The Kingdom of the Burgundians or First Kingdom of Burgundy was established by Germanic Burgundians in the

Rhineland The Rhineland (german: Rheinland; french: Rhénanie; nl, Rijnland; ksh, Rhingland; Latinised name: ''Rhenania'') is a loosely defined area of Western Germany along the Rhine, chiefly its middle section. Term Historically, the Rhinelands ...

and then 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 ...

in the 5th century.

History

Background

The Burgundians, a

Germanic tribe 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 The information comes from various ancient historical documents, beginn ...

, may have migrated from the

Scandinavia Scandinavia; Sámi languages: /. ( ) is a subregion in Northern Europe, with strong historical, cultural, and linguistic ties between its constituent peoples. In English usage, ''Scandinavia'' most commonly refers to Denmark, Norway, and Swe ...

n island of Bornholm 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 3rd century AD. However, the first documented King of the Burgundians, Gjúki (Gebicca), lived in the late 4th century east of the Rhine. In 406 the

Alans The Alans (Latin: ''Alani'') were an ancient and medieval Iranian nomadic pastoral people of the North Caucasus – generally regarded as part of the Sarmatians, and possibly related to the Massagetae. Modern historians have connected the A ...

Vandals The Vandals were a Germanic people who first inhabited what is now southern Poland. They established Vandal kingdoms on the Iberian Peninsula, Mediterranean islands, and North Africa in the fifth century. The Vandals migrated to the area betw ...

, Suevi, and possibly the Burgundians, crossed the Rhine and invaded

Roman Gaul Roman Gaul refers to GaulThe territory of Gaul roughly corresponds to modern-day France, Belgium and Luxembourg, and adjacient parts of the Netherlands, Switzerland and Germany. under provincial rule in the Roman Empire from the 1st century ...

. The Burgundians settled as '' foederati'' in the Roman province of

Germania Secunda Germania Inferior ("Lower Germania") was a Roman province from AD 85 until the province was renamed Germania Secunda in the fourth century, on the west bank of the Rhine bordering the North Sea. The capital of the province was Colonia Agrippin ...

along the

Middle Rhine Between Bingen and Bonn, Germany, the river Rhine flows as the Middle Rhine (german: Mittelrhein) through the Rhine Gorge, a formation created by erosion, which happened at about the same rate as an uplift in the region, leaving the river a ...

Kingdom

In 411 AD, the Burgundian king Gunther (or Gundahar or Gundicar) in cooperation with

Goar Goar (born before 390, died between 446 and 450) was a leader of the Alans in 5th-century Gaul. Around the time that the Vandals and other Alans under Respendial crossed the Rhine in 405 or 406, Goar's band of Alans quickly joined the Romans, an ...

, king of the

, set up

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 genera ...

as a puppet emperor. Under the pretext of Jovinus' imperial authority, Gunther settled on the western (i.e., Roman) bank of the Rhine, between the river Lauter and the Nahe, seizing the settlements of (present day

Worms Worms may refer to: *Worm, an invertebrate animal with a tube-like body and no limbs Places *Worms, Germany Worms () is a city in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany, situated on the Upper Rhine about south-southwest of Frankfurt am Main. It had ...

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. Apparently as part of a truce, the

Emperor An emperor (from la, imperator, via fro, empereor) is a monarch, and usually the sovereignty, sovereign ruler of an empire or another type of imperial realm. Empress, the female equivalent, may indicate an emperor's wife (empress consort), ...

Honorius later officially "granted" them the land. The Burgundians established their capital at .

Olympiodorus of Thebes Olympiodorus of Thebes ( grc-gre, Ὀλυμπιόδωρος ὁ Θηβαῖος; born c. 380, fl. c. 412–425 AD) was a Roman historian, poet, philosopher and diplomat of the early fifth century. He produced a ''History'' in twenty-two volumes, wr ...

also mentions a ''Guntiarios'' who was called "commander of the Burgundians" in the context of the 411 usurping of Germania Secunda by Jovinus. Despite their new status as , Burgundian raids into Roman upper

Gallia Belgica Gallia Belgica ("Belgic Gaul") was a province of the Roman Empire located in the north-eastern part of Roman Gaul, in what is today primarily northern France, Belgium, and Luxembourg, along with parts of the Netherlands and Germany. In 50 BC, a ...

became intolerable to the Romans and were ruthlessly brought to an end in 436, when the Roman general

Flavius Aetius Aetius (also spelled Aëtius; ; 390 – 454) was a Roman general and statesman of the closing period of the Western Roman Empire. He was a military commander and the most influential man in the Empire for two decades (433454). He managed pol ...

called in Hun mercenaries who overwhelmed the kingdom in 437. Gunther was killed in the fighting, reportedly along with the majority of the Burgundians.Prosper; ''Chronica Gallica'' 452; Hydatius; and Sidonius Apollinaris. The campaign was the origin of the mediæval poem. Gunther was succeeded as king by

Gunderic Gunderic ( la, Gundericus; 379–428), King of Hasding Vandals (407-418), then King of Vandals and Alans (418–428), led the Hasding Vandals, a Germanic tribe originally residing near the Oder River, to take part in the barbarian invasions of ...

