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81-648: The Burgundians were first mentioned near the Rhine regions together with the Alamanni as early as the 11th panegyric to emperor Maximian given in Trier in 291 AD, referring to events that must have happened between 248 and 291, and these two peoples apparently remained neighbours for centuries. By 411 AD Burgundians had established control over Roman cities on the Rhine, between Franks and Alamanni, including Worms , Speyer , and Strasbourg . In 436 AD, Aëtius defeated

162-658: A confederation of Germanic tribes on the Upper Rhine River during the first millennium. First mentioned by Cassius Dio in the context of the campaign of Roman emperor Caracalla of 213, the Alemanni captured the Agri Decumates in 260, and later expanded into present-day Alsace and northern Switzerland, leading to the establishment of the Old High German language in those regions, which by

243-523: A crowd of giants. The Burgundians and their language were described as Germanic by the poet Sidonius Apollinaris . Herwig Wolfram has interpreted this as being because they had entered Gaul from Germania . More specifically their language is thought to have belonged to the East Germanic language group , based upon their presumed equivalence to the Burgundians named much earlier by Pliny in

324-410: A formal hierarchy, or they may be vague, overlapping terms, or a combination of both. In 357, there appear to have been two paramount kings (Chnodomar and Westralp) who probably acted as presidents of the confederation and seven other kings ( reges ). Their territories were small and mostly strung along the Rhine (although a few were in the hinterland). It is possible that the reguli were the rulers of

405-589: A large group of peoples from central Europe north of the Danube came west and crossed the Rhine, entering the Empire near the lands of the Burgundians who had moved much earlier. The dominant groups were Alans , Vandals ( Hasdingi and Silingi ), and Danubian Suevi . The majority of these Danubian peoples moved through Gaul and eventually established themselves in kingdoms in Roman Hispania. One group of Alans

486-485: A long-haired people of immense physical size: Why... do you [an obscure senator by the name of Catullinus] bid me compose a song dedicated to Venus... placed as I am among long-haired hordes, having to endure Germanic speech, praising often with a wry face the song of the gluttonous Burgundian who spreads rancid butter on his hair? ... You don't have a reek of garlic and foul onions discharged upon you at early morn from ten breakfasts, and you are not invaded before dawn... by

567-576: A man (or group) named Veseti settled on a holm (island) called borgundarhólmr in Old Norse, i.e. Bornholm. Alfred the Great 's translation of Orosius uses the name Burgenda land to refer to a territory next to the land of Sweons ("Swedes"). The 19th century poet and mythologist Viktor Rydberg asserted from an early medieval source, Vita Sigismundi , that they themselves retained oral traditions about their Scandinavian origin. A people with

648-699: A part of that kingdom. Another part of the Burgundians formed a contingent in Attila 's Hunnic army by 451 AD. Before clear documentary evidence begins, the Burgundians may have originally emigrated from the Baltic island of Bornholm to the Vistula region. The ethnonym Burgundians is commonly used in English to refer to the Burgundi ( Burgundionei , Burgundiones or Burgunds ) who settled in eastern Gaul and

729-584: A pretext of coming to their aid. When he became ill, the Alemanni claimed to have put a hex on him. Caracalla, it was claimed, tried to counter this influence by invoking his ancestral spirits. In retribution, Caracalla then led the Legio II Traiana Fortis against the Alemanni, who lost and were pacified for a time. The legion was as a result honored with the name Germanica. The fourth-century fictional Historia Augusta , Life of Antoninus Caracalla , relates (10.5) that Caracalla then assumed

810-688: A while, our frontier having been advanced, and our military positions pushed forward, it was regarded as a remote nook of our empire and a part of a Roman province." The Alemanni were first mentioned by Cassius Dio describing the campaign of Caracalla in 213. At that time, they apparently dwelt in the basin of the Main , to the south of the Chatti. Cassius Dio portrays the Alemanni as victims of this treacherous emperor. They had asked for his help, according to Dio, but instead he colonized their country, changed their place names, and executed their warriors under

