thumb|right|Central Europe in 870. [[Eastern Francia in blue, Bulgaria in orange, Great Moravia under Rastislav in green. The green line depicts the borders of Great Moravia after the territorial expansion under Svatopluk I (894).
Note that some of the borders of Great Moravia are under debate]]
The Vistulans, or Vistulanians (), were an early medieval Lechitic tribe inhabiting the western part of modern Lesser Poland.
Etymology
Their name derives from the hydronym of the river Vistula, meaning "inhabitants of Vistula"; the region is mentioned as Uuislane by the Bavarian Geographer, v Vislè and v Vislèh in the Vita Methodii, and Visleland by Alfred the Great in the 9th century.
Identification
Even though some historians, such as Przemysław Urbańczyk, claim that the Vistulans did not exist, there are three documents from the 9th century which can be tied to this tribe. First is the so-called Vita Methodii or Pannonian Legend (The Life of St. Methodius), second is the Bavarian Geographer, and third is Alfred the Great's Germania.
A verse in Old English poem Widsith (10th century):
{|style="border: 0px" align=center cellpadding=2 cellspacing=0
|-
| |Wulfhere sohte ic ond Wyrmhere; ful oft þær wig ne alæg,
| |I visited Wulfhere and Wyrmhere; there battle often raged,
|-
| |þonne Hræda here heardum sweordum,
| | when the Hræda with their sharp swords,
|-
| |ymb Wistlawudu wergan sceoldon
| | in the Vistula woods/wooden hills had to defend
|-
| |ealdne eþelstol Ætlan leodum.
| | their ancestral seat against Attila's host.
|}
It is considered that parts of the epic poem could be dated to the 6th century. The syntagma ymb Wistlawudu has seen different translations by the scholars depending on the consideration whether Wistla is a borrowing from a German, Latin, or Slavic language. As such *Wīstle could be identified with the people, while Wistlawudu interpreted as "by the Vistulan woods" or "by the Vistulan wooden hills" (Beskids and Western Carpathians). However, the Hræda which is genitive plural of *Hraede, gives further insight to the meaning and age of the poem. Although it is usually related with the Goths from the same poem (Hred-Gotum, Hreth-Gotan, Hreidhgotar), but other scholars disagree. Leontii Voitovych believed that the Vistulans were the main tribe among those Silesian and Lechitic tribes who invaded this territory, dividing the Croatian lands into Eastern and Western parts.
Based on Lubor Niederle's thesis that the Vistulans are remnants of the once strong alliance of Croatian tribes which fell apart after the migration of the Croats to the Western Balkans in the 7th century, Tadeusz Lehr-Spławiński additionally noted that the name Vistulans was only known among Western Slavs and Germans, while in the East, in Byzantine and Arabian sources, the older name of Croats was retained for the same territory. Such an interpretation of the reference to ymb Wistlawudu ("in the Vistula woods") in the Anglo-Saxon poem Widsith argues that instead of 5th century events, the poem instead intended to refer to 6th century events contemporaneous with the Lombard king Alboin <!-- and the bard Myrging -->, when the Pannonian Avars led by Bayan I (Attila's people) expanded between 568 and 595 into the Pannonian Basin and extended their influence northward on the Slavs (Vistulans, Croats) in the Upper Vistula valley, seen in Avarian archaeological remains up to Gniezno in central-western Poland. Furthermore, little is known about their religious rituals and the date of baptism of the tribe. It was possibly around the same period, c. 874, when they were subjugated by king Svatopluk I of Moravia, and the Vistulan duke was forced to accept baptism.