Koceľ

Koceľ, also spelled "Kocel", "Kocelj", "Gozil", "Chezil", "Chezilo", "Chezul" (c.833-c.876), was second Lord of Blatnograd (861-c.876).

He was son of Pribina and his Bavarian wife. He received a Bavarian name Gozil, which was used in the Slavic form. He was probably born before or just after his father was expelled by Mojmír I, duke of the Moravians, because he went with his father to the Bulgarian Empire shortly afterwards. ["Libellus de conversione Bagoariorum et Carantanorum: "..."Priwina "... fugam iniit in regionem" Vulgariam "..., et" Chozil "filius eius cum illo" ("..."Priwina "escaped to the territories of the" Vulgari "..., and his son, Chozil went with him")."] He also followed his father when he returned to East Francia where King Louis the German granted Pribina the parts of Pannonia around the Zala. In 850, Koceľ was present at the consecration of the church dedicated to the Blessed Virgin Mary in Blatnograd.

After the death of his father, probably in 861, Koceľ inherited his fiefs in Pannonia.

In 867, he hosted at his seat in Blatnograd the Byzantine brothers, Saints Cyril and Methodius when they were on their journey to Rome ["The Lives of Saint Cyril and Methodios"] . They established a religious school in Blatnograd and educated around 50 students.Fact|date=March 2008 Koceľ played an important role in the propagation of Christianity, when he asked Pope Adrian II to let Methodius return to him and the Pope fulfilled his request; later, he also asked the Pope to ordain Methodius to the See of Saint Andronicus. ["The Lives of Saint Cyril and Methodios"] The arrival of Methodius gave rise to conflicts with the Archbishop of Salzburg whose Episcopal See Pannonia had traditionally belonged to.

The exact date and circumstances of his death are unknown.

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