![Roman Empire 125](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/bb/Roman_Empire_125.png)
The Burgundians ( la, Burgundes, Burgundiōnes, Burgundī; on, Burgundar; ang, Burgendas; grc-gre, Βούργουνδοι) were an early
Germanic tribe or group of tribes. They appeared in the
middle Rhine region, near the
Roman Empire
The Roman Empire ( la, Imperium Romanum ; grc-gre, Βασιλεία τῶν Ῥωμαίων, Basileía tôn Rhōmaíōn) was the post-Republican period of ancient Rome. As a polity, it included large territorial holdings around the Mediterr ...
, and were later moved into the empire, in the western
Alps
The Alps () ; german: Alpen ; it, Alpi ; rm, Alps ; sl, Alpe . are the highest and most extensive mountain range system that lies entirely in Europe, stretching approximately across seven Alpine countries (from west to east): France, Sw ...
and eastern
Gaul
Gaul ( la, Gallia) was a region of Western Europe first described by the Romans. It was inhabited by Celtic and Aquitani tribes, encompassing present-day France, Belgium, Luxembourg, most of Switzerland, parts of Northern Italy (only during ...
. They were possibly mentioned much earlier in the time of the Roman Empire as living in part of the region of
Germania
Germania ( ; ), also called Magna Germania (English: ''Great Germania''), Germania Libera (English: ''Free Germania''), or Germanic Barbaricum to distinguish it from the Roman province of the same name, was a large historical region in north- ...
that is now part of Poland.
The Burgundians are first mentioned together with the
Alamanni
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 pres ...
as early as the 11th panegyric to emperor
Maximian
Maximian ( la, Marcus Aurelius Valerius Maximianus; c. 250 – c. July 310), nicknamed ''Herculius'', was Roman emperor from 286 to 305. He was ''Caesar'' from 285 to 286, then ''Augustus'' from 286 to 305. He shared the latter title with his ...
given in
Trier
Trier ( , ; lb, Tréier ), formerly known in English as Trèves ( ;) and Triers (see also names in other languages), is a city on the banks of the Moselle in Germany. It lies in a valley between low vine-covered hills of red sandstone in the ...
in 291, and referring to events that must have happened between 248 and 291, and they apparently remained neighbours for centuries. By 411 a Burgundian group had established themselves on the Rhine, between
Franks
The Franks ( la, Franci or ) were a group of Germanic peoples whose name was first mentioned in 3rd-century Roman sources, and associated with tribes between the Lower Rhine and the Ems River, on the edge of the Roman Empire.H. Schutz: Tools, ...
and Alamanni, holding the cities of
Worms Worms may refer to:
*Worm, an invertebrate animal with a tube-like body and no limbs
Places
*Worms, Germany, a city
**Worms (electoral district)
*Worms, Nebraska, U.S.
*Worms im Veltlintal, the German name for Bormio, Italy
Arts and entertainme ...
,
Speyer
Speyer (, older spelling ''Speier'', French: ''Spire,'' historical English: ''Spires''; pfl, Schbaija) is a city in Rhineland-Palatinate in Germany with approximately 50,000 inhabitants. Located on the left bank of the river Rhine, Speyer li ...
, and
Strasbourg
Strasbourg (, , ; german: Straßburg ; gsw, label=Bas Rhin Alsatian, Strossburi , gsw, label=Haut Rhin Alsatian, Strossburig ) is the prefecture and largest city of the Grand Est region of eastern France and the official seat of the Eu ...
. In 436,
Aëtius defeated the Burgundians on the Rhine with the help of
Hunnish
The Huns were a nomadic people who lived in Central Asia, the Caucasus, and Eastern Europe between the 4th and 6th century AD. According to European tradition, they were first reported living east of the Volga River, in an area that was part ...
forces, and then in 443, he re-settled the Burgundians within the empire, in eastern
Gaul
Gaul ( la, Gallia) was a region of Western Europe first described by the Romans. It was inhabited by Celtic and Aquitani tribes, encompassing present-day France, Belgium, Luxembourg, most of Switzerland, parts of Northern Italy (only during ...
.
This Gaulish domain became the
Kingdom of the Burgundians, in the western Alps region. This later became a component of the
Frankish Empire
Francia, also called the Kingdom of the Franks ( la, Regnum Francorum), Frankish Kingdom, Frankland or Frankish Empire ( la, Imperium Francorum), was the largest post-Roman barbarian kingdom in Western Europe. It was ruled by the Franks dur ...
