- Part one -
For the first time, the Goths came to the attention of historians during the reign of Caracalla (215 AD). By that time, they were already a very powerful force that had lived for generations on the plains of Poland and Russia. The place where this tribe originated is as difficult to determine as is the case with all the others, but it is possible that they came from Northern Sweden; in any case, according to Pytheas, they left it around 300 and moved to what is now Northern Poland. In 275 BC. e. they occupied Dacia and from that time they lived between the Don and Danube, where the western group began to be called the Visigoths, and the eastern - Ostrogoths. The latter spread far into the depths of Western Asia and occupied the lands where the Scythians lived seven hundred years before the birth of Christ. In 376, an event of great historical significance occurred: the Visigoths,those who often crossed the Danube in pursuit of prey and encountered the Romans, came there as supplicants. They said that a terrible people, who could not be resisted, occupied their native lands, and asked the emperor Valens for permission to cross the Danube and settle in Thrace, promising that they would always be loyal allies of Rome. Valens (who ruled the eastern part of the empire at that time) agreed on the condition that the Visigoths come unarmed, give their children as hostages to the Romans and be baptized. By agreeing to do all this, a whole nation (they say there were about a million people) received permission to cross the river.and asked the emperor Valens for permission to cross the Danube and settle in Thrace, promising that they would always be loyal allies of Rome. Valens (who ruled the eastern part of the empire at that time) agreed on the condition that the Visigoths come unarmed, give their children as hostages to the Romans and be baptized. By agreeing to do all this, a whole nation (they say there were about a million people) received permission to cross the river.and asked the emperor Valens for permission to cross the Danube and settle in Thrace, promising that they would always be loyal allies of Rome. Valens (who ruled the eastern part of the empire at that time) agreed on the condition that the Visigoths come unarmed, give their children as hostages to the Romans and be baptized. By agreeing to do all this, a whole nation (they say there were about a million people) received permission to cross the river.
The enemy that frightened the Visigoths so much was the nomadic tribes called the hun-nu. For four hundred years they wandered through the deserts of North China, but during the war, which lasted from 207 BC. e. to 39 AD BC, the generals of the Han dynasty managed to push them further and further west. Moving forward, after a while they crossed the Volga, and by the end of the IV century. ended up in Europe.
The Visigoths had just managed to settle in Thrace when their Ostrogoth relatives, in turn fleeing from the Huns (in Europe, the hun-nu was called so), appeared on the banks of the Danube, trying to find a safe shelter and a new homeland south of it. Valens, who was already worried about the number of barbarians living inside the borders of the empire, refused to give permission for the Visigoths to cross the river, but they did it anyway, not unarmed and peaceful, but armed to the teeth, determined to leave
Danube is a barrier between itself and the Huns. As soon as they did this, the Visigoths broke off their alliance with Rome and joined their kin. It must be said that the population of the empire did not receive them too kindly; the numerous raids from which the inhabitants of the border zone suffered could not be easily forgotten, and the Visigoths (like other barbarians) were not distinguished by their gentle nature and were not accustomed to the role of supplicants. Because of this, numerous conflicts arose, so it is not surprising that the Visigoths preferred to unite with their blood relatives the Ostrogoths and engage in their usual business - robbery, instead of protecting the subjects of a recent ally, who did not take them very well.
Valens, learning about what had happened, sent for help to Gratian, the emperor of the East; then, having collected all the troops that could be found in the West, he went to Thrace to try to cope with the situation on his own. Gratian was in a hurry to help his co-ruler when he learned of his defeat and death at the battle of Adrianople (378). He immediately turned to his associate Theodosius, later nicknamed the Great, and handed him the reins of the Western Empire.
Theodosius realized that it was impossible to get rid of the Goths, and instead tried to use them to build his empire. He managed to some extent to restrain the recalcitrant tribes; at the time, while Theodosius ruled in Constantinople, the barbarians lived peacefully in the Roman state, but after the death of the emperor in 395, they again set out on wanderings. First, the Visigoths moved from their place, under the leadership of Alaric, who headed south from Moesia and Thrace. They passed Thermopylae and devastated almost all of Greece, but from there they were driven out by Stilicho, the commander-in-chief of the army of the Western Roman Empire. He managed to clear Greece of the Goths, but this only made matters worse: they did not return to Thrace, but crossed the Alps and began to sow fear and devastation in Italy. Stilicho followed the barbarians, and again successfully defeated them at Pollentia and near Verona. Then Alaric gathered the remnants of his army and retreated back across the Alps.