891-505: Is also explicitly marked with a Christian cross), reading god fura dih deofile ᛭ ("God for/before you, Theophilus!", or alternatively "God before you, Devil!"). Dated to between AD 660 and 690, it marks the end of the native Alemannic tradition of runic literacy. Bad Ems is in Rhineland-Palatinate , on the northwestern boundary of Alemannic settlement, where Frankish influence would have been strongest. The establishment of

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972-751: Is also present in artwork, but Christian symbolism becomes more and more prevalent during the seventh century. Unlike the later Christianization of the Saxons and of the Slavs, the Alemanni seem to have adopted Christianity gradually, and voluntarily, spread in emulation of the Merovingian elite. From c. the 520s to the 620s, there was a surge of Alemannic Elder Futhark inscriptions . About 70 specimens have survived, roughly half of them on fibulae , others on belt buckles (see Pforzen buckle , Bülach fibula ) and other jewelry and weapon parts. Use of runes subsides with

1053-797: Is derived from their name, from Old French aleman(t) , and from French was loaned into a number of other languages, including Middle English , which commonly used the term Almains for Germans. Likewise, the Arabic name for Germany is ألمانيا ( Almania ), the Turkish is Almanya , the Spanish is Alemania , the Portuguese is Alemanha , the Welsh is Yr Almaen and the Persian is آلمان ( Alman ). According to Gaius Asinius Quadratus (quoted in

1134-696: Is described in Wallace Breem 's historical novel Eagle in the Snow . The Chronicle of Fredegar gives the account. At Alba Augusta ( Alba-la-Romaine ) the devastation was so complete, that the Christian bishop retired to Viviers , but in Gregory's account at Mende in Lozère , also deep in the heart of Gaul, bishop Privatus was forced to sacrifice to idols in the very cave where he was later venerated. It

1215-622: Is likely that they had not yet come to exist. In his Germania Tacitus (AD 90) does not mention the Alemanni. He uses the term Agri Decumates to describe the region between the Rhine, Main and Danube rivers. He says that it had once been the home of the Helvetians , who had moved westwards into Gaul in the time of Julius Caesar. The people living there in Caesar's time are not Germanic. Instead, "Reckless adventurers from Gaul, emboldened by want, occupied this land of questionable ownership. After

1296-532: Is rarely suitable to infer much about the form in the old language. The language appears to have become extinct during the late 6th century, likely due to the early conversion of the Burgundians to Latin Christianity . Somewhere in the east the Burgundians had converted to the Arian Christianity from earlier Germanic paganism . Their Arianism proved a source of suspicion and distrust between

1377-471: Is thought this detail may be a generic literary ploy to epitomize the horrors of barbarian violence. The kingdom of Alamannia between Strasbourg and Augsburg lasted until 496, when the Alemanni were conquered by Clovis I at the Battle of Tolbiac . The war of Clovis with the Alemanni forms the setting for the conversion of Clovis, briefly treated by Gregory of Tours . ( Book II.31 ) After their defeat in 496,

1458-587: The Agri Decumates on the eastern side of the Rhine, an area still referred to today as Swabia , at times attacking Roman Gaul together and sometimes fighting each other. He also mentions that the Goths had previously defeated the Burgundians. Ammianus Marcellinus , on the other hand, claimed that the Burgundians descended from the Romans. The Roman sources do not speak of any specific migration from Poland by

1539-786: The Alans . With the authority of the Gallic emperor that he controlled, Gundahar settled on the left (Roman) bank of the Rhine, between the river Lauter and the Nahe , seizing Worms , Speyer , and Strassburg . Apparently as part of a truce, the Emperor Honorius later officially "granted" them the land, with its capital at the old Celtic Roman settlement of Borbetomagus (present Worms ). Despite their new status as foederati , Burgundian raids into Roman Upper Gallia Belgica became intolerable and were ruthlessly brought to an end in 436, when

