Ratimir, Duke of Lower Pannonia

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]}

Ratimir
Duke of "Lower Pannonia"[1]
Map of central Europe (with Pannonisches Kroatien (light blue) at the bottom) during the reign of Ratimir
Duke	fl. 829–838
Predecessor	Ljudevit Posavski
Occupation	Bulgar vassal

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]

Annotations

1. ^
   His name is derived from the Slavic words rat ("war") and mir ("peace"). His name is also spelled Ratimar.