The Berziti (

Bulgarian Bulgarian may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to the country of Bulgaria * Bulgarians, a South Slavic ethnic group * Bulgarian language, a Slavic language * Bulgarian alphabet * A citizen of Bulgaria, see Demographics of Bulgaria * Bul ...

, Macedonian and sr, Берзити; el, Βερζῆτες) were a South Slavic tribe that settled in

Byzantine The Byzantine Empire, also referred to as the Eastern Roman Empire or Byzantium, was the continuation of the Roman Empire primarily in its eastern provinces during Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, when its capital city was Constantinopl ...

Macedonia in the 7th century AD with the

Slavic invasion of the Balkans The Slavic migrations to the Balkans began in the mid-6th century and first decades of the 7th century in the Early Middle Ages. The rapid demographic spread of the Slavs was followed by a population exchange, mixing and language shift to and from ...

. The Berziti settled in the vicinity of

Lychnidos Ohrid ( mk, Охрид ) is a city in North Macedonia and is the seat of the Ohrid Municipality. It is the largest city on Lake Ohrid and the eighth-largest city in the country, with the municipality recording a population of over 42,000 inhab ...

(

Ohrid Ohrid ( mk, Охрид ) is a city in North Macedonia and is the seat of the Ohrid Municipality. It is the largest city on Lake Ohrid and the List of cities in North Macedonia, eighth-largest city in the country, with the municipality recording ...

). One part of the same tribe settled in

Brest, Belarus Brest ( be, Брэст / Берасьце, Bieraście, ; russian: Брест, ; uk, Берестя, Berestia; lt, Brasta; pl, Brześć; yi, בריסק, Brisk), formerly Brest-Litovsk (russian: Брест-Литовск, lit=Lithuanian Br ...

, while another, also known as Brsjaci ( Macedonian and sr, Брсјаци; bg, Бърсяци, ''Barsyatsi''), moved south into the

Balkans The Balkans ( ), also known as the Balkan Peninsula, is a geographical area in southeastern Europe with various geographical and historical definitions. The region takes its name from the Balkan Mountains that stretch throughout the who ...

Etymology

There are several theories as to the origin of the name "Brsjaci", according to the folk etymologies of the

Mijaks Mijaks ( mk, Мијаци, Mijaci) are an ethnographic group of Macedonians (ethnic group), Macedonians who live in the region which is also known as ''Mijačija'' ( mk, Мијачија), along the Radika river, in western North Macedonia, numb ...

recorded by

Toma Smiljanić-Bradina Toma Smiljanić (18 June 1888 in Tresonče, Ottoman Empire – 10 May 1969 in Belgrade, SFR Yugoslavia), known by his nickname Bradina, was a Serbian ethnographer, philologist, dramatist and publicist from what is today North Macedonia. Early ...

the name comes from the Brsjak's great physical strength and endurance and propensity for violence and revolt with theories such as: "Brz i jak" meaning "fast and strong", and "Brziti" meaning "the fast ones" because of their supposed ability to run as fast as horses. Serbian writer

Grigorije Božović Grigorije Božović ( Pridvorica, Ottoman Empire, now in Kosovo, 15 November 1880 - Belgrade, Kingdom of Yugoslavia, 4 January 1945), was a writer, professor of the Prizren seminary, one of the leaders of the Serbian movement in Macedonia, prima ...

also recorded similar findings which he ties to the Brsjaks ability to traverse mountains with ease and considers the name "Brsjak" to be synonymous with "Highlander". According to

the Brsjaks are named after the food that they gave their livestock which is called "brst".

Distribution

The Brsjaci mostly inhabit areas in the central and western part of Macedonia with the

Vardar The Vardar (; mk, , , ) or Axios () is the longest river in North Macedonia and the second longest river in Greece, in which it reaches the Aegean Sea at Thessaloniki. It is long, out of which are in Greece, and drains an area of around . Th ...

river forming the eastern boundary, bordering the

to the west with the Bistra as a boundary, and to the south to

Prespa Prespa ( mk, Преспа, sq, Prespa, el, Πρέσπα) is a region shared between North Macedonia, Albania and Greece. It shares the same name with the two Prespa lakes which are situated in the middle of the region. The largest town is Rese ...

and

Pelagonija Pelagonia ( mk, Пелагонија, Pelagonija; el, Πελαγονíα, Pelagonía) is a geographical region of Macedonia named after the ancient kingdom. Ancient Pelagonia roughly corresponded to the present-day municipalities of Bitola, Pr ...

, the Brsjak identity is best preserved in the Azot region due to settlements of a rival tribe the

References

Slavic tribes in Macedonia Sclaveni Ohrid Municipality {{Serbia-hist-stub

Etymology

Distribution

See also

References