Svatopluk I of Moravia
| Svatopluk I | |
|---|---|
House of Mojmír | |
| Father | Bogislav (?), Svetimir (?) |
| Mother | Unknown |
Svatopluk I or Svätopluk I, also known as Svatopluk the Great (
Svatopluk's career started in the 860s, when he governed a principality within Moravia, the location of which is still a matter of debate among historians, under the suzerainty of his uncle, Rastislav.[4][5] In 870 Svatopluk dethroned Rastislav, who was a vassal of Louis the German, and betrayed him to the Franks. Within a year, however, the Franks also imprisoned Svatopluk.[6][7] After the Moravians rebelled against the Franks, Svatopluk was released and led the rebels to victory over the invaders.[8] Although he was obliged to pay tribute to East Francia under the peace treaty concluded at Forchheim (Germany) in 874, he was able to expand his territories outside the Franks' sphere of interest in the following years.[8][9] His forces even invaded the March of Pannonia within East Francia in 882.[9][10]
Svatopluk established a good relationship with the
Svatopluk's state was a loose assemblage of principalities and also included conquered territories.[14]
Not long after his death Svatopluk's realm of Great Moravia collapsed in the midst of a power struggle between his sons and the intensifying Hungarian raids.[15][16]
Svatopluk, whose empire encompassed parts of the territory of modern Czech Republic (Moravia and Bohemia), Slovakia, Poland and Hungary, has occasionally been presented as a "Slovak King" in Slovak literary works since the 18th century, the period of the Slovak national awakening.[17]
Early years
The
Svatopluk seems to have risen to power in Great Moravia in the early 860s.
And it came to pass in those days that the Slavic prince Rostislav together with Svatopluk sent emissaries from Moravia to Emperor Michael, saying thus: "We have prospered through God's grace, and many Christian teachers have come to us from among the Italians, Greeks and Germans, teaching us in various ways. But we Slavs are a simple people, and have no one to instruct us in the truth, and explain wisely. Therefore, O kind lord, send the type of man who will direct us to the whole truth."
— The Life of Methodius[28]
Beginning of his reign
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By the time Svatopluk first appeared in a Frankish sources (the Annals of Fulda) in 869, he was ruler of his own "realm" (regnum, implying autonomous or semi-autonomous land) within Great Moravia.
Svatopluk's "realm" was invaded and plundered in 869 by Bavarian troops led by Carloman, the eldest son of Louis the German, King of East Francia.[29] At the same time Franconian and Alamannian troops attacked Rastislav's territories under the leadership of the same King's youngest son, Charles the Fat.[29] Although the two armies soon returned, Svatopluk entered into clandestine negotiations with Carloman, and agreed to commend himself and his principality to Carloman.[29][33]
Having learned of this agreement, Rastislav is said to have become furious and set a trap for his nephew, inviting him to a banquet where he intended to have him murdered.[34] Svatopluk, however, was warned of his uncle's plans, took Rastislav prisoner and handed him over to Carloman.[34] Rastislav was sent to Bavaria under guard, while Carloman annexed his realm outright.[34]
Zwentibald, Rastiz's nephew, took thought to his own interests, and commended himself and the kingdom he held to Carloman. Rastiz was furious at this and laid ambushes in secret for his nephew; he plotted to strangle him at a banquet when he was not suspecting any attack. But by the grace of God he was freed of the peril of death. For before those who were to kill him had entered the house, he was warned by one who knew of the plot, and set out as if to go
Annals of Fulda (year 870)[35]
As a reward for capturing Rastislav, Carloman allowed Svatopluk to retain his principality, but the rest of Great Moravia was placed under the control of two Frankish lords,
Towards the Peace of Forchheim
Carloman soon came to the conclusion that the accusations against Svatopluk were unfounded and released him from prison.[38] In order to bind Svatopluk to his family, Carloman had Svatopluk stand as godfather to his illegitimate grandson.[39] Thus this son of Carloman's son Arnulf received the Moravian name Zwentibold.[39]
Svatopluk also agreed to lead Carloman's armies against Slavomír and the rebellious Moravians.[18][40] However, on his arrival at "Rastislav's old city", Svatopluk betrayed the Bavarians and conspired secretly with the rebels.[40] Although he captured the fortress in accordance with Carloman's plan, once he was inside its walls he renounced his loyalty to Carloman, rallied a large Moravian force and launched a devastating surprise attack on the unsuspecting Bavarian army encamped outside.[39] The Moravians took a great number of soldiers hostage, killed the rest and rid Moravia of the Frankish occupation.[39] Carloman's governors, William and Engelschalk, were also both slain, and Svatopluk became the undisputed ruler of Great Moravia.[18]
Meanwhile Zwentibald, after no one had been able to prove the crimes of which he had been accused, was released by Carloman and returned to his own realm laden with kingly gifts, leading with him an army of Carloman's, with which he was to drive out Sclagamar, for so much he had falsely promised to Carloman, should Carloman allow him to return to his country. But just as humiliation falls on those who are careless and trust too much in themselves, so it befell that army, for Zwentibald left the others to pitch camp and entered the old city of Rastiz. Immediately he denied his fidelity and forgot his oath, in Slavic fashion, and turned his thought and his powers not to driving out Sclagamar but to revenging the injury which Carloman had done him. Then he attacked in great force the Bavarians' camp – they suspected no evil and were not keeping a sharp watch. He took many alive as prisoners, and killed the rest, except for a few who had prudently left the camp beforehand. All the Bavarians' joy at their many previous victories was turned into grief and weeping. On the news of the slaughter of his army, Carloman was aghast, and forced by necessity he ordered all the hostages in his kingdom to be collected together and returned to Zwentibald; he received scarcely one man from there except for a man called Radbod who returned half-dead.
