According to the '' Gesta Hungarorum'' by

Bele Regis Notarius Bele may refer to: * Bele language * Bale Robe, town and separate woreda in south-central Ethiopia * Bele (Wolaita), administrative centre of Kindo Koysha, woreda in Wolaita, Ethiopia * Bele, Saint-Louis-du-Sud, Haiti, a village in the Aquin arron ...

, Laborec was a Slavic ruler in the 9th century who was a vassal of Great Moravia. According to the ''Gesta Hungarorum'', at the time of the

Hungarian conquest of the Carpathian Basin The Hungarian conquest of the Carpathian Basin, also known as the Hungarian conquest or the Hungarian land-taking (), was a series of historical events ending with the settlement of the Hungarians in Central Europe in the late 9th and early 10t ...

around 896 Laborec opposed the conquest of Carpathian Ruthenia by Hungarian tribes led by Árpád. His existence is controversial as the only source that mentions him, Gesta Hungarorum, was written in the 13th century, more than 300 years after his presumed rule.

Laborec in the account of the '' Gesta Hungarorum''

During the 9th century, a fortified castle changed into a fortified early

feudal Feudalism, also known as the feudal system, was the combination of the legal, economic, military, cultural and political customs that flourished in Middle Ages, medieval Europe between the 9th and 15th centuries. Broadly defined, it was a wa ...

town-settlement (now Uzhhorod), which became the centre of a new Slavonic principality ruled by Laborec. When Tsar Simeon the Great began expanding his

Bulgarian Empire In the medieval history of Europe, Bulgaria's status as the Bulgarian Empire ( bg, Българско царство, ''Balgarsko tsarstvo'' ) occurred in two distinct periods: between the seventh and the eleventh centuries and again between the ...

, he gained control of a segment of territory, forcing Laborec to recognize his authority at the end of the 9th century. In 896 the Hungarian tribes crossed the Carpathian Range and migrated into Pannonian Basin. Prince Laborec fell from power under the efforts of the Hungarians and the Kievan forces. Laborec was defeated and killed on the banks of the

Laborec The Laborec ( ukr, Лаборець; hu, Laborc) is a river in eastern Slovakia that flows through the districts of Medzilaborce, Humenné, and Michalovce in the Košice Region, and the Prešov Region. The river drains the Laborec Highlands. It ...

river that still carries his name.

Debate about the existence and identity of Laborec

According to a number of modern historians Laborec was not a real person,Benkő, Bóna, Jakó, Tonk, Vekov
ERDÉLY A KERESZTÉNY MAGYAR KIRÁLYSÁGBAN
2001, . and some consider him a ruler of White Croats.

References

{{Reflist, 2 Uzhhorod 9th-century deaths People from Uzhhorod History of Carpathian Ruthenia Great Moravia European nobility Gesta Hungarorum Year of birth unknown 9th-century Slavs Slavic warriors

Laborec in the account of the '' Gesta Hungarorum''

Debate about the existence and identity of Laborec

See also

References