We have raised this question before but we think it is worth enunciating it a bit so we will do it through the words of the chroniclers – one separated by a millennium of history.

Vistula?

 Helmold

[Partially Following Adam of Bremen]

“The second river, that is the Oder/Odra heads towards the North and cuts across the land of the Vinulli [Winnuli/Wends] and separates the Pomeranians from the Wilzi [Veleti].  At the mouth of this river, where it hits the sea, there was once a most illustrious city Winneta [Vinneta or Vinneda]… [description of the town and its fall follows] There one can witness a sea in three parts.  This island [on which the city stood] is cut through by three mouths of the river – one of them, as they say, is extraordinarily green, the second white and third is always covered in storms.”

Adam of Bremen

“Beyond the Leutici, who are alsoc called Wilzi, one comes to the Oder River, the largest stream in the Slavic region.  At its mouth where it feeds the Scythian marshes, Jumne, a most noble city, affords a very widely known trading center… There Neptune may be observed in a threefold mood: that island is washed by the waters of three straits, one of which they say is of a very green appearance; another rather whitish; the third rages furiously in perpetual tempests.”

Jordanes

“This island [Scandza] lies in front of the river Vistula which rises in the Sarmatian mountains and flows through its triple mouth into the northern Ocean in sight of Scandza, separating Germany and Scythia…”

“This land, I say, -namely, Scythia, stretching far and spreading wide, – has on the east the Seres [Serbs?], a race that dwelt at the very beginning of their history on the shores of the Caspian Sea.  “On the west are the Germans and the river Vistula…”

“Near their left ridge, which inclines toward the north, and beginning at the source of the Vistula, the populous race of the Venethi dwell, occupying a great expanse of land.  Though their names are now dispersed amid various clans and paces, yet they are chiefly called Sclaveni and Antes.  The abode of the Sclaveni extends from the city of Noviodunum and the lake called Mursianus to the Danaster, and northward as far as the Viscla…”

“But on the shore of Ocean, where the floods of the river Vistula empty from three mouths, the Vidivarii dwell, a people gathered out of various tribes.  Beyond them the Aesti, a subject race, likewise hold the shore of Ocean.  To the south dwell the Acatziri…”

“These Gepidae were then smitten by envy while they dwelt in the province of Spesis on an island surrounded by the shallow waters of the Visclae.  This island they called in the speech of their fathers, Gepodoios; but it is now inhabited by the race of the Vividaria, since the Gepidae themselves have moved to better lands.  The Vividarii are gathered from various races into this one asylum, if I may call it so, and thus they form a nation.”

[in some manuscripts, Vidivarii [Vindi-varii?]]

 Ptolemy

“and the mouths of the Vistula river, the head of the river, the source which is to the west and is said to be towards the Albis [Elbe]“.

[yes, the source of the Oder is much closer to the source of the Elbe than is the source of the Vistula]

“Those that inhabit Germany on the other side of the river Rhine… and after these the Rugiclei up to the Vistula river….”

[yes, the Rugian island is west of the Oder]

Question

So: Is it the case that Visculus sive Vistla as Pliny would have it?  Or maybe Visculus does sive Vistla but the Latin/Greek authors use the term erroneously when thinking of the Oder?

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Of all the stories about the early Slavs, the story of Samo’s state is perhaps the most curious.  The story comes in two parts.  First, Samo, apparently a Frankish merchant, heads off to the Slavs who are in middle of a rebellion against the Avars and leads them to victory over the former overlords.

First Samo story courtesy of MGH

Then he reigns over them for many years leading them to further glory by refusing to submit to and ultimately defeating the army of the Frankish King Dagobert.

Part two from MGH

There is, perhaps, only one and only one source for this story of the “first” Slavic polity –  Book IV of the Fredegar’s Chronicle.  We will now present the entire Samo story and all the other parts of that book that relate to Wends, Slavs and Samo (though the principal years that relate to the two episodes are 623 and 630 in chapters 48 and 68, respectively).  We note first that Samo was not the first recorded Slavic king with his own kingdom as the southern Slavs had had several (and that is not even counting Boz of the Antes) quasi-states with their (explicitly noted by the chroniclers) own territory before Samo rolled in, as already mentioned here.  Further, it behooves us to say that “traces” of Samo may have survived outside of the chronicles – a topic which we will come back to later in this post – for now the story of Samo, in full, as related by Fredegar (manuscript pictures: Bibliotheque National de France, Latin manuscript 10910). (The years are given after the chronicle – some commentators question, e.g., whether the revolt happened in 623 or only after the Avar defeat at Constantinople in 626).

The countries in question

 Samo in Fredegar’s Chronicle

Book IV, Section 48 (Year 623)

English:

“In the fortieth year [of the rule of Chlothar?/Theuderich?], a certain Samo of the nation of the Franks from Sennonago [Sens in France? Soignies in Belgium?] together with a group of merchants went to trade with the Slavs who are called Wends.  The Slavs had at that point already risen up against the Avars that were known as Huns and their King Khagan.  Already in the olden days were the Wends used by the Huns as the so-called befulci [besulci?] so that when the Huns took the field against a nation, they themselves would stand in muster in front of their camp but the Wends would fight.  If the Wends won, the Huns would come forth to claim the booty; but if the Wends lost, they would regroup/gather new forces with the Huns’ help/protection.  They were called besulci by the Huns because they walked before the Huns and had to endure a double battle in any combat.”  [this may refer to the “motivational” influence of the Avars behind the Wends back]

“Each year, the Huns came to the Slavs, to spend the winter with them; then they took the wives and daughters of the Slavs and slept with them, and among the other mistreatments [already mentioned] the Slavs were also forced to pay levies to the Huns.  But the sons of the Huns, who were [then] raised with the wives and daughters of these Wends could not finally endure this oppression anymore and refused obedience to the Huns and began, as already mentioned, a rebellion.  When now the Wendish army went against the Huns, the [aforementioned] merchant Samo accompanied the same.  And so the Samo’s bravery proved itself in wonderful ways and a huge mass of Huns fell to the sword of the Wends.  Since these recognized Samo’s bravery they elected/raised him [to be] their king and he ruled happily thirty-five years long.  Many battles did the Wends fight under his rule and each time thanks to him did they remain victors.  Samo had twelve Wendish wives with whom he raised twenty-two sons and twenty-five daughters.”

Latin:

“Anno 40 regni Chlotharii, homo quidam, nomine Samo, natione Francus, de pago Sennonago plures secum negotiantes ascivit, ad exercendum negotium in Sclavos , cognomento Winidos, perrexit. Sclavi jam contra Avares, cognomento Chunos , et regem eorum Gaganum coeperant rebellare. Winidi Befulci Chunis fuerant jam ab antiquitus, ut cum Chuni in exercitu contra gentem quamlibet aggrediebant, Chuni pro castris adunato illorum exercitu stabant, Winidi vero pugnabant; si vero ad vincendum praevalebant, tunc Chuni praedas capiendum aggrediebant; sin autem Winidi superabantur, Chunorum auxilio fulti vires resumebant. Ideo Befulci vocabantur a Chunis, eo quod duplici in congressione certaminis vestita praelia facientes ante Chunos praecederent Chuni ad hiemandum annis singulis in Selavos veniebant; uxores Selavorum et filias eorum stratu sumebant; tributa super alias oppressiones Sclavi Chunis solvebant. Filii Chunorum, quos in uxores Winidorum et filias generaverant , tandem non sufferentes hanc malitiam ferre et oppressionem, Chunorum dominationem negantes, ut supra memini, coeperant rebellare. Cum in exercitu Winidi contra Chunos fuissent aggressi, Samo negotians, de quo memoravi superius, cum ipsis in exercitu perrexit, ibique tanta ejus fuit utilitas, ut mirum fuisset, et nimia multitudo de Chunis gladio Winidorum trucidata fuisset. Winidi cernentes utilitatem Samonis, eum super se eligunt regem, ubi triginta quinque annos regnavit feliciter. Plura praelia contra Chunos suo regimine Winidi gesserunt, suo consilio et utilitate Winidi semper superarunt. Samo duodecim uxores ex genere Winidorum habebat, de quibus viginti duos filios et quindecim filias habuit.”

