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Episode 4: The Slavs

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Hello and welcome to Episode 4 of the History of Bosnia and Herzegovina podcast. I’m your host, Haris Porčić. In our last episode, we explored how the Roman Empire conquered the Illyrian tribes and kingdoms, bringing the region under Roman rule. Rome had firmly established itself in Illyria, setting the stage for the dramatic changes to come after the Empire’s decline.

Today’s episode picks up the story around the 5th century. We’ll cover the tumultuous period after Roman rule – a time when new peoples swept into the Balkans, and the foundations for medieval Bosnia were laid. So, let’s dive into this fascinating era of Bosnian history!

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When the Western Roman Empire crumbled in the 5th century, the Balkans became a crossroads of migrating tribes. One of the first groups to dominate Bosnia’s region after Rome were the Ostrogoths, an Eastern Gothic people. In the year 455, the Ostrogoths conquered what is now Bosnia and the surrounding lands, filling the power vacuum left by Rome’s fall. For a time, they ruled over the former Roman provinces of Dalmatia and Pannonia, which included parts of Bosnia. By the mid-6th century, the Eastern Roman emperor Justinian had waged war on the Goths and reasserted imperial control over parts of the western Balkans. [26]

However, Justinian’s reconquest was short-lived, because a new formidable group appeared on the scene: the Avars. The Avars were a nomadic Turkic tribe originating from the Eurasian steppe. Arriving in Central Europe around the 550s, they quickly proved to be a militarily superior force in the region. In the late 6th century, Avars and Slavs together began ravaging the Byzantine territories across the Danube. Eventually, the invaders stopped merely raiding and began to settle. Some Avar groups settled in parts of the Western Balkans – including areas of western Bosnia, Herzegovina, and what is now Montenegro. [19]

Meanwhile, as the Avars waned, other new ethnic groups were arriving. The Slavs – whose story we’ll explore next – were migrating en masse into the Balkans. 

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The Slavs are the key players in this part of our history – they are the ancestors of today’s Bosnians that left the largest imprint. But who exactly were they, and where did they come from?

The early Slavs were an Indo-European people whose homeland lay to the northeast of the Balkans. Most scholars locate the Proto-Slavic homeland in the broad area of Eastern Europe around Polesia, straddling modern-day Belarus and Ukraine. [1] [2] The Slavic tribes were not well known to the classical civilizations at first – they lived beyond the horizon of the Roman world. Early references to them appear in Roman and Greek sources under different names. The Romans often referred to a people called the Veneti, Sclaveni, or Antes,  who lived north of the Carpathians, and these were likely the early Slavs. 

So, by the time they enter our story, these early Slavs were a distinct ethnic group living just north of the Danube. Physically and culturally, they were unique. Early descriptions portray them as having blue eyes, ruddy faces, and long hair. [5] They were also described as, quote, “tall and especially strong, their skin is not very white, and their hair is neither blond nor black, but all have reddish hair.” [1][6] 

The early Slav society was tribal and clan-based – organized in small kinship groups rather than large kingdoms. [1] According to Procopius, a 6th century Roman historian, the Slavs were, quote, “ …not governed by one man, but from ancient times have lived in democracy, and consequently everything which involves their welfare, whether for good or for ill, is referred to the people.” End quote. The Roman military was well aware of their presence as well. Their generals were told to use any possible means to prevent the Sclaveni from uniting under one ruler, and, quote, “the Sclaveni and Antes were both independent, absolutely refused to be enslaved or governed, least of all in their own land.” [8] End quote.

Imagine a Slavic settlement in the 6th century: it would likely be a cluster of simple wooden huts, possibly spread out rather than in a dense village. Procopius noted that their dwellings were “squalid huts…isolated from one another.” [27] Several generations of an extended family lived together in what later came to be called a zadruga, a communal household. In fact, the zadruga was a hallmark of Slavic social organization – an extended family sharing land, livestock and resources under the leadership of the oldest capable member. Multiple related zadruge in a given area formed a župa, which we can think of as a clan-based district or small tribe. [1] A župa was led by a župan – essentially a chieftain chosen from the leading family of that clan group. Groups of župans might occasionally unite behind a senior leader,what some sources call a “veliki župan,” meaning grand župan or high chief, in times of war or crisis. [28] 

In terms of lifestyle, the Slavs were agrarian, but also semi-nomadic. Procopius notes that they often changed their place of abode. They practiced slash-and-burn agriculture, and when local resources were exhausted or danger loomed, they could pack up and move to a new location with relative ease. This mobility would serve them well during the migration era. [9] [27]

