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Early Slavs settled in the eastern and southern parts of the former Roman province ofPannonia. The termLower Pannonia[a] was used to designate those areas of thePannonian Plain that lie to the east and south of the riverRába, with the division intoUpper andLower inherited from the Roman terminology.
From the middle of the 6th to the end of the 8th century, the region was under the dominion of theAvars, while the Slavic inhabitants lived under Avar rule. By the beginning of the 9th century, afterAvar Wars, that state was destroyed and replaced by the supreme rule of theFrankish Empire, which lasted until theMagyar conquest (c. 900).[1][2][3]
During the Frankish period, the region of Lower Pannonia was governed by local Slavic rulers, who were under the suzerainty of Frankish kings. Within the Frankish administrative system, theMarch of Pannonia was created, with direct Frankish rule exercised inUpper Pannonia through Frankish counts, whileLower Pannonia was governed as a principality by local Slavic princes, under the supreme Frankish rule. During the 9th century, Frankish domination in Lower Pannonia was also contested by theBulgarian Empire andGreat Moravia.[1][2][4]
By the 10th century, theHungarian conquest of the Carpathian Basin split the Slavs in the region into theWest Slavs and theSouth Slavs.
Roman rule inPannonian regions collapsed during the 5th century, and was replaced by subsequent domination ofHuns,Ostrogoths andLombards.[5] During the reign of Byzantine EmperorJustin II (565–578), and following theLombard-Gepid War in 567, Pannonia was invaded byAvars who subsequently conquered almost entirePannonian Plain (568). Although it is possible that some small Proto-Slavic groups could have arrived in the "middle of the 5th century and the time of Hunnish domination",[6] during the 6th and 7th centuries, Pannonian regions were certainly inhabited bySlavs, who were under the Avarian rule.[7][8][9]
During theFrankish war against Avars, theRoyal Frankish Annals made mention of aWonomyrus Sclavus (Vojnomir the Slav or Zvonomir the Slav) active in 795.Eric, Duke of Friuli, sent Vojnomir with his army into Pannonia, between theDanube andTisza, where they pillaged the Avars' dominions. The next year the Avars were defeated and Frankish power was extended further east, to the central Danube.[10] In the mid-9th century, Lower Pannonia was already inhabited by a Slavic majority (besides "Pannonian Slavs" includingDulebes and possibly someCroats[11]),[12] and Christian Avars were also found in Lower Pannonia in 873.[13]
After the destruction of the Avarian state, Pannonian Slavs came under Frankish rule. Initially, local Slavic princes were under Frankish suzerainty, within theMarch of Pannonia,[14] and some of them are known from Frankish primary sources. PrinceLjudevit was mentioned in theRoyal Frankish Annals asDuke of Lower Pannonia (Latin:Liudewiti, ducis Pannoniae inferioris),[15][16] having led an uprising against the Franks (811–822).[17] Their motives aren't known but it's presumed to have been led by the desire for greater autonomy.[18] He was joined by theCarantanians,Carniolans, reportedly Slavs aroundSalzburg and was supported byFortunatus II [de] (Patriarch of Grado) - which was a substantial threat as their strength partly mirrored the former Avar Khaganate.[19] His stronghold was inSisak (Latin:Siscia), former metropolis of ancient Roman provincePannonia Savia.[20][21] However, the exact boundaries of his principality are uncertain as the term of Lower Pannonian could have implied both the lands between the riverDrava andSava as well as north of them and east of them in the former Roman provincePannonia Secunda (today'sSyrmia).[17] Possibly his rule expanded further to the east because in the historical sources is said to have been joined by the tribe ofTimočani who lived aroundTimok Valley (in today's eastern Serbia). The size of the principality had to be proportional to the resources needed to rebel against the military forces ofBorna of Dalmatia and Franks.[18]
After Ljudevit's failed uprising and death,[22] in 827 theBulgars under Great KhanOmurtag invaded and conquered Lower Pannonia and parts of Frankish territories to the north.[23][24] They also installed their own governors.[25] The Bulgarian-Frankish conflict was probably spurred over the control of the tribes of Timočani andAbodrites.[25] German KingLouis in 828 made a counterattack and eventuallyMarch of Friuli was divided into four counties. One of them probably was earlyDuchy of Croatia (which also expanded upon the territory of Sisak[26]) while Pannonia again became part of the Pannonian March, both of which vassals toEast Francia.[25] The next year Bulgars made another attack but without further success, although the territory of Pannonia most probably lost its eastern part to theFirst Bulgarian Empire.[25]