. The name of this kingdom survives in the regional appellation,
Burgundy
Burgundy (; french: link=no, Bourgogne ) is a historical territory and former administrative region and province of east-central France. The province was once home to the Dukes of Burgundy from the early 11th until the late 15th century. The c ...
, which is a region in modern France, representing only a part of that kingdom.
Another part of the Burgundians formed a contingent in
Attila
Attila (, ; ), frequently called Attila the Hun, was the ruler of the Huns
The Huns were a nomadic people who lived in Central Asia, the Caucasus, and Eastern Europe between the 4th and 6th century AD. According to European traditio ...
's
Hunnic army by 451.
[Sidonnius Appolinarius, ''Carmina'', 7, 322][Luebe, ''Die Burgunder'', in Krüger II, p. 373 n. 21, in Herbert Schutz, ''Tools, weapons and ornaments: Germanic material culture in Pre-Carolingian Central Europe, 400–750'', BRILL, 2001, p.36]
Before clear documentary evidence begins, the Burgundians may have originally emigrated from mainland
Scandinavia
Scandinavia; Sámi languages: /. ( ) is a subregion#Europe, subregion in Northern Europe, with strong historical, cultural, and linguistic ties between its constituent peoples. In English usage, ''Scandinavia'' most commonly refers to Denmark, ...
to the Baltic island of
Bornholm
Bornholm () is a Danish island in the Baltic Sea, to the east of the rest of Denmark, south of Sweden, northeast of Germany and north of Poland.
Strategically located, Bornholm has been fought over for centuries. It has usually been ruled by ...
, and from there to the
Vistula
The Vistula (; pl, Wisła, ) is the longest river in Poland and the ninth-longest river in Europe, at in length. The drainage basin, reaching into three other nations, covers , of which is in Poland.
The Vistula rises at Barania Góra in ...
basin, in the middle of what is now Poland.
Name
The
ethnonym
An ethnonym () is a name applied to a given ethnic group. Ethnonyms can be divided into two categories: exonyms (whose name of the ethnic group has been created by another group of people) and autonyms, or endonyms (whose name is created and used ...
Burgundians is commonly used in English to refer to the ''Burgundi'' (''Burgundionei'', ''Burgundiones'' or ''Burgunds'') who settled in eastern Gaul and the western Alps during the 5th century. The original
Kingdom of the Burgundians barely intersected the modern ''Bourgogne'' and more closely matched the boundaries of
Franche-Comté
Franche-Comté (, ; ; Frainc-Comtou: ''Fraintche-Comtè''; frp, Franche-Comtât; also german: Freigrafschaft; es, Franco Condado; all ) is a cultural and historical region of eastern France. It is composed of the modern departments of Doubs, ...
in northeastern France, the
Rhône-Alpes
Rhône-Alpes () was an administrative region of France. Since 1 January 2016, it is part of the new region Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes. It is located on the eastern border of the country, towards the south. The region was named after the river Rhône an ...
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 the geographical ''
Bourgogne
Burgundy (; french: link=no, Bourgogne ) is a historical territory and former administrative region and province of east-central France. The province was once home to the Dukes of Burgundy from the early 11th until the late 15th century. The c ...
'' 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
Burgundy (; french: link=no, Bourgogne ) is a historical territory and former administrative region and province of east-central France. The province was once home to the Dukes of Burgundy from the early 11th until the late 15th century. The c ...
is in France, which derives its name from the
Duchy of Burgundy. But in the context of 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.
History
Uncertain early history
![DenmarkBornholm2](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/30/DenmarkBornholm2.png)
The origins of 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 scholars such as Ian Wood and Walter Goffart. As remarked by Susan Reynolds:
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, the Burgundians are believed to have then emigrated to the Baltic island of
Bornholm
Bornholm () is a Danish island in the Baltic Sea, to the east of the rest of Denmark, south of Sweden, northeast of Germany and north of Poland.
Strategically located, Bornholm has been fought over for centuries. It has usually been ruled by ...
("the island of the Burgundians" in
Old Norse
Old Norse, Old Nordic, or Old Scandinavian, is a stage of development of North Germanic languages, North Germanic dialects before their final divergence into separate Nordic languages. Old Norse was spoken by inhabitants of Scandinavia and t ...
). 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''), a man (or group) named
Veseti settled on a
holm
Holm may refer to:
Places
* Holm (island), the name of several islands
* Holm, Nordfriesland, Germany
* Holm, Pinneberg, Germany
* Holm (Flensburg), Flensburg, Germany
* Holm, Norway, in Nordland county
* Holm, Troms, Norway
* Holm, Podu Iloa ...
