This page is laid out to give you more information about the Early Slavic people. As I learn, I will add here. I expect there will be lots of links, and perhaps recommendations for books as well. I enjoy the research, for me it is a way to "learn something new every day. "
It is all information I have filtered from my reading, from historians and Archaeologists studies and papers. Think of this as a sort of "essay" about what I have learned. Some of it may not be exact, but it is accurate to the best of my abilities. I try not to put any of my assumptions or theories in.
It is all information I have filtered from my reading, from historians and Archaeologists studies and papers. Think of this as a sort of "essay" about what I have learned. Some of it may not be exact, but it is accurate to the best of my abilities. I try not to put any of my assumptions or theories in.
An excellent book about Slavic people.
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Where did the Slavic people come from?
In modern day, Slavic people are pretty common, genetically diverse, and spread throughout Europe. These folks were pretty busy from about the 6th-10th century. Spreading out and intermingling with small local populations from what I gather. However, as you can see if you read all of the information in the links below, finding exact historical evidence about the Slav's themselves can be tricky.
While it can be debated, the thought is that the name "Slav" comes from the common problem of these folks getting taken into slavery. Go figure. Slav, is actually a shift from the word Sclave, or Esclave, also Sclavus. All these mean, slave. Yup, Slav's were slaves.. According to some historians. I personally do not think that is >really< where the name for these people comes from. I mean, if they were usually slaves, wouldn't they have had less of an impact on modern day Europe?
The other side of that debate feel that it is more related to the word Slovenin, or Slovo, which basically translates as "word." Or, those who speak this language. There is a whole big technical paragraph about this topic on the Wiki link I provide below.
While it can be debated, the thought is that the name "Slav" comes from the common problem of these folks getting taken into slavery. Go figure. Slav, is actually a shift from the word Sclave, or Esclave, also Sclavus. All these mean, slave. Yup, Slav's were slaves.. According to some historians. I personally do not think that is >really< where the name for these people comes from. I mean, if they were usually slaves, wouldn't they have had less of an impact on modern day Europe?
The other side of that debate feel that it is more related to the word Slovenin, or Slovo, which basically translates as "word." Or, those who speak this language. There is a whole big technical paragraph about this topic on the Wiki link I provide below.
Religious views
As with basically all of Europe, the Slavic people at some point became Christian. Prior to that, according to what I have been reading from those who study this sort of thing... They were kind of a nature religion. They were a polytheistic society. There was no strong view of Fate, or devine intervention. They did have beliefs about demons or evil spirits, and positive spirits.
Slavic culture, even before Christianity, was a Patriarchal society. Which is to say that women has a less dominant role. This is somewhat unusual pre-Christian, as many Pagan religions had a Goddess figure, and women and men were more often portrayed equally in society's structures. From what can be gleaned from archeological digs, burial sites and historical records, women would handle home, hearth, children, etc. However they were not protectors, not using weapons, or being leaders in the social structure. ((To be honest, there is just not enough information to totally support this, the documents about women in a subservient role were written by christian believers who were trying to convert Slav's. It could easily be them putting their opinion or wishes into writing.))
Slavic culture, even before Christianity, was a Patriarchal society. Which is to say that women has a less dominant role. This is somewhat unusual pre-Christian, as many Pagan religions had a Goddess figure, and women and men were more often portrayed equally in society's structures. From what can be gleaned from archeological digs, burial sites and historical records, women would handle home, hearth, children, etc. However they were not protectors, not using weapons, or being leaders in the social structure. ((To be honest, there is just not enough information to totally support this, the documents about women in a subservient role were written by christian believers who were trying to convert Slav's. It could easily be them putting their opinion or wishes into writing.))
Nifty stuff about Slav culture
The slavic people liked to incorporate other cultural aspects into their own. Research has suggested that they would often absorb clothing, hair, and weapon styles from other cultures they encountered. The Rus, for example were Norse or Viking like. If you look at early medieval clothing for Slav's, it has a slightly Viking feel to it. You can also see some elements of Germanic influence in the clothing, weapons, and jewelry. Also, being Indo European, you can see some Middle Eastern elements. So it really is a "mushpot" of mixed cultural aspects.
One of the more unique aspects of Slavic clothing was the temple rings. Below are a few images of modern women in medieval reinactment Slavic garb. Note the headbands with the dangling rings or jewelry type items near the temple of their heads? This was very Slavic, not common in other cultures.
One of the more unique aspects of Slavic clothing was the temple rings. Below are a few images of modern women in medieval reinactment Slavic garb. Note the headbands with the dangling rings or jewelry type items near the temple of their heads? This was very Slavic, not common in other cultures.
Slavic and Rus.
Rus.. Some folks only know about the Rus culture because of Movies like King Arthur. (the one with Clive Owen and Keira Knightly) Then there is that whole huge country called Russia right? Well, it turns out the Rus were a pretty big influence on Slav's. In fact they alternately ruled over them, or captured them to be sold as slaves. The Eastern Slavic regions were overlapped by the Rus, so intermingling of culture occured. Some Russian culture can be traced back to Slavic origins., and some Slavic culture can be traced to the Rus. It's an interesting mix and I felt it should be included in my little essay.