Moravia

historical region, Europe

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Moravia, traditional region in central Europe that served as the centre of a major medieval
kingdom, known as Great Moravia, before it was incorporated into the kingdom of Bohemia in
the 11th century. In the 20th century Moravia became part of the modern state of Czechoslovakia
and subsequently of the Czech Republic. The region is bounded by Bohemia on the west and
northwest, by Silesia on the northeast, by Slovakia on the east, and by Lower Austria on the
south.

Moravia was inhabited from the 4th century bce by Celtic and then Germanic tribes. In the 6th
and 7th centuries the Avars dominated the area, which was settled by Slavic tribes by the late 8th
century. The Slavs, who took the name Moravians from the Morava River, developed a political
community that emerged under Prince Mojmír I (reigned 830–846) as a united kingdom that
included a part of western Slovakia. Mojmír’s successors, Rostislav (reigned 846–870) and his
nephew Svatopluk (reigned 870–894), extended their territory to include all of Bohemia, the
southern part of modern Poland, and the western part of modern Hungary, thereby creating the
state of Great Moravia. Rostislav also invited the Byzantine missionaries Cyril and Methodius
(who arrived in 863) to spread Christianity in Bohemia and Moravia on the basis of their
Slavonic translation of the chief liturgical texts. After Svatopluk died (894), however, Great
Moravia disintegrated and was finally destroyed by a Magyar attack in 906.

The territories of Great Moravia were then contested by Poland, Hungary, and Bohemia. In 1029
Moravia (i.e., the western portion of Great Moravia) was incorporated as a distinct province into
the Bohemian kingdom, and thereafter it generally remained closely attached to Bohemia. In
1526 Moravia, with Bohemia and Silesia, was claimed through inheritance by Ferdinand of
Austria, the future Holy Roman emperor Ferdinand I, and thus came under the rule of the
Habsburgs.

Unlike Bohemia, Moravia accepted the hereditary right of the Austrian Habsburgs to rule over it
and therefore suffered less in the religious and civil struggles that followed. Religious toleration
resulted in a flowering of Protestantism in Moravia under Ferdinand and his son Maximilian II,
and there was generally less friction between Slavs and Germans there than there was in
Bohemia, partly because the Moravian Slavs were more backward and therefore were slower to
make nationalist demands. Their language was the same as that of the Bohemian Slavs, or
Czechs, but they were not directly involved in Bohemia’s struggle with the Habsburg dynasty.
Administratively detached from Bohemia, the margraviate of Moravia was merged late in the
18th century with what remained of Austrian Silesia, and, following the Revolution of 1848, the
Habsburgs made Moravia a separate Austrian crown land.

In 1918 that crown land became a province of the new state of Czechoslovakia, and, although it
was annexed by Germany just before the outbreak of World War II, it was restored to the
reconstituted state of Czechoslovakia after the war. On Jan. 1, 1949, however, the Czechoslovak
government dissolved Moravia into a number of smaller administrative units. In 1960 another
administrative reorganization created the South Moravian (Jihomoravský) and North Moravian
(Severomoravský) regions on the territory formerly known as Moravia-Silesia. These lands were
included in the Czech Socialist Republic when it was administratively created in 1968 within
federal Czechoslovakia, and they remained part of the Czech Republic when the latter became an
independent nation in 1993.

Moravia
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Coordinates: 49.5°N 17°E

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
This article is about the Czech region. For other uses, see Moravia (disambiguation).
Moravia
Morava
Historical land

 From top, left to right: Mikulov

 Brno
 Lednice Castle
 Olomouc

Flag

Coat of arms
Moravia (green) in relation to the current regions of the Czech Republic

Location of Moravia in the European Union

Coordinates: 49.5°N 17°E
Country Czech Republic
Moravian-Silesian, Olomouc, South Moravian, Vysočina, Zlín, South
Regions
Bohemian, Pardubice
First mentioned 822[2][3]
Consolidated 833[4]
Brno (1641–1948)[5]
Former capital
Brno, Olomouc (until 1641), Velehrad (9th century)
Major cities Brno, Ostrava, Olomouc, Zlín, Jihlava
Area
2
• Total 22,348.87 km (8,628.95 sq mi)
Population
[1]
• Total 3,200,000
Demonym Moravian
Time zone UTC+1 (CET)
• Summer
UTC+2 (CEST)
(DST)
Primary airport Brno–Tuřany Airport
Highways

Moravia[a] (Czech: Morava [ˈmorava] ⓘ; German: Mähren) is a historical region in the east of
the Czech Republic and one of three historical Czech lands, with Bohemia and Czech Silesia.
The medieval and early modern Margraviate of Moravia was a crown land of the Lands of the
Bohemian Crown from 1348 to 1918, an imperial state of the Holy Roman Empire from 1004 to
1806, a crown land of the Austrian Empire from 1804 to 1867, and a part of Austria-Hungary
from 1867 to 1918. Moravia was one of the five lands of Czechoslovakia founded in 1918. In
1928 it was merged with Czech Silesia, and then dissolved in 1948 during the abolition of the
land system following the communist coup d'état.

Its area of 22,623.41 km2[b] home to about 3.2 million of the Czech Republic's 10.8 million
inhabitants.[1] The people are historically named Moravians, a subgroup of Czechs, the other
group being called Bohemians.[11][12] The land takes its name from the Morava river, which runs
from its north to south, being its principal watercourse. Moravia's largest city and historical
capital is Brno. Before being sacked by the Swedish army during the Thirty Years' War,
Olomouc served as the Moravian capital, and it is still the seat of the Archdiocese of Olomouc.[5]
Until the expulsions after 1945, significant parts of Moravia were German speaking.

Toponymy
The region and former margraviate of Moravia, Morava in Czech, is named after its principal
river Morava. It is theorized that the river's name is derived from Proto-Indo-European *mori:
"waters", or indeed any word denoting water or a marsh.[13]

The German name for Moravia is Mähren, from the river's German name March. This could
have a different etymology, as march is a term used in the Medieval times for an outlying
territory, a border or a frontier (cf. English march). In Latin, the name Moravia was used.

Geography
Moravia occupies most of the eastern part of the Czech Republic. Moravian territory is naturally
strongly determined, in fact, as the Morava river basin, with strong effect of mountains in the
west (de facto main European continental divide) and partly in the east, where all the rivers rise.

Moravia occupies an exceptional position in Central Europe. All the highlands in the west and
east of this part of Europe run west–east, and therefore form a kind of filter, making north–south
or south–north movement more difficult. Only Moravia with the depression of the westernmost
Outer Subcarpathia, 14–40 kilometers (8.7–24.9 mi) wide, between the Bohemian Massif and the
Outer Western Carpathians (gripping the meridian at a constant angle of 30°), provides a
comfortable connection between the Danubian and Polish regions, and this area is thus of great
importance in terms of the possible migration routes of large mammals[14] – both as regards
periodically recurring seasonal migrations triggered by climatic oscillations in the prehistory,
when permanent settlement started.
 Rolling hills of the Králický Sněžník massif, Horní Morava,

near the border with Bohemia Šance Reservoir on the

Ostravice River in the Moravian-Silesian Beskids; the river forms the border with Silesia.

Steppe landscape near Mohelno

Moravia borders Bohemia in the west, Lower Austria in the southwest, Slovakia in the southeast,
Poland very shortly in the north, and Czech Silesia in the northeast. Its natural boundary is
formed by the Sudetes mountains in the north, the Carpathians in the east and the Bohemian-
Moravian Highlands in the west (the border runs from Králický Sněžník in the north, over Suchý
vrch, across Upper Svratka Highlands and Javořice Highlands to tripoint nearby Slavonice in the
south). The Thaya river meanders along the border with Austria and the tripoint of Moravia,
Austria and Slovakia is at the confluence of the Thaya and Morava rivers. The northeast border
with Silesia runs partly along the Moravice, Oder and Ostravice rivers. Between 1782 and 1850,
Moravia (also thus known as Moravia-Silesia) also included a small portion of the former
province of Silesia – the Austrian Silesia (when Frederick the Great annexed most of ancient
Silesia (the land of upper and middle Oder river) to Prussia, Silesia's southernmost part remained
with the Habsburgs).

Today Moravia includes the South Moravian and Zlín regions, vast majority of the Olomouc
Region, southeastern half of the Vysočina Region and parts of the Moravian-Silesian, Pardubice
and South Bohemian regions.
Geologically, Moravia covers a transitive area[clarification needed] between the Bohemian Massif and
the Carpathians (from northwest to southeast), and between the Danube basin and the North
European Plain (from south to northeast). Its core geomorphological features are three wide
valleys, namely the Dyje-Svratka Valley (Dyjsko-svratecký úval), the Upper Morava Valley
(Hornomoravský úval) and the Lower Morava Valley (Dolnomoravský úval). The first two form
the westernmost part of the Outer Subcarpathia, the last is the northernmost part of the Vienna
Basin. The valleys surround the low range of Central Moravian Carpathians. The highest
mountains of Moravia are situated on its northern border in Hrubý Jeseník, the highest peak is
Praděd (1491 m). Second highest is the massive of Králický Sněžník (1424 m) the third are the
Moravian-Silesian Beskids at the very east, with Smrk (1278 m), and then south from here
Javorníky (1072). The White Carpathians along the southeastern border rise up to 970 m at
Velká Javořina. The spacious, but moderate Bohemian-Moravian Highlands on the west reach
837 m at Javořice.

The fluvial system of Moravia is very cohesive, as the region border is similar to the watershed
of the Morava river, and thus almost the entire area is drained exclusively by a single stream.
Morava's far biggest tributaries are Thaya (Dyje) from the right (or west) and Bečva (east).
Morava and Thaya meet at the southernmost and lowest (148 m) point of Moravia. Small
peripheral parts of Moravia belong to the catchment area of Elbe, Váh and especially Oder (the
northeast). The watershed line running along Moravia's border from west to north and east is part
of the European Watershed. For centuries, there have been plans to build a waterway across
Moravia to join the Danube and Oder river systems, using the natural route through the Moravian
Gate.[15][16]

Great Moravia
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From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Great Moravia
Velká Morava (Velkomoravská říše) (Czech)
Veľká Morava (Veľkomoravská ríša) (Slovak)
Regnum Marauorum/Marahensium (Latin)
Terra Marauorum/Marahensium (Latin)
833–c. 907

A reconstructed banner (vexillum) based on a 9th-century image,[a] with red-purple being the
most likely color.

Great Moravia in the late 9th century

Capital Veligrad
Old Slavic
Common languages Old Church Slavonic
Latin (religious)
Slavic Christianity
Religion Latin Christianity
Slavic paganism
Government Monarchy (principality)
kъnendzь or vladyka[b]
• c. 820/830 Mojmír I (first)
• 846 Rastislav
 • 870 Svatopluk I
• 894 Mojmír II (last)
History
• Established 833
• Decline and fall c. 907
Preceded by Succeeded by
Samo's Empire Duchy of Bohemia
Principality of Nitra (disputed) Principality of Hungary
Vistulans Civitas Schinesghe
White Croatia Lutici
East Francia

Great Moravia (Latin: Regnum Marahensium; Greek: Μεγάλη Μοραβία, Meghálī Moravía;
Czech: Velká Morava [ˈvɛlkaː ˈmorava]; Slovak: Veľká Morava [ˈvɛʎkaː ˈmɔrava]; Polish:
Wielkie Morawy, German: Großmähren), or simply Moravia,[1][2][3] was the first major state that
was predominantly West Slavic to emerge in the area of Central Europe,[4] possibly including
territories which are today part of the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary, Austria, Germany,
Poland, Romania, Croatia, Serbia, Ukraine and Slovenia. The formations preceding it in these
territories were the Samo's tribal union (631 - 658) and the Pannonian Avar state (567 – after
822).

Its core territory is the region now called Moravia in the eastern part of the Czech Republic
alongside the Morava River, which gave its name to the kingdom. The kingdom saw the rise of
the first ever Slavic literary culture in the Old Church Slavonic language as well as the expansion
of Christianity, first via missionaries from East Francia, and later after the arrival of Saints Cyril
and Methodius in 863 and the creation of the Glagolitic alphabet, the first alphabet dedicated to a
Slavic language. Glagolitic was subsequently replaced by the Cyrillic alphabet created in the
First Bulgarian Empire.

Although the borders of his empire cannot be exactly determined, Moravia reached its largest
territorial extent under prince Svatopluk I (Slovak: Svätopluk), who ruled from 870 to 894.
Separatism and internal conflicts emerging after Svatopluk's death contributed to the fall of Great
Moravia, which was overrun by the Hungarians, who then included the territory of present-day
Slovakia in their domains. The exact date of Moravia's collapse is unknown, but it occurred
between 902 and 907.

Moravia experienced significant cultural development under King Rastislav, with the arrival in
863 of the mission of Saints Cyril and Methodius. After his request for missionaries had been
refused in Rome, Rastislav asked the Byzantine emperor to send a "teacher" (učiteľ) to introduce
literacy and a legal system (pravьda) to Great Moravia. The request was granted. The missionary
brothers Cyril and Methodius introduced a system of writing (the Glagolitic alphabet) and
Slavonic liturgy, the latter eventually formally approved by Pope Adrian II.[5] The Glagolitic
script was probably invented by Cyril himself and the language he used for his translations of
religious texts and his original literary creation was based on the Eastern South Slavic dialect he
and his brother Methodius knew from their native Thessaloniki. Old Church Slavonic, therefore,
differed somewhat from the local Slavic dialect of Great Moravia which was the ancestral idiom
to the later dialects spoken in Moravia and western Slovakia. Later, the disciples of Cyril and
Methodius were expelled from Great Moravia by King Svatopluk I, who re-orientated the
Empire to Western Christianity.

Name

Great Moravian sword from Blatnica, unearthed in the 19th

century, originally interpreted as a burial equipment from a "ducal" mound

Great Moravia

The meaning of the name of Great Moravia has been subject to debate.[6] The designation "Great
Moravia"—Megale Moravia (Μεγάλη Μοραβία) in Greek[7]—stems from the work De
Administrando Imperio written by the Byzantine Emperor Constantine VII Porphyrogenitos
around 950.[8][9] The emperor only used the adjective megale in connection with the polity when
referring to events that occurred after its fall, implying that it should rather be translated as "old"
instead of "great".[10] According to a third theory, the megale adjective refers to a territory located
beyond the borders of the Byzantine Empire.[11][12] Finally, the historian Lubomír E. Havlík writes
that Byzantine scholars used this adjective when referring to homelands of nomadic peoples, as
demonstrated by the term "Great Bulgaria".[13]

[There] is Belgrade, in which is the tower of the holy and great Constantine, the emperor; then,
again, at the running back of the river, is the renowned Sirmium by name, a journey of two days
from Belgrade; and beyond lies great Moravia, the unbaptized, which the [Hungarians] have
blotted out, but over which in former days [Svatopluk] used to rule. Such are the landmarks and
names along the Danube river [...].

