Aegerten is a municipality in the Biel/Bienne administrative district of the canton of Bern in Switzerland .
141-572: Aegerten is first mentioned in 1225 as villa Egerdon . There has been a village here since at least the late- Roman era . It lay on the major Roman road from Aventicum to Petinesca over the Pierre-Pertuis pass to Basel . A bridge was built across Zihl river by 368–69. The ruins of the bridge have been discovered beneath the Bürglen village church and on the banks of the Flur island in
282-642: A non-trinitarian form of Christianity that considers God the Son to have been created by, and thus inferior to, God the Father, rather than the two being co-eternal , which is the position of Chalcedonian Christianity . Arianism found some favour in the Roman Empire before being eclipsed by the Chalcedonian position and then suppressed as heretical. During the migrations, or Völkerwanderung (wandering of
423-602: A chain of watchtowers along the Rhine from Lake Constance to Basel , with each tower no more than 2 kilometers (1.2 mi) away from the next one. But even these efforts could not restore peace and order in Switzerland, and numerous settlements were abandoned as their inhabitants fled to more defensible places or to the South. Urban culture faded away as the cities of Nyon and Augusta Raurica were permanently abandoned during
564-475: A direct route to Germania and all of Central Europe. The last obstacle in this path were the Raetians. After a first expedition against them by Publius Silius Nerva in 16 BC, a more thorough campaign by Drusus and the later emperor Tiberius brought Raetia – and thereby all of Switzerland – firmly under Roman control. The tropaeum alpium , built by Augustus in 7 BC to celebrate his conquest of
705-583: A fall from 65 million to 50 million, a decline of more than 20 percent. Some scholars have connected this de-population to the Dark Ages Cold Period (300–700), when a decrease in global temperatures impaired agricultural yields. Early in the 3rd century Germanic peoples migrated south from Scandinavia and reached the Black Sea , creating formidable confederations which opposed the local Sarmatians . In Dacia (present-day Romania) and on
846-609: A favor of Vespasian for the city in which he had lived for a time, or a measure to better control the Helvetii after the events of 69 by implanting a colony of veterans in their midst. The Alps were first administered by a legatus pro praetore in Augusta Vindelicorum ( Augsburg ), then by the procurator of the new province of Raetia . The Valais was split from Raetia by Claudius in AD ;43 and merged with
987-783: A lasting Norse heritage in northernmost Scotland, and it led to the combination of the Picts and Gaels under the House of Alpin , which became the Kingdom of Alba , the predecessor of the Kingdom of Scotland . The Vikings combined with the Gaels of the Hebrides to become the Gall-Gaidel and establish the Kingdom of the Isles . The Merovingians established themselves in the power vacuum of
1128-417: A mouldboard, or curved metal ploughshare, and a coulter, a vertical blade in front of the ploughshare. The Romans had used light, wheel-less ploughs with flat iron shares that often proved unequal to the heavy soils of northern Europe. The return to systemic agriculture coincided with the introduction of a new social system called feudalism . This system featured a hierarchy of reciprocal obligations. Each man
1269-625: A period of Frankish rule was initiated. The Frankish king Pepin the Short had, by the Donation of Pepin , given the pope the " Papal States " and the territory north of that swath of papally-governed land was ruled primarily by Lombard and Frankish vassals of the Holy Roman Emperor until the rise of the city-states in the 11th and 12th centuries. In the south, a period of chaos began. The Duchy of Benevento maintained its sovereignty in
1410-470: A retreat of agriculture centred around 500. The Romans had practiced two-field agriculture , with a crop grown in one field and the other left fallow and ploughed under to eliminate weeds. Systematic agriculture largely disappeared and yields declined. It is estimated that the Plague of Justinian which began in 541 and recurred periodically for 150 years thereafter killed as many as 100 million people across
1551-573: A total of 0.81 km (0.31 sq mi) or 37.3% is used for agricultural purposes, while 0.61 km (0.24 sq mi) or 28.1% is forested. Of the rest of the land, 0.63 km (0.24 sq mi) or 29.0% is settled (buildings or roads), 0.11 km (27 acres) or 5.1% is either rivers or lakes. During the same year, industrial buildings made up 2.8% of the total area while housing and buildings made up 15.2% and transportation infrastructure made up 5.5%. Power and water infrastructure as well as other special developed areas made up 1.4% of
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#17327796251851692-473: A total of 386 people employed in the municipality. Of these, there were 17 people employed in the primary economic sector and about 3 businesses involved in this sector. 198 people were employed in the secondary sector and there were 22 businesses in this sector. 171 people were employed in the tertiary sector , with 42 businesses in this sector. There were 930 residents of the municipality who were employed in some capacity, of which females made up 43.2% of
1833-500: Is a net exporter of workers, with about 2.9 workers leaving the municipality for every one entering. A total of 165 workers (38.6% of the 428 total workers in the municipality) both lived and worked in Aegerten. Of the working population, 18.2% used public transportation to get to work, and 57.4% used a private car. In 2011 the average local and cantonal tax rate on a married resident, with two children, of Aegerten making 150,000 CHF
1974-520: Is located on the right bank of the Nidau-Büren Canal . The municipality has grown together with Brügg and Studen . It consists of the villages of Aegerten and Bürglen along with the new housing developments of Tschannenmatte and Schüracher. On 31 December 2009 Amtsbezirk Nidau, the municipality's former district, was dissolved. On the following day, 1 January 2010, it joined the newly created Verwaltungskreis Biel/Bienne. The blazon of
2115-746: Is not certain) or Theodorus , bishop of Octodurus , in 381 or earlier. The first Christian religious buildings date to the 4th century; they are found in Geneva , Chur and Saint-Maurice , known for the legend of the Theban Legion . The order and prosperity that the Pax Romana had brought to Switzerland ended, as elsewhere in the Empire, with the Crisis of the Third Century . In 260, when
2256-569: Is now England disappeared with barely a trace in the territories settled by the Anglo-Saxons, although the Brittanic kingdoms of the west remained Brythonic speakers. The new peoples greatly altered established society, including law, culture, religion, and patterns of property ownership. The pax Romana had provided safe conditions for trade and manufacture, and a unified cultural and educational milieu of far-ranging connections. As this
2397-739: The 2011 federal election the most popular party was the Swiss People's Party (SVP) which received 31.4% of the vote. The next three most popular parties were the Social Democratic Party (SP) (23.9%), the Conservative Democratic Party (BDP) (18.5%) and the FDP.The Liberals (7.9%). In the federal election, a total of 586 votes were cast, and the voter turnout was 45.7%. As of 2011, Aegerten had an unemployment rate of 2.54%. As of 2008, there were
2538-688: The Alamanni , a move not opposed by either absent or weakened Roman forces. These settlements established the most important cultural and linguistic division in modern Switzerland: the Burgundian areas eventually became the French-speaking Romandie , while the people in the larger Eastern half – called la suisse alémanique in French – still speak variants of Alemannic German . Raetia maintained its Roman traditions longer than
