The
Principality of Nitra or
Nitrian Principality is the name for a
SlavicThe Slavic Peoples are an ethnic and linguistic branch of Indo-European peoples, living mainly in eastern and central Europe. From the early 6th century they spread from their original homeland to inhabit most of eastern Central Europe, Eastern Europe and the Balkans...
polity, centered around
NitraNitra is a city in western Slovakia, situated at the foot of Zobor Mountain in the valley of the river Nitra. With a population of 85,000, it is the fourth largest city in Slovakia. Nitra is also one of the oldest cities in Slovakia and the country's earliest political and cultural center...
. It may have been a separate principality in the 8-12th centuries that existed as an independent state and became an autonomous territory within
Great MoraviaGreat Moravia was a Slavic state that existed in Central Europe from the 9th century to the early 10th century. There is some controversy as to the actual location of its core territory...
,
PolandPoland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe . Poland is bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...
and the
Kingdom of HungaryThe Kingdom of Hungary , emerged in 1000, when the Principality of Hungary, founded in 896, was recognized as a Kingdom. The form of government was changed from Monarchy to Republic briefly in 1918 and again in 1946, ending the Kingdom and creating the Republic of Hungary...
; or it may have been a nascent state that merged into Great Moravia in the 830s and lost its separate existence around 900.
Independent polity
We do not have much information based on documents (only two entries in a Western written primary source) on the polity referred as the "Principality of Nitra" by later historians. The primary source
(The Conversion of the Bavarians and the Carantanians) refers to
PribinaPribina, also called Priwina or Privina by Frankish chronicles, was the ruler and Prince of the Principality of Nitra before 833, and established and ruled the Balaton Principality from 839/840 to 861....
's expulsion by
Mojmír IMojmír I was the first known prince of the Моravian principality after the fall of Samo's Moravian empire and the first prince of Great Moravia...
, Duke of the
MoraviansMoravians are the West Slavic inhabitants of modern Moravia, the easternmost part of the Czech Republic, also in Moravian Slovakia. They speak Moravian dialect of the Czech language and standard Czech....
and its interpolation mentions him in connection with
NitraNitra is a city in western Slovakia, situated at the foot of Zobor Mountain in the valley of the river Nitra. With a population of 85,000, it is the fourth largest city in Slovakia. Nitra is also one of the oldest cities in Slovakia and the country's earliest political and cultural center...
:
Nevertheless, during the first decades of the 9th century, the Slavic people living in the north-western parts of the
Carpathian BasinThe Pannonian Basin or Carpathian Basin is a large basin in Central Europe.The basin forms a topographically discrete unit set in the European landscape, surrounded by imposing geographic boundaries that have created a fairly unified cultural area that looks more towards the south and east than to...
were under the rule of a
tribal leaderA traditional tribal chief is the leader of a tribe, or the head of a tribal form of self-government.The notion of a "tribal chief" is rather vague and arbitrary; neither chief nor tribe is clearly defined, so in many cases other designations are used for the same institution, such as petty ruler...
(styled prince by later historians) whose seat was in Nitra. In the 9th century, an extensive network of settlements developed around the town. Around that time, the
AvarsThe Eurasian Avars, sometimes referred to as the European Avars, or Ancient Avars, were a highly organized and powerful confederation of a mixed ethnic background, thought to be closely related to the Mongols, Bulgars, Khazars and other Oghur Turkic peoples of the time...
' power collapsed in the
Carpathian BasinThe Pannonian Basin or Carpathian Basin is a large basin in Central Europe.The basin forms a topographically discrete unit set in the European landscape, surrounded by imposing geographic boundaries that have created a fairly unified cultural area that looks more towards the south and east than to...
following the military campaigns of
CharlemagneCharlemagne was King of the Franks from 768 to his death. He expanded the Frankish kingdoms into a Frankish Empire that incorporated much of Western and Central Europe...
and
Krum of BulgariaKrum was Khan of Bulgaria, from sometime after 796, but before 803, to 814 AD. During his reign the Bulgarian territory doubled in size, spreading from the middle Danube to the Dnieper and from Odrin to the Tatra Mountains.-Family Origin:...
.
The "Principality of Nitra" emerged in the 8th century and developed into an independent Slavic state; although the polity may have lost its independence when it was still at the stage of development. In the early 9th century, the polity was situated on the north-western territories of present-day
SlovakiaThe Slovak Republic is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe with a population of over five million and an area of about . Slovakia borders the Czech Republic and Austria to the west, Poland to the north, Ukraine to the east and Hungary to the south. The largest city is its capital, Bratislava...
.
