Zalai Múzeum 14. Müller Róbert 60 éves (Zalaegerszeg, 2005)

Szőke Béla Miklós: Az avar–frank háború kezdete

Az avar —frank háborúk kezdete 243 The beginning of wars between Avars and Franks In 791 Charles the Great launched his biggest military expedition against the Avars. The campaign was well planned and preceded by two important events. In 782 Avar ambassadors visited Charles at the headwaters of Lippe, where he held a diet; at the same time the Bavarian borders were reinforced. Subsequently, in 788, there were many clashes with the Avars along the Danube in Austria and Northern Italy. The annals do not give an account of the reasons for the ambassadorial visit in 782 but several suggestions have been made. According to István Bona, the Avar ambassadors visited Charles the Great because the king acted against the Avars' interest when he established relations with the Slavs. The Slavs lived in the east under fictive governance of the Avars. This situation became more complicated because the Sorabs, who lived between the Elb and Saal rivers, attacked Thuringia and the territory of the Saxons after the diet at Lippe. Moreover, they attacked the above mentioned territory not according to Charles' instruction but against his authorisation. Samu SzádeczkyKardoss considered that the Frank attacks started from northern Italy and these campaigns were the reason for the Avar ambassador's visit, although SzádeczkyKardoss could not provide a concrete background for the Frank attacks. This is because after 773-774 Charles occupied the territory of his ex-father-in-law, Desiderius. Then, between 775-776 at Friaul, he defeated the rebellion of Hrodgaud who revolted against the Franks. Lord Aio also actively participated in this rebellion and along with other high ranking notables he fled to the Avars. There is no information about military operation towards the Avars before the end of 780s'. According to József Deér, the Avar ambassador's visit linked with the tension at the border at river Enns, where the Avars demonstrated their power by appearing there with a considerable army without causing any damage. The cause of the tension was that in the previous year in Worms, Tassilo III aith his fealty to Charles by providing twelve hostages. As a consequence, Charles had extensive influence over Bavarian internal politics. The Avars recognised the political shift and, because they considered their western border to be endangered, they demonstrated their power by sending an army. They aimed to show that the territory east from the river Enns was under their authority, even though nihil nocuerunt. This view is supported by Walter Pohl, who considered such Avar action at limes certus along the Enns. This action of the Avar leaders can be viewed as a call for peace and a threat at the same time. The ambassador's visit in 782 was the first sign that, although the historical sources implied otherwise, the leaders of the Avar khaganate were carefully monitoring the changing political relations outside their territory. The Avars reacted with rational self-defence against the increasingly powerful new European empire, the Carolingian, whose expansion affected their interest. The timing of the peace talks along the Lippe and the reinforcement of the Bavarian border implies that the Avars reacted in two ways: with indirect diplomacy and direct demonstration of their power. The cautionary reaction of the Avars is understandable, because the internal politics of the khaganate was not as monolithic as in the earlier Avar periods, indicating a change in power relations within the Avar khaganate. This is demonstrated by the ambassadorial visit in 782 when amongst the ambassadors were not only the representatives of the khagan, which was a title of royal or imperial ranking, but the representatives of the jugurrus as well. Researchers who are concerned with the history of the end of the Avar empire have often paid insufficient attention to this although its importance can be seen in the light of later events. Amongst the empires formed in the steppe, sharing of power was not uncommon and political power was often divided into administrative and military spheres. As a consequence territories became divided and autonomous, until new empires emerged. The characteristic of the later Avar khaganate is that the khagan (qahan), who originated in the juan juan, was held by a strong clan leader, whilst the office of jugurrus was unknown at that time. According to Lajos Ligeti, this division in power undeniably had sacral aspects, although the available information is not enough to assess the existence of sacral twin kings. The jugurrus appears with khagan at the first time in 782 when Caganus et Iugurrus, princes Hunorum sent ambassadors to Charles the Great. The last appearance of the jugurrus title was in 796, when in a long and bloody civil war Chagan seu Iugurro [...] a suis occisis. Between these two dates the titles were not mentioned together, not even after the campaign in 791. The period between the two dates may imply that the sharing of power between the two titles was not temporary, but rather a permanent way of allocating power.