The Barbarian Migration

Wulfila, Goths, Visigoths, Ostrogoths, Vandals, Lombards, Angles, Saxons, the Huns, the battle of Adrianople, the battle of Catalaunian fields, Attila, Stilicho, Odoacer Describe the Germanic society in terms of organization, religion, the way of living. - basic social unit = FOLK (the tribe) - they believed to have one common ancestor. The tribes were led by kings/tribal chieftains, which were supported by comitatus (war band - the bravest young men of the tribe, loyal to the chief in all matters) - 6th century: the warrior nobles started to acquire more and more land to gain prestige and power, which resulted in the land being inequally split in the hands of small yet powerful groups => social inequities emerged and the early form of Eu. noble class was formed - Law = custom; kept by oral tradition, as there was no need for written law till the Arian Christianization, when the Salic Law was written down (focus on prevention of violence; they didnt recognize anything abstract). All crimes were considered to be crimes directly against a certain person. Every person had a particular monetary value to the tribe (wergeld). If a crime was commited, wergeld had to be paid. Individuals greatly depended on their kin. - Religion: at first, paganism; in the 4th century, a Gothic bishop Wulfila translated the Bible into Gothic and transformed the Germanic tribes into Arian Christianity (not orthodox Christianity, they were considered heretics by the Church) - men were responsible for agriculture, warfare and raising cattle (the indicator of social status); adapted ironworking (made quality war instruments); patriarchy, polygamy - women were regarded as family property, did the heavy work with crops (made flour and even beer :) ). Though they were protected by the law (men couldnt even press their hand), injuries, rape and abduction were common. However, there were also women who gained significant positions: Fredegunda was a queen who maintained her position after her husbands death; a slave Balthilda married Clovis II. and worked to alleviate the evils of slavery - gift giving custom: showed the higher social status of the giver, expressed friendship and put the receiver into debt to the giver - if they couldnt produce something themselves, they acquired it through raid/plunder LAETI = refugees, war prisoners, who settled in Italy under Roman supervision but were isolated from the Romans. They farmed the regions depopulated by plague and the men served in the army FOEDERATI = free Barbarian units who settled near Ro. provincial cities; rather than giving them land, the Romans made them pay taxes. They quickly assimilated into higher circles (aristocracy)
What were the main Germanic tribes? Where part of Europe did they originally inhabit?

* GOTHS: origin from (todays) NE Poland, S Sweden -> in the 2nd century, they migrated to the SE Europe (area of Danube/Dneper) and split into 2 tribes: ** VISIGOTHS: settled around the mouth of Danube **OSTROGOTHS: settled around the Black Sea * VANDALS: Scandinavia -> Baltic Sea, Oder/Visla (not sure!) * LOMBARDS: Scandinavia * ANGLES: Schleswig-Holstein - N Germany, S Jutland (Denmark)

SAXONS JUTES * FRANKS: North Sea, Rhineland

What caused the migration of the Germanic tribes?

The historians opinions on the cause of the Germanic Migration still vary, as there are many possible options and speculations: * overpopulation - the tribes grew so big in amount that they started to lack resources and soil for agriculture, therefore they had to move to other areas to find new places to live * the Roman Empire frontier in the south offered them work opportunities; the Romans needed service in the army and workers around their camps and paid the Barbarians * tribal wars: perhaps the victorious tribes forced the defeated to move southwards * climate change * the HUN invasion: a nomadic tribe from the east of Volga (Asia) migrated into Europe around 370 AD. They were a very feared, voracious warriors; they ate raw meat, covered their faces with animal blood and scars (on purpose) and considered water so sacred that they never washed. Their leader was Attila (5th century) - one of the most feared enemies of the W and E Roman Empire; during his reign the Huns plundered the Balkan, attempted to conquer Constantinople, Rome and Gaul, until being defeated in the Battle of Catalainian Fields in 451 AD.
Explain the migration routes of these tribes: Visigoths, Ostrogoths, Vandals, Lombards, Angles, Saxons, and Jutes.

ViSIGOTHS: Lower Danube > Gaul (Toulouse) > Spain OSTROGOTHS: Black Sea /Huns/ > Balkan > Pannonia > Italy (Ravenna), Sicily, Dalmatia VANDALS: Pannonia > Rhineland > Gaul > Spain > N Africa (Carthage) >>Italy, Sicily (attacks) LOMBARDS: Scandinavia > Pannonia > Italy + Sicily ANGLES+SAXONS+JUTES: Jutland, N Germany > Britain FRANKS: Rhineland > NW Gaul (todays Belgium) > Paris > Pyrenees
Describe the Germanic kingdoms that were established in terms o geographical location and period of their existence.

After the arrival of the Huns in 376 AD, entire Germanic peoples ( gentes) entered the RE in large numbers => Rome treated them really harshly and enslaved them, so soon a rebellion broke out: in the Battle of Adrianople (9. AUG 378) the Barbarians crushed the Roman army and massive Germanic expansions followed until cca 600 AD accompanied by founding of numerous Germanic kingdoms in the conquered areas. However, they werent very long-lasting nor stable, as they had no clear boundaries set. *Visigoths -TOLOSIAN kdm. (419-507) in Gaul -SPAIN (507-711) weak domination, conquered by Muslims, struggles between the king and the nobility *Ostrogoths - ITALY (493-553) > THEODERIC THE GREAT defeated Odoacer (a king who deposed Romulus Augustus and leader of Germanic foederati - king of the army) and conquered Ravenna. He also segregated the Romans and the Goths and held close relations with the emperor at Constantinople. * Vandals - N AFRICA (429-534): Carthage! They were the 1st Germanic state in W Roman territory, had a massive fleet with which they soon seized domination in the Mediterranean which resulted in the seizure of Rome in 455. As their name might evoke, they did NOT rob, raid and destroy, but systematically plundered

* Burgundians - a kingdom around lake Geneva, Rhne, Sane (443-534) * Lombards - Sicily+Italy (568-774) * Franks - NW Gaul => king CLOVIS: converted to orthodox Catholicism in 496 (no more Arian Christianity), because his wife, a Burgundian Clothilde, was a Catholic. He conquered the Visigoths and expanded his reign over the area of modern France, therefore he is considered to be the founder of France and Merovingian dynasty *** Britain: Celts > Romans > Germans (Angles, Saxons, Jutes)