Please note that the content of this book primarily consists of articles available from Wikipedia or other free sources online. Knez (Duke) Valuk was a duke of the Slovenian duchy of Carantania. In 626 after the failure of the Avars to capture Constantinople the Slovenians united under their leader Knez (Duke) Valuk, and joined forces with King Samo (the leader of a slavic confederation of Czechs, Slovaks, and Sorbs) to fight them. Knez(Duke) Valuk was possibly the first duke of Carantania. Carantania was the first slavic state to have been created with its center at Krn Castle, near Klagenfurt in Austria. It is unknown if Valuk''s bloodline was in that of the later dukes of Carantania.