Ezeritai
Sign in to savethumb|right|250px|alt=Topographic map of the Peloponnese peninsula with placenames|Map of the Peloponnese during the Middle Ages. The Ezeritai () were a Slavic tribe that settled in the Peloponnese in southern Greece during the Middle Ages. In the early decades of the 7th century, Slavic tribes (Sclaveni) settled throughout the Balkans following the collapse of the Byzantine Empire's defense of the Danube frontier with some groups reaching as far south as the Peloponnese. The Sclaveni often settled in small groups (i.e., families and clans) and their demographic impact in mainland Greece was b
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5 sectionsContents
- Etymology
- History
- References
- Citations
- Sources
thumb|right|250px|alt=Topographic map of the Peloponnese peninsula with placenames|Map of the Peloponnese during the Middle Ages. The Ezeritai () were a Slavic tribe that settled in the Peloponnese in southern Greece during the Middle Ages. In the early decades of the 7th century, Slavic tribes (Sclaveni) settled throughout the Balkans following the collapse of the Byzantine Empire's defense of the Danube frontier with some groups reaching as far south as the Peloponnese. The Sclaveni often settled in small groups (i.e., families and clans) and their demographic impact in mainland Greece was both weak and diffuse. Of these, two groups are known by name from later sources, the Ezeritai and the Melingoi, both having settled on the slopes of Mount Taygetos.
==Etymology== The Ezeritai apparently settled in the area known as Helos (Greek for "swamp"), from which their name derives (South Slavic ezero meaning "lake").