Formation of barbarian kingdoms. State of the Franks
During the Great Migration of Peoples, the barbarian tribes did not have statehood. The emergence of states was due to the internal development of German society, as well as the adaptation of the Germans to the real conditions of infusion into the Roman Empire. The states created by the Germans were called barbarian kingdoms.
Definition 1
Barbarian kingdoms are state formations on the territory of the Western Roman Empire, created by barbarian peoples. The time of their occurrence is V century, i.e. the time of the collapse of the empire. A common feature of states: internal instability, the cause of which is not established rules for the transfer of power.
After the permission of the capital of the empire Ravenna to settle in a specific territory, the barbarian tribes received land. To manage it, to protect it became the duty of the tribe. The production was done by local people. Having become federates, the barbarians monopolized military affairs. local residents this state of affairs was fine. They perceived them as rulers, governors from the emperor, continuing to consider themselves Romans.
Barbarian kingdoms remained disparate tribal formations based on interpersonal and intertribal relations. The authority of power was based on the magical halo and personal qualities of the leader. In most cases, the barbarians did not seize power, but received it from the emperor. As a result, the empire was dismembered.
The invasion of the Huns interrupted the creation of barbarian states. There is a simultaneous division of tribes and their consolidation into multi-ethnic unions. The empire controls the settlement of tribal formations.
Existing barbarian kingdoms
First barbarian state became the Kingdom of the Visigoths, which arose in 418. The Visigoth king Valius signed an agreement with Honorius and received lands north of the Pyrenees to the Loire River. In 718 conquered by the Arabs.
In 429, the Vandals and Alans, ousted by the Visigoths from Iberia, crossed over to Africa and formed the Kingdom of the Vandals and Alans. By the mid-30s, the Vandals had conquered the entire Roman north of Africa, captured Carthage and made it their capital. In 534 Byzantium conquered the Kingdom of Carthage.
The Burgundians became federates in 413 and settled in Worms on the left bank of the Rhine. The Burgundian kingdom was formed. In 435, the invasion of the Huns devastated their lands and killed the king. The remaining Burgundians moved in 443 on the orders of Emperor Aetius to the banks of the Rhone River in Savoy. In 534 Burgundy became part of the Frankish state.
The leader of the Franks Clovis in 481 formed the Frankish kingdom and proclaimed himself king. For three centuries, a powerful state appeared in the center of Europe.
Remark 1
In 488, an agreement was concluded between the Ostrogothic king Theodoric and the emperor Flavius Zeno to fight the leader Odoacer. Having defeated the enemy, Theodoric created the Kingdom of the Ostrogoths and became the emperor's representative in Italy. In 555 Byzantium captured the Italian Kingdom of the Ostrogoths.
The Suevi settled in the northwest of the Iberian Peninsula. In 409 they created their own kingdom. In 585 they were subjugated by the Visigoths.
In 566, the Lombards completed the formation of a kingdom in Northern Italy. Gradually they populated the post throughout the Apennine Peninsula, Corsica and Istria. Charlemagne conquered them in 774.
In Britain in the 5th century, they strengthened Germanic tribes:
- English,
- Saxons
- Frisians,
- yuts.
In the 6th century, they created seven sovereign Anglo-Saxon states that sought to unite and created one kingdom.
Features of barbarian kingdoms
Each state had blurry, frequently changing borders. The capitals were also subject to relocation. Conflicts between the king and vassals ended in the death of the ruler.
Remark 2
Despite the formation of the state, communal relations persisted. This was expressed in holding public meetings, convening a military militia.
The Roman Empire had a great influence on the barbarian kingdoms. state system and Roman law. Officials, senior officials went through the management school in Rome.
The expansion of the Western Roman Empire contributed to the further migration of many-sided tribes from Asia and Central Europe, which began as early as the 2nd century. The great migration of peoples led to the formation of new states.
Causes of the Great Migration
The mass migration of numerous tribes to Western Europe had its own cause and effect :
- In IV, a sharp change in climate began.
Constant crop failures due to cooling forced people to look for a warmer climate. - Tribes with a common cultural and linguistic ethnos united in unions.