Around 828, Archbishop Adalram of Salzburg consecrated a church for Prince Pribina in Nitrava (identified with Nitra).
Part of Great Moravia
In 833 Mojmír I, Duke of the Moravians, expelled Pribina. Following his expulsion, Pribina went to count Ratbod who administered the Eastern March of the Carolingian Empire. In the early 840s,
Louis the GermanLouis the German , was a grandson of Charlemagne and the third son of the succeeding Holy Roman Emperor Louis the Pious and his first wife, Ermengarde of Hesbaye.Louis II was made the King of Bavaria from 817 following the Emperor Charlemagne's practice of...
, King of East Francia granted Pribina parts of
PannoniaPannonia is an ancient province of the Roman Empire bounded north and east by the Danube, coterminous westward with Noricum and upper Italy, and southward with Dalmatia and upper Moesia....
around the
ZalaZala is the name of an administrative county in Hungary. Itlies in south-western Hungary. It is named after the Zala River. It shares borders with Croatia and Slovenia and the Hungarian counties Vas, Veszprém and Somogy. The capital of Zala county is Zalaegerszeg. Its area is 3784 km²...
River (referred to as the "
Balaton PrincipalityThe Balaton Principality was a Slavic principality located in the western part of the Pannonian plain, between the rivers Danube to its east , Drava to the south...
"). Afterwards, Pribina supported East Francia in its struggle against Great Moravia and died in a battle against
RastislavSaint Rastic or Rastiz was the second ruler of Great Moravia between 846 and 870. He was canonized in October 1994 by the Czech and Slovak Orthodox Church.-Life:...
, Prince of Great Moravia in 861. He was succeeded by his son
KoceľKoceľ, also spelled Kocel, Kocelj, Gozil, Chezil, Chezilo, Chezul , was second Lord of Blatnograd ....
in his county in Pannonia.
What modern historians designate as
Great MoraviaGreat Moravia was a Slavic state that existed in Central Europe from the 9th century to the early 10th century. There is some controversy as to the actual location of its core territory...
, arose around 830, when Moimír I unified the Slavic tribes settled north of the Danube and extended the Moravian supremacy over them. The "Principality of Nitra" was governed by the future King
Svätopluk ISvatopluk I from the House of Mojmír was the prince of the Principality of Nitra and then the king of Great Moravia...
from about 860 during the reign of Prince
RastislavSaint Rastic or Rastiz was the second ruler of Great Moravia between 846 and 870. He was canonized in October 1994 by the Czech and Slovak Orthodox Church.-Life:...
.
Upon Prince Rastislav's request, two brothers, Byzantine officials and missionaries
Saints Cyril and MethodiusSaints Cyril and Methodius were Greek brothers born in Thessaloniki in the 9th century, who became missionaries of Christianity among the Slavic peoples of Great Moravia and Pannonia. Through their work they influenced the cultural development of all Slavs, for which they received the title...
came in 863. Cyril developed the
first Slavic alphabetThe Glagolitic alphabet , also known as Glagolitsa, is the oldest known Slavic alphabet. The name was not coined until many centuries after its creation, and comes from the Old Slavic glagolъ "utterance"...
and translated the Gospel into the
Old Church SlavonicOld Church Slavonic, also known as Old Bulgarian, or Old Macedonian, was the first literary Slavic language, based on the old Slavic dialect of the Thessalonica region, employed by the 9th century Byzantine Greek missionaries, Saints Cyril and Methodius, who used it for translation of the Bible and...
language. Texts translated or written by Cyril and Methodius are considered to be the oldest literature in the Slavic languages.
Castles in Great Moravia mentioned by name in contemporary written sources were located in the "Principality of Nitra", although the identification of some of them is still under debate. Nitrawa
, mentioned in the The Conversion of the Bavarians and the Carantanians
and other documents, is identified with Nitra. Dowina
, referred in the Annals of FuldaThe Annales Fuldenses or Annals of Fulda are East Frankish chronicles that cover independently the period from the last years of Louis the Pious to the end of effective Carolingian rule in East Francia with the accession of the child-king, Louis III, in 900...
at the year 864, is sometimes identified with Devín CastleDevín Castle is a castle in Devín, which is a part of Bratislava, the capital of Slovakia....
, but the period of its building is also dated to the 13th century. Brezalauspurc is usually identified with
Bratislava CastleBratislava Castle is the main castle of Bratislava, the capital of Slovakia.The massive rectangular building with four corner towers stands on a quite isolated rocky hill of the Little Carpathians directly above the Danube river in the middle of Bratislava...
, but its denomination suggest that the fortress was built for
BraslavBraslav or Bräslav was the last Prince of Pannonian Croatia in 880-898/900 vassalaged to the Kingdom of East Francia...