After that, in 838 a local Slavic princeRatimir emerged as the new ruler in Lower Pannonian regions, around rivers Drava and Sava. He probably ruled the eastern areas of Pannonia and was a Bulgar's governor.[27] To him fledPribina, former prince of thePrincipality of Nitra expelled byMojmir I of Moravia.[28] In the same year Frankish countRadbod of the East March deposed Ratimir and strengthened Frankish rule in Lower Pannonia.[29] Ratimir fled the land, and the Franks instated Slavic prince Pribina as the new ruler of Lower Pannonia.[30][27] Pribina (d. 861) was succeeded by his son, princeKocel. During the rule of Pribina and Kocel, capital of the Principality of Lower Pannonia was Mosapurc (Mosapurc regia civitate),[31] also known inOld-Slavonic asBlatnograd (modernZalavár nearLake Balaton).[32] The polity was a vassalprincipality of the Frankish Empire,[33] or according to others,[34] a frontiercounty (Latin:comitatus) of theEastern Frankish Kingdom. It was initially led by adux (Pribina) and later by acomes (Kocel) who was titled as "Count of the Slavs" (Latin:Comes de Sclauis).[14] Their authority stretched towards the northwest up to theRába river andPtuj, and to the southeast up to theBaranya region and the Danube river.[14] During the time of Kocel, Byzantine missionaryMethodius was active in Lower Pannonia,[35] and to the same period is datedPope John VIII's letter to uncertaindux Mutimir, commonly considered to beMutimir of Serbia,[a] about the formation of theDiocese of Pannonia with the seat inSirmium and which archbishop at Kocel's request was Methodius (see alsoArchbishopric of Moravia).[36]
The course of events by the end of the 9th century is unclear. Although still under the Frankish influence, a new threat was coming fromSvatopluk I of Moravia.[36]Braslav was the lastdux of Lower Pannonia between at least 884 and 896.[37] His territory initially spanned between the Drava and Sava, which he held under the overlordship ofArnulf of Carinthia. He participated in theFrankish–Moravian War, and in 895 or 896 Arnulf handed over Pannonia to him in order to secure the Frankish frontier against a new threat - theHungarians who conqueredGreat Moravia.[38][39] However, theHungarians subsequently overran all of Pannonian Basin and continued intoKingdom of Italy.[40][41]
Following the rise of thePrincipality of Hungary in the mid 890s, and especially afterBattle of Pressburg (907),[42] no further Slavic rulers were recorded in the regions of Lower Pannonia. The Hungarian conquest separated theWest Slavs from theSouth Slavs which influenced the formation of new Slavic identities.[43] Part of Moravian Slavs also fled to the Duchy of Croatia.[40] It seems that the new border between Croatia and Hungary was north of the town of Sisak based on a recent archaeological finding of a "knez from Bojna" nearGlina and that the diocese with the seat in Sisak was offered at thecouncil of Split (928) to bishopGregory of Nin, which could have only been possible if it was within the borders of theKingdom of Croatia.[27] In the mid 920s,Tomislav of Croatia expanded his rule to some Lower Pannonian territories, between Sava and Drava, adding them to the Croatian kingdom.[44] Until the end of the 11th century, its western border was also contested by theHoly Roman Empire,[42] and in the same time, southeastern Pannonian regions (Syrmia) were contested between Hungarians and Bulgarians throughout the 10th century. There has remained a general uncertainty and dispute over the borders between the Croatian and Hungarian states in the 10th and 11th century, with Croatian historianFerdo Šišić and his followers assuming Tomislav of Croatia had ruled most of the area inhabited by Croats, including southern Pannonian regions (Slavonia), while the Hungarian historiansGyula Kristó,Bálint Hóman andJános Karácsonyi thought the area between Drava and Sava rivers belonged neither to Croatia nor to Hungary at the time, an opinion thatNada Klaić said she would not preclude, because the generic name "Slavonia" (lit. the land of the Slavs) may have implied so.[45] However it was probably more connected and under influence of Croatia.[42] With the continued growth of population, the formation of the church and administrative organization, including the founding of thediocese of Zagreb (1094), even afterCroatia entered a personal union with theKingdom of Hungary it retained partial autonomy having governor titled asBan of Slavonia.[46]
