raba ) is a river in southeastern Austria and western Hungary and a right tributary of the Danube. Geography Its source is in Austria, some kilometres east of Bruck an der Mur below Heubodenhöhe Hill. ...

, with the division into ''Upper'' and ''Lower'' inherited from the Roman terminology. From the middle of the 6th to the end of the 8th century, the region was under the domination of the Avars, while the Slavic inhabitants lived under Avar rule. By the beginning of the 9th century, that state was destroyed and replaced by the supreme rule of the Frankish Empire, which lasted until the Magyar conquest (c. 900). During the Frankish period, the region of Lower Pannonia was governed by local Slavic rulers, who were under the suzerainty of Frankish kings. Within the Frankish administrative system, the

March of Pannonia The March of Pannonia or Eastern March ( la, marcha orientalis) was a frontier march of the Carolingian Empire, named after the former Roman province of ''Pannonia'' and carved out of the preceding and larger Avar march. It was referred to in so ...

was created, with direct Frankish rule exercised in ''Upper Pannonia'' through Frankish counts, while ''Lower Pannonia'' was governed as a principality by local Slavic princes, under the supreme Frankish rule. During the 9th century, Frankish domination in Lower Pannonia was also contested by the

Bulgarian Empire In the medieval history of Europe, Bulgaria's status as the Bulgarian Empire ( bg, Българско царство, ''Balgarsko tsarstvo'' ) occurred in two distinct periods: between the seventh and the eleventh centuries and again between th ...

and Great Moravia. By the 10th century, the

Hungarian conquest of the Carpathian Basin The Hungarian conquest of the Carpathian Basin, also known as the Hungarian conquest or the Hungarian land-taking (), was a series of historical events ending with the settlement of the Hungarians in Central Europe in the late 9th and early 10t ...

effectively split the Slavic communities in the region in two, leading to the formation of the

West Slavs The West Slavs are Slavic peoples who speak the West Slavic languages. They separated from the common Slavic group around the 7th century, and established independent polities in Central Europe by the 8th to 9th centuries. The West Slavic langu ...

and the

South Slavs South Slavs are Slavic peoples who speak South Slavic languages and inhabit a contiguous region of Southeast Europe comprising the eastern Alps and the Balkan Peninsula. Geographically separated from the West Slavs and East Slavs by Austria, H ...

Background

Roman rule in Pannonian regions collapsed during the 5th century, and was replaced by subsequent domination of Huns, Goths and

Langobards The Lombards () or Langobards ( la, Langobardi) were a Germanic people who ruled most of the Italian Peninsula from 568 to 774. The medieval Lombard historian Paul the Deacon wrote in the ''History of the Lombards'' (written between 787 and ...

. During the reign of Byzantine Emperor

Justin II Justin II ( la, Iustinus; grc-gre, Ἰουστῖνος, Ioustînos; died 5 October 578) or Justin the Younger ( la, Iustinus minor) was Eastern Roman Emperor from 565 until 578. He was the nephew of Justinian I and the husband of Sophia, the ...

(565–578), and following the Lombard-Gepid War in 567, Pannonia was invaded by Avars who subsequently conquered almost entire

Pannonian Plain The Pannonian Basin, or Carpathian Basin, is a large basin situated in south-east Central Europe. The geomorphological term Pannonian Plain is more widely used for roughly the same region though with a somewhat different sense, with only th ...

(568). Although it is possible that some small Proto-Slavic groups could have arrived in the "middle of the 5th century and the time of Hunnish domination", during the 6th and 7th centuries, Pannonian regions were certainly inhabited by Slavs, who were under the Avarian rule.

