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| Christian monastery on Mount Carantania, |
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| the mountain of Temptation where Christ is tempted by Satan, in the Judea desert.
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Carantania, the mountain of Christ's Temptation
It is only by coincidence that the name of this mountain is identical to that of Carantania. Anyway, the coincidence is very characteristic. (Dr. Jožko Šavli, Dec. 15/09)
The summit of Mount of Temptation, rising to a height of 350 meters above sea level and commanding a magnificent and panoramic view of the Jordan Valley, is the site where Jesus (pbuh) spent forty days and forty nights fasting and meditating during the temptation of Satan, about 3 km northwest of Jericho.
A Greek Orthodox monastery was built in the 6th century over the cave where Christ stayed. This spot is another of the holy sites said to have been identified by Queen Helena in her pilgrimage of 326 AD.
The mountain; which from early Christian times has been called the Mount of Temptation; was referred to as "Mons Quarantana" by the Crusaders in the first half of the 12th century, and is locally known as Quruntul mountain (from Quaranta meaning forty, the number of days in the Gospel account of Christ's fast).
"... Again, the devil taketh him up into an exceeding high mountain, and sheweth him all the kingdoms of the world, and the glory of them; And saith unto him, All these things will I give thee, if thou wilt fall down and worship me. Then saith Jesus unto him, Get thee hence, Satan: for it is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve" Matthew (IV, 8-10).
To climb up the bare, rocky slopes of Carantania mountain might sound daunting, as the path leading to the Monastery of the Temptation is very steep and difficult to ascend but is well worth the walk, which is in fact a trek of only 15-30 minutes.
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| The nearly 30 to 40 caves on the eastern slopes of the mountain have been inhabited by monks and hermits since the early days of Christianity. (TrekEarth)
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Prof. Dr. Otto Kronsteiner's Research on
Carantanian Names
They also uncover the historical origin of Austria
Dr. Jožko Šavli
Recently, Prof. Dr. Kronsteiner (University of Salzburg) gave an interview in the daily Delo (Lublana, October 11, 2004), which was published under the title »Avstrijci so že dolgo Slovenci« (Austrians are Slovenians for a very long time already). In Slovenia, the release of the title and interview was causing a certain sensation. The author indicated the common predecessors of today's Austrians and Slovenians, which are to be searched in the ancient people of Carantania (Karantanija, Karantanien), the first historical State in the territory of modern Austria and Slovenia. Later, the name Austria prevailed over Carantania, and in its northern provinces the German language diffused among the people. But the political tradition of the primary State, which began with Carantania, remained to exist until today. (Author's Note)
The Carantanian Identity
Title page of Prof. Dr. Kronsteiner's work concerning the Carantanian Slovenian names
In my opinion, Prof. Dr. Otto Kronsteiner's research in regards to the Carantanian names, which was published already some decades ago, is outstanding in its uniqueness, and can be considered the best study until now. It bears the title »Die alpenslawischen Personennamen« /Alpine Slavs Personal Names/, published in Vienna, in 1975. But the Slovenian academic world ignored his work until now, because it was published during the period, when Slovenia was still part of Yugoslavia. At that time, any historical discoveries concerning Carantania, (the historical Slovenia), were under the strict control of the great-Serbian clique of Belgrade. Under its directives, it is true, Slovenian historians were not permitted to mention Carantania. Anyway, in this connection they had to adduce that the Caranantanian independence was only short-lived. Since 820 AD the Carantanian - Slovenian population should have fallen under the German »yoke«, from which they were liberated by their Serbian brethren as early as at the end of the WW1.
In his work, Prof. Dr. Kronsteiner gathered from charters no less than ca. 360 Carantanian - Slovenian names referring to ca. 600 persons. This is an enormous achievement, a very breakthrough in this field. Some time has passed since the publication of his work, and several cognizances concerning Carantania have been made. - For comparison read some of the many articles published in Carantha! - This is the reason, why I took the liberty to make some observations on the final statements, which Prof. Dr. Kronsteiner put at the end of his paper (pp. 192, 193).
First of all, I do not agree with Kronsteiner's opinion, that the names of Carantanian noblemen like Svetopolk, Mojmir, Gorazd, Preslav and others should serve as proof of their relations with Moravian nobility. - I think, this happened only consequently to the fact, that both, the Carantanians and the Moravians, descended from the same ethnos, the Western Slavs (ancient Veneti) and spoke nearly the same language. - Furthermore, the author says among other things: In the Carantanian names, the southern Slav phonetic influences can be perceived in the area surrounding the Alpine ridge (Tauern - Ture). - This is however quite normal. But these influences only surface here and there, it does not mean that Carantanians (Slovenians) can be placed among the Southern Slavs yet.
Second, Prof. Dr. Kronsteiner adduces that the Carantanian language term Alpine Slav is justified until the 11th century AD. Thereafter, in the area south of the Alpine ridge (a prominent borderline), i.e. in Carinthia and Styria, phonetic forms arose (among the vocals earlier, among the consonants later), which must be declared as Old Slovenian. - I do not agree, because phonetic influences do not change the vocabulary. The term »Alpine Slav« is simply a ideological construction. In fact, it denotes a supposed Alpine variant of the supposed ancient Slav (extended from the Alps to Urals), what in this case is not true.
In the same context, Prof. Kronsteiner mentions that the »Alpine Slav« has phonetic, morphological and name-typological properties, which are not found in other parts. Thus, it is all about the Slovenian language, and in this connection the term »Alpine Slav« is really wrong. - Therefore I think, the terms Old Slovenian (for Alpine Slav) and simply Slovenian (for Old Slovenian) would have been much more suitable. Indeed, the term »Alpine Slav« is not to be found in any historical record.
Names and the national identity
On this occasion, I would also like to draw attention to a list of names, which has been extracted from the Gradivo (Materials) of the Slovenian historian France Kos. The list was published by Venceslav Bele under the title Staroslovenska osebna imena /Old Slovenian Personal Names/, Gorica 1925. It contains about ca. 500 Old Slovenian names. But they have to be explained and need some description.
It is not possible to present in one and the same article the very extent of Prof. Kronsteiner's work. Today, the meaning of these names cannot be understood for the most part. We only can adduce some characteristics, which deserve further research and comparison. Several people were given names that reflected animals like Medved, Jelen, Kragel (meaning: bear, deer, hawk)... Today, they appear in Slovenian areas as surnames, respectively as family names. There are many other non registered examples, which likely have the same ancient origin: Golob (pigeon), Kos (blackbird), Orel (eagle) Vran (raven), Senica (titmouse), Grabec (sparrow), Cuk (screech-owl), Sova (owl), Volk (wolf), Volcic (wolfling) Lisjak (he-fox), Jazbec (badger), Zajc (hare), Košuta (hind),... Compared to the kingdom of nature, these names express the positive qualities of the wild animals: inventiveness, skill, power, speed... Domestic animals are represented only in Petelin (cock) and Macek (he-cat). They depict a personal liberty and creative activity.
As modern Slovenian family names appear also other examples of Carantanian personal names in Prof. Dr. Kronsteiner's work, like Ceh, Cerno, Maligoj, Malej, Meško... The meaning of Ceh (Czech), I suppose, is a »young boy«. The meaning of Cerno could be referred to a border patrolman. The name Sobodin, in its origin very probably Svobodin, today's surname Sabadin, designated a noble free man. The name Hrvat is very probable a form of Hervard, a Carantanian military peasant. The name Župan means the village major...
Several Slovenian personal names, which sound really »modern«, were already found among the Carantanian ones: Radigoj, Gojmir, Nežko, Drago, Dragomir, Slavko, Stojan, Svetko, Venko, Venceslav, Vladko, Vitan, Vitomir.... A large number of these names are parallel to those witnessed in Moravia... Some female names like Ljuba, Mirica, Mojca, Slava, Tunca... are still today modern and popular among Slovenian girls. - The name Zverica, 12th century AD (Kronsteiner, p. 89), finds its parallel in the name Selvaggia († 1244), daughter of the Emperor Frederic II and consort of Ezzelino da Romano, the major of Verona.
In Carantania, the aforesaid names of Slovenian origin appear until the 15th/16th century. However, we find also Bavarian (German) names, which prevailed in particular among the Carantanian nobility. This phenomenon is not very clear. It seems, this has to be ascribed mainly to the circumstance, that in the greatest part of Carantania Christianization was carried out by Salzburg, the Bavarian missions centre. Subsequently, Bavarian nobles very probably were godfathers to Carantanian noblemen and their families, and gave them German names at the time of baptism. These names, in the mundane sense of the word, certainly were not a fashion. They probably were given Christian names, because the Slovenian names were still testimony of the pagan past. Anyway, after centuries, characteristic Christian names, given in honour of Saints, Martyrs etc., finally prevailed.
Other reasons for the diffusion of German name forms in Carantania could be attributed to the fact that the names were written in the Latin script. The old-Slovenian language, it is true, was in use since the 8th century AD. Anyway, it was written in the very complex Glagolitic script, which was not practised outside of the church. Therefore, the German (Bavarian) writing and names could have been spread at a very early date in Carantania (the later Austria), which today is reflected in a rather German historical appearance.
In the national awakening of the 19th century AD, such a German historical image of Austria (the previous Carantania) has been misused for ideological purposes. Austria has been presented in triumph as a German historical formation. On the Slav side, however, the Slovenian speaking population was told to consider Austria as a »millenary« German yoke. Such imaginations were the base for the »Slav« rebellion toward this »yoke«. It is true, this meant the end of the Austrian Monarchy, which really fell at the end of the WW1. - However, the historical realty was another one.
The Interweaving of Slovenian and German
The personal names presented in the aforesaid study bear witness, that the early Slovenian linguistic or ethnical identity existed in Carantania already for a long time. In the following centuries the German language gradually took over. But this did not mean a forced Germanization, as adduced by the representatives of the pan-Slav ideology, it rather was a spontaneous process. In spite of the fact, that the German language was spreading all over and later prevailed, the Carantanian consciousness and identity continued to exist. The territory came into possession of the Habsburgs in 1282 and 1335. Only since that time the ancient Carantania began to be called Austria.
In search of its very identity, I would like to supplement Prof. Kronsteiner's paper by a finding of my own. With reference to Upper Styria, I found several Slovenian forms of (Christian) names pertaining to nobles and other people, which in the period until the 15th/16th century AD also appear in the charters. I am sure, such name forms appear in the archives of other Austrian provinces, too. They bear witness, that until the New Ages both languages, Slovenian and German, were diffused in the Carantanian - Austrian territory.
Liezen, or Lužin in Slovenian, the district centre in Upper Styria. There, in the late Middle Ages some Slovenian name forms of nobles appeared. The place-name of this site derives from the Slovenian word "luža" (puddle), meaning a site close to puddles. Today, the puddles very probably have been drained.
In this regard, I first quote examples found in the Irdning family in the Liezen - Lužin district, in Upper Styria (in parentheses you will see the modern Slovenian writing): Jans (Janž) and his cousin Plas (Blaž ) with his son Plasl (Blažel), registered in 1313. - The female name Petrissa (Petriša, Petruša) also appears in the charter of Admont, ca. 1145 AD. The name Georg generally is written as Jörg (Jurk, abbrev. of Jurko). - In the Pux family, in the Mura basin, I find perhaps the form Franzischg (Francišek), registered still in 1542, etc. The German name Kadalhoh or Kadolah, is abbreviated in Cholo. Anyway, in the charters we also find more often the form Chezil, i.e., the well-known Kocel. There also appears the name Walchun, in Slovenian writing Valhun, which very probably was a form of Volkun.
Further more, I think, the o-endings in many abbreviated names are of Slovenian origin. So, the well-known German name Siegfried appears as Sizo and Sigo. Mostly the last form would have been pronounced in Slovenian as Žigo. It is very probable, that the Slovenian parallel to Siegfried, rather than the literally not documented Zmagoslav or Zmagomir, was Vojnomir. Today, its abbreviated form Vojko is still diffused. The parallel name form like Mojmir - Manfred (Meinfried, literally »my peace«) is also witnessed in Moravia. Another parallel name, witnessed in Carantania, is Miroslav - Friedrich (Frederic). In my opinion, its abbreviated name Fritzl is rather a Fricel, a Slovenian or Slav generic form. The patriarch Frederic II of Aquileia (1084 - 1085), of Bohemian origin, was but also called Svatobor. In Carantania more cases of double nomination must have existed, even if they do not appear in the charters.
