Germanic Peoples & Early Middle Ages

Germanic Influx & Roman Decline

• Continuous border crossings since the $3^{\text{rd}}$-century crisis; surge in the $4^{\text{th}}$–$5^{\text{th}}$ centuries.
• Early status as Latin-speaking $federati$: auxiliaries promised citizenship after service.
• Hunnic advance (Central Eurasia ➜ Europe) displaced tribes (e.g.
  Ostrogoths, Visigoths) into imperial territory.

Key Germanic Kingdoms After Migration

• Visigoths: crossed Danube, won at Adrianople (emperor Valens killed), later settled in Spain/S.
  Gaul.
• Vandals: trekked through Gaul & Spain ➜ seized N.
  Africa ($429$–$431$); cut grain & trade to Italy.
• Ostrogoths: entered Balkans then Italy; led by Theodoric (ruled Italy $493$–$526$).
• Franks: established Merovingian kingdom in former Gaul (from $c.$ $450$).

Collapse of the Western Empire

• Capital moved to Ravenna by Honorius ($402$).
• Visigoth sack of Rome ($410$) signalled terminal decline.
• Vandal sack ($455$) amplified economic collapse.
• Germanic general Odoacer deposed last emperor Romulus Augustulus ($476$): conventional end-date of Western Rome.

Emergence of the Frankish (Merovingian) Kingdom

• Dynasty span: $c.$ $450$–$751$.
• Clovis (ruled $481$–$511$):
  • Unified northern/central Gaul; absorbed Burgundy.
  • Adopted Latin Catholic Christianity ➜ alliance with bishops, counts, dukes.
  • Retained Roman administrative & church structures to govern.

Structural Weaknesses of Merovingian Rule

• Partible inheritance: kingdom & revenues split among sons ➜ chronic subdivision & rivalry.
• Decentralisation: real power local (counts, dukes); royal authority thin.
• Mayor of the Palace: chief adviser; evolved into de-facto ruler as kings weakened (sets stage for Carolingians).
• Limited economic & demographic growth restricted further expansion until Carolingian era (e.g.
  Charles Martel, Charlemagne).

Take-Away

• Western Rome’s fall was a gradual power transfer: Roman frameworks endured but under Germanic rulers.
• The Frankish/Merovingian model—Catholic, hybrid Roman-German governance—became the foundation for medieval Western Europe.