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
Slavs are the largest European ethnolinguistic group. They speak the various Slavic languages, belonging to the larger Balto-Slavic branch of the Indo-European languages. Slavs are geographically distributed throughout northern Eurasia, main ...
was followed by a population exchange, mixing and
language shift to and from
Slavic. The settlement was facilitated by the substantial decrease of the Balkan population during the
Plague of Justinian. Another reason was the
Late Antique Little Ice Age
The Late Antique Little Ice Age (LALIA) was a long-lasting Northern Hemispheric cooling period in the 6th and 7th centuries AD, during the period known as Late Antiquity. The period coincides with three large volcanic eruptions in 535/536, 539/5 ...
from 536 to around 660 CE and the series of wars between the
Sasanian Empire
The Sasanian () or Sassanid Empire, officially known as the Empire of Iranians (, ) and also referred to by historians as the Neo-Persian Empire, was the History of Iran, last Iranian empire before the early Muslim conquests of the 7th-8th cen ...
and the
Avar Khaganate
The Pannonian Avars () were an alliance of several groups of Eurasian nomads of various origins. The peoples were also known as the Obri in chronicles of Rus, the Abaroi or Varchonitai ( el, Βαρχονίτες, Varchonítes), or Pseudo-Avars ...
against the
Eastern Roman Empire. The backbone of the Avar Khaganate consisted of
Slavic tribes. After the failed
siege of Constantinople in the summer of 626, they remained in the wider Balkan area after they had settled the
Byzantine provinces south of the
Sava and
Danube rivers, from the
Adriatic
The Adriatic Sea () is a body of water separating the Italian Peninsula from the Balkans, Balkan Peninsula. The Adriatic is the northernmost arm of the Mediterranean Sea, extending from the Strait of Otranto (where it connects to the Ionian Sea) ...
towards the
Aegean up to the
Black Sea. Exhausted by several factors and reduced to the coastal parts of the
Balkans, Byzantium was not able to wage war on two fronts and regain its lost territories, so it reconciled with the establishment of ''
Sklavinias
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 ...
'' influence and created an alliance with them against the Avar and
Bulgar Khaganates.
Background
Before the
great migration period, the population of the Balkans was possibly composed of local
Illyrians and
Thracians who had been
Romanized
Romanization or romanisation, in linguistics, is the conversion of text from a different writing system to the Roman (Latin) script, or a system for doing so. Methods of romanization include transliteration, for representing written text, and ...
and
Hellenized
Hellenization (other British spelling Hellenisation) or Hellenism is the adoption of Greek culture, religion, language and identity by non-Greeks. In the ancient period, colonization often led to the Hellenization of indigenous peoples; in the ...
. There may have also been small communities of
Heruli,
Bastarnae,
Langobards and
Sciri
The Sciri, or Scirians, were a Germanic people. They are believed to have spoken an East Germanic language. Their name probably means "the pure ones".
The Sciri were mentioned already in the late 3rd century BC as participants in a raid on the ...
. After the destructive campaigns of
Attila the Hun
Attila (, ; ), frequently called Attila the Hun, was the ruler of the Huns from 434 until his death in March 453. He was also the leader of a tribal empire consisting of Huns, Ostrogoths, Alans, and Bulgars, among others, in Central and Ea ...
and the
Goths who were previously ''
foederati
''Foederati'' (, singular: ''foederatus'' ) were peoples and cities bound by a treaty, known as ''foedus'', with Rome. During the Roman Republic, the term identified the ''socii'', but during the Roman Empire, it was used to describe foreign stat ...
'', which resulted in the fall of the
West Roman Empire
The Western Roman Empire comprised the western provinces of the Roman Empire at any time during which they were administered by a separate independent Imperial court; in particular, this term is used in historiography to describe the period fr ...
, Eastern Roman Emperor
Justinian I began the reconstruction of fortresses, cities, and Christianity. However, the
Plague of Justinian (from 541–549 until the mid-8th century) decimated the native population, resulting in the weakening of the
Pannonian
Pannonia may refer to:
In geography:
* Basin of Pannonia, a geomorphological region (plain) in Central Europe
* Sea of Pannonia, an ancient (former) sea in Central Europe
* Steppe of Pannonia, a grassland ecosystem in the Pannonian Plain
In h ...
and
Danubian Limes. Various factors, including the Late Antique Little Ice Age and
population pressure, pushed the migration of the
Early Slavs who were also led by the
Pannonian Avars.