Book IV, Section 58 (Year 628)

[speaking of Dagobert in the seventh year of his reign]

English:

“…And so great was the fear that he aroused among all the people that they all in humility submitted to his rule and even peoples, who lived on the border to the Avars and the Slavs willingly requested that he come to [rule over] them and he hoped confidently that the Avars and the Slavs and the other peoples all the way to the borders [of the Byzantine Kingdom] to rule…”

Latin:

“...Timorem vero sic fortem sua concusserat utilitas, ut jam devotione arriperent suae se tradere ditioni, ut etiam gentes, quae circa limitem Avarorum et Sclavorum consistunt, eum prompte expeterent, ut ille post tergum eorum iret feliciter, et Avaros et Sclavos caeterasque gentium nationes usque manum publicam suae ditioni subjiciendum fiducialiter spondebat…”

Book IV, Section 68 (Year 630) 

English:

“In this year, merchants trading in Samo’s kingdom were killed and their property robbed by the Slavs that went by the name Wends.  This was the reason behind the falling out between Dagobert and the King of the Slavs Samo.  Dagobert sent an emissary Sycharius to Samo with the demand, to intervene, on account of the murder and theft committed by his [subjects/ people] on the Frankish merchants, as justice would demand it.  Because Samo did not even want to see Sycharius and would not let [Sycharius] before him, therefore, [Sycharius] put on Slavic garb and appeared before Samo and proclaimed to [Samo] all that he was supposed to proclaim. [i.e., he made the above-described demands for justice to be dispensed by Samo]  But Samo did not, for such are the pagan and haughty ways of bad people, recompense/undo what his [subjects/people] had done, and only committed himself to conduct judicial proceedings to resolve these and similar disputes between the two sides.  To that Sycharius replied in unfortunate words/threats, as is the manner of boisterous emissaries, which words/threats he was not empowered [by Dagobert] to use, that Samo and his entire people were  subjects of Dagobert’s.  Hurt [by these words] the King replied: “The country that we possess and we ourselves are Dagobert’s but only if he wants to keep friendship with us.”  To which Sycharius said: “It is not possible, that Christians, servants of God, should be friends with dogs.”  And then Samo replied: “If you are servants of God and we are God’s dogs then it is permitted us when you continually act against His will that we bite you.”  And with these words they threw Sycharius out.”

“When Dagobert found out about this he raised a great army out of all Austrasia [northern France – province of the Merovingian Empire] against Samo and the Wends and sent it to take the field divided in three parts.  At the same time, the Langobards raided [a/the] Slavic country to support Dagobert.  The Slavs prepared themselves to resist but the Alemanic army under Duke Crodobert  on a victory over them [Slavs] in the place where it breached their territory, and so too the Langobards won a victory; and both, Alemans and Langobards led away with them a huge multitude of prisoners.  But as the Austrasians headed towards Wogastisburg, where the main force of the Wendish forces was, there came to a three-day long battle, in which the greater part of Dagobert’s army fell to the sword, and leaving all their tents and all their belongings behind they went fleeing home.  Since that time, the Wends raided Thuringia and other Frankish provinces.  Yes, even Dervanus, the duke of the Sorbs, a people of the Slavic tribes, who until then to the Frankish Kingdom belonged, went over to Samo.  And by the way the Wends did not win their victory over the Franks thanks to their bravery but rather on the account of bad faith of the Austrasiers since they hated Dagobert for having constantly exploited them.”

Latin:

“Eo anno Sclav, cognomento Winidi, in regno Samonis negotiantes, Francorum cum plurimam multitudinem interfecissent et rebus exspoliassent, hoc fuit initium scandali inter Dagobertum et Samonem regem Sclavinorum . Dirigensque Dagobertus Sicharium legatarium ad Samonem, petens ut negotiantes quos sui interfecerant, et res quas illi cite usurpaverant cum justitia faceret emendare Samo nolens Sicharium videre, nec ad se eum venire permitteret; Sicharius vestes indutus ad instar Sclavinorum cum suis ad conspectum pervenit, Samoni universa quae injuncta habebat nuntiavit. Sed ut habet gentilitas et superbia pravorum, nihil a Samone quae sui admiserant est emendatum, nisi tantum placita vellens instituere, ut de his et aliis intentionibus, quae inter has partes ortae fuerant, justitia redderetur in invicem. Sicharius, sicut stultus legatus, verba improperii quae injuncta non habuerat, et minas adversus Samonem loquitur, eo quod Samo et populus regni sui Dagoberto deberent servitium. Samo respondens jam saucius [Clar., caucius] dixit: Et terram quam habemus Dagoberti est, et nos sui sumus, si tamen nobiscum disposuerit amicitias conservare. Sicharius dicens: Non est possibile, ut Christiani Dei servi cum canibus amicitias collocare possint, Samo e contrario dixit: Si vos estis Dei servi, et nos sumus Dei canes, dum vos assidue contra ipsum agitis, nos permissum accepimus vos morsibus lacerare. Ejectus est Sicharius de conspectu Samonis. Cum haec Dagoberto nuntiasset. Dagobertus superbiter jubet de universo regno Austrasiorum contra Samonem et Winidos movere exercitum: ubi tribus turmis phalangae super Winidos exercitus ingreditur, etiam et Langobardi solatione Dagoberti idemque hostiliter in Sclavos perrexerunt. Sclavi his et aliis locis e contrario praeparantes, Alamannorum exercitus cum Chrodoberto duce in parte qua ingressus est victoriam obtinuit. Langobardi itidemque victoriam obtinuerunt; et plurimum numerum captivorum de Sclavis Alamanni et Langobardi secum duxerunt. Austrasii vero cum ad castrum Wogastisburc , ubi plurima manus fortium Winidorum immoraverant, circumdantes, triduo praeliantes, plures ibidem de exercitu Dagoberti gladio trucidantur, et exinde fugaciter omnes tentoria et res quas habuerunt relinquentes, ad proprias sedes revertuntur. Multis post haec vicibus Winidi in Thoringiam et reliquos vastando pagos in Francorum regnum irruunt. Etiam et Deruanus dux gentis Urbiorum , qui ex genere Sclavinorum erant, et ad regnum Francorum jam olim aspexerant, se ad [Al., se et] regnum Samoni cum suis tradidit. Istamque victoriam quam Winidi contra Francos meruerunt, non tantum Sclavinorum fortitudo obtinuit, quantum dementatio Austrasiorum, dum se cernebant cum Dagoberto odium incurrisse, et assidue exspoliarentur.”

