The location of the Vogastisburg fortress still raises big questions. It is believed that it was located near the modern Czech town of Domažlice. The famous archaeologist August Sedlacek published an article in 1882 in which he placed Vogastisburg in the immediate vicinity of the city of Kadan. He referred to his archaeological excavations on the mountain, where he discovered the remains of an ancient fortress, which, in terms of age and size, could well be mistaken for Vogastisburg. And Kadan in those days was a border town, covering the path to a powerful fortress.
The history of the ancient Slavs, who practically did not know writing, is a series of mysteries shrouded in mystery. And yet, we know some important milestones in the unwritten Slavic chronicle. So, we know for sure that the first Slavic state arose in 623 and fortified on the banks of the Morava, on the territory of modern Czech Republic and Austria, uniting the ancestors of modern Czechs, Slovaks, Lusatian Serbs and Slovenes. This state is usually called by the name of its founder - Samo.
From merchants to princes
Thanks to the Chronicles of Fredegar, written by a Burgundian monk around 660, we can get an idea of Samo's personality. Fredegar is a reliable source: this chronicler focused his attention primarily on the events that occurred during his conscious life - from 631 to 660 / So, according to Fredegar, by the VI century, the Slavs inhabited vast territories from the Baltic Sea to the Danube and the Peloponnese, from Alps and to the Dnieper. They were engaged in cattle breeding and agriculture, fished, hunted, fought. They lived in tribal communities, did not grieve until the Avars invaded the Slavic lands from the east - warlike nomadic hordes, consisting of excellent horsemen. They attacked in small detachments, which walked one after another, sweeping away everything in their path: they burned the settlements, turned the surrounding forest into ash and embers, destroyed the fields. Captured menAvars enslaved women and children.
In this turbulent time, a merchant named Samo appeared on the Slavic lands, whose caravan was protected by a loyal squad. He reached the place where the Morava River flows into the Danube: that was the intersection of the trade routes - Vostochny and Yantarny, leading to the Baltic. Samo founded a trading town there, around which the Slavs began to settle.
Apparently, he had considerable military experience. When the Avar cavalry attacked the city, the merchant skillfully organized defense and rebuffed the conquerors. The fame of his military exploits quickly spread throughout the Slavic tribes (Wends), and they elected him as their military leader, prince.
Soon the Slavic army under the command of Samo inflicted several major defeats on the Avars. The prince showed himself to be a strategist: he skillfully set up ambushes so that the enemy was already battered in battle with the main forces. Accurate archers stood in the way of the Avar cavalry. And the Slavic militias were ready to fight in hand-to-hand combat for life and death.
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Since we are a dog, we have the right to bite you
Why is the Moravian state Samo considered the first Slavic state union? The merchant possessed outstanding military leadership and diplomatic skills, was power-hungry. One must think that the Slavic leaders and priests, fearing the Avar and Frankish attacks, abandoned their traditional powers and ceded power to the sole ruler. He himself became a monarch, creating a centralized control system based on the army. He collected duties from passing caravans ("guests") and tribute from the conquered tribes. The young state turned out to be quite viable.
But while the Slavic warriors successfully repelled threats from the East, an equally dangerous enemy was gaining strength in the West.
The king of the Frankish state of Austrasia - Dagobert I - decided to subordinate the Slavic state to his power. The reason for the war was the plundering of another Frankish merchant caravan in the Moravian field. The owner of the caravan asked Dagobert for help. And the king had long intended to teach a lesson to the impudent prince who settled in Morava. The Franks wanted to control the entire trade route along the Danube and had significant military power to implement this plan.
The Frankish king sent his ambassador to Samo - a prominent nobleman Sykha-ria. He arrived on Morava and demanded a meeting with the prince. He was dressed in Frankish costume and decided to speak Frankish to Samo. But the merchant prince, who knew diplomatic etiquette, demanded respect for the Slavic state and declined to talk. Then the ambassador dressed up in Slavonic and again appeared to the prince. This time Samo accepted Sikha-riya, who began to demand compensation for losses for the plundered caravan. He himself agreed with the validity of the claims, but he did not remain in debt either: he presented his own claims to King Dagobert. A sharp dispute ensued, during which, according to legend, Sychariy haughtily compared the Slavs to dogs. The prince replied: "Since we are dogs, we have the right to bite you!" By that time, many contradictions had accumulated between them. On the Frankish territory Slavic merchants disappeared more than once … In a word, the war could not be avoided.
Dagobert's well-armed detachments moved from the West to the Slavic lands. In several border clashes, representatives of the Frankish tribes defeated the Slavs. But on the way of their troops stood the powerful fortress of Vogastisburg, in which Prince Samo and his retinue sat down. Dagobert decided to besiege her. However, having withstood the siege, Samo, at the head of a detachment of horsemen, unexpectedly jumped out of the fortress and imposed a battle on the Franks. According to legend, the slaughter lasted three days and three nights, after which the Franks fled, abandoning their camp, supplies and booty.
Legend of Samo
Prince Samo did not limit himself to this victory and began to raid the western lands, right up to Thuringia itself. The local Duke Radulf became a dangerous enemy of the Slavic state. But soon, fighting for the independence of his duchy from the Franks, Radulf was forced to conclude an alliance with Samo: he needed military assistance.
The glory and power of the Slavic prince increased so much that the Serbian prince Dervan left his vassal subordination to Dagobert and recognized the power of Samo. The trade ties of the Moravian state also grew stronger. A powerful Slavic state appeared in Europe - the first in history. Dozens of Slavic tribes were brought to the capital of Samo - Vysehrad. Czechs, Moravians, Slovaks, Lusatian Serbs, Dulebs … The neighbors were afraid of Samo's squad, even the Avar raids on the Slavs stopped.
Samo died in about 660. The subjects respectfully mourned their leader. The prince had many children from Venedian wives, but none of the sons possessed his military talents and political acumen. Soon the empire disintegrated, and again the Avars began to rule on the banks of the Morava and Danube. But in the Slavic world, the legend of the imperious and warlike Samo was passed from mouth to mouth for a long time …
Slawomir, nicknamed Samo
There are conflicting rumors about the origins of Samo. He was called a Celtic, and a Germanic, and a Slav, and a Frank. The same Fredegar wrote: “In the 40th year of Chlothar's reign (623). a certain man named Samo, a Frank from Sansa, went with other merchants to those Slavs who are known as the Vendians. By that time, the Slavs had already raised an uprising against the Avars, also called the Huns, and against their ruler, the Khagan. " But the Czech historian Frantisek Palacky argued that Samo “was a Slav, a native of the Veletov tribe; about 622 this tribe was threatened by the subordination of the Franks, and in order not to submit to alien dominion, Samo went with his family to the Czecho-Moravian Slavs, where he quickly gained wide popularity. " Perhaps the nickname Samo is nothing more than a kind of abbreviation from the Slavic name Slavomir.
Magazine: All the mysteries of the world №26. Author: Gennady Zhigarev, Arseny Zamostyanov