Principality

During the

Frankish Frankish may refer to: * Franks, a Germanic tribe and their culture ** Frankish language or its modern descendants, Franconian languages * Francia, a post-Roman state in France and Germany * East Francia, the successor state to Francia in Germany ...

war against Avars, the '' Royal Frankish Annals'' made mention of a '' Wonomyrus Sclavus'' (Vojnomir the Slav or Zvonomir the Slav) active in 795. Eric, Duke of Friuli, sent Vojnomir with his army into Pannonia, between the Danube and Tisza, where they pillaged the Avars' dominions. The next year the Avars were defeated and Frankish power was extended further east, to the central Danube. In the mid-9th century, Lower Pannonia was already inhabited by a Slavic majority (besides "Pannonian Slavs" including

Dulebes The Dulebes, Dulebs, Dudlebi or Dulibyh ( uk, Дуліби) were one of the tribal unions of Early Slavs between the 6th and the 10th centuries. According to medieval sources they lived in Western Volhynia, as well as southern parts of the Duchy o ...

and possibly some

Croats The Croats (; hr, Hrvati ) are a South Slavic ethnic group who share a common Croatian ancestry, culture, history and language. They are also a recognized minority in a number of neighboring countries, namely Austria, the Czech Republic, ...

), and Christian Avars were also found in Lower Pannonia in 873. After the destruction of the Avarian state, Pannonian Slavs came under the Frankish rule. Initially, local Slavic princes were under Frankish suzerainty, within the

, and some of them are known from Frankish primary sources. Prince Ljudevit was mentioned in the ''Royal Frankish Annals'' as ''Duke of Lower Pannonia'' ( la, Liudewiti, ducis Pannoniae inferioris), having led an uprising against the Franks (811–822). Their motives aren't known but it's presumed to have been led by the desire for greater autonomy. He was joined by the

Carantanians Carantanians ( la, Quarantani, sl, Karantanci) were a Slavic people of the Early Middle Ages (Latin: , or "Slavs called Caranthanians"), living in the principality of Carantania, later known as Carinthia, which covered present-day southern Aust ...

Carniola Carniola ( sl, Kranjska; , german: Krain; it, Carniola; hu, Krajna) is a historical region that comprised parts of present-day Slovenia. Although as a whole it does not exist anymore, Slovenes living within the former borders of the region st ...

ns, reportedly Slavs around Salzburg and was supported by Fortunatus (

Patriarch of Grado This is a list of the Patriarchs of Grado (north-eastern Italy).
'' Sisak ( la, Siscia), former metropolis of ancient Roman province Pannonia Savia. However, the exact boundaries of his principality are uncertain as the term of Lower Pannonian could have implied both the lands between the river

Drava The Drava or Drave''Utrata Fachwörterbuch ...

and Sava as well as North of them and East of them in the former Roman province

Pannonia Secunda Pannonia Secunda was one of the provinces of the Roman Empire. It was formed in the year 296, during the reign of emperor Diocletian. The capital of the province was Sirmium (today Sremska Mitrovica). Pannonia Secunda included parts of present-day ...

(today's Syrmia). Possibly his rule expanded further to the East because in the historical sources is said to have been joined by the tribe of Timočani who lived around Timok Valley (in today's Eastern Serbia). The size of the principality had to be proportional to the resources needed to rebel against the military forces of Borna of Dalmatia and Franks. After Ljudevit's failed uprising and death, in 827 the

Bulgars The Bulgars (also Bulghars, Bulgari, Bolgars, Bolghars, Bolgari, Proto-Bulgarians) were Turkic semi-nomadic warrior tribes that flourished in the Pontic–Caspian steppe and the Volga region during the 7th century. They became known as nomad ...

under Great Khan Omurtag invaded and conquered Lower Pannonia and parts of Frankish territories to the north. They also installed their own governors. The Bulgarian-Frankish conflict was probably spurred over the control of the tribes of Timočani and

Abodrites The Obotrites ( la, Obotriti, Abodritorum, Abodritos…) or Obodrites, also spelled Abodrites (german: Abodriten), were a confederation of medieval West Slavic tribes within the territory of modern Mecklenburg and Holstein in northern Germany ...

