Who are the Goths (tribe) and what kind of people are they?

This article will deal with the Goths, but not representatives of the popular youth subculture, shocking their kind of respectable citizens, but those barbarians of antiquity, whose tribes, having passed from the north to the south across Europe, founded one of the most powerful states of the Middle Ages - The Toled Kingdom. The Goths (tribe) disappeared in the darkness of the centuries also without a trace and mysteriously, as they appeared, leaving the historians wide scope for research and discussion.

Europe of the first centuries of our era

On the historical stage, this people appeared at a time when Europe was going through a kind of transition period. The former ancient civilization has become a thing of the past, and new states and nations were only in the stage of formation. Through its vast expanses, the vast masses of peoples were continually roaming, driven by the ever-changing conditions of life.

What was the main reason for such an active migration. According to scientists, two factors contributed to this. The first of these is the periodically overcrowding in previously inhabited and developed areas. And besides, the strongest and most aggressive neighbors from time to time forced the abandoned places to leave, which had to be quickly removed, attacking those who met on the way, and could not give a proper rebuff.

Militant Scandinavians in Europe

About how in the I-II century of our era among other inhabitants of Europe appeared Goths - Germanic tribes, by their religion and culture in many ways different from its inhabitants, tells the chronicler of the VI century, whose name is the Jordan. He says that these harsh bearded people, wrapped in animal skins and ready to use their swords at any time, were from the mysterious island of Skanza, descriptions of which allow us to easily recognize the Scandinavian Peninsula in it .

So, according to him, the Goths are tribes of Scandinavian origin, moving across Europe in a southerly direction. In 258 they reach the Crimea, and some of them settle in it, having replaced the nomadic way of life to a settled one. According to some reports, about fifty thousand families were settled in the eastern part of the peninsula. A number of researchers note that until the end of the XVIII century in those areas the Gothic language continued to sound, completely disappeared by that time in other parts of the world.

However, this was only an isolated case, and among the other European nomads, the Goths (tribe) still occupied one of the leading places. The history of the people of that period is filled with unceasing clashes with the inhabitants of the territories, along which they went their way. The chronicler Jordan mentioned above assures us that as a result of this they literally did not have to spend the night twice in one place. From generation to generation they were born, grew and died on the road.

Barbarians on the borders of the Roman Empire

Traveling thus, at the beginning of the IV century they approached the borders of the Great Roman Empire. Strange as it may seem, the best army of the time for these times was powerless against the unexpected attacks of these savages, dressed in skins, crushing the clear legion of the legions, fighting against all the existing rules, and then disappearing without a trace in the depths of the forest thicket.

Inspired fear and their multiplicity. On the border of the state appeared not isolated detachments, but thousands of people with wagons, women, children and cattle. If in the summer, two natural obstacles prevented their progress: the Danube and the Rhine, then in the winter, when they were covered with ice, the path to the barbarians was opened.

By this time, the empire, torn by the most severe crisis, the cause of which was corruption and the disintegration of its ruling elite, is still resisting the Goths, but in general they can not hold back their progress. In 268, crossing the Danube, the Goths-the Germanic tribes, replenished by some other small peoples who joined them, plunder the border province of Pannonia. This territory, which includes part of modern Hungary and Serbia, was the first combat trophy ready in the Roman Empire.

At the same time, the second branch of families broke up, they broke with eternal wandering and gave preference to the settled way of life. They settled in the provinces of Moesia and Dacia, now entering the borders of Bulgaria and Romania. In general, the Goths - a tribe whose history was counted by then more than two centuries - has become so strong that soon the Roman Emperor Valentus considered it good to conclude a diplomatic nonaggression agreement with him.

Huns - the scourge of God

In the second half of the IV century, Europe suffered a terrible misfortune - from the east to its limits invaded countless hordes of Huns led by the famous Attila. Even by the standards of that cruel and far from humanism time, they amazed everyone with their unbridled ferocity and cruelty. The threat associated with their invasion, equally affected and Romans, and ready. No wonder they were called only "the scourge of God."