2679-526: The Battle of Adrianople (378). By this time, the distinction in the Roman army between Roman regulars and barbarian auxiliaries had broken down, and the Roman army was composed mainly of barbarians and soldiers recruited for a single campaign. The general decline in discipline also led to the use of smaller shields and lighter weaponry. Not wanting to share the glory, Eastern Emperor Valens ordered an attack on
2820-577: The Colonia Julia Equestris (now Nyon ) on the shores of Lake Geneva and the other through Lucius Munatius Plancus in northwestern Switzerland, preceding the larger Augusta Raurica founded by Augustus in around 6 AD. Caesar's attempt to open the Great St Bernard Pass for Roman traffic failed in 57 BC due to strong opposition by the local Veragri . Concerted and successful efforts to gain control over
2961-660: The Dark Ages , is typically regarded by historians as lasting from the late 5th to the 10th century. They marked the start of the Middle Ages of European history , following the decline of the Western Roman Empire , and preceding the High Middle Ages ( c. 11th to 14th centuries). The alternative term late antiquity , for the early part of the period, emphasizes elements of continuity with
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#17327796251853102-585: The Dnieper . By the 9th century, the Slavs had expanded into sparsely inhabited territories to the south and east from these natural frontiers, peacefully assimilating the indigenous Illyrian and Finnic populations. From the 7th century, Byzantine history was greatly affected by the rise of Islam and the Caliphates . Muslim Arabs first invaded historically Roman territory under Abū Bakr , first Caliph of
3243-623: The Frankish leader Charles Martel at the Battle of Poitiers in 732. The Umayyads were overthrown in 750 by the Abbāsids and most of the Umayyad clan were massacred. A surviving Umayyad prince, Abd-ar-rahman I , escaped to Spain and founded a new Umayyad dynasty in the Emirate of Cordoba in 756. Charles Martel's son Pippin the Short retook Narbonne , and his grandson Charlemagne established
3384-517: The Gallic Empire briefly seceded from Rome, the emperor Gallienus withdrew the legions from the Rhine to fight the usurper Ingenuus , allowing the warlike Alemanni to enter the Swiss plateau. There, cities, villages and most villae were raided or sacked by marauding bands. The numerous caches of coins recovered from the period between 250 and 280 attest to the severity of the crisis. Only
3525-593: The Greek-speaking successor to the classical Roman Empire. The inhabitants continued to regard themselves as Romans, or Romaioi , until the fall of Constantinople to the Ottoman Empire in 1453. Despite this, to distinguish it from its predominantly Latin-speaking predecessor, historians began referring to the empire as "Byzantine", after the original name of Constantinople, Byzantium The Eastern Roman or "Byzantine" Empire aimed to retain control of
3666-566: The Helvetii was similar to that of the Celtic tribes of the Valais , which were merged into a single civitas Vallensis probably around 40 AD, and given Forum Claudii Vallensium ( Martigny ) as their capital. Parts of the modern Ticino belonged to the colony of Comum ( Como ), founded in the 1st century AD. On the local level, the basic administrative units were the vici , replacing
3807-805: The Helvetii were the most numerous, but which also included the Rauraci in north-west Switzerland centered on Basel , and the Allobroges around Geneva . South of the Swiss plateau were the Nantuates , Seduni and Veragri in the Valais , the Lepontii in the Ticino , and the Raetians controlled the Grisons as well as large areas around it. The first part of what is now Switzerland to fall to Rome
3948-736: The Macedonian dynasty in 867 marked the end of the period of political and religious turmoil and introduced a new golden age of the empire. While the talented generals such as Nicephorus Phocas expanded the frontiers, the Macedonian emperors (such as Leo the Wise and Constantine VII ) presided over the cultural flowering in Constantinople, known as the Macedonian Renaissance . The enlightened Macedonian rulers scorned
4089-888: The Marca Hispanica across the Pyrenees in part of what today is Catalonia , reconquering Girona in 785 and Barcelona in 801. The Umayyads in Hispania proclaimed themselves caliphs in 929. Climatic conditions in Western Europe began to improve after 700. In that year, the two major powers in western Europe were the Franks in Gaul and the Lombards in Italy. The Lombards had been thoroughly Romanized, and their kingdom
4230-632: The Moors (mostly Berbers and some Arabs ) invaded the Christian Visigothic Kingdom in the year 711, under their Berber leader Tariq ibn Ziyad . They landed at Gibraltar on 30 April and worked their way northward. Tariq's forces were joined the next year by those of his superior, Musa ibn Nusair . During the eight-year campaign most of the Iberian Peninsula was brought under Muslim rule—except for small areas in
4371-610: The Plague of Justinian . The Emperor himself was afflicted, and within the span of less than a year, an estimated 200,000 Constantinopolites—two out of every five city residents—had died of the disease. Justinian's successors Maurice and Heraclius confronted invasions by the Avar and Slavic tribes. After the devastations by the Slavs and the Avars, large areas of the Balkans became depopulated. In 626 Constantinople, by far
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4512-691: The Po River had been wiped out in the years after the end of the Western Roman Empire, between the 5th and 8th centuries, new political and social infrastructure began to develop. Much of this was initially Germanic and pagan. Arian Christian missionaries had been spreading Arian Christianity throughout northern Europe, though by 700 the religion of northern Europeans was largely a mix of Germanic paganism , Christianized paganism, and Arian Christianity. Chalcedonian Christianity had barely started to spread in northern Europe by this time. Through
4653-604: The Rashidun Caliphate , who entered Roman Syria and Roman Mesopotamia . The Byzantines and neighbouring Persian Sasanids had been severely weakened by a long succession of Byzantine–Sasanian wars , especially the climactic Byzantine–Sasanian War of 602–628 . Under Umar , the second Caliph, the Muslims decisively conquered Syria and Mesopotamia , as well as Roman Palestine , Roman Egypt , parts of Asia Minor and Roman North Africa , while they entirely toppled
4794-682: The Rhine frontier of troops to fend off invasions of Italy by the Visigoths in 402–03 and by other Goths in 406–07. Fleeing before the advance of the Huns , the Vandals , Suebi , and Alans launched an attack across the frozen Rhine near Mainz ; on 31 December 406, the frontier gave way and these tribes surged into Roman Gaul . There soon followed the Burgundians and bands of the Alamanni . In
4935-406: The Roman Empire , while Early Middle Ages is used to emphasize developments characteristic of the earlier medieval period. The period saw a continuation of trends evident since late classical antiquity , including population decline , especially in urban centres, a decline of trade, a small rise in average temperatures in the North Atlantic region and increased migration . In the 19th century
5076-449: The Teutons – joined the wandering Germanic Cimbri on a march to the West. In the course of the Cimbrian War they defeated a Roman force under Lucius Cassius Longinus at the Battle of Burdigala in 107 BC, but after the Roman victory over the Teutons at Aquae Sextiae in 102 BC, the Tigurini returned to settle in the Swiss Plateau. In 61 BC, the Helvetii, led by Orgetorix , decided to leave their lands and move to
