!!!Slawen

Slavs: Indo-European tribes which originally settled north of the 
Carpathians in the area of the Rokitno moors and on the upper reaches 
of River Dnepr; following the withdrawal of the  Germans in the 
6%%sup th/%  century they spread across the Hungarian lowlands and on 
the Balkan peninsula under the sovereignty of the  Avars; from there 
they advanced towards the Eastern Alps, where they settled in wide 
parts of what is now Austria. Around 592 southern Slav tribes (called 
Winden or  Slovenes) collided with the Bavarians near Toblach im 
Pustertal and moved on to the Lungau mountain area through the Murtal 
and Muerztal valleys; they advanced to Upper Austria by crossing the 
Tauern mountains and to Lower Austria by crossing the Semmering pass. 
From the late 6%%sup th/%  century northern Slav tribes invaded the 
Muehlviertel and Waldviertel regions. They adopted or modified the 
place names given by the Romans and Germans, who were still living 
along the River Danube and in the Alpine region (thus, Pielach is a 
combination of "biela" (white) and Ache (brook)) and took 
over their places of worship. Through their work the Slav tribes 
provided the economic basis for sovereignty of the Avars, on whose 
behalf they also had to wage war.  Samo established a Slav dominion 
(documented mention from 623 to around 660) which may have 
included parts of what is now Austria. After the collapse of the 
dominion, the Slav tribes of the Alpine region claimed their 
independence, founded the principality of  Carantania with  Karnburg 
as its focal point; they constituted the noblemen of the area, who 
came to be known as  Edlinger. When the Avars tried to subjugate them, 
Prince Boruth turned to the Bavarian Duke Odilo, who defeated the 
Avars but subjected the Carantanians to his rule. Bishop Virgil of 
Salzburg organised the conversion of the Carantanians; a monastery 
existed in Molzbichl near Spittal an der Drau in the 8%%sup th/%  
century; as can be seen from the "Conversio Bagoariorum et 
Carantanorum", a memorandum drawn up in Salzburg around 870/71, 
Choir Bishop  Modestus (757-63) founded the three main churches of 
Maria Saal, Lurn-St. Peter im Holz and "ad Undrimas". 
Christianisation was also promoted by the bishopric of Freising (the 
location of the oldest document written in the Slav script developed 
by the missionaries) and the patriarchate of Aquileia (River 
Drava/Drau became the dividing line between the patriarchate of 
Aquileia and the archbishopric of Salzburg in 811). After the dominion 
of the Avars had been destroyed by Charlemagne, the Slavs of the 
Danube region and Pannonia were brought under Franconian rule; the 
Slavs in Carantania maintained their own princes until 828. The second 
half of the 9%%sup th/%  century saw the emergence of the  Great 
Moravian Empire, which was destroyed by the Magyars. From that time 
on, no large Slav dominions were established in what is now Austria; 
however, a certain Count Josef resided near Gars (Lower Austria) in 
the early 10%%sup th/%  century; a Slav castle in the area was 
destroyed by the Babenberg Leopold in 1040. Grave finds dating from 
the 10%%sup th/%  century (in Messern, Thunau, Pottenbrunn, Koettlach, 
all in Lower Austria) indicate widespread Slav settlement in the 
pre-Alpine region. In the 11%%sup th/%  century the Slavs were 
integrated into the population of the Danube region, which was 
predominantly Bavarian as a result of Bavarian colonisation at an 
earlier time. A Slav majority still existed in Carinthia and Southern 
Styria (Slovenia). The names of many rivers, lakes, streams, 
mountains, farmlands and villages bear witness to the former Slav 
settlements in the area (Graz = "gradec", castle; 
Feistritz = "bistrica" (mountain torrent); Liesing 
= "lesnica" (brook)). Whereas there is still a Slovene 
ethnic minority in Carinthia, all other minorities (Croats in 
Burgenland, Czechs in the environs of Vienna) came to Austria in more 
recent times.

!Literature
H. Friesinger, Die Slawen in Niederoesterreich, 1976; 
idem, Studien zur Archaeologie der Slawen in Niederoesterreich, in: 
Mttlg. der praehistorischen Kommission der Oesterreichischen Akademie 
der Wissenschaften 15/16, 17/18, 1974, 1977; Germanen - Awaren - 
Slawen, exhibition catalogue, Vienna 1977; S. Vilfan, Rechtsgeschichte 
der Slowenen, in: Grazer rechts- und staatswissenschaftliche 
Studien 21, 1968; H. Wolfram, Conversio Bagoariorum et 
Carantanorum, 1979; H. Dopsch (ed.), Salzburg und die Slawenmission, 
1986.


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