History I’ve just learned “Slav” stems from “slave”

[Tsar]

Apparently, it’s from the old Greek word sklabos, and is linked to how the Slavs got nabbed and sold off en masse back in the medieval era. I find it odd why the Slavic people have such a long-winded history of being enslaved and sold off to other countries. Any guesses?

 

[Dremora]

I think it's because most slavs were still pagan back in the early medieval era and Christians specifically targeted them for slavery due to that. Christians were not allowed to enslave each other but pagans would be considered fair game, mostly. So pagans from eastern and northern europe were targeted the most.

 

[Weebhunter3000]

I think it's because most slavs were still pagan back in the early medieval era and Christians specifically targeted them for slavery due to that. Christians were not allowed to enslave each other but pagans would be considered fair game, mostly. So pagans from eastern and northern europe were targeted the most.

Makes sense. Now how do we explain why they enslaved their own people multiple times.

 

[Seraphim]

Slavic tribes were more susceptible to exploitation by neighboring empires due to living in harsh environments where farming was difficult. So the general population was rather fractured and often pitted against one another.

 

[Itransheartblox]

Makes sense. Now how do we explain why they enslaved their own people multiple times.

Friendly fire was on

 

[MadeAccountAward]

Christians were not allowed to enslave each other but pagans would be considered fair game

That's very kosher

 

[Spas]

It's the other way around, slaves were often referred to by their ethnicity and since vast majority of slaves were pagan, and pagans were mostly slavs at the time (territory of today's poland I believe) the term "slave" was coined.