Great Moravia - Name

Name

The designation "Great Moravia" ("Μεγάλη Μοραβία") originally stems from the work De Administrando Imperio written by the Byzantine Emperor Constantine VII Porphyrogenitos around 950 (and actually, his work is the only primary source that uses the adjective "Great" when referring to the polity). Although the name Great Moravia is used by the modern historiography to refer to a medieval polity in the northern part of the Carpathian Basin, the Emperor himself referred to a different country, located south of or in the southern part of the Carpathian Basin or he mismatched the location.

The original title was: Moravenses terra Moravia. Word "Great Moravia" used by modern authors not only refers to present-day Moravia, but to a country situated on both sides of the Morava river whose capital was also plausibly called Morava. Alternatively, "Moravia" could also refer to country whose capital was Morava. It is not always clear whether an early medieval written source names a country or a town called Morava. The adjective "Great" nowadays denotes Moravia plus the annexed territories. Some authors interpret the original meaning as "distant", because Byzantine texts used to distinguish between two countries of the same name using the attribute "little" for the territory closer to the Byzantine Empire (such as the Morava rivers in Serbia) and "great" for the more distant territory (such as the Morava river between Moravia and Slovakia).

The adjective "Μεγάλη" may also mean "old" in Byzantine texts and some scholars argue Old Moravia is the correct name.

The names of Great Moravia in other languages are Veľká Morava in Slovak, Velká Morava in Czech, Großmähren in German, Великоморавия in Bulgarian, Velika Moravska (Велика Моравска) in Serbian, and morva fejedelemség in Hungarian. In English, the forms Moravia Greater Moravia and Moravia Magna are also used.

The use of the term (Great) Slovak Empire instead of Great Moravia is promoted by some Slovak authors who attempt to define it as an early Slovak state. The use of this term would contradict the theory that the distinct Slavic nations had not yet emerged by the 9th century and the culture and language of various Slavic tribes in central Europe were indistinguishable from each other.