Book IV, Section 72 (Year 630) 

English:

“In the same year there arose a great discord in Pannonia in the Kingdom of the Avars that are called Huns.  There was a quarrel between an Avar and a Bulgar over the succession to the throne.  Both collected huge armies and fought with one another.  Finally, the Bulgars lost.  Nine thousand of them with wives and children were driven then out of Pannonia and turned now to Dagobert to give them permanent places to live within the country of the Franks.  Dagobert bade them for the time being to spend the winter by the Bavarians until he had time to take counsel with the Franks what should happen with them next.  Once they have settled in the houses of the Bavarians, he issued, after the council of the Franks, an order to the Bavarians that they should in one night, each in his own house, kill these Bulgars together with their women and children.  And that order was immediately carried out by the Bavarians so that only Alciocus with 700 men, women children survived from the Bulgars and saved themselves by escaping to the territory of the Wends where he with his people lived for many years with Wallucus, the duke of the Wends.”

Latin:

“Eo anno in Abarorum , cognomento Chunorum, regno in Pannonia surrexit vehemens intentio, eo quod de regno certarent, cui deberetur ad succedendum, unus ex Abaris et alius ex Bulgaris; collecta multitudine uterque in invicem pugnarunt. Tandem Abari Bulgaros superant. Bulgaris superatis, novem millia virorum cum uxoribus et liberis de Pannonia expulsi, ad Dagobertum expetunt, petentes ut eos in terra Francorum ad manendum reciperet. Dagobertus jubet eos ad hiemandum Bajoarios recipere, dummodo pertractaret cum Francis quid exinde fieret. Cumque dispersi per domos Bajoariorum ad biemandum fuissent, consilio Francorum Dagobertus Bajoariis jubet ut Bulgaros illos cum uxoribus et liberis unusquisque in domo sua in una nocte Bajoarii interficerent, quod protinus a Bajoariis est impletum. Nec quisquam ex illis remansit Bulgaris, nisi tantum Altioeus cum septingentis viris, et uxoribus cum liberis, qui in marca Winidorum salvatus est. Post haec cum Walluco duce Winidorum annis plurimis vixit cum suis.”

Book IV, Section 74 (Year 631) 

English:

“In the tenth year of the rule of Dagobert it was reported to him that an army of Wends raided Thuringia.  He left, therefore, with his forces from Metz and crossed the Ardennes towards Mainz in order to cross the Rhein there.  In addition to dukes and counts he also had the choicest cohort of brave men from Neustrien and Burgundy.  There appeared now emissaries of the Saxons in front of Dagobert asked him to exempt them form the taxes that they [noarmally] paid to the [Frankish] state.  In exchange for that they promised with great zeal and success to defend [against the Wends] and the Franksih country on the Wendish border to protect.  Dagobert fulfilled this request, after a/the council of the Neustrasier and the Saxon emissaries gave their promise, in accordance with their custom by hitting [their] weapons, for the entire Saxon nation.  Though, the promise was not successful, the taxes that they used to pay remained unpaid in accordance with Dagobert’s order.  Chlotar the Old had required them to pay annual taxes of 500 cows which taxes Dagobert now exempted them from.”

Latin:

“Anno 10 regni Dagoberti, cum ei nuntiatum fuisset exercitum Winidorum Thoringiam fuisse ingressum, cum exercitu de regno Austrasiorum de Mettis urbe promovens, transita Ardenna, Magantiam magno cum exercitu aggreditur , disponens Rhenum transire, scaram de electis viris fortibus de Neuster et Burgundia cum ducibus et grafionibus secum habens. Saxones missos ad Dagobertum dirigunt, petentes ut eis tributa quae fisci ditionibus dissolvebant indulgeret: ipsi vero eorum studio et utilitate Winidis resistere spondent, et Francorum limitem de illis partibus custodire promittunt. Quod Dagobertus, consilio Neustrasiorum adeptus, praestitit Saxonibus qui his petitionibus suggerendum venerant. Sacramentum, ut eorum mos erat , super arma placata [Al. placita] pro universis Saxonibus firmant. Sed parum haec promissio sortitur effectum, tamen tributum Saxones, quod reddere consueverant, praeceptione Dagoberti habent indultum. Quingentas vaccas inferendales annis singulis a Chlothario seniore censiti reddebant, quod a Dagoberto cassatum est.”

Book IV, Section 75 (Year 632) 

English:

“The eleventh year of the reign of Dagobert.  Since the Wends on the orders of Samo continued their wild raids and would often come raiding out of their own country into the Frankish Kingdom and devastated Thuringia and other provinces, therefore, did Dagobert come to the town Metz and made, after a determination of the clergy and the nobles of his country, his son Sigebert into King of Auster and gave him the town Metz as his seat.  And to the Bishop of Koln Chunibert and to Duke Adigisel he left the affairs in Sigebert’s Kingdom and palace.  He also left a sufficient treasury for his son and granted him all that his high honor required.  All these nominations he reaffirmed with specially prepared certificates.  From that time was the Frankish Kingdom through the zeal of the Austrasier sufficiently protected.”

Latin:

“Anno 11 regni Dagoberti, cum Winidi jussu Samonis fortiter saevirent, et saepe transcenso eorum limite regnum Francorum vastandum, Thoringiam et reliquos pagos ingrederentur, Dagobertus Mettis urbem veniens, cum consilio pontificum seu et procerum, omnibusque primatibus regni sui consentientibus, Sigibertum filium suum in Austeris regem sublimavit, sedemque Mettis civitatem habere permisit. Chunibertum Coloniae urbis pontificem, et Adalgiselum ducem palatium et regnum gubernandum instituit. Thesaurum quod sufficeret filio tradens, condigne, ut decuit, eum hujus culmine sublimavit, et quodcunque eidem largitus fuerat, singillatim praeceptionibus roborandum decrevit. Deinceps Austrasii eorum studio limitem et regnum Francorum contra Winidos utiliter defensasse noscuntur.”

Book IV, Section 77 (Year 633) 

English:

“Radulf, the son of Chamar, whom Dagobert made Duke of Thuringia, fought many times against the Wends, defeated them and expelled them.  This made him arrogant and he took every opportunity to act in a hostile manner towards Duke Adalgisel and already then was preparing to rebel against King Sigebert.  He acted according to the proverb: ‘He who loves war, always looks for/thinks of conflict.'”

Latin:

“Radulfus dux illius Chamari, quem Dagobertus Thoringiae ducem instituit, pluribus vicibus cum exercitu Winidorum dimicans, eosque victos vertit in fugam. Hujus victoriae superbia elatus, et contra Adalgiselum ducem diversis occasionibus inimicitias tendens, paulatim contra Sigibertum jam tunc coeperat rebellare. Sed, ut dictum est, sic agebat: Qui diligit rixas, meditatur discordias.”

Book IV, Section 87 (Year 640) 

English:

[In this year Radulf came to open rebellion.  Sigebert crossed the Rhine to attack him and initially won but then suffered a great loss at a battle at Radulf’s wood-protected camp that stood overlooking the river Unstrut.  Thereafter, Sigebert was allowed to withdraw and go home.  And, thereupon…]

“Radulf full of overconfidence/arrogance called himself King of Thuringia, became friends with the Wends and had a peaceful relationship with the other neighboring peoples.  Officially, he recognized Sigebert’s as his sovereign but in practice he opposed stingily/at every turn his rulership.”

Latin:

“Radulfus superbia elatus ad modum regis in Thoringia se esse censebat, amicitias cum Winidis firmans, caeterasque gentes, quas vicinas habebat, cultu amicitiae obligabat. In verbis tamen Sigiberto regimen non denegabat, sed in factis fortiter ejusdem resistebat dominationi.”

