The Rhynchines or Rhynchinoi ( el, Ῥυγχίνοι) were a South Slavic (

Sklavenoi The ' (in Latin) or ' (various forms in Greek, see below) were early Slavic tribes that raided, invaded and settled the Balkans in the Early Middle Ages and eventually became the progenitors of modern South Slavs. They were mentioned by early Byz ...

) tribe in the region of southern

Macedonia Macedonia most commonly refers to: * North Macedonia, a country in southeastern Europe, known until 2019 as the Republic of Macedonia * Macedonia (ancient kingdom), a kingdom in Greek antiquity * Macedonia (Greece), a traditional geographic reg ...

in the 7th century. According to Traian Stoianovich, they were Slavic or Avaro-Slavic, and their name probably derives from a local, unidentified river, likely between the lower

Vardar The Vardar (; mk, , , ) or Axios () is the longest river in North Macedonia and the second longest river in Greece, in which it reaches the Aegean Sea at Thessaloniki. It is long, out of which are in Greece, and drains an area of around . T ...

and lower Strymon. The tribe is attested in the '' Miracles of Saint Demetrius'' as having formed a ''

sklavinia The ' (in Latin) or ' (various forms in Greek, see below) were early Slavic tribes that raided, invaded and settled the Balkans in the Early Middle Ages and eventually became the progenitors of modern South Slavs. They were mentioned by early Byz ...

'' near the city of

Thessaloniki Thessaloniki (; el, Θεσσαλονίκη, , also known as Thessalonica (), Saloniki, or Salonica (), is the second-largest city in Greece, with over one million inhabitants in its Thessaloniki metropolitan area, metropolitan area, and the capi ...

, under a king named Perboundos in the mid-7th century. They were apparently a powerful tribe. After Perboundos was arrested and executed by

Byzantine The Byzantine Empire, also referred to as the Eastern Roman Empire or Byzantium, was the continuation of the Roman Empire primarily in its eastern provinces during Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, when its capital city was Constantin ...

authorities, the Rhynchines rose up and allied themselves with two other nearby ''sklaviniai'', the

Sagudates The Sagudates ( el, Σαγουδάται, ''Sagoudatai'') were a South Slavic tribe that lived in Macedonia region, in the area between Thessaloniki and Veria. History The Sagudates were first attested in a Byzantine document of 686 as allies o ...

and the

Drugubites The Drougoubitai, also Drogobitai or Dragobitai ( gr, Δρο ��ο ��ῖται/Δραγοβῖται), variously anglicized as Drugubites, Drogubites, Druguvites, Draguvites etc., were a South Slavic group ('' Sclaveni'') who settled in the Balkans ...

, and launched an unsuccessful siege of Thessalonica (in 676–678 AD). In the 8th and 9th centuries the Rynchinoi, Vlachorynchinoi and Sagudates moved eastwards into

Chalkidiki Chalkidiki (; el, Χαλκιδική , also spelled Halkidiki, is a peninsula and regional unit of Greece, part of the region of Central Macedonia, in the geographic region of Macedonia in Northern Greece. The autonomous Mount Athos region co ...

Porphyrius Uspensky Bishop Porphyrius (russian: Епи́скоп Порфи́рий, secular name Konstantin Aleksandrovich Uspensky, russian: Константи́н Алекса́ндрович Успе́нский; 8 September 1804 - 19 April 1885), was a Russian ...

found a 17th-century manuscript at Kastamonitou that mentioned the ''Richenoi'' ( or ''Vlachorichenoi'') and Sagudates having come from Bulgaria across Macedonia to Mount Athos, at the time of the

Iconoclasm Iconoclasm (from Ancient Greek, Greek: grc, wikt:εἰκών, εἰκών, lit=figure, icon, translit=eikṓn, label=none + grc, wikt:κλάω, κλάω, lit=to break, translit=kláō, label=none)From grc, wikt:εἰκών, εἰκών + wi ...

. The name "Vlachorynchinoi" suggests mixing of Vlachs or Romance-speakers and the tribe.

References

Sources

* {{Slavic ethnic groups (VII-XII century) 7th century in Europe Sclaveni Medieval Macedonia Slavic tribes in Macedonia