| Avar Wars | |||||||||
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 Expansion of Francia | |||||||||
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| Belligerents | |||||||||
| Avar Khaganate | |||||||||
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(Unknown)
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The Avar Wars were fought between Francia and the Avar Khaganate in Central Europe from 788 to 803, and ended with the Frankish conquest of the khaganate's western regions. The first conflicts between the Avars and the Franks occurred in the 560s, shortly before the Avar conquest of the Pannonian Basin. Armed conflicts between the two powers were not unusual during the following centuries.
The conquest of the Kingdom of the Lombards in 774, and the subjugation of Bavaria in 788 by the Frankish king Charlemagne (r. 768–814) alarmed the Avars. They invaded Italy and Bavaria, but they were forced to withdraw. In the summer of 791, after unsuccessful peace negotiations, Charlemagne invaded the khaganate along the river Danube from the west, while his son King Pippin of Italy (r. 780–810) attacked from the southeast. Pippin pillaged an Avar fortress and seized much booty before returning to Italy. Charlemagne's troops destroyed two Avar fortresses across the Enns River but an equine epidemic killed about 90% of his horses, forcing him to abandon the campaign. During the following two years, he was mainly preoccupied with logistic projects, probably to facilitate the movement of his troops.
Taking advantage of an Avar civil war, Duke Eric of Friuli (r. 789–799) dispatched a highly mobile military unit to the khaganate under the command of the Slav Woynimir in 795 or 796. Woynimir captured the khagan's residence, or "ring", and seized much of the khagan's treasury. In 796 Pippin launched a new invasion of the khaganate and forced the khagan to submit himself to the Franks without resistance. The Avars who refused to live under Frankish suzerainty withdrew to the lands to the east of the river Tisza.