Prof. Martha Carlin
 

                                                                Week 3: TUESDAY
 

beg. in 3rd C.     Roman aristocrats increasingly shun cities and urban officeholding and retreat to rural
                            villas with private armies; aristocracy and power shift from urban-centered to
                            rural-centered; by 5th century, towns in decline in the West

c. 375-600        Germanic migrations/invasions into Western Europe

            391        Theodosius I makes Christianity the Roman state religion

            395        Death of Theodosius I; empire divided between his two sons

            410        Visigoths sack Rome

        d. 419        St. Jerome (Vulgate Bible)

        d. 430        St. Augustine of Hippo (City of God; Confessions)

            452        Attila and Huns threaten Rome; Pope Leo I persuades them to leave

            455        Vandals sack Rome

            476        Odovacar deposes Western Emperor Romulus Augustulus; = end of Western Empire

        452-511     Clovis establishes Merovingian dynasty of Franks

        493-526      Theodoric the Great, king of the Ostrogoths, defeats Odovacer and establishes
                            Ostrogothic kingdom in N. Italy
 

Important source for our knowledge of the early Germanic tribes: Tacitus, Germania (AD 98)

[Note: References to "corn" in Tacitus and in other ancient or medieval texts mean "grain", not  maize
(sweet corn).  Maize is a New World crop, and was unknown in Europe before  the 16th century.]
 

            Features of early Germanic culture include:

                        No writing
                        No cities
                        Importance of kinship ties
                        Warfare and blood-feuds common; personal feuds could be settled by
                            payment of wergild ("man-price") to victim or victim's kin
                        In legal disputes, guilt or innocence was established through divine judgment by two methods:
                            compurgation (a declaration of innocence by high-ranking defendantsand their oath-helpers)
                            ordeal (a physical test, used for low-ranking defendants)
                        Importance of gift-giving and loyalty between war-leader and his warriors
                        Elective element in selection of king

                                                                     THE GERMANIC KINGDOMS
 

Some important Germanic tribes and their activities:

HUNS

c. 375                Destroy Gothic kingdom in S. Russia

441-453            Attila attacks Roman Empire (threatens Rome, 452)

476-493            Odovacar deposes last W. Emperor; uses Ravenna as capital; is killed
                            by Theodoric the Ostrogoth

OSTROGOTHS

375-379            Flee Huns; settle in Pannonia  (N. Yugoslavia, now Slovenia and Bosnia)

493-526            Theodoric the Great establishes kingdom in N. Italy, with capital at Ravenna;
                              Arian Ostrogoths segregated from orthodox Italians.

                              Important sources, by senior officials of Theodoric's court:
                                Boethius, Consolation of Philosophy
                               Cassiodorus, royal correspondence and History of the Goths

                            Click on the hot links below for photographs of some of Theodoric the Great's buildings in Ravenna:
                              Map of Italy showing Ravenna
                              Some surviving Arian and Orthodox mosaics in Ravenna
                              Theodoric's tomb

533-553            Gothic War: Ostrogothic kingdom destroyed by Byzantines (E. Romans)
 

VISIGOTHS

375-378            Flee Huns; move westward into Roman Empire

410                    Sack Rome (under Alaric)

early 5th C.        Establish kingdom in S. France

later 5th C.        Important source:  letters of Sidonius Apollinaris (c. 431-489)

late 5th C.          Pushed out by Clovis the Frank; establish new kingdom in Spain; convert from
                            Arianism to orthodox Christianity

                            Click here for photographs of  Gothic artifacts 

711                    Visigothic kingdom in Spain destroyed by Arabs
 

VANDALS

early 5th C.        Cross Rhine River, Gaul (France), and Spain, and establish kingdom in N. Africa
                            with capital at Carthage

455                    Sack Rome (under Geiseric)

534-5                N. African Vandal kingdom destroyed by Byzantines (E. Romans)
 

BURGUNDIANS

448                    Establish kingdom near French Alps

516                    Convert to orthodox Christianity

534                    Burgundian kingdom destroyed by Franks

FRANKS

5th C.                Move into Gaul (France)

482-511            Clovis (Chlodovech) establishes Merovingian royal dynasty (named for his
                            grandfather, Merovech), which lasts until 750s; converts from paganism
                            to orthodoxy Christianity; capital = Paris

late 6th C.           Important source: Gregory, bishop of Tours, History of the Franks

                           Click here for photographs of  Frankish art and artifacts  and for the grave of Queen Arnegundis
                             (d. c. 570), jewelry from the grave of Queen Arnegundis, and
                            linen chasuble (?or smock) from grave of Queen Bathildis (d. 680)

LOMBARDS

568                    Establish kingdom in N. Italy (after destruction of Ostrogoths by Byzantines)

by mid 7th C.     Convert to orthodox Christianity

751                    Capture Ravenna from Byzantines

ANGLES, SAXONS, AND JUTES

c. 410                Roman army leaves Britain

c. 450-525        Angles, Saxons, and Jutes invade Britain

by 590s              Former Roman province of Britannia is known as England ("Angle-land")

                            Click here for some photographs of the excavation at Sutton Hoo (1939):
                                       Remains of buried ship
                                       The excavation and some of the finds
 

Some important primary sources for the Germanic invasions and migrations include:

  Gregory, bishop of Tours (d. 594), History of the Franks: on Clovis, king of the Franks (d. 511)

  Theodoric, king of the Ostrogoths (d. 526): correspondence (written by his secretary, Cassiodorus)

  The Venerable Bede (d. 735), Ecclesiastical History of the English People, Chapter 15:
        The coming of the Anglo-Saxons to Britain