, a count in East Francia; therefore its identification as a castle in Great Moravia is under debate. .
Great Moravia reached its maximum territorial extent during the reign of Svätopluk I (870-894), who had governed the "Principality of Nitra" before ascending the throne. Following his death, his sons,
Mojmír IIMojmír II was the last king of the Great Moravian Empire . Because of a civil war with his brother, he failed to prevent dismemberment of his Empire and probably died while fighting Magyar invaders....
and
Svätopluk IISvatopluk II ruled the Principality of Nitra from 894 to 906 and strove to control all of Great Moravia.Svatopluk II was a younger son of Svatopluk I. As Prince of Nitra, Svatopluk II was subordinated to his older brother Mojmír II, the King of Great Moravia which contained the principality as its...
got involved in wars with the neighbouring countries and a civil war also broke out between the brothers.
The see of one of the dioceses in Great Moravia was established in Nitra; its first bishop, Wiching was consecrated in 880.
Around 896 the nomadic
MagyarMagyar may refer to:* The Magyars, an ethnic group * The Hungarian language, known also as "Magyar" or "Magyar language"* A Hun Tribe...
tribes, who had occasionally intervened into the struggles of the powers dominating the Carpathian Basin already from 861, suffered a catastrophic defeat from the
PechenegsThe Pechenegs or Patzinaks were a semi-nomadic Turkic people of the Central Asian steppes speaking the Pecheneg language which belonged to the Turkic language family.-Origins and area:...
; they left their territories east of the Carpathian Mountains, invaded the Carpathian Basin and started to occupy the territory gradually. The Magyars invaded the territories of Great Moravia around the Morava River in 902 and they destroyed the state. In three battles (July 4-5 and August 9, 907) near
BratislavaBratislava is the capital of the Slovak Republic and, with a population of about 429,000, also the country's largest city. Bratislava is in southwestern Slovakia on both banks of the Danube River...
, the Magyars routed
BavariaBavaria , with an area of and almost 12.5 million inhabitants, is located in the southeast of Germany and is the largest state of Germany by area, forming almost 20% of the total land area of Germany...
n armies. Historians traditionally put this year as the date of the breakup of the Great Moravian Empire.
Some contemporary sources mention that Great Moravia disappeared without trace following the Magyars' victories, but archaeological researches and
toponymsToponymy is the scientific study of place names , their origins, meanings, use and typology. The first part of the word is derived from the Greek tópos , place; followed by ónoma , meaning name. It is itself a branch of onomastics, the study of names of all kinds...
suggest the continuity of Slavic population in the valleys of the rivers of the
Inner Western CarpathiansThe Carpathian Mountains or Carpathians are a range of mountains forming an arc roughly long across Central and Eastern Europe, making them the largest mountain range in Europe...
.
Great Moravia left behind a lasting legacy in Central and Eastern Europe. The Glagolitic script and its successor Cyrillic were disseminated to other Slavic countries, charting a new path in their cultural development.
Under the rule of Hungarian chieftains
The Magyar tribes took possession of the Carpathian Basin around 900 and their tribes got established on the territory. Archaeological researches do not prove the total destruction of the regions around the Morava River but the Magyar armies regularly passed through the territories when they marched to pillage the territories of East Francia. Toponyms may prove that the nomadic Magyars occupied the
Western Pannonian PlainThe Pannonian Plain is a large plain in Central Europe that remained when the Pliocene Pannonian Sea dried out. It is a geomorphological subsystem of the Alps-Himalaya system.The river Danube divides the plain roughly in half...
in present-day Slovakia, while the hills were inhabited by a mixed (Slav and Hungarian) population and people living in the valleys of the mountains spoke
Slavic languageThe 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...
.
The
Gesta HungarorumGesta Hungarorum is a record of early Hungarian history by an unknown author who describes himself as Anonymus Bele Regis Notarius , but is generally cited as "Anonymous"...
("Deeds of the Hungarians") mentions that Huba, head of one of the seven Magyar tribes, received possessions around Nitra and the Žitava RiverThe Žitava River is a 99.3 km long river in southern Slovakia. It is the right tributary of the Nitra river.-See also:* Peace of Zsitvatorok...
; while according to the Gesta Hunnorum et HungarorumThe Gesta Hunnorum et Hungarorum , written mainly by Simon of Kéza around 1282-1285, is one of the sources of early Hungarian history...
