THE CAROLINGIAN AGE IN THE CARPATHIAN BASIN 2 Béla Miklós Szőke THE CAROLINGIAN AGE IN THE CARPATHIAN BASIN PERMANENT EXHIBITION OF THE HUNGARIAN NATIONAL MUSEUM HUNGARIAN NATIONAL MUSEUM ■ BUDAPEST ■ 2014 EXHIBITION CATALOGUE CURATORS OF THE EXHIBITION Annamária Bárány EDITORS Katalin Gergely László Révész Ágnes Ritoók Béla Miklós Szőke István Vörös PHOTOGRAPHY András Dabasi Judit Kardos CONTRIBUTOR Katalin Gergely ILLUSTRATIONS Balázs Holl Main partner institution (in the preparation and exhibition Béla Nagy of the Carolingian period) RESEARCH CENTER FOR Narmer Architecture Studio HUMANITIES, HUNGARIAN ACADEMY OF Sándor Ősi SCIENCES, INSTITUTE OF ARCHAEOLOGY Zsolt Vieman LENDERS Balatoni Múzeum, Keszthely TRANSLATED BY Judit Pokoly Göcseji Múzeum, Zalaegerszeg Lara Strong Hungarian Natural History Museum, Budapest Christopher Sullivan Rippl-Rónai Múzeum, Kaposvár Soproni Múzeum BOOK LAY OUT Dóra Kurucz Thúry György Múzeum, Nagykanizsa PRINTED BY Dürer Nyomda Kft. MODELS Narmer Architecture Studio PUBLISHED BY Hungarian National Museum, Budapest, ANIMATION Narmer Architecture Studio László Csorba Történelmi Animációs Egyesület BOWS AND BOW RACKS Pál Szabó ISBN 978 615 5209 17 8 Interactive Exhibits Kft. ARCHITECTURAL AND GRAPHICAL DESIGN Narmer Architecture Studio © Authors, 2014 © Hungarian National Museum, 2014 CONSTRUCTION Vektor Kft. Beige-Bau Kft. GRAPHICS Drava Dekor Kft. CONSERVATION Department of Conservation of the Hungarian National Museum HAS Institute of Archaeology, Conservation Lab THE EXHIBITION AND THE CATALOGUE WERE SPONSORED BY: INSTALLATION Exhibition Staging Team of the Hungarian National Museum PROJECT COORDINATION Ágnes Ritoók CONTENTS THE SETTING UP OF CAROLIN­gIAN 38 ADMINISTRATION IN PANNONIA The first counties in the Danube valley 38 Pannonia inferior in the lands between the 39 THE CAROLINGIAN AGE IN THE 7 Drava and Sava rivers – the rebellion of CARPATHIAN BASIN Liudewit (818–823) ■ Béla Miklós Szőke Timochani, Abodriti, Praedenecenti, 41 Moravians, Avars (822) THE DISINTEGRATION OF THE 9 Battles in Lower Pannonia between 819 42 AvAR KHAGANATE and 822 The leading dignitaries of the Avar 9 The Bulgar conquest (827–829) 44 khaganate in the late Avar age Reorganisation of the administration (828) 46 Charlemagne’s campaign (791) 10 Localisation of the counties organised 46 The Avar ‘civil war’ 12 from the marches The tudun 13 Sabaria civitas 48 Pippin’s campaign (796) 14 The counties of Ratpod and Rihheri 50 Avar rearguard actions 15 THE MOSABURG COUNTY OF 51 The Blatnica finds 17 PRIWINA AND CHEZIL (KOCEL) A victory for Krum Khan? 18 Priwina 51 The kapkhan and his people ‘inter Sabariam 19 Priwina and Nitrava 51 et Carnuntum’ and the ‘old dignity’ of Flight and settlement 53 the khagan (805) Priwina’s fortified manor house 55 The kapkhan 21 on Zalavár-Castle Island The Cundpald chalice 23 Dux and comes in the Carolingian East 57 Peace in Aachen (811) 24 The character of the Carolingian 59 The canizauci 25 administration in Pannonia The cultural face of the khaganate at the 26 PRIWINA AND THE CAROLINGIAN 59 end of the Avar age ADMINISTRATION Ceramic from settlements in the eastern 27 From vassal to proprietor with full rights 59 half of the Carpathian Basin Priwina and the Church of Salzburg 61 Vörs-Papkert 33 Evangelisation and evangelisers in the first 61 ■ László Költő - József Szentpéteri decade Sopronkőhida 37 Dominicus 63 5 Zalavár – Castle Island, the Church of St. 65 John the Baptist and the well structure Zalavár – Castle Island, Church of the 66 Virgin Mary ANIMAL FINDS FROM MOSABURG- 125 Sandrat and Ermperht 67 ZALAVÁR Zalavár – Récéskút, ‘basilica’ 69 ■ Annamária Bárány- István Vörös Zalaszabar – Borjúállás, timber church 71 and manor house ■ Róbert Müller Salapiugin 76 Building up a network of private churches 76 Place-names in Carolingian Pannonia 77 Swarnagal and Altfrid 78 Pilgrimage church and cloister of the 82 Martyr Hadrian, Zalavár–Castle Island WOODEN REMAINS FROM THE 135 Stone carvings 85 9TH AND 10TH CENTURIES Fragments of coloured and painted 86 ■ András Gryneaus windowpanes Bell mould 88 Workshops around the Hadrian pilgrimage 89 church Rihpaldus 91 Chezil (Kocel) and Methodius 91 Constantine and Methodius in Moravia and 91 in Mosaburg Methodius, archbishop of Pannonia and 93 Moravia Bulla of Georgios, Zalavár–Castle Island 98 Mosaburc regia civitas – royal palatinate 98 King Arnolf’s Palace, Zalavár–Castle 100 Island Society in the Carpathian Basin in the 103 Carolingian age as revealed by burials The attire of the elite and common people in 104 Mosaburg Ceramic tableware and a set of kitchen 110 vessels in Mosaburg/Zalavár THE DISINTEGRATION OF THE 111 CAROLINGIAN EAST Hungarians on the Danube – Great Plain in 111 the second half of the 9th century The end-game of the Carolingian Empire in 116 Pannonia The Battle of Brezalauspurc 120 Selected bibliography 122 6 Béla Miklós Szőke THE CAROLINGIAN AGE IN THE CARPATHIAN BASIN 7 8 THE DISINTEGRATION OF THE AvAR KHAGANATE THE LEADING DIGNITARIES OF THE AVAR During