Kocelj ( 861–874) was a ruler of 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 ...
. He was an East Frankish vassal titled ''comes'' (count), and is believed to have ruled between 861 or 864 and 876.
Life
Kocelj was the second son of
Pribina
Pribina (c. 800861) was a Slavic prince whose adventurous career, recorded in the '' Conversion of the Bavarians and the Carantanians'' (a historical work written in 870), illustrates the political volatility of the Franco–Slavic fronti ...
, a Slavic ''dux'' installed by the Franks in Lower Pannonia in ca. 838 or 840. Bowlus believes he was born in ca. 820. In 861, Kocelj made a significant donation to the Freising monastery, showing that he had a solid social and political standing. According to Bowlus, this document indicates that Pribina had died, and Kocelj succeeded him.
Louis the German
Louis the German (c. 806/810 – 28 August 876), also known as Louis II of Germany and Louis II of East Francia, was the first king of East Francia, and ruled from 843 to 876 AD. Grandson of emperor Charlemagne and the third son of Louis the P ...
installed Kocel as a ruler in Lower Pannonia in 864. Kocelj held "Lower Pannonia" (''Pannonia inferioris'') in 865, when Archbishop
Adalwin of Salzburg visited his lands twice. In 869, Kocel had requested for Byzantine missionary
Methodius to be sent into Pannonia as a papal legate. In midsummer, Kocelj sent Methodius to Rome with twenty men to petition for his elevation to bishop.
Hadrian II appointed Methodius the archbishop of Sirmium, and sent confirmations to, among others, Kocel, whose land lay within the jurisdiction.
Frankish Pannonia was held by Kocel and Bavarian margraves in 871; Kocel enjoyed independence, as evident from his talks with the pope. In 874, following the Moravian conflict, Kocel continued to rule the
Valley, presumably under
Carloman of the
March of Pannonia
The March of Pannonia or Eastern March ( la, marcha orientalis) was a frontier march of the Carolingian Empire, named after the former Roman province of ''Pannonia'' and carved out of the preceding and larger Avar march.
It was referred to in s ...
. Kocelj disappears from sources after 874, and was either dead or removed from his office 876, certainly dead by 880.
Identification
Kocel has been identified with Frankish military commander Kotzil mentioned in ''
De Administrando Imperio
''De Administrando Imperio'' ("On the Governance of the Empire") is the Latin title of a Greek-language work written by the 10th-century Eastern Roman Emperor Constantine VII. The Greek title of the work is ("To yown son Romanos"). It is a domes ...
'' regarding the armed revolt by the Croats who were led by their Duke
Domagoj
Domagoj is a Croatian name of Slavic origin derived from the Slavic elements ''dom'' ("home") and ''goj'' ("grow, breed, foster, nurture"). Notable people with the name include:
*Domagoj of Croatia, a duke (knez) of Dalmatian Croatia in 864–87 ...
who "managed to prevail and killed all the Franks and their archon, called Kotzil", most probably in 874 which coincides with Kocel's disappearance from the sources.
Titles
*"Count of Slavs" (''comes de Sclavis nomine Chezul''), 861 Latin gift deed
*"Duke" (''Chezil dux''), posthumously between 876 and 880
Annotations
References
Sources
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Kocel
820s births
870s deaths
9th-century rulers in Europe
9th-century Slavs
9th-century people from East Francia
9th-century Hungarian people
Medieval Slovenian people