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Pribina (c. 800–861) 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 frontiers of his time. Pribina was the first ruler of Slavic origin to build a Christian church on Slavic territory (namely most probably in Nitra in modern Slovakia), and also the first to accept baptism.
He was attacked and expelled from his homeland by Mojmír I, the duke of Moravia. Thereafter Pribina fled to one of the border lords in the eastern marches of East Francia, but in the following period he was wandering in Central and Southeastern Europe. Finally Louis the German, the king of East Francia granted him lands near Lake Balaton (now in Hungary) in the late 830s. Here he set up a principality. Pribina died fighting against the Moravians.
Early life
According to a marginal notation to the Conversion that would be later incorporated into the main text, Pribina's allodial lands were situated in Nitrava ultra Danuvium where Archbishop Adalram of Salzburg (821–836) consecrated a church. Since Nitrava has been identified, although not unanimously, with modern Nitra in Slovakia, Pribina is considered to have ruled the large early medieval fortress excavated at that town. The consecration of the church in Nitrava took place around 827, thus it was the first church in all Eastern Europe whose existence is documented in writing. That the church was consecrated for Pribina himself (who, all the same, still remained a catechumen), or for his wife cannot be decided. She seems to have been a member of the Bavarian Wilhelminer family.
Whether Pribina held Nitrava as a lieutenant of Mojmír I, the first known ruler of Moravia, or he was – maybe the second or third – prince of an independent Slavic principality is still debated by modern historians. Nevertheless, according to the Conversion, he was "driven across the Danube by Mojmír, duke of the Moravians" in 833.
His wanderings
Having been expelled, Pribina fled to Ratpot, the prefect of the East who presented him to Louis the German. The king ordered that Pribina be baptized in the church of Traismauer (Austria) and then serve with his followers in Ratpot's army. Before long, however, Ratpot and Pribina fell out, and the latter, fearing for his life, fled with his son Koceľ to the First Bulgarian Empire. However, Malamir of Bulgaria had by that time made peace with East Francia, thus Pribina was unable to persuade him to act against the Franks.
Subsequently Pribina departed for Lower Pannonia, the region ruled by Ratimar. Since Lower Pannonia was part of Ratpot's prefecture, Ratimar's harboring of Pribina was tantamount to rebellion. Therefore, in 838 Louis the German sent Ratpot at the head of a large Bavarian army to crush Ratimar, but Pribina and his followers took refuge with the count of Carniola, Salacho. The latter in short time brokered a reconciliation between Ratpot and Pribina.
Louis the German now devised a plan to solve the ongoing instability in Lower Pannonia by making Pribina himself the new client ruler of that region. Subsequently, at the request of his followers, the king granted Pribina lands near Lake Balaton on the river Zala (Hungary) where he was to rule as Louis the German's faithful dux.
Dux in Lower Pannonia
Pribina's main duty was to gather the groups of Slavs who were fleeing from various directions, and to keep them loyal to the Franks. For this purpose, he built a large fortress as his seat of power at modern Zalavár on the southeastern tip of Lake Balaton, in a territory surrounded by impenetrable forests and swamps along the river. His extremely well fortified castle that became known as Moosburg ("Swamp Fortress") could serve as a bulwark both against the Bulgarians and the Moravians.
Pribina undertook to Christianize the local population and built churches in the region. At his request, the archbishop of Salzburg consecrated a number of churches in Lower Pannonia, among them one at modern Pécs. Pribina also made a donation of three hundred homesteads and vineyards on a knee of the river Zala to the monastery of Niederaltaich, which was also confirmed in 860 by Louis the German.
Pribina seems to have played a prominent role in Louis the German's campaigns against Mojmír. For example, in 846 the king made a generous gift of one hundred homesteads in the Bavarian marches to him, presumably in order to help supply Pribina's troops in the upcoming campaign. Moreover, in 847 Louis the German converted all Pribina's benefices near Lake Balaton, save those he held from the archbishop of Salzburg, into personal property in order to reward the Slavic dux for his loyal service, presumably in the recent campaigns against the Bohemians and the Moravians. Pribina himself was killed in a battle with the Moravians who supported Louis the German's son, Carloman in a revolt against the king. His son, Koceľ was installed as the ruler of Lower Pannonia in 864 by Louis the German.
See also
References
- Goldberg 2006, pp. 16., 83-84.
- Spiesz et al. 2006, p. 20.
- ^ Curta 2006, p. 333.
- ^ Kirschbaum 2007, p. 232.
- Goldberg 2006, p. 267.
- ^ Goldberg 2006, p. 84.
- ^ Bowlus 1994, p. 105.
- Bartl 2002, p. 17.
- ^ Vlasto 1970, p. 24.
- Sommer et al. 2007, p. 221.
- Kirschbaum 2007, pp. 207., 232.
- Bowlus 1994, p. 106.
- Bartl 2002, p. 19.
- ^ Bowlus 1994, p. 104.
- ^ Róna-Tas 1999, p. 243.
- ^ Goldberg 2006, p. 85.
- Curta 2006, p. 134.
- Bowlus 1994, p. 134.
- Goldberg 2006, p. 139.
- Goldberg 2006, pp. 139-140.
- Goldberg 2006, p. 142.
- Bartl 2002, p. 20.
- Goldberg 2006, pp. 273-274.
Sources
- Bartl, Július (2002). Slovak History: Chronology & Lexicon. Bolchazy-Carducci Publishers. ISBN 0-86516-444-4.
- Bowlus, Charles R. (1994). Franks, Moravians and Magyars: The Struggle for the Middle Danube, 788–907. University of Pennsylvania Press. ISBN 0-8122-3276-3.
- Curta, Florin (2006). Southeastern Europe in the Middle Ages, 500–1250. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-0-521-89452-4.
- Goldberg, Eric J. (2006). Struggle for Empire: Kingship and Conflict under Louis the German, 817–876. Cornell University Press. ISBN 978-0-8014-7529-0.
- Kirschbaum, Stanislav J. (2007). Historical Dictionary of Slovakia. Scarecrow Press, Inc. ISBN 978-0-8108-5535-9.
- Róna-Tas, András (1999). Hungarians and Europe in the Early Middle Ages: An Introduction to Early Hungarian History. Central European University Press. ISBN 978-963-9116-48-1.
- Sommer, Petr; Třeštík, Dušan; Žemlička, Josef; Opačić, Zoë (2007). Bohemia and Moravia. In: Berend, Nora (2007); Christianization and the Rise of Christian Monarchy: Scandinavia, Central Europe and Rus’, c. 900–1200; Cambridge University Press; ISBN 978-0-521-87616-2.
- Spiesz, Anton; Caplovic, Dusan; Bolchazy, Ladislaus J. (2006). Illustrated Slovak History: A Struggle for Sovereignty in Central Europe. Bolchazy-Carducci Publishers, Inc. ISBN 978-0-86516-426-0.
- Vlasto, A. P. (1970). The Entry of the Slavs into Christendom: An Introduction to the Medieval History of the Slavs. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0-521-07459-2.