. German King Louis in 828 made a counterattack and eventually March of Friuli was divided into four counties. One of them probably was early

Duchy of Croatia The Duchy of Croatia (; also Duchy of the Croats, hr , Kneževina Hrvata; ) was a medieval state that was established by White Croats who migrated into the area of the former Roman province of Dalmatia 7th century CE. Throughout its existence ...

(which also expanded upon the territory of Sisak) while Pannonia again became part of the Pannonian March, both of which vassals to East Francia. The next year Bulgars made another attack but without further success, although the territory of Pannonia most probably lost its Eastern part to the First Bulgarian Empire. After that, in 838 a local Slavic prince Ratimir emerged as the new ruler in Lower Pannonian regions, around rivers Drava and Sava. He probably ruled the Eastern areas of Pannonia and was a Bulgar's governor. To him fled

Pribina Pribina (c. 800861) was a Slavic prince whose adventurous career, recorded in the '' Conversion of the Bavarians and the Carantanians'' (a historical work written in 870), illustrates the political volatility of the Franco–Slavic fronti ...

, former prince of the Principality of Nitra expelled by

Mojmir I of Moravia Mojmir I, Moimir I or Moymir I (Latin: ''Moimarus'', ''Moymarus'', Czech and Slovak: ''Mojmír I.'') was the first known ruler of the Moravian Slavs (820s/830s–846) and eponym of the House of Mojmir. In modern scholarship, the creation of ...

. In the same year Frankish count Radbod of the East March deposed Ratimir and strengthened Frankish rule in Lower Pannonia. Ratimir fled the land, and the Franks instated Slavic prince Pribina as the new ruler of Lower Pannonia. Pribina (d. 861) was succeeded by his son, prince

Kocel Kocelj ( 861–874) was a ruler of the Slavs in Lower Pannonia. He was an East Frankish vassal titled ''comes'' (count), and is believed to have ruled between 861 or 864 and 876. Life Kocelj was the second son of Pribina, a Slavic ''dux'' install ...

. During the rule of Pribina and Kocel, capital of the Principality of Lower Pannonia was Mosapurc (''Mosapurc regia civitate''), also known in Old-Slavonic as ''Blatnograd'' (modern

Zalavár Zalavár is a village in Hungary, located in Zala County. It is located around southwest of Lake Balaton. Name According to written sources the settlement was called 'Mosapurc' in the 9th century, "''Mosapurc regia civitate''". It was also kn ...

near

Lake Balaton Lake Balaton () is a freshwater lake in the Transdanubian region of Hungary. It is the largest lake in Central Europe, and one of the region's foremost tourist destinations. The Zala River provides the largest inflow of water to the lake, and th ...

). The polity was a vassal principality of the Frankish Empire, or according to others, a frontier county ( la, comitatus) of the

Eastern Frankish Kingdom Eastern may refer to: Transportation *China Eastern Airlines, a current Chinese airline based in Shanghai *Eastern Air, former name of Zambia Skyways *Eastern Air Lines, a defunct American airline that operated from 1926 to 1991 *Eastern Air Li ...

. It was initially led by a ''

dux ''Dux'' (; plural: ''ducēs'') is Latin for "leader" (from the noun ''dux, ducis'', "leader, general") and later for duke and its variant forms (doge, duce, etc.). During the Roman Republic and for the first centuries of the Roman Empire, ''dux' ...

'' (Pribina) and later by a ''

comes ''Comes'' ( ), plural ''comites'' ( ), was a Roman title or office, and the origin Latin form of the medieval and modern title "count". Before becoming a word for various types of title or office, the word originally meant "companion", either i ...

'' (Kocel) who was titled as "''Count of the Slavs''" ( la, Comes de Sclauis). Their authority stretched towards the northwest up to the

river and

Ptuj Ptuj (; german: Pettau, ; la, Poetovium/Poetovio) is a town in northeastern Slovenia that is the seat of the Municipality of Ptuj. Ptuj, the oldest recorded city in Slovenia, has been inhabited since the late Stone Age and developed from a Roman ...