— Constantine Porphyrogenitus: De Administrando Imperio[14]

The work of Porphyrogenitos is the only nearly contemporaneous source using the adjective
"great" in connection with Moravia.[13] Other documents from the 9th and 10th centuries never
used the term in this context.[15] Instead they mention the polity as "Moravian realm" or "realm of
Moravians" (regnum Marahensium, terra Marahensium, regnum Marahavorum, regnum
Marauorum, terra Marauorum or regnum Margorum in Latin, and Moravьska oblastь in Old
Church Slavonic), simply "Moravia" (Marawa, Marauia, and Maraha in Latin, Morava,
Marava, or Murava in Old Church Slavonic, and M.ŕawa.t in Arabic),[16] also regnum Sclavorum
(realm of Slavs) or alternate regnum Rastizi (realm of Rastislav) or regnum Zuentibaldi (realm of
Svatopluk).

Etymology

"Morava" is the Czech and Slovak name for both the river and the country, presumably the river
name being primary and giving name to the surrounding country. The ending -ava, as in many
other Czech and Slovak rivers, is most often regarded as Slavicization of the originally Germanic
-ahwa (= modern German "Au" or "-a"), cognate to Latin aqua. Some scholars again link it, via
Celtic -ab, to Indo-European PIE *apa/*opa ("water, sea").[17] The root mor- might be also
connected with other Indo-European words with the meaning of water, lake or sea (sea: Slavic
more, Latin mare, Welsh môr, German Meer; humidity: English and German Moor, Slavic
mokr-). Compare also other river names like Mur in Austria and another Morava in Serbia, etc.).

Territory

The core of Great Moravia

After the fall of Great Moravia, the central territory of Great Moravia was gradually divided into
the newly ascending Kingdom of Bohemia and Hungarian Kingdom. The frontier was originally
settled on the Morava river. However, from the 12th century, the Czech kings managed to gain
more and more of the region on the eastern bank, eventually gaining the whole stretch of the
eastern territory from Uherské Hradiště down to Strážnice along the White Carpathians. The
original core territory of Great Moravia, nowadays forming the eastern part of Moravia and
situated between the White Carpathians and the Chřiby mountains, has retained its non-Czech
identity in its designation "Slovácko" which shows common origins with the name of the
neighbouring Slovakia—a token of a past shared identity in Great Moravian times. This core
region of Great Moravia along the river has retained a unique culture with a rich folklore
tradition: the above-mentioned Slovácko stretches, to the south (where the Morava river forms
the Czech-Slovak frontier), into two regions—the Záluží region on the Morava's western (Czech)
bank and Záhorie on its eastern (Slovak) bank. Záhorie also boasts the only surviving building
from Great Moravian times, the chapel at Kopčany just across the Morava from the
archaeological site of Mikulčice (these two important Great Moravian places are now connected
by a bridge). The core of Great Moravia was extended, according to annals, in the early 830s,
when Mojmir I of Moravia conquered the neighbouring principality of Nitra (present-day
western Slovakia). The former principality of Nitra was used as what is termed in Slovak údelné
kniežatsvo, or the territory given to and ruled by the successor to the throne, traditionally the
ruling kъnendzь (Prince)'s sister's son.

Principalities and lands within Great Moravia

Nevertheless, the extent, and even the very location of Great Moravia (historiographical terms, as
its original formal name is unknown) are a subject of debate.[6] Rival theories place its centre
south of the Danube (the Morava in Serbia) or on the Great Hungarian Plain.[18] The exact date
when the Moravian state was founded is also disputed, but it probably occurred in the early 830s
under Prince Mojmír I (r. 820s/830s–846), the first known ruler of the united Moravia. Mojmír
and his successor, Rastislav ("Rostislav" in Czech), who ruled from 846 to 870, initially
acknowledged the suzerainty of the Carolingian monarchs, but the Moravian fight for
independence caused a series of armed conflicts with East Francia from the 840s.

Traditional view

According to most historians, the core territories of Moravia were located in the valley of the
river Morava, today in present-day Czech Republic and Slovakia.[19][20] Archaeological findings
of large early medieval fortresses and the significant cluster of settlements growing around them
suggest that an important centre of power emerged in this region in the 9th century.[8][21] Early
sources (Alfred the Great's contemporaneous translation of Orosius's History of the World, which
mentioned Moravia's neighbours, and the description of the travel of Cyril and Methodius from
Moravia to Venice through Pannonia in the Life of Cyril) also substantiate the traditional view.[22]

These Maroara have to the west of them the Thyringas and some Behemas and half the Begware,
and south them on the other side of the Danube river is the land Carendre extending south as far
as the mountains called the Alps. ... To the east of the land Carendre, beyond the uninhabited
district, is the land of the Pulgare, and east of that is the land of Greeks. To the east of the land of
Maroara is the land of the Vistula, and east of that are those Datia who were formerly Goths.

— King Alfred's Anglo-Saxon Version of Orosius[23][24]

The borders of Moravia cannot exactly be determined because of the lack of accurate
contemporaneous sources.[25][26] For instance, the monks writing the Annals of Fulda in the
9th century obviously had limited knowledge of the geography of distant regions of Central
Europe.[27] Furthermore, Moravian monarchs adopted an expansionist policy in the 830s, thus the
borders of their realm often changed.[28]

Moravia reached the peak of its territorial expansion under Svatopluk I (r. 870–894).[29] Lesser
Poland, Pannonia and other regions were forced to accept, at least formally and often only for a
short period, his suzerainty.[26][30] On the other hand, the existence of the archaeologically attested
shared cultural zones between Moravia, Lesser Poland and Silesia do not prove that the northern
boundaries of Moravia were located over these territories.[31] According to archaeologist Béla
Miklós Szőke, the comitatus of Mosaburg in Pannonia was never part of Moravia.[32] Neither
archaeological finds nor written sources substantiate the traditional view of the permanent
annexation of huge territories in his reign.[29] Other scholars warn that it's a mistake to draw the
boundaries of core territories because Moravia did not reach that development level. [33]

Further theories

Main article: Alternative theories of the location of Great Moravia

In 1784, Slovak historian Juraj Sklenár disputed the traditional view on the location of Moravia
and placed its core region in the region of Sirmium (now Sremska Mitrovica in Serbia), stating
that it spread from that location to the north to present-day Slovakia, Moravia and Bohemia.[34]
Similarly, in the 1820s, Friedrich Blumenerger placed Great Moravia to the south on the borders
of Pannonia and Moesia.[35] Their views remained isolated until the 1970s,[35] when Imre Boba
again published a theory that Moravia's core territory must have been located around Sirmium,
near the river Great Morava.[36][37][38] Péter Püspöki-Nagy proposed the existence of two
Moravias: a "Great" Moravia at the southern Morava river in present-day Serbia, and another
Moravia on the northern Morava river in present-day Czech Republic and Slovakia.[39] A similar
theory was also published by Toru Senga.[40] In the 1990s, the southern thesis was further
developed by Charles Bowlus, who wrote that Moravia emerged in the region of the
"confluences of the Drava, Sava, Drina, Tisza and southern Morava rivers with the Danube".[41]
Bowlus emphasized that the orientation of the Frankish marcher organization was focused on the
south-east territories, which also supports Great Moravia's southern position.[6] Martin Eggers
suggested the original location of Moravia was centered around modern Banat at the confluence
of the rivers Tisza and Mureș.[42][43] with further expansions extending to the territories in present-
day Czech Republic and Slovakia.

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Origins (before c. 800)

The earliest possible reference to Slavic tribes living in the valley of the northern Morava river
was made by the Byzantine historian Procopius.[44] He wrote of a group of Germanic Heruli who
"passed through the territory of all of the Sclavenes" while moving towards Denmark in 512.[45]
Archaeological sites have yielded hand-made ceramics,[46] and closely analogous objects in
southern Poland and western Ukraine appeared at the confluence of the northern Morava River
and the Middle Danube, dated to around 550.[47]

Large territories in the Pannonian Basin were conquered after 568 by the nomadic Avars who
had arrived from the Eurasian Steppes.[44][48] The Slavs were forced to pay tribute to the Avars
and to participate in their raids against the Byzantine Empire, the Franks and the Lombards.[44]
Even though the Avar settlement area stabilized on the Danube river in the early period of the
khaganate (southern border of present-day Slovakia), a smaller (southernmost) part came under
their direct military control after the fall of Samo's empire.[49][c] In the late period of the
khaganate, the Avars had already inclined to a more settled lifestyle and their co-existence with
the local Slavs can be already characterized as some kind of cultural symbiosis.[50][51][52][53]

In the 7th and 8th centuries, the development of the local Slavs accelerated. The first Slavic
fortified settlements were built in present-day Moravia as early as the last decades of the 7th
century.[54] From the end of the 7th century, it is possible to register the rise of a new social elite
in Moravia, Slovakia and Bohemia—the warrior horsemen.[55] The social organization of the
local Slavs continued to grow during the 8th century, which can be documented by further
building and development of fortified settlements. In Moravia, they unambiguously concentrate
around the river Morava. In Slovakia, the oldest Slavic fortified settlements are documented for
the last decades of the 8th century. They were exclusively in areas which were not under direct
Avar influence, but probably not built only as protection against them, because some of them are
also found in northern territories (Orava, Spiš). Variation in pottery implies the existence of at
least three tribes inhabiting the wider region of the northern Morava river in the early 9th
century.[56] Settlement complexes from the period were unearthed, for instance, near modern
Bratislava, Brno and Olomouc.[56] Fortresses erected at Bratislava, Rajhrad, Staré Město and
other places around 800[21] evidence the development of local centres of power in the same
regions.[8]

Charlemagne launched a series of military expeditions against the Avars in the last decade of the
8th century which caused the collapse of the Avar Khaganate.[44][57][58] The Royal Frankish
Annals narrates that Avars who "could not stay in their previous dwelling places on account of
the attacks of the Slavs"[59] approached Charlemagne in Aachen in 805 and asked to be allowed
to settle in the lowlands along the river Rába.[58][60]
Following the collapse of the Avar Khaganate, swords and other elements of Frankish military
equipment became popular in territories to the north of the Middle Danube.[21] A new
archaeological horizon—the so-called "Blatnica-Mikulčice horizon"—emerged in the valley of
the northern Morava river and its wider region in the same period.[61] This horizon of metalwork
represents a synthesis of "Late Avar" and Carolingian art.[8] One of its signature items is a sword
found in a grave in Blatnica in Slovakia,[21] which is dated to the period between 825 and 850.[62]
According to the archaeologist Florin Curta, the sword was produced by a Frankish artisan from
the Carolingian Empire.[21] On the other hand, Ján Dekan writes that it represents how Moravian
craftsmen selected "elements from the ornamental content of Carolingian art which suited their
aesthetic needs and traditions".[63]

Development of Moravia (c. 800–846)

See also: Principality of Nitra

Jewelry from a princely burial site at Kolín, c. 850–900 AD

Spherical gombiki from the Mikulčice Archaeological Park

Moravia, the first Western Slavic polity, arose through the unification of the Slavic tribes settled
north of the Danube.[64] However, its formation is scarcely described by contemporaneous
sources.[65] The archaeologist Barford writes that the first report of the emerging Moravian state
was recorded in 811.[8] In the autumn of this year, according to the Royal Frankish Annals, Avar
rulers and the duces or "leaders of the Slavs who live along the Danube"[66] visited the court of
Emperor Louis the Pious (r. 814–840) in Aachen.[67] The earliest certain reference to Moravians
or Maravani is dated to 822 when the emperor "received embassies and presents from all the
East Slavs, that is, Obodrites, Sorbs, Wilzi, Bohemians, Moravians and Praedenecenti, and from
the Avars living in Pannonia"[68] at an assembly held at Frankfurt.[30][69][70][71]
 Map of Moravia within East Francia in 814

The late-9th-century[72] Conversio Bagoariorum et Carantanorum ("The Conversion of the

Bavarians and the Carantanians") makes the first reference to a Moravian ruler. [30] Carantanians
(ancestors of present-day Slovenians) were the first Slavic people to accept Christianity from the
West. They were mostly Christianized by Irish missionaries sent by the Archdiocese of Salzburg,
among them Modestus, known as the "Apostle of Carantanians". This process was later
described in the Conversio Bagoariorum et Carantanorum, which states that Mojmír, "duke of
the Moravians", expelled "one Pribina" across the Danube.[73][74] Pribina fled to Ratpot who
administered the March of Pannonia from around 833.[75] Whether Pribina had up to that time
been an independent ruler or one of Mojmir's officials is a matter of scholarly discussion. For
instance, Urbańczyk writes that Mojmir and Pribina were two of the many Moravian princes in
the early 9th century,[76] while according to Havlík,[77] Třeštík[78] and Vlasto,[79] Pribina was
Mojmír's lieutenant in Nitra. Historians who identify Pribina as the ruler of an autonomous state,
the Principality of Nitra—for instance, Bartl,[44] Kirschbaum[80] and Urbańczyk[76]—add that
"Great Moravia" emerged through the enforced integration of his principality into Moravia under
Mojmír.

A map presenting the theory of the co-existence of two

principalities (Moravia and Nitra) before the 830s

The 9th-century Catalogue of Fortresses and Regions to the North of the Danube—which lists
the peoples along the borders of East Francia in a north-to-south order—mentions that the
Moravians or Marharii[8][81] had 11 fortresses or civitates.[82] The document locates the Marhari
between the Bohemians and the Bulgars, and also makes mention of the Merehani and their 30
fortresses.[81] According to Havlík, who writes that Conversion is a consolidated version of notes
made by several authors in different years, the Moravians are twice mentioned in the text: first as
Marhari, and next as Merehani. He says, that the reference to the Marhari and their 11 fortresses
was made between 817 and 843, and the note of the Merehani shows the actual state under
Svatopluk I.[83] In contrast with Havlík, Steinhübel together with Třeštík and Vlasto identify the
Merehani with the inhabitants of the Principality of Nitra.[84][85][86] A third view is presented by
Püspöki-Nagy and Senga, who write that the reference to the Merehanii—who obviously
inhabited the southern regions of the Great Hungarian Plains to the north of the Danube, but
south of the territories dominated by the Bulgars—and their 30 fortresses shows the existence of
another Moravia in Central Europe.[81][87][88]

Among the Bohemians are 15 fortresses. The [Marharii] have 11 fortresses. The region of the
Bulgars is immense. That numerous people has five fortresses, since their great multitude does
not require fortresses. The people called [Merehanii] have 30 fortresses.

