In what is now Czechia, there used to be an empire that lasted a little more than 30 years. It’s founder was a brave warrior who also found time to marry 12 times, have 22 sons and 15 daughters. This article pulls together what little information exists about him together.

Central Europe at the time

There is little documented history about Slavic culture before the 9th century¹. This is when St Cyril and St Methodius introduced writing, changing history for them¹. Most of what we know comes from Frankish documents¹, and it’s not clear they are reliable either.

The primary source is The Chronicle of Fredegar written in the 7th century¹. Scholars disagree about whether Fredegar wrote it or not. No matter who wrote it, most historians agree the content is reliable enough.

Samo, King Samo

Samo was a Frankish arms dealer supplying Slavic tribes with weaponry¹. Arms dealing was a brisk trade in the 7th century. After all, the Slavs had fought against Imperial Rome and Mongol invasions. His long-distance trades would have made him a wealthy man¹. There were many Slavic tribes at the time and it’s likely Samo traded with many, if not all, of them¹.

Some of these tribes united in a sort of federation; historians refer to this grouping as the Wends¹. Their south-eastern enemies suppressed and enslaved them¹. The main enemy, known as the Avars, was of Turkish origin¹. There were periods of war and also of peace between the Avars and the Wends¹. When they weren’t fighting, the Avars used the Wends as cannon fodder in battles¹. This makes me think ‘peace’ wasn’t all it’s cracked up to be for the Wends.

When the Romans attacked the Avars, Samo led the Wends in an uprising¹. He was a skilful battlefield commander and won admiration for his tactics¹. Samo proved his leadership so the Wends elected him King¹. Historians call the lands he ruled over the Empire of Samo. Historians agree this is the first recorded Slavic state².

The Great Moravian Empire formed about 150 years later.

Samo reigned as a king between 623 and 658¹. He was wily enough to forge close ties to as many of the tribes as possible¹. He did this by marrying 12 different women which shows it’s good to be the king¹. He sires 22 sons and 15 daughters to ensure tribal loyalty and family connections¹.

Samo’s skill and wealth did not dissuade the Franks from attacking his empire¹. As a pagan collection of tribes, this was a logical target for Christian Frankish troops¹. Samo tried to negotiate a peace treaty with Frankish King Dagobert I but this did not last long¹.

The Battle of Wogastisburg

Dagobert kept trying to find an excuse to attack. In 630, he accused many Slavic brigands of killing and robbing Frankish merchants¹. Dagobert insisted that Samo should hand them over so they could be punished¹. Samo didn’t want to appease his rival. He promised to do so on two conditions¹:

• Dagobert had to identify the miscreants
• They were guilty of these accusations

Dagobert interpreted these conditions as a treaty-breaking act and invaded in 631^{1 3}. Samo led the Slavs to victory in a 3-day battle at a place called Wogastisburg^{1 3}.

There is no such place called Wogastisburg. Fredegar neither indicates where this is, nor leaves any geographical clues. Perhaps this is the name of a temporary encampment, or a town which no longer exists. It could be anywhere between Vienna in the west and the Slovak-Ukrainian border in the east.

The Slavs decimated their opponents, and drove the survivors away¹. This boosted Samo’s reputation and gave him the confidence to raid Eastern Francia in later years¹.

The end of Empire

Samo died in 658¹ and his Empire, such as it is, died with him. At its peak, it extended from the Adriatic Sea to (almost) the Baltic, stretching across the continent. None of his titles, power and wealth went to his many sons¹ which is curious. Since Samo earned his title through merit rather than inheritance, it’s possible this was normal for them. Soon after his death, his old enemies retook what they thought was theirs¹. They kept control over the land till Charlemagne came along more than 100 years later¹.

References

1. Samo; World History Encyclopaedia; 2014-12-30[↩][↩][↩][↩][↩][↩][↩][↩][↩][↩][↩][↩][↩][↩][↩][↩][↩][↩][↩][↩][↩][↩][↩][↩][↩][↩][↩][↩][↩][↩][↩][↩][↩]
2. The Making of Christian Moravia (858-882): Papal Power and Political Reality; Maddalena Betti; 2014[↩]
3. Samo’s Empire; The History of Czechoslovakia; 2018-12-08[↩][↩]

Remember: links were correct at time of publication.