From Avars and Slavs to the First Medieval Kingdoms in Central Europe

Abstract

This chapter discusses medieval people in Central Europe—diverse groups settled there from the East during the early Middle Ages, including the Avars and Slavs (sixth to eighth century), their encounters with the Franks in the West, and later settlers, such as the Hungarians (ninth to tenth century) and other nomadic groups that followed during the High Middle Ages. The period between 700 and 1100 is the time when the general structure of the region took shape. The specific political landscape of Central Europe was formed by migration processes, the emergence and disappearance of tribes and peoples, religious developments with the sometimes violent spread of Christianity, the emergence of ruling elites, and the monopolization of power by certain dynasties. In Central Europe, both the state building processes and Christianization came later than in the regions of the Latin West and the Greek East of the former Roman Empire. Between the mid-ninth century and the year 1000, large polities emerged that developed more centralized structures.