Some personal names appear in village names, very probably given by their founders (Hüttenbach, 1980). The name Yban (Ivan), one of the most characteristic cases, appears in the place name of Eibiswald (Ybanswalde, in 1265), etc. The place name Tuncendorf (near Knittelfeld, 12th century) is rather a reference to the female name Tunza (from Tunca, or Tuonca, and Tonca, still today in use, abbrev. of Antonia). The familiar form of the male name is Tonci (pron. Tontchi). Several abbreviated names have an o-ending, like Kuono (Konrad), Liuzo (Luitpold), Ratzo (Rapoto), Ruodo (Radigoj, Rüdiger), Walto (Vlado), Waltilo (Vladilo), Wezil (Vencel). In Slovenian the o-forms are still in use. Radigoy was the founder of Radgona (Radigoysburg, now Radkersburg).
Another popular name was Konrad. It could be connected to an antique legacy and could be even of Venetic origin, if it is a literally translation of the Greek name Philhippos (Phillip), in Veneti and Slovenian kon(j) rad, (the one who likes horses). The German origin Kühnrat is not very possible. In Carantania this name appears in several Slovenian forms, like Kunzl (Kuncel) of the Sourowe (Saurau) family, in 1303. Then, as a diminutive Cuncs (pron. Kuntch) of the Staudauer family, in 1237. Likewise Chunczo (pron. Kuntcho, ca. 1300) in the Welzer or Belca family (Pirchegger, 1958). - Interesting are the names ending on - goj (pron. goy). So, a Možegoj (spelled Moseguo) appears ca. 890 at Semmering. The nobleman Vitogoj (Witogowo) is in 859 a landowner in Admont (Ademundi Valley)….
These are only several cases, which witness the presence of the Slovenian language in the area, in which later German gradually prevailed. Very probably, this happened also under the influence of the Habsburgs and their German speaking courts in Vienna and in Graz. It is true, the old name Carantania fell into oblivion and the new name Austria was diffused. Anyway, the leading class did not forget their common Carantanian origin. Carinthia continued the political Carantanian tradition. In German this province is called Kärnten, which is an abbreviation of Carantania. Its Slovenian name is Koroška, which also was used for Carantania. It is very interesting, that the Czechs and Slovakians are still using the name Rakusko for Austria, which is a metathesis of Korusko (Carinthia, Carantania). Thus, they did not adopt the new name Austria. The country, with which they share the border, since times immemorial is known to them only as Koroška - Carantania.
In the present-day Austria as well as in the former Yugoslavia, this historical fact has been ignored. It is still that way in modern Slovenia. The historical image of Slovenians, which was created, is that of the »serfs under the German masters«. Such an untrue image has been presented in the universities of the world for nearly two centuries. In sociology, this phenomenon is known as »bias« meaning a simple copying of what already was expressed and published. In Austria, as I believe, Prof. Dr. Kronsteiner boldly broke off with such ideological practice and interpretation of history, culture and identity of both Austrians and Slovenians.
Literature
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Otto Kronsteiner: Die alpenslawischen Personennamen, published by Österreichische Gesellschaft für Namenforschung, Sonderreihe 2, Vienna 1975
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Fritz Frhr. Lochner von Hüttenbach: Zur Bildung deutscher Ortsnamen in der Zeit der Traungauer, published in: Das Werden der Steiermark. Die Zeit der Traungauer, Graz 1980, p. 369 ff. - Regretfully, the author does not quote the Slovenian origin of the personal names, which he adduces in several cases and tries to hide the Slovenian historical presence in Carantania.
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Hans Pirchegger: Landesfürst und Adel in Steiermark während des Mittelalters (Forschungen zur Verfassungs- und Verwaltungsgeschichte der Steiermark), XVI. Band, Graz 1958.
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Venceslav Bele: Staroslovenska osebna imena /Old Slovenian names/, in: Koledar Goriške Mohorjeve družbe, Gorica 1925, pp. 32, 33
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The Mute of Osoje
and Boleslav II the Bold, King of Poland,
a legend or the truth?
View on idyllic Osoje from the opposite bank of the lake, and the arms of the Abbey.
Dr. Jožko Šavli
On the shady side of Lake Osoje (Ossiach), in Carinthia (Austria), there was founded an abbey during the Carantian period, in 1024. In Slovenian, the name Osoje (pl.) means a "shady place". The German form Ossiach derives from the fifth case pl. (locative), which in Slovenian language would be spelled "v Osojah". The records mention Count Oci from the family of the Ottokars, and his consort Countess Irenburg, as founders of the monastery. It is possible, that the founding was more decisive on her part, because the document says: … Irenburch fundatrics monasterii Ossiach...
In the then Carantania, Count Oci was a very important person. He was the king's representative in the duchy, and his county was the pagus Karintriche, the core district of Carantania. It was the important historical field of Svatne (Zollfeld) with the ducal castle Krnski grad (Karnburg) on the western side and the cathedral of Gospa Sveta (Maria Saal) to the east. The then great duchy of Carantania comprised also the March of Friuli with the ancient city of Aquileia, where Patriarch Poppo (1019 - 1042) resided, the son of Oci and Irenburg.
The latter, together with his brother Ocinus, were the sole heirs of their parents. Already in 1028, Patriarch Poppo acquired from his brother Ocinus the monastery in Osoje, and so it became the property of the Patriarchate of Aquileia. Poppo was one of the most important patriarchs. One of his many achievements in the ancient city of Aquileia, was the erection of the magnificent Romanesque cathedral and the imposing bell-tower, which were built on the ruins of the ancient Roman basilica.
Boleslav II the Bold, King of Poland - a drawing by J. Mateyko
It was toward the end of the 11th century AD, when the Abbey in Osoje became associated with the story, or legend, concerning Boleslav II the Bold, the King of Poland, (duke 1058, king 1076 - 1079). According to the story, King Boleslav II the Bold, spent the last years of his life in this abbey. His life story is as follows:
In 1058, Boleslav II, as the eldest son, succeeded his late father, Duke Casimir I the Restorer, on the Polish throne. Because of his great courage one called him "the bold". In the then dispute between Pope Gregory VII and Emperor Henry IV, he put himself on the pope's side. In this way he assured himself of the papal acknowledgement, and the Pope gave permission for his crowning as King of Poland. The crowning was carried out in Gniezno in the presence of the papal legates, in 1076.
However, at that time the centre of Poland was Krakow, where the royal court was established. The bishop there was a very pious man, Stanislav by name. He constantly criticized King Boleslav II, who reigned in a very violent manner. The people lived in fear of the ruler, but not so Bishop Stanislav. And because the king continued his violent behaviour towards the innocence people, Bishop Stanislav declared him excommunicated from the Church. He also declared an interdict over Krakow, so that mass was temporarily forbidden in the city. The king was furious. He was humiliated in front of all his subjects, and he prepared himself for revenge. Once, when Bishop Stanislav prepared himself for Mass at the church of St. Michael outside of Krakow, he followed him and killed him with his sword in the church. This happened in 1079. This action started a general revolt in all Poland. Boleslav II was forced to flee. It is said, that he sought shelter in Hungary, where he should have died in 1081.
But such explanation of his death has been not proven, and here the legend or the truth of Osoje begins. - In the shelter in Hungary, Boleslav's conscience started to torment him. He came to the conclusion to go to Rome as a beggar wanting to make penitence and to obtain remission from the Pope for his crime. In 1080, on his return home, he knocked on the door of the Abbey in Osoje, and he presented himself as a mute. He was allowed to live there as a servant, and he carried out the lowest work. Only after nine years, on his death bed, he revealed his identity and then died, in 1089.
The grave stone of Boleslav II with the inscription
Because of lacking documentation, the historians are doubtful about his dwelling in the monastery. Around 1480, the abbey was destroyed by fire, and most records were lost. One can suppose, that among the burnt material could have been charters concerning Boleslav. Anyway, on the cemetery behind the abbey church a stone slab has been found with the following inscription engraved: REX BOLESLAVS POLONIE OCCISOR SANCTI STANISLAI EPISCOPI CRACOVIENSIS (King Boleslav Homicide of St. Stanislav Bishop of Krakow).
In the present-day Carinthia, the experts ascertain, that the stone slab with the inscription is in fact a Roman stone, depicting a saddled horse without the rider. But the inscription, in Renaissance characters, should have been engraved not earlier then in the 16th century. The Roman origin of the stone is very probably genuine. Not so the explanation of the "Renaissance" characters, which lead consequently to a very late dating of the inscription. In Carinthia, because of the Germanizing atmosphere and because of the general aversion of the "Slavs", the falsifications of history substantiated "scientifically", are already a principle in this Austrian province.
Furthermore, one says, that the existence of Boleslav's grave was not confirmed through the excavations. It is but very probable, that Boleslav II, because of his penitence, would have been buried as a common friar. He could not have foreseen, that at one time this fact would run through the mills of the pan-German and pan-Slav ideology. Anyway, his "legend" was not written down until 1521. It is possible, however, that a testifying letter was lost in the fire. In 1615, during a visitation of the Abbey in Osoje, it was commented, that groups of Polish pilgrims visited Boleslav's grave.
The well-known historian Valvasor in his Topographia Archiducatus Carinthiae from 1688, is referring to the manuscript called "Breviario Historiae Carinthiae" and to Megiser, who mentions the Slovenian written letters between father Oci and his son Poppo before the foundation of the monastery. They were translated into Latin. Valvasor carries the contents of the first under the title "Litterae ex Sclavonica in latino" and the second as "Responsum Poponis". Valvasor also cited the contents of an ancient manuscript with the following words by Boleslav in Latin:
Rex homicida ego sum, profugus, & scelere dives,
Hic latui, luxi, deplorans facinus audax,
Ne tamen ob crimen Coelestis vindicet Ultor,
Sanguine purpureo tingentem sidera olympi
Te Stanislae rogo, precantis advoca causam.
Translated: I am king homicide, expellee, and full of rancour. I am hiding here, and I became well-known, after I repented my sins. Anyway, because the divine Vengeance will not require the return of my crime, I am begging you, oh Stanislav, that you with your purple blood souse the stars of the heaven and that you accept penitence from the one, who is asking you.
It is also possible, that in the period, when Valvasor described the Abbey of Osoje, some documents concerning Boleslav II were preserved from the fire that destroyed the building. But this abbey, too, was suspended during the reforms carried out by Emperor Joseph II (1780 - 1790), and thereafter the documents were lost. All this data and the fact, that groups of Polish pilgrims were visiting Osoje, give enough reason, that the story in quality of a "legend" has to be refused. - It was in 1883, when the well-known Slovenian epic poet, Anton Aškerc, published his ballad, called "Mutec osojski" (The Mute of Osoje). In this way, the story of Boleslav II and his dwelling in the Abbey of Osoje entered the Slovenian literature.
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| Today's building of the Cater Home |
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| (kmet ustolicevalec, Herzogsbauer) |
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| in Blažja vas (Blasendorf) near Klagenfurt – Celovec, Carinthia (Austria) |
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| "Cater" - the meaning of the name. |
Dr. Jožko Šavli, October 6, 2008
Browsing through the website Ancestry.co.uk, I was somewhat surprised to encounter an explanation for the name Cater, (pron. Tchater), which should have the following meaning in Slovenian :
...the installation of the Carantanian rulers and, later, Carinthian dukes, derived from the dialect verb catiti ‘(pron. tchatiti) to read’. Carantania was the early medieval Slovenian state on the territory of present-day Carinthia and Styria, now divided between Austria and Slovenia. The people’s installation of the Carantanian rulers was an exceptional example of democratic elections in medieval Europe. Thomas Jefferson knew about it and was influenced by it in his thinking about American Independence.
This explanation is certainly not correct. First of all, not only Carinthia and Styria, but also Austria pertained to Carantania. Its March was Carniola. Furthermore, the above explained verb is not spelled »catiti« but »citati« (to read). In fact, »citati« means to spell letter by letter, like children learn in the first grade of school. Otherwise, in Slovenian the verb »brati« is used for to read. Further, in sense of the ancient tradition, during the ceremony of the installation of the dukes of Carantania, the oath was spoken in Slovenian and not read from a script. The scene with the “princely” peasant in the installation ceremony (ustolicevanje), to which the sources give witness, is as follows:
A seat cut out of stone can be seen on the field close to St. Peter Church. Nearby lives a peasant family, and the oldest member of this family is to be seated on the stone... When the duke is walking up the hill, he is surrounded by a large crowd and peasants... Then, the duke and his suite are approached by the peasant, asking: ... Who are you bringing with you... is he of Christian Faith... Is he a good judge, so that neither hatred nor love will influence his judgment? Is he able to protect the land in distress? Is he able to secure peace for widows, orphans, monks, and priests?... All present people answer: He is and he will be!
Then, the duke promises to the peasant, that his house will be free of tax and that he will pay him 60 denari, so that he is ready to withdraw from the Prince' Stone. Why the payment? Because 60 denari was the symbolic price in sense of a contract between people and ruler. A contract without payment is not valid. - The peasant, after giving the duke a gentle slap on the cheek, commands him to be a righteous judge and proffers him the place...