These alliances of tribes sought to capture new territories and prepared the basis for the emergence of their statehood. - Significant population growth, especially in Southern Europe, also contributed to the development of new lands.
Unions of eastern tribes, for example, the Proto-Slavs, gradually settled in the territory of South-Eastern and Central Europe.
As a result, the migration of peoples led to numerous clashes of tribal unions among themselves and the formation of barbarian kingdoms. All this served as the basis for the birth of a new political and religious system on the territory of the Western Roman Empire.
Rice. 1. Rider on horseback from Hornhausen. About 700 years.
Formation of the Frankish kingdom
The tribes of the Franks, whose name is first mentioned in the 3rd century, created a powerful alliance that included the Germanic tribes. The Franks constantly waged small local wars with the Western Roman Empire, gradually moving deeper into the territory of the once formidable state.
Rice. 2. Frankish warriors. 5th century
In the era of the formation of the Frankish kingdom, the bulk of its population were the Gallo-Romans and free Franks, lower in the hierarchical ladder were the litas, who were able to get out of the position of slaves, but remained dependent on the owners and slaves. There was no tribal nobility yet, however, the warriors grew rich quickly enough, who later became large landowners.
In the 5th century under the threat of invasion powerful army the Huns, who swept away everything in their path, the Franks united with the alliances of the Visigoths and Burgundians. In the bloody battle on the Cataluan fields in 451, the Huns were defeated. Thus, the first beginnings of the formation of the state of the Franks arose. The table below will briefly review important dates in the history of the Frankish kingdom:
TOP 4 articleswho read along with this
the date |
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Battle of the Cataulan Fields. |
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The union of Childeric and the leader of the Visigoths Odoar against the Alemanni. |
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The beginning of the reign of Clovis. |
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Battle of Soissons. |
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Baptism of Clovis. |
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Battle of Poitiers. |
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The beginning of internecine wars. |
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640-670 years |
Further collapse of the state of the Franks. |
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Beginning of the reign of Pepin of Herstal. |
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715-741 years |
Reign of Charles Martel |
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Battle of Poitiers. |
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741-768 years |
The reign of Pepin the Short. |
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768-814 years |
Reign of Charlemagne. |
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Signing of the Treaty of Verdun. |
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The Frankish kingdom was divided into regions, where the king appointed his deputies-counts. Therefore, the areas began to be called counties. The count could administer court, collect taxes and have a small detachment. Under Charlemagne, the activity of each governor of the region was strictly controlled. For this purpose, so-called “state envoys” were sent to all the counties of the king.
Rice. 3. Bust of Charlemagne. 15th century
What have we learned?
The history of the Middle Ages, briefly studied in the 6th grade, does not accidentally begin with the Great Migration of Nations. After the capture in the territories of the Western Roman Empire, the barbarians began to form their own states. Thus the Frankish kingdom was created. And the obsolete slave system was replaced by a new feudal era.
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In the ancient world, barbarians were those peoples who did not own Greek or Latin. barbarian tribes under the influence of certain circumstances, they settled the lands of Europe and began to form new medieval states.
The era of the great migration
The great migration of peoples and numerous wars that took place due to the split of the states that existed in Mass migrations led to the formation of barbarian kingdoms. barbarian peoples began in our era. The Roman Empire was attacked by the Germanic tribes. For a century, the Romans successfully repelled the attacks of the barbarians. The situation changed dramatically in 378 during the Battle of Adrianople between the Romans and the Goths. In this battle, the Roman Empire was defeated, thus showing the whole world that great empire is no longer invincible. Many historians believe that it was this battle that changed the balance of power in Europe and marked the beginning of the collapse of the empire.
The second stage of the resettlement, even more difficult for the Romans, was the invasion of the Asians. The fragmented Roman Empire could not endlessly hold back the massive attacks of the Huns. As a result of such difficult trials, in 476 the Western Roman Empire ceased to exist. The third stage is the migration of Slavic tribes from Asia and Siberia to the southeast.
In history, the formation of barbarian kingdoms takes a fairly long period of time. This era lasted five centuries, ending in the seventh century with the settlement of the Slavs in Byzantium.
