Karantania
Encyclopedia
Carantania, also known as Carentania was a Slavic
principality
that emerged in the second half of the 7th century, in the territory of present-day southern Austria
and north-eastern Slovenia
.
It was the predecessor of the March of Carinthia
, created within the Carolingian Empire
in 889.
origin. It has two possible etymologies. It may be formed from a toponymic base carant- which ultimately derives from pre-Indo-European
root *karra meaning 'rock', or it may be of Celtic
origin and derived from *karantos meaning 'friend, ally'.
Its Slavic name was adopted from the Latin
*carantanum. The toponym Carinthia (Slovene: < Proto-Slavic
) is also claimed to be etymologically related, deriving from pre-Slavic *carantia.
(Slovene: Krnski grad) in the Zollfeld Field
, north of modern-day town of Klagenfurt
. The principality was centered in the area of modern Carinthia
, and included territories of modern Styria, most of today's East Tyrol
and of the Puster Valley, the Lungau and Ennspongau regions of Salzburg
, and parts of southern Upper Austria
and Lower Austria
. It most probably also included the territory of the modern Slovenian province of Carinthia. The few existing historical sources distinguish between two separate Slavic principalities in the Eastern Alpine area: Carantania and Carniola
. The latter, which appears in historical records dating from the late 8th century, was situated in the central part of modern Slovenia. It was (at least by name) the predecessor of the later Duchy of Carniola
.
The borders of the later Carantania state, which was under the feudal overlordship of the Carolingians, and its successor, the March of Carinthia
, 826-976), as well as of the later Duchy of Carinthia (from 976), extended beyond historical Carantania.
In 568, the Langobards
receded into Northern Italy
. Subsequently, in the last decades of the 6th century, Slavs settled in the depopulated territory with the help of their Avar
overlords. In 588 they reached the area of the Upper Sava River and in 591 they arrived in the Upper Drava
region, where they soon fought with the Bavarians under Duke Tassilo I
. In 592 the Bavarians won, but three years later, in 595 the Slavic-Avar army gained victory and thus consolidated the boundary between the Frankish
and the Avar
territories. By that time, today's East Tyrol and Carinthia came to be referred to in historical sources as Provincia Sclaborum (the Country of Slavs).
Slavic settlement in the Eastern Alps
region is proven by the collapse of local dioceses in the late 6th century, a change in population and material culture
, and most importantly, in the establishment of a Slavic language group
in the area. The territory settled by Slavs, however, was also inhabited by the remains of the indigenous Romanized population, which preserved Christianity.
Slavs in both the Eastern Alps and the Pannonian region were originally subject to Avar rulers (kagans). After Avar rule weakened around 610, a relatively independent March of the Slavs (marca Vinedorum), governed by a duke
, emerged in southern Carinthia in the early 7th century. Historical sources mention Valuk
as the duke of Slavs (Wallux dux Winedorum).
In 623 Slavs of the Eastern Alps probably joined Samo
's Tribal Union, a Slavic tribal alliance governed by the Frankish merchant Samo. The year 626 brought an end to Avar dominance over Slavs, as Avars were defeated at Constantinople
. In 658 Samo died and his Tribal Union disintegrated. A smaller part of the original March of the Slavs, centred north of modern Klagenfurt, preserved independence and came to be known as Carantania. The name Carantania itself begins to appear in historical sources soon after 660. The first clear indication of a specific ethnic identity
and political organisation
may be recognised in the geographical term Carantanum which Paul the Deacon
used in reference to the year 664, and in connection to which he also mentioned a specific Slavic people (gens Sclavorum) living there.
In 745, Carantania lost its independence and became part of the semifeudal Frankish Empire (which was ruled by the emperor Charlemagne
from 771 to 814), due to the pressing danger posed by Avar
tribes from the east.
In 828, Carantania became a margraviate
of the Frankish empire. The local princes were deposed for following the anti-Frankish rebellion of Ljudevit Posavski
and replaced by a Germanic
(primarily Bavaria
n) ascendancy. In 843 it passed into the hands of Louis the German
(804-876). In 887 Arnulf of Carinthia
(850-899), a bastard grandson of Louis the German, assumed his title of King of the East Franks and became the first Duke of Carinthia.
