Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Through the Middle Ages, much of Slovenia was ruled by the Counts of Celje (highly
placed vassals of the Habsburgs). In this era before modern nations—when shifting allegi-
ancesandstrategicmarriagesdictatedthedynamicsofpower—theCountsofCeljerosetoa
positionofsignificantinfluenceinCentralandEasternEurope.Celjedaughtersintermarried
with some of the most powerful dynasties in the region—the Polish Piasts, the Hungarian
Anjous,andtheCzechP
ř
emysls.Beforelong,theCountsofCeljehademergedastheHabs-
burgs' main rivals.
Inthe15thcentury,CountUlrichIIofCeljemarriedintoSerbia'srulingfamilyandman-
aged to wrest control ofHungary'smassive holdings. Had he not been assassinated in 1456,
this obscure Slovenian line—rather than an obscure Austrian one—may have emerged as
thedominantpowerintheeasternhalfofEurope.(Instead,theHabsburgsconsolidatedtheir
vanquished foe's fiefdoms into their ever-growing empire.) In homage, the three yellow
stars of the Counts of Celje's seal still adorn Slovenia's coat of arms.
Soon after, with Slovenia firmly entrenched in the Counter-Reformation holdings of the
Habsburg Empire, the local Reformer Primož Trubar (1508-1586) strove both to put the
Word of God into the people's hands, and to legitimize Slovene as a written language.
This Slovenian answer to Martin Luther secretly translated the Bible into Slovene in
Reformation-friendly Germany, then smuggled copies back into his homeland.
Over the next several centuries, much of Slovenia was wracked by Habsburg-Ottoman
wars, as the Ottomans attempted to pushnorth through this territory to reach Vienna. Slove-
nia also found itself at the crossroads between Austria and Venice; many of their viol-
ent clashes took place here. Seemingly exhausted by all of this warfare—and by their
ownsporadic,halfhearted,andunsuccessfuluprisingsagainstHabsburgrule—Slovenialan-
guished as a sleepy backwater.
When the port city of Trieste (in Slovenian territory) was granted free status in 1718,
it boosted the economy of Slovenian lands. The Enlightenment spurred a renewed interest
in the Slovenian culture and language, which further flourished when Napoleon named
Ljubljana the capital of his “Illyrian Provinces”—Slovenia's own mini-empire, stretching
fromAustria'sTiroltoCroatia'sDalmatian Coast.Duringthisbriefperiod(1809-1813),the
long-suppressed Slovene language was used for the first time in schools and the govern-
ment.Thiskickedoffafull-throatednationalrevivalmovement(asinsomanyotherCentral
and Eastern European countries at the time)—asserting the worthiness of the Slovenian lan-
guage and culture compared to the dominant Germanic worldview of the time. Inspired by
the patriotic poetry of France Prešeren (1800-1849), Slovenian pride surged.