Conclusion 

No one knows what happened to Samo.  If you look at the “learned” sources they will say that he ruled until 658.  There is, however, no proof of this.  All we  know is that Fredegar said Samo came to power in 623 and ruled for 35 years.  That and only that is the source of the year 658.  In Fredegar’s chronicle no mention is made of Samo after the events of the year 632 where his Wends were raiding Thuringia.  Fredegar’s Chronicle ends on the year 642 and that is, as they say, that.

However, there are other interesting signs of Samo’s story to be found elsewhere.

The good old days

One example given is the Saint Catherine’s rotunda in the town of Znojmo.  Its frescoes (oldest in the Czech Republic)  date to 1134 (the rotunda is about 100 years older) and show the ancient rulers of the Czech lands (Znojmo is in Moravia but more or less).

Look up!

The first name shown is Zamo (the next three cannot be read and then we get Moimir I, the first historical ruler of  Great Moravia – between c 820-846).

yes, it’s not the best picture

You can look at the rotunda here.

The man in question

And then there are the names of some of the (legendary) Polish rulers, e.g. Siemo-wit or Ziemo-mysl.

There is, of course, also the question of the meaning of befulci which we will not touch save to say the meaning seems to be basically “cannon fodder”.

Then there is the question of the location of Wogastisburg.  While a lot of people are pointing at the Czech Republic, the constant mention of the Thuringians and Wends suggests a different answer perhaps.  One that points to the Veleti or Obodrites – it is in the territory of these that we find today’s Wolgast (or maybe it’s Znojmo…).  In any event, let us “REMEMBER [THE VICTORY AT] WOGASTISBURG!”

Oh, yes, and there is the issue of the origin of the name Samo (which, interestingly, translates roughly into “by myself”)

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Masudi, born in Baghdad became a world traveler and an author of a history book (under the rather confusing name of “The Meadows of Gold” (or, more fully, “The Meadows of Gold and Mines of Precious Gems”).  He wrote it between 941-956 (first edition in 943) in Egypt where he chose to settle.  Masudi died in 957 – eight years before Ibrahim Ibn-Ya’qub arrived at Otto I’s court in Magdeburg.  Although the below discusses some religious practices of the [seemingly, East] Slavs, we leave a wider discussion of the topic for later.  Finally, we include the Paul Lunde translation of the same separately at the back.

From Masudi

(c 943)

“The Saqaliba are descended from Madhay, the son of Japheth, the son of Noah and all the Saqaliba peoples derive their origins and trace their genealogies back to him, or at least this is the opinion of most of those who have devoted themselves to the question.  The Saqaliba dwell in the North, whence they have spread westwards.”

[this seems to suggest that at least some Slavs moved West from East; on the other hand, below Masudi seems to have his East-West confused as he suggests the Rus and Slavs extend eastwards from the Khazar Khaganate]

“The Saqaliba are divided into several different peoples who war among themselves and have kings.  Some of them belong to the Christian faith, being of the Jacobite sect, while the others are pagans and have no scripture and know nothing of divine law.”

[Jacobite, presumably meaning the Syrian Church]

The clan leaders of the Slavs – in front Majik of the Walitaba (unclear who backstabbed him)

“Among the different peoples who make up this pagan race, there is one that in ancient times held sovereign power.  Their king was called Majik and they themselves were known as Walitaba [Veleti].  In the past, all the Saqaliba recognized their superiority, because it was from among them that they chose the paramount ruler, and all the other chieftains considered themselves his vassals.”

[although this may seem far-fetched, if we take into account that M-dzh-k is a reconstruction, one might ask whether this could be a form of M-sh-c or M-sh-k, i.e., Mieszko – this would not be impossible though highly unlikely as in the 940s Mieszko I was very young and likely not even yet a chieftain and we also do not have evidence of earlier Mieszkos in the same area (though we also have no earlier evidence at all of that area); for a discussion of the same topic in Ibrahim‘s account (he uses the name Makha) see here]

“Among the Saqaliba peoples of the second rank should be mentioned in the following order: the Istrana, whose king in our own times is called Basqlabij; then the Dulaba, whose present king is called Wanjslaf.  Next are the Namjin, whose king is called Gharand; among all the Saqaliba these are the bravest and the best horsemen.  After, come the Manabin, whose king is called Ratimir; the Sarbin, a Saqaliba people much feared for reasons that it would take too long to explain and whose deeds would need much too detailed an account.  They have no particular religious affiliation.  Then there is the people called the Murawa and another known as the Kharwatin, and yet another called the Sasin, then the Khashanin and the Baranijabin.  The names of some of their kings which we have given are in fact dynastic titles.  The Sarbin, whom we have just mentioned, have the custom of burning themselves alive when a king or chieftain dies.  They also immolate his horses.  These people have customs similar to those of the Indians.”

[Tribes’ names mentioned above require some explanation:

– Istrana – difficult to do anything with this one; the Ister was the Danube, of course; maybe these were a tribe from the Dniester region such as the Tivercians; but the Venethi enthusiasts should also note that Istrana is a town in the Venetian country of Italy;

– Dulaba – the Dulaba were presumably the Dulebians mentioned in the PVL as being abused by the Avars and then dwelling “along the Bug where the Volhynians now are”;

– Namjin – the name might suggest Germans (Nemcy) especially given the name of the leader – Gharand (or maybe Goran?); this should not be that surprising since Masudi also lists the Sasin – possibly Saxons and the Turks (Hungarians) as Slavs; some have speculated that the reference is to Bavarians; it is interesting that these may be rendered in the Slavic suggesting a Slavic source;

– Manabin – other translations include mayin and maghanin – nonetheless, we can only throw our hands up in the air and say whaaaa?;

– Sarbin – ok, easy – Serbs of one type or another;

– Murawa – presumably the Moravians;

– Kharwatin – presumably the Croatians/Croats;

– Sasin – German Saxons or Cesi (Czechs)?;

– Khashanin – Kashubs? Those who live near Koszalin?;

– Baranijabin – we give up – other than to say that the town of Baranovichi is in Western Belarus] 

“Earlier in this work, we briefly mentioned this while discussing the Caucasus/the town Qabh [?] and the Khazars, we remarked that in the land of the Khazars there are, as well as the Khazars themselves, a Saqaliba and a Rus population and that these last [last or last two?] also immolate themselves.  These Saqaliba and other related peoples extent to the East rather than to the West.”

“The foremost of the Saqaliba kings is Aldayr, whose domains include great cities and much cultivated land, vast troops and countless armies.  Muslim merchants make their way to his capital with all kinds of merchandise.”

Slav Chief of Chiefs Altair (r) uses the Force to repel an Avar Berserker (l)

[Aldayr – Askold & Dir?; or is it really aldair as in aeldar as in chieftain? Or al-Ta’ir, the flying one or the flying eagle (see the Star Aquila)? Or, perhaps it is Aldir?]

“After this, on the borders of this Saqaliba king, comes the king of al-afragh [Prague?], who has a gold mine, towns, extensive well-cultivated lands, numerous soldiers and a large population.  He is at war with the Byzantines, the Franks, the Bazkard [Bashkirs but here are meant the Hungarians seeing as that (Urals) is where they (or rather the ruling class) likely came from] and other nations besides the hostilities among them are continuous.  Neighboring this king is the king of the Turks.  These people are the handsomest, the most numerous and the most warlike of all.  The  Saqaliba comprise many different peoples and are very far-flung, but this work is not the place for a detailed description and classification of them.”