Reasons for relocation
Significant natural and political factors led to the migration and the formation of barbarian kingdoms. Summary these factors are shown below:
1. One reason has been given by the historian Jordanes. The Scandinavian Goths, led by King Filimer, were forced to leave their lands due to overpopulation of the occupied territory.
2. The second reason was climatic. The sharp cooling was caused by a climatic pessimum. Humidity increased, air temperature decreased. It is quite clear that the northern peoples were the first to suffer from the cold. Agriculture was in decline, forests gave way to glaciers, transport routes became impassable, and mortality increased. In this regard, the inhabitants of the North migrated to warmer climes, which subsequently led to the formation of barbarian kingdoms in Europe.
3. At the beginning of the mass migration, an important role was played by human factor. The society organized itself, the tribes united or were at enmity with each other, tried to confirm their power and might. This led to a desire for conquest.
Huns
The Huns, or Huns, were called the steppe tribes that inhabited the northern part of Asia. The Huns formed a rather powerful state. Their eternal enemies were their Chinese neighbors. It was the confrontation between China and the Hunnic state that caused the construction of the Great Wall of China. In addition, it was with the movement of these tribes that the second stage of the migration of peoples began.
The Huns suffered a crushing defeat in the fight against China, which forced them to look for new places to live. The Huns' movement created a "domino effect". Having settled in new lands, the Huns forced out the natives, and they, in turn, were forced to look for a home in another place. The Huns, gradually spreading to the west, first drove out the Alans. Then they got in their way, which, unable to withstand the onslaught, divided into western and eastern Goths. Thus, by the fourth century the Huns came close to the walls of the Roman Empire.
At the end of the Roman Empire
In the fourth century, the great experienced not better times. To make the management of a huge state more constructive, the empire was divided into two parts:
- Eastern - with the capital Constantinople;
- Western - the capital remained in Rome.
Many tribes fled from the constant attacks of the Huns. The Visigoths (Western Goths) initially asked for asylum in the territory of the Roman Empire. However, the tribe later revolted. In 410, they captured Rome, causing significant damage to the western part of the country, and moved to the lands of Gaul.
The barbarians were so firmly established in the empire that even the Roman army for the most part consisted of them. And the leaders of the tribes were considered the governors of the emperor. One of these governors overthrew the emperor of the western part of the state and took his place. Formally the ruler western territories was the eastern emperor, but in fact the power belonged to the leaders of the barbarian tribes. In 476, the Western Roman Empire finally ceased to exist. This was the most important moment in the history of the formation of the barbarian kingdoms. Having briefly studied this piece of history, one can see a clear line between the creation of new states of the Middle Ages and the collapse of the ancient world.
Visigoths
At the end of the third century, the Visigoths were federates of the Romans. However, there were constant armed clashes between them. In 369, a peace treaty was signed, according to which the Roman Empire recognized the independence of the Visigoths, and the Danube began to separate them from the barbarians.
After the Huns attacked the tribe, the Visigoths asked the Romans for asylum, and they allocated the lands of Thrace for them. After many years of confrontation between the Romans and the Goths, the following relations developed: the Visigoths existed apart from the Roman Empire, did not obey its system, did not pay taxes, in return they significantly replenished the ranks of the Roman army.
Through a long struggle, every year the Visigoths got themselves more and more comfortable conditions for existence in the Empire. Naturally, this fact gave rise to discontent in the Roman ruling elite. Another aggravation of relations ended with the capture of Rome by the Visigoths in 410. Over the following years, the barbarians continued to act as federates. Their main goal was to capture maximum number the lands they received by fighting on the side of the Romans.
The date of formation of the barbarian kingdom of the Visigoths is 418, although over the next few years they remained federates of the Romans. The Visigoths occupied the territory of Aquitaine on the Iberian Peninsula. Theodoric the First, elected in 419, became the first king. The state existed for exactly three hundred years and became the first formation of barbarian kingdoms in history.
The Visigoths proclaimed their independence from the Empire only in 475 during the reign of Eirich, son of Theodoric. By the end of the fifth century, the territory of the state had increased six times.
