The Brisigavi or Brisgavi were a Germanic tribe dwelling in the southern region of the

Black Forest The Black Forest (german: Schwarzwald ) is a large forested mountain range in the state of Baden-Württemberg in southwest Germany, bounded by the Rhine Valley to the west and south and close to the borders with France and Switzerland. It is t ...

, in south

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

, during the 5th century AD.

Name

They are mentioned as ''Brisigaui'' (''seniores'' and ''iuniores'') on the ''

Notitia Dignitatum The ''Notitia Dignitatum'' (Latin for "The List of Offices") is a document of the late Roman Empire that details the administrative organization of the Western and the Eastern Roman Empire. It is unique as one of very few surviving documents of ...

'' (5th c. AD)., s.v. ''Brisigavi''. The meaning of the name is obscure. It may be a hybrid, with a Celtic first element, of uncertain meaning (''brisi(o)-''), and a Germanic second element (-''gawi''), meaning 'region, land'. Ashwin E. Gohil has proposed to translate the name as 'place of the leftovers of pressed grapes’. Today the southern region of the Black Forest is named

Breisgau The Breisgau () is an area in southwest Germany between the Rhine River and the foothills of the Black Forest. Part of the state of Baden-Württemberg, it centers on the city of Freiburg im Breisgau. The district of Breisgau-Hochschwarzwald, ...

Geography

The Brisigavi lived in the southern part of the

(''Abnob(ai)a Ore''). Their territory was located east of

Leuci The Leucī (Gaulish: ''Leucoi'', 'the bright, lightning ones') were a Belgic tribe dwelling in the southern part of the modern Lorraine region during the Iron Age and the Roman period. Name They are mentioned as ''Leucos'' (acc.) by Caesar (mi ...

, south of the

Alamani The Alemanni or Alamanni, were a confederation of Germanic tribes * * * on the Upper Rhine River. First mentioned by Cassius Dio in the context of the campaign of Caracalla of 213, the Alemanni captured the in 260, and later expanded into pre ...

, west of the

Vindelici The Vindelici (Gaulish: ) were a Gallic people dwelling around present-day Augsburg (Bavaria) during the Iron Age and the Roman period. Name They are mentioned as by Horace (1st c. BC), as (; var. ) by Strabo (early 1st c. AD), as and (va ...

, north of the

Raurici The Rauraci or Raurici were a small Gallic tribe dwelling in the Upper Rhine region, around the present-day city of Basel, during the Iron Age and the Roman period. Name They are mentioned as ''Rauracis'' and ''Rauracorum'' by Caesar (mid-1st c. ...

., Map 11: Sequana-Rhenus, Map 12: Mogontiacum-Reginum-Lauriacum, Map 18: Augustonemetum-Vindonissa.

History

The Roman historian

Ammianus Marcellinus Ammianus Marcellinus (occasionally Anglicisation, anglicised as Ammian) (born , died 400) was a Roman soldier and historian who wrote the penultimate major historical account surviving from Ancient history, antiquity (preceding Procopius). His w ...

wrote in 354 that

Vadomarius Vadomarius (german: Vadomar) was an Alemannic king and Roman general, who shared power with his brother Gundomadus. After instigating an indecisive campaign in Gaul against the Romans, Vadomarius and his brother signed a treaty with the Roman emp ...

was the chieftain of the Brisgavi, and that he was murdered in the year 368 by his own people, influenced by the

Romans Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy * Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *''Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lette ...

References

Bibliography

* * * Alemanni Early Germanic peoples {{Europe-ethno-group-stub

Name

Geography

History

See also

References

Bibliography