Karantanija = Slovenija ? & Slovenci & Slovani
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Na forumu Karantanska zaveza, 29. 8. 2008 |
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(Slike kot zgodovinski dokument in poudarki v barvi so od nše strani) |
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napisal Johndove |
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odgovarja dr. Jožko Šavli |
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| Karantanija in Crni panter sta še vedno mottai nekdanje/sedanje unitaristicne kroge.
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Slike dodali mi, ker govorijo zase in zaradi lažjega branja)
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| Po mojem osebnem mnenju je zlonamerno šteti, da je Karantanija enako Slovenija. Šavli to posredno, implicitno pocne. Ne vem, ali misli resno. Ali kako. Eno je, ce reces Karantanija je staroslovenska država. Drugo je, ce Slovenijo enaciš s Karantanijo. Ce receš Karantanija je staroslovenska država. Razumljivo. To je država, v kateri so bivali stari Slovenci. Ne pa današnji Slovenci. Današnji Slovenci z Karantanijo niso povezani. Današnji Slovenci niso povezani, ker je bila Karantanija država starih Slovencev, ne pa današnjih. Država današnjih Slovencev - Slovencev kot državljanov Slovenije - je Republika Slovenija. Ne moremo razlicnih državnih tvorb enaciti, ce obstaja pravna, ozemeljska in casovna razlika. Karantanija je bila država v drugem casu, drugacnem ozemlju in imela drugacno pravo. Prvo merilo bi moralo biti pravo. Je Slovenija pravna naslednica Karantanije. Ne. Slovenija je pravna naslednica SR Slovenije. Pravnega nasledstva ni. Šavli zaradi razlaga, da je Slovenija oziroma so Slovenci po duhovnem izrocilu nasledniki Karantanije. |
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| Vendar sam menim, da so nasledniki po duhovnem izrocilu so lahko samo ljudje. Ne morejo biti današnji Slovenci po duhovnem izrocilu nasledniki Karantanije. Današnji Slovenci so fizicne osebe. Država Karantanija je pravna ustanova. Pravilno bi bilo trditi današnji Slovenci so najbližji nasledniki v doloceni meri starih Slovencev, ki so bivali med drugim tudi v Karantaniji. Ne pa kar vzpostavljat povezave Slovenci - Karantanija, aha Slovenija = Karantanija. Zakaj Republika Slovenija ne more biti naslednica Karantanije smo navedli. Ne moremo se tukaj sprenevedat, si domišljat. Potrebno je biti natacni. Ne moremo si razlagat, saj so tu Slovenci, tam so bili. Bili so Slovenci. Ampak vi enacite na podlagi fizicnih oseb - starih in današnjih Slovencev - pravne ustanove - Slovenija, Karantanija - , ki so osnovane na drugacnem pravu. To so dve pojavni obliki, ki so razlicni. Primer Franc, Tone in Jože so združeni v d.o.o., ki je pravna oseba. Vsak sam zase pa so istocasno fizicne osebe. Obveznosti d.o.o. niso povezani z njimi. Dolgovi, ki bremenijo d.o.o., niso izterljivi na njihovem premoženju, ki ga posedujejo kot fizicne osebe. |
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Vojvodski klobuk
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Slovenski kobuk
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| Podobno kulturo naroda, ceprav jo do dolocene mere lahko spreminja oblast, ne moremo enaciti z državo. Karantanija ni Slovenija. Le današnji Slovenci so po kulturi do dolocene mere nasledniki starih Slovencev. Po moje mnenju so le nasledniki. Ne smemo pa enaciti. Kultura se skozi cas spreminja. Današnja kultura Slovencev - njihov jezik, navade, obicaji, jedi - so se predrugacili glede na kulturo starih Slovencev. Nic ni ostalo izvirno. Postavljanje mej kdaj smo Slovenci postali Slovenci oziroma se zavedli tega je poenostavljanje. Vedno smo bili. Potrebno je razlikovati zaradi casovne razlike med starimi in današnjimi. Leto 1848 je resnicnost, ampak umetno doloceno. Poleg spreminjanje kulture se spreminjanja tudi zavest kdo in kje vse smo. Kdaj so se pa res cutili sem kot že navedel po moje sporno, ker so se najbrž vedno in ker tisto njih kultura in zavedanje kot del kulture v preteklosti je bilo drugacno. |
To spreminjanje kdo smo Slovenci in kje vse smo Slovenci skozi cas potrjuje trditev narodi in kot tak tudi Slovenci so resnicne tvorbe, ampak umetne. Slovenci smo resnicni kot je resnicna glasba in druga umetnost, ampak so umetno ustvarjene. Narodi so ustvarjeni glede na razmišljanje posameznikov. Pogosto se cutenje kdo in kaj vse je spreminja skozi cas, pa tudi od posameznika do posameznika. Recimo Trubar je štel k Slovencem bezjake na severu Hrvaške. Kozler jih je odpisal, mogoce preracunljivo -ker so itak uporabljali svoj krajevni govor torej niso bili ogroženi. Danes Bezjake in prebivalce Medmurja pa Istre sploh ne štejemo za Slovence vsaj širša družba v Sloveniji. Kar je posledica razlicnega razumevanja oziroma izobraževanja. Številni Slovenci za mejo pa so se prekrstili. To pokaže Slovenci smo narod, a umetno ustvarjen. Dolocen glede na aktualno politiko.
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Arnulf Koroški na pecatih, kralj (887 in cesar (896)
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| Niso pa edino današnji Slovenci nasledniki kulture starih Slovencev. Seveda se imamo Slovenci po jeziku najbolj za naslednike, vendar poleg jezika so še druge sestavine kulture. Jezik je samo ena sestavina. So nasledniki tudi Furlani, Avstrijci, Hrvati in Madžari. Seveda je pri teh opredelitvah težko zaokrožiti meje. Kdo vse je, koliko je kdo naslednik. Dolocene prvine kulture si delimo med seboj. Po cem razlikujemo. Kdo so sploh vse bili stari Slovenci. Ker kultura se polagoma spreminja. Ni stroge meje. To, da postaviš mejo je poenostavljanje. Primorci imamo podobnosti z Slovenci in podobnosti s Furlani. Primorci imamo najbrž pol besed enakih z Slovenci, pol besed imamo enakih s Furlani. Delimo si svetnike, podobne imamo jedi, podobne so hiše. Podobni so ljudje. |
Osebno pa se proti poimenovanju Slovani za naše prednike v preteklosti. Gotovo so imeli že v daljni preteklosti razvito doloceno samosvojo kulturo, ki se je do dolocene mere razlikovala od sosedov.
Zakljucek - To da Slovenijo enaciš s Karantanijo na podlagi starih Slovencev, ki so uporabljali stari slovenski jezik in imeli svoje lastno pravo, je poenostavljanje. Tudi ce se je jezik in pravo in država in vladar imenoval po Slovencih gre za bodisi casovno ali pravno razliko. Katere pravne prvine ima Republika Slovenija kot Karantanija. Ima ustolicevanje, ima vojvodo, ima župe, .... ? RS ima volitve, ima predsednika, ima obcine, ... . Današnji Slovenci pa prav tako niso enaki, ampak so podobni tistim v preteklosti. Zgodovina pomeni spremembe. Preteklost ni enako sedanjost. Sedanja kultura je posledica in do dolocene mere podobna pretekli. Sedanja kultura je sestavljena deloma iz preteklosti in novih prvin, ki jih clovek sam izumi ali prinese od drugod. Nikoli vec ne bo kot je bilo. To je obicajno, da se jezik, jedi, obicaji spreminjajo. Saj se ves cas. Spremembe kulture vodijo ljudje. Kako poteka spreminjanje je odvisno od družbenih danosti - oblast, gospodarstvo, vera, ... - in naravnih danosti - podnebje, površje, vodovje, ... .
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| Odgovarjam: … zlonamerno šteti… Šavli to posredno, implicitno pocne... Šavli razlaga, da je Slovenija oziroma so Slovenci po duhovnem izrocilu nasledniki Karantanije… - Gornji sestavek, napisan v priuceni in dokaj polomljeni slovenšcini, jasno kaže, da njegov pisec ni Slovenec. Predstavljam si, da je srbskega porekla, zakaj Karantanija in njen Crni panter motita le srbsko stran in ne drugih, ki so bivali v prejšnji Jugoslaviji. Ta stran si je nekoc predstavljala Jugoslavijo kot unitaristicno velikosrbsko tvorbo, ki pa je doživela svoj polom. V smislu unitaristicnega cilja je narekovala vsej državi tudi ustrezno razlaganje zgodovine, še posebej zgodovine Slovnecev, kar je ostalo vse do danes. Na srbski strani še vedno ne prenesejo Karantanije, prve slovenske države. Toda, ce je merilo to, kar Johndove razlaga, ceš da Karantanija nima nicesar z današnjo Slovenijo, potem tudi srbska Raška pa Dušanovo carstvo nimata nicesar z današnjo Srbijo. Torej so tudi Srbi samo “umetno ustvarjen” narod, podobno kot so Nemci in Italijan, pa kakšni Avstrijci… Da potem ne govorimo o Hrvatih. |
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Symbols of Carantanian - Slovenian historical statehood |
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Prince's Stone
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Duke's Throne |
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(Vojvodski stol) |
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Historians and certain authors intentionally present the origin of these two particular ancient thrones as non-Slovenian. Why does Slovenia and its deeply rooted historical tradition disturb the ideological movement, especially in the academic world? |
The State of the Carantanians -
(is the title of a book, written by Hans-Dietrich Kahl - Ljubljana 2002 )
Der Staat der Karantanen: Fakten, Thesen und Fragen zu einer frühen slawischen Machtbildung im Ostalpenraum.
Dr. Jožko Šavli
The book was published under a Slovenian title, which, translated into English, would be: Slovenia and the Border Lands between the Antique and the Carolingian Epoch. The publishers were Slovenian National Museum and Slovenian Academy of Lublana (Slovenia, 2002), The work is written from the viewpoint of the pan-German ideology. Consequently, his works cannot be taken seriously concerning early history and ethnicity, respectively national identity of Slovenians. Moreover, the author is trying to deny it in a »scientific« (read: ideological) way. First of all, who is the author?
Hans-Dietrich Kahl (* 1920), gymnasium teacher, in 1965 he received his habilitation at the University of Gießen (Germany) on base of his publications (since 1953). Since 1970, he lectured there as professor of Medieval History. After his retirement in 1985, it is said, that he continued his research on Medieval history of Christian missions and specialized in "The beginning of the German - Slav argument and medieval State symbolism". He was in close contact with Polish and Slovenian researchers. - He is not fluent in Slovenian.
Indeed, one would expect that Kahl's book would be published in present-day Carinthia, where from time to time anti-Slovenian campaign outbursts are spread through the media over public statements made by Jörg Haider, the acting governor of that province. But that is not the case at all. Publications from the University of Klagenfurt - Celovec and the Provincial Museum of Carinthia dealing with the history of early (Slovenia) Carantania, are far more serious. In that regard, I conclude that Kahl's book was not written at the necessary scientific level. This also makes its ideology suspect (ideologieverdächtig). My opinion was confirmed after I examined the book myself.
The goals are predetermined
The author's purpose is clearly evident. He would like to reinforce the historical explanations concerning the Eastern Alps and Carantania from the pan-German point of view. Therefore, his commentaries are far from being neutral. His ideological adversary is the Slav or pan-Slav interpretation of historical happenings, towards which he evidently leads an ideological campaign. And not only that. He, in particular, tries to destroy the historical image of Slovenians.
To achieve this purpose, he denies the Slovenian ethnical identity of Carantanians and refers to them only as Slavs. Of course, he "forgets" to quote, when those Slavs became Slovenians. Otherwise, the quotation "Slavs" for Carantanians - Slovenians is a common expression in today's Austria and Germany and is copied from book to book. Anyway, in his book the author stressed the thesis with the evident purpose to deny Slovenians their ethnical identity. I repeat, without the necessary proofs.
The other aim which the author has set himself, is to give Carantania a non-Slovenian character. Because the State of Carantania cannot be denied, at least it should be presented in a non-Slovenian character. In this regard, it is amusing what he quotes about the people of Carantania. Apart from being "Slavs" (Slovenians), they should have been Romanians, as well as Celts, Germans, Croats… In consequence of this, Carantania cannot be called a "Slovenian" state. Of course, as to make his thesis convincing he simply omits to mention the institutio Sclavenica (the Carantanian Slovenian law - and State).
Miss-guidance in academic style
Hans-Dietrich Kahl, in order to make his thesis, or better said: his philosophies more credible, writes in a strict academic style. This is, he accurately quotes literature and authors, the year of publication, and number of pages… In his selection of authors, however, one can quickly notice, that he omits those who do not fit his ideological conception, this is the presentation of a non-Slovenian Carantania.