(or Gundioc or Gondioc) in 437. After 443, the remaining Burgundians were resettled by Aetius to the region of present-day northeastern France, again as , in the Roman province of . Their efforts to enlarge their kingdom down the Rhone river brought them into conflict with the

Visigothic Kingdom The Visigothic Kingdom, officially the Kingdom of the Goths ( la, Regnum Gothorum), was a kingdom that occupied what is now southwestern France and the Iberian Peninsula from the 5th to the 8th centuries. One of the Germanic successor states to ...

in the south. In 451, Gunderic joined forces with Aetius against Attila, leader of the Huns, in the Battle of the Catalaunian Plains. When Gunderic died in 473, his kingdom was divided among his four sons: Gundobad (473–516 in Lyon, king of all of Burgundy from 480),

Chilperic II Chilperic II (c. 672 – 13 February 721), known as Daniel prior to his coronation, was the youngest son of Childeric II and his half-cousin wife, Bilichild. He reigned as king of Neustria from 715 and sole king of the Franks from 718 until hi ...

(473–493 in Valence), Gundomar/Godomar (473–486 in Vienne) and Godegisel (473–500, in Vienne and Geneva). Europe and the Near East at 476 AD

After the fall of the Western Roman Empire in 476, King Gundobad allied with the mighty

Frankish Frankish may refer to: * Franks, a Germanic tribe and their culture ** Frankish language or its modern descendants, Franconian languages * Francia, a post-Roman state in France and Germany * East Francia, the successor state to Francia in Germany ...

king Clovis I against the threat of the Ostrogothic king,

Theoderic the Great Theodoric (or Theoderic) the Great (454 – 30 August 526), also called Theodoric the Amal ( got, , *Þiudareiks; Greek: , romanized: ; Latin: ), was king of the Ostrogoths (471–526), and ruler of the independent Ostrogothic Kingdom of Italy ...

. Gundobad was thereby able to secure the Burgundian acquisitions, and compile the , an

Ancient Germanic law Germanic law is a scholarly term used to described a series of commonalities between the various law codes (the ''Leges Barbarorum'', 'laws of the barbarians', also called Leges) of the early Germanic peoples. These were compared with statements ...

code. Later, when Rome was no longer able to afford protection to the inhabitants of Gaul, the Sequani became merged in the newly formed

Kingdom of Burgundy Kingdom of Burgundy was a name given to various states located in Western Europe during the Middle Ages. The historical Burgundy correlates with the border area of France, Italy and Switzerland and includes the major modern cities of Geneva and ...

. According to Gregory of Tours (538–594), in 493 Gundobad slew his brother Chilperic II and exiled his daughter

Clotilde Clotilde ( 474–545), also known as Clothilde, Clotilda, Clotild, Rotilde etc. (Latin: Chrodechildis, Chlodechildis from Frankish ''*Hrōþihildi'' or perhaps ''*Hlōdihildi'', both "famous in battle"), was a Queen of All the Franks. She was s ...

, who was married to 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 ...

Clovis, King of the Franks, who had just conquered northern

. The decline of the kingdom began when they came under attack from their former Frankish allies. In 523, the sons of King Clovis campaigned in the Burgundian lands, instigated by their mother Clotilde, in revenge for Gundobad's murder of her father. In 532, the Burgundians were decisively defeated by the Franks at the Battle of Autun, whereafter King

Godomar Godomar II (or Gundomar), son of king Gundobad, was king of Burgundy. He ruled Burgundy after his elder brother's death in 524 until 534. Both he and his brother Sigismund of Burgundy were defeated in battle by Clovis' sons. Godomar fled and Si ...

was killed and Burgundy incorporated into the

Frankish kingdom 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 duri ...

in 534.

List of kings

* Gebicca (late 4th century – c. 407) *

Gundomar I Gundomar I (also Gundimar, Godomar, or Godemar) was eldest son and successor of Gebicca, King of the Burgundians. He succeeded his father in 406 or 407 and reigned until 411. He was succeeded by his brother Giselher. In the ''Nibelungenlied'', h ...

(c. 407 – 411), son of Gebicca *

Giselher Giselher, Gisilher, Gisiler, or Giseler ( la, Gislaharius) is a Germanic masculine given name. It may refer to: *Giselher of Burgundy, Burgundian king * Gisilher (archbishop of Magdeburg), German ecclesiastic *Giselher Klebe (1925–2009), German ...

(c. 407 – 411), son of Gebicca * Gunther (c. 407 – 436), son of Gebicca ''

Flavius Aëtius Aetius (also spelled Aëtius; ; 390 – 454) was a Roman general and statesman of the closing period of the Western Roman Empire. He was a military commander and the most influential man in the Empire for two decades (433454). He managed pol ...

moves the Burgundians into Sapaudia ( Upper Rhône Basin)''. * Gunderic/Gundioc (436–473) opposed by ** Chilperic I, brother of Gundioc (443–c. 480) *division of the kingdom among the four sons of Gundioc: ** Gundobad (473–516 in Lyon, king of all of Burgundy from 480), **

(473–493 in Valence) **Gundomar/Godomar (473–486 in Vienne) **Godegisel (473–500, in Vienne and Geneva) *

Sigismund Sigismund (variants: Sigmund, Siegmund) is a German proper name, meaning "protection through victory", from Old High German ''sigu'' "victory" + ''munt'' "hand, protection". Tacitus latinises it '' Segimundus''. There appears to be an older form of ...

, son of Gundobad (516–524) * Godomar II or Gundimar, son of Gundobad (524–532)

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. *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 zur Archäologie des Attila-Reiches", ''Die Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaft. Abhandlungen.'' N.F. XXXVIII A 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. {{Early Germanic Kingdoms 411 establishments States and territories established in the 410s States and territories disestablished in the 530s Burgundians 5th century in sub-Roman Gaul 5th century in Switzerland Former countries in Europe 534 disestablishments Barbarian kingdoms