Throughout their existence, the Visigoths fought against other barbarian kingdoms formed on the ruins of the Roman Empire. The most severe struggle developed with the Franks. In the confrontation with them, the Visigoths lost a significant part of their territories.
The conquest and destruction of the kingdom took place in 710, when the Visigoths could not withstand the onslaught of the Arabs in their quest to capture the Iberian Peninsula.
Vandals and Alans
The formation of the barbarian kingdom of the Vandals and Alans took place twenty years after the creation of the state by the Visigoths. The kingdom occupied a fairly large area in the north of the African continent. In the era of the great migration, the Vandals arrived from the Danube plains and settled in Gaul, and then they, together with the Alans, occupied Spain. They were ousted from the Iberian Peninsula by the Visigoths in 429.
Having occupied an impressive part of the African possessions of the Roman Empire, the Vandals and Alans had to constantly repel the attacks of the Romans, who wanted to return their own. However, the barbarians also raided the Empire and continued to conquer new lands in Africa. The Vandals were the only other barbarian peoples who had their own fleet. This greatly enhanced their ability to resist the Romans and other tribes encroaching on their territories.
In 533, the war with Byzantium began. It lasted almost a year and ended with the defeat of the barbarians. Thus, the Vandal Kingdom ceased to exist.
burgundy
The Burgundian kingdom occupied the left bank of the Rhine River. In 435 they were attacked by the Huns, killing their king and sacking their houses. The Burgundians had to leave their homes and move to the banks of the Rhone.
The Burgundians occupied the territory at the foot of the Alps, which currently belongs to France. The kingdom endured strife, pretenders to the throne brutally killed their opponents. Gundobad played the greatest role in uniting the kingdom. After killing his brothers and becoming the sole contender for the throne, he issued the first set of laws of Burgundy - the "Burgundian Truth".
The sixth century was marked by war between the Burgundians and the Franks. As a result of the confrontation, Burgundy was conquered and annexed to the state of the Franks. The formation of the barbarian kingdom of the Burgundians dates back to 413. Thus, the kingdom lasted a little over a hundred years.
Ostrogoths
The formation of the barbarian kingdom of the Ostrogoths began in 489. It lasted only sixty-six years. They were Roman federates and, being independent, maintained the imperial political system. The state occupied the territory of modern Sicily, Italy, Provence and the Pre-Alpine region, the capital was Ravenna. The kingdom was conquered by Byzantium in 555.
Franks
During the formation of the barbarian kingdoms, the kingdom of the Franks, having begun its history in the third century, became politically significant only in the thirties of the next century. Francia became the most significant and powerful among other states. The Franks were numerous and included several formations of barbarian kingdoms. The Kingdom of the Franks became united during the reign of King Clovis the First of the Merovingian dynasty, although later the state was divided among his sons. He was one of the few rulers who converted to Catholicism. He also managed to significantly expand the possessions of the state, defeating the Romans, Visigoths and Bretons. His sons annexed the lands of the Burgundians, Saxons, Frisians and Thuringians to Thrace.
By the end of the seventh century, the nobility had gained considerable power and effectively ruled Thrace. This led to the decline of the Merovingian dynasty. The beginning of the next century was marked by civil war. In 718, Charles from the Carolingian dynasty came to power. This ruler strengthened the position of Francia in Europe, which had greatly weakened during the internecine strife. The next ruler was his son Pepin, who laid the foundation for the modern Vatican.
By the end of the first millennium, Thrace was divided into three states: West Frankish, Middle and East Frankish.
Anglo-Saxons
The Anglo-Saxons settled in the British Isles. Heptarchy - this is the name of the period of formation of the barbarian kingdoms on the territory of Britain. There were seven states. They began to form in the sixth century.
The West Saxons formed Wessex, the South Saxons formed Sussex, the East Saxons formed Essex. The Angles formed East Anglia, Northumbria and Mercia. The Kingdom of Kent belonged to the Jutes. It was not until the ninth century that Wessex succeeded in uniting the inhabitants of the British Isles. New single state called England.
