Gasmouloi The Gasmouloi ( ) or Vasmouloi ( Greek : ) were the descendants of mixed Byzantine Greek and " Latin " ( West European , most often Italian ) unions during the last centuries of the Byzantine Empire . As the " Gasmouloi " were enrolled as marines in the Byzantine navy by Emperor Michael VIII Palaiologos , the term eventually lost its ethnic connotations and came to be applied generally to those owing a military service from the early 14th century on . History . Following the Fourth Crusade , mixed unions between Greeks and Latins occurred to a very limited extent when the Latin Empire and the other Western principalities were established on Byzantine soil . The term " gasmoulos " itself is of unknown etymology and first appeared in the second half of the 13th century . It is , however , not unlikely that it has some relation with the Latin word " mulus " , " mule " . Although it was generally used to refer to children of these mixed unions , it more specifically designated the children of a Byzantine woman and a Latin ( often Venetian ) father . The " Gasmouloi " were socially ostracized and distrusted by both the Byzantines and the Latins , who distrusted their ambiguous identity . In the words of a French treatise of ca . 1330 , " They present themselves as Greeks to Greeks and Latins to Latins , being all things to everyone . . . " . In a treaty signed in 1277 between Michael VIII and the Venetians , the Gasmouloi of Venetian heritage were considered as Venetian citizens , but in subsequent decades , many reverted to a Byzantine allegiance . As some of their descendants in turn wished to reclaim their Venetian citizenship , the issue of the " Gasmouloi " would plague Byzantine - Venetian relations until the 1320s . After the recovery of Constantinople by the forces of Michael VIII in 1261 , the " Gasmouloi " were hired by the Emperor as mercenaries . Together with men from Laconia , they served as lightly armed marine infantry in Michael ' s effort to re - establish a strong " national " Byzantine navy . The " Gasmoulikon " corps played a prominent role in the Byzantine campaigns to recover the islands of the Aegean Sea in the 1260s and 1270s , but after Michael VIII ' s death , his successor , Andronikos II Palaiologos , largely disbanded the navy in 1285 . Denied of any remuneration by the Emperor and out of work , some " Gasmouloi " remained in imperial service , but many others sought employment in the Latin and Turkish fleets , as hired bodyguards for magnates , or turned to piracy . By the early 14th century , the notion of " gasmoulikē douleia " ( " service as a " gasmoulos " " ) had lost its specific ethnic connotations , and gradually came to refer to any service as a lightly armed soldier , both on sea and on land . In this capacity , " Gasmouloi " served the Byzantines and Ottomans in the 14th century , and the Latin principalities of the Aegean ( where the " servitio et tenimento vasmulia " was hereditary ) in the 15th and 16th centuries . The Byzantine navy , such as it was during the empire ' s last century , continued to use their services . The " Gasmouloi " played a role in the Byzantine civil war of 1341 – 1347 , fiercely supporting their commander , the " megas doux " Alexios Apokaukos , against John VI Kantakouzenos . After the latter ' s victory , many of the " Gasmouloi " of Constantinople must have been dismissed . Those of Kallipoli eventually joined the Ottoman Turks , providing the crews for the first Ottoman fleets .