page_title: Vlachs in medieval Bosnia and Herzegovina
section_title: Culture
hierarchical_section_title: Vlachs in medieval Bosnia and Herzegovina / Culture
caption_attribution_description: English: Radimlja necropolis
context_page_description: Vlachs in Bosnia and Herzegovina are a Balkan population who descend from Romanized Illyrians and Thraco-Romans, and other pre-Slavic Romance-speaking peoples. They were semi-nomadic herdsmen, shepherds and farmers. They lived in tents or huts and traded livestock products. Vlach cheese was reputable because of its fat content and fetched high prices. With their caravans, Vlach carried out much of the traffic between inland and coastal cities such as Dubrovnik. Marko Vego argued that Vlach autochthony with Vlach settlements named after Vlach tribes, Vojnići and Hardomilje, are found near Roman forts and monuments. Bogumil Hrabak supported Vego's assertion that the Vlachs preceded both Turks and Bosnian Slavs in Zachlumia. Dominik Mandić argued that some Vlachs from Herzegovina migrated there from Thessaly, Epirus and Macedonia before the Ottoman invasion into Southern Europe. It is argued that some also arrived from the East during the Ottoman wars.
context_section_description: They lived in small villages called katun whose chieftain were titled katunar. Around them they placed guards: guard stations were called varde/vardišta. They were semi-nomadic herdsmen and shepherds, and who became agricultural when settled permanently. They lived in tents or primitive huts. They exported livestock products; animal skin, wool, cheese, butter and dried meat. Other exports included honey and wood. The Vlach cheese was reputable because of fat, and in 1325 sold one libra for 10 folars compared to other cheese that sold for 8 folars. In 1420 Vlach cheese was sold for 15 folars. With their caravans, led by kramar, mostly composed of horses numbering between 10–100, they conducted a large part of the trade between inland and coastal cities. Their military tradition and mobile lifestyle was used by the Bosnian lords and later by the Ottomans. These traits changed very little over the centuries.
  The emergence of the stećaks and their symbolism in Bosnia and Herzegovina by the scholars is often related to Vlachian communities.
caption: Vlach funerary monuments in Radimlja
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