— Catalogue of Fortresses and Regions to the North of the Danube[89]

According to a 13th-century source, the History of the Bishops of Passau and the Dukes of
Bavaria,[90] Bishop Reginhar of Passau (r. 818–838) baptized "all of the Moravians"[91] in 831.[79]
[92]
There is no other information on the circumstances of this mass conversion.[92] Vlasto[79]
writes that Mojmír had by that time been converted to Christianity; according to Petr Sommer
and other historians, he was also baptized on this occasion.[92] All the same, the Life of Methodius
narrates that Christian missionaries had by the 860s arrived in Moravia "from among the Italians,
Greeks and Germans" who taught them "in various ways".[93][94] The Life of Constantine adds that
missionaries from East Francia did not forbid "the offering of sacrifices according to the ancient
customs",[95] which shows that pagan rites were continued for decades even after 831.[92]

According to the Annals of Fulda, around August 15, 846, Louis the German, King of East
Francia (r. 843–876) launched a campaign "against the Moravian Slavs, who were planning to
defect".[96][97] The exact circumstances of his expedition are unclear. For instance, Vlasto writes
that the Frankish monarch took advantage of the internal strife which followed Mojmír's death, [98]
while according to Kirschbaum, Mojmír was captured and dethroned during the campaign.[99]
However, it is without doubt that Louis the German appointed Mojmír's nephew, Rastislav, as
the new duke of Moravia during this campaign.[97]

Fights for independence (846–870)

Rastislav (r. 846–870), who initially accepted the suzerainty of Louis the German, consolidated
his position within Moravia[62] and expanded the frontiers of his realm.[8] For instance, according
to Kirschbaum, he annexed the region of the Slanské Hills in the eastern parts of present-day
Slovakia.[100] Barford even writes that the development of the state mentioned as "Great Moravia"
by Constantine Porphyrogenitus commenced in Rastislav's reign.[8]
 Modern depiction of Rastislav as an Orthodox saint

He turned against East Francia and supported the rebellion of Radbod, the deposed prefect of the
March of Pannonia, against Louis the German in 853.[100][101] The Frankish monarch retaliated by
invading Moravia in 855.[102] According to the Annals of Fulda, the Moravians were "defended
by strong fortifications",[103] and the Franks withdrew without defeating them,[104][105] though the
combats lasted until a peace treaty was worked out in 859.[106] The truce is regarded as a
stalemate and shows the growing strength of Rastislav's realm.[107] Conflicts between Moravia
and East Francia continued for years.[108] For instance, Rastislav supported Louis the German's
son, Carloman, in his rebellion against his father in 861.[109] The first record of a raid by the
Magyars in Central Europe seems to have been connected to these events.[110] According to the
Annals of St. Bertin, "enemies called Hungarians"[111] ravaged Louis the German's kingdom in
862, which suggests that they supported Carloman.[110]

Rastislav wanted to weaken influence of Frankish priests in his realm, who served the interests of
East Francia.[112] He first sent envoys to Pope Nicholas I in 861 and asked him to send
missionaries to Moravia who mastered the Slavic language.[108] Having received no answer from
Rome, Rastislav turned to the Byzantine Emperor Michael III with the same request.[108] By
establishing relations with Constantinople, he also desired to counter an anti-Moravian alliance
recently concluded between the Franks and Bulgarians.[112] Upon his request, the emperor sent
two brothers, Constantine and Methodius—the future Saints Cyril and Methodius—who spoke
the Slavic dialect of the region of Thessaloniki to Moravia in 863.[100] Constantine's Life narrates
that he developed the first Slavic alphabet and translated the Gospel into Old Church Slavonic
around that time.[113][114]

Louis the German crossed the Danube and again invaded Moravia in August 864.[108][115] He
besieged Rastislav "in a certain city, which in the language of that people is called Dowina", [116]
according to the Annals of Fulda.[115] Although the Franks could not take the fortress, Rastislav
agreed to accept Louis the German's suzerainty.[117] However, he continued to support the
Frankish monarch's opponents.[118] For instance, Louis the German deprived one Count Werner
"of his public offices",[119] because the count was suspected to have conspired with Rastislav
against the king.[118]
 Constantine and Methodius in Rome

The Byzantine brothers, Constantine (Cyril) and Methodius, visited Rome in 867.[108] At the end
of the year, Pope Hadrian II (r. 867–872) sanctioned their translations of liturgical texts and
ordained six of their disciples as priests.[108][120] The pope informed three prominent Slavic rulers
—Rastislav, his nephew, Svatopluk and Kocel, who administered Lower Pannonia—of his
approval of the use of the vernacular in the liturgy in a letter of 869.[121] In 869 Methodius was
sent by the pope to Rastislav, Svatopluk and Kocel, but Methodius visited only Kocel, who sent
him back to the pope. Hadrian then consecrated Methodius as archbishop with the title of
Metropolitan of Sirmium to "the seat of Saint Andronicus",[122] i.e., the see of Sirmium.[123] At the
beginning of the 9th century, many Carantanians (Alpine Slavs), ancestors of present-day
Slovenians, settled in the Lower Pannonian region,[124] also known as the Balaton Principality,
which was referred to in Latin sources as Carantanorum regio, or "The Land of the
Carantanians". The name Carantanians (Quarantani) was in use until the 13th century. Kocel's
decision to support Methodius represented a complete break with his father's pro-Frankish
policy.[124] Svatopluk had by that time been administering what had been the Principality of Nitra,
under his uncle Rastislav's suzerainty, but contemporaneous documents do not reveal the exact
location of Svatopluk's successorial territory.[125] Frankish troops invaded both Rastislav's and
Svatopluk's realms in August 869.[108][126] According to the Annals of Fulda, the Franks destroyed
many forts, defeated Moravian troops and seized loot.[126] However, they could not take
Rastislav's main fortress and withdrew.[108][126]

[Louis the German] ordered the Bavarians to assist Carloman, who wished to fight against
[Svatopluk], the nephew of [Rastislav]. He himself kept the Franks and Alemans with him to
fight against [Rastislav]. When it was already time to set out he fell ill, and was compelled to
leave the leadership of the army to Charles his youngest son and commend the outcome to God.
Charles, when he came with the army with which he had been entrusted to [Rastislav's] huge
fortification, quite unlike any built in olden times, with God's help burnt with fire all the walled
fortifications of the region, seized and carried off the treasures which had been hidden in the
woods or buried in the fields, and killed or put to fight all who came against him. Carloman also
laid waste the territory of [Svatopluk], [Rastislav's] nephew, with fire and war. When the whole
region had been laid waste the brothers Charles and Carloman came together and congratulated
each other on the victories bestowed by heaven.

— Annals of Fulda[127]

Svatopluk's reign (870–894)

 Statue of Svatopluk I on Bratislava Castle, Slovakia

Svatopluk allied himself with the Franks and helped them seize Rastislav in 870.[128] Carloman
annexed Rastislav's realm and appointed two Frankish lords, William and Engelschalk, to
administer it.[129] Frankish soldiers arrested Archbishop Methodius on his way from Rome to
Moravia at the end of the year.[128][129] Svatopluk, who continued to administer his own realm
after his uncle's fall, was accused of treachery and arrested by Carloman on Louis the German's
orders in 871.[129][130] The Moravians rose up in open rebellion against the two Frankish governors
and elected a kinsman of Svatopluk, Slavomír, duke.[117][129][130] Svatopluk returned to Moravia,
took over command of the insurgents, and drove the Franks from Moravia.[117] According to the
Czech historian Dušan Třeštík, the rebellion of 871 led to the formation of the first Slavic state.
[citation needed]

Louis the German sent his armies against Moravia in 872.[131] The imperial troops plundered the
countryside, but could not take the "extremely well-fortified stronghold" where Svatopluk took
refuge.[131] The Moravian ruler even succeeded in mustering an army which defeated a number of
imperial troops, forcing the Franks to withdraw from Moravia.[129][131] Svatopluk soon initiated
negotiations with Louis the German, which ended with a peace treaty concluded at Forchheim in
May 874.[129] According to the Annals of Fulda, at Forchheim Svatopluk's envoy promised that
Svatopluk "would remain faithful" to Louis the German "all the days of his life",[132] and the
Moravian ruler was also obliged to pay a yearly tribute to East Francia.[129][133]

In the meantime, Archbishop Methodius, who had been released upon the demand of Pope John
VIII (r. 872–882) in 873, returned to Moravia.[130] Methodius's Life narrates that "Prince
Svatopluk and all the Moravians" decided to entrust "to him all the churches and clergy in all the
towns"[134] in Moravia upon his arrival.[135] In Moravia, Methodius continued the work of
translation started in his brother's life.[136][137] For instance, he translated "all the Scriptures in full,
save Maccabees",[134] according to his Life.[136][137] However, Frankish priests in Moravia opposed
the Slavic liturgy and even accused Methodius of heresy.[citation needed] Although the Holy See never
denied Methodius's orthodoxy, in 880 the Pope appointed his main opponent, Wiching, as bishop
of Nitra upon the request of Svatopluk, who himself preferred the Latin rite.[129]
 The papal bull Scire vos volumus of 879 addressed to Svatopluk

A letter written around 900 by Archbishop Theotmar of Salzburg (r. 873–907) and his suffragan
bishops mentions that the pope sent Wiching to "a newly baptized people" whom Svatopluk "had
defeated in war and converted from paganism to Christianity".[138] Other sources also prove that
Svatopluk significantly expanded the borders of his realm.[139] For instance, according to the Life
of Methodius, Moravia "began to expand much more into all lands and to defeat its enemies
successfully"[134] in the period beginning around 874.[130] The same source writes of a "very
powerful pagan prince settled on the Vistula"[140] in present-day Poland who persecuted the
Christians in his country, but was attacked and seized by Svatopluk.[141]

Upon Methodius's request, in June 880 Pope John issued the bull Industriae tuae for
Svatopluk[129] whom he addressed as "glorious count" (gloriosus comes).[142] In the bull, the pope
refers to Svatopluk as "the only son" (unicus fillius) of the Holy See, thus applying a title which
had up to that time been only used in papal correspondence with emperors and candidates for
imperial rank.[9][130] The pope explicitly granted the protection of the Holy See to the Moravian
monarch, his officials and subjects.[130] Furthermore, the bull also confirmed Methodius's position
as the head of the church in Moravia with jurisdiction over all clergymen, including the Frankish
priests, in Svatopluk's realm[117][130] and Old Church Slavonic was recognized as the fourth
liturgical language together with Latin, Greek and Hebrew.[143]

The longer version of the Annals of Salzburg makes mention of a raid by the Magyars and the
Kabars in East Francia in 881.[144] According to Gyula Kristó[145] and other historians,[146]
Svatopluk initiated this raid, because his relations with Arnulf—the son of Carloman, King of
East Francia (r. 876–881), who administered the March of Pannonia—became tense.[117]
Archbishop Theotmar of Salzburg clearly accused the Moravians of hiring "a large number of
Hungarians" and sending them against East Francia at an unspecified date.[147]
 Icon of St Gorazd, a disciple of St Cyril and Method of Moravian
origin, who was the designated successor of archbishop Method

During the "Wilhelminer War"—a civil war between two factions of local noblemen in the
March of Pannonia which lasted from 882 and 884—Svatopluk "collected troops from all the
Slav lands"[148] and invaded Pannonia.[9][149] According to the Bavarian version of the Annals of
Fulda, the Moravians' invasion "led to Pannonia's being laid waste"[150] to the east of the river
Rába.[9][151] However, Regino of Prüm states that it was Arnulf of Carinthia who maintained
control over Pannonia in 884.[152] Svatopluk had a meeting with Emperor Charles the Fat (r. 881–
888) at Tulln an der Donau in Bavaria in 884.[153] At the meeting, "dux" Svatopluk became the
emperor's vassal and "swore fidelity to him",[150] promising that he would never attack the
emperor's realm.[153]

Archbishop Methodius died on April 6, 885.[139] Led by Bishop Wiching of Nitra, Methodius's
opponents took advantage of his death and persuaded Pope Stephen V (r. 885–891) to restrict the
use of Old Church Slavonic in the liturgy in the bull Quia te zelo.[153][154][155] Bishop Wiching even
convinced Svatopluk to expel all Methodius's disciples from Moravia in 886,[94][153] thus marring
the promising literary and cultural boom of Central European Slavs—the Slovaks took nearly a
thousand years to develop a new literary language of their own.

Pope Stephen addressed the Quia te zelo bull to Zventopolco regi Sclavorum ("Svatopluk, King
of the Slavs"), suggesting that Svatopluk had by the end of 885 been crowned king.[155][156]
Likewise, Frankish annals occasionally referred to Svatopluk as king in connection with events
occurring in this period.[155] The Chronicle of the Priest of Dioclea—a late-12th-century source
with questionable reliability[157]—narrates that one "Sventopelk" was crowned king "on the field
of Dalma" in the presence of a papal legate.[156]

Moravia reached its maximum territorial extent in the last years of Svatopluk's reign. [153]
According to Regino of Prüm, King Arnulf of East Francia "gave the command of the
Bohemians to King Zwentibald of the Moravian Slavs"[158] in 890.[159] Bartl and other Slovak
historians write that Svatopluk "probably" also annexed Silesia and Lusatia in the early 890s.[153]
According to the Annals of Fulda, King Arnulf proposed a meeting to Svatopluk in 892, "but the
latter in his usual fashion refused to come to the king and betrayed his fidelity and all the things
which he had promised before".[160][161] In response, Arnulf invaded Moravia in 892, but could not
defeat Svatopluk, although Magyar horsemen also supported the Eastern Frankish monarch.[117]
[161]

Decline and fall (894–before 907)

See also: Hungarian invasions of Europe

Svatopluk I with three twigs and his three sons—Mojmír II,

Svatopluk II and Predslav

Svatopluk—"a man most prudent among his people and very cunning by nature",[162] according
to Regino of Prüm—died in the summer of 894.[153] He was succeeded by his son, Mojmir II,[163]
[164]
but his empire shortly disintegrated, because the tribes subjugated to Svatopluk's rule by
force started to get rid of Moravian supremacy.[114] For instance, the Bohemian dukes (based in
the Prague region) accepted King Arnulf's suzerainty in June 895, and Mojmír II attempted to
restore his supremacy over them without success in the next two years.[153][165][166] On the other
hand, he succeeded in restoring the Church organization in Moravia by persuading Pope John IX
(r. 898–900) to send his legates to Moravia in 898.[167] The legates in short order installed an
archbishop and "three bishops as his suffragans"[168] in Moravia.[169]

Conflicts emerging between Mojmír II and his younger brother, Svatopluk II, gave King Arnulf a
pretext to send his troops to Moravia in 898 and 899.[163][166][167] The Annals of Fulda writes that
the "boy" Svatopluk II was rescued by Bavarian forces "from the dungeon of the city in which he
was held with his men" [170] in 899.[171] According to Bartl, who wrote that Svatopluk II had
inherited the "Principality of Nitra" from his father, the Bavarians also destroyed the fortress at
Nitra on this occasion.[167]