The authors taken into consideration are those biased towards a pan-German ideology - like Eberhard Kranzmayer (Carinthia) - or biased by pan-Slav and Yugo-Slav ideology like Bogo Grafenauer (Slovenia). The most reliable Slovenian historian, Josip Mal, who treated the question of Carantania mostly efficiently, is not listed among the selected bibliography in Kahl's work.
Very missguiding is Kahl's quotation of false (anti-Slovenian) statements from authors with academic titles, who are holding key positions at universities and other academic institutions. They enjoyed great prestige, which covered the bias of their statements. These statements were conditioned by political regimes that financed them. This practice was not only in line with Communist regimes. It was already in use in former times and it still is today. Mostly it is about an ideology, which in its extreme form created nationalistic movements like the pan-German ideology. This doctrine completely dominated the Nazi period. Hans-Dietrich Kahl grew up in this period, and he evidently was not able to outgrow the one time German nationalistic atmosphere.
His belated use of the "ex-silentio" rule
Like the majority of Austrian and German authors, Hans-Dietrich Kahl, too, considers as a factor the never proven settlement of the Slavs (Alpine Slavs) in Carantanian territory in the Eastern Alps (after 568 AD). The latter should have been the forefathers of the Carantanians (not yet Slovenians). However, there are no records to verify the settlement. Moreover, he quotes, that the Carantanian "Machtbildung" (power formation - he evidently avoids to call it a State) originated from the Avarian empire (vom Awarenreich herkam). There is no evidence to support his assertions concerning the Carantanian statehood. Anyway, it is of key importance in the continuous question of "to be or not to be", which concerns the freedom of early Carantania.
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The battle between Franks and Avars, Psalterium of Stuttgart (ca. 830 AD)
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At this point, he employs the so-called ex-silentio argument in consequence of no contrary evidence. In the sense of it, documents are lacking; a historical event is taken into consideration and usually presented with great philosophical majesty as an historical fact, only based on the then circumstances. Pan-German and Austrian scholars used this "method" in former times on a large scale. Today, this rule is rejected, because the accumulation of too many "silentia" does not have priority anymore over historical reality. Anyway, Kahl's book is largely conceived on "silentia" only. I think, he never read the works of Karl Popper (+ 1994), whose research in this area deals with methodology.
More important, the very fact that Carantania was supposedly dominated by the Avars needs to be proven. His unconvincing assumption that Carantania was ruled by a vice-prince is based on the "ex-silentio" argument. He further states that this ruler bore the title Ban, which clearly is an Avar appellation. There were several "bans" in Carantania, which should be evidenced by place names such as Banja ves, Fanning, Fohnsdorf or Pfannsdorf. This ex-silentio argument is worthless, because it cannot be proven. It is a self-willed assertion which Kahl supports by quoting other authors, in first line he chose Ljudomil Hauptmann, a "Slovenian himself", but anti-Slovenian oriented and more a Yugoslav ideologist and unitist than a real historian. Why did Kahl ignore other authors?
The Installation of the Dukes of Carantania
Kahl's anti-Slovenian predisposition, on which his methodology is based, hit its peak when he treats the rite of the installation of the Dukes of Carantania (Ustolicevanje). In order to destroy its typical Slovenian nature, he once again finds an author, on whose explanations he based his own inadequate conclusions. In this case, the author is H. Göckenjan, who is treating the nomadic culture and their influence in the Altai Mountains (Asia). Avars were but an Asian people, weren't they? Here, Hans-Dietrich Kahl considers Göckenjan's quotations reliable enough as to employ once again the »ex-silentio« argument in the following academic construction:
He starts out from the (never proven) »fact«, that Carantanians were first subjugated by Avars. After overcoming their rulers, they made themselves independent, and they evidently had an inferiority complex. Therefore, in order to demonstrate their equal status with the Avars, they adopted the rite of installation of their knez (duke), which is similar to that of the installation of the Avar chagan (p.146).
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Österreichische Chronik von den 95 Herrschaften of 1479 depicts the oldest scene of the Installation of the Dukes of Carinthia (Carantania). It associates three main events: the arriving duke on horseback, presented in no correct order; the duke sitting on the Prince's Stone; and the duke sitting on the Duke's Throne. |
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Of course, such interpretation does not sustain criticism. Furthermore, Kahl quotes that the State of Carantania was a new formation without state tradition. Therefore, the Installation rite had to be conceived in a new light. Like in Avar tradition (never proven) the sacrifice of animals was used, in order to convince the people to accept the rite. Anyway, the spotted bull and the war horse, which the new duke was leading with one hand when he walked up the hill to the Prince's Stone, were certainly not sacrifice animals. They symbolized economy and defence, which were the fundamental basis of a State organization.
Under the hill, where the Installation was carried out, extends an ample field. Beyond the field, where still today the Duke's Throne can be found under open sky, the new duke passed judgement. On a low hill above the field sits proudly the ancient cathedral of Carantania, called Gospa Sveta in Slovenian, or Maria in Solio in Latin, or Maria Saal in German. The field bears the modern name of Gosposvetsko polje, but its old name is Svatne. Anyway, this name does not origin from "sveti" (saint) as Hans-Dietrich Kahl explains, but from "slatne" (the dialectal change of consonantes l > u) meaning ample meadows. Etc., etc.
Other mistakes
Of course, the book contains many other distortions, which are a consequence of the author's ideological approach to the question. It is not only about a bias, but also about his lack of knowledge of the corresponding problem, namely the question of Carantania. As already quoted, he based "his" statements on materials written by authors, whose explanations suited his concept conceived in advance. This concept is to confuse the Slovenian character of early Carantania. Moreover, he is not able to evaluate the explanations proposed by others.
This is quite evident. But in spite of this I was surprised, when I read that Hans-Dietrich Kahl predisposes the existence of the great family (zadruga) in Carantania, which is otherwise characteristic for the Balkans. In the Carantanian and Slovenian social tradition, there are no traces to be found of the great family.
His "method" of presentation is also apparent in explanations of place names (p. 311). According to his interpretation, names like Koblji rov (Roßgraben) or Köflach etc. derive from kobila (mare) and should provide proof that horse breeding took place in Carantania. In fact, it is about morphological characteristics of the superficies. The root kob- means a place, where the surface of the terrain folds. The corresponding verb is "okobaliti". In his ignorance Kahl supposes the development of forest apiculture (gathering honey from wild bees) began in Carantania.. In fact, the trade of bee-keeping in that area exists already since the early Middle Ages…
I cannot understand why Hans-Dietrich Kahl wants to destroy the Slovenian character of early Carantania? I remember that he talked about a "Slovenian myth" when he referred to the Gosposvetsko polje - Zollfeld. And several years ago, he proclaimed that St. Domitian, the saintly duke of Carantania, was an invention of the Benedictine monks of the 12th century …
It is amusing to watch, that even today Hans-Dietrich Kahl is not searching for the historical truth, instead he is still leading a fight against the Slavdom and, in particular, against the Slovenian-dom. He is trying to defeat the "Slavs" on a scientific (ideological) field. The author reveals, it is true, a surprisingly ample knowledge. In spite of this, his work is not to be taken seriously, because it is not destined to discover true history, but rather to spread the anti-Slav ideology. Such purpose invalidates his works as a scientific value.
Ernest the Iron
Archduke 1411 - 1424
And his Successors of Inner Austria (or Carantania)
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Ernest the Iron, 1411 Archduke of Inner Austria or Carantania + 1424 (above) |
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his son Frederic III, 1440 King and 1452 Emperor (below). |
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To the right we see the sarcophag of Ernest in the Cistercian Abbey Reun near Graz (Styria). |
Dr. Jožko Šavli
In 1359, Rudolph IV, the Founder of the Habsburg family and Duke of Austria (ex Carantania), prepared an elaborate falsified charter called Privilegium maius. The significance of this charter was, that the rulers of Austria were given special privileges by Emperor Frederic I Barbarossa at a time, when the Eastern (Austrian) March advanced to dukedom, in 1156. Among other subjects, the charter points out, that he should possess the title of an "Archduke" and the rank of an "Archmaster of Hunt" in the Empire. In fact, some of these rights were recognized by the Emperor and granted to the Austrian Margrave Leopold III of Babenberg, as called for in the charter of the historiography Privilegium minus from 1156 issued by Friedrich I Barbarossa. The Babenbergs were descendants of the Carantanian Luitpoldinger family, and according to the lex called institutio Sclavenica, they were entitled to succession in the female line of the family. This right came into effect with the bestowal of the duke title. It is not mentioned anymore in the Privilegium maius, because the Habsburgs were not of Carantanian origin.
The purpose of the rights contained in the Privilegium maius was, to make the Austrian rulers comparable with the princes Electors of the Empire. Even though, the falsified charter was not acknowledged at the Emperor's Court at that time, it had its historical consequences.
Rudolph IV died in 1365 and was succeeded by his brothers, who shortly after his death divided among themselves the Austrian or Carantanian provinces, and they became the founders of two lines of the Habsburg dynasty: The elder Albert III obtained Austria on the Danube with Vienna, whereas the younger brother Leopold III received Inner Austria, i.e., the Carantanian provinces in narrow sense (Carinthia, Styria, Carniola, and Istria) as well as Tyrol.
In 1386, Duke Leopold III lost his life in action while fighting the Swiss near Sempach. He was succeeded by his four sons: In Inner Austria by William († 1406), Leopold IV († 1411) and Ernest († 1424), and in Tyrol by Frederic IV (†. 1439). Nothing but incessant quarrels and even fights broke out among the brothers of the Leopoldinian line, until Ernest took over the leadership of Inner Austria, in 1411; he was nicknamed "the Iron", because of his corporal vigour.
Duke Ernest the Iron was born in 1377. He did not even turn 19, when in 1396, he became the consort of Margaret, daughter of Bogislav V, Duke of Pomerania (Poland). She died very young in 1407. Some years later, in 1412, he married the Polish princess Zimburgis († 1429). She was the niece of the Polish king and daughter of Ziemowit IV, Duke of Masovia, and she gave birth to three sons: Frederic V, Albert VI, and Ernest II.
Compared to his brothers, Duke Ernest the Iron was much more conscientious in matters of political and historical traditions concerning his (Carantanian) provinces. His residence was in Graz, the chief-town of Styria. In 1414, he travelled with his suite to Carinthia, and there he let inthronize himself in accordance with the Slovenian Carantanian rite on the Prince's Stone as Windischer Herre (Slovenian Lord). Thereafter, sitting on the Duke's Throne he judged the quarrels and granted lands in fief. Empowered by his new rank, he adopted the title Archduke in accordance with the Privilegium maius. It is obvious, that this title reconnected him with the ancient dukedom of Carantania (Carinthia).
It was the very last time, that the ancient ceremony of "the installation of the Duke of Carantania on the Prince's Stone" was used as a whole. From then on, the new elected dukes received the homage on the Duke's Throne, but always only in Slovenian language.
Under Archduke Ernest the Iron the provinces of Inner Austria or Carantania enjoyed a period of piece. He lived in harmony with the Counts of Cilli (Celje) in Lower Styria, who later became the main rivals of the Habsburg family. But on the borders already lurked the danger of Turkish invasions. Therefore he let fortify Lublana.
Archduke Ernest the Iron was in his best manhood when he passed away in 1424 at the age of 47. His body was interred in the Abbey Reun near Graz. His successors were his three minor sons, Frederic V (*1415), Albert VI (* 1418), and Ernest II (* 1420), who were given into ward to his brother Frederic IV of Tyrol. Ernest II died already in 1432.
In 1435, the tutelage under Frederic IV of Tyrol came to an end, and the brothers Frederic V and Albert VI were declared of full-age. In the following year the brothers came to an agreement, by which Frederic V became the ruler over Inner Austria (Carantania), whereas Albert VI received minor properties. Soon after, Albert VI felt himself impaired, and he began to hate passionately his older brother. The Counts of Cilli became his allies.
After his nomination, Archuke Frederic V of Inner Austria visited his provinces and presented himself as their new sovereign. However in 1436, he undertook a pilgrimage to Palestina. In the meantime at the diet in Prague, Emperor Siegmund of Luxembourg, the consort of Barbara of Cilli, let advance the Counts Frederic II and his son Ulric II of Cilli to State Princes; which consequently converted the County of Cilly into an immediate princedom, ie. a state of the Kingdom and Empire. This deed outraged Frederic V upon his return, since the Counts of Cilli formally were still his vassals. He protested in vain at the Emperor's Court, and subsequently the Habsburgs and the Cillis started to fight each other in 1439. In 1440, when Duke Frederic V was elected King, it came to an armistice between him and the Cillis. In 1438, Albert V (Albertine line), Duke of Austria, was elected King of Germany (ancient Kingdom of Eastern Franks), but Albert II by name, died already in the following year.
