Braslav ( 882–896) was a prince who ruled the

Slavs in Lower Pannonia Early Slavs settled in the eastern and southern parts of the former Roman province of Pannonia. The term ''Lower Pannonia'' ( la, Pannonia inferior, hu, Alsó-pannoniai grófság, sh-Latn-Cyrl, Donja Panonija, Доња Панонија, sl, S ...

, in a territory located mostly in modern-day

Croatia , image_flag = Flag of Croatia.svg , image_coat = Coat of arms of Croatia.svg , anthem = " Lijepa naša domovino"("Our Beautiful Homeland") , image_map = , map_caption = , capi ...

, between 884 and 896 as a vassal of

Arnulf of Carinthia Arnulf of Carinthia ( 850 – 8 December 899) was the duke of Carinthia who overthrew his uncle Emperor Charles the Fat to become the Carolingian king of East Francia from 887, the disputed king of Italy from 894 and the disputed emperor from ...

. He participated in the Frankish–Moravian War (882–84) and the Frankish invasion of Moravia (891–92). He was last mentioned when he was entrusted Pannonia by Arnulf in order to secure the Frankish frontier against the Hungarians (896), who subsequently overran all of Pannonia and continued into Italy.

Background

In 882–84, a bloody war was fought between

and Svatopluk I of Moravia, during which Pannonia and the

Danube The Danube ( ; ) is a river that was once a long-standing frontier of the Roman Empire and today connects 10 European countries, running through their territories or being a border. Originating in Germany, the Danube flows southeast for , pa ...

suffered the most. Svatopluk is said to have "slaughtered" and "destroyed much with fire and sword". The two agreed on peace in 884.

Life

A Slavic prince and ardent Frankish loyalist, according to the ''

Frankish Annals The ''Royal Frankish Annals'' (Latin: ''Annales regni Francorum''), also called the ''Annales Laurissenses maiores'' ('Greater Lorsch Annals'), are a series of annals composed in Latin in the Carolingian Francia, recording year-by-year the state ...

'', Braslav was the "Duke of Lower Pannonia" (). He ruled a province from the

Drava The Drava or Drave''Utrata Fachwörterbuch ...

to the

Sava The Sava (; , ; sr-cyr, Сава, hu, Száva) is a river in Central and Southeast Europe, a right-bank and the longest tributary of the Danube. It flows through Slovenia, Croatia and along its border with Bosnia and Herzegovina, and finally t ...

(modern-day

Slavonia Slavonia (; hr, Slavonija) is, with Dalmatia, Croatia proper, and Istria, one of the four historical regions of Croatia. Taking up the east of the country, it roughly corresponds with five Croatian counties: Brod-Posavina, Osijek-Bar ...

). He took part in the 884 Frankish–Moravian peace treaty reached at

Tulln Tulln an der Donau () is a historic town in the Austrian state of Lower Austria, the administrative seat of Tulln District. Because of its abundance of parks and gardens, Tulln is often referred to as ''Blumenstadt'' ("City of Flowers"), and "The C ...

. Sometime during 891, according to the ''

Annals of Fulda The ''Annales Fuldenses'' or ''Annals of Fulda'' are East Frankish chronicles that cover independently the period from the last years of Louis the Pious (died 840) to shortly after the end of effective Carolingian rule in East Francia with the ac ...

'', Arnulf sent an embassy led by margrave Arbo to Moravia in order to renew the peace. 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". Svatopluk, however, broke his pledges, thus Arnulf decided to invade Moravia in 891. First Arnulf met with Braslav, the Slavic ''dux'' on the river

, next raised an army of

Franconians Franconia (german: Franken, ; Franconian dialect: ''Franggn'' ; bar, Frankn) is a region of Germany, characterised by its culture and Franconian dialect (German: ''Fränkisch''). The three administrative regions of Lower, Middle and Upper F ...

Bavarians Bavarians ( Bavarian: ''Boarn'', Standard German: ''Baiern'') are an ethnographic group of Germans of the Bavaria region, a state within Germany. The group's dialect or speech is known as the Bavarian language, native to Altbayern ("Old Bavar ...

and

Alamanni The Alemanni or Alamanni, were a confederation of Germanic tribes * * * on the Upper Rhine River. First mentioned by Cassius Dio in the context of the campaign of Caracalla of 213, the Alemanni captured the in 260, and later expanded into pre ...

, and also recruited Hungarians to join his campaign (for the latter recruitment, Ottonian authors blamed Arnulf for unleashing the Hungarians on Europe). Braslav participated in the 892 campaign. After Svatopluk's death in 894, the Hungarians ravaged Pannonia, becoming enemies of Arnulf, threatening Frankish Pannonia. The critical situation came after the Hungarians had occupied the Pannonian basin between the

Tisza The Tisza, Tysa or Tisa, is one of the major rivers of Central and Eastern Europe. Once, it was called "the most Hungarian river" because it flowed entirely within the Kingdom of Hungary. Today, it crosses several national borders. The Tisza be ...

and

. Thus, in 895 or 896, Arnulf entrusted ''Mosapurc'' (modern

Zalavár Zalavár is a village in Hungary, located in Zala County. It is located around southwest of Lake Balaton. Name According to written sources the settlement was called 'Mosapurc' in the 9th century, "''Mosapurc regia civitate''". It was also kn ...

, Hungary) and Pannonia to Braslav, thereby strengthening the defense of his southeastern frontier. Arnulf and Braslav could not stop the Hungarians, and Pannonia was subsequently overrun by the Hungarians. Braslav was last mentioned in a source dating to 898, at which time the Hungarians with a great army had breached into Italy for the first time, having crossed the Slavic lands.

Legacy

Bratislava Bratislava (, also ; ; german: Preßburg/Pressburg ; hu, Pozsony) is the capital and largest city of Slovakia. Officially, the population of the city is about 475,000; however, it is estimated to be more than 660,000 — approximately 140% of ...

, the capital of

Slovakia Slovakia (; sk, Slovensko ), officially the Slovak Republic ( sk, Slovenská republika, links=no ), is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is bordered by Poland to the north, Ukraine to the east, Hungary to the south, Austria to the ...

, has been theorized as having been named after Braslav ( Brezalauspurc, 907). There are references to Braslav as a Croatian duke in modern Croatian historiography.

References

Sources

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Braslav Of Pannonia 9th-century Slavs 9th-century people from East Francia 9th century in Croatia History of Slavonia History of Syrmia 9th century in Serbia Medieval Slovenia 9th century in Hungary Slavic warriors