Peter Štih

This work by Stih is a welcomed addition in a field (Slovenian history) where there is hardly any work. It is a good work in itself not in just filling a void.

Stih sets out to bust the myth of the continuity of Slovenian culture from the Dark Ages through to modern times. The idea of Slovenia is a modern creation and first emerging in the 16th Century. This book does not cover the modern era and stops in the High Middle Ages and attempts to describe the rich and mixed early history of the region. Slovenia is a land where Lombard, Frankish, Avar and Slav cultures intermingled. In this land Slav peoples came to predominate, but its politics and ruling elite was dominated by the supremacy of the Franks and eventually the Habsburgs.

The Slovenian Slavs were not one people. Stih identifies two different Slav groupings - the Carantanian Slavs (now in modern-day southern Austria) with northern origins; and the Carniolan Slavs with South Slav origins. Furthermore, these Slavic groups mixed with remnants of the original ancient population and would have also had a mixing with their Avar overlords. It was noted that the Carantanian Slavs were never in the Avar sphere of influence.

There was extensive interaction between the Carniolan Slavs and the Lombards in Fruili, Trieste and Istria. The defeat of the Avars at the end of the 8th century created new internal political tensions that resulted in a revolt of local lords against increasing Frankish political control leading to the replacement of many local lords with Frankish ones. In time Frankish influence would expand here at the expense of Lombard influence and relegate Slavic influences to just the local level..

Modern Slovenians make a point of an enthronement ceremony of the Carantanian duke by a peasant as evidence that early Slavic culture persisted into later times and was respected by existing authorities. It was further taken as a sign of lasting democratic qualities that survived into the modern era. Stih did not find much evidence to support the ceremony taking place or that it had the importance attributed to it.

The emergence of the modern Slovenian nation is not touched on here.… (more)