5217-441: The Therving infantry under Fritigern without waiting for Western Emperor Gratian , who was on the way with reinforcements. While the Romans were fully engaged, the Greuthung cavalry arrived. Only one-third of the Roman army managed to escape. This represented the most shattering defeat that the Romans had suffered since the Battle of Cannae (216 BC), according to the Roman military writer Ammianus Marcellinus . The core army of
5358-502: The Valais , shielded by mountains, escaped these predations. As the Empire's frontiers receded to the Rhine, Switzerland once again became a border area. Its defenses were strengthened, especially under Diocletian and Constantine , who rebuilt the roads and built castles ( castra ) alongside. Numerous fortifications were built along the Rhine border and further south, providing for a defense in depth . The border fortifications were completed by Valentinian I in 371, who established
5499-426: The Viking expansion greatly affected Northern Europe . Starting in the 2nd century, various indicators of Roman civilization began to decline, including urbanization , seaborne commerce, and population. Archaeologists have identified only 40 percent as many Mediterranean shipwrecks from the 3rd century as from the first. Estimates of the population of the Roman Empire during the period from 150 to 400 suggest
5640-419: The arrival of Christian missionaries in 597 . The Lombards, who first entered Italy in 568 under Alboin , carved out a state in the north, with its capital at Pavia . At first, they were unable to conquer the Exarchate of Ravenna , the Ducatus Romanus , and Calabria and Apulia . The next two hundred years were occupied in trying to conquer these territories from the Byzantine Empire. The Lombard state
5781-479: The 1st to 3rd century AD, as well as hundreds of villas of varying sizes built in the western and central part of the Swiss Plateau . The known vici include: The colonies of Nyon and Augusta Raurica at first had little cultural influence beyond their immediate surroundings. After Roman military defeats in Germania in 12–9 BC and 6–9 AD, the frontier was moved back to the Rhine and guarded by eight legions, of which one, originally Legio XIII Gemina ,
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5922-412: The 2011–12 school year, there were a total of 122 students attending classes in Aegerten. There were 2 kindergarten classes with a total of 27 students in the municipality. Of the kindergarten students, 25.9% were permanent or temporary residents of Switzerland (not citizens) and 40.7% have a different mother language than the classroom language. The municipality had 5 primary classes and 95 students. Of
6063-437: The 4th century, the stones of their ruins serving to fortify Geneva and Basel . Aventicum never recovered from its pillages: Ammianus Marcellinus noted in around 360 that "the city was once very illustrious, as its half-ruined buildings attest." The Roman era of Switzerland is traditionally held to have ended in 401 AD, when Stilicho withdrew all troops from the Rhine and the Danube. However, it has been argued that
6204-450: The 6th century, but then lost their trading links. Administrative, educational and military infrastructure quickly vanished, and the loss of the established cursus honorum led to the collapse of the schools and to a rise of illiteracy even among the leadership. The careers of Cassiodorus (died c. 585 ) at the beginning of this period and of Alcuin of York (died 804) at its close were founded alike on their valued literacy. For
6345-422: The 8th century was out, the Farmer's Law signalled the resurrection of agricultural technologies in the Roman Empire. As the 2006 Encyclopædia Britannica noted, "the technological base of Byzantine society was more advanced than that of contemporary western Europe: iron tools could be found in the villages; water mills dotted the landscape; and field-sown beans provided a diet rich in protein". The ascension of
6486-411: The Alpine region were undertaken by his successor, Augustus , as the rapid development of Lugdunum (Lyon) made the establishment of a safe and direct route from Gaul to Italy a priority. In 25 BC, an army under Aulus Terentius Varro Murena wiped out the Salassi in the Aosta Valley . At some time between 25 and 7 BC – either following the Aosta campaign or, more likely, in the course of
6627-444: The Alps, lists among the defeated peoples the tribes of Raetia and of the Valais, but not the Helvetii. It appears that they were absorbed peacefully into the Empire during the first century AD, except for their part in the conflicts of the Year of the Four Emperors , AD 69. The history of Switzerland under Roman rule was, from the Augustan period up until 260 AD, a time of exceptional peace and prosperity. The Pax Romana
6768-408: The Anglo-Saxons in the sixth century, with 597 given as the traditional date for its large-scale adoption. Western Britain ( Wales ), eastern and northern Scotland ( Pictland ) and the Scottish highlands and isles continued their separate evolution. The Irish descended and Irish-influenced people of western Scotland were Christian from the fifth century onward, the Picts adopted Christianity in
6909-401: The Early Middle Ages were often labelled the Dark Ages , a characterization based on the relative scarcity of literary and cultural output from this time. The term is rarely used by academics today. The Eastern Roman Empire, or Byzantine Empire , survived, though in the 7th century the Rashidun Caliphate and the Umayyad Caliphate conquered the southern part of the Roman territory. Many of
7050-409: The Early Middle Ages, reducing the sprawling city to groups of inhabited buildings interspersed among large areas of ruins and vegetation. The death of Theodosius I in 395 was followed by the division of the empire between his two sons. The Western Roman Empire disintegrated into a mosaic of warring Germanic kingdoms in the 5th century, effectively making the Eastern Roman Empire in Constantinople
7191-415: The Eastern Roman Empire was destroyed, Valens was killed, and the Goths were freed to lay waste to the Balkans , including the armories along the Danube. As Edward Gibbon comments, "The Romans, who so coolly and so concisely mention the acts of justice which were exercised by the legions, reserve their compassion and their eloquence for their own sufferings, when the provinces were invaded and desolated by
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#17327796251857332-430: The Empire as unarmed settlers. However many bribed the Danube border-guards into allowing them to bring their weapons. The discipline and organization of a Roman legion made it a superb fighting unit. The Romans preferred infantry to cavalry because infantry could be trained to retain the formation in combat, while cavalry tended to scatter when faced with opposition. While a barbarian army could be raised and inspired by
7473-490: The German church, with the result that, within a century, the German church was the strongest church in western Europe. Yet despite this, Charles Martel refused to overthrow the Frankish king. His son, Pepin the Short, inherited his power, and used it to further expand Frankish influence. Unlike his father, however, Pepin decided to seize the Frankish kingship. Given how strongly Frankish culture held to its principle of inheritance, few would support him if he attempted to overthrow
7614-442: The Helvetic pagi , or tribes, which were dissolved at the time of colonization. These villages enjoyed a certain autonomy and were governed by popularly elected magistrates ( magistri or curatores ). While the governmental system in the central and western part of Switzerland, as described above, is well documented, nothing of substance is known about the political and administrative system in eastern Raetia . However, records of
