5. Written Sources On The Slav Migration In The 6th And 7th Centuries In Western Illyricum And Dalmatia
This chapter discusses at length the written sources that are related to the Slav migrations to the western part of the Balkan Peninsula. There are three major groups of sources which should be taken into account when discussing the appearance of the earliest Croat identity. The first are the earliest sources that mention the appearance of the Slavs during the events of the 6th and the first part of the 7th century; the second are the sources which mention the appearance of the Slavs in the western parts of the Balkan Peninsula, and the last are late sources for the fall of Salona, the provincial capital of Dalmatia, including the treaty, De Administrando Imperio by the Byzantine emperor Constantine VII Porphyrogenitus, written in the mid-10th century, which is considered to be the only more-less credible primary source that historians use as evidence for the arrival of the Croats.Keywords: Balkan Peninsula; Croat identity; Dalmatia; De Administrando Imperio; Slav migrations; Western Illyricum