In the ancient world, those peoples who did not speak Greek or Latin were called barbarians. Barbarian tribes, under the influence of certain circumstances, settled the lands of Europe and began to form new medieval states.
The Age of Great Migration
The great migration of peoples and numerous wars that took place due to the split of the states that existed in medieval Europe led to the formation of barbarian kingdoms. Mass migrations of barbarian peoples began as early as the second century AD. 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 world that the 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 resettlement, even more difficult forRomans, there was an invasion of 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 resettlement of Slavic tribes from Asia and Siberia to the southeast.
In the history of the Middle Ages, the formation of barbarian kingdoms takes quite a long period of time. This era lasted five centuries, ending in the seventh century with the settlement of the Slavs in Byzantium.
Reason for resettlement
Significant natural and political factors led to the migration and the formation of barbarian kingdoms. A summary of these factors is provided 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, the human factor played an important role. The society organized itself, the tribes united or were at enmity with each other, tried toassert their authority 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 Xiongnu 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 a tribe of Goths stood in their way, who, 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 decline of the Roman Empire
In the fourth century, the great Roman Empire was going through hard times. To make the management of a huge state more constructive, the empire was divided into two parts:
- Eastern - with 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, laterthe tribe has risen. In 410, they captured Rome, causing significant damage to the western part of the country, and moved to the lands of Gaul.
Barbarians are 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 of the 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 the maximum amount of land they received by fighting on the side of the Romans.
The date of the 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 occurred 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 happenedtwenty 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 theirs. 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 territory.
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 Kingdom of the Burgundians 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 claimant to the throne, he issued the first code 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.
Towards the endIn the seventh century, the nobility acquired considerable power and actually 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. The Heptarchy is the name given to the formation of barbarian kingdoms in Britain. There were seven states. They began to form in the sixth century.
West Saxons formed Wessex, South Saxons formed Sussex, 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. The new united state was 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 B altic to the Dnieper and to the 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 B altic to the Carpathians. However, over time theypossessions 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 for the Slavic tribes to 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.
Meaning 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.