The principality of Carantania is particularly notable for the ancient ritual of installing Carantanian dukes (or princes, both an approximate translation of Fürst
), a practice that continued after Carantania was incorporated into the later Duchy of Carinthia
. It was last performed in 1414, when the Habsburg Ernest the Iron
was enthroned as Duke of Carinthia. The ritual took place on the Prince's Stone
(Slovenian Knežji kamen, German Fürstenstein), an ancient Roman
column capital near Krnski grad (now Karnburg
) and was performed in the Slovene language by a free peasant who, selected by his peers, in the name of the people of the land questioned the new Prince about his integrity and reminded him of his duties. Later, when the Duchy of Carinthia had fallen to the Habsburgs, the idea that it was actually the people from whom the Duke of Carinthia received his legitimation was the basis of the Habsburgs' claim to the unique title of Archduke.
The coronation of Carinthian Dukes consisted of three parts: first, a ritual in the Slovene language was performed at the Prince's Stone; then a mass
was held at the cathedral of Maria Saal
; and subsequently, a ceremony took place at the Duke's Chair
, where the new Duke swore an oath in German
and where he also received the homage of the estates
. The Duke's Chair is located at Zollfeld valley, north of Klagenfurt in modern Carinthia
, Austria.
The ceremony was first described by the chronicler John of Viktring
on the occasion of the coronation of Meinhard II of Tyrol
in 1286. It is also mentioned in Jean Bodin
's book Six livres de la République in 1576.
mentions Carantania as Sclauvinia, Dante Alighieri
(1265–1321) mentions Carantania as Chiarentana. The same name was also used by Florentines, such as the poet Fazio degli Uberti (circa 1309–1367), the famous chronicler Giovanni Villani
(c. 1275–1348), and Giovanni Boccaccio
(1313–1375), who wrote that the Brenta River rises from the mountains of Carantania, a land in the Alps
dividing Italy from Germany.
The population of ancient Carantania had a polyethnic structure. The core stratum was represented by two groups of Slavs who had settled in the Eastern Alps region
in late 6th century. Other ethnic elements included Croats, Dulebes
and the descendants of the Romanised aboriginal peoples
(Norican
s), the latter which is attestable on the basis of a number of place names. It is also possible that traces of Avars
, Bulgars
and the Germanic peoples
were present among Carantanians.
The people of Carantania are considered to have been among the precursors and ancestors of modern Slovenes.
. In Slovenian linguistic literature and reference books it is sometimes provisionally termed Alpine Slavic (alpska slovanščina). Its Proto-Slavic character can be deduced from language contacts of Alpine Slavs with the remainders of the Romanised aboriginal population, later also with Bavarians. The adopted Pre-Slavic placenames and rivernames and their subsequent phonetic development in Alpine Slavic, as well as Bavarian records of Alpine Slavic names, shed light on the characteristics of the Alpine Slavic language.
From the 8th century onwards, Alpine Slavic underwent a series of gradual changes and innovations which were characteristic of South Slavic languages
. By roughly the 13th century, these developments gave rise to the Slovene language.
Early Slavs
The early Slavs were a diverse group of tribal societies in Migration period and early medieval Europe whose tribal organizations indirectly created the foundations for today’s Slavic nations .The first mention of the name Slavs dates to the 6th century, by which time the Slavic tribes inhabited a...
principality
Principality
A principality is a monarchical feudatory or sovereign state, ruled or reigned over by a monarch with the title of prince or princess, or by a monarch with another title within the generic use of the term prince....
that emerged in the second half of the 7th century, in the territory of present-day southern Austria
Austria
Austria , officially the Republic of Austria , is a landlocked country of roughly 8.4 million people in Central Europe. It is bordered by the Czech Republic and Germany to the north, Slovakia and Hungary to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the...
and north-eastern Slovenia
Slovenia
Slovenia , officially the Republic of Slovenia , is a country in Central and Southeastern Europe touching the Alps and bordering the Mediterranean. Slovenia borders Italy to the west, Croatia to the south and east, Hungary to the northeast, and Austria to the north, and also has a small portion of...
.