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However, while Italy was celebrating its victory over the Goths, much more disturbing things were happening in the north. Around 400 AD, many Germanic tribes - the Burgundians, Lombards, Suevi, Vandals and Heruli - crossed the Alps and entered Northern Italy. This invasion caused more alarm than the arrival of an army of Goths, who were at least Christians (albeit heretical, Arian), while the new hordes led by Radagais were not. At the cost of incredible efforts, Stilicho gathered an army. In 406, Radagais, at the head of 20 thousand soldiers, besieged Florence; Stilicho surrounded the barbarians and forced them to surrender (Fig. 36).
Soon after, the capable and victorious commander-in-chief incurred the suspicions of the weak, flighty Emperor Honorius, and he ordered him to be killed. Having thus deprived the Western Empire of the only worthy leader, he went even further and provoked a revolt of 30 thousand Gothic mercenaries, ordering to kill their families, who were held by the emperor as hostages. Aloric and his men, who were only waiting for an opportune moment, immediately crossed the Alps again at the news, joined the rebels and led the combined forces of the barbarians to the gates of Rome. They laid siege to the city, and very soon the Romans began negotiations for surrender. Alaric left them with life, but little else; completely, unlike his more merciful predecessor, having plundered the city, he then returned to Etruria. Here the army was constantly replenished with new Burgundians,The Lombards and Heruls, who were turned into slaves after the defeat of Radagais in 406, now they rebelled against their masters (for more than one generation must change before the rebellious barbarian spirit accepts its fate). All they needed was an opportunity for these people to regain their freedom, and Alaric provided this opportunity for them at the most opportune moment. Nevertheless, the leader of the barbarian tribes was not going to sow fear and destruction throughout the empire, although, perhaps, with his own forces he could well have done it. Instead, he asked for a land on which he could settle with his warriors, but Honorius met this offer (very reasonable under the circumstances) in his usual spirit - a contemptuous and ridiculous refusal. In general, the whole life of this incompetent emperor was a chain of failures,caused by the inability to humble their eccentricity and suspicion. Thanks to this, he lost those few faithful and capable servants that he still had (far from the only, but a very striking example of this is the fate of Stilicho, who was executed at the very moment when the empire needed him most).
Having received the emperor's refusal, given in the most insulting form, Alaric again turned his troops to Rome, this time deciding to finally deal with him (in fact, the emperor himself had nothing to fear. He lived not in the Eternal City, but in Ravenna, well fortified and almost impregnable fortress). One night, in August 410, his warriors burst into the city, "and the inhabitants were awakened by the terrible sounds of the Gothic trumpets." About 800 years have passed since the sack of the city by the Gauls. The first barbarian attack was nothing compared to this. Now the commander was driven not only by the thirst for profit, but also by offended pride, and Rome had nothing to wait for mercy.
Having completely ruined the city, Alaric led his soldiers south, hoping to cross the sea and reach Sicily, and from there to North Africa. Death interfered with his plans: the ships were destroyed by a storm of extraordinary strength, and the leader himself soon died of a fever in southern Italy.
By this time, the destruction of the Western Empire was almost complete. Trying to defend Italy from the Goths, Stilicho took every military force from the farthest reaches of the empire that could be summoned. However, even without this, thanks to the constant unrest in the state, they were practically naked, so the fight against the Goths only completed the process that had been going on for quite a long time. In 410 the last Roman legion left Britain, and even the fortresses of Gaul were left without garrisons. Now no one guarded the crossing of the Rhine, and of course the barbarians rushed this way into the interior of Gaul. The Vandals went straight to Spain and Africa, and the Goths, having plundered Italy clean, crossed the Alps again and settled in southern Gaul, creating a strong Visigoth kingdom, while in the northeast the Burgundians were becoming a serious force.which in the next century already influenced the political situation throughout Europe.
