PSEUDOKRESŤANSKÍ MORAVANIA, NITRIANSKI NEOFYTI A NAJKRESŤANSKEJŠÍ FRANKOVIA

The letter of the Bavarian episcopate addressed to Pope John IX in 900 is one of the contemporary historical sources testifying to the ninth century Christianisation in the Moravian Principality and the Principality of Nitra. Although the letter describes the existence and practice of Christianity in individual ethnic groups in a subjective way, it also provides some relevant historical information. Such is a mention of the Slavic tribe to which was East Frankish priest Viching appointed a bishop by the Pope. Writers of the letter described the tribe as a recently baptised. The description was intentional in order to supress the demands of the Diocese of Passau for the territory of the Vichingˋs Diocese of Nitra before 880. The article argues that Engelmar, the Bishop of Passau, ceased to demand the territory of the Diocese of Nitra after its foundation.