The Settlement of the Hungarian Slovenes

Since the foundation of Hungary in the 10th century, not only Hungarian peoples lived on its territory. The west, north and east of the country were populated by Germans, the south by Serbs and Croatians. Slovenes lived in western Hungary as well, and Romanians in the southern part of Transylvania. Most of the minorities living in today's Hungary settled down in the 17th and 18th century in those regions of Hungary that became deserted under Ottoman rule (1526-1686). During the Austro-Hungarian monarchy (1867-1918) the kingdom of Hungary was a multinational state (1910: 45.5% were of non-Hungarian origin). After the First World War, the number of minorities in Hungary decreased enormously, a development that continued after the Second World War. In the former case due to the peace treaty of Trianon (1920), in and the latter case as a consequence of resettlement policy and voluntary emigration. Together with the Slovaks the Hungarian Slovenes form the aboriginal minority, who settled down in the eastern Carpathian basin before the Hungarians.

The origin of the Slovenes and their language

The language of the Slavs belongs to the Indo-European family of languages. Today's Slavs originate from the three Indo-European tribes, Slavs, Ants and Venetians, who spoke a common indigenous Slavic language in the Early Middle Ages. Their ancestral homeland, which was mainly situated in the region of the river Vistula, reached from the Carpathians in a northward direction and from the Baltic Sea in a southward direction. The vast majority of the south Slavs (Croatians, Serbs, Montenegrins, Macedonians and Bulgarians) settled down on the Balkan during the 6th and 7th century. In about 550 B.C. the forefathers of the Slovenes migrated in this region, where even today the Slovene people live in Slovenia and in the neighbouring and spanning regions. After the Hungarian land seizure, the Slovenes living in between the two rivers Raba and Mura were isolated from the majority of the rest of the Slovenes. The Slovene literary language, which was established in the 16th century, was formed out of four vital dialects of total eight dialects. The Italian and Hungarian Slovenes living on the periphery of the Slovene speech area were not affected by this and their language remained the one used in the 16th century. After Trianon (1920) the language development of the Slovenes living in the Szentgotthárd region decelerated. The Hungarian language has a huge influence on the vocabulary and grammar of the Slovenes from the Raba Region. The Hungarian Slovenes call their language “slovenski” and their identity, which is defined by their language, as “Sloven, Slovenci, Slovenge”. The older generation still utilizes the “Dual”, the grammatical form that is typical for the indigenous Slavic language. In this form not only nouns but also verbs have both singular/plural forms and a separate dual number form. Today's modern languages do not have a “Dual”, however, one can find the “Dual” in the language of the Sorbs in the former GDR. This does not imply that the same population group is concerned but that both peoples are Slavs. In Hungarian technical literature the Slovenes are often called “vendek”. The term “vend” is of German origin (Wends/Winds), which was applied on the Slavs living in the German language area. The region between Raba and Mura and on the territories of Vas and Zala County respectively, used to belong to the German-speaking Franconians. The Slovenes who settled down in the region where the Franconians were living were termed “vend” (Wends/Winds), “vendus-totók” (Windish-Slovenes/Slowaks), “vendszlovének” (Wend-/Windish Slowenes). The region was named “vendvidék” (region of the Wends/Winds), a term that does not have a pejorative meaning.

Settlement and Christianisation

The ancestors of the Slovenes from Vas County (in the region between the rivers Raba and Drava) settled down together with the Avars in the second half of the 6th century. In the 8th century this region was under Franconian rule. The Franconians displaced the Avars, and in the 9th century also the Slovenes from Carantania settled down taking the place of the Avars. The inhabitants of this region were subjects to the sub-Pannonian Slavic rulers Pribina (847-861) and Kocel (861-874). In the 8th century, the Salzburg bishops of Károly Nagy were the first ones to christianise the Slovenes living in the Raba Region. Also under the rule of Pribina and Kocel (9th century) Christianisation was being continued. In 869, Pope Hadrian II appointed the apostle of the Slavs, Method, archbishop of the Pannonian Slavs, at the request of the sub-Pannonian ruler of the Slavs, Kocel. The Slovenes from the Raba Region did not convert to Catholicism in just one wave and by only one missionary, but on numerous occasions and by several priests. The bishops, who were taken in from Salzburg by Pribina in order to evangelise, enunciated Christianity in Slovene, whereupon many common people converted to the Catholic faith. In winter, the son of Pribina, Kocel, used to go hunting to the Slovenes. Among the hunters there were many pagans who had more than just one wife and thus did not convert to Christianity. However, Kocel tried his best to enunciate Christian doctrine to them. Since there was a lack of believers, carpenters and money the first Catholic churches were small and made of wood. The land-seizing Hungarians learnt agriculture from the Slavs living in the Carpathian basin, among them also from the Slovenes. What is more the Hungarians absorbed about 500 Slavic/Slovene words, which they did not know before, in the Hungarian language.

Translated from German into English: Joël Gerber

The German text is based on: "A Magyarországi Szlovének"/The Hungarian Slovenes", Mária Mukics, Press Publica, (2003)