Mezamir (, ; 560) was the chieftain of the Antes, an

early Slav The early Slavs were speakers of Indo-European dialects who lived during the Migration Period and the Early Middle Ages (approximately from the 5th to the 10th centuries AD) in Central, Eastern and Southeast Europe and established the foundati ...

ic tribal confederation in

Eastern Europe Eastern Europe is a subregion of the Europe, European continent. As a largely ambiguous term, it has a wide range of geopolitical, geographical, ethnic, cultural and socio-economic connotations. Its eastern boundary is marked by the Ural Mountain ...

, believed to have been active around the year 560, at which time the Avar expanded further into Europe. He was the son of Idariz, and had a brother, Kelagast. Mezamir was recorded by

Menander Protector Menander Protector (Menander the Guardsman, Menander the Byzantian; or Προτέκτωρ) was a Byzantine historian, born in Constantinople in the middle of the 6th century AD. The little that is known of his life is contained in the account o ...

(

fl. ''Floruit'' ( ; usually abbreviated fl. or occasionally flor.; from Latin for 'flourished') denotes a date or period during which a person was known to have been alive or active. In English, the unabbreviated word may also be used as a noun indic ...

558–582). Mezamir was described as "powerful", and had most likely established a Slavic confederation sometime before the 560s, which initially thwarted the

Avar khaganate The Pannonian Avars ( ) were an alliance of several groups of Eurasian nomads of various origins. The peoples were also known as the Obri in the chronicles of the Rus' people, Rus, the Abaroi or Varchonitai (), or Pseudo-Avars in Byzantine Empi ...

. At this time, the Antes were subject to the

Byzantine Empire The Byzantine Empire, also known as the Eastern Roman Empire, was the continuation of the Roman Empire centred on Constantinople during late antiquity and the Middle Ages. Having survived History of the Roman Empire, the events that caused the ...

, ruled by

Justinian I Justinian I (, ; 48214 November 565), also known as Justinian the Great, was Roman emperor from 527 to 565. His reign was marked by the ambitious but only partly realized ''renovatio imperii'', or "restoration of the Empire". This ambition was ...

(r. 527–565), with the supreme chieftain holding the Byzantine title of ''

archon ''Archon'' (, plural: , ''árchontes'') is a Greek word that means "ruler", frequently used as the title of a specific public office. It is the masculine present participle of the verb stem , meaning "to be first, to rule", derived from the same ...

''. The Antes were given old Roman towns and stipends, in exchange for securing the Danube from the Huns, and other Barbarians. At this time, the Antes held an "extensive polity, capable of military mobilization against the Avars." The Avars were ruled by ''khagan''

Bayan I Bayan I reigned as the first khagan of the Avar Khaganate between 562 and 602. As the Göktürk Empire expanded westwards on the Eurasian Steppe during the 6th century, peoples such as the Avars (also known as the ''Pseudo-Avars'', ''Obri'', ...

, and they used to pillage the Antes land, which at the time was neighbouring the

Kutrigurs The Kutrigurs were a Turkic nomadic equestrian tribe who flourished on the Pontic–Caspian steppe in the 6th century AD. To their east were the similar Utigurs and both possibly were closely related to the Bulgars. They warred with the Byzan ...

, who were Avar allies. After the Avars had ravaged and plundered the Antes, Mezamir was sent as an envoy to the Avars, to negotiate the ransom of captured Antes tribesmen. At the talks, Mezamir appeared to be a "loudmouth braggart" who spoke arrogantly and rashly; upon feeling that Mezamir became more arrogant than suitable for an envoy, a Kutrigur Bulgar who was a "friend of the Avars" and "hostile to the Antes" (believed by some to be ''khagan''

Zabergan Zabergan () was the chieftain of the Kutrigurs, a Turkic nomadic tribe of the Pontic–Caspian steppe, after Sinnion. His name is Iranian, meaning full moon. Either under pressure from incoming Avars,; or in revolt against the Byzantine Empir ...

; fl. 558–562) persuaded the Khagan that: The Avars disregarded the immunity of ambassadors (according to the ''

jus gentium In Roman law and legal traditions influenced by it, ''ius gentium'' or ''jus gentium'' (Latin for "law of nations" or "law of peoples") is the law that applies to all ''gentes'' ("peoples" or "nations"). It was an early form of international law, ...

'') and killed Mezamir. The Avars proceeded to conquer the Antes, and other Slavs. This took place in the time period of 560–62, according to some historians.

Annotations

*Name: In historiography, he is mostly known as ''Mezamir'' (), derived from Greek ''Mezamiros'' (Μεζαμηρος). Another spelling is Mezamer. The Bulgar variant is ''Bezmer''. In Slavic, his name has been theorized to have been ''Mežamir'' (Межамир), ''Mužimir'' and Mezimir.

References

Sources

;Primary * ;Secondary * * * * {{s-end 6th-century monarchs in Europe 6th-century Slavs Murdered royalty 6th-century Byzantine people 560s conflicts East Slavic history South Slavic history Avar–Byzantine wars Slavic warriors 6th-century diplomats