the 560s, the eastern half of Europe, the area KHAGANATE IN THE LATE AVAR AGE stretching from the Black Sea to the eastern Alps, was conquered at lightning speed by the Avars, tribes In the life of the steppe empires, division of power living a nomadic life on the steppes of Inner and resulting in breakaway territories and the eventual Central Asia who were driven westwards before the birth of new empires was not a rare occurrence. increasing power of Turkic peoples. Along with aux- Increasingly independent, members of the ruling dy- iliary Slav fighters from their new homeland, they nasty who performed supervision of military and successfully pillaged the Eastern Roman Empire for administrative tasks, and also governors placed in decades. After an unsuccessful siege of Constantino- charge of ethnic groups within the empire, may ple (626), however, they suffered significant political have attempted to share out the power exercised defeats and territorial losses. Confined behind the by a single person and to break away. The process ring formed by the Carpathian Mountains, in the last may also have been hastened by succession issues decades of the 7th century the Avars constructed an and a weakening of the charisma of the ruling dy- in-depth border-defence system, i.e. marches, consist- nasty. Generally speaking, one of these factors, or ing of uninhabited swathes of land, especially in a possibly a number of them, characterise the period westerly direction against the dukedom of Bavaria which follows the victorious establishment of an and the increasingly powerful Carolingian Empire empire. In such a period, lack of success on the part which lay behind it. Around 680, they attacked and of the ruling dynasty eventually leads to a division of destroyed the town of Lauriacum (Lorch), extending power on the basis of compromise, with two ruling this protective zone outwards to the River Enns, and, princes instead of just one, or the formation of an by so doing, probably incorporated the Slav ‘state’ of oligarchic leading stratum, as happened among the Samo. The Vinedi–Slavs who earlier on had served as Avars after the 680s. At the end of the 8th century, a befulcus, i.e. as a type of vanguard, were again a succession of new, hitherto unknown notables forced under Avar authority. In 692 already, this emerged. As well as the principal Avar dignitary, the new situation was sanctioned by a peace with the khagan, and his wife, the khatun, there appear the Franks. After this, the Avars cease to feature in the jugurrus – an official and a kind of vizier one degree written sources for almost 100 years, disappearing below the khagan who always came from the com- from the southern and western theatres of war. mon people – and the tudun. These were dignitaries Charlemagne, the ruler of the Carolingian Em- with authority throughout the land. In addition, pire, first met with emissaries of the Avars at the Im- there were the kapkhan, the tarkhan, the župan, and perial Diet convened in the spring of 782 in Pader- the canizauci, who may have been leaders of smaller born, where the River Lippe rises. In view of later territories enjoying more limited rights. events in Avar history, it was of decisive significance that these negotiations were attended not only by emissaries of the khagan, but also by emissaries of the jugurrus. at one and the same time the indirect weapon of an The official Frankish annals are silent regarding the embassy and the direct one of a threatening military reasons for, and consequences of, the Avar embassy. demonstration along the border. By 788, the Bavarian However, Bavarian monastery annals mention the principality had finally collapsed, in which process its marching of an Avar army along the River Enns. The alliance with the Avars was of no help. Having broken Avars were probably reacting to Duke Tassilo III of his oath of allegiance, Tassilo III was captured, Bavaria’s oath of allegiance to Charlemagne, which brought before a court, and exiled to a monastery represented the end of Bavarian independence, using along with his children. After this, under the leader- 9 Fig. 1 The Carpathian Basin c. 800-830 ■ 1 Border of the Carolingian Empire ■ 2 Border of Moravian Principality ■ 3 Border of the Danube-Bulgarian Principality after 828 ■ 4 Carolingian administration 800–828 ■ 5 Carolingian administration after 828 ■ 6 Charelamgne’s campaign 791 ■ 7 Avar campaign of Erich, duke of Friaul 795–797 ■ 8 Bulgarian campaigns (827–829) ■ 9 Hungarian campaigns (862, 881, 892, 894) ■ 10 Distribution area of the Eastern Frankish finds ■ 11 Central area of Mosaburg county and its agglomeration ■ 12 Roman road ship of Grahammanus and Audaccrus, Charlemagne’s own to their ‘chiefs’ in order to agree the borders of ‘emissaries’ (missi), the Franks and the Bavarians their respective countries. According to Einhard, ‘the crossed the Enns border and scored a victory over the dispute and lack of agreement over this issue became Avars on the Field of Ybbs (in campo Ibose).