“I began by mentioning the king whose suzerainty has been recognized by all the other rulers since ancient times, that is to say Majik, king of the Walitaba, who are the original, pure-blooded Saqaliba, the most highly honored, and take precedence over all the other branches of the race.      Later, dissent having established itself among these peoples, their original organization was destroyed and the various families formed isolated groups, each choosing a king, as we have said above.  An account of all these events would take too long, all the more so, since I have already related them in a general way and with great detail in my earlier works, the Historical Annals and the Intermediate History.”

***

This is the Paul Lunde translation of the same: Chapter 9 (The Slavs):

“The Slavs are descended from Madhay, the son of Japhet, the son of Noah, and all the Slavic peoples derive their origins and trace their genealogies back to him, or at least this is the opinion of most of those who have devoted themselves to the question.  They dwell in the north, whence they have spread westwards.”

“The Slavs are divided into several different peoples who war among themselves and hav kings.  Some of them belong to the Christian faith, being of the Jacobite set, while the others are pagans and have no scripture and know nothing of divine law.”

“Among the different peoples who make up this pagan race, there is one that in ancient times held sovereign power.  Their koing was called Majik, and they themselves were known as Walitaba [Wiltzes?].  In the toast, all the Slavs recognized their superiority, because it was from among them that they chose the paramount ruiler, and all the other chieftains considered themselves his vassals.”

“Among the Slavic peoples of the second rank should be mentioned in the following order: the Istrana, whose king in our own times is called Basqlabij [Vaclav?]; then the Dulaba [western Dulabians?], whose present king is called Wanjslaf.  Next are the Namjin [‘Niemczyn, ‘Germans’] whose king is called Gharand [Conrad]; among all the Slavs these are the bravest and the best horsemen.  After, come the Manabin, whose king is called Ratimir; the Sarbin [the Serbs], a Slavic people much feared for reasons that it would take too long to explain and whose deeds would need much too detailed an account.  They have no particular religious affiliation.”

“Then there is the people called the Murawa [the Moravians] and another known as the Kharwatin [the Croats], and yet another called the Sasin [either the Saxons or the Czech ‘Cacin’], then the Khashanin and the Baranijabin.  The names of some of their kings which we have given are in fact dynastic titles.”

“The Sarbin, whom we hav just mentioned, have the custom of burning themselves alive when a king or chieftain dies.  They also immolate his horses.  These people have customs similar to those of the Indians.”

“In the land of the Khazars there are, as well as the Khazars themselves, a Slav and a Rus population and that these last also burn themselves.  These Slav and other related peoples extend to the east rather than to the west.”

“The foremost of the Slav kings is the ruler of Aldayr, whose domain include great cities and much cultivated land, vast troops and countless armies.  Muslim merchants make their way to his capital with all kinds of merchandise.”

“After this, on the borders of this Slavic king, comes the king of al-Afragh [Prague], who has a gold mine, towns, extensive well-cultivated lands, umerous soldiers and a large population.  He is at war with the Byzantines, the Franks, the Bazkard [the Magyars] and other nations besides; the hostilities among them are continuous.”

“Neighbouring this Slavic king is the king of the Turks.  These people are the handsomest, the most numerous and the most warlike of all.  The Slavs comprise many many different peoples and are very far-flung, but this work is not the place for a detailed description and classification of them.”

“I began by mentioning the king whose suzerainty has been recognized by all the other rulers since ancient times, that is to say Majik, king of the Walitaba, who are the original, pure-blooded Slavs, the most highly honoured and take precedence over all the other branches of the race.”

“Later, dissent having established itself among these peoples, their original organization was destroyed and the various families formed isolated groups, each choosing a king, as we have said before.  An account of all these events would take too long, all the more so since I have already related them in a general way and with great detail in my earlier works, the Historical Annals and the Intermediate History.”

***

And here are some other references from the main Lunde/Stone translation from  their main edition on the Abbasids:

[volume VII: 323-324 of Les Prairies d’or by Barbier de Meynard and Pavet de Courteille, Paris 1861-77; s 3015]

“Ahmad ibn Muhammad ibn al-Mu’tasim was poclaimed Caliph the day Mun-tasir died, that is, Sunday, the 5th of Rabi’ II 248 ah [862 AD]. He was known as Abu al-Abbas. His mother was a slave of Slavic origin, named Mukhariq.”  

[volume VIII: 147-150 of Les Prairies d’or by Barbier de Meynard and Pavet de Courteille, Paris 1861-77; s 3288]

“I have spoken in my Historical Annals of the eunuchs from the Sudan, the Slavic countries, Byzantium and China – for the Chinese, like the Byzantines, will castrate several of their children. I have discussed, in the same work, the contradictions in character of eunuchs which result from the removal of this member and what nature causes to occur in them when that happens, as has often been confirmed and described.”

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Ibrahim Ibn Ya’qub wasn’t the only only traveler from the Muslim world to note the Slavs.  There were a number of others – we will bring you those reports over time beginning with four that are descriptive of the activities of certain early medieval trading groups.

One such group are the Radhaniya (Radania, Radhaniyya or Radanites in English) – a group of Jewish merchants that traversed the medieval world crossing boundaries between the Franks, Muslims, Byzantines, the Rus and the Slavs.  In fact, they were able to reach Mesopotamia, Arabia, Persia, Central Asia’s various –stans, India, perhaps Mongolia and even China.

Radanite merchants at an unspecified Antiochian tavern (their Saqaliba slave-to-be is seen growing into his role by serving warm handtowels)

As far as we can tell the Radhanites were principally traders carrying Western goods such as brocade, beaver pelts, marten, furs, swords but also (newly minted) eunuchs and, it appears, children – all to be sold into slavery.  From the East they came back with musk, aloe wood, camphor, cinnamon, celadon, silk (this was before the Italians took over production) and other products of the Orient.  In a way they were a more modest precursor to the Hanseatic iteague, the British East India Company or today’s corporations – a trading guild (or perhaps just a loose network of trading associates) whose members likely served as both merchants, explorers and, likely, spies for the local potentates.  It is possible that Ibrahim Ibn Ya’qub was also a “member” of this group – we will likely never know for sure (the fact that, when visiting Germany, he was surprised to see some of the Eastern wares and coins in the local markets, e.g., in Mainz – suggests that perhaps he was more of a diplomat traveler than a trader himself).

What the origin of the name is another mystery (Frankish, Rhodan River? The city of al-Rayy/Rhages in Persia? Rhadan, a province in Persia or Mesopotamia? Do they have anything to do with the Slavic Rodanice? Or Rod-a-niya (as in, ominously (!), ‘destroyer’ of the ‘clan’)?) and much ink has been spilled on this topic… (Moshe Gil’s “Jews in Islamic Countries in the Middle Ages” contains some of the latest attempts at shedding light on this).

As regards slaves, the Radhanites themselves being principally intermediaries dealing in all kinds of merchandise, were not the ones who would capture human cargo – rather for that they relied on wars, the various local monarchs and raiders.  We must remember that slavery never died out with the collapse of the Roman Empire and as the Franks and then the newly-added Saxons began to fight the Polabian Slavs, a surplus of prisoners of war would most profitably be disposed off by selling them into slavery.  In this fashion your enemies would never be heard from again and you would make a lot of money – a win win so to speak.