The population's inhumation practices and rituals differed and mixed upon various cultural and ethnic influences.[47] Even after the Frankish defeat of Avars and the process ofChristianization some pagan practices and rituals did not change, like a cemetery in rows, feasting at the funeral or steppe burial rite with horse and equipment.[48] Many new settlements were founded around ancient towns and one of them, Sisak, was even the seat of a Christiandiocese.[49] The native and mainly sedentary Slavic population assimilated Avars and was part of Avaro-Slavic Middle-Danube culture.[50] Sedov considered that those Slavs were a mixture ofSclaveni ofPrague-Korchak culture and mostlyAntes ofPenkovka andIpotesti–Candesti culture with some Martinovka cultureartifacts.[51] According to M. Guštin and L. Bekić, radiocarbon dating confirmed dating to late 6th and early 7th century, but although the Pannonian and nearAlpine Slavs material culture had features of both Korchak and Penkovka-type, predominates Korchak-type with parallels in northern Slovenia, Austria and Hungary (among others from western Slovakia and Czechia's region of Moravia up to Ukraine, Poland, eastern Germany and Romania), indicating mostly migration to northern Croatia through theMoravian Gate between eastern Austria and western Hungary, but not excluding another migration wave from Lower and Middle Danube, upstream of the river Sava and Drava.[52][53][54][55] Later they also assimilated Hungarians, but eventually through the administrative system were linguistically assimilated by the Hungarians themselves.[56] In the 10th century, a so-calledBijelo Brdo culture was formed due to interaction with the Hungarians, located in the area of Middle Danube.[57] In the modern-day Northern Croatia, in the late 10th and early 11th century can be observed contacts between Bijelo Brdo culture, oldCroatian-Dalmatian culture, Carinthian-Köttlach culture and old-Hungarian culture.[58] In Lower Pannonia were found many cemeteries which shows that the region "had a numerous population during the eleventh century".[59]
According to thecraniometrical measurements and archaeological findings early Croats did not initially settle in Lower Pannonia and their relationship with Pannonian Slavs was more political rather than ethnic.[60][61] Others argue that the "Bijelo Brdo and Vukovar cemeteries can hardly be regarded evidence of a pre-Croatian Slavic population in northern Croatia" and they rather "represent a population fleeing the Magyars" during the 10th century".[62]
Contemporary Latin sources referred to the region asPannonia inferior (Lower Pannonia),[37][63] and its inhabitants in general terms of Slavs and Pannonians.[17] Nevertheless, a whole century under the foreign Frankish rule there did not emerge a singlegens with a specific identity for the population.[40] In the 19th and 20th centuryCroatian historiography, the focus was usually placed on the polity between the riversDrava andSava. They referred to the polity asPannonian Croatia (Croatian:Panonska Hrvatska), to describe this entity in a manner that emphasized its Croatian nature, mainly based onDe Administrando Imperio (DAI) chapter 30.[64] While DAI claims that a part of the DalmatianCroats had moved into Pannonia in the 7th century (also ruled over it and its duke had amicable relationship with the duke of Croatia), some modern analysis of sources indicate this was unlikely. According to Croatian historian Hrvoje Gračanin, the traditions and language of the Slavs of southern Pannonia did not differ from those inDalmatia, so during the periods when Frankish sources did not record a specific ruler of Lower Pannonia, it is possible that the Croatian dukes of Dalmatia, who were also Frankish vassals at the time, extended control over the region.[64] However, the number of Croats in Lower Pannonia "must have been negligible when compared to other Slav(icized) populations",[65] and south–north migration most probably reflects Frankish imposition of Croatian elite from Dalmatia to Lower Pannonia.[66]
The Croatian name was not used in contemporary sources, until the late 9th century, rendering the name anachronistic before then,[64][67] but many toponyms deriving from theCroatian ethnonym are very old and at least from the period between 11th and 12th century.[68] While the term "Croat" was not used in sources about Pannonia, the rulers of theTrpimirović dynasty afterTrpimir called themselves the rulers of the Croats and of the Slavs.[69] Since "Pannonian Croatia" politically and ethnically never existed, being a historiographical and not historical term,[70] it is abandoned in modern Croatian historiography which uses instead the term "Donja Panonija" (Lower Pannonia).[71][72][73]
The continuity of Slavic rulers in Lower Pannonia is unclear, and they were not consistently part of a ruling dynasty, unlike those in the north (House of Mojmir) and the south (House of Trpimir).