It was the predecessor of the March of Carinthia
March of Carinthia
The March of Carinthia was a frontier district of the Carolingian Empire created in 889. Before it was a march, it had been a principality or duchy ruled by native-born Slavic princes at first independently and then under Bavarian and subsequently Frankish suzerainty...
, created within the Carolingian Empire
Carolingian Empire
Carolingian Empire is a historiographical term which has been used to refer to the realm of the Franks under the Carolingian dynasty in the Early Middle Ages. This dynasty is seen as the founders of France and Germany, and its beginning date is based on the crowning of Charlemagne, or Charles the...
in 889.
Origin of the name
The name Carantania is of pre-SlavicSlavic languages
The Slavic languages , a group of closely related languages of the Slavic peoples and a subgroup of Indo-European languages, have speakers in most of Eastern Europe, in much of the Balkans, in parts of Central Europe, and in the northern part of Asia.-Branches:Scholars traditionally divide Slavic...
origin. It has two possible etymologies. It may be formed from a toponymic base carant- which ultimately derives from pre-Indo-European
Indo-European languages
The Indo-European languages are a family of several hundred related languages and dialects, including most major current languages of Europe, the Iranian plateau, and South Asia and also historically predominant in Anatolia...
root *karra meaning 'rock', or it may be of Celtic
Celtic languages
The Celtic languages are descended from Proto-Celtic, or "Common Celtic"; a branch of the greater Indo-European language family...
origin and derived from *karantos meaning 'friend, ally'.
Its Slavic name was adopted from the Latin
Latin
Latin is an Italic language originally spoken in Latium and Ancient Rome. It, along with most European languages, is a descendant of the ancient Proto-Indo-European language. Although it is considered a dead language, a number of scholars and members of the Christian clergy speak it fluently, and...
*carantanum. The toponym Carinthia (Slovene: < Proto-Slavic
Proto-Slavic language
Proto-Slavic is the proto-language from which Slavic languages later emerged. It was spoken before the seventh century AD. As with most other proto-languages, no attested writings have been found; the language has been reconstructed by applying the comparative method to all the attested Slavic...
) is also claimed to be etymologically related, deriving from pre-Slavic *carantia.
Territory
Carantania's capital was most likely KarnburgMaria Saal
Maria Saal is a market town in the district of Klagenfurt-Land in the Austrian state of Carinthia. It is located in the east of the historic Zollfeld plain , the wide valley of the Glan river. The municipality includes the cadastral communes of Kading, Karnburg, Möderndorf, Possau and St...
(Slovene: Krnski grad) in the Zollfeld Field
Zollfeld
Zollfeld is a slightly ascending plain in Carinthia, Austria. It is one of the oldest cultural landscapes in the East Alpine region.-Geography:...
, north of modern-day town of Klagenfurt
Klagenfurt
-Name:Carinthia's eminent linguists Primus Lessiak and Eberhard Kranzmayer assumed that the city's name, which literally translates as "ford of lament" or "ford of complaints", had something to do with the superstitious thought that fateful fairies or demons tend to live around treacherous waters...
. The principality was centered in the area of modern Carinthia
Carinthia (state)
Carinthia is the southernmost Austrian state or Land. Situated within the Eastern Alps it is chiefly noted for its mountains and lakes.The main language is German. Its regional dialects belong to the Southern Austro-Bavarian group...
, and included territories of modern Styria, most of today's East Tyrol
East Tyrol
East Tyrol, or East Tirol , is an exclave of the Austrian state of Tyrol, sharing no border with the main North Tyrol part of the state. It corresponds with the administrative district of Lienz....
and of the Puster Valley, the Lungau and Ennspongau regions of Salzburg
Salzburg (state)
Salzburg is a state or Land of Austria with an area of 7,156 km2, located adjacent to the German border. It is also known as Salzburgerland, to distinguish it from its capital city, also named Salzburg...
, and parts of southern Upper Austria
Upper Austria
Upper Austria is one of the nine states or Bundesländer of Austria. Its capital is Linz. Upper Austria borders on Germany and the Czech Republic, as well as on the other Austrian states of Lower Austria, Styria, and Salzburg...
and Lower Austria
Lower Austria
Lower Austria is the northeasternmost state of the nine states in Austria. The capital of Lower Austria since 1986 is Sankt Pölten, the most recently designated capital town in Austria. The capital of Lower Austria had formerly been Vienna, even though Vienna is not officially part of Lower Austria...
