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

Burgundians 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, and ...

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

, a Germanic tribe, 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 S ...

n 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 ...

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

Gjúki Gibica (also ''Gebicca'', ''Gifica'', ''Gjúki'', ''Gebicar'', ''Gibicho'' or ''Gippich'') was the King of the Burgundians in the late 4th century until his death in or around 407. He was the father of Gundomar I, Giselher and Gunther. He is ...

(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 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 ...

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 ...

, 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 ''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 Secunda 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 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 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 gener ...

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 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 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 lie ...

, 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 ...

. Apparently as part of a truce, the

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

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 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 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 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 E ...

, leader of the Huns, in the

Battle of the Catalaunian Plains 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 Western Roman ...

. When Gunderic died in 473, his kingdom was divided among his four sons:

Gundobad Gundobad ( la, Flavius Gundobadus; french: Gondebaud, Gondovald; 452 – 516 AD) was King of the Burgundians (473 – 516), succeeding his father Gundioc of Burgundy. Previous to this, he had been a patrician of the moribund Western Roman Em ...

(473–516 in Lyon, king of all of Burgundy from 480), Chilperic II (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

allied with the mighty Frankish king

Clovis I Clovis ( la, Chlodovechus; reconstructed Frankish: ; – 27 November 511) was the first king of the Franks to unite all of the Frankish tribes under one ruler, changing the form of leadership from a group of petty kings to rule by a single ki ...

against the threat of the

Ostrogoth The Ostrogoths ( la, Ostrogothi, Austrogothi) were a Roman-era Germanic people. In the 5th century, they followed the Visigoths in creating one of the two great Gothic kingdoms within the Roman Empire, based upon the large Gothic populations who ...

ic 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 Ita ...

. 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 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 Floren ...

(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 Gaul ...

Clovis,

King of the Franks The Franks, Germanic-speaking peoples that invaded the Western Roman Empire in the 5th century, were first led by individuals called dukes and reguli. The earliest group of Franks that rose to prominence was the Salian Merovingians, who c ...

, 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 was killed and Burgundy incorporated into the Frankish kingdom 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'', ...

(c. 407 – 411), son of Gebicca * Giselher (c. 407 – 411), son of Gebicca *

(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 Chilperic I (c. 539 – September 584) was the king of Neustria (or Soissons) from 561 to his death. He was one of the sons of the Frankish king Clotaire I and Queen Aregund. Life Immediately after the death of his father in 561, ...

, brother of Gundioc (443–c. 480) *division of the kingdom among the four sons of Gundioc: **

(473–516 in Lyon, king of all of Burgundy from 480), ** Chilperic II (473–493 in Valence) **Gundomar/Godomar (473–486 in Vienne) **Godegisel (473–500, in Vienne and Geneva) * Sigismund, 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

5th century in sub-Roman Gaul 5th century in Switzerland Former countries in Europe 534 disestablishments Barbarian kingdoms