The area of western Slovakia in the 9th century, alongside Moravia, constituted one of the two key regions forming the so-called core of Great Moravia – the first Middle European Slavic political entity that had a real chance of becoming a state. However, it appears that the true construction boom in defensive architecture in western Slovakia occurred only in the second half of the 9th century, particularly towards the end of that period. More importantly, the political collapse of Great Moravia around the year 907 did not result in a cultural decline or the breakdown of defensive infrastructure in the Slovak territories. What conditions (cultural, geographical) underpinned this model, and why did it, in many respects, differ from the established pattern of development and decline of Great Moravia?

The lecture will present the results of research conducted over the past decade on early medieval strongholds in Slovakia. These studies primarily aimed to determine the dynamics of hillfort construction from the 8th to the 10th centuries, with particular attention to their chronology and the functions of individual sites. Examples will include the agglomerations in Bojná, Pobedim, Nitra, and other sites.

This work was supported from the Programme Johannes Amos Comenius - Project
„MSCAfellow7_MUNI“ (No. CZ.02.01.01/00/22_010/0008854).