alternatehistory.com
Chapter 22: Europa Barbarica: Slavs, Vikings and Balts
The vast expanses from the Elbe river to the Dnieper, and from the Haemus mountains (1) to the Dwina. Geographically, they can be divided into Eastern, Western and Southern branches.
The southern branch populated the Balkan peninsula and has been living in close proximity of the Rhomaic empire. Originally displacing the Romanized and Hellenized inhabitants of the lowland regions of Thrace, Moesia and Dalmatia, as well as Macedonia, after the Rhomaic empire sought to reclaim the lost lands in Thrace and Macedonia, many returned northwards. In particular, the Slavic tribes living in the Pindus mountians : the Zagorcenians, the Dregovites and the Belzetians were either pushed northwards (the case of the first ones), resettled to Anatolia (Dregovites) or integrated into the empire (Belzetians).
Tribal chiefdoms were developping into duchies and kingdoms in the western Balkans, in the regions of Duklia (2), Rascia and Narentia (3). In the lands of the former Roman province of Lower Moesia, the lowlands were populated by Branichevci (west of the Morava) and further westwards , between the Sava, the Bosna and the Adriatic, was the Duchy of Croatia.
As for the Lower Danube basin, that is the former Roman province of Lower Moesia, and the plains north of the Danube to the Southern Carpathian mountains, the area had become part of the Bulgar Khanate. The existence of such a state had to be acknowledged by Constantijnople already in 680s. The Bulgars are thougfht to have been a Turkci nomadic population of the Oghur branch, and ruled over a mostly Slavic, but also Vlach population. (The ethnogenesis of the Vlachs will be described later in the text). The local Slavic population, known as the Seven Slavic tribes, accepted their rule, and were resettled more towards the mountainous border areas to guards them, while the Turkic conquerors themselves would have dwellt in the region of Dobrudia, establishing their capital at Pliska, originally being a fortified nomadic encampment.
While originally extending as far eastwards as the lower Dnieper, the Bulgar empire lost its lands in the east, and the new border was established along the lower Dniester and then along the upper Prut. From there, its borders copied the Carpathian ridges, which divided the Bulgar khanate from the sphere of influence of the Avar Khaganate, centereed on the middle Danube.
On the borders of the former Roman provicnes of Upper and Lower Moesia, in region of the Iron Gates, a gorge of the Danube between the Southern and Moesian Carpathians lies a hilly and mountainous area, which was later populated by refugees from Dacia Traiana after the Roamn retreat from the region. The area, together with the Upper Morava valley around the city of Naissus (4), is thought to a refuge for Daco-Roman (and Thraco-Roman) speakers in an otherwise Slavic speaking environment. There, they retreated to the mountains and adopted a trashumance shepherding lifestyle. Some of these peoples accepted the offers of the Rhomaic emperors and settled in the newly reconquered regions of Upper Macedonia (mainly around Lychnis), and in the Pindus mountains. Others became borderguards of the Bulgarian empire along the Oltenian Carpathians.
The remnants of the Illyrians have survived in the mountainous regions of the southwestern Balkans. For Rhomaic historians, they are known as Arnautians, and live in the mountainous areas of Epirus Nova (5), and in some parts of Dardania (6). The Rhomaic emperors have allowed them to resettle parts of northwestern Macedonia, namely around Scubi (7).
As for the Illyro-Romance speakers, who formed the other branch of the Eastenr Romance language, even in Roman times, there was a differentiation between the Dalmatian and Pannonian (and Norican) varieties.
The population of Dalmatia was either squeezed to the coasts, where they preserved the Dalmatian language and urban culture, or as was the case of the hinterland population, had to adopt a transhumance shepherding lifestyle in the Dinaric mountains.
The Pannonian Romance speakers living under the suzerainty of the Avar Khaganate were cnetered on the western end of the Lake Balaton, and a few other urban centers. They were needed and demanded as artisans of the steppe people, one can say using modern terms, that the area they dwellt in was the industrial core of the Avar Khaganate
Ultimately, it may be possible that a Noric language did survive; yet the area was thinly populated in Roman times, and in case of invasion, the Latinate peoples could move to Italy; Noric Latinate seems to have survived in upper Carinthia and East Tyrol.
Regarding the Avar Khaganate, the realm was in steep decline during the later 8th century. Evidence suggests, that by this time, the Avars were almost fully assimilated into their Slavic neighbours, taking up their language, yet retaining their own nomadic steppe way of life. It were the campaigns of Charlemagne, that severely weakened the Khaganate; in such a way that a few years later they had been far too vulnerable to remain unattacked by the neighbouring Bulgars.
To the north of the Avar Khaganate emerged multiple tribal confederations of the West Slavic peoples: notably Bohemia, Moravia and Nitra, the last populated by early Slovaks. The areas between the Elbe and the Oder were tributary to Charlemagne, and were populated by the Slavic tribes of Odobrites, Veleti, Hevelians and Sorbs. Further east were the Lechitic peoples of Pommerania, Silesia, and the tribes of Polanes, Masovians, Vislans and so forth.