(island) called ''borgundarhólmr'' in Old Norse, i.e. Bornholm.
Alfred the Great
Alfred the Great (alt. Ælfred 848/849 – 26 October 899) was King of the West Saxons from 871 to 886, and King of the Anglo-Saxons from 886 until his death in 899. He was the youngest son of King Æthelwulf and his first wife Osburh, who bot ...
's translation of ''
Orosius
Paulus Orosius (; born 375/385 – 420 AD), less often Paul Orosius in English, was a Roman priest, historian and theologian, and a student of Augustine of Hippo. It is possible that he was born in '' Bracara Augusta'' (now Braga, Portugal), t ...
'' 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.
Early Roman sources, such as
Tacitus
Publius Cornelius Tacitus, known simply as Tacitus ( , ; – ), was a Roman historian and politician. Tacitus is widely regarded as one of the greatest Roman historiography, Roman historians by modern scholars.
The surviving portions of his t ...
and
Pliny the Elder
Gaius Plinius Secundus (AD 23/2479), called Pliny the Elder (), was a Roman author, naturalist and natural philosopher, and naval and army commander of the early Roman Empire, and a friend of the emperor Vespasian. He wrote the encyclopedic '' ...
, knew little concerning the Germanic peoples east of the
Elbe river, or on the Baltic Sea. Pliny (IV.28) however mentions a group with a similar names among the
Vandalic
Vandalic was the Germanic language spoken by the Vandals during roughly the 3rd to 6th centuries. It was probably closely related to Gothic, and, as such, is traditionally classified as an East Germanic language. Its attestation is very fragme ...
or
Eastern Germanic Germani peoples, including also the
Goths
The Goths ( got, 𐌲𐌿𐍄𐌸𐌹𐌿𐌳𐌰, translit=''Gutþiuda''; la, Gothi, grc-gre, Γότθοι, Gótthoi) were a Germanic people who played a major role in the fall of the Western Roman Empire and the emergence of medieval Europe ...
.
Claudius Ptolemy
Claudius Ptolemy (; grc-gre, Πτολεμαῖος, ; la, Claudius Ptolemaeus; AD) was a mathematician, astronomer, astrologer, geographer, and music theorist, who wrote about a dozen scientific treatises, three of which were of importance ...
lists these also, as living between the Suevus (probably the
Oder
The Oder ( , ; Czech, Lower Sorbian and ; ) is a river in Central Europe. It is Poland's second-longest river in total length and third-longest within its borders after the Vistula and Warta. The Oder rises in the Czech Republic and flows thr ...
) and Vistula rivers, north of the
Lugii
The Lugii (or ''Lugi'', ''Lygii'', ''Ligii'', ''Lugiones'', ''Lygians'', ''Ligians'', ''Lugians'', or ''Lougoi'') were a large tribal confederation mentioned by Roman authors living in ca. 100 BC–300 AD in Central Europe, north of the Sude ...
, and south of the coast dwelling tribes. Around the mid-2nd century AD, there was a significant migration by Germanic tribes of Scandinavian origin (
Rugii
The Rugii, Rogi or Rugians ( grc, Ρογοί, Rogoi), were a Roman-era Germanic people. They were first clearly recorded by Tacitus, in his ''Germania'' who called them the ''Rugii'', and located them near the south shore of the Baltic Sea. Som ...
,
Goths
The Goths ( got, 𐌲𐌿𐍄𐌸𐌹𐌿𐌳𐌰, translit=''Gutþiuda''; la, Gothi, grc-gre, Γότθοι, Gótthoi) were a Germanic people who played a major role in the fall of the Western Roman Empire and the emergence of medieval Europe ...
,
Gepidae
The Gepids, ( la, Gepidae, Gipedae, grc, Γήπαιδες) were an East Germanic tribe who lived in the area of modern Romania, Hungary and Serbia, roughly between the Tisza, Sava and Carpathian Mountains. They were said to share the religion a ...
,
Vandals
The Vandals were a Germanic peoples, Germanic people who first inhabited what is now southern Poland. They established Vandal Kingdom, Vandal kingdoms on the Iberian Peninsula, Mediterranean islands, and North Africa in the fifth century.
The ...
, Burgundians, and others)
towards the south-east, creating turmoil along the entire Roman frontier.
These migrations culminated in the
Marcomannic Wars
The Marcomannic Wars (Latin: ''bellum Germanicum et Sarmaticum'', "German and Sarmatian War") were a series of wars lasting from about 166 until 180 AD. These wars pitted the Roman Empire against, principally, the Germanic Marcomanni and Quadi ...