Then there was a temporary lull in this region, which lasted about 200 years. Honorius, fortunately, died in 423, and General Aetius, who had replaced Stilicho as commander-in-chief, was entrusted with defending Gaul, whose borders he kept intact for another twenty years. However, in the middle of the 5th century. the empire experienced even greater horror: the Huns again set out on a campaign, this time not in a slow stream of people seeking new lands, but in the form of a huge, well-organized army led by a capable leader. It was Attila, the "scourge of God." He defeated the armies of the Emperor of the East and imposed tribute on Constantinople, and then went west, crossed the Rhine and invaded Gaul. The Romans and the Gothic conquerors joined forces in the face of a common threat: the Visigoths, led by King Theodoric, together with the Franks and Burgundians,stood under the banner of Aetius, but nevertheless many of their relatives (and among them the Lombards, Heruls and Ostrogoths) at the same time fought in the army of Attila. In 451, the Huns and the Romans met near Chalon; the battle was long and terrible, and, although it remained unfinished, still historians consider it not the last in a series of decisive battles that have ever fought in the world. Attila, along with the remnants of his army (contemporaries write that the number of his soldiers reached 400 thousand people, half of whom fell in the battle of Chalon. Apparently, this number is greatly overestimated) retreated beyond the Rhine. He left Gaul without starting new battles, but Italy again suffered greatly. Attila's army threatened Rome itself, but Pope Leo the Great managed (not without the help of a hefty ransom collected by the emperor) to persuade the commander to leave the country. In this he was helped by an epidemic that broke out among the soldiers of Attila and devastated his army, so the leader soon led his Huns north and crossed the Alps again. Some time later, in 453, he died. Without their powerful leader, the Huns scattered in all directions and soon merged with the peoples they had once conquered. The only monument to this people is the name of the country in which most of the Huns settled - Hungary.
As soon as Attila left Italy, Rome came face to face with a new threat. In 455, Geyserich, at the head of a Vandal fleet, climbed up the Tiber. Leo the Great again tried to intercede for the city, but Geyserich agreed only to spare the lives of the inhabitants of the city, and declared all the trophies that could be found to be the property of his and his soldiers. The robberies lasted fourteen days and nights; everything that had at least some value was taken away from the Romans (in general, it's hard to believe that there were still some values in the city). From the Capitol were taken huge golden candlesticks and many other treasures that Titus took out of the temple in Jerusalem.
In the twenty years following the attack of Geiserich, on the Roman throne, one puppet emperor, appointed as the leaders of the Germanic tribes that invaded Italy, succeeded another. The end came in 475, when a general named Orestes enthroned his own son, Romulus Augustus, who was only six years old. The boy was nicknamed Augustul (little August). He ruled for only a year and became famous only for becoming the last emperor of the Roman West in history. In 476, the leader of the Heruli, Odoacer, deprived him of the throne and abolished the title of emperor, taking over the reins of government in Italy. After that, the Senate sent an embassy to Constantinople, giving the envoy the imperial robes and regalia and instructing him to tell Emperor Zeno that the West is abandoning its ruler and asking Odoacer to rule as governor. Permission was granted and Italy became a province of the Eastern Empire.
Odoacer did not enjoy his victory for long: in 493 he was defeated by Theodoric Ostrogoth, who came from Illyria at the head of a large army of the Goths. This military leader spent most of his youth at the court of Constantinople and was well versed in Roman customs. For many years both he and his Goths were vassals of Constantinople, but finally Theodoric fell out with the emperor and left the country. The struggle between the Ostrogoths and the united army under the leadership of Herul Odoacer continued for several years, but in the end the general was defeated, imprisoned and executed in Ravenna.
Meanwhile, the main part of the Visigoths, after they helped the Romans to defeat Attila, founded their state in southern Gaul, which included the territories between the Loire and the Rhone and almost all of Spain, with the exception of a small piece in the northwest. Under the rule of Erich (466-485), it achieved the greatest power and prosperity. These Visigoths were Arians, and the Catholic Franks (their country bordered on the state of the Goths from the northwest) considered them heretics; in 507 they attacked their neighbors. King Alaric II was killed in this battle; Gaul was lost, but a small kingdom of the Goths existed in Spain until 711. Here you can draw an interesting historical parallel: at the beginning of the XIII century. Catholic France similarly attacked the Albigensian heretics in Provence. It was a cursed "crusade against the Albigenses" - people who were accused of the same sins as the Visigoths had earlier. Oddly enough, but their neighbors, who interpreted religious dogmas in their own way, people hate more than conquerors; against the background of the sacred struggle for the Holy Sepulcher, bloody battles between Christians of various stripes look oddly inappropriate, but they took place and were quite fierce.
