European Kingdoms

Principality of Khorushka / Carantania (Austria) (Central Europe)
c.AD 658 - 820

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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 into which settled Slav groups for about a century and-a-half.

The disappearance of the Roman empire and its replacement in Central Europe and Western Europe by a series of Germanic kingdoms had largely resulted in gaps being opened up for other 'barbarian' groups to make inroads into former imperial territory, especially around the northern Balkans. The majority of those other groups had a Slavic origin.

In the early seventh century many of these Slavs were organised into a kingdom by a Franconian outsider named Samo who was elected as their king. The new state 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. It covered areas of ancient Bohemia, modern Hungary and Slovakia, and also Carinthia.

This apparently unnamed 'Slav Kingdom' lasted for the remainder of Samo's lifetime, despite a concerted Frankish effort to destroy it (ultimately unsuccessfully), but upon his death and apparently with no known successor in place it fragmented.

Carinthia itself, the westernmost heartland of the former Slav kingdom, covered what is now part of Austria and north-eastern Slovenia. The Slav name of Khorushka was (and is) usually translated as Carantania, although 'Carentania' and 'Karantanija' are also valid - spelling was not fixed until surprisingly recently. The name appears to have had Indo-European origins, probably Celtic, as it was Celtic tribes which dominated the region for some centuries before the arrival of Roman controls.

Upon the dissolution of Samo's large kingdom, the Slavs of Carinthia soon formed (or perhaps even resurrected) a semi-independent principality of their own (and those people were referred to as gens Sclavorum by Paul the Deacon as one of the earliest references to a definitive Slav people). The name Carantania began appearing in historical sources soon after AD 660.

(Information by Peter Kessler, with additional information from Alpski Slovani, Paola Korošec (Ljubljana, 1990, in Slovenian), Slovenska zgodovina do razsvetljenstva, Peter Štih & Simoniti Vasko (1996, in Slovenian), from Zgodovina Slovencev od naselitve do reformacije, Milko Kos (Ljubljana, 1933, in Slovenian), 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 Conversio Bagoariorum et Carantanorum (The Conversion of the Bavarians and the Carantanians, a Latin history written in Salzburg in the 870s), 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 History of the Langobards, Paul the Deacon (Full Text), and the Foundation for Medieval Genealogy, and Encyclopaedia.com.)

c.658 - ?

First of three unnamed princes following the 'Slav Kingdom'.

662

The Fredegarii Chronicon (Chronicle of Fredegar) records that in Pannonia (part of which now forms Khorushka's territory as the direct successor to the 'Slav Kingdom'), a dispute arises between the Avars and a large, migrant population of around nine thousand Bulgars.

This map shows Frankish domination around AD 800, but Khorushka's approximate borders are still visible, with Bavaria and the Avars engulfing them on either side (click or tap on map to view full sized)

Under the leadership of a Prince Alcioka, the Bulgars seek help from the Bavarii but are almost entirely slaughtered on the orders of the Frankish King Dagobert of Austrasia. Something like seven hundred survivors enter the marca Vinedorum, the land of the Slavs, and meet its ruler, one Duke Valuk ('Wallucum ducem Vinedorum').

This Valuk may be the same prince who had assisted Samo around 631, or it may be a son or namesake. The former option would mean that Valuk is now aged around fifty at least. The same Valuk may (or may not) be the ruler of Khorushka. Although this does seem likely, it does seem to clash with the 'three unnamed princes' of early Khorushka.

c.664/666

Around AD 666, King Grimoald of the Lombards faces perhaps the biggest threat to his kingship while he is fighting the Eastern Romans in the Mezzogiorno. Having left Duke Lupus of Friuli as his regent in the north, the duke now revolts, usurping Grimoald's authority.

A dramatic depiction of the murder of Alboin, the tribal Langobard leader who united his people and forged a kingdom in northern Italy, by Charles Landseer in 1859

Grimoald is forced to return, and Lupus is thoroughly defeated and his duchy devastated by cooperative attacks by the Avars. Grimoald then hunts down Lupus' son, Arnefrit, and his Slav allies (quite possibly those of Khorushka), and defeats them in battle at Nimis.

Arnefrit dies during the battle and Grimoald gifts the duchy of Friuli to Wechthari. The new duke is an inveterate enemy of the Slavs, and almost immediately defeats a Slav raid from Khorushka (as outlined by Paul the Deacon and sometimes attributed to the year 664).

The second of three unnamed princes.

? - c.745

The last of three unnamed princes.

c.745 - 750

Earliest-named prince ('knyaz') of Khorushka. Died.

c.745 - 748

Having assumed control of Khorushka by 745 (and possibly by 740 thanks to his large estates within the principality and a considerable level of power), Borut faces continued attacks from the resurgent Avars.

Slavs occupied areas of Europe which had previously been home to the Germanic Vandali and the Celtic Naharvali before them, including the rolling hills of Silesia

He appeals to the powerful Odilo of the Bavarii for help, but this is provided only on condition that Borut accepts Bavarian overlordship and converts to Christianity. He accepts both conditions, becoming one of the very few princes of Khorushka to convert to Christianity. Missionary work begins within the principality, but comes to a temporary halt with the death of Khotimir in 769 or 770.

750 - 752/3

Son. Bavarii vassal.

752/3 - 769/70

Nephew of Borut. Bavarii vassal. Died.

769/70 - 788

Bavarii vassal. Allowed missionary work to restart c.772.

788

With the Carolingians growing in power, Duke Tassilo is deposed and the Bavarii are subsumed completely within the kingdom and subsequent empire (along with their vassal, Khorushka).

Bavaria's mixed terrain varies from dark forests to alpine mountains in the far south, with an equally mixed population of Celts, Germanics, and Romans forming this new tribal grouping in the fifth century AD

This remains the case until that empire finally fragments in 889, although from 843 Bavaria is generally controlled by the Eastern Franks. In Khorushka the local princes are allowed to continue to govern.

788 - ?

Carolingian vassal.

Carolingian vassal.

Carolingian vassal.

? - 819

Carolingian vassal.

819 - 820

Of Posavian Croatia. Died 823.

820 - 823

From 819 Ljudevit is ruler of Khorushka. Posavski means 'of River Sava'. Ljudevit successfully resists seven Frankish raids during this period before his forces are overwhelmed. Finally defeated, he escapes via Serbia to his Uncle Borna in Croatia who places him in a dungeon to please the Carolingians. Ljudevit dies in captivity and Khorushka is in Frankish hands.

King Louis 'the Pious' of the Frankish empire attempted to leave the empire intact for his eldest son, Lothar, but the others rebelled at the idea. The treaty of Verdun in AD 843 confirmed the official division of the empire between Charlemagne's three surviving grandsons (click or tap on map to view full sized)

843

Following the signing of the Treaty of Verdun, Khorushka again falls under the control of the East Franks in Germany. Known now as the 'March of Carinthia' (from 889), it later becomes a possession of the Holy Roman empire (until its dissolution in 1806). Local rule is temporarily ended until a 'Duchy of Carinthia' is formed which has its beginnings in 879.