("Deeds of the Huns and Hungarians") another tribal leader,
LélLehel or Lele or Lél was a Magyar chieftain, one of the military leaders of prince Taksony of Hungary, and before 955 probably the ruler of the Nitrian principality Lehel or Lele or Lél (died 955) was a Magyar chieftain, one of the military leaders of prince Taksony of Hungary, and before 955...
settled down around
HlohovecHlohovec is a town in southwestern Slovakia, with a population of 23,029.-History:The first written evidence of its existence is from 1113, when a town with the name Galgocz was mentioned in the so-called Second Zobor Document. In 1362 Hlohovec obtained town privileges...
and following the Magyars' victory over the Moravians', he usually stayed around Nitra. Modern authors claim that one of the Magyar tribes occupied the north-western parts of the Carpathian Basin. On the other hand, the remaining territories belonging to the "Principality of Nitra" were under the rule of local Slavic.
From 917 the Magyars made raids to several territories at the same time which may prove the decay of the uniform direction within their tribal federation. The sources prove the existence of at least three and maximum five groups of tribes within the federation, and only one of them was lead directly by the Árpáds (the dynasty of the future
kings of HungaryThe King of Hungary was the head of state of the Kingdom of Hungary from 1000 to 1918.After 1688, the principle of hereditary monarchy was enacted, and the son was typically crowned after his father's death.-Beginnings:...
) who ruled over the western parts of the Carpathian Basin.
The development of the future Kingdom of Hungary started during the reign of Grand Prince
GézaGéza , Grand Prince of the Magyars .Géza was the son of Taksony of Hungary, Grand Prince of the Magyars and his Pecheneg or Bulgar wife. Géza's marriage with Sarolt, the daughter of Gyula of Transylvania, was arranged by his father.After his father's death , Géza followed him as Grand Prince of the...
(before 972-997) who expanded his rule over the territories west of the River
HronThis article is about the River Hron. For the Rector of Prag-Suchdol see Jan HronHron is a 298 km long left tributary of the Danube and the second longest river in Slovakia. It flows from its source located in the Low Tatra mountains through central and southern Slovakia, pouring into the Danube...
. Some authors claim that Géza's son, the future King
StephenSaint Stephen I was Grand Prince of the Hungarians and the first King of Hungary ....
received the "Duchy of Nitra" in appanage from his father following his marriage with
Giselle of BavariaGiselle of Bavaria was the daughter of Henry II, Duke of Bavaria and Gisela of Burgundy....
. When Géza died, a member of the Árpád dynasty, the pagan
KoppányKoppány was a Hungarian nobleman of the tenth century. Brother of the ruling prince of Hungary, Géza of the Árpád dynasty, Koppány ruled as Prince of Somogy in the region south of Lake Balaton...
claimed the succession, but Stephen defeated him with the assistance of his wife's German retinue.
Around 1015 Duke
Boleslaw I of PolandBolesław I the Brave or the Valiant , in the past also known as Bolesław I the Great , was a Duke of Poland from 992-1025 and the first King of Poland since 19 April 1025 until his death...
occupied some territories of present-day Slovakia east of the River
Morava- Geography :Populated places:* in Bulgaria:** Morava, Bulgaria, a village in Svishtov Municipality, Veliko Tarnovo Province** Zelena morava, a village in Omurtag Municipality, Targovishte Province* in the Czech Republic:...
, but King Stephen recovered these territories already in 1018.
Part of the Kingdom of Hungary
King Stephen established several
countiesA comitatus is the name of an administrative unit in the Kingdom of Hungary and in the Republic of Hungary from the 10th century until 1949 when it was abolished by the new constitution.The area of the Kingdom of Hungary also included present-day...
on the territories, e.g.
BarsBars is the name of a historic administrative county of the Kingdom of Hungary. Its territory is presently in central and southern Slovakia...
, EsztergomEsztergom County was a historic administrative county of the Kingdom of Hungary in present-day southern Slovakia and northern Hungary on both sides of the Danube river.-Geography:...
, HontHont is the name of a historic administrative county of the Kingdom of Hungary and then shortly of Czechoslovakia...
, KomáromKomárom county was a historic administrative county of the Kingdom of Hungary in present-day southern Slovakia and north-western Hungary on both sides of...
and Nyitra counties were probably founded by him. The scarcely habitated parts of the kingdom (e.g., the northern and north-eastern territories of present-day Slovakia) were originally the kings' private forests, then they were organized into "forest counties" (12-13th centuries).
Following King Stephen's death (1038), the kingdom got involved into civil wars and pagan revolts which lead to the intervention of the
Holy Roman EmpireThe Holy Roman Empire was a union of territories in Central Europe during the Middle Ages and the Early Modern period under a Holy Roman Emperor. The first emperor of the Holy Roman Empire was Otto I, crowned in 962. The last was Francis II, who abdicated and dissolved the Empire in 1806 during...