History
The Slavs who settled in the Balkans are divided into two groups,
Antae and
Sclaveni. Small groups of Slavs had probably participated in the campaigns of the Huns and Germanic tribes since the end of the 5th century. The first certain Slavic raids date to the early 6th century during the time of the Eastern Roman Emperor
Justin I (518–527), coinciding with the end of the
Vitalian revolt (511–518).
Procopius recorded that in 518 a large army of the Antae, "who dwell close to the Sclaveni", crossed the Danube river into Roman territory. They continued with ever-faster and stronger incursions during the time of
Justinian I (527–565), with Procopius recording that the whole of
Illyricum and
Thrace was pillaged almost every year by Huns, Sclaveni, and Antae, who did enormous damage to the native Roman population, making the region a "Scythian desert". As the Danubian Limes lacked garrisons, Justinian I made an alliance with the Antae to stop
barbarian
A barbarian (or savage) is someone who is perceived to be either Civilization, uncivilized or primitive. The designation is usually applied as a generalization based on a popular stereotype; barbarians can be members of any nation judged by som ...
intrusions in Antae territory in the
Lower Danube. This caused more Slavic intrusions from the region of
Podunavlje, but was also followed by peaceful permanent settlement on Byzantine territory, which began in 550 or 551. Things changed with the arrival of the
Pannonian Avars, who fought against the Antae and subjugated masses of both Antae and Sclaveni. After the death of Justinian I, the new Roman Emperor
Justin II (565–574) halted the payment of subsidies to the Avars, which sparked an almost century-long war. With the Byzantines preoccupied with the
572–591 and
602–628 wars with the
Sasanian Empire
The Sasanian () or Sassanid Empire, officially known as the Empire of Iranians (, ) and also referred to by historians as the Neo-Persian Empire, was the History of Iran, last Iranian empire before the early Muslim conquests of the 7th-8th cen ...
, Avars and Slavs made devastating intrusions from Northern Italy to Southern Greece, and by the 7th century, the Slavs had settled in all the Balkans and
Peloponnese
The Peloponnese (), Peloponnesus (; el, Πελοπόννησος, Pelopónnēsos,(), or Morea is a peninsula and geographic regions of Greece, geographic region in southern Greece. It is connected to the central part of the country by the Isthmu ...
. Roman Emperor
Maurice in his
Balkan campaigns (582–602) did not manage to stop the successful sieges of
Sirmium,
Viminacium and
Thessalonica, or the destruction of various cities including
Justiniana Prima and
Salona, culminating with the
Siege of Constantinople (626).
According to Procopius, Slavic social and political organization was a kind of ''demokratia'' in which the tribal community was ruled by the council of nobles. This allowed them to stay together regardless of environmental factors, but according to
Johannes Koder, "impeded coordinated military resistance against the enemy", which put them in a situation of being under foreign political leadership. When the Slavs and later the Avars entered the Balkans they didn't have advanced siege warfare, but around 587 they acquired this knowledge from contact with Byzantine culture, and because of this no urban settlement or fort could oppose them any more. With the destruction of Roman fortifications came a loss of Byzantine military and administrative power in Roman provinces. The native population was often decimated, and the devastated lands were resettled by smaller or larger groups of Slavs. Settlement among the natives, often replacing them, happened in the autumn, when winter supplies were secured for the people and animals. After mixing with the natives who survived in smaller communities, depending on the region, the Slavic tribes mostly had names of
toponymic origin.
They densely populated the Balkans, more precisely the
Praetorian prefecture of Illyricum:
*in the late Roman province of
Noricum was the
Slavic settlement of the Eastern Alps (including
Carantanians)
*in
Pannonia
Pannonia (, ) was a province of the Roman Empire bounded on the north and east by the Danube, coterminous westward with Noricum and upper Italy, and southward with Dalmatia and upper Moesia. Pannonia was located in the territory that is now wes ...
were the
Pannonian Slavs (with
Pannonian Dulebes)
*the province of
Dalmatia
Dalmatia (; hr, Dalmacija ; it, Dalmazia; see #Name, names in other languages) is one of the four historical region, historical regions of Croatia, alongside Croatia proper, Slavonia, and Istria. Dalmatia is a narrow belt of the east shore of ...
was settled by the
White Croats (and
Guduscani),
Serbs,
Narentines
The Narentines were a South Slavic tribe that occupied an area of southern Dalmatia centered at the river Neretva (), active in the 9th and 10th centuries, noted as pirates on the Adriatic. Named ''Narentani'' in Venetian sources, Greek source ...
