Vlachs in medieval Serbia

In

Following Roman withdrawal from the province of Dacia at the end of the 3rd century, the name of the Roman region was changed to Dacia Aureliana, (later Dacia Ripensis); it extended over most of what is now Serbia and Bulgaria, and an undetermined number of Romanized Dacians were settled there.^[1] A strong Roman presence persisted in the region through the end of Justinian's I reign in the 6th century.^{[2][page needed]}

Amalgamation of Slavs and Romans

The Slavs, settling the Balkans in the 6th and 7th centuries, absorbed the Romanized populations over the centuries. Some Romance placenames survived Slavicization, such as the names of rivers and mountains. The Old Roman culture was preserved mainly in maritime Dalmatia, while Eastern, Greek influence and linguistics prevailed in the hinterland. The linguistical border roughly went from Lezhë, below the Shkodër-Prizren road towards Lipljan and Skopje, and then towards Sofia. The Roman element in the inlands retreated into the mountains with the Slavic incursions, however, larger areas of Roman elements were preserved in some parts of inland Balkans, such as in southern Macedonia and in Carpathian regions. Romance shepherd terminology were preserved in certain areas of the Dinaric Alps. The Slavs, due to their large numbers and abundance of reserves, easily assimilated the Roman population due to the deteriorating state of the Roman Empire. The Serbs came under the Latin sphere of influence, and first came into contact with Christianity through these contacts. Serbs adopted many Latin terms, part of the vocabulary still today. With time, ties between the Slavs and Romans of the Balkans became more tighter, the larger numbered Slavs absorbing the largest part of the Roman population in the Western Balkans. The Vlach shepherds completely mixed with the Serbs, a result of the predominant pastoralist society and Christianity. Romans for long held themselves separately in the city municipalities on the coast, however, after the 10th century the Slavic inflow strengthened and subsequently the maritime cities had more or less Slavic character (such as Dubrovnik and Split, becoming holders of Slavic culture and literature in the 14th and 15th centuries). As anthropologist J. Erdeljanović noted, Serbs received cultural elements from the Vlachs, such as the stone house and cottage, parts of folk costumes, some shepherd terminology and likely some shepherding skills. Combinations of Slavic–Romance nomenclature were preserved in higher mountainous areas, and with the many migrations from the mountains into the lowlands northwards, most of the preserved old Balkan characteristics were merged into the general characteristics of all or larger parts of Serbs and Croats from the Adriatic and to the Timok river.^[3]

History

Vlachs are first mentioned in 1198 living in the area between

Northwest of Niš there are records of Vlachs in 1382 and in Kučevo area from 1428. Suleiman the Magnificent in 1521 made a law (Canun name) for Vlachs living between Braničevo and Vidin.^[6]

Social class

The vlasi (власи) or pastiri (пастири) are primarily the inhabitants of Aromanian origin and also dependent shepherds in the medieval Serbian state, part of the sebri social class.^[7][8] The multitude and likely prevalence of Vlachs (Romanized remnants) among the shepherds made the term "Vlachs" a synonym for shepherds, similarly as the term Srbljin was sporadically used for farmers.^[9] The status of the vlasi was basically equal to the meropsi.^[9]

Vlachs in Nemanjić charters

The first mention of "Vlachs" in Serbian historical sources is the Hilandar founding charter (1198–99) by

The medieval Vlachs in the Balkans had hybrid names, evidenting intermarriage with the Slavs.[15]

Legacy

According to Sima Ćirković, documents from 13th to the 15th century show that the Vlachs were considered by the Serbs as "others" i.e. different from themselves, while documentation on that particular issue is scarce so it is very difficult to conclude how the difference is perceived.^[16] It is also noticeable that the name "Vlach" in medieval sources has the same rank as the name "Greek", "Serb" or "Latin".^[17] According to Andre Du Nay, written records from Serbia in the 13th to 15th century mention Albanians, Vlachs, but also Serbians living in the same areas, although historical records from earlier periods do not exist certain circumstances indicate that the Vlacho–Albanian symbiosis stems from antiquity.^[18]

See also

• Morlachs
• Vlach law
• Vlachs in medieval Bosnia
• Vlachs of Croatia
• Vlach (Ottoman social class)

References