. Stephen's successor, King
PeterPeter I the Venetian was King of Hungary from 1038 to 1041 and from 1044 to 1046. He continued his predecessor's policy and tried to strengthen Christianity in his semi-pagan kingdom, but his arbitrary actions resulted in his deposition...
was dethroned in 1041 and he fled to the court of Emperor
Henry IIIHenry III , called the Black or the Pious, was a member of the Salian Dynasty of Holy Roman Emperors. He was the eldest son of Conrad II of Germany and Gisela of Swabia and his father made him duke of Bavaria in 1026, after the death of Duke Henry V...
who lead his armies against Peter's opponent, King
Samuel AbaSamuel Aba , King of Hungary , Palatine of Hungary .-King of Hungary:Samuel was from Northern Hungary, Castle Gonce / Castle Abaújvár, County of Aba, born circa 1010. He married his older cousin Gisel, the youngest daughter of Prince Géza of the Hungarian Árpád dynasty...
in the following year. The emperor occupied the western territories of present-day Slovakia till the
HronThis article is about the River Hron. For the Rector of Prag-Suchdol see Jan HronHron is a 298 km long left tributary of the Danube and the second longest river in Slovakia. It flows from its source located in the Low Tatra mountains through central and southern Slovakia, pouring into the Danube...
River, and he granted the occupied territories to a member of the Árpád dynasty,
BélaBéla I the Champion or the Bison was King of Hungary from 1060 until hsi death. He descended from a younger branch of the Árpád dynasty and spent seventeen years in exile, probably in the court of the Kings of Poland...
instead of King Peter because the Hungarians opposed the latter's rule. However, King Samuel Aba could reoccupy the territory after the withdrawal of the Emperor's troops.
In 1046 King
Andrew IAndrew I the White or the Catholic was King of Hungary from 1046/1047 until his death. He descended from a younger branch of the Árpád dynasty. After spending fifteen years in exile, he ascended the throne during an extensive revolt of the pagan Hungarians...
ascended the throne who conceded
one-third of the countiesThe Tercia pars regni is the denomination for territories occasionally governed separately by members of the Árpád dynasty within the Kingdom of Hungary in the 11th-12th centuries...
of the kingdom ("Tercia pars regni")
to his brother, Duke Béla who had possibly governed parts of the territory already in 1042. The counties entrusted to Duke Bela did not form a separate province within the kingdom, but they were organized around two or three centers: the eastern block of the counties were located around Bihar (Romanian: Biharea
), while their north-western block was centered around Nitra; the third (possible) center of the territories was Krassó (near to the present-day DupljajaDupljaja is a village in Serbia. It is situated in the Bela Crkva municipality, in the South Banat District, Vojvodina province. The village has a Serb ethnic majority and its population numbering 854 people .-History and archaeology:...
in Serbia).
The Tercia pars regni were governed regularly by members of the Árpád dynasty (the Dukes
GézaGéza I Géza I Géza I ' onMouseout='HidePop("8649")' href="http://www.absoluteastronomy.com/topics/Ladislaus_I_of_Hungary">Ladislaus
Saint Ladislaus I was King of Hungary from 1077 until his death, "who greatly expanded the boundaries of the kingdom and consolidated it internally; no other Hungarian king was so generally beloved by the people"...
,
LampertLampert was a member of the Árpád dynasty; Duke of one-third of the Kingdom of Hungary .Lampert was the third son of the future King Béla I of Hungary and his Polish wife...
,
ÁlmosÁlmos was a Hungarian prince, the son of King Géza I of Hungary, brother of King Kálmán. He held several governmental posts in the Kingdom of Hungary....
till 1163, when the last duke of the territory,
StephenStephen IV , , King of Hungary . In his youth, he rebelled against his brother, King Géza II of Hungary and had to flee to the Court of the Byzantine Emperor, Manuel I Komnenos...
ascended the throne. The dukes accepted the supremacy of the kings of Hungary, but some of them (Béla, Géza and Álmos) rebelled against the king in order to acquire the crown and allied themselves with the rulers of the neighboring countries (e.g., the
Holy Roman EmpireThe Holy Roman Empire was a union of territories in Central Europe during the Middle Ages and the Early Modern period under a Holy Roman Emperor. The first emperor of the Holy Roman Empire was Otto I, crowned in 962. The last was Francis II, who abdicated and dissolved the Empire in 1806 during...
,
BohemiaBohemia is a historical region in central Europe, occupying the western two-thirds of the traditional Czech Lands, currently the Czech Republic...
).