Simultaneously with the invasion of the Huns, the Goths - the ancient tribes, who formerly formed a single nation, were divided into two separate branches that went down in history as Visigoths (western) and Ostigoths (Eastern). The last were in 375, completely defeated by the Huns, and their king Ermanarich from grief and shame committed suicide. Those who survived were forced to fight on the side of their former enemies. On this the history of the East German tribe was almost ready.

Union with the Romans

After witnessing the deaths of their fellow tribesmen, and fearing to share their fate, the Visigoths turned to the Romans for help, which made them quite happy. They were given the opportunity to freely settle in the border areas of the empire, provided that they will protect its borders. For this, under the terms of the treaty, the authorities promised to supply them with food and everything necessary.

However, in reality everything was quite different. The extremely corrupt Latin bureaucracy took advantage of the opportunity to commit large-scale and arrogant theft. Assigning money, released for the maintenance of Gothic outposts, they kept their defenders and their families half-starving, depriving the most necessary. Goths - a tribe, accustomed to wandering to all sorts of deprivations, but, in this case, there was a humiliation of their dignity, and with this they could not accept.

Revolt and seizure of Rome

Officials did not take into account that by this time yesterday's barbarians, closely dealing with the Latins, had mastered many concepts of high civilization. Therefore, treating yourself as a savage, who can be raped with impunity dog like a pork, was considered an insult. In addition, the Goths are ancient tribes, who, from time immemorial, used to solve all disputes with the sword. As a result, there was a riot. To suppress it, the government sent regular troops, which in August 378 were defeated in the battle of Adrianople.

Without stopping on this, Visigoths came to Rome, and after a long siege, which put the townsfolk on the brink of death from hunger and disease, they took possession of it. An interesting detail: after subjecting the city to total looting, they, nevertheless, did not finally set fire to it, as was customary in those centuries, and did not inflict the slightest damage to its temples. The fact is that the Goths (the tribe) are atypical barbarians. By this time they had become Christians and, according to their leader Alaric, revered the pope and those who became the successor of the apostles.

The result of radical measures

Capturing Rome, the Goths did not claim to receive political power. They sought only to achieve justice, get underpaid by officials and, if possible, rule out the recurrence of lawlessness. Such decisive measures taken by them in the fight against corruption had a proper effect.

As compensation for the past, the authorities granted them new, much better lands, which included Gallia. In addition, the Roman emperor Honorius married his Gothic King Aatuf to his own sister Galla Placidia, thus securing the political union with family ties.

The appearance is ready in Spain

However, this was only the beginning of those events, the leading role in which the Goths (tribe) were supposed to play. The history of the great nation was only beginning to be truly revealed, and reached its culmination after he first timidly, and then with the determination inherent in it, subdued a remote Roman province called Spain.

In those years it was the forgotten by all the outskirts of the empire. Its population spoke one of the dialects, the so-called vulgar Latin - the language of the Romanized common people, which absorbed local lexical features. The provinces were ruled by officials sent from Rome, but in the event of a military threat, the inhabitants could rely only on their own strength - the state on the verge of collapse was not up to its subjects.

But at the beginning of the fifth century, when the wild hordes of vandals, Alans and Sueves fell upon the inhabitants of Spain, Emperor Honorius, who was extremely reluctant to lose this region, regularly paying taxes, suggested that Visigoths should restore order to it.

At this time between the Romans and yesterday's barbarians formed a fairly strong military alliance, which allowed the joint forces in June 451 to completely destroy the Hun forces in the Battle of the Catalan fields. As a result, Atilla and his once invincible army forever disappeared from the stage of world history, unleashing the emperor's hands to solve other pressing problems.

The new owners of Spain

Thus, the appearance of the Visigoths in Spain was the result of fulfilling their allied duty, but when they got there, they began to organize their affairs with enviable energy and determination. The ill-starred Honorius really understood who the Goths (tribe) were only a year before the final collapse of the Roman Empire, when they deceitfully and cunningly forced him to sign a document granting them complete independence and leading Spain out of his subordination.

After that, the new owners of Spain, who created on the basis of the former, feeble and politically dependent province, a powerful and self-sufficient Toledo state (under this name it went down in history) made a series of territorial gains.

In a short time they subdued the lands on both sides of the Pyrenees, Provence, and also the vast Tarracon province, stretching from Barcelona to Cartagena. As a result of this, the Goths (tribe) - the barbarians by their origin, managed to create the most powerful at that time the state of Western Europe.

