Government Public Relations and Media Office
Government Public Relations and Media Office

Slovenia - 10 Years of Independence
Path to Independence
Slovene Contribution to World Civilisation
The Celebration
Links

Slovensko

Slovenes had their first state Carinthia (Karantania) even in the 7th century. The ancient ritual of installing Carinthian dukes carried out in the Slovene language whereby the Slovene peasantry transferred the sovereign power to make laws for their community to the dukes fascinated the celebrated humanist Aeneas Silvius Piccolomini, better known as Pope Pious II. The French legal historian and philosopher Jean Bodin, inspired by Piccolomini's tireless praise, examined the ritual in detail and described it as an original idea for the transfer of sovereignty that "had no parallel throughout the world.

The ritual installation of the duke of Carinthia was conducted in the Slovene language until the fifteenth century. The installation helped Jefferson develop the theory of the right of people to appoint their own leaders and of the power that emerges from the people themselves, ideas that he drew on when writing the Declaration of Independence.