European Kingdoms

Slav Kingdom in Carinthia, Hungary, & Moravia (Central & Eastern Europe) (Slavs)
c.AD 623 - 658

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Situated in the south of Austria, on the frontier with modern Slovenia, the medieval region of Carinthia was home to various Celtic tribes from the third century BC. Then it was conquered and governed by the Roman empire, the Hunnic empire, and the Ostrogoths before becoming an ill-defined border region.

For about a century and-a-half, Slavs incurred into and settled the Carinthia region of Central Europe which by then was acting as a border between the Avars and Bavarii. These Eastern Alpine Slavs and their Avar overlords soon established a firm border with the Bavarii (after much fighting).

In the early seventh century many of these Slav groups were organised into a kingdom by a Franconian outsider named Samo who, nevertheless, had extensive dealings with them and was probably trusted by them. This new kingdom formed a wide sausage-shaped strip of territory which stretched from the borders of the Frankish empire in the west along to Moravia in the east.

Although the short history of this unnamed kingdom is very cloudy - as are its exact borders - it seems to have followed the line of the Danube almost from its westerly beginnings to a point after which the river turns south towards the Balkans.

The name Carinthia seemingly predated the arrival of any Slavs after they had been forced to move outwards by the Hunnic invasion. Paul the Deacon mentions Slavs already to be found in [the town of] Carnuntum (mistakenly corrupted as Carantanum, very close to Bratislava). One suggestion for the name's origins is that it may have been formed from the root 'carant-' which ultimately derives from the proto-Indo-European (PIE) root, *karra, meaning 'rock'.

(Information by Peter Kessler, with additional information from the Historia Francorum, Gregory of Tours, from the Chronicle of Fredegar / Latin Chronicle (author unknown but the work has been attributed to Fredegar since the sixteenth century thanks to his name being written in the margin), from the 'Passio' of St Killian, from Slovenska zgodovina do razsvetljenstva, Peter Štih & Simoniti Vasko (1996, in Slovenian), from The Making of the Slavs: History and Archaeology of the Lower Danube Region, c.500-700, Florin Curta (Cambridge University Press, 2001), from The History of the Franks, Volume II, Gregory of Tours (O M Dalton, Trans, 1967), from From Roman Provinces to Medieval Kingdoms, Thomas F X Noble, and from External Links: Indo-European Etymological Dictionary, J Pokorny, and Indo-European/English Translator, and Foundation for Medieval Genealogy, and Encyclopaedia.com.)

c.623

Samo, a former Franconian merchant, trades with the Slavs of Bohemia, Pannonia, Moravia, Slovakia, and Carinthia. Following several raids on the Slavs by bandit groups and settled Avars in the region, Samo shows his leadership skills by organising and leading the Slavs so that they start to enjoy some success in mounting an offensive defence.

The modern southern Austrian region of Carinthia marked the upper edge of the Adriatic hinterland, and the southern borders of Samo's seventh century Slav kingdom, one of the earliest Slav states to appear

It has been suggested that he is working with Eastern Roman influence. Curiously, and perhaps not coincidentally, a similar confederation soon also forms on the northern Black sea coast, that of Great Bulgaria, possibly part of a Roman-inspired chain of defences against the Avars.

The Slavs recognise Samo's leadership abilities and elect him as their king. Named Samo Poti Byl Otec, this means 'lord of the road', a perfect description of a travelling merchant. With his help they defeat their greatest enemy, the Asiatic Avars.

If they have not already joined this union, the Eastern Alpine Slavs of the border with the Bavarii do so by 626, when the Avars are defeated at Constantinople and their dominance is broken.

c.623 - 658

Franconian. Elected ruler. Died and the kingdom fragmented.

631/632

The Slavs are blamed for killing Franconian merchants, although this is probably an excuse for invasion - and the fact that the alleged dead are Franconians could be designed to show how far removed from his own kind Samo has become by taking this kingship.