| Monarch | Reign |
|---|---|
| Vojnomir | ca. 790–810 |
 Ljudevit | ca. 810–823 |
| Ratimir | ca. 829–838 |
.jpg) Pribina | ca. 846–861 |
 Kocel | ca. 861–876 |
| Braslav | ca. 882–896 |
Lower Pannonia In the middle of the ninth century, the Pannonian Slavs constituted the majority of the population of Lower Pannonia.
Christian Avars are still mentioned under the year 873 as found in Lower Pannonia.
Pannonia inferior cum duce Braslao ad officium rediit
{{cite book}}:|work= ignored (help)CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)The report refers to the uprising of Liudewitus, dux Pannoniae inferioris (Ljudevit Posavski), which was joined by the inhabitants of Carniola (Annales regni Francorum, ad a. 818 — 823).
Panonska Hrvatska, historiografski pojam za područje koje je u IX. i X. st. uglavnom bilo omeđeno rijekama Dravom, Savom, Kupom i Sutlom te Požeškim gorjem. U istom se značenju javlja pojam Posavska Hrvatska. Iako sustavnih istraživanja razvoja terminologije nema, čini se da starija hrvatska historiografija (I. Kukuljević Sakcinski, F. Rački, T. Smičiklas, V. Klaić) uglavnom ne rabi te nazive nego, primjerice, ime Doljnja Panonija i Posavina (T. Smičiklas, Poviest Hrvatska, II, 1882) ili Slovinska zemlja (V. Klaić, Povjest Hrvata od najstarijih vremena do svršetka XIX. stoljeća, I–VI, 1899–1922). Iznimka je Š. Ljubić (O Posavskoj Hrvatskoj i o zlatnih novcih njezina zadnjega kneza Serma (1018), u Radu JAZU, 1878). Vjerojatno je pojam Panonska Hrvatska uveo F. Šišić u svojem Pregledu povijesti hrvatskoga naroda (1916), u kojem piše: »U bivšoj Savskoj Panoniji … širila se posebna oblast u kojoj je sve do XVII. stoljeća prevladavalo slavensko ime, pa joj odatle i ime Sclavonia u latinskim spomenicima, a Slovinci, Slovinje u hrvatskim; mi ćemo je zvati Panonskom Hrvatskom.« Iako ga Šišić ne rabi u svojoj Povijesti Hrvata u vrijeme narodnih vladara (1925), taj je pojam bio prihvaćen u historiografiji te se proširio napose zahvaljujući školskim udžbenicima i popularnim pregledima povijesti. Iako je u znanstvenom diskursu uglavnom napušten (primjerice: M. Barada, N. Klaić, T. Raukar, I. Goldstein, N. Budak), održao se, zajedno s terminom Posavska Hrvatska, u uporabi do danas (Hrvatski povijesni atlas Leksikografskoga zavoda Miroslav Krleža, 2003). Kao sinonim javlja se u literaturi i termin Sjeverna Hrvatska (T. Macan, Povijest hrvatskog naroda, 1992). Nijedan od spomenutih termina nije povijesni. U onodobnim se vrelima navedeno područje označavalo nazivima Pannonia, Pannonia inferior, regnum inter Savum et Dravum ili pak kao zemlja kneza koji je u određenom trenutku njome vladao.