In 1440, Duke Frederic V was crowned as King Frederic IV in Aachen. Two years later in 1442, in full capacity of his new leadership, he began to visit his hereditary provinces. Finally in 1443, he went to Carinthia, the main Carantanian province. There he asked the States, if they would omit him the ancient rite of inthronization in peasant cloths at the Prince's Stone, because he was already the King. They agreed, and he gave them his royal word (the oath) that the privileges of the province will be respected. Then they swore him their loyalty. In 1444, he confirmed his oath with a charter.
After his crowning the fight with the Cillis broke out anew. But it ceased already in the following year of 1443, when the King recognized the Cillis as State Princes. He even signed with them an inheritance contract.
In 1452, King Frederic IV was crowned Emperor in Rome, and he passed as Emperor Frederic III into history. In the following year he reaffirmed the fatefull charter Privilegium maius, that provided the "Archduke" title to all Princes of the House of Habsburg.
When in 1456, Ulric II, the last Count of Cilli, was killed in Belgrade, Frederic III benefited, through the inheritance contract from 1443, the very rich properties of the Princes and Counts of Cilli. But he still had quarrels with his brother Albert VI. In 1458 the brothers draw a contract concerning the division of their lands. The city of Vienna however remained on the side of Albert VI, and in 1462 with the support of Viennese and Austrian soldiers, he beleaguered Frederic III in his Burg in Vienna. It was a very serious situation. Fortunately, troops from the provinces of Inner Austria came to the Emperor's assistance. Among them especially the Carniolans, i.e. Slovenians from Carniola, showed great bravery and courage. They had always proven themselves trustworthy in the past, and therefore he granted them to display a gold colour in their banner instead of white.
A new contract followed. In 1463 Albert VI died. Only then the fights within the Habsburg family ceased.
Since then Emperor Frederic III, son of Ernest the Iron, Archduke of Inner Austria - Carantania led in time his hereditary provinces to European, or better said, to world power.
Arnulf of Carantania
(ca. 845 - 899)
Duke, King, and Emperor
He laid the ground work for the European Community at that time
Arnulf of Carantania: His royal seal of 888 and his imperial seal of 896
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| King Louis the German (Arnulf`s grand father) and King Louis the Child (Arnulf`s son) on contemporary seals |
Dr. Jožko Šavli - (September 23, 2002)
As early as 595 AD the State of Slovenia, called Carantania or Sclauinia (Slovenia), left its imprint in the historical records, and its Slovenian people never were more involved in European affairs as under the direct leadership of Arnulf of Carantania.
Arnulf's father, Prince Carloman, was the son of Louis the German, King of the Eastern Franks, a grandson of Charlemagne. His kingdom was in a way a medieval confederation of the following duchies: Bavaria, Swabia, Francony, Saxony, and Carantania (Slovenia).
In Carantania, in Blatograd (Moosburg) Carloman resided in a royal palace. Here, he evidently lived after the year 840 for quite some time with a Carantanian lady called Liudvina (Liutswind), who gave birth to their illegitimate son. Carloman baptized his son and named him Arnulf, in memory of his original ancestors "the Carolingian clan". Arnulf, who later on became duke of Carantania, then King and Emperor, was his one and only son.
Around 856, King Louis the German deposed of Margrave Ratbod because of his connections with the hostile duke of Great Moravia. Ratbod was the military commander of the Eastern March, which included Carantania and Pannonia. After his dismissal the King appointed Prince Carloman to the new commander, he was now the praefectus of the Eastern March. But Carloman too conspired against his father, the King, by banishing his counts, who were loyal to him, and replacing them with his own confidants. He also restored links with Rastislav, the duke of Great Moravia. Moreover, there were also other disputes between him and the King. However, father and son always reconciled.
Since 861 Prince Kocel was the sovereign in Lower Pannonia living in his princely residence Blatenski Kostel (also called Moosburg) located at lake Balaton (Plattensee), not far away from Blatograd. After 866, he disregarded the warnings of the Bavarian bishops and introduced the liturgy of the Old Slavonic Church, which was originally practiced in Moravia by St. Cyril and Methodius. We assume, that the praefectus Carloman did not remove Prince Kocel since he himself had strong ties with his common-in-law Slovenian wife and mother of his son Arnulf. Methodius advanced even to Archbishop of Pannonia, but in 870 the Bavarian bishops imprisoned him and suffocated his work. In 874 they further managed to have Prince Kocel vanish from the scene altogether.
In 876, King Louis the German died and was succeeded by his three sons. Carloman inherited Bavaria and Carantania (including Pannonia), but he again gave Carantania to his son Arnulf. The records of that time show that Carantania together with Pannonia was called regnum Carentano, i.e., Carantanian kingdom, because they were reigned by a member of the Carolingian clan.
In the following years, Duke Arnulf of Carantania proved to be a good and determined ruler. Around 880 a tremendous dispute arose between Carantania and Great Moravia. The fidgety Moravian ruler, Prince Svatopluk, was enormously influential in the Carantanian Eastern region (Austria). The dispute grew so serious that Svatopluk called the Hungarians for help, who in 881 for the first time appeared before Vienna. In 883 a proper war broke out between Great Moravia and Carantania. However, in 885, peace was made through the mediation of Charles III the Fat, Arnulf's uncle, King of the Eastern Franks.
Duke Arnulf, always very proud to be of Carolingian origin, felt continuously troubled by his uncle's (King Charles III the Fat) way of compromising with the enemies of the Carolingian empire. Instead of challenging them to fight, he bribed them with gold, in particular the Normans.
In 887, when the diet of the imperial princes gathered in Treves, Duke Arnulf appeared right then and there with a large army consisting of Carantanian and various Slav soldiers, in the sources literally called cum manu valida Noricorum et Sclavorum. He deposed of his uncle and constrained the present princes to elect him King of the Eastern Franks.
In the following year in 888, Arnulf, the new bearer of the royal crown, gave his hand in marriage to the daughter of Ernst, a Bavarian nobleman. He also visited his Carantanian Slovenian countrymen in the same year and spent Christmas among them at castle Krnski Grad. At the same time it also meant farewell from his native Carantania. Margrave Luitpold (Leopold), Arnulf's cousin from his mother's line, was appointed to lord-lieutenant of Carantania.
The Carantanians took great pride in King Arnulf, their fellow-countryman, and they continued to support him, when he needed them in his campaigns. From all the battles he fought, the one on the river Dyle in Belgium, defeating the Normans in 891, was the most famous.
The noblemen from the West also offered Arnulf the crown of the Western Franks. He did not accept their offer and insisted that the crown should be given to Odo, Count of Paris. The latter paid homage to Arnulf as his vassal, and so did the other Carolinian reguli:
Ramnulf of Aquitania, Rudolf of Upper Burgundy, Louis of Provence, and Berengar, King of Italy.
In this way, Arnulf of Carantania paved the ground for a new European Community. It was not anymore the Frankish Empire as it used to be under Charlemagne, but rather more, a confederation of autonomous kingdoms and dukedoms joined in a Christian community under the imperial crown.
Margrave Guido of Spoleto was the only one, who did not pay homage to Arnulf. Moreover, in Rome he usurped all the power, and in 891 he forced Pope Stephen V to crown him as Emperor. The later Pope Formosus called Arnulf for help, because also he was forced to repeat the crowning of Guido and his son Lambert as co-regents.
In 894, Arnulf arrived with his army in North Italy. Nevertheless, he could not continue his march towards Rome, because Guido of Spoleto had the passes closed on the Apennines. In Pavia, Arnulf received his duly homage as King of Italy, he left his illegitimate son Ratold as vice-King behind, and returned home over the Alps.
After Guido's death, in 895, Arnulf arrived in Rome and was crowned Emperor on February 22, in 896. Soon afterwards he was compelled to return to his country because of his increasing lameness. He lived and remained a very active ruler for another three years. On the 8th of December 899 he died and was interred in the Abbey of St. Emmeram in Regensburg. Arnulf had appointed as successor to the throne his only legitimate son Louis the Child (893 - † 911 ), who was solemnly anointed and crowned in 900, in the town of Forchheim. But the absence of his powerful hand was felt much to soon, especially, when the Hungarians started to turn this opportunity to their advantage. Already in 900 they occupied Pannonia and established themselves there. The young king could not retain them.
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Arnulf of Carantania (896 - 899) and his son Louis IV the Child (900 - 911) were the last Carolingian kings of the the Eastern Franks |
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| The foundation for a new community of Europe was laid and survived Arnulf. In the following century, under the Ottonians, this new born European community received the title "Holy Roman Empire". The term „Roman" means, having its spiritual center in the papacy in Rome. This community lasted until 1806 when it was suppressed by Napoleon. |
Annotation:
A small glimpse into Arnulf's personal life and his illegitimate children:
His son Ratold, who functioned as Vice-King of Italy, when Arnulf left Pavia and returned home over the Alps.
Another son was Sventopolk (or Zwentibald) and his daughters Ellinrat, Glismut, Berta and Hedwig (or Hadwig).
Daughter Glismut and her Swabian consort Conrad the Elder had a son Conrad I the Younger († 918), the duke of Franconia, who was chosen to be king.
Daughter Hadwig (or Hedwig) was married to Otto the Noble († 912), duke of Saxony, and their son Henry I the Fowler († 936), duke of Saxony, received the crown in 919.
Daughter Ellinrat's fate reflects a typical traditional Venetic custom, whereby a couple, madly in love with each other, cannot get married because of their social differences. In an instance like this, one keeps an eye closed and permits, that the lad gets a chance to abduct his bride and live with her in a hiding-place for a while. As time passes by, everything is falling into place, and they will live happily ever after. Exactly such destiny was Ellinrat's in 893, the year, when Arnulf's legitimate baby boy was born. She was passionately in love with Markgrave Engelschalk II. from the House of the Wilhelminer, Markgraves of the Eastern March (approx. today's Upper and Lower Austria). Indeed, a nobleman of quite lesser rank and title. Because of their class distinction and without the king's consent a marriage was out of the question. The lovers grief could only be resolved by abducting Ellinrat and go into hiding with her. King Arnulf did not loose any sleep over it. After all, he was a true Carantanian, a real Wend with heart and soul. Unfortunately, in his absence the abductor appeared at court to pay a visit. But what a frightful feeling must have overcome him, when they snatched him and blinded his eyes, because, in their belief, he insulted his majesty. Such is the German version. - Just unbelievable! Nevertheless, it is proof that Arnulf had the makes of a full-blooded Carantanian (Wend), otherwise he would have brood vengeance in a horrific way.
The Holy Roman Empire
and Carantania - Slovenia
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The crown of the Holy Roman Empire is now kept in the Schatzkammer of the Hofburg in Vienna. The crown was made in 962, when King Otto I the Great was crowned Emperor. Its bow, however, was added in 1027, when Emperor Conrad II was crowned, and it bears his name. |
Below we see two well-known pictures from the Evangeliarium of Emperor Otto III († 1002) kept now in the Bayerische Staatsbibliothek in Munich.
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The first picture shows four equal nations which render homage to the emperor: Roma, Gallia, Germania and Sclauinia (Slovenia). |
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The second picture depicts the ruler as a Christian Roman Emperor with a sceptre in his left hand and the Emperor orb in the right. He is framed by two figures who represent respectively the world and church authorities. |
Huldigung der personifizierten Reichsgebiete Sclauinia - Slovenia, Germania, Gallia (Lotharingien) und Roma (= Italien). Gegenseite zum Thronbild Ottos III: Otto III auf dem Thron mit seinen politischen, militaerischen und kirchlichen Beratern. Schmuckblatt aus einem um 995 auf der Reichenau gefertigten Evangeliar. Muenchen, Bayer. Staatsbliothek.
Dr. Jožko Šavli
In 732 the Frankish army under the leadership of Majordomo Charles Martel defeated the Arabs near Poitiers (France), a deed that saved the fate of Christian Europe from the Moslems and made the Franks to protectors of Western Christianity. In Western Europe the supremacy of the Frankish King was recognized and accepted by kingdoms and principalities, in other words, they accepted his protection against the menace of pagan nations.
Around 745 the Slovenian State in the Eastern Alps called Carantania was seriously menaced by the pagan Avars in nearby Pannonia. Confronted with this problem, the Carantanian duke Borut turned to his Bavarian allies for help, who were under the supremacy of the Franks. The Frankish king gave the Bavarians authority to assist the Slovenian Carantanians, who were at that time still a pagan population, under one condition, that these people should be Christianized. Duke Borut agreed, he received support from the Bavarians and defeated the Avars. Thereafter Christianity was brought to Carantania, it was implemented in Bavaria and was carried out very succesfully by Irish monks. (The Liberal and Communist regime of Yugoslavia portray it as "a Christianisation with sword and fire", which is far from the truth.)
