Editing Slovenia (section)

=== Middle Ages ===
[[File:Kaernten herzogeinsetzung.jpg|thumb|left|A depiction of an ancient democratic ritual of Slovene-speaking tribes, which took place on the [[Prince's Stone]] in [[Slovene language|Slovene]] until 1414]]

The [[Carantanians]], one of the ancestral groups of the modern Slovenes, particularly the [[Carinthian Slovenes]], were the first Slavic people to [[Christianization of the Slavs|accept Christianity]]. They were mostly Christianized by Irish missionaries, among them [[Modestus (Apostle of Carantania)|Modestus]], known as the "Apostle of Carantanians". This process, together with the Christianization of the [[Bavarians]], was later described in the memorandum known as the [[Conversio Bagoariorum et Carantanorum]], which is thought to have overemphasized the role of the Church of Salzburg in the Christianization process over similar efforts of the Patriarchate of [[Aquileia]].

In the mid-8th century, Carantania became a [[vassal]] [[duchy]] under the rule of the [[Bavaria]]ns, who began [[christianization|spreading Christianity]]. Three decades later, the [[Carantanians]] were incorporated, together with the Bavarians, into the [[Carolingian Empire]]. During the same period [[Carniola]], too, came under the Franks, and was Christianised from [[Aquileia]]. Following the anti-Frankish rebellion of [[Liudewit]] at the beginning of the 9th century, the [[Franks]] removed the Carantanian princes, replacing them with their own border dukes. Consequently, the Frankish [[feudal system]] reached the Slovene territory.

After the victory of Emperor [[Otto I]] over the [[Magyars]] in 955, Slovene territory was divided into a number of border regions of the [[Holy Roman Empire]]. Carantania was elevated into the [[Duchy of Carinthia]] in 976.

By the 11th century, the Germanization of what is now [[Lower Austria]], effectively isolated the Slovene-inhabited territory from the other [[western Slavs]], speeding up the development of the [[Carantanians|Slavs of Carantania]] and of [[Carniola]] into an independent Carantanian/Carniolans/Slovene ethnic group. By the [[High Middle Ages]], the historic provinces of Carniola, [[Styria (duchy)|Styria]], [[Carinthia (duchy)|Carinthia]], [[County of Gorizia|Gorizia]], [[Trieste]], and [[Istria]] developed from the border regions and were incorporated into the medieval [[Holy Roman Empire]]. The consolidation and formation of these historical lands took place in a long period between the 11th and 14th centuries, and were led by a number of important feudal families, such as the [[Bernhard von Spanheim|Dukes of Spanheim]], the [[Meinhardiner|Counts of Gorizia]], the [[Counts of Celje]], and, finally, the [[House of Habsburg]]. In a parallel process, an intensive Germanization significantly diminished the extent of Slovene-speaking areas. By the 15th century, the [[Slovene Lands|Slovene ethnic territory]] was reduced to its present size.<ref name="culture.si">{{cite web|url=http://www.culture.si/en/Slovenia |title=About Slovenia – Culture of Slovenia |publisher=Culture.si |access-date=2 June 2012}}</ref>

In 1335, [[Henry of Bohemia|Henry of Gorizia]], Duke of Carinthia, Landgrave of Carniola and Count of Tyrol died without a male heir, his daughter [[Margaret, Countess of Tyrol|Margaret]] was able to keep the [[County of Tyrol]], while the Wittelsbach emperor [[Louis IV, Holy Roman Emperor|Louis IV]] passed Carinthia and Carniolan march to the Habsburg duke [[Albert II, Duke of Austria|Albert II of Austria]], whose mother, [[Elisabeth of Carinthia, Queen of the Romans|Elisabeth of Carinthia]] is a sister of the late duke [[Henry of Bohemia|Henry of Gorizia]]. Therefore, most of the territory of present-day Slovenia became a hereditary land of the [[Habsburg monarchy]]. As with the other component parts of the [[Habsburg monarchy]], Carinthia and Carniola remained a semi-autonomous state with its own constitutional structure for a long time. The [[counts of Celje]], a feudal family from this area who in 1436 acquired the title of state princes, were [[Habsburgs]]' powerful competitors for some time. This large dynasty, important at a European political level, had its seat in Slovene territory but died out in 1456. Its numerous large estates subsequently became the property of the Habsburgs, who retained control of the area right up until the beginning of the 20th century. [[Patria del Friuli]] ruled present western Slovenia until [[Republic of Venice|Venetian]] takeover in 1420.

[[File:Boj s Turki-Valvasor.jpg|thumb|The [[Ottoman Empire|Ottoman]] army [[Ottoman–Habsburg wars|battling]] the [[Habsburg monarchy|Habsburgs]] in present-day Slovenia during the [[Great Turkish War]]]]
At the end of the Middle Ages, the [[Slovene Lands]] suffered a serious economic and demographic setback because of the [[Ottoman–Habsburg wars|Turkish raids]]. In 1515, a [[Slovene peasant revolt of 1515|peasant revolt]] spread across nearly the whole Slovene territory. In 1572 and 1573 the [[Croatian-Slovenian peasant revolt]] wrought havoc throughout the wider region. Such uprisings, which often met with bloody defeats, continued throughout the 17th century.<ref name="culture.si"/>