(The Slavs of Archbishop Method in Moravia and Pannonia)

Abstract: The paper deals with the Moravian and Slavic identity of the so-called Great Moravia inhabitants (9th century) in the early Middle Ages in central Europe. It is based on three presumptions: firstly, identity is not a “natural”, existing status independent from consciousness of individuals; secondly, written sources confirm that the ethnonym “Slovien” means Slavic, as this ethnonym exceeds the region of “Great” Moravia and was used for the Slavs in Pannonia, or in the Byzantine Empire; thirdly, the question of ethnicity of the Nitra region of Moravia has no relation to our subject and the question of Slavinity. Even if ethnicity is an identity phenomenon and therefore cannot be derived directly from objective attributes like language, territory, religion or culture, these attributes bring about a feeling of proximity and can create a gens.

The paper analyses the meanings of the ethnonym Moravian and later the ethnonym Slav and the adjective Slavic, especially in hagiographic texts like Life of Constantine and Life of Method. The differences observed between these texts are interpreted as an attempt to support “Slavic” church province in Moravia and the archbishopric of Method.

Authors: Lysý, Miroslav

DOI: 10.17846/CL.2018.11.1.40-50

Publication order reference: Doc. Mgr. Miroslav Lysý, PhD.; Comenius University in Bratislava, Faculty of Law, Department of Legal History and Comparative Law, Šafárikovo námestie 6, P. O. BOX 313, 810 00 Bratislava, Slovakia; email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Source: Konštatínove listy, 2018, vol.: 11, issue: 1, pages: 40-50 (PDF file)

Keywords: LIFE OF CONSTANTINE, LIFE OF METHOD, IDENTITY, GENS, SLAVS, MORAVIANS, CHURCH ADMINISTRATION

Language: SLOVAK