. It most probably also included the territory of the modern Slovenian province of Carinthia. The few existing historical sources distinguish between two separate Slavic principalities in the Eastern Alpine area: Carantania and Carniola
Carniola
Carniola was a historical region that comprised parts of what is now Slovenia. As part of Austria-Hungary, the region was a crown land officially known as the Duchy of Carniola until 1918. In 1849, the region was subdivided into Upper Carniola, Lower Carniola, and Inner Carniola...
. The latter, which appears in historical records dating from the late 8th century, was situated in the central part of modern Slovenia. It was (at least by name) the predecessor of the later Duchy of Carniola
Duchy of Carniola
The Duchy of Carniola was an administrative unit of the Holy Roman Empire and the Habsburg Monarchy from 1364 to 1918. Its capital was Ljubljana...
.
The borders of the later Carantania state, which was under the feudal overlordship of the Carolingians, and its successor, the March of Carinthia
March of Carinthia
The March of Carinthia was a frontier district of the Carolingian Empire created in 889. Before it was a march, it had been a principality or duchy ruled by native-born Slavic princes at first independently and then under Bavarian and subsequently Frankish suzerainty...
, 826-976), as well as of the later Duchy of Carinthia (from 976), extended beyond historical Carantania.
History
Lombards
The Lombards , also referred to as Longobards, were a Germanic tribe of Scandinavian origin, who from 568 to 774 ruled a Kingdom in Italy...
receded into Northern Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
. Subsequently, in the last decades of the 6th century, Slavs settled in the depopulated territory with the help of their Avar
Eurasian Avars
The Eurasian Avars or Ancient Avars were a highly organized nomadic confederacy of mixed origins. They were ruled by a khagan, who was surrounded by a tight-knit entourage of nomad warriors, an organization characteristic of Turko-Mongol groups...
overlords. In 588 they reached the area of the Upper Sava River and in 591 they arrived in the Upper Drava
Drava
Drava or Drave is a river in southern Central Europe, a tributary of the Danube. It sources in Toblach/Dobbiaco, Italy, and flows east through East Tirol and Carinthia in Austria, into Slovenia , and then southeast, passing through Croatia and forming most of the border between Croatia and...
region, where they soon fought with the Bavarians under Duke Tassilo I
Tassilo I of Bavaria
Tassilo I was King of Bavaria from 591 to his death. According to Paul the Deacon, he was appointed as Bavarian rex by Childebert II, Frankish king of Austrasia, in 591, ending the war with the Franks. The war began during the reign of Tassilo's predecessor, Garibald I, when Garibald concluded a...
. In 592 the Bavarians won, but three years later, in 595 the Slavic-Avar army gained victory and thus consolidated the boundary between the Frankish
Franks
The Franks were a confederation of Germanic tribes first attested in the third century AD as living north and east of the Lower Rhine River. From the third to fifth centuries some Franks raided Roman territory while other Franks joined the Roman troops in Gaul. Only the Salian Franks formed a...
and the Avar
Eurasian Avars
The Eurasian Avars or Ancient Avars were a highly organized nomadic confederacy of mixed origins. They were ruled by a khagan, who was surrounded by a tight-knit entourage of nomad warriors, an organization characteristic of Turko-Mongol groups...
territories. By that time, today's East Tyrol and Carinthia came to be referred to in historical sources as Provincia Sclaborum (the Country of Slavs).
Slavic settlement in the Eastern Alps
Eastern Alps
Eastern Alps is the name given to the eastern half of the Alps, usually defined as the area east of the Splügen Pass in eastern Switzerland. North of the Splügen Pass, the Posterior Rhine forms the border, and south of the pass, the Liro river and Lake Como form the boundary line.-Geography:The...
region is proven by the collapse of local dioceses in the late 6th century, a change in population and material culture
Archaeological culture
An archaeological culture is a recurring assemblage of artifacts from a specific time and place, which are thought to constitute the material culture remains of a particular past human society. The connection between the artifacts is based on archaeologists' understanding and interpretation and...