Resettlement of the Slavs
In the era of the formation of barbarian kingdoms, the resettlement of Slavic tribes also took place. The migration of the Proto-Slavs began a little later than the Germanic tribes. The Slavs occupied a vast territory from the Baltic to the Dnieper and to mediterranean sea. It should be noted that it was during this time period that the first mention of the Slavs appeared in historical chronicles.
Initially, the Slavs occupied the territory from the Baltic to the Carpathians. However, over time, their possessions expanded significantly. Until the fourth century, they were allies of the Germans, but then they began to fight on the side of the Huns. This was one of the decisive factors in the victory of the Huns over the Goths.
The movement of the Germanic tribes made it possible Slavic tribes occupy the territories of the lower Dniester and the middle Dnieper. Then they began to move towards the Danube and the Black Sea. Since the beginning of the sixth century, a series of raids by Slavic tribes into the Balkans has been noted. The Danube became the unofficial border of the Slavic lands.
Significance in world history
The consequences of the great migration of peoples are very ambiguous. On the one hand, some tribes ceased to exist. On the other hand, barbarian kingdoms were formed. States fought among themselves, but also cooperated and united in alliances. They exchanged skills and experience. These associations became the progenitors of modern European states, laying the foundations of statehood and legality. The main consequence of the formation of barbarian states was the end of the era of the Ancient World and the beginning of the Middle Ages.
At the Battle of Adrianople. Soon they settled in the north of the Balkan Peninsula, and then began to move towards Italy. In 410, they captured and plundered Rome, and in 418 they created their own state in the Marseille region, right on the territory of the Roman Empire. Later, the Visigoths extended their power to most Spain.
Visigothic kingdom became the first barbarian state, but soon other Germanic tribes began to create their own states on the territory of the Western Roman Empire.
In 439 arose Alano-Vandal Kingdom in North Africa, in 457, the Burgundians created their kingdom in the region of Lyon, and in the territory of the British Isles in the 40s. 5th century several Germanic kingdoms arose at once: Mercia, Northumbria and East Anglia were the kingdoms of the Angles, Wessex, Essex and Sussex were the kingdoms of the Saxons, and Kent was the kingdom of the Jutes. In fact, the Western Roman Empire ceased to exist. Officially, the end of its existence was put in 476, when, after the overthrow of the emperor Romulus Augustulus, the military leader Odoacer did not take the imperial title, and in the rank of consul began to rule only Italy, which he could still control. However, the power of Odoacer over Italy was short-lived. material from the site
In 493, the Ostrogoths, under the leadership of Theodoric, invaded the Apennine Peninsula and created the kingdom of the East Goths. A little earlier, in 486, the tribal union of the Franks under the leadership of Clovis defeated the troops of the Roman governor Siagrius and created his own state in Northern Gaul - kingdom of the Franks.
hallmark barbarian kingdoms was a synthesis of Roman and Germanic traditions. This process was inevitable, since the Germans in the territories subject to them were an insignificant minority. For example, in Gaul after its conquest by the Franks, no more than 150 thousand Germans and about 3-5 million Gallo-Romans lived.
Pictures (photos, drawings)
On this page, material on the topics:
THE GREAT MIGRATION OF PEOPLES.FORMATION OF THE BARBARIAN STATES
.
P L A N
Introduction
2. German stage
3. Hun stage
4. Formation of barbarian kingdoms.
5. Slavic stage of the great migrations.
Conclusion
Appendix (maps, schemes, tables, chronology of stages)
Literature
Introduction
Relevance of the topic lies in the fact that periods of great migrations in the history of civilization occur quite often and have a tremendous impact on the very state of culture, the development of statehood, the mentality of new communities and nations formed under the influence of migrations. In our time, we are experiencing the same period in terms of migration volume and we observe the problems associated with it in almost all developed countries of the world, incl. in Russia. Great Migration of Peoples 2-7 centuries. marked the end of an era ancient world and the beginning of medieval civilization. Seven Centuries of Migration Set Trends further development Europe, gave a powerful impetus to the birth of new peoples, new states, new languages, a new socio-psychological and spiritual atmosphere, morality and ethics.
