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Ratimir | |
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Duke of " Lower Pannonia" [1] | |
Duke | fl. 829–838 |
Predecessor | Ljudevit Posavski |
Occupation | Bulgar vassal |
Ratimir ( Latin: Ratimarus) [a] was a duke or prince ( knez) of the Slavs in Lower Pannonia [1] between ca. 829 to 838. [2] It is believed that Ratimir descends from a royal dynasty that provided rulers for Moravia and Croatia.[ citation needed]
In 827, the Bulgars under Great Khan Omurtag invaded and conquered Lower Pannonia and parts of Frankish territories to the north. In 829 the Bulgars imposed a local prince, Ratimir, as the new ruler of the territory. His province is believed to have been the territory of the former Roman Pannonia Savia, [3] which is located in modern-day Croatia. Earlier, Sigismund Calles (1750) called him "Slavic duke of the Drava". [4]
In 838, nine years later, following the Bulgarian conquest of Macedonia, the Danubian count Radbod, prefect of the East March, deposed Ratimir and restored Frankish rule. Ratimir fled the land, and the Franks instated dukes Pribina and Kocelj to rule Pannonian area in the name of the Franks.
Unlike his predecessors, Ratimir experienced a rift in relations with the Christian Byzantine Empire. [5]
According to the South Slavic Chronicle of the Priest of Duklja, rejected by historians, one of Ratimir's descendants was Svatopluk. [6]
From there his path was soon to lead him to the Slavic prince, Ratimir, successor to the rebellious Louis of Lower Pannonia. This meant he was once more on territory controlled by the Franks and under the jurisdiction of Ratbod, the prefect.