ABSTRACT
Was there an actual bond of feudal dependency between the Byzantine Emperor and Westerners living in the Empire? Or did the Byzantines consider Westerners to be barbarians? This chapter explores how and why these questions were formulated (and answered) in the late Byzantine period, in the writings of Byzantine historians and other scholars, as well as in state documents. The usage of the relative terminology, mainly represented by the words λίζιος and βάρβαρος, is quite revealing as to the issue of the integration of Westerners in the social and economic life of the empire.