, which resulted in widespread destruction and the first invasion of Italy in the Roman Empire period.
Jordanes
Jordanes (), also written as Jordanis or Jornandes, was a 6th-century Eastern Roman bureaucrat widely believed to be of Goths, Gothic descent who became a historian later in life. Late in life he wrote two works, one on Roman history (''Romana ...
reports that during the 3rd century, the Burgundians living in the Vistula basin were almost annihilated by
Fastida
FastidaName of Germanic origin, containing the element ''fast''- meaning "fixed, firm, secure", from Proto-Germanic *''fastuz''. was a king of the Gepidae of the 3rd century. His battle against the Visigoths resulted in defeat, and was chronicled ...
, king of the Gepids, whose kingdom was at the mouth of the Vistula.
In the late 3rd century, the Burgundians appeared on the east bank of the Rhine, apparently confronting Roman Gaul.
Zosimus Zosimus, Zosimos, Zosima or Zosimas may refer to:
People
*
* Rufus and Zosimus (died 107), Christian saints
* Zosimus (martyr) (died 110), Christian martyr who was executed in Umbria, Italy
* Zosimos of Panopolis, also known as ''Zosimus Alchemi ...
(1.68) reports them being defeated by the emperor
Probus Probus may refer to:
People
* Marcus Valerius Probus (c. 20/30–105 AD), Roman grammarian
* Marcus Pomponius Maecius Probus, consul in 228
* Probus (emperor), Roman Emperor (276–282)
* Probus of Byzantium (–306), Bishop of Byzantium from 293 t ...
in 278 near a river, together with
Silingi
The Silings or Silingi ( la, Silingae; grc, Σιλίγγαι – ) were a Germanic tribe, part of the larger Vandal group. The Silingi at one point lived in Silesia, and the names ''Silesia'' and ''Silingi'' may be related.Jerzy Strzelczyk, "Wand ...
and Vandals. A few years later,
Claudius Mamertinus Claudius Mamertinus (fl. mid-late 4th century AD) was an official in the Roman Empire. In late 361 he took part in the Chalcedon tribunal to condemn the ministers of Constantius II, and in 362, he was made consul as a reward by the new Emperor Juli ...
mentions them along with the
Alamanni
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 pres ...
, a
Suebi
The Suebi (or Suebians, also spelled Suevi, Suavi) were a large group of Germanic peoples originally from the Elbe river region in what is now Germany and the Czech Republic. In the early Roman era they included many peoples with their own names ...
c people. These two peoples had moved into the
Agri Decumates on the eastern side of the Rhine, an area today referred to still as
Swabia
Swabia ; german: Schwaben , colloquially ''Schwabenland'' or ''Ländle''; archaic English also Suabia or Svebia is a cultural, historic and linguistic region in southwestern Germany.
The name is ultimately derived from the medieval Duchy of ...
, at times attacking Roman Gaul together and sometimes fighting each other. He also mentions that the Goths had previously defeated the Burgundians.
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 ...
, 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 the Burgundians (although other Vandalic peoples are more clearly mentioned as having moved west in this period), and so there have historically been some doubts about the link between the eastern and western Burgundians.
In 369/370, the Emperor
Valentinian I enlisted the aid of the Burgundians in his war against the Alemanni.
Approximately four decades later, the Burgundians appear again. Following
Stilicho's withdrawal of troops to fight
Alaric I
Alaric I (; got, 𐌰𐌻𐌰𐍂𐌴𐌹𐌺𐍃, , "ruler of all"; c. 370 – 410 AD) was the first king of the Visigoths, from 395 to 410. He rose to leadership of the Goths who came to occupy Moesia—territory acquired a couple of decades ...
the
Visigoth
The Visigoths (; la, Visigothi, Wisigothi, Vesi, Visi, Wesi, Wisi) were an early Germanic people who, along with the Ostrogoths, constituted the two major political entities of the Goths within the Roman Empire in late antiquity, or what is kno ...
in AD 406–408, 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
The Vandals were a Germanic peoples, Germanic people who first inhabited what is now southern Poland. They established Vandal Kingdom, Vandal kingdoms on the Iberian Peninsula, Mediterranean islands, and North Africa in the fifth century.
The ...
(
Hasdingi The Hasdingi were one of the Vandal peoples of the Roman era. The Vandals were Germanic peoples, who are believed to have spoken an East Germanic language, and were first reported during the first centuries of the Roman empire in the area which is n ...
and
Silingi
The Silings or Silingi ( la, Silingae; grc, Σιλίγγαι – ) were a Germanic tribe, part of the larger Vandal group. The Silingi at one point lived in Silesia, and the names ''Silesia'' and ''Silingi'' may be related.Jerzy Strzelczyk, "Wand ...
