Germanic tribe

Sajun.org

==Introduction== The term '''Germanic peoples''' or '''Germanic tribes''' applies to the ancient Germanic peoples of Europe. The concept of "Germanic" as a distinct ethnic identity was hinted at by the early geographer Strabo [1], who distinguished a barbarian group in northern Europe similar to, but not part of, the Celts. Posidonius, to our knowledge, is the first to have used the name, the second Julius Caesar in his work on The Gallic Wars (''De bello Gallico''). The Germanic tribes spoke mutually intelligible dialects and shared a common mythology (see Norse Mythology) and story telling as testified by for instance Beowulf and the Volsunga saga. The existence of a common identity is testified by the fact that they had a name for non-Germanic peoples, ''Walha,'' from which the local names Welsh, Wallis, Walloon, and Wallachia have been derived. In the absence of large-scale political unification, such as that imposed forcibly by the Romans upon the peoples of Italy, the various tribes remained free, led by their own hereditary or chosen leaders. == Origin == Regarding the question of ethnic origins, evidence developed by both archaeologists and linguists suggests that a people or group of peoples sharing a common material culture dwelt in northwestern Germany and southern Scandinavia during the late European Bronze Age (1000-500 B.C.E.). This culture group is called the Nordic Bronze Age. The long presence of Germanic tribes in southern Scandinavia (a Proto-Indo-European language probably arrived ca 2000 B.C.) is also testified by a lack of pre-Germanic place names. This cultural grouping, which emerges and spreads, without sudden breaks, can be distinguished from the culture of the Celts inhabiting the more southerly Danube and Alpine regions during the same period. Cultural features at that time included small, independent settlements and an economy strongly based on the keeping of livestock. Linguists, working backwards from historically-known Germanic languages, suggest that this group spoke proto-Germanic, a distinct branch of the Indo-European language family. Many details of early movement and change within this group remain obscure, but by the late 2nd century, B.C.E., Roman authors recount, Gaul, Italy and Spain were invaded by migrating Germanic tribes, culminating in military conflict with the armies of republican Rome. Julius Caesar, six decades later, invoked the threat of such attacks as one justification for his annexation of Gaul to Rome. By the 1st century of the Common Era, the writings of Caesar, Tacitus and other Roman and Mediterranean writers indicate a division of Germanic-speaking peoples into tribal groupings centred on: * the rivers Oder and Vistula (Poland) (East Germanic tribes), * the lower Rhine river (Istvaeones), * the river Elbe (Irminones), * Jutland and the Danish islands (Ingvaeones). The Istvaeones, Irminones, and Ingvaeones are collectively called West Germanic tribes. In addition to this those Germanic people who remained in Scandinavia are referred to as North Germanic. These groups all developed separate dialects, the basis for the differences among Germanic languages down to the present day. As Rome advanced her borders to the Rhine and Danube, incorporating many Celtic societies into the Empire, the tribal homelands to the north and east emerged collectively in the records as Germania, whose peoples were sometimes at war with the Empire but who also engaged in complex and long-term trade relations, military alliances and cultural exchanges with their neighbours to the south. == Migration period == During the 5th century, as the Roman Empire drew toward its end, numerous Germanic tribes began migrating en masse ''(V�lkerwanderung)'' in far and diverse directions, taking them to England and as far south through present day Continental Europe to the Mediterranean and Africa. Over time, the wandering meant intrusions into other tribal territories and the ensuing wars for land claims escalated with the dwindling amount of unoccupied territory. Nomadic tribes then began the staking out of permanent homes as a means of protection. Much of this resulted in fixed settlements from which many, under a powerful leader, expanded outwards. A defeat meant either scattering or merging with the dominant tribe and this continued to be how