, and to the southeast up to the

Baranya Baranya or Baranja may refer to: * Baranya (region) or Baranja, a region in Hungary and Croatia * Baranya County, a county in modern Hungary * Baranya County (former), a county in the historic Kingdom of Hungary * Baranya, Hungarian name of villag ...

region and the Danube river. During the time of Kocel in Lower Pannonia was active Byzantine missionary Methodius, and to the same period is dated Pope John VIII's letter to uncertain ''dux'' Mutimir, commonly considered to be

Mutimir of Serbia Mutimir ( sr, Мутимир, el, Μουντιμῆρος) was prince of Serbia from ca. 850 until 891. He defeated the Bulgar army, allied himself with the Byzantine emperor and ruled the first Serbian Principality when the Christianization o ...

, about the formation of the Diocese of Pannonia with the seat in Sirmium and which archbishop at Kocel's request was Methodius (see also Archbishopric of Moravia). The course of events by the end of the 9th century is unclear. Although still under the Frankish influence, a new threat was coming from Svatopluk I of Moravia. Braslav was the last ''dux'' of Lower Pannonia between at least 884 and 896. His territory initially spanned between the Drava and Sava, which he held under the overlordship of

Arnulf of Carinthia Arnulf of Carinthia ( 850 – 8 December 899) was the duke of Carinthia who overthrew his uncle Emperor Charles the Fat to become the Carolingian king of East Francia from 887, the disputed king of Italy from 894 and the disputed emperor from Fe ...

. He participated in the Frankish–Moravian War, and in 895 or 896 Arnulf handed over Pannonia to him in order to secure the Frankish frontier against a new threat - the Hungarians who conquered Great Moravia. However, the Hungarians subsequently overran all of Pannonian Basin and continued into Kingdom of Italy.

Aftermath

Following the rise of the Principality of Hungary in the mid 890s, and especially after

Battle of Pressburg The Battle of Pressburg (german: Schlacht von Pressburg) or Battle of Pozsony ( hu, Pozsonyi csata), or Battle of Bratislava ( sk, Bitka pri Bratislave) was a three-day-long battle, fought between 4–6 July 907, during which the East Francian ar ...

(907), no further Slavic rulers were recorded in the regions of Lower Pannonia. The Hungarian conquest separated the

from the

which influenced the formation of new Slavic identities. Part of Moravian Slavs also fled to the Duchy of Croatia. It seems that the new border between Croatia and Hungary was North of the town of Sisak based on a recent archaeological finding of a " knez from Bojna" near

Glina Glina is a word of Slavic origin, meaning "clay". It may refer to: *Glina (river) in Croatia and Bosnia and Herzegovina *Glina, Croatia, a town in Croatia ** Glina massacres, 1941 * Glina, Piotrków County in Łódź Voivodeship (central Poland) * ...

and that the diocese with the seat in Sisak was offered at the council of Split (928) to bishop

Gregory of Nin Gregory of Nin ( hr, Grgur Ninski ; la, Gregorius Ninnius) was a medieval bishop of Nin who strongly opposed the pope and official circles of the Church and introduced the Croatian language in the religious services after the Great Assembly in 9 ...

, which could have only been possible if it was within the borders of the Kingdom of Croatia. In the mid 920s, Tomislav of Croatia expanded his rule to some Lower Pannonian territories, between Sava and Drava, adding them to the Croatian kingdom. Until the end of the 11th century its Western border was also contested by the Holy Roman Empire, and in the same time, Southeastern Pannonian regions ( Syrmia) were contested between Hungarians and Bulgarians throughout the 10th century. There has remained a general uncertainty and dispute over the borders between the Croatian and Hungarian states in the 10th and 11th century, with Croatian historian

Ferdo Šišić Ferdo Šišić (9 March 1869 – 21 January 1940) was a Croatian historian, the founding figure of the Croatian historiography of the 20th century. He made his most important contributions in the area of the Croatian early Middle Ages. Life Ši� ...

and his followers assuming Tomislav of Croatia had ruled most of the area inhabited by Croats, including southern Pannonian regions ( Slavonia), while the Hungarian historians

Gyula Kristó Gyula Kristó (11 July 1939 – 24 January 2004) was a Hungarian historian and medievalist, member of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences The Hungarian Academy of Sciences ( hu, Magyar Tudományos Akadémia, MTA) is the most important and pres ...

