Introduction: Germanic Confederations

The Migration Period (ca. 300 to 800 AD) or Great Migration, is called so due to the large-scale migrations that took place during this period. In this period, the Western Roman Empire fell. Various tribes settled in the former Roman territories, and new post-Roman kingdoms were established.

The Germanic peoples such as the Burgundians, Vandals, Goths and Alemanni played an important role, alongside the various nomadic peoples like the Alans, Huns, Pannonian Avars, Bulgars, and Magyars and the early Slavs.

Migration is just one cause of the Migration Period. This turbulent period was caused by a sequence of different situations. 

Read more about the Migration Period here.

During the Migration Period, the Germanic peoples consisted of dozens of smaller tribes. These tribes, like the nomadic tribes of the steppe, regularly formed confederations and alliances, which eventually fell apart again. In this blog, we introduce you to various Germanic confederations involved in the Migration Period. 

The Goths were a Germanic people who played a significant role in the fall of the Western Roman Empire and the rise of medieval Europe. In the 3rd century, they lived north of the Danube and invaded Roman territory. They are associated with the Chernyakhov culture, which flourished in the 3rd and 4th centuries.

According to historian Jordanes, the Goths came from Scandinavia and migrated under King Berig to the Vistula estuary. DNA research confirms their Scandinavian origin. From the 2nd century, they migrated to the Black Sea and displaced the Przeworsk culture, leading to tensions and recruitment in the Roman army.

In the 3rd century, the Goths plundered cities such as Byzantium and Athens. Emperor Claudius II defeated them in 269 at Naissus. This temporarily strengthened Rome.

By the end of the 3rd century, the Goths split into the Thervingi and Greuthungi. Under King Ermanaric, they conquered a large empire from the Baltic Sea to the Urals.

In the 4th century, the Gothic territories were invaded by the Alans and Huns. Many Goths fled to the Roman border, while the territory of the Greuthungi was incorporated into the Hunnic Empire.

The Goths who escaped the Huns settled in the Roman Empire, but were treated poorly. They were foederati, allies of the Roman army. In 378, they revolted and defeated Rome at the Battle of Adrianople. In 395, Alaric led another uprising, leading to a long period of unrest.

Genetic research shows that the Goths intermingled with Northern Europeans, steppe peoples, and Balkan populations during migrations.

In the 5th century, the Western Roman Empire collapsed, partly due to foederati. The Visigoths established a kingdom in Spain with Toledo as the capital. The Ostrogoths, under Theodoric the Great, established a kingdom in Italy with Ravenna as the center.

The Franks was a collective name for the Germanic tribes above the Rhine. They were neighbors of the Roman Empire, their territory was adjacent to the province of Germania Inferior (roughly parts of present-day Netherlands, Belgium, and the Rhineland). As such, they were heavily influenced by Roman culture. Many Franks served as soldiers in the Roman army and reached high ranks.

In the 5th century, many Franks already lived within the Roman Empire. 

After the collapse of Roman power around 406, the Franks tried to defend the border, but this failed. King Chlodio then began to rule over areas south of Germania Inferior. In 451, the Franks fought in the Battle of the Catalaunian Plains against Attila the Hun.

Clovis I united the Frankish kingdoms in the early 6th century and founded the Merovingian dynasty, establishing the first Frankish empire. The Carolingian dynasty, which succeeded the Merovingians, expanded the empire further. In 800, Charlemagne was crowned Emperor of Western Europe.

The Anglo-Saxons were a Germanic people who lived in Great Britain from the 5th century AD and had a significant influence on early English culture. They spoke Old English, and their period lasted from circa 450 to 1066, when the Norman Conquest took place.

By the 8th century, a common identity, "Englisc," emerged through interaction between Germanic settlers and the Romano-British culture. By around 1066, the majority of the population spoke Old English.

The Viking and Norman invasions transformed England, but the Anglo-Saxon identity remained influential on the medieval kingdom and the Middle English language. Although only 26% of modern English words come from Old English, these are mainly everyday words.

The Frisii were a Germanic people who lived between the delta of the Rhine, Meuse, Scheldt, and the river Ems. In the 1st century BC, they came under Roman influence but retained some independence. They provided mercenaries for the Roman army, and traders settled in their region. Around 296 AD, they were forced to live as laeti.

The Frisii often confronted the Romans, such as in 28 AD, when they resisted taxation. In 47 AD, they were forced to relocate by the Romans. They participated in the Batavian Revolt of 69 AD, but after defeats, they cooperated with Rome.

Due to natural disasters, piracy, and a deteriorating climate, the population of Frisia declined. By the 5th century, the area was almost deserted, with some survivors in the marshes of Groningen. New settlers, including Saxons, later established themselves and became the ancestors of the medieval Frisians.

The Frisiavones, possibly a related group of the Frisii, are mentioned by Pliny the Elder and in inscriptions found in Great Britain. However, the question of whether the Frisiavones were actually the Frisii remains disputed.

The Thuringians are first mentioned by Vegetius in the early 5th century. Their kingdom may have been influenced by the Angles and Varini. Tacitus described them as a Suebi tribe. They were involved in Attila’s invasion of Gaul and were often led by Odoacer, who later became king of Italy. 

The Thuringian realm was established at the end of the 5th century and reached its peak in the 6th century, before being conquered by the Franks in 531–532. After their conquest, they were under Frankish rule, but they regained their independence in the late 7th century.