7755-428: The Roman Empire, including Rome and the Italian peninsula itself, but he also codified Roman law (with his codification remaining in force in many areas of Europe until the 19th century) and commissioned the building of the largest and most architecturally advanced edifice of the Early Middle Ages, the Hagia Sophia . However, his reign also saw the outbreak of a bubonic plague pandemic , now known retroactively as
7896-600: The Sasanids. In the mid 7th century, following the Muslim conquest of Persia , Islam penetrated into the Caucasus region, of which parts would later permanently become part of Russia . This expansion of Islam continued under Umar's successors and then the Umayyad Caliphate , which conquered the rest of Mediterranean North Africa and most of the Iberian Peninsula . Over the next centuries Muslim forces were able to take further European territory, including Cyprus , Malta , Septimania , Crete , and Sicily and parts of southern Italy . The Muslim conquest of Hispania began when
8037-436: The West, burning their settlements behind them – twelve oppida , according to Caesar, and some 400 villages. They were decisively beaten by Caesar in the Battle of Bibracte in 58 BC. After their surrender, Caesar sent the Helvetii home, according them the status of foederati or Roman allies, but not yet (as has previously been believed) fully subjugating them to Roman sovereignty. Caesar's policy aimed at controlling
8178-477: The Zihl river and seasonal work in the Principality of Neuchâtel began to provide additional income. Despite four bridges, the village remained isolated from the growing Swiss rail and road networks in the 19th and early 20th century. As the nearby town of Biel grew in the 1950s, Aegerten finally began to develop into a commuter town and was connected into the Swiss Federal Railways network. Aegerten has an area of 2.16 km (0.83 sq mi). As of 2012,
8319-584: The absence of administrative governance. Some lived only for war and pillage and disdained Roman ways. Other peoples had been in prolonged contact with the Roman civilization, and were, to a certain degree, romanized. "A poor Roman plays the Goth, a rich Goth the Roman," said King Theoderic of the Ostrogoths. The subjects of the Roman empire were a mixture of Roman Christian , Arian Christian , Nestorian Christian , and pagan . The Germanic peoples knew little of cities, money, or writing, and were mostly pagan, though they were increasingly converting to Arianism ,
8460-415: The area began to be occupied by Germanic peoples . The Swiss plateau , within the natural borders of the Alps to the South and East, Lake Geneva and the Rhône to the west and the Rhine to the north, was recognized as a contiguous territory by Julius Caesar . This area had been dominated by the La Tène culture since the 5th century BC, settled by a mostly Celtic population ( Gauls ), of which
8601-404: The area while parks, green belts and sports fields made up 4.1%. Out of the forested land, 26.7% of the total land area is heavily forested and 1.4% is covered with orchards or small clusters of trees. Of the agricultural land, 25.3% is used for growing crops and 9.2% is pastures, while 2.8% is used for orchards or vine crops. All the water in the municipality is flowing water. The municipality
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#17327796251858742-420: The arms of the successful Barbarians." The empire lacked the resources, and perhaps the will, to reconstruct the professional mobile army destroyed at Adrianople, so it had to rely on barbarian armies to fight for it. The Eastern Roman Empire succeeded in buying off the Goths with tribute. The Western Roman Empire proved less fortunate. Stilicho , the western empire's half-Vandal military commander, stripped
8883-468: The census, 78.1% were Swiss men, 18.0% were Swiss women, 2.7% were non-Swiss men. The Canton of Bern school system provides one year of non-obligatory Kindergarten , followed by six years of Primary school. This is followed by three years of obligatory lower Secondary school where the students are separated according to ability and aptitude. Following the lower Secondary students may attend additional schooling or they may enter an apprenticeship . During
9024-418: The center of the forum of Nyon. The first clear testaments to Christian communities in Switzerland date after 313, when the religion was officially tolerated with the Edict of Milan . It is however certain that, as in Gaul, the Christian faith had already had adherents for some time before 313. The first bishop in Switzerland was either Justinianus , bishop of the Rauricans, in 340 (his historicity
9165-409: The characteristic findings of smallpox. Waves of epidemics wiped out large rural populations. Most of the details about the epidemics are lost, probably due to the scarcity of surviving written records. For almost a thousand years, Rome was the most politically important, richest and largest city in Europe. Around 100 AD, it had a population of about 450,000, and declined to a mere 20,000 during
9306-476: The city council or ordo decurionum . The 100 members of this council, which corresponded to the Roman Senate , were selected by the duomviri among former officials or priests according to their wealth, and held office for life. Augusta Raurica and Aventicum were also the civitates , or capitals, of the non-Roman tribes of the Rauraci and Helvetii , respectively. In that capacity, the magistrates of Aventicum, as duoviri coloniae Helvetiorum , also governed
9447-440: The conquest of Raetia in 15 BC – a campaign also subjugated the Celtic tribes of the Valais and opened the Great St Bernard Pass. That conquest was a consequence of the Augustan imperative of securing the Imperial borders. To effectively control the Alps as the shield of northern Italy, Rome needed to control both flanks of the mountain range. Thus it had to extend its power to the Rhine and Danube , thereby also opening
9588-409: The construction rate of new housing units was 5.8 new units per 1000 residents. The vacancy rate for the municipality, in 2012, was 3.9%. In 2011, single family homes made up 72.3% of the total housing in the municipality. The historical population is given in the following chart: The Goldhubel, an early medieval earthen fortress, is listed as a Swiss heritage site of national significance . In
9729-402: The crucial North-South connection had to be kept open, the Swiss plateau was not really Romanized until decades after the conquest. The principal Roman settlements in Switzerland were the cities of Iulia Equestris ( Nyon ), Aventicum ( Avenches ), Augusta Raurica ( Augst ) and Vindonissa ( Windisch ). Evidence has also been found of almost twenty Roman villages ( vici ) established in
9870-426: The culture and the imperial traditions of the Eastern Roman Empire attracted its northern neighbours—Slavs, Bulgars, and Khazars—to Constantinople , in search of either pillage or enlightenment. The movement of the Germanic tribes to the south triggered the great migration of the Slavs , who occupied the vacated territories. In the 7th century, they moved westward to the Elbe , southward to the Danube and eastward to
10011-439: The culture of the newcomers, their warband loyalties, the remnants of classical culture, and Christian influences, produced a new model for society, based in part on feudal obligations . The centralized administrative systems of the Romans did not withstand the changes, and the institutional support for chattel slavery largely disappeared. The Anglo-Saxons in England had also started to convert from Anglo-Saxon polytheism after
