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 ¿lone wolves¿, 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.

Panos Sophoulis is ¿ssistant Professor of History at the University of Athens, Greece. His research focuses on the history of southeastern Europe during the Middle Ages. He is author of Byzantium and Bulgaria, 775-831 (winner of the 2013 John Bell Book Prize).

1. Introduction.- 2. The Reasons for the Rise of Balkan Banditry between the Ninth and the Fourteenth Centuries.- 3. The 'Sociology' of Balkan Banditry.- 4. The Bandit and his Community: 'Parasitical' Societies in the Medieval Balkans?.- 5. The State's Response to Banditry.- 6. Appendix: Inventory of References to Balkan Banditry in the Sources.