The Barbarian Tribes of Europe



  • Objectives

    3
  • Background

    4
  • Introduction

    5
  • Map of the Barbarian Tribes of Europe

    6
  • The Huns

    7
  • The Franks

    8
  • The Vandals

    9
  • The Saxons

    10
  • The Goths

    11
  • References

    12

Before you read, you should always know your purpose for reading. After reading this eBook about the barbarians who invaded the Roman Empire, you will be writing an essay using the ACES writing stategy and created an eBook of your own. 

As you read, take notes and think about the following questions...

1. Where did each tribe come from?

2. What types of leaders did the barbarians have?

3. Was each tribe nomadic or did they settle?

4. What part of the Roman Empire did they invade?

5. What was the ultimate ending for each tribe?


Background

In 285 AD, Emperor Diocletian decided that the Roman Empire was too big to manage. He divided the Empire into two parts, the Eastern Roman Empire and the Western Roman Empire. Over the next hundred years or so, Rome would be reunited, split into three parts, and split in two again. Finally, in 395 AD, the empire was split into two for good. The Western Empire was ruled by Rome, the Eastern Empire was ruled by Constantinople. 

The City of Rome is Sacked 

     The city of Rome was thought to be unconquerable. However, in 410 AD, a Germanic barbarian  tribe called the Visigoths invaded the city. They looted the treasures, killed and enslaved many Romans, and destroyed many buildings. This was the first time in 800 years that the city of Rome had been sacked. 

Rome Falls 

     In 476 AD, a Germanic barbarian by the name of Odoacer took control of Rome. He became king of Italy and forced the last emperor of Rome, Romulus Augustulus, to give up his crown. Many historians consider this to be the end of the Roman Empire. 

The Dark Ages Begins 

     With the fall of Rome, many changes occurred throughout Europe. Rome had provided a strong government, education, and culture. Now much of Europe fell into barbarianism. The next 500 years would be known as the Dark Ages.


Introduction

     The Romans called the people who lived outside the Roman Empire barbarians. In the 4th century AD the Roman Army had considerable difficulty in stopping these Barbarians from entering the Roman Empire.

     The Romans were forced to increase the size of their army. By the end of the 4th century AD it had grown to 600,000 men. Of these, 250,000 were stationed on Rome's northern borders.



The Barbarian Tribes of Europe

     In Europe there were five major barbarian tribes, including the Huns, Franks, Vandals, Saxons, and Visigoths (Goths) . Each of them hated Rome. The barbarian tribes wanted to destroy Rome.  The Barbarians were destroying Roman towns and cities in the outer egdes of the empire.  The only reason that they had not destroyed Rome yet was they spent almost as much time fighting each other as they did Rome.

 



The Huns

     By the early 400s AD, the Huns had learned something about Roman ways, and had a very strong leader named Attila. Sometimes the Romans hired the Huns to fight for them, as part of the Roman army. In the 420s and 430s, the Huns helped the Romans to fight the Visigoths. Some Roman men, like the future general Aetius (ah-AY-shuss), grew up with the Huns as part of exchanges so the two groups could get to know each other better. A Roman princess, Honoria, asked Attila to invade the Roman Empire about 450 AD to help her get power. But when Attila did invade, his old friend Aetius changed sides and got theVisigoths to fight the Huns in a big battle in 451 AD, keeping Aetius in power and Honoria out of power.

     Soon afterwards Attila died, and his three sons split his empire between them. The Huns never again became a strong force, and gradually mixed into the Germans and the Slavs. Their relatives, the Turks and Mongols, however, later succeeded in taking over most of Asia as the Ottoman Empire and the Mongol Empire.



The Franks

     The Franks had been living for some time in northern Germany when the weakness of the Roman Empire tempted them to move into it in the 400s AD. Compared to the other Germanic tribes, the Franks were relatively late arrivals on the Roman scene. Because they had not been involved with Rome, they were still worshipping the old gods in the 400s AD, and had not yet been converted to Christianity.

     At first they stayed in northern France and Belgium, but around 490 AD, under a new, young, and ambitious king named Clovis, the Franks converted to Catholicism and began to fight their way south. They probably wanted to reach southern France mainly because it is warmer there and easier to live. But they also hoped to reach the Mediterranean, and be able to sail all over and get goods from Asia, like silk, which was hard to get over land. Maybe Clovis even thought of reaching Rome and becoming Emperor. 