The rule of Theodoric the Great in Italy was a period of peace and the return of order and prosperity. Nominally, he was only the viceroy of the emperor of the East, but in fact he ruled completely independently. Theodoric extended his influence into Italy, in part due to the fact that he was the half-brother of Alaric II and the grandfather of the current ruler, Amalrich. The governor managed to successfully rule two independent peoples: the Goths and the Italians (not counting the many strange families and groups consisting of the Lombards, Suevi, Burgundians, etc., who still lived in Italy). Each nation obeyed its own laws, but they all got along, and surprisingly peaceful. It seemed that the country was on the verge of another period of greatness under the rule of a new imperial family. However, nothing of the kind happened; Theodoric died in 526, and in 527. Emperor of Constantinople was Justinian, an extremely unpleasant man, nevertheless possessing an amazing power, which often attracts capable and loyal servants to the most unsympathetic masters. An example of this is Charles VII of France, who was enthroned by Joan of Arc and received, despite his personal qualities, the nickname Charles le bien servi (Charles, for whom everyone else did). Justinian was very lucky with the commanders-in-chief of the army: at first this post was occupied by Belisarius, and after him - a certain amazing character, an eighty-year-old eunuch named Narses. In addition, the formidable Theodora was his "consort"; it is possible that this strong personality was the main factor thanks to which the disgusting Justinian, who continually betrayed his military leaders on the battlefield, hated and despised by the entire population,firmly sat on the imperial throne. More than anything, he wanted to remain in history under the name "Great" and with this goal sought to return North Africa and the entire territory of Italy to the Romans. In 534, Belisarius easily defeated the Vandals (at that time they were ruled by Geilimer, a leader incomparable in temperament with his predecessor Geiserich). The conquest of Italy proved to be a much more difficult task, since the Goths offered the emperor a long and serious resistance. By this time they possessed first-class fighting strength, but Belisarius, and subsequently Narses, outnumbered them every time in the art of warfare. In 553, the Goths were defeated, and they agreed to leave Italy with their families and movable property. More than anything, he wanted to remain in history under the name "Great" and with this goal sought to return North Africa and the entire territory of Italy to the Romans. In 534, Belisarius easily defeated the Vandals (at that time they were ruled by Geilimer, a leader incomparable in temperament with his predecessor Geiserich). The conquest of Italy proved to be a much more difficult task, since the Goths offered the emperor a long and serious resistance. By this time they possessed first-class fighting strength, but Belisarius, and subsequently Narses, outnumbered them every time in the art of war. In 553, the Goths were defeated, and they agreed to leave Italy with their families and movable property. More than anything, he wanted to remain in history under the name "Great" and with this goal sought to return North Africa and the entire territory of Italy to the Romans. In 534, Belisarius easily defeated the Vandals (at that time they were ruled by Geilimer, a leader incomparable in temperament with his predecessor Geiserich). The conquest of Italy proved to be a much more difficult task, since the Goths offered the emperor a long and serious resistance. By this time they possessed first-class fighting strength, but Belisarius, and subsequently Narses, outnumbered them every time in the art of warfare. In 553, the Goths were defeated, and they agreed to leave Italy with their families and movable property.incomparable in temperament with his predecessor Geiserich). The conquest of Italy proved to be a much more difficult task, since the Goths offered the emperor a long and serious resistance. By this time they possessed first-class fighting strength, but Belisarius, and subsequently Narses, outnumbered them every time in the art of warfare. In 553, the Goths were defeated, and they agreed to leave Italy with their families and movable property.incomparable in temperament with his predecessor Geiserich). The conquest of Italy proved to be a much more difficult task, since the Goths offered the emperor a long and serious resistance. By this time they possessed first-class fighting strength, but Belisarius, and subsequently Narses, outnumbered them every time in the art of warfare. In 553, the Goths were defeated, and they agreed to leave Italy with their families and movable property.
For the country, this turned out to be a real disaster: Justinian, Belisarius and Narses died in 563 with a difference of one month, and in 565, two years later, the whole of Northern Italy was filled with Lombards, or pawnshops, as they were called by that time … For generations, they adopted the military techniques of the Goths, their close relatives. Arriving on 8 Italy, the Lombards occupied the area north of the Po River (which has since been named Lombardy) and spread their influence southward; however, they failed to capture Rome and the rest of the country, which remained a province of the Eastern Empire. Over time, the pagan pawnshops adopted the religion and culture of the people among whom they lived; For about 200 years their kings ruled from their capital at Pavia and wore the famous iron crown made in 591 for Agilulf (said to be part of a nail from the True Cross). In 636, Rotary became king of Lombardy, who brought all their laws into a single written code. In 652, Grimuald, Duke of Benevento, seized the throne. A skilled soldier, he successfully repelled the attack of the emperor (Constance II), as well as the Franks and Avars, but soon after his death in 672 a series of uprisings followed. In 712 Luitprand, perhaps the most capable of the Lombard kings, ascended the throne and ruled until 743. The last king, Desiderius, fought the Pope (in 773), who turned to Charlemagne for help. The lord of the Franks invaded Italy, defeated the pawnshops, put an end to the rule of their kings, and placed himself on the iron crown.he successfully repelled the attack of the emperor (Constance II), as well as the Franks and Avars, but soon after his death in 672 a series of uprisings followed. In 712 Luitprand, perhaps the most capable of the Lombard kings, ascended the throne and ruled until 743. The last king, Desiderius, fought the Pope (in 773), who turned to Charlemagne for help. The lord of the Franks invaded Italy, defeated the pawnshops, put an end to the rule of their kings, and placed himself on the iron crown.he successfully repelled the attack of the emperor (Constance II), as well as the Franks and Avars, but soon after his death in 672 a series of uprisings followed. In 712 Luitprand, perhaps the most capable of the Lombard kings, ascended the throne and ruled until 743. The last king, Desiderius, fought the Pope (in 773), who turned to Charlemagne for help. The lord of the Franks invaded Italy, defeated the pawnshops, put an end to the rule of their kings, and placed himself on the iron crown.put an end to the reign of their kings and put on the iron crown.put an end to the reign of their kings and put on the iron crown.