10152-687: The decisive victory at Ongala in 680 the armies of the Bulgars and Slavs advanced to the south of the Balkan mountains, defeating again the Byzantines who were then forced to sign a humiliating peace treaty which acknowledged the establishment of the First Bulgarian Empire on the borders of the Empire. To counter these threats a new system of administration was introduced. The regional civil and military administration were combined in
10293-418: The effect of weakening the power of the king as his kingdom grew, since the result was that the land became controlled not just by more princes and vassals, but by multiple layers of vassals. This also allowed his nobles to attempt to build their own power base, though given the strict salic tradition of hereditary kingship, few would ever consider overthrowing the king. This increasingly fragmented arrangement
10434-541: The end of the century. Roman Britain was in a state of political and economic collapse at the time of the Roman departure c. 400. A series of settlements (traditionally referred to as an invasion) by Germanic peoples began in the early fifth century, and by the sixth century the island would consist of many small kingdoms engaged in ongoing warfare with each other. The Germanic kingdoms are now collectively referred to as Anglo-Saxons . Christianity began to take hold among
10575-599: The entire Helvetic population, which had the legal status of incolae (inhabitants) invested with the Latin Right . The rights of the Roman coloni , or colonists, were represented by a special authority, the curatores colonorum Aventicensum ("Heads of the colonists of Aventicum"). Moreover, the Roman citizens of the entire territory established the cives Romani conventus Helvetici ("Association of Roman citizens in Helvetia"). The civitas (tribal community) of
10716-509: The existence of a trade in slaves . In the course of Romanization, the Celtic polytheism of the local tribes was merged – syncretized – with the Roman religion . The Celtic deities came to be worshiped under the names of their Roman counterparts. Thus Lugus was replaced by Mercury , Belenus by Apollo , Taranis by Jupiter and so forth, in a practice called interpretatio romana by Caesar , who pioneered it. Roman gods also acquired
10857-422: The existence of a wealthy and cultured upper class of landowners. Many villae belonged not to Roman immigrants, but to members of the Celtic aristocracy who continued to hold their lands and their rank after the Roman conquest. Of the lower classes, much less is known, although there are inscriptions attesting to the existence of guilds ( collegia ) of boat skippers, doctors, teachers and traders, as well as to
10998-627: The face of the pretensions of both the Western and Eastern Empires. In the 9th century, the Muslims conquered Sicily . The cities on the Tyrrhenian Sea departed from Byzantine allegiance. Various states owing various nominal allegiances fought constantly over territory until events came to a head in the early 11th century with the coming of the Normans , who conquered the whole of the south by
11139-572: The fit of anti-barbarian hysteria which followed, the Western Roman Emperor Honorius had Stilicho summarily beheaded (408). Stilicho submitted his neck, "with a firmness not unworthy of the last of the Roman generals ", wrote Gibbon. Honorius was left with only worthless courtiers to advise him. In 410, the Visigoths led by Alaric I captured the city of Rome and for three days fire and slaughter ensued as bodies filled
11280-607: The former Roman provinces in Gaul, and Clovis I converted to Christianity following his victory over the Alemanni at the Battle of Tolbiac (496), laying the foundation of the Frankish Empire , the dominant state of early medieval Western Christendom . The Frankish kingdom grew through a complex development of conquest, patronage, and alliance building. Due to salic custom , inheritance rights were absolute, and all land
11421-419: The formerly Roman area, there was another 20 per cent decline in population between 400 and 600, or a one-third decline for 150–600. In the 8th century, the volume of trade reached its lowest level. The very small number of shipwrecks found that dated from the 8th century supports this (which represents less than 2 per cent of the number of shipwrecks dated from the 1st century). There was also reforestation and
11562-473: The hands of a general, or strategos. A theme , which formerly denoted a subdivision of the Byzantine army, came to refer to a region governed by a strategos. The reform led to the emergence of great landed families which controlled the regional military and often pressed their claims to the throne (see Bardas Phocas and Bardas Sklerus for characteristic examples). By the early 8th century, notwithstanding
11703-668: The king. Instead, he sought the assistance of Pope Zachary , who was himself newly vulnerable due to fallout with the Byzantine Emperor over the Iconoclastic Controversy . Pepin agreed to support the pope and to give him land (the Donation of Pepin , which created the Papal States ) in exchange for being consecrated as the new Frankish king. Given that Pepin's claim to the kingship was now based on an authority higher than Frankish custom, no resistance
11844-561: The largest city of early medieval Europe, withstood a combined siege by Avars and Persians. Within several decades, Heraclius completed a holy war against the Persians, taking their capital and having a Sassanid monarch assassinated. Yet Heraclius lived to see his spectacular success undone by the Muslim conquests of Syria , three Palaestina provinces , Egypt , and North Africa which was considerably facilitated by religious disunity and
11985-710: The last king of a united empire, Charles the Fat , died in 887, which resulted in a permanent split of the empire into West Francia and East Francia . West Francia would be ruled by Carolingians until 987 and East Francia until 911, after which time the partition of the empire into France and Germany was complete. Around 800 there was a return to systematic agriculture in the form of the open field , or strip, system. A manor would have several fields, each subdivided into 1-acre (4,000 m ) strips of land. An acre measured one "furlong" of 220 yards by one "chain" of 22 yards (that is, about 200 m by 20 m). A furlong (from "furrow long")
12126-589: The leadership of Alfred the Great and his descendants, Wessex would at first survive, then coexist with, and eventually conquer the Danes. It would then establish the Kingdom of England and rule until the establishment of an Anglo-Danish kingdom under Cnut , and then again until the Norman Invasion of 1066. Viking raids and invasion were no less dramatic for the north. Their defeat of the Picts in 839 led to
12267-451: The listed trends reversed later in the period. In 800, the title of Emperor was revived in Western Europe with Charlemagne , whose Carolingian Empire greatly affected later European social structure and history. Europe experienced a return to systematic agriculture in the form of the feudal system , which adopted such innovations as three-field planting and the heavy plough. Barbarian migration stabilized in much of Europe , although
12408-416: The municipal coat of arms is Or a Lion rampant Sable langued and membered Gules and overall a Bendlet wavy Azure. Aegerten has a population (as of December 2020) of 2,210. As of 2010, 13.8% of the population are resident foreign nationals. Over the last 10 years (2001-2011) the population has changed at a rate of -0.1%. Migration accounted for -0.4%, while births and deaths accounted for 0.6%. Most of