Similarly, local monarchs were no doubt to cash in on the action and send some of their political opponents on long-desrved vacations (see Bretislav in Bohemia who permitted the slave trade in Prague some one hundred years after the official adoption of Christianity).  Finally, you had the various raiding nomads who continued to plague Ukraine and Russia much as the various Scythian and Sarmatian tribes before or the Mongols, Turks and Tartars after.

One such group was the south-Caspian based Khurasan.  But another one that we now come to, one that monopolized all channels of commerce (downstream and upstream, so to speak) were the Rus warrior-merchants – most likely Varangians (much more on that later).  Their reach was more limited than that of the Radhanites but they also penetrated far: first on the Dnieper then into the Black Sea  and then all the way to Constantinople; or, sometimes, on the Volga to the Caspian Sea and all the way to Baghdad.

Rus merchant teaching discipline to a soon to be not-so-unruly Slavic captive (circa A.D. 902)

Unlike the Radhanites, the Rus captured their wares at their point of origin and delivered them all the way down to the final end users.  They sold beaver and black fox pelts, as well as swords but also Slavs.  They traveled through the Khazar Khaganate and the Byzantine Empire selling some of their goods there and paying customs duties to the local rulers as they traveled even further.  While the Radhanites were likely to have to hire guards for their long voyages, the Rus were both merchants and guards.  They liked to do things on their own and, one may conjecture, that the Rus’ ultimate decision to get themselves “invited” to rule the Slavs (after first being thrown out) as Nestor in his PVL so diplomatically puts it, was simply an attempt to formalize the Rus-Slav relationship in a legal framework of “ownership” so as to enable the Rus to collect their bounty directly without having to resort to bothersome raiding activity.

It is also noticeable that, as the furs, swords, honey, wax, amber and Slavic slaves were sent to the East, the traders brought (in addition to bartered goods) tons of Abbasid silver dirham coins back with them, fueling the economic revitalization of Europe previously suffering the doldrums of trading collapse that occurred in the wake of the fall of the Western Roman Empire.

The first report comes from Ibn Khurradadhbih (c 820 – c 911) and was written sometime between 840s-880s, however, it may be that what he describes relates to an earlier period perhaps in the beginning of the IX century.  Ibn Khurradadhbih was in the intelligence business working as a spymaster in the Persian province of Jibal (his official title being the director of the Abbasid Bureau of Posts and Intelligence).  He was a friend of the caliph Mu’tamid.  He is also the author of “The Book of Roads and Kingdoms” and that is where we find this first report.

The second report is one by Ibn al-Faqih (c 903?) of Hamadan (we have no idea who he was) and has been dated to 903.  Ibn al-Faqih almost certainly copied portions of the earlier Ibn Khurradadhbih report as will become clear to the readers.  It appears that what little survives of his writings is in the form of shorter versions that come from a monumental treatise which, alas, has been lost to us (it seems).  Faqih’s report is also curious because, while the first report (which predates Rurik’s takeover of Slavic tribes of later Russia), arguably, describes the Rus and the Slavs as separate [but maybe not see below] , the latter report calls apparently the same people just Slavs.

Third, as it seems to topically fit in here, we include a report by Ibn Hawqal (a traveler and geographer born in Nisibis c 920 – c 988; edited Istakhri’s Book of Roads and Kingdoms which was in turn an edition of Ibn Khurradadhbih’s version) regarding the trade in slaves and Slavic eunuchs which was written sometime before the year 988.  We note that there had been Slavs around his home town of Nisibis (albeit in a military capacity) already a century and a half before his writings.

Finally, we present a report on the Rus and Slavs by Ibn Rusta (circa 903), a native of Isfahan and an author of a multi-volume encyclopedia of geography and history.

In terms of the organization, we start with reports on the Radhaniya and their trade routes, follow it up with a note on the eunuch trade and then go into the excerpts dealing with the Rus and the Slavs.

We note, up front, that the name for Slavs in Arabic is Saqaliba.  Finally, note too that where possible we provide current place names but only once – if you can’t locate these in the text above then we didn’t provide any corresponding contemporary names (meaning you should know where the place is or what it is without help from us).

Ibn Khurradadhbih on the al-Radhaniya

“The routes of the Jewish merchants called al-Radhaniya; these merchants they speak Arabic, Persian, Greek, Latin, Frankish, Andalusian and Slavic.  They journey from west to east, from east to west, traveling by land and by sea.  From the west they export eunuchs [more on that later – these were largely Slavic captives brought to Al-Andalus], young girls and boys, brocade, beaver pelts, marten and other furs and also swords.”

“They set sail from Firanja [the land of the Franks?] on the Mediterranean coast and then head for Farama in Egypt [Tell el-Farama, on the Mediterranean Coast, in the delta north of Suez].  There they transfer their merchandise to the backs of camels and travel to Qulzum [former Clysma, at the southern end of the Suez Canal] on the Red Sea, a distance of 25 forsakes [parsecs?].  They sail [from Qulzum] down the  Red [Eastern] Sea to al-Jar, the port of Medina, and to Jiddah/Gudda [Jeddah], the port of Mecca.  Then they continue on to Sindh [in Pakistan], India and China.”

“They return from China with musk, alloe wood, camphor, cinnamon and other eastern products, docking again at Qulzum, then proceed to Farama, from where they again set sail on the Mediterranean [Western] Sea.”

“Some of them head for Constantinople to sell their goods to the Byzantines.  Others go to the palace of the King of Franks.  Sometimes these Jewish merchants set sail on the Mediterranean from the land of the Franks to Antioch [then in Muslim hands before a reconquista in 969 by the Byzantines; now under Turkish administration].  They then proceed overland to al-Jabiya on the Euphrates, a journey of three days [somewhere in Syria – East of Antioch].  They sail down the Euphrates to Baghdad, then down the Tigris to al-Ubulla [East of Basra in the Tigre-Euphrates delta, served as the Persian Gulf “gateway” to India], from where they sail  the Arabian Gulf to Oman, Sindh, India and China. All these lands are connected to one another.”

“The overland routes of the Radhaniya are as follows; the Jewish merchants also follow a land route.  Merchants departing from Spain or France sail to as-Sus al-aqsa [southern Morocco] and then to Tangier, from where they set off for Ifriqiyya [Tunisia/Tripolitania] and then to Misr the Egyptian [capital].  From there they head towards Ramla [today’s Israel?], visit Damascus, Kufa [on the Euphrates in Iraq], Baghdad and Basra [southern Iraq], then cross the Ahwaz [in Persia], Farz [Persia], Kirman [Kerman, Persia], Sindh and India, and finally arrive in China.”

“Sometimes they take a route north of Rome, heading for Khamlij [likely Atil close to the Caspian Sea shore] via the lands of the Saqaliba (Slavs).  Khamlij is a Khazar capital [city?].  They sail the Caspian Sea, make their way to Balkh [in Bactria – today’s Afghanistan], from there to Ma wars an–nahr [Transoxiana or Bactria, e.g, where the city of Samarkand is], then to the yurt [Wurt] of the Toghuzghuz [somewhere in Uighur countries or Mongolia – Toquz Oghuz means the (Turkish) Nine Tribes] and there to China.”

