!!!Frühmittelalter
Early Middle Ages: Before the last Romans withdrew from the riparian
part of Noricum in 488, the Germanic tribe of the Rugi had already
settled near Krems. Their empire had been destroyed by order of
Odoaker . Germanic tribes, such as the Bavarians and Alemanni began
gradually settling further west in the 6%%sup th/% century, while the
effects of the migration of the Germanic tribes became increasingly
felt in the Vienna area ( Migration of the Germanic Peoples). After
Attila the Hun died in 453, the Germanic tribes began fighting amongst
themselves. After the Ostrogoths left for Italy (before 493), where
they founded a short-lived empire including certain Alpine regions
under Theodoric, the Langobardi took over in 509 and ruled for several
decades. They allied themselves in the beginning with Asian equestrian
people Avars who had recently invaded Pannonia, but ceded the land in
the eastern Danube region to them and withdrew to Italy in 576.
\\
West of the River Enns, in Salzburg and North Tirol the Bavarians had
consolidated and integrated the people who had remained after Roman
rule into their tribe. Like the Alemanni, the Bavarians gradually came
under Frankish sovereignty. East of the Enns and in Carantania the
Avars maintained their rule over the North and South Slavs, who had
entered the area and settled in the Waldviertel and Weinviertel
regions, as well as in the foothills of the Alps and in the Alpine
valleys. It is easy to tell how far the Slavs entered the region by
the names of bodies of water and places: they spread their settlements
throughout Lower Austria, Styria, Carinthia and eastern Upper Austria
well into the 8%%sup th/% century. It was only under Samo that they
could rid themselves of the rule of the Avars in 623-662; however, it
is not certain if this Slav state extended over the entire Austrian
territory. In the 8%%sup th/% century the Avars regained power; in
the latter part of the 8%%sup th/% century the border separating them
from the Bavarians was altered so that the area between the River Enns
and the Vienna Woods became partially Bavarian. Due to the lack of
stable political conditions, there are hardly any historical monuments
remaining from this period.
\\
However, due to the Frankish influence in the Bavarian region, a
cultural upswing took place due to the spread of Christianity (
Christianisation). Around 739 St. Boniface missionised Bavaria and
established a diocese at Salzburg, where St. Rupert had already begun
his work in 696. Other bishoprics were established in Passau, which
drew on the classical traditions of Lorch, and in Saeben-Brixen in
South Tyrol. Monasteries were founded in the wake of these events;
Duke Tassilo III founded Mondsee monastery in 748, the monastery
of Kremsmuenster in 777 (the Tassilo chalice and Tassilo candelabra
were named in honour of the benefactor), and before 784 the
monasteries in Mattsee (?) before 784 and Innichen in the Puster
valley. Charlemagne overthrew Tassilo III in 788 and the Franks
defeated the Avars in 791-796, bringing an epoch to its end and
incorporating Austria into the Frankish empire.
\\
After the empire of the Avars was destroyed, what was left of the Avar
population settled in Northern Burgenland, and Slavic princes were
permitted to establish small kingdoms. The leadership positions were
occupied by the Bavarian-Frankish nobility, who also set about
colonising the region. Austria was organised into two marches and run
by prefects; counties were formed in the smaller administrative areas.
Not much more is known about this time due to the small amount of
historical sources. Several churches were erected, such as the Church
of St. Martin in Linz, the Church of St. Ruprecht in Vienna or the
church in Karnburg (Carinthia); however, it is not clear if there were
any parishes. Several other monasteries were established during this
time: St. Florian (805), St. Poelten (perhaps even during
Tassilo's rule). There is even evidence that a few medieval castles
were built during this time.
\\
Salzburg also grew rapidly in this era: after Bishop Virgil had built
a large cathedral in 767-774, Salzburg was elevated to an
Archbishopric under Arno in 798. Religious sanctuaries included the
Monastery of St. Peter and the convent on the Nonnberg mountain.
Salzburg endeavoured to christianise the Slavic tribes living in the
Alps in Carantania and, together with Passau, to christianise the
Slavs living in Pannonia and Slovakia; however, Salzburg achieved only
minimal success, as the counter-movement led by the apostles of the
Slavs, Cyril and Methodius, had a broad base of support - spiritual
support from the Pope and political support from the Great Moravian
Empire.