In the 8th century, they were again subjected to the Franks. The Thuringians still maintained a distinct identity, and their laws were codified as the Lex Thuringorum. 

In 406, the Vandals crossed the Rhine into Gaul and settled in Iberia. Under King Genseric, they conquered North Africa in 429, including the Roman province of Africa and islands in the Mediterranean. They captured Rome in 455, but their kingdom fell in 533–534 during the Vandalic War, in which Emperor Justinian reconquered the province.

The Vandals, originating from the Przeworsk culture, spoke a Germanic language, Vandalic. They were often associated with destruction, but some historians emphasize their role in preserving Roman culture. After the death of Genseric in 477, their kingdom began to weaken, with internal conflicts and fluctuating policies. The Vandal Kingdom ended in 534 with the Byzantine conquest.

After the conquest, the Vandals were brought to Constantinople, where they were integrated into the Byzantine army and disappeared as an ethnic group. Some Vandals settled in North Africa, Spain, or joined other Gothic kingdoms. In 546, a Vandal dux, Guntarith, led a revolt, but he was killed shortly thereafter by the Byzantines.

The Alemanni were a confederation of Germanic tribes along the upper Rhine. In 260, they conquered Agri Decumates (modern-day Alsace and northern Switzerland). They were defeated by Clovis in 496 and incorporated into his kingdom. Slowly, they converted to Christianity and came under Frankish influence.

The Alemanni were regularly in conflict with Rome, with incursions into Gaul and Northern Italy. They settled in 406 in the area of modern-day Alsace and Switzerland. Their kingdom lasted until 496, when they were defeated by Clovis. In 843, Alemanni became a province of Louis the German. The Alemannic German is still spoken in the region.

Alemanni lost its political identity in the early eighth century when it was incorporated into the Frankish empire by Charles Martel. The Alemanni had a political system of territorial units, the "pagi," which later formed larger units. There were two main kings in 357.

The Jutes were a Germanic tribe that settled in Great Britain after the departure of the Romans. They lived in Kent, the Isle of Wight, and parts of South Hampshire. There is debate about their origin; one theory is that they came from Jutland and migrated to southern Britain via the Frisian coast. They used iron fastenings for their ships, which strengthened their seafaring vessels.

The Jutes probably settled first in Kent and expanded to Wight and South Hampshire. In 676, Kent was invaded by the Mercians, followed by conquests by the West Saxons under Cædwalla, who also conquered the Isle of Wight. After these invasions, the Jutes lost their independence.

The kingdom of Kent, founded around the 5th century, was influenced by Roman and Frankish cultures. The Jutes had their own culture, with jewelry influenced by the North Sea and the Rhineland. In 580, the Christian Frankish princess Bertha arrived, leading to the conversion of Kent. By 686, the Isle of Wight was the last area of Great Britain to be converted.

The Jutes used gavelkind, an inheritance practice that persisted in Kent until 1925. There is evidence that the Jutes originally came from Jutland, such as references to the Geats in ancient sources. The runic script, brought to Great Britain by the Jutes, eventually evolved into the Old English Latin alphabet.

Linguistic research suggests that the Kentish dialect, spoken in parts of Great Britain, showed similarities with Frisian, raising questions about the influence of Jutish and Frisian on the language.

The Suebi were a Germanic tribe originally dwelling by the Danube and later migrating to the Middle Danube. They lived nomadically, based on livestock farming and hunting, and consisted of various tribes, including the Chatti and Hermunduri. The name "Suebi" was often used as a general term for Germanic peoples.

In the 5th and 6th centuries, some Suebian groups settled in Italy. After the defeat of Varus in 9 AD, Germanicus became involved in conflicts with the Suebi, leading to the deposition of their king, Maroboduus. In the 2nd century, the Suebi formed the Alemanni, who settled in the border region of the Roman Empire.

In 416, the Suebi settled in Hispania, where they established their kingdom. They gradually converted to Christianity, with King Reccared I leading the official conversion in 589.

The Suebi are also mentioned in Norse mythology, where they are associated with Valkyries and mythical kingdoms.

The Kingdom of the Lombards was founded in the second half of the 6th century by the Lombards, a Germanic tribe, on the Italian peninsula. The king was chosen by the dukes, as attempts to establish a hereditary dynasty failed. The kingdom was divided into duchies, with Pavia as the capital. The Byzantines resisted the Lombard invasion, and the kingdom was divided into Langobardia Maior and Langobardia Minor, with the southern duchies being more autonomous than the northern ones.

The Lombards adopted Roman traditions and converted to Catholicism by the end of the 7th century, which facilitated their integration. However, conflict with the pope persisted, leading to their downfall after the Frankish conquest in 774. Charlemagne assumed the title "King of the Lombards," but the kingdom continued to exist in smaller regionss as part of the Holy Roman Empire.

The Lombards introduced the Edictum Rothari, and signet rings became an important symbol of the kingdom. After the murder of King Cleph in 574, dukes ruled the region’s, and the kingdom was divided. The economic system was adjusted, and the Lombard kings gave themselves the title "King of all Italy." Under King Agilulf and his wife Theodelinda, art and religion flourished, and Theodelinda founded important monasteries.

Liutprand, the last Lombard king of a united kingdom, expanded his power, implemented legislative reforms, and improved the administrative structure. After the Frankish conquest, only the South Lombard kingdom remained.