1620-561: The Roman Empire in the third and fourth centuries. They launched a major invasion of Gaul and northern Italy in 268, when the Romans were forced to denude much of their German frontier of troops in response to a massive invasion of the Goths from the east. Their raids throughout the three parts of Gaul were traumatic: Gregory of Tours (died ca 594) mentions their destructive force at the time of Valerian and Gallienus (253–260), when

1701-596: The Visigoths in the early 6th century, the Burgundians were eventually conquered at Autun by the Franks in 532 after a first attempt in the Battle of Vézeronce . The Burgundian kingdom was made part of the Merovingian kingdoms, and the Burgundians themselves were by and large absorbed as well. The 5th century Gallo-Roman poet and landowner Sidonius , who at one point lived with the Burgundians, described them as

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1782-528: The blood court at Cannstatt , and for the following century, Alemannia was ruled by Frankish dukes. Following the treaty of Verdun of 843, Alemannia became a province of the eastern kingdom of Louis the German , the precursor of the Holy Roman Empire . The duchy persisted until 1268. The German spoken today over the range of the former Alemanni is termed Alemannic German , and is recognised among

1863-623: The Alemanni assembled under their "king", whom he calls Chrocus , who acted "by the advice, it is said, of his wicked mother, and overran the whole of the Gauls, and destroyed from their foundations all the temples which had been built in ancient times. And coming to Clermont he set on fire, overthrew and destroyed that shrine which they call Vasso Galatae in the Gallic tongue," martyring many Christians ( Historia Francorum Book I.32–34 ). Thus sixth-century Gallo-Romans of Gregory's class, surrounded by

1944-576: The Alemanni bucked the Frankish yoke and put themselves under the protection of Theodoric the Great of the Ostrogoths but after his death they were again subjugated by the Franks under Theudebert I in 536. Subsequently, the Alemanni formed part of the Frankish dominions and were governed by a Frankish duke. In 746, Carloman ended an uprising by summarily executing all Alemannic nobility at

2025-536: The Alemanni had been previously neutral, they were certainly further influenced by Caracalla to become thereafter notoriously implacable enemies of Rome. This mutually antagonistic relationship is perhaps the reason why the Roman writers persisted in calling the Alemanni "barbari," meaning "savages." The archaeology, however, shows that they were largely Romanized, lived in Roman-style houses and used Roman artifacts,

2106-505: The Alemanni, but that they gave themselves the name of Suebi . The Suebi are given the alternative name of Ziuwari (as Cyuuari ) in an Old High German gloss, interpreted by Jacob Grimm as Martem colentes ("worshippers of Mars "). Annio da Viterbo a scholar and historian of the 15th century claimed the Alemanni had their name from the Hebrew language , as in Hebrew the river Rhine

2187-681: The Alemanni, who were swarming over all Italy north of the Po River . After efforts to secure a peaceful withdrawal failed, Claudius forced the Alemanni to battle at the Battle of Lake Benacus in November. The Alemanni were routed, forced back into Germany, and did not threaten Roman territory for many years afterwards. Their most famous battle against Rome took place in Argentoratum ( Strasbourg ), in 357, where they were defeated by Julian , later Emperor of Rome, and their king Chnodomarius

2268-547: The Alemannic women having adopted the Roman fashion of the tunica even earlier than the men. Most of the Alemanni were probably at the time, in fact, resident in or close to the borders of Germania Superior . Although Dio is the earliest writer to mention them, Ammianus Marcellinus used the name to refer to Germans on the Limes Germanicus in the time of Trajan 's governorship of the province shortly after it

2349-598: The Burgundians and the Catholic Western Roman Empire . Divisions were evidently healed or healing circa 500, however, as Gundobad , one of the last Burgundian kings, maintained a close personal friendship with Avitus , the bishop of Vienne . Moreover, Gundobad's son and successor, Sigismund , was himself a Catholic, and there is evidence that many of the Burgundian people had converted by this time as well, including several female members of

2430-466: The Burgundians are believed to have then emigrated to the Baltic island of Bornholm ("the island of the Burgundians" in Old Norse ). By about 250 AD, the population of Bornholm had largely disappeared from the island. Most cemeteries ceased to be used, and those that were still used had few burials (Stjerna, in German 1925:176). In Þorsteins saga Víkingssonar ( The Saga of Thorstein, Viking's Son ),

