The Great Moravian Empire

From Slavic.info

Slavic tribes inhabited the territory of present day Moravia in the first half of the seventh century, when they were under the domination of the Avars. Under the leadership of Samo they succeeded in shaking off the yoke around 623 and formed the first west Slavic state which, however, collapsed after a short time.

Not much is known about this branch of the Slavs until they appear around 800 within the boundaries of the Frankish Empire under Charlemagne, from where the first Christian missionaries came to them.

The Greater Moravian Empire, covering a much larger area than Samo's state, was the second attempt at founding a west Slavic state (820). In order to introduce the vernacular into the church, its second ruler, Rostislav summoned to his empire Cyril and Methodius, two Byzantine monks who later became the patron saints of Moravia. However the Pope soon ordered the Latin rite to be restored and thus the Czechs of Bohemia and Moravia came once and for all under the influence of the West.

The invading Magyars destroyed the Greater Moravian Empire and took possession of its eastern part (Slovakia) which they dominated for a thousand years. The western part (Bohemia and Moravia), however, was able to maintain some kind of independence under the Přemysl Dynasty.