Mezamir
archon (ἄρχων)
Mezamir (Greek: Μεζαμηρος, Cyrillic: Мезамир; c. 560) was the chieftain of the Antes, an early Slavic tribal confederation in Eastern Europe, 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 (fl. 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. At this time, the Antes were subject to the Byzantine Empire, ruled by Justinian I (r. 527–565), with the supreme chieftain holding the Byzantine title of archon. 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, and they used to pillage the Antes land, which at the time was neighbouring the Kutrigurs, who were Avar allies.
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This entry incorporates text from “Mezamir” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.