2511-485: The Burgundians before they reached the area near the Roman-controlled Rhine is a subject of various old proposals, but these are doubted by some modern historians. As remarked by Susan Reynolds , citing Ian N. Wood : Wood suggests that those who were called Burgundians in their early sixth-century laws were not a single ethnic group, but covered any non-Roman follower of Gundobad and Sigismund. Some of

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2592-545: The Burgundians on the Rhine with the help of Hunnish forces, and then in 443, he re-settled the Burgundians within the empire, in eastern Gaul . This Gaulish domain became the Kingdom of the Burgundians , which much later became a component of the Frankish Empire . The name of this kingdom survives in the regional appellation, Burgundy , which is a region in modern France, although the modern Burgundy represents only

2673-581: The Burgundians, and so there have historically been some doubts about the link between the eastern and western Burgundians. In 369/370 AD, the Emperor Valentinian I enlisted the aid of the Burgundians in his war against the Alamanni. Approximately four decades later, the Burgundians appear again. Following Stilicho 's withdrawal of troops to fight Alaric I the Visigoth in 406–408 AD,

2754-526: The Catalaunian Fields") in 451. The alliance between Burgundians and Visigoths seems to have been strong, as Gundioc and his brother Chilperic I accompanied Theodoric II to Spain to fight the Sueves in 455. Also in 455, an ambiguous reference infidoque tibi Burdundio ductu implicates an unnamed treacherous Burgundian leader in the murder of the emperor Petronius Maximus in the chaos preceding

2835-676: The Frankish empire, early in the eighth century. Today, Alemannic is a linguistic term, referring to Alemannic German , encompassing the dialects of the southern two thirds of Baden-Württemberg (German State), in western Bavaria (German State), in Vorarlberg (Austrian State), Swiss German in Switzerland and the Alsatian language of the Alsace (France). The Alemanni established a series of territorially defined pagi (cantons) on

2916-658: The Middle Ages the term Burgundian (or similar spellings) can refer even to the powerful political entity the Dukes controlled which included not only Burgundy itself but had actually expanded to have a strong association with areas now in modern Belgium and Southern Netherlands. The parts of the old Kingdom not within the French controlled Duchy tended to come under different names, except for the County of Burgundy . The origins of

2997-482: The Roman Empire and by the anonymous contributor of notes assembled from the papers of Nicolas Fréret , published in 1753. This etymology has remained the standard derivation of the name. An alternative suggestion proposes derivation from *alah "sanctuary". Walafrid Strabo in the ninth century remarked, in discussing the people of Switzerland and the surrounding regions, that only foreigners called them

3078-760: The Roman general Aëtius called in Hun mercenaries, who overwhelmed the Rhineland kingdom in 437. Gundahar was killed in the fighting, reportedly along with the majority of the Burgundian tribe. The destruction of Worms and the Burgundian kingdom by the Huns became the subject of heroic legends that were afterwards incorporated in the Nibelungenlied —on which Wagner based his Ring Cycle —where King Gunther (Gundahar) and Queen Brünhild hold their court at Worms, and Siegfried comes to woo Kriemhild. (In Old Norse sources

3159-413: The advance of Christianity. The Nordendorf fibula (early seventh century) clearly records pagan theonyms, logaþorewodanwigiþonar read as "Wodan and Donar are magicians/sorcerers", but this may be interpreted as either a pagan invocation of the powers of these deities, or a Christian protective charm against them. A runic inscription on a fibula found at Bad Ems reflects Christian pious sentiment (and

3240-624: The application of separate laws for separate ethnicities. Thus, in addition to the Lex Gundobada , Gundobad also issued (or codified) a set of laws for Roman subjects of the Burgundian kingdom, the Lex Romana Burgundionum ( The Roman Law of the Burgundians ). In addition to the above codes, Gundobad's son Sigismund later published the Prima Constitutio . Alamanni The Alemanni or Alamanni were