These processes are reflected in almost all historical sources of the first millennium of our era that have come down to us. The most interesting are the works, references to which are presented in this abstract:
SOURCES (description of the history of the barbarian tribes):
Roman - Gaius Julius Caesar, Notes on the Gallic War, 1st c. BC.
Cornelius Tacitus, "History", "Annals", "Germany", 1st century AD.
Pliny, "Natural History", 1-2 centuries. AD
Josephus Flavius 1st - 2nd centuries AD (about early Christianity)
Salvian, 5 in. "On the Flight of the Romans to the Barbarians". Preacher and writer.
Severin Boethius, 5-6 centuries. Roman state. activist, adviser to the Gothic king
Theodoric the Great, great philosopher.
Ambrose of Milan, 4th century, history of the Huns.
Cassiodorus, 6c. "History Ready"
Germanic - Jordan, 6th century AD "On the Origin and History of the Goths". Ostrogothic
historian. Historian of the Huns.
Byzantine - Procopius of Caesarea, historian of the 6th century, "History of the wars of Justinian",
"Secret History".
- Frankish Bishop Gregory of Tours, 6th century, "History of the Franks".
Pavel Deacon, historian of the 8th century, "History of the Lombards".
Research methods: comparative analysis, causal relationships - the determination of events, ethnological relationships, graphical analysis and method information technologies- Presentation of the topic in Power Point.
1. The Great Migration of Nations and its ethnic space
With the barbarians, every Greek has been and will be in eternal war, for it is not something changeable and temporary, but an immutable law of nature that makes them harbor mutual enmity.
Titus Livy
The barbarism stirred up by a sudden turmoil poured out the whole North on you, Gaul. Behind the warlike round, accompanied by a gelon, is a ferocious gepid. Skyra prompts the burgundy. The Hun, the Belonoth, the Neur, the Bastarn, the Thuringian, the Bructer, and the Frank, who was washed by the Niker overgrown with reeds, invaded with their waves. Soon the Hercynian forest fell, cut down with an ax into canoes, and covered with Ren ships. And already the terrifying hordes of Attila have spread over your fields belg.
Sidonius Apollinaris
By the beginning of the Migration, the western and southern parts of the European continent were occupied by ancient civilization that existed within the state framework of the Roman Empire. In the Central and Eastern Europe lived, living in the pre-state system, Germanic, Slavic, Baltic, Finno-Ugric, Iranian, and other tribes. On the European continent, the Great Migration was marked by the movement of the Germans. Almost simultaneously with them, numerous nomadic tribes and tribal associations poured from Asia to Europe, causing significant movements among the local peoples. Many peoples, in search of new habitats and easy money, left their homes and “set off on those great and fabulous wanderings that marked the beginning of the formation of peoples in ancient and new Europe". The Roman Empire, torn apart by internal contradictions, became the object of aspirations of the barbarian tribes. At first it was the Germans, who were replaced by the Huns, and later the Avars and Slavs. During the Great Migration of Nations, the death of ancient civilization and the fall of the Roman Empire occurred. In its western part, "barbarian kingdoms" were formed, created by the Germans. In the east, the Byzantine Empire was formed, resigned to the loss of a significant part of its territory south of the Danube, occupied by the Slavs (and partly by the Turkic-speaking Bulgarians). The Germans and Slavs during the Migration settled in a vast territory from Britain, Gaul and Spain to the Gulf of Finland, the Upper Volga and the Don. A new medieval civilization. As a result of the mixing of the Latinized population of the former Roman provinces with the barbarians, the Romanesque peoples were formed. All this had a significant impact on the ethnic map of Europe: many peoples disappeared from the face of the earth. The political and ethnic map of Europe, which took shape after the Great Migration of Peoples, basically continues to exist to this day, because the history of Europe has no longer known ethno-political metamorphoses like the Great Migration of Peoples. A systematic study of the Great Migration of Nations allows us to define it as a special period historical development, when in a significant historical space (no longer Antiquity, but not yet the Middle Ages), limited by specific chronological frames (II-VII centuries) and a certain territory (Europe, Asia, Africa), the interaction of barbarism and civilization reached its most intense phase. The result of this interaction, as a consequence of the interpenetration and mutual destruction of the Roman and barbarian worlds, was the emergence of a new type of civilization.