12549-575: The municipality. Switzerland in the Roman era The territory of modern Switzerland was a part of the Roman Republic and Empire for a period of about six centuries, beginning with the step-by-step conquest of the area by Roman armies from the 2nd century BC and ending with the Fall of the Western Roman Empire in the 5th century AD. The mostly Celtic tribes of the area were subjugated by successive Roman campaigns aimed at control of
12690-415: The municipality. There were 908 married individuals, 72 widows or widowers and 77 individuals who are divorced. As of 2010, there were 263 households that consist of only one person and 37 households with five or more people. In 2000, a total of 684 apartments (90.1% of the total) were permanently occupied, while 32 apartments (4.2%) were seasonally occupied and 43 apartments (5.7%) were empty. As of 2010,
12831-571: The names of local gods as epithets ; thus Mars was venerated as Mars Caturix , Mercury as Mercurius Cissonius and Jupiter as Jupiter Poeninus after the god of the Pennine Alps . As oriental religions grew more popular in the later Empire – unlike the traditional Roman cults, they promised rewards in the afterlife – they also percolated into Gaul. Artifacts related to the cults of gods such as Isis , Osiris , Serapis , Kybele , Serapios , Dionysos or Mithras have been found at
12972-425: The native aristocracy to engage in local government, built a network of roads connecting their newly established colonial cities and divided up the area among the Roman provinces . Roman civilization began to retreat from Swiss territory when it became a border region again after the Crisis of the Third Century . Roman control weakened after 401 AD, but did not entirely disappear until the mid-5th century after which
13113-620: The ninth century under the descendants of Merfyn Frych of Gwynedd , establishing a hierarchy that would last until the Norman invasion of Wales in 1081. The first Viking raids on Britain began before 800, increasing in scope and destructiveness over time. In 865 a large, well-organized Danish Viking army (called the Great Heathen Army ) attempted a conquest, breaking or diminishing Anglo-Saxon power everywhere but in Wessex. Under
13254-571: The north-northwest ( Asturias ) and largely Basque regions in the Pyrenees . This territory, under the Arab name Al-Andalus , became part of the expanding Umayyad empire. The unsuccessful second siege of Constantinople (717) weakened the Umayyad dynasty and reduced their prestige. After their success in overrunning Iberia, the conquerors moved northeast across the Pyrenees. They were defeated by
13395-508: The over 75,000 CHF group in Aegerten was 109,064 CHF, while the average across all of Switzerland was 130,478 CHF. In 2011 a total of 5.7% of the population received direct financial assistance from the government. From the 2000 census, 1,119 or 67.3% belonged to the Swiss Reformed Church , while 254 or 15.3% were Roman Catholic . Of the rest of the population, there were 19 members of an Orthodox church (or about 1.14% of
13536-445: The ox by the horse after the introduction of the padded horse collar in the 12th century. Because the system required a major rearrangement of real estate and of the social order, it took until the 11th century before it came into general use. The heavy wheeled plough was introduced in the late 10th century. It required greater animal power and promoted the use of teams of oxen. Illuminated manuscripts depict two-wheeled ploughs with both
13677-474: The peoples), the earlier settled populations were sometimes left intact though usually partially or entirely displaced. Roman culture north of the Po River was almost entirely displaced by the migrations. Whereas the peoples of France, Italy, Spain and Portugal continued to speak the dialects of Vulgar Latin that today constitute the Romance languages , the language of the smaller Roman-era population of what
13818-476: The period exhibit influences of ornamental Celtic art , classical Greco-Roman art and even Oriental styles from the far reaches of the Empire. An important incentive for the local people to Romanize was the perspective of obtaining the various degrees of Roman citizenship and the rights conferred thereby, including the right to vote, to hold public office and to render military service. The hundreds of villae found in Switzerland, some very luxurious, attest to
13959-408: The population (as of 2000) speaks German (1,512 or 90.9%) as their first language, French is the second most common (70 or 4.2%) and Italian is the third (22 or 1.3%). As of 2008, the population was 49.9% male and 50.1% female. The population was made up of 735 Swiss men (42.5% of the population) and 128 (7.4%) non-Swiss men. There were 757 Swiss women (43.8%) and 11 (0.6%) non-Swiss women. Of
14100-523: The population in the municipality, 327 or about 19.7% were born in Aegerten and lived there in 2000. There were 815 or 49.0% who were born in the same canton, while 298 or 17.9% were born somewhere else in Switzerland, and 174 or 10.5% were born outside of Switzerland. As of 2011, children and teenagers (0–19 years old) make up 18.4% of the population, while adults (20–64 years old) make up 60.4% and seniors (over 64 years old) make up 21.2%. As of 2000, there were 606 people who were single and never married in
14241-424: The population) belonged to no church, are agnostic or atheist , and 48 individuals (or about 2.89% of the population) did not answer the question. In Aegerten about 63.3% of the population have completed non-mandatory upper secondary education , and 16.3% have completed additional higher education (either university or a Fachhochschule ). Of the 183 who had completed some form of tertiary schooling listed in
14382-527: The population), there was 1 individual who belongs to the Christian Catholic Church , and there were 37 individuals (or about 2.22% of the population) who belonged to another Christian church. There was 1 individual who was Jewish , and 36 (or about 2.16% of the population) who were Islamic . There were 2 individuals who were Buddhist , 5 individuals who were Hindu and 1 individual who belonged to another church. 140 (or about 8.42% of
14523-664: The practice of simony , local princes typically auctioned off ecclesiastical offices, causing priests and bishops to function as though they were yet another noble under the patronage of the prince. In contrast, a network of monasteries had sprung up as monks sought separation from the world. These monasteries remained independent from local princes, and as such constituted the "church" for most northern Europeans during this time. Being independent from local princes, they increasingly stood out as centres of learning, of scholarship, and as religious centres where individuals could receive spiritual or monetary assistance. The interaction between
14664-442: The primary students, 17.9% were permanent or temporary residents of Switzerland (not citizens) and 25.3% have a different mother language than the classroom language. As of 2000, there were a total of 129 students attending any school in the municipality. Of those, 121 both lived and attended school in the municipality, while 8 students came from another municipality. During the same year, 120 residents attended schools outside
14805-516: The proliferation of heretical movements (notably Monophysitism and Nestorianism ) in the areas converted to Islam. Although Heraclius's successors managed to salvage Constantinople from two Arab sieges (in 674–77 and 717), the empire of the 8th and early 9th century was rocked by the great Iconoclastic Controversy , punctuated by dynastic struggles between various factions at court. The Bulgar and Slavic tribes profited from these disorders and invaded Illyria , Thrace and even Greece . After