What about their beliefs and customs? The early Slavs were pagans – they had their own polytheistic religion centered on nature worship and ancestral spirits. They did not leave written records of their myths, but later chronicles and archaeology give us hints. Perun was likely their chief deity – the god of thunder and lightning, akin to Zeus or Thor. Procopius actually observes that the Slavs “believe in one god, the creator of lightning, who is the ruler of all”, to whom they sacrificed animals. [27] This is almost certainly a reference to Perun, the thunder-god. However, the Slavs were not strictly monotheistic – they acknowledged many spirits and minor gods of nature. Rivers, groves, and mountains were thought to have their own spirits. [1] [12]

The Slavs also had a rich tradition of symbols and artistic motifs connected to their beliefs. Archaeological finds show sun-wheel designs and swastikas as recurring symbols in early Slavic art. One prominent example is the kolovrat, a wheel-like swastika symbol. The word kolovrat literally means “spinning wheel”. The kolovrat symbolized the sun and the cycle of life in Slavic pagan culture. [11] Numerous variations of these sun symbols have been found – in fact, historians note that “in no other culture do we encounter them in such numbers and diversity as in the culture of the Slavs.” 29 

Let’s touch on one more important aspect of Slavic life: their funeral rites. The pre-Christian Slavs typically cremated their dead. Cremation was seen as a way to send off the soul visibly and swiftly. [8] Over time, as they migrated into the Balkans, there was a shift – some South Slavs began adopting burial practices, likely influenced by local Romanized populations. But for the period we’re discussing, burning the dead on a pyre and burying the ashes was a common custom. Such rites, along with their pantheon of gods and symbols, defined the spiritual world of the early Slavs – a world soon to be changed by the arrival of new faiths.

Before we discuss that religious change, let’s follow the Slavs on their great migration to the Balkans and see how Bosnia became their new home.

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In the 6th century, waves of Slavic migrants flooded into Southeastern Europe, and Bosnia was one of the destinations. This migration didn’t happen in a vacuum – several big factors pushed and pulled the Slavic tribes southward.

One major factor was climate and catastrophe. In the year 536, a mysterious climatic event, likely a volcanic eruption, caused what historians call the Late Antique Little Ice Age. Temperatures plummeted for years, harvests failed, and societies across Eurasia were stressed. Then, beginning in 541, the Plague of Justinian struck – a devastating pandemic, the first recorded outbreak of bubonic plague, that ravaged the Eastern Roman Empire. These disasters substantially reduced the population in the Balkans and weakened the Byzantine Empire’s ability to defend its borders. [24][25]

This is where the Slavs come in. As we heard, the Slavs and Avars started by raiding, but soon they came to settle. Entire families and clans moved south of the Danube in search of new land. The timing was opportune: the Eastern Romans were beleaguered by wars on multiple fronts, and they simply could not hold back the influx of peoples. This is in addition to the population decrease due to the Plague of Justinian. In other words, the Roman Balkans were sparsely defended and partly depopulated, opening the gates for the newcomers. [14]

By the 590s, Slavic groups were pouring into the Balkans every year. They established permanent settlements south of the Sava and Danube rivers, reaching all the way to the Adriatic coast in the west, the Aegean in the south, and the Black Sea in the east. [27]

For the lands that would become Bosnia and Herzegovina, this meant a massive influx around the early 600s. Archaeology confirms that by the early 7th century, Slavic settlement was widespread in the region. These early Slavs were known as the Antes and the Sclaveni. [15] These settlers didn’t arrive in a completely empty land – they encountered the remaining Illyrians who survived the Roman era, remnants of Gothic communities, and Avars. [15] What happened next was a fusion of populations. The Slavs were numerically dominant and their language spread, but they mixed with the local inhabitants. Over generations, the Slavic language and identity absorbed most of the others, but culturally and genetically the South Slavs, including Bosnians, are a blend – Slavic newcomers layered onto an indigenous Balkan base. 

After the first wave of the Sclaveni migrations, came the arrival of the Croat and Serb tribes. [8] According to the Byzantine Emperor Constantine VII, writing in the 10th century, the Croats and Serbs were distinct Slavic groups from the north – often referred to as “White Croats” and “White Serbs”. They were tribes from a land beyond the Carpathians, who came to the Balkans in the early 7th century. The term “white” comes from the use of colors for cardinal directions, and translates to either Western or Northern, and has nothing to do with race or skin color. [18] The story goes that Emperor Heraclius struck an agreement with them: these Slavs would be allowed to settle in Dalmatia and the lands of the former Roman province in exchange for ousting the remaining Avars. The Croats established themselves roughly in modern Croatia and western Bosnia, while the Serbs settled in parts of the eastern Bosnia, the Sandžak, and what is today Serbia and Montenegro. [17] [19] [20] This placed the Bosnian region at a crossroads between these emerging early medieval states – Croat tribes to the west, Serb tribes to the east. In fact, for the next few centuries, present-day Bosnia was a borderland often contested or influenced by both.

