Samo's Empire

Samo's Empire
631–658
Borders of the Slav territories under the King Samo's rule in 631.
Capital		Moravia
Languages		Proto-Slavic
Religion		Slavic polytheism Chalcedonian Christianity
Government		Monarchy
Historical era		Early Middle Ages
•	Victory against Dagobert I	631
•	Death of King Samo	658
Preceded by Succeeded by Francia Avar Khaganate Francia Carantania Avar Khaganate
Today part of		Austria  Czech Republic  Germany  Slovenia  Slovakia

Samo's Empire is the historiographical name for the Slavic tribal union established by King (rex) Samo, which existed between 631 and 658 A.D.. The centre of the union was most likely in Moravia, while the union included Silesia, Bohemia, Lusatia and Carantania.

It is generally believed that the tribal union included the regions of Moravia, Silesia, Bohemia, Lusatia and Carinthia.

According to Julius Bartl, the centre of the polity lay "somewhere in the area of southern Moravia, Lower Austria, and western Slovakia".

According to J. B. Bury, "the assumption that his kingdom embraced Carantania, the country of the Alpine Slavs, rests only upon the Anonymus de conversione Bagariorum et Carantanorum".

Archaeological findings indicate that the empire was situated in present-day Moravia, Lower Austria and Slovenia. According to Slovak historian Richard Marsina, it is unlikely that the center of Samo's tribal union was in the territory of present-day Slovakia. The settlements of the later Moravian and Nitrian principalities (see Great Moravia) are often identical with those from the time of Samo's Empire. Since we have no direct documentation about the Slavonic tribes, their names, or their political organization between the 6th and 7th centuries, nor any concrete records from the following 150 years, there is no historical evidence of any connection between Samo's kingdom and the ethnogenesis of the Slovaks.