Great Migration as a temporary "gap" between Antiquity and the Middle Ages is divided into three stages. First (II-IV centuries) - "Germanic", covers the time from the Marcomannic Wars to the Battle of Adrianople. Second (IV-V centuries) - "Hunnic", between the Battle of Adrianople and the Battle of the Catalaunian Fields. The third stage (VI-VII centuries) - "Slavic", is associated with the movement of Slavic tribes in Eastern, South-Eastern and Central Europe. Stages of resettlement differ in nature ethnic composition participants of the resettlement, the position of the migrating tribes, the main accents of confrontation and interaction, the direction of migrations and their results.
“The Great Migration of Peoples, as a systemic process of interaction between the Barbaricum and ancient civilization, formed a unique ethnic space. Ethnic space refers to the totality of tribes and peoples associated with a specific historical phenomenon and its image in history. The ethnic space created by the Great Migration was multi-layered. It is represented by Germanic, Alano-Sarmatian, Turkic, Slavic, Italic, Celtic, Reto-Etruscan, Iberian, Scythian, Sindo-Meotian, Thracian, Macedonian, Illyrian, Finno-Ugric, Caucasian, Median, Baltic, Greek, Asia Minor, Armenian, Semitic-Hamitic and African tribes. Among them, one can distinguish aboriginal and alien tribes, inert and dynamic, tribes and peoples that inhabited the lands of the Roman Empire, its provinces, and the tribes of the space outside Rome - Babraricum, as ancient authors call it - Barbaricum solum - this is primarily a space for the movement of barbarians , moreover, continuous movements, i.e. migration of barbarian tribes" 1
2. German stage of the Great Migration
Europe north of the Alps was occupied by three large groups populous tribes: Celts, Germans and Slavs. The Romans were the first to get acquainted with the Celts, with the tribes of the Gauls, who once even captured all of Rome, except for the Capitol. To the west of Gaul - on the other side of the Rhine - several centuries before the beginning of our era, numerous tribes of Germans who came from the north settled. Their ancient homeland is the northern and southern coasts of the Baltic Sea, the Baltic islands, two peninsulas - Scandinavian and Jutland. Their resettlement is associated with climate change in Europe. By the beginning of our era, the Germans already occupied the entire space between the rivers Rhine, Oder and Danube. Further than all the tribes of the Goths left. From the Baltic shores they reached the Azov and Black Sea steppes. There they subjugated the local population - the distant descendants of the people, who in ancient times were called Scythians. The tribes that are now considered the ancestors of the Eastern Slavs also submitted to the Goths. The Germans were very fond of hunting in their dense and game-rich forests. But they also knew agriculture well - they grew barley, millet, wheat, and flax. The greatest wealth of the Germans, however, was considered cattle - especially bulls, cows and, of course, horses. The Germans were not nomads - they lived in farms and small villages, built themselves wooden "long houses". “Long” because if livestock is wealth, then living quarters and stalls for animals must be combined in one house.
"Long house" of the ancient Germans. Reconstruction
One large family lived in each "long house". Several related families made up a genus. Several clans - a tribe Tribes sometimes united among themselves in large alliances, especially when it came to war with a common enemy. All adult men - members of the tribe - were equal among themselves. Each of them is a free person. The Germans have very few slaves, and their position is much easier than that of the Romans; the same applies to the semi-free. There were no rich and poor among the Germans. The tribe gave everyone enough land, but no one could sell it or give it to anyone. Important questions The tribe decided at a general meeting, a Thing, to which all members of the tribe came with weapons, listened to the elders and leaders, approved or rejected what they proposed. Criminals were judged at the Things, elders were elected. .
Throughout the epoch from the 4th to the 7th centuries. called the time of the Great Migration of Nations. Indeed, then dozens of tribes left the lands where they had lived for hundreds of years and set off to conquer new lands. The map of all Europe has changed beyond recognition. Waves of invasions wiped out the Western Roman Empire from it, in the place of which the kingdoms of the Germans arose. Great Rome collapsed and under its ruins - the whole ancient world. Europe entered the Middle Ages.