According to most nearly contemporaneous sources, the Hungarians played a prominent role in
the fall of Moravia.[172] For instance, Regino of Prüm writes that Svatopluk I's "sons held his
kingdom for a short and unhappy time, because the Hungarians utterly destroyed everything in
it".[162][172] The Hungarians started their conquest of the Carpathian Basin after their defeat in the
westernmost territories of the Pontic steppes around 895 by a coalition of the Bulgars and
Pechenegs.[173] Only a late source, the 16th-century Johannes Aventinus, writes that the
Hungarians had by that time controlled wide regions to east of the rivers Hron and Danube in the
Carpathian Basin.[174]
 Map of Europe in 900, showing Great Moravia and its
neighbors

A letter of Theotmar of Salzburg and his suffragans evidences that around 900 the Moravians
and the Bavarians accused each other of having formed alliances, even by taking oaths "by the
means of a dog and a wolf and through other abominable and pagan customs",[175] with the
Hungarians.[176] According to Liudprand of Cremona, the Hungarians already "claimed for
themselves the nation of the Moravians, which King Arnulf had subdued with the aid of their
might"[177] at the coronation of Arnulf's son, Louis the Child, in 900.[178] The Annals of Grado
adds that a large Hungarian army "attacked and invaded" the Moravians in 900.[179] Facing the
threat of further Hungarian attacks, Mojmír II concluded a peace treaty with Louis the Child in
901.[166][180]

Due to the lack of documentary evidence, the year in which Moravia ceased to exist cannot be
determined with certainty.[181] Róna-Tas[182] writes that the Hungarians occupied Moravia in 902,
Victor Spinei[181] says that this happened in 903 or 904, while according to Spiesz, the Moravian
state ceased to exist in 907.[163] The Raffelstetten Customs Regulations, which was issued in the
years 903–906,[183] still refers to the "markets of the Moravians", suggesting that Moravia still
existed at that time.[172] It is without doubt that no Moravian forces fought in the battle at
Brezalauspurc, where the Hungarians routed a large Bavarian force in 907.[172]

The Moravian land, according to the prophecy of the holy archbishop Methodius, was promptly
punished by God for their lawlessness and heresy, for the banishment of the orthodox fathers,
and for the torments inflicted on the latter by the heretics with whom they acquiesced. In a few
years the Magyars came, a people of Peonia, sacked their land and devastated it. But
[Methodius's disciples] were not captured by the Magyars for they fled to the Bulgarians.
However, the land remained desolate under the rule of the Magyars.

— First Legend of Saint Naum[184]

State and society

Sources
Written sources from the 9th century contain almost no information on the internal affairs of
Moravia.[9] Only two legal texts—the Nomocanon and the Court Law for the People—have been
preserved.[9][136] The former is a translation of a collection of Byzantine ecclesiastical law; the
latter is based on the 8th-century Byzantine law code known as Ecloga.[136][137] Both were
completed by Methodius shortly before his death in 885.[136]

In addition to the study of early medieval chronicles and charters, archaeological research
contributed to the understanding of the Moravian state and society.[185] The Moravian centres at
Mikulčice, Pohansko and Staré Město were thoroughly excavated in the 1950s and 1960s.[185]
However, as Macháček writes, "the acquired huge amounts of finds and data still have to be
properly processed".[185]

Settlement structure

Reconstruction of a Great Moravian gatehouse and ramparts in

Thunau am Kamp, Austria

The nuclei of the Great Moravian settlement structure were well-defended fortified settlements
built by the local Slavs both on elevated positions and lowland areas like marshes and river
islands. Most Great Moravian castles were rather large hill forts, fortified by wooden palisades,
stone walls and in some cases, moats. The typical Great Moravian ramparts combined an outer
drystone wall with an internal timber structure filled with earth.[186]The fortifications usually
formed several contiguous enclosures, with the elite buildings concentrated in the centre and
crafts in the outer enclosures.[186] Most buildings were made of timber, but ecclesiastical
buildings and residential dwellings were made of stone. In many cases, prehistoric fortifications
were also integrated. The Great Moravian towns, especially in Moravia, but also in the lowlands
of Slovakia, were frequently far from the place where the stone was mined and material was
transported dozens of kilometres.[187][d]

The Great Moravian settlements can be divided into four main categories. The most important
were localities with central functions like Mikulčice-Valy, Staré Město – Uherské Hradiště and
Nitra, where several castles and settlements formed a huge fortified (pre-)urban agglomeration.
Along with the main centres, the system of fortified settlements included fortified regional
administrative hubs, forts whose primary function was defence, and refuge forts which were not
inhabited permanently but were used in the case of danger. The largest forts were usually
protected by a chain of smaller forts. Smaller forts were also built to protect trade routes and to
provide shelter for peasants in case of attack. The existence of noble courts like in Ducové and in
other places is also documented. Their form was probably inspired by Carolingian estates called
curtis.[188]

In 9th-century Mikulčice, the central fortified area, or Acropolis, was set on an island in the
Morava and surrounded by a stone-faced rampart that enclosed an area of six hectares[189]
(extensive extramural settlement of 200 hectares stood unfortified).[190] Although the location of
the Great Moravian capital, "Veligrad", has not been identified, Mikulčice with its palace and 12
churches is the most widely accepted candidate.[191][192] An important settlement was a large
agglomeration in Pohansko near Břeclav. Nitra, the centre of the eastern part of the Empire, was
ruled autonomously by the heir of the dynasty as an appanage.[193][194] Nitra consisted of several
large fortified settlements with various functions and approximately twenty specialized
craftsmen's villages, making it a real metropolis of its time. Crafts included a production of
luxury goods, such as jewelry and glass. The agglomeration was surrounded by a number of
smaller forts.

Foundations of a pre-Romanesque rotunda at the Great

Moravian court in Ducové

Bratislava Castle had a stone two-story palace and a spacious three-nave basilica, built in the
mid-9th century. Excavations of the cemetery situated by the basilica uncovered examples of
Great Moravian jewelry, similar in style and quality to that from Mikulčice.[195] The castle's name
was first recorded in 907, during the fall of Great Moravia, as Brezalauspurc.[196] This name
literally means either "Predslav's Castle" after a son of Svatopluk I who is mentioned in the
Cividale del Friuli, or "Braslav's Castle" after Braslav of Pannonia, who was a count appointed
by King Arnulf (Arnulf of Carantania) of East Francia.[196][197] The agglomeration of several
fortified settlements was unearthed in Slovak Bojná, discovering important artifacts related to
Christianization of the territory. Numerous castles were built on the hills around the valleys of
the Váh and the river Nitra, and also in other areas (e.g., Detva, Zeplín, Čingov), but were not
built in south-eastern Slovakia.[citation needed]

The sturdy Devín Castle, in vicinity of Bratislava, guarded Great Moravia against attacks from
the West.[198] Although some authors claim that it was built only later as a stronghold of the
Kings of Hungary,[199][200] excavations have unearthed an older Slavic fortified settlement founded
in the 8th century.[198] During the Great Moravian period, Devín Castle was a seat of a local lord,
whose retainers were buried around a stone Christian church.[198] These two castles were
reinforced by smaller fortifications in Devínska Nová Ves, Svätý Jur and elsewhere. Another
example is the fortress at Thunau am Kamp near Gars am Kamp, overlooking the river Kamp in
Lower Austria. The defences here re-utilised banked defences of the Bronze Age and were only
slightly smaller (fifty acres) than the area of the contemporary Frankish Emperor's capital of
Regensburg.[201]

The number of forts discovered exceeds the number recorded in the sources (11 centres of
Moravians and 30 centres of "other Moravians" or Merehanos; opinions differ as to how to
interpret the reference to Merehanos). Though the only castles which are mentioned by name in
written texts are Nitrawa (828; identified with Nitra), Dowina (864; sometimes identified with
Devín Castle) and perhaps Brezalauspurc (907; sometimes identified with Bratislava Castle),[202]
[203][204][205]
some sources claim that Uzhhorod in Ukraine (903) was also a Moravian fortress.
Devín Castle is sometimes identified with a "fortress of Prince Rastislav" mentioned in the
Annales Fuldenses.[193][206]

Monarchs

Svatopluk I disguised as a monk in the court of Arnulf, King of

East Francia (from the 14th-century Chronicle of Dalimil)

Moravia was ruled by monarchs from a "wider kinship"[207] known as the House of Mojmir.[208]
The throne rarely passed from father to son.[26] Actually, Svatopluk I was the only ruler who was
succeeded by his son.[26] Rastislav ascended the throne through the East Frankish monarch's
intervention,[26] and Slavomir was elected as duke when the Franks captured Svatopluk in 871.[207]
The latter case reveals the strong claim of the Mojmir dynasty to the throne, because Slavomir
was an ordained priest at the time of his election.[207] The Moravian monarchs were regularly
styled as ducis ("dukes"), occasionally as regis ("kings") or maliks ("kings") in 9th-century
documents.[207] Tombs within a church have only been discovered at Mikulčice, implying that
royals had an exclusive right to be buried in such a prestigious place.[209]

Administration

The Annals of Fulda never refers to the Moravian monarchs as rulers of a state, but as heads of a
people—dux Maravorum ("duke of the Moravians").[210] Accordingly, Macháček writes that
"Great Moravia was not primarily organized on a territorial basis [...], but more likely on the
foundation of real or fictitious kinship bonds within the tribal structure".[210] On the other hand,
Havlík says that Moravia was divided into counties each headed by "rich, honourable and well-
born noblemen" whom he styles as zhupans; he even adds that the number of counties increased
from 11 to 30 by the second half of the 9th century.[208] Štefan adds that the existence of scattered
groups of farmer warriors, which is suggested by archaeological research, implies the existence
of administrative territorial units, because without such a system the monarchs could not
organize their campaigns.[211]

Svatopluk incorporated a number of Slavic tribes (including the Bohemians and Vistulans) into
his empire.[130][117] The subjugated tribes were administered by vassal princes or governors,[130] but
they preserved their autonomy, which contributed to the quick disintegration of Svatopluk's
Moravia after his death.[117] According to Bartl,[11] Kirschbaum,[117] Štefan,[207] and other
historians,[62][212] Great Moravia had two centres. According to Havlík the terms "Moravian lands"
(Moravьskskyję strany), "Upper Moravias" (vyšnьnii Moravě, vyšnьneję Moravy) and "Moravian
realms" (regna Marahensium, regna Marauorum) which were used in 9th-century documents
refer to the dualistic organisation of the Moravian state, consisting of the "Realm of Rastislav"
(regnum Rastizi) and the "Realm of Svatopluk" (regnum Zwentibaldi). He and other historians[207]
identify the former with modern Moravia in the Czech Republic, and the latter with the
Principality of Nitra in present-day Slovakia.[16] However, this view is not universally accepted:
Svatopluk's realm has also been identified with the wider region of Staré Město,[125] or with the
lands between the Danube and the Tisza[213] or east of the Tisza.[214]

Warfare

The known sources contain records about 65 events related to warfare and Great Moravia.[215]
The most detailed are the Frankish sources during Svatopluk's reign.[215] The structure of the
Great Moravian army was based mainly on an early feudal conception of military service,
performed primarily by the ruling elites.

The core of the Great Moravian army was a princely retinue comprising professional warriors,
who were responsible for collecting tribute and punishing wrongdoers (družina).[186] The družina
consisted of members of the aristocracy ("older retinue") and members of the princely military
groups ("younger retinue").[215] Some of its members formed a permanent armed guard for the
prince, while the rest were garrisoned at forts or at other strategic points. The družina was
probably relatively loyal and provided stable support for the prince since there is no known
record of any dissatisfaction with it or of any uprising. The permanent part of the army had an
expressly cavalry character.[216] The Great Moravian heavy cavalry emulated the contemporary
Frankish predecessors of knights, with the expensive equipment that only the highest social strata
could afford[217] (a contemporary Arab traveller, Ahmad ibn Fadlan, reported that Svatopluk I had
plenty of cavalry horses[217]). The overall size of the družina is estimated by Ruttkay at 3,000–
5,000 men.[216] In the case of larger mobilisations, cavalry was reinforced by additional smaller
units recruited from the retinues of local magnates and from traditional communities (občina).
The second element of the army (pohotovosť) consisted of lower classes of free citizens who
were not, in most cases, professional warriors. However, thanks to their large numbers and
knowledge of the prevalent types of weapons they represented a serious military force. They
played a decisive role mainly in the defence of Great Moravian territory; their participation in
wars of expansion was less common.[216] The army was led by the prince or, in his absence, by a
commander-in-chief called a voivode.[218] The maximum size of the army is estimated at 20,000–
30,000 men.[216] In case of external aggression, ordinary people participated in defence and
diversion actions. An important element of the defence of Great Moravia was a system of strong
fortifications, which were difficult to besiege with the then prevailing forms of military
organization. For example, a Frankish chronicler wrote with awe about the size of Rastislav's
fortress ("firmissimum, ut feritur, vallum").[189]

The typical weapon of a West Slavic foot soldier was an axe of a specific shape, called a
bradatica. Spears were universally used by both infantry and cavalry. The weapons associated
with a nomadic (Avar) culture, like sabres, reflexion bows and specific types of spears are
missing. On the other hand, a military equipment became more influenced by western types and
new types of weapons like double-edged swords (rare before the 9th century) became popular.
Archers, unlike the previous period, were already a part of the infantry.[219]

Aristocracy

The existence of a local aristocracy is well documented: contemporaneous sources refer to

"leading men"[220] (optimates or primates),[221] and nobiles viri or principes.[207] However, these
documents do not reveal the basis of the Moravian chiefs' power.[207] Richly furnished graves—
with the exception of the one at Blatnica, which is "an old and disputable find",[209] according to
Štefan—have only been unearthed in Mikulčice and other large fortifications controlled by the
monarchs.[222] Štefan writes that the concentration of prestige goods in the towns shows that
"immediate contact with the sovereign, who certainly travelled between the centres, was
apparently the best winning strategy for the top elite".[209] On the other hand, the optimates had an
important role in the government: the monarchs did not make important decisions without
discussing them in a council formed by the Moravian "dukes".[208][210]

Population

Map showing the distribution of Slavic tribes between the 7th–

9th centuries AD

Great Moravia was inhabited by the West Slavic subgroup of the larger Slavic ethno-linguistical
group. The West Slavs have their origin in early Slavic tribes which settled in Central Europe
after East Germanic tribes had largely left this area during the migration period,[223] while the
West Slavs "assimilated the remaining Celtic and Germanic populations" in the area.[224]
Moravians had strong cultural ties to their western neighbors, the Franks, with certain objects
proving Carolingian influence. The archaeological evidence demonstrates that the 9th-century
material culture found in modern Moravia was very much in the Frankish sphere and showed
minor Byzantine influence.[225][226][227]

Carolingian influence affected all spheres of life in Great Moravia. After the Carolingian Empire
was divided, the Ottonian dynasty took over and continued and cultivated Carolingian traditions.
It is not accidental that the newly created medieval West-Slavonic states borrow from
Carolingian tradition via the Ottonian Empire.[228]

