Samo

Biography

Samo (c. 600 – c. 658) was the founder and sole ruler of the first recorded unified tribal polity of Slavs, later known as Samo's realm, ruling from 623 until his death in 658. According to Fredegar—the earliest source about Samo and the one from which all later ones derive—he was a Frankish merchant from Sens. Samo initially established his rule by unifying several Slavic tribes against robber raiders from the nearby Avar polity and initiating an uprising against Avar rule. This led to him occupying a position later called "King of the Slavs" (Latin: rex Sclavorum) by the Gesta Dagoberti's reworking of Fredegar's account. In 631, Samo successfully led a defense of his tribal polity against the Frankish Kingdom during the three-day Battle of Wogastisburg. The Sorbian ruler Dervan changed his allegiances from the Frankish kingdom to Samo's tribal polity. Samo has often served as central narrative figure for various forms of Slavic nationalism, which commonly disregard the only independent source for his life alleging he was of Frankish origin, in favor of accounts based on the Conversio Carantanorum's reworking of Fredegar, which allege Samo was of Slavic origin. The kingly title first recorded in the 9th-century Gesta Dagoberti's reworking of Fredegar's account was not used by his sons.

Bio from Wikipedia