Ibn al-Faqih on the al-Radhaniya

“Someone tells that it is stated in the Torah that Rayy [Persian, close to the Caspian Sea] is one of the ports of the earth and the place of commerce for mankind.  [note that ray – also is Slavic for paradise]  … Rayy has a fine climate and its buildings are marvelous.  It is the gate of commerce, the refuge of those seeking liberty, the bridegroom of the Earth [?], the highway of the world.  It lies mid-way between Khurasan [northeast Persia], Jurjan [aka Gurgan in Persia on the Southeastern coast of the Caspian Sea] , Iraq and Tabaristan [Tapuria on the southern Caspian Sea].  It is the most beautiful creation on Earth.  It has the Surr and Sarban [presumably meaning those of the Pashtuns but there is always the question of the origin of the Serbs] quarters, and to it flows merchandise from Armenia, Azerbaijan, Khurasan, Khazaria and the country of the Burjan [Bulgar – probably of the Volga variety].”

[here the account begins to resemble what we know from Ibn Khurradadhbih]

“Merchants sail from east to west and west to east, carrying brocades and fine quality silk from the land of the Franks to al-Farama.  Then they sail from Qulzum and cross the sea to China, carrying these products.  Then they carry cinnamon and celadon and all the products of China until they come back to Qulzum and cross to al-Farama.  These are Jewish merchants.  They speak Persian, Greek, Arabic and Frankish.  They embark from al-Farama and sell the musk and aloes wood as well as everything they have brought with them from the kingdom of the Franks.  Then they come to Antioch, then go to Baghdad and then to al-Ubulla.”

Ibn Hawqal on the Trade in Eunuchs 

“The country of the Saqaliba is so immense that on the East side it delivers slaves to Korassan, whereas on the West side it sends them to Andalusia.  The Andalusians buy them in Galicia, in France, in Lombardy and in Calabria so as to make the eunuchs, and thereafter they ferry them over to Egypt and Africa.  All the Saqaliba [Slavic] eunuchs in the world come from Andalusia.”

“A well-known export from al-Andalus is slaves, boys and girls captured in France and Galicia, as well as eunuchs from the Saqaliba.  All the Saqaliba eunuchs in the world come from al-Andalus.  They are castrated near this country.  The [cutting] operation is performed by Jewish merchants.  The Saqaliba are descended from Japheth.  Their country is vast and extend over a very great length.  Raiders from Khurasan [or Khorassan] reach them through the territory of the Bulghars.  They are led in captivity to that province., their manhood left intact, their bodies unmutilated.  The territories of the Saqaliba are immense.  The arm of the sea which extend from the Ocean into the lands of Gog and Magog crosses their territory all the way to a point west of Trebizond [Trabzon, east of Paphlagonia on the Black Sea in today’s Turkey] then to Constantinople, thus dividing it into two halves.  One of these, throughout all its length is raided by the warriors of Khurasan, who live on its borders, while the northern regions are invaded by raiders from al-Andalus via Galicia, France, Lombardy* and Calabria.”

In another translation this text continues “so as to make the eunuchs, and thereafter they ferry them over to Egypt and Africa.” [See Ibn Khurradadhbih above on the same route]

Finally, he also says of the people of Khwarezm or Chorasmia:

“Their entire wealth comes from trading with the Turks and from livestock.  One imports to them the greater part of the Slavic and Khazar slaves and slaves from the bordering lands in addition to Turkish slaves and furs from the Korsak foxes, sables, foxes, beavers and other types of furs.”

* Incidentally, Lombardy meant all of northern Italy all the way to Rome. In fact, in the Life of Saint Zachary we have, under the year 747, an entry indicating that it was the Venetians who acquired slaves here and then delivered them to Saracen countries.  When the papal and imperial edicts forbade this practice, the Venetians began to use Adriatic and Mediterranean pirates to acquire slaves and hand them over to the Venetians.  Many of these slaves came from the Eastern shores of the Adriatic where we know slaves were traded as late as the 15th century in, for example, Dubrovnik.  However, in case  you ask, it is highly unlikely that it is for this reason that those Slavs living in the area became known as the Servi as that name appears in many places and predates the events described here.

[Ibn Hawqal concludes this chapter with a piece of good news]

Ibn Hawqal – an eternal optimist

“Captives from these regions are still plentiful [!]”

Ibn Khurradadhbih on Rus Merchants

“The routes of the Rus merchants are as follows; the Rus, one of the Saqaliba people, journey from the farthest reaches of Saqlab [the land of the Slavs] to the eastern Mediterranean and there sell beaver and black fox pelts, as well as swords.  The Byzantine ruler levies a ten percent tax on their merchandise.  On their return they go by sea to Samkarsh, the city of the Jews [Tamatarkha, former Greek colony on the Black Sea off of the Crimea; then in the Khazar Khaganate – today in Russia], and from there make their way back to Slavic territory [?].  They also follow another route, descending the Don (Tanais) River, the river of the Saqaliba, and passing by Khamlij, the capital/city of the Khazars, where the ruler of the country also levies a ten percent tax on them.  There they embark upon the Caspian Sea, heading for a point they know.  This sea is 500 forsakes [parsecs?] long [in diameter].  Sometimes they transport their merchandise on camel back from the city of Jurjan to Baghdad.  There Slavic speaking eunuchs interpret for them.  They [the Rus] pretend to be Christians and, like them [Christians] only pay a poll tax.”

Ibn al-Faqih on Rus Merchants

“Regarding the Saqalib merchants, they bring fox and beaver pelts from the depths of their country to the Mediterranean, where the Byzantine king imposes a ten percent tax on them.  Then they go by sea to “Samkarsh of the Jews” [Tamatarkha, former Greek colony on the Black Sea off of the Crimea; then in the Khazar Khaganate – today in Russia].  From there, they either go on to the Saqaliba or take the way from the sea of the Saqaliba to the river of the Saqaliba (Don or Volga?), until they come to the gulf of the Khazars, where the ruler imposes a tax off ten percent.  Then they go to the sea of Khurasan (the Caspian Sea), usually disembarking at Jurjan, where they sell all their goods, which are then sent to Rayy, and the most amazing thing si that this is the emporium of the world.”

Ibn Rusta on the Rus (and Slavs)

“The Rus (Rusiya) live on an island in a lake.  This island is three days’ march across and consists of forests and thickets.  It is pestilential and the soil is so damp that when a man steps on it, it quivers underfoot.  They have a ruler called khagan Rus.  The Rus raid the Saqaliba, sailing in their ships until they come upon them.  They take them captive and sell them in Khazaran and Bulkar (Bulghar).  They have no cultivated fields and they live by pillaging the land of the Saqaliba.”  [the island may be at Gorodische where Volkhov comes out of Lake Ilmen – aka [?] Holmgarthr]

A Note on the Global Slav Trade

It is clear that various raiding parties of slavers but also of traders drove into Slavic lands from both West and East.  The people captured were then taken to processing centers – such as Prague and then towards slave markets of al-Andalus or similar establishments in the Middle East.

Saint Adalbert (Voytech) recommends the freeing of slaves to Boleslav II of Prague – slave traders  sporting fashionable hats – slaves sporting leashes – source “Gniezno doors” reliefs

Some were castrated and sold off as eunuchs – note, for example, the above reference about Slavic eunuchs serving interpreters in Baghdad.  Some remained in Spain.  Others were taken far into Muslim lands (e.g., the above mentioned Slavic eunuchs serving as interpreters in far off Baghdad), perhaps as far as the Arabian peninsula and, maybe, even further onto India and China.

