Moravia

Moravia, historic region of the Czech Republic, between Bohemia and Slovakia. Settled by the Moravians, a Slavic people, at the end of the 6th century ad, it later became a tributary to Charlemagne's Frankish Empire, but was united with Bohemia and Slovakia under Svatopluk (reigned 870-94), during whose reign Christianity triumphed. After a defeat by the Magyars in 906, Moravia was contested by neighboring kingdoms. From the 11th century it was attached to Bohemia and passed with it under Habsburg rule in 1526. A separate crown land of Austria after the revolution of 1848, it became part of Czechoslovakia when that country was formed in 1918. In January 1993, Czechoslovakia was dissolved and Slovakia and the Czech Republic emerged as independent nations. Moravia's principal city is Brno.