TheMelingoi orMilingoi (Greek:Μηλιγγοί) were aSlavic tribe that settled in thePeloponnese in southernGreece during theMiddle Ages. In the early decades of the 7th century, Slavic tribes (Sclaveni) settled throughout theBalkans following the collapse of theByzantine Empire's defense of theDanube frontier with some groups reaching as far south as the Peloponnese.[1] The Sclaveni often settled in small groups (i.e., families and clans) and their demographic impact in mainland Greece was both weak and diffuse.[2] Of these, two groups are known by name from later sources, the Melingoi and theEzeritai, of whom the Melingoi settled on the western slopes ofMount Taygetos. The origin and etymology of the nameMelingoi is unknown.[3]
Their name probably derives from Slavic adjective "*milъ" (sweet).[4] Slavic form of their name possibly sounded like "*Milenьki > *Milenьci", and some scholars related it to the early Slavic tribe ofMilceni.[4][5]
Like the Ezeritai, the Melingoi are first mentioned in theDe administrando imperio, a manual on statecraft written by theByzantine emperorConstantine VII Porphyrogennetos (r. 913–959). The emperor records that in his time they paid atribute of 60 goldnomismata, but that after they had revolted and been defeated, in the reign ofRomanos I Lekapenos (r. 920–945), by thestrategosKrinites Arotras, they had to pay 600nomismata.[6] Under Byzantine rule, the Melingoi retained an autonomous existence, but adoptedChristianity and becameHellenized in language and culture.[7]
During the period ofFrankish rule in the 13th–14th centuries, they were employed by both the Frankish lords of thePrincipality of Achaea and by theByzantine Greeks of theDespotate of the Morea as soldiers. For instance, according to theChronicle of the Morea, PrinceWilliam II of Villehardouin (r. 1246–1278) awarded to the "greatdroungos[a] of the Melingoi" exemption from all duties except military service.[6] The Melingoi are still attested during the 1330s in a number of founder's inscriptions attached to churches inLaconia. One of them, Constantine Spanes, from the notable Spanes family, is called "tzaousios of thedroungos of the Melingoi", implying its continued existence as a separate community. N. Nicoloudis identifies the late medievalthema ofKinsterna or Giserna (fromLatin:cisterna, "cistern") with the area of the Melingoi in the northwesternMani peninsula.[6][8] While the elite of the Melingoi was rich and exposed to Byzantine and Frankish influence, the ordinary pastoralist hillman remained more conservative and secluded. Their Slavic language was still spoken as late as the 15th century, when the travellerLaskaris Kananos claimed that their tongue resembled that of theWends. Many Slavic placenames have been preserved to this day.[9]
^ a: Droungos was originally a Late Roman/Byzantine term for a battalion-sized military unit, but from the 12th century on had been equated withzygos ("mountain range") and applied to various mountainous areas in continental Greece, as well as the militia forces detailed to guard the passes in them (cf. the older termkleisoura).[10]