,
Zachlumians
Zachlumia or Zachumlia ( sh-Latn-Cyrl, separator=" / ", Zahumlje, Захумље, ), also Hum, was a medieval principality located in the modern-day regions of Herzegovina and southern Dalmatia (today parts of Bosnia and Herzegovina and Croatia ...
,
Travunijans, and
Kanalites
Kanalites ( grc-x-medieval, Καναλῖται, sh-Latn-Cyrl, separator=" / ", Konavljani, Конављани) were a medieval Slavic tribe settled in the today's region of Konavle, within Dalmatia, Croatia, mentioned in the chapter titled "Of t ...
*
Praevalitana
Praevalitana (also ''Prevalitana'', ''Prevaliana'', ''Praevaliana'' or ''Prevalis'') was a Late Roman province that existed between c. 284 and c. 600. It included parts of present-day Montenegro, northern Albania, and part of present-day Kosovo. ...
was settled by
Diocleans
*the provinces of
Moesia
Moesia (; Latin: ''Moesia''; el, Μοισία, Moisía) was an ancient region and later Roman province situated in the Balkans south of the Danube River, which included most of the territory of modern eastern Serbia, Kosovo, north-eastern Alban ...
and
Dardania were inhabited by
Merehani
The ''Merehani'' was a Slavic tribe mentioned by the Bavarian Geographer. They are often connected to the Moravians (''Marhari''), although some scholars believe that the tribe was separate.
The 9th-century '' Catalogue of Fortresses and Regions ...
,
Braničevci
The Braničevci (also Branichevci or Branichevtsi; sr-cyr, Браничевци) were a List of medieval Slavic peoples and tribes, South Slavic tribe that inhabited the region of Braničevo (region), Braničevo, in what is today Serbia, during t ...
,
Timočani
The Timočani (also Timochani, or Timochans; Serbian and Bulgarian: Тимочани) were a medieval South Slavic tribe that lived in the territory of present-day eastern Serbia, west of the Timok River, as well as in the regions of Banat, Syrm ...
and
Praedenecenti Praedenecenti was an early medieval Slavic tribe, mentioned only in the ''Royal Frankish Annals'' in 822 and 824. They lived in the buffer zone between the Carolingian and Bulgarian empires. The ''Royal Frankish Annals'' associated them with the Ab ...
*provinces of
Dacia Ripensis and Moesia Secunda were inhabited by
Seven Slavic tribes
The Seven Slavic tribes ( bg, Седемте славянски племена, Sedemte slavyanski plemena), or the Seven clans ( bg, Седемте рода, Sedemte roda, links=no) were a union of Slavic tribes in the Danubian Plain, that was ...
and
Severians
The Severians or Severyans or Siverians ( be, Севяране; bg, Севери; russian: Северяне; uk, Сiверяни, translit=Siveriany) were a tribe or tribal confederation of early East Slavs occupying areas to the east of the mi ...
*in part of the
Diocese of Thrace
The Diocese of Thrace ( la, Dioecesis Thraciae, el, Διοίκησις Θρᾴκης) was a diocese of the later Roman Empire, incorporating the provinces of the eastern Balkan Peninsula (comprising territories in modern south-eastern Romania, c ...
were
Smolyani, and
Strymonites Strymonites or Strymonian Slavs ( el, Στρυμονῖται / Strymonitai) were a tribe of Sclaveni (Early Slavs) who settled in the region of the river Strymon ( Struma) in eastern parts of the historical region of Macedonia.
They took part in ...
*in all of the
Diocese of Macedonia
The Diocese of Macedonia ( la, Dioecesis Macedoniae; el, Διοίκησις Μακεδονίας) was a diocese of the later Roman Empire, forming part of the praetorian prefecture of Illyricum. Its administrative centre was Thessaloniki.
Histo ...
were numerous tribes of
Drougoubitai,
Berziti The Berziti (Bulgarian, Macedonian and sr, Берзити; el, Βερζῆτες) were a South Slavic tribe that settled in Byzantine Macedonia in the 7th century AD with the Slavic invasion of the Balkans. The Berziti settled in the vicinity o ...
,
Sagudates The Sagudates ( el, Σαγουδάται, ''Sagoudatai'') were a South Slavic tribe that lived in Macedonia region, in the area between Thessaloniki and Veria.
History
The Sagudates were first attested in a Byzantine document of 686 as allies o ...
,
Rhynchinoi The Rhynchines or Rhynchinoi ( el, Ῥυγχίνοι) were a South Slavic (Sklavenoi) tribe in the region of southern Macedonia in the 7th century. According to Traian Stoianovich, they were Slavic or Avaro-Slavic, and their name probably derives ...