     The Franks fought the Visigoths at the battle of Vouille in 509 AD and won, killing the Visigothic king Alaric II. The Visigoths gave up and moved to Spain, and the Franks under Clovis took over all of France (except Burgundy). Even Anastasius, the Roman Emperor, wrote to congratulate Clovis.

     Clovis died in the Roman fort at Paris in 511 AD. The sons and successors of Clovis became known as the Merovingians (merr-oh-VINGE-yans). They ruled France for the next almost 200 years.



The Vandals

     The Vandals first entered the collapsing Roman Empire in the winter of 409 AD, when they crossed the frozen Rhine river. They were taking advantage of a rebellion within the Empire which kept the Romans from defending themselves well. The Vandals slowly travelled south through Gaul (France), looting and fighting as they went. When they reached the Pyrenees mountains that separate France from Spain, they were actually invited into Spain by one of the rebel leaders, in exchange for helping him with his rebellion. 
After this rebellion failed, the Vandals were left on their own in Spain. They took over the southern part of Spain in about 411 AD. A Visigothic attack in 415 AD weakened them but did not destroy them.

     By 429 AD the Vandals decided to move to Africa instead of Spain, and ferried all 80,000 of their people across the Straits of Gibraltar in boats. Under their king Gaiseric, the Vandals established a kingdom in Africa, which they used as a base for piracy around the Mediterranean for a hundred years. They set up an Arian church, minted their own coins, and had diplomatic relations with other Mediterranean kingdoms. 

     In 533, however, the Roman Emperor Justinian sent his general Belisarius to reconquer Africa for Rome. When Belisarius succeeded, that was the end of the Vandals.



     The Saxons

     The Romans invaded Britain in AD43. After that, for 400 years southern Britain was part of the Roman world. The last Roman soldiers left Britain in AD 410, and then new people came in ships across the North Sea. Historians call them Anglo-Saxons. The new settlers were a mixture of people from north Germany, Denmark and northern Holland. Most were Saxons, Angles and Jutes. If we use the modern names for the countries they came from, the Saxons, Franks and Frisians were German-Dutch, the Angles were southern Danish, and Jutes were northern Danish.

     In the AD 400s, towards the end of Roman rule, Britain was being attacked by invaders from the north and from the sea. The Romans had built forts along the coast to fight off the sea-raiders. These forts were called the 'Forts of the Saxon Shore'.

     The Roman Empire was very large and under attack in lots of places, so the Roman Army was not able to defend it all. About AD 410, the Roman emperor ordered the last Roman soldiers in Britain to leave. The Britons would have to defend themselves as best they could.



The Ostrogoths

     The Ostrogoths, like the Visigoths, were originally Indo-European. We first hear of them when they are living in Poland around 100 BC. Soon after that, some of them, along with their relatives the Visigoths, seem to have decided to migrate to the south, very gradually and slowly. Probably bad weather at home made it impossible to feed everyone, and so some people left looking for food. They slowly moved south through Slovakia, and settled along the north side of the Black Sea, to the east of the Visigoths. 

     The Ostrogoths took up farming and trading with the Romans and the Parthians, and lived there more or less peacefully for several hundred years, until in the 300s AD they began to be pushed southward and westward by new invaders, the Huns.

The Visigoths

      The Visigoths, like other German peoples, were originally Indo-European. Their language, Gothic, was closely related to German. We first hear of them when they are living in Poland around 100 BC. Soon after that, some of them, along with their relatives the Ostrogoths, seem to have decided to migrate to the south, very gradually and slowly. Probably bad weather at home made it impossible to feed everyone, and so some people left looking for food

     The Visigoths slowly moved south through Slovakia, but stopped when they came up against the Roman Empire, because they could not beat the Roman army. The Visigoths settled along the north side of the Danube river,took up farming and trading with the Romans, and lived there more or less peacefully for several hundred years, until in the 300s AD they began to be pushed southward by new invaders, the Huns.


References

Carr, K. (2012, January 1). The Fall of Rome. Retrieved October 31, 2014, from http://www.historyforkids.org/learn/romans/history/fall.htm

Donn, M. (2012, January 1). Emperor Valens & the Barbarians. Retrieved October 28, 2014, from http://rome.mrdonn.org/barbarians.html

The Anglo-Saxons, Who Were They? (2014, January 1). Retrieved November 1, 2014, from http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/primaryhistory/anglo_saxons/who_were_the_anglo-saxons/

The Fall of Rome. (2014). Retrieved October 30, 2014, from http://www.ducksters.com/history/ancient_rome/fall_of_rome.php