), and Danubian
Suevi
The Suebi (or Suebians, also spelled Suevi, Suavi) were a large group of Germanic peoples originally from the Elbe river region in what is now Germany and the Czech Republic. In the early Roman era they included many peoples with their own names ...
. The majority of these Danubian peoples moved through Gaul and eventually established themselves in kingdoms in Roman Hispania. One group of Alans was settled in northern Gaul by the Romans.
Some Burgundians also migrated westwards and settled as ''
foederati
''Foederati'' (, singular: ''foederatus'' ) were peoples and cities bound by a treaty, known as ''foedus'', with Rome. During the Roman Republic, the term identified the ''socii'', but during the Roman Empire, it was used to describe foreign stat ...
'' in the Roman province of
Germania Prima
Germania Superior ("Upper Germania") was an imperial province of the Roman Empire. It comprised an area of today's western Switzerland, the French Jura mountains, Jura and Alsace regions, and southwestern Germany. Important cities were Besanço ...
along with the
Middle Rhine. Other Burgundians however remained outside the empire and apparently formed a contingent in
Attila
Attila (, ; ), frequently called Attila the Hun, was the ruler of the Huns
The Huns were a nomadic people who lived in Central Asia, the Caucasus, and Eastern Europe between the 4th and 6th century AD. According to European traditio ...
's
Hunnic army by 451.
Kingdom
Rhineland
In 411, the Burgundian king
Gundahar
Gundaharius or Gundahar (died 437), better known by his legendary names Gunther ( gmh, Gunther) or Gunnar ( non, Gunnarr), was a historical king of Burgundy in the early 5th century. Gundahar is attested as ruling his people shortly after they ...
(or ''Gundicar'') set up a puppet emperor,
Jovinus :''Jovinus is a Roman cognomen, most often used for a 5th-century Roman usurper emperor. This article is about the Roman usurper. For the saint, see Saint Jovinus. For the Frankish duke, see Jovinus of Provence.'' For the 4th century Roman general ...
, in cooperation with
Goar, king of the
Alans. With the authority of the
Gallic emperor
The Gallic Empire or the Gallic Roman Empire are names used in modern historiography for a breakaway part of the Roman Empire that functioned ''de facto'' as a separate state from 260 to 274. It originated during the Crisis of the Third Century, ...
that he controlled, Gundahar settled on the left (Roman) bank of the Rhine, between the river
Lauter
Lauter may refer to:
People
* Lauter (surname)
Places
*Lauter, Saxony, town in the district of Aue-Schwarzenberg, Saxony, Germany
* Lauter, Bavaria, village in the district of Bamberg, Bavaria, Germany
Rivers
* Lauter (Baunach), tributary to th ...
and the
Nahe, seizing
Worms Worms may refer to:
*Worm, an invertebrate animal with a tube-like body and no limbs
Places
*Worms, Germany, a city
**Worms (electoral district)
*Worms, Nebraska, U.S.
*Worms im Veltlintal, the German name for Bormio, Italy
Arts and entertainme ...
,
Speyer
Speyer (, older spelling ''Speier'', French: ''Spire,'' historical English: ''Spires''; pfl, Schbaija) is a city in Rhineland-Palatinate in Germany with approximately 50,000 inhabitants. Located on the left bank of the river Rhine, Speyer li ...
, 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 Worms may refer to:
*Worm, an invertebrate animal with a tube-like body and no limbs
Places
*Worms, Germany, a city
**Worms (electoral district)
*Worms, Nebraska, U.S.
*Worms im Veltlintal, the German name for Bormio, Italy
Arts and entertainme ...
).
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 the Roman general
Aëtius called in
Hun
The Huns were a nomadic people who lived in Central Asia, the Caucasus, and Eastern Europe between the 4th and 6th century AD. According to European tradition, they were first reported living east of the Volga River, in an area that was part ...
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
Wilhelm Richard Wagner ( ; ; 22 May 181313 February 1883) was a German composer, theatre director, polemicist, and conductor who is chiefly known for his operas (or, as some of his mature works were later known, "music dramas"). Unlike most op ...
based his
Ring Cycle
(''The Ring of the Nibelung''), WWV 86, is a cycle of four German-language epic music dramas composed by Richard Wagner. The works are based loosely on characters from Germanic heroic legend, namely Norse legendary sagas and the ''Nibelung ...
