Pribina (c. 800 – 861) was a Slavic prince whose adventurous career, recorded in the Conversion of the Bavarians and the Carantanians (a historical work written in 870), illustrates the political volatility of the Franco–Slavic frontiers of his time.

[7] Whether Pribina held Nitrava as a lieutenant of Mojmir I, the first known ruler of Moravia, or he was – maybe the second or third – prince of an independent Slavic principality is still debated by modern historians.

[7] Therefore, in 838 Louis the German sent Ratpot at the head of a large Bavarian army to crush Ratimir, but Pribina and his followers took refuge with the count of Carniola, Salacho.

[7] On January 10, 846, at the request of his followers, the king granted Pribina lands near Lake Balaton on the river Zala where he was to rule as Louis the German's faithful dux ("duke").

By order of the king Pribina was introduced to the faith and baptized in Saint Martin Church in a place called Traismauer, that is to say at a grange belonging to the Archbishopric of Salzburg.

In time, as soon as the occasion arose, the king, at the request of his faithful men, gave Pribina as benefice the region of Lower Pannonia around the Zala River.

[17] For this purpose, he began to build in 846 a large fortress as his seat of power in the region of Lake Balaton, in a territory of modern Zalavár surrounded by forests and swamps along the river Zala.

[24] For example, in 846 the king made a generous gift of one hundred homesteads in the Bavarian marches to him, presumably in order to help supply Pribina's troops in the upcoming campaign.

[25] Moreover, in 847 Louis the German converted all Pribina's benefices near Lake Balaton, save those he held from the archbishop of Salzburg, into personal property in order to reward him for his loyal service, presumably in the recent campaigns against the Bohemians and the Moravians.