,
Baiounitai,
Belegezites The Belegezites ( gr, Βελεγεζίται, ''Belegezitai'') were a South Slavic ('' Sklavenoi'') tribe that lived in the area of Thessaly in the Early Middle Ages. They are one of the tribes listed in the ''Miracles of Saint Demetrius''.Florin C ...
,
Melingoi
The Melingoi or Milingoi ( el, Μηλιγγοί) were a Slavic tribe that settled in the Peloponnese in southern Greece during the Middle Ages. In the early decades of the 7th century, Slavic tribes (Sclaveni) settled throughout the Balkans follow ...
and
Ezeritai
The Ezeritai ( el, ) were a Slavic tribe that settled in the Peloponnese in southern Greece during the Middle Ages. In the early decades of the 7th century, Slavic tribes (Sclaveni) settled throughout the Balkans following the collapse of the By ...
*Some Slavs in Thrace were also relocated to
Anatolia, later known as
Asia Minor Slavs.
However, after the settlement of the Slavs, the Balkans turned to
paganism
Paganism (from classical Latin ''pāgānus'' "rural", "rustic", later "civilian") is a term first used in the fourth century by early Christianity, early Christians for people in the Roman Empire who practiced polytheism, or ethnic religions ot ...
and entered the
Dark Ages, in which most of Europe had been until then. Many Slavs soon began to accept the cultural customs of the highly civilized Byzantine provinces, and in order to expand their cultural and state influence on the South Slavs, the Byzantines began the process of
Christianization. The weak Eastern Roman Empire during the 7th and 8th centuries and its absence as a European power enabled the formation of a
new empire in Western Europe.
Eventually the Slavs settled in the late Roman provinces of Pannonia and Dalmatia reached a substantial amount of autonomy or independence, establishing ''Sklavinias'' influenced by both
Francia and Byzantine Empire. In most part of the former diocese of Dacia and Thracia the ''Sklavinias'' fell under the rule of the
First Bulgarian Empire
The First Bulgarian Empire ( cu, блъгарьско цѣсарьствиѥ, blagarysko tsesarystviye; bg, Първо българско царство) was a medieval Bulgar- Slavic and later Bulgarian state that existed in Southeastern Europ ...
, while in the diocese of Macedonia (Southern Balkans and Peloponnese) they lacked political organization, because of which the Byzantine Empire regained control and after 200 years they became assimilated by the Greek-speaking majority, and on the territory of today's
Albania by the Albanian-speaking majority.
Archaeology
Slavs mostly travelled along the river valleys, but while in the Southern Balkans, they travelled where they encountered greater resistance by the native
Byzantine Greek
Medieval Greek (also known as Middle Greek, Byzantine Greek, or Romaic) is the stage of the Greek language between the end of classical antiquity in the 5th–6th centuries and the end of the Middle Ages, conventionally dated to the Ottoman co ...
forces, along the mountain ranges. Very soon after their arrival the typical Slavic archaeological culture was changed by the influence of native Byzantine cultures. According to the archaeological data the main movement of the Slavs was from the Middle Danube valley. The
Ipotesti–Candesti culture was composed of a mixture of Slavic
Prague-Korchak
The Prague-Korchak culture was an archaeological culture attributed to the Early Slavs. The other contemporary main Early Slavic culture was the Prague-Penkovka culture situated further south, with which it makes up the "Prague-type pottery" grou ...
and mostly
Penkovka culture with some elements of the so-called Martinovka culture. The majority of the Slavic population in the Balkans and Peloponnese was accordingly descending from Antae. According to archaeological data and historical sources, the Slavs mostly were engaged in
agriculture, cultivating
proso millet, which they introduced,
wheat, but also
flax
Flax, also known as common flax or linseed, is a flowering plant, ''Linum usitatissimum'', in the family Linaceae. It is cultivated as a food and fiber crop in regions of the world with temperate climates. Textiles made from flax are known in ...
. They grew various fruits and vegetables, and learned
viticulture. They were actively engaged in
animal husbandry
Animal husbandry is the branch of agriculture concerned with animals that are raised for meat, fibre, milk, or other products. It includes day-to-day care, selective breeding, and the raising of livestock. Husbandry has a long history, starti ...
