Editing History of Slovakia (section)

=== Arrival of the Slavs ===
{{see also|Early Slavs}}

Regarding the early history of Slavs, Slavic texts or a record written by a Slav dating from before the late 9th century are not known.{{sfn|Pohl|2004|p=448}} The foreign sources (mostly Greek and Latin) about Slavs are very inconsistent.{{sfn|Pohl|2004|p=448}} According to a scholarly theory, the first Slavic groups settled in the eastern region of present-day Slovakia already in the {{nobr|4th century}}.{{sfn|Bartl|Čičaj|Kohútova|Letz|2002|p=18}} The 6th-century Byzantine historian [[Jordanes]] wrote that the funeral feast at Attila's burial was called ''strava''.{{sfn|Barford|2001|p=43}}{{sfn|Heather|2010|p=394}} Scholars who identify that word as a [[Slavic languages|Slavic]] expression say that Jordanes' report proves that Slavs inhabited the Carpathian Basin in the middle of the {{nobr|5th century}}.{{sfn|Barford|2001|p=43}}{{sfn|Kirschbaum|1996|p=17}} However, according to a concurrent scholarly theory, ''strava'' may have been a [[Hunnic language|Hunnic]] term, because no primary source mentioned that the Slavs were present in Attila's court.{{sfn|Heather|2010|p=394}}

Settlements which represented a new [[archaeological horizon]]{{spaced ndash}}the so-called "[[Prague-Korchak cultural horizon]]"{{spaced ndash}}appeared along the northernmost fringes of the Carpathian Mountains around 500.{{sfn|Heather|2010|pp=388, 410}} Similar settlements, which are dated to the second half of the {{nobr|5th century}}, were also excavated in the region of the confluence of the Danube and the Morava.{{sfn|Barford|2001|p=56}} "Prague-Korchak" settlements consisted of about 10 semi-sunken huts, each with a stone oven in a corner.{{sfn|Heather|2010|p=388}} The local inhabitants used handmade pottery and cremated the dead.{{sfn|Heather|2010|p=388}} Most historians associate the spread of the "Prague-Korchak" settlements with the expansion of the early Slavs.{{sfn|Heather|2010|pp=395-397}}{{sfn|Barford|2001|pp=43-44}}

According to historian Gabriel Fusek, written sources also evidence the presence of Slavs in the Central Europe in the first half of the {{nobr|6th century}}.{{sfn|Fusek|1994|p=20}} The 6th-century Byzantine historian, [[Procopius]], wrote of a group of the Heruli who had "passed through the territory of all of the [[Sclavenes]]", or Slavs, during their migration towards the northern "[[Thule]]".{{sfn|Barford|2001|p=53}} Procopius's report implies that the Slavs inhabited the region of the river Morava,{{sfn|Bartl|Čičaj|Kohútova|Letz|2002|p=18}}{{sfn|Heather|2010|p=408}} but its credibility is suspect.{{sfn|Barford|2001|p=53}} Procopius also wrote of an exiled [[Longobard]] prince, Hildigis, who first fled to the "Sclaveni" and then to the [[Gepids]], "taking with him not only those of the Longobards who had followed him, but also many of the Sclaveni"<ref>''Procopius: History of the Wars'' (7.35.19.), pp.&nbsp;461–463.</ref> in the 540s.{{sfn|Heather|2010|p=408}}{{sfn|Curta|2001|p=82}} According to a scholarly theory, Hildigis most probably mustered his Slavic warriors in the region of the Middle Danube.{{sfn|Heather|2010|p=408}}{{sfn|Barford|2001|p=56}}

The Germanic Longobards were expanding towards the Middle Danube in the early {{nobr|6th century}}.{{sfn|Bartl|Čičaj|Kohútova|Letz|2002|p=18}} Archaeological research shows that Longobard expansion bypassed virtually the entire territory of Slovakia and they settled only in the most north-western part of the country ([[Záhorie]]).{{sfn|Fusek|1994|p=120}}{{sfn|Bystrický|2008|p=125}}{{sfn|Steinhübel|2004|p=20}} Unlike neighbouring Moravia, Slovakia (except of [[Záhorie]]) did not belong to any German empire in this time.{{sfn|Steinhübel|2004|p=20}} The Longobards and the local Slavs remained separated by the natural border formed by [[Little Carpathians|Little]] and [[White Carpathians]], respected by both sides according to [[Ján Steinhübel]]. He also writes that the Slavs, who remained "an independent third party" in strained Longobard-Gepid relations, were not interested in conflicts with their Germanic neighbours, but made raids in the faraway Byzantine Empire.{{sfn|Steinhübel|2004|p=24}}{{clarify|date=June 2015}}