page_title: Great Moravia
section_title: Fights for independence (846–870)
hierarchical_section_title: Great Moravia / History / Fights for independence (846–870)
caption_attribution_description: Čeština: "Svatý mučedník ravno-aria-jagil sláv, Rostislav car Moravský". Deutsch: Gemälde des Prinzen Rastislav von dem Slovak National Museum in Bratislava. Das Gemälde ist Teil der Ausstellung "Kings of Ancient Slovakia." English: Painting of Prince Rastislav of the Slovak National Museum in Bratislava. The painting is part of the exhibition "Ancient Kings of Slovakia."
context_page_description: Great Moravia, the Great Moravian Empire, or simply Moravia, was the first major state that was predominantly West Slavic to emerge in the area of Central Europe, chiefly on what is now the territory of the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Poland, Hungary, and perhaps Serbia. The only formation preceding it in these territories was Samo's Empire known from between 631 and 658 AD. Great Moravia was thus the first joint state of the Slavic tribes that became later known as Czechs and Slovaks and that later formed Czechoslovakia.
  Its core territory is the region now called Moravia in the eastern part of the Czech Republic alongside the Morava River, which gave its name to the kingdom. The kingdom saw the rise of the first ever Slavic literary culture in the Old Church Slavonic language as well as the expansion of Christianity after the arrival of St. Cyril and St. Methodius in 863 and the creation of the Glagolitic alphabet, the first alphabet dedicated to a Slavic language. Glagolitic was subsequently replaced by a simpler Cyrillic. The Cyrillo-Methodian cultural mission had significant impact on most Slavic languages and stood at the beginning of the modern Cyrillic alphabet.
context_section_description: Rastislav (r. 846–870), who initially accepted the suzerainty of Louis the German, consolidated his position within Moravia and expanded the frontiers of his realm. For instance, according to Kirschbaum, he annexed the region of the Slanské Hills in the eastern parts of present-day Slovakia. Barford even writes that the development of the state mentioned as "Great Moravia" by Constantine Porphyrogenitus commenced in Rastislav's reign.
  He turned against East Francia and supported the rebellion of Ratpot, the deposed prefect of the March of Pannonia, against Louis the German in 853. The Frankish monarch retaliated by invading Moravia in 855. According to the Annals of Fulda, the Moravians were "defended by strong fortifications", and the Franks withdrew without defeating them, though the combats lasted until a peace treaty was worked out in 859. The truce is regarded as a stalemate and shows the growing strength of Rastislav's realm. Conflicts between Moravia and East Francia continued for years. For instance, Rastislav supported Louis the German's son, Carloman, in his rebellion against his father in 861. The first record of a raid by the Magyars in Central Europe seems to have been connected to these events. According to the Annals of St. Bertin, "enemies called Hungarians" ravaged Louis the German's kingdom in 862, which suggests that they supported Carloman.
  Rastislav wanted to weaken influence of Frankish priests in his realm, who served the interests of East Francia. He first sent envoys to Pope Nicholas I in 861 and asked him to send missionaries to Moravia who mastered the Slavic language. Having received no answer from Rome, Rastislav turned to the Byzantine Emperor Michael III with the same request. By establishing relations with Constantinople, he also desired to counter an anti-Moravian alliance recently concluded between the Franks and Bulgarians. Upon his request, the emperor sent two brothers, Constantine and Methodius – the future Saints Cyril and Methodius – who spoke the Slavic dialect of the region of Thessaloniki to Moravia in 863. Constantine's Life narrates that he developed the first Slavic alphabet and translated the Gospel into Old Church Slavonic around that time.
  Louis the German crossed the Danube and again invaded Moravia in August 864. He besieged Rastislav "in a certain city, which in the language of that people is called Dowina", according to the Annals of Fulda. Although the Franks could not take the fortress, Rastislav agreed to accept Louis the German's suzerainty. However, he continued to support the Frankish monarch's opponents. For instance, Louis the German deprived one Count Werner "of his public offices", because the count was suspected to have conspired with Rastislav against the king.
  The Byzantine brothers, Constantine (Cyril) and Methodius, visited Rome in 867. At the end of the year, Pope Hadrian II (r. 867–872) sanctioned their translations of liturgical texts and ordained six of their disciples as priests. The pope informed three prominent Slavic rulers – Rastislav, his nephew, Svätopluk, and Koceľ, who administered Lower Pannonia – of his approval of the use of the vernacular in the liturgy in a letter of 869. In 869 Methodius was sent by the pope to Rastislav, Svätopluk and Kocel, but Methodius visited only Kocel, who sent him back to the pope. Hadrian then consecrated Methodius as archbishop with the title of Metropolitan of Sirmium to "the seat of Saint Andronicus",--i.e., the see of Sirmium.  At the beginning of the 9th century, many Carantanians (Alpine Slavs), ancestors of present-day Slovenians, settled in the Lower Pannonian region, also known as the Balaton Principality, which was referred to in Latin sources as Carantanorum regio, or "The Land of the Carantanians". The name Carantanians (Quarantani) was in use until the 13th century. Kocel's decision to support Methodius represented a complete break with his father's pro-Frankish policy. Svätopluk had by that time been administering what had been the Principality of Nitra, under his uncle Rastislav's suzerainty, bu
caption: Modern depiction of Rastislav as an Orthodox saint
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