The Avars pictured here are on their way to conquer Sirmium from the Eastern Romans, which they successfully managed in AD 582, fourteen years after the confirmed founding of their khaganate in the Carpathian Basin

Dagobert I of Austrasia, Neustria, and the overall Frankish kingdom leads an army to punish them. Around 631, Duke Chrodebert of Alemannia participates in Dagobert's assault, with the Alemannic host (exercitus Alamannorum, in the words of the Chronicle of Fredegar) being one of three columns formed by the Austrasian army (exercitus regnum universum Austrasiorum).

While the Alemanni win a battle at an unknown location and their Lombard allies are successful against the Slavs in the Julian Alps, the main Austrasian Frankish army under Dagobert is defeated by Samo at the Battle of Wogastisburg.

As a result, Dagobert turns his attentions on Aquitaine while the Slav tribal leader of the Sorbs, Dervan, declares his independence from the Franks and, according to Fredegar in his Latin Chronicle, 'placed himself and his people under the rule of Samo'.

They join Samo in his subsequent battles to maintain the kingdom. He in turn cements his position by eventually taking at least twelve wives from leading Slav families and fathering twenty-two sons and fifteen daughters.

Like their powerful father, the children of Clovis probably received the warrior's education they would have needed in the constant fighting both within and without the various Merovingian kingdoms

fl c.631

Slavic 'duke' ('Wallacus dux'), possibly of Alpine Slavs.

c.631

Valuk is noted around this year, and may also be noted around AD 662 (see below). However, 'valuk' is probably not a name given at birth. Instead it appears to reference a Celtic region or people in Central Europe. The most likely area for this is Wallachia (now part of Romania).

The word 'valuk' probably equates to 'wealas' via the Slav 'vlach', with 'wealas' being a variant of the original ethnic name for the Celts (see feature link). Their neighbours, Germanics and Slavs, have long since continued to use this old form of the name, preserving it as 'wal', 'walat', or 'walach' even when the Celts themselves had changed it through their own cultural progression.

The Alpine Slavs (probable ancestors of today's Slovenians) of which Valuk is possibly a member have most likely migrated into their current region by following the Danube. They would have come into contact with groups who had once belonged to Celtic tribal states and which may well have retained Celtic customs and perhaps the language too.

Wallachia eight hundred years later would be the home of Vlad III Tepes, known to history as Vlad 'the Impaler', with the formidable Poenari Castle being his main base of operations (now part of Romania)

The Venedi would still appear to be extant around Wallachia's northern area, so other Celtic refugees from Central Europe (the Lugii and Boii for example) have probably joined them over the course of decades, bolstering their numbers.

Could 'valuk' be a nickname in the form of 'The Wallachian', someone with heritage in the region who is now a Slav leader? Perhaps (more likely) it is someone who has defeated ethnic Celts in battle, somewhere close to the headwaters of the Vistula. This custom is how the Roman General Scipio became known as 'Africanus'.

636

Dervan and his Sorbs - located in territory immediately to the north-west of Bohemia - have joined Samo in his battles to maintain the kingdom. Samo is known to raid into Franconia during this period and Dervan is probably happy to do likewise into neighbouring Thuringia but, in this year, Dervan is defeated by Radulf of Thuringia.

This photo shows the River Main passing under Würzburg's oldest bridge - and its only bridge until 1886 - sitting under the watchful gaze of Marienberg Fortress - but was this fortress in its original form in early Franconia also the seat of Thuringia's early dukes, men who largely appear to be one and the same as those early Franconian rulers?

658

The Slav kingdom does not last after Samo's death in this year. Instead, a Slav principality is formed from the kingdom's remnants in Carinthia (now within Austria), while the Avars resume control of Pannonia. Duke Valuk may survive as the Valuk of AD 662 (see later) but there is still no firm proof to place him in this new Slavic principality of Khorushka.