—where King Gunther (Gundahar) and Queen
Brünhild
Brunhild, also known as Brunhilda or Brynhild ( non, Brynhildr , gmh, Brünhilt, german: Brünhild , label=Modern German or ), is a female character from Germanic heroic legend. She may have her origins in the Visigothic princess Brunhilda o ...
hold their court at Worms, and
Siegfried
Siegfried is a German-language male given name, composed from the Germanic elements ''sig'' "victory" and ''frithu'' "protection, peace".
The German name has the Old Norse cognate ''Sigfriðr, Sigfrøðr'', which gives rise to Swedish ''Sigfrid' ...
comes to woo Kriemhild. (In Old Norse sources 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
Attila (, ; ), frequently called Attila the Hun, was the ruler of the Huns from 434 until his death in March 453. He was also the leader of a tribal empire consisting of Huns, Ostrogoths, Alans, and Bulgars, among others, in Central and Ea ...
.
Settlement in eastern Gaul
![Map Burgundian Kingdom EN](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/46/Map_Burgundian_Kingdom_EN.png)
For reasons not cited in the sources, the Burgundians were granted ''foederati'' status a second time, and in 443 were resettled by
Aëtius in the region of
Maxima Sequanorum. The Burgundians expanded their realm south into ''Sapaudia'', which corresponds to the modern-day
Savoy
Savoy (; frp, Savouè ; french: Savoie ) is a cultural-historical region in the Western Alps.
Situated on the cultural boundary between Occitania and Piedmont, the area extends from Lake Geneva in the north to the Dauphiné in the south.
Savo ...
, and Burgundians probably even lived near ''Lugdunum'', known today as
Lyon
Lyon,, ; Occitan: ''Lion'', hist. ''Lionés'' also spelled in English as Lyons, is the third-largest city and second-largest metropolitan area of France. It is located at the confluence of the rivers Rhône and Saône, to the northwest of t ...
. A new king,
Gundioc
Gondioc (died 473), also called ''Gunderic'' and ''Gundowech'', was a King of the Burgundians, succeeding his putative father Gunther in 436.
In 406, the Burgundians under King Gundahar (Gundihar, Guntiar) at Mainz had crossed the Rhine and ...
or ''Gunderic'', presumed to be Gundahar's son, appears to have reigned following his father's death.
[Drew, p. 1] The historian Pline tells us that Gunderic ruled the areas of Saône, Dauphiny, Savoie and a part of Provence. He set up
Vienne
Vienne (; Poitevin-Saintongeais: ''Viéne'') is a landlocked department in the French region of Nouvelle-Aquitaine. It takes its name from the river Vienne. It had a population of 438,435 in 2019.[Attila
Attila (, ; ), frequently called Attila the Hun, was the ruler of the Huns
The Huns were a nomadic people who lived in Central Asia, the Caucasus, and Eastern Europe between the 4th and 6th century AD. According to European traditio ...]
at the
Battle of Châlons
The Battle of the Catalaunian Plains (or Fields), also called the Battle of the Campus Mauriacus, Battle of Châlons, Battle of Troyes or the Battle of Maurica, took place on June 20, 451 AD, between a coalition – led by the Roman general ...
(also called "The Battle of 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
Theodoric II, ''Teodorico'' in Spanish and Portuguese, ( 426 – early 466) was the eighth King of the Visigoths, from 453 to 466.
Biography
Theoderic II, son of Theodoric I, obtained the throne by killing his elder brother Thorismund. The Engli ...
to Spain to fight the Sueves in 455.
Aspirations to the empire
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 the sack of Rome by the
Vandals
The Vandals were a Germanic peoples, Germanic people who first inhabited what is now southern Poland. They established Vandal Kingdom, Vandal kingdoms on the Iberian Peninsula, Mediterranean islands, and North Africa in the fifth century.
The ...
. 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
Gundobad ( la, Flavius Gundobadus; french: Gondebaud, Gondovald; 452 – 516 AD) was King of Burgundy, King of the Burgundians (473 – 516), succeeding his father Gundioc of Burgundy. Previous to this, he had been a Patrician (ancient Rome), ...
'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
Eparchius Avitus (c. 390 – 457) was Roman emperor of the West from July 455 to October 456. He was a senator of Gallic extraction and a high-ranking officer both in the civil and military administration, as well as Bishop of Piacenza.
He o ...
, raising
Majorian
Majorian ( la, Iulius Valerius Maiorianus; died 7 August 461) was the western Roman emperor from 457 to 461. A prominent general of the Roman army, Majorian deposed Emperor Avitus in 457 and succeeded him. Majorian was the last emperor to make ...
to 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 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
Glycerius () was Roman emperor of the Western Roman Empire, West from 473 to 474. He served as ''comes domesticorum'' (commander of the palace guard) during the reign of Olybrius, until Olybrius died in November 472. After a four-month interre ...