—Annals of Fulda (year 871)[41]
In October 871 Louis the German sent Bavarian and Franconian troops against the Bohemians (Czechs).[42][43] During the campaign the Franconians surprised a party of Moravians somewhere near the traps that guarded the narrow approaches to a Bohemian fort.[43] The Moravians were returning to their homeland with the daughter of a Bohemian dux ("duke"), presumably to marry an unidentified Moravian magnate.[43] Although the Moravians managed to reach the safety of the fort, they had to abandon 644 fully equipped horses in the narrows.[43] The marriage of a Bohemian leader's daughter to a Moravian magnate implies that Svatopluk was planning to form an alliance with the Bohemians.[42]
Louis the German realized the grave threat posed by Svatopluk
In May 873, Pope John VIII moved energetically to discover the whereabouts of Methodius, who was still being held prisoner in Bavaria.[50] He sent harshly worded letters to Carloman and the Bavarian bishops, and commanded Methodius's immediate reinstatement.[50] The Pope seems also to have brokered a lasting peace between Louis the German and Svatopluk.[51] After his meeting with the Pope at Verona (Italy), Louis the German went to Forchheim where, according to the Annals of Fulda, "he received the legates of Svatopluk asking for a peace treaty".[51] The exact terms of their agreement are not known, but it seems to have been a compromise: Svatopluk was forced to make an annual payment of tribute to Louis the German, who agreed to avoid any hostile acts against Great Moravia.[18][52] Thus Methodius, who had in the meantime been allowed to return to Moravia, could continue his work in relatively peaceful conditions for some years.[53][54]
Years of expansion
Great Moravia underwent considerable expansion in the 870s.
Svatopluk's expansionist policy was perhaps so successful because most of Western Europe was in the grip of unusually savage and large-scale Viking raids between 879 and 886.[57] On the other hand, the Life of Methodius directly links Svatopluk's military achievements and Methodius' work.[58] For instance, according to his Life, Methodius promised Svatopluk that if the Prince would celebrate Saint Peter's Day in the Archbishop's church, "God will soon deliver" his enemies to him, and "so it came to pass".[59][60]
Nevertheless, at the court of Svatopluk, who himself professed the Latin Rite, intrigues against Methodius and the liturgy in Old Church Slavonic gathered strength.[59][61] Svatopluk sent John of Venice, a known opponent of the Slavic liturgy, to Rome in 879 to achieve a settlement of ecclesiastical differences.[61] In a letter addressed to Methodius in the same year, the Pope sharply rebuked him for using Slavonic in church services.[62] Methodius, however, travelled to Rome in 880, together with a Moravian delegation.[53] Under his influence Pope John VIII changed his mind and in a letter, known for its incipit, Industriae tuae, the Pope repeated that Mass was to be sung in Latin whenever requested, but he also allowed the use of Slavonic liturgy.[63][64] The letter also confirmed the decision taken by the Holy See during Rastislav's reign to create an archdiocese for Great Moravia.[65] Upon Svatopluk's request the Pope promoted a German priest, Wiching, to be Bishop of Nitra, but he added that the new Bishop and all the clerics in Great Moravia were expected to be obedient to Methodius, who remained the head of the church in Svatopluk's realms.[56][64]
Your predecessor /Pope John VIII/ ordained Wiching bishop at the request of Duke Zwentibald; however, he never sent him into the ancient
suffragan bishops to Pope John IX[66]
The "Wilhelminer War"
At the time when Charles the Fat became the sole ruler of East Francia in 881, the sons of Wilhelm and Engelschalk, the one-time commanders of the Bavarian forces occupying Moravia in 870–871, began to conspire with various Bavarian magnates in order to eject Arbo, the margrave Louis the German had appointed to command a key part of East Francia's frontier on the Danube.[67][68] Arbo, however, appealed for and received help from both Charles the Fat and Svatopluk, and even handed his son over to the latter as a hostage.[68][69]
Upon Arbo's request, Svatopluk, who remembered "how much evil he along with his people had suffered" at the hands of Wilhelm and Engelschalk, attacked their sons.
