Principality of Nitra

The Principality of Nitra was a West Slavic polity that developed in the ninth century around the castle town of Nitra in present-day Slovakia. Its early history is poorly documented, and its status is debated: some historians treat it as an independent principality, while others argue that it was subject to Moravian influence from the beginning. According to the Annals of Fulda, Pribina, the ruler of Nitra, was expelled around 833 by Mojmír I of Moravia, after which Nitra was usually bound to Great Moravia. It was briefly restored as an appanage for a cadet member of the Mojmírid dynasty and later became a border duchy of the Kingdom of Hungary. Nitra retained a separate identity through its castle, bishopric and local nobility. The principality's territory formed part of the later Kingdom of Hungary, and its capital Nitra remains one of Slovakia's oldest cities and an important religious centre.