Hungarian Invasion
In 895, Svatopluk II, supported by Arnulf of Carinthia, rebelled against his elder brother. The outbreak of conflict weakened Great Moravia, and border areas began to be deposited from it. Arnulf’s suzerainty was recognized by Bohemia and Luiza. Mojmir II was able to consolidate forces. In 898, he asked the Pope to send new priests to Moravia in order to reduce the influence of clergy from Bavaria. The Bavarians, unhappy with this demand, sent troops to Great Moravia. Moymir II broke them and, moreover, managed to catch the rebellious brother. However, the Bavarians rescued Svatopluk II and took him with them.
A new danger arose when the Hungarians arrived. In 896, they settled on the sparsely populated lands of Great Moravia along the upper and middle reaches of the Tisza, and in 900–901 they began to cross the Danube and settle on its right side.
When in 901 the Hungarians began to raid the lands of the East Frankish kingdom, the German nobility made peace with Great Moravia, and Moymir II made peace with his brother, who returned to his homeland. This peace treaty also put an end to the war between Great Moravia and the Frankish vassal of Bohemia, which marched since 895.
In the period from 902 to 906, Moimir II fought off the attacks of the Hungarians several times (sometimes with the help of the Bavarian troops). Moimir II and Svatopluk II were allegedly killed in 907 in the Battle of Presburg.
The lunar temporal rings of the “Nitran type” found in the Gnezdovo mounds testify to the familiarity of the Gnezdovo masters with the Great Moravian jewelry tradition. Findings of radial temporal rings, and early pottery ceramics in Gnezdovo indicate migration of the Slavic population from the Danube lands ( Moravia ) to the Upper Dnieper region.
The Great Moravian pre-urban agglomerations of emporia Mikulčice, which flourished on the service of the Carolingian Empire in the 9th – 10th centuries, almost instantly disappeared after the economic situation caused by the invasion of the Hungarians in the 10th century, although they themselves were not affected by the fighting. For the period from 875 to 950, according to the data of archeology, the flowering of Moravian settlements fell. The population decline in Moravia is observed only in the second half of the 10th century.
The Culture
The culture of Great Moravia developed under the strong influence of Byzantium. After the Pope recognized the status of liturgical for the Slavic language and allowed the reading of the Gospel in Slavic during the service, literature in this language began to actively develop, first translations of sermons, then original works, for example, Proglas of Saint Cyril.
Arabic and Persian influence is felt in applied art. Jewelry was very developed, especially in the manufacture of women’s jewelry. The secret of the finest Moravian casting is not completely unraveled in our days. In the first half of the 9th century, the so-called Blatnitsky-Mikulchitsky style prevailed, when the engraved ornament was combined with stamping, high relief and niello.
Sources:
Rhona-Tas, András (1999) Hungarians
Kirschbaum, Stanislav J. (1996) A History of Slovakia
The history of the culture of the Slavic peoples
Vepřek, Miroslav. Great Moravia and Old Church Slavonic of Great Moravia