Caranthanians
Encyclopedia
Early Middle Ages
The Early Middle Ages was the period of European history lasting from the 5th century to approximately 1000. The Early Middle Ages followed the decline of the Western Roman Empire and preceded the High Middle Ages...
(Latin: , or "Slavs called Caranthanians"). They are considered to have been one of the ancestors of modern Slovenes, particularly the Carinthian Slovenes
Carinthian Slovenes
Carinthian Slovenes are the Slovene-speaking population group in the Austrian State of Carinthia. The Carinthian Slovenes send representatives to the National Ethnic Groups Advisory Council...
.
Historical background
After the disintegration of SamoSamo
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 realm, Alpine Slavs established the Principality of Carantania 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...
, which was independent from around 660 to around 745, when it fell under the 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 zone of influence and was later incorporated in the Frankish Empire
Frankish Empire
Francia or Frankia, later also called the Frankish Empire , Frankish Kingdom , Frankish Realm or occasionally Frankland, was the territory inhabited and ruled by the Franks from the 3rd to the 10th century...
. Until around 820, it was ruled as a semi-independent tribal polity. After 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...
, which was partially supported by Carantanians, the Carantanian principality was transformed into a Frankish march
Marches
A march or mark refers to a border region similar to a frontier, such as the Welsh Marches, the borderland between England and Wales. During the Frankish Carolingian Dynasty, the word spread throughout Europe....
, and later emerged as the feudal 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....
.
Carantanians were the first Slavic people to accept Christianity
Christianity
Christianity is a monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus as presented in canonical gospels and other New Testament writings...
from the West. They were mostly Christianized by Irish
Irish people
The Irish people are an ethnic group who originate in Ireland, an island in northwestern Europe. Ireland has been populated for around 9,000 years , with the Irish people's earliest ancestors recorded having legends of being descended from groups such as the Nemedians, Fomorians, Fir Bolg, Tuatha...
missionaries sent by the Archdiocese of Salzburg, among them Modestus, known as the "Apostle of Carantanians". This process was later described in the memorandum known as the Conversio Bagoariorum et Carantanorum
Conversio Bagoariorum et Carantanorum
The Conversio Bagoariorum et Carantanorum, which translates in English as "The Conversion of the Bavarians and the Carantanians", is a Latin history written in Salzburg in the 870s. It describes the life and career of Salzburg's founding saint Rupert , notably his missionary work in Bavaria, and...
, which is thought to have over-emphasized the role of the Church of Salzburg in the Christianization process over similar efforts of the Patriarchate of Aquileia. Several rebellions of the Carantanians against the Christianisations occurred in the late 8th century, which later served as the source of inspiration of the Slovenian Romantic poet France Prešeren
France Prešeren
France Prešeren was a Slovene Romantic poet. He is considered the Slovene national poet. Although he was not a particularly prolific author, he inspired virtually all Slovene literature thereafter....
in his magnum opus Baptism at the Savica Waterfall.
At the beginning of the 9th century, many Carantanians were moved as settlers in the Lower Pannonia
Lower Pannonia
The Lower Pannonia or Pannonia Inferior was an ancient Roman province. It was formed in the year 103 AD. The Lower Pannonia included parts of present-day Hungary, Serbia, Croatia, and Bosnia and Herzegovina.-Cities:...
n region, also known as the Balaton Principality
Balaton Principality
The Principality of Lower Pannonia was a Slavic principality located in the western part of the Pannonian plain, between the rivers Danube to its east The Principality of Lower Pannonia (also called Pannonia, Lower Pannonia, Pannonian Principality, Transdanubian Principality, Slavic Pannonian...
, which was referred in Latin sources as Carantanorum regio or "The Land of the Carantanians".
The name Carantanians (Quarantani) was in use until the 13th century.
Language
Little is known of the language of the Carantanians, but it can be supposed that it was still very close to Proto-Slavic. Slovenian linguists have sometimes provisionally called it "Alpine Slavic" (alpska slovanščina). The Pre-Slavic toponyms, adopted and Slavicized by the Carantanians, as well as Bavarian records of Alpine Slavic names both help to shed light on the characteristics of the Alpine Slavic language.From 8th century onwards the Alpine Slavic language underwent a series of gradual changes and innovations 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 13th century, the Slovene language emerged from these innovations.
The Freising Manuscripts
Freising manuscripts
The Freising Manuscripts are the first Latin-script continuous text in a Slavic language and the oldest document in Slovene.The monuments consisting of three texts in the oldest Slovene dialect were discovered bound into a Latin codex...
, dating from the 10th century, which most surely originate from the region inhabited by the Carantanians, are considered to be the oldest documents in any Slavic language written in Latin alphabet
Latin alphabet
The Latin alphabet, also called the Roman alphabet, is the most recognized alphabet used in the world today. It evolved from a western variety of the Greek alphabet called the Cumaean alphabet, which was adopted and modified by the Etruscans who ruled early Rome...
. While still retaining many Proto-Slavic features, the language of the Freising manuscripts already exhibits certain developments characteristic of early Slovene. These texts are considered to be written in a transitionary language between Alpine Slavic and modern Slovene.
Traditions and social organization
Not much is known about the social and political organization of the Carantanians. Most probably, they were organized in communal entities known as župas. A distinct social stratus known as kosezes (Kasazes in Latin, in German Edlinger, noble people), which were present also in other parts of the Slovene LandsSlovene Lands
Slovene Lands or Slovenian Lands is the historical denomination for the whole of the Slovene-inhabited territories in Central Europe. It more or less corresponds to modern Slovenia and the adjacent territories in Italy, Austria and Hungary in which autochthonous Slovene minorities live.-...
until the High Middle Ages
High Middle Ages
The High Middle Ages was the period of European history around the 11th, 12th, and 13th centuries . The High Middle Ages were preceded by the Early Middle Ages and followed by the Late Middle Ages, which by convention end around 1500....
, is thought of having derived from the private army of the Carantanian prince. Medieval documents mention that the people freely elected their leader, but it remains unclear what social category the Medieval Latin name populus exactly referred to.
Several traditions, typical of the Carantanians, survived until the end of the Middle Ages, most notably the installation of the dukes of Carinthia, which was carried out until 1414.
See also
- Duke's ChairDuke's ChairThe 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:...
- 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...
- ZollfeldZollfeldZollfeld is a slightly ascending plain in Carinthia, Austria. It is one of the oldest cultural landscapes in the East Alpine region.-Geography:...
- Maria SaalMaria SaalMaria 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...
- List of Medieval Slavic tribes