, and most importantly, in the establishment of a Slavic language group
Language family
A language family is a group of languages related through descent from a common ancestor, called the proto-language of that family. The term 'family' comes from the tree model of language origination in historical linguistics, which makes use of a metaphor comparing languages to people in a...
in the area. The territory settled by Slavs, however, was also inhabited by the remains of the indigenous Romanized population, which preserved Christianity.
Slavs in both the Eastern Alps and the Pannonian region were originally subject to Avar rulers (kagans). After Avar rule weakened around 610, a relatively independent March of the Slavs (marca Vinedorum), governed by a duke
Duke
A duke or duchess is a member of the nobility, historically of highest rank below the monarch, and historically controlling a duchy...
, emerged in southern Carinthia in the early 7th century. Historical sources mention Valuk
Valuk (duke)
Valuk was a duke of the Slavic duchy of Carantania. After the attempt to capture Constantinople in 626 failed, the Avars turned towards the west and attacked the territory settled by Slavs. The Slavs then united under their leader Valuk, and joined forces with Samo to defend themselves against the...
as the duke of Slavs (Wallux dux Winedorum).
In 623 Slavs of the Eastern Alps probably joined Samo
Samo
Samo was a Frankish merchant from the "Senonian country" , probably modern Soignies, Belgium or Sens, France. He was the first ruler of the Slavs whose name is known, and established one of the earliest Slav states, a supra-tribal union usually called Samo's empire, realm, kingdom, or tribal...
's Tribal Union, a Slavic tribal alliance governed by the Frankish merchant Samo. The year 626 brought an end to Avar dominance over Slavs, as Avars were defeated at Constantinople
Constantinople
Constantinople was the capital of the Roman, Eastern Roman, Byzantine, Latin, and Ottoman Empires. Throughout most of the Middle Ages, Constantinople was Europe's largest and wealthiest city.-Names:...
. In 658 Samo died and his Tribal Union disintegrated. A smaller part of the original March of the Slavs, centred north of modern Klagenfurt, preserved independence and came to be known as Carantania. The name Carantania itself begins to appear in historical sources soon after 660. The first clear indication of a specific ethnic identity
Ethnic group
An ethnic group is a group of people whose members identify with each other, through a common heritage, often consisting of a common language, a common culture and/or an ideology that stresses common ancestry or endogamy...
and political organisation
Political organisation
A political organization is an organization that involves itself in the political process. In a broader sense, a political organization can also be viewed as a political system, as long as it includes the entire system and body of government...
may be recognised in the geographical term Carantanum which Paul the Deacon
Paul the Deacon
Paul the Deacon , also known as Paulus Diaconus, Warnefred, Barnefridus and Cassinensis, , was a Benedictine monk and historian of the Lombards.-Life:...
used in reference to the year 664, and in connection to which he also mentioned a specific Slavic people (gens Sclavorum) living there.
In 745, Carantania lost its independence and became part of the semifeudal Frankish Empire (which was ruled by the emperor Charlemagne
Charlemagne
Charlemagne was King of the Franks from 768 and Emperor of the Romans from 800 to his death in 814. He expanded the Frankish kingdom into an empire that incorporated much of Western and Central Europe. During his reign, he conquered Italy and was crowned by Pope Leo III on 25 December 800...
from 771 to 814), due to the pressing danger posed by Avar
Eurasian Avars
The Eurasian Avars or Ancient Avars were a highly organized nomadic confederacy of mixed origins. They were ruled by a khagan, who was surrounded by a tight-knit entourage of nomad warriors, an organization characteristic of Turko-Mongol groups...
tribes from the east.
In 828, Carantania became a margraviate
Margrave
A margrave or margravine was a medieval hereditary nobleman with military responsibilities in a border province of a kingdom. Border provinces usually had more exposure to military incursions from the outside, compared to interior provinces, and thus a margrave usually had larger and more active...
of the Frankish empire. The local princes were deposed for following the anti-Frankish rebellion of Ljudevit Posavski
Ljudevit Posavski
Ljudevit Posavski was a Croatian Duke of Pannonian Croatia from 810 to 823. The capital of his realm was in Sisak. As the ruler of the Pannonian Slavs, he led an unsuccessful resistance to Frankish domination. He held close ties with the Carantanian and Carniolan tribes and with the Serbian tribe...
and replaced by a Germanic
Germanic peoples
The Germanic peoples are an Indo-European ethno-linguistic group of Northern European origin, identified by their use of the Indo-European Germanic languages which diversified out of Proto-Germanic during the Pre-Roman Iron Age.Originating about 1800 BCE from the Corded Ware Culture on the North...