Christianity, the way it was accepted in the Middle Ages and in the Roman era cannot be understood today. It was taken from the doctrine of St. Augustine, where he talks about the civitas terrena that preceded the civitas Dei. In a sense, the general point of view was, that the world had to be Christened first, before it could be saved. This idea dominated the whole medieval thinking.
After the final victory over the potent Avars, in 796, the idea of an Imperium Cristianum appeared in documents written by Christian intellectuals, it was particularly advocated in the papers of the very erudite writer Bede. In 800 AD at Christmas, Pope Leon III crowned Charlemagne, the powerful Frankish King as "Emperor of the Romans". He was not only equivalent to Constantine the Great, the first Christian Roman Emperor (306 - 337 AD), he was also the "renovatio", meaning the person, who would reproduce the idea of a worldwide Christendom with the term "Roman" as a symbol of world wide faith.
The crowning of Charlemagne as Emperor of the Romans could not have been overlooked in Byzantium. Byzantine, i.e., the Eastern Roman Empire was the legitimate heir of the antique Roman Empire. Byzantium was opposed to the new empire in the West for some years, and recognized it only after several conditions were met in 812.
It is very interesting to observe, that since then both empires were regarded as "corpus Cristi", but from different points of view: the Eastern Empire was known as the corpus Cristi politicum, and the Western Empire as the corpus Cristi mysticum. However the second one was a confederation of Christian states united under an imperial crown. In this confederation Slovenia (Carantania) was equal to the other states.
The Frankish King and Emperor Charlemagne († 814) was succeeded by his son Louis the Pious. In 834, they deposed of him and the Frankish Kingdom was divided among his three children: The western part was given to Charles the Bold, the middle part went to Lothar, and the eastern part to Louis the German. In 843 the division reached its final stage, and the onetime Frankish Kingdom consequently belonged now to the crowns of France, Italy, and Germany.
The eastern part, the Kingdom of the Eastern Franks, in the records called Francia Orientalis, and after the year 1000 known as Germany, must not be mistaken for modern Germany (Deutschland), as it often is. Francia Orientalis was composed of dukedoms that consisted of five native people or nations: Bavarians, Swabians, Franconians, Saxonians and Carantanians (to-day's Austrians and Slovenians). The first four nations merged into one nation called Germany, during the following millennium. The last nation, known as Slovenia remained until today. In the confederation of Francia Orientalis, Carantania or Slovenia (called Kärnten, in German language) was equal to the other dukedoms.
However, the Frankish kingdoms of the Western Empire continued to break into smaller kingdoms that were ruled by the independent reguli, i.e., heirs, who were descendants of the Carolingian stock. In the 2nd half of the 9th century, the central authority was exceedingly feeble under Charles III the Fat, the King and Emperor of the Eastern Franks. Enemies invaded the empire frequently, in particular the Normans. The Emperor was unable to oppose them.
In 887, the Diet of Princes was holding its convention in Treves (Trier). Duke Arnulf of Carantania made a sudden entry with his army composed of Carantanians (Noricans) and other Slovenians - cum manu valida Noricorum et Sclavorum. Arnulf was the son of the Emperor's brother Carloman. He deposed his uncle and had himself elected King of the Eastern Franks.
King Arnulf proved to be a man of action. In the following years he defeated the Normans and other foreign enemies, and assured freedom to the Carolingian kingdoms. Unity was affirmed by homages which were given to him by reguli. In 896, Pope Formosus crowned him Emperor, but he died already in 899. After his death the king's crown passed on to his younger legitimate son Louis IV the Child (893 - † 911), and after him to Conrad I the Younger († 918), the duke of Franconia, who was the son of Arnulf's illegitimate daughter Glismut and her Swabian consort Conrad the Elder.
In 919 the crown was given by the Diet to Henry I the Fowler († 936), duke of Saxony, the son of Arnulf's other illegitimate daughter Hadwig (or Hedwig), who was married to Otto the Noble († 912), duke of Saxony. Other kings and emperors were members of the same family: Otto I the Great († 973), Otto II († 938), Otto III († 1002) and from a lateral line Henry II the Saint († 1024). During the reign of the Ottonians a new splendour was attached to the Roman Empire, which was civitas terrena preceding civitas Dei, in a way a 'universal state'. The Empire was thereafter called the Holy Roman Empire (Imperium Sacrum Romanum) so as to demonstrate its spiritual and redemptory nature. This title remained in use for centuries, until 1804 when the Empire was abolished.
Carantania - Slovenia was connected to the Ottonian dynasty in a personal union. Otto's I younger brother, Henry, became the Duke of Carantania and also of Bavaria in 947. Under his administration Otto I founded the Grand Duchy of Carantania (952 - 1180) which extended from Bohemia to Verona in Italy. This grand duchy survived until 1180, when Emperor Frederic I had to give recognition to the March of Verona, i.e., the independent League of Cities (Lega Lombardo-Veneta).
Weltgeschichte (World History)
Dr. Jožko Šavli
Weltgeschichte (World History), published by Hans Helmolt (Leipzig und Wien 1899 - 1907), was written by many scholars. Translations into other languages followed: English (London 1901), Russian (St. Petersburg 1902). - Concerning the Slovenians, we find a very interesting quotation in this great work (Volume 5, Chapter V, pp. 269 - 270): The tribe, which lived in the ancient Roman provinces of Noricum, Rhaetia and Vindelicia, is generally called Slavs or Slovenians (Slaven oder Slowenen genannt). In the 6th century AD, they very probably founded several Slovenian supremacy in the present-day Hungary, Slavonia, Croatia, Carinthia, Carniola, Styria, Gorica (Goerz) land, Burgenland and Littoral… (Courtesy of www.hervardi.com). The above quoted Roman provinces are referred to Carantania (Noricum), Tyrol (Rhaetia) and Bavaria (Vindelicia). The relative chapter was written by Prof. Wladimir Milkowitz, who, from the linguistic point of view, still incorporates Slovenians into the group of Southern Slavs. Anyway, he considers them an autochthon people, because no records exist that they came from behind the Carpathian Mountains.
Since Slovenia declared its independence and has been recognized internationally, many authors are interested in its culture and history. On these occasions they also discovered the very interesting rite of the installation of the Dukes of Carantania. This duchy was the predecessor of modern Austria and Slovenia (Carantha's Note)
Sunday, 08 May 2005
Democracy is old, really old. And incredibly romantic.
written by Angelique van Engelen
You can still visit the visible remnants of the world's eldest democracy in a town in the Carantania region in what is now Austria. During the early Middle Ages, the tribal society of a Slav people managed to live for over 100 years without being invaded. Out of sheer happiness, they invented a democratic system of rule. They did not call it a democracy but the word invented later by the Greeks was a direct description of their example.
The Carantanians, situated in the Eastern Alps (present-day Austria), arose after the decline of the Roman Empire in 476 in territory of the Roman province of Inner Noricum. They had a pretty elaborate procedure whereby the people elected a Duke who ruled them in what today would be considered an utterly romantic way. The Duke ruled only by consent of the people. They could do away with him if they so pleased.
His rule was not automatically passed on to his offspring, but every time a new Duke was needed, he was put forward by popular choice in its most basic form. The Carantanians were an incredibly proud people and were not shy about showing their Duke off. The ritual around his installation was at the time said to be unrivalled in the world. The installation took place in the open air, at a huge stone, was said to be among the greatest ceremonies ever witnessed even by high ranking outsiders.
In matter of fact, it is due to a pope that the system received fame around the world. The Carantanian example was described in glowing terms by Pope Piccolomini (II) and apart from their fame being spread all over Europe, they also were noticed by people further a field, including the US President Thomas Jefferson a few millennia later when he studied the words Jean Bodin wrote about them as examplary material for the US constitution.
Writers making note of them furthermore included M.A.C. Sabellicus (Eneades Rapsodiae Historicae, Opera Omnia, Basel 1560) and P. Mexia (Silva de Varia Lezion, Seville 1570). It is not only the political theorists who are said to have found inspiration in Carantania, which pretty much showed it was possible for a people to live relatively peaceful together without an overt autocratic ruler -something that was pretty much the standard elsewhere, where rulers brutally enslaved the people they ruled- but the installation ceremony around the stone has proven very similar to ideas throughout Europe regarding the ceremonial installations of kings and rulers.
The most famous of them is the coronation stone that's found in England, the fabled yellow sandstone `Stone of Scone' (named after the Scottish monastery where the stone originally was found) which in 1296 was placed under the Coronation Chair in Westminster Abbey, is nevertheless inspiring. It is associated with the crowning of all historic Scottish Kings and its older name is indicative of almost religious sentiment, `Stone of Destiny', or `Liag Fáil' in Scottish Gaelic. Its transfer from Scotland to England was to be the symbol that the kings of England would be crowned as kings of Scotland also.
Ironically, after the initial fame that the Carantanians enjoyed in the international world, their story later was pretty much hidden, because of the political situation, and political repression by jealous Serbs. The belated intrigue is however all the more interesting. It is likely that there is even some substance to claims that the Prince's stone was used for similar purposes as other stones in Europe on which kings and queens used to be and are still installed.
Some people say that there are links between the stone ceremonies. The stone that used to be in Scotland and that lies now beneath the chair in Westminster Abbey is subject to similar romantic stories as the Carantanian one. It is claimed -though not proven- that this is actually the very same stone that Jacob in the Bible rested his head on and that was apparently dragged around by Moses.
There is no real clarity around the Carantanian prince's stone's use prior to the installation ceremony that is conclusive, yet it's likely linked to Celts.
The installation of the Duke took place on a hill named Krnski grad (Karnburg) in Carinthia, on a meadow where the Prince`s Stone still lies. Historic records reveal this to have been the format of the installation ceremony:
"The new duke, accompanied with the banner of the country, surrounded by nobles and knights, walks up to the hill. With one hand he leads a spotted bull and with the other, a black and white war horse. He puts aside his precious vestments, and then they dress him in a gray coat and gird him with a red belt from which hangs a big red hunting bag, such as it is suitable for the master of the hunts. Into it he has to put cheese, bread and other food. They give him a hunting horn firmly bound with red straps. Besides this, they put two shoes wrapped with red thongs on his feet. They wrap him in a gray cloak and then place on his head a gray Slovenian hat with a gray cord. A free peasant mounts the prince`s Stone. This office belongs to him by right of succession and is hereditary in his family. The duke carries in his hand a stick and comes forward. Alongside him are walking the Count Palatine, the landgrave, and other nobles.
The peasant sitting on the Stone proclaims in Slovene language: „Who is he that comes forward?" And those sitting around him answer: „He is the prince of the land." After this, he asks: „Is he an upright judge seeking the well-being of the country, is he freeborn and deserving? Is he a foster and defender of the Christian faith?" All answer: „He is and he will be." The peasant then asks: „By what right can he displace me from this my seat?" The people reply: „He will pay you sixty denari, and he will give you your home free and without tribute." Whereupon the peasant, after giving the duke a gentle stroke on his cheek, proffers him the place. The duke mounts on the Stone and, drawing his sward, turns in all directions in order to show that he will be a righteous judge to all. And it is narrated that the duke then takes a drink of cold water out of a rustic hat, so that the people, seeing this, may not crave for wine, but may be content with what the native soil produces to sustain life. Finally, they lift him onto a horse and conduct him around the Stone three times. At the same time all of them sing their Slovenian Kirie-Eleison, praising God, because they have been given a new ruler in accordance with His will." - A truly splendid affair it must have been, ancient democracy.
Article Blast: http://www.articleblast.com/
Some Notes: It is about an excellent presentation of the democracy in ancient Carantania. Anyway, as to get a better image, some notes are necessary. - Firstly, Carantanians were Slovenians and not only an (indefinite) "Slav people". They descended from the prehistoric Vends or Veneti. Secondly, it is very probable that the rite of installation of the new ruler was a Vendic and not a Celtic tradition. With regards to the Scottish Gaelic "Stone of Destiny", it very probably descended from the pre-Celtic period, which on the British Isles belonged to the Vends too. Many names give evidence of their historical past. Regarding the installation and its Vendic origin, the stone called Mora Sten in Sweden, on which the Swedish king was installed, has to be mentioned here also. It was certainly of pre-Germanic origin, this is, a legacy of the Vendic period in Scandinavia. Concerning the Slavs, it is only about a linguistic family of peoples. Otherwise, they are of different ethnical origin and historical tradition. In vain did pan-Slav oriented scholars try to find the installation stones of other Slav speaking peoples. Researching them, they could discover only a thrown, like the Ocetni stol (Father's Chair) in Kiew, or Stol dedni (Hereditary Chair) in Prague, but no installation stone. - Today, the Prince's Stone of Carantania is kept in the Provincial Museum of Carinthia, the chair in the open air is the Duke's Throne. (Carantha Editorial)
(cf: The Installation of the Dukes of Carantania, Rota)
(Forum Veneti Part I, article: The Slovieni, a Venetic stock in Russia, The Vends and the Slavs)
Angelique van Engelen is an Amsterdam based writer. She runs a freelance venture that produces tailor made content including new articles, arts reviews, features, international stories, politics analysis and research.