The ethnic border between the West Slavic and East Slavic peoples was around Belovezh Forest and roughly of the river Bug. As for the east Slavs, they had expanded northwards from their homeland, to populate the entirety of the central and upper Dniepr basins, and even further to the upper reaches of the western Dvina river. They were divided into many tribes: Tiverians, Bushanes, Severians, Drevlyans, Dregovitians, Radimisches, Polotses, Viatiches, Kriviches and Ilmenians.
The eastern Slavs had displaced Baltic tribes from the upper Dniepr basin and encountered Volga Finns to their northeast. Around lake Ilmen, they encountered the Norse.
The Norse originated from Scandinavia; the north Germanic societies by this time were experiencing a state-building process. The greatest of their realms was the tribal confederation of the Danes, encompassing the Jutish Peninsula, the Scandia and all island inbetween, and then it extended northwards until the fjord of Oslo.
In the western part of the Scandinavian peninsula, in the land of fjords, were the Norwegians, while in the eastern parts of Scandinavia, in a forested woodland and lakeland, there were two emerging realms, that of the Gaets and that of the Swedes. The areas of Scandinavia were getting more and more crowded, and the younger sons were now looking for new places to settle. The many fjords and bays of Norway provided natural harbours, and thus the society began developping seafaring to trade, but also to raid, foreign lands.
The peoples of Scandinavia used their own script, called runic, or Futhark script. It has been suggested, that it originated from the early Italic scripts, such as those emplyoed by the Etruscans; yet such a connection would possibly require evidence of it being used by also West Germanic tribes.
However, by this time, much of Scandinavia,especially the areas north of the Bergen-Uppsala, remain still settled by the Sami people, speaking a highly divergent Uralic language (theoretized to have supplanted an earlier strong substrate).
As for the Baltic peoples living on the southeastern shores of the eponymous sea, there is little information of them available. The Baltic languages used to extend even further east, even to the Upper Dniepr basin, yet they were displaced by the advancing East Slavs. Stronger tribla chiefdoms appear among the Prussians and the Curonians; the Lithuanians appear to rule over the over the upper Nemunas river basin.
(1) Balkan mountians of Bulgaria, also known as the Stara Planina
(2) Montenegro
(3) At the Neretva estuary; corresponding to Makarska riviera and Mostar region
(4) Otl Niš, Serbia
(5) Modern Albania
(6) Roughly Kosovo, Methia and adjacent regions
(7) Skopje
The southern branch populated the Balkan peninsula and has been living in close proximity of the Rhomaic empire. Originally displacing the Romanized and Hellenized inhabitants of the lowland regions of Thrace, Moesia and Dalmatia, as well as Macedonia, after the Rhomaic empire sought to reclaim the lost lands in Thrace and Macedonia, many returned northwards. In particular, the Slavic tribes living in the Pindus mountians : the Zagorcenians, the Dregovites and the Belzetians were either pushed northwards (the case of the first ones), resettled to Anatolia (Dregovites) or integrated into the empire (Belzetians).
Tribal chiefdoms were developping into duchies and kingdoms in the western Balkans, in the regions of Duklia (2), Rascia and Narentia (3). In the lands of the former Roman province of Lower Moesia, the lowlands were populated by Branichevci (west of the Morava) and further westwards , between the Sava, the Bosna and the Adriatic, was the Duchy of Croatia.
As for the Lower Danube basin, that is the former Roman province of Lower Moesia, and the plains north of the Danube to the Southern Carpathian mountains, the area had become part of the Bulgar Khanate. The existence of such a state had to be acknowledged by Constantijnople already in 680s. The Bulgars are thougfht to have been a Turkci nomadic population of the Oghur branch, and ruled over a mostly Slavic, but also Vlach population. (The ethnogenesis of the Vlachs will be described later in the text). The local Slavic population, known as the Seven Slavic tribes, accepted their rule, and were resettled more towards the mountainous border areas to guards them, while the Turkic conquerors themselves would have dwellt in the region of Dobrudia, establishing their capital at Pliska, originally being a fortified nomadic encampment.
While originally extending as far eastwards as the lower Dnieper, the Bulgar empire lost its lands in the east, and the new border was established along the lower Dniester and then along the upper Prut. From there, its borders copied the Carpathian ridges, which divided the Bulgar khanate from the sphere of influence of the Avar Khaganate, centereed on the middle Danube.
On the borders of the former Roman provicnes of Upper and Lower Moesia, in region of the Iron Gates, a gorge of the Danube between the Southern and Moesian Carpathians lies a hilly and mountainous area, which was later populated by refugees from Dacia Traiana after the Roamn retreat from the region. The area, together with the Upper Morava valley around the city of Naissus (4), is thought to a refuge for Daco-Roman (and Thraco-Roman) speakers in an otherwise Slavic speaking environment. There, they retreated to the mountains and adopted a trashumance shepherding lifestyle. Some of these peoples accepted the offers of the Rhomaic emperors and settled in the newly reconquered regions of Upper Macedonia (mainly around Lychnis), and in the Pindus mountains. Others became borderguards of the Bulgarian empire along the Oltenian Carpathians.