14946-528: The promise of plunder, the legions required a central government and taxation to pay for salaries, constant training, equipment, and food. The decline in agricultural and economic activity reduced the empire's taxable income and thus its ability to maintain a professional army to defend itself from external threats. In the Gothic War (376–382) , the Goths revolted and confronted the main Roman army in
15087-500: The province of Alpes Graiae to form a new province, Alpes Graiae et Poeninae . As for the Swiss plateau, its western and central part up to Ad Fines ( Pfyn ) was administratively part of the province of Belgica and for military purposes part of Germania Superior . Its eastern part belonged to Raetia. This division, established by Augustus in 22 BC, was accompanied by a redistribution of tribal settlement areas. It remained essentially unchanged until Diocletian 's reforms in
15228-411: The repair of motor vehicles, 12 or 9.0% were in the movement and storage of goods, 18 or 13.5% were in a hotel or restaurant, 5 or 3.8% were in the information industry, 10 or 7.5% were technical professionals or scientists, 11 or 8.3% were in education and 9 or 6.8% were in health care. In 2000, there were 263 workers who commuted into the municipality and 765 workers who commuted away. The municipality
15369-568: The rest of Switzerland, but most of it was eventually assimilated as well, leaving only a small territory where a Vulgar Latin dialect, Romansh , is spoken to this day. The assassination of Aetius in 454 and the subsequent retreat of Roman forces to the south of the Alps marked the definitive end of Roman power in Switzerland, and the beginning of the transition to the Middle Ages . Early Middle Ages The Early Middle Ages (or early medieval period ), sometimes controversially referred to as
15510-543: The river. Very little is known about the village after the collapse of the Roman Empire until the Late Middle Ages . By the late medieval era, Gottstatt Abbey was the major landholder in the village. In 1388, the city of Bern acquired the village and in 1393 incorporated it into the Nidau bailiwick and the Bürglen parish . Aegerten remained a small, agrarian village until the 18th century, when shipping on
15651-534: The rulers of Western Europe as illiterate barbarians and maintained a nominal claim to rule over the West. Although this fiction had been exploded with the coronation of Charlemagne in Rome (800), the Byzantine rulers did not treat their Western counterparts as equals. Generally, they had little interest in political and economic developments in the barbarian (from their point of view) West. Against this economic background
15792-423: The shrinking territory of the empire, Constantinople remained the largest and the wealthiest city west of China , comparable only to Sassanid Ctesiphon , and later Abbasid Baghdad . The population of the imperial capital fluctuated between 300,000 and 400,000 as the emperors undertook measures to restrain its growth. The only other large Christian cities were Rome (50,000) and Thessalonica (30,000). Even before
15933-473: The site of every Roman settlement in Switzerland. The great significance of religion in the culture of Roman Switzerland is illustrated by the imposing size and central location of the Roman temples in the cities, as well as by the great number of religious artifacts found by archaeologists. As everywhere in the Empire, the Imperial cult was practiced in Switzerland; it had a particularly prominent temple in
16074-489: The sixth century under the influence of Columba , and the Welsh had been Christian since the Roman era. The Kingdom of Northumbria was the pre-eminent power c. 600–700, absorbing several weaker Anglo-Saxon and Brythonic kingdoms, while Mercia held a similar status c. 700–800. Wessex would absorb all of the kingdoms in the south, both Anglo-Saxon and Briton. In Wales consolidation of power would not begin until
16215-543: The steppes north of the Black Sea the Goths , a Germanic people, established at least two kingdoms: Therving and Greuthung . The arrival of the Huns in 372–375 ended the history of these kingdoms. The Huns, a confederation of central Asian tribes, founded an empire. They had mastered the difficult art of shooting composite recurve bows from horseback. The Goths sought refuge in Roman territory (376), agreeing to enter
16356-520: The strategic routes from Italy across the Alps to the Rhine and into Gaul , most importantly by Julius Caesar 's defeat of the largest tribal group, the Helvetii , in the Gallic Wars in 58 BC. Under the Pax Romana , the area was smoothly integrated into the prospering Empire, and its population assimilated into the wider Gallo-Roman culture by the 2nd century AD, as the Romans enlisted
16497-460: The streets, palaces were stripped of their valuables, and the invaders interrogated and tortured those citizens thought to have hidden wealth. As newly converted Christians, the Goths respected church property, but those who found sanctuary in the Vatican and in other churches were the fortunate few. The Goths and Vandals were only the first of many bands of peoples that flooded Western Europe in
16638-413: The superimposition of Roman culture on the local population appears to have been unproblematic and thorough, the Celtic traditions did not disappear entirely, resulting in a fusion of Roman and local culture that characterized all aspects of society. Latin , the language of government and instruction, only gradually replaced the local Celtic dialects in everyday use. Local artworks and religious icons of
16779-677: The territory west of the Jura and Rhine , as well as at blocking the potential incursion routes from the East along the Jura. The Raetians, described as savage warriors by Strabo , continued to launch incursions into the Swiss Plateau and also had to be contained. To that end, Caesar charged the Helvetii and the Rauraci with defending their territory and established two colonies of veterans – one,
16920-444: The third century, when parts of Switzerland each belonged to the provinces of Sequania , Vienna , Raetia Prima , Liguria and Alpes Graiae et Poeninae . The colonies of Nyon, Aventicum and Augusta Raurica were governed under republican constitutions similar to that of Rome. Most governmental powers were exercised by a pair of magistrates, the duoviri , elected annually first by all citizens older than 25, and in later times by
17061-412: The third was fallow. Compared to the earlier two-field system, a three-field system allowed for significantly more land to be put under cultivation. Even more important, the system allowed for two harvests a year, reducing the risk that a single crop failure will lead to famine. Three-field agriculture created a surplus of oats that could be used to feed horses. This surplus allowed for the replacement of
17202-617: The time show that a great number of local nobles held political and religious offices in Raetia, indicating that the Romans successfully co-opted the local elite. Testaments of Roman culture such as baths, floor heating and imported goods (pottery, glass, religious icons and artworks) have been found in even the poorest Roman era dwellings, indicating that Romanization was effective at all levels of society. Roman public baths were found in all villages, temples with integrated theaters – showing animal or gladiatorial combat – in most. While
17343-539: The trade routes between Europe and the Orient, which made the Empire the richest polity in Medieval Europe. Making use of their sophisticated warfare and superior diplomacy, the Byzantines managed to fend off assaults by the migrating barbarians. Their dreams of subduing the Western potentates briefly materialized during the reign of Justinian I in 527–565. Not only did Justinian restore some western territories to
