Die Slaven im Mittelalter

Medieval sources and modern medieval scholars speak of “Slavs” in many ways. Just what did medieval contemporaries mean when they wrote about “Slavs” or the “Land of the Slavs” and how can we meaningfully define these terms today? This essay questions whether this term used in diverse sources actually referred to any real entity or, if instead, it already served during the Middle Ages as an instrument for political and ideological agendas.