3321-433: The areas of Saône, Dauphiny, Savoie and a part of Provence. He set up Vienne as the capital of the kingdom of Burgundy. In all, eight Burgundian kings of the house of Gundahar ruled until the kingdom was overrun by the Franks in 534. As allies of Rome in its last decades, the Burgundians fought alongside Aëtius and a confederation of Visigoths and others against Attila at the Battle of Châlons (also called "The Battle of

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3402-480: The bishopric of Konstanz cannot be dated exactly and was possibly undertaken by Columbanus himself (before 612). In any case, it existed by 635, when Gunzo appointed John of Grab bishop. Constance was a missionary bishopric in newly converted lands, and did not look back on late Roman church history unlike the Raetian bishopric of Chur (established 451) and Basel (an episcopal seat from 740, and which continued

3483-419: The death of his father Gundioc. At this time or shortly afterwards, the Burgundian kingdom was divided among Gundobad and his brothers, Godigisel, Chilperic II, and Gundomar I. According to Gregory of Tours , the years following Gundobad's return to Burgundy saw a bloody consolidation of power. Gregory states that Gundobad murdered his brother Chilperic, drowning his wife and exiling their daughters (one of whom

3564-459: The east bank of the Rhine. The exact number and extent of these pagi is unclear and probably changed over time. Pagi , usually pairs of pagi combined, formed kingdoms ( regna ) which, it is generally believed, were permanent and hereditary. Ammianus describes Alemanni rulers with various terms: reges excelsiores ante alios ("paramount kings"), reges proximi ("neighbouring kings"), reguli ("petty kings") and regales ("princes"). This may be

3645-403: The east, and some names and placenames. However this is now considered uncertain. Little is known of the language. Some proper names of Burgundians are recorded, and some words used in the area in modern times are thought to be derived from the ancient Burgundian language, but it is often difficult to distinguish these from Germanic words of other origin, and in any case the modern form of the words

3726-465: The eighth century were collectively referred to as Alamannia . In 496, the Alemanni were conquered by the Frankish leader Clovis and incorporated into his dominions . Mentioned as still pagan allies of the Christian Franks, the Alemanni were gradually Christianized during the seventh century. The Lex Alamannorum is a record of their customary law during this period. Until

3807-680: The eighth century, Frankish suzerainty over Alemannia was mostly nominal. After an uprising by Theudebald, Duke of Alamannia , however, Carloman executed the Alamannic nobility and installed Frankish dukes. During the later and weaker years of the Carolingian Empire , the Alemannic counts became almost independent, and a struggle for supremacy took place between them and the Bishopric of Constance . The chief family in Alamannia

3888-417: The emperor (apparently personally). Ricimer then appointed Olybrius ; both died, surprisingly of natural causes, within a few months. Gundobad seems then to have succeeded his uncle as Patrician and king-maker, and raised Glycerius to the throne. In 474, Burgundian influence over the empire seems to have ended. Glycerius was deposed in favor of Julius Nepos , and Gundobad returned to Burgundy, presumably at

3969-423: The entire Roman frontier. Southwards migrations are believed to have triggered the Marcomannic Wars , which resulted in widespread destruction and the first invasion of Italy in the Roman Empire period. Writing in the 6th century, Jordanes reported that during the 3rd century AD, the Burgundians had been living near the Vistula basin, where they were almost annihilated by Fastida , king of the Gepids, whose kingdom

4050-485: The forest, where the trails were blocked by felled trees. As winter was upon them, they reoccupied a "fortification which was founded on the soil of the Alemanni that Trajan wished to be called with his own name". In this context, the use of Alemanni is possibly an anachronism, but it reveals that Ammianus believed they were the same people, which is consistent with the location of the Alemanni of Caracalla's campaigns. The Alemanni were continually engaged in conflicts with

4131-408: The geographical Bourgogne or Borgogne (Burgundy), named after the old kingdom, but not corresponding to the original boundaries of it. Between the 6th and 20th centuries, the boundaries and political connections of "Burgundy" have changed frequently. In modern times the only area still referred to as Burgundy is in France, which derives its name from the Duchy of Burgundy . But in the context of