To sum up, author Noel Malcom, in his book Bosnia: A Short History, writes that there was an existing large population of Slavs in the region before the migration of the Croats and Serbs. He argues that due to this, the modern day inhabitants, or even medieval ones, cannot be divided into sub-ethnicities such as purely Serb or Croat. Additionally the migrating Slavs integrated with the local population of Illyrians, Celts, Goths, Romans, Alans, Huns, and Avars [19]. 

Before we move on, let’s discuss one more crucial development during the Slavs’ southward migration: the advent of literacy of the Slavic peoples. Initially, the Slavs had no written language – they passed down stories and laws orally. They did, however, have a system of strokes and incisions, that served as a proto-writing system. [10] But in the 9th century, after the Slavic migrations, the Byzantine Empire undertook a mission to Christianize the Slavs of Central Europe, most famously led by the two missionaries: Saints Cyril and Methodius. In order to preach to the Slavs in their own tongue, Cyril and Methodius devised a new alphabet – the Glagolitic script – which was the first writing system for the Slavic language. Not long after, Cyril’s students in the Bulgarian Empire refined this into a simpler script, the Cyrillic alphabet, which was modeled on Greek letters and eventually replaced Glagolitic. [16] 

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During the 7th, 8th, and 9th centuries, the political landscape of the Western Balkans began to solidify. The scattered Slavic tribes gradually coalesced into early principalities under the influence of larger powers like the Byzantine Empire, the Frankish Empire, and the rising Bulgarian Empire. Bosnia’s territory was affected by all these forces, yet its rugged geography allowed it to develop in a somewhat distinctive way.

In the early Middle Ages, two neighboring Slavic kingdoms crystallized: Croatia to the west and Serbia, known as Raška, to the east. By the 9th century, historical sources suggest that western Bosnia was under the sway of the Croatian rulers, while Herzegovina had ties to the Serbian rulers. This is a bit murky because contemporary records are sparse, but later chronicles, like the Chronicle of the Priest of Duklja, claim that around the year 753 a “Realm of the Slavs” existed in this area and mention Bosnia by name as a distinct region. What we can be fairly sure of is that Bosnia in the 9th–10th centuries was a borderland – at times caught between Croat and Serb claims. For instance, King Tomislav of Croatia (early 10th century) is believed to have extended his rule over much of Bosnia, uniting Croats and some Bosnian Slavs under his crown. However, this control was likely short-lived; after Tomislav, Croatia fell into internal conflicts and its grip on Bosnia loosened. Similarly, on the eastern side, some Serbian princes might have had influence over parts of eastern Bosnia, but that too was tenuous. [19] [21] Historian, Tibor Živković, argues that Bosnia was an independent state before 822, due to the existence of two towns of Bistua, most likely present-day Zenica, and Martar, probably present-day Konjic. [23] Additionally, it would be misleading to say that Bosnia was ever part of Serbia, since the Serbian kingdoms of that time which included Bosnia didn’t even include lands that are present day Serbia. [19] Up to 1180 Bosnia proper was linked more to Croatia and Herzegovina was Serb territory.

In 1019 the Byzantine Empire under Emperor Basil II forced the Serb and Croat rulers to acknowledge the Byzantine sovereignty. During this time Bosnia was ruled some of the time by a Croatian governor and at other times by Serbian rulers directly under Byzantine control. [21] By the 1100s, Serb rulers shifted their attention east to Raška and the Croatian lands fell to Hungary. This Hungarian control of Croatia would last until 1918 with some interruptions here and there. Hungarian rule extended to Bosnia, but it was ruled by a ban, whose authority became more and more independent as time went on. By 1180 Bosnia became virtually free of Hungarian, Byzantine, and Croatian control. [19] Writings by historians in the 11th and 12th centuries back up these claims. Byzantine historian John Kinnamos wrote about the Byzantine emperor Manuel I Komnenos: “When he approached the Sava, he crossed from it to another river, by name Drina, which takes its origin somewhat higher up and divides Bosnia from the rest of Serbia. Bosnia itself is not subject to the Serbs’ grand Župan, but is a tribe which lives and is ruled separately [22].” 

Noel Malcom also stated that the ethnic identity of inhabitants of Bosnia until 1180 cannot be answered for two reasons. Quote,  “…first, because we lack evidence, and secondly, because the question lacks meaning. We can say that the majority of the Bosnian territory was probably occupied by Croats – or at least, by Slavs under Croat rule – in the seventh century; but that is a tribal label which has little or no meaning five centuries later. The Bosnians were generally closer to the Croats in their religious and political history; but to apply the modern notion of Croat identity, something constructed in recent centuries out of religion, history and language, to anyone in this period would be an anachronism. All that one can sensibly say about the ethnic identity of the Bosnians is this: they were the Slavs who lived in Bosnia.” [19] End quote. 