Map of Europe and the ways of migration of peoples
Beginning of the Great Migration of the Germanic Tribes
Jordan tells about the advance of the Goths to the south from the territory of southern Scandinavia in the 2nd century BC. BC e. Having crossed the Vistula, they reached the area that Jordan calls Oyum. similarity in description geographical features allows to localize this land in a part of the Belarusian Polissya. The Ostrogoths, dissociating themselves from the main part of the Goths, having settled in the 3rd c. n. e. in the Black Sea steppes, between the Dnieper and the Don, partly in the Crimea, they create in the 4th century. n. e. a powerful tribal union, headed by Germanarich, which lasted until 376, the time of the Hun raids that destroyed it.
In the III century. Germanic tribes continually broke through the fortified border of the Roman Empire. With incredible efforts, the Roman troops managed to drive the barbarians back. And although part of the border lands had to be abandoned, the empire held on. The real catastrophe began with the appearance in Europe of the nomadic tribes of the Huns. For unknown reasons, they left the Asian steppes near the borders of distant China and moved on a thousand-kilometer path to the West. In 375, the Huns attacked the German tribes of the Goths, who by that time lived in the northern Black Sea region outside the Roman Empire. The Goths were excellent warriors, but the hordes of the Huns soon broke their resistance. One part of the Goths - the Ostrogoths - submitted to the Huns. The other - the Visigoths - with all their people retreated to the Roman borders, hoping, at least at the price of subjugation to Rome, to be saved from an unheard-of enemy that appeared from the endless expanses of Asia.
The Romans let the Goths pass, but they gave little land near the border for the settlement of the tribe, besides, it was nasty - there was not enough food for everyone. Roman officials supplied food poorly, mocked the Goths, interfered in their affairs. The patience of the Visigoths soon came to an end. Tormented by suffering last year, they rebelled as one against the empire and with the determination of despair went to Constantinople - the eastern capital of the empire. AT 378 near the city of Adrianople the Visigoth tribes were met by the best Roman army, led by the emperor Valens himself. The Goths rushed into battle with the readiness of everyone to die in battle or win - they had nowhere to retreat. After a few hours of a terrible battle, the beautiful Roman army ceased to exist, and the emperor died.
From the Battle of Adrianople, the empire was never able to recover. There were no real Roman armies anymore. In the coming battles, the empire was defended by mercenaries, most often the same Germans.
Visigoths in 408, led by the leader Alaric, approached the very walls of Rome. It was beyond the power of Alaric to take the powerful fortifications of Rome - and he began a long siege of the city. When the Romans, exhausted by the siege, decided to find out under what conditions they could surrender, Alaric demanded that all gold, all valuables and all barbarian slaves be given to him. “What then will be left for the Romans?” the townspeople asked indignantly. "Life," Alaric replied coldly.
At that time, the Visigoths and the Romans managed to agree, and Alaric lifted the siege. True, in order to satisfy the barbarians, the Romans had to melt down many silver and gold statues, including the sculpture depicting Valor. Indeed, Roman prowess was already in the past.
This became finally clear only two years later, when Alaric again laid siege to Rome. Now the Romans failed to repulse the Visigoths, nor to buy them off...
Procopius of Caesarea (VI century) wrote about the capture of Rome by the Goths in 410: “ From his warriors he chose three hundred men, still beardless young men, who stood out for their nobility and courage, exceeding their age, and secretly told them that he intended to give them to some noble Romans. He ordered them to behave with the Romans very modestly and virtuously and diligently to do everything that their masters commanded them, and after some time, at a predetermined time, at noon, when their masters, as usual, plunged into an afternoon sleep, they all must they will rush to those city gates that are called Salariy (that is, Salt), and, suddenly attacking the guard, destroy it and quickly dissolve the gate ... The barbarians burned the buildings that were near the gate, including the palace of Sallust, an ancient Roman historian . Most of this palace, half-burnt, still existed in my time.
The barbarians robbed the whole city, killed most of the population and set off farther". Then the Visigoths moved to Spain, where they created their own kingdom.