Dr. Jožko Šavli
To this very day, it is the symbol of the ancient Aquileian Church, which also played a decisive role in the Christianization of Slovenians. Actually, the beautiful spiritual and cultural tradition of the Slovenian Christendom is a legacy of Aquileia.
Today, the bishop's chair, called Saint Mark's Cathedra, is kept in the treasury of the St. Marcus Basilica in Venice. In fact, the chair did not belong to the Apostle Saint Mark († ca. 100 AD). It originated in Aquileia, where in the sense of the ancient tradition the Apostle founded the first Christian parish. The chair is a Byzantine work of the 7th century AD. In the early Middle Ages, it is true, the Church of Aquileia was subordinated to Byzantium and not to Rome.
Already in the late Roman period, Aquileia was the centre of the Metropolitan Church, the territory of which also extended over the Eastern Alps. It included the province of Noricum, where several bishoprics already existed. But after the decline of the Roman Empire the bishoprics decayed, because most Christian people left the country for Italy. Somewhat later, the dukedom of Carantania arose in this territory, (mentioned in the records in 595 AD). It was a Slovenian State still inhabited by a pagan people. The archaeological finds show, however, that there a certain number of Christians were preserved from the Roman period. They pertained to the Metropolitan Church of Aquileia.
After 750 AD, Carantania began to be Christianized. The records speak of Irish missionaries coming from Salzburg. Missionaries also arrived from Aquileia, but there are no written documents to verify this. In 812 AD, Charlemagne established the boundary between the Missionaries of Salzburg and Aquileia, with the Drava River as the dividing line. In spite of lacking records, the archaeological finds and the Slovenian spiritual tradition, which has been preserved until this very day, show, that Carantania, in a prevailing measure, was Christianized from Aquileia. Indeed, the early Christian culture of Carantania, the so-called Köttlach Culture in its material and spiritual richness, is a legacy of Aquileia. From there came also several Byzantine influences. Regretfully, until now, the Carantanian (Slovenian) Christendom has never been examined thoroughly from this point of view.
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| Moreover, in the sense of various ideologies (pan-Slav, pan-German, yugo-Slav, Communist) represented by the ruling political regimes, until today the Christianization of the Slovenians continues to be presented as a »Germanizing« mission, carried out from Salzburg. It is about an ideological indoctrination, the aim of which has been the humiliation of the Slovenians and their beautiful Christian tradition. This indoctrination would be without formal basis, if the Aquileian legacy would be properly explored and made public. |
Duke Bernard of Carinthia (Carantania)
The above memorial, built in honour of Duke Bernard of Carinthia (1202 - 1256), is to be found in Klagenfurt - Celovec, Carinthia (Austria). He was the most famous ruler of the Second House (Spanheim) of the Dynasty of Carantania. In Carantanian Slovenian history, he is especially known for his Slovenian salutation »Buge was primi gralva Venus«, which means, "Let us receive God, kingly Venus". With these words he and his knights welcomed the troubadour Ulric of Liechtenstein at the Carinthian border, in 1227. It was the year when the well-known troubadour set out on a journey from Venice to Prague, which took him also to Carinthia. He was dressed in the customary manner as »Queen Venus« (a symbolic figure of love). A few days after Ulric passed through Styria in his Venus' clothes, he encountered in the valley of Murica (Mürz) a windisch wip (a Slovenian lady) , who challenged him to a friendly duel. But soon after, the Slovenian »lady« was identified as the lord of the valley, Georg Buchs by name, who in his own way honoured the famous troubadour. - After his death, Duke Bernard was succeeded by his elder son, Duke Ulric III of Carinthia († 1269). His younger brother Philip was elected first as Archbishop of Salzburg (1246) and then as Patriarch of Aquileia (1269). Nevertheless, the Pope did not confirm the elections. Philip of Carinthia († 1279) was the last member of the Dynasty of Carantania. Some decades later, the Dynasty of Austria (Habsburg), which already ruled in Styria, ascended also the duke's throne in Carinthia.
(cf: Slovenian Nobility, article: Carantanian Knights)
| The Kamenica Memorial Stone
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| Dr. Jožko Šavli |
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| The Kamenica Memorial Stone was erected in1975 and is named after the Kamenica (pron. Kamenitsa) hill on which it is standing. The monument is a tribute to the ancient people's assemblies called sosednje in Slovenian. The assembly was convoked by the Slovenian inhabitants of this region, which includes the basin of the Nadiža (Natisone) Valleys, in the backcountry of Cividale in Friuli (now Italy). Until its decay in 1797, this region was part of the Republic of Venice for several centuries, and was endowed with the right of self-administration. At the assemblies, the Slovenian people elected their župani (mayors) and the dvanajstije (a 12-member board). Each village was ruled by its proper župan and dvanajstija. It is about the ancient Slovenian social organization in sense of the indigenous law called institutio Sclavenica. After the decay of the Republic of Venice, the assemblies gradually fell into oblivion. |
The Point in the Circle
A mysterious message, which the Late Antique bequeathed
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to early Carantania (Sclauinia) |
A Christian symbol of the eternal God, which appears in the early period of Carantania.
Dr. Jožko Šavli
It is a Christian symbol, which appears in the finds of early Carantania from the 6th century AD. In the area of ancient Carantania, several archaeological artefacts from that period bear a simple symbol: a point surrounded by a circle. Seen from the modern historical point of view, it is about a mysterious sign, whose meaning has not yet been explained. That is why I undertook this research myself. Usually, numerous examples of the find are illustrated with the same symbol, and the archaeologists consider it merely a decorative element. It is noticeable on various small figurines for instance, which, however, are of great symbolical value. Such are, for example, the very similar figures representing the peacock, which were found in Celje, Bled and Piran. Another peacock figure bearing this symbol was found in Trnje (near Škofja Loka). From the same period originate two figures depicting a dove, which also bears the same symbol and were found in Ajdna above Potoki (close to Žirovnica) and in Hajdina (close to Ptuj). The symbol also appears on an appliqué from Dravle (close to Lublana) and on a belt buckle from Veliki Korinj (west of Novo mesto) etc.
I was somewhat surprised to learn, that the archaeologists place the aforesaid finds into the 6th century AD. This period still pertained to the Late Antique, even though it followed the century after the decline of the Roman Empire, in 476 AD. In this period, the Roman province of Noricum, the predecessor of Carantania, pertained for some decades to the Ostrogothic kingdom in Italy. The Ostrogoths, led by their king Theodoric the Great († 526 AD), brought advancement to the Roman political and cultural tradition.
In 537 AD, the territory of ancient Noricum was occupied by the Franks. But after several decades, the great Byzantine general, Narzes by name, dislodged the Franks from the Alps. For some years, the Byzantines dominated Italy and the Eastern Alps. Nevertheless, already in 568, the Lombards, who at that time stayed in Pannonia, made incursions into Italy and founded their own kingdom there.
The Lombards did not integrate the area of the Eastern Alps, the ancient Noricum, into their kingdom. In this territory arose in the second half of the 6th century AD the independent princedom or duchy, which bore the name Carantania or Sclauinia. In 595 AD, it appears for the first time in the records under the name »provincia Sclaborum« (Paulus Diaconus). The official historiography, it is true, classifies this period as the arrival of the "Alpine Slavs" (the supposed predecessors of the Slovenians) in the area of the Eastern Alps. They make this statement without the necessary historical back up. In fact, Carantania - Sclauinia (Slovenia) could have been established only by the indigenous people.
The new princedom of Carantania (the predecessor of the modern Austria and Slovenia) was prevalently a pagan State. It is a true fact, that Christianity was promulgated in this territory during the previous Roman and Ostrogothic period. Bishoprics existed already in the larger centres, like Virunum (near Klagenfurt - Celovec), Aguntum (Lienz), Celeia (Celje)… Nevertheless, only the majority of the leading social class was Christianized, and with the gradual decay of the ancient Roman administrative and economical structures, this social stratum was abandoning the country and left for Italy.
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Gradec above Prapretno, east of Celje, an example of Late Antique settlement (reconstruction), 6th century AD. |
The Message
In this way, the number of Christians living in early Carantania was extremely reduced. Many churches were abandoned. One of the most important witnesses of this process is the antique pilgrimage centre on St. Emma hill in Juna, eastern Carinthia. There, the remainders of no less then seven churches from the 6th century AD have been unearthed, which later were abandoned and forgotten.
It is surprising, that precisely during this time the mysterious Point in the Circle appeared on several figures, which depicts the well-known Christian symbolism. For example, it is present on the figures of the peacock, which has been a symbol of paradise. One imagined the garden of Eden (paradise) as a marvellous garden with lush vegetation and beautiful birds. Among the birds the peacock took the first place, and soon its image became a symbol of paradise. His image especially appeared in baptisteries, because baptism opened the way to paradise. The image of a bird symbolized the soul, the dove represented the Holy Spirit, the lily was a sign of the Church and of St. Mary, and so on.
What does it mean, if the symbolical Point in the Circle appears on the finds even in the period of the great decline of Christianity in Noricum - Carantania? It was like a message, but which one?
When searching for the answer, we must go back to the period of Early Christianity. In this period we encounter an incredible rich spiritual world: philosophy, aesthetics, ethics,… The entire classical Greek-Roman world was permeated by Christianity. The then Christians of Noricum - Carantania, at that time steadily declining in numbers, were a part of the classical culture of the Late Antique. Thus the meaning of their message, which was very probably spontaneously expressed by the circle and point, can be clearly explained as symbolism of early Christianity.
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Slovenia, decorative brooches (6th century AD) bearing the symbol of the Point in the Circle |
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- from left to right: first two brooches in form of a peacock from Celje and Bled, another brooch in form of a hoopoe from Piran. |
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In Slovenia, in the people's tongue, the hoopoe is still today called »God's cockerel«. |
The Sign
In connection with the classical Christian symbolism, the point represented the number One in the meaning of an undivided unity. Each other number is composed, only the One remains unchanged. Without One no quantity can be taught, but, it itself stays outside of the quantity. In this way, it is justified that the number One was considered the symbol of the highest being, God, who created the Universe with a strike.
The symbolical meaning of the circle was closely connected with that of the number One. The sign of the Circle, because without beginning and end, was a symbol of God's eternity. At the same time, it was an expression of the highest nature law, which dominates all the life and was in the same way the symbol of immortality, which emerges from the regeneration of nature in its repeated dying.
Thus, the mysterious symbol of point and circle expressed the One and Eternal God. Only this could have been the message, that the Christians of early Carantania (Sclaunina - Slovenia), still a pagan State, bequeathed to their non-Christian countrymen. It is possible, that in several cases this sign also meant a decorative element. The archaeologists consider only this interpretation as the proper one. But its very contents is as explained above.
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Slovenia, decorative brooches (6th century AD) in the form of a dove originating from Hajdina near Ptuj (Lower Styria) and Ajdna above Potoki close to Žirovnica (Carniola) - below: the belt buckle from Veliki Korinj, east of Novo mesto (Carniola). |
The Christianization
Indeed, the pagan Carantanian people were already acquainted with Christianity, even though they did not receive baptism. Yet Christianization of the country could not be put into effect until the Carantanian duke and the leading class gave their consent. And this did not happen until after 750 AD. Why did it take so long? In fact, the Christianization of the country was connected to a sort of political dependence. The Franks considered themselves as the tutors of Christian Europe. Therefore, a Christianised people were obligated to recognise the protection and the formal sovereignty of the Frankish king. It seems that Carantanian dukes rejected this idea for a long time.
In about 743, the friendly Bavarians, who were already Christianized, came to the rescue of the Carantanians in their fight against the Avars. But the Bavarians needed permission from the Frankish king, who agreed to their plan, provided that the Carantanians say yes to Christianity. The Carantanian duke, Borut by name, accepted his proposal. Indeed, some years later the Christianization of the country began.
The modern Bavarian, Austrian, Yugoslav and other historians explain the Christianization of the Carantanians as a loss of their independence. Since that time, the Bavarian historians degraded Carantania to a "Bavarian March". In ex-Yugoslavia, following the directions of the Belgrade regime, the academic world had to declare that Carantania at that time came under the "millennarium German yoke", etc. Evidently, the early independence and national identity of the Carantanians (Slovenians) disturbed the theory of the bearers of great-national ideologies, like the pan-Germanism, pan-Slavism or great-Romanism, and it still does today.