\\
A Slav-ruled territory arose in the region around the
Thaya-March/Morava confluence before the mid-9%%sup th/% century,
whose spiritual and cultural traditions hailed from Byzantium. Border
areas of the Bavarian region, including today's Weinviertel region,
were soon incorporated into this empire. The last decades of the
9%%sup th/% century were characterised by fighting between the
regional rulers (including the East Frankish kings) and the rulers of
the Great Moravian Empire, among whom Svatopluk (870-894) played a
leading role. The East Frankish king, Ludwig der Deutsche, even allied
himself with the Khan of Bulgars in 864 in his struggle against the
Moravians. His grandson Arnulf, Duke of Carinthia, was elected king of
East Frankonia in 887 (and emperor in 896), but was unable to
permanently secure the border regions.
\\
The customs ordinance of Raffelstetten near Linz ( Raffelstetten
Customs Regulations) promulgated in 903-905 illustrates the conditions
in the border regions at the end of the 9%%sup th/% century. The
easternmost trading post in the Danube region was Mautern; the Franks
and the Bavarians traded primarily salt in return for cattle, horses,
food, honey, wax and slaves from the East.
\\
In 881 a new equestrian people from Asia, the Magyars, began to harass
the Eastern border. According to their own tribal traditions, the
Magyars settled in Pannonia in 896 and soon began to expand their area
to the West. In 904 they destroyed the Great Moravian Empire, on July
4, 907 they defeated the Bavarian army near Bratislava. These Magyar
conquests marked the end of the Carolingian epoch: Austria east of the
River Enns came under Hungarian rule, the area west of the river
continued to be ruled by the Bavarians, who soon found support in the
developing German kingdom. Upper Austria, Salzburg and Tirol developed
as a Bavarian duchy, Vorarlberg as an Alemannic duchy.
\\
Salzburg experienced no disturbances during this period. The registers
of goods compiled after 800 show that the archbishopric was the
wealthiest church province in Bavaria. The annals which have been
preserved show the advanced development of spiritual life in the city.
Salzburg boasted a library and a scriptorium. In 845 Virgil's
cathedral burned down, as well as the monastery's Church of St. Peter;
both were rebuilt. In 860 Salzburg received a large gift of lands in
Lower Austria, Styria and Carinthia as well as in adjoining areas in
West Hungary. After the catastrophe of 907 the archbishopric remained
under the rule of the duchy of Bavaria. Archbishop Odalbert II
(923-935) came from the noble Aribonen family, and Archbishop Herold,
who ruled after 939, from the Liutpolding family. Herold was the
Archchaplain of Otto the Great, but became involved in the conflict
about Prince Liudolf and was blinded in 955 by Duke Heinrich of
Bavaria. The Pope, who sided with Heinrich, issued a declaration
maintaining that Herold had raided churches, taken the booty to
Hungary and broken his loyalty to the emperor.
\\
In the first half of the 10%%sup th/% century, disturbances
constantly emanated from Hungary. After the Hungarians had been
defeated in Saxony in 933 and the German armies gradually adjusted to
the Hungarians' war strategy, a decisive development began to emerge.
When the Hungarians started a westward military campaign, King
Otto I faced them with the combined forces of all the tribes on
August 19, 955 and emerged victorious. A few days afterwards the
entire Hungarian army was destroyed; according to legend only seven
Hungarians saw their homeland again. This victory paved the way for
the reorganisation of Central Europe and especially Austria in the
decades that followed, ushering in the development of the provinces
which make up today's Austria ( High Middle Ages).
!Literature
H. Wolfram et al., Die Bayern und ihre Nachbarn,
memorandum of the Austrian Academy of Sciences. 179/180,1985; H.
Wolfram, Die Geburt Mitteleuropas, Geschichte Oesterreichs vor seiner
Entstehung, 1987; H. Wolfram, Grenzen und Raeume. Geschichte Oe. vor
seiner Entstehung 378-907 (= Oe. Geschichte in 10 Baenden, ed. by H.
Wolfram, 1994ff, vol. 1), 1995.
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