Banditry in the Medieval Balkans, 800-1500 (Hardcover) (ISBN-13: 9783030559045)

This book explores the history of banditry in the medieval Balkans between the ninth and fifteenth centuries. While several scholars have recognized the problems which various outlaw groups caused in the region during the Middle Ages, few have given much attention to the bandits themselves, their origins, their reasons for taking up brigandage, and the steps taken by the central authorities to control their activity. Among other things, this book identifies three main sources of banditry: shepherds, soldiers and peasants. Far from being ʻlone wolvesʼ, these men operated within well-defined social networks. Poverty played a decisive role in driving them to a life of crime, but there is strong evidence to suggest that the growing economic prosperity in parts of the Balkans from the ninth century onwards may have also contributed to the rise of the phenomenon.


Author: Panos Sophoulis
ISBN-10: 3030559041
ISBN-13: 9783030559045
Publisher: Palgrave MacMillan
Language: English
Published: 10/29/2020
Pages: 188
Format: Hardcover
Weight: 0.93lbs
Size: 8.27h x 5.83w x 0.63d