According to the contemporary ''

Chronicle of Fredegar The ''Chronicle of Fredegar'' is the conventional title used for a 7th-century Frankish chronicle that was probably written in Burgundy. The author is unknown and the attribution to Fredegar dates only from the 16th century. The chronicle begin ...

'', the Battle of Wogastisburg was a battle between Slavs (''Sclav, cognomento Winidi'') under King

Samo Samo (–) founded the first recorded political union of Slavic tribes, known as Samo's Empire (''realm'', ''kingdom'', or ''tribal union''), stretching from Silesia to present-day Slovakia, ruling from 623 until his death in 658. According to ...

and

Franks The Franks ( la, Franci or ) were a group of Germanic peoples whose name was first mentioned in 3rd-century Roman sources, and associated with tribes between the Lower Rhine and the Ems River, on the edge of the Roman Empire.H. Schutz: Tools, ...

under King

Dagobert I Dagobert I ( la, Dagobertus; 605/603 – 19 January 639 AD) was the king of Austrasia (623–634), king of all the Franks (629–634), and king of Neustria and Burgundy (629–639). He has been described as the last king of the Merovingian dyna ...

in 631. The Frankish armies advanced into the area of the Slavic tribal union in three groups - Alamanni,

Lombards 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 an ...

, and Austrasian Franks. The first two were quite successful, but the main fighting force was defeated in a three-day battle near a place referred to as ''Wogastisburg''. The site of the battle cannot be successfully located because the source, Fredegar's chronicle, gives no geographical specifications. Thus a lot of places claim to be connected with the battle (usually based on linguistic parallels and some excavations), such as Rubín hill near

Podbořany Podbořany (; german: Podersam) is a town in Louny District in the Ústí nad Labem Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 6,200 inhabitants. The town is known for producing hops. Administrative parts Town parts and villages of Buškovice, Dol ...

( Bohemia),

Úhošť Úhošť (german: Burberg or Burgberg) is a hill (improperly designated mesa) in the municipal territory of Kadaň, Czech Republic between the villages Brodce and Pokutice (parts of Kadaň). The hill is part of Doupov Mountains. It reaches the el ...

hill near Kadaň ( Bohemia), Bratislava (

Slovakia Slovakia (; sk, Slovensko ), officially the Slovak Republic ( sk, Slovenská republika, links=no ), is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is bordered by Poland to the north, Ukraine to the east, Hungary to the south, Austria to the s ...

Trenčín Trenčín (, also known by other alternative names) is a city in western Slovakia of the central Váh River valley near the Czech border, around from Bratislava. It has a population of more than 55,000, which makes it the eighth largest muni ...

(

), Beckov (

), Váh river = Voga (

), Staffelberg near Bad Staffelstein (

Upper Franconia Upper Franconia (german: Oberfranken) is a ''Regierungsbezirk'' (administrative 'Regierungs''region 'bezirk'' of the state of Bavaria, southern Germany. It forms part of the historically significant region of Franconia, the others being Middle F ...

), Burk near

Forchheim Forchheim () is a town in Upper Franconia (german: Oberfranken) in northern Bavaria, and also the seat of the administrative district of Forchheim. Forchheim is a former royal city, and is sometimes called the Gateway to the Franconian Switz ...

(

Vienna en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = W , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...

, Augustianis and other places along the middle

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 , p ...

etc. In fact, there is no conclusive evidence for any of these locations and it is even possible that the term Wogastisburg referred only to a kind of temporary encampment rather than a permanent settlement, in which case establishing a definite location would be impossible.

Gerard Labuda Gerard Labuda ( csb, Gerard Labùda; 28 December 1916 – 1 October 2010) was a Polish historian whose main fields of interest were the Middle Ages and the Western Slavs. He was born in Kashubia. He lived and died in Poznań, Poland. Life La ...

, ''Słowiańszczyzna starożytna i wczesnośredniowieczna'', 2003

Notes

West Slavic history

Wogastisburg According to the contemporary ''Chronicle of Fredegar'', the Battle of Wogastisburg was a battle between Slavs (''Sclav, cognomento Winidi'') under King Samo and Franks under King Dagobert I in 631. The Frankish armies advanced into the area of th ...

631 7th century in Francia {{battle-stub