, using
horses for military and agricultural purposes, and raising
oxen
An ox ( : oxen, ), also known as a bullock (in BrE
British English (BrE, en-GB, or BE) is, according to Oxford Dictionaries, "English as used in Great Britain, as distinct from that used elsewhere". More narrowly, it can refer spec ...
and
goats. Those living in hilly terrain mostly lived as
shepherds. Those living near lakes, rivers, and seas also used various hooks and nets for fishing. They were known to be especially skilled in woodworking and shipbuilding, but also knew about metalworking and pottery.
Genetics
According to the 2013
autosomal IBD survey "of recent genealogical ancestry over the past 3,000 years at a continental scale", the speakers of
Serbo-Croatian language share a very high number of common ancestors dated to the
migration period
The Migration Period was a period in European history marked by large-scale migrations that saw the fall of the Western Roman Empire and subsequent settlement of its former territories by various tribes, and the establishment of the post-Roman ...
approximately 1,500 years ago with
Poland and
Romania-
Bulgaria cluster among others in
Eastern Europe. It is concluded to be caused by the
Hunnic and Slavic expansion, which was a "relatively small population that expanded over a large geographic area", particularly "the expansion of the Slavic populations into regions of low population density beginning in the sixth century" and that it is "highly coincident with the modern distribution of Slavic languages".
According to Kushniarevich et al. 2015, the Hellenthal et al. 2014 IBD analysis, also found "multi-directional admixture events among East Europeans (both Slavic and non-Slavic), dated to around 1,000–1,600 YBP" which coincides with "the proposed time-frame for the Slavic expansion".
The Slavic influence is "dated to 500-900 CE or a bit later with over 40-50% among
Bulgarians,
Romanians, and
Hungarians".
The 2015 IBD analysis found that the
South Slavs have lower proximity to
Greeks than with
East Slavs and
West Slavs and that there's an "even patterns of IBD sharing among East-West Slavs–'inter-Slavic' populations (Hungarians, Romanians and
Gagauz)–and South Slavs, i.e. across an area of assumed historic movements of people including Slavs". The slight peak of shared IBD segments between South and East-West Slavs suggests a shared "Slavonic-time ancestry".
According to a recent
admixture analysis of Western Balkan, the South Slavs show a genetic uniformity,
with the modeled ancestral genetic component of Balto-Slavs among South Slavs being between 55% and 70%.
According to 2017 admixture study of Peloponnesian Greek population, "the Slavic ancestry of Peloponnesean subpopulations ranges from 0.2 to 14.4%".
The 2006 Y-DNA study results "suggest that the Slavic expansion started from the territory of present-day Ukraine, thus supporting the hypothesis that places the earliest known homeland of Slavs in the basin of the middle
Dnieper".
According to genetic studies until 2020, the distribution, variance and frequency of the
Y-DNA haplogroups
In human genetics, a human Y-chromosome DNA haplogroup is a haplogroup defined by mutations in the non- recombining portions of DNA from the male-specific Y chromosome (called Y-DNA). Many people within a haplogroup share similar numbers of ...
R1a and
I2 and their subclades R-M558, R-M458 and I-CTS10228 among South Slavs are in correlation with the spreading of Slavic languages during the medieval Slavic expansion from Eastern Europe, most probably from the territory of present-day
Ukraine and
Southeastern Poland.
A 2022
archaeogenetic study published in ''
Science'' compared ancient, medieval and modern population samples and found that the medieval Slavic migrations "profoundly affected the region", resulting in the reduction of Anatolian Neolithic ancestry in Southeastern Europe. Pre-Slavic Balkan populations have the most of the Anatolian Neolithic component of ancestry, whereas present-day Slavs outside the Balkans have the least, "with present-day people from Southeastern Europe intermediate between the two extremes". Among present-day populations "Greeks and Albanians have more Anatolian Neolithic ancestry than their South Slavic neighbors".
See also
*
Extreme weather events of 535–536
*
Bulgars
The Bulgars (also Bulghars, Bulgari, Bolgars, Bolghars, Bolgari, Proto-Bulgarians) were Turkic semi-nomadic warrior tribes that flourished in the Pontic–Caspian steppe and the Volga region during the 7th century. They became known as nomad ...
*
Onogurs
*
Utigurs
*
Kutrigurs
Kutrigurs were Turkic Eurasian nomads, nomadic equestrians who flourished on the Pontic–Caspian steppe in the 6th century AD. To their east were the similar Utigurs and both possibly were closely related to the Bulgars. They warred with the Byza ...
*
Outline of Slavic history and culture
Notes
References
Sources
*
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{{Slavic ethnic groups (VII-XII century)
7th-century conflicts
7th century in the Byzantine Empire
Wars involving the Byzantine Empire
Invasions
South Slavic history
History of the Balkans