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 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.
Consolidation of the kingdom
![Conquests of Clovis](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/aa/Conquests_of_Clovis.png)
According to
Gregory of Tours
Gregory of Tours (30 November 538 – 17 November 594 AD) was a Gallo-Roman historian and Bishop of Tours, which made him a leading prelate of the area that had been previously referred to as Gaul by the Romans. He was born Georgius Florenti ...
, 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 was to become the wife of
Clovis
Clovis may refer to:
People
* Clovis (given name), the early medieval (Frankish) form of the name Louis
** Clovis I (c. 466 – 511), the first king of the Franks to unite all the Frankish tribes under one ruler
** Clovis II (c. 634 – c. 657), ...
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 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 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 the second half of his law, which was more originally Burgundian.
Fall
![Map Burgundian Kingdom 2 EN](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/7f/Map_Burgundian_Kingdom_2_EN.png)
The Burgundians were extending their power over eastern
Gaul
Gaul ( la, Gallia) was a region of Western Europe first described by the Romans. It was inhabited by Celtic and Aquitani tribes, encompassing present-day France, Belgium, Luxembourg, most of Switzerland, parts of Northern Italy (only during ...
—that is western Switzerland and eastern France, as well as northern Italy. In 493,
Clovis
Clovis may refer to:
People
* Clovis (given name), the early medieval (Frankish) form of the name Louis
** Clovis I (c. 466 – 511), the first king of the Franks to unite all the Frankish tribes under one ruler
** Clovis II (c. 634 – c. 657), ...
, 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
The Franks ( la, Franci or ) were a group of Germanic peoples whose name was first mentioned in 3rd-century Roman sources, and associated with tribes between the Lower Rhine and the Ems River, on the edge of the Roman Empire.H. Schutz: Tools, ...
against the
Visigoths
The Visigoths (; la, Visigothi, Wisigothi, Vesi, Visi, Wesi, Wisi) were an early Germanic people who, along with the Ostrogoths, constituted the two major political entities of the Goths within the Roman Empire in late antiquity, or what is ...
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 Battle of Vézeronce took place on June 25, 524 near Vézeronce-Curtin (then ''Veseruntia'') in Isère, France. This battle was part of an invasion of Kingdom of Burgundy, Burgundy initiated by the four successors of the Frankish king Clovis ...
. The Burgundian kingdom was made part of the
Merovingian
The Merovingian dynasty () was the ruling family of the Franks from the middle of the 5th century until 751. They first appear as "Kings of the Franks" in the Roman army of northern Gaul. By 509 they had united all the Franks and northern Gauli ...
kingdoms, and the Burgundians themselves were by and large absorbed as well.
Physical appearance
The 5th century
Gallo-Roman poet and landowner
Sidonius, who at one point lived with the Burgundians, described them as a long-haired people of immense physical size:
Language
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 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 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.][W.B. Lockwood, "A Panorama of Indo-European Languages"]
Religion
Somewhere in the east the Burgundians had converted to the Arian Christianity
Arianism ( grc-x-koine, Ἀρειανισμός, ) is a Christological doctrine first attributed to Arius (), a Christian presbyter from Alexandria, Egypt. Arian theology holds that Jesus Christ is the Son of God, who was begotten by God t ...
from earlier Germanic paganism. Their Arianism proved a source of suspicion and distrust between the Burgundians and the Catholic
The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...
Western Roman Empire
The Western Roman Empire comprised the western provinces of the Roman Empire at any time during which they were administered by a separate independent Imperial court; in particular, this term is used in historiography to describe the period fr ...
.
Divisions were evidently healed or healing circa 500, however, as Gundobad
Gundobad ( la, Flavius Gundobadus; french: Gondebaud, Gondovald; 452 – 516 AD) was King of Burgundy, King of the Burgundians (473 – 516), succeeding his father Gundioc of Burgundy. Previous to this, he had been a Patrician (ancient Rome), ...
, one of the last Burgundian kings, maintained a close personal friendship with Avitus
Eparchius Avitus (c. 390 – 457) was Roman emperor of the West from July 455 to October 456. He was a senator of Gallic extraction and a high-ranking officer both in the civil and military administration, as well as Bishop of Piacenza.
He o ...
, 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 the ruling family.
