Great Moravia

Czech Republic, 833 CE–907 CE. Draft, not yet reviewed

Great Moravia was the first major state that was predominantly West Slavic to emerge in Central Europe. It was centered on the Morava River, and its core covered today's Moravia in the eastern Czech Republic and adjacent western Slovakia. Moravia reached its largest territorial extent under Prince Svatopluk I, who ruled from 870 to 894. Internal conflicts after Svatopluk's death contributed to the fall of Great Moravia, which was overrun by the Hungarians.

Seat of power: Mikulčice

No rulers documented for this era yet.

Culture

• After the arrival of Saints Cyril and Methodius in 863, the Glagolitic alphabet was created, the first alphabet dedicated to a Slavic language.
• The kingdom saw the rise of the first-ever Slavic literary culture in the Old Church Slavonic language. Later, King Svatopluk I expelled the disciples of Cyril and Methodius from Great Moravia and re-oriented the empire to Western Christianity.
• Excavations at Mikulčice-Valy unearthed the remnants of twelve churches, a palace, and more than 2,500 graves.

Picture

A Slavic fortified settlement at Mikulčice-Valy was one of the main centres of the Great Moravian Empire, plausibly its capital city.

Image: This image is a work by Mercy. When reusing, please credit me as: Mercy from Wikimedia Commons. I would appreciate be..., CC BY-SA 3.0, file

Sources

• Great Moravia (Wikipedia)
• Great Moravia (Wikidata)
• About the picture (Wikipedia)

Text adapted from the Wikipedia articles listed as sources, CC BY-SA 4.0.