nations were formed. In Denmark the Jutes merged with the Danes, in Sweden, the Geats merged with the Swedes. In England, for example, we now most often refer to the Anglo-Saxons rather than the two separate tribes. === Germanic tribes === *Alamanni *Ambrones *Ampsivarii *Angles *Angrivarii *Batavii *Bavarii *Bructeri *Burgundians *Canninefates *Chamavi *Chasuarii *Chauci *Cherusci *Chatti *Cimbri *Dani *Dulgubnii *Fosi *Franks *Frisians *Geats *Gepidae *Goths *Harii *Helisii *Helvetii *Heruli *Hermunduri *Ingvaeones (North Sea Germans) *Irminones (Elbe Germans) *Istvaeones (Rhine-Weser Germans) *Jutes *Lemovii *Lombards or Langobardes *Lugii *Manimi *Marcomanni *Marobudui *Mattiaci *Naharvali *Nemetes *Nervii *Njars *Quadi *Rugii *Saxons *Scirii *Semnoni *Sitones *Suebi *Suiones *Sugambri *Tencteri *Teutons *Treviri *Triboci *Tudri *Ubii *Usipetes *Vandals *Vangiones === Role of the Germanics in the Fall of Rome === Some of the Germanic tribes are frequently blamed in popular conceptions for the "Fall" of the Roman Empire in the late 5th century. Professional historians and archaeologists have since the 1950s shifted their interpretations in such a way that the Germanic peoples are no longer seen as ''invading'' a decaying empire but as being ''co-opted'' into helping defend territory the central government could no longer adequately administer. Individuals and small groups from Germanic tribes had long been recruited from the ''limes'' (i.e. the border regions) of the Roman world, and had risen high in the command structure of the army - Odoacer, who deposed Romulus Augustulus, is an example. Later the government of the Empire began to recruit whole tribal groups under their native leaders as officers. Assisting with defense eventually shifted into administration, and then outright rule, as Roman traditions of government passed into the hands of Germanic tribal leaders. The presence of successor states controlled by a nobility from one of the Germanic tribes is evident in the 6th century - even in Italy, the former heart of the Empire, where Odoacer was followed by Theodoric the Great, leader of the Ostrogoths, who was regarded by Roman citizens and Gothic settlers alike as a legitimate successor to the rule of Rome and Italy. == The concept of ''Volk'' == Perhaps more important in the last decade of the 20th century and the first decade of the 21st has been the debate about exactly what ''"tribe"'' or ''"people"'' meant to these groups, whose fluidity and willingness to sometimes blend is seen while at the same time forced mergers as a result of war were taking place and the tribe as it has been known vanished. The late classical sources are especially clear in the matter of the blended nature of the Alamanni. The idea of a unified German people, or ''Volk,'' was expressed openly in print by 19th century Ethnic Nationalist writers and thinkers after the Napoleonic Wars. Such an identity, however, had existed more implicitly since the Middle Ages, helping to fuel the Protestant Reformation, when many Germanic lands pulled away religiously and politically from the Roman Catholic Church. == Conversion to Christianity == The Ostrogoths, Visigoths, and Vandals were Christianized while they were still outside the bounds of the Empire; however, they were converted to the Arianism rather than to orthodox Catholicism, and were soon to be seen as heretics. The one great written remnant of the Gothic language is a translation of portions of the Bible made by Ulfilas, the missionary who converted them. The Lombards were not converted until after their entrance into the Empire, but received Christianity from Arian Germanic groups. The Franks were converted directly from paganism to Catholicism without an intervening time as Arians. Several centuries later, Frankish missionaries and warriors led by Charlemagne undertook the conversion of their northern Saxon neighbours by armed force, in a series of campaigns directly parallel with the incorporation of Saxon lands into the Frankish empire. == See also == * Confederations of Germanic Tribes * Germanic peoples for presentday usage == Further reading == * Todd, Malcolm. ''The Early Germans''. Oxford, UK: Blackwell, 1995. ISBN 0631199047.cs:Germ�ni de:Germanen eo:Gxermanida Grupo fr:Peuple germanique ja:ゲルマン民族 nl:Germanen pl:Germanie pt:Germanos sv:Germaner