What is "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 (r. 1259–1261), 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.