Most of the population was formed by freemen, who were obliged to pay an annual tax.[218]
Slavery and feudal dependency are also recorded.[218][229]

The analysis of early medieval cemeteries in Moravia shows that 40 percent of men and 60
percent of women died before reaching the age of 40.[230] More than 40 percent of the graves
contained the remains of children aged one to twelve.[230] However, the cemeteries also document
rich nutrition and advanced health care.[105] For instance, a third of the examined skeletons had no
caries or lost teeth, and bone fractures healed without dislocation.[105]

Economy
The large 9th-century fortresses unearthed at Mikulčice and other places were located in the
wider region of the confluence of the rivers Morava and Danube.[231] Two important trade routes
crossed this region in this period, the Danube and the ancient Amber Road, implying that these
settlements, all lying on rivers, were important centres of commerce.[231] Finds of tools, raw
materials and semi-manufactured goods[232] show that quarters inhabited by craftsmen also
existed in these settlements.[233] The large fortresses were surrounded by a number of small
villages where the locals were engaged in agriculture.[234] They cultivated wheat, barley, millet
and other cereals, and farmed cattle, pigs, sheep and horse.[235] Their animals were relatively
small: for instance, their horses were not larger than modern Przewalski horses.[236]

The existence of a general exchange medium in Moravia has not been proven:[231] there is no sign
of local coinage[237] and foreign coins are scarce.[238] According to Bialeková and other
archaeologists, the axe-shaped ingots (grivnas) unearthed in great number in fortresses served as
"premonetary currencies". This theory has not universally been accepted, because these objects
have also been interpreted as "intermediate products intended for further treatment". [239]
According to Macháček, the lack of coins meant that Moravian monarchs could not "effectively
collect taxes, customs and fines", which weakened their international position.[210]

Iron metallurgy and smithing were the most important branches of local industry.[94] An example
of highly developed tool production are asymmetrical plowshares.[94] There is no sign of silver,
gold, copper or lead mines in Moravia, but jewellery and weapons were produced locally.[231]
Accordingly, their prime material was acquired as loot or gift or brought to Moravia by
merchants.[240] Archaeological research also evidences the import of prestige goods, including
silk, brocade and glass vessels.[231] According to Štefan[231] and Macháček,[210] the Moravians
primarily provided slaves, acquired as prisoners of war during their raids in the neighbouring
regions, in exchange for these luxury goods. For instance, Archbishop Thietmar of Salzburg
accused the Moravians of "bringing noble men and honest women into slavery"[175] during their
campaigns in Pannonia.[231] Slave trading is also well documented: the First Legend of Naum
narrates that many of Methodius's disciples "were sold for money to the Jews"[241] after 885, and
the Raffelstetten Customs Regulations makes mention of slaves delivered from Moravia to the
west.[231]

Culture
Sacral architecture

Church of St. Margaret of Antioch in Kopčany, Slovakia, one

of remaining buildings for which the Great Moravian origin is considered

The views on Great Moravian sacral architecture changed dramatically during the second half of
the 20th century. At first, researchers assumed it to be limited to simple wooden churches like
those known from the German environment in dating from the 7th to 8th centuries.[242] These
wooden churches were suitable for initial missionary activities due to the easy availability of
materials, quick construction and no need for consecration.[242] This opinion was refined in 1949
after excavations in Staré Město. From the 1960s, stone churches have also been excavated in
Slovakia. As of 2014, more than 25 sacral buildings have been safely identified in the core
territory of Great Moravia (Moravia and Western Slovakia).[243] The remains of the first
uncovered churches were only "negatives" (ditches filled with secondary material after removal
of original foundations), but later research also uncovered remains of buildings with original
foundations. Especially after the discovery of Great Moravian graves near the church in
Kopčany, the potential Great Moravian origin of several still-standing churches in Slovakia (viz.,
Kopčany, Nitrianska Blatnica, Kostoľany pod Tribečom) was once more an open question. The
exact dating is a goal of ongoing research based on radiocarbon analysis and dendrochronology.
[244]

Great Moravian sacral architecture is represented by a rich variety of types, from three-nave
basilicas (Mikulčice III, Bratislava), triconcha (Devín), simple rotunda without apses (Mikulčice
VII), two-apse rotunda (Mikulčice VI), tetraconchic rotunda (Mikulčice IX) and a whole group
of one-nave churches and rotundas with one apse. The largest number of churches has been
found in south-eastern Moravia. Mikulčice, with twelve churches, clearly dominates among all
other localities with the first stone churches built around 800[192] (a potential thirteenth church is
Kopčany, on the Slovak side of the border). The three-nave basilica from Mikulčice, which has
interior dimensions of 35 m by 9 m and a separate baptistery, is the largest sacral building found
to date.[191][206] The high concentration of churches in Mikululčice exceeded the needs of the local
population, and so are believed to be proprietary churches (Eigenkirchen), known also in
Francia.[244] Large churches were also important ecclesiastical centres. The current dating of
several churches precedes the Byzantine mission. The churches were decorated mostly by
frescoes, but usage of secco is also documented.[245] The authors were probably foreign artists
from Francia and northern Italy[245] (the latter indicated by, for example, the chemical
composition of paintings in Bratislava and Devín[246]).

Great Moravian sacral architecture was probably influenced by Frankish, Dalmatian-Istrian,

Byzantine and classical architecture, which also indicated complex missionary activities. Two
open-air museums, in Modrá near Uherské Hradiště and in Ducové, are devoted to Great
Moravian architecture.

Religion

Main articles: Slavic mythology, History of Christianity in Slovakia, and Christianization of

Moravia

Stone foundations of a church in Valy u Mikulčic, Czech

Republic Exhibition Among the tribes and the state. Room

with the Early medieval princely burial from Kolín (Starý Kolín), 850–900 AD

Like other Slavs, the Great Moravian Slavs originally practised a polytheistic religion with an
ancestor cult. Several cult places used prior to the Christianization of Moravia have been found
in Moravia (Mikulčice and Pohansko). However, we do not know what these objects, such as a
ring ditch with a fire, a horse sacrifice, or human limbs ritually buried in a cemetery, meant to
Great Moravians.[247] An alleged[e] cult object in Mikulčice was reportedly used until the
evangelization of the Moravian elite in the mid-9th century and idols in Pohansko were raised on
the site of a demolished church during the pagan backlash in the 10th century.[247] The only
Slavic pagan shrine found in modern Slovakia is an object in Most pri Bratislave dedicated
probably to the god of war and thunder Perun. The shrine was abandoned in the mid-9th century
and never restored.[248]
The spread of Christianity had several stages and it is still an open research question. In older
publications, the first organized missions were attributed mainly to Hiberno-Scottish
missionaries, but modern works are more sceptical about their direct influence.[249] The territory
of Great Moravia was originally evangelized by missionaries coming from the Frankish Empire
or Byzantine enclaves in Italy and Dalmatia from the early 8th century and sporadically earlier.
[206][250]
Traces of an Aquileia-Dalmatic mission are found in Great Moravian architecture and
language.[249] Northern Italian influence is assumed also for golden plaques with Christian motifs
from Bojná[251] (probably from a portable altar), which belong to the most important Christian
artefacts dated prior to the mission of Saints Cyril and Methodius. Especially after the defeat of
the Avars at the end of the 8th century, Frankish missionaries became the most important part of
organized missions. The first Christian church of the Western and Eastern Slavs known from
written sources was built in 828 by Pribina in Nitra and consecrated by Bishop Adalram of
Salzburg. Most of the territory was Christianized until the mid-9th century.[249] Despite the formal
endorsement by the elites, Great Moravian Christianity was described as containing many pagan
elements as late as 852.[186] Grave goods, such as food, could be found even in church
graveyards.[206] The Church organization in Great Moravia was supervised by the Bavarian clergy
until the arrival of the Byzantine missionaries Saints Cyril and Methodius in 863.[252]

In 880, the pope ordained a Swabian monk, Wiching, as bishop of the newly established see of
Nitra ("sancta ecclesia Nitriensis").[253] Some experts (e.g., Szőke Béla Miklós) say that the
location of the seat of 9th century diocese is different from present-day Nitra.[254]

Literature

An example of the Glagolitic script created by Saint Cyril for

the mission in Great Moravia (Baščanska ploča from Croatia). The inscribed stone slab records
Croatian king Zvonimir's donation of a piece of land to a Benedictine abbey in the time of abbot
Drzhiha.[255]

The impact of the mission of Cyril and Methodius extended beyond the religious and political
spheres. Old Church Slavonic became the fourth liturgical language of the Christian world.
However, after Methodius's death (885) all his followers were expelled from Great Moravia;
accordingly, the use of Slavic liturgy in Great Moravia lasted only about 22 years.[256] Its late
form remains the liturgical language of the Ukrainian, Russian, Bulgarian, Macedonian, Serbian
and Polish Orthodox Churches. Cyril also invented the Glagolitic alphabet, suitable for Slavic
languages, and first translated the Bible into a Slavic language, along with Methodius, who later
completed the project.

Methodius wrote the first Slavic legal code, combining local customary law with advanced
Byzantine law. Similarly, the Great Moravian criminal law code was not merely a translation
from Latin, but also punished a number of offenses originally tolerated by pre-Christian Slavic
mores, yet prohibited by Christianity (mostly related to sexual conduct).[257] The canon law was
simply adopted from Byzantine sources.

There are not many literary works that can be unambiguously identified as originally written in
Great Moravia. One of them is Proglas, a cultivated poem in which Cyril defends the Slavic
liturgy. Vita Cyrilli (attributed to Clement of Ohrid) and Vita Methodii (probably written by
Methodius's successor Gorazd) are biographies with valuable information about Great Moravia
under Rastislav and Svatopluk I.

The brothers also founded an academy, initially led by Methodius, which produced hundreds of
Slavic clerics. A well-educated class was essential for administration of all early-feudal states
and Great Moravia was no exception. Vita Methodii mentions that the bishop of Nitra served as
Svatopluk I's chancellor, and even Prince Koceľ of the Balaton Principality was said to have
mastered the Glagolitic script.[250] The location of the Great Moravian academy has not been
identified, but possible sites include Mikulčice (where some styli have been found in an
ecclesiastical building), Devín Castle (with a building identified as a probable school) and Nitra
(with its Episcopal basilica and monastery). When Methodius's disciples were expelled from
Great Moravia by Svatopluk I in 885, they disseminated their knowledge (including the
Glagolitic script) to other Slavic countries, such as Bulgaria, Croatia and Bohemia. The Cyrillic
script was created in Bulgaria in the Preslav Literary School, which became the standard
alphabet the Bulgarian Empire and later in the Kievan Rus' (modern day Russia, Ukraine and
Belarus). The Great Moravian cultural heritage was further developed in Bulgarian seminaries,
paving the way for the Christianization of Kievan Rus'.

The Cyrillo-Methodian cultural mission had significant impact on most Slavic languages and
stood at the beginning of the modern Cyrillic alphabet, created in the 9th century AD in Bulgaria
by Bulgarian disciples of Cyril and Methodius (Naum of Preslav, Clement of Ohrid and others).
[258][259][260]

Arts

A silver cross from Mikulčice

In the first half of the 9th century, Great Moravian craftsmen were inspired by contemporary
Carolingian art.[206] In the second half of the 9th century, Great Moravian jewelry was influenced
by Byzantine, Eastern Mediterranean and Adriatic styles.[206] However, in the words of Czech
archaeologist Josef Poulík, "these new forms and techniques were not copied passively, but were
transformed in the local idiom, establishing in this way the roots of the distinctive Great
Moravian jewellery style."[206] Typical Great Moravian jewelry included silver and golden
earrings decorated by fine granular filigree, as well as silver and gilded bronze buttons covered
by foliate ornaments.[191]

Legacy
Great Moravian centres (e.g., Bratislava (Pozsony, Pressburg), Nitra (Nyitra), Tekov (Bars) and
Zemplín (Zemplén)) retained their functions after the fall of Great Moravia, although the
identification of Bratislava, Tekov and Zemplín as Great Moravian castles are not generally
accepted.[261][clarification needed] Several sources suggest that Hungarian rulers followed the
contemporary German or Bulgar patents when they established the new administrative system in
their kingdom, or they introduced a new system.[262]

Social differentiation in Great Moravia reached the state of early feudalism, creating the social
basis for development of later medieval states in the region.[263] The question what happened to
Great Moravian noble families after 907 is still under debate. On the one hand, recent research
indicates that a significant part of the local aristocracy remained more or less undisturbed by the
fall of Great Moravia and their descendants became nobles in the newly formed Kingdom of
Hungary.[217][218][264] The most prominent example are the powerful families of Hunt and Pázmán.
[264]
On the other hand, both Anonymous and Simon of Kéza, two chroniclers of the early history
of Hungary, recorded that the prominent noble families of the kingdom descended either from
leaders of the Magyar tribes or from immigrants, and they did not connect any of them to Great
Moravia. For example, the ancestors of the clan Hunt-Pázmán (Hont-Pázmány), whose Great
Moravian origin has been advanced by Slovak scholars,[264] were reported by Simon of Kéza to
have arrived from the Duchy of Swabia in the late 10th century.[265][266][267]

The territories mentioned as "Tercia pars regni" (lit., "one-third part of the Kingdom of
Hungary") in the medieval sources are referred to as the "Duchy" in Hungarian scholarly works
and as the "Principality of Nitra" in Slovak academic sources. These territories were ruled
autonomously by members of the Árpád dynasty residing in Bihar (today Biharea in Romania)
or in Nitra—a practice reminiscent of the Great Moravian appanage system, but also similar to
that of some other dynasties in the Early Middle Ages (e.g., the Ruriks in the Kievan Rus').[268][269]
The existence of an autonomous political unit centered around Nitra is often considered by
Slovak scholars an example of political continuity from the Great Moravian period.[270]

Great Moravia also became a prominent theme of the Czech and Slovak romantic nationalism of
the 19th century.[271] The Byzantine double-cross thought to have been brought by Cyril and
Methodius is currently part of the symbol of Slovakia and the Constitution of Slovakia refers to
Great Moravia in its preamble. Interest about that period rose as a result of the national revival in
the 19th century. Great Moravian history has been regarded as a cultural root of several Slavic
nations in Central Europe and it was employed in attempts to create a single Czechoslovak
identity in the 20th century.

Although the source cited above and other sources mention that Great Moravia disappeared
without trace and that its inhabitants left for the Bulgars, with Croats and Magyars following
their victories, archaeological research and toponyms suggest the continuity of Slavic population
in the valleys of the rivers of the Inner Western Carpathians.[272][273] Moreover, there are sporadic
references to Great Moravia from later years: in 924/925, both Folkuin in his Gesta abb.
Lobiensium and Ruotger in Archiepiscopi Coloniensis Vita Brunonis[274] mention Great Moravia.
In 942, Magyar warriors captured during their raid in al-Andalus said that Moravia is the
northern neighbour of their people. The fate of the northern and western parts of former Central
Europe in the 10th century is thus largely unclear.