Thus the "Willhelminer War", that was to last until 884, led to the devastation of Pannonia east of the river Rába.[76] Finally, Charles the Fat himself turned up and received Svatopluk as his man at Kaumberg (Germany), receiving promises of peace and fidelity.[68] Svatopluk also promised never to invade Charles the Fat's realm with a hostile force as long as he lived, while Charles the Fat recognized him as a prince of his realm.[77] Peace between Arnulf and Svatopluk, however, was only sealed in the latter part of the following year.[68]
They /the sons of Wilhelm and Engelschalk/ despised the peace, which in being preserved Pannonia, but which being broken led to Pannonia's being laid waste from the
Annals of Fulda (year 884)[78]
Last years
Methodius, who seems to have been in Svatopluk's train at Kaumberg, died in 885.[79] In his last days he had indicated Gorazd, one of his Moravian disciples, as most worthy to succeed him.[11] Gorazd, however, did not or could not immediately submit his candidature for ratification of the Holy See, because Bishop Wiching of Nitra soon hurried to Rome.[11] He persuaded Pope Stephen V that Methodius had ignored Pope John VIII's orders in the matter of Slavonic liturgy, and thus, upon his initiative, the pope prohibited the Slavonic liturgy in Moravia.[11] The pope also sent a letter (Quia te zelo) to Svatopluk, urging him to accept the addition of filioque to the Creed and to give up such peculiar Byzantine practices as fasting on Saturday.[11]
Wiching having arrived back from Rome, Svatopluk summoned Gorazd, Clement and Methodius's other disciples to submit to the papal directions.[13] When they refused to do so, Svatopluk gave Wiching a free hand to take action against them.[13] Some of them were first thrown into prison, and soon expelled from Moravia, while others, among them Naum, were sold as slaves.[13] The expulsion of Methodius's disciples from Moravia signaled the end of the Slavonic liturgy in Central Europe.[80] The exiles, however, subsequently found refuge in the First Bulgarian Empire where they were able to carry on their work.[10][81] Saint Clement of Ochrid said:
The Prince, however, understood very little of what was said, as he was too completely and utterly dumb to comprehend any divine matter; he was brought up in a sheer barbaric manner, briefly said, with no education whatsoever, and also [...] because vicarious pleasures rid him of all his sense. How could a man entirely distanced from the sanctity of modest life, without which no one lays his eyes on the Lord, ever penetrate any contemplations of the Trinity?[82]
In his letter Quia te zelo, the pope addressed Svatopluk as rex Sclavorum ("king of the Slavs").
In 887 Arnulf, Svatopluk's opponent in the "Wilhelminer War", became the king of East Francia.[65][84] They met at Omuntesperch, a locality that has yet not been identified, during the winter of 890.[85] At the meeting Svatopluk transmitted to Arnulf a message from Pope Stephen V, urging the king to invade Italy to protect the Holy See.[86] According to Regino of Prüm, the two monarchs also concluded an agreement, in which Arnulf ceded the ducatus of the Bohemians to Svatopluk.[87]
In the year of the Lord's incarnation 890, King Arnulf gave the command of the Bohemians to King Zwentibald of the Moravian Slavs. Hitherto, the Bohemians had rulers from among their own kind and people, and had kept the fidelity they promised to the kings of the Franks by inviolable agreement. Arnulf did this because, before he had been raised to the throne of the kingdom, he had been joined to Zwentibald in close friendship.
— Regino of Prüm: Chronicon, Book II[88]
Sometime during 891, according to the Annals of Fulda, Arnulf sent an embassy led by margrave Arbo to Moravia in order to renew the peace.[89] A letter written by the margrave soon announced that the legates were returning from Svatopluk and the Moravians who had agreed "to give themselves in friendship".[89] Svatopluk, however, broke his pledges, so Arnulf decided to invade Moravia in 891.[90] First the king met with Braslav, the Slavic dux on the river Sava, then raised an army of Franconians, Bavarians and Alamanni, and also recruited Hungarians to join his campaign.[91] In the late 10th century, Arnulf was accused by Ottonian authors of unleashing the Hungarians on Europe because of his desire to bring down Moravia.[92]
Meanwhile, Arnulf, the strongest king of the nations living below the star
Liudprand of Cremona: Retribution, Book One[93]
