Bandits and pirates in the medieval Balkans: some evidence from hagiographical texts
Bandits and pirates in the medieval Balkans: some evidence from hagiographical texts

Summary/Abstract: During the Middle Ages, and especially between the 9th and 14th centuries, the Balkan countryside was thoroughly infested with bandits and pirates, who preyed upon random travelers – merchants, civil officials or hermits – along trade-routes, major highways and waterways. Hagiographical sources, despite the problems they often present, shed important light on the conditions attendant in the Balkan countryside during the period in question. This paper draws attention to some of the most characteristic episodes of banditry mentioned in Saint’s Lives from Byzantium, Bulgaria, Serbia and Croatia.

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