The eastern part of the Great Moravian core territory (present-day Slovakia) fell under
domination of the Hungarian Árpád dynasty. The north-west borders of the Principality of
Hungary became a mostly uninhabited or sparsely inhabited land. This was the Hungarian
gyepűelve, and it can be considered as a march that effectively lasted until the mid-13th century.
[275]
The rest remained under the rule of the local Slavic aristocracy[264] and was gradually[194]
integrated into the Kingdom of Hungary in a process finished in the 14th century.[275][276] In 1000
or 1001, all of present-day Slovakia was taken over by Poland under Bolesław I, and much of
this territory became part of the Kingdom of Hungary by 1031.[275][277]

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From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Coat of Arms of Moravia

The history of Moravia, one of the Czech lands, is diverse and characterized by many periods of
foreign governance.

Pre-history
Early modern humans had settled in the region by the Paleolithic. The Předmostí archaeological
site in Moravia is dated to between 24,000 and 27,000 years old.[1][2]

Ancient Moravia

Territory of Great Moravia in the 9th century: area ruled by

Rastislav (846–870) in green; the green line marks the greatest territorial extent during the reign
of Svatopluk I (871–894)

Around 60 BC the Celtic Volcae people withdrew from the region and were succeeded in turn by
the Germanic Quadi. Several hundred years later, in the 6th century AD the Slavic tribes arrived
in this territory often crossed during the Migration Period by successive Germanic and major
Slavic tribes. At the end of the 8th century the Moravian Principality came into being in present-
day south-eastern Moravia, Záhorie in south-western Slovakia and parts of Lower Austria. In
833 AD, this became the state of Great Moravia with the conquest of the Principality of Nitra
(present-day Slovakia). Their first king was Mojmír I (ruled 830–846). Louis the German
invaded Moravia and replaced Mojmír I with his nephew Rastiz who became St. Rastislav.[3] St.
Rastislav (846–870) tried to emancipate his land from the Carolingian influence, so he sent
envoys to Rome to get missionaries to come. When Rome refused he turned to Constantinople to
the Byzantine emperor Michael. The result was the mission of Saints Cyril and Methodius who
translated liturgical books into Slavonic, which had lately been elevated by the Pope to the same
level as Latin and Greek. Methodius became the first Moravian archbishop, but after his death
the German influence again prevailed and the disciples of Methodius were forced to flee. So the
unique situation which anticipated the II Vatican Council by several centuries was destroyed.
Great Moravia reached its greatest territorial extent in the 890s under Svatopluk I. At this time,
the empire encompassed the territory of the present-day Czech Republic and Slovakia, the
western part of present Hungary (Pannonia), as well as Lusatia in present-day Germany and
Silesia and the upper Vistula basin in southern Poland. After Svatopluk's death in 895, the
Bohemian princes defected to become vassals of the East Frankish ruler Arnulf of Carinthia, and
the Moravian state ceased to exist after being overrun by invading Magyars in 906/7.

Union with Bohemia

Main articles: Margraviate of Moravia, Duchy of Bohemia, and Kingdom of Bohemia

Bohemian state in the 10th century Jobst

of Moravia, Margrave of Moravia and King of the Romans. Josef Leonard Weber, ca 1748

Following the defeat of the Magyars by Emperor Otto I at the Battle of Lechfeld in 955, Otto's
ally Boleslaus I, the Přemyslid ruler of Bohemia, received Moravia. Bolesław I Chrobry of
Poland annexed Moravia in 999, and ruled it until 1019,[4] when the Přemyslid prince Bretislaus
recaptured it. Since then, Moravia has shared its history with Bohemia. Upon his father's death in
1034, Bretislaus also became the ruler of Bohemia. In 1055, Bretislaus decreed that the Bohemia
and Moravia would be inherited together by primogeniture, although he also provided that his
younger sons should govern parts (quarters) of Moravia as vassals to his oldest son.[5]
Throughout the Přemyslid era, junior princes often ruled all or part of Moravia from Olomouc,
Brno or Znojmo, with varying degrees of autonomy from the ruler of Bohemia. (Mainly Dukes
of Olomouc usually used to act as "right hand" of Prague dukes and kings. Dukes of Brno and
especially those of Znojmo were much more insubordinate.) Moravia reached its height of
autonomy in 1182, when Emperor Frederick I elevated Conrad II Otto of Znojmo to the status of
a margrave,[6] immediately subject to the emperor, independent of Bohemia. This status was
short-lived: in 1186, Conrad Otto was forced to obey the supreme rule of Bohemian duke
Frederick. Three years later, Conrad Otto succeed to Frederick as Duke of Bohemia and
subsequently canceled his margrave title. Nevertheless, the margrave title was restored in 1197
when Vladislaus III, Duke of Bohemia resolved the succession dispute between him and his
brother Ottokar by abdicating from the Bohemian throne and accepting Moravia as a vassal land
of Bohemian (i.e., Prague) rulers. Vladislaus gradually established this land as Margraviate,
slightly administratively different from Bohemia.

Kingdom of Bohemia and adjacent lands during the Hussite

Wars

The main line of the Přemyslid dynasty became extinct in 1306, and in 1310 John of
Luxembourg became Margrave of Moravia and King of Bohemia. In 1333, he made his son
Charles the next Margrave of Moravia (later in 1346, Charles become also the King of
Bohemia). In 1349, Charles gave Moravia to his younger brother John Henry who ruled in the
margraviate until his death in 1375, after him Moravia was ruled by his oldest son Jobst of
Moravia who was in 1410 elected the Holy Roman King but died in 1411 (at present day, he is
buried with his father in the Church of St. Thomas in Brno – the Moravian capital which they
both ruled from). Moravia and Bohemia remained within the Luxembourg dynasty of Holy
Roman kings and emperors (except during the Hussite Wars), until inherited by Albert II of
Habsburg in 1437.[5]

After his death followed the interregnum until 1453; land (as the rest of lands of the Bohemian
Crown) was administered by the landfriedens (landfrýdy). The rule of young Ladislaus the
Posthumous subsisted only less than five years and subsequently (1458) the Hussite George of
Poděbrady was elected as the king. He again reunited all Czech lands (then Bohemia, Moravia,
Silesia, Upper & Lower Lusatia) into one-man ruled state. In 1466, Pope Paul II
excommunicated George and forbade all Catholics (i.e. c. 15% of population) from continuing to
serve him. The Hungarian crusade followed and in 1469 Matthias Corvinus conquered Moravia
and proclaimed himself (with assistance of rebelling Bohemian nobility) as the king of Bohemia.
The subsequent 21-year period of a divided kingdom was decisive for the rising awareness of a
specific Moravian identity, distinct from that of Bohemia. Although Moravia was reunited with
Bohemia in 1490 when Vladislaus Jagiellon, king of Bohemia, also became king of Hungary,
some attachment to Moravian "freedoms" and resistance to government by Prague continued
until the end of independence in 1620. In 1526, Vladislaus' son Louis died in battle and the
Habsburg Ferdinand I was elected as his successor.

Habsburg rule (1526–1918)

Lands of the Czech Crown (together with the Lands of the St

Stephen Crown and the Austrian Hereditary Lands) within the Habsburg Empire

The epoch 1526–1620 was marked by increasing animosity between Catholic Habsburg kings
(emperors) and the Protestant Moravian nobility (and other Crowns') estates. Moravia, like
Bohemia, was a Habsburg possession until the end of World War I. In 1573 the Jesuit University
of Olomouc was established; this was first university in Moravia. The establishment of a special
papal seminary, Collegium Nordicum, made the university a centre of the Catholic Reformation
and effort to revive Catholicism in Central and Northern Europe. The second largest group of
students were from Scandinavia.

Until 1641 Moravia's capitals were Brno and Olomouc, but after the capture of Olomouc by the
Swedes, the city of Brno become the sole capital (Brno was the only city in Moravia which
successfully resisted the invaders). The Margraviate of Moravia had (from 1348 in Olomouc and
Brno) its own Diet (parliament) – zemský sněm (Landtag in German), whose deputies from 1905
onward were elected separately from the ethnically separate German and Czech constituencies. [5]

In 17th century Moravia, today's oldest theatre building in Central Europe was founded – Reduta
Theatre. In 1740, Moravia was invaded by Prussian forces under Frederick the Great, and
Olomouc was forced to surrender on 27 December 1741. A few months later the Prussians were
repelled, mainly because of their unsuccessful siege of Brno in 1742. In 1758, Olomouc was
besieged by Prussians again but this time, defenders of Olomouc forced the Prussians to
withdraw following the Battle of Domstadtl. In 1777, a new Moravian bishopric was established
in Brno, and the Olomouc bishopric was raised to archbishopric. In 1782, the Margaviate of
Moravia was merged with the Austrian Silesia into the Moravia-Silesia, with Brno as its capital
city. This lasted until 1850.[5]
20th century
Following the break-up of the Austro-Hungarian Empire in 1918, Moravia became part of
Czechoslovakia. As one of the five lands of Czechoslovakia, it had restricted autonomy. In 1928
Moravia ceased to exist as a territorial unity and was merged with Czech Silesia into the
Moravian–Silesian Land. After the German occupation of Czechoslovakia in World War II,
Moravia was divided – part was made an administrative unit within the Protectorate of Bohemia
and Moravia and the area with more ethnic Germans was absorbed by the German Third Reich.

In 1945 after the end of World War II and Allied defeat of Germany, Czechoslovakia, expelled
the ethnic German minority of Moravia to Germany and Austria. The Moravian–Silesian Land
was restored with Moravia as part of it. In 1949 the territorial division of Czechoslovakia was
radically changed, as the Moravian-Silesian Land was abolished and Lands were replaced by
kraje (regions), whose borders substantially differ from the historical Bohemian-Moravian
border, so Moravia politically ceased to exist after approx. 1116 years (833–1949) of its history.

After the fall of the Soviet Union, the Czechoslovak Federal Assembly condemned the
cancellation of Moravian–Silesian land and expressed "firm conviction that this injustice will be
corrected" in 1990, however after the breakup of Czechoslovakia into Czech Republic and
Slovakia in 1993, Moravian land remained in the Czech territory, and the latest administrative
division of Czech Republic (which was introduced in 2000) is nearly identical with the
administrative division of 1949.[5]

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Coordinates: 50°N 17°E

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Margraviate of Moravia
Markrabství moravské (Czech)
Markgrafschaft Mähren (German)
1182–1918

Top: Medieval banner of the Margrave of Moravia

Bottom: Unadopted flag of Moravia in the 19th century within Austria-Hungary

Coat of arms

The Margraviate of Moravia and the Lands of the Bohemian Crown within the Holy Roman
Empire (1618)

The Margraviate in 1893

 Crown land of the Bohemian Crown
(1348–1918)
 Imperial State of the Holy Roman Empire (1198–1806)
Status  Crown land of the Habsburg monarchy (1526–1804), of the
Austrian Empire (1804–67), and of the Cisleithanian part of
Austria-Hungary (1867–1918)

 Olomouc (1182–1641)
Capital  Brno (1641–1918)

Common languages Moravian dialects of Czech, German, Polish and Slovakian

 Roman Catholicism (official)
 Hussitism, later Bohemian Reformed (Moravian Church, Utraquism)
 Hutterian Anabaptism
Religion  Lutheranism
 Judaism (Jews)
 Abrahamite Deism

Demonym(s) Moravians
Government Margraviate
Margrave
• 1182–1191 (first) Conrad II of Bohemia
• 1916–1918 (last) Charles I of Austria
Legislature Provincial Diet
History
• Established 1182
• Disestablished 1918
Preceded by Succeeded by
Duchy of Bohemia First Czechoslovak Republic
  Czech Republic
Today part of o Moravia

The Margraviate of Moravia (Czech: Markrabství moravské; German: Markgrafschaft

Mähren) was one of the Lands of the Bohemian Crown within the Holy Roman Empire and then
Austria-Hungary, existing from 1182 to 1918. It was officially administered by a margrave in
cooperation with a provincial diet. It was variously a de facto independent state, and also subject
to the Duchy, later the Kingdom of Bohemia. It comprised the historical region called Moravia,
which lies within the present-day Czech Republic.

Geography
The Margraviate lay east of Bohemia proper, with an area about half that region's size. In the
north, the Sudeten Mountains, which extend to the Moravian Gate, formed the border with the
Polish Duchy of Silesia, incorporated as a Bohemian crown land upon the 1335 Treaty of
Trentschin. In the east and southeast, the western Carpathian Mountains separated it from
present-day Slovakia. In the south, the winding Thaya River marked the border with the Duchy
of Austria.

Moravians, usually considered a Czech people that speak Moravian dialects, made up the main
part of the population. According to a 1910 Cisleithanian census, 27.6% identified themselves as
German Moravians.[1] These ethnic Germans would later be expelled after the Second World
War. Other ethnic minority groups included Poles, Roma and Slovaks.

History
See also: History of Moravia

After the early medieval Great Moravian realm had been finally defeated by the Árpád princes of
Hungary in 907, what is now Slovakia was incorporated as "Upper Hungary" (Felső-
Magyarország), while adjacent Moravia passed under the authority of the Duchy of Bohemia.
King Otto I of Germany officially granted it to Duke Boleslaus I in turn for his support against
the Hungarian forces in the 955 Battle of Lechfeld. Temporarily ruled by King Bolesław I
Chrobry of Poland from 999 until 1019, Moravia was re-conquered by Duke Oldřich of Bohemia
and ultimately became a land of the Crown of Saint Wenceslas held by the Přemyslid dynasty.[1]

Sitting of the Moravian Diet, 17th century

In 1182, the Margraviate was created at the behest of Emperor Frederick Barbarossa by merger
of the three Přemyslid appanage principalities of Brno, Olomouc and Znojmo, and given to
Conrad II, the son of Prince Conrad of Znojmo. As heir apparent, the future King Ottokar II of
Bohemia was appointed Moravian margrave by his father Wenceslaus I in 1247. Along with
Bohemia, Moravia was ruled by the House of Luxembourg from the extinction of the Přemyslid
dynasty until 1437. Jobst, nephew of Emperor Charles IV inherited the Margraviate in 1375,
ruled autonomously and was even elected King of the Romans in 1410. Shaken by the Hussite
Wars, the Moravian nobles remained loyal supporters of the Luxembourg emperor Sigismund.[1]

In 1469, Moravia was occupied by the Hungarian king Matthias Corvinus, who had allied with
the Catholic nobility against the rule of George of Poděbrady and had himself elected rival king
of Bohemia at Olomouc. The rivalry with King Vladislaus II was settled in the 1479 Peace of
Olomouc, whereby Matthias renounced the royal title but retained the rule over the Moravian
lands.[2]

With the other lands of the Bohemian Crown, the Margraviate was incorporated into the
Habsburg monarchy upon the death of King Louis II in the 1526 Battle of Mohács. Moravia was
ruled as a crown land within the Austrian Empire from 1804 and within Cisleithanian Austria
from 1867.[3]

During the foundation of Czechoslovakia after World War I, the Margraviate was transformed
into "Moravia Land", later "Moravia-Silesia Land" in 1918. This autonomy was eliminated in
1949 by the communist government and has not been re-established since.[1]

Government

The former Moravian Diet building. It now houses the Constitutional

Court of the Czech Republic.

