PV1B103 Great Moravia: Carolingian March, or independent "empire"?

Faculty of Arts
Spring 2025

The course is not taught in Spring 2025

Extent and Intensity
1/1/0. 4 credit(s). Type of Completion: z (credit).
In-person direct teaching
Teacher(s)
doc. Mgr. David Kalhous, Ph.D. (lecturer)
Guaranteed by
doc. Mgr. David Kalhous, Ph.D.
Department of Auxiliary Historical Sciences and Archive Studies – Faculty of Arts
Contact Person: Olga Barová
Supplier department: Department of Auxiliary Historical Sciences and Archive Studies – Faculty of Arts
Prerequisites
Interest in European Medieval history
Course Enrolment Limitations
The course is also offered to the students of the fields other than those the course is directly associated with.
fields of study / plans the course is directly associated with
there are 40 fields of study the course is directly associated with, display
Course objectives
In this course, we will analyse the role of "Great" Moravia in the structures of contemporary Carolingian Europe from a comparative perspective, and we will also focus on its second life in later Medieval historiography and hagiography.
Learning outcomes
Student will understand the problem of centre and periphery and will be able to apply this concept on the developement of the Carolingian world in the 8th and 9th c. She/He will also deepen her/his analytical skills thanks to the intense discusion of the complex concepts in humanities, or primary historical sources.
Syllabus
  • 1) The Carolingians become kings: between contemporary and later narratives
  • 2) Charlemagne and his empire: government, structures, sources
  • 3) Franks, Langobards, Bavarians and Avars: expansion of the empire
  • 4) Franks meet Slavs: the beginnings of Moravia
  • 5) Between Pasau, Aquileia, Rome and Byzantium: Moravians baptised
  • 6) Elites: a new definition or new self-perception?
  • 7) Who were the Mojmirids: a comparative perspective
  • 8) Svatopluk, King of the Moravians? Between "reality" and legend
  • 9) Great Moravia and its second life in the Middle Ages
  • 10) Great Moravia in modern historiography and archaeology
Literature
  • Smith, J. M. H.: Province and Empire. Brittany and the Carolingians. Cambridge, New York 1992.
  • Curta, F.: The history and archaeology of Great Moravia: an introduction. Early Medieval Europe 17, 2009, 238-247
  • History and politics in late Carolingian and Ottonian Europe: the Chronicle of Regino of Prüm and Adalbert of Magdeburg. Trans. S. MacLean. Manchester 2009.
  • The Monks of Redon: Gesta Sanctorum Rotonensium and Vita Conwoionis, Studies in Celtic History 10. Trans. et ed. C. Brett. Woodbridge 1989.
  • McKitterick, R.: Charlemagne: the formation of a European identity. Cambridge 2008.
  • The annals of St-Bertin. Trans. J. L. Nelson. Manchester 1991.
  • The Origins of Christianity in Bohemia. Sources and Commentary. Ed. et transl. M. Cantor. Evanston 1990
  • The Annals of Fulda. Trans. T. Reuter. Manchester 1992.
  • BETTI, Maddalena. The making of Christian Moravia (858-882) : papal power and political reality. Leiden: Brill, 2014, xiii, 251. ISBN 9789004211872. info
  • KALHOUS, David. Anatomy of a duchy : the political and ecclesiastical structures of early Přemyslid Bohemia. Leiden: Brill, 2012, xvi, 317. ISBN 9789004229815. info
  • The Czech lands in medieval transformation. Edited by Jan Klápště - Philadelphia Ricketts. Boston: Brill, 2012, xxxviii, 5. ISBN 9789004226463. info
  • MACHÁČEK, Jiří. The Rise of Medieval Towns and States in East Central Europe : Early Medieval Centres as Social and Economic Systems. Leiden - Boston: Koninklijke Brill NV, 2010, 562 pp. East Central and Eastern Europe in the Middle Ages. ISBN 978-90-04-18208-0. URL info
  • GOLDBERG, Eric Joseph. Struggle for empire : kingship and conflict under Louis the German, 817-876. 1st pub. Ithaca: Cornell University, 2006, xxi, 388. ISBN 9780801475290. info
  • MACLEAN, Simon. Kingship and politics in the late ninth century : Charles the Fat and the end of the Carolingian Empire. 1st pub. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2003, xix, 262. ISBN 9780521044455. info
  • WOOD, I. N. The missionary life : saints and the evangelisation of Europe, 400-1050. 1st pub. Harlow: Pearson Education, 2001, xiii, 309. ISBN 0582312124. info
Teaching methods
Lectures - analysis of and discussion on contemporary written sources, active participation as one of the course's criteria.
Assessment methods
Every participant will be obliged to submit a paper/presentation in English
Active participation (75 % attendance)
Language of instruction
English
Follow-Up Courses
Further Comments
The course is taught once in two years.
The course is taught: every week.
The course is also listed under the following terms Autumn 2016, Autumn 2019, Spring 2022.
  • Enrolment Statistics (Spring 2025, recent)
  • Permalink: https://is.muni.cz/course/phil/spring2025/PV1B103