Chatzon ( el, Χάτζων
) or, in some modern Slavic studies, Hacon (Хацон), was a
Slavic chieftain (έξαρχος Σκλαβίνων, "
exarch
An exarch (;
from Ancient Greek ἔξαρχος ''exarchos'', meaning “leader”) was the holder of any of various historical offices, some of them being political or military and others being ecclesiastical.
In the late Roman Empire and ea ...
of the
Sclaveni
The ' (in Latin) or ' (various forms in Greek, see below) were early Slavic tribes that raided, invaded and settled the Balkans in the Early Middle Ages and eventually became the progenitors of modern South Slavs. They were mentioned by early Byz ...
" in the Greek sources) who, according to Book II of the ''
Miracles of Saint Demetrius
The ''Miracles of Saint Demetrius'' ( la, Miracula Sancti Demetrii) is a 7th-century collection of homilies, written in Greek, accounting the miracles performed by the patron saint of Thessalonica, Saint Demetrius. It is a unique work for the hi ...
'', led a coalition of Slavic tribes to attack the
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 ...
city of
Thessalonica
Thessaloniki (; el, Θεσσαλονίκη, , also known as Thessalonica (), Saloniki, or Salonica (), is the second-largest city in Greece, with over one million inhabitants in its metropolitan area, and the capital of the geographic region of ...
in 615.
The Slavs with their families encamped in front of the
city walls
A defensive wall is a fortification usually used to protect a city, town or other settlement from potential aggressors. The walls can range from simple palisades or earthworks to extensive military fortifications with towers, bastions and gates ...
and even launched an attack by sea, but the latter failed due to a storm (attributed by the Byzantines to the intervention of Saint Demetrius, Thessalonica's patron saint) which sunk many of the Slavs'
logboats
A dugout canoe or simply dugout is a boat made from a hollowed tree. Other names for this type of boat are logboat and monoxylon. ''Monoxylon'' (''μονόξυλον'') (pl: ''monoxyla'') is Greek – ''mono-'' (single) + '' ξύλον xylon'' (t ...
, after which the siege was lifted.
Chatzon himself was allowed to enter the city during negotiations shortly after; however, the urban mob rioted at the instigation of the mothers of those slain during the siege and killed him, despite the city leaders' attempts to hide him.
After this, the Slavs asked for the help of the
Avars, resulting in the unsuccessful
month-long siege of the city by the combined Avar and Slavic forces in 617/618.
References
{{Reflist
615 deaths
7th-century rulers in Europe
Medieval Thessalonica
7th-century Slavs
Year of birth unknown
South Slavic history
7th century in Greece
Military history of Thessaloniki