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4212-553: The later fifth century. In the mid-6th century, the Byzantine historian Agathias records, in the context of the wars of the Goths and Franks against Byzantium, that the Alemanni fighting among the troops of Frankish king Theudebald were like the Franks in all respects except religion, since they worship certain trees, the waters of rivers, hills and mountain valleys, in whose honour they sacrifice horses, cattle and countless other animals by beheading them, and imagine that they are performing an act of piety thereby. He also spoke of

4293-711: The leaders of Goths and Burgundians may have descended from long-distant ancestors somewhere around the Baltic. Maybe, but everyone has a lot of ancestors, and some of theirs may well have come from elsewhere. There is, as Walter Goffart has repeatedly argued, little reason to believe that sixth-century or later references to what looks like names for Scandinavia, or for places in it, mean that traditions from those particular ancestors had been handed through thick and thin. They have long been associated with Scandinavian origin based on place-name evidence and archaeological evidence (Stjerna) and many consider their tradition to be correct (e.g. Musset, p. 62). According to such proposals,

4374-474: The line of Bishops of Augusta Raurica , see Bishop of Basel ). The establishment of the church as an institution recognized by worldly rulers is also visible in legal history. In the early seventh century Pactus Alamannorum hardly ever mentions the special privileges of the church, while Lantfrid 's Lex Alamannorum of 720 has an entire chapter reserved for ecclesial matters alone. A genetic study published in Science Advances in September 2018 examined

4455-401: The mid-sixth century by Byzantine historian Agathias ), the name Alamanni (Ἀλαμανοι) means "all men". It indicates that they were a conglomeration drawn from various Germanic tribes. The Romans and the Greeks called them as such (Alamanni, all men, in the sense of a group composed of men of all groups in the region). This derivation was accepted by Edward Gibbon , in his Decline and Fall of

4536-441: The name Alemannicus, at which Helvius Pertinax jested that he should really be called Geticus Maximus, because in the year before he had murdered his brother, Geta . Through much of his short reign, Caracalla was known for unpredictable and arbitrary operations launched by surprise after a pretext of peace negotiations. If he had any reasons of state for such actions, they remained unknown to his contemporaries. Whether or not

4617-614: The names are Gunnar , Brynhild , and Gudrún as normally rendered in English.) In fact, the Etzel of the Nibelungenlied is based on Attila the Hun . For reasons not cited in the sources, the Burgundians were granted foederati status a second time, and in 443 were resettled by Aëtius in Sapaudia , part of the Gallo-Roman province of Maxima Sequanorum . Burgundians probably even lived near Lugdunum , known today as Lyon . A new king, Gundioc or Gunderic , presumed to be Gundahar's son, appears to have reigned following his father's death. The historian Pline tells us that Gunderic ruled

4698-487: The particular ruthlessness of the Alemanni in destroying Christian sanctuaries and plundering churches while the genuine Franks were respectful towards those sanctuaries. Agathias expresses his hope that the Alemanni would assume better manners through prolonged contact with the Franks, which is by all appearances, in a manner of speaking, what eventually happened. Apostles of the Alemanni were Columbanus and his disciple Saint Gall . Jonas of Bobbio records that Columbanus

4779-411: The remains of eight individuals buried at a seventh-century Alemannic graveyard in Niederstotzingen , Germany. This is the richest and most complete Alemannic graveyard ever found. The highest ranking individual at the graveyard was a male with Frankish grave goods. Four males were found to be closely related to him. They were all carriers of types of the paternal haplogroup R1b1a2a1a1c2b2b . A sixth male

4860-409: The ruins of Roman temples and public buildings, attributed the destruction they saw to the plundering raids of the Alemanni. In the early summer of 268, the Emperor Gallienus halted their advance into Italy, but then had to deal with the Goths. When the Gothic campaign ended in Roman victory at the Battle of Naissus in September, Gallienus' successor Claudius Gothicus turned north to deal with