The remnants of the Illyrians have survived in the mountainous regions of the southwestern Balkans. For Rhomaic historians, they are known as Arnautians, and live in the mountainous areas of Epirus Nova (5), and in some parts of Dardania (6). The Rhomaic emperors have allowed them to resettle parts of northwestern Macedonia, namely around Scubi (7).
As for the Illyro-Romance speakers, who formed the other branch of the Eastenr Romance language, even in Roman times, there was a differentiation between the Dalmatian and Pannonian (and Norican) varieties.
The population of Dalmatia was either squeezed to the coasts, where they preserved the Dalmatian language and urban culture, or as was the case of the hinterland population, had to adopt a transhumance shepherding lifestyle in the Dinaric mountains.
The Pannonian Romance speakers living under the suzerainty of the Avar Khaganate were cnetered on the western end of the Lake Balaton, and a few other urban centers. They were needed and demanded as artisans of the steppe people, one can say using modern terms, that the area they dwellt in was the industrial core of the Avar Khaganate
Ultimately, it may be possible that a Noric language did survive; yet the area was thinly populated in Roman times, and in case of invasion, the Latinate peoples could move to Italy; Noric Latinate seems to have survived in upper Carinthia and East Tyrol.
Regarding the Avar Khaganate, the realm was in steep decline during the later 8th century. Evidence suggests, that by this time, the Avars were almost fully assimilated into their Slavic neighbours, taking up their language, yet retaining their own nomadic steppe way of life. It were the campaigns of Charlemagne, that severely weakened the Khaganate; in such a way that a few years later they had been far too vulnerable to remain unattacked by the neighbouring Bulgars.
To the north of the Avar Khaganate emerged multiple tribal confederations of the West Slavic peoples: notably Bohemia, Moravia and Nitra, the last populated by early Slovaks. The areas between the Elbe and the Oder were tributary to Charlemagne, and were populated by the Slavic tribes of Odobrites, Veleti, Hevelians and Sorbs. Further east were the Lechitic peoples of Pommerania, Silesia, and the tribes of Polanes, Masovians, Vislans and so forth.
The ethnic border between the West Slavic and East Slavic peoples was around Belovezh Forest and roughly of the river Bug. As for the east Slavs, they had expanded northwards from their homeland, to populate the entirety of the central and upper Dniepr basins, and even further to the upper reaches of the western Dvina river. They were divided into many tribes: Tiverians, Bushanes, Severians, Drevlyans, Dregovitians, Radimisches, Polotses, Viatiches, Kriviches and Ilmenians.
The eastern Slavs had displaced Baltic tribes from the upper Dniepr basin and encountered Volga Finns to their northeast. Around lake Ilmen, they encountered the Norse.
The Norse originated from Scandinavia; the north Germanic societies by this time were experiencing a state-building process. The greatest of their realms was the tribal confederation of the Danes, encompassing the Jutish Peninsula, the Scandia and all island inbetween, and then it extended northwards until the fjord of Oslo.
In the western part of the Scandinavian peninsula, in the land of fjords, were the Norwegians, while in the eastern parts of Scandinavia, in a forested woodland and lakeland, there were two emerging realms, that of the Gaets and that of the Swedes. The areas of Scandinavia were getting more and more crowded, and the younger sons were now looking for new places to settle. The many fjords and bays of Norway provided natural harbours, and thus the society began developping seafaring to trade, but also to raid, foreign lands.
The peoples of Scandinavia used their own script, called runic, or Futhark script. It has been suggested, that it originated from the early Italic scripts, such as those emplyoed by the Etruscans; yet such a connection would possibly require evidence of it being used by also West Germanic tribes.
However, by this time, much of Scandinavia,especially the areas north of the Bergen-Uppsala, remain still settled by the Sami people, speaking a highly divergent Uralic language (theoretized to have supplanted an earlier strong substrate).
As for the Baltic peoples living on the southeastern shores of the eponymous sea, there is little information of them available. The Baltic languages used to extend even further east, even to the Upper Dniepr basin, yet they were displaced by the advancing East Slavs. Stronger tribla chiefdoms appear among the Prussians and the Curonians; the Lithuanians appear to rule over the over the upper Nemunas river basin.
(1) Balkan mountians of Bulgaria, also known as the Stara Planina
(2) Montenegro
(3) At the Neretva estuary; corresponding to Makarska riviera and Mostar region
(4) Otl Niš, Serbia
(5) Modern Albania
(6) Roughly Kosovo, Methia and adjacent regions
(7) Skopje
- Tomislav Addai
- Word Count: 1.3k