Some Slavic eunuchs thrived in their new environs functioning as dispassionate schemers and machers

Of course for the wheels of medieval globalization to turn you needed a number of factors to work just right.

To others, their new circumstances proved more of a shock

First, as elsewhere in history where slavery comes up, you had to have a bunch of relatively hapless people who were isolated and ignorant of the wider world – preferably not speaking the language of the lands they were heading to.  These could be locals but, importantly, they could be strangers as in prisoners of war from other countries.

Second, you had to have brigand-raiders that would carry off the cargo.  These included the various Arabs (and Muslims in general), the Rus, the Avars, likely also – at least initially – the Magyars (Hungarians then called the “Turks”) and the already mentioned Khurasan.  As mentioned already, a great force in this trade seem to have been the Franks and, especially, the Saxons, who after (and during) their conversion to Christianity found a new cause in establishing marches for the Franks* among the various border tribes of the Slavs – their excursions into Polabian Slav lands were reminiscent of the later Reisen of the Teutonic Knights through the lands of the Old Prussians.

* The brutalization of the Saxons by the Franks – especially under the monstrous Charlemagne -may have contributed to their subsequent brutalization of the Slavs – no doubt psychologists might have something to say about this.

Khurasan raiders looking for slaves in a smoldering Slav village

Third, things, no doubt, went more smoothly if you had coopted the local elites into this business.  These rulers and traders may have been looking for ways to boost their income and the rise of the various local standing “armies” may, perhaps, at least in part, been fueled by human chattel.  Further, the extensive presence of Arab coinage from this time in Central and Eastern Europe may too attest to this phenomenon.

What can’t escape notice is that it was the continued willingness of Europeans to sell their countrymen (though not always countrymen, e.g., Franks selling Saxons, Franks and Saxons selling Slavs, one Slavic tribe selling members of another Slavic tribe) into slavery, that was a driver of this process (as much a backbone of this slave trade as the willingness of African chieftains to do the same a few hundred years later).  This point of “Christians” selling other Christians to “Jews” was raised by Bishop Agobard of Lyons while otherwise complaining (including about the fact that Jewish preachings were better received – by Christians – than Christian ones) to Louis the Pious (in 826-827) (though the bishop did not similarly object to the sale of pagan slaves – perhaps he felt that would weaken his argument to a Christian ruler or perhaps he cared less).*  More than a century later, in 948, Bishop Liutprand reports that the town of Verdun was a center of castration as the residents could make more money selling eunuchs to Al-Andalus rather than “regular” slaves.**   Later, further East, Thietmar reports of the accusations of selling people (“to the Jews” – again, presumably, the act of selling your own to others seemed worse) being lobbied against Margrave of Meissen, Gunzelin of Kuckenburg in 1009.   See also the Life of Saint Adalbert.  Another slave-dealing report dates even to the much-later times of Boleslaw III Wrymouth (of Poland).  In each of those reports Jewish merchants are mentioned but we know that it was the Czech rulers who sold Poles, Pomeranian dukes who sold Obodrites (to Poles, Sorbs and Czechs), etc.  In fact, another Spanish-Jewish traveler, Benjamin of Tudela, makes the following observation (as late as the 1170s):  “Thence extends the land of Bohemia, called Prague.  This is the commencement of the land of Slavonia, and the Jews who dwell there call it Canaan, because the men of that land [the Slavs] sell their sons and their daughters to the other nations.”  While Benjamin’s sources here “may not have been entirely objective,” all evidence indicates that the maligned “Jews” – presumably, meaning the Radhanite merchants – served the same middleman role in the trade of human chattel as in the international trade of their other wares.  While the Radhanites’ behaviour was clearly terrible by today’s (Western) standards, the role of the sellers and buyers who happened to be “Christian” and “Muslim” (though some “ultimate” buyers may have been Jewish) sometimes seems to be ignored – which is, let’s just say, “odd” (thus no one seems to be blaming the “Swedes” for the acts of the Rus slave raiders even though they actually enslaved free people in the first place; same for the Franks and Saxons or other fellow Slavs)).  Without excusing anyone’s behaviour, one has to say that the slave trade was an acceptable practice of the times. (Whether Benjamin’s sources’ reference to Canaan originated from a different background is another story).

* The council of Meaux-Paris in 845-846 did express concern about some pagan slaves: “(LXXVI) Ut mercatores huius regni, christiani sive Iudei, mancipia pagana, quę per tot populos et civitates fidelium transeuntes ad manus infidelium et sevissimorum hostium nostrorum perducunt , ex quo et ipsi infelices servi, qui, si a christianis emerentur, poterant salvari, miserabiliter pereunt et inimicorum regni maximus numerus augetur, coerceantur a piis principibus nostris et intra christianorum fines vendere conpellantur, ne tam horrenda crudelitate et aperta infidelitate et animarum dampnis deus exasperetur et vires hostibus augeantur.”

** “Carzimasium autem Greci vocant amputatis viribilus et virga puerum eunuchim; quod Verdunenses mercatores ob immensum lucrum facere, et in Hispaniam ducere solent.” (Liutprand, Antapodosis, seu rerum per Europam gestarum, 6, 6)

Fourth, you had to have initial processing centers such as Prague and other places – maybe in Khazaria or Rus.  We know that Prague got rather rich on these kinds of transactions and when wealth is involved, morals, too often give way to rationalization. As per Ibrahim Ibn Ya’qub: “The Rus and the Saqaliba go [to Prague] from Cracow, to trade, and so do Muslim merchants from the lands of the Turks, as well as Turks and Jews, with [mathaquil al-marqatiyya [?] weights [?]].  They carry away slaves, tin and various kinds of furs.”

Fifth, you had to have distribution centers closer to ultimate markets – e.g., in Andalus where the final product would be prepared for retail (e.g., the castration business above) – then sold off to customers or shipped even further.

Sixth, you had to have a shipping/distribution network of traders/merchants who would be willing to take on such cargo – such as that of the Rus or of the more specialized al-Radhaniya (which, along with its successors, continued in the business well into the middle ages in Bohemia, Poland and Germany).

Of course, most importantly, you also had to have a willing buyer in need of soldiers, sex slaves or servants.

Slavic slaves offered something for everyone

While slaves were clearly not the only export of Slavic lands and neither were Slavs the only slaves (see reference above to French and Spanish child slaves) of the time, the extent of this trade seems to suggest that significant parts of the non-Slavic world may today have Slavic ancestors (unless, of course, the arrivals were eunuchs).  It is no wonder that the Latin word servitor was replaced at this time by slave.

The unpleasant fate of those people who were, in effect, outmatched from birth by these global networks so as to be stolen from their families and their lands, forever, and sent to places that neither they nor any of their countrymen (including their initial wholesellers) likely ever dreamt of, suggests that, perhaps, at least in some cases, Slavic state formation may have been a defense mechanism against this kind of human poaching.

We also note that, at least some of the warrior slaves or, perhaps, eunuchs may well have accepted their fate and, in relative terms, prospered in their new “homelands.”  As mentioned before, there is at least one report of a Slav warrior band revolt somewhere in today’s Morocco where the mutineers set up their own town – known as the “village of the Slavs”.  We will return with some positives of what happened to some of these peoples in the future (there are a number of interesting reports!).

Obviously the fate of those who were brought in (male, female and, worst of all, children) to satisfy the prurient or deviant desires of local elites was, ahem, not so pleasant even if some may have ultimately won freedom somehow (some may have escaped).

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