(primarily Bavaria
Bavaria
Bavaria, formally the Free State of Bavaria is a state of Germany, located in the southeast of Germany. With an area of , it is the largest state by area, forming almost 20% of the total land area of Germany...
n) ascendancy. In 843 it passed into the hands of Louis the German
Louis the German
Louis the German , also known as Louis II or Louis the Bavarian, was a grandson of Charlemagne and the third son of the succeeding Frankish Emperor Louis the Pious and his first wife, Ermengarde of Hesbaye.He received the appellation 'Germanicus' shortly after his death in recognition of the fact...
(804-876). In 887 Arnulf of Carinthia
Arnulf of Carinthia
Arnulf of Carinthia was the Carolingian King of East Francia from 887, the disputed King of Italy from 894 and the disputed Holy Roman Emperor from February 22, 896 until his death.-Birth and Illegitimacy:...
(850-899), a bastard grandson of Louis the German, assumed his title of King of the East Franks and became the first Duke of Carinthia.
The Ducal Inauguration
Fürst
Fürst is a German title of nobility, usually translated into English as Prince.The term refers to the head of a principality and is distinguished from the son of a monarch, who is referred to as Prinz...
), a practice that continued after Carantania was incorporated into the later Duchy of Carinthia
Duchy of Carinthia
The Duchy of Carinthia was a duchy located in southern Austria and parts of northern Slovenia. It was separated from the Duchy of Bavaria in 976, then the first newly created Imperial State beside the original German stem duchies....
. It was last performed in 1414, when the Habsburg Ernest the Iron
Ernest, Duke of Austria
Ernest the Iron was Duke of Styria, Carinthia and Carniola from 1406 until his death. He was a member of the Habsburg dynasty, of the Leopoldian line, whose head of the family he was from 1411 to 1424.-Biography:...
was enthroned as Duke of Carinthia. The ritual took place on the Prince's Stone
Prince's Stone
The Prince's Stone is the reversed base of an ancient Ionic column that played an important role in the ceremony surrounding the installation of the princes of Carantania in the Early Middle Ages...
(Slovenian Knežji kamen, German Fürstenstein), an ancient Roman
Ancient Rome
Ancient Rome was a thriving civilization that grew on the Italian Peninsula as early as the 8th century BC. Located along the Mediterranean Sea and centered on the city of Rome, it expanded to one of the largest empires in the ancient world....
column capital near Krnski grad (now Karnburg
Maria Saal
Maria Saal is a market town in the district of Klagenfurt-Land in the Austrian state of Carinthia. It is located in the east of the historic Zollfeld plain , the wide valley of the Glan river. The municipality includes the cadastral communes of Kading, Karnburg, Möderndorf, Possau and St...
) and was performed in the Slovene language by a free peasant who, selected by his peers, in the name of the people of the land questioned the new Prince about his integrity and reminded him of his duties. Later, when the Duchy of Carinthia had fallen to the Habsburgs, the idea that it was actually the people from whom the Duke of Carinthia received his legitimation was the basis of the Habsburgs' claim to the unique title of Archduke.
The coronation of Carinthian Dukes consisted of three parts: first, a ritual in the Slovene language was performed at the Prince's Stone; then a mass
Mass (liturgy)
"Mass" is one of the names by which the sacrament of the Eucharist is called in the Roman Catholic Church: others are "Eucharist", the "Lord's Supper", the "Breaking of Bread", the "Eucharistic assembly ", the "memorial of the Lord's Passion and Resurrection", the "Holy Sacrifice", the "Holy and...
was held at the cathedral of Maria Saal
Maria Saal
Maria Saal is a market town in the district of Klagenfurt-Land in the Austrian state of Carinthia. It is located in the east of the historic Zollfeld plain , the wide valley of the Glan river. The municipality includes the cadastral communes of Kading, Karnburg, Möderndorf, Possau and St...