It is possible, that the Carantanians, because of their knowledge about Christianity, prevalently abandoned their pagan deities even before baptism set in. But, as a consequence of its classical Latin features, Christianity remained outside of their quotidian life and culture. Only after Christianization, carried out by St. Modestus and his monks, a striking Christian culture arose in Carantania (8th - 11th century AD) in a surprisingly brief time. It is called the Köttlach Culture by the archaeologists. In this period, the Christian Faith pervaded the life of the Carantanian people. The ancient popular tradition was Christianized. For example, the ancient tree of life, the linden, replaced in this role the classical Christian acanthus. The sign of the black panther, a symbol of Christ's resurrection, became the Carantanian State symbol. And so on. Such a process, carried out after the Christianization, advanced so fast, that one comes to the conclusion, that already in former times the Carantanians were well versed in the Christian faith.
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Friuli, decorative brooches from Aquileia, 9th /10th century AD - from left to right: the brooch which still depicts the symbol of the Point in the Circle, and another one, in which the point has already been replaced with the Cross. |
The symbol of the Point in the Circle does not appear anymore in its classical form on the finds of the Köttlach Culture. One example has been found only in Aquileia, where the ancient Latin Christian tradition was mostly preserved. In the area of the Köttlach Culture, the Point in the centre of numerous brooches has been mostly replaced with the Cross and several other symbols.
Evidently, the ancient Christian message given through the abstract mathematical symbols of point and circle did not correspond anymore with the thinking of the Carantanians (Slovenians). Their religious experience became more sentimental: In their quotidian life, they found God in the nature and the landscape, in the prayer and in the beautiful singing. This is: in their inner experience and its expression, which has not changed until today.
Bibliography:
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Dorothea Forstner: Die Welt der christlichen Symbole, Innsbruck 1982, p. 48 (Eins), p. 61 (Kreis und Kugel) |
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Timotej Knific - Milan Segadin: Pismo brez pisave. Arheologija o prvih stoletjih kršcanstva na Slovenskem /Letter without Writing. Archaeology about the First Centuries of Christianism in Slovenian territory/, Lublana 1991 |
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Slavko Ciglenicki: Pólis Norikón, Podsreda 1992 |
The Cross of Carantania
It was a spiritual expression of the Köttlach (Carantanian) Culture
8th - 11th century AD
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The Cross of Carantania with shanks in form of stylized flowers, meaning Salvation, and with a circle in the centre, representing the Holy Host. |
Dr. Jožko Šavli
Indeed, I was very surprised , when I read the archaeological researches concerning the findings of the so-called Köttlach Culture (8th - 11th century AD), which was widespread in the Eastern Alps, i.e., the area of the Duchy, and then Grand-Duchy of Carantania. The descriptions are far from the spiritual contents of the findings expressed. For example, a typical shank of the cross, depicted by several brooches, is called a "shank in form of a swallow's tail"! Of course, it was not the task of the archaeologists to search for the pictures' symbolism.
This Köttlach Culture bears its name after the great finding place of Köttlach (Kotle), under the Semmering (Severnik) Pass in present-day Austria. Archaeology did a tremendous amount of fieldwork in excavating its findings. But many sites still have to be unearthed. First of all, attention should be paid to the discoveries of foundations of Carantanian structures from that period, especially the forts are of most importance. One example was the fort in Gars am Kamp (Lower Austria), which was unearthed in the eighties of the past century. Well before WW2 began, efforts were made to excavate the foundations of Karnburg (Krnski grad), the well-known residence of the Carantanian dukes, which is found north of Klagenfurt - Celovec, in Carinthia. All of the sudden the ongoing projects were stopped. Then, the news came out, that the finds, contrary to expectations, did not confirm with "German" origin of Carantania (Kärnten).
Findings emerged in great numbers from the numerous unearthed graves, pertaining to the period of the Köttlach Culture. It is mostly about small items, among which earrings and brooches prevailed. Yet, one has to be surprised what the pictures of these items reveal! Many of them pertain even to the 9th century, i.e., to the first period of the Köttlach Culture. Thus, they pertain to the decades, that followed the Christianization of the Carantanians (Slovenians). Let us quote some examples of these pictures: cross, tree of life, lily, pigeon, panther, Agnus Dei, rosette, rooster, eagle, etc. They are early Christian symbols found all over the Mediterranean and Europe. But here, in Carantania, the form of their design expresses a peculiarity, which reflects in particular the Slovenian sentiment and spiritual world.
Therefore, the variety of features of a certain figure is largely extended. Many pictures are encircled by ornaments, that do not express the embellishments but rather a symbolism. For example, the circle means eternity, it has no beginning and no end. The pictures depicted on the small objects express a Christian spirituality on a very high level. For a people like the Carantanians, who were hardly Christianized, such a spiritual level would be impossible. Thus, this fact is proof, that in Carantania a not negligible number of Christians were preserved from the late Roman era, and after the Carantanians were christened with their assistance, a deep and rich spirituality spread among the people.
The centre of the spiritual irradiation was Aquileia, which already in the Roman era was the church-metropolis for the entire province of Noricum (the later Carantania). This great Roman city was destroyed by Attila, king of the Huns, in 452. But the Patriarch of Aquileia, and its extremely rich Christian spiritual tradition, continued to exist through the whole period of the Middle Ages.
The most intensive concentration of discoveries, pertaining to the Köttlach Culture, is to be found in central Carinthia and in upper Carniola. This, I suppose, is not only due to the fact, that they were the centres of political power. Apart from this, there was, and still is, the beautiful natural landscape: view of high mountains, peaceful lakes, green plains and hills, which contributed in great measures to condition and promote the spiritual and sentimental experience. They originated mystical absorption, from which always new and new religious cognition derived.
Otherwise I cannot explain to myself the fact, why for example, in Bled we encounter several burial-places (Bled - Grad, Bled - Pristava, Bled - Zale) with numerous graves. A great part of which, as it seems, should pertain to people from abroad, who would have been buried here? Why? I am sure, first of all, it was the beautiful landscape of Bled, that promoted a religious and spiritual experience. Already in pre-Christian times, there was a pagan temple on the idyllic small island in the middle of Lake Bled. In 8th century AD, the temple was exchanged or replaced by a little wooden church. In the 10th century, a church of stone took its place. This site is so suggestive, that it is not hard to directly inspire someone's spiritual experience. Still in the 19th century, Francè Prešeren, our greatest Slovenian poet, was full aware of this fact, and he called the Bled countryside "podoba raja" (imagination of paradise).
I established, that the early Carantanian (Slovenian) spiritual and religious experience was closely connected to the visible world and its natural beauties, and, therefore, was considered a "gift of Good". It is not possible to ascertain, if in that period the song, too, played such a great role as it did later on. But, we only can assume. - Considering all the above, we come to the conclusion that the variety of the pictures found on the small findings, receive a different meaning.
The Cross
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Brooches depicting some forms of the Carantanian flower cross, which origin from the following finding places (from left to right): Köttlach (Austria), Kranj (Slovenia), Krungl (Avstria), Bled - Pristava (Slovenia). |
Among the aforesaid pictures, the first place has to be ascribed to the cross. Its features reveal a very large variety, which I don't consider in general as early Christian only, but as a concrete Carantanian one, because the designs express typical Carantanian elements. Such Carantanian crosses in its several varieties were certainly put on the graves, too. Since they were constructed of perishable wood no exemplars could be preserved. We can see the cross in all its varieties only on the numerous brooches, which were found in the graves.
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Other brooches with the Carantanian flower cross. Finding places: Köttlach (Austria), unknown, Mengeš (Slovenia), Gradenberg (Austria).
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There was not only one unique type of cross spread all over Carantanian territory. The cross forms, which are preserved on the brooches, express a certain development of the symbolism represented by its drawing, i.e., from the cross as a single sign of Christ's death, until the sign of Salvation. Such a message reaches the summit of the cross' symbolism, when it receives the following feature: the cross shanks are represented as stylized flowers, and frequently a circle is found in the middle.
Christ himself was a flower, arisen from Joseph's family roots (Jess 11, 1). Several Christian experts, like St. Augustine for example, have postulated that Jesus' life resembled that of a flower. It was with us for only a short time, then withered in sufferance and death (cf. Ps 28, 7) only to be resurrected after a winter of disbelief and vice, bringing with it a spring filled with mercy and virtue to a rescued world.
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| In the early Christian symbolism, the flowers mean Paradise, and the circle in the centre of the cross is the Holy Host. The message is clear: Christ's death on the cross brought Salvation to mankind, Christ's gift through his sacrifice on the cross is repeated in the Host. The latter is symbolized by a circle in the centre of the cross. |
Dante knew Carantania
Dante Alighieri (1265 - 1321)
Dr. Jožko Šavli
In the 13th/14th century AD, Carantania, the original Slovenian State and later Austria, was known in Europe. One of the proofs provide the works of several Florentines, who gave it the name Chiarentana or Carentana, as for example the poet Fazio degli Uberti (ca. 1309 - 1367), the famous chronicler Giovanni Villani (1276 - ca.1348) as well as Giovanni Boccaccio (1313 - 1375), who said that the river Brenta rises from the mountains of Carantania, that is the land in the Alps, which divides Italy from Germany. The world famous Dante Alighieri too, mentions "Carentana" in his famous work the Divine Comedy, in which he says: …e quali Padoan lungo la Brenta, per difender lor ville e lor castelli, anzi che Carentana il caldo senta., … and as the Paduans along the Brenta, to guard their villages and their castles, or ever Chiarentana* feel the heat…(* a part of the Alps where the Brenta rises, swollen by melting snows), Inferno, Canto 15.
The beautiful bronze bust of Dante, as presented above, is the work of Antonio Maraini, a well-known Italian sculptor. Around 1930, the bust was donated by the municipality of Florence to the commune of Tolmin, as to perpetuate the memory of the famous poet. Thus, a legend of Dante Alighieri has been preserved in Tolmin. According to the legend, the great poet dwelt here for a brief time as the guest of the Patriarch of Aquileia, who had his summer residence in Tolmin. Indeed, above the nearby canyon of the Tolminka River there is still the cavern, known to the inhabitants as Dante's cave. It is suggested, that the poet found and drew inspiration for his Inferno from the wild abysms of the Tolminka canyon.
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| Nevertheless, the inauguration of Dante's bust in the public garden of Tolmin occurred in a period, when Tolmin pertained to Italy, reigned by the nationalistic Fascist regime. Therefore, the inauguration was conceived by the Slovenian population as a gesture of Italianization. After the end of WW2, when Tolmin came under Yugoslavia, the bust was removed and thrown in a rubbish bin. However, a consciences native of Tolmin, who was aware of Dante's grandeur, saved the bust, which thereafter was preserved in the local museum. Some years after Slovenia's declaration of independence, a group of people made an attempt to put the bust back in a public place for everyone to enjoy. Indeed, the poet has no connection whatsoever with any kind of nationalism. But the attempt made by the citizens of Tolmin, because of intervention by ex-Yugoslav circles, did not succeed. The bust was stored in the local museum anew. |
The Carantan
ca. 1270 - ca. 1892
A silver coin remembering Carantania
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The obverse and the reverse of the Carantan (above) |
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With the double cross, Tyrolian eagle and the inscription MEINARDVS COMES TIROLI, and its graphical drawing (below) |
In Friuli, still today money in general often is called »carantani«.
Dr Jozko Šavli
In 1286, Mainhard II of Goerz-Tyrol, Count of Tyrol, was appointed Duke of Carinthia. This historical duchy was the central province of the former Grand Duchy of Carantania, and conserved therefore its political tradition. Based on this, Mainhard's enfeoffment was carried out upon the ancient Slovenian rite: "He was enthroned on the Prince's Stone, then he judged the quarrels and enfeoffed the liegemen on the Ducal Throne", which is still to be found on the field of Svatne, north of Celovec/Klagenfurt located in Carinthia.
(cf article "The Installation of the Dukes of Carantania")
In Meran, the principal town in Mainhard's county Tyrol, there used to be a mint, which produced silver coins since 1270 approximately. On the obverse a double cross was stamped with the inscription Meinardvs and on the reverse they displayed the image of the Tyrolian eagle and the continuation of the inscription Comes Tiroli. Because Meran is situated on the River Etsch (Adige), the German speaking population called this coin an Etschkreuzer.
It became tremendously useful and handy when conducting business and making payments, and the usage of coins spread fast into the territory of Northern Italy, as far as Trieste and Dalmatia. But in this area it was called Carantan (or Carantano), because Mainhard II, who possessed the privilege of coining, was also the Duke of Carantania (Carinthia).
The Carantan remained in circulation for centuries bearing in the inscription the name of the mint-master. Its value amounted to 20 small denari - veronesi piccoli. Therefore it was also called »zvanzika« (zwanziger). In 1551, it was recognized as state money in the ratio 1/72 thaler. Since 1615 its value was 1/90 thaler or 1/60 florin.
In Northern Italy (Lombardy and Veneto) the carantan was abolished at the time of the money reform in 1858. In the Austrian provinces it remained in use until 1892, when it was, together with the florin, converted for crowns.
