Praedenecenti

thumb|220px|right|Early medieval Slavic tribes in Southeastern Europe

Praedenecenti, also known as the Danubian Abodrites or Obotrites, were an early medieval Slavic tribe, that lived in the Great Danubian plain, to the east of the river Danube, in the buffer zone between the Carolingian and Bulgarian empires. They were mentioned in the Royal Frankish Annals, regarding the events in 822 and 824, that preceded Bulgarian intrusions into Frankish Pannonia (827-828). In 822, they sent envoys to emperor Louis the Pious, and in 824 they sought assistance from the Franks against the Bulgars. Contemporary Bavarian Geographer from the 9th century listed various Slavic tribes, and among them two similarly named groups: the Northern Abodrites (Nortabtrezi, the well known Polabian Abodrites) and the Eastern Abodrites (Ostabtrezi / Osterabtrezi, the Danubian Abodrites of the Royal Frankish Annals). Since the Royal Frankish Annals explicitly state that Abodrites are also called Praedenecenti, and the list of Bavarian Geographer makes a distinction between Northern and Eastern Abodrites, various scholars have concluded that Praedenecenti, or Eastern Abodrites were a Danubian branch of the Polabian Abodrites, while some other scholars are also connecting them to other Slavic tribes, especially the Braničevci or Merehani, and thus the question of their identification is still under dispute.