4941-412: The ruling family. The Burgundians left three legal codes , among the earliest from any of the Germanic tribes. The Liber Constitutionum sive Lex Gundobada ("The Book of Constitutions or Law of Gundobad"), also known as the Lex Burgundionum , or more simply the Lex Gundobada or the Liber , was issued in several parts between 483 and 516, principally by Gundobad, but also by his son, Sigismund. It

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5022-472: The sack of Rome by the Vandals . The Patrician Ricimer is also blamed; this event marks the first indication of the link between the Burgundians and Ricimer, who was probably Gundioc's brother-in-law and Gundobad 's uncle. In 456, the Burgundians, apparently confident in their growing power, negotiated a territorial expansion and power sharing arrangement with the local Roman senators. In 457, Ricimer overthrew another emperor, Avitus , raising Majorian to

5103-404: The same name, Burgundiones, were described by early Roman writers as living in present-day Poland. It has also been proposed that there several important Germanic tribes later found settled near Roman frontiers originally had their origins around the Baltic sea, including the Rugii , Goths , Gepidae , Vandals , and others. According to such proposals, their movement south created turmoil along

5184-402: The second half of his law, which was more originally Burgundian. The Burgundians were extending their power over eastern Gaul —that is western Switzerland and eastern France, as well as northern Italy. In 493, Clovis , king of the Franks, married the Burgundian princess Clotilda (daughter of Chilperic), who converted him to the Catholic faith. At first allied with Clovis' Franks against

5265-429: The sixth century, the Alemanni were predominantly pagan, and in the eighth century, they were predominantly Christian. The intervening seventh century was a period of genuine syncretism during which Christian symbolism and doctrine gradually grew in influence. Some scholars have speculated that members of the Alemannic elite such as king Gibuld due to Visigothic influence may have been converted to Arianism even in

5346-513: The subgroups of the High German languages . Alemannic runic inscriptions such as those on the Pforzen buckle are among the earliest testimonies of Old High German . The High German consonant shift is thought to have originated around the fifth century either in Alemannia or among the Lombards ; before that the dialect spoken by Alemannic tribes was little different from that of other West Germanic peoples. Alemannia lost its distinct jurisdictional identity when Charles Martel absorbed it into

5427-443: The throne. This new emperor proved unhelpful to Ricimer and the Burgundians. The year after his ascension, Majorian stripped the Burgundians of the lands they had acquired two years earlier. After showing further signs of independence, he was murdered by Ricimer in 461. Ten years later, in 472, Ricimer–who was by now the son-in-law of the Western Emperor Anthemius –was plotting with Gundobad to kill his father-in-law; Gundobad beheaded

5508-409: The two pagi in each kingdom. Underneath the royal class were the nobles (called optimates by the Romans) and warriors (called armati by the Romans). The warriors consisted of professional warbands and levies of free men. Each nobleman could raise an average of c. 50 warriors. The Christianization of the Alemanni took place during Merovingian times (sixth to eighth centuries). We know that in

5589-422: The western Alps during the 5th century AD. The much larger original Kingdom of the Burgundians barely intersected the modern Bourgogne and more closely matched the boundaries of Franche-Comté in northeastern France, the Rhône-Alpes in southeastern France, Romandy in west Switzerland, and Aosta Valley , in north west Italy. In modern usage, however, "Burgundians" can sometimes refer to later inhabitants of

5670-467: Was a carrier of the paternal haplogroup R1b1a2a1a1c2b2b1a1 and the maternal haplogroup U5a1a1 . Along with the five closely related individuals, he displayed close genetic links to northern and eastern Europe , particularly Lithuania and Iceland . Two individuals buried at the cemetery were found to be genetically different from both the others and each other, displaying genetic links to Southern Europe , particularly northern Italy and Spain. Along with

5751-404: Was a record of Burgundian customary law and is typical of the many Germanic law codes from this period. In particular, the Liber borrowed from the Lex Visigothorum and influenced the later Lex Ripuaria . The Liber is one of the primary sources for contemporary Burgundian life, as well as the history of its kings. Like many of the Germanic tribes, the Burgundians' legal traditions allowed