The margrave held ultimate authority in Moravia, throughout the history of the margraviate. This
meant that as its margraves became more foreign, so too did governance of the margraviate.

Moravia possessed a legislature, known as the Moravian Diet. The assembly has its origins in
1288, with the Colloquium generale, or curia generalis.[4] This was a meeting of the upper
nobility, knights, the Bishop of Olomouc, abbots and ambassadors from royal cities. These
meetings gradually evolved into the diet.

The power of this diet waxed and waned throughout history. By the end of the margraviate, the
diet was almost powerless. The diet consisted of three estates of the realm: the estate of upper
nobility, the estate of the lower nobility, and the estate of prelates and burghers.[5] With the
February Patent of 1861, the diet was reformed into a more egalitarian body. It still retained the
same structure, but the members changed. It consisted of assembly seats for landowners, city-
dwellers, and rural farmers. This was retained until the diet was abolished after the fall of the
Dual Monarchy.[5]

Moravian eagle

The unadopted coat of arms as a heraldic artwork made by Hugo

Gerard Ströhl

The coat of arms of Moravia is charged with a crowned silver-red chequered eagle with golden
claws and tongue. It first appeared in the seal of Margrave Přemysl (1209–1239), a younger son
of King Ottokar I of Bohemia. After 1462, the Moravian eagle was gold-red chequered,[2] but
was never accepted by the Moravian assembly.

Administration
Until 1848

In the mid 14th century Emperor Charles IV, also King of Bohemia and Margrave of Moravia,
established administrative divisions called kraje (Kreise in German). These subdivisions were
named for their capitals:

 Brno
 Jihlava
 Olomouc
 Přerov
 Uherské Hradiště
 Znojmo

After 1848
 Moravian and Austrian Silesian districts, 1897

After the 1848 revolutions, political districts (politický okres, politische Bezirke; formally
Bezirkshauptmannschaften) were established, which were organised into two Kreise/kraje –
Brünn and Olmütz.[6]

 Brünner Kreis (Brněnský kraj) – 12 districts:

o Brünn
o Trübau
o Boskowitz
o Witschau
o Gaya
o Auspitz
o Iglau
o Datschitz
o Znaym [sic]
o Kromau
o Nikolsburg
 Olmützer Kreis (Olomoucký kraj) – 13 districts:
o Olmütz
o Sternberg
o Schönberg
o Hohenstadt
o Littau
o Neutitschein
o Weißkirchen
o Wistek
o Wallachisch-Meseritsch
o Hradisch
o Kremsier
o Holleschau
o Ungarischbrod [sic]

In Bach's reforms of 1854 the former kraje were restored (albeit with some minor border changes
and with Nový Jičín (Neutitschein) replacing Přerov) and the political districts were replaced by
'office districts' (Amtsbezirke [de]), subordinate to the kraje which distributed some of their
authority. The Moravian capital Brno/Brünn acted as the seat for Kreis Brünn/Brněnský kraj but
as a statutory city was directly subordinate to Moravia.[7]
 Kreis Brünn (Brněnský kraj) – 17 districts:
o Auspitz
o Austerlitz
o Blansko
o Boskowitz
o Brünn (environs)
o Butschowitz
o Eibenschitz
o Gewitsch
o Klobauk
o Kunstadt
o Lundenburg
o Seelowitz
o Steinitz
o Titschnowitz
o Triebau
o Wischau
o Zwittau
 Kreis Olmütz (Olomoucký kraj) – 17 districts:
o Altstadt
o Hof
o Hohenstadt
o Kojetein
o Littau
o Müglitz
o Mährisch-Naustadt
o Olmütz (environs)
o Plumenau
o Prerau
o Proßnitz
o Römerstadt
o Schildberg
o Schönberg
o Sternberg
o Weisenberg
o Olmütz (city)
 Kreis Neutitschein – 13 districts:
o Bystřitz
o Frankstadt
o Freiberg
o Fulnek
o Leipnitz
o Liebau
o Walachisch-Meseritsch
o Mistek
 o Neutitschein
o Mährisch-Ostrau
o Rožnau
o Weißkirchen
o Wsetin
 Kreis Hradisch (Hradišťský kraj) – 12 districts:
o Ungarisch-Brod
o Gaya
o Göding
o Holleschau
o Hradisch
o Klobauk
o Kremsier
o Rapajedl
o Ungarisch-Ostra
o Stražnitz
o Wisowitz
o Zdaunek
 Kreis Znaim (Znojemský kraj) – 9 districts:
o Mährisch-Budwitz
o Frain
o Hrottowitz
o Jamnitz
o Joslowitz
o Kromau
o Namiescht
o Nikolsburg
o Znaim
 Kreis Iglau (Jihlavský kraj) – 8 districts:
o Bystřitz
o Datschitz
o Iglau
o Groß-Meseritsch
o Neustadtl
o Saar
o Teltsch
o Trebitsch

Political districts were re-established in the December Constitution following the Austro-
Hungarian Compromise of 1867 and remained in place until Austria-Hungary's dissolution. They
were largely retained by the Czechoslovak administration after 1918:

 Boskovice
 Brno
 Dačice
  Hodonín
 Holešov
 Hranice na Moravě
 Hustopeče
 Jihlava
 Kroměříž
 Kyjov
 Litovel
 Mikulov
 Místek
 Moravská Třebová
 Moravské Budějovice
 Moravský Beroun
 Moravský Krumlov
 Nové Město na Moravě
 Nový Jičín
 Olomouc
 Ostrava
 Přerov
 Prostějov
 Rýmařov
 Šternberk
 Šumperk
 Tišnov
 Třebíč
 Uherské Hradiště
 Uherský Brod
 Valašské Meziříčí
 Velké Meziříčí
 Vsetín
 Vyškov
 Zábřeh
 Znojmo

Demographics
The region experienced rapid population growth when it was part of Austria-Hungary. From
1890 to 1900 alone there was an increase of 7.1%. The population development from 1851 to
1900 was as follows:

Year 1851 1880 1890 1900

Population 1,799,838 2,153,407 2,276,870 2,437,706

Ethnicity
 Judicial districts (Gerichtsbezirke) in Moravia

In terms of ethnicity, the population was predominantly divided between Czechs and Germans.
The German minority mostly lived on the borders with Lower Austria and Silesia, and in various
language islands (around Brünn, Olmütz, Iglau and Zwittau), as well as in some larger cities. The
ethnic distribution according to the census was as follows:

Ethnicity 1880 1900

Czechs 1,507,327 70.0% 1,727,270 70.9%
Germans 628,907 29.2% 675,492 27.7%
Others 17,173 0.8% 34,944 1.4%
Total 2,153,407 2,437,706

Population by district (1910)

Ethnic distribution in Moravia in 1910

Political
Judicial Czech district Populati Germa Czec Othe Foreign
% % % %
district name (Politischer on ns hs rs ers
Bezirk)
42.1 14,12 57.7 0.2
Auspitz Hustopeč Auspitz 24,506 10,319 1 0.0% 58
% 8 % %
32,67 97.2 0.3
Austerlitz Slavkov Wischau 33,604 808 2.4% 6 0.0% 111
9 % %
34,58 99.3 0.1
Blansko Blansko Boskowitz 34,816 186 0.5% 1 0.0% 45
4 % %
Bojkowitz Bojkovice Ungarisch 13,816 11 0.1% 13,67 99.0 7 0.1% 125 0.9
 Political
Judicial Czech district Populati Germa Czec Othe Foreign
% % % %
district name (Politischer on ns hs rs ers
Bezirk)
Brod 3 % %
Boskovic 29,72 96.6 0.2
Boskowitz Boskowitz 30,762 981 3.2% 6 0.0% 51
e 4 % %
64.9 41,94 33.4 1.6
Brünn Brno Brünn 125,737 81,617 214 0.2% 1,963
% 3 % %
Brünn
Brünn Brno 11.7 110,4 87.8 0.5
(Landbezirk 125,828 14,702 80 0.1% 589
Umgebung okolí % 57 % %
)
19,73 99.1 0.2
Butschowitz Bučovice Wischau 19,922 144 0.7% 2 0.0% 42
4 % %
Neustadtl in 21,70 99.7 0.1
Bystřitz Bystřice 21,762 39 0.2% 0 0.0% 23
Mähren 0 % %
Bystřice
Bystřitz am 21,68 98.8 0.5
pod Holleschau 21,944 144 0.7% 8 0.0% 105
Hostein 7 % %
Hostýnem
12,89 98.6 0.0
Datschitz Dačice Datschitz 13,075 176 1.3% 0 0.0% 6
3 % %
Brünn
34,46 94.0 0.3
Eibenschitz Ivančice (Landbezirk 36,665 2,087 5.7% 7 0.0% 110
1 % %
)
Znaim
86.8 12.7 0.4
Frain Vranov (Landbezirk 9,123 7,920 1,157 8 0.1% 38
% % %
)
18,86 98.8 0.4
Frankstadt Frenštát Mistek 19,087 85 0.4% 53 0.3% 85
4 % %
Neutitschei 26.7 18,52 72.0 0.9
Freiberg Příbor 25,710 6,877 89 0.3% 220
n % 4 % %
Neutitschei 94.5 0.8
Fulnek Fulnek 14,771 13,960 630 4.3% 58 0.4% 123
n % %
38,72 97.2 0.5
Gaya Kyjov Gaya 39,836 884 2.2% 7 0.0% 217
8 % %
Mährisch 13.8 18,84 86.1 0.1
Gewitsch Jevíčko 21,898 3,024 0 0.0% 25
Trübau % 9 % %
15.1 28,81 81.1 3.6
Göding Hodonín Göding 35,510 5,369 63 0.2% 1,265
% 3 % %
Großbittesc Velká Großmeseri 12,91 99.8 0.0
12,946 23 0.2% 0 0.0% 5
h Byteš tsch 8 % %
Großmeserit Velké Großmeseri 28,04 99.3 0.1
28,253 189 0.7% 0 0.0% 19
sch Meziříčí tsch 5 % %
Hof Dvorec Bärn 12,293 12,203 99.3 20 0.2% 0 0.0% 70 0.6
 Political
Judicial Czech district Populati Germa Czec Othe Foreign
% % % %
district name (Politischer on ns hs rs ers
Bezirk)
% %
32.0 21,04 67.7 0.2
Hohenstadt Zábřeh Hohenstadt 31,071 9,954 1 0.0% 74
% 2 % %
31,65 98.2 0.4
Holleschau Holešov Holleschau 32,225 440 1.4% 0 0.0% 128
7 % %
Mährisch 15,59 99.3 0.1
Hrottowitz Hrotovice 15,704 80 0.5% 6 0.0% 20
Kromau 8 % %
Iglau
(Landbezirk 52.1 25,38 47.4 0.4
Iglau Jihlava 53,513 27,886 14 0.0% 233
), Iglau % 0 % %
(Stadt)
Mährisch 24.8 10,27 74.9 0.2
Jamnitz Jemnice 13,709 3,406 10 0.1% 21
Budwitz % 2 % %
Znaim
Jaroslavic 98.5 0.3
Joslowitz (Landbezirk 24,043 23,694 280 1.2% 4 0.0% 65
e % %
)
14,19 99.4 0.3
Klobouk Klobouky Auspitz 14,282 50 0.4% 1 0.0% 37
4 % %
30,34 97.9 1.3
Kojetein Kojetín Prerau 31,010 225 0.7% 33 0.1% 404
8 % %
23.0 17,84 77.0 0.0
Konitz Konice Littau 23,179 5,329 0 0.0% 8
% 2 % %
Kremsier
(Land), 41,38 97.4 0.4
Kremsier Kroměříž 42,496 893 2.1% 49 0.1% 166
Kremsier 8 % %
(Stadt)
25,24 99.7 0.0
Kunstadt Kunštát Boskowitz 25,335 73 0.3% 2 0.0% 12
8 % %
Mährisch
15.1 19,50 84.1 0.6
Leipnik Lipník Weißkirche 23,182 3,512 22 0.1% 145
% 3 % %
n
24,96 95.6 0.1
Littau Litovel Littau 26,121 1,125 4.3% 7 0.0% 22
7 % %
16.9 25,86 81.6 1.5
Lundenburg Břeclav Göding 31,699 5,370 5 0.0% 464
% 0 % %
Mährisch Staré Mährisch 99.5 0.3
15,511 15,429 38 0.2% 0 0.0% 44
Altstadt Město Schönberg % %
Moravské
Mährisch Mährisch 25,63 99.2 0.1
Budějovic 25,839 169 0.7% 0 0.0% 31
Budwitz Budwitz 9 % %
e
 Political
Judicial Czech district Populati Germa Czec Othe Foreign
% % % %
district name (Politischer on ns hs rs ers
Bezirk)
Mährisch Moravský Mährisch 43.1 15,25 56.7 0.2
26,911 11,595 1 0.0% 56
Kromau Krumlov Kromau % 9 % %
Mährisch 82.0 17.8 0.2
Unčov Sternberg 24,567 20,136 4,373 1 0.0% 57
Neustadt % % %
Mährisch Moravská Mährisch 38.9 52,25 47.0 12,90 11.6 2.5
111,186 43,246 2,780
Ostrau Ostrava Ostrau % 4 % 6 % %
Mährisch Mährisch 75.8 11,81 23.5 0.6
Šumperk 50,348 38,179 59 0.1% 296
Schönberg Schönberg % 4 % %
Mährisch Moravská Mährisch 93.1 0.4
29,996 27,926 1,943 6.5% 7 0.0% 120
Trübau Třebová Trübau % %
Mährisch Mährisch
24.5 26,34 74.3 0.8
Weißkirche Hranice Weißkirche 35,465 8,701 141 0.4% 278
% 5 % %
n n
32,99 89.4 0.7
Mistek Místek Mistek 36,917 3,457 9.4% 200 0.5% 270
0 % %
Mohelnic 59.9 39.4 0.4
Müglitz Hohenstadt 23,360 13,993 9,209 74 0.3% 84
e % % %
Náměšť
Namiest an 15,63 99.5 0.1
nad Trebitsch 15,711 67 0.4% 0 0.0% 8
der Oslawa 6 % %
Oslavou
Ungarisch 29,69 99.4 0.4
Napajedl Napajedla 29,861 38 0.1% 7 0.0% 120
Hradisch 6 % %
Nové
Neustadtl in Neustadtl in 22,24 99.8 0.1
Město na 22,297 31 0.1% 1 0.0% 19
Mähren Mähren 6 % %
Moravě
Neutitschei Nový Neutitschei 53.6 20,40 45.6 0.7
44,764 23,976 71 0.2% 317
n Jičín n % 0 % %
95.7 0.4
Nikolsburg Mikulov Nikolsburg 33,030 31,619 597 1.8% 683 2.1% 131
% %
Olmütz
(Land), 30.0 70,64 68.4 0.7
Olmütz Olomouc 103,280 30,987 934 0.9% 714
Olmütz % 5 % %
(Stadt)
23,64 99.6 0.1
Plumenau Plumlov Proßnitz 23,738 84 0.4% 0 0.0% 14
0 % %
Pohořelic 95.4 0.5
Pohrlitz Nikolsburg 16,021 15,292 654 4.1% 2 0.0% 73
e % %
45,25 95.9 0.5
Prerau Přerov Prerau 47,174 1,635 3.5% 59 0.1% 230
0 % %
Proßnitz Prostějov Proßnitz 57,735 2,407 4.2% 54,83 95.0 181 0.3% 308 0.5
 Political
Judicial Czech district Populati Germa Czec Othe Foreign
% % % %
district name (Politischer on ns hs rs ers
Bezirk)
9 % %
99.5 0.4
Römerstadt Rýmařov Römerstadt 28,497 28,355 4 0.0% 25 0.1% 113
% %
Rožnov
Wallachisc
Rožnau am pod 20,11 99.7 0.2
h 20,178 29 0.1% 0 0.0% 31
Radhorst Radhoště 8 % %
Meseritsch
m
Neustadtl in 14,33 99.6 0.2
Saar Žďár 14,383 30 0.2% 1 0.0% 22
Mähren 0 % %
55.8 43.9 0.3
Schildberg Šilperk Hohenstadt 16,388 9,150 7,194 2 0.0% 42
% % %
Židlochov 28,45 91.8 0.1
Seelowitz Auspitz 30,980 2,476 8.0% 5 0.0% 45
ice 4 % %
Stadt Město 99.6 0.2
Bärn 17,347 17,285 28 0.2% 0 0.0% 34
Liebau Libavá % %
14,56 98.3 0.3
Steinitz Ždánice Gaya 14,814 205 1.4% 0 0.0% 42
7 % %
77.6 22.1 0.3
Sternberg Šternberk Sternberg 36,123 28,018 7,982 5 0.0% 118
% % %
25,74 97.4 1.0
Straßnitz Strážnice Göding 26,425 427 1.6% 2 0.0% 252
4 % %
25,98 99.4 0.2
Teltsch Telč Datschitz 26,137 95 0.4% 0 0.0% 60
2 % %
Tischnowit 35,04 99.0 0.2
Tischnowitz Tišnov 35,406 264 0.7% 18 0.1% 80
z 4 % %
39,91 97.8 0.2
Trebitsch Třebíč Trebitsch 40,832 837 2.0% 6 0.0% 70
9 % %
Iglau
14,05 98.7 0.2
Triesch Třešť (Landbezirk 14,249 160 1.1% 2 0.0% 30
7 % %
)
Ungarisch Uherský Ungarisch 35,92 97.2 0.8
36,954 706 1.9% 11 0.0% 308
Brod Brod Brod 9 % %
Ungarisch
Hradisch
Ungarisch Uherské (Land), 41,12 99.5 0.3
41,354 100 0.2% 1 0.0% 124
Hradisch Hradiště Ungarisch 9 % %
Hradisch
(Stadt)
Ungarisch Uherský Ungarisch 45,84 98.5 0.4
46,528 469 1.0% 7 0.0% 206
Ostra Ostroh Hradisch 6 % %
 Political
Judicial Czech district Populati Germa Czec Othe Foreign
% % % %
district name (Politischer on ns hs rs ers
Bezirk)
Wallachisch Valašské Ungarisch 25,78 97.6 1.9
26,419 101 0.4% 41 0.2% 493
Klobouk Klobouky Brod 4 % %
Wallachisc
Wallachisch Valašské 24,22 98.2 0.4
h 24,657 319 1.3% 15 0.1% 99
Meseritsch Meziříčí 4 % %
Meseritsch
Viesenber Mährisch 99.6 0.3
Wiesenberg 14,525 14,465 7 0.0% 4 0.0% 49
k Schönberg % %
39,97 91.8 0.2
Wischau Vyškov Wischau 43,545 3,486 8.0% 6 0.0% 77
6 % %
23,22 99.0 0.7
Wisowitz Vizovice Holleschau 23,469 2 0.0% 90 0.4% 154
3 % %
42,25 98.3 1.1
Wsetin Vsetín Wsetin 42,976 214 0.5% 22 0.1% 490
0 % %
Kremsier
22,24 99.4 0.1
Zdounek Zdounky (Landbezirk 22,368 92 0.4% 4 0.0% 31
1 % %
)
92.4 0.3
Zlabings Slavonice Datschitz 10,090 9,322 734 7.3% 0 0.0% 34
% %
Znaim
68.3 18,33 29.6 2.0
Znaim Znojmo (Land), 61,866 42,253 52 0.1% 1,222
% 9 % %
Znaim
Mährisch 97.0 0.3
Zwittau Svitavy 28,197 27,339 767 2.7% 0 0.0% 91
Trübau % %