The struggle for power and the bloodshed caused by it

However, with regard to administrative management, Spain, which was under the authority of the Visigoths, had a serious flaw. It had not one capital, but just three fortified centers, claiming this role - Sevilla, Merida and Tarragona. In each of these cities sat a large tycoon, who believed that it was he, and none other, who has the right to sole domination.

Of course, their disputes were resolved through internecine wars and bloodshed. Looking ahead, we can say that it was the struggle for power that became the cause of the death of this state in the future. However, in world history this is a fairly typical case.

Problems of legislation

Having existed for three centuries, the Toled Kingdom was constantly the arena of political conspiracies with the aim of physically eliminating monarchs. One of the reasons for this was the lack of a law on succession to the throne. After the death of the next king, the nobility could nominate in his place any of his proteges, while ignoring the direct heirs of the deceased. It is understandable that this situation provoked constant turmoil.

This legal gap was replenished by the next Visigothic monarch Leovigild. He received the throne without blood, marrying the widow of the former king. Becoming the ruler of the country, this wise politician began by issuing a law that after the death of the monarch the power passes to his eldest son and no one else.

For a while this brought calm to the ranks of court intriguers. In addition, Leovigild became famous as an outstanding commander, a fine diplomat and an effective administrator. Two decades of his rule became the "golden age" in the history of the state, when the Goths (tribe) - the people who had once stood on par with other semi-savage nomads - declared themselves as the legislator of European politics.

In the bosom of the Catholic Church

After the death of Leovigild in the religious life of the kingdom, an important event took place - the monarch and all his subjects, formerly followers of Arianism (one of the Christian sects recognized as heresy), swore allegiance to the Pope, and converted to Catholicism. This in many ways served to strengthen the vertical power and create a clear hierarchy in both spiritual and secular life.

Paradoxically, it was the Goths (tribe) that brought the inhabitants of the Iberian Peninsula into the consciousness of Spain as an integral and indivisible homeland. Strengthening national unity was facilitated by the emergence of its own code of laws, which was formed over the next two centuries. It was he who became the legal base for all Christians in Spain until the 15th century.

The collapse of the state of the Visigoths

But, to the kingdom of Toledo - a powerful state, which grew from a seedy Roman province, fate was allowed to survive only three centuries. Forming a long and difficult path, it collapsed in an instant. It happened in the VIII century, when the flow of Arab conquerors uncontrollably poured into it. The Toledians could not resist them, and historians see several reasons for this.

As one of them is called the refusal to fight with the invaders of that part of the population, which for various reasons was dissatisfied with the existing power. In addition, just at this time the country was plagued by the plague epidemic, and many defenders became its victim. But according to most researchers, the main reason was the extremely aggravated by the beginning of the VIII century struggle for the throne between the most influential clans. Despite the law on succession that existed for many years, over the last six years, preceding the seizure of Spain by the Arabs, six monarchs were replaced on her throne. This fact speaks for itself.

There is evidence that after the death of the last king of Vitica, the throne, legally owned by his son Aguil, the courtiers, having made another conspiracy, handed over their protege Rodrigo. The heir, offended and unwilling to tolerate defeat, concluded a secret agreement with the Arabs, according to which, for rendering assistance to him, he would transfer to them a significant part of the country's territory. This dirty betrayal and helped the Arabs without much difficulty to seize Spain, in which they have been hosting after that for almost six hundred years.

Concluding the conversation about who such goths (tribes) are in the history of Europe of the first millennium AD, it should be noted that often this name is used for other ethnic groups that have nothing to do with them. Sometimes it happens by the consonance of names. For example, the ready is often confused with the Huns, which were discussed in this article, and who were their sworn enemies. Sometimes absolutely fantastic inventions appear, in which, for example, the Slavic tribes are ready, for example.

In general, the history of this people, the very name of which contains something epic and heroic, remains largely mysterious and completely unexplored. From the pages of the ancient annals as a spell, the names are Tulga, Wamba, Atanagild. But in this understatement lies that attractive force that beckons us again and again to peer into the mysterious depths of centuries.