White Serbs

Infobox Ethnic group
group = White Serbs


image_caption =
population = ~20,000 - 200,000
region1 = White Serbia
region2 = Thessalonica
region3 = Serbia, Bosnia, Croatia, Macedonia and Montenegro
languages = Proto-Slavic, West Slavic
religions = Monotheists, later Greek Orthodox
related = Poles (West Slavs), Lusatian Sorbs and Serbs by ancestry

The White Serbs ( _sr. Бели Срби, "Beli Srbi") were a Slavic tribe which lived in White Serbia in northern Europe. Ancestors of the modern Serbs of southeastern Europe, the White Serbs migrated to the Balkans during the 7th century.

"De Administrando Imperio" reports that "these Serbs come from the non-Christianized Serbs, called the White Serbs, living beyond the Turks (Hungary) in the area which they call Bojki (Bohemia). The Franks and Great Croats i.e. non-Christianized Croats, also called White Croats, are their neighbours. There, then, have these Serbs lived from olden times."

The Serbs fought against Thuringians, Franks and Saxons for their freedom. [http://www.absoluteastronomy.com/topics/Sorbs] The Serbs enjoyed limited independence from the greater powers in Central Europe. One should note however that Serbs were Frankish vassaals several times during the early medieval Franconia.

Some White Serbs migrated to the Balkans in 610–30 led by the Unknown Archont. During the reign of Byzantine Emperor Heraclius, [ [http://www.snaga.org.yu/Ilustrovana_istorija_srba/tekst/engleski/01/01-06-doseljavanje-slovena.html Illustrated History of the Serbs] ] the White Serbs settled in an area called "Servia" in Greek Macedonia, west of Thessalonica. Later, they resettled in today's Croatia, Bosnia, Serbia and Montenegro (Pagania, Zahumlje, Travunia, Doclea, Rascia, later parts of the 14th-century Serbian Empire). They formed a strong power in the Balkans and assimilated with Thracians, Dacians, Northern Illyrian tribes and Byzantine Greeks.The Greek Serbs stayed in the area of river Bistritza. With the passing of time, they assimilated with the Greeks, although the town of where they stayed 1,400 years ago still exists and bears the name Servia, the translation of "Serbia" in Greek. The Serbian name and language was preserved by the descendants of those Serbs who wished to return to the White Serbian homeland in northern Europe, but resettled in the Balkans, at the Adriatic shore.

Some White Serbs did not stay in the Balkans, but went further on, crossing the Bistritza river (Αλιάκμονας) and settled in Gordium, Phrygia (Anatolia), the antique city they named Gordoservon, which had previously been a settlement of the Phrygians. The White Serbs no longer exist as an ethnic group, as they were possibly assimilated by Poles and Germans in Northern Europe and by various peoples in Southeastern Europe. Their descendants are the Serbs, living in the nation-state of Serbia and the bordering countries where they have stayed since the arrival of the White Serbs.

Names

"Zerwisti/Serbiszcze" In Polabian/Polish. (Inhabitants of Sorbia)"Surbi" and/or "Zeriuani", "Serauici" by the Bavarian Geographer.

The name of the first Serbian state "Rascia" has a connection with the word "Rus-", as there was an area called Boyko which inhabited Rusyns/Ruthenians, the Serbs have a contemporaneous slavic origin in Ukraine.

References

ee also

*White Croats, the neighbours of the Serbs in two different European regions