Rulers of Moravia
 Part of Great Moravia (c.820-907)

Dukes in Moravia (907-1182)

Přemyslid dynasty as Duke of Bohemia (907-999)

Main article: Přemyslid dynasty

Ruler Born Reign Death Consort Notes
First son of Bořivoj I and
Ludmila of Bohemia. He
restored Bohemian
Spytihněv I 882 907–915 915 Unmarried
sovereignty in 894, than ruled
from 907 over the territory of
Moravia too.
 13 Drahomíra
Second son of Bořivoj I and
Vratislaus I 888 915–921 February three
Ludmila of Bohemia.
921 children

Known as St. Wenceslaus

("Good King Wenceslas" for
English-speaking people), the
patron saint of the Czech
28
Wenceslaus 921– lands. He was the first son of
907 September Unmarried
I 929/935 Vratislaus I and Drahomíra.
929/935
His rule started with the
regencies of Ludmila of
Bohemia (921) and Drahomíra
(921–925)

Assassinated his brother to

Biagota
Boleslaus I 929/935- ascend to the ducal throne. He
915 July 972 four
the Cruel 972 was the second son of
children
Vratislaus I and Drahomíra.

Adiva
(of England?)
four
children
Son of Boleslaus I and
Boleslaus II 7 February
940 972-999 Emma of Biagota. He lost Moravia
the Pious 999
Mělník against Poland.
(Emma of
Italy (?))
989
no children

Piast dynasty as Duke of Poland (999-1019)

Main article: Piast dynasty

Ruler Born Reign Death Consort Notes
Boleslaus 967 999- 17 June Oda/Hunilda Son of Mieszko I of Poland and
III 1002 1025 Judith of Doubravka of Bohemia. He
the Brave Hungary conquered Moravia as Duke of
1003- one child Poland in 999, than Bohemia in
1019 1002 and given these territories to
Emnilda his younger brother Vladivoj. After
five children the death of his brother, he ruled
 over Bohemia and Moravia as Duke
Oda of of Poland and Bohemia till 1004,
Meissen than as Duke of Poland over
one child Moravia.
Son of Mieszko I of Poland and
1002- January
Vladivoj 981 Unknown Doubravka of Bohemia. He ruled
1003 1003
over Moravia as Duke of Bohemia.

Přemyslid dynasty as Duke in Moravia (1019-1182)

Ruling
Ruler Born Reign Death Consort Notes
part
Son of Ulrich,
1019/29–
Judith of Duke of Bohemia,
1033
10 January Schweinfurt who reconquered
Bretislaus I 1002/5 Moravia
1055 1020 Moravia from
1034–
four children Poland and given
1055
to his son.
Unknown
no children
In his After his
9
1033– death, his son was
Ulrich I 975 November Moravia Božena
1034 replaced in
1034 c.1002
Moravia.
(morganatic)
one child
Children of
1055–
Wirpirk of Bretislav I,
1056 6 divided their
Tengling
Conrad I c.1035 September Brno inheritance:
1054
1061- 1092
two children
1092  Conrad
received
Vratislaus I c.1035 1055– 14 January Olomouc Maria Brno;
1056 1092 before 1057  Vratislav
no children got
Olomouc;
Adelaide of  Otto
Hungary I inherited
1057 Znojmo.
four children
The division was
Świętosława made ineffective
of Poland by their other
1062 brother Spytihnev
five children
 1055–
Znojmo
1056

Euphemia of
Otto I the 9 June Hungary
1045
Fair 1056- 1087 before 1073
Olomouc
1087 two children (1055), who had
inherited Bohemia
and extended his
rule to Moravia,
uniting the whole
Premyslid domain
under his control.
However, after
Spytihnev's death
(1061), the
landless brothers
recovered the
inheritance and
divided it
differently, as
Vratislav had
Znojmo annexed to Brno (1056-92) inherited
Brother of the
three above,
ended briefly the
division of
Ida of Wettin
Spytihněv 1056– 28 January Moravia, uniting
1031 Moravia c.1054
II 1061 1061 Bohemian and
one child
Moravian lands.
After his death,
his brothers re-
split the land.
Boleslaus 1062 1087– 11 August Olomouc Unmarried
 1091 1091

21
Svatopluk I 1091– Unknown Brother of
1075 September Olomouc
the Lion 1109 one child Boleslaus.
1109

Ida of Children of
1092– 15 March
Luitpold I ? Znojmo Austria Conrad I, divided
1112 1112
one child the inheritance:

 Luitpold
received
Znojmo;
 Ulrich
inherited
Brno Brno.
1092– 5 January (with Adelaide
Ulrich II ? Znojmo Despite having
1113 1113 two children
since heirs, Luitpold's
1112) land came to
Ulrich's
possession after
his death. Conrad
II, Luitpold's heir,
would come to
power in 1123.
Son of Vratislaus
I, ruled in Brno
and Znojmo,
which split after
his resign:

 Znojmo
Adelaide of returned to
14 Brno
1113– Hungary II its heir,
Sobeslaus I c.1075 February (with
1123 Znojmo)
1123 Conrad II;
1140
five children  Brno was
absorbed
by
Olomouc,
the other
Moravian
feud.
 Maria of
14
1123– Serbia Son of Vratislaus
Conrad II c.1075 February Znojmo
1161 1132 I.
1140
four children

Ruled in
Sophia of Olomouc, since
18 Olomouc Berg 1091 with his
Otto II the 1109– (with Brno
1085 February 1113 brother
Black 1123 since
1126 1123) three Svatopluk.
children Acquired Brno in
1123.

Son of Svatopluk,
Wenceslaus 1126– 1 March
1107 Olomouc Unmarried inherited
Henry 1130 1130
Olomouc.

A Russian
princess
1126– Son of Ulrich II,
Vratislaus II c.1111 1146 Brno 1132
1146 inherited Brno.
three
children
1130– Son of Bořivoj II,
Luitpold II 1102 1143 Olomouc Unmarried
1137 Duke of Bohemia.
1137– Son of Sobeslaus
Vladislaus ? 1165 Olomouc Unmarried
1140 I.
1140– 12 May Durancia
Otto III 1122 Olomouc Son of Otto II.
1160 1160 five children
Spytihněv 1146?– In 1182 abdicated
? 1199 Brno Umarried
III 1182 for Conrad III.
Brno annexed to Znojmo
Elizabeth of
Son of Vladislaus
1160– 25 March Hungary
Frederick I 1142 Olomouc II, Duke of
1173 1189 1157
Bohemia.
six children
Cecilia of
Thuringia
18 no children
1173– Son of Soběslav I,
Ulrich III 1134 October Olomouc
1177 Duke of Bohemia.
1177 Sophia of
Meissen
no children
 Son of Sobeslaus
1177–
Wenceslaus 1137 after 1192 Olomouc Unmarried I. Abdicated for
1178
Conrad III.
Olomouc annexed to Znojmo
Son of Conrad II.
United Znojmo
Hellicha of and Olomouc.
9
Conrad III 1161– Wittelsbach Brno joined in
c.1136 September Znojmo
Otto 1182 before 1176 1182, when he
1191
no children also became the
first Margrave of
Moravia.

Margraves of Moravia

Přemyslid dynasty

 Conrad II Otto 1182–1191

united with Bohemia 1189–1197

 Vladislaus I Henry 1197–1222, second son of King Vladislaus II of Bohemia and Judith
of Thuringia
 Vladislaus II 1223–1227, son of King Ottokar I of Bohemia and Constance of Hungary
 Přemysl 1227–1239, son of King Ottokar I of Bohemia and Constance of Hungary
 Vladislaus III 1239–1247, son of King Wenceslaus I of Bohemia and Kunigunde of
Hohenstaufen
 Ottokar II 1247–1278, son of King Wenceslaus I of Bohemia and Kunigunde of
Hohenstaufen

directly held by King Rudolph I of Germany 1278–1283

 Wenceslaus II 1283–1305, son of King Ottokar II of Bohemia and Kunigunda of Halych

 Wenceslaus III 1305–1306, son of King Wenceslaus II of Bohemia and Judith of
Habsburg

Various dynasties

 Rudolf I of Habsburg 1306–1307, son of King Albert I of Germany and Elizabeth of

Carinthia
 Henry of Carinthia 1307–1310, son of Duke Meinhard of Carinthia and Elisabeth of
Bavaria

Luxembourgs

 John 1310–1333, son of Emperor Henry VII and Margaret of Brabant

  Charles 1333–1349, son of King John of Bohemia and Elizabeth
 John Henry 1349–1375, enfeoffed by his brother King Charles IV
 Jobst of Moravia 1375–1411, son of John Henry, with his brothers John Sobieslaus (until
1394) and Prokop (until 1405)
 Sigismund 1419–1423, son of Emperor Charles IV and Elizabeth of Pomerania

Various dynasties

 Albert V of Austria 1423–1439, son-in-law of Sigismund

 Ladislaus the Posthumous 1440–1457, son of Albert and grandson of Sigismund
 George of Poděbrady 1458–1468
 Matthias Corvinus 1468–1490, second son of John Hunyadi and Erzsébet Szilágyi

Jagiellons

 Vladislaus II 1490–1516, son of King Casimir IV Jagiellon of Poland and Elisabeth of

Habsburg
 Louis II 1516–1526, son of King Vladislaus II

Habsburgs

 Ferdinand I 1527–1564, fourth child of Philip I and Joanna of Castile

 Maximilian II 1564–1576, son of Emperor Ferdinand I and Anne of Bohemia and
Hungary
 Rudolf II 1576–1608, son of Emperor Maximilian II
 Matthias II 1608–1617, son of Emperor Maximilian II

Under the united rule of the Bohemian kings from 1611 (see List of rulers of Bohemia).