Law
The Burgundians left three legal code
A code of law, also called a law code or legal code, is a systematic collection of statutes. It is a type of legislation that purports to exhaustively cover a complete system of laws or a particular area of law as it existed at the time the cod ...
s, 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
The ''Lex Burgundionum'' (Latin for Burgundian Laws, also ''Lex Gundobada'') refers to the law code of the Burgundians, probably issued by king Gundobad. It is influenced by Roman law and deals with domestic laws concerning marriage and inheritan ...
'', 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 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
The ''Visigothic Code'' ( la, Forum Iudicum, Liber Iudiciorum; es, Fuero Juzgo, ''Book of the Judgements''), also called ''Lex Visigothorum'' (English: ''Law of the Visigoths''), is a set of laws first promulgated by king Chindasuinth (642–653 ...
'' and influenced the later ''Lex Ripuaria
The ''Lex Ripuaria'', also spelled ''Lex Ribuaria'', is a 7th-century collection of Germanic law, the laws of the Ripuarian Franks. It is a major influence on the ''Lex Saxonum'' of AD 802. The ''Lex Ripuaria'' originated about 630 around Cologne a ...
''.[Rivers, p. 9] 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 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''.
See also
* Dauphiné
* Duchy of Burgundy
* Franche-Comté
Franche-Comté (, ; ; Frainc-Comtou: ''Fraintche-Comtè''; frp, Franche-Comtât; also german: Freigrafschaft; es, Franco Condado; all ) is a cultural and historical region of eastern France. It is composed of the modern departments of Doubs, ...
* List of ancient Germanic peoples and tribes
This list of ancient Germanic peoples is an inventory of ancient Germanic cultures, tribal groupings and other alliances of Germanic tribes and civilisations in ancient times. The information comes from various ancient historical documents, beginn ...
* List of kings of Burgundy
* ''Nibelung
The term Nibelung (German) or Niflungr (Old Norse) is a personal or clan name with several competing and contradictory uses in Germanic heroic legend. It has an unclear etymology, but is often connected to the root ''nebel'', meaning mist. The te ...
'' (later legends of the Burgundian kings)
References
Sources
*
* Bury, J. B. ''The Invasion of Europe by the Barbarians''. London: Macmillan and Co., 1928.
* Dalton, O. M. ''The History of the Franks, by Gregory of Tours''. Oxford: The Clarendon Press, 1927.
*
* Drew, Katherine Fischer. ''The Burgundian Code''. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 1972.
*
* Gordon, C.D. ''The Age of Attila''. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press, 1961.
* Guichard, Rene, ''Essai sur l'histoire du peuple burgonde, de Bornholm (Burgundarholm) vers la Bourgogne et les Bourguignons'', 1965, published by A. et J. Picard et Cie.
* Hartmann, Frederik / Riegger, Ciara. 2021. ''The Burgundian language and its phylogeny - A cladistical investigation.'' Nowele 75, p. 42-80.
*
*
* Murray, Alexander Callander. ''From Roman to Merovingian Gaul''. Broadview Press, 2000.
* Musset, Lucien. ''The Germanic Invasions: The Making of Europe AD 400–600''. University Park, Pennsylvania: The Pennsylvania State University Press, 1975. .
* Nerman, Birger. ''Det svenska rikets uppkomst''. Generalstabens litagrafiska anstalt: Stockholm. 1925.
* Rivers, Theodore John. ''Laws of the Salian and Ripuarian Franks''. New York: AMS Press, 1986.
* Rolfe, J.C., trans, ''Ammianus Marcellinus''. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press, 1950.
* Shanzer, Danuta. 'Dating the Baptism of Clovis.' In ''Early Medieval Europe'', volume 7, pages 29–57. Oxford: Blackwell Publishers Ltd, 1998.
* Shanzer, D. and I. Wood. ''Avitus of Vienne: Letters and Selected Prose. Translated with an Introduction and Notes''. Liverpool: Liverpool University Press, 2002.
* Werner, J. (1953). "Beiträge sur Archäologie des Attila-Reiches", ''Die Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaft. Abhandlungen''. Philosophische-philologische und historische Klasse. Münche
*
* Wood, Ian N. "Ethnicity and the Ethnogenesis of the Burgundians". In Herwig Wolfram and Walter Pohl, editors, ''Typen der Ethnogenese unter besonderer Berücksichtigung der Bayern'', volume 1, pages 53–69. Vienna: Denkschriften der Österreichische Akademie der Wissenschaften, 1990.
* Wood, Ian N. ''The Merovingian Kingdoms''. Harlow, England: The Longman Group, 1994.
External links
*
{{Authority control
German tribes
Early Germanic peoples
Vandals