The rule of the Visigoths in Spain lasted longer than it happened with any of the Teutonic kingdoms, since after the death of Alaric II there was no serious invasion of this country until the arrival of the Arabs in 711. The greatest king of the Visigoths, Leovigild, who began his reign in 568, won back from the Romans most of southern Spain, quite significantly expanding their possessions. His son Reckared strengthened his position by abandoning Arianism and converting to the Catholic faith. Thereafter, the Goths quickly adopted Roman culture. Recared was succeeded by a long line of kings, each of whom was elected by the people. Ruling from their capital, Toledo, they made Spain the most flourishing of all the Teutonic kingdoms, but it fell when the Moors attacked the coast. In the great battle near Cadiz (it lasted a whole week), the entire army of the Goths was destroyed, and their king, Roderick, was never seen again.
We can say that after the invasion of pawnshops in Italy, the Great Migration came to an end. After that, the situation in Europe more or less stabilized: from end to end it was ruled by monarchs of the same root, in many cases closely related. Material appeared for a new empire, not Roman, but German. During the short time that this empire existed, Charlemagne (a man who probably earned this name more than any other ruler before or after him) united almost all of Western Europe into a single political entity; and having done this, in 800, on Christmas day, he took the crown and title of the Roman emperor in St. Peter's Cathedral. He was the first of the dynasty of rulers of the Holy Roman Empire, which, as Voltaire aptly put it, was not really a sacred, or a Roman, or even an empire. The death of Charlemagne in 814 put an end to the existence of this state, since his sons now ruled various parts of the empire, and although nominally they all obeyed the new supreme ruler, they soon broke the alliance. By the end of the IX century. the states of medieval Europe were formed: France, Germany, Italy and Spain, each under the rule of its own king. For almost many centuries, the empire nominally continued to exist, but the only ruler after Charlemagne, who really ruled most of Europe, was another Charles, the fifth. In addition, he ruled not because he bore the title of emperor, but because, by right of inheritance, he was simultaneously the king of Spain and the duke of Burgundy.since his sons now ruled various parts of the empire, and although nominally they all obeyed the new supreme ruler, they soon broke the alliance. By the end of the IX century. the states of medieval Europe were formed: France, Germany, Italy and Spain, each under the rule of its own king. For almost many centuries, the empire nominally continued to exist, but the only ruler after Charlemagne, who really ruled most of Europe, was another Charles, the fifth. In addition, he ruled not because he bore the title of emperor, but because, by right of inheritance, he was simultaneously the king of Spain and the duke of Burgundy.since his sons now ruled various parts of the empire, and although nominally they all obeyed the new supreme ruler, they soon broke the alliance. By the end of the IX century. the states of medieval Europe were formed: France, Germany, Italy and Spain, each under the rule of its own king. For almost many centuries, the empire nominally continued to exist, but the only ruler after Charlemagne, who really ruled most of Europe, was another Charles, the fifth. In addition, he ruled not because he bore the title of emperor, but because, by right of inheritance, he was simultaneously the king of Spain and the duke of Burgundy.each under the rule of its king. For almost many centuries, the empire nominally continued to exist, but the only ruler after Charlemagne, who really ruled most of Europe, was another Charles, the fifth. In addition, he ruled not because he bore the title of emperor, but because, by right of inheritance, he was simultaneously the king of Spain and the duke of Burgundy.each under the rule of its king. For almost many centuries, the empire nominally continued to exist, but the only ruler after Charlemagne, who really ruled most of Europe, was another Charles, the fifth. In addition, he ruled not because he bore the title of emperor, but because, by right of inheritance, he was simultaneously the king of Spain and the duke of Burgundy.
Oakeshott Ewarth
- Part one -