, Bálint Hóman and János Karácsonyi thought the area between Drava and Sava rivers belonged neither to Croatia nor to Hungary at the time, an opinion that

Nada Klaić Nada Klaić (21 July 1920 – 2 August 1988) was a Croatian historian. She was a Croatian medievalist of the 20th century. A substantial part of the work was devoted to criticism of medieval sources. Academic career Nada Klaić was born in Zagre ...

said she would not preclude, because the generic name "Slavonia" (lit. the land of the Slavs) may have implied so. However it was probably more connected and under influence of Croatia. With the continued growth of population, the formation of the church and administrative organization, including the founding of the diocese of Zagreb (1094), even after Croatia entered a personal union with the Kingdom of Hungary it retained partial autonomy having governor titled as

Ban of Slavonia Ban of Slavonia ( hr, Slavonski ban; hu, szlavón bán; la, Sclavoniæ banus) or the Ban of "Whole Slavonia" ( hr, ban cijele Slavonije; hu, egész Szlavónia bánja; la, totius Sclavoniæ banus) was the title of the governor of a territo ...

Archaeology

The population's inhumation practices and rituals differed and mixed upon various cultural and ethnic influences. Even after the Frankish defeat of Avars and the process of

Christianization Christianization ( or Christianisation) is to make Christian; to imbue with Christian principles; to become Christian. It can apply to the conversion of an individual, a practice, a place or a whole society. It began in the Roman Empire, conti ...

some pagan practices and rituals did not change, like a cemetery in rows, feasting at the funeral or steppe burial rite with horse and equipment. Many new settlements were founded around ancient towns and one of them, Sisak, was even the seat of a Christian diocese. The native and mainly sedentary Slavic population assimilated Avars and was part of Avaro-Slavic Middle

Podunavlje Podunavlje ( sr-Cyrl, Подунавље) is the name of the Danube river basin parts located in Serbia (Vojvodina, Belgrade and Eastern Serbia) and Croatia ( Slavonia, Syrmia, and Baranya). Podunavlje is located on the southern edge of Panno ...

culture. Sedov considered that those Slavs were a mixture of

Sclaveni The ' (in Latin) or ' (various forms in Greek, see below) were early Slavic tribes that raided, invaded and settled the Balkans in the Early Middle Ages and eventually became the progenitors of modern South Slavs. They were mentioned by early ...

of Prague-Korchak culture and mostly Antes of Penkovka and Ipotesti–Candesti culture with some Martinovka culture artifacts. According to M. Guštin and L. Bekić, radiocarbon dating confirmed dating to late 6th and early 7th century, but although the Pannonian and near

Alpine Slavs The settlement of the Eastern Alps region by early Slavs took place during the 6th to 8th centuries. It is part of the southward expansion of the early Slavs which would result in the characterization of the South Slavic group, and would ultimatel ...

material culture had features of both Korchak and Penkovka-type predominates Korchak-type with paralles in Western Slovakia and Moravia among others, indicating migration to Northern Croatia through the Moravian Gate between Eastern Austria and Western Hungary. Later they also assimilated Hungarians whose elite burials are distinguished by Eastern artifacts, but eventually through the administrative system were linguistically assimilated by the Hungarians themselves. In the 10th century due to interaction with the Hungarians was formed so-called

