chiefdom · Greece and the Aegean
Melingoi
Origins
The Melingoi were descendants of Slavs who settled in the Peloponnese in the late 6th and 7th centuries. By the 9th century they lived on the slopes of Mount Taygetus, west of Sparta. Constantine VII's De Administrando Imperio describes their revolt and subjugation by the general Theoktistos Bryennios in the 840s.
Rule and society
Living in mountain villages under their own leaders, the Melingoi paid the Byzantine state a small fixed tribute, 60 gold coins a year according to Constantine VII, rather than ordinary taxes. They revolted again in the 920s and had their tribute raised before it was reduced once more. The Chronicle of the Morea shows them still distinct in the 13th century.
Decline and legacy
After the Frankish conquest, William of Villehardouin built Mistras and other castles in 1249 partly to control them; they later served as soldiers for both Franks and Byzantines. Gradually Christianised and Hellenised, they disappear as a separate group by the late Middle Ages.
Few sources survive for this state; details are uncertain.
On the connections map
Open the full map →Connections (2)
- Melingoi paid tribute to Byzantine Empire842 CE – 1204 CE
- Melingoi was a vassal of Principality of Achaea1249 CE – 1262 CE
More states of Greece and the Aegean →
Cite this page
- APA
- The Epoch Institute. (2026). Melingoi. In The Epoch Institute States Register. https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/melingoi
- MLA
- “Melingoi.” The Epoch Institute States Register, The Epoch Institute, 2026, https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/melingoi. Accessed .
- Chicago
- The Epoch Institute. “Melingoi.” The Epoch Institute States Register. 2026. https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/melingoi.
- Harvard
- The Epoch Institute (2026) ‘Melingoi’, The Epoch Institute States Register. Available at: https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/melingoi (Accessed: ).
Last reviewed October 2026Random state ↻