Before concluding today, we need to discuss a critical aspect of this era that we haven’t covered yet: the conversion of the Slavs to Christianity, and how that unfolded in Bosnia.

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The Early Slavs, as we’ve seen, were pagan. But by the end of the first millennium CE, Christianity had spread across Europe and did not spare the Slavs. The process of Christianization of the Slavic peoples was gradual and often politically motivated.

In the Balkans, the Southern Slavs were caught between two spheres of Christian influence: the Byzantine East, Orthodox, and the Latin West, Catholic. Missionaries from both Constantinople and Rome ventured into Slavic lands. For example, in the 9th century the Byzantine missionaries Cyril and Methodius converted many Slavs in Moravia and Pannonia. Their disciples then traveled south – to Bulgaria, Serbia, Croatia – carrying on their work. Meanwhile, Frankish, aka Latin, missionaries were active in northern Croatia and Slovenia. This resulted in a sort of religious tug-of-war: Croatia largely embraced Western Christianity, whereas Serbia and Bulgaria leaned towards Eastern Christianity. 

Where does Bosnia fit into this? Bosnia was, again, something of a borderland – geographically and ecclesiastically. It was not directly evangelized in the first big waves. The coastal cities of Dalmatia, like Dubrovnik and Split, had bishops and churches early, but the interior Bosnia lagged behind. It’s generally thought that Bosnia’s conversion to Christianity significantly trailed that of its neighbors. As one source notes, Bosnia, due to its terrain, was “probably one of the last areas” in the region to be Christianized. [19]

Through the 9th and 10th centuries, there were missionary efforts reaching Bosnia from both sides. We know that by 879, a Roman Pope mentions an “episcopus Bosniensis”, Bishop of Bosnia, indicating there was a Christian hierarchy at least nominally. This suggests parts of Bosnia had churches and clergy by then, likely under the influence of the Archdiocese of Split. However, Christianity might have initially been limited to certain pockets – probably urban centers or ruling families, while much of the peasantry in rural Bosnia kept their old pagan customs for a long time.

It’s worth noting that the eastern part of Bosnia may have been Christianized slightly earlier, potentially by Cyril and Methodius’ disciples traveling west from Bulgaria. In fact, the baptism of the Serbs and nearby Slavs is traditionally dated to around the 870s, which could have included some of the Drina valley area. By contrast, central and northern Bosnia had more connection to the Croatian kingdom and likely received Latin Christian influence by the 10th–11th century. The end result was that Bosnia became a sort of mixed zone – not firmly in either the Catholic or Orthodox camp initially. This ambiguity would later give rise to the Bosnian Church, a locally grown Christian community that was somewhat separate from both Rome and Constantinople.

Now, what about the pagan beliefs we described earlier – what happened to them? As in most conversions, the old beliefs didn’t vanish overnight. For generations, many pagan practices survived under a Christian veneer. Bosnia’s people might accept baptism and attend church, yet still invoke ancient Slavic spirits or practice folk rituals at home. Church authorities in the medieval period often complained about South Slavs lighting bonfires on certain nights, using charms, or celebrating old festivals – signs that pagan traditions remained embedded in folk culture. 

In summary, by the end of the period we’re covering in this episode, Bosnia was officially a Christian land, but it was evangelized later than its neighbors and retained a distinct religious character. The common folk in Bosnia likely practiced a faith that was a blend of Christian and old Slavic traditions, and the region’s isolation allowed that blend to persist. This would eventually set the stage for the religious controversies of the High Middle Ages, when both the Roman Catholic Church and the Orthodox Church looked at Bosnia with suspicion for its unconventional Christianity.

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As we come to the end of this episode, let’s recap what we’ve covered. We started with the post-Roman upheavals, seeing the Ostrogoths briefly rule the Bosnian region after the fall of Rome, followed by the incursions of the Avars, who, with their Slavic allies, turned the Balkans upside down in the 6th century. Then came the great Slavic migration. The Slavs brought their own languages, religions, customs, and societal organizations. 

As Byzantine and Frankish power tugged at the region, the Slavic Croat and Serb kingdoms took shape around Bosnia’s periphery. Yet, Bosnia itself maintained a remarkable autonomy through this era – sheltered by its mountains and guided by local chiefs who balanced between larger empires. With the end of the 12th century, we have reached a turning point: Bosnia is now entering the High Middle Ages as an independent polity. In our next episode, we will delve into Ban Kulin’s reign – a period of peace and commerce, but also the time when Bosnia’s unique church came under scrutiny. 

Thank you for listening to The History of Bosnia and Herzegovina Podcast. I hope you found this journey through the early medieval period engaging and enlightening. If you have questions or comments, feel free to reach me by visiting historyofbosnia.com or through social media: the links are in the show notes. Until next time, take care, and I’ll talk to you soon. 

Sources:

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