; and subsequently, a ceremony took place at the Duke's Chair
Duke's Chair
The Duke's Chair, also known as the Duke's Seat , is a medieval stone seat dating from the ninth century and located at the Zollfeld plain near Maria Saal north of Klagenfurt in the Austrian state of Carinthia.-History:...
, where the new Duke swore an oath in German
German language
German is a West Germanic language, related to and classified alongside English and Dutch. With an estimated 90 – 98 million native speakers, German is one of the world's major languages and is the most widely-spoken first language in the European Union....
and where he also received the homage of the estates
Estates of the realm
The Estates of the realm were the broad social orders of the hierarchically conceived society, recognized in the Middle Ages and Early Modern period in Christian Europe; they are sometimes distinguished as the three estates: the clergy, the nobility, and commoners, and are often referred to by...
. The Duke's Chair is located at Zollfeld valley, north of Klagenfurt in modern Carinthia
Carinthia (state)
Carinthia is the southernmost Austrian state or Land. Situated within the Eastern Alps it is chiefly noted for its mountains and lakes.The main language is German. Its regional dialects belong to the Southern Austro-Bavarian group...
, Austria.
The ceremony was first described by the chronicler John of Viktring
John of Viktring
John of Viktring was a late medieval chronicler and political advisor to the rulers of Carinthia. He is also known as Johannes Victorensis, Johannes de Victoria, John of Victring, Johann von Viktring, or Joannes Victoriensis. In Slovene he is called Janez Vetrinjski.Nothing is known of John's...
on the occasion of the coronation of Meinhard II of Tyrol
Meinhard, Duke of Carinthia
Meinhard II from the House of Meinhardin was ruling Count of Gorizia from 1258 until 1271 and Count of Tyrol from 1258 until his death...
in 1286. It is also mentioned in Jean Bodin
Jean Bodin
Jean Bodin was a French jurist and political philosopher, member of the Parlement of Paris and professor of law in Toulouse. He is best known for his theory of sovereignty; he was also an influential writer on demonology....
's book Six livres de la République in 1576.
Mentionings in late medieval literature
Chronicle of FredegarChronicle of Fredegar
The Chronicle of Fredegar is a chronicle that is a primary source of events in Frankish Gaul from 584 to around 641. Later authors continued the history to the coronation of Charlemagne and his brother Carloman on 9 October 768....
mentions Carantania as Sclauvinia, Dante Alighieri
Dante Alighieri
Durante degli Alighieri, mononymously referred to as Dante , was an Italian poet, prose writer, literary theorist, moral philosopher, and political thinker. He is best known for the monumental epic poem La commedia, later named La divina commedia ...
(1265–1321) mentions Carantania as Chiarentana. The same name was also used by Florentines, such as the poet Fazio degli Uberti (circa 1309–1367), the famous chronicler Giovanni Villani
Giovanni Villani
Giovanni Villani was an Italian banker, official, diplomat and chronicler from Florence who wrote the Nuova Cronica on the history of Florence. He was a leading statesman of Florence but later gained an unsavory reputation and served time in prison as a result of the bankruptcy of a trading and...
(c. 1275–1348), and Giovanni Boccaccio
Giovanni Boccaccio
Giovanni Boccaccio was an Italian author and poet, a friend, student, and correspondent of Petrarch, an important Renaissance humanist and the author of a number of notable works including the Decameron, On Famous Women, and his poetry in the Italian vernacular...
(1313–1375), who wrote that the Brenta River rises from the mountains of Carantania, a land in the Alps
Alps
The Alps is one of the great mountain range systems of Europe, stretching from Austria and Slovenia in the east through Italy, Switzerland, Liechtenstein and Germany to France in the west....
dividing Italy from Germany.
Ethnic and social structure
- See main article: Carantanians
The population of ancient Carantania had a polyethnic structure. The core stratum was represented by two groups of Slavs who had settled in the Eastern Alps region
Slavic settlement of the Eastern Alps
Slavic settlement of the Eastern Alps region was a historic process that took place between the 6th and 9th century AD, having culminated in the final quarter of the 6th century...
in late 6th century. Other ethnic elements included Croats, Dulebes
Dulebes
The Dulebs or Dulebi were one of the tribal unions of Early East Slavs between the 6th and the 10th centuries. Dulebi were among the twelve East Slavic tribes mentioned in the Primary Chronicle...
and the descendants of the Romanised aboriginal peoples
Indigenous peoples
Indigenous peoples are ethnic groups that are defined as indigenous according to one of the various definitions of the term, there is no universally accepted definition but most of which carry connotations of being the "original inhabitants" of a territory....