5832-500: Was active in Bregenz , where he disrupted a beer sacrifice to Wodan . Despite these activities, for some time, the Alemanni seem to have continued their pagan cult activities, with only superficial or syncretistic Christian elements. In particular, there is no change in burial practice, and tumulus warrior graves continued to be erected throughout Merovingian times. Syncretism of traditional Germanic animal-style with Christian symbolism

5913-490: Was also originally near the mouth of the Vistula. In the late 3rd century AD, the Burgundians appeared on the east bank of the Rhine, apparently confronting Roman Gaul. Zosimus (1.68) reports them being defeated by the emperor Probus in 278 near a river, together with the Silingi and Vandals. A few years later, Claudius Mamertinus mentions them along with the Alamanni , a Suebic people. These two peoples had moved into

5994-576: Was forced into some sort of vassalage by Clovis' earlier victory, as the Burgundian king appears to have assisted the Franks in 507 in their victory over Alaric II the Visigoth. During the upheaval, sometime between 483 and 501, Gundobad began to set forth the Lex Gundobada (see below), issuing roughly the first half, which drew upon the Lex Visigothorum . Following his consolidation of power, between 501 and his death in 516, Gundobad issued

6075-703: Was formed, around 98–99 AD. At that time, the entire frontier was being fortified for the first time. Trees from the earliest fortifications found in Germania Inferior are dated by dendrochronology to 99–100 AD. Ammianus relates ( xvii.1.11 ) that much later the Emperor Julian undertook a punitive expedition against the Alemanni, who by then were in Alsace, and crossed the Main (Latin Menus ), entering

6156-479: Was settled in northern Gaul by the Romans. Some Burgundians were settled as foederati in the Roman province of Germania Prima along the Middle Rhine . Other Burgundians, however, remained outside the empire and apparently formed a contingent in Attila 's Hunnic army by 451 AD. In 411, the Burgundian king Gundahar (or Gundicar ) set up a puppet emperor, Jovinus , in cooperation with Goar , king of

6237-543: Was taken prisoner to Rome. On January 2, 366, the Alemanni yet again crossed the frozen Rhine in large numbers, to invade the Gallic provinces, this time being defeated by Valentinian (see Battle of Solicinium ). In the great mixed invasion of 406, the Alemanni appear to have crossed the Rhine river a final time, conquering and then settling what is today Alsace and a large part of the Swiss Plateau . The crossing

6318-479: Was temporarily holed up in Avignon, but was able to re-muster his army and sacked Vienne, where Godegisel and many of his followers were put to death. From this point, Gundobad appears to have been the sole king of Burgundy. This would imply that his brother Gundomar was already dead, though there are no specific mentions of the event in the sources. Either Gundobad and Clovis reconciled their differences, or Gundobad

6399-665: Was that of the counts of Raetia Curiensis , who were sometimes called margraves, and one of whom, Burchard II , established the Duchy of Swabia , which was recognized by Henry the Fowler in 919 and became a stem duchy of the Holy Roman Empire . The area settled by the Alemanni corresponds roughly to the area where Alemannic German dialects remain spoken, including German Swabia and Baden , French Alsace , German-speaking Switzerland , Liechtenstein and Austrian Vorarlberg . The French-language name of Germany , Allemagne ,

6480-475: Was to become the wife of Clovis the Frank , and was reputedly responsible for his conversion). This is contested by, e.g., Bury, who points out problems in much of Gregory's chronology for the events. In c. 500, when Gundobad and Clovis were at war, Gundobad appears to have been betrayed by his brother Godegisel, who joined the Franks; together Godegisel's and Clovis' forces "crushed the army of Gundobad". Gundobad

6561-471: Was translated into Mannum and the people who live at its shores were called Alemannus . This was refuted by Beatus Rhenanus , a humanist of the 16th century. Rhenanus argued the term Alemanni was meant for the whole Germanic people only in late antiquity and before it was only meant to designate the population of an island in the North Sea . Early Roman writers did not mention the Alemanni, and it

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