Bijelo Brdo culture The Bijelo Brdo cultureEngel 2001, p. 17.Spinei 2003, p. 57. or Bjelo-Brdo cultureCurta 2006, p. 192. is an early medieval archaeological culture flourishing in the 10th and 11th centuries in Central Europe. It represents a synthesis of the cul ...

located in the area of Podunavlje. According to the craniometrical measurements and archaeological findings early Croats probably did not initially settle in Lower Pannonia and their relationship with Pannonian Slavs was more political rather than ethnic. Others argue that the "Bijelo Brdo and Vukovar cemeteries can hardly be regarded evidence of a pre-Croatian Slavic population in northern Croatia" and they rather "represent a population fleeing the Magyars" during the 10th century". Those Slavs who migrated to the territory of present-day

Lower Lower may refer to: *Lower (surname) *Lower Township, New Jersey *Lower Receiver (firearms) *Lower Wick Lower Wick is a small hamlet located in the county of Gloucestershire, England. It is situated about five miles south west of Dursley, eigh ...

and Upper Austria, first already during the time of Langobards as carriers of Prague-Korchak culture while majority from 7th and 8th century belonged to Avaro-Slavic culture, were assimilated by the

Bavarians Bavarians ( Bavarian: ''Boarn'', Standard German: ''Baiern'') are an ethnographic group of Germans of the Bavaria region, a state within Germany. The group's dialect or speech is known as the Bavarian language, native to Altbayern ("Old B ...

until the end of the 12th century.

In Croatian historiography

Contemporary Latin sources referred to the region as ''Pannonia inferior'' (Lower Pannonia), and its inhabitants in general terms of Slavs and Pannonians. Nevertheless a whole century under the foreign Frankish rule there didn't emerge a single ''gens'' with a specific identity for the population. In the 19th and 20th century Croatian historiography, the focus was usually placed on the polity between the rivers

Drava The Drava or Drave''Utrata Fachwörterbuch ...

and Sava. They referred to the polity as ''Pannonian Croatia'' ( hr, Panonska Hrvatska), to describe this entity in a manner that emphasized its Croatian nature, mainly based on ''

De Administrando Imperio ''De Administrando Imperio'' ("On the Governance of the Empire") is the Latin title of a Greek-language work written by the 10th-century Eastern Roman Emperor Constantine VII. The Greek title of the work is ("To yown son Romanos"). It is a domes ...

'' (DAI) chapter 30. While DAI claims that a part of the Dalmatian

had moved into Pannonia in the 7th century and ruled over it, some modern analysis of sources indicate this was unlikely. Nevertheless, according to Croatian historian Hrvoje Gračanin, the traditions and language of the Slavs of southern Pannonia did not differ from those in Dalmatia, so during the periods when Frankish sources did not record a specific ruler of Lower Pannonia, it is possible that the Croatian dukes of Dalmatia, who were also Frankish vassals at the time, extended control over the region. The Croat name was not used in contemporary sources, until the late 9th century, rendering the name anachronistic before then, but many toponyms deriving from the Croatian ethnonym are very old and at least from the period between 11th and 12th century. While the term "Croat" was not used in sources about Pannonia, the rulers of the Trpimirović dynasty after Trpimir called themselves the rulers of the Croats and of the Slavs. Since "Pannonian Croatia" politically and ethnically never existed, being a historiographical and not historical term, it is abandoned in modern Croatian historiography which uses instead the term "Donja Panonija" (Lower Pannonia).

Rulers

The continuity of Slavic rulers in Lower Pannonia is unclear, and they were not consistently part of a ruling dynasty, unlike those in the north (

House of Mojmir The Moymirid dynasty (Latin: ''Moimarii'', Czech and Slovak: ''Mojmírovci'') was a Moravian ruling dynasty that ruled over Moravia in the 9th and early 10th century. On one hand, it is named after the first known member, Mojmir I, but on the ot ...

Background

Principality

Aftermath

Archaeology

In Croatian historiography

Rulers

See also

Annotations

References

Sources

Further reading