17484-415: The withdrawal was only temporary and partial, and that Roman control of these rivers was reestablished in 411–413 with the assistance of tribes moving south from Germania. In any case, the fifth century saw the apparently non-violent takeover of western Switzerland by the Burgundians (placed there by Flavius Aetius in 443 as a shield against the invading Huns ) and of Northern and Central Switzerland by
17625-423: The workforce. In 2008 there were a total of 324 full-time equivalent jobs. The number of jobs in the primary sector was 8, all of which were in agriculture. The number of jobs in the secondary sector was 183 of which 159 or (86.9%) were in manufacturing and 24 (13.1%) were in construction. The number of jobs in the tertiary sector was 133. In the tertiary sector; 32 or 24.1% were in wholesale or retail sales or
17766-592: The world. Some historians such as Josiah C. Russell (1958) have suggested a total European population loss of 50 to 60 per cent between 541 and 700. After the year 750, major epidemic diseases did not appear again in Europe until the Black Death of the 14th century. The disease smallpox , which was eradicated in the late 20th century, did not definitively enter Western Europe until about 581 when Bishop Gregory of Tours provided an eyewitness account that describes
17907-402: Was divided equally among the sons of a dead land holder. This meant that, when the king granted a prince land in reward for service, that prince and all of his descendants had an irrevocable right to that land that no future king could undo. Likewise, those princes (and their sons) could sublet their land to their own vassals, who could in turn sublet the land to lower sub-vassals. This all had
18048-410: Was 12.6%, while an unmarried resident's rate was 18.5%. For comparison, the rate for the entire canton in the same year, was 14.2% and 22.0%, while the nationwide rate was 12.3% and 21.1% respectively. In 2009 there were a total of 815 tax payers in the municipality. Of that total, 250 made over 75,000 CHF per year. There were 6 people who made between 15,000 and 20,000 per year. The average income of
18189-462: Was based in the permanent camp of Vindonissa ( Windisch ). Aventicum ( Avenches ) was likely the capital of the Helvetii since its founding at the beginning of the 1st century. In the 40s, it benefited from the traffic brought over the St Bernard pass over a street expanded by Claudius , and in 71 it acquired the status of a Roman colony and of an allied city. This is believed to have been
18330-627: Was bound to serve his superior in return for the latter's protection. This made for confusion of territorial sovereignty since allegiances were subject to change over time and were sometimes mutually contradictory. Feudalism allowed the state to provide a degree of public safety despite the continued absence of bureaucracy and written records. Manors became largely self-sufficient, and the volume of trade along long-distance routes and in market towns declined during this period, though never ceased entirely. Roman roads decayed and long-distance trade depended more heavily on water transport. The Viking Age spans
18471-489: Was composed in poor Latin in 643: the Edictum Rothari . It was primarily the codification of the oral legal tradition of the people. The Lombard state was well-organized and stabilized by the end of the long reign of Liutprand (717–744), but its collapse was sudden. Unsupported by the dukes, King Desiderius was defeated and forced to surrender his kingdom to Charlemagne in 774. The Lombard kingdom ended and
18612-421: Was considered to be the distance an ox could plough before taking a rest; the strip shape of the acre field also reflected the difficulty in turning early heavy ploughs. In the idealized form of the system, each family got thirty such strips of land. The three-field system of crop rotation was first developed in the 9th century: wheat or rye was planted in one field, the second field had a nitrogen-fixing crop, and
18753-418: Was crowned "Roman Emperor" by Pope Leo III on Christmas Day, 800. Upon Charlemagne's death, his empire had united much of modern-day France, western Germany and northern Italy. The years after his death illustrated how Germanic his empire remained. Rather than an orderly succession, his empire was divided in accordance with Frankish inheritance custom, which resulted in instability that plagued his empire until
18894-526: Was highlighted by Charles Martel , who as Mayor of the Palace was effectively the strongest prince in the kingdom. His accomplishments were highlighted, not just by his famous defeat of invading Muslims at the Battle of Tours , which is typically considered the battle that saved Europe from Muslim conquest, but by the fact that he greatly expanded Frankish influence. It was under his patronage that Boniface expanded Frankish influence into Germany by rebuilding
19035-570: Was lost, it was replaced by the rule of local potentates, sometimes members of the established Romanized ruling elite, sometimes new lords of alien culture. In Aquitania , Gallia Narbonensis , southern Italy and Sicily, Baetica or southern Spain , and the Iberian Mediterranean coast, Roman culture lasted until the 6th or 7th centuries. The gradual breakdown and transformation of economic and social linkages and infrastructure resulted in increasingly localized outlooks. This breakdown
19176-413: Was made possible by the protection of well-defended and distant Imperial borders and a peaceful and smooth Romanization of the local population. The Romans urbanized the territory with numerous settlements and built a network of high-quality Roman roads connecting them, allowing for the integration of Helvetia into the imperial economy. While the Roman presence was always strong in the Alps, where
19317-750: Was offered to Pepin. With this, the Merovingian line of kings ended, and the Carolingian line began. Pepin's son Charlemagne continued in the footsteps of his father and grandfather. He further expanded and consolidated the Frankish kingdom (now commonly called the Carolingian Empire ). His reign also saw a cultural rebirth, commonly called the Carolingian Renaissance . Though the exact reasons are unclear, Charlemagne
19458-474: Was often fast and dramatic as it became unsafe to travel or carry goods over any distance; there was a consequent collapse in trade and manufacture for export. Major industries that depended on trade, such as large-scale pottery manufacture, vanished almost overnight in places like Britain. Tintagel in Cornwall , as well as several other centres, managed to obtain supplies of Mediterranean luxury goods well into
19599-652: Was relatively Romanized, at least when compared to the Germanic kingdoms in northern Europe. It was highly decentralized at first, with the territorial dukes having practical sovereignty in their duchies, especially in the southern duchies of Spoleto and Benevento . For a decade following the death of Cleph in 575, the Lombards did not even elect a king; this period is called the Rule of the Dukes . The first written legal code
19740-516: Was stable and well developed. The Franks, in contrast, were barely any different from their barbarian Germanic ancestors. The Kingdom of the Franks was weak and divided. Impossible to guess at the time, but by the end of the century, the Lombardic kingdom would be extinct, while the Frankish kingdom would have nearly reassembled the Western Roman Empire. Though much of Roman civilization north of
19881-573: Was the southern Ticino , annexed after the Roman victory over the Insubres in 222 BC. The territory of the Allobroges around Geneva came under Roman sway by 121 BC and was incorporated into the province of Gallia Narbonensis before the Gallic Wars (58–51 BC). In around 110 BC, two Helvetic tribes under Divico – the Tigurini and the Tougeni , sometimes identified with
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