(Norican
Noricum
Noricum, in ancient geography, was a Celtic kingdom stretching over the area of today's Austria and a part of Slovenia. It became a province of the Roman Empire...
s), the latter which is attestable on the basis of a number of place names. It is also possible that traces of Avars
Eurasian Avars
The Eurasian Avars or Ancient Avars were a highly organized nomadic confederacy of mixed origins. They were ruled by a khagan, who was surrounded by a tight-knit entourage of nomad warriors, an organization characteristic of Turko-Mongol groups...
, Bulgars
Bulgars
The Bulgars were a semi-nomadic who flourished in the Pontic Steppe and the Volga basin in the 7th century.The Bulgars emerge after the collapse of the Hunnic Empire in the 5th century....
and the Germanic peoples
Germanic peoples
The Germanic peoples are an Indo-European ethno-linguistic group of Northern European origin, identified by their use of the Indo-European Germanic languages which diversified out of Proto-Germanic during the Pre-Roman Iron Age.Originating about 1800 BCE from the Corded Ware Culture on the North...
were present among Carantanians.
The people of Carantania are considered to have been among the precursors and ancestors of modern Slovenes.
Language
In its early stages, the language of Carantanian Slavs was essentially Proto-SlavicProto-Slavic language
Proto-Slavic is the proto-language from which Slavic languages later emerged. It was spoken before the seventh century AD. As with most other proto-languages, no attested writings have been found; the language has been reconstructed by applying the comparative method to all the attested Slavic...
. In Slovenian linguistic literature and reference books it is sometimes provisionally termed Alpine Slavic (alpska slovanščina). Its Proto-Slavic character can be deduced from language contacts of Alpine Slavs with the remainders of the Romanised aboriginal population, later also with Bavarians. The adopted Pre-Slavic placenames and rivernames and their subsequent phonetic development in Alpine Slavic, as well as Bavarian records of Alpine Slavic names, shed light on the characteristics of the Alpine Slavic language.
From the 8th century onwards, Alpine Slavic underwent a series of gradual changes and innovations which were characteristic of South Slavic languages
South Slavic languages
The South Slavic languages comprise one of three branches of the Slavic languages. There are approximately 30 million speakers, mainly in the Balkans. These are separated geographically from speakers of the other two Slavic branches by a belt of German, Hungarian and Romanian speakers...
. By roughly the 13th century, these developments gave rise to the Slovene language.
See also
- Modestus (Apostle of Carantania)
- Black panther (symbol)Black panther (symbol)Black panther is a Carinthian historical symbol, which represents a stilized heraldic panther. As a heraldic symbol, it appeared on the coat of arms of the Carinthian Duke Herman II as well as of the Styrian Margrave Ottokar III...
- Timeline of Slovenian history
Further sources
- Rajko Bratož, ur., Slovenija in sosednje dežele med antiko in karolinško dobo : začetki slovenske etnogeneze = Slowenien und die Nachbarländer zwischen Antike und karolingischer Epoche : Anfänge der slowenischen Ethnogenese, 2 zv. Ljubljana, 2000.
- Paul Gleirscher, Karantanien - das slawische Kärnten. Klagenfurt, 2000. ISBN 3-85378-511-5.
- Bogo Grafenauer, Ustoličevanje koroških vojvod in država karantanskih Slovencev : Die Kärntner Herzogseinsetzung und der Staat der Karantanerslawen. Ljubljana, 1952.
- Hans-Dietrich Kahl, Der Staat der Karantanen: Fakten, Thesen und Fragen zu einer frühen slawischen Machtbildung im Ostalpenraum, Ljubljana, 2002.
- Peter Štih, »Karantanci - zgodnjesrednjeveško ljudstvo med Vzhodom in Zahodom«, Zgodovinski časopis 61 (2007), s. 47-58.