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