SLAVIC-AVAR SIEGE OF CONSTANTINOPOLE

The first half of the 7th century was a very difficult period for Byzantine Empire. Many Germanic tribes threatened the Byzantine possessions in the West, and the Persians did the same in the East, while the Avars in the Balkans subjugated a good part of the Slavic tribes and attacked together. Byzantines tried to buy peace with the Avars, but the Khaganate became more and more aggressive and ambitious in its conquest intentions. The peak of their aggression was reflected in the attempt to conquer Constantinople in 626. The siege lasted ten days and ended with a Byzantine victory.

Several Byzantine writers talk about this siege. One of them was George of Pisidas, a historian from the 7th century, who writes that “the sinister whirlwind of Thrace fell upon the innocent ship (Constantinople)”. The Avars, with the help of the Slavs, tried to capture the city, and Pisida attributes the victory over the barbarians to the protector of the city – the Virgin Mary.

The siege is also discussed by Theodore Synkellos, who reports on the attack of the Avars and all their subjects, and on the alliance of the Avars with the Persians. According to Synkellos, Slavic small ships, known as monoxyls, were supposed to transport the Persian army from Chalcedon. Like all other sources, Synkellos attributes the victory over the enemy to the Mother of God.

The Easter Chronicle, whose author is unknown to us, also tells about this siege of Constantinople. Like Synkellos, Chronicle mentions the alliance between the Avars and the Persians, and includes the Slavs as part of the Avar army. This source also mentions Slavic monoxyls and the destruction of this Slavic “navy” in the waters around Constantinople.

There is another source whose author is unknown to us, and it is the “Anonymous Sermon on the Siege of Constantinople”. This writing distinguishes Scythians (Avars) and barbarians (Slavs). Like the previous sources, he attributes the monoxyles in the waters of Constantinople to the Slavs and mentions a terrible storm that destroyed the monoxyles and thus prevented the capture of Constantinople.

Patriarch Nikephoros ‘s writing about the siege is another source, and it is interesting because of the mention of the corpses of Slavic women-warriors in the waters of Constantinople. This kind of information about Slavic women warriors is also mentioned at the time of the Bulgarian-Byzantine war in 811, when Emperor Nikephoros I lost his life. The collapse of the siege marked the beginning of weakening for the Avars, but for the Slavs it did not mark either the imminent collapse or the end of the colonization of the Balkans. In the following years and centuries, Slavic importance will only grow and strengthen.