THE COLLAPSE OF ROMAN POWER IN THE WEST
| 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: map |
| 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)
Click here to see “Tollund Man,” an Iron Age body discovered in a Danish peat bog in the 1950s. (Tollund Man had been hanged, perhaps as a sacrifice.)
[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 defendants and 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
THURSDAY:
THE GERMANIC KINGDOMS
Videos:
Sutton Hoo ship burial (1:32 min.):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uxUMc_7K5wM
In Focus: Sutton Hoo (4:21 min.):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=np0pD1wW_Bo
The Franks (13:37 min.):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dXLyrmd34WI
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:
Click on the hot links below for photographs of some of Theodoric the Great’s buildings in Ravenna:
|
| 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 photograph of a votive crown of King Reccesuinth (d. 672) |
| 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
|
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 |
| 774 | Destroyed by Charlemagne the Frank |
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):
|
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; his tomb in Durham Cathedral survives), Ecclesiastical History of the English People, Chapter 15: The coming of the Anglo-Saxons to Britain
